My Links

Gaming Lists, News and Minutae

Great places for news and for insights into the minds of the folks that design and develop games.

  • Blues News- General by the minute updates on all gaming activity
  • Electronic Entertainment Expo- I'm always glad this show exists, as it balances the big hyped games in, say, South Hall with the indies just below it in Kentia. Managed to make it in 2003, 2004 and 2006 so far.
  • Gamasutra- Industry news, events and conversations
  • Game Innovation Database- Carnegie Mellon's attempt to list every innovation in gaming. Ever.
  • Game Developers Conferences- I need to hit this show more than I have. This year was my first, and I like the more intimate nature of it. Feels more "professional".
  • Metaversed- Business and technology coverage of the Metaverse, including Podcast
  • MPOGL- Multi-player Online Game Lists- for free online games
  • MMOG List- Wikipedia's list of massively multiplayer online games
  • MMORPG Development Toolkits- Mike Rozak's ongoing list
  • MMORPG List- Wikipedia's list of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games
  • MMORPG List- MMORPG.com's list of MMORPGs in development, in testing and in final.
  • MMOGCharts- SirBruce's effort to track and gauge subscriptions across the MMOG genre
  • MUD Timeline- Raph Koster's timeline of MUD activity through the early 2000s.
  • RPGdot- By the minute updates of all RPG-based activity
  • TechCrunch Casual Immersive Space- A good chart of emerging worlds.
  • Virtual Worlds Review- Great list of the virtual worlds beyond the known ones. Also includes a list of free titles.
  • Video Games Voters Network- Because you really should be involved. Just don't follow blindly. They have a sort of MoveOn.org'ish feel sometimes.

Important References

Places that have stuff for folks looking for a deeper understanding of Game Design, Business and methods.

  • The Chemisty of Game Design (By Daniel Cook)- Fantastic overview of a concept for thinking of game design and play in terms of "Atoms". Corollary linkage at Raph's place.
  • Daedalus Project- Great place for online player research.
  • GameMarketMetrics.com- A site being built to, err, seemingly collect everything there is to know about gaming. High sounding goal. Will check back.Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson)- Because, ya know, you sorta need to… if yuo've ever used "Metaverse" in conversation.
  • PaidContent.org- Mostly focused on the business side of things, in an informative way.
  • Player Pyramid- Probably tops my list of most referenced ways on breaking down players into playstyles and motivations, created by Mike Rozak
  • A Theory of Fun (By Raph Koster)- A good concept for what motivates humans and game play, with a lot of references.If you see anything missing or broken, please tell me about it here.
  • Worlds In Motion- Great site focused on the emerging casual massive online browser-based scene, inlcuding the business scene.

Communities

Massive online gaming involves a lot of people. Some like to take the game outside of the game world. These are their stories. This is where I am when I'm not somewhere else.

Commentators

Games

Massive Online Games I've played, and some I've tested. All got a few hours or a few years. I listed them in descending order of my involvement (which, yes, should be read as an order of enjoyment). But in a separate effort I need to update, I've attempted to map them based on the playstyle offered. The titles most often talked about also generally get reduced to short-hand initials, which I've included.

  • 9Dragons- Historical Chinese Martial Arts game. I'm curious how real the combat is going to feel. From Acclaim, and based on their goals, this will be microtransaction-based. Combat was good. Grind was not.
  • Anarchy Online (AO)- Cyberpunk MMO, my first experience with a beta that was not ready to ship. Has sullied my opinion of Funcom since, until Age of Conan. Has since gone free, and like EQ2, is sporting in-game advertisement
  • Archlord- Open PvP with ability for player to be the Archlord of a shard for a time.
  • Asherons Call (AC)- Played for a bit. I wanted to like it more than I could
  • A Tale in the Desert (ATITD2)- Fun game, if you like economic/crafting sims. Now in the third age.
  • Bots- Acclaim's first MMO, an import from Korea, with similar game mechanic and business model.
  • Bang Howdy!- From the Puzzle Pirates folks, more of a tactics/strategy game set in Old West.
  • City of Heroes (CoH)- Tested a lot and played a bit. Very grindy. Still.
  • City of Villains (CoV)- Standalone expansion to City of Heroes. Still grindy.
  • Club Penguin- Just keeps growing. Fee optional. Online Flash/Smartfox-based MMO for kids.
  • Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC)- Tested and played for awhile, the answer to EQ, but not enough of one.
  • Dark and Light (DnL)- Uses the middleware Bigworld server technology. Otherwise seems more of same.
  • Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO)- From the creators of AC1 and AC2. Traditional rules with modern interface. Highly instantianted. A great dungeon game, but not much of a "massive" game.
  • Dungeon Runners- Diablo's loot system and directed-play zones with Warcraft 3 quality graphics. Fun diversion.
  • Everquest 2- Great game, but requires more of me than I want to invest these days.
  • Everquest (EQ)- Still the game I've cumulatively played the most.
  • Eve: The Second Genesis (EVE)- Played. Originally felt it was an interactive screensaver. Playing again though and glad I did.
  • Final Fantasy XI (FFXI)- Played for a bit, mostly at E3 2004. Seemed a more hardcore EQ to me.
  • Guild Wars- Fun game, on and off. And no monthly fee to boot, so it sits on my hard drive.
  • Gunbound- Turn-based tank warfare with item-based improvement and microtransactions
  • Hero Online- Couldn't really care enough about it.
  • Horizons (Horizons)- Tested only. Artifact became Tulga Games and then was sold to Virtrium LLC in September 2007
  • Jumpgate- Tried this out for a bit, but the graphics are just too dated for me to get into. Experientially valid and contemporary though.
  • Lineage (L1)- Cultural differences, defined
  • Lineage 2 (L2)- Tested only. Didn't buy. Way too grindy.
  • Lord of the Rings Online (LoTRO)- Formerly Middle Earth Online. A Turbine game. A fine execution, combining WoW feel with other things to accomplish ala EQ2. A bit sluggish but looks fantastic.
  • Maple Story- Hugely popular beautiful side-scrolling MMO with heavy platformer/console overtones and a big real-world commerce component that eskews conventional monthly fees. Brought to us by the same company that makes Kart Racer.
  • Matrix Online (MxO)- Tested only. Didn't like the theme nor the combat mechanic. SOE has since acquired it.
  • Meridian 59 (M59)- Closed in August 2000, but picked up by Near Death Studios (Psychochild) and relaunched in summer 2002.
  • Multiverse- Sort of an MMO middleware system, though not with nearily as much real coding. It wants to be a place to go experiment with concepts.
  • Neocron (Neocron)- Tested only. Just couldn't get into it.
  • Nexus War- Read about it at F13. Browser-based faction-based PvP.
  • Planetside (PS)- Tested and played. Again. Still my favorite combat mechanic. Just needs a point.
  • Puzzle Pirates (PP)- An MMO world replete with minigame activities. The metaphor didn't match the puzzles enough in my opinion.
  • Ryl- An interesting mix of UI elements. I particularly enjoyed the combat, but found the grind oppressive.
  • Ryzom- A sci-fi/fantasy game that intrigued me. The "bricks" system of building abilities from the components of others as well as the mob migratory patterns were compelling. This wiki has updates on financial issues.
  • Second Life (SL)- The very essence of "open virtual world". Almost the entire environment has literally been built by players, from the structures to whatever games can are found.
  • Shadowbane (SB)- Tested and played, but only during early 2004. Great experiment in relevant open PvP.
  • Space Cowboy- Similar to Auto Assault, but instead of Mad Max-inspired vehicles, these are anime-inspired "Gear" vehicles, either flying or ground. Limited customization. Feels like an arcade game with some MMO depth.
  • Star Wars Galaxies (SWG)- The most changed game in the genre, through three unique expansions and a retrofit. Played this a lot. 
  • Ultima Online (UO)- Played. A lot. My first MMO (unless you count Diablo 2 closed servers, which some don't).
  • Vanguard (VG)- From the team that brought us EQ. Dual-development for PC and XBox 360. Lost interest when I saw how hard core it had become (read: old school).
  • Vendetta Online- (VO)- A bit of a hybrid between Eve and a space sim. Neither the economy nor the controls are as deep as Eve nor a space sim like Freespace, but VO is unique by combing both.
  • Webkinz- Buy a realworld product, unlock a virtual world. Housing customization, minigames, microeconomy. Almost an MMO. Clubhouse close enough to one.
  • Wurm Online- Another one read about at F13. Very niche but offering ideas evocative of UO and other old skool romps.

Currently Experiencing

  • World of Warcraft (WoW)- The best EQ clone out, but delivered with a far superior polish. Played this one almost the most. Returned in August 2006. Burning Crusade expansion coming January 2007.
  • Various games not yet launched.

Games on the longterm Radar

This used to be as scary as the list of ones I've played. But now there are plenty of games to play
while I casually or obsessively follow choice new ones. It is slightly disappointing to have such a short list though.

  • Age of Conan (AoC)- Story-drive experience from Funcom, based on Robert E Howards character. Launching in October 2007
  • Aion- Interesting story (using cinematics), flight-enabled with combat in flight mode.
  • Carpe Diem- Set during the Chinese Ming Dynasty, players use Martial Arts in their Clan combat.Main enemy is played by a player (sounds like a GM) who can summon monsters anywhere in world. Sounds interesting, particularly on the large scale.
  • Colony- Space-based PvP in HeroEngine, where the added volumetric 3D space flight which sounds realtime. Read about at Gamasutra.
  • Control Monger (CM)- An FPS originally slated for team-online, but is now massive online.
  • The Chronicles of Spellborn (TCoS)- A strongly narrative-based MMORPG, yet more Fantasy but with dynamic worlds and a different sort of combat system trying to emphasize player skill
  • Huxley (HUX)- Also from Webzen, an MMOFPS
  • Infinity- Reads like a mix between Eve and Vendetta Online, but I need to know how the combat system works. If it's Freespace 2, I'm so there. No playable game until at least 2007 according to site.
  • Jumpgate Evolution- Started as a graphical upgrade to Jumpgate and has become a sequel
  • Pirates of the Burning Sea (PoTBS)- A great Eve-like experience set in 1800s Caribbean.
  • Project Offset- Supposed to be an FPS game in a Medieval setting with the usual RPG trappings. We'll see.
  • Stargate Worlds- I loved the movie, but I just never got into the series. There's a number of titles I couldn't get into, notably Matrix Online and Anarchy Online, because of the theme and environment.
  • Star Trek Online- Set during Next Gen era, it features both ground and space combat, avatars and ships. I was originally skeptical, but it seems to be shaping up nicely
  • Sun (SUN)- A console-style MMORPG from Webzen
  • Tabula Rasa (TR)- From Richard Garriot. 'nuf said. Compelled me to create the Triskelion convertor.
  • Warhammer Online (WAR)- From Mythic, now part of EA. Looks like WoW in a great many ways. Apparently has more relevant PvP. We'll see how far that goes. It's still classes and fast dice rolling. Launching in 2008

Cancelled or Closed Games  

  • Asherons Call 2 (AC2)- Cancelled on December 30, 2005. A very pretty game with a lot of good ideas seemingly challenged in a number of ways due to relationships, extreme technical issues and never having achieved a critical mass in community.
  • Auto Assault (AA)- Tested but decided not to buy. Game closing in September 2007.
  • Dragon Empires (DE)- Cancelled in 2004. Codemasters shifted focus in this genre to publish other games, mostly imports from the Far East (like RF Online and the upcoming Archlord)
  • Earth and Beyond (EnB)- Closed in September 2004.MMO space sim-esque game by EA.
  • Gods & Heroes (GH)- Closed during beta on October 9,2007. MMO set in Rome, built by Perpetual Entertainment (also developing Star Trek Online)
  • Motor City Online (MCO)- Closed in August 2003. MMO driving game from EA.
  • Mythica- MMO from Microsoft Game Studios. Was to feature heavy instancing with destructible zones (using the Havok physics engine) and combinable character powers ala FFXI Renkai or EQ2 Heroic Opportunities. Cancelled February 12, 2004.
  • Seed, Cancelled on September 28, 2006
  • Wish (Wish)- Closed on January 9, 2005. The core concept seemed similar to UO in some ways, with true skills-based advancement, housing, a player driven economy and ample PvP.

Meta activities

As explained in this article, the below are various bits and pieces of things I've built to support either myself or a community as we travel the various virtual world experiences.

  • EQ2 Maps- I never did finish this up, nor will I probably ever. EQ2 just didn't capture me like WoW did, even my second time through it.
  • Tabula Rasa Triskelion- Back before the retheming of the game, lore was being built about the language of TR. I built this translator based on information discussed with the community at OGaming.com.
  • WoW Apothecary- Something else I never really finished. This I built while learning Alchemy and Herbalism in WoW. Having maxed the skills, I really don't use it at all. Similar to that is the WoW Lore I copy/pasted here into a single page.

Tools

Stuff I use to do things.

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