Comments on: Light Themes

By: Psychochild’s Blog » My experiences in Middle Earth

Psychochild’s Blog » My experiences in Middle Earth — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 10:13:24 +0000

[...] Magic is another sticky point, since Wizards with real magic were rare. Explaining that a class uses language tricks to do damage seems a bit strange. And, I’ll talk about it being “morale” instead of “hit points” a [...]

By: /AFK – Syp’s Birthday Special Edition « Bio Break

/AFK – Syp’s Birthday Special Edition « Bio Break — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:38:33 +0000

[...] Does LOTRO take its “concept skills” a little too far? In the case of the Rune-Keeper, KTR says “uh-HUH.” [...]

By: Agent EVE

Agent EVE — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:24:55 +0000

“he cleric never just stands in the back pumping out healing to the rest of the party. Healing is something you do when the fight is over”

That’s so true, and something I never noticed before. We’d kill the cleric, just on principal, if he just stood there healing us and not helping us fight.

Good catch!

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:58:31 +0000

One thing I love about pen & paper gaming is that the cleric never just stands in the back pumping out healing to the rest of the party. Healing is something you do when the fight is over, doing so during a fight can get you killed (attacks of opportunity) and doing things like drinking a potion is done at the sacrifice of a round of attacks…

I’d love to see a game better capture the table top gaming style, because what we have in current fantasy MMOs leaves me wanting…

By: Sok

Sok — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:48:45 +0000

@Agent EVE
“And I really don’t think that settings bend. I think what happens, ultimately, is that the designers create an “IP-based diku game.””

Yep, agreed. I’d even say it’s not entirely a diku problem, but rather a problem of MMO expectations, trying to make the MMO ‘genre’ fit with the setting.

An example is City of Heroes: at launch, a lot of people griped there wasn’t any loot in the game. MMOs have lewt, diku or not, and there was a certain contingent that wanted their version of Spider-Man to lift handguns and jetpacks from the bodies of the fallen. Y’know, like comic-book superheroes do…

The loot/crafting/economic system they finally came up with manages to work with the setting (more or less) because it exists (more or less) on the abstract level. You’re not crafting “a rifle”, you’re making something that helps you do more damage with a ranged attack — what that is, exactly, is left for your imagination.

By: Tesh

Tesh — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:30:04 +0000

@Jenna,
Some magic systems attribute power to words, yes. European cultures with heavy use of oral history among them.

Speaking of staves and such, though, the originally Oceanic concept of Mana attributed power to natural *things* and bloodlines. That power is drawn from the land or objects by magic systems loosely based on that concept. (Anything from MTG to FFCC.) Also, royalty was considered powerful and blessed with more Mana because of their bloodline. Whether or not they had access to that mana depends on the storyteller.

By: Agent EVE

Agent EVE — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:13:14 +0000

@ Sok
“Even when a work helped define a genre (Lord of The Rings), the standards of a game often are at odds with the work. You had very few (non-divine) magic workers in Tolkien’s books, and most of the magic they performed was slow and subtle: the forging of a sword, the corruption of a king. When players want to shoot lightning from their fingertips, you have to really bend the setting to make it fit.”

And I really don’t think that settings bend. I think what happens, ultimately, is that the designers create an “IP-based diku game.” It’s like making a lunchbox with IP on the front – it’s still just a lunchbox. WoW is, functionally, no different from any other MMO.

By: Agent EVE

Agent EVE — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:03:34 +0000

The diku model doesn’t translate well. That’s why you see odd things like a combat medic running around basically casting spells. Because he’s actually a healer, not a combat medic. An actual combat medic would require a new and untried game mechanic and, really, where’s the profit in that?

The lore in our MMO’s is ultimately irrelevant trappings meant to make the game seem different than what it actually is. All our games are, basically tanks tanking, healer healing, rogues backstabbing and mages casting spells. But it’s hard to bend that simple model into a complicated world like Star Wars Galaxies.

There’s money out there for someone who figures out how to create a game world that works with an established IP. Star Wars Galaxies is NOT a good example of this. Star Wars the collectible card game, on the other hand, kinda is.

By: Jenna Hoffstein

Jenna Hoffstein — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:49:10 +0000

Aren’t words what the majority of witchcraft is based on? There may be cauldrons a-bubbling and brooms for flying on but it seems to me that the power of a witch’s magic comes from the words of the spell.
For that matter, is most of “magic” tied to it’s source? Is there anything in magic wands or staffs that make them inherently more likely to produce magic than the recitation of words? The problem seems to me to not be that the Runekeeper uses words to create magic, but that the designers of LOTRO have failed to convince you as a player that this could be possible.

By: Zubon

Zubon — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:52:40 +0000

Jaxom: the phrase dates back to a 2000 year old mistranslation, entering into English about 500 years ago. More on topic: I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time to introduce Sith Lords to Lord of the Rings, then have a company executive mock the players who thought it was a bad idea. There are not any vampires in the game that I know of, so we can root for something from Stephenie Meyer or Anne Rice in the next expansion.