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Book Thoughts: Black Powder War (Temeraire, Book 3)

Title: Black Powder War
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre: Fantasy, Alternate History
Publisher: Del Rey (May 30, 2006)
Quick-Hit Thought: If you weren't sure after Book 2, don't continue. Worth reading if you've enjoyed the series.

I'm very conflicted about the third book in the Temeraire series. With a title such as Black Powder War, I thought I may finally see some dragons put to use in the massive battles of the Napoleonic era. Unfortunately, whether it be ship, sickness, cargo duty, or weather, dragons sit on the sidelines.

Once again, the strength of the book is Novik's ability to place dragons admirably into the time period. The way they operate in the military and society makes absolute sense. The difference between various countries and their dragons is well detailed and refreshing.

However, past the melding of dragons into the military and society of the time period, there isn't much to this book. Our hero and his dragon are on their way back from China (a far more interesting country in this alternate universe). They receive urgent news to detour and pick up some dragon eggs purchased from the government of Turkey. Some traveling ensues, blah, blah, blah.

Actually, there is only one thing that saved this book for me: Tharkay. Tharkay is by far the most interesting character in the book (maybe even the series) and is first introduced as a messenger delivering the orders that would eventually spur the journey into Istanbul, Turkey. Tharkay is a classic rogue character, remaining a mystery until the end of the book.

Unfortunately, the truth of Tharkay is wasted on a horribly trivial "save the day for people we don't even care about" ending. The entire end of the book is a let down. At least in Throne of Jade, the long painful journey lead up to a wonderful climatic ending. Not so in Black Powder War. I was absolutely bored by the scenario that ended up playing out, almost angered at the way Tharkay was brought back into the storyline.

Overall, the book reads as well as the first two, but is about as engaging as the paragraph noted on the back of the book. The story isn't what kept me reading through this series. It was the dragons, how they lived, and how people lived with them. However, by the third book I guess I expected some sort of story to conclude. Nothing concluded, and a true good vs. evil plot line just began to emerge. Unfortunately, not enough of one to spur me on to the next book in the series.

My honest opinion: this series is best finished at the end of Throne of Jade.

Warhammer in Decline?

Warhammer launched well. 750,000 people well. However, since that fateful announcement, various numbers have started to trickle in showing WAR may not be doing so well keeping those 750,000 logged in.

First off, Blizzard is spouting off:

While a number of World of Warcraft users dropped the widely popular MMO to play EA's recently released Warhammer Online, more than half of those gamers have already returned to Blizzard's market-leader.

Hmmmm... the market-leader downplaying the success of a competitor. Maybe we'll just throw this away.

Next, the ever-faithful Xfire provides a nice history track that shows WAR total play times declining among Xfire users. While not hard evidence that WAR may be in decline, Xfire declines were an early indicator during Age of Conan's post-launch collapse. However, some people will always try and use Xfire stats to make some noise.

The decline continues. Whether people like it or not. You can make unfounded claims all you want that Xfire is not representative but until someone cab provide empirical evidence Xfire isn't representative you're just waving your fanboi pom poms in the air.

I want WAR to succeed and I am worried about the trend line that continues its steady decline.

What is it going to take to turn this thing around?

- Scenarios have effectively destroyed open world RvR.
- The "magnet" abilities are destroying what RvR is happening.
- What meager open world RvR manages to survive the anemic number of open RvR players and magnet idiocy ends up being not worth it due to the inferior rewards for such activities.

WARHAMMER IS DYING A SLOW DEATH BECAUSE THE CENTRAL ACTIVITY AROUND WHICH WAR HAS BEEN DESIGNED, I.E. "WAR", IS NOT HAPPENING!

My take?

WAR is in decline. Why? Because it is not the game MANY players expected, on both sides of the fence. WAR is a good game, just not the best game in any category. WAR is destined for a core audience that enjoys the Realm vs Realm. No one will be sticking around for the other parts (partly because everyone is in Scenarios and therefore nothing else gets touched, but thats for another blog post).

Fail: Altdorf Falls on Averheim

I have been quiet for some time around here. My free time has been limited and I've chosen to spend it playing WAR. I have the basis for several blog posts regarding WAR's launch laid out in my head. I just haven't gotten to them. However, a situation on my server, Averheim, has prompted this post.

Altdorf, Order's capital city, fell into Contested at the hands of a 3 AM Sunday morning Destruction raid. In a matter of hours, Order went from sitting pretty, to completely annihilated. A feat yet to be accomplished anywhere in WAR. Sure, some other servers exploited there ways to Altdorf earlier in the week, but none had pushed to the King.

Now, Emperor Karl Franz did not fall to the Destruction zerg, but that isn't the point. The fact is, Mark Jacobs had just gotten done stating it was far too early for Altdorf to get thrown into a contested state. Mark Jacobs, as all MMO developers, underestimated the player base and was horribly wrong. There isn't an MMO out there that has proven the MMO player base wrong. Hardcore players ALWAYS finish first and ALWAYS push the end game months ahead of schedule.

I could talk about conspiracy theories as to how Destruction exploited their way through Tier 4. I could argue population imbalances until the cows come home. I could pretend I don't care, because I'm still Rank 22 on my Ironbreaker, which is a long way from being able to participate in the defense of Altdorf.

The fact is, Destruction on Averheim is down-right organized and efficient. The Alliance of guilds that took part in the attempt should be commended. It was well planned and well executed, and from all accounts, it was a damn bit easier than even they had thought. Kudos to them.

My brain hurts thinking about how easily this occurred. The majority of the attackers were not Rank 40, were definitely not geared up, and are still learning the game. Mythic should be flat out embarrassed that a group like this was able to zerg roll an entire server at 3 AM on a Sunday morning.

Saddest part, the free month isn't even up. What was originally planned to have taken a year, has occurred in weeks. Mythic is racing against the clock now. Good luck Mythic.

Fortunately, Mythic saved this from being an Epic fail. WAR's end game at least worked. Sorry Age of Conan, the Epic Fail crown is still yours to behold.

Blizthic

Rarely do I agree with Syncaine, but I can't help but laugh along with him on his recent post: Blizzard’s new focus for WoW, just as soon as Mythic finishes it.

PS. Sorry for my silence as of late, will hopefully get some time to post some WAR-related goodies soon.

Here. We. Go.

Now the Fun Begins is the title of Jack Thompson's e-mail announcing his official disbarment from practicing law in Florida.

In a four-page written order, the Florida Supreme Court today affirmed a referee's recommendation to permanently disbar controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson.

The action, which takes effect in 30 days, means that Thompson will no longer be licensed to practice law and may not apply for reinstatement. Ever.

And after reading the article, all I saw in my head was the Joker in The Dark Knight going "Here. We. Go.".

For some reason, I don't think this is the last we'll be hearing from Mr. Thompson. He just won't have the legal clout to back his idiocy up any longer. Essentially, he becomes like the rest of us on the Internet, no laws to hold his vitriol back. Not that he followed any laws in the first place.

Book Thoughts: Throne of Jade (Temeraire, Book 2)

Title: Throne of Jade
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre: Fantasy, Alternate History
Publisher: Del Rey (April 25, 2006)
Quick-Hit Thought: Good read for those interested, but slow pacing in the middle.

The phrase, “it’s all about the journey” perfectly describes Throne of Jade, book 2 in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. The book chronicles the journey to the far off lands of China by the dragon Tremeraire, his crew, and his Captain; Will Laurence. Once again, Novik does a wonderful job of weaving dragons into a period of history best known for ships, soldiers, and war. As in the first book, the strength of Throne of Jade lies in the detail of dragon interactions within society and the military, boosted by the fact that this book partly takes place in a very different Chinese society.

Unfortunately, getting to the immense and interesting nation of China takes some time and by the end of the book China feels wholly unexplored. While I do appreciate a more detailed account of the journey to China, via a sea-faring dragon carrier, I can’t help but admit I was longing for Novik’s “and a few weeks later” approach of the first book. There are definite flat spots in both action and pacing, with a tacked-on-feeling action sequence at the beginning of the book.

Fortunately, the plot is solid and ties together in the end. This makes up for the boring reading in the middle. It took me a while to get through that middle, but I feel rewarded for sticking it out. Throne of Jade introduces a wonderful new enemy into the mix outside of Britain’s current nemesis of Napolean and France.

The next book in the series, Black Powder War, picks up shortly after where Throne of Jade leaves off and I am ready to see it through to conclusion. If there is any sign of a good book, it is in the Throne of Jade’s ability to intrigue me enough to pick up and read the next in the series, just as book 1 brought me to Throne of Jade.

Warhammer, I

Heartles - Badlands - Ironbreaker

Bring it bitches.

Yes, I know there is an s missing. Stupid server transfers.

Age of Commenting

Half of reading is comprehension. A certain member of the MMO blogosphere is confusing MMOs with politics, where 30 second sound-bites are all that matter. Sadly, that is the trend on the Internet we seem to be posting in as MMO bloggers. Anything posted past a good Bartlism is considered a wall of text. Every blogger wants to write a wall of text, but not many of them want to actually read one. Those of us that do, usually leave a comment and form the core of the MMO blogosphere. Those that don’t read, quote the part that caught their attention for two seconds and proclaim that the sky is falling.

This comes full circle when one religious commenter, with too much free-time, collects a few quotes, takes them out of context, and tries to make a point. All while going ‘nah nah nah. I can’t hear you’. Not having learned their lesson, they do it again. Before we know it, several bloggers are flooded by this one insignificant commenter who has no purpose other than to quote Bartlisms and go “HA! Gotch ya!”. Of course, they couldn’t have anything until they make an actual point, but that doesn’t stop them.

There is no victory to be had against ignorance and bias. The best we can do is point at them, laugh, and then slap a /ignore on them until they are blue in the face from holding their breath. Eventually they will pass out.

Without further ado, Openedge, /point /laugh /ignore

Head Starts DO NOT Work

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has "soft launched" a head start program for Collector's Edition pre-order players. Unfortunately, the server selection for the head start was very small in scope. To no one's surprise, the servers filled up fast and the complaints came rolling in. Unfortunately for Mythic, it has quickly passed the point of just adding servers to fix the problem.

Many of the head start players have entire guilds following in their wake. Head start servers are going to be near impossible to play at launch with the crush of players attempting to hook up with their guilds. Queue times will be hours long at the start.

Mythic screwed up. There was no reason for them to narrow the server selection for head start. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that restricting server selection for head start players would severely over populate them. It is a sad day when players already up and running on the head start servers have to actively debate if they should just treat the head start as another open beta period, with little chance they will actually play their current character for the long term.

Mythic has been great throughout the development of WAR. I have no fucking clue why launch has shown their ass. I guess it had to happen at some point.

The lesson should be learned: head starts DO NOT WORK for MMOs.