Kill Ten Rats

(*mumbles* I knew the book wasn’t for free after all)

Well, hello everyone. Julian here. Grandmaster farmer, exceptional dancer, friend to the animals. Also a gamer when real life doesn’t intersect too much. Ethic was kind enough to give me the chance to pour some musings here, in between all the rat killing, so I decided to take his generous offer. Or was it “crazy enough”? Well, I can’t tell the difference anyway.

I’ve been playing all kinds of games for as long as I can remember. Started on a ZX-81. 8K RAM (16K with the expansion, mind you), membrane keyboard, black and white: The world was an oyster. Ever since then, I won’t say I played them all, but I did play most. Good ones and bad ones alike. Like others here, I’m a relative newcomer to MMOs having only played them for about four years. Alas, also like most others, soon enough I was captivated by the genre.

I absolutely adore talking about games and game design, mechanics and also the more social, surrounding aspects of this ordeal of ours we like to call ‘gaming’. So that’s about it, and the kind of things you can expect to read from me. For the moment, stay tuned. If statistics are to be believed, I’m bound to write something worth reading at some point in the future. And if not, well, I’ll write it anyway because it all comes from the heart.

/wave

From the New York Times: a slide show of players and their characters. We have strong City of Heroes representation! Fun pictures. I have considered doing the same with my CoH Zubon, who looks disturbingly like me. I need a haircut.

: Zubon

Hat tip: our dear friend Simon

Random Battle has an interesting idea about how to re-balance rewards for raiders and folks in small groups. Check it out.
: Zubon

Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth of taste

Actually, that’s a lie on both counts. Good start there, Dragon, way to go! Let’s try again.

It’s not going to surprise anyone when I say that I play video games nor is it going to be a revelation of biblical proportions to learn that I love playing MMOs. What will make a few of you raise an eyebrow is wondering why Ethic (very kindly) asked such a blatant amateur to join this motley band of adventurers on their rat-hunting exploits. Personally I think he was probably drunk.

Continue reading Sympathy for the Dragon

It’s late.  My eyes blur with the monitors haze, and the repetitious attempts have long since morphed me into an automaton.  At my side, my wife Abryn is slumped in her desk chair, posture sagging even as her eyes remain fixed on the life bars of our companions.

Months of attunement, back-flagging, farming, and hour after hour of failure at the same critical juncture in the encounter.    It seems so simple, yet so impossibly complex at the same time, and frustrations abound, as we continue to throw ourselves against the same brick wall.

Continue reading The Thrill of the Kill

Julian from The Better Game is the winner of a signed copy of MMO Evolution. The book was donated by the author, our own Nicodemus aka Robert Rice. The book is on it’s way Julian. For everyone else, we have one more signed copy to give away, the method of which will be announced soon.

Following the jump is Julian’s story.

Continue reading Contest Winner

Just as it seems almost every game has some kind of RPG element included, I envision a future where every game is played out in a virtual world. Before we can get there, however, we have to find the core elements of what makes an MMO and, more importantly, what makes it fun. There are games that have already experimented with this idea. A prime example is Test Drive: Unlimited. From MMO’s, they took the ideas of exploration and community and blended that into a classic racing formula with excellent results. How long will it be before we see Microsoft Flight Simulator allowing you to see other virtual pilots flying about on a real-world map? How long before Command & Conquer is taking place on a truly global scale with never-ending battles?

These kinds of questions are what you can expect from me. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with the community and hearing what you think about the future of MMOGs.

Dave