I really don't have much to say about WoW right now. I haven't been raiding because wedding planning is getting intense now that we're 9 days out, so I've just been doing the same 'ole dailies. I usually just log in, kill 15 scourge in Icecrown (on each toon), then PvP a bit. There really isn't a whole lot to say about that, now is there? I'm ready for a patch, new BGs, and new dailies... it's that simple. Plus you know how I hate to pontificate on PTR things that may (read: likely will) change before they go live.
Thus, the best WoW content I can offer is to reiterate how awesome chillblains + howling blast + glyph of HB is in PvP. An AoE slow down is just pure fun in so many cases. Got people following you while you're carrying a flag? HB. Got people trying to harass your squad-mates demolisher? HB. Wanted to piss off a whole group of the opposing faction? HB. There are just so many fun uses to make you uber elusive (or allow you to catch up).
So, in lieu of WoW content today, I'll offer a tidbit of Aion coverage.
I've avoided jumping full bore on the topic of Aion, mostly because I don't want to overhype an already hyped game before it's even released yet. This is akin to my aversion for discussion PTR stuff; there's so much that can change between now and release that I just don't want to get into specifics. I have, however, been following several of the blooming Aion blogs out there, which brings me to the source of today's topic: Aionic Thoughts.
Concerning the question of "why will Aion succeed where WAR has *failed* in large scale PvP?" Naamah writes:
Whereas WAR (I think) made a huge mistake in only having two realms, Aion has three. Yes, one is AI controlled but it will help to balance things immensely. The Balaur are unpredictable at the best of times but talking to friends on the Chinese and Korean server they seem to be especially ruthless towards the winning Realm, thus allowing the losing realm a chance to get back in the fight. Friends have described Balaur attacking while the two Realms are fighting and complete chaos ensuing as each side tries to decide whether they should continue attacking each other, help the Balaur against the opposing faction or just run as both sides come after them. Neither side can get too far ahead of the other side because the Balaur will not allow it. Its a wonderful mechanic and one that NCSoft is going to expand and improve upon as time goes on.
Here, I completely agree with Naamah about the importance of this mechanic. It seems like such a "no duh" addition to me in retrospect. I mean, balancing anything where multitudes of humans congregate and make intelligent (or non-intelligent, depending on your level of elitism) decisions with any sort of frequency is just going to be a night mare for any game designer. Look at all the changes that are needed in WoW on a monthly basis. The devs are constantly adjusting things and tweaking things here and there because some random player figured out a way to do something that they didn't intend to have happen.
Usually this results in an uneven playing field which, in essence, "breaks" the game. After all, once people would figure out the slant, they're going to only choose what gives them the advantage. Thus, you may have the case where one class is dominant over the other, one realm is dominant over another, or one part of the game lords over the rest. This creates an environment where few people choose to stay and play. It's just not fun like that.
PvP, by it's very nature, is completely uncontrollable by the developer. It's player versus player; not environment, not developer, not game mechanic... player. It's the old watchmaker analogy in action here: the devs make all the pieces, put them into play, then sit back and watch the chaos. In that sort of environment, the only way possible to balance the game is to stick your hand back in and remake a few things.
With the addition of a third, non-playable race, we see an elegant solution to a complex problem. It won't fix everything (such as class issues), but it certainly provides a convenient avenue by which the devs can nudge things this way or that to keep the game interesting... all without having to rely on patches and expansions to make their changes. We're talking the possibility of "real-time" adjustments here. One side dominating the other? Oh wait, here come the Balaur to turn the tide. What a neat concept, and one that will keep even the best PvP player guessing.
Obviously, we still need to wait and see how effective this move actually is and how well NCSoft uses it. However, it is a great idea that shows a lot of promise in making a large scaled, endgame PvPvE environment a working reality in Aion. I, for one, am excited about the possibilities.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For
1 comments
You ever have one of those headaches that just won't go away? Maybe when I come out the other side of this, I'll have attained the power of telekinesis.
Come here, coffee mug.
*waves hand*
Nope, not yet.
Come here, coffee mug.
*waves hand*
Nope, not yet.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Little Things That Piss Me Off
Labels: PvP, Rant 4 comments
If you've never heard the Rodney Carrington song, here's a YouTube link and one to the lyrics. Funny song from a funny man. (If you live in the Indy area, you've probably heard of Bob and Tom. If not, it's a radio comedy morning show, which is where I get at least half of these names from. I hate mornings, so it's good to wake up to a laugh).
Anyways, I wanted to do my own list of little things that piss me off in PvP Battlegrounds:
Anyways, I wanted to do my own list of little things that piss me off in PvP Battlegrounds:
- If there is a flag, fight at it. Not 50 yards away. Not on the Bridge to Nowhere. Not in your mom's kitchen (what is she always doing in there?). At. The. Flag.
- Forget the the Farm. If you're in AB and you don't hold the LM, BS, ST, and Mine... Srsly, forget the Farm. It's not worth it until you've captured everything else.
- If 15 people are sitting at the end of the underground passageway in WSG, seek an alternate route with the flag. You may think you're Steven Segal and can take 'em all on with your terrible moves, but you're not. You don't have the ponytail, for one.
- Speaking of WSG, keep in mind that it isn't a rave party with the other team. Don't go out to the middle of the floor and just dance the whole time. And by dance I mean that poor excuse for fighting. We're not redcoats, we don't have to just march in lines at each other. Try spreading out and using some subterfuge. Sneak up on people. Rogues aren't the only ones who can do that you know. Nothing sucks more than a WSG with 15 on 15 in the middle.
- How un-epic can an AV rush get? I know, I know, I like quickies too. Ask Fuu. I mean, umm... AV rushing: taking the epic out of Alterac Valley since birth. Especially when you lose.
- Is it just me, or is the flag in Eye of the Storm pretty much worthless? If you don't at least hold two bases, forget the flag, cuz... man... it's over otherwise.
- The key to Strand of the Ancients is the vehicles. There, I said it. Either protect them or kill them. If you're not in a vehicle, near a vehicle, or on your way to a vehicle... you're doing it wrong (I guess you could be manning a gun or planting charges... but does that ever really win you the BG?).
- I'm not going to touch Clustergrasp. We have a love-hate relationship based on the fact that I call it Clustergrasp.
Monday, July 6, 2009
First Impressions: MMO Style
Labels: Aion, Fun, MMOs 3 comments
Aion had another beta run over the weekend, and while I was mostly on hiatus due to the aforementioned wedding participation and Fuu-day (which some may recognize as Independence Day, which is important too, but if you ask Fuu... at least some of the fireworks are for her), we did get a couple hours of trial time in on Sunday night, late. Normally I'm not a big beta tester type of guy (you will never find me on WoW PTR crap), but we've played the game a bit (through nefarious means, as mentioned previously) and I really wanted to see how it ran on the American servers.
I have to say, the lag was so much better and the game just a tid bit more polished than the hack and slash version that I'd be trialing. All in all, I was quite pleased and it reaffirmed our decision to go ahead and pre-order the collector's edition. Good move by NC Soft to include both a beta key with the CE, as well as some unique in-game items. I'm usually not enticed by figurines, guides, and the like, but will certainly take cool access and in-game items. Blizz started this sort of trend (I think) with giving pets away and it's nice to see that NC Soft has apparently learned the lessons of the MMO community well. They seem to have taken a lot of "what works" in WoW and translated it into a solid game as opposed to forcing themselves to try and change everything to distinguish themselves (which I believe is the root cause of some of the failings of newer MMOs, but that's another topic).
In any case, to tie this in with WoW, I got to thinking about one very important aspect of MMOs in general that both WoW and Aion do quite well: starting areas.
If you ask me, Blizz sort of wrote the book on this. The very first time you log into WoW, you're amazed by the virtual world into which you've been plunged, yet you're not blown away by the complexity of the choices available to you. There are some nice, simple introductory quests that let you whet your appetite for more, and the UI is explored in non-mind-numbing detail. There is a delicate balance to be achieved in these starting areas. As they say: "You only get to make a first impression once" and in the MMO world (as with many other areas in real life), first impressions can often be the key to success.
Very simply, WoW nailed it for their game. When WoW started, people were continuously pulled in via the starting areas. Even now, years down the road, the starting areas continue grab the imagination and attention of new players. That alone speaks volumes about the quality of the game.
Similarly, this is a place where I believe Aion nails it as well. The starting areas pull you in without completely trying to "redefine" what you think you know about MMOs. They mix the familiar with the unfamiliar in ways that can please seasoned veterans and brand new gamers alike. Plus, they have the whole updated game engine thing going for them, so the scenery is ridiculously pretty straight away. Top it all off with smooth, localized questing, and an epic-feeling early story-line, and you have a real attention grabber.
I suppose it's late in the article to point it out, but I sort of define the starter area as where you go from level 1 to probably around level 10. In WoW, this is when you venture into your first city, maybe wandering into Stormwind (as a human) for the first time and marvelling at the awesomeness in front of you. You start to accumulate a few more spells and look forward to getting "cool" gear. In Aion, not only are you taken to a capital city which is stunning, given a healthy chunk of spells, and treated to a small taste of gearing, you also "ascend" or get your wings. They basically took the general concept of a starter area that WoW (and I'm sure other MMOs that I'm less familiar with) developed and used, and then sprinkled some epic on top of it. Bippity Boppity Bacon. (Jim Gaffigan ladies and gentlemen... *applause*)
I guess I feel like sometimes we get too caught up expecting developers to do too much to "break the mold" and give us something completely different, when, really, just adding a bit of epic can really shake things up. Spend some time on the story-telling and the scenery, and you'll grab players. You don't need to drastically alter game play, you just need to give us something that can grab our imaginations and pull us in to your world with the desire to make it ours. WoW excels at this (still) and Aion looks to be pretty good as well.
Clearly, starting areas are one of the keys to success in the MMO-RPG genre. Without a solid starting zone, you're just not going to grab the players you might have. They certainly aren't the whole story, but you're never going to get to the ending if you can't get past the first page.
I have to say, the lag was so much better and the game just a tid bit more polished than the hack and slash version that I'd be trialing. All in all, I was quite pleased and it reaffirmed our decision to go ahead and pre-order the collector's edition. Good move by NC Soft to include both a beta key with the CE, as well as some unique in-game items. I'm usually not enticed by figurines, guides, and the like, but will certainly take cool access and in-game items. Blizz started this sort of trend (I think) with giving pets away and it's nice to see that NC Soft has apparently learned the lessons of the MMO community well. They seem to have taken a lot of "what works" in WoW and translated it into a solid game as opposed to forcing themselves to try and change everything to distinguish themselves (which I believe is the root cause of some of the failings of newer MMOs, but that's another topic).
In any case, to tie this in with WoW, I got to thinking about one very important aspect of MMOs in general that both WoW and Aion do quite well: starting areas.
If you ask me, Blizz sort of wrote the book on this. The very first time you log into WoW, you're amazed by the virtual world into which you've been plunged, yet you're not blown away by the complexity of the choices available to you. There are some nice, simple introductory quests that let you whet your appetite for more, and the UI is explored in non-mind-numbing detail. There is a delicate balance to be achieved in these starting areas. As they say: "You only get to make a first impression once" and in the MMO world (as with many other areas in real life), first impressions can often be the key to success.
Very simply, WoW nailed it for their game. When WoW started, people were continuously pulled in via the starting areas. Even now, years down the road, the starting areas continue grab the imagination and attention of new players. That alone speaks volumes about the quality of the game.
Similarly, this is a place where I believe Aion nails it as well. The starting areas pull you in without completely trying to "redefine" what you think you know about MMOs. They mix the familiar with the unfamiliar in ways that can please seasoned veterans and brand new gamers alike. Plus, they have the whole updated game engine thing going for them, so the scenery is ridiculously pretty straight away. Top it all off with smooth, localized questing, and an epic-feeling early story-line, and you have a real attention grabber.
I suppose it's late in the article to point it out, but I sort of define the starter area as where you go from level 1 to probably around level 10. In WoW, this is when you venture into your first city, maybe wandering into Stormwind (as a human) for the first time and marvelling at the awesomeness in front of you. You start to accumulate a few more spells and look forward to getting "cool" gear. In Aion, not only are you taken to a capital city which is stunning, given a healthy chunk of spells, and treated to a small taste of gearing, you also "ascend" or get your wings. They basically took the general concept of a starter area that WoW (and I'm sure other MMOs that I'm less familiar with) developed and used, and then sprinkled some epic on top of it. Bippity Boppity Bacon. (Jim Gaffigan ladies and gentlemen... *applause*)
I guess I feel like sometimes we get too caught up expecting developers to do too much to "break the mold" and give us something completely different, when, really, just adding a bit of epic can really shake things up. Spend some time on the story-telling and the scenery, and you'll grab players. You don't need to drastically alter game play, you just need to give us something that can grab our imaginations and pull us in to your world with the desire to make it ours. WoW excels at this (still) and Aion looks to be pretty good as well.
Clearly, starting areas are one of the keys to success in the MMO-RPG genre. Without a solid starting zone, you're just not going to grab the players you might have. They certainly aren't the whole story, but you're never going to get to the ending if you can't get past the first page.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Scheduler Issues
2 comments
So I totally had two posts scheduled to go up last week and for reasons unknown to me they did not. It says "scheduled" in my "edit posts" screen of blogger, yet they didn't post when they were scheduled. Weird. In any case, I went back and manually published them. Sorry for the mishap. I should be back to regular posting this week...
Oh, and Fuu's birthday was on the 4th, so wish her a happy one :-D.
Oh, and Fuu's birthday was on the 4th, so wish her a happy one :-D.
Friday, July 3, 2009
First Dates Go Better With Booze
Labels: Fun, IC Fridays 2 comments
*Smooth Jazz Intro*
Hey there all you cool cats. This is your pal Berry Blue, walker of the void realm and resident nightlife expert of the underworld. I come tonight to tell the tale of two unlikely lovers.
I caught up with the couple inside the Slaughtered Lamb, which is a popular hang out for some of the shadier sides of Stormwind, and one place where a big Blue love Berry like me can blend like easy notes laid on top of a smooooth baseline.
Dressed casually, they met at the bar, where the warlock made a fine choice of the local Pinot Noir after a gentle nudging from your boy Berry.
The found a cozy nook in the corner and settled in for the night. At first, as with most dates in Azeroth, it was pretty discordant. After all, what do a Paladin and a Warlock have in common?
Luckily, as I said, they had some fine wine between them.
She drank, and then he drank.
And pretty soon their conversation had grown boisterous and animated.
As is usually the case with a fine wine, the couple didn't know when to give it a rest, which resulted in some impromptu table dancing.
I can't say much for their moves, but dancing is an important cog in the love machine, so it's allllll good.
I lost track of the pair after that, as some smooth notes wafted in from the direction of the Blue Recluse, and I just had to go check it out. Last I saw 'em, they was headin' for the inn, arm in arm.
Looks like another night of looove in Azeroth made possible by yours truly, Berry Blue. Until next time cats, keep the baseline of looove beatin' for ol' Berry.
*Smooth Jazz Outro*
Hey there all you cool cats. This is your pal Berry Blue, walker of the void realm and resident nightlife expert of the underworld. I come tonight to tell the tale of two unlikely lovers.
I caught up with the couple inside the Slaughtered Lamb, which is a popular hang out for some of the shadier sides of Stormwind, and one place where a big Blue love Berry like me can blend like easy notes laid on top of a smooooth baseline.
Dressed casually, they met at the bar, where the warlock made a fine choice of the local Pinot Noir after a gentle nudging from your boy Berry.
The found a cozy nook in the corner and settled in for the night. At first, as with most dates in Azeroth, it was pretty discordant. After all, what do a Paladin and a Warlock have in common?
Luckily, as I said, they had some fine wine between them.
She drank, and then he drank.
And pretty soon their conversation had grown boisterous and animated.
As is usually the case with a fine wine, the couple didn't know when to give it a rest, which resulted in some impromptu table dancing.
I can't say much for their moves, but dancing is an important cog in the love machine, so it's allllll good.I lost track of the pair after that, as some smooth notes wafted in from the direction of the Blue Recluse, and I just had to go check it out. Last I saw 'em, they was headin' for the inn, arm in arm.
Looks like another night of looove in Azeroth made possible by yours truly, Berry Blue. Until next time cats, keep the baseline of looove beatin' for ol' Berry.
*Smooth Jazz Outro*
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Coupled IRL and Other Tales
Labels: Aion, Autobio, Fun 0 comments
I didn't post yesterday, but I did pick up a RL marriage license with my betrothed, so that counts for something. Right? In that spirit, I wanted to direct you over to Syrana's article from yesterday about gaming as a couple. She offers some great advice, and Fuu and I really enjoy it. It's definitely nice to share a hobby.
I'm unplugging myself for the weekend to go stand up at my friend's wedding and celebrate Fuu's birthday (on the 4th!), so I scheduled the continuation of our RP story for Friday, and that's about all I'm going to get a chance to do this week.
I should be back around next week, catching up on what people are doing and pontificating from my pulpit in this corner of the blogosphere, but I suppose we'll see how it goes. The week after that is actually MY wedding, and then all bets are off. I do have a plan to cover the honeymoon with scheduled posts. Still, they're just going to be funny pictures which I hope some might find entertaining. I'll get back to the business of analyzing things after I'm a married man.
In other news, I did pre-order my copy of Aion today. After getting in some game time through nefarious methods, I've really found myself enjoying the game. I intend to raid, play, and stay in touch with friends on WoW, while starting fresh in Aion when it comes out. We'll see how it goes with this. I don't want to stop writing, and I'll still be keeping up on all things warlocky for the raiding aspect, plus I'm sure we'll be doing some of the new content as well. I like both games, but you may start to see some Aion stuff pop up. I'll probably try to confine that to Fridays (my RP may discontinue after the whole marriage thing... or not, depends on what you guys find entertaining/how much there is to talk about).
In any case, just a heads up that things might be changing a bit around here, but I hope to still be able to provide sound warlocky advice and information, as well as some of the other tidbits I offer from time to time. Feel free to let me know if there's something I'm missing due to spreading myself too thin. Unlike Samo, I didn't really want to start a fresh blog even if I'm spreading my wings (so to speak... aha). I hope that's okay with y'all.
I'm unplugging myself for the weekend to go stand up at my friend's wedding and celebrate Fuu's birthday (on the 4th!), so I scheduled the continuation of our RP story for Friday, and that's about all I'm going to get a chance to do this week.
I should be back around next week, catching up on what people are doing and pontificating from my pulpit in this corner of the blogosphere, but I suppose we'll see how it goes. The week after that is actually MY wedding, and then all bets are off. I do have a plan to cover the honeymoon with scheduled posts. Still, they're just going to be funny pictures which I hope some might find entertaining. I'll get back to the business of analyzing things after I'm a married man.
In other news, I did pre-order my copy of Aion today. After getting in some game time through nefarious methods, I've really found myself enjoying the game. I intend to raid, play, and stay in touch with friends on WoW, while starting fresh in Aion when it comes out. We'll see how it goes with this. I don't want to stop writing, and I'll still be keeping up on all things warlocky for the raiding aspect, plus I'm sure we'll be doing some of the new content as well. I like both games, but you may start to see some Aion stuff pop up. I'll probably try to confine that to Fridays (my RP may discontinue after the whole marriage thing... or not, depends on what you guys find entertaining/how much there is to talk about).
In any case, just a heads up that things might be changing a bit around here, but I hope to still be able to provide sound warlocky advice and information, as well as some of the other tidbits I offer from time to time. Feel free to let me know if there's something I'm missing due to spreading myself too thin. Unlike Samo, I didn't really want to start a fresh blog even if I'm spreading my wings (so to speak... aha). I hope that's okay with y'all.
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