Mob Spawning and Immersion
February 28, 2006 on 10:32 am | In MMO (Live), PlaystylesLeave a comment
Life and EQ2 have conspired of late to ensure my blogging is sporadic.
But in discussing my critique of EQ2 instancing, Baldrake raised a good point.
EQ2: Instancing critique
February 21, 2006 on 10:33 am | In MMO (Live), EQ2Leave a comment
As much as I think EQ2 has vastly improved since beta, the one thing I still find troublesome is how they handle instancing. My criticism of it is based on my experiences in WoW and CoH, inevitable comparison.
SWG Roadmap
February 18, 2006 on 9:12 am | In MMO (Live), SWGLeave a comment
While I've felt the New Game Experience for Star Wars Galaxies was a good start, I have been concerned that it has remained only a start for some time now. The NGE has been live for three months, and so far, only a relatively few elements have been added to bring a further sense of completion to it.
My concern was enhanced by a relative silence from the SWG team about their plans. When would collision detection go in? When would crafted weapons and armor actually have meaningful benefits in combat? When would the system become more consistent between old and new?
They've now begun to give some insights.
Self-imposed rules of play
February 15, 2006 on 10:33 am | In General GamingLeave a comment
The most fascinating thing to me about MMOs is the long list of self-imposed perpetuated rules. The troubling part is how many of these rules are then imposed to others, often unbeknownst to them.
There are a number of common themes in these rules, spanning most games:
EQ2: On Census and Merges
February 9, 2006 on 10:34 am | In MMO (Live), WoW, EQ2Leave a comment
The phenomena that is World of Warcraft has resulted in a very broad array of people looking at the game, and at the genre. One of the more interesting groups is the folks at PARC who, for awhile now, have been gathering and reporting all sorts of interesting data at their PlayOn blog.
WoW is one of the most culturally relevant MMORPGs out there right now due mostly to its appeal both globally and in individual markets. As such, the support data collection and reporting gets is more broad, and more covered.
EQ2 and WoW: Race and Class
February 9, 2006 on 10:34 am | In MMO (Live), WoW, EQ2Leave a comment
As a followup to EQ2: On Census and Merges, I reviewed the available data in ways similar to how WarcraftRealms reports theirs: breakdowns by Class and Races (among other things).
I'm seeing some interesting parallels.
Changed Rules
February 7, 2006 on 10:35 am | In MMO (Live), EQ2, PS, SWGLeave a comment
I know SOE draws a lot of ire from the MMORPG community. Some of it is certainly deserved based on their past actions, even if it is misdirected, like blaming someone on the EQ2 team for changes to SWG. But the sheer scope of changes they have been making seem to imply a renewed vigor within their various development groups. Individually and collectively, these changes resulted in me taking a new look at the games I thought I'd never play again.
Basically, I underestimated their willingness and ability to change.
Are you an MMO hobbiest or an MMO gamer?
February 4, 2006 on 10:35 am | In General GamingLeave a comment
Deep thoughts for the weekend.
I've never been a hardcore gamer. I grew up on Apple computers, which had lots of games, but then went into design, and therefore Macs, which really didn't. I played what I could get my hands on, but never to the degree self-proclaimed "hardcore" gamers did.
James Cameron MMO
February 4, 2006 on 10:35 am | In MMO (Upcoming)Leave a comment
According to this entry at Slashdot.org, James Cameron, the Director of such classics as Terminator 2, True Lies, Titanic, Aliens 2, and other-stuff-of-note, announced plans for an MMOG launch to coincide with his upcoming movie 'Project 880'. Sounds like a sci-fi adventure. The game will predate the movie as a hype exercise.
Should be interesting to say the least. I have neither high nor low hopes.
EQ2 Live Update 19 Thoughts
February 3, 2006 on 10:36 am | In MMO (Live), EQ2Leave a comment
For weeks, I have been eagerly anticipating Live Update 19 for Everquest2. The level of changes in this free patch are significant, and from what I've experienced on the Test Server since the middle of January, all of the changes are for the better.
Last night, the patch went live.
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