Slashdot put up a post today covering James Egan’s fantastic rundown on the BoB debacle. If you haven’t read about it yet, please do, totally accessible for even non-EVE players like me.

What struck me was one of the highest rated comments on the Slashdot post:

by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 06, @02:55AM
In other news, I just killed Revolver Ocelot in MGS. It was a really tough fight but I managed to pull it out. Can I get my own Slashdot article too?

It’s … really dumb, obviously, but beyond that it shows  a staggering misunderstanding of what online gaming *is*.

Comparing even the most casual of interactions in an MMO to completing something in a single-player game digs right into the heart of the online disconnection a lot of players have nowadays. It’s possible that guy was just being a dick and saying MMOs aren’t that interesting, but I think it’s more likely he buys into the same logic that’s created the incredibly foul Halo 3 multiplayer experience. A significant portion of younger players, I think, just don’t care that there are real people on the other end of the line. They type things, they say things, and to them the voices and text responses are just as much a part of the game as the orcs and weapons. Like we’re NPCs put there for his amusement.

I’m cranky on this, I know, but John Gabriel’s mighty theorum is powerful stuff. Meanwhile, the connection, the sense of not being alone, the community are all greatly serving those of us who see the little text popping up in the lower left-hand corner as more than just background noise.

Mulling the last few months of bad MMO industry news has made me think of titles I’ve missed out on. I’ll be honest: I never played Auto Assault. Not once. I feel bad about it too, but it really didn’t appeal to me much back then. Now, mired as we are in the designs of today, a car-based fast-action game sounds like a ton of fun (and makes me kind of hopeful for Jumpgate Evolution).

One game I did play, and I’m really happy I did, was the short-lived Mythos. The stunted step-sibling to Hellgate: London, it was a quirky fantasy hack-and-slash that never made it out of Beta. You have to wonder if Flagship had gone after Mythos instead of the muddled mess that was Hellgate, would they still be around today? Their RMT payment concept was much more straightforward than what they floated Hellgate with, and the tried-and-true hack-and-slash genre was much more of a sure bet.

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Turbine’s been sitting on a dragon’s horde for some time now, and they’ve yet to let us know what they’re working on. If I had my druthers, this is what I’d want them to be putting that money towards:

- A free to play Harry Potter MMO -
We know they have connections to Warner, and we know they’re working on a Free to Play title. Why not have the best of both worlds? This game would be so good just from the spare parts it’s almost hilarious to think about. Every player gets to start off as a new schoolmate at Hogwart’s. Pick your faction (house), and offer differing content to each group. Leveling up isn’t hard numbers, it’s school years! Your avatar changes as you get higher in grades, getting older and getting more clothing options.

Go adventuring in classes, do homework and get graded on your performance (ultimate single-player element) and then collaborate with classmates on projects (grouping). Even go head to head in sports and wizards duels (PvP). Microtransaction elements include clothing, brooms, etc. etc.

Built-in audience, easily understandable mechanics, and if you do the ‘look’ right could be playable on just about anything. Must-do, must-do.

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Over at Massively they’re talking about the layoffs of some dozens of people from Mythic Entertainment. To a lot of people this is a sign of the times, yet another economic indicator of terrible downturns. It’s also (to yet others) a result of the impact of a game design that couldn’t overcome the inexorable gravity well of World of Warcraft.

I couldn’t care less. I’m at the point now where I look at games and all I see are people. So Warhammer Online, the Warhammer Online I’ve been playing for the last three months, is now gone. Justin, Angie … both gone.

Update: Carrie pinged me to let me know she hadn’t been let go. And yes, I know this was a petulant and infantile response to this situation. I’m not going to apologize for expressing what I felt here. I have to do a lot of tongue biting most days, and I just felt like getting this out.

Thanks for putting up with my hissy fit.

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Brent’s Other Podcast #1 from VirginWorlds.com on Vimeo.