The Insular nature of Loot Systems
Monday, September 21st, 2009
One fine evening in LotRO, Psychochild and I started discussing some of the ways that player crafted loot systems have so heavily effected how we experience MMOs. If you’ve done any sort of raiding, you’ve undoubtedly come up against some ritual behind how loot is assigned. From a player stand point they’re a necessity. On the design side they color the behavior of the customer and must be accounted for. It was through this discussion that Psychochild and I came up with a couple of problems that impact the community and possibly how to reduce the damage they do. It seemed like a great topic for us to collaborate on and we’ve done so with a pair of articles!
The greatest issue that seems to face MMO designers, guild leaders and the community as a whole regarding these systems is that they largely reward (more…)
LotRO’s Moria in Review
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
It wasn’t that long ago that I was writing up my first review of Lord of the Rings Online. My initial impressions were quite good and, based on everything I had experienced up to 50, I was pleased. Now that I’ve reached max level, I thought it would be a good time to review my trip through LotRO’s Moria while it is still fresh in my mind. With the new look of the site I’ve also changed up how my reviews will work a bit. The top score is now five.
Leveling Content
One of my biggest annoyances is when I start an expansion and there isn’t enough content to do to take me from the previous max level to the new one. Turbine has done a pretty solid job (more…)
Reflections on Dragon*Con
Monday, September 7th, 2009
There is always something refreshing about hanging out with a lot of people who like the same things you do. So, to say I had a great time at Dragon*Con would be an understatement! I had the opportunity to meet with both MMO players and industry folks and that is never a bad thing. Despite our little Con in Atlanta not being one of the big “MMO Cons,” we still received some very interesting information! I want to share with you what was shared with me and then thank some of the wonderful people I met.
Lord of the Rings Online
The LotRO panel was given by Shawn Schuster of Massively and (more…)
LotROs Forgotten Treasury
Friday, September 4th, 2009Recently I had the opportunity to crawl through the Lord of the Rings Online dungeon The Forgotten Treasury. Prior to this, I’d read that players seem to enjoy the group content for the game and I was not disappointed. I thought I would take a moment to write up a clear walk-through and explanation of how the encounters work. There seems to be some information out there already but I felt it was too brief and unclear.
To anyone who plans to attempt The Forgotten Treasury it is important to know a couple of things going in. First, before even heading to the dungeon, it is absolutely necessary that the main tank purchase anywhere from 10 to 20 wound removal potions (level 65). It is also advised that (more…)
Do existing IPs bring more MMO success?
Friday, August 14th, 2009
The MMO genre, like most genres, is not immune to trends. One of the current ones that we’ve been working through is taking an existing intellectual property and designing an MMO around it. We saw it with Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of the Rings Online, and Warhammer Online. The question I have to ask is did those names really bring in more players than the MMO would have anyway? The notion of course is that a Star Wars fan who has never seen an MMO might play SWG. That should mean extra dollars, right?
In truth I’m not so certain of that fact. I would say that at the onset a developer might sell more boxes due to the name they attach to it. Does that name alone, however, lead to the most important monetary generating system: conversions? How many of those players, after seeing what an MMO is, agree to play past the first month? (more…)
Sodality wants you!
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Sodality has been making exceptional progress in Lord of the Rings Online lately and we’re nearing that point where we shift from leveling to gear progression. The vast majority of our members have clustered in the mid to high 40s with several of us in the 50 range. This seemed like as good a time as any to look for some new recruits to strengthen our raid position and add to our guild culture.
If you think you’d like to jump in with us on LotRO we are looking for a few professional and mature players to add to our roster. Any class will do as we prefer solid players to specific niches. We could stand to have an additional minstrel apply. Applicants in the 40 to 60 range will have the most exposure to members and we tend to play in the EST/CST time zones. Highly motivated players who are of lower level are equally welcome. Friends and associates of Sodality members who just want someone to play with are also welcome. We can be found on the Firefoot server.
Sodality is a long standing and stable organization with multiple game tendencies (more…)
