Archive for February, 2008

Ed's Weekly Watch #3

10 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Back again folks with another weekly watch! This week has been fairly slow accually, we are nearing the launch of some of the greatest MMO’s ever made though. Like AoC and WAR, oh boy, 2008 will be fun beyond belief.

 

In a message involving me, I have just gotten back into the Lord of the Rings Online. My server is Gladden and my name is Altheron, feel free to message me in-game.

 

MMORPG.com’s contest for a Ideazon Zboard Reaper™ & Reaper Edge™ keyboard and mouse is going on. Click here to register in the contest. Remember, you must have an MMORPG.com account to register, so make one! 2 Days left!

 

John Smedley, SOE’s CEO, is hosting a dev blog here. Check it out! Mabye he will do something good this time!

 

Age of Conan…The soon to be king of MMORPG’s has finally uploaded their beta devolopment Q&A videos! Check them out! #1 here, #2 here, and #3 and #4 here!

 

Just a little warning, if you play Lord of the Rings Online, there has been a fradulent email being sent around telling you that you have been illegally trading accounts and in-game currency. If you know you haven’t been doing this and you get this email, ignore it. Plus, if it really WAS Turbine, they may ask for username, but never password.

All we can do is wait in agony for the release of the MMO’s of 2008, it will be amazing and I am looking forward too it tremendously.

Why Console MMORPGs Can't Cut It

8 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Yesterday, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that there would be no MMORPGs on the Wii. This got me to thinking about why there aren’t many MMORPGs on consoles, they definitely have a large player base than the PC. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but currently the only MMORPGs that have been released to consoles have been Phantasy Star, Final Fantasy XI and EverQuest Online Adventures. Phantasy Star appearing on both DreamCast and Xbox 360, FFXI on Xbox360 and PS2 and EQ just on PS2. Wow, who knew they ported EQ to the PS2? Anyway, even with Microsoft’s Xbox Live service there were no MMORPG on the first Xbox and there are currently none on PS3, although there are a few that have been announced for the PS3.

So whats stopping consoles makers from releasing a successful MMORPG on there given platform? I mean if the dying PC gaming market can boost dozens of MMORPGs with 10′s of Millions of gamers, why can’t console makers?

It comes back to the fact that PC’s are just a better gaming platform then consoles for certain genres of gaming. MMORPG’s and RTS games are just not as good as they are on a PC and probably never will be. But lets break down what that really means.

Communication – Obviously a big part of MMORPGs. Using a controller is not an option when you need to communicate in-game. So you need to either get a headset or a keyboard if your console supports it. This adds to the cost which might turn away some console gamers as keyboards can be expensive.

Interface – The interface of MMORPGs today is very point and click. This again can’t be done quick enough with a controller to make it effective. A controller only has so many buttons. Have you seen some of the MMORPGs today? In LOTRO I had 4 complete bars full of actions, items and skills so that I could use them instantly. Having 8 buttons just isn’t good enough.

Fees – Gamers are already paying a monthly fee on Xbox Live, so to charge them again per MMO, would be pushing it. I think developers know this and are worried that the player base will be very small because of it. On the other hand P3′s online service is free, so go figure.

Information – Ask any MMORPG player and I would guess that 99% of them have used websites while playing to find locations, complete quests or just to find out what to do next. This isn’t possible on a console. Theres no CTRL + ALT + Delete to minimize your game, check out a map of your gaming world then quickly switch back. If you want to use your consoles browser, well your looking at at least 5 mins before you get back into your game. Log out, open browser, search, log back into game, not to mention all the loading screens. Or you can go to your PC to find the info. Then again, I have 2 monitors so I have all my info right next to my screen while I play, can’t do that on a console.

Competition – Consoles have a much larger gaming library compared to the PC. Sure the PC gets all the best games ;) but they can’t match the volume of games produced by console makers. I would think this might have some impact on developers worried that they would not be able to keep a hold on gamers like the PC can. With a major game release what seems almost on a monthly basis, console gamers might move on too quickly.

System Hog - MMORPGs are single player games when it comes to the console. So if you have a MMORPG gamer on a console, they are not only hogging the console to themselves, but also the TV. I WANT TO WATCH AMEICAN IDOL DAMMIT!! (j/k)

So what can console makers do to get a piece of the MMORPG pie? We’ll they can make there next console a PC :)

The RPG Side of the MMO

6 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Perhaps I have just been reading too much of Gamasutra’s recent multi-paged article on the Dragon Quest franchise, of which I am a huge fan, or maybe it’s because no matter which MMORPG I play I always find the game to be lacking in certain areas as compared to it’s single player brethren. In anycase, I bring to you a serious concern for the future of MMORPGs: where did all the RPG go?

Now, I know what RPG literally translates into; you take the role of a character in the game. That character is you, and you act through that character. I understand that, let me be 100% clear by what I meant earlier: an RPG videogame traditionally has a whole lot of story that goes along with your character. These storylines range from good to bad, awesome to FFX-2, but no matter how good or bad the story is the game and story evolves with your character. You have an impact on the world and as such the world has an impact on you. Storyline progression is a HUGE part of the RPG world, and yet, in the MMORPG world it is practically non-existant.

Before any of you interject with pleas of my insanity, I do understand that MMORPGs have storylines. World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, and, especially, LoTRO all have storylines. However, that said, is there really any storyline progression? No, none at all. Your character levels up, gets better gear, and obtains more money, but that’s it. After you kill said boss of area A1 is that boss gone forever? Nope, in fact in about 5 minutes a new one will spawn, or in the case of instanced zones you can literally leave the zone, push the reset button, and hop back in for another go at him. Killing him has no effect on you, other players, or the game world. Therein lies the problem of the MMO. . .

You see, MMORPGs are, right now, being developed primarily to addict you to the game. They draw you in with promises of an awesome world (which many of them are, in fact, awesome) full of treasure and then supplement you with addicting gameplay that feeds off of “rewards” for continual play. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m just saying that what if in stead of getting people to play based off addictive reward-based gameplay you get them to play based off a massive continual story-line progression where you, your character, can actually have an impact on the world and the players around. Doesn’t that sound more appealing? Would you seriously not at least try the game out?

If only we could get a company to take such a bold risky move in that direction. . .

Thought? Comments? Random acts of flamebaitery? You know where to leave em!

Guess Who Got Into Age of Conan Beta?

6 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

ME!  Did you guess right?  I bet you did.  Yes, a few days ago one of my guild mates from Lord of the Rings Online told me that his friend got into the AoC beta but wasn’t interested.  I guess he just signed up for the hell of it, but whatever, now I have the invite.  It actually took me over a day to get setup since after I had downloaded the install client, I needed to download a 15 gb update, which was extremely slow.

Since then I have been gaming in the world of Hyboria,  but this post isn’t going to be a preview of the game as I’m only lev 7 and haven’t even been able to chop anyones head off.  Instead it’s just me bragging that I got an invite ;)

But I will tell you that there are some serious bugs still in the game, so I’m glad they pushed the release back as it is still very unpolished.  I’m going to continue playing over the next week and I hope to reach level 20 within a week, then I’ll post a preview of the game.

No Nipples For You!

5 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Ok, so the Age of Conan rating was just released today. M for Mature which means 18+. However, there are some stipulations by the ESRB board here in America that just astound me. No Nipples! I am allowed to decapitate, maim, slaughter, drink, fight, and pretty much have a good time with the ladies, but NO, I cannot see nipples. Seeing nipples will just ruin the rest of my life! I can go to war, buy cigarettes, and vote, but wait the ESRB is here to save me from nipples! Ok, end of sarcasm. My big question is “why only nipples?” An M rating from the ESRB is basically a NC-17 rating for the movies, which if I am not mistaken, allows full nudity. I think it is quite backwards. What do you think?

UPDATE: Apparently some bad information came out. Check this link for the updated information. Here is the basics:

-full blood
-full fatalities
-breasts with nipples
-not full nudity

Do not know how that bad info got out, but thankfully it has been corrected. Yay for nipples! Oh and I do not have the uncensored version of the above picture.  Perhaps I should change the name of the title to “Nipples for All?”

Being John Malkovich Online

5 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Okay, so not really, but that movie immediately jumped into my mind after reading about a new Flash-based MMO by Creatrix Games, called Lila Dreams, that takes place inside the mind of an 11 year old girl. I have to say, I do not know whether to be intrigued or disturbed about this game. The game looks to be a step away from the usual elves and orcs fantasy games, and is trying to make an interesting spin on the MMO genre itself. Here is a basic description of the game from the developers blog:

You get to make a character, choose what to wear, fight exciting battles against a bestiary of insanely weird creatures from Lila’s mind, team up with friends and explore strange places, meet in towns and emote at each other, get to know helpful NPCs (non-player characters), grow items in your garden, and manage your character’s abilities and inventory. We’ll see how much more we can cram into the game before launch, but we also hope to keep building on it after launch to make it even better.

Only time will tell if this game will be successful, but for a Flash based game, even a fraction of the MMO market can make this game succeed. Apparently there will be a beta test coming in the months ahead, which I would love to take a look at. I will revisit this game when there is more concrete information. In the meantime, feel free to check out the developers website.

MMO Advertisements

4 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

What makes an advertisement a good investment? To be honest, I have no idea. There are so many market dispositions and variables that I couldn’t even begin to tell you how to market a broad audience product such as Coca-Cola, let alone a niche market like an MMORPG. So how do these guys come up with their advertisements?

Well if you look at the photo above you’ll see that there is a billboard advertisement for Conquer Online, a free2play MMORPG from a small-time developer in China. The billboard is completely legit, and is not a photoshop. I have driven by it a number of times (for those curious it’s off the 60 freeway just outside Los Angeles, CA). So why a billboard? The return investment on such a method of marketing can’t possibly be worth it. You’d think the developer would rather spend money advertising on videogame based websites or magazines. Traditional, tried and true, methods of advertising. Perhaps they are relying on websites such as ours to spotlight their obsurd advertisements, in which case, you win this round NetDragon.

NetDragon, of course, isn’t the only MMO developer to persue out of the box advertising. Every knows that WoW has a series of television commercials that are aired nationally and internationally that spotlight former actors playing the game such as William Shatner, Mr. T, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Of course, in WoW’s defense, their game has successfully broken into the mass market with millions of subscribers in the U.S. alone. Even Everquest 2 ran a series of commercials when the game initially launched oh so many years ago.

So I guess that leads me back to my original question: what makes an advertisement a good investment? I suppose we will never know if any of these advertisements truly worked for these companies, but that’s not to say they won’t work at all. I think it is safe to assume that, as the industry (MMO industry that is) gets older and older we will begin to see more and more advertisements in the general media. It only makes sense, as the motion picture and videogame industry went through the same process.

Ed's Weekly Watch #2

3 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Well, I am back folks, with the second Weekly Watch! This has been a reletively slow week, but I will get you the information you have been wanting.

Our first order of buisness is about Warhammer Online!

Taipei – Jan 31, 2008 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), the world's leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment and GigaMedia Ltd (NASDAQ: GIGM), a major provider of online entertainment software and services, announced today that the companies have entered into an agreement to launch and operate WARHAMMER® ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING™(WAR) in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Based on Games Workshop's Warhammer fantasy universe, the online game features next generation Realm vs. Realm™ (RvR) game play that will immerse players in a world of perpetual conflict.

Next is Age of Conan!

Funcom is excited to announce the launch of the Spanish community forums for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, just one week after launching the Spanish marketing site available on www.ageofconan.com.  

Funcom will be launching a Spanish localized version of the highly anticipated massive online game simultaneously with the North American, English, German and French on May 20th, 2008. Launching the community efforts is an important step in that direction.

 

The upcoming MMO Jumpgate Evolution launched their first newsletter called the “Jumpgate Times”. You can read it here.

MMORPG.com and the new game Mabinogi have partnered and are offering beta keys to be given away! Get yours here. It’s a Japanese anime style game.

Pretty decent week after all! Not too much to get excited about though…Tune in next week for WW #3!