a group of adventurers on an epic quest
Because it was superfun last time, let us once again look at game development through the prism of song. This week, our song is Cooking by the Book from LazyTown. (They also have a song that Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates! fans might like.)
In case it is not immediately clear, we are using baking a cake as a metaphor for making a game. Can you beta test cake?
Not to get political, but gamers may yet save Western society. Ongoing debates about same-sex marriage frequently touch on polygamy, and it is argued that polygyny creates a large pool of unmarried men who either cause social unrest or are sent off to war. This is just background; we are not going to debate the issue here, because we are not that sort of blog (Lum might go there, but we moderate comments; jokes about accidental online same-sex marriage are fine, if sometimes obvious).
We know, of course, that no such problem exists for the current generation of young men, who are all playing World of Warcraft. Instead of being sent off to war, they will be sent to raid Onyxia. Who has time for weddings and all that stuff when you are running Molten Core and UBRS this weekend? Everyone is counting on your priest to show up.
Indeed, when America legalizes polygamy, it will probably be because World of Warcraft has removed so many marriageable men from circulation. The women are out there looking, and they are hungry.
: Zubon
With the final few months closing in until WoW’s first expansion, this has become a frequent topic with my WoW-playing friends. Many of them are refugees from one game or another, and remember at least one expansion of said game. Those hardened folks who are EQ vets remember the original slow pace of expansions before it became a 6-month marketing gimmick. EQ is the one I’m most familiar with, and I look with great trepidation at the upcoming expansion. (for those who feel it’s needful, feel free to go read the infamous ‘mud wimping’ article and come back. I’ll be at the next paragraph.)
[EVE Online] Let’s see if we can solve this problem, the “log in trap”. Basically, this is a situation in EVE (but it could happen in most MMOs) where the enemy gathers in an area and then logs off. Waiting for your group to show up in some way (using an alt to observe the area), they all log in at one time and wipe out your side. There is no way to know how many of them are logged off so you can’t prepare (even if you are lucky enough to get intel that they logged off there in the first place). Most of the time you are completely suprised and wiped out.
Sounds like an exploit doesn’t it? It’s certainly a weak tactic. Metagaming I suppose.
[City of Heroes] This weekend, City of Heroes/Villains is doubling experience gains for 60 hours (also prestige and influence/infamy). [discussion thread, I have not read it all] As a player, I do not need a reason for free candy, but having an interest in development and economics, I wonder why this is happening. The official “why” of “This is a special thank you, because we really do appreciate you all-through the thick and thin” is meaningless (sorry).
Would it be good for the game to have twice-as-fast leveling, but for some reason this is only good for the game for one weekend? The most likely reason is to recruit some re-subscriptions, since an e-mail went out to all current and former subscribers; this could work better than that free weekend. Is there a reason to want to get a great many players logged on at once, beyond the usual? It could be hard to set any records on a big convention weekend. Any relation to recent NCSoft financial issues?
Feel free to comment on the subject, or how subscribers’ incentives would differ under constant double-xp, periodic (power hour/day), or occasionally-by-random-announcement. I think that predictable incentives lose much of the impact here.
: Zubon
San Diego Comic Con has changed over the years. The porn industry, especially hentai, used to have to big pressense, but they are all but gone now. Video game companies have begun showing up. EA had a big booth last year to promote its Marvel branded games. NC Soft had a lot of floor space to push City of Heroes and Villians. Even Blizzard had a little booth where the big draw was a playable level and cut scenes from StarCraft Ghosts. If anyone will be attending this year on Saturday, Sony is hosting the SOE Block Party. I would liked to visit but I don’t think I will be there on Saturday.
-DC
Today, we are going to discuss the design of online games, to the tune of the international pop hit “Don’t Save Me” by Marit Larsen.
Yes, I am structuring a post around song lyrics. We are going to take the words and just run in a direction that the author never intended in the slightest. My high school English teacher would love this.
During the last few weeks, when I wasn’t busy at work, a friend managed to indirectly convince me to roll an alt in AO. I’m sick of alts. I love twinking, but I hate leveling up, going through the same dull content I’ve gone through for three years now… all that. But this time it’s a bit different. This time around there is a little bit of competition.
At the Develop Conference in England Mark Rein (from Epic) questioned the business model for episodic content and game releases. Some of the developers and publishers in the audience didn’t take too kindly to his comments and heckled him. Apparently a few called him a dinosaur…
Since my post about community managers is still getting comments, I thought I would point out that many community managers have said, yes, we the won’t-shut-up playerbase are worth the trouble. You are hereby worthwhile. It is an awesome power, and I trust you not to abuse it.
If you have not read through the comments, you might. We may have something from everyone who still works at NCSoft. (Too soon?)
: Zubon