June 28, 2008
Lemme start off by saying that Everquest II has one of the best guild recruiting windows around, and they actually just added in some new filters to make it even easier for potential applicants to search for a good fit.
So I was wondering what a Guild Recruiting Faire would accomplish that the current guild window wouldn’t. And I couldn’t really come up with anything, other than the fact that there would be some fun and games that a Faire would bring. You know, that whole festival thing – booths and tents, games, silly prizes, firebreathers (Hey they have one in Maj’Dul, they exist!)
I popped out to the Antonica Claymore on Saturday morning, and saw this:
Zero recruiters, zero guild leaders. I went over and helped out the distressed merchant nearby, and then camped for a bit.
I assumed that it was too early in the morning, I tried back a little later on, around lunchtime. This time, there actually was one other person, a nice Kerran named Kayanarka.
He was afk, and I was bored, so I threw some pudding at him.
Then I threw some Brasse’s battle bread at him.
He finally returned from afk, and we shared a swig of the Queen’s Masquerade (it’s a neat illusion drink that turns you into various races every time you zone) There was also a rep from Legion of the White Rose there, but he was afk, and then camped. I threw stuff at him too.
Still no recruits, and we began to pitch our guilds to Ignar Steadirt.
I begged a couple of guildmates to come join us, and Zyphwar and Sindya headed over. Sindya was actually the one who made all the projectile puddings, battle breads, and cool illusion potions. When she arrived, we all “returned” her creations.
Night began to fall. Still no recruits, and no other guild leaders either. I set off a few fireworks anyway. Cheers.
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (2)
June 26, 2008
It’s amazing how a simple toon name can take on your persona, and stick with you long after you have stopped playing that character.
I’m Jaye. Only, I’m not.
Above: Erika Prexian, monk on the Guk server in Everquest 2.
Currently, I’m Erika, the monk, when I’m in game, and Karen when I camp. But when I log in to Everquest 2, everyone still calls me Jaye, and my blog remains “Journeys with Jaye.” (Journeys with Erika isn’t catchy. Maybe Expeditions with Erika?) Heck, I remember a few guild meet-and-greets a few years back where people were calling me Jaye, face-to-face!
Above: Jaye, ranger on the Xeth server, in Vanguard.
It’s been fascinating to watch the evolution of the social community of EQ’s Prexus server over the years. We (and when I say we, I refer to the vocal minority that tends to post a lot and play the forum game) started out very formal on Prexus. EQ Stratics was where we first hung our hat, and the majority of posts were characterized by light roleplaying and lots of ambiguity. We “were” our characters, even when we were making a post. When there were flame threads about ninja looting and kill stealing, you got mad at “Gruff,” the Barbarian Warrior, or “Zappy,” the High Elf Wizard, instead of “Bob,” or “Sally.”
Eventually, a player run site called Prexus.com was born, and things began to change. It took a few years, and several dramatic threads, but eventually, people started to address each other directly, rather than by proxy through their toons. There was still some ambiguity, but it was fading quickly.
Finally, P.com went through a revolution of sorts, after it was bought out by Yantis, of gold-selling fame. The community completely abandoned the site, and relocated to a fresh site that was run by a Prexus player. Perhaps it was this jolt of reality intruding from the big move, or perhaps it was a growing cynicism when we slowly learned about “shims,” and “little brothers” who log in your account and always seem to do jerky things when you’re not looking. Whatever it was, the regulars to the Prexus community had completely dropped the facade of being their avatar, and posted to each other as if the toons didn’t exist at all. The air of formality was gone – topics started to stray away from the game itself and more towards real life – jobs, school, babies, and even politics. Of course, there was a segment of the community that chose to go even further, by posting racy photos, incriminating mistells, and even *gulp* webcam addresses. Not everyone followed along – my friend Renrikk the rogue still remains as silent and as mysterious as ever. But overall, I was amazed at how intimate the community had become.
Above: Jaye Wizziefingers, ranger of the Prexus server, in Everquest. (Third from the right, wearing the brown pointy-eared helmet)
I was talking to my friend Corka, and he brought up a great point about our community on Prexus. When people identified each other as individuals, rather than characters, the community matured a lot. The ability to hide behind the anonymity of an avatar was gone, and people actually had to behave! (more or less). That’s not to say that there still wasn’t an abundance of jerkiness in game, but I do think that those who visited the prexus forums tended to be a lot more respectful towards each other in game, because it’s hard to be a jerk to someone who had posted pictures earlier that day of their new child, or shared a story about their time overseas in the service.
Today, the Prexus forum is still very active, but laughter ensues when anyone actually makes a post asking a question about Everquest. “What do you think this is, a game forum?!” Most of the forum posters have been away from the game for years, yet the community is as strong as ever. I’m sure Prexus is not the only example of this, and someone, somewhere, should find a way to capitalize on it all, especially since WoW is about 20 times the size of Everquest, and is getting long in the tooth.
Above: The RDS (Ranger Death Squad) from Harmony of Souls, on the Prexus server in Everquest – Sydny, Jaye, Keauvas, Vizco, Azurill, Aalia, Caitlyn, Panas
Anyway, over in our guild right now, we have several players who go by one name, and are called a completely different name, because they are so closely associated with that particular avatar from games past:Mynervia, our dwarf paladin who drops what he is doing to watch the NASA channel, is not actually Mynervia, but Dunth (short for Dunthain, from Vanguard). Daalia, one of my trusted officers, is not actually Daalia, but Anda (short for Andaraiel, try spelling that ten times fast!) Zorko is an easy one – he’s Orko (Yes, he played a mage in EQ, a nice /hat tip to He-Man) Meopha is Corka, one of my best friends from EQ. Amirah is Mighty (Short for Mightydar from Vanguard).
Ratimos is Reighn, from Vanguard, but we like to call him McDreamy at times, since’s he’s a doc. Disonance is Rancorr, although I tend to add the prefix FU- to his name a lot. Keylee is Dacia, and Hearst is Bigs, BUT….Dacia can sometimes be Bigs as well! Figure that one out!
Lastly, Meri is Meri. She has like a thousand twinks, but she spared us the confusion by naming them all with Meri as the prefix (Meriwyn, Meribell, Merifillintheblank….) Pawz, meanwhile, was not so kind, and we see a new iteration of him fairly regularly. I’m not falling for it! He is, and will always be, Pawz.
There’s a part of me that misses the days when community felt so fresh and unexplored. I remember a bard named Stormtower in EQ, posting stories about a halfling bundling himself in a winter scarf and plodding along to Everfrost. At that time, I was a wood elf ranger named Jaye, proudly sporting my bright red tunic (forgot the name but it was a cool quested tunic), and working up the nerve to ask my paladin friend, Troval, about trying our hand at creating and running a guild. That was almost 10 years ago! With the growing increase in voice chat technology, it will be increasingly difficult for people to see each other as their in game avatars. But I suppose that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even though there has been a big change in the social atmosphere of the games I play and the people I play with, it never ceases to fascinate me.
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June 25, 2008
A day late (and probably a dollar short), I’m joining the pile-on of commentary over a recent interview that Dr. Richard Bartle gave to Michael Zenke from Massively/MMOGNation/Virginworlds Podcast Collective/A-bazillion-other-game-sites-and-podcasts.
Right now, the historian in me is crying. The blogger in me is disheartened. I’m getting the vapors, and yes, I’m exaggerating a tad.
Dr. Bartle could very well be wrong when he said those infamous words, “I’ve already played Warhammer. It was called World of Warcraft.” But argue his point, don’t treat him like an anonymous troll forum poster by calling him “Crazy,” “stupid,” “senile” or “Old Guard.” (Although Old Guard isn’t necessarily an insult, and to his credit, Moorgard did provide a good counter argument)
He’s not talking about little things, like how Warhammer might have screenshots that look like WoW. He’s talking about wholesale, fundamental, uprooting changes. He’s saying that there needs to be an MMO that pushes things so much, and does it so well, that it doesn’t even resemble the MMOs of today. He’s saying that somewhere down the road, there’s an MMO that will pull us in as much, if not moreso, than our “first love” MMO, whatever that may be.
The fact that his passing comment has generated so much outrage in the blogging community speaks more towards the current malaise than it does towards the issue of whether Bartle is irrelevant or not. My god, if I were working for EA Mythic right now, I’d be losing tons of sleep, because there are millions of MMO fans who are looking towards Warhammer as the second coming, and I’m not sure it’s even possible anymore for the game to live up to the fans’ expectations.
The part of the interview that is worth clinging to is this:
“…when you create it, you’re actually saying something through the design. What is it you’re trying to say? Why are you trying to say it? How are you trying to articulate something? This is from the designer’s point of view what I really want to know. What are they trying to say? Why have they done it this way? Did they know about the other ways?
They’re designers. They’ve got millions. They must have known about the other ways, but they didn’t do it the other way. They did it this way. Why did they do it that way?”
When I read this I thought of an English teacher I had in high school, who drove me crazy because he was always asking me to explain what a certain sentence or paragraph had to do with the rest of my paper. Sure, it might sound good, but how did it relate to the central thesis of my paper? In my head, the answer was “Who cares? It sounds good! @^#@%^f’n@%^#@” But I learned the hard way that an explanation like that doesn’t fly. It forced me to absorb other viewpoints, so I could better defend mine. That’s essentially what Dr. Bartle is saying, I think. In the case of MMOs, if you come up with a shiny, new, game mechanic, that’s nice! But how does it fit in, and push the boundaries of the MMO evolution? How can you move that First Down Marker without having a grasp not only of what came before you, but what is going on around you right now? Sure, you could have mounted combat on flying pigs, as Curt Schilling so brilliantly conceived, but A) what greater purpose does that serve in your game and B) how does that nudge the MMO species along the evolutionary highway? (Luckily, 38 Studios seems to understand this, although flying pigs would be neat)
Here’s where the blogging community comes in. I think one of the more important services that we offer is the ability to shed light on innovative ideas in MMOs. It’s impossible for game developers to chew on every single cool game feature that’s out there in current MMOs, yet it’s important for them to know it in order to make a revolutionary game. Bloggers like Van Hemlock have tried to expose the “nifty ideas” of current MMOs. There are lots of “trench” bloggers, who write about their experiences day to day, and who offer enormous insight into what’s great and what’s not about their MMO of choice. And there are the “big picture” bloggers, who have had a little taste of lots of MMOs, and who can provide lots of great commentary on the MMO movement as a whole. We do the legwork that game developers can’t – if we do it well.
Ten or fifty years from now, what we bloggers have written will be very valuable, just as Dr. Bartle’s writings from 19freakin83 are worth digesting. So what is your MMO footprint? (I hate myself for even typing that)
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (0)
June 24, 2008
The past two weeks, I’ve seen a succession of things that seemed improbable.
I dinged level 80. When I returned to EQ2 back at the start of the year, I was level 70 (that was the level cap when I switched to Vanguard). So it took me 6 months to do 10 levels. /cringe. I would say that about 2/3rds of the exp I got in those last ten levels was while I was mentored. I’m not sure if I should be proud of that or horribly embarrassed!
I got a new mount. It’s the Fire Spirit Horse Whistle from the new LoN Oathbreaker set. I actually got the server discovery for redeeming the loot card first on Guk, and for the first time since EQ, I have gotten several tells from random people asking me about something “cool as hell” that I have. I’m just glad that, after almost 3 years, I can shed the carpet.
But enough about me….
We raided Labs again Sunday night, and this time, we *should* have beaten Vyemm, but didn’t. We had a great turnout, we had the levels, and a pretty decent class balance, but what looked good on paper did not translate well in game. We charged up to Vyemm at a blistering pace, and took down the nameds with no problem, but it was one of those nights where I could feel that we didn’t click. You can tell when a raid is in the groove and when it’s not, and I could see early on that we were not at all in a groove, despite the fast pace. We’ve had lots of new members join lately (thanks Living Legacy!), and while that’s a godsend in the long run, it requires a little time for everyone to get adjusted. We got Vyemm down to 8% on our best try, but even if we had won, it would have been by brute force, and not finesse. It’s like a pitcher who just can’t get properly warmed up. Sure, he can throw 95+ mph fastballs, but it’s just not snapping like it should. Our guild just needs a little Head On – Apply Directly to the Forehead!
Above: Everyone assist me on < A Mender Bot!>
Speaking of which, why do I find myself banging my head against the keyboard whenever the subject of SoE and PR come up? It’s like they can’t get out of their own way sometimes. There was an interview over at Alla’s with Torrie Dorrell, Senior VP of Global Sales and Marketing with SoE, and what stood out for me was this (bold added by me, little tongue emote not added by me):
Allakhazam: What about existing players? Many EverQuest II veterans feel slighted that they don’t get a title and neat pet, are there any plans to get them some goodies too?
Torrie: There is actually a lot that benefits our current, loyal players. There are numerous live events and new lore leading up to the eventual launch of the expansion packs. EQII will see the introduction of Guild Halls and two new group zones, Veksar and Heroic Runnyeye. EQ will be launching four raid zones where players can participate and view their stats on unique leaderboards, in addition to upgrading classic group content in Lower Guk. The complaints about no little goodies for current players, well, in looking at the forest from the trees here, I believe bringing additional players into these games is the best gift we can give our current players. We’re giving them exactly what they’ve been asking for with Living Legacy: advertising for and promotion of the game to bring old friends back and new players in, which makes the game a better world for our current players. This is like complaining about a shiny someone picked up near you while you’re opening an exquisite chest 
Sure, the current, loyal players will get to see the live events and new lore. We’ll get the chance to make a guild hall (please Tunare, do not make it an ungodly timesink, amen), and crawl in two new group zones, but that’s not exclusive to the “loyal” players, that’s stuff that everyone can get. When I first saw the listing for the Living Legacy, my first thought was, “Holy crap, this is going to be one heck of a summer.” But seeing that most of the in game item rewards were not available to current subscribers really sucked the celebratory mood right out of me.
What sticks in my craw about this interview is the whole “get over it” tone of the interview. I fully admit that I might be a bit cantankerous about the in game item rewards for the Living Legacy promo, but that’s not something I want to be reminded of by the SoE PR people! Aren’t they the people that are supposed to make me think happy thoughts about the game? This is sorta like the SoE response to the Unhallowed Triad/Holy Trinity secret server move from test to live. Or the “deal with the changes or you won’t get new players” conversation to the Vanguard community in a recent SoE Podcast. I know that marketing people don’t really mean it when they call me a “valued customer,” but heck, just patronize me anyway, please! Pay me the lip service!
Anyway, I’m a fan of SoE games – I’m knee deep in EQ2, I was waist deep in Vanguard, and I was in way way over my head in EQ. I’ve been playing SoE MMOs for almost 10 years now, so I’m hardly an SoE hater. And I am eager to see the summer events unfold in EQ2, but I hope they kick it up a notch or five. I’ve been cleansing zillions of creatures from the void clouds now, and while the rewards are nice, the process of getting them is, well, grindy! I’m sure they hoped that these quests would help facilitate grouping between newer players and old, but A) I haven’t found many people doing the clouds when I am and B) from my limited experience, if someone is at a cloud, the other person will just run to another cloud or wait till the person hits 9 cleansed creatures.
The guild faire is coming up soon, and I hope they put thought into this. If it’s done right, it could be really fun. I’m also very curious how the mentoring event plays out. But what I’m really looking forward to is the big event planned for later this summer. My plea to SoE is:
Blow it up.
Seriously, destroy some zones, or have the void overrun Qeynos and Freeport. Make us feel threatened by the coming of the shadowmen and the void. Make us squirm, and remind us that there can be a nasty sting in MMOs (even if temporary!) Pull us into the storyline, make us care about the future of Norrath. This is the MMO summer of our discontent – players are restless while they wait for WAR to arrive. You’ll get a lot more back to EQ2 if they feel there’s something to fight for – if the future of Norrath hangs in the balance – rather than tossing money and items at the unsubscribed, and making the cranky loyal players even crankier.
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June 11, 2008
So there I was, tapping my finger on the table, waiting for our raid force to gather in Bonemire as we prepared to do Labs of Lord Vyemm. Labs is not EQ2 endgame any more – veteran raiding guilds are long past it and working on T8 – but our guild is sorta unique in that we formed up in EQ2 only 6 months ago, yet we’ve digested a nice amount of the multi-group content from the very beginning.
I looked over the raid list – we had 2.5 groups, with some in their high 70s, and some not yet 70. One plate tank, 4 healers (one bot), and a motley assortment of dps and utility. As we zoned in, I decided that our do or die moment would be the first attempt on the Triplets. They’re three named droag epic mobs that come as a group, and can cause all sorts of chaos if any of them get loose. I knew there was no way we’d be able to do them on the first try – not with this raid force – and I was all set to switch gears and try a 2 group raid target if we wiped. I had even decided who I’d need to talk to in order to reduce our force down to 12.
We got ready for the Triplets, sent in the tiki pet, I prepared to offtank one of the nameds, and BOOM – I’m dead. As I’m reviving and running back, I looked at the raid window, and instead of seeing players with no health, we’re actually doing fine. I was the only one dead! By the time I reached the raid, one of the nameds – the worst one – is dead, and we’re cruising along with the other two. Shortly after, all three are dead, and it’s pretty much a picture perfect kill, with the exception of me and Mr. Tiki Pet.
After that we had to face the Slavering Alzid, with his never-ending stream of splitting blobs. Last time we faced him, we killed him, but could hardly see the chest under the mass of red floating blobs. We had to loot and scoot, and it wasn’t pretty. NO way we’d get him this time. No.way.
Shortly after, he was dead, and we were sheathing our weapons and facing a blob-free chest. Spot on kill.
We pressed on, and killed TheEyeWithAnUnpronouncableName, and then Doomsworn, then Corsolander, then the EasyEyeWithAnotherWeirdName. Easy peasy.
Only one more fight left – Lord Vyemm and Alzid Prime. But it was getting very late for us, and we were only going to have one or two chances at him.
Our first attempt didn’t count, since we didn’t actually *pull* him. We decided, though, to change a few things up a bit for the second try. After a bit of discussion, and some careful analysis, we were set for try number two. This was it – it was after 11 (That’s late for us!), and we were going to either win or call it after this.
We sent in Mr Tiki for the pull, and braced ourselves for the fight. 99, 90, 60, 20, 10, zero!
Not him. Us.
Even though we got flattened by Vyemm and his pal, it was still a great night. It’s a blast to kill stuff that we shouldn’t have been able to kill given the numbers we had. On top of that, it was a nice, tight, 3 hour *near* clearing, and everyone clicked perfectly. When you can joke in tells with another raider about Galaxy Quest, just as a boss is being pulled, you know you’re in a groove.
By Grabthar’s Hammer!
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June 5, 2008
I want to adjust a bit what I said about the Living Legacy promotion. I said I was bitter because they didn’t list any rewards or incentives for current players – their loyal fanbase. I am sticking with that assertion, but based on this reply on the official forums from Grimwell, it does sound like there will be more cool stuff to be unveiled, perhaps some of it for the active players. The part that stands out for me is:
It’s a long summer, and a long promotion. This is just the first blush, and the first reactions… as things progress and more information becomes known opinions will likely change (in both directions). That’s OK.
/exhale. I’m going to swallow my bitterness – for now – and assume that the “progress” part will include cool stuff for actives. I still can’t for the life of me understand why they didn’t list at least some of it upfront though. Why hold back? It’s not accomplishing anything other than ticking off the loyal fanbase. Maybe there’s a really good reason for it – I hope that’s the case. In August I want to be able to admit that my bitterness was jumping the gun.
Above: Sokokar mass transit. Fuel is expensive!
I took a longer look at the list of planned events that have already been publicized, and there are a few that jump out at me, which has also helped curb my bitterness. The following are really cool, and while some are a bit unclear, I’m really eager to see what exactly it means:
Dynamic Events -
It’s been raining non stop in Qeynos and the smaller towns, at least for me. I have no idea if that’s related to the live events, but I can’t wait for the next live update, to see it all unfold. It looks like there are two dynamic events related to the invasion of the void – one involves the strange energy clouds all over Norrath, and the other will be an actual battle against the invading shadowmen. There looks to be a culminating event in August (see below) as well as some kind of murder mystery involving the death of one of the prophets and opportunity that presents for another prophet. EQ2 has done a nice job with dynamic events overall, but these look like these will make the others pale in comparison. Hopefully I’m not getting too much into the hype.
Guild Recruiting Fair -
Right now in game there is a guild recruiting window. Hit the U key and you can get a full listing of all guilds that have a guild recruiter online and are looking for more. Guilds can write up a quick summary of their guild and check off what classes and playstyles they are focused on. So what will the Fair offer that the guild recruiting window won’t? This is one that I’m really rooting for. If they are setting it up in the same fashion as those good old college fairs, with little booths and stuff, I think they’ll need to have something else going on at the fair that attracts all those returning players, like game booths with fluff prizes. I hope they do this one well, and not just because I’m a guildleader that’s seeking a few more good people!
Above: I’ll give you platz to join my guild!
Bonus Mentoring System Event -
They actually list two events where mentoring is the focus. One is some type of guide program, and it looks like veteran players will be encouraged to be guides and show new players around. But there is also an event that will grant some kind of bonus to those who mentor. Since I have done a lot of mentoring, and absolutely love the system, I’m really glad they’re choosing to give an incentive to those who use it during this promo, even if it’s for a short time.
Evolution of Everquest Event – Massive In-Game Experience.
“An event of tremendous magnitude and a first ever for the MMO world.”
Whoah.
I can’t wait to see what this “first ever” will be. Will they destroy certain areas of Norrath? Will the players actually lose to the invaders? (That one would definitely be a first) For some reason, when I see “tremendous magnitude” and “first ever for the MMO world,” my spidey sense tells me it’s not going to be pretty. I am also very curious why they titled it “Evolution of Everquest” and left off the II part. Is there a specific reason for that? And “Evolution” – that makes it sound like the game is about to enter a new phase it its life. What’s going to be different about it?
Can’t.Wait.
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June 4, 2008
I am really excited about the Living Legacy promotion, despite that fact that I can’t get a drake pet or a neat cloak. Here’s why:
Ok, that’s not why specifically, but it’s part of it. I have this Jerry MacGuire attitude when it comes to lore. Help me, help you. I *want* to like EQII lore, I really do. But every time I hail and NPC, he smacks me with a wall of text, and suddenly, the room gets dark, everything begins to spin, and I am compelled to hit the click button until it ends. I’m jazzed to kill stuff, I’m running a nice pulling pace, and I just can’t handle putting the breaks on to read lore. It’s totally me, I know that. But I’m willing to bet I’m in good company.
My proof is Exhibit A – The void and the shadowmen. Go up to 10 people in EQII and I bet 9 of them know nothing about what that backstory is. Lore junkies are going to cringe right now, but from what I gather, the shadowmen are some type of extraplanar beings, that have bad intentions, and have been studying us and doing an “invasion of the body snatchers,” sorta thing on us. They originate in the Void, and enter through the obelisks (like Obelisk of Souls and Obelisk of Blight), and they have invaded places like Enchanted Lands and Nek Forest. There are also connections to the Everlings, especially Rikantus, as well as Varsoon and Mayong Mistmoore. I know there’s a bunch more, since they seem to be everywhere, but beyond that, all I know is that it’s bad stuff.
Game update 46 will mark the beginning of some cool in game events related to the shadowmen. It sounds like they are finally going to make their move and invade. We’ll be seeing some weird energy storms that indicate their arrival, which reminds me of the movie Signs.
The reason in game events are cool is because they take the story and make it come alive. Maybe it’s just that I’m a visual person, but a wall of text doesn’t compel me as much as seeing that story actually playing out before my eyes. Hearing tales about the invasion of the shadowmen is one thing – seeing them make their way down, like something out of Independence Day, is 100 times cooler. The “invasion” of places like Enchanted Lands and Nek Forest are not compelling because they aren’t real invasions. We know from the first second we set foot in there that the mobs are going to wander their scripted paths and just lolligag around till someone offs them. They will never actually *get* anywhere, and they definitely won’t zone into other lands. All of that is out the window with a live event, or at least, I freakin hope it is! I want to see shadowmen everywhere, and see Norrathians slowly get “borged.” I want to feel like I’m doing my part to stem the tide of the invaders. I want to feel like a hero!
And hopefully, when all is said and done, a lot more people will be aware of a pretty cool backstory. Maybe even me!
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