Last week my fiancee and I left for the Floridian climes of Walt Disney World. This was preceded by my coming down with a cold. Here is a tip for you wonderful readers: Don’t get on a plane with a head cold. It was a special torture that involved every fluid-filled cavity in my skull expanding and contracting in time to the pressure changes of the cabin. I cannot recommend against it enough. Despite the painful and disorienting way to start the trip, we had a wonderful time. While I’m still recovering, I thought I’d share some insights I got from the House of Mouse that have or could be applied to the Massively Multiplayer Genre.

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Like everyone else in existence, I’ve been playing City of Heroes lately. CoH is an interesting game. It’s thug-punching fun, to be sure, but the costume creator is still a feature that everyone is going ga-ga for. And, with good reason. Almost every facet of the character’s costume can be manipulated, from the swoops on their head to the style of their boots. I think the level of detail we can see in this system, and the level of physical manipulation possible in Star Wars Galaxies, marks a shift in developer thinking.

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The Orc lands are not a pretty site. Blasted wastes of red rock inhabited by vicious dinosaurs, boars, vultures, harpies and pirates. Just the kind of place an Orc could love. The land of Durotar is dominated in the northern area by the huge city of Orgrimaar, home to the orcs and trolls. From the gates of Orgrimaar to the south, a path winds its way throughout Durotar past orc villages, a troll encampment, and finally takes a swing to the west into the harsh lands known as The Barrens. From the northern wall of Orgrimaar you can move from Durotar into the land of Ashenvale, which stretches all the way up the continent towards the elven lands. Durotar itself is a craggy plain that shows the kinds of weather it has to endure. The many canyons and arroyos are reminiscent of the American southwest. It’s very easy to be running over what appears to be a plain, see a small dip in the rocks up ahead and come to the lip of a deep canyon filled with monsters.

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