Space Combat in TOR is a lot like Starfox; GW2 Gameplay Footage – a New Reason to Get Excited

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 18, 2010

by

Gamescom 2010 brings us two videos this week from the MMO big’uns: TOR and Guild Wars 2. Both of them have been met with some mixed reception but, from where I’m sitting, there’s cause to get excited. Let’s start with the space combat video from TOR.

Here, if you haven’t seen it yet, have a look:

Oh, wait. That’s not Star Wars, that’s everyone’s favorite Super Nintendo fox: Starfox! Seriously though, the space combat in TOR looks so similar, it’s not even funny. Now that you’ve seen the Fox, here’s the real combat video.

Pretty close, right?

Starfox was one hell of a game. It still holds up as one of the best lighthearted space combat console games out there. It’s definitely on rails in that the camera propels you along, but you have the freedom to maneuver around the screen to dodge and attack however you wish. Starfox offered quick, fun, and most importantly, very repeatable gameplay. For what seems like a late minute addition to the game, Bioware couldn’t have chosen a better model. Honestly, between the graphics and setting, that trailer looks like they’re going to out fox the Fox… which Nintendo itself has tried to do ever since. It may not add much to the world aspect of TOR, but it will definitely be a fun game — and there’s a lot of value in that alone.

The second video we have is a snippet of Guild Wars 2 gameplay.

Ravious handles the major criticism very well, so I’m going to focus on what excites me the most about this video: the combat is flashy! I know that seems like a small thing, but combat animations totally paint how you perceive a one of the biggest chunks of the game. What we’re seeing here is fast paced, colorful, over the top, and I love it. Compare it to a game like LotRO and LotRO will wind up looking dull by comparison. Hell, compare it to any other game than Aion and the competition will wind up looking dull. It’s just that good.

And, damn, check out the armor detail on that dev’s character.

So far, I’ve been “hypothetically” excited for Guild Wars 2. Everything Arenanet has been saying sounds great. The screenshots and trailers are excellent. This represents something real and it’s nice to have a tangible example of the game to get excited about. Even if they’d released no other information, this video alone would be enough to make me an 80% sell. Fun combat means a fun game (Aion), the rest just gives it the depth and longevity to be something great (not Aion).

Now, I’m off to edit Episode 24 of the Multiverse. I know, I’m breaking my resolution to do it on Mondays. I planned to, really I did, but my first spyware outbreak in more than a year has slowed me down a bit. I guess that will teach me for googling “blood elf pr0n” when I should be recording.

Hump day!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

3 comments

One New Raid, One New Guild: Or, There’s Life Left in WoW For Me Yet!

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 17, 2010

by

Lord of infernals and mistresses. Someone needs to tell this guy to brush his shoulders off.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you probably know that I’ve been feeling a little topped out on WoW lately. I was stuck in the heroic rut without much hope of getting out. This week has been a roller coaster ride as I’ve struggled to pull myself out. Thankfully, it looks like that might just happen!

The week started with Alea Iacta Est. I’d been in the guild for a little while, about a month, and was starting to feel comfortable. Runs for all manner of events were constantly being advertised in the guild LFG channel and, as a tank, I felt like I had a lot of choice. Yet, I could never quite shake how impersonal it all was. I guess that’s natural with a guild that’s more than 3000 members deep, but, still, that odd sense of detachment was troubling. Whatever, I thought, it doesn’t really matter. If it let me see the LK content I wanted to see, then it would be worth it.

Fast forward to two days ago,  and my best friend (the same one I usually mention here) text messages me to let me know he’d left the guild and joined another formed by his friend. They had the basic setup of a raid team already, he told me, so it was pretty much set. And, here’s the big thing, they wanted to run daytime raids, working up through the content, so that they could see it all, too. The choice was obvious. Since I hadn’t made any solid connections in AIE, I left. The other guild, Serenitys Raiders (their spelling, not mine. I know, I know…) represented the chance for a tight knit static group with a similar mindset. I even went so far as to set up their website for them, since I’ve done it before.

The guild was quiet but filled with level 80s. The GL assured me that almost all of them wanted to raid. That was great, except for their also beign DKs. On the other hand, my best friend was a lead officer and I had the gear, so I didn’t think I’d have much trouble finding a raid slot.

Then, something unexpected happened. I got into a random ToC 10-man in the early hours of this morning. Things didn’t go perfectly and we wound up wiping several times. In the end, we prevailed, however, and, most surprisingly, no one quit or got irate on vent. Actually, everyone approached it with a positive attitude. It wasn’t about what we did wrong or who failed how, it was about what we’d do differently the next time. We called out debuffs and directions over voice chat, pumped out raid warnings for the players without the program or DBM, and really just worked together to make it happen. And, as a pug who’d never tried anything together before, we did it. It took us a good couple hours, but we did it and I think we all felt proud when we were done. As the MT for a decent portion of it, it was a first for me.

Afterwords, we stayed in vent for probably another 20 minutes just talking. As it turned out, two of the players were members of the Chaotic Damnation, a husband and wife started guild, who had the same goals as Serenitys Raiders. Including, get this, daytime raiding. This is shocking to me. I’ve literally spent the last year trying to find a good daytime raiding guild whose personality matched my own. Then, over three days, I’d found two!

The raid leader surprised me further by complimenting on my tanking and offering me a spot in the guild. I was torn. I didn’t want to up and leave my friend’s new guild. After all, I’d just joined it. Plus, I had a vested interest in getting it going since they’d made me an officer on trust alone. But, the experience I’d had in ToC was so much what I’d been looking for, it was tough. This run went exactly as I’d always imagined a run with friends going. No one was yelling. No one was a jerk. It was friendly, fun, and positive, just like a game should be.

So, I talked to my friend about what had happened. I told him that I was happy to stay and help get his guild off the ground. He gave me his blessing, assuring me everyone would understand, and let me leave. I quickly messaged the raid leader and was greeted with an guild invite. Most surprisingly, the welcomes that rolled by included three other people from the raid who’d done the same thing I just did. It was just that kind of run, casual yet dedicated, serious yet lighthearted.

I’m happy at the new opportunities before me. I might not be able to get into ICC before Cataclysm drops but, then again, maybe I will. You never know. One thing is for sure, though, the game holds more promise for me now than it held this time last week… by a long shot. And I’m dedicated towards seeing more of it before time runs out.

It’s funny how quickly things can change.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

4 comments

Darkfall Combat is NOT So Special.

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 16, 2010

by

We’re starting this Monday out on a more sour note, I guess. Sorry for that. This got to me over the weekend, enough to inspire a whole post. You’ve probably seen Darkfall players talk crap about action bar MMOs. Yeah, well, they’re full of crap. Here’s why:

This guy secretly plays WoW. Don't tell the goblins.

There’s a common theme that runs in posts supporting Darkfall: the combat is leaps and bounds above other MMOs. I’m sorry but no, no it’s not. Now, that’s not to say that the AI supporting it isn’t good, because it is. Mob AI is leaps and bounds ahead of other MMOs. What I’m talking about it this idea that people playing normal action bar games are somehow dimwits.

The only thing substantial Darkfall adds to the mix is mouse squiggling. Here’s a typical set of combat encounters:

LotRO: 1, 2, 4, 5, 0, 2, 1 – repeat

Darkfall: 1, click, squiggle, click, 1, click, squiggle, 3, click – repeat.

See what I’m saying? What I find especially funny is that all of these people forget to mention that Darkfall uses action bars. The only difference is that you have to left click to make the ability go off! Making the user face the target and click repeatedly does not deep combat make.

Let me dispel a couple other misconceptions. Despite all that advanced AI, everything still seems pretty basic. I don’t doubt that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but when a Greater Servant “sees” me from half a mile away, I don’t think “oh crap, it’s dark so he must see better at night.” I think, “gee, he has an aggro range.” When a mob runs around me in circles, then runs away, stops, jitters, runs back, and runs away again, I don’t think “wow, he’s really aware of the situation and trying to trip me up.” I think, “oh look, he moves, and I have to face him.” If having to face your enemy is what the ForumFall-ites are priding themselves on, I suggest they get a reality check.

Look, I like Darkfall. A lot. The sum of all those little parts adds up to combat that is a lot more active but not necessarily more challenging. If anything, I’d say that, for PvE at least, action bar combat is the more complex. Where most Darkfall players will keep to a single action bar and a handful of skills for all situations, the average WoW player manages 3-4 packed with abilities. The current state of action bar combat allows players to not only react to any situation but also strategize what to use and when on the fly.

For many, myself included, the active swinging of a weapon is a lot of fun. And I’m not making any bones about PvP – I firmly believe that DF beats most other games here, if we’re talking skill. Other people find it stressful and annoying. To each their own. But that doesn’t make them stupid for preferring traditional controls over FPS-lite.

It’s pretty simple. Not many of you have played Darkfall or ever will. So, imagine your last fight in DDO. Now imagine the mobs running around you and trying to flee before they die. That’s pretty much it. Except, I don’t see many DDO players calling the rest of us idiots for playing normal MMOs.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

4 comments

I’m Making the Leap: Starcraft 2

Categories:

a. MMORPG, d. Everything Else

August 15, 2010

by

Quick, someone tell me what vespane is!

Fun Fact: disabling P2P in the SC2 downloader can increase your download speeds more than 4x!

And with that, I come to terms with the fact that I just spent $65 on an RTS. That’s a big leap from the previous $0 I’d ever spent on the genre beforehand. But, the internet has spoken, and I have listened: Starcraft 2 is the game to be playing at the moment and I would be remiss not to join the fun.

I’m not a total newb at Starcraft, just mostly. I played a bit during the beta and my brother-in-law was nice enough to send me one of his 7-hour guest passes. During my tinkerings, I’ve stuck exclusively to the multiplayer. That’s where the longevity is and what it seems most people spend their time doing. It’s the same approach I take to multiplayer shooters: trial by fire. The problem comes with the fact that Starcraft isn’t a shooter. Also, I’ve about as new to RTS’s as they come having played less than an hour of the whole genre. Until beta, anyways. Now I’m up to maybe five.

So, I lost a lot. And badly. But, like I said, trial by fire.

Except, I’ve come to the conclusion that plowing in with my head lowered might just be a stupid idea. Couple that with Ferrel’s enthusiasm for the single-player campaign in this week’s Multiverse (incoming early next week), and you have the seedling of an idea that refused to stop itching at my brain since late last night: I should be playing the campaign.

I have a bad habit when it comes to idea-seeds. While the responsible part of me says “that’s an awful lot of money on a game you may not even like,” the other part of me brays something about watching as many YouTube videos as I can to prove how truly awesome and cash-worthy the game actually is. Seeing game journalists squee over how cool the campaign plays out is an added bonus. I do this often and it makes saying no trickier than before that seedling got planted.

So, fast forward to today. I bought the game. It’s downloading, albeit abysmally slow at first. Seriously, on a 10Mb/s connection, it was saying 15 hours. On a whim, I shut off the P2P and the timers dropped to two hours. Anyhow, this time I don’t plan on touching multiplayer until I get a good grasp of everything the Terran forces and dish out.

Not only that, I’m pretty excited to finally see how Blizzard does single-player. I played a tiny amount of Diablo, but it’s safe to say I’m pretty much a Blizzard virgin for this kind of thing. I’m very interested to see how Blizzard puts their expert polish on a whole different kind of game than what I’m used to.

Anyways, I should be in and playing tonight. I’d love to hear your thoughts on tips, tricks, etc. for getting into the game. I’ll admit, after seeing videos talking about Actions Per Minutes and showing jacked up Korean kids control the Zerg like it was their own personal zit army, I’m feeling exceptionally wet behind the ears.

Any info for the Starcraft bumpkin or thoughts on the campaign experience? Please share because I’m eager to hear.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

7 comments

Fishing in FFXIV – FINALLY Fishing Done Right

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 12, 2010

by

It may sound silly, but one of the first things I got excited about when I decided to try WoW was the fishing. As a kid, I grew up with an outdoorsman father. We’d go out fishing together in real life, and then I’d come home and while away the hours with any of the Bass Pro games we had on the SNES. I loved that I could use the techniques my dad has just taught me in a video game; like it gave me a one up to how to win the game. So, when I heard WoW let you do all kinds of professions, one of them fishing, I got excited.

And ever since, I’ve been disappointed by what MMOs currently offer. I know, it seems like a small thing. But, tell me, how is a skill-less, challenge-less, mini-game any fun? That’s probably the reason more people don’t enjoy it.

Which brings me to FFXIV. They’ve recently axed the bull’s portion of their NDA, so the information is flowing; and, I’m happy to say that FINALLY, we have a game with a skill-based, interactive fishing system. When you fish, you’ll be able to spot different fish in different areas of water, you’ll have to react to the fish as you reel it in, and you’ll have different depth options, and possibly specific fish types, depending on where it is you fish.

The depth and reel in process are the most interesting to me. Presumably, the depth you set will play a role in the type of fish you’re hoping to catch. That type of design lets players build up their knowledge of the waters and species to develop a skill.

As you reel the fish in, you’re given several turns where you’ll choose which direction to pull the rod. Depending on how the fish, you’ll either pull it in, let the fish pull line out, or simply be in a stalemate for that round. We don’t know yet whether this system is randomized or not. It would be nice if there was a visual cue (like seeing the fish swim a certain way) to let you know, but even a random option is welcome. It makes it so the player can’t turn off (fishing is its own class) and hope to succeed. It also means that the player will be left wondering whether they’ll land the catch or not. This can be good and bad, because players will quickly become frustrated if it’s there’s too high of a chance to fail.

Overall, though, I’d say that this system is MUCH improved over what we’ve seen so far. When I finally got to try it in WoW, all I could say was “this is it?” I also like how it’s more in vein with other fishing games, as opposed to Vanguard’s DDR-type system.

Fishing might be a small aspect of play to most players, but for a lot of us it’s about connecting the virtual and the real. I like the excitement of fishing in real life, and I like to see that emulated in games. For me personally, it’s about connecting back to the oft ignored roots of my gamerhood. Bass Pro helped sink gaming’s hook deep into my cheek and open a lot of doors. For this, I’m grateful – and excited to see Sqaure-Enix’s take on it.

For more FFXIV news and info, check out FFXIVCore.com. They’re really an excellent resource and community for the game.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

4 comments

Let Me Die Already.

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 10, 2010

by

One of the many things that makes life so interesting is risk.  Whether it is an investment, a proposal, or just jumping off a bridge with a giant rubber band attached to your leg, it is risk that makes the blood start pumping.  For me, risk can be associated with some of the best and worst feelings of my life.  The bad rarely outweigh the good.

Gaming is an interesting hobby as the risks associated with such are usually pretty low.  When you wander through an enemy territory, you may get ganked.  The result?  A few added minutes while you collect your now beaten shell of a body.  Then you are back to normal. Some games try to provide more risk such as letting enemy players take loot from you or requiring you to get back to the place you died to retrieve your gear.  There are even options out there where death means character deletion.  Now that is something to think about before pulling more than you can chew.

A few days ago Massively wrote up a piece about a player in EVE online that lost around $1200 due to being scanned, and destroyed by enemy players while transporting a ridiculous amount of PLEX.  For those who are not familiar with PLEX, it is essentially the equivalent of in game play time currency.  EVE set up a system that allows players to buy game time with real money and sell it for in game money via PLEX.  It is an interesting system that seems to be working well.  A few weeks ago, EVE online started allowing players to transport PLEX via their ships cargo holds.  This led to the huge loss by the player massively mentioned.

Reading about the issue got me thinking about how awesome risk can make a game.  When the risks are high, the rewards are all the sweeter.  Risk has the ability to transform mindless mmo tasks into a decision of profit and loss, life and death.  You suddenly are much more aware of your surroundings, the way you pull mobs, the prep work to ensure your greatest chance at victory.  It can make the simple small everyday decisions feel much more important.

This obviously isn’t the type of environment we all like as gamers.  Not everyone likes taking risks that could mean the last few days of quests amount to nothing cause all your rewards were stolen.  Not everyone likes tip toeing around corners afraid that a surprise could mean character deletion.  For me, it makes me appreciate the small things more.  And for those who caught my write up on mmo atmosphere on Nomadic Gamer, you know that it is the small things that can really pull me into a game.

Im curious why more MMO’s don’t have the option of taking huge risks.  I for one would be all over having a Hardcore mode in World of Warcraft.  I would love to experience the game as an actual soldier of the war between alliance, horde and whatever third party is showing up in the latest expansion.  Something about knowing that a slip up could mean death is just… awesome!  I would never pull a murloc every again, but the exploration and gathering of crafting materials would be so much more exciting.

I don’t necessarily want a game fully dedicated to these risk style mechanics.  I do think it would be nice to have the option once in awhile.  Their are titles out there that provide it for their game, but I guess I am looking for it in my game.  At the end of the day when World of Warcraft has become just another meta grind, it would be nice to take the challenge to the next level and roll on a hardcore server.  Some place where courage, preparation, and intelligence dictate who will reign with a smile and die with tears.

What do you all think?

Thanks for reading

Tags: , ,

5 comments

What Makes a Success?

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 9, 2010

by

I think I love you... but, what are your subscription numbers again?

Over the last few years, we’ve seen an absolute explosion in the amount of MMOs being released. A lot of them came about purely because WoW was such a success. The result, it seems, is that these games are being measured against WoW to determine if they’re successful or not. Now, I think we can all agree that it’s silly to compare a new MMO to WoW in terms of subscriptions, so I won’t go there. What I’m wondering, however, is what it would take for an MMO to be considered a success in today’s market.

Keen has an article up this morning where he highlights a comment he received that I found particularly relevant to this discussion. Here are a couple of pieces that stood out to me:

It is hilarious that people still think that making big $$ WoW clones is good business…

[sic] Audience you expect to attract with 5 mil investment is not same as with 80 mil…

The first is interesting and pointedly true, if we’re holding WoW’s subscription numbers to be the golden standard all companies should shoot for. It insinuates, however, that the games that have tried to mimic WoW have failed. Some have, to be sure, but certainly not all. By this standard, both LotRO and Aion are failures because they share combat mechanics and UI similarities with Blizzard’s baby.

The second is a design consideration I’ve honestly never thought of. It’s one of those things that’s obvious, on one hand, and a little contradictory on the other. If a company is expecting to pull 11 million subs with a fraction of the investment, the natural outcome is a failed game. But, if these companies considered their games “failed” then why aren’t they shuttering them?

Public perception of success or failure is so subjective, it’s not even funny. It’s no coincidence that half the bloggers claiming “Game A is a failure” are also burnt by that game in some way. The unfortunate truth is that most of those same players never had any hope of being satisfied with the game anyway. They came to it from another game, expected it to fulfill them in the exact same ways, and we’re let down. If there’s a failing with the game that drives the player away, I’d say that there’s equal blame in the player for not being open to it in the first place. There is a big difference between wanting a vacation from your home game and wanting a new home entirely. Unfortunately for developers, players have a hard time telling the two apart.

This deer is a FAILURE. You are a FAIL deer! ... FAIL!

But, back to the point of success. From a business perspective, if the game can turn any kind of profit, it’s a success. So, that game that cost 5 million to develop? They don’t need a million subs to be a success. They can make up their investment and turn a profit with far less. From this point, it’s just a matter of degree. Is a game a behemoth success that exceeds all expectations, or is it a modest but reliable source of income for the company? That’s what it’s about. How much does it earn per month. If it’s making money, it’s a success.

John Smedley, SOE head, seems to agree. I recall reading a while back they he planned to keep games active, so long as they paid for their upkeep. Beyond that, it doesn’t really matter. Look to their stable of games for proof. By the WoW standard, every single SOE game is a failure. Yet, the original EQ stays hosted. Vanguard’s alive.

More importantly, by the WoW standard, every single game that’s tried to stand up to it is a failure. Now, how much sense does that make?

It seems to me that WoW is an outlier. By general estimates, the average MMO floats around 200-300k subscriptions. When you’re setting a baseline, you don’t choose the most freak figure possible. You go with the average. In the world of MMOs, anything that breaks 300k subscribers is a massive hit.

It’s really about whether you want the glass to be half empty or full. We’re not in a market of failed MMOs. We’re in a market with a lot of choice and, like most things, most of the options aren’t a good fit for us. That doesn’t mean games such or MMOs are failing. It just means a lot of people are looking for the perfect game and, coming up short, like to vent about it. That’s great, but, when we consider the success or failure of a certain game, we should keep in mind the thousands of people who love the games we walk away from. It’s all about perception.

Happy Monday, folks.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

6 comments

SAR: Appreciating the Industry

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 7, 2010

by

Xerb made me this beautiful picture to capture the moment. I always wanted to write an article that could be summed up in butterflies, lol! One more thing on the bucket list down!

Update: Whoops! Might help if I included a link. Fixed!

The lack of Friday post disturbs me. What’s that? It’s Saturday? Better late than never!

The good news is I’m not lazy. I’ve actually been writing a Friday post every week for a couple months! See, the fine gentleman at Lagwar saw fit to offer me a little space in their community to share my thoughts. And so, Some Assembly Required was born.

This week, I decided to take a minute to appreciate the good people who bring us the games we love. As gamers, the longer we play the more of an “old vet” we become. It’s easy to focus on what we don’t like or judge and be critical. I’m as guilty of it as anyone else. But, at the end of the day, the game we get is a product of the hard work, passion, and sheer love of gaming, from hundreds of people. That deserves appreciation, I think.

Anyhow, I hope you’ll go over and check it out. Maybe leave a comment, if you’re so inclined.

Now, with that out of the way, I have an anniversary party to get too. No, peach picking. No, peach picking and then an anniversary party. See you guys on the other side!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Leave comment

Is Rift’s Emergent Gameplay Just Reskinned PQs?

Categories:

a. MMORPG

August 5, 2010

by

Forgive my ignorance here, because I haven’t been following Rift too closely. I just found this developer diary on YouTube where they talk about some of their neat plans for the game. One of the bigguns is the rift system. Actually, considering they’ve named the game after it, I’d say it’s probably how they’re trying to define themselves in the MMO industry.

From what I understand (Ferrel, I’m looking at you), these rifts are supposed to represent the game’s take on emergent gameplay. It works something like this, throughout the world, at random times and places, portals to different planes of existence will open and allow the evil forces within to come forward. From what Ferrel’s researched, the system for these was built up before the game itself, so it should be pretty good.

This dev. diary makes me wonder just how new it is, though. Here are some choice quotes they’ve used to describe the system:

“Once you encounter a tear and cause it to open into a rift…”

“One type, for example, you might be fighting creatures from the plane of death. And so, over time the waves that you’re fighting are getting stronger and stronger… As you’re doing this, you’re increasing the value of your rewards over time.”

“We are currently implementing a system that rewards anybody that participates in a rift. You can even turn up at the eleventh hour and you’ll get something. People that actually are involved in opening the rift will get better stuff…”

While these all sound cool, here are the key facts I take away: 1) rifts will be optional since they have to be initiated; 2) rifts will be ranked events in which players compete for participation based rewards; and, 3) rifts will proceed in stages.

If you played WAR, you’re probably nodding your head right now. Those are the three defining stages of Public Quests, as well. The first two points also proved to be problems for Mythic. Problems that, over a year since launch, they’re still working to fix.

A tear before it opens to a full rift

That’s not to say the concept isn’t good. Frankly, if done right, I think public quests are a great system and a wonderful gateway to quick co-op fun. But, even so, PQs in WAR are largely ignored. Players want to min/max their way to “end game” content. Unless this kind of activity is incentivized out the wazoo, it will be ignored quicker XP elsewhere. Determining player contribution is another can of worms entirely, and one they’ll likely hear complaining about until the servers shut down years down the line.

The bigger issue this video raises for me, though, is how exactly Rift is different than any other game out there. The art is good and eye catching, and the customizable class system is interesting, but I like to see something new in the games I get excited about. Refining ideas and making them your own might be the key to long-term success, but at this stage, I haven’t bit yet. I’m a fish in a big lake and Trion’s hook doesn’t look any different than a dozen others.

But, like I said, I’m pretty ignorant about this game. Hopefully, I’m missing something. It has Scott Hartsman, which is good. Ferrel is excited about it and it’s infectious. I want to be on board.

What do you guys think, is there anything really new in Rift: Planes of Telara?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

11 comments

Older posts «

» Newer posts