MMOGs = social

Surprise, surprise...

75% have met new friends in MMOs.
50% of them have met those friends in person.
40% preferred discussing sensitive issues with VL-friends.
10% have developed physical relationships.

The last one's ratio is a lot better than any online partnership website.

"Please help me - I'm a geek?!" Nah, sorry. I think I'm fine.

G|C Leipzig 2007

There was the Leipzig Games Convention several days ago. I attended it. 
There was a WAR beta key contest / lottery. I won a key and I am eagerly waiting for it being send to me.
--> check out my GC coverage on my GuildCafe blog

 

Barnett Interview

Epic interview. No marketing-based interview where it's all about telling what great product you'll be delivering to the people. Nothing but a game designer enthusiastically talking about what he is doing. 

Speaking about WAR... Freakin' aweseome movie!

character customization in WAR

Q: Why is this a smart move?

Lance Robertson: We are going to have a lot of changeable faces, for certain races like the Greenskins. There is really going to be a lot of variety.

What we really want to concentrate on though for the customization of your character in general is more your silhouette so to speak. I’ve got spikes on my shoulders or I have trophies hanging off of my body that shows pretty much how much of a badass I am. Our artists call it the 20 Foot Rule. We really want to make it so that the guy from 20 feet away is obviously different from the other guy in terms of their race, career, and how high a rank they are.

A: 1st of all, it saves workload. Make ONE model, not 3,000 different customization combinations where you have to check at each one of them if the animations are alright, if some equipment causes certain illustration errors etc., so basically a lot less required QA and manpower ressources.

2nd, it provides time for dynamic character customization: you can't only read in your tome of knowledge, what badass you are, you can also determine it by just looking at yourself. You become a walking trophy collection, bragging about your achievements and heartily inviting enemy players to give a damn about (trying to kill) you.

And 3rd... Well c'mon, who cares wether your nose is 2 inches long or what your exact skin color is when you are covered in full armor and helmet anyway?