“Take the player not the class” has officially turned into “take the gearscore not the character.” Please alert Blizzard’s dev team.
Category Archive: a. MMORPG
FFXIV Set for (Half of) Launch
I’ve been pretty sketchy these last couple days when it’s come to checking my feed reader. Imagine my surprise this morning when I opened it to see a release date for FFXIV! September 30th (PC)! Yay! And March 2011 (PS3). Doh. I was really hoping for a simultaneous release on this one. Since I’d first …
Does WoW Need a Graphics Update?
I’ve heard the idea expressed a lot over the three (ish) years I’ve been a WoW player. The game originally released in 2004. It stands to reason the graphics might be showing their age a little bit. But, for all of these complaints, I’m really not seeing it. WoW’s art style is so stylized that …
Full Voicing Might Be a Bust
As a rule, I’m pretty skeptical of full voicework in RPGs. When it’s done right, it can be great and add to the immersion and storytelling. When it’s done wrong, though, it’s the exact opposite and the entire product winds up feeling cheap and under-produced. So, I have my reservations about SW:TOR. The first, and …
Let’s Stop With the Secrecy
While listening to the latest episode of The Instance today, I got to thinking about how secretive the video game industry is. There are always hidden features, little selling points, that they dangle in front of us in a seemingly endless stream. The release of new information is always extremely controlled. I swear, some of …
S.A.R. #6: Exploring the Drug Culture in World of Warcraft
Hey Gang, Another Friday, another SAR. As I mentioned in this morning’s article, this is a special edition of Some Assembly Required. This week, I spend some time talking with a fellow named Burns whose guild and play style are firmly rooted in playing under the influence. I met with Burns on Skype on several …
But Home is Nowhere
My plans for WoW took an unexpected turn today. As of 6:30PM, my alliance death knight is no longer on the Aegwynn PVP server. As a matter of fact, my death knight is no longer even a member of the Alliance on any server. That’s right, I went for the full whammy; I pulled up …
Cataclysm Cutbacks, My Thoughts and Hopes for E3, and Gaming Keyboards
I’ve been pretty busy managing games, work, and hardware upgrades this past week, so I’ve been a little behind on the news. Sorry for the lack of Monday update, but there’s a few big things I’d like to touch on, so let’s get started. Cataclysm Cutbacks Path of the Titans represented one of the most …
My Thoughts on the Evolution of F2P
The topic of RMT has been huge the last couple of years. When I first started blogging in June of ’08, F2P was almost universally derided by the subscription-game crowd. It was tied with notions of poor quality and a “buy now” herd mentality driven by manipulative game design. I don’t know how true any …
Content Explosions are Overrated
Ravious writes today asking whether content explosions are still the best way to introduce new content to an MMO. By explosion, he means, of course, the traditional method of delivering large patches every six months. This is the model most AAA MMOs opt for, but, as he points out, there’s a much wider array of …
