Fixed Problems with Comments

Ok, three times is a conspiracy.

There seems to be some issue with leaving Comments here, as I've heard on three different occasions. It has worked for some people and not others apparently.

Basically, after some digging, it turned out to be related to the theme I was using (Pool). The theme's comments.php file contained data that would prevent comments from being uploaded to the system. I had to replace that comments.php file with the one that comes from the default theme.

So comments work again.

Woot!  

How much Immersion?

The Technology section of Guardian Unlimited posted a good summary article on Tuesday about griefing in video games. While written for the relatively uninitiated, the article covers the basics well enough to have prompted further discussion. To me though, this all revolves around one core question:

Just how much immersion do people really want?

Continue reading How much Immersion?…

ESRB getting teeth

I have long respected the ESRB rating system, and the ESA , and any group that voluntarily holds themselves to hire standards than whatever rules exist outline. 

However, there's also going to be those occasions when the rules are violated. Having rules is often not enough. Punishment is needed. As such, while the ESRB is needed and a good idea, I've previously wondered just how much particular sway it had over the industry. It seem to lack any real form of punishment for those who violate the their compliancy rules and standards.

But that appears to be changing.

Continue reading ESRB getting teeth…

WoW vs Everything Else?

There's been a lot of discussion of late about the success of WoW and its impact on the genre in general. Now, I would have thought that we'd all have collectively long since been tired of talking about how successful this title has been. But I guess it is expected for people who thought they were so right to want to really understand where they were not.

But this isn't about WoW's success nor how wrong so many of us were. It's about what that success means to the genre and how things happen going forward, as an extension to this conversation over at Raph's place.

In my opinion, it doesn't change a thing.

Continue reading WoW vs Everything Else?…

SWG Third Anniversary Announcement

Received a new email from SOE this morning regarding the Third Anniversary for Star Wars Galaxies.

While the announcement does not yet compel me to return again to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, it is always great to read the progress they are making towards completing the goals they set when they unleashed Order 66, err, the New Game Experience upon the genre.

Continue reading SWG Third Anniversary Announcement…

Trepidation Restored

Years ago, as a budding Magician in Everquest, I stood at the edge of a forest. This was no ordinary forest though, but rather the infamous Kithicor, bane of newb and veteran alike.

None of my fears were particularly justified nor logical. They were based on a combination of factors, elements of experience I thought would never converge again.

They did, but in a different form.

Continue reading Trepidation Restored…

User Interface in MMOGs

Over at Grimwell, Tide debutted as a contributor with a very well considered article on MMORPGs as experienced by a true newbie. Covering a number of different topics, the part that has been discussed since has focused mostly on the user interface of these games.

And user interface has always been one of my stronger interests.

Tide wrote: I just wonder, therefore, how MMO's think they can get away with the clutter and output of details that are there (not just EQ2)

We don't just see this in MMOGs nor games. It pervades all things related to computer use. How many years has the unnecessarily complex UI of Microsoft programs not only continued, but grown even more complex? Or the Adobe programs? And given the success of these programs, it's not surprising to see how their conventions transcend the programs and become part of conventional thinking.

What then happens is a sort of conditioning. With enough use, we get used to anything. For example, if Adobe tossed their UI in favor of something like what the funky Kai's Power Tools tried, the Graphic Design industry would probably lose a solid three months of efficiency. You can teach an old dog new tricks, but you have to assess the value of the effort.

MMOGs are the same way in some part.

Continue reading User Interface in MMOGs…

Knowing oneself

While updating my Links page, I realized just how many years I've been playing these games, and how many titles I've been through. I would think I'd actually be good at playing these games. But I came to realize I haven't become all uber in every game I play. Rather, I've mostly gotten better at identifying which titles I'd like long enough to justify the fee. And in that realization I found a self-contradiction.

I stay longest in the games I am incapable of mastering, and critique the most.
Continue reading Knowing oneself…