In case you were not previously aware November is quite a packed month. There is NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo as well. For those of you who don’t know what they are that’s Nation Blog Posting Month, in which you post once per day on your blog for the entire month of November and Nation Novel Writing Month, in which you attempt to write a complete novel in one month. If you are participating you may need the help of friends.
One year ago today I started this blog. I was tempted to go through every single post I’ve written so I could give you all the breakdown of how many words I’ve written in that one year period but I got distract after the, well, 10th post or so. That having been said I did want to say a few things about this first year that has gone by. First, thanks to all those who are reading and especially those of you who have been making comments. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a comment on one of my posts, whether it agrees or disagrees. Also a special thanks to those who have linked to one of my posts as that is perhaps the next best thing to a comment.
I’ve had a pretty good year, all things considered. I’ve enjoyed writing and hopefully I’ve been enjoyed by others. I’ve found a lot of great blogs that I now read on a regular basis, if not daily then at very least weekly. I’ve got some ongoing projects as well that I want to really start honing in on in this second year. I managed to play probably two or three times more MMOs than I ever would have without this blog.
When I started writing here I was playing WoW, and that was pretty much it. Since then I’ve stopped playing WoW and am now enjoying playing, well, nothing except for the TR beta and EVE when I need to log on (and those of you who play EVE know what I mean by that.) I’ve picked up EQ2 for a short period and COH/V for a while as well, but none of them grabbed me. I tried LotRO, even bought it after my initial impressions were so poor and found out that my first call had been the right one.
In my first year of blogging a lot has changed in the MMO world. Some harsh lessons were learned. Games failed. More than one in fact. Looking over this year I think a few things have become abundantly clear.
It’s a lot harder now to release an MMO than it was just a few years ago. What lessons will 2008 bring us? What will we see fail?
I can’t answer that yet, but rest assured I’ll be here to find out.
anniversary, mmo gaming, mmog, mmo, mmo gamer, online games, wow, tabula rasa
If you haven’t already seen it…
Congratulations! I look forward to bothering you at least once a week from now on asking inane questions…don’t worry, you can just call it training 
For this first contest we’ll actually be requiring some work for people that want to win something. First a little about the contest, then we get to the contest rules, and then, at the bottom, the prizes.
About the Contest
So, what exactly will you be doing? MMO games have the unique ability to truly emulate real world situations and events. As gamers we often criticize the media for not taking gaming as a serious form of entertainment or art. Compared to painting, music, movies, books and so on games are not considered to be on that same level of depth, and for good reason. The average game isn’t out there tackling tough issues or showing us flaws in the system around us. In fact, trying to make a game that has a strong lesson also fun is not an easy task. (No one wants to play “Global Warming: The Game” right?)
But with MMOs, or more specifically, virtual worlds, we are poised to get rid of this notion entirely if we tackle these issues correctly. So that’s what we’re going to do. Put on your Helmet of World Building +1™ and tell me how you would go about evolving the MMO to bring real world issues to light in a fun and interesting way. Entries can be any length you like so long as you can explain the idea you have.
The Rules
One entry per person. All entries must be original work that has not been posted elsewhere. Entries may not be posted to another blog/website during the duration of the contest. Entries must be received no later than Friday, June 22, 2007 at 11:59 PM EST. Entries should be at least one paragraph in length (4-5 sentences) but have no maximum length. All entrants must supply a valid e-mail address to be used for contact. Entries should be sent to “brandon.levan[at]451press.net” or, alternatively, using the “Contact Me” button on the right of the page. Winners will be chosen based on all entries received by the specified time and judged by the GamingMMO.com staff (hey look, that’s just me.) Winners will be notified by e-mail and be posted between Monday, June 25, 2007 and Friday, June 29, 2007. The top three entries (in no particular order) will win a prize. If there are less than three entries or less than three entries are judged to be of a proper standard of quality (as decided by the GamingMMO.com staff (look, again, just me)) all prizes may not be awarded.
The Prize (AKA: The Reason You’re Reading)
The winning entries will each receive an Amazon.com Gift Certificate worth $40. Prizes may be sent out via e-mail for instant use or via regular mail at the winning entrants choice.
And that’s it. It’s fairly open so go crazy and come up with something good. Have fun!
Aside from some other cool things which I still won’t mention, I have another announcement which I will. We are coming up on the first GamingMMO.com contest. I can’t yet say what the contest will involve but I can say that there will be some cool stuff that you can win. What exactly is that cool stuff? You’ll just have to wait until next week to find out. Come back Friday, June 15 to check out the contest and the prizes.
And remember, to enter the contest you must be willing to provide a valid e-mail address up front, and a valid shipping address if you win.
So, Hexedian made a post in the Kill Ten Rats forums (tied in, apparently, with this post from Hex’s blog…yes I shortened it to Hex, because I am that lazy.)
I’ll quote it below and then my response because it’s a good subject and gave me an idea (and who doesn’t love an idea.)
I’ve been thinking for while, and I’ve come to the conclusion that most MMORPGs that we see today are simply too easy. Not that the time to acquire power is too short, I don’t mind that either way, but understanding an MMORPG, and playing it to near perfection, requires next to no skills from the player.
Now, that may seem intuitive for the people who are used to being made fun of because they play a game that doesn’t require skills, but one has to understand that it doesn’t have to be that way. MMORPGs can be every bit as challenging as the next shooter or platformer, without necessarily asking the player to time rocket jumps to the perfection. Why, one of the best catalysts of skillful gaming, human opponents, is, by definition of massively multiplayer, already common in large quantities. The only thing required, then, for skills to play a more interesting part, is for players to be able to make a difference in the game that doesn’t come from having bigger numbers next to their name, or simply more zerglings to attack with.
So, I’m wondering (And obviously trying to start a conversation), has any fellow rat-slayer had any idea of how to make MMORPGs more interesting skill-wise?
And my response:
I think this varies from game to game. For instance, very few people in WoW were “playing [their class] to near perfection.” Most players are average or below that, not exceptional (unless we are talking about a DPS class, in which case my 3 year old sister can play one of those “exceptionally”.
Why should understanding how to play be difficult? That’s one of (the many) reasons I hate EVE. It’s a pain in the ass to get into. It’s a game that is unnecessarily complex, which is unfortunate because the idea kicks ass. For instance, when playing my 14 day free trial I spent 3 hours one night on the beginning tutorial…and still wasn’t finished. That’s a flaw of design. That’s not a “deep” game, that’s just annoying. I want to be playing the game 3 hours into it, not figuring out what the hell is supposed to be going on.
In what ways, exactly, are shooters or platformers more challenging? I’m at a loss as to how we are adding challenge without making proper execution a prerequisite of that?
I think you answer your own question pretty well. It involves getting rid of levels…and stats if at all possible (and yes, it is not only possible but surprisingly simple.) Personally I believe that the only “stats” that should exist in the game are a measure of health and a measure of “power” to let you perform special moves/actions (like mana, or endurance or whatever the game wants to call it.)
The problem with stats is that they negate player skill. If a player is very good at playing, it doesn’t matter, because the secret dice roll says they miss or hit and how much that hit does when it happens. That’s a ridiculous way to go about creating “skill”.
I’ve also heard talk about throwing out classes/jobs in games too and going completely skill based, but I think that is a mistake. Sure, skill based games afford some leniency. You don’t exactly have to worry about balance issues between different groups but that doesn’t mean you have achieved player freedom in relation to building a character. All you’ve done is gain time before the cookie-cutter build is discovered, or that one uber-skill is found.
With classes you give yourself, as a developer, freedom to explore different options for playing even with everyone using the same builds. Sure all X class may be the same, but at least when you pick up Y class you are playing in a different manner. Of course, that is another flaw of design, all classes playing the same, which so many games seem to do.
The other major problem shown in games is the idea of the trinity of classes. Tanking, Healing, Damage. And though I could go on for pages on just this topic I’ll throw in a mini-version of it along with this topic. This sort of old-school thinking is a flaw of design. In fact…it’s a random design element that was added in first-generation MMOs that is just plain stupid because it doesn’t exist elsewhere in games (generally speaking). Take your typical pen(cil) and paper RPG like Shadowrun or Mechwarrior and find the tank/healer/damage trio in them. Here’s a hint…you won’t.
Hell, take a single player RPG, Final Fantasy for instance (any of them, doesn’t really matter honestly) and try to find that set up of 3 characters. They don’t exist (really). Oh, sure, there is some difference. Maybe Aerith is a better healer than Cid but both could heal and both could take damage and they could also do damage. Why do we add this arbitrary 3 groups into our MMOs? Does the fact that we are playing with other people mean we each need to specialize?
That’s nonsense. It stems from the belief that all 3 of those paths are linear. That healing is about (only) restoring lost health. That tanking is about (only) stopping others from being hit. That doing damage means (only) ticking away X amount of health on a mob. That’s all ridiculously linear thinking. It is another flaw of design.
There is another option. Each player can bring the same things to the table…yet they are all completely different. Each player can have the ability to heal…but not just by restoring lost health. Each player can tank…but that doesn’t mean that each person has to stop others from being hit. Each person can do damage…but that doesn’t mean each one has to tick away X amount of health of the target.
Speaking of which…why are people so afraid to combine tanking and healing into one role? The two are so intrinsically linked that you need one and the other, not one or the other. Why not tie them together…and you know what…we’ll be really crazy and throw damage in there too…all in the same class. I’m not talking about hybrid classes, which can fill in at a bad spot for one of the primary classes but don’t really replace them…I’m talking about each class providing every role (regardless of “spec” or whatever term you want to use) and yet still requiring other players for various encounters and making each group still able to work with one another without becoming redundant.
You know what…I better stop there for now or I’ll just keep going until I hit the character limit.
You’ll noticed I used a phrase several times in my response: flaws of design. That’s the idea I had…a new column. I haven’t ironed out the details yet but I’ve got a a couple of things floating around still. Basically each week/2 weeks, I will be taking on a design issue with my take on how to fix it. I’ll be looking for some material to use, so if you have something you wanted me to talk about contact me. You can use the contact link on the side or reach me by e-mail at brandon.levan[at]451press.net I have other means of contact, such as IM, available upon request.
For those of you that might not have checked the comments in the other thread and wonder why you haven’t gotten your invite, here’s what’s going on.
I am allowed to send out 4 invites at any given time. Once a person activates their account with the key that was sent to them I can invite another person. Currently there are 4 out waiting to be activated. If you are one of those 4 (if you signed up at all check the e-mail that was given) please activate as soon as you can so other invites can be sent out.
If you are wondering what order in line you are, I won’t say, but there are 8 people still awaiting an invite, and they will be sent out in the order that I received them. Hopefully this will go quickly and people will activate, but if there are any other problems or delays, etc. I will be updating again mid-week to fill everyone in.
Thanks to all for reading and for the interest.
Dungeon runners, free games, ncsoft, invites, refer a friend
It’s probably fair enough to say that the “of the week” posts haven’t actually been “of the week”. It’s not because of lack of content, so much as lack of time and a bit of restructuring that has gone on. In light of that I’ve decided to change things around a bit.
First, there will still be an “of the week” post, but it will be a single post that can cover any number of areas (a story, a picture, a video, a forum post, etc.) and will be called the “Highlight of the Week”. This post will appear every Wednesday.
Second, the “Repairing Gears” posts will become weekly posts appearing every Thursday. These posts will cover problems within specific MMOs and outline ways in which they can be corrected. This could cover any number of individual things and I don’t want to overly limit the topic range, so I think it is fair to leave it at that.
Third, a new weekly post, the “Weekly Roundup” will be appearing every Friday, and will cover all the posts made during the week, with the possibility of throwing in some updates/corrections, or other special mentions that need to be added.
All of these weekly posts are designed specifically for reader suggestions. If you have an idea for a “Highlight of the Week”, a topic to cover in “Repairing Gears” use the contact feature (right side, directly after the “About me” portion) to send them in. Also, if the suggestion you send in is used I will happily direct a link to your blog as the person who sent it in, just make sure to include the URL. Please remember to include your name/alias in the information either way so that I can credit you somehow (if only an e-mail address appears for you, with no name, I won’t be printing it, as many people prefer not to have their e-mail address thrown around everywhere).
The “Weekly Roundup” may seem like it doesn’t lend itself as much to suggestions, but if you contact me about a post in general, or just leave a comment, you may be spotlighted in that post as a special mention, especially if I decide to take what you say off on a tangent (which I am known to do), so there is still a level of reader participation.
It may not seem all that important to many of you to read this, in fact the majority of you probably really don’t care, but I’m trying to keep all my readers in the loop with what’s going on as much as I can.
Thanks to everyone for reading!
To all my readers: I hate you! Sadly, I also love you, so you can see the reason for the post title.
Now, if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you know that I don’t need a reason to hate any of you, I just tend to dislike people from the start, but no, this my loathing does have a reason. You can win $500 for a comment on this blog. There’s no decimal missing there. I’m talking about paying for your addiction to MMOs for over a year just by commenting.
Of course, I understand, if you’re not into the whole making money thing then feel free not to comment; on any of the 451 Press blogs, but, on the off chance that you do enjoy getting money for nothing, leave me some comments, not like I haven’t been asking for them
And, if you can’t conjure up something to comment about on my blog, hit up any of the other blogs in the network (there’s plenty to choose from, no matter what you like). Keep away from those TV ones though, stick to the gaming category, we need to prove we’re better than them 
Happy commenting folks!
I’ve posted in the past about other sites getting updated looks, but now it’s a bit different, today I get to say that this site gets a brand new look. Shinier than ever, no?
To restore balance to the blog, I’ve decided it would be best, since the quality of the design has gone up, to actually lower the quality of my posts. Excess quality could cause problems, and I hope to avoid any.
I just wanted to say that I’m planning on starting two new weekly post types that are in need of reader contributions. The first is the “Horror Story of the Week”.
Do you have a tale of outlandish stupidity that threatened an otherwise good PuG? Play with a guild leader so horrible he made the guy from Wipe Club seem like a fuzzy pink bunny? Send it in and I’ll put it up on the site. You can put as much or as little information about you/your character as you’d like. (Character name, Game, Server, etc. or one of those, or more than that, it’s up to you).
Our other new feature? A Screenshot of the Week post. If you’ve got a funny/cool/awesome screenshot of you playing any MMO send it in and I’ll post it. Preferred formats are .gif, .jpg or .png but we can accept any format and we will size the shot correctly. Also feel free to send in a quick blurb about the shot, and once again, you can put any character information you want down or you can remain completely anonymous (just make sure to mention that).
To send in these shots you can use the contact link on the side of the page, or send it to my e-mail at brandon.levan[at]451press.net
Thanks all, I look forward to your submissions.
Just wanted to let everyone know I have received replies from several different people about doing interviews and hope to have the first interview up by the end of this week, and continue posting interviews with various people as much as possible.
Thanks to those that sent me questions and ideas for the interviews.
Currently I’m working on getting some interviews set up with various people about MMO gaming. If anyone has any ideas or questions for people they would like me to contact about an interview, or interview questions you would like to have answered, please comment below or contact me (link on right side of page, under bio).
Thanks.
In the morning you woke up and immediately started buying and selling on the market. Later in the afternoon your sell-through rate plummeted as competitor products hit the market at half your price. And tonight you're going to slay a dragon.
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