The Common Sense Gamer

Moving on Over

2007-05-08T17:20:00.000-05:00

Hey all....just a notice that this site has now moved to:

http://www.commonsensegamer.com/

Direct link here.

Go ahead and update your bookmarks. This site will have a lot more features for me to play around with...hence the move. I appreciate everyones support on this site...so tally-ho onto the next one.

D out

P.S. Please excuse the mess on the new site while I clean it up a bit. It might get a bite dyslexic over there....so be warned.

Left and a bit off center.

2007-05-08T07:02:00.000-05:00

Oh man. I always had a sneaking suspicion that the mainstream media did not "get" games...well, more of a strong notion really. We've seen great examples of this lack of understanding due to games being scapegoats over the past couple of years for everything from youth violence to the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa (...ok, I made the last part up...). The latest article that I read that shows how clueless these people are. It's a piece from the BBC technology desk. Here's the beginning of the article:

"With more than eight million subscribers, World of Warcraft dominates the online gaming market but some strong rivals are gearing up to take it on."

Wow, that's quite a bold statement and it's one that we've all debated before...."Who will kill WoW?". Double wow, the BBC is getting into the debate...so they must know something we don't. Who are these "strong rivals" they speak of. Glad you asked...here they are:

Age of Conan
Lord of the Rings Online.
Star Wars Galaxies

...I'll wait while you guys settle down from laughter.

...
...
...

OK, everyone settled down now? Saaaweeet. Moving on.

Now, I know my readers are intelligent enough to know why that list is full of shit...but hey, I blog and like to talk, so I'm going to go through the exercise anyway.

Age of Conan:

This won't even come close to touching WoW. Actually, Conan will be lucky to know WoW's half cousin's dog's sister's boyfriend on his father's side. One reason...Conan is for adults. It will be rated A, which means Battlenet kiddies need not apply, which means the audience is limited, which means niche market, which means not a snowball's chance in hell of "taking on" WoW...ever. Conan will probably see around 250K users which is around 3% of what WoW has at this point.

Lord of the Rings

This one is tougher to call because, like Brad McQuaid mentioned, it's an x-factor...so I have no idea how or why the BBC is calling this one a contender when the jury will be out for some time to come. It does have the look and smell of an alternative to WoW, but that's all it might turn out to be. I've said it before, LoTRO is a solid offering right out of the gate, but it will be about a year until we know what kind of weight it has to throw at WoW. Right now, I'm hearing that LoTRO has in the neighborhood of 500K+ subscribers....and no, this is based on nothing but what I've heard, so save the emails please. Let's put it at ballpark of 100-500K right now, that only puts LoTRO between 1-6% of WoWs numbers. So, it's still got lots of room to get there but honestly, I don't think it will....nor do I think that is Turbine's intention.

Star Wars Galaxies

Are you out of your frackin mind!?

So there you have it. This BBC piece seems more like an editor going up to a correspondent and saying,

"You know what, those video games seem really hip and in with the youngins...slap me up something for tomorrow would ya?".

"But sir, I know nothing of video games. I usually only write about PDAs".

"Bah! Pick a few from this alphabetized list. Call them. Get some quotes and give it to me in the morning."

"Ummm. OK. Sure."

I'm still of a strong mind that the game that will really challenge WoW won't be known until it's actually challenging WoW. Any predictions on what that game is will usually be full of Murloc dung (...this blog included...). My guess, and strap on your Murloc dung suit, that game will probably be designed by Blizzard.

D out.

The Challenge

2007-05-07T07:23:00.000-05:00

Bah! Brent said the word "innovation" on his latest podcast...don't worry, he'll be suitably flogged for doing so. He brought up a little question near the end there, and like the sucker that I am, I will have to bite on it. The question is as follows (paraphrasing):

"Does the desire for truly significant innovation in MMOs actually mean that you're looking for the invention of a new genre of games, or are you not looking for the innovation of the MMO genre as much as you're looking for some small feature development that will add to the overall "cool factor" and immersion of the MMO genre without completely breaking down all of those afore mentioned design patterns that we've come to know and love...".

Now, in some way, I've already addressed this issue, but I'll go over my position on this whole innovation thing again...so some of this may be repeating myself just a tad. First, we're not going to see any innovation in 2007 or 2008 MMO offerings. What we're going to see is a handful of highly polished MMOs doing 2-3 things very right. These next two years or so are also going to be standardization years in which MMO companies informally agree and implement feature sets that players expect in their games, i.e. customizable interface, PvP, Combat, Crafting, changing world...etc etc. I'm not expecting a redefinition of the genre...what I'm expecting is an incremental feature development that adds to the MMO experience. What I'm also expecting is for each MMO company to launch HIGH QUALITY games...with no excuses of why they couldn't do so. Call me anal, but I want high quality software.

Does the MMO industry need innovation? Not right now they don't. What they need to do is execute what they currently know correctly and with a high degree of quality...and, of course, mix in a few features here and there to differentiate themselves from the competition. The reason other MMOs got spanked by WoW in 2004-present isn't because of a lack of innovation...it's because of a lack of quality, fun and accessibility. That's it.

Now, the biggest proponents of "innovation" in my little circle are Garry and Ryan of MOG...hands down. I have said this before, that I don't think we're going to see the type of MMO that they want for some time to come. We're at the flat part of the innovation curve right now, so we're not going to see much in upcoming titles...although, I think most will be fun to play.

D out.

P.S Brent, I've scheduled your flogging for 3pm on Sunday...hope that time is good for you :)

Starcraft MMO? Maybe...

2007-05-06T09:49:00.000-05:00

I don't usually post on the weekends, but this is an exception.

According to this, the next Blizzard MMO will be Starcraft. I still consider this a rumor until I hear otherwise from the belly of the beast. I suggest you treat it the same way. Regardless, we will find out on May 19th.

D out.

Toddler Rules

2007-05-04T17:19:00.000-05:00

My 2 year old has one of the best bibs everrrr. Going to write this down for you all because I crack up at it every time I read it. It may also remind you of a certain segment of the MMO player base....

Toddler Rules

It's mine if I like it.
It's mine if I think it's mine.
It's mine if it looks like it's mine.
It's mine if it's in my hand.
It's mine if I can take it from you.
It's mine if I had it for a while.
It's mine if it's yours and I take it.
It's mine if you left it at my house.
It's mine and it can't be yours in any way.
It's mine! Mine! Mine!

...hehe...I love it.

D out.

More on Gods and Heroes

2007-05-04T12:19:00.000-05:00

Some very good info about Gods and Heroes found here if you haven't seen if yet. I've mentioned before that I have reservations about the minion system. Well, the interesting part of the article states:

I run into the field, minions in tow - if I haven't mentioned it before, this whole minion thing is really really cool - and poke the stag with my pike. Nothing could have quite prepared me for what came next.

"...really really cool.."??? I was really hoping she'd expand on that statement, but alas, she didn't...so my skepticism remains. I think it the only way that this "icky" feeling about the minion system will go away is if I play it or someone I trust tells me otherwise. The feeling about minions is completely unjustified, I know, but it's something that I haven't shaken about the title at this point. The combat, however; looks outstanding. The interview above gives some information regarding the "paired animations', in which the enemy reacts to your hits...and I find that feature very appealing.

For those interested in the loot system for G&H, there is this to read. Very nice indeed.

D out.

The Grab Bag

2007-05-04T06:55:00.000-05:00

Funny how things can go from zero to sixy over a course of a day...so let's get to it. This is going to a link/editorial post, so grab some popcorn people.

First up is a very interesting article from from the Escapist regarding the plight of modders within WoW...and oh my gawd do I ever feel for them. One of the more revealing entries in this article reads:

After he put so much into the compilation, Mazzlefizz felt betrayed by the community. It wasn't pleasant having such a small issue be the most discussed portion of MazzleUI. "There's just so many young, immature kids, so many bloated egos and such a high degree of self-entitlement. Complaining and criticizing are just the status quo," he said, before adding that not every experience he's had with users was awful. It's just "the negative aspects have outweighed the positive aspects lately and have caused me to … question the time and effort I put into developing my add-ons." To date, MazzleUI hasn't had any significant updates. MazzleFizz keeps busy collecting bug reports and has gone back to just playing the game.

(emphasis is mine)

Lots to say about this....actually, this one paragraph could be blog fodder for a week by my standards. Developing mods for the WoW community must be like cutting yourself and then wading into a pool of sharks with personality disorders. I used lots of mods when I was playing WoW and I have nothing but respect for the amount of time and effort that these people put into their work. I highlighted that one part because it reminded me of a post I did a last month regarding that sense of entitlement that gamers have in regards to access to all levels of a gaming company. I have always thought that gamer culture has this HUGE misplaced sense of entitlement in which they believe a) I shall be able to talk to the CEO at any time, b) I deserve the best right now, c) everything I think is wrong shall be fixed...now, d) all devs shall acknowledge my issues and concerns...now, e) I'm the most important player in the game and everyone else is newbsauce, f)...bah...I'll stop there...you get the picture. You can also see how the bloated egos come in as well. I've encountered a couple of these people in my travels and I just want to throttle them...grrrrrr. Why gaming companies and modders put up with these idiots is beyond me. They are not the normal player...they are social rejects with a superiority complex and need medication, not attention.

Next up, CoH released Issue 9 and it looks like its making a good impression. I haven't gone and checked it out yet, and honestly, I don't know when I will given the other things that I've got up and coming. Anyway, finally, after 2-3 years CoH/V has a crafting system. Too little too late? We'll see.

On the LoTRO front, there is a nice summary of impressions on Turbine's latest MMO over at Gamebunny. One of the summaries there brings up a good point...will LoTRO be the first MMO which has an ending? We all know what the ending is for this story, so it just makes sense that this may be the case. Turbine can prolong this as much as they want, because let's face it, there is a lot of material in those books to be had. There will be an end, no doubt...the big question is what, if anything, will they transition to when the end does come?

On the social commentary side of things, this bit of non-sense came up this week regarding gay marriage in LoTRO. Alright, my stance on this? In the context of LoTRO, there were no gay marriages...at least within the main story line. Given that, gay marriage of two dwarfs within LoTRO makes as about as much sense as a Hobbit with a ray-gun and jet pack. I really don't care if gays marry in the real world, but it doesn't mean we rewrite creative works and games to support it if it doesn't fit in the original context of the story.

Best for last, and I want to thank Cuppy for bringing this to my attention. Apparently, a new race and new adventure zones are coming to EQ2. One word...wow. The new race is called the Arasai and the new zone is Neriak. This is a dark Fae race that will compliment the recent additions from the EoF expansion. This is really great news for SOE and yet another example of how they've really turned EQ2 around from the shipwreck that it was. The only bad news about this is that I will now have to go back into EQ2 to take a look. OK, maybe that's not so bad after all :) Anyway, good show SOE...keep 'em coming. See, it's stuff like this that makes me wonder about why they're even considering taking on Vanguard.

D out.

Got Nothin

2007-05-03T10:47:00.000-05:00

Crap! My mind is uncharacteristically blank today, so this won't be much of a post but we'll see how it goes.

Last night was a good night in LoTRO. I had a quest in my log called Retaking Weathertop. It's actually the last part of a chain quest (I think)...and man, was it ever a pain in the ass to finish. The second to last encounter was the insane part. It was against this Uru-Kai (..is that how you spell that??) who had about 9500 HP...hands down the toughest mob that I've come across so far. How many times did I try this quest? Glad you asked...five times over about 3 days I tried finishing this one up. I was finally able to be a part of a group full of guildies and we took him down in no time. Yayyyy for me.

One of the strongest hands that LoTRO has for it right now is that it really knows how to tell a story within the quests you are doing. This is especially apparent with the group and chapter quests. If you've tried LoTRO and put it down before you tried one of these story driven quests, you've made a mistake...pick it up again and try one out.

There are some criticisms about the game's combat and interface etc. To tell you the truth, I don't notice those things as much and I'll be damned if I know why that's the case...because those things usually would bother me. I have a very strong connection to my character and his role in the world. The landscape and the graphical implementation, like I said, really fits my eye...so maybe these combinations are hiding the common flaws of the game for me. I was golfing with one of my friends last year, and we got to a hole that I really liked. It was a nice dog-leg right, par 4 hole. I usually did very well playing this hole because it just fit my eye and my game. My friend hated the hole and usually did not do so well...a point of frustration that I took as much advantage of as I could /evil grin. LoTRO seems to be that kind of game for me right now.

D out.

Quest for the New Shiny

2007-05-02T06:59:00.000-05:00

Don't worry, this won't be another Brad posting...the man is getting flogged enough as it is right now, and I won't be saying anything else until there is something new. However, the main sticking point of his last post was the technology needed to run Vanguard optimally. Apparently, you don't just need a new video card, you need an entirely new system. This just isn't a line of thinking that started with Vanguard, it seems to be a problem (yes...it's a problem) with most PC developers. They design games for computers that don't exist...and it's getting tiresome really.

I remember when Doom III came out. Boy, was I excited for that one. I read all of the previews, saw all the videos and looked at all the screenshots. I loaded it up, and "enjoyed" the slide show that I was presented with. Sigh. No problem, I've done this before...off to the forums for tweaking and optimization hints. I got the game running smooth and my conclusion...the game sucked. It looked good...but it sucked. The game was just a haunted house simulator wrapped in a graphical tech demo. I played for about an hour and then uninstalled it. There you go, a game that brought my machine to its knees and it wasn't really a game, it was just a graphics showcase. Why oh why....

Oblivion. Great game. It has the story. It has the gameplay and the character development....but man, the amount of .ini tweaks and mods I needed at the time to actually get a good framerate was mind boggling. EQ2...and I've said this before, this game was absolutely unacceptable in terms of framerate when it came out. That technical barrier to entry was at least part of the reason why it didn't launch so well.

This almost seems to be a North American phenomenon...and I have no idea why. Why devs seem to insist on developing a game for computer specs that the majority or players do not have or cannot afford. Their reason...."We want our game to look good 4 years from now". My answer, "I won't play your game now, let alone 4 years from now, if my machine slaps me across the face for installing your game." Devs seem to be more obsessed with shiny graphics than interesting game play and story lines....and we as players are too. What's the first thing players say about a game, "It looks really nice", or "The game looks gorgeous". How the game actually plays is usually what comes after how it looks. Of course, some would say, "Hey, this is a visual medium. Of course we're going to comment on what we see first." Sure, it is a visual medium, but I would argue that it's a game first and eye candy second. Yes, there is a balance between the two. A great game that also looks great is optimal. I just think the pendulum has swung to far to the graphics side of things...hence part of the reason why VG finds itself in a bit of trouble and WoW finds itself with 8+ million players. I'm not a game designer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know that there are ways to cheat to make things look good....like the creative use of textures to make a low poly object look spectacular. I'm sure there are other ways of "cheating" as well and I hope that future MMOs use these more and more as we move forward.

WoW was created for the "common" computer and it has graphically lasted 3 years, which is close to a forever from a technology perspective. Honestly, it probably has a good 4-5 years left in it. So, whats wrong with developing an MMO for today's computers, maximizing your player base at launch and getting a good 7-8 years of revenue from it? Answer...nothing.

D out.

P.S Just as I finished this, I noticed that Ancient Gaming Noob also wrote a piece on the technology side of Brad's post as well.

Possible PoTBS Delay

2007-05-02T06:32:00.000-05:00

I was going over the news this morning and reading the latest Pirates of the Burning Sea dev log and I came across this little tidbit of info:

"So, if we go down the route of a big box release (though it’ll still be available via digital distribution) it will require a delay in the release date. I’m not excited about delaying the game, but I am excited about a great launch.

The reason we haven’t talked in more detail about this is because we don’t have a signed contract with a distributor. Having been through a number of these legal negotiations, you never know exactly what’s going to happen until you have a signed document. So while we may delay, we’re still aggressively working towards finishing the game now, and have been putting our contingency plans in place."

So...prepare yourself for a possible delay in the release date of PoTBS while they sort out their distribution issues. They don't say how long the delay will be, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be too long...could it? Also, this "contingency plan" of theirs may make this delay disappear...so, we'll see.

On the good news side, they are going to be expanding the beta for the game. So far, they've been very stringent on who gets into the beta, but it looks like the flood gates may be opening soon.

From a development standpoint...it looks like they're polishing the game at this point, which is a good sign for a solid launch. We'll have to see if they "get" what MMO players are now expecting of their games in a post-WoW world.

D out.

LoTRO Snag

2007-05-01T09:04:00.000-05:00

OK, something is definitely not right in LoTRO right now and it hit me right in the face last night. Training and repair costs are insane....insane I tell you.

First let's talk training. I dinged from level 19 to 20 two nights ago and I said, "yayyy". So, I went to Bree to get my long awaited heavy armor skill, a rez skill and I think Parry II. I had about 90-100 silver on me. It pretty much took all of that to train up on two skills. I think the armor skill was around 50 and the rez was around 35-40 silver. I couldn't afford the Parry II nor could I afford to upgrade to any new armor or repair my current armor. Ooooookaaay.

We got a group together last night to do the quest "Retake Weathertop" (a very fun instance btw). We died a couple of times, the group decided it was too hard (even though it was white to us) and we all went on to different things. Before I logged off for the night, I went to repair and I had about 45 silver on me...the repair cost 65 silver. I managed to sell some stuff to cover the cost, but now I'm pretty much broke..and missing a skill because it's too expensive.

Tell me...how the frack am I supposed to save up for anything if all of my money...and I mean all of my money...is going to repairs and training. I think a horse costs 4 gold, so at this rate I will not be getting that anytime soon. I noticed this trend at around level12-ish and it's really showing it's ugly head at level 20+.

Note to Turbine. My repair costs should not be 50% of my total income. My training costs should not be 110%-ish of my income. Between levels, with questing and cashing in "trophies", I have about 100-115 silver on me. No, I do not buy a whole bunch of stuff on the AH and I keep horse travel to a minimum...which is another gripe, 10 silver for a horse ride???!! There's another 10% of my income between levels.

I heard little whisperings about the economy of LoTRO being a tad unbalanced. From this player's perspective, the costs for running your character are waaaay out of proportion to your income.

Anyone else seeing/experiencing the same thing? Looks like the devs are looking into it, but man oh man it hurts.

D out

...that icky, icky feeling.

2007-04-30T12:35:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to add a couple more places you should look for reactions to this whole thing.

First is over to Cuppy, who is, ummm, pissed and doesn't hold back her opinion of what's going on....part of the reason why I like reading her site.

Second is over at Broken Toys who makes the same point as I did regarding the upcoming MMO market and Vanguard's tough fight to stand out in it.

As I'm reading the coverage, a lot of folks are not taking that posting by Brad very well...no, not well at all. This is part of the reason why Brent suggested that he not talk anymore...this point will be well proven at the end of all this I'm sure. Some people are looking at this passage specifically:

The only fix here, again, is time. Vista (especially the Ultimate edition, which is what's being pushed to gamers) wants fast components. Direct X 10 hardware and software will help a lot, especially when there is a DX10 version of Vanguard. A native 64bit client of Vanguard will eventually help a lot too. Bottom line: by the end of 2007, a lot more people should have upgraded, especially if Microsoft succeeds with Vista and native DX 10 games. And if they really push Gaming for Windows like they did, say, the Xbox 360, the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 should be a very different landscape for PC games in general and Vanguard specifically. Was the Vanguard tech ahead of its time? Yes, and there has been a price to pay for that short term (although many people are able to play with older machines - why? Different configurations, different settings, different thresholds for lower framerates, etc.). But MMOGs ideally never end and if you've architected your engine to both push the limits of existing and near future technology as well as easily employ future technologies, then you have a game that doesn't look dated one, two, even three plus years down the road. And that's what we did with Vanguard - so we feel some pain now, but if we can keep the momentum going, this decision pays off in the long run (big time).

The last I checked, Vista was not doing so hot in terms of gaming. In fact, if you were to look at Vista/DX10 as a platform launch (like the XBox360, or PS3), for gaming it was the worse launch in recent memory. How many games launched with the launch of Vista? None. Zero. To date, and correct me if I'm wrong, people are still encountering video card driver issues. Dell recently announced that XP will continue to be an option for their customers since Vista is such a clusterf^%$. So Vista is not ready for gaming and Brad is betting on Vista for Vanguard....ummmmm. From what I'm seeing/hearing/reading, no game is betting on Vista for it's success and that platform has zero buzz in the market right now as the OS of choice for gaming.

This is not good...not good at all. Say if Vista is ready for gaming prime time by 2007-2008, MMO gaming does not work in a vacuum. By that time, like I said, Warhammer will be hitting the scene, LoTRO will be entrenched (plus expansions) and WoW and/or EQ2 will be ratcheting up the marketing RPMs for their next expansions.

D out.

Ever get that feeling...?

2007-04-30T06:57:00.000-05:00

So here is a thread you want to keep your eye on for the latest events surrounding the future of Sigil/SOE/Vanguard...whatever. You'll see a post there from Brad (...yes, it is long..and no, it really doesn't say anything he hasn't said before). He goes on, again, about why Vanguard is where it is, what types of players he wishes to target, how they are going to get players interested in Vanguard ("viral" marketing term is used again). He also restates how they overshot the system specs in terms of technology. He gives some insight on what features he wants to bring into Vanguard in the future...but honestly, and I'm cringing as I say this, I don't know how realistic those point really are. I don't even know why he commits that much writing space to future features when they have so much work to do getting other things up to speed. He's already talking an expansion and/or relaunch of VG come 200x...huh??

Here's an interesting thing regarding audience targeting. He was hoping to target burned out WoW players and he mentions LoTRO as an x-factor game. He wants to target those WoW players and he knows that those casual players will move to LoTRO...and understandably so. The window to grab those players is shrinking fast and I don't think VG has even the slightest chance on getting any of them. If you put a bored WoW player in front of VG and then in front of LoTRO...guess which one they'll pick? I'll give you a hint...it's not VG.

Here's what's not fitting to me with this whole thing:
1) SOE is taking a game which will take a lot of time and resources to "fix" and bring to SOE standards (please keep "SOE standards" bashing to a minimum. plskthx). And they are doing this why...?
2) When VG is "fixed", besides the diplomacy system, SOE/Sigil will have a similar product to EQ2. No one has yet been able to convince me that this is not the case. At the most, we'll have a Pepsi vs Coke kind of thing with VG and EQ2.
3) The window for VG to maximize it's potential is, IMHO, gone...especially in the context of the coming 2007-2008 titles. LoTRO is turning out to be the best casual PvE experience right now. If they hold on past Pirates of the Burning Sea, Gods and Heroes, Conan...and gawd help them, Warhammer, they may stay that way. You mix WoW and EQ2 in there and...yikes.

Granted, if this was 2005-2006, then my whole view on points 1,2 and especially 3 would be completely different.

I'm missing something. Something about SOE taking/partnering/merging (whatever) with Sigil/Vanguard when they (SOE) already have a VG-like product. Something about all these long posts from Brad (we're now at four I think). You know what, it may be nothing. This may just be a simple case of Brad giving it a go and now, when it's not working out, he simply needs help.

You know what, that's probably what the truth of it is...and some have us have been in that situation. You try one of those projects on your own, like finishing a basement, or fixing your car's transmission by yourself. You end up calling your dad who patiently comes over, fixes what you've screwed up, pats you on the back and says, "Now, next time...ask for help stupid."

Regardless, how the relationship between SOE and Sigil works out will be something to keep an eye out. Obviously, my thoughts on this aren't done yet...yayyy for you eh? :)

D out.

I'm too sexy for your hobbit

2007-04-29T16:55:00.000-05:00

Still having a blast in LoTRO and I thought I'd post up some screenies for ya.

And of course, I asked this guy for a photo op and he said yes...wow, I'm star struck:

One thing I'm noticing about LoTRO is that the armor looks really, really good. I don't think I've had a combination yet where I look like some sort of fashion retard.

D out

I Still don't get it...

2007-04-29T16:44:00.000-05:00

Well...apparently this is happening, i.e. SOE is taking Vanguard. Can someone please tell me why this makes any bit of sense? Anyone...? And don't say "because" or I'll feel the need to smack you :)

...shortest...blog posting...everrrrr.

I say hi, you say low.....

2007-04-27T08:59:00.000-05:00

Man...going through that Beatles song and finding a good title for this blog entry is quite challenging. Next time, I'll pick a song with more meat in it.

Of course, this is a follow-up to my entry regarding leaving a game. Sometimes I get comments on these entries that are either very good or add something to the post that I didn't cover...or both. This one was both and had some good points in it, so I wanted to bring it to the front. It was posted by The Ancient Gaming Noob and gives some pointers on what an effective "good bye" post would be. Thanks Wil:

I think you can leave an effective parting message if you work at it. You have to want to send a constructive message. Since most people just want to say, "Screw You (insert company name)!" you rarely see such posts.

First, avoid drama. You are probably best off just saying that you're taking time off from the game. That thwarts all but the most obtuse "can I have your stuff" posters.

Second, detail, with examples, why you've grown tired/frustrated with the game, again without drama or over the top declarations.

Third, mention some good points like what drew you to the game. You were there for a reason, right?

Fourth do not pretend to represent some undocumented group of players. Just because you are upset with the game doesn't mean everybody is. Contradictions to generalizations about the player base exceed responses about who gets your equipment by a large margin.

Finally, do not have any expectations that anything is going to happen ever because of what you wrote. Even if you write something so powerful that it moves the staff to look into your issues, you're unlikely to ever find out.

As for "why" people leave these posts, it is the same reason my wife stomps away and slams the door when we argue and I hold the upper hand. She is mad, she is not getting her way, and she wants to demonstrate that even if it serves no purpose whatsoever.

(I, on the other hand, sulk and get really passive-aggressive... and that happens more because I am usually on the losing side.)

(You also get a comment form when you cancel your EQ2 account. I just saw it yesterday!)

D out.

TCSG LoTR Progress

2007-04-27T06:45:00.000-05:00

I finally have gotten into an area that I haven't been in beta and now the fun has really started. I've hit the Lone Lands and man are there ever a lot of quests in that little Inn at the start of the zone. I went there for a couple of delivery quests (...and out of curiosity..) and I must have picked up about 12 more in there. In the center of that zone is a huge hill with a bunch of structures at the top...it looks very impressive. No, didn't get a chance to go up there for two reasons, 1) I think I'd get my ass handed to me...yeah, it looks like it would and 2) I don't have a quest for that place, at least I don't think I do. Regardless, I was killing mostly wolves, goblins, orcs and of course, boars. What is it with developers obsession with boars? They put so many of these things in games that it's starting to boarder on fetish....which is disturbing on so many levels. Anyway, as I was killing things, my quest log would update about three quests at a time...which I absolutely love seeing. It really gives me a sense that I'm accomplishing something with what little time I have to play. Great job Turbine! I'm looking forward to logging in tonight. So, it looks like they've hooked me again....bastards :)

I do have a concern about LoTRO...and it's a small one and has only been a small nagging of my little voice and that's the level cap. Now, I have never been to level 50 in this game just yet, but I'm wondering how long it will be before the first player hits that cap and how long it will be before I and other normal (yes...usually the first person there is a bit of a freak /wink) get there. Once we do get there, what will we be doing...raiding? Grinding for titles? Crafting? No idea, and I hope that Turbine has a solution for the end game that doesn't fall into the WoW rut.

For me, level 50 is going to take some time and so far I'm enjoying the ride, which is the point in my humble opinion. Captain Belmirus of Gondor is level 17.5 right now and is kicking some goblin ass and having a blast...so there.

Oh, and in case you haven't seen it yet...and this is a really nice feature...here is a list of some funky titles you can get in LoTRO. Here is the link the the info from Ancient Gaming Noob...but if you're lazy, here they are here:

the Adorable - Recieve 100 /hug emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Alluring - Receive 100 /flirt emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Befuddling - Receive 100 /confused emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Beloved - Receive 100 /kiss emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Dull - Receive 100 /bored emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Harassed - Receive 100 /beg emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Helpful - Receive 100 /thank emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Infuriating - Receive 100 /angry emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Insulted - Receive 200 /rude emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Intimidating - Receive 40 /cower emotes. This can only be incremented 2 times per day.
the Naughty - Receive 100 /scold emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Ridiculed - Receive 100 /mock emotes. This can only be incremented 5 times per day.
the Victorious - Receive 40 /surrender emotes. This can only be incremented 2 times per day.

...heh, amazing. I'm going to have to get Cuppy's character to blow me a lot of kisses and scold me a bit. Ummmm....ok, that comes out a bit wrong, but you get the idea ;)

D out.

TCSG Article over at Virgin Worlds

2007-04-26T13:41:00.000-05:00

So here's the article I handed into Brent for his contest. Didn't win with it, but Brent promised me a fruit basket of some sort (.....long story...).

...so, if you're not sick of me yet, get on over there and read it. I really enjoyed writing it, so I'll probably send Brent more stuff in the future.

D out.

P.S. Brent...love the little pic you put in there. Classic.

Warhammer is Delayed

2007-04-26T11:25:00.000-05:00

...again shocking news that I never would have seen coming. Tobold got the recent news letter (mine is sent to an account I have no access to right now) so I'll send you all there to take a look.

I'm actually glad they did this because this makes me think that they really do get "the polish" message...but we'll have to wait and see to really make the final judgment on that one. Two down for "getting it", 5-6 more to go for 2007.

Now, with it being foretasted to Q1 2008, there is still a possibility that they'll push it out to Q2. I'm not getting that vibe yet, but prepare yourself for that possibility.

D out.

You say Goodbye...and I say Hello

2007-04-26T07:51:00.000-05:00

This is something that I've wondered about for a long time...why do people even bother posting on a MMO forum that they are leaving the game? Why do they think that other players who read the forum even care what they do with their gaming time? Why do they think that posting in a forum is more powerful than voting with your dollar? Do devs care about these posts at all? Lastly...why must every responder after such a post insist on posting "Can I have your stuff"? :)

First angle...why do they even post these types of messages? Well, first and foremost I guess it depends on the person who's doing the posting. This person could be saying goodbye to a lot of friends who's company they've come to enjoy. Another motive could just be the venting of pure frustration on a certain aspect of the game...this type of person my not even follow through on actually quitting. They may have encountered a loot ninja or some other type of frustrating aspect of MMO life and just said, "Frack it!" Either way, people who even post this seem to think that this message is important to convey...or why else would they even bother.

Second...do they really think that people care about them leaving? I think they do, at the very least, those players who have played against or with this person want the chance to say good bye to this player. I had such an experience with one such player in WoW. Before Blizzard ruined world PvP, most battles that I enjoyed where in the Crossroads area. There was this one Rogue on the Alliance side who would just wipe the floor with anyone he engaged. Some time ago, he posted on the Gilneas forum that he had to leave due to the birth of his new child and I posted to say goodbye (one of the two times I posted on the WoW forums). I respected his play skills that much. He later came back, at which time I rolled an alliance toon just to say hi to him.

Why wouldn't people just leave instead of posting? I mean, bottom line is that MMO companies are businesses and surely voting with your dollar has more of an impact than just posting a "goodbye" or "screw you guys" in the forums. Well, some people may feel that just canceling the account leaves a loose string. After all, when you finish a phone call, you just don't hang up the phone...you say "good-bye" first, then hang up. When you leave a friends house...you don't just walk out the door without saying goodbye. I know....there are plenty of circumstances where you do, but in most cases you say "goodbye" then you exit stage left in whatever situation your in. Even in most monthly transactions like phone service, you call up someone to cancel the account first and then you stop paying...kind of like saying goodbye I guess. So, the forum avenue seems to follow the same kind of model for leaving a service of some kind.

Do devs care about these forum posts? I think they do...especially when there is a pattern evolving right in front of their eyes. People leaving could point to a design or game play flaw. It could point to a PR problem that the company has. I think they do read these posts just to make sure that they can intercept these issues before they become too big. I've seen some good "I'm leaving posts" and some bad ones...and I'm sure that the devs get a wide range of useful and useless information from each post that involves the departure of a player.

I'm not really going to cover the "Can I have your stuff" replies, because it just seems to be an MMO forum culture thing...and a stupid one at that. Regardless, it seems that these type of posts are quite useful to the player, the community and the devs in some cases.

D out.

Getting your Hobbit On

2007-04-25T12:24:00.000-05:00

LoTRO launched yesterday and I must say that it was very smooth indeed. Seems like there are lots of people reporting the same kind of thing across the internet tubes. Good compilation of thoughts over at Kill Ten Rats....so go check it out. So, they're off to a solid start and they've got some good momentum behind them....now let's see what Turbine does with it.

I logged in last night with my Captain and did about 3 or 4 quests and then called it a night. I didn't get to level 16 with that effort, but I was just happy to be progressing again. The town of Bree was just full of people and the whole world looks to be well populated. One bad thing though and this isn't a knock against the game...the chat channels are getting a little bit nutty. I had to turn off /trade, /advice and other channels due to the smack-down and trash talk that was going on. There were a couple of people who said, "hey guys, just send insulting tells to each other...", but these idiots would have none of that...so they proceeded to pollute it for everyone else. Ummm, what the heck is wrong with you guys? Seriously. Anywho...they're turned off and I'm sure they'll stay that way. Ahhh nuts, now I can't get any advice or sell anything :)

D out.

I'm Still Not Dead yet...

2007-04-25T06:38:00.000-05:00

Tobold put up a counter to my blog entry last night and I just wanted to do some clarification here. I put a comment on his sight as well.

Couple of things...I never said what Pardo stated about the was "...not true" as Tobold suggests in his counter. What, in fact I did say was that it either "....jumped out at me", or "...it bugged me" and finally "...struck me as an odd thing to say." Before that I illustrated, quite sarcastically of course, the reasons being the end game (key words here...end game) grind that most players are encountering with respect to raiding, farming, reputation and crafting. Never said what Pardo stated was "not true".

I then went on to say how much content there is and how my wife is actually running out of levels before content...to that, Bravo to Pardo for keeping her suitably entertained.

Now, take this with a grain of salt please. I'm not "smacking down" on Tobold...far from it, because the stuff he wrote in his counter to my article is perfectly valid regarding WoW. It does have a lot of content (2000 hours? Sure...easily). It is extremely fun to play from 1-70. I think we're both on the same page, we're both just a little burned out on WoW, and we both never expected it to last forever.

Thanks T :)

D out

Neglect in a Box

2007-04-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

....as my wife calls video games.

So, LoTR launch day is today and I'm really excited to get into this game...finally. The beta was really nice, but it had the effect of getting me too familiar with levels 1-15...so you can imagine how painful it was to go through those levels for a fourth time. Kind of makes me think about not getting into betas anymore...but not quite. I can't exactly report and review stuff for you guys if I don't get in there.

Couple of articles that I want to point out in regards to LoTR....both are closely related to each other and tackle the question of innovation and LoTR. The first is a review of LoTR. The first paragraph of the review says it all really regarding LoTR:

"In almost every other important aspect of the MMOG experience, LOTRO manages either to extrude the gameplay into some new form which hasn't previously been explored, or to simply buff up and polish an experience with which we were already familiar."

That there, ladies and gents, is your theme for all of the MMOs that will be released in 2007. Sure, it encapsulates LoTR very nicely, but notice the buzz word in there..."polish". You'll see that word used for PoTBS, Warhammer (really 2008...but I'll put it in there), Gods and Heroes etc. Yes, you do have permission to tar and feather me if it's not used for the other titles...and yes, I am expecting one to prove me wrong. Anyway, great review and well deserved for a solid title.

Second article is regarding innovation... and the author seems to be as tired of the word as I am. He's right, and I've mentioned this before...we are not going to see any innovation in MMOs for quite some time. I really appreciate guys like Gary and Ryan, and maybe they are ahead of the curve in terms of gaming expectations, however; I think its a great sign of maturity when software companies concentrate on quality out of the box. This is nothing but good news for the industry and lays some great groundwork for innovations that people are calling for.

I don't know, maybe the author is right...maybe we've already reached the innovation ceiling in terms of feature sets and that the issue is purely technical. People keep calling for innovation in mechanics and they cry "WoW RIP-OFF!!" when they see titles like LoTR. Well, I'm sorry, but standardization is bound to happen because some things just work really well. Everyone reads books. The mechanics of book reading haven't changed in hundreds of years. You've got your paper, your book spine and your print. Lets say I change the mechanics on you...there you go, all of your favorite books are now in Jello format. There you go...I've innovated...and yes, I'm being a smart-ass. Thats what you get when you try and innovate on things that aren't broken in the first place.

D out.

I'm not Dead Yet!

2007-04-24T07:57:00.000-05:00

My gawd!! Who would have thought that PC gaming is not dead. This...this is just shocking. OK, so let's just drop this whole prognosticating of the death of PC gaming. It's not dying. It will never die. It is the main technological driver for gaming, not consoles...end of story. You "PC gaming is dead" people are getting up there with the apocalypse people in terms of credibility...and they're not exactly batting 1000. If I read one more article on this subject, I will personally send the author a box full of angry kittens. You've been warned.

Interesting article with Rob Pardo over on Next Generation. Some great insights on creating what is one of the most popular games in PC history. One small little thing jumped out at me though...and it is small, but it still bugged me.

WoW is as close to a cash-generating machine as you’re likely to find, so it’s easy to imagine pressure being applied to take advantage of this audience. He says the reason why WoW is successful is because it delivers a lot of content; not just a grind; and that content takes time and creative effort to produce.

(bold my emphasis)

Ummm...okay, so I'm going to assume that Rob has played WoW at the end game which usually involves a grind for rep (...to get better gear...), or grinding for gold (...to guy better gear...), or grind for mats (...to make better gear...) or raiding (...to possibly get better gear...). It just struck me as an odd thing to say. He is right though, WoW offers a ton of content. My wife was questing last night in WoW and she was mentioning how she will probably run out of levels before she runs out of quests. She's not looking forward to the end of questing though...she's not the grinding type, so the game is essentially over for her at 70.

D out.

Edit: Check out an addition to this article here.

The Devil may Come

2007-04-24T06:44:00.000-05:00

I figured it would be a good thing to express the flip side of being the hero in an MMO...being a villain. Certainly, there comes a time when a lot of us just want to misbehave in a game and cause people some good ol fashioned heartache....virtually of course.

Current games are very limited in their evil offerings right now. Sure, the player is usually able to choose an "evil" race and usually these "evil" races live in darker areas of the world....ohhhhhhh, I'm shaking in my booties already. That's it though. Oh, fine then, some of the quests have you doing deeds of questionable moral value (...think Dark Elf in Vanguard..), but do quests alone a villain make? There's got to be something more to being evil than just picking a faction though. Of course, we have Eve Online and the players that choose to be pirates. These players really aren't making an evil choice...or are they? We've got to think of something beyond just ganking and griefing.

Let's start from the beginning. It's my belief, in this world, nobody is really born evil, we're usually taught how to be that way...so why don't MMO start off like that. Every character starts as a neutral character with absolutely no concept of what is right and what is wrong. The only entity that knows the difference is the player behind the character. Now, the game has to support good and evil choices. OK, I've accepted the quest to save the queen from the giant ant creatures, but they're offering me more to kill her....hmmmmm. Full teams of players could sack a village for no reason. There could be quests set up in the game that ask the player to do stuff like this. As the player performs evil acts, they themselves become more and more evil.

So, why would a player want to do this? Just like being a hero, do players really want to play the bad guy? Most definitely. When I watch/listen to actors in interviews (an activity I don't do often), one of the themes that come up a lot is how much they love playing the bad guy. Bad guys are interesting to play due to the range you are given. Heroes are bound by certain rules and codes....a bad guy has no such boundaries. You can save the kitty cat from the tree by climbing up there with a ladder...or, you can shoot it out with your 12 gauge shot gun. The choice is yours how you want to interact with the world.

It could probably be argued that being an evil character is true freedom of gameplay. Bad guys play a pivotal role in any story. They are the ones with the giant "laser" pointed at the earth. They are the ones with their trigger finger one the big shiny red destructo button of doom. They are the the ones that give the hero his/her chance to be lifted up above the rest. Without the villain, there can be no hero...so why not give players that role. Why not allow players the chance to define, shape and create player heroes by being the toughest badass player on the server.

D out

You've got to read this...

2007-04-23T16:52:00.000-05:00

...and please spread it around. I want this on every corner of the internet by this time tomorrow. Link it...post it...email it.

Bill Harris from Dubious Quality just put up something that should smack King Asshat right in the head (...intellectually speaking of course). The post is called A New Low.

Every gamer should memorize that FBI monograph so that we are armed with facts when we come up against asstards.

Well done Bill.

D out

It's Buffet Day

2007-04-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

So we'll start off with some podcast news. First up is the guys at MOG have posted up show number 61. Their guest for the show is Denis McCauley from gamepolitics.com. This show deserved some mention because they tackle all of the issues behind the recent events at Virginia Tech. Gary and Ryan bring up a very important fact about what happened and that it is the issue of how mental health played into this whole thing. It looks like this kid was just sick in the head ...well, obviously. That, unfortunately doesn't seem to be the focus of the debate...because hey, politicians will get more votes if they "save children from video games" than if they tackle mental illness. As usual...it's guns, video games and media in general (rap music or movies) as the central issue. Sadly, we will see more events like this happen again until we address the real issues of why people do things like this. So, thanks Garry and Ryan...great show boys.

Next, looks like TelonCast is signing off for good now. Mikael has decided that Vanguard is not the MMO for him I guess and has opted move on to other things. I'm really not surprised to tell you the truth. If you look at the podcasts, they've been getting shorter and shorter...also, his tone and enthusiasm seem to change at around show 6-ish. It's hard enough to keep a podcast going...it's even harder when you don't have a passion for the game you're playing. He's starting another general podcast called Wildly Divergent in the near future. So, good luck to Mike with his future podcast.

LoTRO has announced their first update called Shores of Evendim. Check it out for feature details and such. It's great that they are already announcing new content and like I said, I'm really eager to start to experience this game after the level cap is removed.

So Brent keeps posting content from his recent contest and one caught my eye on Friday. The article hits an angle I never really thought of, i.e. how could the VG team keep moving on their vision despite having the MMO successes and failures to draw on since 2001-2002 (or whenever they actually started designing VG)? That's a really good question. They saw the massive success that is WoW and how it absolutely killed EQ2 at launch in 2004...and yet, they stuck with their vision. They saw how well Eve Online was doing, and yet, stuck with their vision. Nat has a point, this vision may have just translated to either bad design or outdated gaming norms that just don't appeal to gamers anymore. Remember how I said that the word "potential" has an expiry date...well, we're really close to it I think.

There are some who think that Sigil is in a bit of trouble and that SOE may be a candidate for taking over Vanguard. I really don't know what to think about that. One question is: Why would they? They already have a fantasy game in EQ2. Why on earth would they pick up on another one? Given EoF, EQ2 has just finally come into it's own and, in my opinion, is on par with WoW in terms of game play and accessibility. SOE spent two years getting to this point with EQ2, why would they spend the money, resources, and another 2 years getting VG up to snuff? Personally, I think they have their hands full with something else...because besides the station pass thingy and the new launcher, SOE has said nothing about what they're doing next (more knowledgeable people...please correct me if I'm wrong).

D out.

The Gaming Blahs

2007-04-23T07:27:00.000-05:00

There seems to be nothing going on right now...and that usually means that something is going on.

Do you ever have one of those weeks when you've had a busy day at work, you've made dinner for the family, gave the kids a bath, put them to bed. You then turn on the computer and settle in for some gaming...and then, nothing. You just stare at the computer screen for 15 minutes wondering wtf you're going to play? I've had one of those weeks. A week where I turn on the computer, stare at it, fiddle around a bit and then leave to go do something else downstairs....it's very weird. I think I watched more TV last week than I have the last six moths combined.

It's not as if I don't have anything to play. LoTR Online...check. My Captain is up to level 15 and my Champion is up to level 7. I guess I could mine nodes and work on my crafting but the crafting system really hasn't motivated me in this game just yet. Eve Online...check. Skill training is still going. Silent Hunter 4...no so check. Lots o' bugs in the game still, so I continue to hold off really getting into that one. Vangurad...no so check. I haven't logged into that game for a bit and it looks like that adventure is coming to an end for me. WoW...account canceled. I didn't like doing it, but it had to be done. My wife and her friend are planning to start a couple of alliance characters in the future, so maybe I'll resub around that time. BC fell really short in my book, but maybe I just need a new perspective on the game and start fresh....but then again...

I'm in zero betas right now, so I have nothing to report there....so what the heck have I been doing lately? Well, I've been going gang busters on my guitar playing (...yes, I can play. No, you'll never hear me play, so don't ask :) . Oh yeah, and barre chords are the devil!!). The good news is that even though there is really no news, there is still lots to talk about...so stay tuned for the usual stuff from TCSG.

Bah...I usually get into this game blah state once every 1-2 months and then it promptly disappears. LoTR launches tomorrow, so I can finally get past 15, so I'll be going gangbusters on that title as soon as I can. My goal is to get past level 30 by June because come that time it's "Avast you sorry sacks of entrails...hoist the main sail!!"

D out.

Ahh Crap

2007-04-20T13:23:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged...not once, but twice. Damn you Cuppy and Bildo...I will get you eventually.

So, here it is: 5 Reasons that I blog:

1. I needed someplace, please, anyplace to write my thoughts down about MMOs. I've laid low for quite a while...browsing webpages, reading forums (but not posting...dear gawd, never posting). I find that keeping all of these ideas in your head without some kind of outlet was not good for my sanity :)

2. I really don't have any real gamer friends....or none to really talk to about gaming on a regular basis anyway. I'm finding people I would have never really talked to if it hadn't been for this site. I'm finding this whole blogger/podcast community network is starting to form all around me, and I like what I see.

3. Writing down my ideas sharpens and shapes them...especially when someone comments and changes my perspective on an idea (...this happens more than you think...)

4. Networking. You never know what doors will open if you write about what you love.

5. This point comes from me looking back on it from where I am now. It still amazes me that people actually read what I write down. It amazes me that I have readers actually. It amazes me that they take the time to post comments.

No one to tag, as I'm sure everyone has already been hit. Plus....the madness has got to stop somewhere.

Gods in the City

2007-04-20T06:47:00.000-05:00

OK...now that I've purged my thoughts on current world events, I can now move on.

A very interesting interview regarding Gods and Heroes over at MMOG Nation, and once again, a flag has gone up in my head...albeit, not a red one. This flag is sort of an off-yellow-ish with a hint of pink in it.

I'm going to highlight two questions that I found interesting. Alone, they say something for sure, but taken together, they remind me of something we've seen before.

MMOG Nation: We’ve heard elsewhere that the goal is to make leveling “slower than in other games,” while avoiding the feel of a grind. Can you give us an impression of how long you’re hoping people will take to work through the game’s initial content? What elements are being worked into the game to ensure that a slower leveling curve doesn’t feel grindy?

Travis George: We don’t have a goal at all of making leveling slower than in other games. We do have a goal of making leveling happen as almost a side result of playing a really fun game, exploring a cool world, and fulfilling really interesting quests. We think it’s much more important for players to be wrapped up in what’s happening in the world rather than staring at the level bar. With all of the amazing loot and rewards to earn—individual feats, gear, minions, minion gear, individual minion feats—there will always be something at every point along the way that players will be excited to discover.

First of all, amen. When a game keeps me focused on the adventure and fun that I'm having instead of my level progress bar, then that is a huge accomplishment. In a lot of games, that level bar is the main focus of the player and it seems that everything else they're doing is kind of a side show. Vanguard is one of those games...same with WoW (obviously). Personally, the most recent games where I'm not looking at the level bar would be CoH, LoTR and EQ2...but that's just me.

OK, second interesting question and answer...and this is the final thing that raised my odd colored flag:

MMOG Nation: You’re shipping a very stripped down Massive game at launch; no PvP, no crafting, no housing. PvE Questing and great-looking squad-based combat seems to be the focus. Do you think this puts you at a disadvantage, given the large number of Massively Multiplayer games shipping this year?

Chris Launius: We think we will have a pretty solid offering when we launch. We are shipping a different MMO than other games that have come out so far. Our game offers features that aren’t being offered in any other MMO out there—squad building and squad combat, visceral action combat, and the deep minion system. In addition to player feats we also have a separate string of special moves and abilities called God Powers that allows you to command the powers of your selected Deity to help inflict massive damage on your foes and protect you from a crushing defeat in a glorious and spectacular fashion.

There actually is a form of player housing in the game, which we call player camps. Each player gets their very own camp where your minions are stored and upgraded; it’s also where you find your personal bank and postal service. These camps should be bigger and more elaborate than most player housing available in other MMOs.

We do recognize the importance of crafting, and want to take the time to make sure we have a crafting system that fits in with our gameplay mechanics and systems. We have chosen to focus on the core game mechanics and work on adding the crafting experience post launch.

When Gods & Heroes ships, we feel that it will be a fantastic product that will definitely have a major place in the market.

So, at first release Gods and Heroes will be centered mostly around combat and crafting will come in later. OK, so we have a game here that (a) does not make you look at the level progression bar because it's a lot of fun, and (b) will be about combat at launch. Does this sound familiar to anyone. Anyone...? Bueller?...Bueller? Yup....City of Heroes.

Now, this is not a bad thing. City of Heroes is a great game but it unfortunately is all about combat and it offers nothing else for players to really do besides that. Of course, Issue 9 is coming out very soon and will introduce a crafting system to the game. I remember reading the CoH forums at the time and some players asking about crafting, and the devs said almost the exact same thing as the folks at Perpetual did. Now, 3 years after release, crafting is being introduced, which, may be a tad on the late side.

If Perpetual is going to go the route of City of Heroes, then we're going to see a very popular game...at first. If they don't introduce other aspects of game play within the first year, then we're going to start running into problems. Sure, it may have great animations, visceral combat and an innovative minion system...but a game purely based on combat and questing will only carry you so far.

I'm sure that they'll roll out something quickly and I'm far from shrugging off this title because, hey, I love the Roman period....but damnit, I'd better be able to wear a my crafted off-yellow and pink toga too.

D out.

Well...ummm...ok.

2007-04-19T16:52:00.000-05:00

All this hero talk got myself and Cuppy mentioned on the EQ2 Players Town Crier.

...I really don't know what to say about that. Once again, I am speechless ;)

All of this was spawned off of a comment I got from one of my "online" friends Kevin.

Which got me thinking...if any of you have any topics you'd like me to discuss, just send me an email and I'll try my best to talk about it. I may not get to it right away because I tend to soak an idea before I write about it.

Anyway, good to see TCSG mentioned on EQ2Players. Damnit....now I'm all giddy.

D out.

When we all fall down...

2007-04-19T09:17:00.000-05:00

You know, I wasn't going to say a word about what happened recently regarding the event at VT...because I really don't trust myself in making this whole post either about a) gun control, or b) The King Asshat (need I say more) or c) video game violence (see b).

You see, I'm Canadian, so the (a) option has never registered with my brain for anyone to need (note the word "need" not "want") a gun. It's just a cultural difference there. I just think that this murderer would have done less damage had he only had access to a knife or baseball bat. I was a big time hunter when I was in high school. I hunted rabbits, deer and of course, moose. I made it point to use only a single shot weapon, as I personally thought that if I didn't hit the animal the first time, I didn't deserve it. So, I never got the whole for semi-autos for hunting thing. This is just my take, and I know we all have our own. The whole thing just makes no sense what so ever.

I'm a gamer at heart, so it absolutely infuriates me to hear King Asshat and now Dr.Phil (W...T...F!!!). We as gamers know that millions of people play video games. We as gamers also know that if there was any correlation between school shootings and video games, we'd have a bigger problem on our hands than we do now. I get angry enough when a guy like this thinks he had the right to take other peoples lives because he can't deal. It gets me even angrier when lawyers, politicians, TV show hosts and "news" reporters use a high impact event like this to push their own careers along. We've got real families suffering here and these talking heads can't get their heads out of their ass.

As for part (c), well, it's closely linked to King Asshat because thats the drum he likes to beat...repeatedly.

As a father of two little girls, this thing absolutely scares the shit out of me. We haven't had that many of these school shootings up here, but we have had them. Part of me never wants to let my 6 year old go to school again. Part of me just wants to say, "ok, everyone hand in the guns now...enough is enough". Part of me wishes that kid didn't kill himself so that he could truly understand what the moms and dads of those kids are feeling. But, hey, I really can't have any of that...realistically anyway.

D out.

P.S Sorry to law abiding gun owners.

P.S.S I'm not sorry to King Asshat...you truly are a D bag.

P.S.S.S Rush as the voice of common sense...amazing and bravo.

CALLER: What I really think is an issue is video violence, video gaming. I will guarantee you, I'll bet my last dollar in my pocket, that this shooter will be found to have been a compulsive video gamer, and when people are living that kind of lifestyle -- and college students do this a lot.

RUSH: (sigh) Let's say you're right. Not every video gamer goes out and murders 33 people on the college campus though. There's more to this than that. We can find all kinds of societal problems and ills, but the fact of the matter is that whatever you would look at as a bad influence -- video games as you mentioned -- it may desensitize people, but it doesn't turn everybody into mass murderers.

I know it's natural that everybody wants to throw their theories into this, and perhaps come up with perhaps a unique explanation or to understand, and I think it's natural, because people have a tough time accepting a relatively simple explanation for something of this scale. But how many people are playing video games out there? How many millions of people play video games, and how many millions of people have guns?

If you start blaming the video games, you may as well demand video game control because it's the same thing when you start trying to blame guns for this. You have here a sick individual, an evil individual who committed a random act. But if you want to start blaming the video games, this guy was this or that, weeeeell, then you've gotta maybe talk about banning them because that's the same tack that's taken with guns. You got one guy who used a gun that's it. You're falling prey to the same way the Drive-Bys propagandize, and that's, "Well, we need gun control! We gotta get guns out of the hands of people."

So you gotta be real careful here not to paint with broad brushes on these things. You gotta be very careful not to plug this into your own individual political prism, because then you become no different than what the Drive-Bys are doing. If you just wait, eventually we'll find out more than we want to know about this guy, and you're going to have to listen to what's reported about this guy with keen ears, and you're going to have to read with sharp eyes out there, because the Drive-Bys are going to report about this guy in ways that will advance their political agenda because that's what this story is to them.

The Square of Pi to Slay the Dragon

2007-04-18T06:43:00.000-05:00

OK, so I addressed the first part of my friends questions regarding the "hero" aspects of MMOs, now we have this one to go over:

"O.k. enough on that. But another topic you should tackle is something to do with numbers and MMOs. Are they inexorably linked? Is it possible to ever get away from that system? If not, then people will always deconstruct the game down into statistics, formulas and numbers. It will always boil down to numbers, and now fighting that dragon becomes less about an epic battle as it is making darn sure your math and formulas are correct. Love to hear more of your thoughts on both these subjects."

First up, are MMOs and numbers linked in some way? Well, the technical answer is yes, they are and yes they always will be. There will always be a mathematical model to your character, a mob, a weapon and even a tree. I guess what the real question would be is, should the player see that math in the form of stats...and should they be able to calculate or maximize success based on the numbers they see?

OK, well, lets pretend that we hide those numbers away from the player. They are still there, they're just in the background working away during combat, or crafting or what have you. Let's say you've been playing the game for about 3 hours and you've killed a lot of rats and bears, but now you see your first humanoid. You've never encountered this creature before. There is nothing over its head giving you any information. No "elite" tag. No level. No hit points. Not even a con color. As for yourself, you've picked up some new armor and a sword during your first 3 hours, but there are no stats on them. You don't know the DPS...there is no strength modifier (that you know of anyway..because its hidden from you). So, you have some choices. You can (a) go in there, attack it and see how you do, or (b) assume that its too tough, and go on killing other things.

OK, now, lets put in some numbers. You know your level. You know your DPS. You have all sorts of character stats and your equipment is about average. Now, same story, you've been killing rats and bears for the last 3 hours and you come across your first humanoid mob. There is an indicator over its head signifying its level and difficulty relative to you. So, you have some choices. You can (a) go in there and attack it, or (b) don't attack it and move on.

Wow....same choices for both. So, knowing your stats and not knowing your stats doesn't change your choices in game. However, not knowing your stats and its stats does throw in a kind of mystery twist to it. Sure, your choices are the same...but I bet your heart is racing a bit faster when you have no idea what the outcome would be. But, is this fair to the player? To give them no cues at all on whether they can win an engagement or not...or to give them no indication on whether they can craft an item. If we don't want every encounter to come down to a number crunch for a player, then what have we got? A couple of things:

Visual cues. Give the player some sort of visual cue on whether a task is possible for them. This could be based on color, or size, or shapes. You can have difficult mobs look really bad-ass and simple ones look easy. Difficult mobs could have a chain of skulls around their neck, saying to the player, "Hey, I've pwned these guys. I can pwn your sorry ass".
Audio cues. Give the player some kind of audio indicator like a huge roar from the mob that shakes the very ground they stand on....that'll do it. An audio cue could be the mob laughing at you as you're trying to hit the mob and doing no damage to it.
Story cues. You can put some sort of dynamic indicator in the quests or story, telling the player that these guys are tough and that you may need friends.

So the options are there to give the player some notification on whether or not they should attack, or craft, or harvest or whatever...we just need people who are smarter than me to flesh them out and give them a try. We as players have to also be willing to give it a try as well. Part of the issue is that I think most players are so use to the current stat and equipment paradigm that any change away from that may be a bit too much. Very few people like the idea of a mystery encounter...they want to know if they can beat something before they attack it. They want to know if its worth they're time if they engage. They don't want to get so frustrated by dying over and over to the same class of mob.

So, will there always be numbers? Yes there will be...somewhere. We're crying for changes in the MMO space. It would be interesting to see how the player base reacts when change really comes knocking on our door. Oh look, it's a dragon and you've seem to have forgotten your calculator.

D out.

P.S Thanks Kevin for all of the fodder :)

Gary Responds

2007-04-17T14:03:00.000-05:00

Gary of MOG was kind enough to post a response to my "MOG no longer Massive or Online" article. I thought I would bring it up front for everyone.

"Hey Guys...Gary here from MOG here

When I said that I was done with MMO's right now it's more of a frustration with the current market...

We are absolutely going to be trying Conan, POTBS, Tabula, and probably every other MMO that comes out...

We LOVE the genre...it's just in a really boring place right now...consoles are forging on creating some really great experiences while MMO devs are giving us alot of the same over and over again...it's frustrating...

As for your first commenter I am sorry you think that we stopped making sense for giving what was supposed to be a monumental title(D&L)a shot...and at that time Shadowbane went completely free!! Why wouldnt we try it out...we didnt play SB in it's hay day...

Do we have a drink once in awhile...sure

Do we crack some jokes...sure

Do we talk about video games...sure

That is what we do...hopefully we make you chuckle at something and you realize we are talking about video games here...not Global Politics...it should be FUN!"

Glad to hear that they're going to stick it out and try all of these titles. It's going to be an interesting year.

D out.

We Don't Need Another Herrrrroooo

2007-04-17T06:45:00.000-05:00

...blah blah blah...Thunder Dome.....

So a friend of mine left an interesting comment on in my blog posting "Careful what we wish for...". He essentially has two things he wants me to comment on, so I'll handle them one at a time with different posts. OK, so the first part of his comment was this:

"I'd love to see your thoughts (and maybe those of Brent, Cuppy, and others) on the topic of "Everyone Wants to be a Hero".

To me that's one of the biggest challenges MMOs face. In single player games, you ARE the hero. You feel special, you are driving the story, it's all about you. You get all the "stuff". Most adventure/action/fantasy novels and movies have a hero, or maybe a small band at most. But in an MMO, everyone wants to be a hero - powerful, cool stuff, and slaying the dragon at the end.

Just thinking about things like removing gear, stats, attributes, etc. That's the hard part - how then do you define a character? How do you know you're the hero in the MMO and the guy who just logged into today for the first time is the village peasant by comparison? Is that even important?

I'm not sure a world can be created where only a few rise to a true hero status while the rest of us take up occupations like the town smith, a merchant, a scholar or a mercenary. But in books and movies that's typically how it is. Would we, as a community, be o.k. with playing a game where we have fun, we contribute, we have a place in the society of the MMO, but are not the uber hero in the uber gear? I guess SWG initially took a stab at that kind of concept by making it realy hard to become a Jedi. ..."

OK, so we all need to feel like a hero in an MMO....no doubt about it. Like he said, in single player games, movies and books, the hero is a special character that drives the story. He/She is given this large task that is usually larger than himself. Obstacles are thrown in the way. Badguys are killed/beaten up/smacked around/humiliated etc and in the end we get the girl, the white picked fence and the 2.5 kids. Why...why...why don't I feel like that in an MMO?

As I thought about his question, the more I thought that if a player does not feel like a hero, then maybe its a failure of imagination to put yourself in that role. Of course, it's harder to put yourself in that role if you are not made to feel unique...which is, again, very hard to do when the guy next to you has the exact same outfit as you do. To be made to feel unique within an MMO with 5-6000 other players on a server is not an easy design problem to overcome. Can you imagine the amount of money and resources it would take to create the assets needed to make it so that 5000 characters are not the same....in any way? That would mean differing skills, powers, weapons, armour, quests, crafting for everyone...jeepers. From a software point of view, it just can't be done. So, designers do what they do now...they create a handful of classes and other skill and equipment sets. From there, permutations and combinations fall out to give the illusion of uniqueness. So, I doubt that the feeling of a hero will not be had from a design standpoint...if you're looking for uniqueness.

So, what else can we offer? A story. We can give the player a story to throw themselves into. You know, save the princess, fight off the evil Duke and his minions...ummmm, collect 10 rat pelts because of some fetish that Zergub the Gnome Tinker has. But, that really isn't unique because everyone else will do those quests as well. If we're all experiencing the same story/quests, how are we to be made to feel the hero? Simple, you imagine that you are. You put yourself into that role and pretend that this story is unique to your character...and when you think about it, it is unique. You're level 40 Tauren has not experienced saving the princess yet, or defeated the Duke even though you or other players might have already. We just have to give our imaginations permission to bring us to that "hero place" we bring ourselves to for single player games and PnP sessions.

MMO's are a different animal from single player games because you're not brought into the story right away. An MMO just presents the world to you and says, "Here you go...make your mark". It's up to us as players to make our own story in these worlds. I know, we're kind of trained to expect visual media to tell the story for us...but I really do think that we need to take up some of the slack if we really want to feel the hero.

D out

MOG no longer Massive or Online??

2007-04-16T16:41:00.000-05:00

So, it's no secret that one of my favorite podcasts out there is MOG with hosts Garry and Ryan. These guys present a very good editorial and opinion podcast on MMOs...added to that, they've really stepped up their media content with both the MMO Minute and Cognition. However, in show #60, Gary said something that made me go "Whoa???!!". He said, "...We need some innovation. Until something comes out that is so innovative and just knocks me down...I'm almost done with MMOs." Ryan feels the same way and it looks like their interest in the genre is being "stripped away" with the current MMO offering. Again...whoa??

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to argue their point because they do represent a segment of the current MMO audience...but it still stuck me as a really weird statement to make for these two guys. Why? The reason I listen to shows like MOG and VirginWorlds is because I respect and trust their opinions on games that I'm interested in. If Brent were to message me and say, "Darren, go by game X...you're going to love it", I wouldn't hesitate. Actually, Brent is the one who put me onto Ryzom and the MOG guys convinced me to try Eve Online again....both of which are great games. I'm sure, there are people who listen to these guys and try many games based on the coverage they give. With their focus now including XBox 360 titles, this just widens the net.

Now, if Garry and Ryan are not going to try titles like Conan or PoTBS or Tabula Rasa, I wonder if they are making a mistake by not putting both feet in the pool for 2007. I've said it before, 2007 is a pivotal year for MMOs. If imitation breeds innovation, the next couple of years are going to be nuts in the MMO space. As a listener of MOG, I want to hear what they have to say on all of the MMO titles coming out in 2007.

Oh well...I hope it was just an "off the cuff" statement made out of a level of frustration. Loosing that MOG angle on MMOs would just feel wrong IMHO.

D out.

Careful what we wish for...

2007-04-16T10:07:00.000-05:00

Before I get started, I want to emphasize something about my last post. No, that post was not an "I told you so" sort of thing. This site really isn't really a news site, it's more of a random thought/editorial kind of gig....but regardless, I still have a measure of responsibility to the public discourse within the MMO community. I don't have a very large voice, but I do have one that people hear. As such, I tend to refrain myself from pressing panic buttons very often. What I read last week, regarding SOE's decision to hire David Christiansen, where obvious knee jerk reactions that had nothing to do with the hiring or it's business implications and everything to do with pre-existing hate-ons for SOE. Still sitting back and watching this one though... and I hope that we can muster a better analysis of something like this next time it comes around.

Moving on....

Innovation...Innovation...Innovation. If I hear or read that word in the context of MMOs one more time(besides this article...heh), I'll scream. OK...so the current state of MMO's being stale is duly noted...thank you very much. So, what are some of the features that some are asking for:

Get rid of the dice rolls....make it more skill based. OK, so this is going to be done in Conan I believe, so the jury is still out how this feature will play out. I have to agree with this point to some extent. When all is said and done, there is still a measure of chance to the current MMOs. You sit there, press buttons on your action bar and the game tells you if you hit or not. What I fear about "skill" based MMOs is that the game becomes all about movement and nothing at all about skill. I can't get rid of this image of a bunch of bunny hoping players jumping over each other in order to get behind their opponent. /shiver
Make it more like a FPS. I'm not not convinced that this is really an innovation. It more sounds like borrowing from another genre to me...so tell me why this is an innovation again? If you make an MMO more like an FPS, then it's only a matter of time before FPSs get stats and become more like MMOs. Are we really asking for a merger of the two genres here? If all we really want is a persistent world FPS, then why are we buggin the MMO guys and not the FPS guys to do this?
Get rid of stats. OK, thats a possibility. I'm assuming since stats don't matter, neither does level or equipment then, because they're all closely tied together in order to measure the progress of your character. So, how would a character grow within the world. I know we want the world to change...but how would the character change with it? Would we get a more Eve-like system? Ah-ha...no, because that would not be innovation, would it...it's been done already. If there is no character growth, why should I play an MMO?
Give players complete freedom within the world. Sure...we can do that, to an extent. There must be boundaries in place because they define the game you're playing. A game with no rules is not a game. This is a truth that applies to every game from poker to billiards, so there is no different for MMOs...time to deal with that fact.

There are other types of "innovations" that we want that I haven't included and I'm sure everyone reading has their own list. For the most part, we're going to see some of these in 2007. New crafting paradigm in PoTBS, skill based combat in Conan, player "freedom" in Warhammer. I have no idea why we're not being patient to see how 2007 is for "innovation" and then analyzing the results for 2008. Last year, we bitched about there being no MMOs. Now we're bitching about all MMOs being "like WoW"...even before they're released it seems. Are we really that hard to please?

I don't know, maybe our expectations are a bit too high on what these MMOs can give us. Like I said, every MMO that is coming out this year is doing something a little different...offering it's own little twist. Heh, the MMO community in general right now kinda reminds me of a typical Ottawa Senators fan..every time they loose the playoffs, these "fans" ask for everyone to be fired and for the team to be rebuilt from top to bottom. In this yearly ritual we go through, they always seem to forget how much fun the regular season was.

D out.

When the bow breaks, the cradle will....

2007-04-14T20:14:00.000-05:00

Well, there is value to waiting after all...isn't there.

What's the lesson here boys and girls? Before extracting your pound of flesh, be sure it's not your own leg your getting it from.

Fallout MMO news

2007-04-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

Now, this is very interesting. Why? Because of this little gotchya:

"In a special clause of the purchase agreement, Interplay agrees that "full-scale development of its FALLOUT MMOG will commence within 24 months of the Effective Date of this Agreement" and that "Interplay will have secured financing for the FALLOUT MMOG in an amount no less than $30 million" within that time frame or forfeit its license rights for the MMO.

Similarly, "Interplay must, in addition, Commercially Launch... the FALLOUT MMOG within four years of the MMOG Development Commencement Date, or again, "Interplay will immediately lose and permanently forfeit its license rights under this Agreement." If and when the Fallout MMO launches, Interplay has agreed to pay Bethesda 12 percent of the game's sales and subscription fees for the use of the Fallout IP."

Keep an eye on the Fallout MMO, because this clause will play heavily on the quality of this title coming out of the gate.

D out.

The Generosity of Players

2007-04-13T09:12:00.000-05:00

Well, I was logged into Eve again, and this is how may day went:

Log into vent. Hey, there's a ratting channel, lets go see if I can join them.

"Hey guys. This is my second day in 0.0 and I was wondering if I can join you for some ratting?"

"Not too sure. We're only ratting six belts, so there won't be much to go around for more players right now. But hey, we'll join up with you later with some alts or I'm sure other players can help you out."

"OK, I'll just hang out here and chat with you guys while I figure out what I'll do."

...hockey chit-chat ensued. GO SENS GO!!!

"What kind of ship do you have Bel?" ..Bel is my usual nickname I go by in most games.

"Oh...a Caracal."

"Ohhhhh...ummmmm..."

"Yeah, I know. I really suck at Eve right now...hence the reason why I'm in 0.0, to make some cash for upgrades. Empire just wasn't cutting it in terms of cash flow."

"Well...we can fix that up. I have an extra Ferox that I can give you..."

/boggle

These two corps members then went on getting modules, the ship and giving me a whole bunch of advice about training and ratting and, well, other useful information that I've already forgotten. I was literally beside myself as they handed all of this stuff to me...speechless as it were.

When everything was equipped, I took her out for a spin and it was very nice indeed. I tried to do ratting on my own, but I had to bail out of the fight because I didn't want to scratch the new paint too much.

My second day in 0.0 and my corps mates remind me why I like MMOs so much. I'm keeping names out of this post due to the nature of Eve, so they'll probably never see this....but thanks guys.

D out.

The Walls have Eyes!!

2007-04-13T07:05:00.000-05:00

It's getting insane again and the seven horsemen of the apocalypse are on the move. Why? Simple...SOE hired a VP of Business Development from IGE to to head up Business Development and International Operations. That's it then....I got lots to do before the fit hits the shan.

So far, the only people who have been even close to level headed about this is Cuppy and Brent (who agrees with Cuppy and will say no more). Everyone else seems to be, well...not so much. Now, don't get me wrong, these guys may prove to be right at some point...but right now, I just think that they are over reacting just a tad.

Look, SOE is a business and their job is to make money. David Christiansen has experience in business development and will help the SOE's corporate strategy to make money. Yes, this is an odd move due to IGE's affiliation with RMTs and such....but that's all this is for now, "odd". Saying, "well, hey, this means that SOE is now going to expand station exchange and start making RMT a core business model" is jumping the gun at this point. So no, SOE making this move does not mean that they want to eat your babies, steal your lunch money or give you a wedgie.

OK, so what if these guys are right and SOE does expand RMT and this guy is heading that initiative up. Well, here is the fun part....vote with your wallet. Don't buy SOE products. You see, thats the fun of being a customer. You get to decide where your money goes. You get to decide who to support. However, predicting doom, raining frogs, dogs and cats living together etc. , to what is right now, a non-event, just weakens your position and the point you're trying to make.

For me, I'll sit back and see what unfolds. Let's leave the crystal balls packed up for this one and actually comment when something REALLY happens with this story. Wow....that would be a switch, wouldn't it.

D out.

The Journey

2007-04-12T08:54:00.000-05:00

OK, so Eve continues it's love/hate relationship with me. Man, playing that game reminds me of a girl I dated in high school once. She's very pretty and is a great dancer, but sometimes she'll kick you square in the balls.

I opted to start communicating with my corps again (yes, I've been kinda silent while I figure this game out) and start the journey to 0.0...an area of the game which I haven't experienced yet. The corps officers immediately wanted me on vent and catch me up on things...which was really nice. They answered all of my stupid questions and even gave my sorry/poor ass some cash for supplies for the next month or so.

I did some equipping for the journey and started my first journey in 0.0...and I was very nervous for the trip, despite the corps telling me that the path is all clear. I mapped out the path and off I went, each jump I checked local for anyone who wasn't green or blue to me. With all of the talk about 0.0 that I've heard over the past year, I honestly thought that I'd be blown up after the first jump. Suffice to say that I made all jumps into 0.0 without incident and now I'm ready to experience Eve in a different way...at least, that's what I'm hoping.

Not too sure how much longer I will last in Eve given the MMOs that are coming out. PoTBS is a definite right now, and it's coming out in June I think. Let's face it, Warhammer will be a Q1 2008 release (at the earliest). Conan hasn't pushed any of my buttons at all...yayyy, I can chop off heads and it looks good, but what else? Oh yeah, their magic system is very interesting. Gods and Heroes is a possibility but again, the only thing I see right now are the animations and that ultimately won't sell me long term....and honestly, I'm still suspicious of the minion system. Who knows who will be on top of my play list at the end of 2007...it's interesting to speculate though. My guess is PoTBS, Eve and LoTR right now.

D out.

Battle of the Sexes...now with more anime

2007-04-11T08:33:00.000-05:00

It is said that there are three things you should never talk about amongst strangers: sex, politics and religion. Well, two out of three aren't bad I guess ;)

On the topics of sex (man...just typing the word should bring those 'ol hits up eh?). Some women decided it would be a swell idea if she sold herself for her flying mount in WoW. This goes up there in my "WTF" category. We all wonder why politicians, lawyers and moral police are all over the game industry these days, it's because of people like this. Opportunistic morons, *cough* Lieberman *cough* Jack Thompson* cough cough*, will seize any opportunity for power and this stunt is just giving them more fuel for their crusade. I really don't care what you do with your free time...heck, jump off a cliff for a flying mount for all I care. What I do care about is when your actions end up putting more rules and regulations on me and others because of your apparent lack of foresight. Man...we're devolving right before my very eyes.

I read a very interesting interview with Richard Garriott regarding the "Culture Clash" between East and West, as well as in Europe to some extent. One of the reasons I hate...yes, hate...Korean MMOs in general is the art and character models. I hate the fact that everyone looks like an asexual schoolgirl. However, I could never figure out why Koreans love it and why North Americans, in general, hate it. Here's a good explanation:

“Asia has a whole set of unique differences,” says Garriott. “Some of these are subtle but important. But one of the most obvious is what a heroic character looks like. In the United States, a heroic character is often very buff, broad shouldered, square chinned, and barrel-chested. The dashing hero is a very clear idea to us. In Asia, characters who look like that are always the bad guys, always.

“The people who are the good guys are young, nerdy, skinny little kids who survive against those big people because of an inner strength that somehow manifests his slight frame. And so when we create heroic characters and try to send them over to Asia they’re saying, ‘why are you making me play these big, dumb brutes who are clearly evil’. That’s a big disconnect.”

Wow...they think big/muscular people are evil and skinny/small people are good. Ummm, I'm not going to touch that one, but it's extremely interesting.

Most of you who read here probably listen to Brent over at VirginWorlds. He announced the winner of his contest in episode #63. The winning article is here...and I'll get around to blogging about the things Julie says later. To answer your question, yes, I did enter and you'll probably see my article up there within the next couple of weeks. No, I didn't win because, quite frankly, Julie rocked with what she wrote. So, grats to Julie...well deserved indeed.

In the rolling article treadmill that Brent has set up for the next couple of weeks, Cuppy's submission showed up yesterday. She tackles the non-issue of girls in games. I agree with her. I have absolutely no idea of why gender is such a big deal to some gamers and why it has anything to do with the games we play. Gamers are gamers, end of story. However, and I've posted this comment over at Cuppy's website, I do think that women fill in a vital roll in our gaming community. Women are natural community builders...they always have been, always will be. Men, well, we're good at smashing stuff. Good thing is that MMOs are a game genre in which social networks go out and smash stuff together....so it's win win for both sexes really. What really surprises me is that women don't equal or slightly outnumber men in MMOs. It's mind blowing to me that this is not the case.

D out.

This fell sergeant...

2007-04-10T07:29:00.000-05:00

Julius Caesar, Act II, Sc. II
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.

- Shakespeare

Oh dear, Darren's quoting Shakespeare....he's finally lost it. No, no I haven't, I've just ascended to a higher plane of blogging. Well, not really, but it sounds cool, doesn't it? heh...

Anyway, a couple of things have come across the tcsgamer newsroom here (...don't ask for a job in the newsroom please, I only pay the monkeys with bananas. Thanks). First up is DDO and details of their upcoming changes for Module 4: Reaver's Bane. Some of the highlights include:

Level cap increase to 14.
More enhancements to customize your character with.
New Outdoor areas

....damnit, why couldn't they have had all of this at launch. Blows my mind. I still think DDO is one of the best MMOs that people don't play. Any game that makes a Rogue useful in a group gets high marks from me. If they finally get the level cap up to 20 with even more outdoor areas, I may take a peek again.

More news on Vanguard and death penalties. Seems that they changed the way death was to be handled:
- You will no longer leave a corpse when you die; instead you will drop an essence.
- You no longer leave items (Soulbound or not) on your essence.
- Essences will return a large amount of experience upon retrieval.
- Your essence will decay after 70 hours.
- Altars will still allow you to summon corpses from before the patch on 3/30/07 (Build 1799), however, you are unable to summon essences.
- The amount of experience lost when you die has been decreased.

After some feedback they pulled the changes since they were just "experimental" to begin with. It's interesting how the whole subject of death penalties becomes a "Hardcore vs Casual" debate. I've mused about death penalties before, so I'm not going to rehash it...but I haven't talked about the so called "hardcore vs casual" element in the MMO world (...at least, I think I haven't).

So let's start with definitions. What is a hardcore player, what is a casual player. These are my own definitions...and don't you dare whip out Webster on me.

Generalization Warning...repeat, satire ahead. Oversensitive gamers who can't handle a little truth wrapped in a joke stop here...it can only end in tears if you don't.

The Hardcore Player (Geminus Hardicus Obsessivous Maximus)

A Hardcore player of MMOs, from my point of view, is someone who borders on the obsessive compulsive. They will explore and know every corner of the of the game and it's mechanics. They will know the perfect build of every class and every obscure piece of equipment that you would need to be leet. If you want to know the difference between a +4 sword and a +5 sword, he'd know and then tell you how much you're gimping your character with the +3 sword.

These types are fueled by pure emotion and tend to go ape-shit on things that would make most go "meh". They take great pride in what they've done online, but have no clue on how little it really means. They're on a quest for the best stuff and they'll spend as much time as necessary to get it.

They are also the core of most guilds. They are the ones that get things done in terms of progression. They will be helpful to others in terms of advice, however; they won't group with you if it's at the expense of their own progress.

The Casual Player (Geminus Softicous Erraticous Maximus)

The casual player wants to experience the whole game at their pace and nobody else's. They're quite happy with the +3 sword, thank you very much. They usually have a family, kinds and a job. They need to balance all of that and have a hobby as well...enter the MMO game. They know the game, they just don't care that there is a secret passage at the end of Thull Mountain and if you start this chain quest you can get a +1 bonus to Reaver faction which will then open the access to a +2 enchant for gloves....after that, a recipe will drop for a +4 sword.

Casual players tend to group up with they're own kind as they usually feel pressured to stay on until 3 am to finish getting weed-root off of this 2 hour spawning mob. They love their character but have no problems rolling an alt when they get bored or want to experience different game play. They want to experience all the content but know that will probably never be the case due to the time constraints they have.

Some casuals will form the core of a guild, but in a social way, not in a content progression way. They will help others, even at the expense of their own progress. They appreciate the hardcore people around them but wish they would calm the $%#@ down.

D out.

The CEO Monologues

2007-04-09T08:11:00.000-05:00

OK, last post on this topic unless something new comes up. Last week I mentioned Brent's (Virginworlds.com) article regarding Brad's latest post on the state of Vanguard. My post earlier of "Leaving Brad alone", was only half of what needs to happen for this game to move forward...I feel that Brent's post is the other half.

If you haven't already, you need to go take a look a the comments section of Brent's article. First, I don't think I've seen a VW blog post with this many comments...so, it's always great to see that the community is talking. Second, the community seems to be split into two camps. The first camp are those that think this communication by a CEO is great. They love this kind of access and they feel that it opens up the community and keeps them informed. The second camp are those that feel that Brad should not be posting these things...at least not without some sort of filter.

I've been thinking about my position quite a bit, and I really have not changed to that much. Yes, I still think we should leave Brad the $#@% alone so that he can focus on what he needs to focus on. I also think that communication with the gamers on forums should be left to the community managers and some devs...end of story. You may recall that back in March, I posted this article, giving Sigil high marks in keeping the community informed. I believe that this was Brad's second posting like this, and at the time I was very impressed. "Wow...two posts from Brad about the state of the game? Nice". Although I was concerned about how long it was (more about that in a minute), it was a good thing. When the third one came along and I looked at the content, I started to say to myself, "hmmmm...something ain't right". Once post is great, two is cool, three is pushing it a bit...especially from the CEO. Honestly, in the third posting, he repeated quite a bit of what he said in the other two. So, my red flag went up.

I said this on Brent's site, but I'll say it here. I really don't think a CEO's job is to directly communicate to the customer base like this. If I and 1000 had a problem with an AT&T service, I don't expect the CEO of that company to post somewhere about the nitty-gritty details of what went wrong, what they're doing about it and how great it will be in the future. Usually, I get a customer rep giving me the 411 on all of that. One point of contact, one clear message, we all move on with our lives. I really don't understand why gamers think they have some sort of divine right to access everything from the janitor to the CEO of a game company. Sure, it's nice, but I don't think it's really that healthy. These guys should be developing and thinking up new stuff for us to play, not fending off people in the forums. The forums of all places!!! Jeepers.

Now, on the length of the article. One thing I learned about debating in a forum of any kind, besides the futility of it all, was that the longer your argument post was, the more someone can pick apart your argument and turn the debate to fit their agenda. You leave it short, and the amount of wiggle room you leave for someone to maneuver and control the argument is reduced significantly. Part of Brad's problem is that he left it wide open for the trolls and the haters to have at him. He could have said what he said on the main website, not in a forum and he could have kept it short.

I think Brad has played all of his cards right now and another posting from him in a months time would not be a good idea. I may eat those words, fine, I can live with being wrong...but I'm not trying to sell a game.

D out.

Great PoTBS info! Read it now

2007-04-08T06:40:00.000-05:00

I know, I never post on a Sunday...and I'm sure there is something in the heavens that will smite me for it, but I had to give you guys this info.

It has some great stuff on Pirates of the Burning Sea. I was going to get this game anyway, but now I pretty much have too. The way crafting is handled is pure genius and something that I've never encountered before. I love the idea of contested ports...this may be the game that really gets me into PvP. One thing though, I want to be a Pirate, but I also want to be an Officer of the English navy....decisions, decisions.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the read.

D out.

Virgin Worlds above the fray

2007-04-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

The tubes are still a hoppin with commentary over Brad's recent comments on the current state of Vanguard. As of yesterday, I think almost everyone that I read posted something on what he had to say....except for one person. I was asking myself this very question yesterday, "Gee wiz...I wonder when Brent will comment on this." No, I didn't actually say "Gee wiz..", but I did imagine Brent somewhere in a dark basement with his collection of voodoo dolls thinking something up. I'm positive that just before he was about to poke my voodoo doll in the right eye, he delivered.

When I was reading the blogosphere about this, mine included, we were all hitting the target of the issue, but Brent hit the bullseye...especially with the point of a CEO making that many comments on a public forum regarding a product. Brent is right, there is no filter between Brad and the community...and there should be, especially in this industry where emotion usually trumps logic and facts. Brent illustrated this point best when he wrote:

"Everyone, including me, has criticized Blizzard for its (apparent) disdain for its players and the gaming press. They do not talk much, and when they do, the statements are precise,sterile and unwavering. Just the facts. No explanation. No whimpering. I call this "acting as if" and it is one of the most powerful business tools. Brad needs to "act as if" Vanguard is exactly what he wanted. He needs to show no sign of weakness. He needs a crazy militant PR manager to keep him buckled down. Admitting weakness to the trolls of the web is a surefire way to expose your own underbelly to some prodding."

To my knowledge, and correct me if I wrong, there is no community manager for Vanguard. If that is the case, they need to get one and quick so that there is a filter/buffer between the team at Sigil and the community. Don't get me wrong, it's really nice to have an open channel to the CEO, but I think that time has come and gone. I don't want to see Vanguard fail from a slow bleed caused by underbelly wounds.

However, despite what Brent wrote, I still think we should leave Brad alone now. Oh yeah, and Brad should "hush up and hire a new art team". OK...I changed my opinion a bit :)

D out.

The Day that will never end

2007-04-05T08:11:00.000-05:00

This will probably be my only post for the day. I've got a half day meeting plus a "teambuilding" event here at work...so, sucks to be me ;)

Not much coming out of my usual news sources this morning...but lots of bloggers are picking up and commenting on Brad's latest post on Vanguard. No shortage of opinion there. Some are predicting the doom scenario for Vanguard, and some are analyzing the areas that Brad touched on: Performance, Server population, Marketing etc. I liked Ancient Gaming Noob's take on it the best so far. Cuppy went to town on Brad and pulls no punches on how she sees the situation. Note to self: Don't release an unfinished game or Cuppy will kill me ;)

...I still think we should leave the guy alone though ;)

D out.

OK, I lied...well, kinda

2007-04-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

...but not intentionally. I more or less misplaced the memory of me doing this.

Remember when I said that Silent Hunter 4 would be my only single player purchase for 2007. Well, not so much. I completely forgot that I purchased Sins of a Solar Empire. This game is created by Stardock...yes, the same company that brought you Galactic Civ II. I absolutely love this little indie company to death. When I heard that they were making a Homeworld II, meets Gal Civ II meets...and I'll say it...Eve Online (my characterization btw...and no, it's not an MMO but does have that vast space feel that Eve gives you), I had to get it. The big bonus is that pre-order customers get into the beta...yayyy. If you want to know what a beta is like from Stardock, here is a snippet from Brad Wardell's expectations of a beta:

Sins of a Solar Empire Beta 1 Objectives:

The goal of beta 1 is for us to test out the game engine. How well does it run on a wide range of PCs? How is the perfomance? How is compatibility?

There has been much discussion on galciv2.com by players who note that our games usually require few "patches" to fix major bugs. This is why. We release publicly the games during early beta to nail down these issues long before it hits the shelves.

These days, many "beta" programs are little more than late-term demos designed with marketing in mind as well as nailing down final balancing issues. That's not what this beta is for.

There will be at least 3 major beta releases. Possibly 4 depending on how well public feedback is.

There are no NDAs involved. If you don't like what we're doing, tell us. We do not require NDAs precisely because we don't want you to feel any constraints on giving feedback.

Most of you have no doubt played games where you later hear the beta testers didn't think the game was ready for release but they were stuck under NDA. I've never seen an example where the beta testers were wrong.

...amen.

For a beta, the game is rock solid and a blast to play. It scares me to think what the final product will be like.

D out.

The Value of a Comment

2007-04-04T07:51:00.000-05:00

I get some really great comments from my readers for my articles....and I love all of them. I got a really good comment for my "Get it on like Oprah" article a couple of days ago from Psychochild that I think deserves to be brought to the front:

"Heya. As I said in other places, this was mostly an April Fool's post. Mostly. The post was certain attitudes taken to extremes. This is part of what I think April Fool's Day is all about: saying and doing things that you can't say or do other times, with the hopes that someone gets the point.

The biggest issue most devs have is what I say in my post: people who won't take, "We know that won't work," as an answer. Even if we step through our reasoning, there's always some room for wiggling and haggling and anybody with enough tenacity will always have enough ammunition to continue the fight.

Note that this isn't just an issue with people on forums. I've had to nip quite a few arguments in the bud in my current work. The difference is that as a lead designer and someone who influences who gets paid, I have more control over the argument. But, there's a reason why people like Gordon Walton call the design process, "knifing your babies." Sometimes it really sucks to have to dump your super-cool idea. The main difference between a professional and an amateur game designer is the ability to recognize your ideas with no future and being able to abandon them in the cradle."

...great comment dude. Thanks.

OK....time to leave Brad alone

2007-04-04T06:41:00.000-05:00

In his third such posting (that I know of anyway), Brad McQuaid gives his thoughts on the current state of Vanguard. OK, so Brad has posted some very honest, and sometime long thoughts and I've read all of them to the letter and I only have one thing to say right now, and its not to Brad, but to the Vanguard community: It's...time...to...leave...him...alone...now.

I think Brad has gone above and beyond the call of duty in explaining why Sigil did what they did. I've gotten over why they had to release early, we all know why they had to do so. We all know the bugs, the quirks and the hundreds of other issues with the game. Now it's time to let Brad and the folks at Sigil realize the potential that Vanguard has. They can't work if they are focused on constantly explaining themselves to, quite franky, ignorant and impatient assha....unitards (damnit...overusing that one too). Please, if only for my sanity, I don't want to see Brad explain himself again in any other forum. It's gotten to the point where he is down on the ground and some are now kicking him. Stop...it...please. Of course, continue to report bugs and issues to devs and lets help them out. There's no going back to January and there's nothing Brad can do except work on the present and the future of Vanguard. So....what are YOU going to do to help make this game better? Prove me wrong on my impression of the typical MMO player mindset.

OK...now that I'm purged of that thought, what's my current thoughts of Vanguard. Well, I'm still playing it and I'm still having a good time doing so. I haven't played much LoTR if that gives you any indication of where I stand with Vanguard...but then again, there is a level cap on the LoTR Open Beta, so I really don't have to play it. I'm currently a level 22 Ranger and I'm working on soloing some quests here and there. Trying my best to find a group to go through TK with me (...this reflects back to the low server population comment that Brad mentioned). I realize that I said that I doubt I'd play this past level 20 in my podcast review...but I'm finding myself wanting to play this game more as the weeks go by. My attitude towards this game fluctuates quite a bit, so one thing that remains true from my review is that I'm still on the fence on whether this game will hold me for the long term.

D out.

Holy crap!

2007-04-03T08:51:00.000-05:00

...this is a great article regarding violence in video games over at Gamers with Jobs. A...MUST...read.

D out.

A Community of Learning...and stuff

2007-04-03T07:02:00.000-05:00

Well, there's been some great feedback from the tcsgamer podcast ep1 appearing on VW....whew, dodged that bullet. It's usually ok when I post it here, because compared to Brent, my audience is relatively small. The reflection of your work gets put right in your face when a larger audience is presented. So, I'm happy with it...but there are some things that I need to do differently with Ep3. So, thanks for the feedback everyone...and again to Brent for taking the chance and putting it up there :)

In the world of conferences, there is an interested on coming up on July 12-13 in Wisconsin called the Games, Learning & Society Conference. As most know, I have a 6 year old girl floating around my house, and the amount of stuff she has learned from the computer is mind boggling to say the least. I taught her how to use a mouse and keyboard at the age of 4 and off she went with Disney ABCs, and Disney Pirate Adventure etc...it's crazy. She's also getting very good at Super Mario with the DS. The importance of using a computer and PC games as a tool for learning cannot be underestimated...not to mention the hand-eye coordination needed to play on the DS. I swear do Zeus though, if hear one peep about how video games cause wacko idiots to go postal in their school....I'll scream.

I really hope they talk about the impact that gaming has on technology in society as well. I will make a huge assertion here, only based on my gut and observation: PC technology, and consoles, would not be where they are today if it weren't for gaming. I truly think that PC gaming is THE reason why we at at the level that we are in terms of RAM, Processor and Video Processing technology. That's why I kinda get the "ohhhhh, careful what you wish for..." look when I hear some people say "PC gaming is dead....again". I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't have the 360 or PS3 today if it wasn't for advances made by the PC. I'm also sure that Toy Story, Monsters INC, Cars or any other great animated films would not have been made if it weren't for some of the breakthroughs pioneered by PC gaming designers. Yes, it would be a very interesting topic indeed for this conference.

A blog called Random Battle put up a very interesting article about his struggle between getting a job in the gaming industry but also keeping it as an enjoyable hobby. I hear you my man....I hear you. I decided long ago that working in the game industry was probably not for me. Although, I'm sure that the working conditions probably differ from company to company, working in the industry seems to be reserved for the young, kidless and those who require little sleep...I am neither anymore (cue comment from designer who's managed a great work/home balance). Of course, I'm doing coding of games on the side, yes, but that's only for the sake of coding and to keep myself from going insane in my current job. Anyway, I understand where he's coming from....even running this blog has eaten some time into my gaming. I've talked and listened to others who are far more into this industry than I am, and they all say the same thing, "I have no time for gaming". Isn't that sad? Here we all all, talking about an activity we all love, and yet we can't find the time to do said activity. Well...I hope he's able to find the right balance between gaming as a hobby and gaming as work.

Now here is an interesting article by Grimwell regarding the posting of world wide firsts in EQ2. Wow...it's really stunning to me how seriously some people take their game. I really don't envy Grimwell for being a Community Manager in EQ2, it's something that takes a really thick skin to do. Actually, there is something worse than being a CM for EQ2....being a CM for WoW. My lord...can you imagine? /shiver

D out.

Look ma...I'm a star!

2007-04-02T08:14:00.000-05:00

Well...not really.

Brent, from VirginWorlds has put my LoTR Beta Review podcast as a feature segment in Show #62. Go give it a listen...oh yeah, Brent's show is ok too I guess :)

I think the two podcasts complement each other quite nicely and I want to thank Brent for putting the show in there. To save you from asking, yes, I've given Brent podcast #2 (the Vanguard review) to put into a future VW show as well.

I'm trying to come up with some material for Episode #3, so keep an eye out for it.

D out.

Let's get it on like Oprah

2007-04-02T06:56:00.000-05:00

Before I go to town, I want to say that yes, I did not post something April Foolishy. On this day, all though I love all of the jokes, I usually put my "politician/car salesman/lawyer" force shield on when encountering anyone or anything on this day. I will admit though, one person...he knows who he is...BRENT!!!... had me for about 5 seconds on Saturday (or was it Friday??? hmmmm), so that doesn't count. Shame on you sir! Shaaaaame.

Now, there is a blog post over at Psychochild that I caught my attention during my morning surfing. Remember, it was posted on April 1st, so I wanna see goggles and force shields people! There is quite a bit of language in the article, but it's still funny as hell. It also got me thinking about if some devs feel that way about people like, well, me. I've commented quite a bit on "innovation" and design issues, brought up suggestions that would maybe make games better. Holy crap! This guy wants me to die!? /sob

Seriously, reading all of the noise out there must get to some devs at some point...it would get to me. Designing a game is hard work and these guys put in a lot of hours to bring us entertainment. Let's face it, the general, the player noise out there usually falls on the negative side of the fence. It's sort of a golden rule...you never hear about it when it goes wrong. It's true, it's a really vocal minority of assha....ummmm, unitards, but man do they make quite a bit of noise when they feel something is wrong with their game. I kind of wonder what goes through a devs head when your "typical" fire erupts on the forums? How do they isolate themselves from all of the negativity that spews at them on a daily basis? I know the blog entry is tongue-in-cheek, but do they have days when they just say, "Screw you guys...I'm going home...".

D out.

Spoiled Rotten...tomatoes??

2007-03-30T06:59:00.000-05:00

Man...I've got to get off the sauce with these titles.

Anywho, there was an interesting post over at MMO Gaming by Brandon that I think I'd like to discuss. The premise of the article is that MMO gamers are spoiled when it comes to their genre. Spoiled, because of our high expectations for change within the MMO space. We think that the genre has stagnated, that it is offering nothing new, and that if we were just patient and wait, the changes we want will come...eventually.

Hmmmm...it's an interesting theory and it may be true, but I don't think the correct word to use is "spoiled". Being spoiled implies someone asking for and getting everything that they want...and clearly this is not the case as far as the players are concerned. MMO players are clearly not getting all they want, nor will they ever get all that they want, therefore, they cannot be "spoiled". What they are is frustrated at the perceived rut we are in, and there very well may not be any rut at all...we just may be seeing a disconnect between what is expected and what can be delivered. MMO gamers can bark at the moon until they are blue in the face, but there are financial implications to every feature they want...and every MMO cannot be everything to everybody. So we get into this mismatch when a player gets into a game and then says, "Why can't they have X, Y and Z in here?! We need it or I'm looking elsewhere".

We've also go to understand that players put a lot more time and money in MMOs than any other genre out there. Over the course of a two year subscription, a typical MMO player would have spent $410 on a game ($50 box + $360 for subscription at $15/month). The amount of hours varies for each player...but multiply your typical length of time by your local minimum wage to put a value on it if you want. It adds up to quite a bit over the course of two years. Now, a typical FPS game runs for the same box price with no subscription and the typical length is about 10 hours. So, there is an obvious investment factor to MMOs that FPSs do not have and I think that MMO devs should listen to those investors.

I do admit though...sometimes these "investors" act like unitards (the term"asshat" has been put away for a while to be reused at a later date). There are better and more constructive ways to address developers than how we already are. Right now, it seems like we approach these professionals in a very unprofessional way. Calm, rational discourse is not really the typical characteristic of the MMO "mob personality". Gotta change that.

D out.

The Anatomy of Discourse

2007-03-29T06:51:00.000-05:00

So, interesting night last night. Before I settle in for whatever gaming experience I'm going to give myself for the night, I usually give my site one last look for traffic and also check my emails for any comments on my ramblings. I had one from Brent in my Fruit Salad article. "Oh" I said. I really didn't think much of that post when I wrote it so I wondered what attracted Brent to it....cause all he wrote was "All I have to say: http://virginworlds.com/pg.php?n=6106". I cursed his name for being so cryptic (/wink) and went to check it out. Apparently, a fellow blogger had an issue with something I wrote at the tail end of the article...specifically, I said this:

...consoles are on the rise and this worries me. I see the console gamer culture much like the WoW culture...translate, I don't like it very much. So yeah, it worries me to hear the words "MMO" and "console" used in the same sentence. True, it opens up the market and makes more money for game developers...but it also opens up the door for more asshats and battlenet kiddies in my games. I like them where they are...in the nice, controlled environment of WoW...where they can be studied. You get MMOs and console gamers together and they'll get out...and our hopes for an asshat cure from those studies will be lost.

Looking at the above, which was part satire, part serious and part crap, I may have brought the ol' foot down a bit too hard on this type of gamer. Se7en was calling me on it. He thought he was taking a jab at me and I really don't see it that way. I honestly have no problem when people call me on anything I say here...as long as you're not, well, and asshat about it, and he wasn't. Se7en could have just as easily been very nasty and caused drama, etc, etc....but he didn't. I could have easily done the same...but I didn't...and Brent, being the gentlemen and community hub that he is, came up the middle with a response of his own. That, ladies and gents is how ideas flow and why I love doing an MMO blog.

It's true, MMOs going to consoles is happening...no doubt about it and I've accepted that. Actually, I'm very curious on how well Age of Conan will actually do on the 360. Still, when I think about it, it still irks me as being the wrong move for some reason. I don't know, maybe it's because MMOs have always been a PC genre and I can't get my brain around the concept. Strategy games are still mainly a PC genre, and they fall into the same kind of mental block for me. You don't see big strategy releases like Supreme Commander or Command and Conquer 3 making big announcements for the 360 or, gawd help me, the PS3...because they just wouldn't work on that platform for me. I have a very hard time picturing getting into an MMO on a 360 with a controller in my hand, and then pressing X-Y-Right-Left-UP-DOWN-UP while doing the Chicken Dance to perform a special move a-la Mortal Combat. Am I making any sense? If they don't do that, then they're going to simplify the control scheme and then it just becomes Gears of War with elves and weapon stats. It's coming, I know....it's needed, I know...but I'm not getting warm and fuzzy about it. Drink the koolaid Darren....drink the koolaid.

Now about the asshats. Yes, the majority of MMO players and even WoW players do not fall within this category. It's a character flaw of mine that I have a very low tolerance for the type of person who screams "NOOB!!! PWNED!! L337!!" in vent and then goes on a homicidal rant about why a +33 str sword sucks compared to a +34 str sword. It's just not 13 year olds, I've heard 20-somethings start this stuff. I just have to ignore these people a bit more and keep telling myself, "We have no problem here...we have no problem here....".

D out.

Oh gawd my eyes....the goggles do nothing!

2007-03-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

So I was taking a look at Site Meter for the site yesterday, you know, to see who's jumping in and to also see if there are any new faces taking a peek. I was doing this at work...important point. There were the usual sites visiting (thanks guys) and some google search links...and there it was, a new site taking a look. Well, I clicked it and I couldn't find the close button fast enough.

Nothing like a little gay porn site popping up at work to get your heart rate going.

[Edit: And that would be an "oh gawd, I'm going to get fired" kinda heart rate...not a "oh kewl..gay porn" kind of heart rate. I know some of you were thinking that...sickos :) ]

Vanguard keeping us in the loop

2007-03-28T12:59:00.000-05:00

I got to hand it to Brad and his team...they sure do like keeping the players in the loop on what's happening in Vanguard.

Two things. First is a new page over at the official Vanguard site called "In the Works". The page gives a nice overview of short term and long term goals for the dev team. It also gives a top 10 list of bugs and issues they are looking into. As Borat would say...very niiiccce.

Second, Brad himself posted on the forums again. In keeping with the last format, this one is quite long as well. This one is from the TelonCast forums. Once again, he goes over the past, present and future of Vanguard. They are coming around the current realities of the MMO space post-WoW I think...and good for them. It would be nice to see a more serious post-WoW MMO out in the market, and I think Vanguard can pull it off. Here's an interesting piece from it:

"We have a LOT of cool stuff planned (city building, mounted combat, ship to ship combat, better AI and more interesting dungeon layouts and population, eventually user generated content and a more dynamic world, and so much more)"

Nice.

One thing though...despite Vanguard's current unfinished state, the Sigil team gets good marks for community communication.

D out.

A Fruit Salad

2007-03-28T08:33:00.000-05:00

When I think fruit salad, I think of a mixed bag of stuff....but since I used that title already, I now feel the need to get metaphoric.

First up is a follow-up of the IP blocking issue brew-ha-ha over at Turbine. Turns out that they've removed the blocking of IPs for North America, so now customers can play on EU servers with their friends if they want to. However, they do recommend that you stay in your own region for the best play experience and service. Who are we kidding, it's only a matter of time before a group demands to have zero ping across the Atlantic..."We're paying customers damnit!!". Anyway, this will be good news for those who have friends in the EU.

I recently noted that I missed the LoTR end of beta event. Luckily, Fosef over at Gamebunny has been kind enough to give a brief summary of what happened that night. Makes me regret missing that event. Just as a note...that bluish dragon you see in the screen shots looks very much like the ones I had to kill in some PvE quests during my Monster Play stint.

Something interesting turned up at CuppyTalk yesterday. If you read her blog, she recently asked for schooling advice. Me being the high-tech geek Engineer that I am, gave my advice...buuuuut, a lead EQ2 programmer from SOE named Don also chimed in and gave her some great advice. That was very kind of Don to take the time to post this information. If you're interested in someday being a developer/programmer, go over there and read what he says. I'm sure Cuppy is geekin out over that post :)

Lastly, there is a huge article over at Gamasutra that goes into how to make MMOs more appealing to a mass audience. For those that just want a summary, you can find it once again over at Gamebunny. More appealing to the mass market? Hmmmmm....isn't that what WoW did??? One of the more amusing tidbits of the article reads:

"On the other side of the PC gaming coin, non-subscription retail games face increasingly grim prospects as customers turn to pirated software and parasitic games such as the aforementioned World of Warcraft, which more than one executive has blamed for slow PC game sales. And they appear to have a valid complaint: retail sales of PC games have fallen every year since 2001, while revenue from subscription fees has skyrocketed."

Ummmm...no. First, WoW didn't come into the market until 2004 so it can't account for anything PC sales wise before that. Second, according to NPD (gamepsot news source), game sales for 2001 broke records. 2002, sales where down but according to NPD, that was more due to console sales. 2003, it slumped. Fast forward to 2006 and reports are that the PC game industry is indeed quite healthy. True, down from 2004, but nothing I would describe as "grim prospects". The pirating of PC games and the link to sales is a load of crap...always has been a load of crap, always will be a load of crap. PC gamers are not turning to pirated games...period. If they are, its a very small group of people and I doubt it would even dent the bottom line. Jeesh. Most of the "decline" in sales have been from box stores like your EBs or Best Buys....the NPD numbers do not even account for digital distribution of PC games which is expected to double this year alone. So, once again the "PC gaming is dead" drum is being beaten...please stop it, thanks.

He is right though, consoles are on the rise and this worries me. I see the console gamer culture much like the WoW culture...translate, I don't like it very much. So yeah, it worries me to hear the words "MMO" and "console" used in the same sentence. True, it opens up the market and makes more money for game developers...but it also opens up the door for more asshats and battlenet kiddies in my games. I like them where they are...in the nice, controlled environment of WoW...where they can be studied. You get MMOs and console gamers together and they'll get out...and our hopes for an asshat cure from those studies will be lost.

D out.

FIRE!!!!

2007-03-27T08:18:00.000-05:00

Well...not really...but I think the blog-o-sphere is the only place left where you can say "fire!" and not have the black helicopters come and drag you away. Plus, I'm starting to run out of titles for some strange reason. Carrying on then....

Actually, before I do carry on I had an interesting comment from my last article. I did one of those visual writing comments regarding the amount of MMO "goodness" coming out in 2007. One of my readers and fellow blogger Cuppycake seems to feel that there is a lot of "MMO mediocrity" coming out in 2007 and she got me thinking...way to go Cuppy :) 2006, I think we all can agree, was a very dry year for MMOs with the only new thing really launching was DDO. For 2007 we have 5 or 7 high profile MMOs launching, most of which are fantasy based. Cuppy is not the only person really feeling "meh" about the offerings for 2007, the MOG Army guys Garry and Ryan are kinda projecting that vibe as well. Personally, I don't think it's going to be that bad of a year...actually, I think 2007 will be the year that the MMO reaches a maturing point. I think the MMO genre is now reaching a point where it is establishing standards for itself, i.e. UI layout, death penalties, exp curves, quest expectations, PvP etc. All the MMO companies are putting all of these expected standards into their games and choosing a handful of new features and innovations to excel on. I think this is a good thing and after 2007 we'll start seeing the real innovations coming out of the industry, with even more standard features included from the 2007 games. It's the great circle of MMO life we're seeing here.

Switching gears completely, Spellborn is starting to make a bit of a ruckus right now. A couple of really good features that are being introduced in this one:

No stats for armor. Actually, you can add stat increases to your armor by adding modifications called sigils. This is kind of like the slotting feature that BC brought to WoW. There whole drop system and crafting of new armor looks really interesting.
No big raids...thank Zeus!! Presently, no MMO has broken away from this end game grind for gear we call raids. It's starting to become a relic and this whole raiding concept needs to be revisited. Looks like Spellborn is first up to bat with this reevaluation of the raiding end game.
Combat is more action oriented than other MMO offerings right now. Their system kind of reminds me of Guild Wars, so there is a certain strategy to setting up your skills.

Damnit! Due to the way they're approaching this game, I'm going to have to put this one on my radar.

Lastly, for those that are interested, here is the current schedule for the LoTR beta. I unfortunately missed the end of beta event yesterday and as of today, the beta servers are dark and won't be up again until the Open Beta starts. Hope to see everyone in there on the 30th.

D out.

Vanguard, LoTR, EVE...and a partridge in a pear treeeeee

2007-03-26T06:56:00.000-05:00

OK....sorry about the partridge thing, I'm feeling a bit punchy this morning. A couple of things before I go completely nuts here. Apparently, I'm still playing Vanguard...I have no idea why, I just am. If you're looking for me in the Hilsbury server, look no further because I moved to the Gulgrethor server a couple of weeks ago. I've joined a guild as well and am now a level 19 Ranger, name Belmirus. The game has improved by quite a bit since my review three weeks ago. Vanguard still isn't quite there yet though and probably won't be "there" for another 3-4 months. I'm going to keep playing though. I'll probably do yet another review (....jeesh...), maybe at the end of the summer or early fall.

LoTR Open beta for those that pre-ordered is just around the corner and I'm really excited to fully start this game. One thing I'm not looking forward to though, is going through levels 1-15 again. When the open beta hits this week, this would be the third time going through those levels and repeating that content...so...yayyyyy. It might be slow going for those levels because the exploration drive just isn't there after the second time for me. Once that's done, watch out. I think I'll end up making a Captain as my class because, well, being a Captain of Gondor is just too cool to give up on. I figure LoTR will be a nice casual break from Vanguard's style, but I have no idea which game will win out in the end. LoTR has a head start due to it's polish, but Vanguard is making some headway in that category...but it still has a long way to go. I have a couple of friends playing Vanguard right now, and one of the bad things about LoTR coming out is that I don't want them to get too far ahead of me in Vanguard. Bah....damn you 2007...why must you be so full of MMO goodness...(/emote Darren shakes fist in the air).

With more LoTR news, this article seems to be making the rounds. It's quite a long read and the the amount of effort put into this article is amazing. The article is about Turbine's recent announcement that basically says that those living in North America will not be able to play with any friends they may have in EU. From a purely selfish point of view, I'm kinda "meh" about this...simply because I don't regularly play with anyone from the EU. From a community PR point of view, I can see how this would be a big deal...especially for guilds that have members around the globe. I'm still munching on the details of what he asserts in the article...and I may comment on them later. The article is definitely worth the read.

Eve Online has now rolled out Revelations 1.4 and voice chat is one of the big features. I must admit, I don't play Eve anymore...I canceled about a month ago (...there just isn't enough PvE stuff in there IMHO, or I just plain suck at the game...one or the other). I'm sure all those in Eve are adjusting quite nicely to the new voice chat feature. I know I'll be heading into Eve again in the future, so this will be a nice addition to look forward to.

So...that's it. Oh, Silent Hunter 4 is still progressing...so I think this single player purchase was worth it. There are lots of bugs in the game right now though. Oh....and the manual SUCKS! There are sooo many undocumented details in this game, it makes me sick. Example: Did you know that you could not load torpedoes while you're in silent running mode...me neither! I can only say that WWII would have turned out a lot different if sub commanders where given this stupid, wimpy manual to fight the Axis with. My thanks to the community over at Subsim for all your help so far...great bunch of guys over there.

D out.

The Mixed Bag 'O Stuff

2007-03-23T07:02:00.000-05:00

So, as the tittle suggests, this post is a bit of a mixed bag...so forgive me for being all over he place on this one. First, is it just me, or is it gotten really quiet in the MMO world all of a sudden. No "real" news to speak of really...which leaves dimwitted bloggers like me (...ok, only me..) with very little to comment on. It is just me? OK, as you were then....

First up is a great interview over at MMOG Nation with Marc Jacobs. I've been reasonably impressed with the information coming out of the Warhammer camp as of late. In this interview he goes over some of his favorite features of Warhammer as well as some comments on the relationship with EA. Marc seems to be quite taken on their implementation of RvR, and honestly, that's the feature that I'm looking forward to on this game. I've gotten over the T for Teen thing, but I'm still not seeing a reasonable justification for the absence of a death penalty. Don't get me wrong, I'm still getting the game and trying it out, so it's not a deal breaker by any means...I just think it's not a good design decision. Marc also brings up on how expensive it is now to develop an MMO. He's certainly right and this does contribute to the early release of many MMOs...the most recent being Vanguard. We've heard a lot about "polish" in MMOs from developers during GDC...I'm just wondering if they've got the cash to do it.

In the category of "Pirate Love", Ten Ton Hammer has got a video preview of Pirates of the Burning Sea. I really didn't see nothing new in the video gameplay wise...but I did get a better look at ships and I also got a better feel of their quest system from the preview. You know, one thing is starting to bug me about combat in PotBS. When you watch a pirate movie, or any movie with sword play (Princess Bride or Pirates of the Carribean for example), the sword play is very fluid and fast. When I look at the combat in PotBS, I don't see that kind of sword exchange. Why can't they implement a continuous, smooth fencing action with special moves in between? This may very well what is in the game, I just haven't seen it in the video previews that I've seen so far. What I see so far is a lot of special moves with long pauses in between swings as recharge timers charge back up. No no no...blades of the swords should always be in contact as we see in most movies about pirates.

Tobold has put up another great blog post about peer pressure in WoW...specifically about getting to 70 quick and staying with that "inner circle" to see raiding content. I got that feeling from WoW as well...not just in our guild, but on our server in general. I can't really quantify the feeling, and maybe it was just me. I knew who the first ten people would be to 70 in my guild just from the way they played in the past. I also knew that those people would form a sub-group and hit the raid content first, leaving some of the other "casual" players scrounging for groups. This seems to be happening to a lot of guilds game wide. It looks like guilds are having a hard time transitioning from the 40 man raids to the 10 and 25. This is the way Blizzard designed the BC end game, and now I'm thinking it wasn't such a good idea. They should have just stuck with the 40 mans.

So, I got my copy of Silent Hunter 4 last night and played with it a little....and I guess it's a good game. The tutorial missions are not very good and kind of leave you out there to learn on your own...which is ok, but not very newb friendly. The graphics are really, really nice and the sound is good too. This seems to be quite a hardcore sub sim, although you can configure the realism to suit your needs...I just need to tweak it to find my happy place. I took a look at the career mode last night and I was hit in the face with a recon mission that involved me traveling from Hawaii to just off mainland Japan. Wow, looking at the map, that's quite a bit of traveling to do. So, that kind of turned me off a bit. Going to keep playing it and see if I can figure this game out. As my only single player purchase of 2007, I'm hoping that it can deliver a nice change of pace in between MMOs.

D out.

What's in an IP?

2007-03-21T09:54:00.000-05:00

I've been mulling over the question on whether I not I would be playing, or even interested in, LoTR Online if it wasn't Lord of the Rings. It's an interesting question and brings a larger question to mind: Does the IP have any effect on the success of an MMO? If I answer this question, I'm sure I can figure out whether the IP of Lord of the Rings has anything to do with me being interested in this game. Right?

Well, let's take a look at the current "big" IP MMO offerings that we have now:

Star War Galaxies
Matrix Online
Dungeons and Dragons Online

You might argue that WoW and EQ2 should be added to the list as well just due to how deep their lore is...but those two have only touched gaming and have not branched out to other media forms such as movies.

Now realistically, none of those titles are really doing that well. Correction, none of those titles are doing as well as they should be, given the weight behind the IP. Star Wars Galaxies has been plagued with controversy since the NGE "issue". Matrix Online is dying a slow death with a low subscriber base and lack of new content. DDO, although filled with new approaches, stumbled at the starting block with not enough content, low level cap and a non persistent world. So far, not a very good track record for MMOs with big IPs behind them. They seem to be suffering from the same curse that Star Trek has with single player PC games (...ironically, Star Trek is also getting an MMO...uh-ohhhhh).

Now, let's take the IPs away from these guys and pretend that they are just MMOs with a given set of features and gameplay mechanics. Let's also look at the first three months of subscriber numbers and use that as a popularity or "buzz" measuring stick. This will be rough, but bear with me.

Matrix Online: first 3 months: 50, 000 subs
SWG: first 3 months: 275,000 subs
DDO: first 3 months: 100,000 subs

Of course, these are estimates by looking at the MMO charts at MMOChart.com. Now, if I've read the graph right, SWG is at the top of the "buzz" meter and took off pretty quickly when it was launched in 2003. That makes sense really, since it's arguably the most well known sci-fi IP in existence. DDO is in second place and again, not surprisingly. D&D is a niche market and really wouldn't have the same type of broad base appeal of a Star Wars title. I would argue that a lot more non gamers would pick up a Star Wars MMO than say a D&D MMO. Not sure if thats what these numbers point to, but it would play a factor. I'm not surprised that MxO took third place because I honestly don't think it's a strong enough IP for an MMO. I personally think that people have a hard time getting into playing a Neo like character. The whole Matrix world is a bit harder to relate to from an RP perspective IMHO. I don't know, maybe if Matrix had 25-ish years in the public conscience it would be a better MMO fit, but I just can't see it for some reason.

So, from the numbers I would say that the IP did carry the title during its first three months of release...but then what happens? Well, for MxO and SWG, gameplay issues started to trump the IP. The honeymoon for each of these guys was anywhere between 6-12 months. So the lesson here is that no matter what your IP is, if there isn't a game behind it, you're setting yourself up for failure. We just haven't seen this in MMOs by the way. Single player PC, XBox and PS2 titles are filled with strong IP games that just ended bombing due to poor game design.

Now, I guess for LoTR we can expect the same kind of thing when it hits the market. For the first three months we're going to see the IP carry the game to somewhere in the 200, 000 subscriber base area (my guess by the way). Six to twelve months from then, we'll start to see what people really feel about the game, myself included. At that point though, this is where my expansion theory either sinks or swims. When the honeymoon is over, LoTR has got to release an expansion that sets the tone for this game. It can't afford to release a BC like expansion where it's more of the same...it's got to be something that will grab hold of the players like a vice grip. It's got to be something that will get non-LoTR players involved as well. If it fails to do this, I see it heading the way SWG is right now.

Now, am I playing LoTR because it's Lord of the Rings? Yes. Am I only playing it for the IP? No. Same could be said for WoW...yes I played it because it's a Blizzard game, but it wasn't the only reason I played it. If you stripped Blizzard and Warcraft from WoW, I would have still played it for the many reasons I've already expressed on this site. Quality, gameplay, atmosphere are all factors in the game for me. Seeing Frodo and Strider are really kewl but they're really the nice shiny bow and wrapping paper over a nice box filled with candy....mmmmm, candy.

So, it looks like IP does play an important part in a game's popularity...but a game has to do more in 2007 than "drop a name" in order to be successful. We'll have to revisit LoTR next year and see how the manage what can be described as an IP Curse.

D out.

Walk the Quality Plank...YARRRR!!!

2007-03-20T07:24:00.000-05:00

I wanted to direct everyone to the latest Dev Log over at Flying Labs (the creators of Pirates of the Burning Sea). Specifically this little blurb really caught my attention:

"This build is not only the milestone build (the culmination of the work of a single milestone), it just so happened this was the “feature complete” milestone so this build contains basically all the features in the game. (Because no one can resist, I’m sure another small feature or two or ten will show up against great protestations from QA, but the big stuff’s in.) The milestone we just began is the “content complete” milestone. After that, it’s just polish, polish, polish."

That's right folks, they're starting to communicate quality milestones to the community...so now the page has really turned hasn't it. Since the release of a the much covered WoW and it's expansion Burning Crusade, the new industry buzzword is now "polish". We're going to see this word used a lot to describe at what phase an MMO has reached in it's quality development. Game companies that don't say that they are "polishing" their game will be the odd ones out...they will be looked at as if they're growing a second head. "Polishing" is to MMOs as "Family Values" is to politicians....it doesn't really mean anything, but gets people on your side without lifting a finger. I tend to believe Flying Labs when it comes to the polishing statement, because I have more than one source telling me that they're on the right track for a great game. So...onward guys. Polish away. For the other guys...please don't use "polish" too much. With the MMO market getting really crowded in 2007 the last thing you want to do is cry wolf on quality.

There is some more information on LoTR Online for those that are interested. What they're thinking about for PvP could prove to be interesting:

"The PVP is centred around Monster Play but right now we don't see ourselves creating PVP servers where you can run riot in the Shire. The Monster Play area is isolated but very large and we hope to add campaign and other PVP options to this area. From a design point of view areas like Helms Deep should be consumed with PvP combat. Or mounted combat - hopefully - in Rohan would work very well with PvP. And what about Mordor? Or Moria? That could be the ultimate PvP dungeon of all time. So nothing has been decided yet and we are keeping an open mind. But we want to project the lore."

The options for PvP in the areas of Helms Deep, Moria and Mordor would be sweet. Mounted combat in Rohan would give a great dimension to the game as well. We'll obviously not see these until an expansion hits, but I like the way they're thinking. Of course, for this to all make sense, I would think they would have to introduce evil races. I've always thought that yes, LoTR Online has a great base at launch, but its the expansions that will make or break this title....looks like these tentative plans for PvP will build upon that solid base.

Pirates and a Yo Ho Ho

2007-03-19T11:01:00.000-05:00

Back fresh from a nice long weekend, hence the no post Friday from last week...so, we're back in the saddle again.

We're all still feeling quite a bit of fallout from GDC 2007. There has been so much information coming out that I'm having a bit of a hard time keeping up with it all. The MOG Army guys have put up their latest video offering in Ep.56 and they've got some good content in there...I was specifically drawn to the Pirates of the Burning Sea stuff that they showed off. As usual, and because it his turn, I blame Brent (Virgin Worlds) from putting this game back on my radar and now I'm putting the MOG guys on my list for making it a "must buy". A curse on all of your houses I say. Seriously though, this game is looking to be very good indeed. The features that are sticking out for me are the PvP ready world and the Naval combat...both combined make me really want to get my hands on this game. Now, I've said this before that I'm really not a PvP kind of guy, but Pirates seems to set the right tone for me in terms of implementation...even more so than Warhammer at this point. Players can perform PvE missions to destabilize a port and make that port ripe for the conquering. The sea around the port also becomes a huge PvP zone in which to conduct large naval battles. Saaaaweeeet. PotBS is supposed to come out in June 2007.

Another game thats starting to get me thinking is Stargate Worlds and already it's starting to worry me. They've indicated that the leveling curve will be relatively shorter than found in most MMOs today. This is to encourage players to enter the PvP part of the game as well as role alts to experience new content as it's put in. I'm still munching on this "quick" leveling implementation that they're proposing. I'm not exactly sure why its bothering me...it just does. Maybe it's because I'm use to a leveling system and thats what I expect, but I don't think so. I think I may be equating "quick leveling system" with "quick content", or "easy mode" gameplay in which you're just blasting through everything with relative ease. I always shake my head when I see people rushing through content just to get to level x first. An entire game in which I'm shaking my head at everyone who plays just points to a sore neck. We'll see...but a little red flag went up when I heard that. Everything else about the game sounds really good. Once again, Virgin Worlds has a great interview in show 60 with the latest and greatest on StarGate Worlds. Also, there is a good overview over at Ten Ton Hammer.

Thats it for now. Man...I've still got a list of topics I need to discuss regarding GDC and other things, but those can wait for another post.

Oh, Silent Hunter 4 should be out this week. I'll give a really short blurb on what I think about this one. This may be the only single player game I buy in 2007...so it's a big deal.

D out.

The Vanguard Backlash

2007-03-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

I've been stewing about about the post that Brad McQuaid put up recently, giving his take on the current state of Vanguard. It gives a good look into this guys mind. From what he says in this post, his heart is in the right place for this game. Although my impressions of Vanguard are a bit mixed, one thing I think I've been consistent about is Sigil's high commitment to this game...and this may be the deciding factor over whether this game will succeed or not.

A recent Broken Toys article asserts that the MMO industry has turned a quality corner. What I mean by that is since the release of WoW, MMO players now expect a certain quality level in their games....and why shouldn't we. Since the financial model of most MMO companies count on monthly payments as a revenue stream, quality out of the box translates directly to bottom line. If players get a buggy game, they vote with their monthly subscriptions. This is a something Sigil is aware of from a business perspective, but with all of the feedback they're getting, other MMO companies must be taking note. As we saw from comments from GDC, the message is polish, polish, polish. The big question is whether or not other MMO organizations have the cash to polish their games.

What it looks like right now is that MMOs are skipping part of their quality processes, or are making high risk quality decisions that come back and bite them in the ass later on. I don't think thats the case for Vanguard. For Vanguard its the simple case of not reaching a "Feature Complete" on many project and design milestones. True, they had to get the game out due to financial considerations but now they've got to reap the whirlwind. It's obvious that other companies don't want to go through that same kind of pain...interesting times indeed.

Given this recent post about their plans, I think they are learning that though lesson that I mentioned back in January. They're looking at teleporting options and the current XP penalty for people who don't want to corpse run, as well as other issues. Looks like they're close to the formula that most gamers are expecting of their games these days. Given all of the fantasy titles coming out this year, its going to be interesting to see where Vanguard settles.

D out.

Free weekends abound

2007-03-15T07:03:00.000-05:00

Two of the most original MMOs that never really caught on are having account reactivations this weekend, Auto Assault and DDO (Dungeons & Dragons Online). Auto Assault is giving theirs from March 16-26, and DDO is having theirs from March 16-18. If you haven't visited these MMOs for a while and want to try them out again, then this is the time to do it.

Non-MMO excitement?

2007-03-14T09:29:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, I'm a gamer...a gamer that really loves MMOs and the MMO community...but a gamer none the less. However, there is a single player game coming out this month that has got me kinda excited, and that would be Silent Hunter 4.

Its been a loooong time since I've played a sub simulation game. I have very fond memories of staying up late at night hunting for ships to sink. I think the last one I played was 688(i) Hunter/Killer by Jane's Combat Simulations (ahhhh, Jane's...where fore art thou).

Why would I buy this...in fact, why did I pre-order it? Glad you asked, oh mainly MMO audience who is about to lynch me. Little back story. Waaaay back in my gaming career (/laf...gaming "career"), there was a game called Gunship 2000 by Micropose. I played that game until my eyes turned inside out. One of the features I loved was the fact that you progressed in military rank from Warrent 1 to General (...at least I think General was the highest). You also got medals. Added to that, you usually had a couple of wingmen with you on missions and you got to promote them and give them medals as well. As your wingmen increased in rank, they got better at their jobs and therefore, were of more valuable to you. I loved this concept....being able to assign ranks and medals and actually creating value in your wingmen. I also waited in heavy anticipation after each mission for that next rank to be given to me. It's almost MMO-ish and maybe this game was a big influence on my love for the genre.

Anyway...in Silent Hunter 4, the men in your sub increase in rank and grow in skill as you complete missions. I've been waiting for a game with this feature in it for a while now, and it looks like this will be it. I'm not too sure if the player character increases in rank and you go, nor do I know if you get medals and such, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. The graphics look really spectacular as well. It'll be a nice break from the MMO world for me and I'm really looking forward to getting into a sub again. I know its seems kinda "gamey" with ranks and medals, but Gunship 2000 brought a certain value to the men you commanded in your squad. We really don't see that anymore in flightsims, RTS or even MMOs....everything on the screen is a disposable drone. Oh well...here's hoping that this game brings back that feature that I've been missing.

...so concludes my non-MMO musings for this month. You can now put your pitchforks away.

D out.

Bye Bye CGW and Massive

2007-03-14T08:29:00.000-05:00

Son of a....

This was a big surprise to read last night. There are other sources to this story, so it looks to be real enough as I'm writing this.

That's a shame...it really is. Massive was the only computer gaming magazine that I subscribed to and it was very well done. It wasn't full of the flash or fanboi BS that you see in most other magazines. Their articles were funny and informative and I really enjoyed reading them. Every other printed computer magazine out there right now is crap...crap, crap, crap, crap. OK, fine, there may be a good one out there, but I'm not going to stick my hand into the outhouse "honeypot" just to retrieve a gold ring, if you know what I mean.

My only hope is that someone will see this value and pick them up. My guess is that someone sees what I see in this magazine...I just refuse to believe that we won't be seeing them again.

D out.

Star Gate Worlds info

2007-03-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

If you take a listen to Game On/MMORPG.com's latest podcast, you'll hear some really great information about the upcoming MMO Star Gate Worlds. I usually don't pimp MMORPG.com's podcast because, well, it's usually lacking in quality...but information is information.

My wife and I are really big Star Gate fans. We've watched all of SG-1 and are just starting to watch the season 2 DVD of Atlantis. This IP has huuuuge potential (...there's that word again...) and just might be the one to watch if you're desperate for a sci-fi MMO.

My wife is usually a good test indicator for high quality games that hit the market. Her favorites of the past and present are: the Civ series, the Sims series, Diablo II, and WoW...and that's it. Those there are some of the biggest hits in gaming history right there. I've tried to get her in other games, but she usually says "meh" after a few minutes and goes right back to those ones. Word of advice to Cheyenne Mountain...you want her as a beta tester.

D out.

Death of the Sword and the Wand?

2007-03-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

For the life of me, I can't remember where I read this but there has been some rumblings about how much more mileage the fantasy MMO has left in it. For 2007, here are some of the big MMOs that are coming out:

Warhammer Online
Age of Conan
Gods and Heroes
Lord of the Rings Online
Vanguard
Pirates of the Burning Sea

With the exception of Pirates, all of those are fantasy based games. Mark Jacob's in the Past, Present and Future round table during GDC said this:

"the first thing that we can learn from wow is: never ask me again ever if the market is saturated and it can't grow any more. We’ve heard this for ten years. Every journalist asked me, so is that it, 10,000 is that it? With UO. With Everquest... same thing. Camelot. City of Heroes. All I kept hearing still from journos is 'is the market saturated'. There will be another World of Warcraft. I don't think it'll be Warhammer. But there will be one, and it will expand the market."

You know what, I really want to agree with him...but I can't given the steady stream of fantasy titles coming out of the industry. I should agree with him because we've seen people make statements like "...all you'll ever need is 64K of RAM...", that's being off by several orders of magnitude. What makes me not agree with him is that the MMO industry is stuck in a fantasy rut right now. Games like Tabula Rasa, Star Trek Online and Star Gate Worlds are far from proving themselves to be the savior. I don't see them particularly opening the market anymore than it is right now, and some of these are titles we won't see for some time.

WoW brought in most of its players due to its low barrier to entry...lets face it. Sure, it was very well polished, but you can't bring in those numbers with just polish....there's got to other factors and usability is one of them, fun is another. So, in order to grow the market even more there has to be a game that is even more polished, more fun and is just as easy or easier to use than WoW and I don't think that will happen. Why? 1) Money, 2) Time 3) did I say money??? Right now, the only company that create the WoW killer is, ironically, Blizzard because they've got the resources to do so. So, the only company that can grow the market is also Blizzard and they won't do it with another fantasy title....that market is tapped out and burnt out as of the end of this year. I'm really hoping that the industry sees this as well and starts innovating again....I mean REALLY innovating.

So, with the saturation of the market with fantasy titles, and Blizzard clearly in the drivers seat for expanding the market, I think that after 2007 the new frontier of MMOs will be sci-fi. You can bet that the wheels have already been turning over at Blizzard to capture that market. I for one welcome our new Blizzard overlords.

D out

The Vanguard defence

2007-03-12T12:07:00.000-05:00

Its going to be a relatively light blogging day for me....it's insane here at work. Still, there is the Ep2 podcast as well as the Vanguard blog review below, so be sure to check those out and post your feedback.

Speaking of Vanguard, I picked this little tidbit from the Virgin Worlds news feed. I'll have more to say about it later, but for now I think Vanguard is a case study of "biting off more than you can chew". I really think the Sigil guys thought really big, which isn't a bad thing, but there are consequences to thinking outside your own scope.

I think I've said this before...Vanguard could have easily just shipped with one continent and it would have been fine until the next expansion. Just think what state Vanguard could have been in if they just developed content for Thestra, worked on class design, graphic optimization etc for 5 years. It would have kicked ass.

D out.

Ep2 - tcsgamer Podcast - Vaguard: Sega of Heroes Impressions

2007-03-09T19:56:00.000-05:00

All done.

You can take a listen to tcsgamer's 2nd podcast. I think the production value of this one is a bit better, but it still weird talking to myself.

You can find it here.

Feedback is welcome and appreciated. Enjoy

D out.

Vanguard: Sega of Heroes Impressions - Post Release

2007-03-08T20:32:00.000-05:00

OK, so I think I'm pretty much ready to start my impressions of Vanguard. As promised, this "review" comes with TCSGamer's second podcast...you know, for those of you who are too lazy to read. I'll put a separate Podcast post as soon as I have it completed, which should be later tonight (it's recorded...just got to put bells and whistles on it).

Now a couple of things we need to cover before I get into the meat of this stuff...this is not really a review. This more like a set of impressions that I have had over the course of the game from Beta 3 (I started on December 21/2006) all the way to now, post release. I've got to be honest, nothing much has changed from my beta impressions save for a couple of things which I will go over here. I'm hoping that there is enough here to give some of you an idea of whether or not this game is for you.

I've got to admit...this has probably been one of the more difficult games to judge and as of today, I'm still not completely sure what I really think of Vanguard. As of this review, I'm only level 16 and not 20. I think that it would have been at least another month for me to get to 20 in this game with my play style...and I know you're all eagerly waiting for my impressions to come out (yeah...riiiiight...)

That all being said, lets get on to the nitty gritty.

My System:
AMD 64 3500+ Processor
nVidia 7900 GT Video card
2 Gb RAM
and so on....

Getting into the game

How easy you get into Vanguard or the "newbie" experience of Vanguard really depends on where you start off. From what I've gathered, if you start off in Thestra, you seem to have an easier time with the progression in the beginning than in the other continents of Qalia and Kojan. This is also what I can gather lately out of some of the forums available...some areas simply aren't complete compared to others in the game at this point in terms of content. Of course, they are constantly updating content so this won't be the case for very long.

If you stick to Thestra, you'll find it pretty easy to be introduced into the world of Vanguard. You pretty much have your standard newb quests of kill this..get that. You'll find yourself getting up to levels 6, 7, 8-ish pretty quickly. Another thing you'll notice as you level is that getting a level means quite a bit in Vanguard. When you do level and get more spells, there is a noticeable difference in the power that you get. I like this. It gives me more of a sense of accomplishment when I see and feel a real difference in my character's power. I hope Sigil keeps this model for as long as they can.

You're given quests for all spheres within the game when you start out: adventuring, crafting and diplomacy. Each of the introductions to these spheres is very well done and I really had no trouble getting the hang of either of them.

State of the Game

As of this writing, Vanguard just put in its first content update and they called it...well, Update#1. The following day of the patch, they put in a "Restart" patch to balance some of the classes....again. Since I've started playing, there have been 11 patches to the game....now this should tell you something. Essentially, Vanguard is still in beta right now and will probably remain so until we only see patches once a month or quarterly. I'm not really pleased with the current state of the game to be honest...even with the really nice additions from Update #1. The game is still kinda clunky and classes seem to be tweaked almost weekly, so you can't really get into a good rhythm I find.

So, as of today, keep that in mind when you purchase the game. If you have a high tolerance for a good game with bugs, broken quests and questionable performance then go get Vanguard.

Graphics

Honestly the graphics in Vanguard really don't appeal to me that much. I guess I've been spoiled with the lush graphics that I found in Lord of the Rings Online. Vanguard is supposed to be state of the art when it comes to graphical prowess and I find myself saying "meh" quite often to a very dull looking world. The colors they use for foliage, and rocks , trees etc, just look wrong for a state of the art game. OK, I know I said that the game is essentially still in beta so yeah, lots of the textures may still be undergoing changes...but still, my first impression is not a positive one even when I keep that fact in mind.

The facts are that this game may look really good in 2-3 years and thats really a shame...because I want to enjoy this game now, not in 2 years when I may have a better machine to run it with.

The one thing about the graphics that really bother me is everything that has to do with your player character. From the combat animations to the the jumping. Ohhhhh God the jumping....I look like a frickin school girl every time I jump. W....T...F!! On the good side though, the creatures in the game are AMAZING. We went into this troll cave and the amount of detail they put into these trolls was spectacular. If Sigil put as much detail and love into the player avatars as they did the creature...wow...I'd be a very happy man.

Sound of Muuuuusic...lalalaaa

The only music set that really stood out to me was when I was in the High-Elf area...everything else really grated on my nerves. If you recall, I have a crazy theory that music should be "seen and not heard". I know, it sounds weird but hear me out. Music in a game should blend into the visual experience and never be noticed. It should enhance the gameplay and set the tone for areas of the game. In Vanguard, except for the high-elf areas, the music hits me right in the face...I always notice it and I find myself going into the options to turn it off. It just seems like the music does not fit what I'm seeing sometimes...its kinda hard to explain and I may be waaay in left field on this impression. Shutting up now.

The rest of the sound effects are ok but they fall kinda flat. You have your regular "woshhhh", and "clang" noises of swords and bows. You also have keying sounds that give you an audio cue that one of your defensive or offensive chains can be fired off. Its kinda a mixed bag of stuff here in the sound F/X area.

Quests

Questing is OK and really follows the standard MMO template. There seems to be a good balance of solo, small group and group quests in Thestra right now. There are reports that the other continents are not so lucky.

One of the more memorable parts of Vanguard so far have been the group quests. Achatlan and the Troll Caves so far are the only ones I've really done so far and both have been very memorable. I've only had the pleasure of one asshat group so far in Vanguard, and the people in the game are very much like those you'll find in EQ and EQ2.

Other Spheres

I really didn't get too hot an heavy into the other spheres of crafting and diplomacy in Vanguard. I only got up to level 6 in crafting and about level 9-ish in Diplomacy. I don't think thats far enough to really comment on these areas of the game...so I won't. There is lots of places you can go to look up other peoples impressions of both crafting and diplomacy.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of Vanguard is well done I think. I really believe that the developers over at Sigil where going for a very grand high fantasy game and they achieved it. You feel as if you are in a very large world that is full of danger and adventure and the whole design of the game seems centered around that concept. No other game to date has really given me a feeling of being a big world and I must congratulate and thank Sigil devs for pulling that one off.

Some of the starting areas such as the Wood Elf or High Elf areas are just great and are oozing in culture and architecture. The Vulmane area gives that native/nature feeling to it and pulls you into the back story right away with both the quests and the environment that you find yourself in.

From what I experienced, Sigil put a lot of thought into how to make the player feel like part of a big world, however; the game still has those parts that feel unfinished. If you're paying attention, you can be pulled out of this big world by some of the consequences of releasing this game too early.

The Future of Vanguard and Final Thoughts

Now, if you've read through this whole thing you've probably got a slight negative vibe from this review and honestly, overall, thats not how I feel about this game. Actually, I feel very neutral about Vanguard right now. There are some moments that I've had in the game, such as the troll cave, that I've said, "wow...this game is good". There are some moments where I think, "why am I playing this buggy piece of crap". There are moments in between as well. I guess thats part of the problem...the highs are not outweighing any of the lows of the game.

Another weird thing is that when I'm at work, I'm not thinking of going home and playing Vanguard. It's only when I'm playing it that I'm thinking, "yeah, I should be playing this game". I liken Vanguard to my exercise routine. I never really like getting up and going to the gym...I only like going to the gym after I've been there and I say to myself, "I'm glad I went". It's an odd feeling to have for an MMO.

Now, I've said this before...Vanguard has a TON of potential to be the next big adventure for a lot players. It's interesting, but I once read that the term "potential" is an unusual compliment because it comes with an expiration date. At one point or another, "potential" is transformed to other words like "disappointment" or "waste of time". It can also turn into "genius" or "wow...awesome". I'm wondering what Vanguard will turn its potential into and what the expiration date on its potential will be.

Now, should you get this game? If you are a big fan of EQ or EQ2 then I would say yes, you need to get the game and take a good look at it. If you have no patience for buggy games AND are a fan of EQ or EQ2, then I would say wait for another 6 months or so.

I still hold the belief that this game will turn out to be a pretty big deal in a couple of years. One thing is for certain...the guys and gals at Sigil are working very hard to realize this game. I just want to let them know that this gamer appreciates the hard work they've put in so far. I wish them luck and all the best for Vanguard.

D out

Play Within Your Game

2007-03-08T08:39:00.001-05:00

Over the last year or so there has been quite a bit of talk regarding the "next big MMO" to come out. Translation: which MMO is going to beat WoW. This is, of course, the wrong approach to take when you're trying to create an MMO that people will find fun. If you're main goal is to beat WoW, you essentially create that which you are trying to beat...which, you can never really do, so in the end you loose. I've come across this myself in life, particularly in sports where I'm trying to play a game, say basketball, and I continually get beat by the same guy. Over time, you start just to concentrate on beating him instead of playing your game...never good. The big phrase in my current golf game right now is to "play within yourself". The second you start to play beyond your capabilities or think of the other guy, you're screwed.

I'm very encouraged by the news coming out of some of the leading minds in MMO design. Some of their thoughts of what they're learning from WoW seem to be on the right track. I'm hearing things like "...be where WoW isn't". To me, this points to developers leaning towards playing to their strengths and not solely concentrating on beating WoW. I agree, they should definitely take what works in WoW to evolve their own game play....but they should put the cookie cutters away when they sit down at their design meetings. I know, its a subtle difference, but its a big one as far as I'm concerned.

As much as some don't like to admit it, we're not going to see a ground breaking MMO for some time to come. Nothing out there, on my radar screen at least, represents something so amazing that it will change the way MMOs currently work. We've seen one gendre changer already in WoW, so its unlikely that one will come along within the next couple of years. This is a kinda shaky prediction, but there it is. The best that MMOs can do now is to a) play within themselves, b) don't think of WoW when you design, c) apply evolution , not revolution to your game design.

D out.

Mark Jacobs Interview = awesome

2007-03-08T08:03:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love it when this happens...I really do. Every once and a while, information comes out about something that makes me rethink my positions on a whole host of issues. This usually ranges from gaming, to politics, to music...you name it. So, what has got my juices flowing this time? Well, GDC of course. My main two sources for GDC information right now is of course Virgin Worlds and MOGArmy. These two sites are polar opposites of each other and yet they compliment each other very well.

Brent just put up show #57 and in it was lots of content, more than I've seen before (he scares me sometimes /wink). In the show, he has an awesome interview with Marc Jacobs. Now Marc is the man at EA Mythic, who is currently developing Warhammer Online. I've expressed some concern over the T for Teen ratings well as the death penalty...or lack thereof. Here's what Marc had to say about the rating:

the T for Teen "thing" is blown out of proportion.
if they go M they could do more, but he never really had the intention to go M
M brings with it a certain amount of controversy with it, which they really don't want to deal with (...given Hot Coffee and the general hyper sensitivity over bewbs in the non-gaming public, I don't blame him)
they do have some dark elements in Warhammer, but he doesn't think that arterial bleeding and decapitation necessarily brings a compelling and lasting element of game play. You don't need to have gore everywhere to make the game fun and interesting.
He relates gore in an MMO to long text in the MUD days. When you go through long text in a MUD 2, 3 or 4 times, you tend to skip through it and it just becomes background noise you need to move through. After seeing you 1000th decapitation, will it really still matter to you?
He wants to design and ship a game that can be played by the widest possible audience. He doesn't want to turn away people from his game just because a small group of fans want more gore.
Games Workshop has seen everything that has been done, and they seem to be very happy with what Mythic is doing with the IP.

He also addressed the overused Wow question:

all games are derivative
gendre breaking games are very rare, so yeah, there are similarities to WoW...just as there are similarities to UO , DAoC and EQ.
he believes in evolutionary steps within the MMO space (hey! That sounds familiar)
Warhammer IP was created 24 years before Blizzard. They are drawing on 24 years of Warhammer "stuff"...

He did not address the death penalty...and thats fine as I'm sure they will at some point. Yes, its still a sticking point for me given the nature of the game. With one of the pillars of my concerns addressed (yes...he convinced me that the T rating is the right move...thanks Marc and Brent), this game is now off of my semi-stink list. Yes, I'm sure Mythic is now breathing a sigh of relief.

Also, I expressed some concern about some of the level of hype coming from Mythic. The answers that Marc gave where very good, honest, every even keeled and factual. He got very passionate when asked about his favorite part of Warhammer, but not to the extent that turned me off...actually, it got me excited about the game.

Anyway...I've got a ton more ideas floating in my head right now that can probably fill 5 pages worth of blogging, but I'll let them stew for a bit.

D out.

Great Preview and herding cats

2007-03-07T15:03:00.000-05:00

Came across a really nice preview over at Gamespy regarding Pirates of the Burning Sea. Great thing about this preview is that it gives you more than just a "hey...it looks really good", there is actually some very good material regarding game play. If you're interested in this game at all, go take a look.

Take a look at this. I heard about this a couple of weeks ago and I got a shiver down my spine....and not a good one. You know what this reminds me of a Simpons's episode (so many things in life do. Remember that Simpson's episode where this car maker (his brother I think) decided to create a car for the common man...that common man being Homer. It was funny as hell what he made, but suffice to say it did not go over very well. I get that kind of feeling from this project with a just a hint of the "herding cats" metaphor given how many gamers have signed up for this. Time will tell and I wish them luck...

D out

Correction: Inconsistency of the Anti-Hype

2007-03-07T13:59:00.000-05:00

Orestus, a level 70 Druid over in the good 'ol state, county and universe of WoW has pointed out a major flaw in my argument from my last article that needs a closer look.

So, here's the story, if you go to 1UP.com and do a search on "World of Warcraft", you'll see a couple of things....you'll see Burning Crusade and of course the original. If you click on the original and if you click the reviews tab you'll see the release date, 11/15/2004 and the latest review date of 8/22/2005 which is what I quoted on the original story. Now, here's where I messed up...if you then scroll down to the bottom, you'll see the original review of WoW which is dated at 12/03/2004. So, WoW was reviewed a little under a month originally with a follow up some months later.

So, I find myself in a bit of an "eat crow" position....so, sorry about that guys/gals. I'm going to correct those dates right away on that entry. No excuses...I read all of the reviews I mentioned in the listing, but I just missed those links to the older reviews at the bottom of the reviews themselves. Lesson learned.

This does have a positive spin on it of course...I do expect 1UP to take another gander at Vanguard in about 6 months time. Perhaps all of the issues that the reviewer saw originally will be worked out and the game will be as it should have been at release.

I don't know...I'm still not comfortable with reviewing an MMO one month after release, especially one that is this big. It's almost like going up to a feeble old man and kicking him in the nuts. We know he's crippled, so why add to the pain...?

My thanks to Orestus for noticing that. Its great to have readers that care enough about the blog to point out this stuff to me. And always...always point out stuff like this to me...I'm not the kind that's afraid to make mistakes or correct them.

Cheers.....

D out.

The Consistency of the Anti Hype

2007-03-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

[Edit: Premise and dates..heck even the title has changed for this article due to an error on my part. The new dates have spawned a new issue that I have with MMO reviews in general.]

Well, I was looking more into the reviews at 1Up.com and I came across something really interesting:

1) Everquest II:
Release Date: Nov. 8/2004
1Up Review: Dec. 1/2004
Score: 7.5

2) City of Heroes
Release Date: March 17/2004
1Up Review: June 14/2004
Score: 8.0

3) World of Warcraft
Release Date: Nov.15/2004
1Up Review: Dec. 3/2004
Score: 8.9

4) Lineage 2
Release Date: April 27/2004
1Up Review: June. 11/2004
Score: 6.5

...finally

5) Vanguard: Sega of Heros
Release Date: Jan 29/2007
1Up Review: March 2 /2007
Score: 3.0

The average lead time for these guys is about 2 months given the corrected dates from the original reviews. Now, Vanguard seems to have been given about one month below average of this sample..which is about right for 1UP.

Now, as I was sitting here saying "ahhhhh shit...wrong dates you idiot", something else hit me as I was looking at the new dates...."This is still not looking right to me". Why are MMOs being reviewed 1-3 months after release. Not just at 1UP, but on other sites as well. Take a look at gamerankings.com for Vanguard, EQII, City of Heroes to name a few. For MMOs, this type of release then review just seems a bit off for the gendre.

I consider MMOs to be a really "special" breed of game and there is a pattern of development that they usually follow. From a feature perspective, very few of them are really done at release and are constantly being patched...much more so than your typical single player game. So why are they being treated like a single player game? EQ2 is not the game it was in 2004, neither is CoH....so why aren't we giving MMOs 6 months, 8 months of leg time before the press gets in there and "reviews" an MMO. Impressions, opinions I can deal with...but scored reviews a month after release on a dynamic game like an MMO?? I don't know...it doesn't sit right.

How long do you think an MMO needs before it is reviewed?

D out.

Countering the Anti-Hype

2007-03-06T07:46:00.000-05:00

Wow...this is quite the beating for Vanguard.

They gave Vanguard a 3.0 score, with users giving the game an average score of 5.6. Now, as you know, I don't give MMOs scores...especially one month after release, so I obviously think that 1UP giving a score at this time is kinda silly. Regarding the score itself...well, its a bit on the low side. OK..OK, its waaay on the low side. Other 3.0 scores from 1UP include: Dance Dance Revolution Universe (Xbox 360), The Shield (PS2), Dave Mirra BMX Challenge(PSP) and Zoo Tycoon African Adventure(PC). Ummmm...I don't think Vanguard really belongs there.

Regarding the content of the review itself...most of what Scott says is true regarding the game: bugs, stability, high-system requirements, hardcoreness etc, etc. We all know about Vanguard's state when it launched and to be real, its still in beta. I loath that this is the case for Vanguard and if I saw Brad, I'd give him a stern talking to regarding quality control. In which he's give me a lecture about the fiscal realities of the MMO industry...then we'd just stare at each other for 3 hours without blinking.

Now, the review is pure negativity, so take it within that context. There is no balance within the article at all...its just a pure hate-on for Vanguard. Not too sure how far he got into the game, nor does he mention it. The article is extremely short on content and does not break down the game into its finer points....I don't know, maybe Scott had a bad day when he wrote it. One thing though, what he says does represent some of the player base and it is what's stopping Vanguard from being a AAA title it needs to be....and Sigil knows it.

D out.

New LoTR review/podcast, GDC, Vanguard and the brickwall

2007-03-05T09:56:00.000-05:00

Lots of stuff to cover today, hence the really cramped title of this blog entry.

First up, Lauren over at Mystic Worlds has put up her review of Lord of the Rings Online in the form of her third podcast. The review is very well done and anyone who is interested in this title should take a listen to it. We all have lots of really good information of what this game is about, so now is the time to take a good hard look at LoTR to see if its for you or not. If you pre-order it, you can take advantage of the $9.99/month price, plus an invite to the Open Beta. The good thing about the Open Beta invite is that you get to keep your character after launch...good stuff. This is all stuff most readers already know, but its always good to reiterate what this game is offering.

Well, most of our community's big hitters are in California right now getting the scoop for us at GDC. This includes Brent from Virgin Worlds. Ryan, Gary and Todd from MOGArmy and a whole host of others (I think even Wilhelm from Ancient Gaming Noob will be there). So, expect the news to come in hot and heavy. I'm expecting some really good video from MOG...they do some excellent work and have really stepped up the pace when it comes to the media outputs from their site. I know that Brent has been working very hard on some site enhancements and also has lots of interviews lined up as well. I wish I could be there...oh well, maybe next year.

Vanguard had a "special" treat for subscribers this weekend in the form of double exp. I was logged in for some of the afternoon and most of the evenings to take advantage of this. I'm not really a gung-ho player at the best of times, so I only gained about 2.5 levels...which is pretty good. So, I'm sitting at level 16 for my ranger right now...not bad. I mostly finished off quests and tried my best to finish off Achatlan, but failed miserably. Oh, and I actually had my first "shit group" in Vanguard. It comprised of the perfect mix of clueless people (minus me of course) who had no idea of to play an MMO, or how not to pull aggro off of every mob around them. The good news, after I quickly dropped those asshats, I got into a really good group and we cleaned the place up. It's irritating though...all I need is one more quest item drop and then I'm done with Achatlan.

Tobold recently put up a blog entry ("My World of Warcraft Crisis") that I really related to and I just wanted to mention here. Looks like he's hitting the equipment carrot brick wall that WoW is so famous for. I'm not going to beat a dead horse because I've talked about WoW's game design issues at length. Still, it got my attention and I thought that I would bring it up here. I feel your pain buddy...I feel it.

On my Wow front...I'm very close to canceling my account. I'm sure that once LoTR Online hits that I will pull the trigger and put this one to bed. Don't ask me why I haven't done it yet. I'm also very close to canceling my EQ2 sub for now. I haven't played that one since I started playing Vanguard...but we'll see. Oh yeah...if you're wondering how my Old Stomping Ground experiment is going, well, its not. LoTR, Vanguard and learning C++/DirectX has been keeping me quite busy. I will not admit failure yet...after all, I resubbed (..is that even a word???) to take a look at Issue 9, which has not been released yet. So, I still plan on taking a look and reporting back here.

That's it for now. Have fun kiddies :)

D out.

Vanguard Update #1

2007-03-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

Looks like the first content update is coming to Vanguard on March 6th. Details can be found here, but here are some of the goodies that are going in:

Dozens of new weapon models
Six brand new NPC races to battle
Two new mid to high level adventuring areas
Nine dungeons with revamped art and/or lighting

Thank goodness they are updating some of the weapon models. One of the things that bug me about Vanguard right now is everything visually related to the player-character models, i.e. movement, weapons, combat animations etc. The aesthetics of everything external to your character looks great, so I'm happy to see that they are working on the character aspect of the game.

It's going to be a 2-3 more weeks before I submit my impressions of Vanguard via a blog review and podcast. That will put me at about 6 weeks playing...or there abouts. I personally feel that this is not enough time for this game, but I'm sure its enough time to get a good impression of what this game is about from levels 1-20-ish.

D out.

My MUD, WoW-down and Warhammer 40K

2007-03-01T13:37:00.000-05:00

Back in 2006, I made a little "skill development" new years resolution to relearn C++ again. Well, I've reached, what I think anyway, is a milestone in that goal. I've created my fist miniMUD-ish program. It's not much. For details on what the project is, you can go here. I'm still needing to put the bells and whistles in it, and some other loose ends to tie up...but it basically works. Going to keep working on it, adding new features and maybe get some graphics in there once I learn the ins and outs of the DirectX API. Sorry for the technical/ non-MMO/resolution stuff...but reporting that here somehow keeps me on track and honest.

Well, I don't think I've logged into WoW for about 3-4 weeks and I really feel no urge to do so. I think the WoW train has lost it's steam...for me at least. With LoTR on the horizon, Vanguard and EQ2, I think I have all of the bases covered for my MMO enjoyment. I'll probably be canceling my account very soon. I'm sure I'll be going back to WoW at some point, but for now, the game has zero appeal for me. I know...I know...it's weird, but sadly true.

Some good MMO news coming out of THQ and Games Workshop regarding the developing of a Warhammer 40K MMO. Exciting news I think, since it's a departure from the slew of fantasy titles that are coming out this year. It'll be a welcome breath of fresh air. Not very much in the way of design details, but we'll need to keep an eye out for this one. Going to be interesting to see the how the the two Warhammer MMOs compare in terms of subscriptions numbers and such. Regardless, multiple wargasms are being had by Warhammer fans with this news.

D out.

Getting too familiar with your game

2007-02-28T15:48:00.000-05:00

Well...two days ago I was not amused, today I must say that I am disturbed. Six days ago, Elysium from Gamers With Jobs posted his "Anti-Review" of Vanguard. If you go to that link, you'll see 6 pages of comments...I've read all of them. Some of them are good, sensible comments, but most of them are steaming piles of bile spewed out by people who are holding on too tight. Go ahead and read some of them...and don't stop there, this article has play in almost every Vanguard forum.

Why do you guys do that? I mean, honestly. The guy obviously spoke his mind on how he feels about the game and contributed content that takes a good critical look.... and he gets raped for it? Its wrong...wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

You Vanguard guys are supposed to be a cut above the WoW fanbois, and the crap that I read says you're no better. Have you been to the WoW forums lately? If you haven't, I suggest you do...and make sure you shower with a brillo pad after. I think we all need to turn a new leave in the MMO/Gaming community...and I know that this is going to be hard for some of you. Here's the idea: Don't say anything to someone in a forum you wouldn't say to their face with your grandma watching. How about that....

Now that I've vented...the GWJ guys talked about the thread at some length in their latest podcast (which, like Virgin Worlds, I listen to religiously). They bring up that these fanbois, not just Vanguard's, invest so much of themselves into these games that any critical or negative views on it is like a critical or negative view on them. The game, to them, is personal. It is their life, their soul, their preciousssssss. Still, we all need to check ourselves when we start attacking the person and not the idea. It's a tactic best reserved for the politicians....not for gamers. We should be debating, criticizing, examining, and questioning ideas both new and old. Fanbois, it seems, don't want to debate. They know what they know, when they know it and you are not to tell them otherwise.

/shrug...well. I think it was a good "anti-review". I think it was a good article that at least got me thinking. Pitty some don't like to think.

D out.

On Pain of Death

2007-02-27T12:18:00.000-05:00

These death pretzels are making me thirsty...no, they really are.

My ramblings about how unamused I am with the current Warhammer news has got me thinking about death penalties...what is reasonable, what isn't. Certainly, I think we can all agree that there has to be some penalty for dying in an MMO. We need some sort of risk in order to make the rewards we get more meaningful. MMOs today have a whole bunch of tools at their disposal in which to sting us with if the Reaper should visit our online self:

Death Debuff - this is usually some sort of debuff that is applied to your attributes for some length of time. This usually lasts for amount of time it takes you to get back to where you were when you died in the first place.
Equipment Durability - this is a hit on durability on your equipment which usually translates to some repair costs. So this is really hitting you more in the purse than anywhere else.
Corpse Run - we don't see it around very much, well, Vanguard has this as an option. This essentially strips all non-bound equipment off of you and makes you run to your body to pick up your stuff.
Experience Loss - whenever you die, you get an experience hit. Both EQ2 and Vanguard have this, as well as others to varying degrees.
Perma-death - to my knowledge, no current MMO has this. There may be ones that I haven't played that do have this (UO maybe???), but I'm not sure. This is kinda harsh, but essentially once your character dies, thats it....thanks for playing.
Item loss ?? Any MMO's use this beyond its current uses in PvP?

Thats all I can think of for now. You know, thats not many solutions when you look at the list. You'd think that there would be more by now given how long devs have had to think of the subject. I see the death penalty becoming less and less prominent in MMOs post-WoW simply because devs don't want to inconvenience that demographic of player. We should really start to think of new ways to handle death in MMOs because the ones we have all amount to the same thing...a time penalty that adds nothing to gamplay. You either have to wait for the buff to wear off, or pay off a repair bill (time is money), or grind to get exp back. There has go to be something else. What about karma??

Karma...there is the new approach. From wiki:

Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The results or "fruits" of actions are called karma-phala. Karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward, karma simply deals with what is. The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to others. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well. It is cumulative.

Now, lets apply this to MMO death. Living through an encounter should not only give you gold and loot, it should also give you some kind of life karma. Much like skill points, this life karma builds up and gives you access to equipment, supplies, buffs or new areas as you go along. The more life karma you have, the better off you are. Death karma can either take away life karma or it could be tracked on its own....but there should be something bad that happens to your character if your death karma gets to high. I don't know, maybe your forced into some hell zone where you and others have to fight in order to redeem yourself and reset your karma. Maybe you turn into some sort or Wraith-like-ghost and the only way you can get karma back is by sucking it out of other players.

See, just in the matter of 30 minutes I came out with a rough death system that is different. Sure, it still involves some time to commit, but I don't think you can ever get out of that for MMOs...well, for any computer game...they all take time to play. At least this solution is one which uses that time to add to the game play. Heck, you may have players who stay as Wraiths and just suck karma out of players...and maybe that can be an element you can advance in, who knows. In comes to this; yes, we need a death penalty, but lets mix it up a bit...heck, if it only took me 30 minutes to come up with this, I can only imagine what a real game developer can think of if he/she thinks outside the box.

D out.

I am not amused....

2007-02-26T09:15:00.001-05:00

Some news came out about Warhammer that I needed to munch on before commenting on it... specifically the T for Teen rating and the absence of a death penalty. Quite simply, I'm not amused...no sir, I am not. This puts this title down in my list because it just became more like WoW with those two elements. I defended this game when it came to those game "journalists" who repeatedly asked "...why does your game look like WoW? Oh...look at the little kitty...yayyyyyy, a kittie". OK, they didn't say anything about kitties, but you get the idea. To me, the game play was leaning towards DAoC in terms of RvR and it looked like it had a grittier and more mature look to it. So, I didn't give a rat's ass if WoW took their orcs from Warhammer...differing gameplay was the key and these yokels were missing the point. Sigh...with these two announcements, I am not looking forward to this game as much as I did, because the game is now slowly morphing into WoWHammer.

There is something else that's been grating on my nerves about Warhammer...it's the coverage of the game from Mythic itslef. I'm not going to point anything out specifically, but they seem to be tooting the PR horn a bit too hard IMHO. Instead of a game company proudly plugging their next game, the intensity and vigor they are using is making them sound more like a cross between a gameshow host and a car salesman...both of which turn me off.

I also fear that the success that LoTR deserves is now in jeopardy with this as well. Before, I always assumed that Warhammer (with an M rating) was going to be for the non-WoW crowd and that LoTR (with a T rating) would be another option for the burned out WoW player. Now, we have both Warhammer and LoTR as options for the ex-WoW player to go to, which, in theory will split the numbers somewhat. Since we all know that most WoW players can't read (/wink...you know who you are), we all know where they'll go.

About the no-death penalty...again, something WoW players love and will attract them to this title. This is a smart business move on the part of Mythic, but its a slap in the face to Warhammer fans who want something a bit more meaningful from this IP.

So there you have it. Warhammer is now on my semi-stink list for the time being until more news comes to light. LoTR is still the one to watch I think, but given this new competition from Warhammer to take WoW players...this may be a prediction I'll have to re-evaluate.

D out.

Diplomacy Info

2007-02-23T15:27:00.000-05:00

I'd like to thank some of my readers for some great info on Diplomacy, specifically Stargrace and Geregor. I'm personally finding hard to find information on the finer points of this game since there are no forums to centralize all of this stuff.

Here is a great website that Geregor has pointed us to. Specifically I found this little Diplomacy nugget in their forums. Direct link here.

Thanks to those at VGTact for getting this together.

Like everything in Vanguard right now, Diplomacy is a work in progress. Both Geregor and Stargrace point to these Diplomacy features we can look forward to (From Geregor's comments):

They will implement to diplomacy next months:
1- the classes after skill 300 (I am not sure how many players are skill 300 now, but I guess that they aren't more than 50...);
2- the merchant system (get money, know the world, trip to all cities at Telon, I advice to buy a fast horse and a ship...);
3- the writs and embassies (partially implemented, some cities have it, you can be an ambassador to other race or a royal officer that deal with the military questions - or any other important city's question - inside your city);
4- open dungeons and quests (implemented? not implemented? no idea, high level diplomacy, no one get there yet to say the story);
5- player city administration (remember the politic class at SWG?).

Good stuff.

D out.

Our Vertical Obsession

2007-02-23T11:30:00.000-05:00

Sifo put up a very interesting blog post that got me a thinkin...and no, I didn't hurt myself this time. It wasn't the main subject that caught my attention, although I may address his main argument in a post later on. What caught my attention was when he said this:

In MMOs the player level progression is always upward. When you reach that level ceiling then Devs really need to focus on the content. Leveling is usually enough to keep people satisfied but when they reach the max level it is all about the content (ie quests).

The bold text is my emphasis, not his. In MMOs, the player level progression is always upward.....our vertical obsession is laid out before us with these few simple words. It's very true with most MMOs that are offered at this time. The main way in which we grow our character is always upwards in level. Most MMOs have two sets of progression...a crafting progression and an adventuring progression. In these two fields you have the opportunity to increase your level, and with each level you unlock new content or recipes....it's the standard MMO formula. With Vanguard hitting the scene, it introduces a new way to level your character: Diplomacy. OK....not too clear why I need to level this skill up just yet, but I'm sure it'll be made clearer to me later on.Why do we need to concentrate on leveling UP? Why are we always thinking so vertically? Isn't there a way we can get some horizontal thinking going here.

What is horizontal character growth in an MMO? It's when you fill out your character within a level. Think of your character as a tree. Each branch is a level...each branch and leaf off of that branch is an attribute of your character which needs to be filled out within that level. Most MMOs do have this: WoW being at one end of the spectrum and Vanguard being at the other. WoW has very little in the way of horizontal growth. Sure you have your Sword, Dagger, Wand skills...but not much else beyond basic weapon and/or tool use. Vanguard has almost too many things that your character is working on at any given time...some may say too many. Vanguard has Combat Awareness, Sword kills, Acute Pastry Detection and hundreds of others that I'm sure I'm missing.

Sure, going "Ding!" is very nice in an MMO, and lets face it, it's the main way we all measure our e-penis, however; its also part of a big problem we are facing when it comes to these games fulfilling our expectations. Now, I'm not saying that Vanguard is the next big thing in MMOs,(for the record, my money is on LoTR and Warhammer), but when it comes to character progression and growth I think they've got it right. Sure, I have no idea of what half of what those attributes are or why they matter...but I always get the sense that my character is progressing in something. Players seem to just care about levels and I think we're our own worse enemy on this one. When we give the focus to levels, well, thats what a developer will give us...no depth, just height. Sure, we hit the level cap...what then? Exactly....what then? I don't know about you, but at level cap, my character better be progressing in something (besides grinding for new gear..thank you very much), or it's "bye-bye" to the subscription and onto something new.

I don't know...it's something to think about. We all want that new MMO to stick with us in as many ways as possible, and in this post-WoW MMO world, character progression seems to be stagnant. I'm hoping that developers and players look at this aspect of the game in more detail as MMOs evolve into that elusive and non-existent "third-generation".

D out.

How do you know if LoTR is NOT for you

2007-02-23T07:47:00.000-05:00

These are some good guidelines for those who are on the fence on this one. I've been up to level 20 in this game, so I think these are some good rules to go by to tell if this game is not for you:

1) You've done up to Chapter 11 of the Epic Chapter quests and your reaction is, "meh"
2) You think Admir deserved what he got.
3) You first meet Strider and you think, "He doesn't look like Viggo!"
4) You see Brandywine Bridge and you want to blow it up.
5) You've been to the Prancing Pony and think, "What a gay name for a bar".
6) You think this is just WoW in Middle Earth after level 2.
7) You've seen the Barrow Downs and the only thing that stands out to you is that old sock smell.
8) Your first reaction at character select is, "What?! No Gnomes!!"
9) You've been to the Shire and you can only think about how small the doors were and how cheap the beer is.
10) You think Old Man Willow is is just a grumpy old man and you're sure that the Scooby gang will put a stop to his evil plan soon.

D out.

State of the Games

2007-02-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

OK...so I'm not as much feeling sick today as I am hung over from being sick. I'm taking Advil's like they were tic-tacs. Man, that was a nasty bug. I've never slept so much. I think out of yesterday's 24 hours, I must have slept 18 of them.

Anyway, now that I'm a bit more coherent, I wanted to give a little update on where things stand on my playlist. I know, its a light topic, but its about all I can muster mentally for now.

CoH/CoV

I've installed CoV onto my machine as part of my little experiment of going back to old stomping grounds. I was inspired to do this by Brent, who was thinking of getting into Matrix Online (probably out of drunken bet... /wink). We never seem to talk about CoV/CoH in the blogg-o-sphere/podcast world very much anymore...not sure why that is, so I thought I'd revisit that game just to see how its going.

So far it looks good, however; I'm getting that old "its all about combat" feeling back after only playing about 2-3 hours of it. That, my friends, is very sad. Not too sure how long this experiment will last if this feeling continues. Maybe the sun has set for CoV/CoH as far as I'm concerned. I don't know...after playing LoTR, WoW, EQ2 and Vanguard, this game is really playing shallow to me.

I will try my best to keep going on this one...

EQ2

I logged into EQ2 today after about a 2 week hiatus due to Vanguard. I'm still wanting to get a max level character in this game. Most of the guild that I'm in hardly logs in anymore...so there is very little motivation to getting into that game. I'm hoping this will change soon.

Lord of the Rings Online

I kind of promised myself that I would play less of this game while its in beta...but I can't. I pre-ordered it from my local EB store last week, but I'm going to have to cancel that pre-order today I think. They don't have any pre-order boxes...nor have they heard of the pre-order boxes for this title. I don't really trust them to have the pre-order boxes in on time for me to make the Open beta.

SIDENOTE: When did EB Games stop hiring gamers to sell games???

Anyway, I pre-ordered from Fry's today in the hopes of getting my Open beta access and Founder's goodies.

In the Beta, I have a level 12 Burglar...and I think that the Burglar class is what I'll stick with when the game launches.

Vanguard

The game is going ok...I guess. It definitely hasn't grabbed me as much as LoTR has, but there is something there, hence the reason why I keep logging in. The guy I usually play with hasn't been on for a while, so I haven't done that much with the game for the past 2-3 days or so. Still a level 11 Ranger. My goal here is to get to level 20...hopefully by that time I'll have lots to say about the game.

Thats it. Man...did I make any sense in this hang-over stupor of mine :)

D out.

A colouring book and icecream

2007-02-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

...ohhhh boy. A flu bug hit me quite hard last night to an extent that I can barely type this stuff out. I've been sleeping pretty much the whole day.

Anyway, no big blog entries from me today, well, except for this one. Maybe tomorrow as there is lots of stuff going on.

D out

Revisiting Old Stomping Grounds

2007-02-20T12:02:00.000-05:00

So I just went to EB Games for my lunch break and I picked up a copy of CoV, for two reasons: 1) I haven't played CoV since beta and I think it needs another look, 2) I'm really liking what's coming up in Issue #9. Plus, it's a public service thing for you guys...thats right, I make these sacrifices so that you don't have to :)

I use to play CoH quite a bit...actually, it was my stop gap game before WoW. The memories that I had from that game are some of the best experiences I've had to date with an MMO. The thing that turned me off of CoH was that it was only about combat. There was no other sense of character progression besides combat....booooo. Now, with Issue #9 they're introducing a crafting game play element...or an Invention system. You basically collect "loot" from your adventures to create enhancements, costume pieces and other goodies. This intrigues me. So, with Issue 9 on its way its time to take a serious look at CoV/CoH once again.

Who knows, this may be podcast #3 material...but I'll definitely do a write up at the very least.

Oh yeah...and how cool is this:

"...but Darren", you say, "what about Vanguard?" Shush disembodied imaginary voice. I'm moving along in Vanguard. I've hit level 11 with my Ranger...I'm not saying a word beyond that. You'll have to wait until Podcast #2 for my full impressions of the game. I expect to have something out in a couple of weeks.

D out.

Six Pack Insanity

2007-02-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

The heights to which my 6 year old is bringing the good 'ol game of bowling is truly humbling. Last night I started to play Vanguard while everyone was winding down for the night (more on this later). The Boo was downstairs with my wife playing bowling on the Wii. I was hearing the usual squeals of joy and excitement that come from a child her age...but then I heard, "Daaaaaddy, come here! Come here! You've got to see!". I came downstairs and she was literally beside herself giggling and jumping as I descended down the stairs. So I get down there and my wife just pointed at the TV...6 strikes in a row. My 6 year old was on the 8th frame of the game working on her 7th strike...she just had gotten a 6 pack.WHAT!?

I sat down for the rest of the game. On the 8th and 9th frame she got spares. On the tenth frame she got 3 strikes in a row. A the end of the game, she scored in the 240 range. Just to put this into perspective, my highest score is 211...which I got yesterday. Suffice to say, she was thrilled at her accomplishment.

She has announced that I'm going down hard tonight. No doubt I will. I just hope I can take my defeat with dignity.

D out.

The Negative Side of LoTR

2007-02-19T08:35:00.000-05:00

Brent has put up another excellent show up on Virgin Worlds....with a twist. One that kind of caught me by surprise. He really didn't take to Lord of the Rings Online...something I really thought he would enjoy.

Some of his points against:

Avatars are ok.
Game kinda feels "clunky".
Newbie experience feels empty and novice.
Game might not be newbie friendly after the instanced tutorial.
UI is from DDO, i.e.not a very good UI. Buttons too small.
Character windows are well done.
Combat comes down to button mashing. Something isn't bringing combat and special skills together.
No strategy in combat.
Graphics really didn't grab him. Organic feel, but doesn't know if its for him.
Music is good...but it would have been nice to get music from movies.
Character animations are awkward.
Play/combat experience feels like DDO.
Game runs well on his machine.
Game has a certain charm to it.
Some quests don't have clear instructions.
LoTR is where are the EXP is. Would like more EXP for grinding mobs.
Land seems kind of barren. Needs more mobs perhaps?
Blogs were to positive about this maybe?
LoTR is not like WoW.
No polish. Fun is absent.
If game didn't have an IP of Middle Earth, he wouldn't play it.

Thats a good sample. Brent, let me know if I misrepresented your views at all and I'll edit/delete/add etc.

That's quite a list. Not going to debate any of the above points because I respect Brent's opinions and this is how he really feels about the game. However, I really don't know what to say. I for one, have really taken to the game. I don't know why. Maybe its the IP. Maybe its because I'm sick of WoW...I don't know, but the game really grabbed me for some reason.

Brent did give me an "uh-ohhh" moment for a couple of seconds (...he secretly likes doing this to me...), regarding my reviews on the game. Was I too positive about the game? Looking back, I don't think so because the review is how I honestly feel. I do really think they've got a good solid game here,a nd for me thats important. If anything, its the future, i.e. first expansion, that will make or break this game. I wasn't really that critical of the game because nothing has really hit me that will make me not get this at launch. Graphics are excellent, I like the game play, I like the lore...sold.

Anyway, his view points will represent what others are experiencing with the game. So, its good to take a look at what he says when you try and figure out if this game is for you or not. With the lifting of the NDA, you're going to have the good, bad and ugly spread before for you...now it's decision time.

Thanks Brent.

D out.

Warhammer Conference Call info

2007-02-16T08:38:00.000-05:00

Very interesting Warhammer information over at MMOG nation.

Darren's prediction of the month: Warhammer will be delayed to 2008. Why? They are promising quite a bit and I think that pushing it out to 2008 will be the only way they can do it. I don't know...just a feeling I'm getting.

D out

Dang nabbit!!

2007-02-16T07:51:00.000-05:00

OK...so I've taken my Buda pills and am totally over the "Rules People"....for now. I'm currently developing a spray that will keep them out of MMOs, but a fully working product won't be ready for at least 12 years. It's sort of a mixture of Spam, Butter, and Girl Koodies. I'll keep you all posted.

I'm really hoping that you guys get the picture I posted yesterday. I'll give you the background. My wife came home with some Valentines presents for the girls. For The Boo she got a little bear holding a rose, for The Butt (yes....I call the youngest one "The Butt". Don't ask) she got this furry litte red purse. Now, Elmo is a big deal in our house. The girls absolutely love this guy and more importantly, listening to him doesn't send me into a crazy axe-wielding rampage that say, Barnie would put me in. Aaaanyway...I took one look at that furry little purse and told my wife, "Oh my gawd, they've made Elmo into a purse." Laughter ensued. Its just too bad that they didn't get to Barnie first...guess he runs faster than Elmo. I personally think Barney set Elmo up. The seedy underbelly of muppets is not pretty people.

So I was playing Vanguard last night and I did not have a very pleasant end to my evening. I created a Vulmane Rogue last week and started playing him more this week. I'm actually liking the Rogue in Vanguard. That's really no surprise to me since I usually always settle into a Rogue-like character in MMOs. Nearing the end of my evening, I had a very wierd warp-lag issue. I started being attacked by multiple invisible enemies and I died. Well...not right away. I had no health left but was still running around for about 4 minutes, then I died. I sighed and started running back for my corpse after being kicked from the server. No tombstone was to be found anywhere. I looked around for about 20 minutes...nothing. So I basically lost my quest items, my crafting items and clothing, my diplomacy items and clothing. Thank goodness most of my adventuring stuff was soulbound or I would have been screwed. I was being disconnected from the world server...I started seeing other people's characters at login. Weird stuff all around. I called it a night after about 15 minutes of trying to get back in. This is the one bad thing about corpse runs. If there are any technical issues at the time of death, questionable things start to happen. I for one hope that Sigil gets rid of corpse run soon. They're just a pain in the ass and really add nothing to the game play.

One positive note though. Vanguard is running A LOT better after yesterday's patch...at least for me anyway. Grats to Sigil for working so hard on the performance issues. Now, if they can only work on the character models. I know that this is cosmetic, but the lack of fluid motion is really distracting from the experience. Looking like a have a stick shoved up my ass is making me feel awkward... and every time I jump I look like a gay little schoolgirl. I'm supposed to be a ferocious wolf-man, damnit.

D out

They finally got 'em

2007-02-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

...it was bound to happen eventually. I'm not implying anything, I'll just see if everyone's imagination is as sick as mine.

The Disadvantage of Purity

2007-02-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

Since the release of the NDA, there has been quite a bit of talk regarding LoTR Online not catching "the feel" of Tolkien, or that the game was not staying true to lore by having magic. Rubbish...just pure rubbish.

I have addressed this before, but this type of narrow minded approach to how a game should be designed just drives me bonkers. Turbine has run into this before and very recently with DDO. DDO is as close to the PnP experience as you can get it...you guys who think its not, go design something better and report back when you're done. They stayed very pure to the license and look what happened. The game is really good, but falls short on content and it lacks a persistent world in which to travel. Everything is an instanced experience in which you can enjoy with a handful of friends and yet, nobody is really taking to it. Shame on us. When I last played D&D, waaaaay back in the 80's, our Dungeon Master brought us through dungeons...surprise!! On our trek to the dungeons, we'd have a random encounter or two, but the main point of us getting together was the dungeon itself. Turbine comes along, gives that pure D&D experience and you'd think that would be a hit...after all, they stayed pure to that D&D "feel". But noooo...you get the "well, its not pure enough", or the "what? no persistent world? /logoff /cancel account". Amazing.

Now we have LoTR Online and we have the same personality type...the "Rules People" as I like to call them. They cringe if we, heaven forbid, stray from the pure path that Tolkien set out for us. Well, Turbine gave you guys the pure implementation in DDO and you bit their heads off. So I'm really not surprised that they're giving the "Rules people" the finger this time...I would. They are doing their best to get the IP right and I saw it with each patch in the Beta.

So lets imagine for a second that we do a pure translation from book to game...no wiggle room...just book->game. Would the game be fun? Noooooo. Would it attract a lot of gamers to play it? Nooooo. Would non-gamers try it? Noooooo. We'd be sitting around the Shire as a Hobbit doing nothing but dancing and drinking. As a human I'd be in Bree cleaning up horse shit. As an Elf, I'd either be reading a book or crying (Elves cry quite a bit). I don't even want to think about what I'd do as a Dwarf. This would be the case because the whole series is based of on the struggles of only a handful of people...everyone else is either going about their daily lives or is being steamrolled by current events.

Magic in LoTR Online?!! OMG! Its the seventh sign...we're all going to die. Two little words:...who...cares. Why on earth would it make one smidgen of difference whether a character in a LoTR GAME can shoot fire balls? Really...in the grand scheme of things...does it really matter? How are you and the spirit of Tolkien somehow vexed if a player character has this ability? Do all of the LoTR novels spontaneously combust when a player does this? Does this somehow make baby Jesus cry is some way? You see...in an MMO GAME, there is this little thing called "fun" and for some reason most players have "fun" when shooting fireballs from their fingertips. When I play LoTR Online, I'm not thinking of the purity of Tolkien lore...I'm thinking, "hey, this game is fun. I think I'll stick around play some more". That's the feeling Turbine is shooting for from each player.

Can the game be better? Yes. Are there issues with its current state, i.e crafting, classes? Yes. Should I be concerned about the direction Turbine will take the IP. God Yes! But you purists out there...and I know that there are only 12 of you, need to either a) get out of gaming and stick to books, or b) get on board and enjoy the gaming medium for what its meant to be, i.e. fun, engaging and entertaining.

D out.

Ep1 - tcsgamer Podcast - LoTR Beta Review

2007-02-13T19:43:00.000-05:00

Oh gawd what have I done....

OK, so I wanted to give this a try with basically an audio companion to the LoTR Beta review. It's my first shot at recording, editing and talking to myself...so be gentle.

You can find it here.

I'm open to suggestions, hints, cheats and constructive criticisms...although I think it turned out quite well.

D out.