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Incremental Improvement

We should look at this as a step forward.

David Allen’s previous game, Horizons, did not go well for a variety of reasons. It was eventually taken over by a new group whose financial backing is small enough for me to consider it a fan-run game. They seem enthusiastic, and they are so proud of their work that they re-named the game “Istaria” to dissociate themselves from the original release.

David Allen’s more recent game, Alganon, did not go well for a variety of reasons, but it has kept going under its original company (instead of transferring several times). Under new management, it has advanced from borrowing from Battlefield Earth to borrowing from Star Wars. These are all positive movements.

I see no reason why his next game cannot be even better.

: Zubon

Optimizing Walking-Like Movements

This is one of those must-see applications of the gamer mindset.

Our good friend Wilhelm2451 explains how Nintendo has a Pokémon device that rewards walking, which is a good thing. It goes all the way to 7,500 miles worth of Achievement, which “encourages aberrant gameplay,” as we might say around here. He then goes on to demonstrate a creation that gets Pokémon to register 120 steps per minute.

Alternate title: “Cheating at Walking.”

: Zubon

Orphaned Warhammer Online

Thanks to Arkenor, over at Ark’s Ark, I learned that Games Workshop had sued Warhammer Alliance for mostly trademark issues.  First off, Games Workshop is not really the bad guy.    They have a very strong trademark with Warhammer, and with trademarks, if you don’t protect your ranch, the fences start to erode.  Disregarding whether Games Workshop is actually correct by law in its lawsuit, we can assume that Games Workshop believes that Warhammer Alliance is harming the strength and worth of the Warhammer trademark.

We can also assume that Games Workshop knew that by suing a proprietor of a community for Warhammer Online that it would be hurting the community, which in turn would very likely hurt the actual MMO.  Now, Games Workshop, of course, can choose in a timely fashion when to launch the lawsuit, and they did so not long after the whole billing fiasco with Warhammer Online, which according to some caused a not-insignificant decrease in subscriptions.  The bruises have barely healed, and now Games Workshop is opening up another wound.

So let’s get back to basics.  This lawsuit is aimed at protecting the whole Warhammer IP, but in doing so it will actually harm the Warhammer Online portion of the IP because the goodwill towards Warhammer Online will decrease.  I believe that big daddy Games Workshop’s position on the viability of baby Warhammer Online for the long run becomes pretty clear here.  Do I really need to spell it out any further?

–Ravious
a fool’s excuse for failure

Alganon: Blatant Plagiarism

Thanks to the folks over at F13.net it has been pointed out just how blatant the Alganon folks are being with their plagiaristic press releases.

Remember this statement from the Alganon press release? Note it is dated Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

“Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars – combat, exploration and character progression,” Derek Smart continued. “In Alganon, in addition to these we’ve added the fourth pillar to the equation; a story. We delivered a fun, immersive adventure that gamers expect in a top quality massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, we’re not done yet. A whole new adventure with new updates will follow soon, starting with a consignment house, new classes, PvP and much more.”

Now check out this statement from the SWTOR folks, dated October 21, 2008.

“Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars – combat, exploration and character progression,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., “In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we’re fusing BioWare’s heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation – story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a AAA massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe.”

Sad.

Update: Here is the official response and conclusion.

Still sad.

– Ethic

Fundamental Attribution Error: Dumb Devs

What kinds of idiots are making these games, eh? They can’t seem to put together a world with a thousand-plus players at a time each with dozens of items and skills interacting with tens of thousands of NPCs and other objects, dynamically and in real time with a playerbase across several continents using a range of hardware with a random pastiche of software, duplicated across dozens of servers scattered across the country or world and dependent on an international communications network entirely beyond their control. NOOBS!

There are only a dozen classes each with a half-dozen specializations that each vary in value across different circumstances that may vary in abundance and prominence across the levels, in solo or group play, in groups of different sizes, or in PvE and PvP. I swear, there is a conspiracy to keep my class down, with the way that everyone else gets money hats while I get nerfed every patch. l2balance NOOBS!

It’s not like they have dozens of people working with a sprawling code base where a mistake or typo can be multiplied in effect across the entire game. Every other workplace in the world has perfect documentation of all changes and accurately predicts the third-order effects of what are ostensibly small changes to the way some operations are calculated on the back end. It’s like you NOOBS are trying to ruin the game!

: Zubon

The Guild Leader’s Handbook Review

I am pretty skeptical of MMO “literature.”  The last piece I read was a doctoral thesis on social structures in MMOs, in that case Guild Wars.  It was horribly written, contained ridiculous examples, and came to conclusions that any MMO player that’s put some small amount of time into an MMO would know.  This seemed to be par for the course of the many examples I’ve read. So, when I was asked if I wanted to review a free copy of The Guild Leader’s Handbook by Scott F. Andrews, my gut reaction was not good.  I checked out the No Starch Press website and glanced at the author’s credentials, and impressed with the quality thus far, I decided to give writings on MMOs one more shot.  This time I was actually pleased.

Continue reading The Guild Leader’s Handbook Review

Alganon: No New Ideas

Not that long ago, this quote appeared on Massively:

The December first launch of the game “should never have happened,” and Smart is working to fix this. Among other things, he says the “WoW lookalike rubbish” is gone. The design team is throwing it out and working in a completely different direction to give the game its own unique look and feel. “You don’t go competing with WoW when you don’t have a WoW sized budget or the manpower to match.”

They copied World of Warcraft, realized it was a dumb idea, and are going to take all that WoW rubbish out.

Then I get the Alganon launch email and it has this quote:

“Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars – combat, exploration and character progression,” Derek Smart continued. “In Alganon, in addition to these we’ve added the fourth pillar to the equation; a story.

Where have I heard that before? Oh right, Star Wars:The Old Republic. Also, nice spelling. Multiplier?

Traditionally MMOs are built on three pillars; Exploration, Combat, and Progression. We at BioWare and LucasArts believe there is a fourth pillar: Story.

Do they have any original ideas? They didn’t have a WoW budget but they do have a SWTOR budget?

– Ethic

Fundamental Attribution Error: PUGs

Sometimes you have a rough night in-game. Things just did not work. The tank was not controlling aggro while the mage was over-nuking and the healer was consistently a few seconds late. You had trouble getting a group, then half the people quit and two idiots started arguing about where to go next.

I have occasionally heard about nights that went badly due to one’s own problems. “I’m just not on tonight, guys.” I see that more often with guild-only or -majority groups. When people are with pickup groups, that is when you get the stories about all the other idiots out there.

When it is just us in a group, things are just going badly. We got unlucky, that add came out of nowhere, and the spell did not go off due to lag.

When I am with a pickup group, I am surrounded by morons. He should have known better than to pull those linked mobs, we have the worst healer on the server, and that other guys is half-AFK even when his Etchasketch computer is not choking to death.

You make mistakes because, hey, mistakes happen. You can’t win them all, and sometimes you swing and miss five times in a row for no reason. Other people make mistakes because they are incompetent or they hate your guild and are trying to get you killed. They are probably laughing about it on Teamspeak while calling you a noob.

And then the idiot blames it on you.

: Zubon

APB Business Model – Back to the Old

Via Massively, I learned that All Points Bulletin, a game much on my radar, has received a release date (NA – 6/29, EU 7/2) and a pricing plan:

The retail client will be available digitally or in stores ($49.99/£34.99/€49.99) and will include 50 hours of ‘action’ game play plus unlimited time in the social districts. These districts include character customizing, socializing, and marketplace trading. Once you burn through your initial 50 hours of action play, you can purchase an additional 20 hours for $6.99 (£5.59, €6.29) or opt for the 30-day ‘unlimited’ package at $9.99 (£7.99, €8.99). There will also be 90 and 180 day discounts available.

I do like the pre-loaded hours option.  If they were available, I would likely have hours in World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and who knows what else.  So kudos to them for going back to a play-by-hour, and giving the consumer more options.  Yet, from all that I have read All Points Bulletin is more like a Grand Theft Auto version of Team Fortress 2 with a thin veneer of persistence found in the MMO genre.  It sounds like a lot of fun, but I am just not sure about their subscription and pseudo-subscription model. 

Continue reading APB Business Model – Back to the Old

Guild Wars 2 Saturation and the Third Option

I think Dan over at Biff the Understudy sums up what has happened in the week of Guild Wars 2 quite nicely. I’ve read every interview, watched videos multiple times, and delved in to the forums. There is just too much to talk about. It’s like standing under a waterfall trying to fill a plastic cup. And, there will be more today!

Two quick semi-relevant points: it sucks that the extreme focus of this week is on Guild Wars 2, when it is Guild Wars’ birthday.  It feels like whatever celebration we had for Guild Wars already passed.  But, it seems Guild Wars Beyond is in it for the long haul so in a way this year the birthday was smashed flat across months instead of one critical day.  Second, most of the Guild Wars 2 interviews keep saying “in the coming months” or “for the next few months” instead of “year.”  This could go two ways: at the end of “the next few months” (1) beta starts, or (2) they go back in to submarine mode ala Diablo 3.

Continue reading Guild Wars 2 Saturation and the Third Option