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.

It’s fascinating because after the aforementioned two-plus years of gameplay, Osti is now more-or-less on his own for leveling. As a result I’ve been retune/reorienting my understanding of what it means to play him as a character. I’ve had to swap around some Achievement points, I’ve made a point to look to my equipment more than I might have otherwise, and I’ve done a lot of examining how to solo through the levels.

Thankfully the EQ-IQ podcast, and the associated guide Dave made up for episode 5, have a lot of handholding guidelines. I’ve actually found myself … sigh … in the Kingdom of Sky content. It’s actually quite beautiful. As I remember, I didn’t lead the Shortiez there because I heard that it’s not that great an area for grouping. For soloing, it’s working just fine. My only problem is that I can’t handle more than three regular guys or one group guy at a time. Healers are fun, but even my Inquisitor isn’t so much for the DPS. Especially since I’m primarily still a healer, and haven’t completely gone into DPS-speccing.

As I write that, maybe I should look into that more; completing quests gets you AAs, so … yeah. Really glad to reconnect to my EQ2 time, though it might not be something I do much more of overtime.

Speaking of the Shortiez, yesterday we played together for the first time in something like two months. Weird to say, but that’s the way it’s been. Between holidays and RL issues it’s just not been conducive to gaming together. Yesterday’s outing was notable then. Notable too because it was a return to Three Rings territory.

That’s right, we played us some Puzzle Pirates, and I’m pleased to report it went over like gangbusters. I actually still had a character sitting around from back in the day, though his skills had atrophied quite a bit. It was nice to walk around with a guy wearing something better than the ‘castaway’ garb. It was equally nice to be able to outfit my comrades with gear.

To add a nuance, though, I was basically giving away money to my friends. I’ve played on one of the Doubloon oceans essentially since they started up, and having cash in your pocket is as easy as swiping your Visa. Doubloons are the RMT currency that underpins the game, translatable into in-game pieces of eight at an island’s bank. The night we were playing each doubloon was trading for about 1250 piece of eight, so I was able to give each of my comrades about 12-15,000 in-game coins – about four or five bucks in real money.

As a quick aside, have you looked at how easy it is to buy Three Rings money now? Check out the FAQ on the official site … you can buy Doubloons at one of those freaking green coin counting machines you see in the grocery store! We live in an age of wonders!

Once everyone had played through some tutorial time and outfitted themselves adequately, we had a ton of fun playing games together. We played about 45 minutes worth of Spades, and then did quite a bit of Swordfighting. Both of these games (as well as Rumble) were available as free-to-play options that day. If we hadn’t played on Thursday, we would have had other options. There’s even a helpful calendar.

Spades was a bit weird. It has a kind of hardcore bidding mechanic that all of us found a bit abrasive. When we sit down for cards (and most of us are from Wisconsin, where Euchre is like a freaking state-wide pastime), we do trick-taking games for fun. All this trick bidding and hardcore decision-making, penalties for overtricking … very harsh. Fun, because it’s basically a Euchre offshoot/Hearts variant. But, still. Harsh.

Swordfighting though, is just as fun as always. Definitely one of the best game rip-offs on the high seas. I’ve never actually played Puzzle Fighter proper, so all of my experience with that mechanic has been with this Swordfighting mini-game. It’s perfect for an MMO because of the potential for numerous players all participating in the same fight. I found it’s also a bunch of fun to play while voice chatting, because you can say things like “Have at thee!” and “Take that!” and not just be talking to yourself.

I’m finding … and I don’t suppose this should come as any shock … that as I get older my definition of ‘an awesome game’ is changing. As reflected by Tipa’s change at West Karana from a hard-bitten raider to a Wizard 101 grinding / DOMO rocking titan, free to play games hold more and more appeal the older I get. There’s a lot to like in these quirky titles … not the least of which being that they don’t cost anything. If I can get together with some friends in an online space, screw it. Who cares if it’s some huge AAA game or a puzzle-based f2p title about pirates? As long as we’re having a good time, that’s really all that matters.

That said, still really like AAA games. I’m not exactly planning on hanging up my hardcore spurs anytime soon.

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?”

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.

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?

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.

Horror

As a genre, Horror is one of the most gentrified. Stoker’s “Dracula”, the film Nosferatu, and the books of H.P. Lovecraft have given horror a sort of respectability that sordid subject matter and movies like Dawn of the Dead can do little to sully. But what about games? Overwhelmingly, traditional computer games touch on the horror genre through the lenses of games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Indeed, these are good games to touch on because of what they do well: Set the mood. Horror is all about mood. A book or movie that in the light of day may seem ridiculous and childish can be transformed into a terrifying experience if seen in the dark. A good mood is set through subtlety. The reason the xenomorph in Alien is so terrifying is because we barely ever get a good look at it. If you throw buckets of blood on a player within the first few minutes of a game he’ll treat it like a carnival ride. A lonely walk down a deserted city street in the fog? That’s a different story. And story in the horror genre is very important. Horror tales are introspective and verbose. The real scare factor comes from the person in the story having to deal with the unknown and the supernatural. Horror stories are not stand-up gunfights (that’s why Alien is a horror film and Aliens is not). Action in horror stories is relatively infrequent, and when it does come it’s usually over quickly. The snap from perceived dread to real terror is quick, and any good storyteller wants to quickly return you to a state of perceived dread rushed with adrenaline. The moment in Signs when the alien walks past the camera on the footage of the birthday party is a perfect example of “action” in a horror film. Something definitely happened. You know it, you saw it, but then it leaves your field of view and is gone again. You’re left wondering where it has gone and when it will return. That’s horror.

Now that we know what horror is, would it make a good massively multiplayer game? While I’m trepidacious about it, I think a horror setting could make a wonderful game. There are a few big issues blocking the way to a successful commercial MMOG based on horror, however. First, the players need to be scared. As I’ve stated above, this is the bread and butter of horror. If you’re not scared it’s not horror. Horror without fear is like thirteen year olds putting on mascara, drinking purple kool-aid, and calling themselves Goth. Players of any video game, MMOG or no, are very hard to scare. You simply can’t control the mood outside of the game or the state of mind of the person at the keyboard. Second, fear and dread are extremely hard to keep going. After a while even the most terrifying imagery and experiences becomes just another occurrence as the player becomes jaded enough. Traditional MMOG tropes such as repeatable quests and mob-farming are totally inappropriate to the horror genre. For the horror genre to work as a massively multiplayer experience, there would have to be significant changes made to the normal formula. A level of realism would be required, for starters. If characters are killed and then immediately return to life, there will be very little opportunity for the player to fear for the character’s safety. A horror game may be a good example of a situation where permadeath is a valid option. Attention to detail would be another requirement. The demands of a survival or investigative themed MMOG would place greater strain on a world than that of a fantasy setting. If there are no footprints left behind when a character walks through the mud or snow, a fantasy player won’t blink, but that level of detail could be just what is needed to follow a trail, provoke a sense of dread, or provide a vital clue. Finally, the most likely change in the genre standard would be extensive isolation. Characters (and parties) in horror stories are almost always alone. The best way to do this would likely be to make heavy use of instancing. Within “social” spaces it may even be a wise idea to use instancing to avoid overcrowding.

The horror genre is a fertile ground for books, movies, and games. There are at least two massively multiplayer games on the horizon that will touch on the realm of horror. One is Priest, the action/horror game that was said to be kicking around at JCEntertainment. It was supposed to incorporate (see the next entry) western themes into the game as well, making for an intriguing combination (ala “Deadlands”, no doubt). Regrettably while there is some word on this game from late 2002 and mid 2003, this game seems to have fallen off the map somewhere. The other game I know of touching (more seriously) on horror is an unnamed game from Funcom, makers of Anarchy Online. Here are the only details on the game I could find from a quick look at the game Gamespot had at E303. A MMOG based on horror would have to look very different from other MMOGs currently released on the market today…but is that a bad thing?

Westerns

From the aristocratic and dusty hallways of the horror genre, we move to the open plains and big stories of the Western. Many Europeans may be familiar with the style of western movie popular in Italy earlier last century known as the “spaghetti western”. In the US, the western has evolved to be a gritty tale. Even in the early days of western film in the US, serious flinty eyed heroes faced down reckless and lawless vigilantes. The western is a seminal trope in the United States (and elsewhere) because of what it represents: Freedom. The “wild” west has been romanticized into a time when you could reach out with both hands and grab a hold of your future. With a gun, some friends, and a touch of resolve you could found a town, own a ranch, or strike it rich with gold. The reality of poor and starving people beholden to land-owning rich men is somewhat different. Either way, the frontier nature of the western has drawn in many people, and there are plenty of representations of the theme to choose from. The frontier is a core concept of the western genre, as well as the danger of the landscape. Everything is deadly in a western, from the bite of a rattlesnake to the kick of a horse to the bullet of a gun. Stories, as a result, are very personal and tend to be small scale. While a plot to overthrow a government is standard fare for a s/f or fantasy game, a western is more likely to devote itself to the exploits of a handful of people and their impact on a town or county.

While the tales may need to be more personal than in other genres, western games may be one of the most fertile grounds for a MMOG when it comes to game-play styles. Achievers and Killers can enjoy the action-flavored environment the old west brings to mind. Plenty of opportunities should exist for a player to take the part of an outlaw or lawman, becoming skilled in gunplay or earning power over his fellow players. Explorers have miles and miles of canyons and riverbeds to search, caves and caverns to explore, and new farmsteads to found. Socializers, likewise, can enjoy the challenge of founding a farmstead or a town, enjoying the company of other players in the local saloon or conducting productions in the town theatre. The western setting is also rife with opportunities for crafters of all stripes. Architects can put down settlement staples like saloons, Tailors can put out lines of attractive western garb, Railroad Engineers can assist the player population at large by laying track across the landscape. Because of the grounding of the western setting, possibilities are as endless as the realities of life in the 17th century permit.

The western setting is a daunting change from the sf/fantasy bread and butter of most MMOGs. The most interesting western game currently in development is the ambitious Frontier: 1859, a game being independently developed by the folks of Cosmic Origins studios. Everything I’ve discussed and more is being thrown into the reality of Frontier, with the added complexity of the first game to truly address the race of a character. The development process for Frontier is ongoing, and the game has no current release date attached to the project.

Pirates

The final genre I’d like to talk about today is already gaining in popularity among MMOG designers. Pirates and pirate worlds offer settings literally rife with opportunities for fun gaming. Pirate stories, which often are set in the freewheeling Caribbean in the 1800’s, are often quite upbeat despite the sometimes grisly details. Pirates are an aquatic band of barbarians, very akin to the Norse raiders from halfway around the world. Their stories are usually tales of mercenary minded men with grandiose visions of themselves and the world around them. Swashbucklers in the tales usually didn’t do anything unless it was done spectacularly. Tempering their freewheeling nature was a theme that often ran through pirate stories of loyalty to their captain and crew. A band of men with such disparate visions and goals could only be held together by the most forceful of individuals, leading to the idea of the strong and fearless pirate captain. The captain, of course, usually had but to say the word to get the salty dogs under his command into a battle. Combat in pirate tales was usually an all-out brawl, with zestful pirate crews going toe-to-toe with their naval cousins. Their actual money-making opportunities could be more sedate, with pirate captains usually having the say in whether anyone on a ship the group was raiding was killed, and whether the ship would be sunk.

Pirate tales are already rich with combat and money-making. To me, this already sounds like your average player party. Just throw in an eye-patch and a few parrots, and you’ve got yourself a pirate game! Probably one of the biggest selling points for a pirate MMOG is the already built in guild and party mechanism: that of the ship. Groups can own ships and then crew them on the seas of the Caribbean, the coast of Europe, or perhaps the sunny shores of Africa. What they do with those ships is also an open question for the players to answer. They could raise a black flag and go after other ships, be they crewed by NPCs or PCs. They could hire themselves out to move cargo across the often dangerous sea lanes of the world. Or perhaps they could sign up with the British Navy and patrol the waters of the Atlantic looking for scalliwags to keel-haul. The biggest obstacle with ship-play is the need to have a bunch of PC on-line and together. This would be made easier of course by having only a small number of players absolutely necessary to run the ship, with extras merely making the craft work better. Players who want to spend some time playing on their own should be afforded the opportunity to sign on short-term with a PC crew, or perhaps sign up with an NPC crew of merchants or Naval men. Additionally, players could be given the opportunity to live and work on shore at a port of call. All the various crafting disciplines could be represented with one in particular, the shipwrights guild, being especially well respected among the water-going PCs. One of the most interesting options with a Pirate game is the ability for it to have multiple areas of interest for the players. A pirate game that stretched all around the world would not be out of the question, from the Spanish Main to the Caribbean to the coast of Africa, all the way to the shores of China where players could be Confucian pirates riding a modified junk into battle against the British out of Hong Kong. Not entirely accurate, of course, but it’s a game, right?

The pirate setting is so obviously a good choice for MMOG gaming that there are already a group of games in the works right now, with one unusual game already released. Yohoho Puzzle Pirates, a quirky and fun puzzle game from Three Rings centering around pirates in the Caribbean isles, has already released to an extremely favorable reception. The blend of the quirky pirate setting and the fun and addictive mini-games makes for a really great MMOG experience. The concentration, though, is very much on the puzzles. Social interaction is fun and possible in Puzzle Pirates, but much less so than in most MMOGs. Two pirate games are in the works as I write this, and they both look promising. World of Pirates, an independently created game is currently in the Beta test phase right now. It appears to be an open beta, so if you are interested in checking out the Caribbean in the 17th century, go check them out. They appear to be aiming for a healthy dose of trading simulation on top of their action. Finally, the most well known pirate game in development right now, Pirates of the Burning Sea. PotBS is aiming for a high-adventure game with dozens of ships involved in combat and a full compliment of Arrrrrrrrr! on the side. They appear to be aiming for a Q4 release date this year.

Next Week

Next week I’m going to go back to a more technical subject, the issue of persistence. Most MMOGs commercially released today are persistent worlds where actions ostensibly have a meaning years after they’ve occurred. Why is that, why is it that even in persistent worlds actions are often meaningless, and what are the alternatives? I’ll talk about a game or two that doesn’t do it the persistent way, and touch yet again on the meaning of “game”. Until then…

For more on this, please see Karrin Jackson’s Games I’d like to See.

Shadowbane – PvP / Sieges

“Crush”, right? Well, despite the mixed success and flagging subscription numbers of SB, I would chalk those up to business decisions and code problems, rather than attributing the fall of Shadowbane to design concepts. Design wise, Shadowbane took PvP by the snout and shook it for all that it’s worth. A world fraught with actual danger which pits you head-to-head with fellow players? The stuff of a marketing writer’s dreams and a hardcore player’s wish come true. Shadowbane sent the message to designers that yes, Player versus Player combat is viable as a central tenant to online games. I see Planetside as a sideline to this, a confirmation that FPS combat is something massively multiplayer gamers would participate in. Now if only Planetside would lower their rates to save their sinking ship. *sigh*

Star Wars Galaxies – Chat Bubbles / Emotes / Entertainers

Say what you will about the contentless desert of SWG, you could communicate with other players better and more entertainingly than in any other game to date. The chat-bubble interface, the plethora of fun emotes, and the social venues provided by cantinas resulted in a social atmosphere unparalleled so far in MMOGdom. This aspect is undoubtedly why SWG is still going strong, as it appeals to the other pillar of Bartle’s Player Types, the Socializer. With the Achievers satisfied by grinding to Master Jedi and the Socializers chatting happily away in cantinas, SOE has plenty of subscribers they can safely call “in the bag”. The fact that they’re ignoring the Explorer type has led to many cancellations (including my own), but you can back-fill content easily enough. Numerous and effective chat tools are something you need to have built into the game from the get-go and SWG has proven the inordinate value of this.

Anarchy Online: Shadowlands & DAoC: Trials of Atlantis – Different Zone Architecture

Perhaps I’m the only one who really sees zone architecture as an exciting thing, but the twisting weirdness of the Shadowlands and the aquatic beauty of ToA seemed like a major improvement to me this year. I’m getting pretty tired of forests filled with gnolls, people. Underwater realms and other planes are just the beginning, I hope. Why not a zone of buildings built into a cliffside, like the Anasazi villages of Arizona? Cities have been done to death, but never with any degree of realism. Give me filth-choked alleyways, suburban neighborhoods, palatial apartment complexes, or the depths of a corporate office building. Howabout a palace built inside a cloud, or a tree-top village? We’re getting to the point where we can’t even see the trees for the trees, folks. Zone originality is one of the shiny things you can put on box labels. Show us some.

Star Wars Galaxies / A Tale in the Desert – Crafter’s Paradise

“No one will play a MMOG with no combat!” Well, there are a few thousand people populating ancient egypt (many of them speaking German!) who would disagree with that statement. The sleeper hit of 2003, and in my opinion the best game overall, ATITD has proven that given the right formula a game about making stuff can hook people just as deeply as “Hit A and Walk Away”. Fireworks, looms, mills, statues, tents, and the ever popular flax gin are the end result of ATITD players game-time, and they are just as proud of their creations as any warrior with a +10 sword of dicing. Star Wars Galaxies deserves mention down here as well, of course. The crafting tree in SWG is not as deep, but holds an engagement all it’s own. Additionally, the attention to detail in the cosmetic areas that SWG has is a grand thing indeed. I spent something like 50% of my time in-game making pants, and for the most part I was a happy camper. Someday there is going to be a game that has the depth of ATITD, with the cosmetics of SWG. That will be a good day.

Puzzle Pirates – Mini-Games!

A quick continuation of my last point: The future of crafting is here, in the form of Puzzle Pirates and mini-gaming. Puzzle Pirates uses mini-gaming for everything from sailing to fighting, but where it really shone for me in beta was the crafting aspect. As much as people enjoy making stuff for others, having fun while doing it is still something that MMOGs have yet to do well. Puzzle Pirates does that in spades. Mark my words, a few years from now making that buckler for your guild buddy will involve a Tetris clone of some kind. And I look forward to that day with great relish.

Next week, I’m going to give us all a common language by talking about the basics of MMOG design as I understand them, and setting out a bibliography for us to use. See you then.