MMO Gaming

I played a little bit in the Fury beta a while back. It was enjoyable. Not the greatest game I’ve ever played, but enough fun that I am thinking about buying it. My problem is not so much with the money, spending $50 on the game isn’t going to kill me and it is free to play. My problem is that I’m not sure if I’m going to end up getting my $50 out of it.

I look at Guild Wars as an example. I own Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall. I’m struggling to decide if I should get Eye of the North. My problem is I only really have a character up a few levels in the Prophecies campaign, and even he isn’t at the (very low) max level for the game. I just don’t play it that often (mainly because of a lack of jumping ability, but that’s a different story I think.) I got those three because I do enjoy the games, and want to support the alternate business model, but at some point I guess it is hard to decide if it is really worth it.

The same thing with Fury. I want to support what they are doing. They are trying something different and going with a different business model along with it. I support that…in theory. But should I support it with my wallet even if I won’t really be spending $50 worth of time in the game?

I look at the Orange Box for a point of comparison. That’s five games, 50 dollars. That is probably the best deal available in gaming today. The only thing I can see topping that deal is if Square Enix released Final Fantasy 1-9 in a single “Mega Collection” or perhaps the complete Dragon Quest/Warrior Series as it’s own collection. If they sold something like that for $50 it would certainly be the best deal ever…perhaps I’ll have to write them letting them know they should do this.

I digress. The point of all this is at what point should we, or should we not, spend money on games? How much time in game do we have to spend to make each dollar “worth it?” Has anyone come up with a good formula for this? Any decisions on game buying you made that you regret now? Let me know.

games, fury, orange box, final fantasy, dragon quest, guild wars, mmorpg, mmog, mmo gaming, money

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.

• Bad/buggy games will not be tolerated. For a reference we can point to Vanguard.
• Solid games that lack any bit of innovation will be praised and then dismissed. I’m looking at you LotRO.
• Having an incredible player-base won’t save you from deterioration if you don’t try to re-invent yourself with additional content. That’s to you Blizzard and the Burning Crusade expansion.

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

As I mentioned in the last post I put another 2GB of RAM into my computer. Though I didn’t get to spend much time seeing any performance increase I did load up Tabula Rasa just to check out what it would play like. I can say quite honestly that the performance increase, while measurable (I went from using about 75% RAM when playing to about 30% on max settings) it didn’t help out with server issues. Sadly, no matter how good my computer is I can’t seem to do anything about that. Of course, with the amount of RAM I have now maybe I could upgrade to Vista. Not because I think it is superior but just because I can…on second thought…I think I’ll wait.

But that isn’t the only new part I picked up for my computer, I also finally bought myself a brand new sound card. That I didn’t get to install at all (I’ll have to do that tonight) but I’m hoping it works out a bit better than the built-in sound on the motherboard (not that it was bad, but I’d really like it to be great.) As always I’m going to go ahead and recommend that anyone needing to upgrade their computer shop at Newegg.com I’ve been really impressed by how fast they are getting the things I order to me (as in, they are only taking one day to get every order I’ve placed with them to my house). I’ll report back later this week, possibly even tomorrow, and let everyone know how the sound card works out. If all goes according to plan by tomorrow I’ll be deaf.

computer components, tabula rasa, mmo gaming, RAM, creative, sound card, newegg

As I am apt to do every now and then (and by that I obviously mean every single chance I get) I have decided to plug a few posts that were e-mailed to me. Both posts were sent to me by a writer over at MTV Multiplayer.

First up is an interesting read about Tabula Rasa, probably one of the better write-ups I’ve seen, possibly because play-time is so well documented. I’m told it will be an “at least once a month” feature so we’ll see how that goes. The premise is to take 3 days with a game and form an opinion of it based on that time since MMOGs tend to be long and costly to play many of. A good idea.

The second, same person, same blog, is a weekly advice column, this one on why and how to get into MMOGs. Perhaps not as useful for my regular readers but still a useful read for anyone who isn’t familiar with the games and how they work.

So, there you have it, as requested I’ve gone and plugged a few posts for you guys to check out. Thanks for sending them in to me.

mmog, mmo gaming, tabula rasa, mtv multiplayer, shameless plug

If you look to your right, and then scroll down a bit you will notice my blogroll. It is very small. This is unfortunate. It doesn’t represent the full number of blogs I read just the ones that happened to pop into my head as I was updating the list. Which is why I need some help. If you would like to appear on my blogroll send me an e-mail or leave a comment so that I can add you in. There’s a good chance I already read your blog anyway, and if I don’t I may highlight it in a post and start reading it regularly from now on.

Thanks to everyone for the input.

Unfortunately I am in the midst of a huge problem with some idiots I recently bought a computer from (well, not me, my brother, but he’s on vacation and I’m trying to straighten things out.) Also unfortunately I don’t yet have the ability to say how it has gone because it isn’t over yet. Suffice it to say frustration has reached an all-time high for me, and that is an impressive feat in and of itself.

For the record, I do not recommend buying from iBuyPower.com…ever. I guarantee I will never make the mistake again. I’ll get to my reasons for choosing them at another post but I’ll hold off writing that until this has been resolved. To dull the pain of dealing with their customer service I’m going to go stab myself in the throat now.

I’m going on a week-long trip on Friday. I mention that to explain the story I’m about to tell. This trip I’m taking, some would call it a vacation, involves me being in a car for about 14 hours. For those of you who have driven this far before you know that it is important to have something to do or at least have a healthy supply of sleeping pills. I’m out of sleeping pills. Instead I decided to go to the mall and pick myself up a Nintendo DS (sidetrack: screw every “next-gen” system, I’m having more fun with this thing than any other system I’ve played recently) and some games. I’m a masochist as should be obvious by the fact that I ventured into EB Games. To understand how horrible Gamestop/EB Games is you should probably imagine yourself in prison. Your cell-mate in this prison is the Devil himself.

(more…)

I’m in the Tabula Rasa beta. I’ve mentioned this before. I could, probably, talk about my experiences under the guise of being a “press” site, but I won’t because I’m not sure that would be fair or even relatively accurate.

That having been said, here is some non-NDA breaking ranting about what other people have posted. I won’t link specifically to various sites but most of my readers will have read these elsewhere and already know about them, so here it is.

Your expectations are completely incorrect about this game. Any pre-conceived notions you have should be thrown out the window. It isn’t that game. This is not Ultima Online in space with freakin’ lasers. This is Tabula Rasa. This is, believe it or not, a chance for NCSoft to make money providing a quality game. I’ve just given you all the information you need to know but in case you missed it, I’ll clarify. It is a game. Is it sinking in yet, are you seeing where I’m going with this? It is a game. And a damn fun one too. If it is a virtual game than it is obviously not a virtual what? I think I’ve made myself clear now. If that is not what you are expecting than you are thinking all wrong.

Once again, this is not Ultima Online, or Everquest. It is also not EVE and doesn’t pretend to be. It is not pre-NGE SWG and it doesn’t claim to be. Tabula Rasa is a new game. It absolutely lives up to it’s name. It is a clean slate, a new look at online gaming. What it isn’t, is paper. If you come to Tabula Rasa thinking you are going to get paper and end up seeing it is still built on slate, than you will have a problem. That problem is yours. The problem doesn’t lie in the game it lies in what you thought the game would be.

I’m not saying the game is perfect or that it still doesn’t need work (it is still in beta after all) but everything I have read is just being silly. The problem is, of course, that it is Lord British’s game (actually, General, if you prefer now.) People thought it would go back to what UO was, but in space, and with shooter-esque combat. NO! It isn’t that at all.

Oh and one more thing, anyone who complains about the fact that it isn’t an FPS and it just pretends to be one but still has those same dice-rolls. Congratulations, you just found out exactly what has been stated hundreds of times by the developers themselves. Now please go turn on an oven and stick your head in it.

If you are on the lookout for ways to waste time when you are at work and unable to load up an MMO stop by Duels and give it a go. Register and start working your way up the leveling ladder. For what it’s worth it is actually a pretty cool game and very well done. I only wish it would go a little faster, but perhaps when they get a few more servers up to handle the load things will process faster. Either way, if you want to waste some time it’s a great opportunity.

I’m in. Unfortunately, according to the e-mail that is all I’m allowed to say as it is still under a strict NDA. I seem to be getting quite a few beta invites now. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration it’s only two that I’m in, but still more than I expected to get at once. The other, in case anyone didn’t already know, is Tabula Rasa. Now, if anyone could find out a way to get me a PotBS or G&H invite I’d be set.

Anyway, just thought I’d mention that I got in. I’ll probably be starting a write-up as I get a bit further along that I will post as soon as I can.

beta games, beta test, warhammer online, warhammer, tabula rasa, ea mythic, mythic, ncsoft, NDA, pirates of the burning sea, gods and heroes

Well, unfortunately I’m still not going to say anything about what I’ve been hinting at this past little while, but lets just say that things got a bit more interesting these past few days with some things that happened. I’m really looking forward to sharing with people what the news is (actually several bits of news) but I can’t just yet. Tomorrow though I’ve got a top list to put up that should be pretty fun, and a nice design oriented article after that. I enjoyed writing them and hopefully they will go over well.

This ties in partially with the direction I’m going to be heading with this blog in the near future, which is to say, less of this, and more of the interesting stuff.

Anyway, wanted to give everyone an update and let you all know that a list will be showing up tomorrow, and honestly, who doesn’t love a list?

It’s unfortunate that none of the games out right now have grabbed my interest, because in all honesty I’d rather be playing an MMOG at the moment than something else. Since that isn’t the case though, I decided I’d give some other games a whirl and went out this weekend to pick up a few games that I’d missed. After a trip to the mall and roughly $200 later I walked out with my swag.

What did I get?

Well, the highlights are Half-Life 2 and Dungeon Siege 2: Deluxe Edition for PC. Yeah, I know, I’m way behind picking up either one of these games but too bad, my computer couldn’t really run them before anyway. I also picked up a few PS2 games to pass the time with, but I haven’t played much of any of them to give an opinion. The rest of the money went into the first 2 seasons of “Arrested Development” which is hilarious, by the way and one of the best shows that was canceled.

Of course, as I mentioned, I haven’t really spent any time with any PS2 games and I only got to install DS2 since I wanted to watch some DVD’s with my brother and sister instead of game right away, but, I did manage to play some HL2. For those that don’t know, which is probably all of you since I don’t recall ever mentioning this before, I loved the original Half-Life, it was awesome. When I read things about HL2, such as it being better than the first one I was wary. So many times I read reviews like this and the only thing that is “better” is the graphics and everything else is either exactly the same (including any problems that may have existed) or ends up actually being worse than the original. That isn’t the case with HL2. It’s awesome. AWESOME!

That of course got me thinking about what made this game so much fun compared to the current crop, and, though I’m holding out for this not to be the case, the next set of MMOs to be released. I’m holding off on giving that answer as I want to see if the fun will actually last for more than a day, but I’m pretty sure it will. I’ve also got to give DS2 a try and see how that is. I’ll post later in the week with more thoughts on these games.

Apparently Issue 10 of CoX launched and I missed it. This one looked like it was going to be pretty good but seeing as I don’t have a level 50 character and I’m not currently playing I guess I shouldn’t care all that much…still, I would have loved to see this issue, it just sounded like a ton of fun.

Also, I happened upon my July Warhammer Online Newsletter. Amazingly enough they tell me all the things I already know, namely that the game isn’t released yet but they are still doing things. Yeah, I was shocked too.

Other happenings? Well, as I alluded to a few days ago I’m still working on things but I’m hoping to be able to do the big reveal “soon.” This “soon” is not the typical MMO developer soon, I mean it will actually be happening only a short time in the future. Anyway, let me get back to working on that for a bit.

As has been quite obvious my posts of late have been rather short and lacking any real flare. This isn’t with good reason, certainly, but it also isn’t because I’ve just been sitting around doing nothing. I’m working on several different things at the moment one of the most important being a bit of a change in what I’ll be covering on the site. Given that the name of the site is “MMO Gaming” I’m obviously not going to be straying too far from what you’ve already seen, but things will take on a slightly different light.

I’m hoping to make this change around the same time that I make another change in what I’ve been doing. This other change will in a lot of ways complement the changes to the site I’m making here. Unfortunately I’m not quite fully ready to go about saying everything about these changes just yet but I’m hoping to make an announcement next week with more details.

I don’t know when I missed this bit of brilliance but now I’ve got to try it. What’s not to love? E-mail…with spam as fat dudes that can be eaten by sharks? Who doesn’t love that idea? Maybe not exactly an MMO but an interesting concept and something I wanted to share in case anyone else is, like me, way behind the times and missed this when it first came out.