Thought you all would like this. I find it to be so true
Posted: 06/28/05
Who is the average MMORPG gamer, and what's the stereotypical image? An Avante Garde hipster humming A Love Supreme? A social #&%&erfly getting in a couple minutes between going clubbing? The average blue-collar, white-collar Joe? Nope, you probably think up of a socially defunct, greasy-haired recluse that wears an old freebie T-shirt won from signing up for a credit-card. (But of course I'm not like that. Other video game journalists may be dorks, but not myself.) Many stereotypes exist because at some level they're true. So what's true about the overwhelming majority of MMORPGs?
They're not for the meek, light-hearted gamer.
Part of it has to do with the conventional pricing model. With a game demanding $15 a month, you can't afford to just casually log in a few hours on the weekend without feeling jipped. So the casual gamer's MMO has to be a game entertaining enough to pull people away from their usual games (let's face it, most MMOs are boring), and rewarding enough in a 1-2 hour timeframe so it doesn't require you to neglect your daily routines.
After being traumatized by Star Wars Galaxies (20 minute of traveling, 30 minutes waiting in line for buffs meant 40 minutes of downtime before actually grinding), I thought my MMORPG days were over--but eventually I was drawn into the casual friendly-ness of World of Warcraft. Blizzard seemed to be the first to take casual playing elements to the next level--no forced grouping at early levels (say Final Fantasy XI), or tediously long exp grinds from furry fuzzy animals too cute to be called mobs (Lineage II). It seemed to offer fill that void of a casual gamer's MMO.
But the dream lasts only for a couple months (or 10 /played days if you grind). Unfortunately, you hit the end-game and it turns into any other MMO: a long grind. Unlike Diablo II, which spewed phat loot rewards in a span of 10 minutes, the instances are long and unrewarding. Enduring mammoth 4-5 hour runs of Scholomance a couple times, and I've discovered that watching paint peel is more fulfilling. Strat is a great length at 1.5-2 hours, but the low drop rates mean you can go on 50 runs and not get that piece of set gear you need.
The much anticipated Battlegrounds turned out to be just as un-casual, especially the half-day events of Alterac Valley. Best way to win AV? Log in at the wee hours of the morning, wait for the other side to get tired and log off so you win by default. Of course, unless you're on a more Horde-heavy server like Illidan, this mostly works only for Alliance. Honor system, even with the recently announced change in the reward system, is still a grind, forcing you to repeat Warsong Gulch till you get queezy of the phrase, "He's on the roof!"
This isn't to say that MC should be trivialized to quick 2-hr excursions. But what's the logic in offering casual gaming elements from levels 1-59, then focusing only on hardcore gamers at 60? Why not have casual game experiences at 60? Keep appeasing the hardcore with carrots dangled on a distant stick, but add more content catering to Saturday night gamers.
Solutions:
1) Instanced 5-on-5 PvP battlegrounds similar to what Guild Wars is doing. Have hundreds of instances available to remove those annoying and unpredictable queues (Estimated Wait Time: < 1 minute. Current wait time: 3 hour 45 minutes). When your 5-man group wins, you go on to a different map rather than staying in the same trite level for eternity. Escort/destroy objectives that don't involve the ubiquitous gear icon. 5-on-5 would be especially beneficial for Rogues, who are nothing but fattened cattle waiting for slaughter in Alterac Valley.
2) Quests/Dungeons that give stackable upgrades: Have stackable minor upgrades that can be mixed and matched with different combinations, offering more customizability of weapons (or armor). Make it require you to go into a five-man instance that's 1-2 hours long.
Of course, it can't screw up Enchants, so have it separate from those. As a simple example, maybe have a dungeon where you need to retrieve a rare mineral, and each time it gives +2 max damage to your weapon, for a max of +10. Or mix and match so you get +5 damage and -.2 speed to your weapon.
Power gamers will zip through them, but casual gamers will spend only a couple hours and still leave feeling a sense of accomplishment. Plus, customizability is sorely lacking in WoW as it is, and it'd be nice to be able to trick out your favorite weapon (cus let's face it, Earthshaker's minimalist aesthetics are far from earthshaking when compared to a Doomsaw).
3) Solo instances: Class-specific instances that are long (10 hours), but progress in couple-hour increments where you can log off and continue later. They could be given from a class trainer, and provide class-specific perks as a reward.
Well, there's always hoping--but in the mean time it's back to ninja-looting corpses in Alterac to hit exalted ...only 1500 more quests to turn in.
Link
http://gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/features/46245.shtml
WoW General Discussion -
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Janus' Addon of the Week: Scrolling Combat Text
Anyway, this week I picked Scrolling Combat Text.
In short, this mod lets you easily see all sorts of combat information easily. It gives you scrolling text above your character's head for a variety of events: Taking spell or melee damage, debuffs, or special effects firing off like Clearcasting or Windfury.
It gives a very Final Fantasy-ish feel to the game, and is very customizable. You can adjust the speed and colors in addition to what exactly shows up.
Sterling Order of Knights :: View topic - Janus' Addon of the Week: Scrolling Combat Text
In short, this mod lets you easily see all sorts of combat information easily. It gives you scrolling text above your character's head for a variety of events: Taking spell or melee damage, debuffs, or special effects firing off like Clearcasting or Windfury.
It gives a very Final Fantasy-ish feel to the game, and is very customizable. You can adjust the speed and colors in addition to what exactly shows up.
Sterling Order of Knights :: View topic - Janus' Addon of the Week: Scrolling Combat Text
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
G4 - Feature - World of Warcraft Secrets
Azeroth can be a dangerous place, full of monsters and warring clans and races. But it can also be a land of great wonders and undiscovered treasures just waiting to be claimed by adventurers brave, smart, and patient enough to uncover them. Or, then again, you could just read these tips and skip all of that work.
Easter Eggs
TREKKIE REFERENCE: In Booty Bay, just outside the inn, you’ll encounter Chief Engineer Scooty manning a teleportation device. If you have a quest that takes you through the device, you’ll find a character named Sprok and his away team.
MATRIX REFERENCE: On your way to the Ironforge Auction House, ask one of the guards the location of the alchemy trainer. One of his answers will be, “why, oh why didn’t I take the blue potion?”
FIGHT CLUB: Further into the Undercity, in the War Quarter, there’s an honest to God Fight Club where you’ll find two NPC fighters named Edward and Tyler.
GHOSTBUSTERS REFERENCE: Another movie reference can be found in the Mage Quarters of Stormwind. There, you’ll find three mages-in-training talking shop. Hang around long enough and one of them will say “wouldn’t that be bad, like crossing the streams bad?”
STAR WARS: The Shimmering Flats. Peek around a bit and you’ll find a goblin race team with a very familiar looking vehicle—Blizzard’s version of Sebulba’s podracer from Episode I. Do a little more exploring and you’ll also find a wrecked podracer which smacked into a canyon walls.
CONAN: In the Badlands around the middle of the map is a semi-hidden crypt. Enter the crypt and you’ll see a decomposed guy sitting on a throne with a sword to his side. It’s a scene from the first Conan movie.
BRUCE CAMPBELL TRIBUTE: In Dun Mo-rogh, just south of Kharanos, there’s a small camp where a group of dwarves are taking target practice. Hang around long enough and you’ll hear one of the dwarves scream out: “This is my boomstick!”
BOOK REFRERENCES: In the upper levels of Booty Bay, there’s a clothing shop named “A Tailor to Cities,” an homage to Charles Dicken’s A Tales of Two Cities. And in the Undead capital, the Undercity, you’ll find Algernon at the alchemy trainer’s holding a flower. This is a nod to Daniel Keyes’ novel Flowers for Algernon.
MEMORIAL: Blizzard designers also left a tribute to fallen comrade. In the Barrens, atop a hill just southwest of Crossroads sits a small shrine. Here, you’ll find a memorial dedicated to an Orc with the initials “M-K.” In the real world, M K was Michel Koiter, a Blizzard illustrator who passed away during production of World of Warcraft.
To reach the memorial, follow a ridge to the southeast and half-way up the hill you’ll find the base of a mound. Go up the short trail to reach the shrine. As a little bonus, if you visit the memorial in spirit form you’ll find a spirit healer named Koiter.
GAME REFERENCES: While fighting your way through the Deadmines to get VanCleef’s head you’ll encounter a Goblin Shredder. Take it down and look at the dashboard and you’ll see a familiar face: Kerrigan, The Zerg Queen from Starcraft: Brood War. She appears to be the ruler of the goblins as well. Other goblin shredders can be found in Strangle-thorn Vale and Gadget-zan.
In northern Un’goro Crater, there’s a place we’ve started calling “Camp Nintendo.” Two residents of the camp are the feuding brothers, Larion and Muigi. If those names sound a bit familiar, they should, they’re anagrams of Mario and Luigi; and the battling brothers are even decked out in red and green overalls.
Deep in the Uldaman instance, you’ll find a friendly refuge manned by three dwarves: Baelog, Olaf and Erik “The Swift.” Dedicated gamers should recognize these dudes from The Lost Vikings—the first game Blizzard created for the Super Nintendo back in ‘92.
RARE PETS
LIL' TIMMY: Lil’ Timmy is one of the game’s best pet dealers. Timmy doesn’t spawn often, but when he does, he wanders the streets of Stormwind trying to sell his one and only white kitten. This animal costs sixty silvers, but can be sold for five gold.
Even we couldn’t determine exactly when Timmy materializes, but we discovered that he spawns at the end of the canal between Old Town and the Trade District in Stormwind. You can camp at the bridge between the two districts and work on your fishing skill while you wait for him to come by.
Once Lil’ Timmy appears he wanders along the canal outside Old Town and Dwarven District. If you don’t catch him before he passes through Cathedral Square and turns right, poof!--he’ll be gone....
TINY CRIMSON WHELPLING: This beastie must be farmed from the gameworld. Your grinding begins in the Eastern Wetlands where you have to kill Crimson, Red and Flamesnorting whelps to find the drop. The drop rate of Tiny Crimson Whelplings is about one in a thousand (we got ours in 30 minutes). These little guys are worth much more then their weight in gold. If you decide to sell your rare pet, he’ll fetch about 40 gold pieces at auction.
TINY EMERALD WELPLING: In the southwest corner of the Swamp of Sorrows you’ll find Dreaming Whelps. Farm these badboys long enough and eventually they’ll drop a Tiny Emerald Whelpling.
HIDDEN QUESTS
THE CHICKEN QUEST: Head to Sal-deans’ Farm in Westfall and find a chicken. To unlock the secret you have to do the “Chicken Dance” for the chicken about a hundred times. Set up a macro to enter the command easily--bring up Options, select Macros, choose the icon you want and enter the command "/chicken". Then put the icon in an action bar.
Soon you’ll see the message, “Chicken looks at you quizzically. Maybe you should inspect it?” Accept the quest and purchase the special chicken feed from Farmer Saldean. Return to the chicken and type "/cheer" before feeding the chicken. Do this right and the chicken will lay an egg. This egg is your new pet, a prairie chicken.
ZELDA TRIBUTE QUESTS: This is only available when you reach level 47. Head to Un’Goro Crater and in the marshlands you’ll find a wrecked raft and a faded photograph. This find will initiate the quest “It’s a Secret to Everybody” (a quote from the original Legend of Zelda).
There is a Link counterpart in Marshal’s Refuge named Linken, whom you’ll be helping find his lost memories. This quest has you trekking all over Azeroth completing a chain of 13 tasks. Eventually the trail will lead you back to Un’Goro and the final part of the quest, “It’s Dangerous to Go Alone”.
The next tribute can be found by beating Blazerunner at Fire Plume Ridge. Blazerunner is a level 56 elite (we whupped him by pairing up with a paladin and casting Fire Resistance Aura, then having another party member use the Silver Totem of Aquamentas to take down Blazerunner’s protective shields). After he’s beaten, pick up the Golden Flame in the back of the cave, which looks like a piece of the Tri-Force. Now return to Linken in Marshal’s Refuge and claim your reward--Linken’s Sword of Mastery and Linken’s Boomerang.
G4 - Feature - World of Warcraft Secrets
Easter Eggs
TREKKIE REFERENCE: In Booty Bay, just outside the inn, you’ll encounter Chief Engineer Scooty manning a teleportation device. If you have a quest that takes you through the device, you’ll find a character named Sprok and his away team.
MATRIX REFERENCE: On your way to the Ironforge Auction House, ask one of the guards the location of the alchemy trainer. One of his answers will be, “why, oh why didn’t I take the blue potion?”
FIGHT CLUB: Further into the Undercity, in the War Quarter, there’s an honest to God Fight Club where you’ll find two NPC fighters named Edward and Tyler.
GHOSTBUSTERS REFERENCE: Another movie reference can be found in the Mage Quarters of Stormwind. There, you’ll find three mages-in-training talking shop. Hang around long enough and one of them will say “wouldn’t that be bad, like crossing the streams bad?”
STAR WARS: The Shimmering Flats. Peek around a bit and you’ll find a goblin race team with a very familiar looking vehicle—Blizzard’s version of Sebulba’s podracer from Episode I. Do a little more exploring and you’ll also find a wrecked podracer which smacked into a canyon walls.
CONAN: In the Badlands around the middle of the map is a semi-hidden crypt. Enter the crypt and you’ll see a decomposed guy sitting on a throne with a sword to his side. It’s a scene from the first Conan movie.
BRUCE CAMPBELL TRIBUTE: In Dun Mo-rogh, just south of Kharanos, there’s a small camp where a group of dwarves are taking target practice. Hang around long enough and you’ll hear one of the dwarves scream out: “This is my boomstick!”
BOOK REFRERENCES: In the upper levels of Booty Bay, there’s a clothing shop named “A Tailor to Cities,” an homage to Charles Dicken’s A Tales of Two Cities. And in the Undead capital, the Undercity, you’ll find Algernon at the alchemy trainer’s holding a flower. This is a nod to Daniel Keyes’ novel Flowers for Algernon.
MEMORIAL: Blizzard designers also left a tribute to fallen comrade. In the Barrens, atop a hill just southwest of Crossroads sits a small shrine. Here, you’ll find a memorial dedicated to an Orc with the initials “M-K.” In the real world, M K was Michel Koiter, a Blizzard illustrator who passed away during production of World of Warcraft.
To reach the memorial, follow a ridge to the southeast and half-way up the hill you’ll find the base of a mound. Go up the short trail to reach the shrine. As a little bonus, if you visit the memorial in spirit form you’ll find a spirit healer named Koiter.
GAME REFERENCES: While fighting your way through the Deadmines to get VanCleef’s head you’ll encounter a Goblin Shredder. Take it down and look at the dashboard and you’ll see a familiar face: Kerrigan, The Zerg Queen from Starcraft: Brood War. She appears to be the ruler of the goblins as well. Other goblin shredders can be found in Strangle-thorn Vale and Gadget-zan.
In northern Un’goro Crater, there’s a place we’ve started calling “Camp Nintendo.” Two residents of the camp are the feuding brothers, Larion and Muigi. If those names sound a bit familiar, they should, they’re anagrams of Mario and Luigi; and the battling brothers are even decked out in red and green overalls.
Deep in the Uldaman instance, you’ll find a friendly refuge manned by three dwarves: Baelog, Olaf and Erik “The Swift.” Dedicated gamers should recognize these dudes from The Lost Vikings—the first game Blizzard created for the Super Nintendo back in ‘92.
RARE PETS
LIL' TIMMY: Lil’ Timmy is one of the game’s best pet dealers. Timmy doesn’t spawn often, but when he does, he wanders the streets of Stormwind trying to sell his one and only white kitten. This animal costs sixty silvers, but can be sold for five gold.
Even we couldn’t determine exactly when Timmy materializes, but we discovered that he spawns at the end of the canal between Old Town and the Trade District in Stormwind. You can camp at the bridge between the two districts and work on your fishing skill while you wait for him to come by.
Once Lil’ Timmy appears he wanders along the canal outside Old Town and Dwarven District. If you don’t catch him before he passes through Cathedral Square and turns right, poof!--he’ll be gone....
TINY CRIMSON WHELPLING: This beastie must be farmed from the gameworld. Your grinding begins in the Eastern Wetlands where you have to kill Crimson, Red and Flamesnorting whelps to find the drop. The drop rate of Tiny Crimson Whelplings is about one in a thousand (we got ours in 30 minutes). These little guys are worth much more then their weight in gold. If you decide to sell your rare pet, he’ll fetch about 40 gold pieces at auction.
TINY EMERALD WELPLING: In the southwest corner of the Swamp of Sorrows you’ll find Dreaming Whelps. Farm these badboys long enough and eventually they’ll drop a Tiny Emerald Whelpling.
HIDDEN QUESTS
THE CHICKEN QUEST: Head to Sal-deans’ Farm in Westfall and find a chicken. To unlock the secret you have to do the “Chicken Dance” for the chicken about a hundred times. Set up a macro to enter the command easily--bring up Options, select Macros, choose the icon you want and enter the command "/chicken". Then put the icon in an action bar.
Soon you’ll see the message, “Chicken looks at you quizzically. Maybe you should inspect it?” Accept the quest and purchase the special chicken feed from Farmer Saldean. Return to the chicken and type "/cheer" before feeding the chicken. Do this right and the chicken will lay an egg. This egg is your new pet, a prairie chicken.
ZELDA TRIBUTE QUESTS: This is only available when you reach level 47. Head to Un’Goro Crater and in the marshlands you’ll find a wrecked raft and a faded photograph. This find will initiate the quest “It’s a Secret to Everybody” (a quote from the original Legend of Zelda).
There is a Link counterpart in Marshal’s Refuge named Linken, whom you’ll be helping find his lost memories. This quest has you trekking all over Azeroth completing a chain of 13 tasks. Eventually the trail will lead you back to Un’Goro and the final part of the quest, “It’s Dangerous to Go Alone”.
The next tribute can be found by beating Blazerunner at Fire Plume Ridge. Blazerunner is a level 56 elite (we whupped him by pairing up with a paladin and casting Fire Resistance Aura, then having another party member use the Silver Totem of Aquamentas to take down Blazerunner’s protective shields). After he’s beaten, pick up the Golden Flame in the back of the cave, which looks like a piece of the Tri-Force. Now return to Linken in Marshal’s Refuge and claim your reward--Linken’s Sword of Mastery and Linken’s Boomerang.
G4 - Feature - World of Warcraft Secrets
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Thursday, June 16, 2005
How to please a Priest
originaly posted by Laena
-Please don't get the aggro off me. I like it when the baddies beat on me, I swear! I have 3000HP, and I can take the beating MUCH better than the Paladin/Warrior/Rogue. After all, I can heal myself, so I have a nearly endless supply of HP. If I die,it's my fault, ALWAYS. I just didn't heal myself fast enough. My favorite thing to do in an instance when our oh-so-talented rogue pulls 6 mobs is to shield myself, get beat on by the 5 mobs that aggroed me when I healed that awesome rogue and hold all 5 of them off while the other 4 party members beat on the one mob that is not on me. Yep! Love it!
-Casters don't need loot! Nope! Bet you didn't know that, either. We don't need armor... we don't get hit. We don't need weapons! We cast! We don't need quest items because the rewards are usually armor, and since we don't need armor, we don't quest. So by all means, melee classes, make sure you loot those kills the instant they fall and NEVER let a caster get the chance to get to the corpse. WE DON'T NEED TO LOOT.
-Priests aren't main healers... Paladins are! That's right pallies... the instant you notice a health bar start to drop, YOU should be casting your heals. I bet that priest didn't even notice anyway. I never start casting a heal only to have a pallies heal go off an instant before mine and I just wasted my mana. We're just back-up healers, to be called upon only by a paladin, who is out of mana and is down to a perilous 80% health. This calling always should come in the form of "HEAL ME PRIEST". The demanding tone, self-righteous attitude, all caps and title of "Priest" are all necessary, as we are just priests, and won't understand you otherwise. We're not used to healing and really do need paladins to hold our hands through everything.
-If any member of your group dies, it's always the priest's fault. ALWAYS. If you pulled eight lvl 60 Elite mobs and even one of your party members dies in the fray, it's the priests fault, not yours. If you are a hunter, and your pet dies, no matter how low everyones health bar is, it's the priest's fault for not healing your pet. Your pet is your own personal tank, so it clearly takes precedence over the members of the party who are actual people. Also, you should NEVER heal your own pet... not even when the priest's mana is completely gone. She should have a mana pot up and ready to go JUST FOR YOUR PET.
-When grouped for an instance, always make sure you run into an instance while the priest is still on the griffon flying to you. Nevermind that there tend to be numerous elite mobs hanging around outside instances... the priest won't need your help to get in. After all, she has that endless supply of HP at her disposal from her heals. If, on the off chance that the priest does die on her way in, be sure to mock her.
-Warlocks! You guys are so awesome with your soulstone ressurection! You should never put that on the priest. We are the last person you should care about living or dying in a group. Put it on yourself or the rogue always, k?
-When looking for a priest for your group, always do a /who priest and just start sending random, unintelligible whispers to anyone at or above the level range you're looking for. Make sure you never do any of the following: Introduce yourself, say please, speak in a complete sentence, use real words. Also, don't bother ASKING them to join you. You must DEMAND it. A great example is "come 2 BRD mah grp needs u". We're priests! We're giving by our very nature, and appreciate being treated as your own personal heal monkeys. This is especially effective if you've never even spoken to the priest in question before.
WoW General Discussion -: "3620593"
-Please don't get the aggro off me. I like it when the baddies beat on me, I swear! I have 3000HP, and I can take the beating MUCH better than the Paladin/Warrior/Rogue. After all, I can heal myself, so I have a nearly endless supply of HP. If I die,it's my fault, ALWAYS. I just didn't heal myself fast enough. My favorite thing to do in an instance when our oh-so-talented rogue pulls 6 mobs is to shield myself, get beat on by the 5 mobs that aggroed me when I healed that awesome rogue and hold all 5 of them off while the other 4 party members beat on the one mob that is not on me. Yep! Love it!
-Casters don't need loot! Nope! Bet you didn't know that, either. We don't need armor... we don't get hit. We don't need weapons! We cast! We don't need quest items because the rewards are usually armor, and since we don't need armor, we don't quest. So by all means, melee classes, make sure you loot those kills the instant they fall and NEVER let a caster get the chance to get to the corpse. WE DON'T NEED TO LOOT.
-Priests aren't main healers... Paladins are! That's right pallies... the instant you notice a health bar start to drop, YOU should be casting your heals. I bet that priest didn't even notice anyway. I never start casting a heal only to have a pallies heal go off an instant before mine and I just wasted my mana. We're just back-up healers, to be called upon only by a paladin, who is out of mana and is down to a perilous 80% health. This calling always should come in the form of "HEAL ME PRIEST". The demanding tone, self-righteous attitude, all caps and title of "Priest" are all necessary, as we are just priests, and won't understand you otherwise. We're not used to healing and really do need paladins to hold our hands through everything.
-If any member of your group dies, it's always the priest's fault. ALWAYS. If you pulled eight lvl 60 Elite mobs and even one of your party members dies in the fray, it's the priests fault, not yours. If you are a hunter, and your pet dies, no matter how low everyones health bar is, it's the priest's fault for not healing your pet. Your pet is your own personal tank, so it clearly takes precedence over the members of the party who are actual people. Also, you should NEVER heal your own pet... not even when the priest's mana is completely gone. She should have a mana pot up and ready to go JUST FOR YOUR PET.
-When grouped for an instance, always make sure you run into an instance while the priest is still on the griffon flying to you. Nevermind that there tend to be numerous elite mobs hanging around outside instances... the priest won't need your help to get in. After all, she has that endless supply of HP at her disposal from her heals. If, on the off chance that the priest does die on her way in, be sure to mock her.
-Warlocks! You guys are so awesome with your soulstone ressurection! You should never put that on the priest. We are the last person you should care about living or dying in a group. Put it on yourself or the rogue always, k?
-When looking for a priest for your group, always do a /who priest and just start sending random, unintelligible whispers to anyone at or above the level range you're looking for. Make sure you never do any of the following: Introduce yourself, say please, speak in a complete sentence, use real words. Also, don't bother ASKING them to join you. You must DEMAND it. A great example is "come 2 BRD mah grp needs u". We're priests! We're giving by our very nature, and appreciate being treated as your own personal heal monkeys. This is especially effective if you've never even spoken to the priest in question before.
WoW General Discussion -: "3620593"
Monday, June 13, 2005
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
