I have been getting back in to Lord of the Rings Online in anticipation for the Siege of Mirkwood expansion. The level cap raise and obvious gear power creep does not really affect me because I am having fun now. For the most part, though, I am trying to amass some play money for when level 65 legendary items start dropping. The best way to do it for a Captain-Historian… potions. I cannot believe how much the highest tier potions are selling for. It’s nearly free money, but I still need the materials. That’s where the crafting instances come in. Continue reading My Own Shard
Author: Ravious
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Промоакции для игроков не только в шутерах — воспользуйся промокодом Vavada от наших партнеров и получи бонусы, которые подарят азарт и атмосферу, сравнимую с игровыми победами.
.Send Valve to Hell
“You know why they call Australia the place down under? Because it’s the closest you can get to hell without getting burned.” –Christian Shepherd, LOST
Is it any wonder that Valve Software is one of PC gamers’ favorite developers. Sure they develop good games and even better ad campaigns, but when it comes player interaction, they win the internets. Joe W-A lives in Brisbane, Australia. He mods Valve games. And he got mad as a cut snake when Valve flew out some fans to preview Left 4 Dead 2. He did what any gamer would do and emailed them asking why he wasn’t also flown out to Valve’s HQ to show off his modded content, like a campaign for L4D. Gabe Newell responded he was boycotting the campaign, but Joe W-A could fly Gabe and Erik [Johnson] out to Australia.
The obvious answer. Start a fundraising campaign to fly the two Valve heavyweights to Australia. The money will go towards the plane tickets, be returned (if possible), or sent to Child’s Play. Even other Valve employees want to see Gabe and Erik out of the office for a while. The internet is for fun.
–Ravious
she’ll be apples
H/T: Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Since You’ve Been Gone
I finally returned like some prodigal son to Lord of the Rings Online last night. Having a lifetime account is a blessing because entering credit card information to re-up when I am unsure about doing so could have been the unjumpable hurdle between me and Middle Earth. There were a lot of changes in Book 8 that I have to get used to, most of which are positive. I knew there was significant changes to the Scholar profession, which I have mastered. My kinleader was sick of paying for potions in the Auction Hall, and I was happy to oblige. The only problem was that I was clueless as to what the new crafting changes were.
A seasoned MMO player knows that reading patch notes for changes is crucial to skilled gameplay. There are also wiki repositories for information. The forums might have a decent guide or two. Even the /advice channel might come in handy in extreme times. Last night felt like an extreme time. Continue reading Since You’ve Been Gone
The PvP Protectionists
A lot of the true PvP’ers discuss the need for penalty upon death. We aren’t talking about some pansy time-delimited death penalty (especially when you can just buy it off). We are talking about digital blood. Continue reading The PvP Protectionists
Guild Wars 2 Interview
Guild Wars 2 is fast becoming one of the most anticipated MMO-type games since the release of the Guild Wars 2 trailer and follow up articles and interviews. Jeff Grubb – World Designer and Writer for Guild Wars 2 - just back from a busy time at Germany’s Gamescom, and he was graciously able to answer a few questions before heading off to PAX 2009, where ArenaNet will have plenty of events. (Be sure to check out their giveaway times for their 128-page Guild Wars 2 concept art book.) On to the questions! Continue reading Guild Wars 2 Interview
Guild Wars “PvP Love” is Format Culling
Linsey Murdock, on the Guild Wars 1 Live Team, wrote a huge journal update about the goings-on about the Live Team, and the upcoming content update. The update is quite good as Linsey discusses more technical updates such as the seasonal events and the Xunlai Tournmanet House. However, the big news is on the “PvP Love” that was rumored to come with the next content update. Continue reading Guild Wars “PvP Love” is Format Culling
Guild Wars 2 Art Book
If Guild Wars 2 was not enough, ArenaNet seems to have really been paying attention to what fans have been asking for in other mediums. One of ArenaNet’s crown jewels is their art team. They have produced hands-down some of the best concept art I have ever seen. Their art constantly appears in trade magazines and books like Spectrum. Now, they are going to be releasing a hardback, 128-page concept art book for Guild Wars 2. Fans have been asking for something like this for a long time.  The book’s first showing will be at the upcoming PAX, where they will be giving the books away! Worry not, those stranded in sunnier climes, the book will go on sale at a later date.
On another note, while Guild Wars 2 news is still coming at a decent pace, some of it is crafted through lore forum theory, wiki postings by the devs, or other “off the radar” bits. Right now the folks at Guild Wars 2 Guru are doing a great job at putting these blips on a central radar on their front page. Things like Guild Wars 2 gun concept art!
–Ravious
a speed understander
Soloing Difficulty
To the chagrin of many of the old school, whatever games we see inclusive of the MMO genre now have soloability as a necessity to gameplay. Many of the millions are playing their own little game where a bit of social contact is never more than a Party-With click away, should they choose. Even those that crave group challenges as the epitome of their MMO gameplay will find themselves crafting, leveling alts, or advancing rep until the event group starts gathering. Raids have become some paramount achievement because they are easily made difficult requiring a herding of cat-minded guild members to a number of dance steps. Yet, solo content is often just considered going through the grind. “Exalted rep with all the factions,” you say to your guild mate of leisure, “glad you had the time to do that.” The connotation that skill was not required for the achievement would not be missed between the lines of congratulations. Continue reading Soloing Difficulty
Betas: A Mating Ritual
We here at Kill Ten Rats aim to combine promiscuity and sexuality analogies with MMOs wherever a feasible connection appears. Not as blatant as some in the industry, but we still have goals to maintain.  William Dobson over at Massively discusses the requirement for an MMO to have a beta with his article No beta, no thanks.
It is an understandable premise. Playing an MMO is something more than a casual flirtation such as pushing a bomb in silly hats toward a base or shooting zombies on your lawn. It’s an intimate experience requiring a higher level of attention with what we would argue is a greater reward. So when our companion video games require us to leave money on the bedstand before getting our hands in to the gameplay, it is justifiable that the expectations are laid out. It is not just money though; sometimes days or weeks of play before are required before getting in to the end game.
Still most MMO players want the virgin experience with a new MMO, as awkward as the coupling may be. If they could wait awhile longer until after that big maturation patch, the quality would be greater. Yet, there is always the feeling that something might be lost when not surging forward with the crowd. No one wants to do whats already been done (and done a lot on the MMO blogosphere).
It’s no wonder that betas have become a zone of safety for both parties. The player can try the MMO without exposing herself to that uncomfortable moment when the thought crosses her mind that it would’ve been better not to wake up with the game on her hard drive. The MMOs can unabashedly proclaim that the experience will indeed be awkward, but full bloom adventures are just on the horizon. It can be comfortable education for both sides.
–Ravious
in the bushes
A Revolutionary Step?
There is a lot of discussion when a new MMO pops in on whether its advancements to our beloved genre are iterant evolutionary steps or something revolutionary. World of Warcraft was often seen as the perfect evolutionary game coming off of the Everquest-type MMO. I think there was one revolutionary step that World of Warcraft had that is often overlooked: quests.
Lots of RPGs and MMOs had quests, but World of Warcraft took the concept and ran with it. It changed the MMO landscape forever. No longer were people supposed to go grind and putz around in the zone made for their level. They now had a keen purpose. The quest-based MMO design demarcated a term called grind. If a player had to go out and kill ten rats to gain a level it was grind. If an NPC rewarded a player with quest text and a quest reward for killing ten rats, it was not. Could the MMO genre imagine a PvE-MMO with purpose that was not saturated with quests in every zone? Continue reading A Revolutionary Step?