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Less Grind, More Story

It's because my Night Elf Thistletoes has stalled in the mid-40s in Stranglethorn Vale that I can heartily agree with Richard Garriot, who commented in his keynote at the Develop Conference, "The obsession with damage inflicted over time as the mechanic behind combat reduces games to data management... The fact that people use the nomenclature 'grinding' to describe what they do in online games is a bad sign. Missions have been reduced to taking the next pellet from the slot machine."

And you know, reports are that Tabula Rasa is not looking that bad. And it sounds like - with the targeting system and the reduced HUD - that they are going for a more mainstream, less MO-focused audience. More actiony, perhaps, than usual for an MMO.

I also like that it's NOT MEDIEVAL FANTASY. Seriously. I am, yes, a dork, but I've spent too many hours messing about with trolls and elves now and at this point I'm ready to leave them behind. So the former Lord British's transformation to General British (will he turn his castle into a giant alien ship?) suits me just fine.

Clay Calls "Bullshit" on Second Life

Clay Shirky demands to see Second Life's hand in a recent article on Valleywag that calls bullshit on the virtual environment's numbers - and the crazy press coverage it's been getting lately.

I've always said there was something over the top about the whole Second life thing. I know it's a media darling right now, but how many people actually play it? And for how long?

When Clay writes, "I have been watching the press reaction to Second Life with increasing confusion" he mirrors my reaction. With every huge article in Businessweek the hype tree grew taller and bore ever more verdant leaves, seeding other articles in other publications. (I don't mean to call out Businessweek except that they published the most outrageous "Virtual Millionaire" article recently.) And while, yes, money in virtual economies is real, as Julian and Ted Catronova have shown (among others), how real is the money in a good if you hold all the goods yourself? It's only worth as much as others will pay for it and frankly, I'm just not sure that a userbase exists that *will* pay, collectively, a million bucks for virtual real estate.

I respect what Second Life is, and I think some of the press is well-deserved. It is a concrete way to imagine what we used to call cyber-space. I just don't think there's anything close to a mass movement represented by its users - just really interesting new ideas.

Firefly MMO

I love my boyfriend, but he knows that if Joss Whedon showed up at my doorstep bearing flowers...you know. I love Joss Whedon. I love his work. I love his attitude. I love what he says about art and women and his work. I think Firefly was amazing - even better than Battlestar Galactica (which I also love, of course. But it doesn't have the Joss Whedon touch.)

So I can't help being a little excited at the idea of an MMO set in the world of Firefly. I've had dreams about me and Zoe riding horses alongside spaceships along dusty canyons. I want to be excited about it! I want to believe that it will be like KOTOR, but MMO. That it would rule.

But I'm just not sure. Multiverse is new technology and as far as I know, no products using it have launched yet. So, we'll see.

But I can dream!

Epic - and I Mean EPIC - Raid

The Penny Arcade Alliance launched a multi-guild co-ordinated raid last night that simultaneously attacked all three Horde cities on the Dark Iron server.

Kind of gives new meaning to "wow" doesn't it? Because all I can say is....wow.

More at azeroth.metroblogs.

(Thanks, Eric!)

From the PR Wire This Morning

Some interesting developments off the wires this morning.

Cartoon Network Announces MMO - in partnership with Korean MMO developer Grigon. Grigon's most well-known work is a game called Seal Online. The game will be aimed at kids and will incorporate Cartoon Network characters. Hm, okay. Well, if Toontown can do it, why not?

Absolute Poker Launches Poker Site for Women - called AP Lady. Don't click anything on the site, it'll trigger a download. What makes it different from regular poker? Well, apparently women aren't good at poker and this special site "is exploring partnerships with other relevant women's groups that will help to achieve the site's mission of helping women who want to get better at poker." Okay.

Women in Games International Conference Hosted By Microsoft - was announced today. The conference will happen on September 16th at Microsoft in Redmond, WA. Bonnie Ross, Director of Product Development for Microsoft Game Studios, will give the keynote address. The main topic addressed by the panels will be quality of life issues. I'm not sure I'll be able to attend, as it's a bit close to Tokyo Game Show, but I hope so.

The Hot New MMO

Consider it retro MMO, and a bit light on the RPG.

MMO Pong, baby.

Short of an economy and crafting classes, this thing has everything an MMO needs to be successful:

1). PvP
2). Factions (Blue paddles forever!!!1)
3). Griefers

I think we need to start a guild here. Who's with me?

Gays, Lesbians, and Their Guilds

The recent scuffle between Blizzard and a young woman who wanted to create a gay-and-lesbian-friendly guild made me almost as depressed as when San Francisco started revoking marriage licenses it had just issued to blissfully newly-wed couples.

The truth is, I would like to find a gay-lesbian friendly guild. If they would have me, although I am neither.

Let's face it, straight boys in anonymous games are annoying. If you play a female character - or if they even *think* for a moment that you're female, some gamers get all goggly-eyed. "A/S/L? Lol". Sure, it's nice to get free gold and stuff from the remnants of a chivalric instinct, but all that attention can get a little tiring. And then there are the heavy-duty role-player types who are constantly "Milady" this and "Milady" that and who are bowing and scraping and acting like proper goofballs instead of focusing on the damn raid.

I'd rather be flirted with by gay boys and lesbians, quite honestly.

Plus, gay boys and men are more likely to be supportive of you. A shoulder to cry on. Every straight girl should have a gay boyfriend, to dispense much-needed hair, fashion, and love advice without a trace of competitiveness. Lesbians are also very supportive, although I've definitely run into a few who are more aggressive than straight boys!

Raiding with your Gay-Lesbian Guild would be so much more fun. Hugs all around afterwards!

And the added bonus would be to not hear the names which so many gamers liberally sprinkle into their speech, because honestly, I'm just tired of it.

I do hope they'll accept me. I'm bi-curious, does that count?

Publishing For the People: Tringo Goes to GBA

Clickable Culture is reporting that Tringo, a portmanteau of a game that plays like a cross between Tetris and Bingo will be making its way to GBA screens soon. Tringo was originally created by players within Second Life, the graphical MUD/game/thing run by Linden Labs.

We've seen Popcap games make the jump to GBA before, but this is probably the first time that user-created content for a MMO has been licensed for its own game. I think that's pretty neat.

China bars minors from violent MMOs

Game Insider reports an Interfax China article reading that China's Ministry of Culture has just moved to ban minors from playing any massively multiplayer online game that allows for player-killing (PK).

The statement reads, in part:

"Online games that have PK content usually also contain acts of violence and leads to players spending too much time trying to increase the power of their characters. They are harmful to young people."

Kind of reminds me of my childhood when mom would say, "You've been playing those games too long... why don't you go outside?" Only, you know, reinforced by Chinese police.

I think we can be pretty sure that this is going to change the way that Asian MMOs are made, since almost all of them currently contain large amounts of PvP content.

China-Japan Conflict Stakes out Virtual Territory

Interesting speculation at Terra Nova: "I get an uneasy feeling when actual conflict spills over into games of conflict. But I'm not sure why. Maybe it -would- be a good idea if opposing sides took up virtual arms � anything is better than stones and bombs. For example, one might argue that the current India vs Pakistan test series is a cathartic political statement, the leaders of both nations being present seems to suggest that that game does have political significance. Or am I just trivializing matters now? After all, war's not a game now is it?"

This brings briefly to mind Kuma/War, which lets players experience levels baed on real U.S. missions in Iraq, ot its Arab-world counterpart, UnderAsh.

Virtual cultural colonization?