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DPS Balance

The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢ Volume Two, Book Seven patch is on test. There is much to discuss, and my heart goes out to Captains, but right now I want to talk about Hunters. Because my main character is a Hunter, and everything is about me me me.

Ranged DPS classes are hard to balance. Turbine has it easier because there is no ranged AE class, but consider the problem. High DPS and long range are both things that get your defenses cut, so the plan is to burn something down before it gets to you. Once it gets to you, your primary defense is a robe, and nothing slows your casting times like being smacked in the face. The ranged DPS class fares relatively poorly against ambushes and unexpected respawns. Your primary defense is to kill it before it can kill you, ideally before it can hit you.

Based on that threshold value, “kill it before it gets to you,” a ranged DPS class is a god or a weakling. Continue reading DPS Balance

Infringement Meme

A comment at The Volokh Conspiracy, pointed me to “Infringement Nation,” a paper discussing the gap between copyright law and our social norms. The part you should go read is IV.A. “Infringement Nation,” which starts on page 8. Due to extensive footnotes, the 1000 words are spread across six pages.

The shorter version is that common activities are technically illegal, and the only things stopping billion of dollars of lawsuits (per person, per year) are good will and the difficulty of enforcement. If you include the text of an e-mail in a reply, that is an illegal reproduction of someone’s original work. If your game or music volume is too loud, that could be an illegal public performance of a copyrighted work.

On one hand, hey, can we track down those jerks who copy others’ blogs to generate faux content around a bunch of ads? Every single post on there is a potential $150,000 offense. How about those jerks who play their car radios loudly enough to rattle your windows? Illegal public performance, clear infringement.

On another hand, how many gaming blogs are posting their sixth screenshots? Did you contact the publisher for permission to reproduce artwork from their game? You are also making a derivative work, and your chat box may show infringement of other players’ copyright in their (short) textual creations. You are also distributing said illegal works, and engaging in contributory infringement by linking to other infringing blogs. Given the web of sites participating, there may be grounds for conspiracy or racketeering charges. That the developers want your free publicity right now does not mean that they have granted you legal permission to violate their copyrights.

Many people take the high ground on not stealing music or engaging in file sharing. Have you considered how you might be “a little pregnant” on violating copyright law?

: Zubon

If you read this post aloud, you created an unapproved derivative work. If someone else was around, you also conducted a public exhibition. Where is my royalties check?

Okay, 6 Makes Sense

I have commented several times that, if you want to fill your deed log, The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢ expects you to run each instance six times. You can tell this by comparing the deed amounts to the number of enemies in the instance.

This is reasonable given that you have a team of six, with one drop at the end. If your team runs one of the hard mode instances six times, everyone has the radiance piece. Surprise, you also get the associated slayer deed. It is a reason to stick around and help others, although it does mean you are committing a solid day of your life to some instances.

This is less reasonable for the three-person instances, but old habits die hard, and they are pretty quick anyway.

: Zubon

DDO Turns 3

Then:

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach will launch in North America on Tuesday, February 28th, 2006.

Developed by Turbine and published by Atari, Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach is the first and only massively multiplayer online roleplaying game based on the Dungeons & Dragons brand franchise from Wizards of the Coast.

Now:

DDO is celebrating its 3rd Birthday! As part of the celebration, we’re giving out bonus XP and Loot!

Starting this Friday, February 27th, and running through March 1st, DDO Players will gain a 50% XP bonus and +1 tier bonus to loot quality! But the fun doesn’t stop there! Once 50% XP and +1 loot are over with on Sunday March 1st, starting Monday March 2nd, enjoy 10% bonus XP for 2 weeks!

Happy Birthday!

– Ethic

It’s True!

I am not hardcore enough for Darkfall Online.

Then again, I wasn’t hardcore enough for Everquest the second (or, as those of us in the know liked to call it, EQ’s sequel) because I thought that sitting around for 3 hours for a quest spawn was just a little bit of a waste of my time. Not that it didn’t stop me doing that in Star Wars: Galaxies I hasten to add. That damned Corellian Corvette on the Master Pilot mission was mine several times.

But Darkfall Online? No – definitely not hardcore enough.

I’d QQ more but, honestly, first I’m just gonna have to go right ahead and start caring.
Continue reading It’s True!

On the Cusp

For the first time in an MMO, I feel I am on the cusp for forthcoming content. I am no longer catching up to the masses. I have always been a more casual gamer in MMOs. The aged Bartle Test would classify me as an EAKS. In Lord of the Rings Online, I am finally max level, nearing the end of the current epic quest line, and finishing up the current zones. Being on the cusp does not mean I have nothing to do; rather, the anticipation to forthcoming content is a bigger deal. It’s a bittersweet place to be.

Continue reading On the Cusp

Photon Phasing

Marc Nottke at Massively writes his last column on “phasing” for MMOgology, a column that had a very good run.  Phasing is a mechanic in a persistent MMO world where prior to some event horizon players are all in phase alpha of a zone.  After the world-changing event, players belong to the phase beta club.  A town that players once loved is burnt to the ground, there may be new mobs, new quest-givers, etc. in the beta phase.

The problem with the big MMOs current use of phasing (namely World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online to a much lesser extent) is that the community is partitioned.  The door goes one way, folks.  When you raised the ire of the enemy and your city was burned, well you can’t go back in time to see the city unburned.  That would be silly.  Now it’s time to eke the new world order out of the ashes.

Guild Wars phased the world between the starting area and the rest of the game with the first offering, Prophecies.  Players refused to leave.  They stayed in phase alpha, and to some degree – as much as is possible in Guild Wars – built a community there.  This is an extreme, but it does highlight the dangers of phasing.  People are not happy when people in the beta phase club cannot come back and group up with the slower alpha phase club.  Developers therefore have to be careful to limit the scope of the alpha phase in width and depth.  Areas unaffected by the event should not be partitioned, and players should not have to spend inordinate amounts of time trying to pass through to beta phase.  More thoughts after the break.

Continue reading Photon Phasing