WAR and faction jumping: taking a lesson from LOTRO Monsterplay?

As we are inundated with Warhammer Age of Reckoning info now that the NDA is lifted, a few interesting nuggets of data about the game are now coming to light and one item in particular caught my attention. While listening to Keen and Graev’s Chaoscast, I heard it mentioned that players could not have both an Order and Destruction toon on the same server.

In a PVP / RvR game I can’t tell you how important I think this sort of measure is, side-hopping being in my opinion one of the biggest spoilers of good PvP / RvR play. But don’t take my word for it, just check out the Lotro Monsterplay forums and see what players there have to say about the instantaneous creep to freep mass migrations that regularly occur in the Ettenmoors. In Lotro you can indeed have a creep and a freep on the same server, which means that often people will flip-flop between factions for various reasons, thereby affecting the dynamics of PvPand preventing any sort of the stability and balance. Whether it be to take back with their creeps the keeps they just took with their freep,  to farm renown with the help of a cooperative friend on the other side or just to somehow grief in chat or otherwise an opposing player who just killed them or made them look bad, or better still just to spy on the opposition,  the ease with which individuals can switch camps in Lotro Monsterplay can be a source of endless frustration.

In light of this, I’m very happy that Mythic has nipped this problem in the bud and prevented the emergence of same-server flip-floppers.

Blackhorse contender : Stargate Worlds

Like a lot of people, I keep abreast of what Massive titles are in development and slated for future release, always on the lookout for ways to satisfy my MMO ADD. Recently I noticed myself checking up a lot on Stargate Worlds, my eyes being immediately attracted to any mention of it on news feeds and MMO related websites. This is strange because I don’t really see myself as a Stargate fan. Sure I watched the original movie, I even own the soundtrack, and I did catch of few episodes of the series on SpaceTV, but to say that I have an avid interest in the Stargate universe would be a stretch.

After seeing a gameplay trailer showing off the game’s combat engine, which I found quite interesting with it’s action-oriented approach similar to Tabula Rasa’s,  things have changed somewhat. My interest in the setting has grown, to the point where I have rented the two Stargate feature length movies, Stargate : The Ark of Truth and Stargate : Continuum,  to get back into the lore of the series in anticipation to playing the game.

I don’t really understand why I am so into this upcoming title, what makes me so want to check it out, but my interest for it is very real, which is all a bit suprising. Is it bacause it is a sci-fi title in a relatively fantasy dominated market? Is it because after playing DDO and Tabula Rasa, I am in fact becoming a fan of faster-paced combat in MMOs?

Who knows. Maybe it’s just that I have a repressed need to have a toon dressed up in pseudo-ancient Egyptian garb shooting bolts of energy at anything that moves !

Back To Tabula Rasa!

Today I got an email notifying me that my account for Tabula Rasa had been reactivated till August 31st. Seeing that I am a sucker for free gametime marketing ploys and that my WoW sub expires tomorrow, I will gladly jump back into this title and see what it has to offer.

I’ve been listening to Tabula Cast on the Virgin Worlds website for a few weeks now and I am a bit curious to see what has changed since I’ve been there. I’ve actually been thinking about reactivating my TR account for a while, the timecard for it already purchased and sitting on my desk ready to use for a few weeks now.

I wonder if I’ll take the plunge and join a clan and see what TR group play has to offer, the few PUGs I’ve joined in the past having been surprisingly pleasant and stress-free ( apart from the Bane focus-firing on me for some reason !) .

Living Legacy got me!

Last night was supposed to be my last day playing EQ2 for a while, at least till the new expansion comes out. July 31st being the end of the free game time associated with the Living Legacy promotion, I had decided that I would log on one last time and write a “farewell for now” letter to my guildmates explaining to them my departure and my plans on maybe returning in the Fall. That being said, when I turned off my PC last night, I had quite radically deviated from the plan and instead of ending my time in Norrath I had added some playing time to my account and kept it active. As I woke up this morning I asked myself what had just happened, why had I done this ? Here are the reasons I have come up with :

1-Playability : Subconsciously, I think that playing a solid, polished and stable game has had an insidious effect on me, making me realise that playing older established MMOs does have it’s charms when placed next to the quirkiness of playing shiny new titles like AoC, which are going through some early growing pains. I think playing EQ2 again for an extended period of time made me appreciate how pleasant it is to play a game that has already been through a majority of it’s tech hurdles and design rebalances and has attained a certain “maturity”. Playing a “veteran” title like EQ2 has somehow provided me with a counterbalance to playing a “rookie” title like AoC, which it seems, is something I need at the moment and am not willing to part with just yet.

2-Sentimentality : EQ2 being my very first MMO, I think that the whole “come back home” vibe put forth in the Living Legacy promotion did very effectively push the nostalgia button in me. In fact I admit it : it made me swallow hook, line and sinker SOE’s marketing line. What can I say, sometimes you think you are so jaded that you are immune to this kind of thing and then the irrationality of emotion comes and clouds your judgement !

3-The expansion grind : Seeing that my templar has not yet hit the level cap ( he is level 77 ) and that I still need to buff up the healing AA line in readiness for the release of the upcoming expansion, I guess that the desire to be ready for the new content that is coming has also had a role in making me prolong my sub. If Living Legacy had not come along, my healer would probably have stayed at level 66 and I would likely have foregone buying the new expansion and probably given up on EQ2 completely. Having invested all that time and energy levelling him up and catching up on Achievements, I figure that the thought of just walking away from all that was not something I was willing to do. Another sign that I am a sucker for even the most basic MMO marketing strategies !

So there it is, some deep introspection from a somewhat bemused MMO player, for your reading pleasure!

It’s not dead Jim!

Star trek Online is back from the dead, as per this announcement from the Cryptic Studios official website for the game. As a fan of the franchise I am thrilled to see this title returning to life and I think that the coming of Trek to the universe of massive gaming was long overdue. I think few settings can potentially offer as many avenues of gameplay types as Star Trek’s, being easily adaptable towards satisfying the straight-up roleplaying and story-telling oriented players, those interested in exploration and discovery or  those looking for a game that provides some compelling military conquest, ship to ship or straighforward avatar combat centered play. Now if Cryptic will include and develop to a decent level all or just some of these elements remains to be seen, but I think that the Trek Universe easily allows them to pursue all of these avenues, each one being perfectly plausible and consistent with the lore and feel of the Trek setting. In short I think that adopting Trek as a backdrop for a sci-fi MMO is an excellent decision because of the flexibility and diversity that it can offer from the game design point of view, which is what excites me the most about Cryptic’s announcement.

Oh how I am so looking forward to going to red alert and putting my shields up, or better yet setting my phaser to stun for the first time. Geek heaven I tell you!

Age of Conan : gets me in the mood.

Well, I’ve hit level 30 and have seen what the game has to offer out of Tortage and I thought I would comment briefly on one global aspect of AoC which has really struck me so far, which is the game world and it’s atmosphere.

AoC’s game world is relatively small compared to titles like Vanguard and even WoW, but this isn’t a bad thing in my book since I prefer quality, well fleshed out zones, as opposed to endless tracts of often generic landscape. AoC’s zones are quite well rendered and beautiful to look at, and I only play on medium graphic settings.  I especially like Tarantia, a truly epic and majestic city, although with a bit of “civilisation past it’s zenith” grit thrown in. Cimmeria and Stygia are also very well presented and I think that overall, Funcom has succeeded in capturing the essence of Howard’s Hyboria. This being said, there is one area in which I have noticed a surprising lack of effort on Funcom’s part when it comes to the cosmetics of AoC and that is the utter lack of variation in male NPC faces, which, when compared to the attention to detail that is exhibited in other areas, is rather astounding and disappointing. It may be my imagination, but it does seem that at least for minor male NPCS, such as vendors and caravan drivers, the same basic face was used with only minor variations being done to differentiate them. This spoils a bit of the atmosphere for me and I hope they would take a look at this in the future ( not likely I know).

If the whole look of the game overall definitely contributes to giving AoC a compelling atmosphere, I think it really takes a back seat AoC’s in-game music, which I find extremely atmospheric. I rarely leave game music on when I play, I will usually listen to a podcast while doing my MMO thing, but AoC is the exception for me. I leave the music on and often stop to enjoy a particularly moving piece, which is something I have not done in a long time in an MMO, the one exception being CoH / CoV and it’s gnarly techno-future soundtrack.

Age of Conan is a very moody game in my opinion, and that is a good thing so far as I am concerned. I like it’s feel and it’s look, the in-bred vendors excepted.

I am weak!

Yes I broke down and activated my Age of Conan subscription. So much for me adopting the “wait six months rule”…

I’ve just got my toon to level 21 and have left Tortage. I opted to roll up an Aquilonian Guardian, seeing as I envisioned this new character as a Roman legionary type sword and board front-fighter.

I love the facial customization options in this game which let’s you choose what kind of expression your toon typically has. I chose the “disciplined” expression, which actually kind of makes him look like a zombie at times. Heh. I spent about an hour trying to find him a suitable latin name to go with his imposing physique and his rock-like demeanor. I was surprised that some of my first choices were already taken, I guess a lot of people like giving latin names to their characters. I ended up calling him Firmus, which means “solid, steadfast”. Just like a good tank should be.

I will not get into an in-depth review of the game here but here I will say that overall, my first impressions of AoC are favorable. Prior to playing it I had read the forum threads about the game on MMORPG.Com as well as listened to many other people’s impressions of the game on various podcasts, so I had a few pre-conceived notions about the title going in. That being said, I found that many of the negatives often pointed out about the game didn’t seem that bad to me, the instancing being a good example. Maybe the “shiny new toy” effect has skewed my perception and has artificially smoothed over my initial contact with AoC’s flaws. In any case for now, I am glad I bought it and feel this game will be a keeper for me.

We’ll see How I feel about it in two months.

Group oriented or solo play character

As I bounce around different games, I notice that very early on I decide whether I will spec my toon towards being an effective team-player, often at the expense of the single-player experience, or if I will be selfish and spec him for solo play. Often, especially as one gets near the level-cap, the consequences of such a decision can become quite dramatic.

My first ever MMO toon is my healer in EQ2. I specced him for solo-centric play, mostly because at the time I did not know what a raid was and what it entailed. I put most of my Achievement points in maxing out his damage soaking and damage dealing aspects, at the expense of his healing power, in other words your typical battle priest build. Good if you play by yourself but kinda sucks for your teammates.

I have done the same thing on my rogue in WoW, where I don’t really intend to get into the raiding scene and play mostly for myself.

On the other hand, looking at Age of Conan and Warhammer, I am leaning more and more towards building  team oriented toons and set a group-play centric development path for them.

My point in all this is that I just noticed that I have a tendency to categorize MMOs as being “team” or “solo”, which also helps me determine how committed I will be to a title, “solo” games typically being the ones which will see that lowest commitment level from me.

Interesting.

Stop the Insanity!

So I’m now enjoying my two free months playing EQ2 and also getting back into WoW, and what do I get in my email ? A free month of Vanguard! I wish they had waited before doing this but oh well. I’m pretty curious to see what they have done with the game since I left, although I’m already aware ( and disappointed ) that they did not add any new content to Kojan, the native continent of my orc dreadnight.

From this experience I am even more mystified at people who juggle 3 or 4 MMO accounts on a monthly basis can truly get some enjoyment out out of the games they play.

Summer makes me jumpy!

It sure does seem like the warm season is pushing me towards a frenzy of activity, including in the MMO world. While checking my Sony Station account, I noticed that I had 2 free weeks of Star Wars Galaxies left, so I checked the title out. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be returning on a regular basis to SWG. I can’t put my finger on it, but it just does not generate any excitement in me. I could point out the clunky targeting system, the strange mission journal and the deserted server I was on as contributing factors for my apathy, but maybe it’s that I am just too jaded. Oh well.

Since SWG didn’t hit the spot, I decided to give World of Warcraft another look, this after a two year abscence. So far I am finding it alright. Contrary to many people I enjoy the cartoony graphics, it really does give it a special flavor. But for now, it has left me a bit underwhelmed, I thought I’d be more excited about coming back to this mega success.

The reason for this may lie in the fact that my EQ2 playing has picked up. I just joined a guild and am starting to catch up gear-wise with the rest of the crowd, which makes me want to devote most of my energy to this title, preventing me from fully diving into anything else at the moment.

And I have yet to logon to Age of Conan, event though the game box that is sitting on my computer desk taunts me daily…