So, on the theory that it’s good to get opinions in print from a source other than Ziff Davis, and I enjoy that other Future magazine, I’ve been cultivating a PC Gamer subscription. I haven’t been overly impressed, and December’s issue really doesn’t help.

You know it’s going to be a great issue when one of the cover blurbs is “Hilary Duff Goes Wild (For Sims 2 Pets)”. Amid their coverage of the newest EA ‘IT PRINTS MONEY’ machine, there’s a sidebar with an interview. With Hilary Duff. Because EA took some of the printed bills, pressed them sweatily into her hand, and have been trotting her out for press-related activities.

So, beneath the requisite picture of the girl holding the gem-encrusted DS in one hand and the rodent-sized dog in the other, there’s … talking. (bold is my commentary)

PC Gamer: We understand that you were a big fan of the original Sims. Was that before or after you hit it big?

Duff: It was before (like I’d play that crap now) - I would play for hours! One time I was cooking and I burned the house down by accident an my husband died! (or so EA told me I did) Another time, child services came and took my child.

This drivel caps off with:

Editor-in-Chief Greg Vederman: Will you please be my girlfriend?

Duff: Ah, that’s cute, and so are you! But I don’t think my boyfriend would be too happy about that - sorry Greg!

Dude, Greg … whatever they paid you for that story, it wasn’t enough.

I’m a Gamespot subscriber (Hi Greg!) and have been for some time, so I popped onto the site to check out part of their 8 hours of Burning Crusade live coverage. I’ve you’re a subscriber, go check it out. Looks like the only started about an hour or two ago, and they still look pretty fresh. I got to see them take out the last few pulls before the boss of one of the wings in Hellfire Citadel. They’re running with a rogue, a hunter, a priest, a paladin, and (I think) a warrior, and picked up that nice ‘Staff of the Ursus’(?) from the netherbeast. Gamespot Editor Greg Kasavin is logging out now to show the Blood elf starting zone. So, Disney World upcoming.

I’ll also take a second to say: Gamespot’s subscriber offerings are getting increasingly cool. Their live video stuff, demo selection, and HD-quality video offerings are well worth the low price.

My only complaint: C’mon guys, let’s see some team tactics. That was some darn sloppy pulling.

Teppy sent out an email announcing a ‘welcome back’ event for ATITD III. Go back and see what’s happened since you left, etc. Standard stuff. What caught my eye was his announcement of a cool Halloween-themed event. While most in-game events net you trinket and baubles, and meaningless candy, this ATITD event sounds hella cool:

I’m attending a games conference next week, and on the newsletter, one of the people attending mentioned a game called “Mafia.” A local friend from Burning Man suggested playing a game called “Murder,” and while browsing the web, I noticed an old acquaintance had written a web page about a game called “Werewolf.” It turns out that these are all essentially  the same game, but how strange to encounter this three times in one week! I’ve decided to adapt Andrew Plotkin’s “Werewolf” version as a special Halloween event. After doing some research online, I believe the biggest Mafia-type game ever played was around 100 players, so my goal is to beat that: To have the biggest such game in history, within ATITD. I’ll explain how it works:

• Starting Friday at 7:00PM EST (GMT-0500) you will be able to build a Mortuary Temple. The cost is 13 boards, 13 Slate, and 13 Bricks. Mortuary Temples must be built within 100 coordinates of a Chariot Stop. You’ll have 24 hours to build your Mortuary Temple.
• On Saturday at 8:00PM EST (GMT-0500), you’ll find out if you are a Villager, a Werewolf, or a Seer (special Villager). Don’t reveal this information publicly!
• Play proceeds in a series of 60 minute rounds. The first round takes place at “night.” Werewolves sniff around at the Mortuary Temples to pick up the scent of Villagers. Werewolves can also pick up a Villager’s scent by sniffing them directly. Any Villager whose scent has been picked up can be attacked. If three werewolves attack a Villager in the same night, the Villager dies. Werewolves can recognize other Werewolves by scent, and may do this up to 3 times each day.
• During the “day,” it’s the Villagers’ turn to play. Each Villager votes on one person to lynch - hopefully a Werewolf! If a person gets 7 votes, they die, and it is revealed whether they were a Werewolf.
• Some Villagers are Seers. A Seer can check to see if a player is a werewolf up to twice a day. In other words, because of their knowledge, Seers are dangerous to Werewolves! If you are a Seer, it’s best not to let that be commonly known, or you are likely to be targeted by Werewolves the next night. Seers can not vote.
• The game ends when there have been no killings for 2 consecutive days. If there remain more Villagers (including Seers), then the Villagers win, otherwise the Werewolves win. Ghostly prizes will be awarded to only one side, and only to those that remain alive until the end.

Given the appreciation gamers already having for play, this is a no-brainer win-win situation that I’m surprised I haven’t seen elsewhere. Certainly, there have been instances of classic games in massive titles before (clone-alikes of puzzle games in Puzzle Pirates, Pipes in Dungeons and Dragons Online), but this is an intuitive, easy Real Life game ported to a game world in a somewhat logical manner. I think it’s brilliant, and I hope the event goes well.

Waaaay back in the WoW Beta I remember talk floating around about mini-games in taverns. Darts, or games of that nature. I’m not sure that such simple fair would get used all that much, and the developers obviously decided to invest their time elsewhere. Just the same, the promise of games-within-games is intriguing.

For example, licensing the mechanics of Settlers of Catan would allow for an interesting form of PvP. Two teams rush to claim an island, utilizing the resources to greatest effect before the other side can. So, it’s like: “I’ll trade you two wood for my … AXE TO THE FACE!” Now that would be some good times.

I know that I should not find things like ‘Why Middleware will not Save Us‘ or cracks like ‘We also do it to piss-off Abalieno‘ funny, but I really really do.

The exchange between Blackguard and  Psychochild also caused me to titter. What can I say?

1. It’s probably a waste of time, but I rant as a player, not as a developer. ;)

   Comment by Ryan Shwayder — October 26, 2006 @ 5:58 PM

2. Heh, you’re not getting off so easily. You’ve seen inside the beast, so you have that burden of knowledge that doesn’t allow you to get away with that line! ;)

   Dev costs are a major part of the reason why some things get done and others do not in a game, so you can’t ignore them even as a player. Otherwise, you’ll be continuously disappointed. ;)

   Comment by Psychochild — October 26, 2006 @ 6:29 PM

Holy cats. They’re actually giving the three people still playing Entertainers in the game something to do.

The goal for the Inspiration changes is no /slash commands. It will be an activatable ability from the hotbar that brings up a dedicated interface for constructing your Inspired performance and applying it to a target, at which point they’ll have to watch in much the same fashion as exists for current Inspiration buffs. We’re trying to remove any of the “macro-ability” of constructing and applying the buff (including making the ability not a /slash command) to viewers.

There’s also significant discussion of combat abilities being added to the class, what they’re calling ‘Drama’. It sounds like they’ve got a good idea here, and one would hope that the Artisans will see something similar. Now if only there were people in the taverns to dance for, or players to sell things to. I wonder what patch that’s coming in?

Darniaq brought up the question: Who does Blizzard have to fear? Judging from their responses, the posters on F13.

I kid! I kid cuz I love!

For reals, though. Haemish hits it on the head:

“No one. Seriously, they don’t have anyone to fear. No one has the IP, the limitless budget or the publisher support to pull it off… at least no one who is actually serious about MMOG’s. Microsoft? Fuck no, they’ve been burned too much in the past. Sony? Too busy trying to expand your orifice to include a $600 paperweight DVD drive. EA? Completely inept to the point that they had to buy a company to produce an MMOG with a chance of making a splash. “

I am sure that Conan and Tabula Rasa and Warhammer Online and Vanguard are going to do okay. I definitely think they’re a bigger threat to some of the older games than WoW. (Vanguard vs. EQ, Tabula Rasa vs. what’s left of Planetside) And, of course, there is the tights fight I’m expecting in a year or two.

In the meantime, though, there is nobody with an announced product who is going to take down the big W.

But.

There’s this company called Bioware? And this guy named Damion?

I know this is a new team, but you can’t help but reflect on past company efforts. This is a business entity that has made some of the all-star best games I have played in my entire life. Baldur’s Gate I and II, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR … these titles ring with weight and tone because they’re just so good. They’re not flawless, to be sure, but the sheer quality of the experience in each of these games has left impressions few other titles can offer my jaded gamer memory. I’m so looking forward to Mass Effect that my wife can probably quote the exchange between the bartender and Commander Shepard at this point. Dragon Age has me enthused as well, though somewhat to a lesser degree … Mass Effect will be coming out first, after all.

It’s going to take something huge, something titanic, to move the mountain. It’s going to take a lot of money, a lot of creativity, and a hell of a hook.

But.

If there’s anyone who can do it, I think it’s Bioware. Good luck, ladies and gents. We all want to be excited again … I can’t wait.

I got a notice via email about a new piece of Vanguard marketing fluff. Instead of binning it right away, as I’d normally do, I’ve taken to running down the assets and posting them in the MMOG Nation Flickr account. I figure this way I’ll have a running account of new MMOG elements as they come out. I’m going to clean it up and start referencing it here more often, but right now I’m just uploading blindly. So far I have some screens from Vanguard, and a few images (pretty ones, though) from DDO’s expansion.

In any case, this newest marketing push was a video for a high-level Vanguard mount. I figured that if the movie was interesting, I’d go ahead and YouTube it, and put it up here on the site to look at. Then I watched it.

Thankfully, it was already on the Tube so you can share in my horror. My reaction: “Yer umm … yer horse looks to have some problems there mister.”