A Wall

I dug a big hole, put up a wall, and laid a bunch of stones down this past weekend.

Oh, and I get to pee in a cup tomorrow, since I didn't accomplish that goal today.

Just figured I would share.

Click It or Ticket

Wilhelm doesn't believe he should have to read the fucking manual.

To that I can only ask, how well does RTFM work as an answer in your world? Because it doesn’t fare so well in mine, so RTFVM isn’t going to fly. (V is for virtual for those who are still in shock after following that link and finding out what the F stood for.)

Now, he does have a somewhat valid point. Games, especially MMORPGs, can't abandon new players to simply learn from a manual. There needs to be something there the moment a player logs into the game to direct them in the right direction.

I think Wilhelm has some valid criticisms of WAR. The game does drop in new players disoriented from their starting quests (a bug maybe?). Yellow dots on the map are confusing.

However, the question I have is whether or not a player that refuses to read the manual when presented with a problem has any right to complain? I can't walk into court and say "But your honor, I didn't bother to find out whether or not I needed to wear a seat belt in South Carolina!" and expect to walk away without a ticket. I can argue that the state didn't put up enough signs. I can complain that the signs are hard to read.

There are valid arguments on both sides here. At some point the state can't be blamed, after all there are signs at the state border, on the highway at various intervals, and continuing television commercials telling drivers to Click It or Ticket. However, if these items are not in place, I have a valid argument (but I am still not absolved of being guilty).

For Wilhelm, he feels that Mythic has not reasonably planted enough signs or aired enough commercials. I'm not quite sure what he expected though. There is no evidence he has these complaints about other games he has played, and he seems to have adjusted over the years he has played them. Actually, he mentions that WAR simplifies a lot of things into a single tome of knowledge (an example directly compared to EVE's hundreds of screens).

There are other leanings in his post that show he didn't even really try. For example: he heard somewhere that Public Quests > sliced bread. In his experience, he didn't really get them. To quote:

This is supposed to encourage community and cooperation. It does so about as well as WoW battlegrounds do, from my own limited observations. Everybody ran about in a mad rush at each stage with no plan or order. However, the “everybody” was enough people that we defeated each stage and nobody died.

There in lies the problem, he didn't adjust. He felt it was a WoW battleground and evidenced by his own post, played like it was one. It didn't seem he tried to learn about open groups, even with the giant pop up when entering the area, which are all over the place in Public Quests. He didn't bother to click his Tome of Knowledge unlock to figure out what the quest was about. He failed to notice the constant stream of +influence messages and quest pop ups detailing his progress in that area which would net him rewards. Worst of all, he just assumed everyone else was in it for themselves.

Wilhelm didn't seem to really try. He missed the forest for the trees. He ran around in WAR as though it was WoW. Bartle was right, he has played WAR before, it was WoW.

Repost Movie Thoughts: Serenity

I am cutting and pasting some thoughts I posted on my old reviews blog. Serenity, the movie, is up first.

Having never seen the Firefly TV series that inspired the movie Serenity, I had no expectations or knowledge of the lore behind the film. Therefore, it really wasn't on my radar as a "must see" movie. It is rare for me to miss a major Sci-Fi movie during its theatrical release, but Serenity didn't gain steam until after it hit theaters. Still, I am disappointed I missed this one in theaters.

I did not go to Blockbuster looking for Serenity, but when I saw it on the shelf I knew I had to rent it. Not that I hadn't meant to see it, but it just really hadn’t been on my mind. Fortunately, I did rent it and will now be exercising a bit more determination in getting the Firefly DVDs.

Overall, I found the acting to be a mix of good, OK, and so-so. There are spots of brilliance and there are spots of mediocre. The dialogue is strong throughout the movie, but sometimes the delivery is just not convincing which is a bit disappointing in a movie so heavily involved with the characters. Most of these flat spots hit during roaring battles or other special effects scenes.

The good news: the acting does not kill the movie in any spots! The acting is solid. I knew none of the actors by name and even after watching it I doubt I will remember any by name. As I said the acting is solid all the way through, but no one really stands out. This helps the movie, because one overpowering actor could have really disrupted the balance in a movie with a very this is our crew sentiment.

Next, we have the special effects which can make or break any Sci-Fi movie. Serenity definitely doesn't disappoint! The entire movie is a visual feast and most of the time the effects blend amazingly well with the live action. As with most Sci-Fi, there are scenes that just don't fit, uncanny valley and all.

What really makes up for the lows in special effects and acting is the rock solid story. Having no idea how it ties into Firefly, I only know that I want more. While I wouldn't place this as one of the best Sci-Fi plots ever, it definitely ranks up there as one of the best in recent times. Recent, as in the fact it wasn't written thirty years ago and just recently was made into a movie.

I recommend this movie to everyone that has any interest in Sci-Fi. Go out and buy the DVD because the movie is damn close to making enough profit for them to go out and make part 2 and maybe even part 3! I am more than glad to add another movie to my collection!.

My final question: is it just me or is Mr. Universe the same actor that was driving the car full of potheads in Super Troopers?

Those Worried About the Game Side of Spore

Spore will be a culmination of years of real time strategy games, simulation games, and a plethora of game technologies. It will be a game that finally puts the package together. However, in that attempt, Spore has lost some players that are wondering where the "game" in Spore will be. Look no further than the following video highlighting the civilization phase of Spore.

Oi

WAR Delayed, L4D Gold

Oops, screwed up the title.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) has gone gold.

Mythic Entertainment today announced that the highly-anticipated MMORPG, Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR), has gone gold and will open its servers on September 18, 2008 at an MSRP of $49.99 in North America.

“We’ve done our best to create the next great MMORPG experience, but it’s the fans that will bring our world to life,” said Mark Jacobs, vice president at EA and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “The Day of Reckoning approaches and it’s going to be glorious! It’s time to go to WAR.”

Left 4 Dead (L4D), Valve's co-op zombie shooting masterpiece, has been delayed so the launch can coincide with Half-Life's 10th anniversary.

Well the date has been changed again, and now Valve's highly anticipated co-op survival horror has different release dates for North America and Europe. Left 4 Dead 411 made a request to Valve for definite confirmation, and Doug Lombardi responded, "Nov 18 in the States. Nov 21 in Europe (US retailers do 'new release Tues' and the EU does that on Friday)."

The new release date still ties in with Half-Life's anniversary, as the game was originally launched on November 18, 1998.

I had a WAR Weekend , My Rabbit Had a Beauty Day

The Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) Preview Weekend has come and gone. It was so grand that I spent Sunday giving our pet rabbit a beauty day instead of playing. No, it wasn’t because the game wasn’t playable. It was because WAR is fun, no matter how little or how much time you spend in game. Actually, I had a metric ton of fun, but that doesn’t mean the game was perfect. Far from it, but I learned a very valuable lesson: having fun in a game trumps many flaws.

My desktop machine specs:

Video card: MSI 9600 GT OC
CPU: Intel Q6600 @ 2.6 GHz (that’s a quad core btw)
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Operating system: Windows XP Pro x64

Pros and Cons

I am going to break this down into a Pros and Cons list, as that will be the easiest way to get my thoughts down.

Pros

• The game performs absolutely flawlessly on my machine. No FPS or graphical issues at all during the weekend.
• Lag was a non-factor. Lag that was encountered was minor and rarely persisted more than a minute.
• Massive RvR battles were absolutely awesome, both in performance and fun. Even with 100+ players on screen, the game ran fine and was 100% playable.
• Combat was slower paced, allowing for longer life expectancy. This goes a long way towards making the RvR a lot of fun, as players rarely die the second someone touches them.
• Battle-ranking evens out the playing field in RvR and makes low-level RvR enjoyable.
• The ability to queue for scenarios anywhere in the zone supports the RvR and PvE progression idea.
• Also, being able to form cross-zone parties and queue for any scenario in any zone a party member is in helps alleviate pointless travel.
• Open grouping ensures that players can easily find others to play with.
• Public quest system takes questing to another level, provides some reasoning for the world, and offers great socialization opportunities.
• Quest objectives are outlined on the map. At first I didn’t like it, but I now prefer it over using spoiler websites.
• Easily accessible travel to other racial pairings, warcamps, and capital cities. Hopefully this stays intact for launch, but I can understand if Mythic restricts it a bit.
• Tome of Knowledge is impossible to “preview” as it is immense. I was absolutely blown away by the few things I took time to browse through.
• Easily customizable UI out of the box.
• Guild tools are just fucking awesome. Guilds and what they can do will be the centerpiece of WAR.
• Crafting is fast, fun, and easily funded. It focuses on consumable items which I used a lot. I made over a hundred potions and used every single one by the end of the weekend. I bought most of the basic supplies up front and scavenged the rest from dead enemies in RvR.

Cons

• Crash to desktop problems for many people. Personally, I only crashed twice in about ten hours of play.
• Combat responsiveness needs work. Hard to tell what skill is being used, if it can be used, and many other perceptual errors that make combat feel sluggish.
• Better visual feedback needed for the player and the casting bar needs to be reworked.
• Spell effects were hit or miss. Sometimes I saw them, sometimes I didn’t, for both team mates and enemies. I was hit a lot in RvR by stuff I never saw.
• Scrolling combat text failed. It was off center, small, and often didn’t work.
• Default chat window filter needs to be reworked. There was far too much spam that should be in the combat window by default that makes it hard to keep up with conversations.
• There was a gear imbalance when higher tier gear is able to be used in the level tier below where it is acquired. For example: Tier 2 renown rank 6 gear with level 18 stats in Tier 1 (levels 1-11).
• Healing felt very overpowering in the lower levels. Playing DPS classes, I felt it was impossible to kill any healer without the assistance of two, three, or more players.
• Tanks were always the top damage dealers in RvR. Not because of DPS, but because they never died and therefore always were doing damage.
• Class specific issue: Shadow Warrior hotbars often reset, making it impossible to use my current stance-specific abilities.

Conclusion

I have no conclusion. The game is absolutely fun, but needs work. I will be in at Open Beta and the Head Start. I am glad that I chose to play a tank at launch. This game isn’t going to be perfect, but it is going to be fun and that is exactly what I’ve been expecting.

Update: 5 Sept, 2008 - Preview Weekend + addressed many of these Cons.

Team Fortress 2 Guest Pass Available

I have been awarded one 3-day guest pass for Team Fortress 2. Whoever I give the pass to will receive a free copy of Team Fortress 2 that they can play for three days, no strings attached. The only requirement will be that the person receiving the pass will need to have a Steam account or be willing to create one (its free!).

All I ask is that you plan to use those three days wisely and if you end up liking the game, spend a few extra dollars to pick up a copy. It is by far the best FPS game I've played in years.

If you are interested please leave a comment and an e-mail address. I will make a decision on Monday the 25th (to give all the WAR Preview Weekend players time to respond).

Jumping Sharks, a Colloquialism Examination

It often amazes me how things come in pairs on the Internet. Today is no exception.

Shark, Jumped, a post from Grouchy Gamer, is a great example of properly using the colloquialism, jumping the shark.

Warhammer Online: The MMO that jumps the shark, from Brent of Virgin Worlds, would be the opposite; a how-not-to-use the jumping the shark colloquialism.

First, let’s examine the full meaning of jumping the shark:

Jumping the shark is a colloquialism used by U.S. TV critics and fans to denote that point in a TV show or movie series' history where the plot veers off into ridiculous story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations, undergoing too many changes to retain the original appeal of the series. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak as after this point critical fans can point to a noticeable decline in the show's overall quality.

As mentioned, Grouchy Gamer (aka Genda), hits the nail on the head. Blizzard’s recent addition of a motorcycle as a mount in the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft is a fine example of jumping the shark. The motorcycle is completely out of place, even in the pop-culture-phenomenon that is WoW.

Fans critical of WoW will be able to look back and point to this very item as the possible downturn of quality in WoW, just as Genda has. Especially in the soon-to-launch-face of WoW's potentially stiffest competition yet, WAR. History will be the ultimate judge, but the concept of Blizzard jumping the shark is at least there.

The concept is not there with Brent’s ramblings on Virgin Worlds. Brent spends the better part of two pages explaining how Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) is one giant plateau of MMO game play. According to Brent, WAR brings nothing new, other than Public Quests. In his eyes that means Mythic jumped the shark with WAR.

When confronted on the idea that he may be missing the point of jumping the shark, Brent offers no defense. Darren of Common Sense Gamer gets involved, but fails as epically as Brent in understanding the colloquialism. Neither can point to any change that WAR is bringing that is equivalent to “The Hog” of WotLK. Actually, both seem to agree that WAR will succeed and in the process of succeeding will bring a great new feature to the MMO genre with Public Quests.

Brent is just tired of the current MMOs and he is waiting for something fresh and new, different from the games that have come before. His burn out does not mean WAR jumped the shark and it is obvious to me he wanted nothing more than a flashy headline.

There is a war of words in the comments where I try to get Brent and Darren to understand jumping the shark, or to at least get Brent to inform us what he defines as jumping the shark. Brent and Darren offer nothing more than attacks. According to them, I just don’t understand.

Maybe I don’t understand. I’ll let everyone that wants to comment here tell me which of the above articles properly uses jumping the shark.

WAR Isn't Fun

"I’ve already played Warhammer. It was called World of Warcraft." - Richard Bartle

Bartle was right, he did play WAR already, and it was WoW. Just like Bartle, many players will try to play WAR as they do WoW and then wonder why they aren’t playing WoW or state they are sick of playing WoW. That’s fine. No one can force them to change their mind on how to play MMOs.

Unfortunately, Bartle gave validation to many “WAR is just WoW” viewpoints. However, many seem to have missed the part where Dr. Bartle admitted that he played a lot of WoW and had fun doing so. So, if he already played WAR, and it was WoW, then WAR is probably going to be fun to some degree. Bartle was simply burned out.

This brings me to a post at Virgin Worlds where Brent asserts that WAR just isn’t fun. Sadly, Brent uses Dr. Bartle’s quote to defend his position. That doesn’t add up, as WAR has to be fun by Bartle's assertion. Brent's view shows the effect that Bartle’s ill-fated quote has had on those looking for evidence to indict WAR as a failure.

I don’t dislike Brent and I’m not going to start throwing hypocrisy around again. I want to look into why Brent views WAR as a foregone failure. It starts in the recent Virgin Worlds Podcast #127, where Brent spends a lot of time talking about the “next generation” of MMOs and how games coming out currently are “last generation, nothing new to see here, move along please”.

It is evident that Brent is not interested in the current generation of MMO games and it is unlikely he would view any of them as “fun”. I wish Brent would just come out and say that, instead of looking for validation to prop up his opinion in misguided quotes and propaganda.

Unfortunately, Brent makes the argument that Sony Online Entertainment has a slew of upcoming next generation games, while reporting from a SOE-sponsored fan-faire. That absolutely dumbfounds me, because SOE has absolutely no games on tap that we haven’t seen versions of before.

Free Realms is an online world filled with mini-games that runs on micro-transactions.

The Agency is an online, class-based and multi-player shooter with persistent world aspects.

DC Universe Online is a super hero MMO that focuses on action and offers a peak at physics based game play.

None of the listed games offers anything new other than the fact that SOE is putting huge development dollars into them. Puzzle Pirates, released in 2003, does the online game world filled with mini-games and customizable avatars already. Doom, released in 1993, not only invented the first person shooter genre, but took it online as well. Planetside, another SOE game that happens to be a persistent online shooter, has been around since 2003. City of Heroes, a super hero MMO, has been around since 2004. Physics-based games have been all-the-rage for the last few years.

It is absolutely SOE fanboy-ish to argue any of them are next generation. I’m sorry, but that invalidates Brent’s criticism of WAR. Brent likes SOE and despises WAR. He is entitled to that opinion, but he needs to stick to it as an opinion, not try and use it as evidence that WAR "is just another WoW" and therefore will fail.

The gaming industry has shown a complete lack of ability to innovate quickly. Change occurs slowly, over time, from release to release. There is never going to be a mainstream game that suddenly changes the playing field in terms of players and mechanics. Some games, such as WoW, will storm in and take over a genre, but not through innovation.

The next generation is going to come slowly over time and those waiting for it will never find it. Every time they look at a new game, they will see something from the last game and claim that they are going to “sit this one out” in anticipation of the next generation.