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Go Quietly in to the Night

Tobold has an interesting post up mostly about Star Wars: The Old Republic fortune telling. I must say I did laugh at his response to the financial analyst not understanding the MMO genre because “MMORPG’s release date is independent of their state of readiness.” Tobold had another thought buried at the end, more about Rift:

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Rift is doing well, but not quite as spectacularly as the initial hype suggested. Bloggers like syncaine pulled a Keen and now post mostly critical things about Rift, or have just silently dropped the game.

I think that this is a two-part problem. First, the only reason Tobold seems to expect some announcement is because Rift, like many other MMOs, is a subscription game. It has an end point where a gamer can definitively say “I am no longer playing this game because I am not subscribed.” Compare that to any other game, which a gamer can have installed, and the line gets much more hazy. I have not played Guild Wars for a few weeks, but I feel I am still active with the game’s community and ready to jump back on anytime. I am definitely not going to write a good-bye post on a game I have played actively for 6 years!

Second, even though subscription games have this definitive line, I do not think it is a blogger’s duty to announce un-subscribing. I did not announce my unsubscription to Rift (as opposed to when I did for Warhammer Online) because I unsubscribed as a happy customer. I got what I came for. Now I have other games to play. It isn’t like Rift failed; it’s just not what I subjectively need right now. I am happy right now with Trackmania and Team Fortress 2, while I still dabble in some other MMOs.

Is it some evidence of MMO success when a blogger goes to other pastures? By all means if the crystal ball is already out, might as well go the distance. Rift, objectively, seems to be chugging along quite nicely even if it’s press honeymoon is now over.

–Ravious

[GW2] Nuts and Bolts and Beyond Interview at Tap

The guys over at Tap Repeatedly put up another great interview with ArenaNet developers Jon Peters and Jonathan Sharp. I interviewed Peters and Sharp at PAX East, and I had talked with Peters about skills and energy some time before. They are the nuts and bolts devs. Tap’s Lewis B does exactly the right thing by talking to them about the nuts and bolts instead of release dates, collector’s editions, and other stuff that will just get stonewalled. Lewis B goes for depth, and is rewarded handsomely. He also pulls in a few community questions, which I thought was a nice touch.

Continue reading [GW2] Nuts and Bolts and Beyond Interview at Tap

Sentence of the Weekend

Once a MMO embarks upon the “new expansion, gear reset, more love for raiders” road, the danger is that the game becomes so linear and focused on the end game that players new to the game may feel they can never catch up — and that even if they have the desire, the largely unpopulated lands between them and the bulk of the playerbase could be very discouraging.
— Tipa

Why we DING! – Part 2: Explaining the need

See, it’s been quite a while since I last wrote, but it does help to illustrate at least one element on the importance of The Ding – timeliness. If the ding takes too long, it is worthless or at the very best vague and confusing. Previously I tried to explain where the phrase came from, but this time I’d like to try explaining why it is important, and why we as gamers need the ding to keep us playing.
Continue reading Why we DING! – Part 2: Explaining the need

[GW2] Alpha Predators

Tyria. The dragons have always been here. Sleeping deep beneath the earth, beneath the sea. Waiting for the time to rise.

In this lore-saturated post, I will be looking at the Elder Dragons of Guild Wars 2. Note well, that even with ArenaNet so particular about capitalizing, the Elder Dragons retain their big letters. It’s an interesting tell, in a way, because it’s not really a classification of a fantasy species. It’s a title, similar to how we name hurricanes and earthquakes. Only in this case multiple [un]natural disasters are happening simultaneously in the Guild Wars 2 fantasy world.

Continue reading [GW2] Alpha Predators

Pre-Order Incentives

The Rise of Isengard will be available for Turbine Points sometime, so as a lifetimer, I can just wait and get it for free. They are encouraging you not to do that with pre-order incentives including a pocket item that gives +25% xp on monster kills. They are also heaping on variations on a small set of cosmetics. If you are not a subscriber, the “Legendary Edition” is a pretty nice deal, coming with quest packs for the Trollshaws, Eregion, Moria, Lothlorien, and Mirkwood. That is just short of getting all three expansions for $50, plus $10 worth of Turbine points and all the cosmetic candy. Player-compiled Q&A here.

A +25% item seems pretty big to me. It works up to level 65, so for every character you make until they reach expansion pack levels.

: Zubon

Spiral Situation: KingsIsle outdoes itself in May 2011

Before I start my high-octane squee, I’d like to beg forgiveness for being away from KTR for so long after starting relatively recently. My parents, who live in another state, are in their late seventies and had a crisis that required me to be with them and give them my full attention.  Immediately upon my return home, I had to prep and fly to participate in an out-of-state industry convention.  I’m very happy to be back among the rat killers.

I’ve stated more than once that I’m not the president of the KingsIsle (KI) fan club. But you might not believe it after reading this entry. Wizard101 truly reached new heights of excellence in May, and it’s an unabashed pleasure to feature the highlights.  I hope that after reading this, you’ll visit The Spiral.

First up, Wintertusk was released. I reviewed this briefly while it was in test realm, and when it went live it exceeded all expectations.  The single most remarked-upon feature is the music. Nick Jonas, who got his start as a performer on The Disney Channel, contributed to the music for Wintertusk.

Continue reading Spiral Situation: KingsIsle outdoes itself in May 2011

E3 and Trailer Investments

A “dev” speaks on Star Wars: The Old Republic’s cinematic trailers. The trailers are beautiful, expensive creatures, especially the newest one Return. There is a point though in the accompanying satire. Those creatures are an extravagance especially when the actual gameplay is so lackluster. I do appreciate the entertainment the trailers provide in the compressed amount of time.

On the other hand, we have the Trackmania 2: Canyon trailer, which was done by alpha testers. Of course Nadeo (Trackmania developer) is about 15 times smaller than BioWare, and being French there is little fat to trim. PCGamer was so impressed by it that they gave it a whole dedicated paragraph in a press conference filled with giants like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry 3, and another Tom Clancy game. More on this game later.

Oh, and if you love or hate Desktop Dungeons, they have an updated version coming out and the demo of this version is up for only three days!

–Ravious

What Sells

Spinks, the 8th-best blogger on the internet, was kind enough to link to Destructoid’s list of games announced for E3 2011. As I type this (there may be updates), there are 14 games that are not sequels, remakes, or tie-ins to previously exploited intellectual properties. That is from a list of 80 games. This is followed by a list of rumored but unconfirmed games, weighing in at 9 new properties of 32 games.

I would list the new games after the break, but it feels rude to re-print part of their list. Instead, I will link to a non-sequel tie-in, Gotham City Impostors, a Batman-themed FPS with the unusual premise of playing folks dressed up as Batman or the Joker. I hereby rate this as sufficiently amusing. As far as I know, the Walking Dead game on the “rumored” list is the first video game exploitation of that property, although I am not sure how much is left to be said in zombie survival gameplay.

The fact that I commented on two tie-ins rather than talking about the new games probably demonstrates why there are so many tie-ins and sequels rather than new properties.

: Zubon

[GW] Wall-Felling Update

Still plowing ahead on the original Guild Wars, ArenaNet launched a new update yesterday called the June 2011 PvP Update. It definitely has more than just PvP. Also, like many of the previous updates before it, it’s primary focus is change. Small changes can have big impacts. I feel this update is really aimed at making that impacting change that refines the experience. I am really glad that the Live Team takes initiative to change the status quo. Read on to see how it was un-quo’d.

Continue reading [GW] Wall-Felling Update