If you're not an ardent MMO follower, you won't have known that the newest MMO was released this week (in North America. The rest of the world has to wait until 9th January 09).
Completely sneaking under our radar, The Chronicles of Spellborn is a new MMO aimed at the more hardcore player - a vast turnaround from the silver platter questing of 2008's more well known releases.
There's a free 20 hours worth of content trial coming on 5th December, but in the meantime, check out the website: http://www.tcos.com/en/index.html
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Age of Conan Layoffs
Troubled MMO developer Funcom of has recently laid off an unspecified number of staff from its North American offices. Under the banner of 'restructuring', the Age of Conan developer has taken a broad sword to the number of staff working on the bloody action adventure game based on Robert E Howard's fantasy novels.
It's more like knots in cotton than heaving well toned muscles for the fantasy slash-a-thon and it's not hard to see why Age of Conan didn't do as well as it could (or should) have. The writing was scrawled on the wall (in blood), when like Warhammer Online, the developers decided to cut content and classes at the eleventh hour. The game was released in a less than finished state (I couldn't even get the beta to run, which never bodes well) and the game was released with huge gaps in the content and some of the key instances broken.
While this has all been resolved with a recently released content patch that sorts out most of the game's ills, we all know how difficult it is for a game to recover fans once they've abandoned it (most gamers went from Conan to Warhammer, and then, unsatisfied, back to Warcraft). Courting those disenfranchised gamers back is a touch more arduous.
I've no idea what makes companies (that have spent millions on their games) give a green light for release on an unfinished product, but it's clear that releasing too early means a far lower player base than you could expect if you deliver a polished and working title.
Players have so much more choice than they did five years ago. If a MMO just isn't up to scratch they can pick and choose the game that does suit their needs. Pre WOW and EQ2 days a player would stick fast with a MMO in the (often vain) hope that the developers would resolve the issues that plagued so many games on release, but it seems these days that the retention rate is much lower.
Let's just hope the MMOs released in 2009 have a lot more polish.
It's more like knots in cotton than heaving well toned muscles for the fantasy slash-a-thon and it's not hard to see why Age of Conan didn't do as well as it could (or should) have. The writing was scrawled on the wall (in blood), when like Warhammer Online, the developers decided to cut content and classes at the eleventh hour. The game was released in a less than finished state (I couldn't even get the beta to run, which never bodes well) and the game was released with huge gaps in the content and some of the key instances broken.
While this has all been resolved with a recently released content patch that sorts out most of the game's ills, we all know how difficult it is for a game to recover fans once they've abandoned it (most gamers went from Conan to Warhammer, and then, unsatisfied, back to Warcraft). Courting those disenfranchised gamers back is a touch more arduous.
I've no idea what makes companies (that have spent millions on their games) give a green light for release on an unfinished product, but it's clear that releasing too early means a far lower player base than you could expect if you deliver a polished and working title.
Players have so much more choice than they did five years ago. If a MMO just isn't up to scratch they can pick and choose the game that does suit their needs. Pre WOW and EQ2 days a player would stick fast with a MMO in the (often vain) hope that the developers would resolve the issues that plagued so many games on release, but it seems these days that the retention rate is much lower.
Let's just hope the MMOs released in 2009 have a lot more polish.
Friday, 28 November 2008
Warhammer Fiction
A Bright Missive - By Emory Felner
If you look up the robes of a Bright Wizard you will not see our fireballs! I'd like to set that record straight right here and now.
It's the image the common populace have of Bright Wizards that I want to talk about today. People think we're all fire-wielding crazy maniacs.
Well, I'm here to tell you that it's just NOT true. Just because I enjoy setting my enemies on fire doesn't mean that I’m totally obsessed with it. It’s not an unhealthy fixation that occupies my every waking thought, or anything. I mean, I don't think about fire every minute of the -
Ooh look, they're having a bonfire in that field over there... How pretty!
Ahem. Sorry, where was I?
Oh yes. Who doesn’t like the odd barbecue now and then? I mean. It's completely normal, isn’t it?
A lot of you want to know how to become a Bright Wizard. Well, you have to have many, many, MANY years of oh-so-boring-your-brains-could-leak-out-of-your-ears lessons before you can even conjure your first candle flame. I would sit in class and dream of the days when I could conjure fire from the skies and see my enemies charbroiled alive*.
Hmm. You might think that comment was perhaps a tad morbid for a sixteen year old apprentice wizard. But that is the world in which we live nowadays. There's just no getting away from it! The chosen few who make it to the College of Wizardry have their thirst for war encouraged from a very early age. We live for battle and we bring fiery destruction in our wake. It’s Government-sanctioned slaughter (my favourite kind) that’s one part defense of the nation and another part akin to the "pie bakes" we used to have when I was a child.
Only it isn’t pies we’re baking
My friends DO comment (mostly behind my back) that I am overly violent. I disagree. I call it a healthy appetite for conflict. To my kind, fire and death are our food and drink (although I am partial to a nice bottle of Reikland red, as well).
People say I’ve got an unhealthy fixation with murder - but it’s not really murder when you’re killing monsters. I mean, let’s be honest, the minions of Chaos have never really been alive. Have they?
Perhaps it’s best not to think about that too much.
And while we’re on the subject, what - exactly - is ‘too violent’, anyway? The folk quick to hurl the first accusation aren’t exactly complaining when we’re out defending the lands against the endless hordes of Chaos. It’s all ‘thank Sigmar you’re here’ and much hugging and kissing (and other - more 'specialist' favours).
Here’s a hint for you, though. It’s ALL ME! Sigmar didn’t lift so much as a garden mallet - never mind a bloody whopping great hammer - to protect your lands from evil. It was all me. That’s right, ME! Your friendly pyromaniac** Bright Wizard. Think about that next time you’re begging for compensation from the Emperor because I accidentally burned down your house
Or your barn.
Or your cattle.
Or your daughter***.
Nowadays when I use my favourite spell, Pyroclastic Surge, I often find a smile forming on my lips, even in the heat of battle, and I remember back to those first days when the rudimentary flickers of fire - the Winds of Aqshy swirled before my vision, and I knew the Path of Fire was for me. I hungered even then to take to the fields of battle and to incinerate and burn and cinder and sear the flesh of my enemies in great rivulets of blood-slicked and over-cooked meat
Nope. That’s not too violent at all. Quite healthy, in fact.
In summary, I think you can see from this essay that I’m quite sane and that my affectation with fire is quite normal.
And I think you’ll agree that after everything I’ve said - I will need my Pyroclastic Surge - and even more potent magics - before this year is done.
I know one thing: that war is hell.
OK, actually I know two things: one, that war is hell - which is less important than - two, that there’s nothing better than seeing the faces of your enemies melting away under an incandescent assault of your fire magic.
And laughing about it afterwards.
That might sound grim, but when you’re a Bright Wizard, it’s all part of a day’s work.
In summary, I'm completely normal - I like kittens just as much as the next guy****.
Yours aflame.
Emory
* In those days, matchboxes were your friends.
** Allegedly, until proven.
*** I only made that mistake once … or twice … but never more than five times!
**** Set aflame, kittens make brilliant missile weapons for scattering beastmen.
If you look up the robes of a Bright Wizard you will not see our fireballs! I'd like to set that record straight right here and now.
It's the image the common populace have of Bright Wizards that I want to talk about today. People think we're all fire-wielding crazy maniacs.
Well, I'm here to tell you that it's just NOT true. Just because I enjoy setting my enemies on fire doesn't mean that I’m totally obsessed with it. It’s not an unhealthy fixation that occupies my every waking thought, or anything. I mean, I don't think about fire every minute of the -
Ooh look, they're having a bonfire in that field over there... How pretty!
Ahem. Sorry, where was I?
Oh yes. Who doesn’t like the odd barbecue now and then? I mean. It's completely normal, isn’t it?
A lot of you want to know how to become a Bright Wizard. Well, you have to have many, many, MANY years of oh-so-boring-your-brains-could-leak-out-of-your-ears lessons before you can even conjure your first candle flame. I would sit in class and dream of the days when I could conjure fire from the skies and see my enemies charbroiled alive*.
Hmm. You might think that comment was perhaps a tad morbid for a sixteen year old apprentice wizard. But that is the world in which we live nowadays. There's just no getting away from it! The chosen few who make it to the College of Wizardry have their thirst for war encouraged from a very early age. We live for battle and we bring fiery destruction in our wake. It’s Government-sanctioned slaughter (my favourite kind) that’s one part defense of the nation and another part akin to the "pie bakes" we used to have when I was a child.
Only it isn’t pies we’re baking
My friends DO comment (mostly behind my back) that I am overly violent. I disagree. I call it a healthy appetite for conflict. To my kind, fire and death are our food and drink (although I am partial to a nice bottle of Reikland red, as well).
People say I’ve got an unhealthy fixation with murder - but it’s not really murder when you’re killing monsters. I mean, let’s be honest, the minions of Chaos have never really been alive. Have they?
Perhaps it’s best not to think about that too much.
And while we’re on the subject, what - exactly - is ‘too violent’, anyway? The folk quick to hurl the first accusation aren’t exactly complaining when we’re out defending the lands against the endless hordes of Chaos. It’s all ‘thank Sigmar you’re here’ and much hugging and kissing (and other - more 'specialist' favours).
Here’s a hint for you, though. It’s ALL ME! Sigmar didn’t lift so much as a garden mallet - never mind a bloody whopping great hammer - to protect your lands from evil. It was all me. That’s right, ME! Your friendly pyromaniac** Bright Wizard. Think about that next time you’re begging for compensation from the Emperor because I accidentally burned down your house
Or your barn.
Or your cattle.
Or your daughter***.
Nowadays when I use my favourite spell, Pyroclastic Surge, I often find a smile forming on my lips, even in the heat of battle, and I remember back to those first days when the rudimentary flickers of fire - the Winds of Aqshy swirled before my vision, and I knew the Path of Fire was for me. I hungered even then to take to the fields of battle and to incinerate and burn and cinder and sear the flesh of my enemies in great rivulets of blood-slicked and over-cooked meat
Nope. That’s not too violent at all. Quite healthy, in fact.
In summary, I think you can see from this essay that I’m quite sane and that my affectation with fire is quite normal.
And I think you’ll agree that after everything I’ve said - I will need my Pyroclastic Surge - and even more potent magics - before this year is done.
I know one thing: that war is hell.
OK, actually I know two things: one, that war is hell - which is less important than - two, that there’s nothing better than seeing the faces of your enemies melting away under an incandescent assault of your fire magic.
And laughing about it afterwards.
That might sound grim, but when you’re a Bright Wizard, it’s all part of a day’s work.
In summary, I'm completely normal - I like kittens just as much as the next guy****.
Yours aflame.
Emory
* In those days, matchboxes were your friends.
** Allegedly, until proven.
*** I only made that mistake once … or twice … but never more than five times!
**** Set aflame, kittens make brilliant missile weapons for scattering beastmen.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Tabula Rasa Bites the Dust (finally)
Was it something I said?
Ranked (a generous) sixth in my 10 Worst MMOs, I think someone at NCSoft must have heard the news, because the Tabula Rasa developers are pulling the plug on the blighted game on 28th February 2009.
That seems exceptionally generous for the crappy sci-fi yawnathon that should never have seen the light of day.
It died because it was rubbish. And I want to take a few moments to talk about why. People will no longer tolerate a substandard MMO. If you have combat at the heart of your game (as it usually is) then you'd better make the combat as appealing, engaging, and fun as you possibly can. Otherwise, your game is destined to fail.
Oh and the only obvious bugs in your game should be the icky ones with compound eyes and claws. Any other sort should be left for the anal gamers to find and exploit (remember kids, exploit early and often to get the most out of your bugs before the developers roll back the game) within the first few days of beta.
Tabula Rasa (the only interesting thing about the game) means "blank slate" in latin. I think a blank slate pretty much summarises the list of good ideas the game had at release.
The writing was on the wall long before the game's troubled release. Chief Developer, Richard 'General British' Garriott had more than enough experience in releasing overly unfinished and hopelessly ambitious games. Anyone remember the almost unplayable Ultima IX? And of course, his first proper foray into the MMO with the swiftly cancelled Ultima Worlds (Ultima Online 2). Note that I'm ignoring Ultima Online for which he had little, if any actual involvement (probably why it's still going today - bitchy, but oh so true!).
So, there you go. Another MMO bites the dust, joining the ranks of so many others (Hellgate London being the last big game to be sent to the recycle bin), and so long as developers keep churning out unfinished dross, it definitely won't be the last.
Ranked (a generous) sixth in my 10 Worst MMOs, I think someone at NCSoft must have heard the news, because the Tabula Rasa developers are pulling the plug on the blighted game on 28th February 2009.
That seems exceptionally generous for the crappy sci-fi yawnathon that should never have seen the light of day.
It died because it was rubbish. And I want to take a few moments to talk about why. People will no longer tolerate a substandard MMO. If you have combat at the heart of your game (as it usually is) then you'd better make the combat as appealing, engaging, and fun as you possibly can. Otherwise, your game is destined to fail.
Oh and the only obvious bugs in your game should be the icky ones with compound eyes and claws. Any other sort should be left for the anal gamers to find and exploit (remember kids, exploit early and often to get the most out of your bugs before the developers roll back the game) within the first few days of beta.
Tabula Rasa (the only interesting thing about the game) means "blank slate" in latin. I think a blank slate pretty much summarises the list of good ideas the game had at release.
The writing was on the wall long before the game's troubled release. Chief Developer, Richard 'General British' Garriott had more than enough experience in releasing overly unfinished and hopelessly ambitious games. Anyone remember the almost unplayable Ultima IX? And of course, his first proper foray into the MMO with the swiftly cancelled Ultima Worlds (Ultima Online 2). Note that I'm ignoring Ultima Online for which he had little, if any actual involvement (probably why it's still going today - bitchy, but oh so true!).
So, there you go. Another MMO bites the dust, joining the ranks of so many others (Hellgate London being the last big game to be sent to the recycle bin), and so long as developers keep churning out unfinished dross, it definitely won't be the last.
Friday, 21 November 2008
Why Warhammer Online is Failing
Warhammer Online was seen as the first major contender for World of Warcraft's crown. Getting great reviews across the board, the game was set to take the world by storm. Designed from the ground up as a Player vs Player game (PvP), this was the real deal, the gritty MMO people had been clamouring for.
Only the game was released with classes missing, huge problems with just about every aspect of the game, and a massive reliance on instanced 'scenarios' which took much needed players away the main 'real world' aspect of the game. People preferred to play scenarios than take part in the 'epic' world PvP. Keeps were left untaken for days, if not weeks on end, and no one seemed to care about the war, which raged silently, if at all.
So, where did it all go wrong?
Development: It was the wrong time to release a new game. It was certainly the wrong time to release a new game that wasn't up to scratch. Filled with numerous bugs and major design flaws, Warhammer Online simply wasn't the game people expected it to be. They expected PvP from the moment they logged on, but instead they found a game which is primarily scenario driven (at least for the moment). Scenarios are great fun but when your guild is more interested in doing the Nordenwatch scenario than they are in taking back the Keep so you can buy new powers (available only at a Keep you control) you know you've got a problem.
People simply have no reason to take part in PvP, not when they get so many more rewards from scenarios (and they don't have to do more than click a button to get straight into the action). The scenarios shattered the already diminishing server populations, thus exacerbating the problem. You can't do world PvP if there's no one to fight...
The problems lie directly on Mythic's doorstep. No one could have foreseen these issues in beta. We only ever saw a small portion of the game and never the whole package. Was this intentional on Mythic's part? Who can say? All we know for certain is that the glaring issues with scenarios were impossible to spot until the game went live.
And now, some two months into the game's release, there are far too many servers with low populations (even at peak times). It's clear Mythic's developers have a major job ahead of them.
Mythic continually boasted than Warhammer Online had the shortest development time of any MMO in existence, and it shows. It needed another six months of development and the same amount of time in full beta testing. Right now, it's still littered with problems and it's not the game it 'could' be - one day. Like poor Everquest 2, whether there will be any players around to see its rebirth still remains to be seen.
Release Date: With the World of Warcraft flying so high, perhaps there isn't a good time to release a new MMO. If you are going to release a new online game, you need to choose your moment of release very carefully. You certainly DON'T want to release your game just two months before the behemoth that is Warcraft releases its second expansion. That's just asking for trouble.
Polish: As we've learned from so many other (failed) games in the past, you need to make your game as polished and 'ready for release' as you possibly can. That means game stability and a nicely balanced set of classes. Seeing all these far-reaching changes to the class system, huge revamps to the RVR system, it's clear Mythic still has a very long way to go if it wants to steal back some of WOW's player base.
Scenarios: Personally, scenarios were the worst idea ever. They're fine for games like Half Life 2, but WHO decided instanced scenarios in a MMO would be a good idea? They remove the player base from the rest of the game and when you're struggling to find players, that's never a good thing. They are fantastic fun, but they simply don't work. There should have been scenarios that worked like Public Quests slotted into the world, instead we've got an idea cloned from World of Warcraft.
To fix the game, Mythic needs to:
Only the game was released with classes missing, huge problems with just about every aspect of the game, and a massive reliance on instanced 'scenarios' which took much needed players away the main 'real world' aspect of the game. People preferred to play scenarios than take part in the 'epic' world PvP. Keeps were left untaken for days, if not weeks on end, and no one seemed to care about the war, which raged silently, if at all.
So, where did it all go wrong?
Development: It was the wrong time to release a new game. It was certainly the wrong time to release a new game that wasn't up to scratch. Filled with numerous bugs and major design flaws, Warhammer Online simply wasn't the game people expected it to be. They expected PvP from the moment they logged on, but instead they found a game which is primarily scenario driven (at least for the moment). Scenarios are great fun but when your guild is more interested in doing the Nordenwatch scenario than they are in taking back the Keep so you can buy new powers (available only at a Keep you control) you know you've got a problem.
People simply have no reason to take part in PvP, not when they get so many more rewards from scenarios (and they don't have to do more than click a button to get straight into the action). The scenarios shattered the already diminishing server populations, thus exacerbating the problem. You can't do world PvP if there's no one to fight...
The problems lie directly on Mythic's doorstep. No one could have foreseen these issues in beta. We only ever saw a small portion of the game and never the whole package. Was this intentional on Mythic's part? Who can say? All we know for certain is that the glaring issues with scenarios were impossible to spot until the game went live.
And now, some two months into the game's release, there are far too many servers with low populations (even at peak times). It's clear Mythic's developers have a major job ahead of them.
Mythic continually boasted than Warhammer Online had the shortest development time of any MMO in existence, and it shows. It needed another six months of development and the same amount of time in full beta testing. Right now, it's still littered with problems and it's not the game it 'could' be - one day. Like poor Everquest 2, whether there will be any players around to see its rebirth still remains to be seen.
Release Date: With the World of Warcraft flying so high, perhaps there isn't a good time to release a new MMO. If you are going to release a new online game, you need to choose your moment of release very carefully. You certainly DON'T want to release your game just two months before the behemoth that is Warcraft releases its second expansion. That's just asking for trouble.
Polish: As we've learned from so many other (failed) games in the past, you need to make your game as polished and 'ready for release' as you possibly can. That means game stability and a nicely balanced set of classes. Seeing all these far-reaching changes to the class system, huge revamps to the RVR system, it's clear Mythic still has a very long way to go if it wants to steal back some of WOW's player base.
Scenarios: Personally, scenarios were the worst idea ever. They're fine for games like Half Life 2, but WHO decided instanced scenarios in a MMO would be a good idea? They remove the player base from the rest of the game and when you're struggling to find players, that's never a good thing. They are fantastic fun, but they simply don't work. There should have been scenarios that worked like Public Quests slotted into the world, instead we've got an idea cloned from World of Warcraft.
To fix the game, Mythic needs to:
- Remove scenarios (sadly, never going to happen).
- Enhance the PvE questing. Right now the quests are boring and soloing isn't nearly as much fun as it could be.
- Consolidate the servers so the remaining players aren't walking through ghost towns.
- Make it easier to get from place to place (it's so arduous travelling from zone to zone).
- Boost World PVP beyond all recognition (give people a reason to fight / take back Keeps).
- Make the game as was promised (PvP right from the start of the game and influencing every aspect of the game).
- Get all the classes in game (releasing with classes missing is a huge no no in my book).
Thursday, 20 November 2008
The Unstoppable Lich King
It's no surprise that Wrath of the Lich King broke all UK game sales records with 2.8 million (worldwide) units in the first 24 hours, that's up 400,000 since Burning Crusade.
And it's no secret that Blizzard has opened a bunch of new servers to cope with the surge of returning players (that's twelvety billion they now have for their 11+ million players).
And it's really no surprise that every other MMO currently in existence has little more than a skeleton force of players scattered across their, what, twenty severs (at most).
And lastly, it's no wonder that the developers of every other MMO out there are currently sobbing into their bedtime drinks of hot chocolate and methylated spirits!
It really is a shame that World of Warcraft has become this all encompassing MMO behemoth, because while it exists, it'll take nothing short of a real miracle to dent those kind of sales/player figures. Pundits reckoned that top rival, Warhammer Online, was set to pilfer a whole heap of jaded WOW players, but the WOW clone provided little more than a brief amusement before Azeroth was once again teeming with life.
With boxes flying off shelves, it's clear that the sky isn't falling for Blizzard Entertainment and that their regular claims of having in excess of 11 million concurrent subscriptions must be true.
I'll be talking about my feelings on Warcraft soon, but for now I'll leave you with this conundrum: - can any game come close to stealing WOW's crown?
And it's no secret that Blizzard has opened a bunch of new servers to cope with the surge of returning players (that's twelvety billion they now have for their 11+ million players).
And it's really no surprise that every other MMO currently in existence has little more than a skeleton force of players scattered across their, what, twenty severs (at most).
And lastly, it's no wonder that the developers of every other MMO out there are currently sobbing into their bedtime drinks of hot chocolate and methylated spirits!
It really is a shame that World of Warcraft has become this all encompassing MMO behemoth, because while it exists, it'll take nothing short of a real miracle to dent those kind of sales/player figures. Pundits reckoned that top rival, Warhammer Online, was set to pilfer a whole heap of jaded WOW players, but the WOW clone provided little more than a brief amusement before Azeroth was once again teeming with life.
With boxes flying off shelves, it's clear that the sky isn't falling for Blizzard Entertainment and that their regular claims of having in excess of 11 million concurrent subscriptions must be true.
I'll be talking about my feelings on Warcraft soon, but for now I'll leave you with this conundrum: - can any game come close to stealing WOW's crown?
Monday, 17 November 2008
Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria Patch Notes
The extensive patch notes have been released for the Mines of Moria patch tomorrow 18th November 2008. Be warned, it's a hefty read, more so than for most expansions I've ever seen.
There's something for everyone here, new classes, new powers, and they've upped the level limit to 60. Plus there's the huge Moria to explore.
Check out the Notes here: http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=173737
I personally feel a bit sorry for LOTRO. It's a great game, but like Everquest 2, it's been overshadowed by that other behemoth of a game.
If you get the chance, check them both out. They've both got hugely different things to offer (than Warcraft), but I'll be talking about my top 10 MMOs later in the week.
Now, it's back to Moria where I fully intend to Speak Friend and Enter. If Moria is a huge dungeon-like complex akin to Ultima Underworld, them I'll be one very happy hobbit!
There's something for everyone here, new classes, new powers, and they've upped the level limit to 60. Plus there's the huge Moria to explore.
Check out the Notes here: http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=173737
I personally feel a bit sorry for LOTRO. It's a great game, but like Everquest 2, it's been overshadowed by that other behemoth of a game.
If you get the chance, check them both out. They've both got hugely different things to offer (than Warcraft), but I'll be talking about my top 10 MMOs later in the week.
Now, it's back to Moria where I fully intend to Speak Friend and Enter. If Moria is a huge dungeon-like complex akin to Ultima Underworld, them I'll be one very happy hobbit!
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Going to War over Subscriptions
European host to Warhammer Online, GOA, has hit another milestone in dodgy dealing this week. Not only have they been criticized since the days of Dark Age of Camelot for poor server performance, abysmal customer service, and endless billing problems, but they hit the news again with reports that they've made an unwelcome 'adjustment' to their user billing information.
Users may find their account for the newest online game on the block switched from 'cancelled' or 'manual' to 'automatic' renewal. This means you could get charged for a game you thought you'd already cancelled.
While there's been no official comment from GOA as yet, I'd advise everyone to check their account details and ensure your settings are as as you want them to be.
Oversight or not, well done GOA for yet more great promotion for the game that's firmly sitting in the gloom of Warcraft's behemoth-like shadow.
Users may find their account for the newest online game on the block switched from 'cancelled' or 'manual' to 'automatic' renewal. This means you could get charged for a game you thought you'd already cancelled.
While there's been no official comment from GOA as yet, I'd advise everyone to check their account details and ensure your settings are as as you want them to be.
Oversight or not, well done GOA for yet more great promotion for the game that's firmly sitting in the gloom of Warcraft's behemoth-like shadow.
Friday, 14 November 2008
The MMO Drinking Game
The rules of this game are simple: take your favourite alcoholic beverage, fill your glass, and take turns of 10 to 15 minutes to play any MMO you like. Note: it's far more fun playing games in the 10 Worst MMOs list (although your liver might complain in the morning).
Take A Drink Every Time:
- Someone sends you a tell.
- Your character lags.
- You get killed in PvE.
- You see a graphical anomaly (on screen). Note: If you see a graphical anomaly in the real world, you should probably stop playing this drinking game immediately!
Finish Your Drink Every Time:
- You level up.
- You crash to desktop.
- Your character rubberbands.
- You get killed in PvP (or RvR if you’re playing Warhammer).
- You’re playing any of the Asian MMOs (you’ll probably need it).
Finish the Bottle If:
- You get some kind of error message onscreen.
- You receive a mail from a gold seller.
ROOM 101 - The 10 Worst MMOs
- You released too early.
- It’s full of bugs (and not the good kind you can squish with your hammer).
- You didn’t listen to the player base.
- It’s (whatever the opposite of the dog’s bollocks is)…
Oh and because they're all shit. I knew there was another reason...
10 - Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach – it's not like there's a lack of source material! Yet with over thirty years and a wealth of settings in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, developers Turbine chose the cruddy Eberron setting for their game which rolled a natural 20 on its Mediocrity Check. The game failed on almost every level with few, if any, of the features expected in a current generation MMO. The players came... and went back to their parent's basements with barely a whisper, leaving the tiny online world empty.
9 - Shadowbane — an exceptionally ambitious PvP based game that had some great features (that didn’t work at release). By the time Shadowbane was any good, the playerbase had already moved on to other games and didn’t look back. Shame, because the PvP was actually really good.
8 - Vanguard: Saga of Heroes – inferior fantasy MMO that couldn’t compete with existing games. Vanguard can still be found today at the back of seedy night clubs, drinking meths and lamenting the fact how it had twelve players at its height.
7 - Horizons: Empire of Istaria — the most horrifically bugged MMO ever to see release (I say release, meaning hastily flung together alpha code). It started badly and was a slow bleed to its inevitable doom. The game promised (before release) vast lands you could explore to find great adventure. It was true, the game did have vast lands – with absolutely nothing in them. You could walk for miles to find a single lone bush upon the ‘action packed’ landscape. Adventurers rejoice!
6 - Tabula Rasa — Richard Garriot’s lofty opus that actually turned out to be a steaming pile of shite. With a cruddy combat system and a background that changed from week to week in development, there wasn’t anything good about this game. All I have to say is: thank god for betas! It’s a shame, though, because the early design commentaries on this game were encouraging – until they realised putting in all their ideas would cost billions. So instead they settled for a shite game. Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.
5 - Second Life – it’s more like a porn generator, OK if you want to pull one off to a pixellated whore (that could easily be Dave from Barnsley) offering simulated sexual services for e-currency. Personally, I prefer my porn in 1024 x 768 (or, more preferably, HD).
4 - Star Wars Galaxies — you knew this game was going to be shite when they announced there’d be no Jedi at launch. The most anticipated game in MMO history (and the quickest to go down the toilet) - the Force wasn’t anywhere near this game. It was a poorly realised Star Wars title, lite on the action, heavy on the bugs and glitches and piled high with liberal doses of mediocrity. Even hardcore MMO / Star Wars fans stayed clear of this steaming pile of bantha dung.
3 - The Saga of Ryzom — a bizarre French game that seemed to be released, while it was still in development! I know the more cynical of you would say “well, that’s every MMO ever released” but Ryzom really did seem to be released half finished (actually, half would be a huge exaggeration – the game lacked entire lands, classes, and monsters). Ultimately, boggling, baffling and utterly pointless. Unsatisfied with life, Ryzom has since had a sex change and now goes by the name of Daphne where it runs the 118 118 interchange. It's still shit.
2 - The Matrix Online - just like the Matrix Reloaded, this game was utterly devoid of redeeming features. It makes me wonder who signs these games off, as the game was released with few working features, a truly dire graphical engine, and a dismal random quest generation system. Bless ‘em, though. At least they tried. But like the two Matrix sequels, they really shouldn’t have bothered…
1 - All the Asian MMOs - . Yes, that’s right, I’m grouping them together as they’re so utterly derivative. They may look great (although telling one from the next can be tricky), but they’re little more than a huge grind with no story and little in the way of things to do other than endless scrapping. They're like sex with a gorgeous but very stupid woman. Something you'd do once (to say you'd been there and bought the t-shirt), and while you might go back from time to time, it's not something you'd want a long-term relationship (subscription) with.
OK, OK. Here are just some of the culprits. There’s probably ten more I could add to the list in the ten minutes since I last looked… like scabies, they’re unpleasant and almost impossible to get rid of: 2Moons, 9Dragons, Aion: The Tower of Eternity, ArchLord, Dungeon Runners, Lineage / Lineage II, Ragnarok Online.
Level 80
World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, had only been out a single day when a European group reached the level cap. It took around 13 hours for the team of gamers to hit the newly expanded level 80 limit.
Check it out for yourself at: http://www.worldofathene.com/records.php
Now, why am I even mentioning this? Well, while this always happens - especially in Warcraft - but it seems the people who hit the level cap first are always the first to gripe that there's nothing to do. Or that they're bored. Or that there's never anyone around their level to play with...
It's exactly the same in Warhammer Online. The game has been out six weeks and already people are complaining that the 'end game' isn't up to scratch (my character is only rank 19 out of 40 so I'm miles off the end game).
With MMOs being so popular these days, I can't see an end to the e-penis waving mentality that exists in online gaming, but if you're going to race to the level cap, you sure as hell better not come griping about the lack of content in game afterwards.
Check it out for yourself at: http://www.worldofathene.com/records.php
Now, why am I even mentioning this? Well, while this always happens - especially in Warcraft - but it seems the people who hit the level cap first are always the first to gripe that there's nothing to do. Or that they're bored. Or that there's never anyone around their level to play with...
It's exactly the same in Warhammer Online. The game has been out six weeks and already people are complaining that the 'end game' isn't up to scratch (my character is only rank 19 out of 40 so I'm miles off the end game).
With MMOs being so popular these days, I can't see an end to the e-penis waving mentality that exists in online gaming, but if you're going to race to the level cap, you sure as hell better not come griping about the lack of content in game afterwards.
A Golden Age
We're living a golden age of gaming right now, and it's never been more so than for the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) Game.
Gamers have never had more choice in their games, from the classic grand daddy of the industry - Ultima Online, to the behemoth that is World of Warcraft.
This blog will discuss all aspects of MMO gaming, from new releases and patches to my thoughts on the games of the future.
Happy gaming.
Gamers have never had more choice in their games, from the classic grand daddy of the industry - Ultima Online, to the behemoth that is World of Warcraft.
This blog will discuss all aspects of MMO gaming, from new releases and patches to my thoughts on the games of the future.
Happy gaming.
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