Ok. I’m going to see how long I can NOT buy an EA product. I’m disconnecting my cash from the company. I’ve never had a major issue with the company, either. Their support (for me) has been just awesome. I’ve been buying their titles for as long as I have been gaming. Sometimes, you just…
Month: October 2010
Minecraft Zen (for you, Tesh)
Tesh often waxes poetic about forms of Zen grinding, and I found it recently in Minecraft. I realized in game I am not a fancy builder – but hey, can I strip mine with the best of them! When a much needed work break opportunity appears, I make 12 stone pickaxes (saving the iron ore for…
Nodding Wistfully : Diku
A thankful nod to this article over at Qblog from Mr. Dr. Bartle. While I started my MMO adventures in EQ beta, I still didn’t understand where the holy trinity actually came from.  I’ve always disliked it, writing my own musings on how silly it all is, and the challenges of getting people to adopt something…
What I Don’t Get About the Gaming Industry
“As you know, seasonal roll-offs that follow game launches are common and vital to maintaining a healthy business” – EA Spokesperson Jeff Brown Why is it that this statement seems only true for the gaming industry? I’m probably missing a few other industries that do this so nonchalantly in tone. It seems impossible to maintain…
Steam Sale Stings! (also – my Baseball Game is now a RPG)
I picked up MLB 2k10 from 2k sports over the weekend. I enjoyed 2k9, and the $20 price tag is a nice entry level. Today I check out steam, and that same title is now on sale for $1.99. 90% off! While that is indeed impressive, now my valued purchase makes me feel like I…
Welcome To Our Preferred Customer Program
My son decided he wanted to be a Skeleton this year for Hallowe’en – a far cry from his normal big budget movie choices (Batman, Spiderman, Bumblebee) and wow, is it ever hard to find a basic skeleton costume these days. I ordered on online and had it priority shipped. It arrived in a day,…
On Relationships
Not interpersonal human relationships, as that is better served by the professionals. Not MMO player relationships (guilds, etc) as that is still managed between human beings. In Fallout: New Vegas, I am asked to manage relationships in game via two formats – Karma, and Reputation with various groups. Karma is interesting – if you do…
Conventions
One of the best blog articles I have read recently was at Elder Gamer regarding genre conventions in our beloved MMO’s. It hits on a lot of interesting and valid points, and is a great read. I find it interesting that a lot of the ‘outside of the box’ MMO design discussions (from the armchair…
Vindictus-ed
I have spent a couple days in the Vindictus open beta. I don’t really do ‘reviews’ but wanted to share some bullet points about the experience. My initial impression is MMO-lite meets Team Fortress 2, but that is meant as a compliment. 1) Currently there are only 2 character classes, a Fiona (sword and board)…
I Love People’s Creativity
A couple of really creative Minecraft ‘work’ (edit – errors with embedding. Sorry for the ugly linking.) I can see my house Beam me up, Scotty A working 16 bit computer. Really. I need to up my standards. I was happy just tunneling.
Minecrafting
I forgot how much I love the sandbox. It even took me a while to adjust my playstyle expectations – big, random generated world that I can do whatever I want with. Sadly, I have lost the ability to post pics to my own blog (help, Joe!) – so I can’t share the sheer awesomeness…
GAMMOP – Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Mobs Gear
MMO’s have generally accepted principles much like accounting. Rules and systems that have been adopted over the years. I recently signed up to try the Age of Conan Trial (haven’t played it since I dismissed the game as ‘not for me’ in beta). I’ll most likely discuss how things have changed there in another piece,…
Secure Online Starcraft 2
Starcraft 2 cost a reported 100 million to make. Not far into the release, Blizzard bans 5000 players for cheating. I know, I know. The 1337 hackers are always ahead of programmers. Curious though, out of a 100 million development budget, I wonder how much was budgeted to make a game difficult to hack/cheat? Especially…
Can We Teach A New Dog Old Tricks?
Blizzard seems intent on taking a new direction in Cataclysm – making the game more challenging. I’m very curious if the follow through, and if they do – even more curious if they stick with it. The basis of the change, without going into too much detail, is making CC required in instances again as…