Up to this point, I’ve been pretty kind to AoC despite my personal disinterest in the game. There have been a lot of bugs and crap, obviously, but because it just released and I’m not actively playing it at the moment I haven’t thrown many stones.

Then I read this little gem. By the way, I’d like to note that I’m linking to TTH here instead of the forums proper because I still can’t see them without logging in. Despite Funcom saying this would no longer be a problem. But whatevs.

You may have read on Massively previously that male and female avatars have different damage outputs because of problems with their animation cycles. They said they’d get back to the playerbase (of which I’m still a part) as soon as they knew something. Well, now they know something:

I know that many of you will probably be disappointed to hear that it might take us as much as another three to four weeks to solve this issue, for which I can only apologize, but we want to make sure that we devote the amount of time that an issue of this magnitude and importance deserves rather than rush out a “quick fix” that might not work as well.

• This is utter crap. I’m sure there is a design reason for basing damage output on the length of an attack’s animation (and I’d love to hear it, actually), but putting on my player hat: I don’t freaking care. You’ve just told a large portion of the playerbase that their game experience has been harder than was originally intended all along. You’ve told a large part of the playerbase that their male counterparts are better at their classes, generally. This cuts to the very heart of the average MMO player’s reason for playing an MMO in the first place. “If only I’d picked a guy, I’d be a better guildmember,” is the implicit thought in every player’s head.
• Maybe, and I’m just saying here, if this game wasn’t built on an IP that includes the subjucation and objectification of half the human race … this might not seem quite as bad as it seems.
• Damnit, two out of three of my characters are suffering from this bug!

Why can’t they bring back the bug that made female breasts smaller? That one I liked. Made my avatar look a bit more, you know, human.

So, I realize this may seem a bit odd, but I’m going to give it a shot anyway.

I’m looking for a World of Warcraft guild, a place to hang my hat. I’m hoping you can help me.

Since my long-ago traumatic experience with my at-launch WoW Guild, I’ve pretty much been a loner. Static groups are the closest thing I’ve gotten to in-game family, and I’m getting pretty tired of it. I’d really like to try out dungeons. Not even raids per se, though I’d love to try those out as well. I’m just talking 5-mans here. I’ve made a concerted effort to try PUGing over the last few weeks, and it’s been an unmitigated disaster. Nobody has patience for someone outside of their little clique. In the last three weeks with Hackworth I’ve had 7 PUGs-that-never were, where I joined a group and stood outside of the dungeon for half an hour with no result. I’ve had 3 that actually got started but disintegrated when someone left before even the first boss (repeated wipes on trash). My most successful group actually made it to the first boss, which we managed to kill, and then the tank promptly /partyquit.

So consider this my personal ad. 1 MMO veteran, looking for someone to group with. Likes casual-friendly environments with the option for raiding and dungeon groups. I offer:

• A Rogue that will be max level inside of a month (Dark Iron-H, PvP)
• A Paladin that could be max level inside of a month (Argent Dawn-A, PvE)
• A Mage that could be max level inside of a month (Argent Dawn-A, PvE)
• A Priest that could be max level inside of two months (Gilneas-H, PvE)

I should clarify that I’m very much willing to transfer servers if the environment is right. I’d even be willing to move Hackworth to a PvE server, a significant loss personally, if it means I get with the right group.

Foremost in my mind is that I’d really like some folks to explore Lich King with. I’m getting really enthused about the expansion, far moreso than I ever thought I would. I’d ideally like to play with Hackworth, as my excitement for Lich King stems from my increasing personal investment in her. That said, I like all of my characters … I just want someone to play them with.

Drop me a line here or via email if you know somewhere that might have room for a crusty old MMO dork.

No, it’s not an MMO. But I can honestly say I cracked a huge freaking grin. C’mon, it’s Blizzard! It’s Diablo! Hell, my dad gave me the original Diablo for Christmas! Fantastic stuff.

Thanks Blizz! Not only am I happy about the announcement, but it means I don’t have any extra work today. Woot.

Trailers after the cut.

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That said, they are trying to move to this:

Anyone get the feeling Funcom took five years to develop the first 20 levels of a game?

Join us for the eleventh episode of the MMOG Nation Broadcast, where the ongoing duo format continues! This week Julian “Rabbit” Murdoch from the Gamers With Jobs site joins me to offer up a sort of point/counter-point on Age of Conan. Julian’s just loving the game, but I can’t get into it. Tune in to hear us debate the finer points of game feel, game looks, and (of course) that wacky combat. By Crom! You’ll be glad you did.

Related Posts:
Worst. MMO. Player. Ever.

Music:
Selections from the Age of Conan Soundtrack. Used without permission.

I’ve been keeping this one under my hat for a while, because I didn’t want to tick off the people at Catalyst Games or my game designer buddy Aaron Pavao. Aaron (a friend for many years) has of late been getting his name into Shadowrun sourcebooks, mostly for playtesting and editing. The upcoming title Unwired, though, bears a big chunk of text written by his meaty hands. All the great content in there about ‘trix Security and a good hunk of the ‘life in the Matrix’ section? That was him. I have a ton of respect for the effort he put in to get there, and my hat is off to him.

I have to give him the respect, too, because (whether my name ends up in the credits or not) I’ve got some words in that book as well. I know it’s not something that shows up much of anywhere, but I’ve actually done a lot of fiction writing over the years. Most of it is on my hard drive or locked away in college projects. In one case I can reference it via an embarrassing high school literary magazine. If you get a copy of the Unwired book, you should know that the quick jots of fiction at the start of the security section and the ‘life in the Matrix’ were written by yours truly.

As if that wasn’t a treat enough, apparently my stuff was enjoyed by other people working on the project. The scene of the security hacker defending her garden from an interloper was re-interpreted from the other side for a section about illegal hacking. The image to the right (the full version of which is a click away) is an artistic vision of the other piece of fiction I wrote, about a young woman seeking escape from a sheltered corporate existence.

It can’t be more than 1000 words in an enormous book, and I didn’t get paid for it. That said, it’s some simple writing I’m smiling about seeing in print.

As you’re probably aware from previous posts on the site, I’m a great big fan of in-game holiday events. World of Warcraft’s Fire Festival has been completely revamped this year and I’m enjoying it immensely. From top to bottom the goodies they’re offering are well worth exploring.

Below the cut is a treasure trove of videos and screenshots from my weekend with the Fire Festival. Expect more commentary on the Summer’s new hotness before the festival ends.

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