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[PS2] Tutorial

I have criticized ArenaNet for explaining major game features with “go read the wiki.” PlanetSide 2’s entire tutorial is a link to YouTube videos on the launcher. Logging in, you are dropped directly into a warzone without an explanation of advanced features like “how to tell who is on your team.” You are told to go control the land for your faction without mention of how to do that.

This has a worse introduction than Dwarf Fortress. There are other games that start you without a tutorial or have a steep learning curve, but this one drops you directly into combat with experienced players rather than “start level one and figure it out as you go along.” On a scale of 1 to 10, the introduction gets a negative number for skipping both the tutorial and that entire space where the beginning would be. I was killed by teammates before seeing an enemy, then again before shooting one. The part of the game that every player will see seems designed to drive away new players.

MMOs strive to be a niche market by making the players work for it. If you want to play this game, you must go watch these videos and read these links on another site so you can know what is going on and how to play. It is a strange thing that almost every buy-the-box game gives you an introduction so that you can start off on the right foot, though they already have your money even if you never re-load the game, while this F2P+cash shop game is making it hard to get started, but they need new players to come back and spend money after their horrible first experience.

: Zubon

[BL2] Off-Screen Adventures

The Borderlands 2 end boss fight is long rather than difficult once you find the perfectly safe spot on the map. Your only risk is leaving it to grab more ammo. To help you rally in case of catastrophic misadventure, the boss fight includes an endless swarm of rakk. If you get knocked down, shoot one, and you’re back. Your main threat there is falling down so often that you do not have enough “fight for your life” time to shoot a rakk.

Playing as the Mechromancer, her pet robot contributes to the fight oddly. With the talent tree I was using, the robot could one-shot rakk to add 5 seconds to its battery life. It did so every 3-4 seconds. Instead of fighting the boss, it sat there farming, and it did so endlessly unless the boss accidentally AEed it out of existence. Free xp and money, scattered loot and ammo, auto-rez: everything you want except a meaningful contribution to the fight. That’s okay, I had it under control.

That endless rakk swarm does not stop spawning with the boss’s death. The rakk only occasionally hit the robot, so it just kept farming them as they flew by. I watched for a while, amused. I wandered around and picked up loot. I explored the area. Once it got around 200 kills, I activated the game’s ending. The robot was still farming rakk in the background of the cut scene. I watched the credits. When they ended, the robot was still farming rakk, and it had been doing so the entire time the credits were rolling. I leveled. I watched for a while, amused. I threw away less valuable loot and picked up better drops. I went to the bathroom, considered making a sandwich. The robot had 500 kills and was still at half health. I quit because I wanted my computer back, but I’m guessing you could get to the level cap just by leaving it running with a macro to hit F occasionally in case the robot dies.

: Zubon

Of course, at that point, just edit your save file.

[GW2] Boundless Dailies

Most MMOs have some form of “dailies”. Dailies are activities that have a time-limited activity cap. The most common type is a daily quest, which is only available to complete once per day. Dailies are used as a time gate towards progress, or they are used to let casual players maximize rewards for their time. Guild Wars 2 uses a daily PvE achievement based around four tasks to maximize experience points and karma. The main difference from most other MMOs is that the four tasks can be accomplished nearly anywhere.

For a look at a more conventional MMO, let’s take Lord of the Rings Online’s Hytbold content. Hytbold is a personally-phased town in Rohan that has been ravaged by war. It is up to players to reconstruct the village by doing dailies. Each day there are 16 quests split between 4 zones from the new Riders of Rohan expansion. I am not there yet, but knowledgeable guildies told me it would take 40+ days of 16-quest dailies to complete Hytbold. It’s easy to see the direction behind Hytbold. Dailies are centered around content where most players will be. Dailies correspond to a unique reward. And dailies will keep people coming back for quite a long time. While Hytbold is unique in many aspects, its use of dailies is the norm in most MMOs.

Guild Wars 2 turned dailies on its head, for better and worse. Continue reading [GW2] Boundless Dailies

Rally!

An exciting mechanic I do not see in enough games is a state between fully capable and dead. Some games weaken the player as injuries accumulate, but most follow the trope codifier in letting you (and your enemies) operate at full power with 1 hit point and instantly die to the next falling leaf. For this post, I am less interested in gradual weakening than a transitional dying state. This is variously known as dying, downed, unconscious, “fight for your life,” bleeding out, second wind, etc.

Continue reading Rally!

My resolutions for 2013

(that is, assuming the world does not indeed end on 12/21/12. If so, and this particular game actually shuts down, it’s been a pleasure)

1- If something is fun, I’ll play it. If it stops being fun, I’ll stop.
2- I’ll stop caring about what and how genres should be and instead go back to point 1 when needed.
3- I’ll keep thinking holiday/seasonal content is bullshit. Because it is.
4- There is no point 4.
5- I will post more.
6- I will wear my “Protection from Marketing” charm necklace and in doing so I will avoid being bitten and infected with Hype Disease.
7- I will be more Lawful Neutral.
8- I will continue to meditate on the koan; “The problem is not the carrot, it’s how long the stick is.”
9- I will finally discard most of my Political Correctness armor, and if that ends up breaking the Civility set bonuses, then so be it. I got better stuff anyway.
10- I will not lambast because it’s AAA, I will not support because it’s indie, I will not forget that there are always better ways to do things and I most definitely won’t suffer intentional mediocrity idly.

[GW2] Happy Dragon Hour

I find myself irrevocably drawn to the Dragon Timers used to countdown when big, repeatable world events will start in Guild Wars 2. My favorite is on the weekends when I can leave the website up and do chores and play with my kids until the appointed time. Two hours until Claw of Jormag’s window opens; plenty of time to go outside and deal with more leaves. Most dragons are even nice enough to give me a bit of a notice before swooping down to get bashed good.

It’s silly in a way for there to be a timer. It takes some of the fun out of it seeing behind the curtain, and yet like a migratory tribe of cudgel-bearing Irish we form up every few hours to kill some dragon dead. A few of us bring munchies. Some of the rich lads bring wee banners to share in their good fortune. There is good natured chatter before the big oaf lands, and all together there is a comfortable community surrounding the clockwork.

I feel this is a remaking of old ground in a new light. Remember Hogger of ages past, says one blogger, that’s all this is. I agree in spirit that it feels not much different than boss camping. Except the Hogger dragons of Guild Wars 2 feel more like happy hour than a locked gate. Continue reading [GW2] Happy Dragon Hour

[GW2] AMAA Ascended Gear

Chris Whiteside, Studio Design Director at ArenaNet, headed up a lengthy Ask Me Anything (“AMA”) session on the Guild Wars 2 subreddit yesterday. A “transcript” is also available. The point of discussion seemed to be largely about Ascended items and the apparent destruction of ArenaNet’s “no grind” philosophy. This was no accident since Whiteside was a major deciding force in starting the Ascended gear as soon as possible in fragments.

My rage was non-existent for the most part. Unlike many, I simply could not believe that in one swoop ArenaNet would head towards a treadmill-based gear slog based around dungeons, which is heralded in so many conventional MMOs. Instead, their opening move just appeared that way. Continue reading [GW2] AMAA Ascended Gear