Hecker’s Nightmare
Friday, March 12th, 2010
This morning I was rather intrigued when I received a link to a Gamasutra article that dealt with rewarding players for dull tasks. The developer in question, Chris Hecker, discusses some of the pit falls of doing this and envisions a future where games are so awful that players must literally be bribed to play them. I’d have to say he makes some really great points and it seemed like something interesting to discuss. (more…)
Bringing back the grind
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
I’ve been contemplating the meaning of MMO life a lot lately and I’ve come to a realization. We need the grind to come back. That is the next evolution in the MMOs we’ve come to love. I recognize that right now a huge portion of you have read no further than that and are furiously writing a comment about how I’m wrong but hear me out. I think you might actually agree and, if you don’t, you still have the opportunity to comment. Let me explain what I mean by grind, though, before we get too deep. (more…)
Multiverse Episode 10
Monday, March 8th, 2010
We’ve hit show ten and that really is a good feeling! Each week I enjoy the opportunity to jump on with Chris and Riknas to discuss whatever happens to be going on in the MMO sphere. We’re going strong and I am looking forward to reaching show 20, 50 and 100! For now though we’ll just go one week at a time. Episode ten is one of our “short shows” but despite that we had something awesome happen during it. Something that I’ve been trying to encourage! (more…)
Ten features an MMO must have at release
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
A lot of bloggers will talk about features that “have to be in” at an MMO’s release. They consider these items standard and as such no new game can lack them at the onset. The problem with this is that many of these “needs” weren’t there at the launch of older games and the list has gotten longer and longer. Developers are backed into a corner because there is no way that their new MMO can launch with every feature that WoW and EQ2 currently have. So, even though I recognize that problem, I’m going to pick ten features that actually are requirements for a successful launch! (more…)
I’ll have the MMORPG, hold the BGs!
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Lately there has been a great deal of discussion regarding how PvP affects PvE in MMOs. Anyone who has read Epic Slant for a while knows I’m pretty passionate about the subject. I’ve been quiet on the subject for a while but these great blog posts and the fact that my beloved SOE is trying to cram battlegrounds into my equally beloved EverQuest II has me a little hot. I’m not sure who wanted battlegrounds in EQ2 but regardless of who wanted them we most certainly didn’t need them. Nobody does in fact. (more…)
Multiverse Ep 9 – Syp Strikes Back
Monday, March 1st, 2010To help you start your week off right, we bring you Episode 9 of The Multiverse and, in my opinion, our best episode yet. We were joined by Syp, from Bio Break (Sypiest. Episode. Ever!) and had a good time talking all things MMORPG.
Join us this week for a interview with Syp, as well as our short-term and long-term predictions for the future of MMORPGs. Of course, we also talk about the week’s news (*cough* Allod’s *cough*) and have some fun discussing games and movies past. (more…)
