WoW: MoP Jade Forest Review and Other Miscellaney

Categories:

a. MMORPG, c. PC Gaming

October 17, 2012

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It’s been a while since my last update, so I thought I’d check in and let you all know where I’m at. My main game has been WoW: MoP lately but I’ve dipped my toe into more than one water, so let’s jump right in.

Jade Forest Review

While “review” might be a bit overkill, I’ve played through the zone and feel comfortable sharing my thoughts. I think it’s safe to say that Jade Forest is a very well done zone and provides a great introduction to Mists of Pandaria. Each quest hub now represents a set of six or so quests that give you a nice chunk of story and usually keep the thread of the main storyline going along at a steady clip. This is a nice change from previous expansions where a dozen quests kept the story; this is much more concise and easy to follow. It also allows Blizzard to deliver story in chunks of real movements. For the first time, I found myself questing because I wanted to see what would happen next and not just to kill more furlbogs. I also had a great “wow!” moment at the end of the zone when the Sha of Doubt finally reveals itself. The lead up to that was fantastic and one of the best bits of storytelling ever seen in WoW’s quests.

Unfortunately, quest design didn’t evolve nearly as much as story in that not at all. This is why I think reviewers nailed the game so hard. Quest progression and story delivery have evolved, and even combat has had some shake-ups (while still being a 1, 2, 3, mechanic, button-mash), but what you’re actually doing hasn’t changed a bit. There are a couple outliers, like the sniper quest and other instanced story content, but the open world doesn’t get more exciting than the bombing runs first introduced in ’07. I really hope this improves as I continue through the game.

Still, WoW is WoW, and I’m having fun with it. Jade Forest is a good introduction to what I’ve always said is a good game. At this point, though, it’s an old game and virtually everything in RIFT’s Storm Legion (other than story) is showing it up. Will I stay subscribed after this month? I really don’t know if 90 is worth it when there’s such other offerings on the market.

Guild Wars 2 – No Pressure, No Login?

Guild Wars 2 is a fantastic game, no doubt about it. I like it a lot, but its systems really don’t compel me to keep logging in. There’s just no pressure to do so. While having no quests and (almost) meaningless levels is a good idea, it also means that it’s firmly an “at my own pace” kind of game. I log in here and there to play with friends or do a story mission, but I’m sitting at level 30 and don’t see myself hitting 80 before the end of the year. I’m slow like that.

What does this say about the game, though? I mean, my own experience aside, lots of people have stated similar opinions whether they’ve capped out or not. I have to think ANet isn’t exactly happy that so many people have fallen off when this was, relatively speaking, THE game of the last few years. Then again, they got their box price, so maybe it means more to us than them. I’m more worried that this will mean less content updates and more boxed expansions, similar to Guild Wars 1.

And maybe someone can explain this to me. GW players say that the game had great support. Every time I checked their site, I’d see balance updates and maybe a chunk of content for a holiday. The once and maybe every six month quest pack. Did they just not update their site enough? Bury real content additions under layers of “Buy Guild Wars” banners? I don’t really consider balance patches and holiday events as content. That’s more… “we’ve got to give them something, plus PVP!” type stuff. If they do that with GW2, they will fail.

Other Games, Other Gigs

I’ve been playing a handful of other games recently. Borderlands 2, Dishonored, War of the Roses, BF3: Armorer Kill… lots of stuff. And another game I’m not allowed to tell you about yet (but it features zombies and is a lot like a mod you might have played… stay tuned). Suffice it to say, all of the above are excellent, especially Dishonored. If you liked Deus Ex or Bioshock, you need to play that game. It’s GOTY material.

I’ve also picked a couple other gigs. I’m back at Vagary for one — I took a LoA earlier this year to handle some personal issues. I’m also writing for Hooked Gamers now, too, as a PC Reviewer. Here are two recent reviews: Cortex Command (bad) and War of the Roses (good). It’s likely that my work for those sites will take up more of my time, but I’ll be keeping up here as well.

Hey, you know what game I haven’t been playing? RIFT. Despite an extremely generous offer from their team to get a tour of the expansion, I’ve been staying away in preparation for the expansion. Now I’m in lull mode, the calm before the storm, you might say (bada bing!). It’s going to be good, guys. I just don’t want to spoil it for myself and knowing it’s just around the corner is keeping me at bay until it’s finally here. You get that way? You want to play the new version of something so much that the current version just doesn’t seem good enough (when it really is)? You’ve got to give it to them for community outreach. Trion is really something special. Shout outs, Elrar!

Anyways, that about wraps it for now. Stay strong, internets. November isn’t long!

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Trying Mists of Pandaria After Six Months Away

Categories:

a. MMORPG

October 9, 2012

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I recently picked up Mists of Pandaria to while away the remaining hours before RIFT’s Storm Legion expansion. To be perfectly honest, I’m pretty surprised to be writing this right now since I didn’t think I’d be trying it at all. Word of mouth means more than marketing or silly Panda decisions after all, it seems, so after too many trials and tribulations, I finally got the game installed and ready to go.

Technical Difficulties

Getting the game going again was a lot more difficult than I expected. I spent two days stuck on “Updating Setup Files.” This has never been an issue in the past, so I chalked it up to the digital download not agreeing with my system. I even went so far as to install my WotLK disc only to get the same hang up an hour in. As I later discovered, AVG had disabled the Windows Secondary Logon service, so when I got that turned on, everything was honky dory. Blizzard really has streamlined the download-play process and deserve a nod. Good job, little monsters.

Unfortunately, I’ve experienced numerous crashes and bugs since then. The MoP DX11 update doesn’t agree with nVidia’s latest drivers, so I was forced to downgrade to DX9 to play for more than an hour. For some reason, I can no longer hit ESC to bring up the menu, too, so there’s that.

Pet Battles

It’s amazing how much has changed in the last six months. I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends still playing who could help me get back into things. Pet Battles were one of the first things I wanted to try out. As it happens, I totally forgot some of the cool pets I had, and I was able to bypass the starter pet completely and begin things right with my Onyx Whelpling (Nine out of ten adventurers agree, dragons are cooler than birds).

People weren’t kidding when they said this thing is like Pokemon. It’s a carbon copy, right down to having to visit a special NPC to have your pets healed. On one hand, I love this since I was a big fan of the Game Boy games. On the other, it seems really odd that the player doesn’t have any way to heal their pet when they regen thousands of health each second.

I don’t know if I will be putting a whole lot of time into this system up front. It’s neat but it also feels like having to re-level all over again and it seems a bit grindy for the month I’m planning on staying. Still, I hit level 4 with my dragon-friend and will surely play around with it more.

Narration

I’m a big fan of the cinematics this time around. Not the trailers really but the in-game scenes. It’s better done than any expansion to come before it and is really about time; MMOs are notoriously bad for their narrative elements, WoW being high up on that list. It’s also neat how much more voice over is included in this expansion. You can really tell that Blizzard is trying to answer the new emphasis on story that’s come about since Cataclysm.

Pandaria

Ah, the stories continent of kung-fu pandas. I’ll be honest, I think the Pandaren race is the single stupidest addition to ever come to WoW. It’s a joke beyond jokes and reeks of desperation akin to a teenager with a flipped collar hoping to stand out from the crowd. It works but not in a good way. Anyways, that said, WoW is a pretty silly game in general and has a whole lot in common with a cartoon. Accepting Pandas in that context really isn’t that hard. Moreover, I think they’re really more of a vehicle for the Asian themed continent. So I’ll take them and do my best to keep them in my peripheral vision an no more.

The game itself is pretty in timeless way that only WoW has been able to pull off. The polygon count is low in comparison to other games but it really doesn’t hurt the experience since the engine is so good at blending it all together.

The gameplay is what’s bothering me. I’ve halfway to 86 and I’m still not comfortable with it. It just feels incredibly simple. Now, my Death Knight was never that hard to play but it seems much less involved than ever before. I open combat with a sequence like this: 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4. Every time… unless one of those twos becomes an Alt+2 for AoE.

What’s worse, though, is that spell effects are so out of control and mobs so prone to come in packs that’s it’s hard to tell what I’m even targeting unless it’s three times my own size. It makes combat feel horribly detached an unimpactful. Oh, I’m dying? I wonder why. No way to tell with so many colors exploding everywhere, may as well spam my heal.

I’m going to try to turn down my spell effects but that shouldn’t be necessary. The game simply shouldn’t let you turn things up so high that it destroys the experience. I don’t know if I’m spoiled by new games or just getting used to things again. Maybe it’s both. We’ll see over the month, I guess!

The other problem is that the quests just don’t feel worth reading. After playing SWTOR, and GW2, and RIFT where exposition is more than 250 characters, seeing that half-paragraph explanation just makes me want to skip it and hope the game tells its story by playing through it. I feel like I’ll miss something doing that, though, and it makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Even though I’ve only played for a handful of hours, I’m feeling like this return is very hit or miss. I am reserving judgment until it’s fair to hand it out and am keeping an open mind. Will report back when I’ve had more time with it!

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PvPing to PvE and the Backbone of Bigotry

Categories:

a. MMORPG

October 3, 2012

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Over the years there has been a persistent issue in MMOs when players have to play one way to get gear for another. This issue has come up again in Mists of Pandaria as players are (once again) running battlegrounds to get gear to for endgame PvE. Whether or not Blizzard should have foreseen this aside, I really have to wonder about the outrage this issue always causes. Okay raiders we get it, you don’t think PvPers should get raid gear for battlegrounds. Got it. Now would you kindly get over yourselves? Same to you, PvPers.

Aren’t we a little beyond getting bent out of shape because of someone else’s reward? Is it so terrible that there could be more raiders and more PvPers to fill out your teams? Give me one good reason why. And please make sure it’s not related to your ego. Thanks.

If you do have a reason, I’ll hear it. I’m open to opinions. But the problem is this: Someone else’s reward doesn’t effect you. Your stats, your skills, and your strats are all exactly the same as they were yesterday. What’s the worst thing that could happen if a player could choose a PvP item as a raid drop? Noobs invade your BG? Well guess what, they do that anyway, Caps Lock Strategist. That’s kind of how these “open access” games work. And if you could buy a PvE weapon for valor/whateverotherPvPstat? The random PuG does better. And your feelings are hurt.

“I PvP’ed for 10000 hours to get that weapon, he shouldn’t get it for raiding!” “I ran that dungeon 40 times while he sat in PvP queue, how is that fair?!” We’re human. I think we can all empathize with those arguments, as far as they go. But here’s the thing, they only go as far as Lindsay Lohan with a dime bag of crank. The only thing the current reward paradigm gets you is the ability to look down your nose at other people for not playing exactly the same for exactly as long as you have. Great accomplishment, I guess.

And if we changed things and allowed a little more choice? Pick-up groups would have an easier time in both raids and 5-mans. Battlegrounds would be invaded by players with actual PvP gear and skill might actually mean something again. And players whose sole skill set involves “get gear win” will run to the forums and rage. But you know what, while they cry on less people will be slamming their faces against a wall because some random e-peen needs validation. I side with the small-peened.

I’m not advocating people get epics for doing nothing, and I’m certainly not saying you should get to be top of the food chain without ever stepping foot in the playstyle. I’m saying that if Joe finds it fun to raid but is curious about arenas, let the guy gear up doing what he knows he likes. He’s paying his fee and, again, what does it really matter to any single person other than him? It doesn’t and the entire game stands to benefit. He’s done his work, so get him some gear to be competitive. Not top of the line, competitive, because if he likes it, he can keep playing to hone in his skill set. Vice versa for PvP to PvE.

I’m also not saying that you should have to PvP to PvE and opposite. Play how you want, that’s the whole point. I used to be one of these guys that believed the exact opposite of what I’m writing here. But times have changed and we’d all better smell the coffee or risk being left behind. Make no mistake, you can leet yourself right out of this genre. Are you really an MMO fan or are just a fan of relative power? There is a big, big difference in today’s market.

At the end of the day, if you’re relying on gear to be your skillset, you’re doing it wrong. Skill will trump gear unless gear is allowed to bury the newcomer. Then you have sheep v. wolves. And who would want that but an egotist, someone who doesn’t want to play to win, but win to play and make you lose in the process. Non-sensical maybe but I’m thinking you understand. Again, big difference.

Hat tip: PvD for pointing this out.

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Every Game is a 3-Monther

Categories:

a. MMORPG

September 26, 2012

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Update: Added a bit to my paragraph on subscription games to clarify the point I was trying to make. Keen also has a fair response that acts as a good counter-point.

A while back, Keen coined the term “3-monther” in regards to MMOs. It’s apt and pretty darn descriptive of how MMOs players tend to move from game to game. When taken figuratively, it’s an answer to a question we all ask: Does this game have legs? Or perhaps more accurately, can this game be my new home? When a game is a 3-monther that answer is no and that this isn’t the “one.” The problem with the term is that when it’s taken literally, the answer never changes. Every game is a 3-monther. I’d like to look at why that is.

The first thing to look at is who we’re asking. When a blogger makes a declarative statement like “yes, this is a 3-monther,” even when they hoped it wouldn’t be, nobody should be surprised. A blogger isn’t a player, they’re a commentator. It is in their nature to look at things with a critical eye and pick them apart. Players don’t do that — at least not in the same way. It’s also in their nature to always look forward, to see promise and to seek excitement. So when a blogger gets 90 days, that’s actually a pretty good sign. When they’re sharing the game’s problems and are ready to move on, take it to heart, sure, but it’s also probably a good idea to recognize a few things. 1) They probably hit the game pretty hard (harder than it was meant to be hit?); 2) They’re most likely not the target audience anyway; and 3) They’re looking for something most of them will never ever find again.

On these points. One, normal players do  not play for two hours a day, every day. They do not buy each new MMO just to compare it to the last. There is a reason things have become more casual and it’s not because the hardcore is increasing in numbers. Two, since most bloggers aren’t all that casual, there’s a good chance the content was designed for someone decidedly less hardcore than themselves. And three, like anyone hooked on anything, they are always trying to relive those first experiences. It won’t happen.  What they’re looking for is a way to make everything new again with years of experience sitting in their back pocket. Sound likely? There is a high to newness and they’ve lived it and lost it by the time they start to blog.

These also are true of many blog readers, too, which is pretty evident the more readers we all get.

When a blogger declares a game a “good 3-monther” they are actually saying it’s not the complete reinvention it’d take to be any more. What does it take to make something new again unless, well, it’s actually new? And we don’t like new, not that much; new is scary and unproven (*cough* TSW sales *cough*).

Take Guild Wars 2.  Is it a fantastic game? Yes. It is also a 3-monther? You bet. The vigilant reader can actually see this happening first hand just by clicking through the links on my sidebar. People get excited by conventions being challenged because we know something’s getting stale, but when it becomes apparent that it’s actually just a game and not an answer realization sets in. And bloggers look ever forward.

The term 3-monther is apt, sure, yet it’s use also ignores that times have changed. You know what games weren’t 3-monthers? The ones you didn’t have a choice but to stick with. Mario on the NES. Everquest and Ultima and DAoC. Games of a time when there weren’t options, either by virtue of a smaller market or a smaller wallet. As it happens, a lot of bloggers are twenty-somethings like myself. When we got into this genre, we were teenagers, probably broke, and with only a few games to choose from on our dial-up internet connections. We picked one, had experiences as only teenagers can have them, and stuck with it. A decade later there are dozens, hundreds of games to choose from, and one is a whole lot like the next (compared to the differences of yore). And we have more expendable income to try them all.

We have great memories of epic yesterdays. Memories of times when guilds were brotherhoods, maps were huge, battles were fought and enemies overcome, and that these games were worlds we could feel alive in. There is truth to that but there’s also truth to this: We’re the ground floor generation. WoW introduced gen2 and they really don’t care much about “worlds” or “immersion” or this whole sandbox vs themepark debate. Everything that’s come since WoW has ushered in gen3 and they want action combat and reactivity and scale. Soloability has carried through, too, and probably always will. With such definitive clashes in expectations, it’s no wonder that no one game satisfies everyone, bloggers least of all.

Claiming a 3-monther also ignores that it’s probably okay to get a quarter year for your $60-90. If you buy a single-player game, you’re lucky to stay interested for even one month. That’s the product of having options. New games are always coming out and players will always look forward to them. What we have is yesterday’s news by the time the next game is announced. I’m okay with that. If Guild Wars 2 gives you three months of entertainment, that’s a better value than most of what you bought on your Xbox this year. Without a subscription fee, you’re free to walk away until they fix what you don’t like or add more of what you do. (And it probably means more than complaining).

Sub-games are another issue. By design, they should strive to break beyond months in terms of content generation (ala RIFT) but surely they all begin as 3-monthers. Let’s put that to the side for the moment. In this day and age, if a subscription game can still be looked at positively after 90 days, they’ve got to be providing enough new content or relying on players to keep things fresh, in which case the developers have transitioned into successful maintenance and expansion. Exactly one game has pulled that off since WoW, so it’s safe to say that modern theme parks just aren’t very good at that.

How about EVE? It may do well as a subscription game but, hey, EVE is EVE and we’re better off not comparing this herd of cows to that horse. Then again, what games aren’t 3-monthers? Those where you’re forced to engage with other players. Call of Duty, Battlefield, League of Legends, EVE … these have no definitive end because players supply the competition and motivation. Not very good news for solo players, I suppose.

Where do you find a game that’s not a 3-monther? The game with lasting power is the one where you can find a place to fit in with other players and continuously work at something. In WoW and RIFT, that’s raiding or PvP. In Guild Wars 2, it’s WvW. Maybe it’s RP for LotRO. It really doesn’t matter because the game with legs for me might be totally different for you.

No game is going to hand you the past. If you’re willing to work for it and find your niche, and can be flexible in getting there, you might just find that a game being a game is okay… and care a whole lot less when other people nitpick.

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Fantastic First Steps into Torchlight 2

Categories:

a. MMORPG, c. PC Gaming, d. Everything Else

September 19, 2012

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Thanks to the generosity of Runic Games, I was able to get my hands on Torchlight 2 a couple days early so I could share my thoughts with you. Before we begin, I’ll give you the TL;DR up front: Buy it — buy it now and a couple copies for your dungeon crawling buddies, too. Yeah, it’s that good and easily worth the $20 they’re asking. And while you’re at it, uninstall those other crawlers taking up hard drive space. You won’t need them anymore.

*Note: This post is based on the first 90 minutes of gameplay. More posts to come!

When I got the go-ahead to download last night it was already pretty late, so I wasn’t expecting to play more than a half-hour or so. An hour and a half later I was looking at my clock wondering just where the time had gone. And if we’re being honest, justifying how I could squeeze in another 30 minutes playing. Like I said, it’s that good.

Torchlight 2 introduces itself with that magic “something” that buckles you in and won’t let go. But magic isn’t quite the right word. The allure of Torchlight 2 lies in its perfect blending of tight gameplay mechanics, a light-hearted art style, and player empowerment. The game gives its best right up front. Within brief minutes, you’re building your character the way you choose, both in terms of specific stats and powering up abilities to suit your play style. Want to be a crit heavy single-target gun blazer? Or how about a multi-target glaive thrower with lots of HP? By level 3, you’re making those choices.

Image courtesy of Pete @ Dragonchasers

Combat is standard crawler-fare — left-click attack, right-click special — but with enough spontaneity and flair to keep things satisfyingly visceral. Playing the engineer class often resulted in dual-blast pistols that would send enemies flying or outright explode into meaty, bloody bits. As a matter of fact, all classes can trigger these “executions” just by wielding two weapons of the same type. Characters also gain unique power-ups by chaining together kills and filling a charge bar. When the berserker class fills his, for example, every attack becomes a critical. The embermage  gets mana-free casting and 25% more damage. These mechanics provide incentive to keep the blood splattering and loot dropping.

This is what happens when you feed a cat fresh fish!

Which is another excellent thing: Loot. There’s lots of it. Taking a queue from its predecessor, it still comes in varying rarities that often need identifying. What’s makes it great, however, are the stats. Percentage boosts and attribute points, as well as nifty bonus effects (“chance to…”), have a noticeable impact on power. Before you’ve even entered your first dungeon, you will likely have made definitive choices between drops based on how you want to play. You will also probably have half an inventory of spare loot to sell. Thankfully pet companions make their return and are still able to sell your wares while you remain in the field.

A fun addition to the game is fishing. I didn’t spend much time with the system but the first town features a fishing hole I had to try. I caught five fish and a pair of grey boots. Each fish was a consumable for my pet that would turn him into another creature with a unique ability (poison, chill, immobilize, etc). This adds a layer of strategic thought to pet utilization.

Overland maps and dungeons both feature randomization

If gameplay mechanics and loot drops are part of that blend, the other element is art style. Everything, from character models to full zones, feels painterly and water-colored. It gives the game a whimsical feel not present in other, “more serious” ARPGs. Yet I found myself LOVING it. The art team at Runic Games has managed to create a world that is at once fun and foreboding, dangerous but begging to be explored.

The First Dungeon

As I explored the game’s first dungeon I couldn’t help but compare to Diablo 3’s early dungeon, Halls of Agony.  The settings were much alike in color and theme but Torchlight 2’s take was just a more fun place to be. Don’t get me wrong, Halls of Agony was enjoyable — as was all of D3, personally — but that serious “You are in HELL” atmosphere felt downright oppressive after a while.  Conversely, Torchlight 2 feels much lighter, like a good animated fantasy where lots of things are dangerous but nothing will really hurt you. If there is any doubt as to the developer’s intentions, one need look no further than the cutscenes, which are still-image cartoons. The game is friendly and even in depths of Torture Tomb #1, it’s a fun place to be.

Cutscene art

Overall, my first steps into the world of Torchlight 2 were nothing short of fantastic. The dopamine drip runs fast and loose and Runic wastes no time getting your first dose. I will be doing more write-ups as I get further in the game, but do yourself a favor: don’t wait to pick this one up. It’s is easily set to be one of the best dungeon crawlers since of the decade.

Thanks again to Runic Games for providing early access for this first write-up!

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Darkfall: Unholy Wars – Worst Announcement Ever

Categories:

a. MMORPG

September 18, 2012

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I got a fun little email this morning stating that, yup, Darkfall: Unholy Wars is a thing.  And that’s pretty much all it said. For those who don’t know, Darkfall is a pretty neat, action-combat MMORPG that features full looting, an active skill system, and a distinctly old-school approach to just about every game system. Plus large scale PvP, yo. Back to the expansion, or patch, or re-release — whatever this is exactly is still unclear.

Oh good, a website to answer our questions!

Here’s a paragraph of lore to set the scene:

Agon, a land that has suffered hundreds of years of divine vengeance and demonic conspiracy, has been given a moment of relief. After declaring war on each other and mortals alike, the Demon and the Goddess have pulled back to reorganize and assemble their forces. If ever there was a time for the mortal races to regroup, reclaim the lands and rise to power, it is now!

Is it just me, or did they just write away a whole game and say “come back because nothing’s happening”? That’s kind of what it looks like. Aventurine has a pretty terrible track record on updates, so I’m not sure if I should be surprised or nodding sagely that this is their draw.  It does look like they’re planning on resetting land ownership, though. Something might happen, sometime, but until fight over this stuff you already had.

A features list! Surely this will tell us what they’re planning!

KEY FEATURES

  • Massive Land and Naval PvP Battles: Thousands of players can participate simultaneously in wars and sieges on land and sea, in real-time, on a single server.
  • A Huge, Seamless World: The world of Agon is a large open world that consists of both land and water and gives the freedom to players to uncover its hidden secrets.
  • Flexible Roles: Choose role at will, switching from meat shield to master mage to benevolent healer. Players can switch between roles, skills, spells, and ability boosters on the fly. Develop your skills in all roles and experience the game in a multitude of different ways over time or specialize in a single role and be the one your friends depend on to fulfill that calling.
  • Full Loot: You keep what you kill. Players can loot all of the goods from a slain enemy, and vice versa.
  • Persistence: Players can affect the fabric of the game world, constructing and fortifying cities across Agon and building empires that last as long as they can defend them.

So… Darkfall? It is a terrible, terrible sign when the only thing you can announce about your “new game” is that’s it’s the old game. What exactly is being announced? A sub-title? That a patch is coming SoonTM? We’ve known that. It’s actually been “over two years in the making.”

Okay, okay. Let’s not get out of hand. There’s a video. Let’s have a look.

Most uninformative dev video in recent memory. Seriously. You know what they revealed there? Wait for it… Unholy Wars… is… a… THING! Holy crow, stop the presses, and slap you mother with an oven mitt! A THING did you hear?! Oh yeah, and something about sieges and remembering critics’ names. But a THING! Someday!

All snark aside, I like Darkfall. It’s a unique, compelling game with a better combat system than almost any other MMO, a huge open world, full looting, and lots of appealing old-school mentalities. Darkfall is the kind of game this genre needs more of both in PvPand PvE. I want them to come out with 2.0 and have it be something so brain-crushingly awesome that the whole world stands up to take notice.

That said, this “announcement” was a complete and unbridled disappointment. If they’re selling a box (are they selling a box?) — or trying to stir up much of anything besides ire,  they need more than “hey guys, remember us? We’re here, in SUBTITLE form.”

Yeah, more details will come (assuming this doesn’t take 2 more years to release), and I’m sure there will be stuff worth getting excited over. Maybe they should have included just one of those in this announcement. Just sayin’.

Syncaine seems to be optimistic, though, which is actually worth more note than anything in the video! Maybe he’ll tell us why better than Tasos.

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[CoH] And if the petition succeeds, then what?

Categories:

a. MMORPG

September 7, 2012

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I think it’s great that a lot of people have gotten together to rally behind City of Heroes. Whenever players organize for the powers of good, it’s worth stopping to take notice. For all that, I can’t figure out who the heck is doing the majority of support.

Is it players? Bloggers? Or here’s a distinct possibility, ex-players who don’t want to let go of their nostalgia. Given that these games are business tools, only that first group is important. If column A outnumbered columns B or C, would the game even be closing in the first place?

So my question goes out to those last two parties. Let’s say this thing succeeds, what then? How much are you personally willing to spend on an aging MMO right after Guild Wars 2 has come out and expansions are on the way. How many signing this petition will actually drop money on expansions and cash shop items when they, in truth, have no vested interest in this beyond rooting for the little guy and their own washed out memories? That’s not everyone but, then again, the game is three steps from the gallows so, yeah, it’s a lot of them.

Because if you’re signing this thing without any intent to actually spend — and I mean real “I’m going to put at least X dollars in this thing” intent — you’re not doing anyone any good. What’s the most you could gain from “success” in that scenario, a year of tortured pseudo-development? The playerbase wasn’t enough to keep the lights on. If you want to make a difference, you’d better be willing to put your money where your mouth is.

That’s why this thing is an admirable, it’s also unlikely to make a difference. The fact is it is a lot easier to type your name or check a box than spend real money; there is no commitment beyond that “name” box. And when you’re trying to save a business, commitment and follow-through are the only things that matter. How many people would sign if there was a $10 fee, I wonder.

I wish this petition the best. I just hope the people signing on and “ra-ra-ra”ing from the sidelines actually mean what they say. Delaying the inevitable can be worse than a quick and clean ending.

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Why GW2 Won’t Replace My Other MMO

Categories:

a. MMORPG

September 5, 2012

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Since Guild Wars 2 first began powering up the hype train, people have been claiming that it would revolutionize the MMO genre and replace the games that came before it. Nobody wants to play with yesterday’s toy after all (just ask Slinky). I’m here to tell you that, no, Guild Wars 2 will not be replacing my other MMO. And contrary to how that might sound, it’s not really a bad thing.

See, it’s easy for me to join along with each new MMO and put the previous one to bed for a while. I didn’t want that to happen with RIFT, so I’ve been keeping up with it, working through Ember Isle and trying to be regular with my expert dungeons. What I’ve found is that, surprisingly, Guild Wars has really taken nothing away from it. RIFT stands up against all of the innovations and gameplay changes GW2 brings to the table.I got to thinking, how can that be? GW2 is made of the finest stuff the MMO industry has had on offer these last 8 years, shouldn’t it make other games feel old? I think the simple truth is that Guild Wars has innovated its way right out of comparison. It doesn’t feel like other games, and what similarities it does have are pretty cursory compared to that feeling. Character progression is different. Moving through the world is different. Combat is very different. Exploration means something. And while a lot of people will tell you that its individual parts are like this or that, or that it’s still tab-targeting (“action bar combat fail!”), I’m here to tell you that those people are  either kidding themselves or are flat out jaded. A game is about an experience, the sum total of its parts, and some people just miss the forest for the trees.

So when I step back into RIFT, it’s like I’ve just saddled a whole different beast. It holds up! And while it doesn’t have dodging or trinity-less design, it doesn’t need them to be a great game. It’s good we have Guild Wars.  It’s great that they’re challenging conventions and trying new things. But some people like those old designs and they’re not wrong it.

Take the trinity for example. I am absolutely fine with having that in my game. While I like being self-sufficent and surviving based on my own skill (GW2), I also enjoy playing a defined role and having to fill that responsibility. I was talking to a friend the other day and the idea of not being able to play a real “healer” turned him off. He liked supporting his group. I can understand that. The idea of giving up tanking in exchange for pure dungeon chaos turns me off. I’ll get used to it, just like he will, because, hey, different isn’t bad. It’s just takes getting used to.

And that’s my take-away. GW2 isn’t a revolution, it’s different. It’s not going to replace other MMOs because it’s unique enough to co-exist without pushing others off the plate. This isn’t the second coming, it’s just an excellent game. I will happily play it alongside others. But taking something away from a game like RIFT? Not done.

Such a perfect business model for this kind of scenario, too. I guess we’ll really see whether players want more than one game this year.

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PSA: Site re-design done!

Categories:

d. Everything Else

September 4, 2012

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Hi Guys,

Just hopping on to let you know that I finally got around to re-designing the site. It should be a bit less busy text-wise and a little more colorful (I like color). Please let me know what you think and don’t be afraid to be honest. Also, I cleaned up my blogroll to get rid of dead links. If your site doesn’t appear over to the right, shoot me an email and I’ll get it added. I hope you enjoy the new look!

– Chris

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[GW2] When Story and Class Collide

Categories:

a. MMORPG

September 3, 2012

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I’ve tried to roll an Asura thief three times, and I just can’t bring myself to play the character. Why, you might ask? Story. The narrative elements in Guild Wars 2 have effectively barred me from playing a race and class that I would otherwise choose. That sounds harsh, I guess, but it’s true.

Let me back up a minute.

ArenaNet has accomplished something personally miraculous and made each class fun enough to play that repeating content doesn’t matter. In other games, repetition was always the barrier. Classes were fun to play each was close enough to the other that having to play through the same zones and quests really turned me off from the whole “altaholic” thing. Not so here. Going from a warrior to a thief is a polar shift in gameplay, as is going from engineer to elementalist or mesmer to guardian. And each class has an indefinable “something” that makes them stand out from one another; maybe it’s how their spells hit, how the animations sync up to the audio clips. I don’t know, I just know that it works and it’s magic. So much so, in fact, that I’ve been making new characters left and right because I want to consume it all right now.

And it’s introduced a problem I’ve never run into before: Some races just don’t fit the class choice. Hence the always a bridesmaid never a bride Asura. See, there’s something that just doesn’t fit with “high tech, inventor, genius” and “surly, underworld thief.” Why does he need to thieve and why does he want to? To my mind, the engineer is the Asura class. Anything else is just pigeonholing, and trying to fit that square peg into that circle hole breaks my immersion every time I’m reminded what the Asura are all about. Story quests are out because, well, they feature Asura. Culture is the enemy in this case. I mean, after all, why would an Asura bother being a warrior or guardian when a central story tenet is how tinkerly and gadgety you are?

The same goes for other races. I can’t see a Charr or Norn being a thief. They’re big and bold and need a big hammer or sword to seem “right.” I can’t see a Sylvari being a guardian; they’re lithe and elfy and seem more at home with a bow or magic staff than a two-handed halberd. These things require a cognitive dissonance that I just can’t stand. Ironically, the other big story MMO (SWTOR) didn’t suffer from this because your racial background was pretty much meaningless. Culture means something here and that’s both a plus and a minus.

In the end, I wouldn’t change the story elements, I just wish you could ignore it. I would play an Asura thief if I could get through the introduction and actually have that feel okay. But I can’t, at least yet, and it seems like a lot of people can. I do wonder how it all makes sense if you care about lore and setting. Maybe I just didn’t get far enough.

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