The Warzone and Illum PvP session at the Guild Summit just ended, and while Warzones are getting lots of adjustments, and a new faction-free Warzone called Novare Coast, Illum on the other hand, is being completely redesigned; although, details were sparse.

One thing we did learn, is that sometime in the future, Illum will go back to an objective based system, where the control-points will have a cool-down timer so they cannot be quickly flipped and farmed. Quests on Illum will also not be the primary way to obtain commendations anymore; again, no details were given.

Also mentioned, was that PKing in open world will finally give players a reward in the form of, yes, you guessed it: another commendation currency.

I got the impression that development progress on Illum is extremely preliminary, and nothing has been decided yet, which is why so little information about it was given. Nearly the whole session dealt with warzones, dailies, and commendations. So for those of you who were looking for changes to Illum in update 1.2, don’t hold your breath; it’s going to be a while.

I. Like. Big butts. (And I cannot lie).

Each developer has its own definition of character customization. Cryptic Studios is probably the, ahem, champion of character customization. The company’s games have allowed players to make everything from popular comic book clones (begetting a lawsuit) to beasts of burden to their own alien species. Blizzard has been the polar opposite, maintaining the idea that its artists’ interpretations are what’s best for the universe and storytelling.

Sprinkled in between is every other developer. For every game with player-decorated housing, there are dozens without. For every title with a handful of starting options or sliders for character creation, we’re meet with troves that have an overwhelming amount of choice. For every game with armor dye, there are a handful of games that lock players in to a non-unique fashion sense.

Once upon a time, all members of a class in high-end gear in World of Warcraft looked pretty much the same. This made PvP judgement easy. Learned players would know who to fight based on their appearance. A full set player would be skirted, while the piece-meal player would stand out and get assaulted (or passed up for the priest in a twill set). Easy pickings.

For the longest time there simply was no endgame customization. Players barked and Blizzard added in frivolous gear sets that players could acquire during seasonal events, Santa outfits, tuxedos and the like. Useful for farting around your favorite city. The company steadfastly refused to allow the players do any actual modifications to existing set pieces or even one-shot PvE/PvP items no matter how much the community petitioned. But hey, we can cut our hair and beards…

The stance holds, but as pointed out earlier, players will now be able to get Tier 12 gear in a variety of colors. Blizzard has yet to reveal how the colors will be acquired, but the fact that players are being given an option at all is a start.

Personally, I don’t care for customization. During my MMOG career, I’ve attempted to make use of such features as they’ve been made available to me, but like achievements, customization isn’t my cup of tea. I’ve never been artistically inclined. Having the ability to tweak colors, patterns or arrangements is like having two anuses for me. Shit comes out either way.

What about you? Is customization a feature you desire? Do you long to be able to tweak your toon’s appearance as your tastes change? Do you think it should become a required feature in MMOGs, much like basic starting customization? Have you made use of it extensively in games that have made it available to you? Think Blizzard is feeling a bit of genre pressure, such as Rift’s upcoming patch and its appearance (dress up) system?

Many of you may not know it, but Microsoft has actually had their hands in quite a few MMORPG projects within the past few years. No stranger to the videogame marketplace in general, it only seemed to make sense that one of the largest providers of consoles and games would also begin to dabble in the increasingly profitable (for some!) MMO business. However, after attempting to take on three separate projects over the last five years one was sold off, and the other two were killed off and left what could only be described as a very shallow grave. I am, of course, speaking of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Mythica, and Marvel Universe Online.

Announced back in 2002 Mythica was Microsoft’s first attempt at making an MMORPG. It was actually quite a neat sounding game at that. Based on the legends and lore of Norse mythology your character would actually be a “demi god” that was able to wipe out multiple enemies at once. Something that still hasn’t been done today. Unfortunately, just over a year in development, Microsoft was sued by Mythic Entertainment due to the name, Mythica, being to close to Mythics own name. Worries that the consumer would get confused were the primary reasons for the lawsuit. Then on May 25th of 2004, Microsoft officially canceled the title citing a competitive MMORPG environment as the main cause, although rumours still swirl today that the lawsuit was what actually cause Microsoft to call the game quits.

Microsoft’s other fantasy MMO, Vanguard, was not to be killed off but rather sold off. Beginning development in 2002, Sigil Entertainment and Microsoft entered into a partnership that had Sigil developing the game with Microsoft publishing/owning the rights to the game. However, due to Brad McQuaid’s inability to show Microsoft what they wanted on the original timeline provided they eventually began bickering about the project. Then in May 2006, Sigil acquired the name back from Microsoft, much to Microsoft’s joy, and proceeded to work on the game in their own manner  securing a publishing agreement with SOE instead of Microsoft. In the end, however, not even SOE would continue funding the game and as such it was released in a “beta” stage that has forever cursed the game to oblivion.

Finally, we have Marvel Universe Online. Perhaps Microsoft’s most ambitious MMO project to date and yet still it could not be escape it’s inevitable cancellation date. Announced back in 2005, Marvel and Microsoft, in association with Cryptic Studios (devs behind the famous City of Heroes MMO),  began work on the “next gen” super hero Marvel MMORPG. Stating that the game would cover over 60 years worth of marvel comics it really comes as little surprise that the game was canceled in less than 3 years. At this point Microsoft was already creating quite a reputation for its MMO business and after a year with no new information people already began development of this project. Like Mythica, in 2008, Microsoft canceled the project due to “an inability to compete with the current MMO marketplace.” Today most of the same work done on the Marvel MMO can be found in Champions Online, Cryptics newest super hero MMORPG.

So that pretty much wraps up Microsoft’s MMO history. They also helped in operating the Asheron’s Call games, of which one was canceled, but beyond that there really isn’t anything more to add. It’s actually quite odd that Microsoft has given up on every MMO they have personally pursued. Especially considering that every MMO seems to have been given up on as a result of Microsoft not having enough faith in the franchise for it to be successful. Sounds like somebody might need to start talking to a counselor…