I am a very busy guy lately. Work is rediculously busy, family is busy trying to enjoy the summer, and a lot of games are getting closer to release. Since when was summer beta season? I am in 5 right now. With little time to play any. I manage to do a little in each…
All posts in MMO
Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?
Breaking news over at broken toys – the return of an old MMO hero/villain. Is Brad McQuaid back? Myself, as well as others tend to think it’s a hoax. Let’s chat about it a bit – it has been a slow gaming “work” week anyway.
Forswearing Greed – Developers take Notice
This post is inspired by the article of the same title in the June 6th to 12th edition of the Economist. A group of Harvard Business MBA students have made attempts to turn management into a formal profession. Doctors have their oath, so do Lawyers. CEO’s have always had one too – except it isn’t…
It’s All Just TOO Difficult!
Pope here. Today Blizzard announced major changes to the mount structure. Most notable amongst the changes is that flying mounts will now be accessed at level 60. Normal flying will be 150% speed instead of 60% like it has been since flying mounts were launched. Wow. What’s more: Blizzard is now including a portal from…
Repetitive Monetization Theoretics
Newsflash: MMO’s make you grind. (That new, informative and ground breaking statement should win me a blog-pulitzer, or blog-nobel, I am certain of it.) Follow Up: People tend to not like grind. MMOment of Truth: Grind equals profits for companies (both in the form of longer sub fee collection, and minimizing development costs) Sad Truth:…
What is Hurting WoW’s Polish?
Warning – Fanboi’s may attack! WoW has changed. Change is sometimes a good thing, and I’m not going to belabor the obvious changes (less challenge) or industry misconceptions (subs are needed to cover ongoing costs) instead, I am going to look at two things I have noticed the most since my foray back into WoW. First, to stave of…
An Idea…
First off, big thanks to Chris for letting me post here. I had this thought rolling around in my head, but no real spot to post it (my regular readership on my blog wouldn’t really get it). Unbeknownst to him, Chris actually touched on the problem I’m looking at in this post in his “welcome”…
Can the End Game be the Game?
MMO gamers seem to be lamenting the fact that everything starts at the “endgame” in current mmo-land. The grind/level mechanics exist mostly to slow you down to getting to a point where you can start having fun. While that sounds back-ass-wards, the common argument in support is traditionally “Developers can’t create enough content to keep…
Continuing My Excellence in Game Breaking News
So much to get excited about, I’m not sure where to begin. With that in mind I will begin here. Released in the late 80’s (1987?) Mike Tyson’s Punch Out was a game on the SNES that my friends and I played for hours on end. It was a classic. Ah the memories. The 2009…
Alamo Will be Happy
Druids about to see a popularity increase? Credit: The old Wowinsider.com
More From the Mine
Not of Moira. Sorry LOTRO fans. I hope Zardoz doesn’t end up getting sick of me linking to his posts, but data gets me all hot and heavy. WoW data is always fun, and a couple weeks ago he posted his Minority Report outlining level 80 class allocation at 3.1.1. His sampling methods are reasonable so…
Skills Baby
Suzina over at KTR posts about a couple recent gaming experiences in LOTRO. It’s a good read for several reasons, but mostly because it captures the essence of what is great about MMO’s – success and failure. I shared a snazzy yet true golf analogy in the comments section about “hooks”. MMO’s live on hooks. …
How My Alpha Game Testing is Going. Check.
Cool premise? Check. Decent art direction? Check. Story and Lore? Check. WoW treadmill/quest hub/kill ten rats style gameplay? Check. As the business expert Jimmy John Shark would say if developers still don’t understand what “different” is. If every other entrepreneur didn’t figure it out either, we would still be cranking our cars with a handle…
Giggley
Tuesday Smorgasboard
It really doesn’t. Lots of little gaming going on. Will touch upon them. 1) LOTRO revisted: While I am trying to organize friends to go through the trial, nothing concrete is set up although a little interest and a couply people hopping on Brandywine. I said this before and I will say it again – the fact…
Why Can’t We Be Friends?
I have been away for a week for work – and the inevitable happened. I ran into an old friend, conversation ensues, and WoW comes up. He plays it too. We chat about raiding, levelling, guilds, etc and the topic shifts to gaming together on the ultimate cruise ship. Things are starting to sound fun,…
Whitesnake
Here I go again on my own. Help me like Lord of the Rings Online. I don’t need long winded posts epousing how good the game is. You probably, if playing the game, don’t feel like you need to explain why it is so good. I don’t need convincing by any means. I need company.…
Gloating I Will Soon Regret
I just received an email invite to a closed, alpha stage MMO beta test. I love beta testing. I love seeing a game grow from crap to less-crap-yet-not-ready-for-release-but-released-anyhow. I love interacting with devs on their life’s work (pre crunch time, of course. Once they hit the crunch they all become crabby). I love going into…
Cwofee Twolk
I feel so verklempt. “Let’s go for a coffee” is part of our society. Typically you pick either a greasy spoon, or some fancy overpriced brand variety, and go, sit, drink coffee, and chit chat with a friend (or friends) for a few hours. It could be a date, or just a catch up session…
A New Favorite Data Blog
While navigating the great interwebs of blogs and fansites I came accross this little gem. Simply put, it is a data mining site for WoW. I love data, and in our grand world of MMO secrecy, more data is always good. Since it is straight from the Armory you would have to believe it carries…
Why WAR, Why?
I have an assignment and had to resub to Warhammer. I do a little freelance writing on the side for MMO magazines, and have done some prior levelling guides for the game. Another one came accross my desk, and with the desire to check out what has changed in the game here was the perfect…
10 Day Trials – What not to do!
Besides topics covered in this semi-rant post previously, I will give one, absolutely cardinal rule on how you will GUARANTEE I will not trial your game. Do not ask me for my Credit Card information. A 10 day trial is for me to see if I like your game, not tether me to a possible…
Happy Birthday, EQ
EQ was my first MMO girlfriend. She was a bit cranky, and demanding on my time, but looking back I wouldn’t change a thing (looking forward is another matter). Those sweet, sweet evenings spent together shaped my gaming expectations and experiences. It is true that you never forget your first. EQ Nostalgia after the break.…
UI Add-ons are bad?
Vacation was nice, thank you for asking. Coming home from vacation is always a bad experience. The plane feels a bit more cramped and the voicemail and email inboxes are a lot more full. I actually tried working through my vacation, dilligently keeping up on my inbox every morning. IHASLAW #1 – for every email you…
Bet you haven’t been robbed like this!
I was checking my lesser-used email accounts, and turns out an old WoW account had it’s password changed around 5am this morning. I hadn’t used the account in a long time. In fact, I cleaned out the account before I let it go dormant. There was no gear, no cash, nada. Sure enough, my 70…