Gamecrafters' Guild

On Diablo III

2012-05-17T19:30:02-07:00

If you like Diablo well, Diablo III is certainly another one of those games, and easily one of the better ones. The systems within the game have been streamlined in very thoughtful ways, the gameplay is as compelling as it ever was (which will vary based on your tastes), and the game looks great. As a game, I highly recommend it.

As a complete package I’d still recommend it, but somewhat less. Here’s the thing: Diablo III is all about the co-op. And the co-op is very, very good. I was playing today, trying out the wizard, when my friend Irven dropped right into my game and started playing with me. Co-op is well put-together in a lot of ways: lots of great interface touches, easy trading, and individualized loot (meaning that, if you see it on your screen, it’s yours). So what’s the problem? The problem is that, even if you’re playing single player, you’re playing co-op.

What do I mean by that? If you’re playing by yourself, nobody else in sight, you still have to connect to the servers (which sometimes go down), you still have to log into Battle.net (though this is a minor annoyance), and you still have to deal with latency (though the latency isn’t bad most of the time). It’s most irritating when all you want to do is play single player but the servers are down for maintenance; when this is the case, you can’t play. Period. It’s frustrating.

Having experienced the co-op, I can understand why they designed it the way they did. The game is better in co-op, and everything about the game facilitates co-op in the best ways possible. If that’s not your thing though, be prepared to get annoyed from time to time. That said, the experience (again, if you like games like this) is worth putting up with some irritating qualities for.

Jury Duty, a Free Game

2012-05-17T16:35:12-07:00

I wrote this today mainly to get it out of my head and into the world. I’m not really expecting anything to come of it but I thought I’d put it out there and see what people think. If you download it and play it, I’d love to know what you think. It hasn’t been playtested (or even edited) at all, so be aware of that. It is, however, a very simple game. Enjoy.

Jury Duty: The Game

Stuff I’m Running at DexCon

2012-05-14T17:06:13-07:00

I’ve just submitted the games I’m going to be running at DexCon this year. I don’t have a schedule yet, but I’ll be running each one once. For your perusal, here they are as I submitted them.

Alien vs. Jedi

Game System: Fate

Publisher: NA (homebrew hack)

Something is being studied aboard a Republic research station, something that should have been left well alone. Six individuals — Jedi, bounty hunters, Sith — are aboard this research station for their own reasons, but things are about to go very wrong. Enemies will have to put aside their differences if they hope to survive.

4-6 players

The Demolished Ones

Game System: The Demolished Ones (Fate)

Publisher: Rite Publishing

You wake in a cold concrete room with a group of people you don’t remember. In fact, you don’t remember much of anything. Where are you? Why are you here? Who are these people? Who are you, for that matter? Most pressing though is the question that everyone asks when they see the body in the corner: is one of these people a murderer?

The Demolished Ones is a Fate-based adventure about amnesia, identity, and the power (and danger) of knowledge in a pseudo-Victorian noir horror setting. This is a playtest of a game that will be released by Rite Publishing. If you play in this game, be ready to provide feedback (and to get credit for your feedback).

3-6 players

Long Live the King

Game System: Becoming: A Game of Heroism and Sacrifice

Publisher: Galileo Games

A wedding should be a joyous occasion, but when the king’s men come to take the bride on her wedding day, a hero must step forward.

Becoming is a game about what you must sacrifice to be a hero. Taking on the mantle of the hero makes you an outcast. In order to save the things you love, you must lose them. When you complete your quest will you still be a hero? Or have you become something else?

This is a playtest for a game that will be released by Galileo Games next year. If you play in this game, be ready to give feedback (and receive credit for it).

3-4 players

Snakegrinder

2012-05-12T19:07:44-07:00

This is just something that’s been on my mind lately. Enjoy.

Episodic Free-to-Play

2012-05-10T12:12:07-07:00

There are two models of video game distribution that are working with varying success levels that have piqued my interest recently.

Episodic games, like The Walking Dead by TellTale, use a model where you buy the game in two-hour chunks or pay for a “season” beforehand and get a new two-hour chunk every X weeks. In The Walking Dead’s case, drop $25 and you get one episode per month for five months.

Another interesting model is free-to-play, where you download the game for free and play it for free, but you can buy items or other content using microtransactions. You pay for the content you want, and spend what more-or-less what you think the game’s worth.

These two models are interesting by themselves, but I’m waiting for some enterprising game company to combine the two. Most free-to-play games are multiplayer-only. I think this is a good thing because I don’t want to have to buy items in my single player game with real money; I feel it would pull me out of the experience. However, I like the idea of a multiplayer game with microtransactions for multiplayer items and content that also allows you to buy single player episodes of content if that’s what you’re interested in.

Just something I’ve been kicking around.