MMO Roundup: Last week on Massively
by Alex Ziebart 
Apr 27th 2010 at 2:00PM
 |
Star Wars: The Old Republic drops a surprise video documentary BioWare broke its usual SW:TOR update schedule this past Friday. We were surprised by the tease that the game would be posting an update via its social media sites on Twitter and Facebook. Lo and behold, a new developer video on one of the most central activities in the game: combat. |
 |
Ensidia's Muqq talks progression, fun As far as 'I quit' posts go, we've all seen worse than this one from Ensidia's Muqq. The blog entry, which takes a calm, reasoned approach when laying out his decision to quit World of Warcraft, also compares Blizzard's MMORPG behemoth to smaller titles like Final Fantasy XI in an attempt to illustrate why the author feels that the fun has left Azeroth. |
 |
Confirmed exploit allows EVE players to sneak up on unsuspecting victims A nasty exploit has raised its ugly head in EVE Online this week, allowing players to prevent themselves from showing up in the local chat channel. Unless you're in a wormhole system, this channel is meant to show a list of every pilot in the system and must update instantly when a player jumps in. In the deep nullsec regions, the local channel is the primary way a player will know if he's safe or not. Now? You're never safe. |
 |
Fallen Earth about to be invaded by Blight Wolves The wastes are a hard place to survive and thrive, but for those who have managed to do so and are waiting patiently for the opening of the Deadfall area, we have a treat for you! We have the first-ever glimpse of the dreaded (or highly coveted, depending on which end of the jaws you're on) Fallen Earth Blight Wolf mount! |
 |
Warhammer Online Executive Producer apologizes for account errors Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last two weeks, you've undoubtedly heard the gnashing of teeth that erupted due to Warhammer Online's recent billing issues. Mythic Entertainment's Studio Executive Producer, Jeff Hickman, sat down and wrote a very honest apology letter regarding the recent issues, including the steps they've taken to correct them. |
 |
Turbine purchased by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment In news that rocked us back on our heels, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just announced the purchase of Turbine Inc. Previously the largest privately-owned MMO studio in North America, Turbine is now a member of the Time-Warner family. This means that Asheron's Call, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online have been folded into this deal. This comes after a Warner Bros. spending spree, in which they picked up TT Games, the assets of Midway, and a majority stake in Rocksteady Studios. |
Filed under: MMO Roundup
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Hoof Apr 27th 2010 2:08PM
Oh no, Muqq is quitting the game!? Again?!
I find it insulting that he believes the game is being catered towards people that won't stick around for more than 3 months. They may not have stuck around a game catered to hardcores such as himself for more than 3 months, but when a game becomes more and more accessible/friendly to them, Blizzard's "casual" community will only grow and grow.
Long story short, Muqq is a fool, but what's new? :P
jfofla Apr 27th 2010 2:52PM
It is the Hardcores who nerd rage and quit.
Casuals, never let their subscription lapse, they go on and on and on..because they have not played the game 20 hours a day for five years.
Daigeil May 1st 2010 8:20AM
I agree with many of his points. It doesn't feel like you're improving your character when all you're doing to do so is rushing through content you colossally outgear with people you'll never meet again and who, as a consequence, treat you and each other like something they found on the bottom of their epic purple boots they "earned" by farming "heroic" content. Don't get me wrong - I still enjoy, and play, the game. I still raid in a 10-man strict guild, and I intend to keep playing through Cataclysm.
But the character progression at the moment is not progression any more than keeping your computer up to speed is progression - you're just matching the modern baseline to avoid falling behind, and even if you spend 3 grand on a new PC with practically top-of-the-line specs (or specs higher than most) it's gonna be obsolete once the next big innovation comes around. It's even worse that the process is, in the current model, exactly the same every patch; grind the same damn heroics that weren't difficult when you were running them in blues if you had half the start of an idea of how to play.
So yeah. I still enjoy top-tier content, I still enjoy hanging out with my friends and tuning my UI and trying to max my character (in the 6-7 hours I currently play per week), but the monstrously repetitive emblem-farming to keep up to speed gear wise and the constant resetting of gear levels is extremely frustrating.
clundgren Apr 27th 2010 2:22PM
Muqq seems to be complaining about the nature of all MMOs...or even really video games in general. Given that he has been a very elite, hardcore player, perhaps the fact that he is burning out has less to do with the game per se, and more to do with the fact that putting that much of yourself into a video game *should* lead to burnout after awhile. In other words, I am suggesting that Muqq's burnout is probably a good thing. The guy was essentially a professional gamer...there has to be more to life, and I am glad that he is healthy enough to realize this.
Now, there is no doubt that games have become increasingly immersive through the years, and there is also no doubt that the dopamine drip of getting that next upgrade is still a major motivator. As are the social aspects, and the escapist elements. But what Muqq almost seems to be suggesting is that eventual burnout is somehow a failing of the game.
I suggest that if you can play a game as much as Muqq for as long as Muqq and NOT become nurned out there is either something wrong with you...or games will have crossed a frightening boundary.
clundgren Apr 27th 2010 2:23PM
"burned out" in my last sentence...wtb an edit button! :)
N-train Apr 27th 2010 3:21PM
He also seems to be suggesting that the only purpose and only real fun elements of the game was playing it his way, the competitive, top-notch, 8000k gearscore way. And there's nothing wrong with playing for that, his 15 bucks is no less valuable than ours, but there are people out there who don't think character progression relies solely on moving from i245 to i251.
I happen to think that the game as at the most fun its been currently and frankly MMOs are built to appeal to a large audience, and doing so requires elements that both "hardcores" and "casuals" can enjoy. I think one of WoW's strongpoints is the multiple different ways it can appeal to people, and I guess if you dig yourself so deeply into one of those elements only (end game raiding and progression), then as soon as the game changes you're bound to be dissapointed.
Hendrata Apr 27th 2010 3:35PM
@N-train: very well said
I used to be in those raiding guild and realized the point "what good is the best weapon after everything is dead?" long time ago. Guess what, I didn't quit WoW, but I quit the raiding guild and started to enjoy the different aspects of the game.
Creating alts, one of every class and spec in various servers. No I don't view leveling them up as a grind, because I only level them when I want to (that is, when I'm bored and nothing to do IRL).
I started learning the ins and outs of AH. I started giving my alts various professions and try to see if I can be self-sufficient from gathering, crafting, equipping, and enchanting those items just between my alts. It's a challenging mini-game on its own mind you. It may not be the most economical way, but it's still fun to try to figure out, and good thing the cost is only gold, virtual items, not real money.
I started the game of collecting mounts and vanities on one alt and see how far I can go by just being "casuals"
I tried arena on one alt (and sucked royally, but fun for a short while).
I even tried *gasp* fishing.
Azizrael Apr 27th 2010 2:25PM
That Old Republic video pushed it from "pre order" to "wait and see", for me. Looks like no traditional tanking, and no raiding against important lore figures unless I'm taking it all wrong.
jealouspirate Apr 27th 2010 2:37PM
There are confirmed "tanking" roles, the Jedi Knight and Trooper (ranged tank) can fulfill. However, they also seem to be moving away from the traditional "holy trinity" of roles, so you may not need a tank for any given encounter, it's just an optional play style.
Raiding (meaning endgame group content) will still be there, it just wont revolve around giant "1 vs many" boss battles. Which is pretty accurate to the movies, really. You never saw 25 people taking on one guy.
Honestly, as far away from the traditional "tank, healer, dps go raid a boss" mentality they get the better, in my opinion. We already have that everywhere. It is a very old way of thinking, and I'm ready for something new.
RogueJedi86 Apr 27th 2010 2:43PM
Can you even name any important lore figures in the TOR era? They're still building up the setting and characters. There's no one important to kill yet. Even most of WoW's bosses didn't exist in lore before WoW and its expansions came out.
And frankly I'd like to see a push away from traditional tanking a single guy. What's so heroic about being so weak that you need 20 other people of similar skill to kill a single guy? And when in the SW Movies did anyone do tanking against a single boss? All the non-Jedi/Sith fights were big armies against big armies. I'm frankly tired of the "one single huge bad guy" fights that we see in WoW and every other MMO. Give me some big damn battles with 20 players versus 20 enemies.
People always talk about wanting innovation in the MMO genre, but when something looks different, people balk. No obvious tanking immediately pushes TOR out of pre-order status for you. Don't you wanna try something different for once? Let's move away from the stuff WoW has relied for its entire existence and try something new.
wdm+hall Apr 27th 2010 2:29PM
Sounds to me like Muqq is taking his ball and going home after Paragon beat him to a world first.
Al Apr 27th 2010 2:59PM
That and Blizzard finally actioned Ensidia for exploiting fights.
jfofla Apr 27th 2010 2:55PM
Is Bioware employing children?
William Wallace Senior Game Designer cannot be older than 12!
Also from watching the video blasters and lightsabers seem perfectly balance...NOT!
RogueJedi86 Apr 27th 2010 4:54PM
What are you trying to say? Do you think Jedi should godmode regular guys with guns? 2 words: Order 66. Thousands of Jedi with extraordinary lightsabers killed by regular troopers with regular blasters.
jfofla Apr 27th 2010 2:57PM
How old is that Senior Game Designer? 12?
Lightsabers and blasters seem perfectly balanced...NOT!
jfofla Apr 27th 2010 2:58PM
Arg..sometimes I hate the posting system here. It did not post my comments, I refreshed, still not there, so I posted again. To my horror a duplicate. My apologies.
WTB Delete button.
ggrooms Apr 27th 2010 3:00PM
I'm really getting sick and tired of hardcore players thinking the game should be designed around them. Hate to say it but the bills are paid by the casual, and if you want to keep the casual interested you need to create content for them more so than the elite. This is part of what made WoW so successful. The largest portion of the game was designed around giving the casual something to do, be it 5 mans or questing.
Muqq asks what gear is for after everything is dead? The same thing it is for in every game after there is nothing else to do in that game: nothing. To what end did gear in Diablo 2 play? You couldn't even show it off!.
Perhaps he should have played Guild Wars which took this same idea and used it as a mold, where as all gear at max level has little to no direct affect on how the game is played. That being said where GW failed that WoW succeeded, and continues to succeed, is in encounter design that allows flexibility in class. WoW takes the marginal enjoyment of who a character is to you, as any solid MMO does, and let's you play.
Recubi Apr 27th 2010 4:23PM
The game was designed around the casual gamer yes but raiding was originally designed for the hardcore. Through his entire QQ post was mostly frustration but he did get one thing right is that they are watering down the challenging aspect of this game. One day i swear i will see once the buff gets to 30 percent and people STILL havent killed LK they will hand out invincable mounts and say "thanks for trying anyway".
A month before Catalclysm is released they will give all that tried and failed full t 10 and full wrathful pvp gear. Well you werent good enough to get it on your own but you are going to QQ enough about not having it that we are going to give it to you anyway.
Cigan Apr 27th 2010 4:51PM
Recubi: Really man? They designed the early raid content for hard core players and then quickly realized that 90% of their development time was only being experienced by 10% of their players. There's a word for that, it's called stupid. I have been through various stages of ICC multiple times. I have done the weekly raid quest religiously, I have done both VoAs religiously, and I have missed no more than 2 daily dungeons a week since hitting 80. I hit 80 a couple weeks after the frost badges dropped. So we're talking nearly full efficiency on what someone in a non raid guild can pull off. I could probably have done more ICC runs if I HAD NO LIFE!
I am sitting on 3 pieces of frost gear. 2 piece tier 10 and the frost badges belt. I have the honored Ashen Verdict ring. I will hit enough frost badges to get my next piece of T10 in a day or so from heroics, but unless I want to sacrifice by T9 bonus I will need to wait till I have 190 badges. Then I will still have to save up more to take advantage of the T10 264 off piece.
I have busted butt working to get my beginning T10. If I'm lucking I might end up with 1 piece of 264 tier 10 from a VoA, but that's pure luck. ICC25 pugs are not nearly efficient enough to move through more than the first few bosses. Herding that many cats is just a nightmare and lets not even talk about ICC heroic pugs. That's just a joke. The end result is if you don't do hard core raiding you're still locked out of a huge hunk of the equipment available. If you want wrathful, (and I'm talking main set, not bracers and boots) you still have to be dedicated and not suck at arena.
They have given the hard core players plenty to work for. They just made some version of the play experience available to everyone, because 90% of their development time for 10% of their players . . . . is . . . . stupid.
Recubi Apr 27th 2010 5:08PM
@ Cigan I have full T 10 with main for both main spec and Offspec plus having 3 other alts that have full t 10 for their main specs as well. I play at MOST 4 days out of the week. Could it be that you just suck? Cause even my alts havent seen past saurfang while my main kills Heroic raid content. Frost isnt that hard to come by. Stop buying primordial saronite with them. Alot of excuses.
But in this case ill quote you. . "you still have to be dedicated and not suck. . ". If you want what others have then you have to earn it just like everyone else. And dont give me the 90 percent crap line. Thats blizzard's press release on why they are doing what they are doing but in all truth if that was really the case you would have seen more of a drastic raid change done in BC allowing the use of casual raiding then not all the way into wotlk. They got fed up with the QQ so they give you 10 man raids of the same instance. "well their gear is better than mine" Thus leads us to the gear drops going to be the same. . .casual gamers. Nothing will ever be rare or prestige anymore because it will either be given or bought in the blizz store. the end.