Defending Warcraft
Friday, March 19th, 2010
I’m fairly confident that anyone who frequents Epic Slant will be confused by the title of this article. Don’t worry folks, I’m not actually going to be defending World of Warcraft! I’ve just discovered that a catchy title can bring a lot of discussion. People even skip your article and assume what your argument is based on that title alone. I wanted to write on this topic due to some really great and spirited discussion that has resulted from one of my recent articles and a few message board posts. What exactly is “this topic?” That would be why people defend World of Warcraft and why others attack it! (more…)
EQ2 Developers Chat March 18th
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
While we were running through WoE on Thursday night I dropped in on the ZAM EQ2 developers chat and grabbed all the questions and answers that I could. There was some new information, some old information, and some strange information! At any rate you should take some time and read over what was said and be excited for the future of EverQuest II! You could also not be excited but then I guess that isn’t really as nice! I am sad to say that there was no gnoll related information. That made me sad. Someday… someday… maybe I should start my campaign with the EQ Next team! (more…)
Podcast Updates
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
It has been a busy week for me and I haven’t gotten a lot of writing done! I have managed to continue to participate with my awesome co-hosts and get podcasts done! So while you’re waiting for my next big MMO design story (here is a hint, it is about me being cranky) you can listen to these two awesome podcasts that were recorded recently. If you haven’t checked out the Multiverse of a View from the Top yet you really are missing out! Enjoy MMORPG and Guild themed shows that might make your play experience a little better! (more…)
Uninstance me!
Monday, March 15th, 2010
A long time ago I remember playing EverQuest and hearing word from the World of Warcraft alpha/beta that there would be instanced content everywhere. At that time I and my guild mates thought, “oh, that will be great!” Here it is years later and I thought today, “it would be great if there weren’t so many instances anymore!” You certainly can have too much of a good thing and I think we might need to look into doing away with all this instancing! To undo an instance you need to understand why you have one in the first place! (more…)
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…)
