Month: October 2008

Spore Meta-Review

The near-universal consensus I hear is that Spore is four poor mini-games packaged with an odd version of Master of Orion 3 and a great creature creator. The connection between the games is weak, so you might as well play the good versions sequentially. Impressions of the spacefaring game vary, with the advice to expand gradually to avoid getting overwhelmed by every species out there; the most common comment I have seen is that your ability to do much interesting is limited because your worlds are constantly under attack and need personal attention.

That would be the most common comment on gameplay. The most common comment I have seen is that it comes with the worst digital rights management system ever invented, one so problematic that EA has threatened to ban people for talking about it. That is in the MMO sense of “you cannot play anymore,” not just banned from the forums. Maybe I could try it if they use Steam for distribution. And have a sale.

: Zubon

Tier 3 Scenarios

About half the time, I am out-numbered in scenarios. In about half of those, the team will fill by the time we are down 100-200 points, but there is not a lot to be done by then. I have won one 10-on-12 scenario, but there is nothing to be done with 8-on-12. Why are scenarios starting under those conditions? Is Order queuing up and canceling at the last possible second? I expect to be outnumbered in open world RvR, but the point of scenarios is to have even numbers.

Is Tor Anroc asymmetrical? I have never seen Order get the bauble at the start, even when someone has a standard with a run-speed buff.

The mission for Doomfist Crater is broken (Order side).

: Zubon

Of Games and Glory

Given last week’s fun and games, I would like to hit the wayback machine to 2007.

If the game is irredeemable dreck, there is no point in discussing its problems.
…
Bugs, queues, and crashes are upsetting because they stand between us and the fun that we know to lie just beyond them.

Or as Rog puts it, “It’s because the game is good that makes it worth discussing and even bitching about the bugs, issues and design oversights. If it wasn’t good, who’d care?”

Or sometimes silence speaks louder than words.

: Zubon

Bonus points if you thought of Marit Larsen.

Guild Leadership Metaphor

I am in an abusive relationship with my cat. That he contributes nothing to the household except his presence is a given. He wants to be left alone to do his own thing for most of the day. When he wants attention, though, he wants it now and he wants it on his terms, or he will crap on the floor. He wants attention at odd hours, usually when I would prefer to be sleeping.

Given the chance, he will gorge himself to the point of vomiting. I get to clean that up too.

: Zubon

KO* MMO

Every time I see “KOTOR MMO,” which is more or less constantly in the VirginWorlds feed there, my brain first registers “KOL MMO.” Because the world needs 3-D Pastamancers.

: Zubon

It would be pretty cool if a mainstream MMO tried the “Ascension” scheme of letting you start a character over with something from your last class. Or it could be a huge disaster, but hey, I’m probably not an investor.

Of Death Penalties

Playing The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢ Volume 1: Shadows of Angmarâ„¢ this weekend, I was reminded that it has a soft death penalty but one that still encourages you to stop playing the game. When you die, you take item damage and get dread. Dread reduces your hit points (“morale”), reduces the effectiveness of healing on you, and increases damage to you; if you have too much dread, you may cower and be unable to act. For reasons we can discuss another time, Turbine seems big on giving any significant boss a dread aura, and the biggest ones dispel hope (the counter to dread). Which, for the record, is not fun.

The dread lasts for ten minutes and is worse in later zones. It does not stack. If you get a rez, you do not get dread. Minstrels can clear one person’s dread every ten minutes.

Dread basically encourages you to stop doing whatever you were doing for ten minutes. If you failed the first time, your odds are worse with fewer hit points and more incoming damage. If you had a lag spike or got an odd add while fighting, ha ha, better luck next time, take the debuff anyway. There is no healer to cure your dread. That long-timer, single-target Minstrel ability is the only dread cure in the game. You just wait. When you have a team wipe, the rezer typically takes the dread hit and runs back to rez folks, but then you wait anyway because you do not want to fight whatever just wiped you while someone has dread. This increases downtime, solo or in groups. Which, for the record, is not fun.

But at least it is 10 real minutes. You can log off and go play something else.

: Zubon

Of Foot Soldiers and Heroes

Copra has a great point on Warhammer:

the characters are soldiers fighting for their faction. And this is where it becomes a different bowl of porridge. The players assume their role as warriors for a cause, and are not in fact expecting to be the heroes or the protagonists of the great storyline.

I criticized The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢ Volume 1: Shadows of Angmarâ„¢ for this. I stand by that, but I like what Warhammer is doing. Warhammer does not create the expectation that you are The Hero of The Realm. You are one of many. You do not solve problems; you beat back the enemy for a while. There is not an epic story going on, one that logically has a beginning, middle, and end. There is endless war, and you are taking part in it. It does not declare itself the most epic fantasy ever and then force you to watch instead of being the protagonist.

Would you rather come over for soda and board games, or be told that I am having the greatest party ever so could you please come over afterwards and help clean up?

Of course, the eternal, meaningless war with no victory leads to its own problems of “this does not matter.” But I notice that I keep saving the city and the problem never goes away.

: Zubon

EVE Offline

How many people do you think they could get to sign up for this deal:

Due to popular demand, CCP is proud to announce EVE Offline! This evolution in MMO gaming allows you to create a new type of character, one accessible from the internet or your mobile phone, without the full game client. Take EVE Online’s acclaimed real time skill advancement system to the next level, changing your training in progress to another skill or even queuing up to five skills to start when your current training completes. No need to worry about losing points! As an extra bonus, EVE Offline characters will accumulate skill points 50% faster than normal characters.

You should know a few things before you take the plunge offline. First, EVE Offline characters are not part of a standard account. You can start an EVE Offline account for $5/month or add one to an active EVE Online account for $3/month. Second, these must be new characters, although we are working on a system to convert existing characters to EVE Offline. Third, because they are not using the game client, EVE Offline characters cannot log onto the game servers.

How will I get my skill books, you might ask. All EVE Offline characters get them free! You will have access to all skills at no cost, provided you have the prerequisite skills. As an added bonus, you can buy skill books with your existing EVE Online character and send them to your EVE Offline character or your friends’, and training points will accumulate an additional 50% faster on bought books, twice the normal speed!

Take your game to the next level by making your next character EVE Online character an Offline Character!

They could probably get a few more by denying rumors that do not exist, like “there are no plans at this time to allow EVE Offline characters to be converted to EVE Online characters.” But my real question is, how many of you play your EVE characters like this anyway, except for ~12 hours a month, only at full cost with no training bonus?

: Zubon

Chosen at Level 10

The Chosen is the Chaos tank. His special mechanic is auras: +x to you and your allies, -x to your enemies. He uses them one at a time, but the effects last 12 seconds and you can switch them every 4, so you could be a fair melee-range debuffer if you focused on twisting your chants.

It seems unfair to judge this class in any way at level 10. I have not had a chance to tank for many groups. Until I have more taunt skills and healers have their suites, there is only so much we can do about that public quest hero.

Continue reading Chosen at Level 10