Category: General

Last night, I decided to take part in an activity that I have not participated in since my childhood. I believe that great shame comes from the masses to the individuals that participate in said activities. This activity is something so profoundly shameful that I can not even mention its true name here. Lets just say it involved a large number of multi-sided dice, a stack of esoteric rule books, and sheets on which we recorded pertinent statistical information about recently created fictional characters. If you can understand what I was doing from this discription then it means that there are more sad creatures out there like me. If you are unable to decipher it, then you were probably the guy that stole my lunch money in elementary school.

Anyway…

While rolling up my new Dungeons and Dragons character last night, I began to reflect upon the next generation of MMO’s coming soon to a store near you. In the past, MMO’s have been based upon newly created fantasy settings. Worlds that had been created by the team that had designed the game. This started with EverQuest, Ultima Online, then Final Fantasy XI, and extends all the way up through World of Warcraft. These worlds only existed because the game desginers created the world. Sure, there may have been some history to the world, as with Ultima, Final Fantasy and Warcraft, but these worlds were still the intellectual property of the people that were making the game. This is now changing.

Three, soon to be released, games have plundered my childhood for their respective world settings: The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian, and the one that I am most worried about, Dungeons and Dragons.

The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar; well Peter Jackson has already done a great job of raping my inner child on this one, so I suppose I am least concerned over this. Yes, I know the movies were critically aclaimed and such, but I just found that the PBS cartoons that were made in the late-70’s did a much greater job of capturing my imagination than the movies did (and I watched them in the 80’s so I am not THAT old). Not much is available on this game as it is still a year off, but it looks to be well done so far. Tolkien created a world so rich and deep that I would think it would be pretty hard to screw it up. Turbine did create Asheron’s Call of which I have heard little but what I have heard has been good, so here’s hoping that it will turn out well.

The game next mostly likely to scar the memories of my childhood is the Conan MMO. Age of Conan: Hyberion Adventures is from the creators of the infamous Anarchy Online. This could be a bad thing, or a very bad thing. Anarchy Online was the game that best defined the term “failed launch.” Funcom seems to be taking a different approach (maybe to alieviate the fears of another failed launch, or maybe because they know they can’t get a launch right) with this game, and are putting a “single-player, massive online game” spin on it. The Ministry of Love is calling, they want you to pay royalties on any titles that are complete contradictions in terms. The game is supposed to follow closely from the books of Howard, which, from what I hear, is also a very deep story, but one has to question what level of quality the actual gameplay will have.

The final game that seeks to stab to at the spleen of my younger years is Dungeons and Dragons Online (What? No incredibly long and forboding subtitle? For shame!). Turbine is also working on this title, with Atari as the publisher. They are actually going to follow the Wizards of the Coast-created 3.5 ruleset (for better or worse) which is interesting because this system was designed for the real pencil-and-paper version of the game. As a 12 year-old I dreamed of this becoming a reality, being about to play the game that I so loved in real time with many different players. I am actually surprised that it took this long for someone to take the most well-known role-playing game ever made and turn it into a MMO. I still have great reservations though, as the game is using the newly developed campaign setting of Eberron. I find this a little distrubing because the most widely used campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons is the Forgotten Realms. The Forgotten Realms has been the staple campaign setting for nearly 20 years, and has had endless excellent authors craft many distinct stories about all areas of the world of Faerun. Elminster would have been an excellent central character to attract all of the elder nerds to Turbine’s MMO. Waterdeep would have just been amazing. Well, for what its worth, I am definitely waiting to see how this one turns out. (I have already applied for the beta, hint, hint!)

So in the next year and a half I will either see my childhood dreams come to life in vibrant colors and great expansive lands, or see evil corporate fat cats tear out my still-beating 12 year-old heart and piss all over it with their black puss-filled urine just to make a quick buck.

/cry

ringthree

Holy Beast Online: features animal-to-character evolving system that enables players to choose as a member of the six animal races.

Animal-to-character evolving system? Is this some sort of furry thing?

King of Kings 2: focuses not just on the variability of game character but also the country system. By trying out different combinations of the badge received from battle and armaments, players are given more power. As the game progresses, player would decide on the type of government and the position on the issue of scarce resources.

This one sounds good for the casual “only looking for some light fun” type of player.

The Twin Heroes Online: features aesthetic paper dolls, cute and comical pets, dazzling martial arts and interactive community system. The game offers intricate scenarios interweaved with different plots.

Hold on. Paper dolls, cute pets AND martial arts? That is the holy trinity of MMORPGs! How can they go wrong here?

Read the press release here.

– Ethic

I am a new MMO blogger person here at Kill Ten Rats. This is one of those introductory posts that you have to write when you first start just about anywhere. Its generic and obtuse, where you find out something about me but it won’t be meaningful to our relationship.

Anyway, I would like to give you my qualifications (my curriculum blogae if you will) in a way to justify my inane rambling about MMO’s. I am an intense and avid player of Final Fantasy XI. A game which some have (and rightfully and divinely so) called the “Best Game in the Universe” and “OMFG, Game Most Likely to Suck Your Will to Live!” I haved enjoyed this game for many hours a day, many days a week, for several months now. I fancy myself as a “hardcore” on-line gamer, as I even enjoy the time sinks that are built into FFXI. I also have just started playing the “uber-hotness” game of the year, World of Warcraft. This game intrigues me and I am ready to dive into more of its content. Finally, I also hope to start playing the Matrix Online in the free week test period that is coming up, and I may pick up that game if I enjoy it enough.

Now that I have blandly presented my experience with MMO’s, I would like to move on to my purpose here. As I see it, many MMO blogs have moved past FFXI as being part of the old age to MMO’s. The evidence is to the contrary though, if SirBruce is to be believed, as the game still holds more players than all except for the juggernaut that is WoW (excluding, of course, certain Korean NetCafe gank-fests). Most blogs dont even have commentaries on the most recent expansion for FFXI. I am here to fill that void in your MMO blog experience! I am your contact with all things Vana’diel. And no you can’t touch my Moogle.

That being said, I don’t think of myself as a fanboi. Playing a four-year-old MMO doesn’t make you an addict. Right?

I may have a fatal flaw as a MMO blogger. I am an optimist at heart, and though I enjoy delving the depths of pure cynicism as much as the next guy, I find myself incapable of staying there. I am not much of a doomcaster, and I don’t take life sustenance in ripping to shreds any persons life work. My goal is to be as balanced in my criticisms as possible and try to place reviews of games within the context of the industry as a whole.

Well, that is me. I will likely spend some time comparing and contrasting other games to FFXI. I also would like to document the expansion of WoW as it grows over the years, as I believe that much can be learned about MMO’s by watching their development and maturation. But mostly I will spend my time ranting and raving, exploring strange and wonderful tangents, and babbling about whatever MMO related thought process shoots through my head.

ringthree

Hi, I’m new here. You may have noticed Ethic’s post about new bloggers. I seem to be the first one. This means I get the cubicle closest to the water cooler, which may or may not be a good thing in the long run. I’ll tell you how that works out. It also means that I get to learn to use WordPress, and it is always exciting to find new software to break. Many exciting things lie ahead, surely.

Oh, I’m the new City of Heroes guy. I get a cape and everything. Issue 4 went live last week, so I will find something really edifying to say soon. For the moment, though, Ethic wants a cup of coffee. Coming!

: Zubon

I don’t know much about this one, but an email alerted me to it.

Mourning is now available for download and you can buy a key for under $20.

I think I’ll pass.

Break out yer pirate keyboards matey!

Disney Online has announced plans to make an MMORPG based on the Pirates of the Caribbean called (oddly enough) Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

In what seems to be an aggressive schedule, they plan to launch in summer 2006 alongside of the release of the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Disney Online describes Pirates of the Caribbean Online as “a world of high seas action and adventure where players will personalize their own pirate character and organize with other players to form a pirate crew.” Unlike most other pirate games, Disney’s MMORPG will incorporate the supernatural elements of the films, allowing players to “embark on swashbuckling missions to battle both each other and the evil, undead pirates of the high seas.”

According to a Gamasutra interview of Jessica Mulligan, I am clearly in the Moderate gamer club. I am no longer Hardcore. Well, if I was ever Hardcore, I was borderline Hardcore at best.

In the interview, she splits gamers into three groups:

1. Mass Market: time and price sensitive, 75% of the market generating 5% of the income.
2. Moderate: time sensitive only, 15% of the market generating 15% of the income.
3. Hardcore: neither time nor price sensitive, 10% of the market generating 80% of the income.

I am time sensitive but I’m not price sensitive. Monthly fees don’t bother me but I do need to feel some fun and/or progress for my time spent playing. I compare my time spent, not my money spent.

I think the reason World of Warcraft is doing so well is because it has tapped into the Moderate gamers deeper than any other MMORPG has before. It also seems that Guild Wars is targeting the same market. I’m just not sure that a lot of PvP people are also Moderate. My hunch for that comes from the Honor System added recently in WoW. It has driven me away as it increased the amount of PvP going on in-game.

The Hardcore gamers are the ones that make up things like DKP (Dragon Kill Points) to keep track of who gets what piece of phat loot when raiding. Something that appeals to me in no way, shape or form. They are the ones that enjoy the spoils from all the time they spent in game, gathering the most uber of all gear. It allows them to dominate in every possible way and they generally feel no sorrow for the Moderates. They earned the gear, cry more noob.

Yes, I am a Moderate gamer and that is fine by me.

I almost decided to write an “I Quit” post today. I was thinking about the 11 days of gaming I played in WoW and what else I could have done with that time. I felt like my family deserved more time than I’ve been giving them. But then I realized that the only time I game any more is when my kids are in bed and my wife has other plans. I did technically “quit” when I stopped trying to be a Hardcore gamer. So, I don’t see any harm in playing a game at those times. I just need to focus on other things when the computer is off.

Really, my main problem is that I spend more time thinking about games than I do playing them. This website is the proof.

…as we know it and I feel fine.

Holy crap.

Episode 6 of Pure Pwnage is highly recommended viewing.

I’m curious how much time most people play MMORPGs. I honestly play about 10 hours a week average. That is really not much. It seems like everyone that started playing when I did has hit 60 and has been there for a while. I’d be thrilled to find a guild filled with people that have no interest in their level but instead focus on playing and having fun together. Are there any guilds dedicated to “slow play” or consider themselves “casual”? How about a guild for the family man or working man? Perhaps a guild with level caps based on the calendar. Maybe it’s been tried and doesn’t work, but it would be so great to have a group of regular people playing that don’t play all the time. Perhaps what I am looking for is a role-play guild. I look at our guild sheet in game and see that around 70% of the guild is level 60. I am *always* the lowest player online in the guild.

Am I all alone here?