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Some Things Asheron’s Call Did/Does Right

[Asheron’s Call] Asheron’s Call, my first MMO. We spend years hoping the next game will give us back that sense of fun, joy, and wonder at our first game. Our first anything. The newness itself is probably what we are seeking.

On Dereth, we were all humans, visitors from the next dimension over who fought monsters to reclaim another race’s lost lands. Our souls bound to lifestones, we fought to the death and beyond against monsters that returned to plague is in a cloud of purple smoke. We began our days with Drudge and longed for the day we could meet the deadly Olthoi. And, over time, we went hunting for phat lewts and tried to keep on leveling.

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Shiny Happy Week

Since we so often focus on negativity and the latest outrage, I want to spend a little time saying nice things. In this case, I will make a new post every day this week pointing out things I like or liked about various games. There will be no attempt to balance this with negative points, although I may classify some things as qualified successes or good ideas that did not fully pan out.

My apologies if I refer to something good that no longer exists or to something current in the past tense. I do not currently play most of the MMOs that I have played, so I am not always aware of their current states. I may accidentally give credit to a game for something it adapted or completely stole from another one; in that case, good call on stealing that idea. Good ideas can be repeated instead of re-creating the wheel every time.

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Gaming Gratitude Journals

You should be happier. Luckily, your happiness is within your control, and I am going to tell you how to get more happiness out of your gaming time. Hurray!

The simple version is: focus on the positive. Optimists are usually happier, even under identical circumstances. “Wait,” you say, “mightn’t that be backwards? People don’t have happier lives because they think about good things; they think about good things because they have happy lives. If your life sucks, you don’t have the good things to think about!”

There is some truth there, but most people have control over their attitudes towards life, if only they could develop the right perspective. Some of us bloggers whine because we hate everyone and everything, but some of us are just blowing off steam so that we can get back to focusing on the continuous joy that is life. (We also give constructive criticism, but it is not always terribly constructive.) This week, we are going to try an experiment in improving your happiness via a gratitude journal.

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Easy Come Easy Go

EVE[EVE Online] I decided to leave my corp out in 0.0 for various reasons, none of which involve the corp itself. So, I posted a small goodbye (for now) post on the corp forum and before I knew it I couldn’t even access the forums any more. Talk about security.

I was still technically in the corp but they cut me out of the forums and my chance to read all the “sad farewells” and “fly safes” and “you’ll be backs” and of course the “can I have your stuffs?” was gone. *sniff* Oh well, that’s the sort of thing that 0.0 life gives you. Better to be safe than sorry (unlike another big alliance that I used to belong to and I can still read their forum to this day).

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Nicodemus Does E3 (or “Why did I bother?”)

The Electronic Entertainment Expo: E3. This is, for most hardcore gamers, the Holy Grail. Exclusive to Industry Insiders only (inclusive of the media and press of course) you just CAN’T get in unless you have the credentials or you steal a pass. I should note, for the record, that I have great credentials, and I am a bloody professional in the industry with more than a decade of experience, and I still have a tough time getting in. I know people that have been Guest Speakers at E3, and had a tough time in subsequent years. Go figure. Anyway, I’m just setting my post up here with a little background…the real meaty stuff will come after you click on the “more” button.

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How To Use a Known Issues List

Put something on it.

Seriously, game developers, it does no good for you to post a “known issues” page and then never update it. Have you not noticed any bugs or balance issues in the game? Are you aware of them but pretend they don’t exist? Are you just lying in case potential buyers are checking the web page first?

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It’s Official: Draenei is the New Alliance Race!

wow[World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade] Well it appears the rumors were true… kind of. The new Alliance race will be the Draenei. They will be the biggest characters on the Alliance side which should go to addressing the size imbalance between Alliance and Horde. They are, however, not the “ugly” race some speculated would be added to the Alliance to give them an edgier look and attract a different type of gamer to Alliance similar to how many feel the Blood Elves are a “pretty” race for the Horde. The Draenei character models unveiled so far look nothing like the long-faced pudgy-Orc looking guys currently in the game (those guys, according to the backstory, are mutated sub-species). Personally I think they look pretty darn cool. They look to be larger than human, but not quite the size of Taurens. This will probably trigger more complaints from the “Blizzard favors Alliance” crowd as the new Alliance race will be a cool looking new addition to the Warcraft universe while the Blood Elves are palette swapped Night Elves. But we all know by now the same guys complaining will be first in line to buy the expansion anyways.

Check out the Draenei here.

Happy Birthday EVE

EVE[EVE Online] Three years and still going strong, in fact getting stronger. Happy Birthday to EVE Online.

My first character has left Ars Caelestis and joined Ashpool Industries. I found a better fit for him as he is heavy into the production side of things. He can know be found supervising multiple factories and collecting fat paychecks.

My second character (who is now my main character) is training up only combat-related skills and has joined Ars Caelestis to replace my first character. He has a lot to learn and is hoping to get some combat action soon. Sadly, he missed out on the BoB assault, but he should be ready for the next round of whatever-may-come.

P.S. Check out the “No Other Destiny” video here. Sweet.

– Ethic

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How To Use Patch Notes

Include everything. Mention when you change them.

For example, say that you were to nerf stealth in your game. It would not be a good thing to leave that out of the patch notes. If you did leave it out, you should definitely add it in. Also, when you add it, make a note at the top, maybe with a big UPDATE line, rather than listing it in the middle of other changes. The same goes for everything else you missed the first time through.

As a parting note, it might be worth including an explanation of significant changes to powers, especially when you have promised to do so. A simple “We thought stealth was too useful PvE even after the last couple rounds of nerfs” might be nice.

: Zubon