Given all the news and hoopla as you might imagine it’s been a bit busy for me. Between ongoing issues at home and all the work at work, I’ve been very glad to take my fun where I can find it. Thankfully I’ve taken time away from both LotRO and WoW to reconnect with some old favorites.

On the AAA front, I wanted very much to make sure that Ostimak the Gnomish Inquisitor didn’t die the death of loneliness. After two-plus years of play I’m kind of attached to him. So I took up the kind offer of Karen (Jaye) and hied him over to the Guk server. There Revelry and Honor reside, her guild and the guild Darren plays in. Other VW’ers also call R&H home, so I’ll be in good company. On the more casual side, I return to the fun and games of Shortiez gaming in a bit more casual environ. We took on Puzzle Pirates with a fervor.

Read on for my duality of experiences; old and (old) new.

Read more

I haven’t done my homework in a while, and since I *just* saw Psychochild last week I think it only fair that I jump through some hoops. (yay blogfodder)

Here’s this week’s homework question:

Most geeky people remember having construction toys as a kid: Legos, erector sets (heh heh), and so on. More modern games have taken this, with the Pirates of the Spanish main constructible strategy game. So, the challenge this week is to think of a video game with the theme of construction. This could be a single-player game, or a system in an online game.

A few games that he didn’t mention spring immediately to mind, one that I am not very fond of and two that I’m really really looking forward to.

Second Life, obviously, can be a very construction-heavy experience. In fact, one could argue that by default building things is the only real game element in that world. Having enjoyed Hemlock’s recent commentary on elements of the 2L landscape, I know that there’s a lot of stuff involved in making a space in Second Life. Just not my cup of tea, though.

Spore is another title that this recalls to me, based on comments made by Will Wright at SXSW this year. He likened the title Spore to toys, and called his philosophy one more of toy-making than game-making. He wants to give users the ability to make their own fun, instead of forcing ‘the one true way’ onto people. This is something that resonated with me very heavily; I have a feeling if Spore is ever released it’s going to go over really big with folks.

The other title that springs to mind is Little Big Planet, which (considering the dissapointment factor in Lair and Heavenly Sword) really is turning out to be the reason I bought a PS3. I can’t wait to get my hands on that game, for both a consumption and construction experience. I’ve never really been much of a builder (never did mods or NWN modules), but the simplicity and ease of use implied by everything I’ve seen in LBP so far has be really enthusiastic. I’m especially looking forward to playing/building with my wife. She has a much better aesthetic eye than I do, and I think together we could make some pretty cool stuff(tm).

Online games, though, are generally my cup of tea, and construction in an online space is a tricky widget. Psychochild already mentioned housing in online titles, which is my personal favorite way to build in a MMOG. SWG’s housing is a treat, and I’m really looking forward to whatever Blizzard comes up with for WoW.

What would I like to see in a future game, though? That’s the question. Well, I’ve argued before for non-combat co-op options in games, and this seems like a great opportunity. A group could get together together in a game to take on a specific project, a very particular type of quest. The blueprint/quest would have exacting requirements for resources, which the group would then have to gather from the environment. Once assembled, the resources could be used to construct the boat/house/etc via mini-games ala Puzzle Pirates.

Really, now that I think of it, Puzzle Pirates’ crafting system is one of my favorite ways to construct things online. I especially like the nature of charity surrounding crafting; You can sign up to work for a shop and get paid for your efforts as you make clothing/swords/etc … but you don’t *need* to be signed up to play the minigames. In essence, if you really like a type of puzzle you can craft another player’s goods for the fun of it.

Why the hell aren’t there more games where you can say something like “I’m going to go craft for fun?”

Brent, buddy, you know I love what you do. But jeezus … your top ten list suuucked.
The Virgin Worlds podcast is a happy part of my week, every week, and at first I was enthused when a ‘Top 10 MMOGs’ list began back on the 12th. Instead of listening to the first back at the start of the month, I waited until the second half was released to start listening.

My biggest beef was the assertion that the higher numbered MMOGs were somehow ‘better’ than the lower numbered ones. I realize it’s less interesing when a top ten list doesn’t imply ranking, but in this case I think that’s the way I would have gone. Otherwise, it seems somewhat offset to compare almost decade-old work to brand new stuff. Likewise, games built on a shoestring compared to juggernauts like WoW? Blah.

I don’t care that WoW was #7. It’s iteratively better, not evolutionarily. Totally agree. You guys are obviously approaching the games from the POV of MMOG snobs, and I respect that at least. No problem.

But Jeezus. The fucking Warden? You’re complaining about the Warden? You’re complaining about their bad Customer Service? “Hi, this is 2003, I want my complaints back.” You then go on to discuss how Asherons Call is better than WoW, because some of its shitty content was hidden from most of the players. That is the most ass backwards thing I’ve ever heard. It’s a game, guys, not a scavenger hunt or geocaching. The point is to have fun, not spend time searching for content. (Subtle glares at Star Wars Galaxies and Everquest.)

On top of that, you then ranked Everquest 2 above WoW on your list. The hell? I’d love to know what alternate reality you folks are living in where EQ2 is a ‘better’ game than World of Warcraft. EQ2 is just like the majority of SOE’s games: lots of promise, plenty of potential, flawed execution. The traditional SOE recipe for failure has kept the greatness of EverQuest 2 from dominating the MMOG conciousness, and positioning it higher than WoW on the list is not going to change that.

Other crankiness elicited by your list:

• Guild Wars is Multiplayer, and it’s Online, but it ain’t Massive by most definitions.
• You should be ashamed of yourselves, making us Westerners remember that Lineage II exists. You gave children nightmares and made our crops blight!
• Ryzom’s big ticket to fame is it Frenchness. Okay, the Ring is really good. I’d like it more if the game the Ring was built on wasn’t so damn boring.

Since it’s my blog and I’ll second guess if I want to, my list would have looked more like this:

1. Everquest – teh Winner!
2. World of Warcraft – your new lord and master
3. FFXI – the much overlooked asskicker
4. City of Heroes/Villains – tights make everyone happy
5. Dark Age of Camelot – PvP’s home turf
6. Everquest 2 – so much potential
7. Ultima Online – Grandpa
8. Eve Online – funnest screensaver ever
9. Puzzle Pirates – puzzles are the future
10. Star Wars Galaxies – what not to do

All whining aside, I liked the obvious effort you put into the feature. Nice work, gents. Just, less ganja next time you working on the Science.

All this week, Kill Ten Rats has had posts about games that do things right. They’ve had commentary on the good elements of Eve Online, ATITD, and Puzzle Pirates.

I’ll toss out some game elements I really like from the games that I have played:

• Housing in EQ2 and SWG – Consistently, whether it’s a hardcore raider or a foofy RPer, I’ve yet to meet a MMOG player who didn’t like the idea of character housing. The idea of having a place to hang your hat is really appealing, and both EQ2 and SWG do a great job with their systems.
• Class System in FFXI – Being able to try out different class roles with the same character is wonderful. I (as with many MMOG players) get attached to my main character, and I’d love to be able to experience new things with him. Deleting him and rerolling is not the ideal.
• Puzzles and Traps in DDO – The best thing in that game, in my opinion. Real-time interaction with traps and puzzles made for some actually quite enjoyable moments.

I’m not all that nice, though. Here are some things I have yet to really see nailed:

• Combat – My favorite combat system is probably WoW’s, and I still don’t like it that much. The idea of MXO’s combat is terrific, but the implimentation sucks. I was really looking forward to the crazy customizability of Tabula Rasa’s combat, and then they changed the game design. Considering as much combat as I’ve done in MMOGs, you’d think I would have a better time doing it. Learn from console games! Fresh experiences on the lowest level leads to fun further up the food chain.
• Crafting – I love Puzzle Pirates‘ system, about 50%, and I love SWG’s system about 50%. If those systems had the sex and made babies, I would be in luuuuuuve.
• NPC Interaction – Please see Oblivion and Mass Effect for what you should be aiming at, developers. Eye contact, please! Also: if you have to voicecast every role make sure they don’t sound bored at talking to my awesome self, okay?

I do so love Three Rings. Daniel James and Co. are giving away a real gold coin to their five millionth lucky customer.

Three Rings Design announced today that the purchaser of the five millionth doubloon in Puzzle Pirates will receive a real-life gold doubloon. This coin apparently comes from actual pirate booty, a genuine 1787 Spanish Gold Escudo Doubloon. As for the the in-game currency, Three Rings has changed the subscription model of Puzzle Pirates so the game is free with the option of purchasing micro-currency (in this case, doubloons) for upgrades and other content.

A chilled alleyway laden with fog and teeming with chittering horrors. A desolate dirt street slung between two clapboard facades. A bustling seaside city has the very core of it’s economy shaken by raiding galleons and lawless sailors. Last week I spoke on Science Fiction and Fantasy as settings for MMOGs. Overwhelmingly, these two genres dominate the field. But what about other types of worlds? After all, there are plenty of stories that have nothing to do with space aliens or elves. Odds are that at least some of them would make good Virtual Worlds. Today I’m going to go over Horror, Westerns, and Pirate tales as genres to be incorporated into Massively Multiplayer games.

Read more

With Hyrrix now off on his newest adventure, the Monday editorial will be my bailiwick from now on. As such, I’ve decided to rename it. “Random Dialogue” is an apt description of what I’d like to get across in these editorials. Namely, what is on my mind at the time when it comes to the genre we all enjoy a great deal. I’m going to generally speak from a crunchier perspective. My editorial on Questing from a while back is a good example of what I’m going for. Today I’m going to start off with some of my favorite snackable parts from MMOGs that were released in 2003.

Read more