Category: General

Me most favorite of ’em all.

Ramming speed!

– Ethic

Ethic, should we adopt this disclaimer that the internet is not safe? Neither is your favorite MMO:

The other people on the web, including other visitors, our employees, agents, and guests, and anyone else who might sneak in, may be stupid, reckless, or otherwise dangerous. They may be mentally ill, criminally insane, drunk, using illegal drugs and/or armed with deadly malware and ready to use them. We aren’t necessarily going to do anything about it. We refuse to take responsibility.

It is much like rock climbing in that way.

: Zubon

Big hat tip to Overlawyered.

British Columbia has cancelled the fall session of its legislature. Their economic situation is good, and there are not any changes that cannot wait to be implemented in the spring.

Does this remind you of anyone’s patch schedule?

: Zubon

HT: H&R

Or “what’s in a name” or possibly “How many times will Oz use quotes?” My current WoW guild is filled with people I used to game with in EQ. I find this very comforting, as it’s like going to a new place with people you already know. Hopefully, it’s a feeling that’s reciprocated. When I first applied, I knew who they “were” but I did not immediately disclose who I “was”, although several people including the GM knew. It’s not like I had anything to hide. It was one of those snap decisions. Later, I felt guilty and prominently posted my former avatar names on a few posts. And all was well. The names identified me, and they knew who I was. But what happens if you change your name, leave it behind and become a “new person”? Or, even better, if someone takes “your” name?

Continue reading The Importance of Being ‘Blaznarat’

Civilization IV is very good. If you like this sort of game, this is hereby the premier example, in the way that Master of Orion 3 was not.

That said, the world of Civilization is both idiosyncratically different and eerily similar to our own. Some of this stems from the conventions of the genre: in MMOs, you accept that everyone is wearing six backpacks, and in empire-building games you accept that it can take 80 years to walk through a forest.

Continue reading Civilization IV and Its Discontents

We have been playing mostly offline lately. My wife’s favorite PS2 game is Karaoke Revolution. Mine is Katamari Damacy. We could combine them into Karaoke Damacy, but there are only so many seconds of “na naa nana na na na na na na na na na naa” that she can take before I get stabbed.

: Zubon

My night last night in WoW was just frustrating. Perhaps it’s the circle I move in, but I was sure most people understand spawn tables. I was so wrong. A spawn table is an electronic version of the wandering monster table your pen and paper RPG dungeon master would use to figure out what jumped you while you ran from the dungeon to the town. That’s all that it really is. There’s no secret science involved. If it makes you more comfy, pretend there’s some guy rolling a d20 behind his little screen every time a monster spawns. Why am I obsessing about this? Well, it has to do with this quest I was on last night. Those of you who play EQ already know spawn tables intimately, so you’ll probably spend a lot of time going “doh!”. I don’t think it’s possible to get to 10 and not have a working knowledge of EQ’s love affair with spawn tables.

Continue reading Nights of the Spawn Table

[Pirates!] I’ve set sail t’ find me riches. Don’ know when I’ll b’ back, matey. Hoist one fer me whilst I b’gone.

– Ethic

[Crusade] For those of you who had not noticed over at Lum’s (I hear he has more readers than we do), David Allen is getting a new game going, Crusade. Honesty points to Mr. Allen for interview responses that amount to, “We wanted to make our version of WoW, for people who like that sort of game but don’t like some of the design decisions.” Maybe this one is the exact shade of Yet Another Fantasy MMORPG for you.

Crusade will be having design journals over at IGN. The first is about character progression and skills. Interesting notion: start with a class-based game, then add use-based skill system, then add an EVE-like real-time study system. This could be either the ideal system that everyone has always dreamt of, perfectly incorporating competing concerns, or else the greatest nightmare of balancing ever.

I have hope.

: Zubon

Ah, fresh back and all relaxed from a two-week vacation in Orlando I sat down on my last day of work vacation and logged into WoW. Well tried to. Because as my luck would have it, it was Tuesday, and that’s patch day. My luck never ceases to amaze me. Still later that night after the servers came up, then down, then up, then down (fast forward a few hours), and up, I logged in. You see, I’m now playing a Horde Priest, having taken my own personal semi-challenge about healers I posted previously. I’ve decided crow doesn’t taste nearly as good as advertised, even with BBQ sauce.

Continue reading Hey – this grass isn’t really green…