All is well in the house that Heartless built! Call of Duty 2 is officially installed and I have begun my quest to kill kill kill!
I can't run the game on very high settings, but I am getting by on what I have. I am not sure what affect it is having on gameplay, but I do notice that things seem a bit off when playing multiplayer matches. Unfortunately, I am not sure if its graphical, me, or lag.
Update: 14 Oct, 2007 - Edited post and corrected labels.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
How to save World of Warcraft battlegrounds – An in depth look into how less is more.
What would you consider the top three problems with the current battleground system in World of Warcraft? To me they are the following…
Arranged group vs. pick up groups is a clear and easy fix in my eyes. Divide the queues up into two different categories.
Arranged group queue – Only pre-arranged groups that have a full group for the battleground size would be allowed into this queue.
Random queue – Only solo players would be allowed into this queue.
This division of queues would allow for an equal chance for solo and group players to play with equally prepared opponents. Along with the other proposals I am about to present this will go a long ways to making battlegrounds more enjoyable for everyone.
The two downfalls to this division are that a) arranged teams may have to wait much longer for matches and b) arranged teams could abuse the system and throw matches. The first downfall I am not concerned about because these players can join the random queue. A monitoring tool to tell when there is an arranged team ready for a match would be a good addition.
The second downfall would require Blizzard to monitor matches. Any arranged match that ends within the first XX minutes (determined by Blizzard for each battleground) would be flagged for review. The players involved should also be flagged. This is cheating and already occurs with the current system. Like all cheating Blizzard would need to enforce their policies against cheating.
Now this brings up the point that this change would hurt those players who want to play together. I have thought about this for a while and I will discuss it later.
Making Battlegrounds Special
The speed at which the current battlegrounds are repeated directly leads to most players becoming *burnt out* on them. However, players keep going back because it is the only way to gain contribution points on a competitive scale. Open world PvP contribution points can’t compete with the bonus honor gained in battlegrounds.
Previously I had suggested increasing the honor gained from open world PvP by three fold. I now realize that it was too simple a fix that just would not work. The fix for open world PvP directly involves the title of this article… less is more.
Less battlegrounds means more open world PvP, but how do we get the players back out into the open world?
Close the battlegrounds
What!? Close the battlegrounds and only open them for short periods of time. This is a three fold fix for three separate issues.
First off it would increase interest in each of the battlegrounds once again. If only Warsong Gulch is open then players are going to actually play in Warsong Gulch. It no longer has to compete against the more efficient Arathi Basin or Alterac Valley. This would allow Blizzard to increase the rewards for winning a battleground while still offering a slight reward to those losing.
Secondly it brings back open world PvP as a large proponent of everyone’s contribution points. It puts the war back into the landscape. The lore, world, and art all depict grand battles raging across the lands, but when is the last time you saw that battle taking place? Outside of random encounters between opposite factions and gankers on the PvP servers there is no longer a battle taking place.
What happened to town raids? What happened to organized groups fighting around the end game instances and zones? Why create PvP inspired holiday events (like the stink bombs in Southshore for Hallow’s End) in the open world if the battlegrounds are always open offering much better honor.
Lastly it allows gamers that want to maintain a PvP rank while still enjoying PvE aspects of the game to do so. They can plan ahead on what nights they wish to PvP and what nights they want to PvE. They don’t have to stress about always being involved in battlegrounds to compete. A huge gap will no longer develop because you can’t log in during prime time to constantly run battlegrounds. PvE and PvP don't need to be exclusive
Another point is that guild groups and groups that play together could return to the open world PvP scene. Some of the best experiences I’ve had and that I’ve read about were from group PvP that occurred shortly after the initial honor patch. Groups tended to stay spread out across the world. Of course there was the TM/SS back and forth zerg, but the honor gained was very diluted by the simple fact that too many people damaged each target. Small five man group PvP in the higher level zones was the true source for fun, excitement, and honor.
A pleasant side effect of this is the idea of more open world PvP objectives (castle sieges, tower attacks, etc.). Something Blizzard has talked about, but has not produced. As long as the honor gained from the objectives is not overwhelming and not highly repeatable in short periods of time they would be a huge hit.
How It Would Work
Take the concept of the battleground holiday and mix it up a bit. During Friday – Sunday every week only ONE battleground would be open during certain hours. Not 24/7 during this time, but lets say every hour a new queue opens up. After the match you must wait until the next hourly queue to play again. That time is easily adjusted through testing and the specific battleground being opened. The three battlegrounds would then rotate on a weekly basis.
This allows players to do other things on more of a schedule rather than waiting around for the queue to let them into a match. It currently clogs the main cities with many bored players who are just waiting for battlegrounds to open.
A hurdle that would have to be overcome would be the population imbalance. My proposed system would mean that possibly some would not get to play because not enough battlegrounds would be opened.
This could be solved by what I believe Blizzard is already planning, cross server battlegrounds. Pulling people from multiple servers would create a much larger pool for players to be pulled from. Combine it with my proposal and I honestly believe you come out with a much better battleground experience.
Another possible fix that would reward the teams that win would be by opening a new battleground that pits them against players left in the queue, but that is less feasible because of the aforementioned population imbalances.
In the End
Something has to change. That is painfully obvious. People burn out or don’t even approach battlegrounds because of the fact that they are too fast paced and are dominated by those that spend more time in them in arranged groups.
My proposal goes a long way to please all types of gamers and is aimed at making battlegrounds exciting again. It is time to make them something that you want to go play in.
1. Arranged groups vs. pick up groups result in unfair matches.An Easy Fix
2. No sense of accomplishment gained from a battleground win and nothing lost for losing one.
3. Repeating battlegrounds non-stop is required for PvP ranks.
Arranged group vs. pick up groups is a clear and easy fix in my eyes. Divide the queues up into two different categories.
Arranged group queue – Only pre-arranged groups that have a full group for the battleground size would be allowed into this queue.
Random queue – Only solo players would be allowed into this queue.
This division of queues would allow for an equal chance for solo and group players to play with equally prepared opponents. Along with the other proposals I am about to present this will go a long ways to making battlegrounds more enjoyable for everyone.
The two downfalls to this division are that a) arranged teams may have to wait much longer for matches and b) arranged teams could abuse the system and throw matches. The first downfall I am not concerned about because these players can join the random queue. A monitoring tool to tell when there is an arranged team ready for a match would be a good addition.
The second downfall would require Blizzard to monitor matches. Any arranged match that ends within the first XX minutes (determined by Blizzard for each battleground) would be flagged for review. The players involved should also be flagged. This is cheating and already occurs with the current system. Like all cheating Blizzard would need to enforce their policies against cheating.
Now this brings up the point that this change would hurt those players who want to play together. I have thought about this for a while and I will discuss it later.
Making Battlegrounds Special
The speed at which the current battlegrounds are repeated directly leads to most players becoming *burnt out* on them. However, players keep going back because it is the only way to gain contribution points on a competitive scale. Open world PvP contribution points can’t compete with the bonus honor gained in battlegrounds.
Previously I had suggested increasing the honor gained from open world PvP by three fold. I now realize that it was too simple a fix that just would not work. The fix for open world PvP directly involves the title of this article… less is more.
Less battlegrounds means more open world PvP, but how do we get the players back out into the open world?
Close the battlegrounds
What!? Close the battlegrounds and only open them for short periods of time. This is a three fold fix for three separate issues.
First off it would increase interest in each of the battlegrounds once again. If only Warsong Gulch is open then players are going to actually play in Warsong Gulch. It no longer has to compete against the more efficient Arathi Basin or Alterac Valley. This would allow Blizzard to increase the rewards for winning a battleground while still offering a slight reward to those losing.
Secondly it brings back open world PvP as a large proponent of everyone’s contribution points. It puts the war back into the landscape. The lore, world, and art all depict grand battles raging across the lands, but when is the last time you saw that battle taking place? Outside of random encounters between opposite factions and gankers on the PvP servers there is no longer a battle taking place.
What happened to town raids? What happened to organized groups fighting around the end game instances and zones? Why create PvP inspired holiday events (like the stink bombs in Southshore for Hallow’s End) in the open world if the battlegrounds are always open offering much better honor.
Lastly it allows gamers that want to maintain a PvP rank while still enjoying PvE aspects of the game to do so. They can plan ahead on what nights they wish to PvP and what nights they want to PvE. They don’t have to stress about always being involved in battlegrounds to compete. A huge gap will no longer develop because you can’t log in during prime time to constantly run battlegrounds. PvE and PvP don't need to be exclusive
Another point is that guild groups and groups that play together could return to the open world PvP scene. Some of the best experiences I’ve had and that I’ve read about were from group PvP that occurred shortly after the initial honor patch. Groups tended to stay spread out across the world. Of course there was the TM/SS back and forth zerg, but the honor gained was very diluted by the simple fact that too many people damaged each target. Small five man group PvP in the higher level zones was the true source for fun, excitement, and honor.
A pleasant side effect of this is the idea of more open world PvP objectives (castle sieges, tower attacks, etc.). Something Blizzard has talked about, but has not produced. As long as the honor gained from the objectives is not overwhelming and not highly repeatable in short periods of time they would be a huge hit.
How It Would Work
Take the concept of the battleground holiday and mix it up a bit. During Friday – Sunday every week only ONE battleground would be open during certain hours. Not 24/7 during this time, but lets say every hour a new queue opens up. After the match you must wait until the next hourly queue to play again. That time is easily adjusted through testing and the specific battleground being opened. The three battlegrounds would then rotate on a weekly basis.
This allows players to do other things on more of a schedule rather than waiting around for the queue to let them into a match. It currently clogs the main cities with many bored players who are just waiting for battlegrounds to open.
A hurdle that would have to be overcome would be the population imbalance. My proposed system would mean that possibly some would not get to play because not enough battlegrounds would be opened.
This could be solved by what I believe Blizzard is already planning, cross server battlegrounds. Pulling people from multiple servers would create a much larger pool for players to be pulled from. Combine it with my proposal and I honestly believe you come out with a much better battleground experience.
Another possible fix that would reward the teams that win would be by opening a new battleground that pits them against players left in the queue, but that is less feasible because of the aforementioned population imbalances.
In the End
Something has to change. That is painfully obvious. People burn out or don’t even approach battlegrounds because of the fact that they are too fast paced and are dominated by those that spend more time in them in arranged groups.
My proposal goes a long way to please all types of gamers and is aimed at making battlegrounds exciting again. It is time to make them something that you want to go play in.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Raph Koster blog
Raph Koster has started blogging. Great to see what he is up to!
Update: 6 Nov, 2006 - Updated post and applied labels.
Update: 6 Nov, 2006 - Updated post and applied labels.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
WoW.com PvP forum
My post, The Arathi Basin Cycle of Azgalor, has been picked up by another poster who improved upon the fix on the World of Warcraft official PvP discussion forum.
Well I am still banned, but I do have a response to hopefully get posted there through a friend.
This change does absolutely nothing to the game other than give an EQUAL chance to casual gamers to play the game the way we want. Do hardcore gamers uderstand that? No, because they believe casual gamers MUST play the game THEIR way. Afterall the hardcore gamers play more and therefore know whats better... right?
Dividing BG queue into Arranged Team or Random Team does not hurt the hardcore at all. It prevents the hardcore from farming UNFAIR battleground fights. The arranged groups have an EQUAL choice whether to play fair matches against other arranged teams or go solo into the random queue. That is balance and it is fair to everyone involved.
Currently the casual gamer that does not want (or lacks the time) to form an arranged team SPEND HOURS waiting for a single match where they can compete. Switching to an arranged or random queue system gives these gamers an EQUAL chance that DOES NOT EXIST currently.
The biggest problem with the honor system is the fact you compete against your own realm. So fighting a long match specifically hurts you because there is someone out there doing it faster. This is a whole topic in itself. Simply put... fighting fair matches that are challenging is counterproductive to advancing because they take more time for the same reward. This creates backstabbing and /afk players. In the end its a CYCLE which I wrote about in my article.
The sad fact is that the PvP rank system isn't about quality. It is about speed and quantity.
That is why organized guilds that were Alterac Valley farmers absolutely hate the AV changes now. It is no longer productive because the fights are more balanced and are no longer 20 minute free honor farms.
Update: 5 Nov, 2006 - Edited post, applied labels, and removed broken link.
Well I am still banned, but I do have a response to hopefully get posted there through a friend.
"Casual players whine to much, the system is fine as is. If you are in a pug try and come up with a strategy to win, if you cant thats not blizzards fault that a organized team can beat you. Get over it and move on to the next game."No. The hardcore players whine louder when casual gamers suggest making the in game system FAIR to casual playstyles. The current system is not fair. It is not equal. It is hardcore or go home.
This change does absolutely nothing to the game other than give an EQUAL chance to casual gamers to play the game the way we want. Do hardcore gamers uderstand that? No, because they believe casual gamers MUST play the game THEIR way. Afterall the hardcore gamers play more and therefore know whats better... right?
Dividing BG queue into Arranged Team or Random Team does not hurt the hardcore at all. It prevents the hardcore from farming UNFAIR battleground fights. The arranged groups have an EQUAL choice whether to play fair matches against other arranged teams or go solo into the random queue. That is balance and it is fair to everyone involved.
Currently the casual gamer that does not want (or lacks the time) to form an arranged team SPEND HOURS waiting for a single match where they can compete. Switching to an arranged or random queue system gives these gamers an EQUAL chance that DOES NOT EXIST currently.
The biggest problem with the honor system is the fact you compete against your own realm. So fighting a long match specifically hurts you because there is someone out there doing it faster. This is a whole topic in itself. Simply put... fighting fair matches that are challenging is counterproductive to advancing because they take more time for the same reward. This creates backstabbing and /afk players. In the end its a CYCLE which I wrote about in my article.
"While you are at it. Lets go ahead and remove guilds from the game too. If we can't team up with our guild because you people cry then whats the use of having guilds in the game anyway."Wrong. My suggestion lets you group with your guild and fight like minded people. Honestly that is better for guilds.
The sad fact is that the PvP rank system isn't about quality. It is about speed and quantity.
That is why organized guilds that were Alterac Valley farmers absolutely hate the AV changes now. It is no longer productive because the fights are more balanced and are no longer 20 minute free honor farms.
Update: 5 Nov, 2006 - Edited post, applied labels, and removed broken link.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Trolls Get Shafted
World of Warcraft and Blizzard must truly despise Trolls. It is bad enough Trolls, my race of choice, has arguably had the worst set of racial abilities in the game but now Trolls get slapped in the face by Hallow's End masks that do not fit.
It is painfully obvious that the masks don't work on Troll models. Would it have killed Blizzard to make sure the masks displayed properly on all races? Seriously!?
Update: 14 Oct, 2007 - Edited post and corrected labels.
It is painfully obvious that the masks don't work on Troll models. Would it have killed Blizzard to make sure the masks displayed properly on all races? Seriously!?
Update: 14 Oct, 2007 - Edited post and corrected labels.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Final Fantasy III coming to Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS is finally getting a Final Fantasy title! It is a remake of Final Fantasy 3 which was never released in the US. The game is coming with an upgraded graphics engine which looks eerily similar to the Gamecube's only Final Fantasy title, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
Gamersdaily has some great side by side screen shots from the original NES game and the new DS version.
Update: 14 Oct, 2007 - Edited post and corrected labels.
Gamersdaily has some great side by side screen shots from the original NES game and the new DS version.
Update: 14 Oct, 2007 - Edited post and corrected labels.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Banned from WoW forums...
Well the Azgalor narcs got me, but it was expected.
Blizzard banning for posting pictures lifted from magazines already in circulation!
Boy must be tough enforcing a policy when you give the damn pictures to official gaming magazines :) Guess I was a bit early... oh well.
Blizzard banning for posting pictures lifted from magazines already in circulation!
Boy must be tough enforcing a policy when you give the damn pictures to official gaming magazines :) Guess I was a bit early... oh well.
Fake or Real? World of Warcraft Expansion Screenshots!
The World of Warcraft rumor mill is running full steam today as leaked pictures have hit the net. Blood Elves will be the Horde's new playable race.
Link Removed
My Thoughts
Blah. If its true, it wouldn't surprise me. It smells like Blizzard and you know what they say. Blood Elves would not make me, but should we really expect a surprise from Blizzard?
The last picture titled, "Portal at 'The Black Morass' (Orc world?)", has me quite curious!
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post, removed broken links, and applied labels.
Link Removed
My Thoughts
Blah. If its true, it wouldn't surprise me. It smells like Blizzard and you know what they say. Blood Elves would not make me, but should we really expect a surprise from Blizzard?
The last picture titled, "Portal at 'The Black Morass' (Orc world?)", has me quite curious!
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post, removed broken links, and applied labels.
So...
My MO4 article has been posted accross the world wide web to many different sites. It seems some faithful Vanguard:SoH fans read the /. blurb and cross linked the article into the Vanguard official forums. Here is the link.
It was only a matter of time before it happened and I'm glad it did. It actually turns out to be a better discussion on the subject than most, if not all, the other floating turds that I've found on the net regarding my article.
Here is my reply to most of the points discussed.
It was only a matter of time before it happened and I'm glad it did. It actually turns out to be a better discussion on the subject than most, if not all, the other floating turds that I've found on the net regarding my article.
Here is my reply to most of the points discussed.
"I bite... you've made me come here, register, and post. I want to start out by saying "You are not the list of beta tests you've been in." more or less to quote a great movie.
I see a lot of misconceptions about me in this article. I don't care about Vanguard... I care about MMORPGs. Vanguard is one, but I am not interested in playing it. If you think I am love with WoW... well I've criticized them plenty.
WoW simply reminded me of why I play games... to have fun. Almost as much fun as playing games... is sharing my opinion about them, their processes, and the communites surrounding them. Sue me... I'm a net and gaming junkie and I'm here to have fun.
Now onto the replies here. It is my firm belief that (regardless if its just community managers doing the sorting of beta applications) that small beta test phases are best done by profesional software and game testing companies. They work in the single player market and have proven for years to be effective in the gaming and software industry. The whole process of phone interviews and the like just grabbed me as way too much of a fake facade trying to show they are *testing* their game.
I give them props for going to the community first and foremost, but that needs to be left to the later stages of beta where the game is more nailed down.
Then you move onto stress testing with your general audience using it for free marketing of the game. Right now... these early beta alpha whatevers are marketing ploys and hence where I am coming from."
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Updates for 18 Oct 2005
The first update is that I reached Honor Rank 7 (Blood Guard) in World of Warcraft on my Shaman. I had 63,000 contribution points last week! That means new gear: [Blood Guard's Mail Walkers] & [Blood Guard's Mail Grips].
Also, my article on Overcomplicated Beta sign ups has been picked up by Slashdot! Great to always see my word getting out.
Welcome /. readers!
Update: 14 Oct, 2007 - Edited post and corrected labels.
Also, my article on Overcomplicated Beta sign ups has been picked up by Slashdot! Great to always see my word getting out.
Welcome /. readers!
Update: 14 Oct, 2007 - Edited post and corrected labels.
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