March 29, 2008
Yep, we’ve all seen this excuse (or maybe given this excuse!) from time to time. A group is taking too long to get started, or a raid is wiping one too many times, or all the gorgons in fear were killed (Yes, you EQ druids were THE worst) and *blip*, someone goes linkdead. Then you get that tell or the post the next day saying, “Sorry about that, my power went out.” Uh-huh.
I used to share a laugh with my best gaming friend, Corka, about how a certain mage we knew would actually run around in circles before he would go “linkdead.” Definitely an A for effort.
And my fellow rangers in EQ Fallen Alliance used to jokingly predict when A) the first wave of raid logouts would occur and B) what the silliest excuse would be. We came up with some good ones too!
But last night, my power really DID go out! Call it an Earth Hour warmup I guess. I was headed over to the NPC to work on the Bristlebane quests, so no biggie for me, but my husband, Mutz, was in a pickup group that was limping along and had barely killed one named the entire evening. Around 11, everything went black, and we heard a *thump*. Turns out, a lightpole out on the main road toppled over (although I’m not sure what exactly caused it). We shared a good laugh about what his group must be thinking about him!
So, not everyone that suddenly goes offline is making it up. Well, everyone else is, but Mutz and I are not!
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (4)
March 25, 2008
Forums have become almost as important to many players as the game itself. So with many new games coming out, there is always the debate over whether to have official forums or not. Darren recently wrote a piece about official forums, and there’s a lengthy discussion thread over on the Nerfbat forums that also brought up the question.
I’m coming from an EQ background, where my favorite site was good old p.com, and where the whole notion of fansites became mainstream. Everlore, Mobhunter, Magelo, EQ Atlas, all set a high bar for player contributions, and it really changed how we approach MMOs.Having said that, it’s beyond crazy to release a game without an official forum. And I’d go even further, to say that it’s bad marketing if you don’t have a good official site with solid resource information for new or returning players. Here are a few reasons why:
- Information is lacking on big fansites. There is an occasional game guide here and there, but even still, you often have to wade through tons and tons of crap and ads to get to it. I don’t like to play the revenue click game to get answers to game questions.
- Games change, sometimes drastically. Players need a central place to quickly take in those changes, especially for returning players who have not played in a while. Even if a fansite writes an accurate piece about content or gameplay, they rarely go back and update it to reflect any changes. And we all know that the little game booklet that comes with a CD is outdated the moment the box is opened. So new or returning players are left to spend hours and hours scouring fansites and forums to get answers to their questions. I’m back, now make it easy for me to want to stay dammit!
- There’s a practical, and even crucial, reason for forums. Developers need input from the playerbase. Forums are the best way to get that feedback (bugs, broken content etc), for fast fixes. Vanguard had no official forums at the start, so developers had to rely on feedback from forums like Silky Venom, Vanguard Servers, Ten Ton Hammer, Vanguard Vault, Vanguard Spheres, and a few dozen class sites and international sites. It was impossible for the devs to be able to visit and address feedback from all these sites, which was a problem obviously. But then when they concentrated their efforts on feedback from a couple of sites, they got complaints from all the others, who felt slighted. Having official forums would eliminate the problem, and get bugs fixed even faster.
- Some say that having official forums hurts small sites, but I argue the opposite. Having a central spot where players can see links to community contributions is a no brainer. Lots of official forums have a community news section, where pre-approved players can highlight their creativity. We’re in an age where many are showing their gaming passion through fansites, blogs, videos, songs, artwork, comics, and podcasts. Official sites should want to draw attention to it, and where better than on an official forum, or even the main site itself. That’s free PR for the game, and brings additional attention to the little guys. That’s a Win-Win Situation! (For those of you up to speed on the EQ2 forums, pardon the pun!)
Yes, WoW forums are notorious for their inane, kid drivel. But there are many smaller WoW forums that do very well, so the two are not mutually exclusive. And the official site hits on all points – it has lots of game resources, keeps up to speed with patches and game changes, and highlights plenty of player contributions. The gold lettering on blue marble is almost as recognizable as yellow arches on a red background. There’s a reason for that!
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (1)
March 23, 2008
Every game should have an appearance tab like EQ2′s. A big part of why people play MMO’s is having the chance to stand out, and EQ2 really does that better than any game out there right now. I played back in the day, when every single leather wearer sported the same black tunic with grey studs. Today, you have a lot more variety in what you can wear, with tons of options for casual clothing and armor, thanks to the appearance tab. But there’s also a ton of “fluff” that helps someone stand out from the crowd – from fluff pets, to illusions, and even some neat headgear (pumpkin head anyone?) I love being able to keep names off and still recognize a friend as I run by.
Having said that, I guess I was feeling a little nonconformist yesterday. Maybe it was from reading all the stuff on EQ2Flames and the whole “In your face!” vibe over there, not sure. Anyway, I had some fun with the appearance tab and some old banked gear lying around, to see how bad I could look, and I came up with this -
The strange part is that not one of my guildmates said anything about how ridiculous I look. So they’re either very polite, or they assume I’m just two steps shy of insanity and this is par for the course.
….I need to find my Queens’ Carapace. I know I can do better than this!
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (3)
March 22, 2008
Oh the drama! When I switched back to EQ2 from Vanguard, I thought to myself, “self – the developer drama from Vanguard is a thing of the past, it’s time to settle back into a game that is nice and mellow. Right?”
WRONG
I am not interested in the details of the EQ2Flames/SoE showdown. SoE, yet again, will walk away with a big old black eye for not being able to keep a tight ship, and those in charge of the nasty threads on EQ2Flames are burning more bridges than Ze Germans in Normandy.
…Although maybe they’re following the career advancement path of another well-known ranter in MMO history.
Developers are not our friends! Seriously, there needs to be more of an air of professionalism than there is right now, across the board.
The only bright side to all the EQ2 drama is that this will pale in comparison to what’s coming out of Eve Online. Council of Stellar Management? Nice title, but the idea isn’t really that new (although the flight to Iceland is a first!)
Seriously, this is a train wreck in the making, because Eve seems to take itself 10 times more seriously than any other MMO out there. So when the drama unfolds (and it will), it will be spectacular. Should be a great study!
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (1)
March 4, 2008
It’s been way too long since I wrote about what I’ve been up to, so it’s time for some catch up.
First, I was invited by Darren, from Common Sense Gamer and Shut up We’re Talking, to contribute to his review of Vanguard. I’ve written extensively about the game, did and saw a lot, and experienced both the highs and lows that Vanguard offered, but I never sat down to write a comprehensive review, which was by choice. I always kept holding back because I wanted to write it when I felt the game was finally able to stand on its own two feet. I’m glad Darren asked me to offer up my thoughts, and the entire review is up over at Virginworlds.
I’ve been tagging along on several recent Virginworlds podcasts lately. Adam from Witty Ranter invited me on his show, along with Brenda from West Karana and Leela from Epic Dolls. The show discussion revolved around females and MMOs, and I had a great time talking with all of them. As I mentioned in the show, I really feel that MMOs are about as close to gender utopia as you can get. Since you can’t assume that female avatars are really females, and vice versa, you have to judge someone based purely on things like game skills and communication abilities.
Sure, there are some women (and way too many men!) who use the female avatar to seduce their way to loot. But in my book, that’s no different than people who scam others in trades, or who roll need instead of greed in a group, or go “linkdead” on a raid after they’ve gotten what they needed (Yes, all you druids in EQ who would bail after all the gorgons were dead!). Each of those are examples of people taking advantage of trust. That’s shady gameplay, not a gender issue.
What was most important in the show, though, was Hello Kitty. Need I say more.
Peter from the new podcast “The Addicted Gamer,” recently called me out on his show, asking for some EQ2 screenshots. I never back down from a challenge, so I sent him over some images, which are now up on his site. He’s also invited me on to his show sometime soon, which I look forward to.
I’m also still doing EQual Perspectives with Troy, and our new co-host Bill. Fun stuff as always.
In Everquest 2, I’ve been all over the map. I’ve done a lot of mentoring and grouping with guildmates, and I’m leading some raids on the original content. I will write more about all of that this week. Here are a few screenshots:
I’m a Fae! (Ok not really, I’m just standing in front of Perenelle)
The secret behind what makes those carpets float….
Here’s a garden I made with my soon-to-be four year old daughter, Sara. She picked out a duck to live there, but he didn’t want to be in the picture.
Speaking of gardens, blogs are lot like them, and I’ve been lax in tending to mine. Hopefully that will change, and I’ll be able to devote some more time to it.
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (0)