Rainbow MMO!

Burnout

2010-03-17T15:01:00.001-05:00

I've been in a bit of an MMO funk lately. Nothing is really sparking my interest, and the tropes of the genre are grating at me. This is what some call Burnout, but it is what I call Going Back To WoW.

Ethic mentioned on the Kill Ten Rats Twitter feed that he sat down at his computer the other day and just stared at the screen, completely uncompelled to play any of his MMOs. I know that feeling, I'm going through it now. In fact, the only reason I've even bother with World of Warcraft over the last few weeks is because I want something to do while my fiancé plays God of War on the PS3.

I've contemplated trying out new games or going back to games I've played before to spice things up, but then I realize that just won't do it for me. I need a real break from MMOs for a bit.

As such, I've been starting in on some console games. I've been tearing through Ballad of Gay Tony, popping in and out of Borderlands, and just started in on Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. Hell, even watching my man play through God of War is more exciting than the idea of grinding levels in an MMO right now.

I'm certainly not done with MMOs, but this is definitely my time to get back into the console game or a bit. So what are the good games I've missed the past year or so? I'll pass on RPGs for the most part, I'm looking for a shift away from what I've been playing, not just a different perspective.

- Dickie

Out Of Game Interaction: Is It Ever Going To Happen?

2010-03-15T12:15:00.002-05:00

A few years back when Vanguard was being developed, there was a lot of talk about the "next step" in MMOs and what could be done to further enrich the MMO-playing experience. One of the biggest things being talked about at that time was out-of-game connectivity such as being able to chat with your guild via AIM or managing your auction house or inventory from a website instead of having to log in to the game proper. The idea was to give players something to do with the game even if they can't log in to the game so that they stay engaged. Players loved the idea and soon every MMO being developed was talking about adding similar features.

Fast forward a few years and not a single game had done anything like that yet. We had World of Warcraft's Armory and Lord of the Rings Online's My.LOTRO, but nothing quite like what Vanguard had promised (not to mention that Vanguard itself did not have those features). In fact, it wasn't until last year that we first heard rumblings of real, out-of-game services that could affect things in-game. And the first game to deliver the goods: Champions Online, and that's only if you count being able to check and send in-game mail from their website (I do). Yeah, Champions Online actually pioneered something… go figure.

Putting that aside, we players are all of the sudden getting lots of treats from our MMO developers for out-of-game interaction, assuming the devs pull through on promises. First, there is the much talked about Fallen Earth iPhone App coming any day now, which will allow players to manage their crafting queue, inventory and auction house activities, among other things. I have to admit that this sounds awesome and one of the things that could potentially draw me into that game.

But now we're getting even more word on even more out-of-game connections with the announcement of two new Facebook Apps: one for Runes of Magic and another for Fallen Earth. However, both of these apps are a bit different because neither provides direct in-game interaction like the FE iPhone app. The FE game on Facebook is purely a promotional tool, so far as we know. It's a casual game based on the world in FE. The RoM game, while similarly designed as a casual game/promotion tool, will actually provide some codes and such for people to plug into the actual RoM game for in-game items, so there is some incentive for players of the game to play the Facebook game. Neither quite live up to the promise of in-game interaction, but I think they both clearly point in the same direction.

The MMO industry is a bit insular and it's time that the industry do its best to reach out to new types of players. It is also a daunting genre to break into as a new player, so anything designed to ease the transition from traditional console or PC games to persistent online world games is a plus. Reaching out to people via Facebook and iPhone is great because not only does it bring potential new customers to the table, but it allows current players to stay immersed in the setting and (hopefully) keeps them more likely to stick around for a while longer.

My concern is that the great hope of all this talk was that we, the players, would be allowed to interact with our game somehow while not at our computers, or at least while not at computers that have access to the game. And while the FE iPhone app seems prepared to deliver on that hope, these Facebook games seem poised to be just more poo in the cesspool that is Facebook games. Look, I know Facebook Gaming is the new "it" right now, but the marketplace to find games is terribly designed, all the games are designed to spam every person you know all day, and the amount of "me too" titles in the market is just disgusting. So diluting your product with a Facebook game that really threatens to limit the users understanding of what your game is, while not actually delivering anything of value to your current players, just doesn't seem like a great idea. It seem Trendy, just not Good. Further, most people can't log into Facebook from work (where they are most likely to play these games) and when they get home they are more likely to play the actual game than some casual spin-off of it.

So this still leaves us with two games that have anything close to what Vanguard and the games of that generation promised. We can check in-game mail and manage crafting queues… nice, and a decent start, but not exactly what I was hoping for.

- Dickie

Weekend Wrapup: Training A Newbie Gamer Edition

2010-03-15T09:15:00.003-05:00

It finally happened! I found a few games that my fiancé could get into, and now the slow transition into Gamer has begun ;) We picked up a PS3 the other day, and as such needed to get a few games to go with it, natch. So he spent most of the weekend and (practically) all day yesterday running around in one of the games we picked up, which made me a proud geek. Also, it gave me some time to play around with a few Facebook games I haven't given enough attention to and a certain PC game as well. So what did I get into this weekend? Here's the break down:

World of Warcraft

While my man was gleefully slaying in his console game, I was happily hunting out new daily quests and poking around Zul'Drak to see what that zone has to offer. Turns out there is a nifty quest line where you get to dress up like a scourge ghoul and ends with another appearance of the Lich King himself, which is quite nifty. I'm slowly getting my jewel crafting up to speed and have been working on my fishing as well, but I suppose that leaves cooking as my only other crafting skill that I should work up. Also, my Druid hit 78. I like that he's getting up the level ladder at a steady pace, I'm just not sure I want to get to 80 because I'm just not sure I care for the Heroics grind, but we'll see what happens when I get there.

Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony

I gushed about this game a few days ago and my assessment still holds. The game is pure fun! I've been doing the Tony Prince quests almost exclusively up to this point, but it might be time to branch out and work on some quests for the character's Mom and a few of the other side stories. It is great to hear the main character continue to defend his boss' sexuality to the other less-accepting characters in the game. And, as is always the case for a GTA title, random destruction and violence is always a nice little side activity to keep me interested and engaged!

MyTribe

This is a new Facebook game that I heard about from Cuppy's blog, and I have to say that it is kind of fun. It's a simple Sims-like game, but it is great to fill a few minutes of your downtime. I have an aversion to the 1,200 pound Gorilla of Facebook games Farmville, either because the idea doesn't interest me or because it's so dang popular it doesn't need my help, but I just can't get into it.

God of War Collection

This is the game that has completely consumed my boyfriend. I downloaded the God of War III demo on our PS3, but he ended up playing it. Then he played it again. And again. And then we were at Gamestop because I mentioned that the first two titles were amazing and that they were out on the PS3 and he had to have them. Even though God of War I is more or less a straight port, it looks and runs great because they made the code native to the PS3 and added HD to the mix. But he started playing yesterday around 1 or 2 in the afternoon and quite playing around 3 am, with only a couple breaks in between to watch some TV while we ate dinner and a few other random breaks.

What Did You Play?

I know many people had nicer weather this weekend, but if you're anything like me, that just meant a walk outside and then open windows while your gaming away ;) So what games did you sink your teeth into this weekend?

- Dickie

What Next?

2010-03-12T11:33:00.000-06:00

I reached level 77 over the weekend with my Druid in World of Warcraft, allowing me to achieve my goal of using my Pretty Bird form (epic flight form) again. And now I'm not sure what I should do in the game.

I don't particularly want to run dungeons repeatedly, since I did a lot of dungeon running since I came back to the game. I'd be OK with questing for a bit, but I'm not sure what zone I should be in at 77, so I've headed out to the Grizzly hills to clean up my quests out there for now.

Ultimately, I'm left with the "Now What?" feeling. I hit my goal and I now have to either determine a new goal that is enticing enough to keep me around or unsubscribe.

- Dickie

Does A Troll Crap In Your Game?

2010-03-11T13:20:00.002-06:00

Syp threw out some of his least favorite MMO terms this morning and what stuck out to me was that our MMO-lexicon is heavily centered around the negative, specifically being negative toward other players. Noob, L2P, Fail, Pwn… all meant to describe some sort of failing (correct use here) in someone else.

I was taken back for a moment. Sure, many of the people that use such negative language toward other players tend to be trolls who get off on causing trauma to other players, but many of these same people also say that they are Hardcore players and that they only want the best for a game. They gripe at developers because they, the player, know better what to put into the game. They gripe at other players, because they the Hardcore player know best how to play the game.

This perspective is amazingly short-sighted. Community often weighs into the deciding factor of whether or not a player stays with a game, and if the community blows players are not as likely to stick around. And if players stop playing a game, they stop providing revenue to the developer. And if the developer starts losing money, then the game is much more likely to close down. And if they don't close down, they'll start making changes that appeal to those players that left so as to bring them back rather than changes that current players want.

Yet the trolls continue in their unending parade of hate-spewing. It's mostly amusing to those of us who have been around for a while, but to newcomers to the genre it is very shocking.

There are games that aren't filled with vile individuals. I can't recall running into anyone nasty or Troll-like in Lord of the Rings Online. But practically every other game I've touched has had a Troll problem, be it minor or rampant. In some cases those Trolls were the reason I left the game. Unfair to the developer, for sure, but I can't be bothered with handling Trolls at every corner.

What can a player do? Well, we can turn off general chat channels, but then we may have a harder time finding groups or selling our junk. We could make liberal use of the /ignore feature, but you are often limited in the number of people you can have on ignore at any given point. We could become Troll fighters, but the only thing a Troll loves more than an innocent new player is an argumentative veteran player that will engage him/her. So I'm not really sure there is much we can do except plead with the general gaming population to just stop being jerks.

So, in that vein, stop Trolling and get back to playing please! If you're bored, go play another game. If you've "conquered it all," go play another game. If you're just sooo badass that you have to tell everyone about it, I'm gonna guess that you probably need some ExtenZe because you're obviously compensating for something else.

- Dickie

Grand Theft Auto Gone Gay

2010-03-10T12:30:00.000-06:00

I've been getting into Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad Of Gay Tony over the past few days and I have to say that, yet again, Rockstar has done something brilliant with their GTA series. Not only is the stand-alone-ish expansion to GTA IV one of the only games that features a Latino protagonist, it is one of the only games that has an unabashedly gay man as a lead character. There's no hiding that he's gay, he's not in the closet, there's no "subtle" innuendo, it's not up to how you play the character… Tony is just plain gay. And a bit fabulous, if not just a tad stupid.

As many gamers have, I've been in love with the Grand Theft Auto series since III came out many years ago on the Playstation 2. They defined the sandbox genre for consoles and it's subsequent sequels (and even III to an extent) sought to attack social issues as untactfully as possible while still maintaining a sense of irreverence, all while finding ways to do so without pissing off every minority group known to man. Rockstar walks a very tight rope with their GTA series, and in my opinion they do so very well. The Ballad of Gay Tony is no exception.

I had almost forgot how much I enjoyed GTA IV until I loaded up Gay Tony, but Gay Tony adds another level to the series that I am loving. Within an hour or so of launching the base game GTA IV, players are inundated with a tirade of anti-gay slurs, many of those slurs persisting throughout the game. It was a bit infuriating at first, but it was used more to show those characters' ignorance and helped frame particular characters as the jerks they were. While I was not pleased to hear the F-bomb tossed around so much in that game, I understood its purpose and appreciated the perspective it provided.

In Gay Tony, we are presented right away with Tony's sexuality. He talks about it, runs a gay club, and you even meet his crappy boyfriend within a few missions. The protagonist even defends his gay boss to his buddies in many of the side conversations that occur during missions with your childhood friends. Again, it's not so awesome to hear some of these epitaphs tossed around, the game finds a way to use them to enlighten rather than embolden. Even some of the more homophobic characters have a turn of face due to your character's actions, which is also nice to see in game.

The game even handles some of the more interesting debates that are currently being argued within the gay community today and presents players who may otherwise be ignorant of them with some food for thought. For instance, Gay Tony constantly gripes about the societal shift within the gay community toward a more mainstream lifestyle. Many gay people today are focused on Marriage Equality and Adoption and Workplace Protections, which are all important issues, but this shift has caused many gay people to loose sight of what use to be our lifeblood: the gay bar. Gay culture use to put heavy focus on gay bars as our primary social scene, but as more LGBT community centers open and as LGBT folk become more accepted in the wider American culture, our sub-culture is shifting more to the mainstream. While that may not be a bad thing, it is one more way in which the gay community is losing its Identity. Tony's complaints are more about losing profits, but the overall debate is still important and valid.

The Ballad of Gay Tony, like the other GTA entries, is great fun mixed with deep characters and a grand sense of sociopolitical debate, all disguised inside what is essentially a third-person-shooter/racing/mafia-sim hybrid. And for all that, it is brilliant. For anyone that has enjoyed the GTA series, I'd certainly recommend picking up either the DLC for Gay Tony if you still own GTA IV or grabbing the Episodes From Liberty City (Amazon link, show us some lurve) disc, which is stand-alone and does not require GTA IV to work.

- Dickie

Fallen Earth trial...

2010-03-10T10:00:00.004-06:00

Well, I was only able to get one night of play in before I was immersed in a two day volleyball tournament (memo to self: I am probably too old for this, as the pain everywhere is telling me...) and then out of town a couple days. But initial impressions are as follows:

Pros

Beautiful environment. They put a lot of time into this. The sunsets are gorgeous, and the feeling of distance and perspective are wonderful.
Travel power; you get a horse when you finish the tutorial.
Lots of weapon and skill choices. Lots of mount options you can build later.
Huge immersive world. Post-apocalyptic feel is genuine and pervasive.
Freaky and cool mutants that are part of greater story line.
Great cut scenes.
Character creation is somewhat limited, but you can add facial/chest hair, tattooes (woot!) and piercings!

Cons

Similar to a problem I had in City of Villains whe it first released, something about the character motion gives me terrible headaches. No one else suffered this in my group, but it's what finally made me shut down for the night.
Lots of choices. TOO many to start with. It is a very steep learning curve.
Initial quests, even tutorials, not well mapped out and rather vague. For example, after trying to use a power on a coyote and dying for the 12th time, someone told me to go past the level 4 angry "starving coyotes" to the "coyotes" that were level 2 and 3 on the other side. So I had to walk huge distances to get to just the right type of mob, avoiding those that could easily tank my level 1 ass. Was very frustrating.

Ultimately, while I am going to research how the game progresses and hopefully try a couple more times, this game didn't hook me. I remember CoH grabbed my attention and held it, right from the character creator. WoW's early play was engaging and entertaining. Personally, this did not do that right off for me, but it likely ramps up and improves as one understands the game mechanics better. It's a free trial. You can't go wrong trying it out for yourself!

-Real Big Kitty

STO On The Cheap Today Only

2010-03-09T09:31:00.005-06:00

Those of y'all that have been holding back on Star Trek Online just hoping for a better deal to come along, today might be the day for you. Amazon has the regular and collector's version of STO on sale today for some decent prices. (Link will take you to Amazon, and yes, RainbowMMO will get a few pennies if you decide to buy via the links)

I feel a little burned by Champions Online still, which I also picked up through an Amazon sale shortly after CO launched (notice a trend yet?), so I'm still not going to give STO a shot. But $27.99 for the regular version really isn't a bad deal if you're still on the fence about the game.

- Dickie

How much is it worth to be Versatile?

2010-03-08T17:06:00.001-06:00

So new to the streets of Paragon City is the Dual Pistols powerset. I was lucky enough to be included in the beta for them, and got level bumped so I could test them all out. (OK admittedly, I was busy and didn't get to try the final iteration before they went live, but very little changed from the last version I played to live.) Anyway, until now secondary effects of your attacks have been predetermined by what powerset you chose. If you chose ice blast you slowed your enemies down, energy blast knocked them around, fir eblast set them on fire for more damage, etc. Dual pistols is the first set that lets you change your secondary effects (and a small bit of your damage) on the fly.

So, is being able to choose between extra damage, knockback, slows, or damage debuffs (that last one is unique to DP) and the ability to slightly tailor your damage type with it worth mediocre numbers compared to other sets? It's that hybrid tax again, except this time it's within a powerset instead of a class. Funnily enough, it's in a powerset of what is probably the most pure class in the game role wise (blasters do damage, their secondaries do more damage with different flavors of utility.) Ok some other archetypes get to use the set too, but it's still a blast set.

So for me? Totally worth it. I'm going to preorder the city expansion soon so I can start playing with them now instead of waiting. Of course, there is something else they have going for them. The animations are, at least to me, awesome. I'm also apparently a bit on the evil side (ok so this isn't REALLY news) and my favorite of the powers is execution shot. Yes it probably looks about like what you just pictured in your head. I like to start it up right after a knockback so they catch a bullet between the eyes as they get back up. I'm totally arresting them with incendiary bullets delivered execution style to their faces. Really.

-Luigrein

My Turn To Disagree With Syn...

2010-03-04T14:33:00.005-06:00

SynCaine posts, someone disagress… 'tis the way of the nets. Today is my turn.

Check out this recent post in which Syn attacks the Free To Play model, treating it like the model will forcefully steal all your money if you even dare approach it. The post is about Allods Online specifically, which is the current "it" F2P title, both people excited about it (or regaining excitement for it since the price cut) and people who dislike the whole F2P shebang. And, of course, he takes the concept and gives it the whole Fox News treatment.

Honestly, I understand why some people are not attracted at all to the F2P model. I also understand why others are attracted to it. I happen to be one of those that is attracted to the model, but not necessarily attracted to Allods. Really though, I can't even make that a definitive statement because I haven't played the game long enough yet where the Cash Shop has become a real concern of mine, but at least I can say that I haven't gotten to that point instead of trying to use some comment on some blog somewhere on the internet because, as we all know, if it's a comment on a blog, it must be true.

Putting that whole piece of his article aside, which is the majority of his article and the basis of his argument in this particular post, I'll take umbrage with a few other statements he makes:

People FEARING upcoming patches? People calculating how much they will need to spend to just get by? People hoping the cash shop is not abused by other players and balance is somewhat maintained? Really, THAT"S how you want to play your MMO? Living in fear of tomorrow? So so backwards.

People FEAR patches all the time! Every time a new patch is announced for a game, there is a surge of posts across the blog world and forums about how a particular nerf will ruin their character or spec, or how that buff to some class will make the game unplayable, or that they'll /ragequit immediately if the developer doesn't change their mind. It's the way of the gamer, and the MMO gamer specifically. We overreact to change because it scares us, but then we see that change in action and most people continue happily playing while those who truly can't live with the change move on.

Then there's the fear of calculating how much you'll have to spend to get by. As if that doesn't happen in Subscription games? If a game changes how it structures its loot distribution, players will spends hours calculating the fastest way to get item X, and then completely adjust their play time to do it. If it takes them 2 months to get the new items, there is a direct correlation to how much money they've spent getting those items, which is money AND time. At least in some F2P games you can circumvent one of those issues if you so choose.

I like the idea of F2P model, or as some of the smarter publishers are calling them nowadays Subscriptionless Games (I think that's far more accurate). I'm not sold on the idea that the revolution is now, mainly because I think very few, if any, games have the model just right. But that time is coming and there will be Subscriptionless games that rival Sub games in both popularity and active playerbase soon. Fighting the idea seems silly to me. Will it take over the market completely? I don't think it will, but it will be a viable alternative pricing model, with or without Allods. They got it wrong in some areas, but that doesn't invalidate the model wholesale.

- Dickie

It Takes A Week To Ship?

2010-03-04T11:30:00.000-06:00

I signed up for GameFly on Wednesday evening of last week (2/24) and my first game, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, arrived yesterday (3/3). It took one week from the day I signed up for GameFly to receive my first game, and I have to admit that feels like a long time. If we look at Netflix as a point of comparison, we can put a return in the mail on Wednesday morning and have our next title by Saturday at the latest. There is an efficiency in the Netflix model that GameFly has not been able to capture, and I'd hoped that in the two years since I last subscribed to the service they would have made the service more efficient, but I suppose that isn't the case.

There are two reasons I dropped my subscription to GameFly after my first attempt at using the service: 1) The time it took to return and get a new title, and 2) I could never get a title from the top of my queue. At the time I did not feel that the service warranted the fee, but I recently decided to give it another shot. After all, there are several single-player titles I want to play, but not many I really want to own.

My plan for now is to give GameFly a solid two months to see if either the service has improved or if my opinions on how the service operates has changed. However, given this first game experience and the length of time that it took to get the title, I'm not so confident that either of those scenarios is likely to occur.

- Dickie

End of the World

2010-03-04T07:52:00.005-06:00

Great, I typed in the subject line and now I have R.E.M. stuck in my damn head.

Anyhow, several of us in my gaming family are downloading the free 10 day trial of Fallen Earth. We'll see how it goes. It fits within our loose "3 month rule", which means unless it's a game we're really psyched about, we give new releases a few months to get patched and cleaned up, then read reviews and see if we want to give it a go.

I'll try and remember screenshots, and will post our experiences. Global Agenda is likely next on our docket to try out.

-Real Big Kitty

So, Are You Back Yet?

2010-03-03T13:55:00.001-06:00

This is the question that a guildie asked me in guild chat over the weekend while playing World of Warcraft. Many of the people in my guild have been around since Vanilla WoW days and I would certainly call them friends. We've raided together and chatted in game and in vent about just about everything under the sun. This person knows me, knew me when I decided to move to Chicago, knew me when I was hating my life at GameStop, knew me when I met my fiancé… she's been in my life. So it is with all this history in mind that I answered with an indefinite "Well…. I'm back-ish."

I like WoW. It's fun. Running dungeons is fun and, now that I have my dual spec, some of the solo content is fun as well. In another level I'll be able to get my flight form back and I'll have fun exploring some of the zones of Northrend I haven't poked my head into just yet. But that wasn't the question she asked. My guild mate asked if I was Back in the game yet. And I'm just not sure if I am.

Her question implied more than it let on. Obviously I'm playing the game. I've been popping in for over a month now. But she really wanted to know if I'm committing to the game again, to raiding and hanging out with the Guild. Those are two things I simply haven't been able to decide on just yet.

I love my guild in WoW. Most are good people. But there are things about the game that still bother me. I suppose the question I really have to answer is whether or not these people are fun enough for me to over look my dislikes in WoW.

So am I back yet? In summary, no… but I haven't given up on the idea that I could be back.

How To Gay It Up In Class, Sci-Fi Style

2010-03-03T12:58:00.003-06:00

I'm lacking in MMO-themed posts, or gaming posts in general this week. But there is a subject near and dear to my heart (and likely many of my reader's hearts as well) that bears mentioning here: Frakin' awesome sci-fi TV shows!

Over on my personal/pop culture/music/whatever the heck I feel like writing about blog, I'm Just Gaying..., I talk about SyFy's new Battlestar Galactica spin-off Caprica and how gloriously gay it is, and why that's a great thing for geeks, gays, and gay geeks!

Stop on over, check out the post and say hi!

- Dickie

Iconic Persona

2010-03-01T09:34:00.003-06:00

I was explaining to someone (who wasn't evidencing the "Crap it's a crazy gaming nerd where's the door" look) the other day how our Guild met in the City several years ago. The person had never heard of City of Heroes, but had seen Champions. So we got into a big discussion about why WoW and WAR and all of these fantasy genre games are fun, but they're missing something for me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE playing my toons in these games, and have a great time. But there was something about Real Big Kitty, resplendent in striped fur and various tattered armour pieces, THUNDERING to the ground after a super jump. This was usually followed by decimation of whatever foes were unfortunate enough to be standing there when he landed.

But it was KITTY. Other people in the community recognized him. He was an icon.

Each of us had a character (or two) that ended up being singularly iconic. Some of these may not have been our favourite characters to play, but they took on a life of their own. I had Kitty (and the Pink Tornado. No one could miss him...), and there was Wolfmoon, Bear Repair, Rodeo Cub, Dandy Lion, Proud Bear (dear lord, that rainbow outfit)... Each one was instantly recognizable, and stood out from the crowd.

I miss that. Bloodsun is great, but he looks like every other blood-elf caster in WoW. Just with better hair. Champions was not for me, unfortunately. I did not like the mechanics of the game. City of X was a great game, one we played for years. But all the extra zones and graphics updates won't change the fact that each mission was just like the last.

So now I'm hoping DCU brings something new to the table in terms of gameplay. I know we have a wait left still, but I miss having an icon. One that you KNOW the villains (or citizens, depending on your good/evil bent) would be scattering before. It made me identify strongly with my avatars, and I miss that in the current round of MMOs I'm playing.

If anyone knows of any current games that have this true level of customization, let me know!

-Real Big Kitty

Weekend Wrapup: Anti-Social Edition

2010-03-01T09:23:00.001-06:00

Even after all my whining last week about not being able to get into single player games, this weekend I went off the deep end and sunk nearly 10 hours into Torchlight. And signed up for GameFly… Yeah, I can't really explain that at all. After I posted that entry, a few people contacted me and gave me a few suggestions about how to dig into single-player titles, so I figured the safest way to really give it a try is with GameFly! Also, I was feeling a bit anti-social in general throughout the weekend, so solo-dungeon diving seemed like a great idea.

Torchlight

I created an all-new character and went with the warrior guy this time around. I also set the difficulty back to Normal instead of Hard because I really just felt like slaughtering stuff endlessly and not worrying too much about anything else. And I did just that. For hours at a time. And I had a blast! I really, really like this game and hope to see more great games come out of Runic Games.

World of Warcraft

I got about 2 random dungeon runs in and had to log out. Apparently, our home internet was not too happy with us this weekend. My fiancé's torrents weren't moving at all and my online gaming suffered from terrible lag. I'm still striving toward 77 though so I can get my flight form back. I have a feeling that I'm missing some great solo content, but most of the content that I'm missing right now is stuff that I already played through on my Death Knight, so I'm not too upset with missing it. Once I get my pretty bird form back I'll get back into some of the solo stuff, but until then it's dungeon diving for me!

What Did You Play?

So what held your attention this weekend?

- Dickie

WAR's New And Enticing Changes

2010-02-26T15:58:00.004-06:00

I realize that I don't talk about Warhammer Online all the often anymore, but after reading the Newsletter today (for which there does not seem to be a web version), I found a couple of really interesting tidbits that I wanted to share with y'all.

First up, it now appears that players can queue for Scenarios right from the capital cities:

Not only that, but while you’re IN the capital city you can queue for scenarios. Yes, crazy talk, we know. Crazy awesome!

This was a bit of a gripe of mine when I was playing WAR. I tend to enjoy the auction house meta-game in my MMOGs, and even though WAR's economy was light, I did still enjoy that aspect as much as the game allowed. But I also enjoy being able to participate in other aspects of the game while doing so, mainly because I'm a tad bit ADD. In WoW, I can queue for BG's and, more recently, dungeons, in LOTRO I could run a Skirmish or two to mix things up, but WAR did not have this function originally. I'm glad to see this going into the game!

The second item that caught my eye is a bit more interesting:

Now you can upgrade to the whole game as soon as you subscribe, there is no need to purchase the game separately!

Now, the way I interpret this is that if I'm playing the endless trial and upgrade to a subscription account, I no longer have to purchase a retail version of WAR at all. Which alleviates some of Pete's concerns about the prices of MMOs, and is just plane awesome! If memory serves me, this is similar to how EVE Online operates (or use to… not sure), where it costs nothing upfront for the client and all you pay as a player is your $15 per month for access to the game. If that isn't a brilliant strategy to lure new players in, I don't know what is.

I still follow Werit's blog, so I get a good amount of WAR in my MMO diet, but small things like the Scenario queuing form capital cities may get me back in game. And with endless free trial, I've been thinking there's just no harm in downloading the client and at least giving the game another go… There are all dangerous thoughts as I head into my weekend. Stay tuned to my Weekend Wrapup post on Monday to find out if I have yet again succumbed to Mythic's flirting-with-free-to-play wiles!

- Dickie

/Rage... Or Not

2010-02-25T15:05:00.003-06:00

So this post has been fomenting for a couple days, and believe it or not, I've cut down some of the rage. I was debating on whether to post it or not, but the writer in me said "post it already, damn it!" … so here it is ;)

I know that there was some backlash when Cryptic announced that they would add certain races to their C-Store for Star Trek Online, in essence forcing players that wanted to play popular races to buy those races via micro-transactions. But after this whole ordeal with gPotato concerning their Cash Shop and prices for Allods Online, I have to wonder why they Star Trek Online blunder is considered OK but the Allods Online issue is basically the ultimate evil of all time?

I mean, if I'm already paying a monthly subscription for a game, my expectation is that I am given full access to the game. And for a game like STO, where the highlight of the game (to me, at least) would be character creation, I would expect that I could make whatever type of character I want after I buy the $50 retail box and sign up for a $15/moth rate plan. That's not the case for STO, yet people seem to be willing to give that issue a pass. They may dislike the game for other reasons, but paying for races that should be available already is not typically one of them.

Yet here we are with Allods Online, where you pay $0 to start playing the game and then only pay for the items that you find yourself actually wanting, and suddenly there is nothing but rage toward the game when their prices come out as too high! Believe me, I agree that the prices are too high, but is that really the reason people are hating on the game so much?

I believe this really boils down to 2 issues, one that we can't do much about and another that is all too familiar and will take some time to correct.

The first issue is that Star Trek is a beloved franchise. People are willing to overlook a lot of issues because they simply want to fly around in the Star Trek universe. This is the case with any franchised game, and it's not really a bad thing, and there is certainly nothing anyone can do to change a fanboi's mindset. This is really a neutral issue with good and bad points, but it is not the worst issue that affects this rage toward Allods.

The second issue is that people are afraid of change and fear that "new" thing. Fear is a weird beast and causes people to act completely irrationally… like, let's just say, people crying the doom and gloom of the whole industry because a game in Beta Testing over priced an item in their cash shop. They are much more willing to be happy with the STO approach of charging a subscription and also charging for additions to the game because at least STO has the familiar subscription. Meanwhile the free game must be out to get them because it is Free, which is different and weird and just plain not right!

As a gay guy, this syndrome is waaaaay too familiar. Repealing Don’t Ask, Don't Tell is too scary because then gays might be near straight people in showers or barracks… oh wait, they already are? OK, well then... Approving Marriage Equality will ruin the institution on marriage and kill babies… or not, since it only expands marriage and provides for more families and more than 50% of heterosexual marriages end in divorce... OK, hmmm... Well, gays are bad because they don't conform to gender roles and norms and they do stuff that is, like, gay and stuf... Getting the picture?

People are afraid of the new Free To Play model because it represents a paradigm shift in the industry. So instead of standing back and waiting for this emerging market to mature and find its niche, nurturing it along the way, they are hell bent on finding a way to kill it before it somehow ruins their subscription games. What many people don't get is that Free To Play games will only expand the market further and provide new options for consumers. Allods will not kill your favorite $15/month money-sink. If anything, it will force your sub game to try even harder to provide more value.

Are the prices in Allods high right now? Yeppers. Are they going to correct them? According to the interview they did with Massively recently, yes. Will World of Warcraft continue to operate just fine while Allods picks up steam? Most certainly. Will the world of MMOGs end because someone pays $10 for bag space? Nope. Will people continue to make utterly ridiculous and unfounded claims about new things because they are ignorantly afraid of the unknown? And will people continue to support what they know simply because they are too afraid to think beyond the comfortable lines the world has defined for them rather than take a look and see what is actually best for them or others? Oh, yes, that will most certainly continue to happen.

But it should not happen. The rage is misplaced. If you hate the Free To Play model of micro-transactions, please go flame those subscription games that continue to charge players for in-game pets or player races. Understand what it is you are actually raging about before pulling a Chicken Little. If Free to Play is not your thing, congratulations! All you need to do is say so. But wasting your energy trying to bash the model at every turn is not only pointless, but it is just plain sad. Don't worry though, there's someone out there asking to take that $15/month off your hands.

- Dickie

Two Important, But Non MMO-Related, Tidbits

2010-02-25T09:03:00.002-06:00

I need to interrupt our regularly scheduled posts today for two quick announcements that are only tangentially related to the topics Rainbow MMO normally covers, but both are near and dear to my heart, so I hope you'll excuse my little indulgence.

A Casual Stroll To Mordor brought to my attention via their Twitter feed that today is Sean Astin's birthday! To relate this to MMOs, you'll likely know Sean as Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings movies, or possibly for those more sport minded as Rudy, or even as the voice of Hercules in Kingdom Hearts. Sean happens to be one of my favorite actors, not necessarily for his acting ability, but more so for being utterly adorable (as evidenced by the Sean In Bear Form picture attached to this article). He's also a fierce liberal advocate and works very hard in his philanthropic and political/lobbying efforts, as well as being a supporter of LGBT rights. So, happy birthday Sean!

The other piece of news is something I blasted out over my Twitter feed this morning, and it is really not related to MMOs at all, but is very gay: it appears that a sequel to 2001's brilliant Zoolander is in the works! I never realized the movie did not do well, perhaps because every gay person I know can quote the movie front to back, but the studio is apparently a little leery of producing it, though it is rumored to have a green light. Ben Stiller is a go and they are working on getting Owen Wilson to sign up as well.

Now then, if you'll excuse me, there's a walk-off going on here in the office and a couple of ridiculously beautiful men splashing gasoline all over each other right outside, both of which need some attending to.

- Dickie

Give me $1, I'll Give You 7 Days

2010-02-24T14:13:00.002-06:00

I'm hearing word today that Aventurine has finally opened up Dark Fall to trial accounts, which is always good news. These aren't exactly free trials, and they aren't the industry standard 10-14 trial (but then again, this game is anything but industry standard), but they are trials nonetheless! For just $1, you can purchase the privilege of running around the world of Darkfall for 7 days… which is nice, if just a bit underwhelming.

There's been some buzz around the internet today that this isn't a free trial, so Aventurine should not call it as such. And they are, of course, correct. Which is why Aventurine does not call it a free trial. So there's that.

So here's how it works: Go to this site, download the client and install, then go back to the site and give them your $1 and they'll give you access to the game for 7 days. After that time, if you decide to keep playing you can buy the client or if you decide to not keep playing you just uninstall the client. I'd be willing to bet that you need to go into your account and hit "cancel" or some such other bologna, but I don't know for sure.

Some people seem to think this is a terrible idea, but I would have to counter that and say that I think it is pretty ingenious. It is also not surprising coming from the company that intentionally restricted access to the game when it launched so that only so many new players could get in game per day. The argument against this program is that trials should be free and that any attempt to get a new player to pay for a trial is only another road block that keeps new players away. Personally, I feel that Darkfall has plenty of built-in roadblocks to keep me away, but paying $1 for a trial is not one of them.

Make no mistake, the $1 is a speed bump. It is designed to keep certain people away, specifically gold spammers and other nefarious game trolls. It is also designed to keep away so-called MMO tourists, or people that aren't really interested in the game. If players have to actually pay some amount, any amount really, they are less likely to give the game a try, but people who are genuinely interested in Darkfall are will likely not mind the $1 asking fee. After all, it's either $1 to try and figure out if you like the game or $50. The choice would be clear to me if I was interested. In essence, no one will pay $1 to troll around a game, but plenty of people will be willing to pay $1 to give the game an honest shot.

Frankly, I don't think it's a bad deal. In context to the rest of the MMO market, it is a weird move, but Darkfall has always seemed to take approaches that contrast the marketplace more so than reflect it. It's a different type of game and their marketing and pricing strategy has always done a good job expressing that. This $1 trial is just another piece of that puzzle.

Will I ever give Darkfall a shot? I can't say that it sounds appealing to me today, but who knows what tomorrow brings. If I do get the desire to play, I think $1 for 7 days is pretty fair so I would not hesitate to give it a try. But it seems that many others are pretty opposed to the idea in general, so time will tell if their new trial program will really win them any new customers or not.

- Dickie

I Don't Want To Feel Lonely No More

2010-02-24T09:55:00.004-06:00

I booted up Borderlands on my Xbox 360 yesterday because I've been craving some Pandora time, but I really did not last long in the game, and I think I know why. It wasn't that your character's inventory space is far too small, or that the game ports me to the beginning of the zone if I log out in the middle of a zone so I have to fight through scads of trash again, or even that I can hit enemies better with my assault rifle when not using my scope which is counter-intuitive. No, none of that really bothered me. What caused me to drop out of the game was that I was missing the social aspect of my MMOGs.

I have a blast with Borderlands when a friend of mine is online and we go kill things together. But when I'm alone in the world, it feels… well, lonely. I think MMOGs have spoiled me in this aspect in that no matter if I'm in a guild or playing with friends, I'm still playing with other people.

I like having other people around in game. I think that's my biggest draw to the MMOG style of game. I like knowing that there are other people right around the corner that I could chat up even if I have no real plans to do so. I like to know that my friends are running around in game and I could join them if I wanted to. I like being able to chat and be silly with other players in between slaughtering hordes of baddies. I don't get that same feeling in single-player games, and no matter how good the game, I have to stay focused to make it through the game.

I have Borderlands and Dragon Age: Origins both collecting dust right now because I can't play them with other people, or if I can I don’t get the opportunity as often as I'd like. I know they are both good games, and the parts that I have played through I've enjoyed thoroughly, but I just can't seem to get much further because I keep wanting to get my friends in game with me.

Not that MMOGs don't have their flaws. I really enjoy how the story is told in Borderlands and Dragon Age, but I don't get those storied tales in MMOGs. And even when I do get to group up in MMOGs, I often don't get anything other than rushing through content like it's some sort of potato sack race. But at least I get to group with other people, and if I get the benefit of grouping with friends then I can get those random story elements and exploration fixes.

The only time I really feel like I can play a single-player game is when I know everyone else is playing it. When I log into Xbox Live (my gamertag is JesseJames27, btw) and see half of my friend's list playing a particular game I feel like I can at least chat up my friends about the game while I'm playing, which helps. But if no one is playing the game, like Borderlands right now, then I just feel like a loner, and I got enough of that in high school, thank you very much.

Am I the only one that goes through this with single-player games? I feel like it's a waste to spend money on them at all because I'm pretty sure I won't get through them or even get very far in them, yet I continue to buy them. Am I alone in this as well?

- Dickie

(Yes, the title is grammatically incorrect. It's a song title reference, albeit from a few years ago, but it is a pop-culture reference, therefore allowed :)

What Makes You Happy?

2010-02-23T11:32:00.001-06:00

I threw out a challenge on Buzz this morning because I was having a difficult time thinking of blog topics today, and the loverly Spinks suggested I write about something in game that makes me happy. My gut reaction was to write about my love for the needless slaughter of Critters in World of Warcraft, but that did not seem appropriate nor a very good reason to pay $15 a month. So I thought some more on the subject…

What makes me happy in games? Well, when it comes to MMOGs, gorgeous landscapes make me happy. Fun quests make me happy. Being overpowered just enough in regular PvE soloing to feel like a hero but not so much that I feel like a god makes me happy. But most of all, what makes me happy in MMOGs is the socialization that is at the core of what makes the genre what it is.

Logging in to see several people on your friends list are in game, or to see you guild chat channel lighting up with banter, or to join in an impromptu conversation with strangers at the auction house… those are the things that make me happiest when it comes to MMOGs. If I just wanted action, hack-n-slash game play (which I do sometimes), I'd go play Sacred 2 or any number of games like it that provide the same type of game play, but most times I want that and then some more.

One other thing that makes me happier than a pig in a puddle of mud: When a game has good group mechanics and those mechanics are put to good use in a solid group. Some games like Lord of the Rings Online have excellent group mechanics (Unlike WoW, which really is just a Holy Trinity type game) and when those group mechanisms are used in a solid group, the game suddenly becomes pure magic. It's also what made Final Fantasy XI bearable for me because the game became twenty times better when you were able to find a good group.

Finally, what makes me happy in MMOGs is when I realize the grind is over and I've achieved whatever goal I was out to get. To get my epic flight form on my Druid a couple years ago took a lot of grinding… daily quests, ore hunting, gem cutting… all just to get the money together before I could start my quest chain to unlock the epic flight form. Then when I finally completed the quest I was ecstatic! I flew all around Outland just to do it. Of course, the problem with this high is that it is often followed by the "now what" syndrome, in which you either have to establish a new goal or quit the game.

Those are a few of the things that make me happy in my MMOGs. What about you? What makes you happy?

- Dickie

OMG!!1!1!! F2P Games Are Fail!!!!one!!

2010-02-22T15:47:00.000-06:00

Rumors of the death of the Free To Play business model for MMOGs are greatly exagerated.

If everytime a developer screwed the proverbial pooch concerning the launch and pricing of a Subscription Model Game, and the blogosphere subsequently exploded in nerd rage proclaiming the end of the Sub model game, I'm not sure any of us could count on one hand how many times the industry would have failed by now. Hell, Cryptic would have instigated at least two implosions on their own by this point!

Listen, I think one would be hard pressed right now to find someone who would say they are happy to pay the exorbitant prices gPotato is asking for in Allods Cash Shop. BUT, that does not mean that all F2P games are crap and that the model should be proclaimed the Son of Beezelbub!

Look at Dungeons and Dragons Online. Look at Runes of Magic. Look at Wizard 101. There are several of examples of F2P games that are successful and make money and have more players than whatever game you are playing now (with the exception of WoW). The model is not a failure. The implementation of the model in Allods Online, specifically, is a failure.

Rooting for the subscription model is one thing, but ranting and raving about the evils of an alternative pricing plan is just plane useless. There's no point to it.

The thing is both models are still relatively new. In an industry as young as MMOGs, there will be a few success stories, some colussal failures and even more games that are just ok. But pretending that F2P games are all useless and without merit because one has made a poor business decision is like saying all technology will fail because HD-DVD failed. The argument has no value because it does not consider any point of view other than the arguers pre-determined conclusion.

- Dickie

(please excuse the spelling, I'm writing this from my iPhone and will correct the post later)

Weekend Wrapup: Allod Of Time Wasting Edition

2010-02-22T09:29:00.001-06:00

This weekend was another nice, relaxing weekend with some quality gaming time. Sadly, that gaming time was interrupted by the craptastic Valentine's Day movie (he liked it, I hated it… then again, Eric Dane bouncing around in a towel can never really be that bad), and we took a trip to the Chicago Auto Show (which was pretty nifty). In any case, here's what I got into this weekend in gaming:

World of Warcraft

I'm still plugging away at my Druid. Right now, my goal is to get to 77 so I can get my Cold Weather Flying skill trained. I can't wait to get my druid back to his epic flight form! Once I reach that goal I'll start work on plotting out the rest of his career, but until then I'm focused on a few select quest hubs in off-spec Moonkin form and Tree healing random dungeons. I got him up to 75 this weekend, so I'm guessing I'll have flight form in a week or so.

Global Agenda

This game has fallen into a niche for me: It's now my "I've got 35 minutes to kill, what should I do?" game. The matches are perfectly designed for quick in and out gameplay and since I enjoy the PvP matches more than the PvE content, it's a real quick-and-easy experience for me. Log in, queue, kill. I'll be more interested in this game in another month or so when they roll out some of their promised updates, particularly the open-world PvE content.

Allods Online

My Arisen Heretic is up to level 9 now and getting ready for his first group quest/dungeon crawl. That worries me a bit, to be honest, because I've only got one heal right now, but I'm guessing the developers have planned for that. I'm also staying quiet for now on the pricing issue for the game. I generally agree with Syp, and I think Syncaine is being a bit too harsh (what a shocker, I know). Aside from the pricing piece, there are a few other issues I have with the game that I'll discuss in another post which are far more likely to make me stop playing than anything else right now.

What Did You Play?

So what did you get into this weekend? What sort of gaming goodness were you able to enjoy in this, our lovely winter season?

- Dickie

Devs of PR

2010-02-21T22:53:00.003-06:00

One of the reasons I stick around in the city has definately been the community. I forum dive a lot and while there are always a few agitators I've found the city forums to be fun and helpful, up to and including the devs. The developers (mostly) post under the names of signature characters from the game (so for instance, the lead animator is Back Alley Brawler) and can often be quite fun to read. The aforementioned animator frequently snarks good naturedly, the current big dev on deck once responded to a post asking why the signature characters didn't attack enemies 10 feet away from them with "All that stuff is grey to me, no XP."

Recently however, they've stepped it up a notch. A new dev started posting under the name "The Television" (an awesome contact villain side) and has been posting in character. Up to and including competing with Dr. Aeon (evil mad scientist in game, the guy in charge of the mission architect feature out of game) for player base approval in order to see what new feature would get implemented ahead of schedule. Dr Aeon also responded in character as the two waged a propaganda war against the other that went on until a third dev (also posting in character) declared an end to the conflict by threatening both of them and announcing that BOTH features would come out ahead of going rogue instead of as part of the expansion.

Realistically, yes, it was a marketing stunt. Despite the fact that Dr Aeon claimed that marketing had no control over him (with an asterisk asking the marketing department to disregard that line) However, the fact that the devs are willing to have fun with the players on the boards (and in game the relatively rare times they make appearances there) has always been a huge plus to me.

Earth and Beyond had a bit of this too, although it was more the community reps then the actual devs that were seen on the boards. WoW...well the boards aren't as bad as some say but there's enough to dig through to find the good things that I don't head over that way often.
-Luigrein