MMO Gaming

Normally this is the point that I would be writing a new “chapter” in the story but tonight, since the game has just been patched, I figure I’ll go over some of the things that were included in it along with some general thoughts. I don’t consider this to be the “normal” Wednesday post for the month but I thought it important to take a break from the fiction for a bit more reality.

I won’t go over the entirety of the patch notes as a lot of fixes and things were made but I did want to cover a few. Keep in mind I haven’t yet been able to log in to give all of these things a thorough look at so expect more thoughts from my Monday post in a few days.

The full patch notes, for those interested can be found here.

First up on the list is the Client/Server updates, promising greater stability and performance. I haven’t been able to see if this is the case yet, but assuming it is that is always a good thing. Though I have had relatively few problems with performance I know some others that have had different experiences and this change may get them to load up the game to check it out again when they previously may not have.

Another nice change in the patch was the increase of the mission log to 30. I don’t know if this was strictly necessary but it is nice and will be good to be able to keep hold off some extra quests. Of course, I disagree with the whole capping of number of possible missions in the first place, but that is an entirely different debate to argue so I’ll leave it be.

A few other small but occasionally annoying issues were fixed and I’m glad to see that, they didn’t greatly detract from the experience but some of the things they took care of were things that I had noticed as being a problem which means they were fairly obvious things that would need to get fixed. A long list of actual bugs were fixed as well none of which I really have a problem with so long as the fixes do work.

I would like to see that Known Issues list shrink greatly with each subsequent patch, so we’ll have to see how that goes but all in all it is a good and necessary first patch. Now, if only they would release the first operation with some actual content I may be very impressed.

plaync, ncsoft, destination games, tabula rasa, patches, patch notes, game updates

If, like me, you have Tabula Rasa pre-ordered tomorrow begins the date when you can start playing. This is a good and a bad thing. It’s good in the sense that we will finally be able to start on characters that won’t be erased, bad, because, well, I have a feeling they aren’t fully prepared for what is going to happen. But let me take a moment to explain myself on this.

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Friday evening I came home to find a message sitting in my inbox about Dungeon Runners first major update, Chunk 1. There are some great new features added, of particular importance to me was the announcement that the movement feature had been changed so it wasn’t “laggy” anymore. I have yet to load it up but I will be doing so tonight when I get home. That was a major source of annoyance to me before. Though definitely a needed change they also added some other great stuff.

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Ouch. Perpetual is putting GnH on indefinite hold. That’s never good. What this actually means is that the game will likely never be finished. Like Tobold, I was in the beta, and as he says, I’m assuming the NDA is now gone. If it isn’t I guess they’ll have to kick me out of the-oooohhh. Too soon?

Alright, let’s try to be serious for a moment here though. What did I actually think of the game?

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I probably should have talked about this earlier, but I didn’t for a few reasons. First because I didn’t exactly know how I felt, and second because I wasn’t sure what was worth mentioning. I think, now, I’ve finally got it figured out. Of course, if you haven’t been keeping up on the TR news, than I’ll be explaining everything to you for the first time so let’s get that out of the way first.

Step 1 of this post is to read some of the latest information, I’ll summarize it later, but I highly suggest you go ahead and read the whole thing. Take a look here and here for what I am talking about (or what I am going to be talking about, as it may be.) Now that we have the foundation all set, time to get on to my part of the writing.

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So very long ago now, it seems, I wrote a review of a certain product. I use this product all the time and it is probably the single best purchase I have ever made for gaming. It is still holding up very well, and works out great but the product itself (not necessarily mine) is getting a bit old. But don’t worry, that’s okay, because there’s a big announcement that most people probably never saw.

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I got my second LEGO Universe newsletter yesterday. Still very little information on it but I did want to share for those of you who may not have signed up. The newsletter basically broke down to just one link; this one. It’s concept art. Now, obviously, this isn’t a good judge of deciding whether it’s worth checking out a game but I’ll be damned if I don’t find that picture very, very interesting.

If it isn’t obvious yet, I love LEGO products, even if it didn’t make my list. Just from that sketch, and from the obviously large amount of territory that can be covered in the LEGO universe, I’m really excited. I know it is still a long way off but I still can’t wait to check this thing out.

Also on the news front this past week I got an e-mail from Perpetual talking about a certain something. Given the recent news out of that camp I’m interested in logging in and checking out exactly what is going on so we’ll have to see if I have the time.

And, as far as the non-news front goes, I mentioned that I picked up EVE and have had it for a few days now. I know this isn’t exactly new to anyone who has played EVE for, well, any length of time really, but I did want to highlight EVEMon. I’m not one to get fanatically interested in planning my character out in advance, but EVE is quickly taking that ability away from me. You need to plan in advance and I’m finding it is actually quite fun doing it. That’s one of the great…or not so great, depending on how you look at it, things about EVE, even if you aren’t in game there is still so much to think about doing when you are in-game. I’ll be talking about EVE more as I get farther into it, but for now, if you are interested in looking me up my character is Calen Delnor and I am a complete noob, if you can stand that, send me a message in game anytime.

As you know doubt heard Tabula Rasa has been pushed back about two weeks (formerly pre-order date 10/16 and launch 10/19) to 10/30 pre-order start date and 11/2 official launch date. As you also know I have been playing the game for quite a while. This is a step in the right direction. I said what my opinion of the game was not long ago and I think I came off perhaps overly negative in tone compared to the final score I gave. This is because the game itself is actually pretty good, and fun, but the problems that plague this game, compared to what should have been make it much worse.

One of the biggest problems I have had, and am still having, is with performance. This is not because of my computer (I posted the specs of the new computer I got a while back and it can more than handle this game, especially since I put in another 2GB of RAM yesterday.) The lag is, at its best times, horrendous and at its worst completely unplayable (I should know as I’ve stopped playing several times before because of it.) If this delay will help them to fix these issues (and judging by the length it is going to allow them one “full” extra patch) then it is a very good thing. I know talking with some friends we have all mentioned how with the delays of several other key games, like Warhammer Online, and Age of Conan, Tabula Rasa has the chance to delay itself by a little bit and still come out before any of that competition does. While being first isn’t necessarily best it certainly can’t hurt.

So, while some headlines would make you believe this is the sign of death for the game I’d hardly say that is the case, stability can only bring benefits to the game.

Tabula Rasa, mmo gaming, mmog, mmorpg, ncsoft, plaync, release date, warhammer online, age of conan, lag, server stability

Pirates of the Burning Sea is going on pre-order the 23rd of October. Amazon.com seems to have put the release date in mid-January and it is one of the only times that I may be tempted to believe the game will actually come out before what retailers are telling me. I’m not sure but I can imagine that the game may ship in time for Christmas (because, as you are no doubt already aware, pirates love baby Jesus.)

More so than the news of an actual pre-order date is what that pre-order package will contain. You do get the obligatory in-game pet, and a soundtrack of pirate music, which we can only assume is to be used when plundering, and mayhaps even pillaging but let us not get ahead of ourselves.

For a moment let’s take a turn to the pet that you get. Not that I don’t love flying shit machines as much as the next person but I really just don’t see the point. I recommend an alternate bonus. Players that pre-order the game should get scurvy. You may be wondering in what dark recesses of my mind this idea came out of. Certainly scurvy is not a sickness that we modern people find desirous but I ask you what kind of a pirate would be caught dead without scurvy (and possibly even because of it)?

Mind you no one has paid much attention to these bonuses because they are all far too busy worrying about what they will do with the 15 days they will have in the game before everyone else. The cap of level 20 during this period is but a formality because, as is a well known fact pirating can be mastered in but a few short days with over two weeks of time the only possibility is ending up with some sort of man-god hybrid super pirate. Ninjas, you have been warned!

pirates of the burning sea, fly lab software, pirates, ninjas, pre-order, new games, mmog, mmorpg

It appears that Exteel, NCSofts mech shooter, is back in closed beta. While I would normally say this doesn’t bode well for a game I’m not so sure. Having not played in the original beta, who knows, the fact that there was a delay (and a long one) and now a renewed closed beta could be, in fact, a very good thing. I’ll admit that this game has been one of those that I’ve been watching not because I feel it will set the world on fire with it’s innovation, but because hey, I get to blow shit up with giant robots in it, and I’ll be damned if that isn’t fun.

I’ve applied for the beta, and if you like giant robots (and let’s be honest here, who doesn’t?) I’d recommend you go ahead and do it. The pricing, it seems, will probably be free to play and micro-transactions so you really have nothing to lose.

exteel, plaync, ncsoft, beta test, closed beta, beta games

As Cuppy mentioned there is the big announcement on the Metaplace.com website today.

Given Raph’s recent discussion at the Austin GDC I heard talk from quite a few people on what he said. Most were skeptical, some felt he may not be making a game “for us” (”us” being the typical MMOG player.) After reading the announcement though, I’m not so sure that is correct. I am still, of course, skeptical, as I naturally am. I am also, however, intrigued. It sounds, dare I say it, fun. Not, mind you, the typical fun that we may be used to (of course, as MMO players we tend to consider “fun” as something a normal person would consider equivalent to bashing their skulls in with a hammer.) This, though, sounds fun in the typical sense and that’s a very good thing.

For now, read the full announcement over on their site. I eagerly await more news.

Areae, metaplace, cuppycake, cuppytalk, raph koster, new games, alpha games

Well, it has been officially announced, October 19th is the release date for Tabula Rasa. Given that I’ve been in the beta test for quite a while I obviously have thoughts on this, but I’ll hold off for a short while longer until I can say more. You can check out the full press release at the PlayNC.com site. Or, if you prefer the abridged version, check out the TR site’s announcement.

Going along with this news is the new design of the Tabula Rasa site (and apparently the official name change to RGTR.com, because the game really needs 10 different domain names.) The site design is interesting, it feels a bit like a less cluttered version of WoW’s design scheme. Plus, it does have a few cool options hanging around if you look for them.

But, as I said, more on all this later.

I haven’t really mentioned anything about Guild Wars recently but after viewing the new trailer of the expansion pack coming out, I’m interested. You can check it out at the official site. It’s looking pretty cool.

I’ve never really disliked GW, just couldn’t get into it (mainly because of the lack of a jump button, yeah I know.) That being said, I do own all of the campaigns that are out (Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall) and have been playing the game more lately than ever since I’m doing a bit of waiting for various MMOs to come out.

Anyway, I’m interested to see what they do with this expansion and for GW 2 which will be coming out as well. Have to wait and see on that front though.

So, it seems The Burning Crusade expansion has, at least for a time, dropped down to only $25. If any of you WoW players, are former WoW players haven’t picked it up yet, now is as good a time as any to get it and save yourself a few bucks in the process.

Thanks to PacoDG for the tip.

burning crusade, wow, world of warcraft, tbc, blizzard, amazon, price drop, cheap prices

I’m not sure I’m liking this. Thanks to a poster on the MMORPG.com forums (again today, crazy) I found this little gem. Particularly important is the following quote:

Austin, Texas-based NCsoft North America, for instance, is planning — for the first time — to sell and insert ads into its popular online multi-player games such as “Lineage,” “Guild Wars” and “City of Heroes,” as well as into its forthcoming fantasy game “Tabula Rasa.”

“We’re really intrigued by it,” said Dorothy Ferguson, NCsoft North America’s vice president of sales and marketing. “It has the potential to increase (revenues), but it’s really also about enhancing the game-playing experience.”

I’m not sure I’m liking where this is heading. Not so much the idea of ads in games, I’m not completely against that, but I don’t know if I can justify $15/month cost plus deal with having ads inside the game world. I think you can have ads that work seamlessly within the game world, but I also think that because a company is doing that they are obligated to pass on the cost savings to the consumer. Arbitrarily charging more money and sticking ads in a game isn’t the idea at all.

I’ll have to wait and see what happens.

ads, advertisment, in-game ads, ncsoft, tabula rasa, lineage, city of heroes, city of villains, coh, cov, cox