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Spiral Situation

For about two weeks, Wizard101 players were tantalized by a countdown clock on the patch screen. We quickly deduced that the “something special coming to The Spiral” would arrive on April 1: anyone with a speck of common sense realized it would be something at least slightly humorous.

It was not until the lid was ripped off the surprise that the community realized the limited range of some players’ sense of humor. The big announcement was the arrival of a new pet in the Crowns Shop (i.e. cash shop): KingsIsle’s iteration of that fabled fad of the 1970s, the Pet Rock.
Continue reading Spiral Situation

/Curtsey

In February 2009, I had never played an MMO and had never listened to a podcast. I’d made a living as a technical writer for about 20 years, but freelance work had dried up in the plunging economy. I was a 39 year-old former junkie for fantasy and sci-fi literature stuffed into the stale mold of soccer mom. Except I was driving a 1996 Saturn and sporting ripped cuticles instead of a shiny SUV and weekly manicures.

But I wasn’t bitter or anything.

Now, I subscribe to three MMOs: Wizard101, WoW, and LotRO, and I’ve dabbled in countless others. And I’m on four gaming podcasts, but those are irrelevant here on Kill Ten Rats. Because I came to KTR on bended knee asking to write about my first MMO, Wizard101.

I still drive the 1996 Saturn, sporting ripped cuticles as I grip the steering wheel, to tote my uber-son about town. Said uber-son introduced me to Wizard101,  showed me how to use WASD, and has been my biggest cheerleader every step of the way as I pursued projects related to gaming.

To be sure, I’m still bitter and full of snark. But life has become infinitely more tasty since I ventured into MMOs. Becoming part of KTR feels like extra sprinkles on my whipped cream. I hope you enjoy my contributions to the site as much as I enjoy writing them.

[GW2] Tap Repeatedly Interview

Lewis B over at the gaming blog Tap Repeatedly has a three–part interview with ArenaNet’s Art Director Daniel Dociu. Lewis B took time and care in preparing for this interview, and he even takes Dociu by surprise pulling out Dociu’s quotes from decades ago. For any budding game artist, this interview is a must read.

With regards to the games, there is not that much new except Dociu hints at “next races to be introduced in future expansion packs.” But, given the treatment on the non-playable Guild Wars 2 races (recently the Skritt), amazing races are not necessarily going to be playable. Dociu also gives an interesting take on how they wanted to bring this “painterly” style to the original Guild Wars, yet the company was not ready for such a risk. The design of Guild Wars was played safe in areas, it appears.

Check out the full interview for a ton of other tidbits and insights.

–Ravious

Issue 20

Coming soon to City of Heroes: the year 2000! I kid! City of Heroes is adding raid groups, as opposed to its even older school system of just having several groups fight a big target without the game’s caring that they are together. They are adding two raid trials. Even more of a throwback to 2000, City of Heroes is adding a guide/mentor/whatever-they-called-it-in-your-game system, such that you can flag yourself as a newb looking for guidance or as a guide willing to help newbs.

Continuing the alternate advancement system, four of the ten incarnate slots will be in the new update. I am particularly drawn to the notion of adding debuffs to all my damaging attacks, but the other three slots are occasional big AE attacks, big AE buffs/heals, and pets. Is it a backhanded line from marketing to say, “the long-awaited endgame arrives!”? Just seven years after launch…

In addition to the two trials, there will be two new lower-level task/strike forces. And, of course, quality of life additions. You can read about all of the new additions here.

: Zubon

Guild in Transition

I never fell into a guild that worked well for me in WoW, which is one of several reasons I played for only a few months. I have friends across many servers, which severely limited the network effect, and my refer-a-friend buddy had a busy semester, leaving me mostly alone.

I joined a guild with friendly people I met along the way, but that was just moments before they decided to transition from a family guild to a serious raiding guild. This is possibly the worst of all possible states to be in, neither here nor there. Events were scheduled and failed to happen. Guild leaders angrily reminded people to show up if you sign up (and RSVP “no” on the required plug-in if not). Raid organizers would angrily wonder why they were bothering if people were not going to sign up. And then there were the new people…

You need a certain number of raiders (more if casual, fewer if hardcore) to ensure that you will have your 10 or 25. Getting to that threshold involves recruitment. I recognize that if you are not growing, you’re dying, but rapid growth is not only disruptive but also involves delving deeper into the barrel. I could politely refer to some as jerks with delusions of grandeur. I recall one fellow in particular who immediately announced his intention to be server- or world-first on clearing ICC (said ICC having just been announced). He was the sort to go on at great length about his awesome DPS and how horrible everyone else in all his groups was. Will the copy-and-paste from the DPS meter come before or after the stream of profanity?

My current LotRO guild is flirting with transition. It has absorbed another couple of guilds. The guild raid corps is hardcore and just the right size, which makes it difficult to cycle in folks who are not serious raiders while vulnerable to having a couple of people unsubscribe. Having a core group of just the right size, any second group active in a week is worse than your average PUG, a casual mix of the undergeared and inexperienced. We lack a farm team, but everything is okay so long as nothing ever changes.

: Zubon

[Rift] Shaded Events

I am nearly done with Scarwood Reach. The weekend hit a nice upswing in zone population, and we actually completed a few zone wide events. Sadly the Winged Horror event to defeat 50 invasions (then the boss) always seemed beyond our grasp. I think too many people were still rift chasing when that event really just requires defense. Anyway, I am starting to see more shades in Rift’s dynamic event system beyond the basics. Continue reading [Rift] Shaded Events

Bears, Bears, Bears

Tobold mentions the “bears, bears, bears” video promoting WAR: “Now that was a great video, and one could say that the enthusiastic hyping of a feature which then ultimately didn’t make it in that form into the game neatly summarizes people’s disappointment with WAR.” Yes! Exactly! I’ve never even watched the video (and why bother to go back and do so at this point?), but if anyone asks about WAR, I summarize it with three (one?) words. It is not so much the enthusiastic hyping as identifying the problem, summarizing it neatly, identifying a solution, and then willfully failing to implement it. Bitter, bitter venom every time I was sent back to kill a named enemy I just killed, and it spills over to other games that make me do the same thing.

: Zubon

[GW] First of April Content

Lots of great MMO gags are running across this year’s April Fools. ArenaNet brought their own with the release of the “9th” Guild Wars 2 profession (with video!), the Commando, and the annual April Fool’s Guild Wars patch notes. One thing I really like in the fake patch notes is the constant mockery of possible in-game store items. I think it shows how much they are really listening to fans. I also laughed at the jab against Kormir, who stole the player’s thunder in a similar way at the end of Nightfall.

Anyway, each year ArenaNet also does something goofy in game, such as switching genders of characters in town, turning them into stick figures, or even cute, little chibi-dolls. This year the live team raised the bar with an actual quest on the newly added Embark Beach. Seek out Corporal Bane, who traveled from Guild Wars 2 to Embark Beach, to get players to join him in the past to stop a time-traveling golem from killing Sarah of Lakeside county. Plus it appears players will get special Commando-themed skills to use in the quest.

Usually the April Fool’s Guild Wars content is only on for the day. It being a quest, instead of a mere appearance change, the Corporal Bane will stay in Embark Beach until Monday. After that it’s likely the Doctor* will come and take care of him.

–Ravious

*the asuran one with the smoking hot quaggan sidekick, not the British one

Sinker

Lightning strikes twice! Less than twelve hours after mentioning last year’s pranks, the New York Times has actually published… You know what? I’m not going to spoil the punchline. I will just refer you to Ted Frank.

I mean, sure, he was involved in lawsuits about Grand Theft Auto (you read that right, 5 years over “Hot Coffee”) and NVIDIA, so he sounds like a guy who would be a good source. Ignore the date, cut-and-paste, it’s news!

: Zubon

Follow the links if you are having trouble getting past the paywall. Spoilers allowed in the comments.