Lad: You play World of Warcraft?
Randy: Well, I have a level 65, but I've never been to MC as I'm not in a raid guild.
Me: I've pugged it a few times. I have three 70s, a 60 and a 20-something.
Lad: I have two 70s. Hey, I think it's really great that people of all ages play WoW.
Me: Well, we have been playing this kind of game for a while...
(Randy glances at me with an "are you going to do it?" look).
Me: What was World of Warcraft based on? What game did the developers look at and think, "we can do that, only better"?
Lad: Er, was it called EverQuest?
Me: That's right. Do you know what EverQuest was based on?
Lad: No, but I think there was some guy at IU who gave a talk...
Me: EverQuest was based on DikuMUD, which was a textual world developed at the Datalogisk Institut Kobenhavns Universitet in Denmark. DikuMUD was based on AberMUD, written at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. AberMUD was based on MUD, written at the University of Essex in England. MUD wasn't based on anything. I co-wrote it.
Lad: You wrote it?
Me: The first graphical virtual world was Habitat, written in 1985 by — who wrote Habitat, Randy?
Randy: Randy Farmer and Chip Morningstar.
Me: We've been writing and playing these games since before you were born.
June 27, 2007
E-penis++
Playing virtual god anyone? ;-)
Designers don't like farmers
I told you so. :-)
Btw: interesting Escapist issue this time.
Having worked with designers, I know they hate farmers more than a lot of players do, because the farmers are finding and exploiting design weaknesses in products they've worked on for years. Some people would say, "Hey, tough luck. If your design is weak, it's your own fault."Source
Btw: interesting Escapist issue this time.
June 24, 2007
June 23, 2007
www.bullseye-games.com?
Some of you might have noticed that this blog may now also be reached via www.Bullseye-Games.com.
What's this all about? See, I have been thinking about working in the computer games industry since err... well since a very long time, maybe even since I played a computer game ('Mission Elevator' on an Amstrad Schneider CPC) for the 1st time, 12 years ago.
But over the years, I learned that the working conditions in the computer game industry are not very well – crunchtime 12 hour work shifts for several months short before launch, financial and contentual dependancy on your publisher (if you have one) or a run only millimeters away from the financial abyss (if you're an independent game developer).
Thus, when I started college, I joined the students radio to work as a journalist to look for other career options. I worked together with fellow students that kept praising the content of private radios, that generic 'the best hits from the 80s, 90s and today!', those constantly grinning moderator-entertainers who like themselves more then their listeners... So I applied for an internship at the WDR, the largest public radio station in Germany, hoping to find journalistic quality and an overall vision of how to spread information. Actually, I did. But I also found very discouraging bureaucratic structures, very slowly working windmills, hierarchy pyramids, and very few space for personal development and personal contribution...
So what IS Bullseye Games? It's back to the roots. It's a project, an idea, that buzzes through my head since my internship at the WDR, which has been two years ago. It's the understanding that if I really want to work in a company that fits my personal expectations and needs... Well then I probably have to found it by myself.
I know it is risky, that there will be downsides like long working hours and a huge responsibility. But from my 'leadership experience' (editor-in-chief at the students radio for a year, founder and leader of a non-guilded 'World of Warcraft' raid), I think I also got the impression of the advantages: a lot of personal freedom, advancement and independency. And the opportunity to change and greatly contribute to a self-made community. I hope this dream, this idea of 'Bullseye Games', will come true some day.
What's this all about? See, I have been thinking about working in the computer games industry since err... well since a very long time, maybe even since I played a computer game ('Mission Elevator' on an Amstrad Schneider CPC) for the 1st time, 12 years ago.
But over the years, I learned that the working conditions in the computer game industry are not very well – crunchtime 12 hour work shifts for several months short before launch, financial and contentual dependancy on your publisher (if you have one) or a run only millimeters away from the financial abyss (if you're an independent game developer).
Thus, when I started college, I joined the students radio to work as a journalist to look for other career options. I worked together with fellow students that kept praising the content of private radios, that generic 'the best hits from the 80s, 90s and today!', those constantly grinning moderator-entertainers who like themselves more then their listeners... So I applied for an internship at the WDR, the largest public radio station in Germany, hoping to find journalistic quality and an overall vision of how to spread information. Actually, I did. But I also found very discouraging bureaucratic structures, very slowly working windmills, hierarchy pyramids, and very few space for personal development and personal contribution...
So what IS Bullseye Games? It's back to the roots. It's a project, an idea, that buzzes through my head since my internship at the WDR, which has been two years ago. It's the understanding that if I really want to work in a company that fits my personal expectations and needs... Well then I probably have to found it by myself.
I know it is risky, that there will be downsides like long working hours and a huge responsibility. But from my 'leadership experience' (editor-in-chief at the students radio for a year, founder and leader of a non-guilded 'World of Warcraft' raid), I think I also got the impression of the advantages: a lot of personal freedom, advancement and independency. And the opportunity to change and greatly contribute to a self-made community. I hope this dream, this idea of 'Bullseye Games', will come true some day.
June 22, 2007
Southfury Banks v0.6 released!
The battle for the Southfury River begins! Up to five players fight side-by-side to defeat the other faction's general and to take over the control of the riverside.
The core feature of 'Southfury Banks' are the player-controlled units. These can be upgraded to mighty warriors, stealthy rogues or bright druids, greatly supporting each other.
Together, they fight against the opponent players, seek control of flag points or summon a mighty creature to help them vanquish the enemy general and his officers. At dawn, they try to recover - until the drums of war thunder once again for the battle of 'Southfury Banks'.
The core feature of 'Southfury Banks' are the player-controlled units. These can be upgraded to mighty warriors, stealthy rogues or bright druids, greatly supporting each other.
Together, they fight against the opponent players, seek control of flag points or summon a mighty creature to help them vanquish the enemy general and his officers. At dawn, they try to recover - until the drums of war thunder once again for the battle of 'Southfury Banks'.
- Fight against enemy players in team-based PvP skirmishes.
- Obtain Tomes to upgrade your unit up to one of six unique classes.
- Tomes are dropped by killed players or can be bought at Horde Sages / Alliance Librarians.
- Capture neutral or enemy flags to get additional spawn points and income.
- Kill the enemy faction's officers to destroy your enemy's towers and to kill their general more easily.
- Hand in Flasks of Mojo (Horde) / Arcane Crystals (Alliance) at your main base to summon a mighty NPC.
- Make life harder for enemies by upgrading your faction guards or reviving Sages (Horde) / Librarians (Alliance).
June 21, 2007
EA Mythic hires ex-Sigil employees
Do you remember that epic failure? Well, apparently some of the ex-Sigil workers have found a new job position:
Plus, by reading WAR newsletters and several interviews it appears that EA Mythic employees are treated better than EA used to (or still does?).
We also picked up a few ex-vanguard people here at EA-Mythic central, they are all good people, they have to be to get passed our recruiter bulldog and the interviews we have here. ... At first they looked a little like deer in head lights. It can be quite daunting entering our place and seeing people smile, laugh, be joyous and basically loving their jobs. But we have a great team of people and we are making them feel at home.That's cool. I hope they hired some of the crafting coders since the Vanguard crafting system put some innovation into that section of virtual worlds.
They are being immersed in the whole Warhammer-ness of our project and the way we do things around here. I told them to wear their sigil t-shirts with pride. They worked hard, they tried, I know that this time it didn't work out but that's not reason to hide what you have been doing with your life. To use a phrase from GW HQ. "The Emperor will not judge you by your medals, he will judge you by your scars."
Plus, by reading WAR newsletters and several interviews it appears that EA Mythic employees are treated better than EA used to (or still does?).
just a short WoW rant #3
WoW - Version 2.1.2 patch notes
change: "Druids in Swift Flight form can no longer loot herb nodes."
reason: several Tauren players complained about being called 'honey-beef'.
change: "Druids in Swift Flight form can no longer loot herb nodes."
reason: several Tauren players complained about being called 'honey-beef'.
June 20, 2007
June 19, 2007
The life of a gold farmer
Long article, but very interesting to read. To sum up: being a gold farmer in China means you earn as lot cash as you did before in your hometown. With some differences... (1) You are constantly killed by players who think the visible supply is the problem – and not the anonymous demand. (2) If you are killed by other characters, you actually earn less money since you are paid by every 100g you farm. (3) You do 100% repetitive boring actions for 12 hours per day, then leave the sweatshop to pick up some food and then fall asleep right away. (4) You dream of a better life, of saving money, marrying a nice woman – but keep going through the grind treadmill, not going any step further towards a better life. (5) You were better of back home – if there weren't those official and unofficial institutions who made you leave your home base by their actions.
But well, at least you are working in a somewhat safe and vastly growing industry. Your position is safe. So basically you've got a stupid, very repetitive and machinimous job, but at least a safe one. Yay...
The next time you meet a china farmer... Will you still gank him or will you rather think about promoting accusation on the demand, and not on the supply?
But well, at least you are working in a somewhat safe and vastly growing industry. Your position is safe. So basically you've got a stupid, very repetitive and machinimous job, but at least a safe one. Yay...
The next time you meet a china farmer... Will you still gank him or will you rather think about promoting accusation on the demand, and not on the supply?
June 16, 2007
Age of Conan update
Some interesting news about Age of Conan were revealed in this AoC developer interview:
First of all, every guild with more than 30 members may build its own guild village (guild bank, crafting places, guild hall,...). Solo players won't be able to construct a house. I like this decision since it enhances community building which is vital for MMOs. Plus, it provides the players with community individualization - the possibility 'to return home', to have a place where you can easily find your friends - or foes. ;-)
Second, they'll introduce (Roleplay-)FFA-PvP-Servers ("RPvP"). "because in Hyboria (Conan's world) there is no Role Playing without being able to kill someone." Exactly. No more carebear-RP à la 'uh but we're on the same side / fraction - you CAN'T kill me, this would be SO MEAN! And an Orc is not SUPPOSED TO kill an orc!' If someone argues that way in Conan, you can just stuck a sword into him to prove he is wrong. Yay.
They are not yet sure about the PvP rewards. There'll be PvP-only rewards called 'blood coins', but what I like even more is the consideration of implementing item looting, be it everything, one item, or back-pack items.
Shameless playerkilling will punished by putting the PKer in jail where he has to do a repetitive quest to get out. This is a somewhat nice idea since you can't just log onto another character and wait for your main to finish his imprisonment... still, it's repetitive and one-dimensional - no opportunities to form bonds, to found thieves / assassins guilds or to bully cell inmates? It's good to require actions from the player to get out of jail, but there should still be different actions available. But well, this somewhat continues the rather boring design philosophy of the AoC-quests... And there are other things where AoC really excels compared to other MMOs (combat system, magic system, crafting career, PvP sieges, guild enhancement,...).
First of all, every guild with more than 30 members may build its own guild village (guild bank, crafting places, guild hall,...). Solo players won't be able to construct a house. I like this decision since it enhances community building which is vital for MMOs. Plus, it provides the players with community individualization - the possibility 'to return home', to have a place where you can easily find your friends - or foes. ;-)
Second, they'll introduce (Roleplay-)FFA-PvP-Servers ("RPvP"). "because in Hyboria (Conan's world) there is no Role Playing without being able to kill someone." Exactly. No more carebear-RP à la 'uh but we're on the same side / fraction - you CAN'T kill me, this would be SO MEAN! And an Orc is not SUPPOSED TO kill an orc!' If someone argues that way in Conan, you can just stuck a sword into him to prove he is wrong. Yay.
They are not yet sure about the PvP rewards. There'll be PvP-only rewards called 'blood coins', but what I like even more is the consideration of implementing item looting, be it everything, one item, or back-pack items.
Shameless playerkilling will punished by putting the PKer in jail where he has to do a repetitive quest to get out. This is a somewhat nice idea since you can't just log onto another character and wait for your main to finish his imprisonment... still, it's repetitive and one-dimensional - no opportunities to form bonds, to found thieves / assassins guilds or to bully cell inmates? It's good to require actions from the player to get out of jail, but there should still be different actions available. But well, this somewhat continues the rather boring design philosophy of the AoC-quests... And there are other things where AoC really excels compared to other MMOs (combat system, magic system, crafting career, PvP sieges, guild enhancement,...).
June 11, 2007
„randomness“ of drops
In this forum post, the WoW GM Issuntril is quoted to confirm that item drops in World of Warcraft are not random. Which items are going to drop is rather determined by „many variables“.
First of all: this is not surprising at all. The „random“ outcome of any roll in a software-based environment must always be calculated with a formula. A computer program is never random, it can only try to simulate randomness.
The interesting thing about drop calculation is another issue, namely the economical one. Since the variables of an item drop can be influenced by the game developer, the playtime of a player can artificially be increased, e.g. by decreasing class item drop chances for the players in an instanced dungeon. Or by increasing drop chances of very rare items the larger the sum of playtime of all players is to enhance „hardcore gaming“.
Economically this would make „sense“: the more time it takes a player to complete a specific goal (e.g. completing an item set), the more subscription fees the player will (have to) pay. One more reason why item boni suck.
First of all: this is not surprising at all. The „random“ outcome of any roll in a software-based environment must always be calculated with a formula. A computer program is never random, it can only try to simulate randomness.
The interesting thing about drop calculation is another issue, namely the economical one. Since the variables of an item drop can be influenced by the game developer, the playtime of a player can artificially be increased, e.g. by decreasing class item drop chances for the players in an instanced dungeon. Or by increasing drop chances of very rare items the larger the sum of playtime of all players is to enhance „hardcore gaming“.
Economically this would make „sense“: the more time it takes a player to complete a specific goal (e.g. completing an item set), the more subscription fees the player will (have to) pay. One more reason why item boni suck.
June 04, 2007
WoW - anti-spam
With the new WoW patch, Blizzard introduced a feature to report spamming for gold farming services. Players are already complaining about the largely increasing number of random (raid) group invites. The spam report feature only works with mails and public chat, spam in consensual and private chats can't be reported.
As I said: if you want to prevent gold farming, don't implement the mechanics that support this... „feature“. To kill the Hydra, don't cut of its head, tear out its heart.
As I said: if you want to prevent gold farming, don't implement the mechanics that support this... „feature“. To kill the Hydra, don't cut of its head, tear out its heart.
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