Don’t you hate it when you write several posts and then the file on your flashdrive gets spontaneously corrupted? Some higher power has saved you all from verbosity. Don’t worry, I can make more.
: Zubon
Monthly Archive for January, 2007
In honor of Milton Friedman Day, I toss an economic question: What in-game differences would there be between someone who sold gold for RL money and someone who gave gold away to people s/he had never met before? Follow-up: whatever effects you believe RMT has on your game, are you causing the same effects on a smaller scale when you give a friend ten gold to get started (or any other form of help/twinkery)?
I have seen people give away millions of influence in City of Heroes just because they could, although that has presumably gone down with prestige and the impending auction house as cash sinks. I would expect charitable goldfarmers to farm less gold, since they have less incentive, although they get whatever joy altruists get. Their effects are randomly distributed, rather than going to folks with more money than time.
Would there be different effects if Blizzard awarded 100 gold to a random character once per hour (besides people trying to stay logged on for free gold)?
: Zubon
My brother (known as Grimx in WoW) plays MMOs a lot. He is the one that got me into them, introducing me to Asheron’s Call way back when. He recently became the first player on the Doomhammer server to reach level 70, accomplishing the feat in just a few days. It is a play style I don’t understand, with motivations I personally can’t figure out. I decided to ask him some questions and the end result is this interview. I hope it is of some interest.
Stolen from AFKGamer, the WoW Item Creator is a fun little toy.
Found this one…seems appropriate, no?
[World of Warcraft] To finish this up, 5 things I hope to see in BC soon are included after the break. Some are flat expectations, some are desires, and some are wistful dreamings of a bewildered gamer.
Don’t ask which is which.
[Earth Eternal] Earth Eternal has announced that bunnies and badgers will be playable races. We are so in, it is not even funny.
The FAQ also has a couple of paragraphs devoted to furries. This is clearly not Second Life.
: Zubon
[The Lord of the Rings Online] Turbine has announced some interesting benefits for pre-ordering The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.
Special membership pricing of $9.99 a month or even an option of $199 for lifetime access. Lifetime access… that reminds me of something. Oh yeah! Long ago, I won a free lifetime account for Asheron’s Call 2. You know, the game that is no longer available? Yeah.
Anyway, down in the details: Founder pricing valid for so long as game is in service… Got that problem all taken care of so no worries.
I just noticed this part too: …the commercial launch of The Lord of the Rings Online (currently scheduled for April 24, 2007).
- Ethic
[World of Warcraft] Keeping with my recently established theme, here’s a list of 5 things that your average casual player in BC is probably not all that fond of. Agree, disagree, fire your gun in the air, it’s all a matter of opinion, right? Tomorrow: part 3 – 5 things I hope to see soon in the expansion.
[World of Warcraft] Overall, after managing to install the game, I’ve had a fairly good time in The Burning Crusade. Seasoned gaming vet that I am, there’s stuff I feel they fell down on, but overall I’m happy. Today, the top 5 good things I’ve found, in no intelligible order.
Something is happening here, but I’m not quite sure what.
Update for background: Red 5 Studios creates leading, next-generation, massively multiplayer games. Our mission is simple: we want to make the best online games possible and have fun doing it. Red 5 Studios is led by key creative and executive talent behind the most successful MMO to date, World of Warcraft®. Our team represents years of successful, AAA game development on projects such as Warcraft®, Diablo®, Starcraft®, and Ultima Online®.
Red 5 Studios believes that online gaming will be the dominant form of gaming in the future. We are dedicated to creating incredible, immersive game worlds based on original stories and characters that bring together millions of gamers worldwide.
UPDATE: An anonymous reader sent me a photo of a special customized iPod that Red5 is sending out to potential new employees. The box it comes in has this message: “Red 5 Studios invites you to listen to track one and join us at www.red5studios.com”. They are on some sort of recruiting blitz, trying to nab devs from elsewhere. Included with the iPod is a personal web link tailored to the recruit, with details about the job they are hoping the recruit would be interested and background on the company. No details on the game they are working on, sadly. To the reader that sent me the image: thanks!
- Ethic