In the real world we all use a single currency system, ok, maybe two for some of the EU countries that still accept their old currency, but for most of us there’s only one. If you travel to another country you’ll have to exchange your money for whatever currency that country uses, but you remain in a one currency system.

When MMORPGs first started showing up in the gaming world, they followed basically the same logic, one basic currency that players can use to buy and sell their items to other players or vendors. However over the last decade, this system has ballooned into a complicated multi-currency system where it seems everything you do provides you with another type of currency. Call it what you like, tokens, commendations, points, it’s all basically the same.

Today MMORPGs are more about collecting tokens than they are about role-playing or even just playing. They have become a sort of achievement list for players to brag that they played 1000 PvP matches and now have enough tokens to get that awesome weapon everyone wants. To me that’s not a reason to play a MMO.

An overload in currency systems was the reason I quit LotRO some years ago and I have no doubt they’ve crammed even more collecting systems into the game since. However it’s not just a few games that are at fault, nearly every game today follows the same multi-currency system, including RIFT and SWTOR.

The issue has become so bad today that the simple removal of a token makes entire portions of a game pointless and irrelevant. Developers use these token systems to etice players to participate in activities they normally wouldn’t want to. For instance if you want more people playing mini-game X, simply create some epic gear and a token system specifically for that activity.  Boom, you’ll have people flocking to that mini-game in order to obtain those items, but the questions is, should they?

As a developer wouldn’t you want players to participate in certain activities because they’re fun and not because they get rewarded every time they do? If players are avoiding some areas of the game maybe those activities should be removed or reworked until players will actually want to participate.

I personally believe all MMORPGs should stick to a single currency system and allow mini-games or game features to fail if they’re not fun. If mini-game X is boring and I can get the same rewards elsewhere, I will.  That should give developers incentive to make mini-game X better, but instead they take the forceful route and create high rated gear and hide it behind a secondary currency.

Every fan of The Dungeon Master Column, Dungeons And Dragons and its online version have been waiting for this moment for  ages. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast announced a new expansion – the first one, in fact – to the growing community of Dungeons and Dragons Online. The title is currently slated with the open moniker of “summer,” meaning we’ll see it at the early parts of the convention season.

The new expansion is called Menace of the Underdark and will bring the player base to the Forgotten Realms, the first of the different areas of Dungeons and Dragons. Not only will we go back, Turbine will add in the master of different forms, the Druid. Besides these two exciting points, the level cap will rise to level 25, which gives the players five epic levels, with that of course comes the epic feats and epic magic.

Color this writer excited for this new expansion. I really wanna see the village in Forgotten Realms called Eveningstar. I truly wanna see how Turbine made the Druid, especially the shapeshifting aspect of the character. Is the Druid going to have just several forms and will it work the same as in World of Warcraft, or is the Druid going to have loads of different forms and the player can only choose just some of them which they think will work the best.We can only wait and see.

The announcement brought some concept art and a new logo (right). The concept art you can see after the button, a little spoiler, along with the official announcement; it is really good!

Continue Reading

Rabid for more footage from Star Wars: The Old Republic? We now have a little bit more to feed you, courtesy of GameTrailers.com.

First up, check out this new trailer on the Belsavis raid that shows you what some of the later-game challenges you’ll be up against.

And if that doesn’t get you pumped, this will: BioWare is ramping up excitement about The Old Republic with an on-camera interview with Gabe Amatangelo, lead PvP designer for the game. The interview is a good starting point to get up to speed on the game for anyone who hasn’t been following the news as it comes out. But he also talks a bit about the Belsavis raid as the video shows clips from the trailer above. He explains about how the raid centers around an ancient prison that has a compromised security situation.

Beyond the raid, the video also has a couple of clips of other scenes, including some from a world which Star Wars fans will be very interested to see in-game: Alderaan. And Amatangelo also talks a little bit about the aspects of the game that he thinks will draw in both experienced MMO players and those who are new to the genre.

Click through to watch. Continue Reading

“A thousand devs of the NCsoft empire descend upon you. Their nerfs will blot out the sun.”

“Then we shall QQ in the shade.”

It has been recently announced that the long-awaited Aion 2.5 patch has arrived on the Player Test Server.  The new patch will bring additional content in the form of PvE instances, a graphics overhaul, optimization of existing systems, such as crafting and enchanting, and the introduction of new ones, such as the Helper system. Legion features will be further  improved, character customization will receive an expansion and there will also be several tweaks and fixes to gameplay.

Having avoided logging in to the game since the end of 2009, I find myself strangely curious about the news. The urge to give this game another try seems to be getting worse, like an annoying itch that you can’t quite shake off. Instead of giving in, I decided to resist the temptation because I generally don’t go back to games that have burned me once. I’m just spiteful like that. Instead, I’m writing up this diary entry that will serve as a visual depiction of some of the entertaining things I still remember about the title. Follow along and remember to click on the thumbnails to enlarge them.

All RvR games start with a rivalry. Having amassed a huge community on the forums before launch, all that Aion-related threads needed was one spark, one short reply and everything was engulfed in the holy fire of a flame-war. Both Asmodians and Elyos would call each other names and comment on the looks of their opponents. The picture presented above is a good example.

Continue Reading