30. I hear that the last ten levels take as long as all the ones that came before, but I have also heard that it just feels that way.
: Zubon
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Промоакции для игроков не только в шутерах — воспользуйся промокодом Vavada от наших партнеров и получи бонусы, которые подарят азарт и атмосферу, сравнимую с игровыми победами.
.Mirror World Myers
It would have been a better read if he decided to roleplay the Pied Piper in Everquest 1 to rid the region of invaders by training the mobs of that zone. I do like how Myers tried to distance himself from Twixt’s actions by writing as if Twixt was the one acting. Hopefully Myer’s peers that reviewed his paper are not themselves new to online gaming. Hat tip: Broken Toys.
–Ravious
we have no future because our present is too volatile
MMO Twittering
I have given my thoughts on Twitter, and my fervor is beginning to erode. I even camped out a name. No, I didn’t get Ravious. Some impostor has squatted on my namesake. I did get my “real” name though, which depends on who you ask: my mom or Magneto. Recently, an add-on for World of Warcraft was made that allows people to tweet in-game. This (and the fact that nearby taco trucks tweet location) brings me from doubtful to enlightened in my view of the micro-blogging application.
I like signing on and checking my guild page to see where people are adventuring. That small amount of information can be helpful, but rarely has it helped me group up with guildmates. Most of the time I have grouped up in guild chat where pertinent information can be exchanged. Sure, it helps to know that they are in the Lonelands, but they might just be passing through.
A simple tweet could change that if it is used as some active status report. I always feel guilty when a guildmate expends will and energy to let his band of brothers and sisters know that he will be farming trolls for the next hour. Would any of us like to join him? Now, instead of guilt-tripping some hobbit healer to be turned into troll foot-jelly, the guild member can just update his playstyle on Twitter. It’s brilliant! Sign on and scroll through meaningful information immediately. Hey, you say, Bobthefarmer is working on Yak rep, I will join him. It becomes your choice rather than a reaction to a plea for help.
Stupid Turbine’s add-on policy.
–Ravious
wanderers wandering all round the town
Need before Greed
Today I joined a pickup group for the Forges with my Runekeeper. It was a pretty good group. We all kept re-doing the instance so that each person in the group could get the desired item at the end. Most of the time, the person who just won the roll says “thanks for the group” and leaves. So I felt pretty good about the group.
One of our members was a Lore-master who would always switch to their level 48 Captain for the last chest. They had asked if this was OK before starting, and our leader had told him it was fine. It was on our fourth run that a second age Captain’s weapon dropped. The leader of the group gave it to the level 60 Captain in the group without putting it up for a roll.
He said, “I think you’ll agree that this should go to the other Captain, because you can’t use it yet.”
I could hardly believe my eyes. The whole point of our Lore-master attending was so that he could bring his level 48 into the group and roll for the equipment. He was getting his equipment ahead of time so that he’d already have good gear when he reached a higher level. The level 48 Captain just said that he couldn’t argue with a group leader, and left the group. Then he logged off.
No More MMO Heroes
Yesterday, the gods of Team Fortress 2 felt the need to bestow upon me a glorious moment for my birthday. The payload was in a trench, and just then someone threw a jarate at the bomb cart. This lowly pyro did jump into the fray pushing the cart thereupon critting down two heavies, a medic, an enemy pyro, and some other hapless being before succumbing to enemy fire. The moment was epic. I just had to share. Allow me this one small indulgence.
I, as well as Zubon, have been playing a lot of Team Fortress 2. I really enjoy the chaotic style of play that public servers are ripe with. One can usually find me amidst the Lotus servers. Now back to regularly scheduled Kill Ten Rats thoughts:
Chicago Trip
Unlike my Minneapolis trip, there is no overlapping gaming conference, but I will be in Chicago this weekend, if anyone else will be about. Sadly, my librarian guildmate will not be attending. There should still be time to get a free exhibits pass, if anyone needs the link. Neil Gaiman is on the list of authors signing, along with Judy Blume on Saturday and M. T. Anderson on Monday.
: Zubon
Simple Graphics for Simple Minds
Setting things on fire in-game is satisfying to a degree that is psychologically worrisome. The implementation, however, is important.
One thing I really enjoy in Team Fortress 2 is playing a Pyro. When you light someone up, they really are on fire, and it covers the entire character model. They yell for help, announcing that they are on fire. If there is water on the map, they may go diving off the edge. If you get a kill, the body will smolder on the ground. Nothing messes up an enemy charge like lighting up a few people, who instinctively go looking for health in a way that simple bullets cannot cause.
Contrast this with your MMO. What happens when you hit an enemy with an elemental effect? Most of the time, it seems, you can have an animation during the casting time and for a second or so later. You can have someone on fire from a half-dozen sources, and they just have a string of debuff/DoT icons. Stacking DoTs is still a good thing, but is a far cry from the panicked shouts of ogres.
Some do this a bit better, or do for certain effects. Some of the City of Heroes control graphics are great. Lock your enemy in a block of ice, boulder, or sphere of electricity. Have little ice cubes fall off a slowed target. Great. The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢’s Red Maid gets a great graphic on her immobilize, with red specters rising from the bloodied waters to hold you in place. Does your game do anything like this well, where an ongoing effect has a highly satisfying ongoing visual? Let us know.
It would be nice to see them scale, from a low-level singe to a high-level pyre. I am not sure how well that works for all energy attacks. I can see frost scaling from a blue tint from a low-level slow to a giant ice cube. I would need to think about some of the others.
: Zubon
Lithe Festival
Summer is here and that can mean only one thing, the Lithe Festival has come to the Shire.
One of my favorite parts of the festival, besides getting away from the trolls for a while, is the fishing contests.
If only there were prizes given for the most goldfish caught or maybe listening to a dockworker make astute observations, I would have won big.
But really, catching goldfish in a river has got to be a pretty special talent.
– Ethic
Issue 15
You can start the new Strike Force with a team of 4. It may even be possible to complete it with that, if you have the right characters and no PUG members. It is not much fun, it is bugged, and it is not the kind of thing you can do with whatever random people who happen to recruit. This puts it with a small amount of the level 50 content, like the Statesman TF, Lord Recluse SF, and Hami.
I’d say more, and there is more to the Issue, but I don’t care at this point. I’ll wait a little longer before uninstalling City of Heroes.
The thread discussing it is interesting, if only for the way that games’ urban legends get made. You can see people discussing how to get something to work and what worked for them, even after the developer has posted and said it doesn’t work. And heck, the developer could even be wrong. It has happened before.
: Zubon
Lori Drew Dismissal
While it will not become final until filed next week, Lori Drew’s conviction has been dismissed. This is important to gamers and other online folk, because the government’s theory in the case was that any violation of Terms of Service should be viewed as the same offense as hacking (“unauthorized access”), and therefore a federal crime. This would be a fun way to get rid of certain people we don’t like, but is probably one of the less intelligent legal theories to come out of California recently.
: Zubon