Monthly Archive for May, 2009

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Runekeeper Nerf Details

Posted by Suzina on May 21, 2009 in Lord of the Rings Online. 5 Comments

The Devs over at LOTRO took time to talk about the widely anticipated Runekeeper nerf.  Posters on the boards have been crying for a RK nerf ever since Book 7 went live.  Even posters who are not actually calling for a nerf are effectively asking for one when they brag about feats such as 12 runekeepers finishing the turtle raid in a exactly 64 seconds.

So is Turbine going to nerf runekeeper healing or runekeeper DPS?

When turbine discussed the details of the nerf, it appears the healing will remain strong.  DPS and power-consumption will see changes however.  Some specific RK skills will have their damage reduced, or effectiveness limited in Book 8, and all RK damage skills past level 30 will see an increase in power cost.

It’s too early to tell how this will actually play out.  If Turbine implements a nerf to tactical damage at the same time as nerfing RK, the net effect could be a massive nerf to DPS.  Yet if Turbine doens’t go far enough, we could still have the same old complaints.

Friday Feature

Posted by Suzina on May 21, 2009 in General. 5 Comments

SWG used to have something called a “Friday Feature”.  They would show a tiny piece of something from a future update, or highlight some aspect of the game.  The Friday Feature was sometimes just a list of statistics, and sometimes it was just a rehashing of information already on the forums, but it was always there, and it always kept me thinking about SWG on Fridays.  Even though I’ve stopped playing SWG, I still keep checking the web page each Friday to see if anything new has been added to the game.

The Friday Feature was really a great way of getting a share of my head-space.  The more I think of a game, the more likely I am to go back and play it, or try it for the first time.  All the controversy with Darkfall actually had me in their store on multiple occassions to try and buy the game.  News stories about an EVE corporation leader scamming his friends actually contributed to my husband downloading the trial.  He even went on to purchase EVE.

By contrast, Final Fantasy XI was terrible about letting American players know what to be thinking about.  I can’t speak for their Japanese players, but Americans had no clue what was new in the game until it was already out.  Blogs and forums help fill the void, but there’s nothing like hearing from the horse’s mouth tid-bits about what’s coming next.

Happy 1st Birthday, Age of Conan

Posted by Ethic on May 20, 2009 in Age of Conan. 7 Comments

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the full launch (in the US) of Age of Conan. It did technically launch a few days earlier for some but let’s not pick nits.

They are giving things away in game, like fireworks and extra character slots. Congratulations, Funcom!

It’s definitely been an interesting year, full of challenges and adventure, and we are really looking forward to the coming year as well. So the toast at the King’s Table is to the year that has passed and in anticipation of the year that is to come!

- Ethic

Moria zones

Posted by Suzina on May 20, 2009 in Lord of the Rings Online. 12 Comments

I want to talk about the Moria zones in Lotro.  I don’t want to get into all the things the expansion changed, but just the zones themselves.  Personally, I think Moria is too safe.  When the fellowship ran through the place in the book and movie, it was filled with armies of goblins.  When my character first entered Moria, I immediately talked to the stable master inside and saw I could ride a goat to the next “town” of Dolvien View.

I understand why they want towns inside Moria.  The outside world is built with quest-hubs in mind, but it doesn’t work in Moria.  Instead, they should have styled Moria after Goblin Town.  Goblin Town requires you to pull and kill goblins each step of the way to get anywhere.  There are some quest-giving NPCs in the prison, but it never feels like the prision is a “town” where you’re safe.  You fight your way in, talk to them, and fight your way out.  Goblin Town feels like a goblin-infested adventure behind enemy lines.  Moria doesn’t.

Bertrand Russell on Miracle Patches

Posted by Zubon on May 20, 2009 in General. 7 Comments

Supposing you got a crate of oranges that you opened, and you found all the top layer of oranges bad, you would not argue, ‘The underneath ones must be good, so as to redress the balance’; You would say, ‘Probably the whole lot is a bad consignment’

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be pleasantly surprised by the next update that promises to solve all the problems, but you must be surprised. Can you flip a fair coin and get heads 10 times in a row? Sure, that is only a 1-in-1024 chance, it must happen all the time in a world with many coin flips. But if someone is taking your money based on that coin, after 10 flips, you should be looking for a two-headed coin.

“They have learned their lesson” is rarely a safe assumption. If someone did a lousy job last time, you must raise your probability that he will do a lousy job next time. Otherwise, you are taking bad work as evidence that good work must be coming. Do you take good work as evidence that bad work must be coming? If you take both good and bad work as reasons to believe that good things are coming, you are shaky on concepts like “evidence” and “reason.”

To end on a concrete example, before turning it back to Mr. Russell, Age of Conan had what was by all accounts a miracle patch at the end of beta, and perhaps several post-launch. At it still had that quality we have come to expect from Funcom.

I wish to propose for the reader’s favourable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: that it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true.

: Zubon

Demigods

Posted by Zubon on May 19, 2009 in General. 4 Comments

Yesterday I promised you thoughts on each of the eight demigods in Demigod. For those of you who were just itching with anticipation, click for more words. For those who could not care less, this will not take up much of the front page; sorry if you are getting this via RSS. Continue reading ‘Demigods’

Warhammer 40K MMO Announced

Posted by Zubon on May 18, 2009 in General. 16 Comments

There you go. I would avoid caring about it for a few years, but some of you have been hoping for it since Warhammer Online was announced. Perhaps that is how they justify “one of the most eagerly anticipated MMOs on the horizon” [citation needed].

I am going to assume it is vapor and forget about it until they reach open beta, but feel free to talk amongst yourselves.

: Zubon

Demigod

Posted by Zubon on May 18, 2009 in General. 9 Comments

Demigod is similar to Defense of the Ancients All Stars (DotA), but feels more like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War than Warcraft 3. It has that pacing, with the back-and-forth around flags.

If you don’t know DotA, it is a custom map for Warcraft 3 that constitutes a new game and is starting to spawn a new sub-genre. You control one hero (of 80+) who levels up and buys items in classic CRPG fashion. Your goal is to destroy the enemy base, which is guarded by towers along the three entry paths. Waves of troops spawn at the end of each path at each base, crashing at the intersection. You support your troops, destroy enemy troops, and fight the enemy heroes doing the same, until one of you destroys the other’s base. It is a great game, and Warcraft 3 is worth buying just to play it.

Demigod is a lot of fun, and I’m not even playing it to its full potential. I have been playing alone with computer bots, learning how the heroes work. It is possible that it will all turn to ashes once I play real humans, who exploit imbalances instead of relying on an “as intended” AI, but I have been enjoying my time. I expect it to be even better on the LAN.

Continue reading ‘Demigod’

I Should Learn How to Make Mash-up Videos

Posted by Zubon on May 17, 2009 in General. 1 Comment

Running through my head: “There’s a badger badger badger on your lawn…” The images would fit together well, too.

: Zubon

Nerf the Runekeeper

Posted by Suzina on May 17, 2009 in Lord of the Rings Online. 11 Comments

Nobody likes to be nerfed.  That’s a given.  Part of the joy in playing these games is watching your character get stronger and stronger.  You kill bigger and bigger things until you’re able to solo the gods themselves.  But when the nerf-bat hits you, you can’t solo the gods anymore, and you get the opposite of the joy you felt at leveling up.

But sometimes, nerfing is a good thing.  In Lotro, I’m playing this Runekeeper.  This chick heals great, deals the best damage in the game, can restore her own mana, and has a number of stunning abilities as well.  I find this character to be so strong that I’m actually looking forward to the nerf.  It’s silly for both hunter DPS and minstrel healing to be secondary to the same class.

The big question I keep wondering is, “Which will they nerf?”  The healing or the DPS?