Gamers want games

A few years ago, many in the MMOG community foresaw a fairly steady, but shallow, growth in the overall number of players. There were a lot of reasons for this, from the sheer inability to deliver a game with the same polish and stability as an offline title, to the required internet connection at a time when developers still designed for 56kpbs dialup, to the rather unique nature of the concept itself.

As has been said countless times, World of Warcraft proved us (myself included) wrong. Way wrong.

There's a lot of reasons for this. But chief among them, in my opinion, was because at its heart, it's a game. For gamers.

Continue reading Gamers want games…

This is new? S.U.N. and RMTing

As announced yesterday, Webzen, makers of SUN (and other games), will present "a new payment model".

Trouble is, it doesn't sound new at all.

Continue reading This is new? S.U.N. and RMTing…

Getting what you see

Over at Raph's Place today, Raph posted some thoughts about WYSIWYG loot. Basically, the question is this:

If you see a mob with a spear, leather jerkin and sandals, why are you not able to loot that spear, leather jerkin and sandals when you kill it?

And, if you could, in what game could you best do this?

Continue reading Getting what you see…

Whoa. Mom was right!

When I was a kid and young teenager (in the days before the term "tween" was used), I was forbidden to use my Apple //e during the school week. The theory was that not getting sucked into programming and gaming during the week would let me focus on schoolwork.

While I hated this rule at the time, as a parent now I can see the value of it, or at least some variant.

And, according to Ars Technica, so does the magazine Pediatrics.

Continue reading Whoa. Mom was right!…

Second Life- Economist Article

While visiting the in-laws, my father-in-law mentioned he had held aside for me an Economist article about Second Life (did I ever mention how with-it they were?) Unfortunately I left the article down with them. 

Fortunately, The Economist is with-it as well.

Some interesting data-points are mentioned within.

Continue reading Second Life- Economist Article…

WoW: Things I thought I’d never see

Last night I visited Molten Core with the guild, and we finished clearing all the way through to Ragnaros. This wasn't the guild's first time, but it was my own. And afterward I realized there have been a few things I've since in the last two months since returning that I never thought I would. Ever.

Continue reading WoW: Things I thought I’d never see…

Emergent Leadership

Upon returning to World of Warcraft after a nine month hiatus, I quickly realized the being focused just on Raiding wasn't going to cut it for me. Lots of reasons really, but the biggest one is Burning Crusade. With the increase in the level cap comes the increase in equipment one can get, both in soloable quests and small group ones. I don't mind the occasional Raid, but eventually it becomes a slot machine: you're just going through the motions until something drops.

So I decided to tip-toe a bit into PvP, specifically Battlegrounds. Oddly enough, being over a year late, I haven't been completely outclassed. And I'm playing what amounts to the least survivable template of a near-one-dimensional class.

Continue reading Emergent Leadership…

Blue Ocean Thinking: Nintendo Wii

While I'm an MMORPG fanboi, I've also been following the seventh generation consoles on and off for awhile. This is not because I'm all enamored of the graphics. Rather, it is because each company is attempting something unique, something to both grow their market share beyond the core 18-34 male purchaser/player and, in some cases, beyond gamers themselves.

Throughout the year, my eye has been on the Nintendo Wii. This is likely the first console I'll actually buy since the Nintendo 32bit machine from the mid-1990s.

Today this decision was nailed home for me.

Continue reading Blue Ocean Thinking: Nintendo Wii…

Challenges Facing MMOGs: AGC 2006

At the Austin Game Conference this year, Jon Grande of Sigil Games and Rich Vogel of BioWare Austin hosted a session entitled "'New' Challenges Facing MMOG Development".

Overall, I felt they cast a blind eye to a number of emerging trends, but the stuff they covered about the "core" marketplace (basically as defined by diku-inspired games) was pretty good. And insightful.

Continue reading Challenges Facing MMOGs: AGC 2006…

MMOG: Prison Server

I received an email from the Spain-based MMORPG Prison Server yesterday. I had never heard of the game before, and there seems to be some interesting elements.

Continue reading MMOG: Prison Server…