Closed up the 2007 Indie MMO Game Development Conference today. It was a very enlightening experience for me, realizing how much I have been looking at games from a developer’s viewpoint instead of a gamer’s viewpoint. The people attending this conference are extremely passionate about making MMOs. Not only that, they are willing and able to take the risks the big companies cannot and try something radically different. The next revolution in MMOs will almost certainly come from the Indie MMO arena.
The keynote speech this morning was given by Dr. Richard Bartle. It was a fantastic talk about the history of independent game development and how the time is ripe for Indie MMOs to really make a difference in the next few years. I could probably sit and listen to him talk for a whole weekend. It was a pity that we only had a few hours.
Continue reading ‘IMGDC 2007 Day Two’
I’m back from day one of the 2007 Indie MMO Game Development Conference. With regrets to Nicodemus for telling him I wasn’t going to write up anything, here are some of my thoughts.
I arrived to find the Minneapolis Convention Center packed with girls valleyball, girls dance and a karate tournament. Eventually I found my way to the IMGDC conference rooms. Several people I recognized right away - Dr. Richard Bartle and Brian “Psychochild” Green. I quickly found Robert/”Nicodemus” but was surprised he wasn’t smoking a pipe as his pictures always show.
Continue reading ‘IMGDC 2007 Day One’
[Eternal Lands] One interesting thing I found when messing about with Eternal Lands is this series of articles from one of the developers. He discusses various problems that came up, largely falling into two categories: technical issues and players. I have yet to do more than skim the blog that gives continuing thoughts from the presumably now ex-ex-developer. Re-developer? Look, he wrote about why he quit a few years ago, but he is writing about changes he is making to the game, so I presume he is back at it.
The blog does include a link to what seems to be Eternal Land’s greatest epic fight on YouTube.
: Zubon
The Lord of the Rings Online Special Edition will be available in limited quantities and contains a number of benefits & bonuses priced at just $59.99 MSRP. The Special Edition includes:
* Full Game on 2 DVD’s
* 30-days of free online play
* Free 10-day Buddy Key
* The “Beyond the Shadows. . .The Making of The Lord of the Rings Online” DVD – A collection of videos that show how Turbine brought the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien to life. Hear from the game’s designers and see their work from concept to completion.
* The Lord of the Rings Online Soundtrack – In-game soundtrack of the Shire, Rivendell, Bree, Thorin’s Hall and Angmar.
* Exclusive In-Game Item – “The Glass of Aglarel” – Carrying this in-game jewel will increase your Hope to aid you against the effects of Dread brought on by the Witch-king and his minions.
* A Full Color Special Edition Manual
* Exclusive map of Middle-earth
Note: This is NOT a Collector’s Edition and there does not appear to be plans to have one (in North America anyway - Europe is getting one). This is just the same box with some extra stuff.
- Ethic
Here comes one of those opinion type pieces that always get me in trouble later. Of my limited WoW time however, it’s the one that comes up the most. Every night in guild chat, and present on every board I read. So I’ll give my feedback on it. After pondering words for a while, it seems it’d be easier to simply just type out the shortest ones and go with it. So here goes – buff priests.
Ah there we go. Half of you have already tuned out. I can hear your mental gears already shifting into defense mode. You’ve got a long drawn out, probably number filled reason why priests don’t need buffage. I’ve got another one, but it has no numbers involved. It’s like my original statement, short ‘n sweet – healing sucks.
Continue reading ‘Healing drama’
Trading Sex for Epic Mount PST
It looks like the original link is gone (screencap in link above), so someone may or may not have raised faction with Booty Bay.
: Zubon
Update: linked post updated with happy ending
One reason I write is to learn. We toss ideas out and see how far they go. The blog has ideas, opinions, anecdotes, questions, speculation, snark, rants, reviews, half-formed ideas, and well-considered proposals. My specialty seems to be extended ruminations that explore several aspects of an idea without necessarily going anywhere. We have many notions that could be improved by further discussion and critique.
Some posts are entirely ironic or intentionally skewed because exploring a wrong answer can shed light on the right answer. Sometimes the answer to “why isn’t anyone doing this” is “they are.” Ideas can be really dumb, tried and already failed, or pure GENIUS! If I ever work for a game developer, I expect to say, “Yep, that was 85% wrong” regularly. We keep trying new things or old things in new ways, and some of them will work. If I ever run out of bad ideas, I will probably be out of good ones too.
So thanks for contributing and critiquing. It’s your site too.
: Zubon
When I posted about barbarians at the gates last month, I did not expect the most famous one in English literature to appear in response. As it turns out, the upcoming Age of Conan has exactly what I was looking for, including PvE and PvP city-building and -defense that integrates crafting and has various sizes for big and small guilds. Ask, and the internet delivers.
My thanks to our commenters who pointed out my ignorance and cited other games doing something along these lines. Please consider this your report-out on games that have aspects of player-run, -built, or -defended cities. Add more to the comments if you think of any.
Continue reading ‘Guardians at the Gates 1′
