This blog has evolved into a bilingual log,
This causes me a lot of grief as my ENG articles cannot be graded on digg.hr and my CRO articles cant be graded on digg.com. Nevertheless I see no other option but to proceed in this manner.
In spite of that, I welcome this situation as an opportunity for me to brush up on my foreign language skills. Until I do, please bear in mind that ENG is my second language.
reported by CCP Chronotis | 2008.10.23 13:47:42 | NEW | Comments
The development of the Orca has been unusual to say the least. With the introduction of the Rorqual last year Oveur immediately pointed out the remaining glaring gap in the industrial ship line and commanded us to fill it. So we set to work by halving the attributes of the Rorqual and calling it the Orca (one of the original suggested names for the Rorqual) so we could tinker on our development server with it and begin the process of molding its role. This was in the days before we had our Branched Static Data system (version control of our static content) and we would often end up with unfinished items on Singularity. This lead to what we called the crystal ball effect where some of you would immediately jump to conclusions about the intentions of this new unexplained addition to the database.
This was how the Orca development became public and many of you set about over the following months debating the role in a very good and constructive forum thread for us and we would like to take the opportunity to thank all those that participated. So in short, this ship's story, from concept to final arrival on our test servers, has been very much in the public eye whilst it made its merry way through our development pipeline.
We are happy to say that the wait is finally over and the Orca is soon to arrive on Singularity (our public test server) for the next phase of testing, getting your feedback. So on with an introduction to the ship and its role, and to answer the many questions you may have.
Overview of the Orca
What is the role of the Orca?
The Orca is a collaboration between Outer Ring Excavations and Deep Core Mining Inc. Designed as a "sub capital" logistical ship with a mining command focus, it is ideal for the day to day needs of corporations or individuals. It is perhaps a stepping stone towards capital ships, filling a void between the regular and capital class ships making it more affordable with a wider range of use in all areas of space as it can use stargates and does not have a jump drive.
What does it look like, is it smokin' ?
See for youself (click for a big picture)
Bonuses
Role Bonus
* 250% bonus to range of tractor beams (70km)
* 100% bonus to tractor beam velocity (1km sec)
* 500% bonus to survey scanner range (~125km)
* Can fit gang mods
Industrial Command Ships Skill Bonus
* 3% bonus to effectiveness of mining foreman gang links per level
* 5% bonus to cargo capacity per level
Orca Cargo Capacity
The cargo capacity is designed to accommodate a large volume of different types of cargo and is split between the cargohold (30,000m3 base capacity max expandable to around 90,000m3+), a corp hangar (30,000m3) and ship maintenance bay (400,000m3).
The benefit of the corporate hangar is that it can be used as a secure location for storing ore because it is accessible by others. For example, when out on mining ops your haulers (if you still need them with the Orca present) can take from here instead of scooping jet cans.
The ship maintenance bay is very useful for moving a few ships out to a new location, either in space or a station, and also has the benefit of allowing your corp or fleet members to either refit in space or arrive in fast ships and switch to a mining barge or other ship. Also this makes moving rigged ships around much easier with it being the first ship which uses stargates to also have a ship maintenance bay and moves throughout empire.
Fitting
* 3 hi / 3 med / 2 low slots (0 turret / 0 launcher hardpoints)
* 430 cpu / 940 pg
* 3 rig slots / 400 calibration points
* 50m3 drone bay / 25 Mbit/sec bandwidth
* Hitpoints - 46,000 structure / 6,900 armor / 9,750 shield
Required Skills to fly the Orca
* The ship is aimed to cost around 400 million ISK in capital ship components
* The Industrial Command Ship skill will cost 50 million ISK
* The Orca Blueprint will be around 1 billion ISK
Where can the Orca be built?
Anywhere a freighter can be built so empire station manufacturing assembly lines, large ship assembly array, x-large ship assembly array and of course the outposts or other stations with manufacturing assembly lines.
When can I test it on Singularity?
Very soon if not already by the time this blog is published, and we very much want your constructive feedback and testing of the Orca both here in the blog comments thread and on the test server. Remember, the stats above are not final and are subject to change!
It's also interesting to note that Death Knights are a tanking class, and tanking got the revamp in Wrath of the Lich King. While some healers probably won't want to wait all the way until the next expansion, could this be a hint that we're looking at an Emerald Dream expansion, with an Arch Druid healing Hero Class, and an accompanying revamp of healing mechanics? Obviously, that's a stretch, but it makes sense, doesn't it?
Oh absolutely," responded Jacobs, when asked if this was a move by Blizzard to position World of Warcraft against Warhammer Online. "I think imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
"You have a game that's been out for four years, they've never put in world PVP like ours, they've never been able to level through PVP like in ours. I think it's absolutely a reaction to Warhammer," Jacobs added. "It wasn't like all of a sudden the idea of open world PVP or levelling through PVP came into their heads and went 'nobody's ever done this before'."
"I don't think it was accidental that they're talking about doing it when Warhammer comes out. Four years and suddenly, miraculously, at the same time Warhammer comes out that's when they start talking about these things... I think it was Jeff Kaplan who said they like to look at other games and learn from them - well, I'm flattered."
Viper Shizzle of Pandemic Legion announced that thelung187 had stolen 200 billion worth of ISK and property from Destructive Influence, a member of Band of Brothers, dwarfing the infamous GHSC heist. In these days of ever-escalating heists, however, this one rates only above average—by comparison, the EVE bank scam netted 671 billion ISK.
The corp-theft was confirmed by members of BoB, including LadyScarlet of DICE. Thelung, a member of DICE for four years, estimated his total haul to be somewhat less than 200 billion, but clearly did substantial damage. Thelung claimed to have seized:
“15b liquid isk, ~170k dysprosium, 500k+ of promethium, a *seriously* unfathomable amount of POS modules (including faction deathstar setups, a capital assembly ship array or some such thing), an estimated 30m+ of isotopes , 15m+ Liquid Ozone, 2 revelations, a crapload of DB/Corpum loot, lots of minor BPOs (all the capital component bpos were wisely locked), and to be quite honest, there's probably a fair bit more I just haven't had the time to look yet.”
http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=899312&page=2)
Interesting, isnt it? How much jail time would thelung187 get if he was Dutch :)
"These virtual goods are goods (under Dutch law) so this is theft," the court said Tuesday in a summary of its ruling.
The court did not reveal the identities of the minors, but they are 15-years-old and 14-years-old, respectively. They apparently coerced a younger boy into giving them a 'virtual amulet and virtual mask' in RuneScape. The offenders have both been sentenced to community service -- 200 hours for the 15-year-old, and 160 hours for the 14-year-old.
The thin line between virtual property and real property is slowly dissolving.
...we learned that players will have NPC companions like they do in single-player BioWare games. But there's more: BioWare has said that players will be able to engage in dialogue trees with their companions, and the decisions made in those trees will have irreversible implications.
Anger your companion, and he or she might leave your party forever, or become your enemy. BioWare also hinted that romances with NPCs will be possible -- again, as in the single-player games. This all fits nicely into SWTOR's commitment to storytelling as an addition to traditional MMO gameplay. Things just gets better and better, don't they?
"your own actions can begin to have a lasting impact on the game world." Storytelling is clearly a critical aspect of the SWTOR approach, and we're intrigued to see how the fate of the world is entangled with that of the protagonists.
Another point that caught our eye was the limitation on content: "there are places that you won't be able to go and things you won't be able to do unless you join a mixed party."
My character in EVE is of Matari bloodline, I have been using this avatar for 2 years, flying only Matari ships and using long range artillery on missions.
During most of these 2 years I did have this nagging feeling that my character simply isn't achieving comparable results in PvE - I kept hearing success stories from my corp. members of how they AFK-ed their way out of a mission -- the same mission that has me warping out (running away) 4-5 times in order to successfully finish it.
Cross training sucks big time as it makes your character lose a portion of time he used on training some of his skills (which you will not be using any more). Recently I have decided to have a go at it, and begun training Gallente ships (and Hybrid turrets).
I am only half way there and still dont have any lvl V skills (unlike Matari skills, I have lvl 5 Matari battleshit trained and Specialize in Heavy Artillery (rank4) with 8mil SP in gunnery). My Gallente skills are all lvl 4 and I have medium hybrid turrets trained to lvl 3.
I no longer have any problems on missions, the tank (Myrmidon and Dominix) is much sturdier when compared to equivalent class of Matari chassis (Hurricane and Maelstrom). My tanking went up from being able to soak up some 688 dps of damage to 790 (PST Hurricane VS. Dual MAR Myrmidon).
Here are the fits;
Hurricane fit
[Hurricane, Hurricane PST AC 699/333]
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher, Widowmaker Heavy Missile
'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher, Widowmaker Heavy Missile
Core Defence Field Purger I
Core Defence Field Purger I
Core Defence Field Purger I
Warrior II x5
Myrmidon fit
[Myrmidon, ACMYR]
Medium Armor Repairer II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
10MN Afterburner II
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
Capacitor Control Circuit I
Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Nanobot Accelerator I
Warrior II x5
Valkyrie II x5
Berserker I x3
Damage dealing capabilities (according to EFT - Eve Fitting Tool) went down from 334DPS (Hurricane) to 314DPS (Myrmidon).
But, once having flown Myrmidon I can clearly state that DPS went up, and how can this be?
Well EFT does not calculate Matari artillerys main weakness - missing the target in fallof range. Matari DPS falls by hefty 50% (due to accuracy) as soon as the target is not in "optimal" range. Drones are basically a close range weaponry, therefore they arent affected by "range" as such. This means that the drones will remain in optimal for more % of time and will (in the end) do much more damage over time.
One additional benefit - looting after killing. In a PST hurricane you have to keep moving away from your enemies to keep them in optimal - this makes your wrecks stretch out all over the place, making salvaging a more time consuming process. Killing with drones while standing still makes your life a lot easier.
Yet another additional benefit - artillery has no chance in hell of hitting frigate sized craft except if you are moving away from them - which is something PST hurricane cannot hope to do (it doesn't have Afterburner) - Myrmidon can carry many different types of drones, one of these being scout (small) sized drones - which instant-pop frigates!
So, instead of managing your transversal during the entire mission, you just warp in there, let loose the dogs of war and wait (AFK) until everything is dead - now, how comes there's such a difference between the two races when it comes to PvE effectiveness?
Lets have a look at Battleshit sized craft and lets compare Dominix and Maelstrom (which costs 3x as much as a single Dominix).
Maelstrom fit:
[Maelstrom, Maelstrom za sad najbolje] LVL V !, Large artillery spec. lvl IV
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Capacitor Flux Coil II
Gyrostabilizer II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Heat Dissipation Field II
Ballistic Deflection Field II
X-Large C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Shield Boost Amplifier I
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
1200mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium L
Capacitor Control Circuit I
Capacitor Control Circuit I
Capacitor Control Circuit I
Berserker II x3
Valkyrie II x2
Dominix fit: LEVEL IV , Large hybrid LVL 1 (!!)
[[Dominix, Dominix: LVL 4 Missioning]
Large Armor Repairer II
Large Armor Repairer II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Cap Recharger II
Heavy Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800
Drone Navigation Computer I
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Dual 250mm 'Scout' I Accelerator Cannon, Antimatter Charge L
Dual 250mm 'Scout' I Accelerator Cannon, Antimatter Charge L
Dual 250mm 'Scout' I Accelerator Cannon, Antimatter Charge L
Dual 250mm 'Scout' I Accelerator Cannon, Antimatter Charge L
[empty high slot]
Drone Link Augmentor I
Drone Speed Augmentor I
Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Berserker II x5
Tanking comparison: 1135(Dominix, 1 repper permarun, 2nd powered by cap booster) vs. 363 (Maelstrom -- perma-run tank)
Damage dealing comparison: 550 (Maelstrom, in optimal only of course, outside optimal = 230DPS) vs. 403DPS (Dominix)
Once again, due to problems with accuracy Dominix DPS is not as low as EFT would make it appear. All the above mentioned benefits apply once again.
Flying a Dominix, one is able to warp in there, stop the ships engines, tank all incoming DPS (true, expending cap boosters 800) and still be able to kill enemy ships of all sizes!
You might say that Maelstrom is cap steady (perma.run tank) and Dominix is not, but practice shows that as you kill off enemies (especially frigates and cruisers) in your Dominix, incoming DPS deflates quickly - so in almost no time at all you will be able to stop cap. booster and turn the second LAR II off at which point Dominix becomes cap stable as well.
Why such a disbalance? Is it possible?
Lets have a look at the following pictures:
These DPS charts are self explanatory, have a look at them.
And then have a look at the following pictures (taken from EVEs quarterly newsletter);
It would certainly seem that Caldari are #1 race in EVE (both Drake and Raven are Caldari ships), how comes if all the races are supposed to be "equal" ? Well, you guessed it, they ARE NOT :)
Again we can clearly see that Caldari Raven is #1, followed by Dominix.
Seems to me that this is proof of some disbalance among the races.
Last, but not least, lets compare different races starting attribute scores:
Once again, Caldari pull ahead by a huge margin, and Minmatar are pretty much shafted again.
In a min/maxing world, only a fool chooses a race other than that of Caldari - thus making Caldari ships in constant demand, which in turn breeds competition - which makes Caldari ships cheaper (on average).
So, what gives? Is the game turning into "Caldari ONLINE" ?
And finally let me quote a few of the forum members who were discussing the sad state of game balance:
"maelstrom do(es) better dps,range,everything with laser than with projectile where its supposed to have a bonus"
To Mare
"With 3x gyro(stabilizer)s and 8x 800s with hail you get 890 dps at 3km. At 13km you get 445.
With 3x hs and 8x Mega Pulse with conflag(rate) you get 743 dps at 15km and at 25km you get 351.5
Switch to barrage and scorch...
barrage 700 dps at 6km. 350 at 36km.
scroch 584 dps at 45km. 45km... 584... Barrage is inferior as a ranged ammo."
Trojanman190
"7th turret would not increase DPS in a tank-(Tem)pest, since double-bonused autocannons do the same dps as unbonused torp(edo)s"
WoW class preferences, according to Bartles gamer types
I have find a nice article which happens to explain which types of players choose particular class (in WoW), according to their gaming desires and need.
LucasArts was taken to task over a producer's comment that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed wouldn't be ported to PC due to the challenge of developing for a broard range of PC configurations. Stude told gamesindustry.biz:
That's not an educated answer. In the last several years there have been at least 100 million PCs sold that have the capabilities or better of an Xbox 360. It's ridiculous to say that there's not enough audience for that game potentially and that it falls into this enthusiast extreme category when ported over to the PC. That's an uneducated response...
LucasArts hasn't made a good PC game in a long time. That's my opinion... I think the last good PC game they made was probably Jedi Knight 2... So I can understand why they would make that call.
WoW you always get a token
WAR you either stomp the other side or get stomped
WoW just do 10 arena matches that last 1 minute each every week - that is all - you have all the time you want to kill Boars for Faction.
WAR - every moment is an arean match that doesn't end. Your Realm needs you on the front line and not out in the middle of no where killing stupid predictable AI monsters for reputation
WoW - we want everyone to be fair so both sides get the same classes and skills and abilities
WAR - your realm is unique and every career is unique. There is only one of you - so make the best of your collection of skills and abilities
WoW - once you learn a receipe just farm the ingredients and you will get a pink potion of delight and happiness. You can even make cute little items.
WAR - who cares -- it came from a dead animal or monster - slap it together with some water and drink it -- it will heal you, make you stronger and you will crush the enemies before you.
WoW - everyone looks the same in the purple colors. Every screenshot posted is guaranteed to be pleasing to the eye
WAR - You dye your gear to be unique and to put fear into your enemy - Here comes that Yellow Ironbreaker again -- RUN!!!
WoW - We bought vault space and a tabard for a new guild we decided to make on the fly because we had a cool name in mind
WAR - After months of destroying enemies we have earned the right to have a few vaults, a tabard. We now proudly carry a Banner into battle to let our foes know - We are coming to plant our boots in your behind.
WoW - Orcs who go around saying they will heal the Earth and pick flowers for their grandmothers
WAR - Orcs who throw dung at you and try to choppa everything while covered in blood!
WoW - Everyone are goodie-good-do'ers, they help the weak and try to protect the innocent...even the undead do.
WAR- Weakness means death, loyalty to the faction and death to all who oppose us!
WoW - Herbalism/ flowerpicking
WAR - Butchering/ tearing limbs of dead animals for seeds and leeches
WoW - Some Ogres are just misunderstood (trust me, some are)
WAR - Ogres fart, burp and eat everything... you too, while limbs drift in their cauldrons of blood and death
WoW - Blood Elves are emo, cocky and gay at the same time
WAR- Dark Elves are emo, on drugs and like to tear your heart out... they're more bloody than the damn Blood Elves! Oh, and they kill puppies and kittens.
WoW - The world is lush and there's no true present evil, aside from ancient battles who have be long gone. The only conflict is the rivalry between two factions who are just misunderstood.
WAR- WAAAAGH!!!
WoW - You can now go to a barber and get a mohawk, yeehaw!
WAR - ^wtf?
WoW - Gnomes
WAR - ^srsly wtf?
WoW - Blue men in spaceships!
WAR - ^SRSLY WTH?! Ok... I know we have the Old Ones, but that's nothing like that... and you know that.
WoW - Area 52, goblins wearing sunglasses and tuxedo's
WAR - And our Dark Elves are meant to be 'high' right? [Pun not intended]
Over at Gamasutra, Leigh Alexander serves up a revealing interview with John Riccitiello.
The Electronic Arts CEO dishes on the Spore DRM controversy, EA's abortive merger attempt with Take-Two, and EA's reputation in the gaming community.
Most noteworthy are Riccitiello's comments on the furor whipped up by Spore's much-maligned copy protection scheme:
I personally hate DRM. I don’t like the whole concept; it can be a little bit cumbersome. But I don’t like locks on my door, and I don’t like to use keys in my car... I’d like to live in a world where there are no passports. Unfortunately, we don’t – and I think the vast majority of people voted with their wallets and went out and bought Spore...
Everyone gets that we need some level of protection, or we’re going to be in business for free... [But it was] a minority of [anti-DRM] people that orchestrated a great PR program. They picked the highest-profile game they could find. I respect them for the success of their movement.
I'm guessing that half of them were pirates, and the other half were people caught up in something that they didn’t understand. If I’d had a chance to have a conversation with them, they’d have gotten it... There are different ways to do DRM; the most successful is what WoW does. They just charge you by the month.
1st of all, having SecuROM DRM downactive on ones PC is like having your car weighed by an additional half a ton and have it expend 30L of gas instead of 9L.
SecuROM will first install all its components without notifying the user, then it will allow its core files to have a highest system priority (thus slowing your computer down considerably), it will forbid you to own any CD/DVD virtualization software (sometimes even CD/DVD burning software). It may (or may not) also cause conflicts with various software - which in some cases it may make your Windows unbootable upon reset.
Its also interesting to point out that its us (the customers) who are expected to pay for this digital rights management piece of crapware - we have to invest more $$$ in a dual/triple/quad core processor and in more system RAM because of SecuROM. Furthermore, since pirates crack SecuROM in what seems to be a couple of hours upon the initial leak, SecuROM tends to become a problem solely for the paying customers. They too (well, most of them anyhow) are therefore forced to download and use various (illegal) cracks. This is warring with ones own customers.
On the other hand we have games that feature no DRM and still make a buck (Sins of a Solar Empire) and MMOs which provide content through online services, thus making you pay for online access (this proved to be the most effective method to date).
Warcraft III was a fine example of how its done; after having immediately installed a NO-CD crack (so I wouldn't have to have the original CD in the drive at all times) - notice that if I didn't have an original CDkey I would have not been able to access Battle.net services in spite of the "no-cd" crack.
The entire idea (of DRM) is destined to fail as noone can foretell what may happen once one of the DRM companies goes out of business, will all games protected via DRM become unplayable?
EA implemented another ludicrous protection into Spore - you are allowed to install the game 3 times on different computers, without a clear definition of what a new computer may be. This means that you will have to reactivate (up to 3 times total) your Spore as soon as you buy a new hard drive or say, a new gfx card. This also makes EA games unusable as far as the gaming establishments are concerned - like for instance various internet lounges etc.
Calling your customers (who don't want to be shafted for buying your game) pirates or dumbasses will doubtlessly have a negative impact on your brand. Indeed we (the customers) have voted with our wallets, and here is the result:
As far as I know, EA have since nerfed their DRM and are to allow more than 3 activations for Spore. This is a late reaction to customers voting with their wallets and making Spore the #1 most pirated game ever.
Grats EA! Those are some brilliant business tactics!
a) Every fight is completely the same. There are no real wrinkles or complications to mobs, no need to think out any fight. Even a champion fight, if you're in one you can win, is just a matter of time. This is *most* but not all routine PvE in other games, including WoW. At least in some environments in WoW, I need to think out my pathway. Or I need to pick mobs carefully, or use an appropriate pull. I may need to consider target order. Clothies will go down quickly, but I want to get on any mob that can heal quickly, and use an interrupt if I have one. Etc. In WAR, every single PvE fight is the same and virtually every single fight takes the same amount of time.
b) The visual environments actually get less interesting as the game goes on, not more so. Avelorn is a totally "elf-land", Talabecaland dull as dirt, Greenskin Tier 3 is "Barrens With Mountains". The mobs are also visually monotonous, and sometimes stupidly so. By Tier 3, I'm supposed to be pretty capable in terms of the surrounding mythos, but there are peasants with no armor on who take as much time to kill as supposedly highly skilled enemies and who do as much damage to me. The PvE has no narrative coherence in that sense, including in the PQs. Think of the first Chaos PQ you see, the one where the giant comes out in Stage 3. It has a snappiness to it as an experience, and the giant is an enjoyable visual reward at the end. Try to think of a Tier 3 PQ that feels anything like that. There aren't any. So there is nothing visual and nothing narrative to make you go 'that's cool' once you're past Chapter Four or so.
c) There aren't really any variant quest types or unusual twists in PvE beyond the difference between PQs and not-PQs. No bombing runs, no scripted bits, etc., nothing to relieve the "kill X shit" and "get X drops" monotony.
d) The itemization sucks in multiple ways, and this means you don't have that vague sense in the back of your head that maybe this fight some really cool or valuable thing will drop. The greens in a given Tier and level range are all identical in their stat bonuses (unless they are one of the genuine variants that has wackily stupid stats on it). Plus crafting is so utterly shit that you also don't have any real gathering "hook" to PvE, where you're trying to accumulate something for crafting. Plus the economy doesn't matter at all anyway, so there's never really any wealth-accumulating implications to PvE.
e) The time-to-kill for many mobs, especially if you're a tank, is just fucking mind-numbing. I'd estimate it is three to four times time-to-kill on even con mobs that WoW offers, even for a protection-spec warrior. As a tank, I virtually never have any sense that I'm going to die even in a crowd of even con mobs, so it's just "set my timer, yawn, and read a book while I click on the button". PLUS the repop time on PvE mobs is exceptionally rapid, so this adds extra tedium when I'm trying to kill a particular mob or make my way through a spawn to get to a target. PLUS you dismount very easily AND most "shortcuts" are blocked by nuisance mob spawns, forcing me often to have to clear through a spawn in order to get anywhere far away from a quest hub. (Like those champion wyvern things in Talabecland, or those spawns of lions.)
f) Many many quest sequences consist of a back-and-forth between a hub and the same location multiple times. This is hateful in any game, but especially so given the particular montony of WAR's PvE.
g) The Chosen auras aggro mobs at ridiculous distances and they aggro all mobs, including orange ones. Meaning as a Chosen I sometimes get dismounted by level 2 rats and suchlike.
h) Mob following distances are goddamn insane, especially champs and heroes. Again, not threatening, but annoying as all fuck to be followed halfway across the zone by three mobs whacking on you periodically, in part because that keeps you from mounting and it sometimes keeps you from dealing with the quest you've travelled to do until you get rid of following mobs that you had no interest in fighting.
i) In the only major instance I've been in, Gunbad, the clumping of mobs really works against conventional grouping strategies common in PvE MMOGs. This would be ok if some alternative tactics were rewarding and it took a while to think them out. But instead from what I can see the model is "zergfest with appropriate level players and you get loot pinata; zergfest with under optimal level or without some healers and you die". At first I thought it was us, but I've been in two parts now with a careful, skilled group and it still turns into pure chaos zergathon for the most part.
Seriously, it's the little things that make PvE in this game about eighty times more annoying than any comparable product. In CoH/CoV, I can avoid most fights with travel powers, I can call my contacts to turn in quests and get new ones, the mobs have more visual variety and a variety of tactics, etc. In LoTRO, the environments and narrative are more interesting and varied even without their connection to the books, many zones give you a way to maneuver through them to get to desired targets, and you can usually load up on quests and complete a bunch right in one area rather than doing a lot of back-and-forth. Etc.
There is no way to fix any of this: WAR just has bad PvE. End of story. Anybody who preferentially does WAR PvE or who finds it ok, kind of fun, is someone with depraved tastes.
Seems to me that Warhammer is yet another grindfest game for kids with ADD. I have been hearing reports of people massively returning to WoW from both Age of Conan and WAR. Old habits die hard, I guess.
'm a cynic and expected very little, but this doesn't mean that I don't always hope to be disproved.
What I hoped from Mythic: an honest overall look at the game, admitting all the main problems and issues the game is presenting and explain, along with an approximate time table, what they are doing to address them. I wanted this and nothing else.
What I got: a bleached proclaim of success and self-praise that gave me the impression that they are again out of touch with the game. And the announce of more content.
Why this is wrong: you can't announce new content when the majority of content you ALREADY have is either broken or ignored.
That's it. That's what originates all that is wrong in that letter.
Did you see any mention of Public Quests not working as intended and them doing something at the root? Did you see a mention of tweaks and changes to the Scenarios to make them more playable and equally rewarding? Did you see anything concrete and convincing about what they want to do with Open RvR? Did you see mention of a gentler leveling curve? Did you see mention of adding the required NPCs the all the hubs and improving the horrid travel time sinks?
Nope, but we got the announce of new classes, dungeons, quests. Adding a myriad of new problems on top of those we have already. The only positive point is that they are working on performance, that, I agree, should be their very top priority effort as they are way behind.
My opinion is that all the main problems that Warhammer has at the moment are structural and systemic. All the changes MJ announced are just layers added on top of a weak foundation. This is how you build another castle of cards.
We need mention of what they concretely want to do about Open RvR. I don't know what's the point of adding an "influence" system for gear as renown gear already has that function in the game. Things in RvR needs unification, not being duplicated and dispersed. Between city-raids, keeps, keeps lords, PvE raids, renown gear and armor sets unlocks there are PLENTY of ways to get gear. Adding more systems that overlap each other only makes the game more confusing.
So I wait. A month passed and Open RvR, admittedly the core of the game, is dead, Public Quests are only good for grinding influence, the level curve is painfully slow and nothing is being done to improve the gameplay in the Scenarios.
This 1.1 patch will take two months to make.
GODDAMNIT. If you wanted to announce new content at least you could have announced some decent textures for those white cloaks, or more visual variety for the gear in the first tiers.
Or a better wharf mount in place of that good-on-paper but horridly executed helicopter that glides unrealistically one inch above the ground.
Please stop working on new shit and fix what you already have. There's PLENTY to keep everyone busy. Programmers, artists, designers, sound engineers, server programmers and whatever else fits in.
Well, if this is true, it’s a bit of a surprise. CVG are claiming that EA will soon be announcing a new Syndicate game. Yes, Syndicate. Way back in February EA signed a deal with Starbreeze to make an old game from the EA cupboards. Known as “Project RedLime”, no one knew what it was.
Syndicate must have been one of the best cyberpunk games of old (rivaled only by Bloodmoon), and one of the most explosive games I ever played. Cant wait to self-destruct my cyborg and in the process tear down a whole city block. Absolutely awesome game, I kept wondering for years why noone decided to make a remake, and now, here it comes!
A version of puzzle game favorite Bejeweled will be offered as an add-on for Blizzard’s massively multiplayer game World of WarCraft.
Publisher PopCap Games created the official version after it became aware of the popularity of unofficial clone Besharded being used in the game. According to a report on consumer website Joystiq, PopCap tapped Besharded creator Michael Fromwiller to create an official version of the game.
The application was originally intended to kill time during long raids, farming sessions, flights, and other only semi-interactive activities. The add-on will be offered free of charge, and has apparently been developed after only limited contact between Blizzard and PopCap Games.
The add-on offers classic, timed, and "flight" modes, a customizable user interface, and a persistent high score table. A Bejeweling "tradeskill" also ranks up with player’s achievements.
[The preceding article by David Jenkins originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]
Well, during my time as a player of WoW I was often forced to either watch TV (as we wait for all raid members to arrive) or play some mini game (alt + tab principle). And here it is, if you are utterly bored of WoW - you can play bejeweled (which is, like, 10x more interesting as it is).
Awesome idea - if only they thought of coding bejeweled having an effect on jewelcrafting - that would be awesome. Every profession should have a minigame, WoW lacks content!
Finally - a controller to play video games the way they should be played - OLD SCHOOL STYLE !!!
Tired of trying to play video games with a keyboard/mouse?
Tired of trying to use a thumbstick, flight yoke, or other thumbpad designed controllers to play video games and they just don't work right and your game play suffers?
The answer is here at long last, the classic joystick controller!
"Now, people are used to paying for virtual items," she adds. "Virtual life has changed substantially." Myskowski also credits games like World of WarCraft and sites like Facebook with growing awareness and use of microtransactions.
Ok, as I speculated almost a year ago - micropayiments are the (bleak) future of gayming.
Its all about $$$ folk, no wonder games stink the same as Hollywood blockbusters.
I will never ever pay for something that only 4 years ago would have been an integral part of a product. Nowadays you buy a game (provided its not an EA game lol) and its like you bought a DIY kit, you still have to invest more money to enjoy the product. You have to buy/download patches and expansions, pay for character transfers, character customizations and who knows what else.
Where will it end?
Well I guess its better that than Spore fiasco. Its so sad....
Having several high slots of weapon turrets and needing to change ammo types mid-combat has likely frustrated most EVE players at some point. Now, it seems that it'll be possible to link up weapons systems (turrets and launchers only, at first), simplifying reloads and ammo swaps. EVE dev CCP Ytterbium says, "This feature allows players to group weapons together into one slot. From there you can swap all ammo at once without doing the usual ritual of right-click gun 1, load ammo, right-click gun 2, load ammo again etc..." He does caution that the feature is nowhere near ready to go live on Tranquility, and should be considered a work in progress. More information on this feature (which is a welcome change for many EVE players) will be detailed in a future dev blog, he said.
They have made billions off WoW and they really don’t need Kaplan dissing, in any way, a competitive product. That’s just wrong, period. I didn’t diss EQ/AC/UO when we were developing DAoC and that’s always been a standing rule of mine. If another developer doesn’t want to play by the same rule, I reserve the right to respond, which I did. In Kaplan’s case, talking about “his issues” with WAR during it’s first 30 days is laughable especially since WoW had plenty of issues of their own at launch and considering that they spent 2x as long working on WoW as we did on WAR, some of their issues were just as bad or worse than ours. And his nonsense about our Beta is even more laughable considering Blizzard runs internal-only (NDAed by employment agreements) alphas at the same point where we would already be inviting thousands of regular people (under NDA) into our game.
I’m not normally a conspiracy kind of guy but within a few days of each other the COO and the Game Director of Blizzard both diss our game (though Paul did damn us with faint praise) does make me wonder.
Referring to Kaplan’s mention of the 30-45 minute wait times for battlegrounds (called “Scenarios” in “Warhammer Online”), Jacobs said that “World of Warcraft” also had long queues just to get into the servers to play the game when it first launched in 2004.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, I remember one interview with Pardo prior to WoW’s launch where he saud that WoW’s PvP system/realm point/honor point/etc. would be, unlike DAoC, useful. Hmm, how many times have they redone that system? Developers should stick to worrying about their own games and companies as none of us are perfect. People who live in glass castles and all that.
* grabs popcorn
Ok, who let so many munchkins into Blizzard? Oh yes, Rob Pardo did :) Good luck managing your EQ monkeys Mr.Pardo :)
“My character is like level 13 right now, and I’m playing Destruction on a server that’s imbalanced,” he said, referring to the factions in the game. He also said leveling his character has been going a bit slowly. “I’m at the point where I’m thinking about quitting because it feels like the best way to level up is in the battlegrounds,” he explained.
“But it takes me 30 to 45 minutes to get in the battleground queue. And then when I’m not in the queue, I’m trying to do the Public Quests. But I find that I’m either griefing other people in the Public Quests to try to get influence, or that there’s just nobody there.” Kaplan said he’d switch servers but all his friends were on that server. “I just feel like we picked wrong, unknowingly.”
Jeff Kaplan on playing WAR.
Well its nice to see how mr.Kaplan hates waiting in battleground queues since I distinctly remember waiting for 1-3hrs. in his game (WoW) to enter ANY battlegrounds!
The Electronic Arts CEO dishes on the Spore DRM controversy, EA's abortive merger attempt with Take-Two, and EA's reputation in the gaming community.
Most noteworthy are Riccitiello's comments on the furor whipped up by Spore's much-maligned copy protection scheme:
I personally hate DRM. I don’t like the whole concept; it can be a little bit cumbersome. But I don’t like locks on my door, and I don’t like to use keys in my car... I’d like to live in a world where there are no passports. Unfortunately, we don’t – and I think the vast majority of people voted with their wallets and went out and bought Spore...
Everyone gets that we need some level of protection, or we’re going to be in business for free... [But it was] a minority of [anti-DRM] people that orchestrated a great PR program. They picked the highest-profile game they could find. I respect them for the success of their movement.
I'm guessing that half of them were pirates, and the other half were people caught up in something that they didn’t understand. If I’d had a chance to have a conversation with them, they’d have gotten it... There are different ways to do DRM; the most successful is what WoW does. They just charge you by the month.
Well, its not like starforce (and similar trojan-like DRM software) hasn't been the main cause of problems in the past, so much trouble in fact that paying customers had to download cracked executables to be able to enjoy the game they paid for.
Installing drivers with high system priority, that are "stealthed" from the system is a big no-no (and a huge hog on system resources). The problem here is simple: the customer pays for the game, and in addition has to pay for the DRM software (albeit indirectly) by buying more powerful PCs (more CPU power and RAM). The DRM software in turn makes his computer run slower and also makes users data subject to high risk.
The panacea for the piracy problem (at least seemingly so) is to design a MMO game and simply charge by the month (and indeed that's the path that many future titles will inevitably take).
On the other hand, some other games (featuring no protection whatsoever) have demonstrated (by their excellent sales results - example: Sins of a Solar Empire) that MAYBE piracy isn't the root issue here.
Indeed the root issue may well be the lack of quality content in today's games. People have an option of downloading a game and testing it out BEFORE they buy it. This usually makes sales go down in a steep spiral into nothingness.
The real panacea to this problem would be - to make high quality software titles - unfortunately this takes a lot more of investment money - prolongs development time - and yields less cash.
The couple were 85 years old, and had been
married for sixty years. Though they were
far from rich, they managed to get by because
they watched their pennies.
Though not young, they were both in very
good health, largely due to the wife's
insistence on healthy foods and exercise
for the last decade.
One day, their good health didn't help when
they went on a rare vacation and their plane
crashed, sending them off to Heaven.
They reached the pearly gates, and St. Peter
escorted them inside. He took them to a
beautiful mansion, furnished in gold and
fine silks, with a fully stocked kitchen and
a waterfall in the master bath. A maid could
be seen hanging their favorite clothes in the
closet.
They gasped in astonishment when he said,
'Welcome to Heaven.
This will be your home now.'
The old man asked Peter how much all this
was going to cost.
'Why, nothing,' Peter replied, 'remember,
this is your reward in Heaven.'
The old man looked out the window and
right there he saw a championship golf
course, finer and more beautiful than any
ever built on Earth.
'What are the greens fees?,'
grumbled the old man.
'This is heaven,' St. Peter replied.
'You can play for free, every day.'
Next they went to the clubhouse and saw
the lavish buffet lunch, with every
imaginable cuisine laid out before them,
from seafood to steaks to exotic deserts,
free flowing beverages.
'Don't even ask,' said St. Peter to the man.
This is Heaven, it is all free for you to enjoy.'
The old man looked around and glanced
nervously at his wife.
'Well, where are the low fat and low
cholesterol foods, and the decaffeinated
tea?,' he asked.
'That's the best part,' St. Peter replied.
'You can eat and drink as much as you like
of whatever you like, and you will never get
fat or sick. This is Heaven!'
The old man pushed, 'No gym to work out at?'
'Not unless you want to,' was the answer.
'No testing my sugar or blood pressure or...'
'Never again. All you do here is enjoy yourself.'
EVE consists of over 5,000 solar systems, and we needed a way to quickly create those systems via simulation. We decided to go with what's called the disc accretion model. Think of it like you put a bunch of dust into space and you spin it around.
The dust settles in space in a couple of particular places based on an equation, that dictates the gravity and decides how the planets form. It's a great, scientific way of putting them together and to make Solar Systems for EVE only takes a little more than 24 hours. We realized when we were making them that the whole thing, all of the Solar Systems, is created from a single seed, a single number. We realized this after the cooking had already started on the systems, and we were sad. Because we wanted the seed to be "42".
We had the time, so we actually threw out the database that had already been created and restarted it with that seed. So the entire universe of EVE originates from the number "42."
Update: A hotfix deployed during Monday's downtime removed the system cap from all solar systems except Jita, which now has a player capacity of 1024. CCP Explorer stated that the capacity will be raised over time as they make server adjustments. Ultimately they hope to remove the population limit altogether.
Jita is a trading hub in EVE Online, where most people do their business, no wonder that it is also called "Lag Vegas" due to immense lag that prevails in this space system.
Even though the solution doesn't seem slick - I do realize it was indeed necessary.
# Private captain's quarters where your character can customize their own space
# A common "promenade" similar to a "mall" atmosphere where players can socialize and access player run shops and corporation offices. These shops and offices will be potential business locations where player owned areas will earn ISK.
# The ability for players to have NPC characters "working" in their shops and offices (ie: a bouncer, receptionist) complete with custom conversation trees that the player can create!
# The ability for players to visit tattoo shops and plastic surgery offices to change their appearances. This option potentially will take the place of the official picture transfer available now.
# Your avatar will adopt a "mood" (ie: grumpy, happy, sad) which will then drive your facial expressions and emote movements as well as your interaction with other players. As the general mood of your character changes, the way he emotes and interacts with others, the way he talks, and even the way he walks will reflect that demeanor.
Because the EVE player base is so large, we wondered just how many stations will be accessible for players to explore and if the player vs. player element would be incorporated.
Stratics: How many stations will players be able to access?
Ward: Because of just how much area we are talking about, there might be only a fraction of the total stations open to players, and then expand from there. We're still deciding on the exact number.
Stratics: So, what plans do you have for players in stations in zero-zero space? Will there be active pvp combat there and will players be able to be killed?
Ward: Basically what you are talking about at that point is perma-death for the player. I think the death penalty is harsh enough without adding perma-death.
With the ability for players to create their own conversation trees with NPC's, this expansion opens up the possibility for players to create their own missions for other players. Again, Ward reiterated that they really wanted things to be player driven and open up the features to as much customization as possible.
Many players have been waiting for the moment where they could get out of their ship and socially interact with other players. All eyes will be on Fanfest this year in anticipation of seeing how it will all come together.
Speaking to VG247 in London recently, Silicon Knights boss Denis Dyack said that, in his opinion, EVE Online’s better than World of Warcraft. It’s an RPG developer MMO face-off, kids.
“I used to,” said Dyack when asked if he played World of Warcraft. “I pulled myself off… Within four weeks I was at level 57, so I almost got to level 60 and then I said, ‘You know, I’ve got to stop this.’
“I was really, really big into EVE Online,” he added. “I love EVE Online, and actually for me personally I actually think it’s a better game. I know it’s a lot harder core, but the depth of it’s unparalleled and I love it. But I have to stop, force myself to stop playing those games because it takes so much time.”
“I play games across the board, you know,” he said. “Whatever I can play I’ll try, and I’m looking forward to getting home and actually playing some games, now that I’m not working on Too Human 24/7.”
White Wolf Expands Board Game Line
With Eve, WoD, Others
White Wolf is continuing to expand its board game line, with a second Exalted game, a Hunter game, and a game based on parent CCP’s Eve MMOG property all due before the end of the year. Eve: Conquests will be a big box board game with a $74.99 MSRP. The board will be 30” x 32” and “there will be lots of very hefty pieces,” designer Petur Thorarinsson told us. The game will be for two to four players, and take two to four hours to play.
“It’s got a Euro-style mechanic to it,” Thorarinsson said. “It’s very easy to learn, but has a very deep game play and a lot of strategy to it.” Thorarinsson indicated that no knowledge of the Eve universe would be necessary to play the game, and that although Eve Online players would be a natural audience for it, some gamers would undoubtedly be introduced to the Eve universe for the first time by the board game.
Thats nice albeit a bit expensive - I will see to it that I buy it, especially if it contains a lot of pieces! :)
"A long overdue and much needed change will be put in place with the Wednesday, 15 October 2008 patch. Ghost Training, the continuous skill gain on accounts in an inactive or expired state - will no longer function after Wednesday, 15 October 2008. This practice upsets the balance of the game, and capsuleers who actively put their time an energy into working on their characters will no longer be unfairly affected by those few who have not."
Well, in determining whether this was a good move one should consider newly made character, those who train low level skills and are pretty much forced to live by the alarm clock, waking every now and then to re-pop a new skill.
You have a huge-ish dis-balance in sheer amount of hassle between them and older gamers, who train 29d skills while not paying the monthly fee.
It is simply a question of fairness. EVE as it is often rewards older players, older players have it easy, and newbies don't, the game is infinitely more difficult when you are a newbie pod pilot, this in itself is quite a big design error.
Blizzard is trying to be everything for everyone, will it work?
I just stumbled upon the following discussion over at WoW insider:
Raiders were a MUCH bigger part of the game than the casual and lazy would have you believe.
Thanks to the lazy and unskilled masses we now have a game that is a sad and pathetic shade of its former greatness.
Only have 3 hours a week to play? Then why on earth are you playing an MMO? Go back to your consoles and your A.D.D instant gratifications. Don't like the grind? The why are you playing in a game where progression includes grinding? Go back to your Quakes, your Mario Karts and your Half Life LAN parties and leave those of us who like RPG based character progression to enjoy the game we embraced.
Dont have time to devote to raiding? Then go play a game that doesnt have it and leave the game to the people who do have the time and energy to invest in it. We were doing just fine without you.
In response, Salty said:
I find it sort of ironic that only the most hardcore people are upset the game is becoming more simple and accessible – because now it’s going to be more difficult to be the best. If you’re so hardcore, then it’s just going to be that much more challenging to play the game in a more challenging way. If your class has been homogenized, play it better, be better than the rest if that’s truly your hallmark. Now you aren’t just competing with fellow warriors for that MT spot, you’re competing with a lot of truly great players in other classes and ‘castes.’ Now your guild has real competition from these tiny, tight-knit groups, not just the “Big 3” on your server/faction.
When they cast down the cookie cutters and smote them with the fist of an angry god, with it went the pride and elitism of a caste of players whose only pleasure in the game came from clutch ownership of narrow niches. Theorycrafting isn’t going away – you just have to do it if you need to be a better tank than another person. Your raid leader (or your raid group) will recognize it and prefer you, your knowledge of your class’ arsenal will shine through the one or two abilities that defined a class’ superiority pre-wrath. Now your class is so much more than two abilities, your style can out-dps your spreadsheets.
It’s a better game this time around, more fun for everyone if you’d look past your precious raid slot. There will be less backstab jockeying for madlib raid spots, less screeching raid leaders, more chances to elevate yourself from the great gear gulf. You can’t beat WoW – all you can do is get better; part of that is learning to make the best of the hand your dealt. You can look at a ‘nerfed’ ability or a new spell and say “god damn, what is my class becoming? Wtf did they do to me?” or you can say “I can think of a way to make the best of this ability, to bring it to the table in a useful way.”
In my opinion simplification and dumbing down are two different things, one with a possible positive connotation, the other with a strictly negative connotation.
Simplifying and streamlining the game is a good thing, WoW really does need less idle time and less grind time, which should be replaced with quality content (gameplay). Classes should get balanced (at long last) and itemization should be more intuitive.
On the other hand we have the dumbing down effect brought to you by Blizzards dream team (as discussed in one of my earlier articles) - in order to enable entire families to spend (waste?) their time on the game, Blizzard is striving to dumb down the game enough so that everyone would be able to play it.
This is inherently wrong as it makes the game less interesting in skill/action/personality/social interaction aspects and more demanding (time wise) when it comes to clearing raid trash, doing daily quests and continually farming either for gold or for arena points.
The lack of Blizzards insight into this distinction spawned many problems - like for an example the division (a rather needless one at that) between self-proclaimed hardcore gamers and n00bs where hardcore players get to invest 12hrs per day into the game, and nabs get to invest only 12hrs per WEEK. The division is not based upon skill but upon the degree of having no (real) life.
So dumbed-down grinding in WoW spawned "hardcore" players who became elitist jerks based on their ludicrous willingness to spend all their waking hours in a virtual world!
Also, due to this dumbed down system of level progression, hitting the cap (lvl 70 currently) is only a matter of time, not skill - so many lvl 70 elitists are actually quite clueless. What they dont want to happen is for the game to become simplified enough so that less hardcore people would be able to "steal" their (reserved for those most foolhardy) raid places!
Truth be told, a pain in the ass self proclaimed l33tz0r player will inevitably get replaced by someone with a more....balanced temper, regardless of how many hrs. he is able to invest into endgame raiding :)
Tigole confirmed last night that dual specs are currently being worked on. They are figuring out all the details internally still (which is a good thing). When a poster asked "I imagine by this stage we wouldn't see it until a patch after release?" Tigole replied "Most likely in a patch but it's not too far off."
Now you can interpret that different ways. Perhaps he means in a beta patch or a patch immediately following Wrath's release. Either way the fact that these dual specs will eventually be here will make many people quite happy.
Last night I was talking to some guild mates about it and the word that was thrown around was "game changing" for Protection Warriors and other low DPS specs. Since the Protection Warrior would just be able to flip into a DPS spec for farming, he would no longer need a farming alt - significantly changing the way the game is played.
Additionally WoW insider also reports on Blizzards newly found IQ - Blizzard is seemingly changing their view on hybrid tanks (Paladins and Druids) - now they (finally) want all tanks to be equally adept at tanking - to keep the game moving forward.
It took them 5 years to come to their senses, guess its better late than never, right?
Daniel Whitcomb also from WoW Insider reports:
This all seems to be in line with the tanking philosophy Blizzard has been pushing for Wrath, one which Ghostcrawler recently reiterated: Blizzard wants to make sure that all tanks are as equal as possible. There should be no reason to take one class of tank over another, all things being equal, and no reason to sideline your tank because he or she is not the right class. Certainly, if this is to be realized completely, you do have to give every tank a good amount of AE capability, and this latest round of announced tank changes seems to be tailor made to do just that.
As the former player of a Druid tank and the future (current beta) player of a Death Knight tank, I'm very pleased to see these changes. I know that there was nothing more fun that running through a dungeon like Shattered Halls as a DPS with a Paladin Tank leading the way, and the idea that every tank class might be able to do that to some extent in Wrath makes me incredibly excited. It also allows groups to be more flexible in what DPS they take, including DPSers that traditionally have had a hard time getting groups due to having poor CC abilities, such as Cat Druids and Retribution Paladins.
If this change is handled right, it will go a long way toward solving the tank shortage for PuG groups, and, in fact, make the 5-man dungeon run fun again in general.
Or is this once again yet another bait and switch game played by Blizzard upon their unsuspecting customers?
If you remember, upon release of BC every class got what it wanted most (so everyone bought the BC expansion), after only a few months Blizzard reversed all the changes and once again "broke" the game. Mostly for hybrid classes - and above all - for Druid tanks.
Is it another "bait and switch or is WoW finally becoming a CUSTOMER centered game, instead of "Kalgans bruised ego" centered game? We shall wait and see - and play EVE Online in the meantime.
Google has released some details on an additional game-based revenue stream: In-game advertising via Google AdSense.
Doug Lombardi who replied to my request for comment on this news with just two words: “complete fabrication.”
Just to make sure Lombardi wasn’t being cagey, I asked if it’s be correct if we posted that (my words) “Valve says Google isn’t buying the company.” He said that would be correct. So… no sale!
If you add 1 and 1 you will get __ ?
Well it seems to me that indeed it would be a good business idea for google to buy Valve (along with Steam of course) - if they did that they would soon become able to introduce commercials into all the games that are (and will be) published by Steam.
Will this kill democracy on the Internet the same way it already killed democratic elections?
The Internet has become the last vestige of democracy and freedom of speech simply because up until now no corporation tried to play the marketing card. Once all games feature (paid) advertising - Internet will become very much akin to American democratic elections system - the one with the biggest wallet will always win the race - and once again the people will be left far behind to eat the dust from the privileged few (those who can afford to advertise).
This in turn will give birth to political propaganda (as it always does) and the Internet will become just another indoctrination system (ab)used by the privileged few in order to influence the many. The freedom of information will be lost, forever.
Just because of this Orwellian possibility it is quite inevitable that this will happen, sooner or later, with or without google.
So, is this a case of complete and utter fabrication of the truth or is the denial itself a fabrication of truth? Where there's smoke there's bound to be fire!
Let us close up with a quote by E.Bernays - the father of propaganda:
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society,"
"Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. . . . In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons . . . who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind."
This definition of "democratic society" is itself a contradiction in terms--a theoretical attempt to reconcile rule by the few with the democratic system which threatened (and still threatens) the privileges and powers of the governing elite.
By way of Ripten comes the story of "Bradster," who claims to play 36 separate World of Warcraft accounts on 11 computers, dropping nearly six grand per year in subscription fees.
If the picture at left is genuine, it's quite a hardware setup.
Of his obsession, Bradster writes:
A lot have asked me, why create so many? The main reason is to invade Stormwind and Ironforge when they reach top level. I’m sure the Alliance will put up a big fight when that happens. We’ll see how it goes...
It costs me exactly $5711 in subscription costs per year with 36 accounts on the 6 month pay schedule. Not bad considering I’m looking at it like it’s a hobby and there are more expensive hobbies out there than World of Warcraft... When Wrath of the Lich King is released, I plan to be at the store when it opens and will purchase 36 copies of it. With tax, it should be about $1500 for all of them...
Via: Gizmodo
GP: I've seen individual WoW players control a chain of characters before, but 36? Sounds almost superhuman.
Well, what do you expect? Play-on-demand is actually quite low in todays MMOs (not only WoW) since a lot of game time is actually spent waiting for people to gather (fly) - the solution in many games is to own more than one accounts.
In EVE Online you get the same thing if you subscribe for "the power of two", you get a secondary character which can haul the ore you mined with your primary acc. (just an example).
The underlying conflict of interest (again) is a particularly nasty one - if we are supposed to buy another acc. due to game mechanics, what is to stop all the game devs. out there from intentionally designing their games in such a way to make it practically impossible to play the bloody game without possessing additional accounts?
Once again a fine example of creating a need and then selling your product.
Once again it is disgusting.
In a press conference late on Saturday, Lead Producer J. Allen Brack confirmed what some data file combers had surmised: WoW will feature paid character customization:
"I don't mind stating that there will be paid character customization at some point. I can't really go into detail."
Details such as when this feature will be added and the extent of customizable features for hire are unknown at this point, but its safe to surmise that any kind of paid changes will be purely cosmetic.
Emerging business models for online games like microtransactions and tiered subscriptions have long met with skepticism from the average MMO enthusiast, who's viewed Blizzard and its standard subscription model for World of Warcraft as a bastion against new monetization strategies.
But it seems possible that Blizzard might soon explore the pay-for-goods arena after a press conference at its BlizzCon event -- though specifics are still being ironed out.
I see that selling micro transactions has become T3H thing, the buzzword that foretells of a rather bleak future.
First they wanted to sell you a half finished product (which in itself is a big no-no), then they are too lazy to finish/fix it in due time (like - in a period of a few YEARS), then you had to cough out moneys once again to get the larger upgrades which are actually not newly coded content but are instead made from the material that was supposed to be included with the original game at the moment when it hit the shelves (but, quite understandably, wasn't finished in time).
Then they went one step further, they wanted you to buy USB keys that guarantee your acc. safety in, lets say public internet coffee shops, then they wanted to dress you up in nerd gear - WoW caps, T-shirts and stuff.
The story doesn't end here, they started selling special pets to go with the collectors edition which kinda suggested the things to come.
In addition we had (and still have as a matter of fact) paid character transfers, so if your character ever got stuck on a dead server (which died due to low population of players who had already quit the game) - you had to cough up some more cash (in real cash) in order to reclaim your lost right to enjoy the bloody game.
After all this they came up with yet another way to sell something (a privilege if you will) that should have been included (for free) into the game content, but has instead become a novelty - one that you have to pay for in addition to the game (and expansions) and monthly fees.
Now they want to take your money and in return they shall customize your character. Instead of packing more textures to choose from into the game and/or giving the players some kind of painting/logo tools which would enable you to design unique armor/weapons for your character (as in Age of Conan) they decided to sell this service to those who can afford it.
Nowadays it seems to me that we (the customers) are actually not getting a finished and polished product, instead we are kind of subscribing to, in a way, pay the developers to code the game on the fly.
We pay their meals/cars/condos up front as they (still) code the game.
No one can guarantee that you will ever get what you paid for - in terms of both content quality and quantity!
This is a bad thing due to several reasons, one of which is - the inevitable loss of quality!
Quality will become a thing that you have to pay for in addition to the normal content (which is devoid of quality) - this means that they are now selling the same product to us several times over.
Perhaps in the future the game will come with but a few available instances/battlegrounds and you will have to lease an additional (high quality) map that you want to play?!
Anyhow, there is an underlying conflict of interest at work here; if they can have you pay more cash provided they sell quality content separately from the default content - this inevitably means that they will strive to make the default (but not free) game content as bland and dull as possible - as to "motivate" you to pay more!
That is not the road I would want the gaming industry to take. If it does - then we will have to forsake it and return to playing board games with our (real life) friends. Maybe it would it best, if that indeed were the case?
Has gaming become akin to democracy - tainted by pure-capitalist needs and wants?
Create demand and then offer a solution to satisfy demand?
Create low quality game content and then sell high quality content as a solution to the problem?
U početku pisanja bloga pokušavao sam ostati pristojan i ne obrađivati teme koje bi se mogle negativno vezati za mene kao stvarnu javnu osobu, nisam uspio u tome jer obične teme jednostavno nisu zanimljive.
Idem dalje u nepromišljenji rizik da će mi jednom ovaj blog biti kamen za vratom glede karijere - jerbo svima nam je jasno da iako se PRIČA da je blog - sloboda izražavanja - znamo da NIJE.
No dobro, što je tu je - nakon kratkog razgovora s prijateljem prisjetili smo se starih (dobrih - uvjetno rečeno) dana - tj. prozaične mladosti.
Doba kada još nije bilo hard diskova, a igrice su bile rasprostrte na preko 20 disketa od kojih bi svaki dan jedna krepala, ali nikad nismo znali koja. Doba kad smo s ljubavlju gledali pakung BASF-ovih crvenih disketa i s strahopoštovanjem ih otpakiravali.
U ono vrijeme se do porno sadržaja (ako ih je bilo) dolazilo jako teško - s sporim modemima (oni koji su ih uopće imali) - spajali smo se kao klinci na razne BBS-ove koje su nam preporučili stariji. Tamo smo nalazili slike golih baba koje nas tada nisu na ispravan način interesirale (ali i to vrijeme je uskoro došlo, neminovno kao i proljeće nakon zime).
Gledali smo u to vrijeme gif slike upitne kvalitete koje su se radi brzine modema "iscratavale" odozgora prema dolje liniju po liniju. I tako smo gledali....pozadinu slike....ok plava kosa se pojavila dakle mačka je plavuša...ooo ima lijepe oči, uh-oh smije se. Zatim bi nastupilo čekanje da bacimo pogled na njene grudi....par minuta kasnije s uzdahom razočaranja otkrivamo da nosi grudnjačić...loše loše...
Slika se spušta dolje, sve bliže mjestu o kojem mnogi adolescenti stvaraju maštarije (roza i mirisna je samo žvakača guma). Često puta bi se dogodilo da bismo razrogačili oči - kada bi se taman 2cm ispod pupka počele iscrtavati sive linije (slika je oštečena).
Ljudi moji, zato je naša generacija izbjegla probleme s preranom ejakulacijom - internet nas je naučio strpljenju - za razliku od nas današanja "hoću internet" generacija navikla je da na porn tube-u premotaju pornjak do mjesta gdje je situacija osobito neizvjesna glede kako će se sve to svršiti glede prodiranja u zaplet priče.
Mi stariji s druge strane znamo podnjeti i neugodne prizore, od sivih linija pa na dalje - obrišite taj smješak s lica po mogućnosti tako da posišete pokoji limun - ali isto tako cijenimo kvalitetnu sliku ženskog tijela - čak i sliku one vrste koja skriva više nego otkriva.
Naučeni smo razmišljati što je ispod njenih gačica - a dio užitka je i u velikoj glavi - u onom što zamišljamo da vidimo. U sex treba uključiti prvenstveno mozak, a tek potom jednookog krugera.
I tako možemo vidjeti evoluciju interneta na djelu - od gifova do porn tube-a. Od 10 probranih slika na flopici na kojoj nije napisano što je na njoj pa do prvih hardova na koje smo taložili toliko slika da više nije bilo probranih nego smo se naučili na slide show-ove. Postali smo daleko gladniji sadržaja - i bandwitha i gigabajta.
Nije ni čudo da se danas može vrlo lako dogoditi da skinete određenu arhivu koja je namjerno krivo nazvana - spore.rar, koja će mjesecima stajati na terabajtima hard diskovlja - a koja će zapravo biti kolekcija dječje pornografije radi koje možemo završiti i u buksi.
Da da, naučili smo skidati terabajte koje potom mjesecima ne pregledamo, nikad ne saznamo što je u njima - ali dajte vi prodajte tu priču - da je spore.rar na vašem diskovlju već 4 mjeseca, a vi nemate pojma šta je u njemu. Druže sudija ...
Sjećam se i sile glupih igrica u kojem je trebalo dr... mhm micati joystickom levo desno što brže možete kako biste pokrenuli gif animaciju od 3 slike - koje možemo opisati ovako
1) ulazi
2) izlazi
3) izraz lica - užitak
Rijetki hakeri su skužili da se može zamijeniti joystick i miš (u krive portove) pa da je do zadovoljstva lakše doći drk... ovaj mičući miša.
Današnja evolucija 3D-a omogućava vrlo kvalitetan prikaz fluida ali i kože...
Znate vrlo dobro o čemu pričam bez da budem eksplicitan u izražaju i opažaju.
No, kad na naplatu stižu posljedice?
Sječam se - moja generacija je prve bliske susrete one vrste imala s prosječno 18 godina (neki sretnici jasno i prije, doduše često u lovačkim pričama), danas se granica spustila do toga da cure u višim razredima osnovne škole daju dečkima da ih pipaju u zamjenu za sendvič.
Zarana obje strane uče svoje uloge koje će kasnije "morati" obnašati u našem "civiliziranom" društvu. Djevojčice su danas popularne ako - i samo ako - svojim muškim prijateljima pružaju usmeni ispit. U naše vrijeme TAJ je kontakt sljedio nakon onog "pravog" kao ultimativni izraz "anything goes" - danas se to svelo na masažu (doduše osobito ugodnu).
Ja sam staromodna konzerva mnogi će reći, ali osobno meni je ugodnije kad to podijelim s osobom koja me sama po sebi stimulira nego - s orgazmom kao jedinom svrhom samom po sebi.
Stoga se pitam, je li smo evoluirali u nečem osim u tehnologiji koja pruža olako uživanje u pornografiji? Ili smo čak i de-evoluirali?
Smatram (ali sam poznat po čudnim razmatranjima) - da danas mladi previše razmišljaju donjom glavom - seksualni užitak je većim dijelom (najvećim) centriran upravo u onog gornjoj. Donja doživljava užitak samo na par sekundi - ostatak je "up there", a čak i u onih par sekundi za koje je zaslužna donja glava - eksplozija se zapravo događa u gornjoj.
S druge strane medalje pak imamo, paralelno s apsolutnom slobodom pristupa pornografskim sadržajima, i liniju dvoličnog malograđanstva - koja nam nameće stav da se o "ovim stvarima" ne priča - jer kvare djecu.
Ljudi moji, djecu kvari to što s 10 godina imaju vlastito računalo u svojoj sobi (iza zatvorenih vrata) i jer su roditelji računalno nepismeni pa ne znaju postaviti filtere sadržaja ili barem staviti računalo na vidno mjesto.
O tim stvarima upravo TREBA pričati, bolje je pričati nego pustiti djecu na internet da se sami informiraju - jer zapitajte se tko su im mentori na tom internetu.
Smije li dijete na facebook-u imati odrasle "prijatelje" ili ne?
Očekujem da će mnogi malograđani pročitati ovaj post i zaključiti da je neumjesno to što sam napisao riječi poput "orgazam" i "drk..." - neka, unatoč njihovoj podosta skućenoj viziji svijeta, ja nisam taj koji je neprijatelj (ako neprijatelja uopće i ima). Na kraju krajeva vaša djeca vjerovatno već doživljavaju org-riječ u školskom WC-u gdje im dr... školska kolegica jer oboje ne znaju što rade - eventualno znaju da je ugodno. Kasnije, kada vam dijete dođe kući, zatvori se u sobicu i spoji se na Facebook gdje 50 godišnjaci koji se lažno predstavljaju kao njihovi vršnjaci nude vip bonove od 200 kn u zamjenu za par "nevinih" sličica u kupaćim kostimima.
Ali znate šta, lakše je ljutiti se na nekoga kome možete navući uši i tako si kupiti iluziju mira i sklada, nego se boriti protiv pravog problema, koji je nepremostiv i nerješiv.
Na kraju krajeva, smatram da je pametnije mladog orgazmičara naučiti kako da u potpunosti uživa u sexu (gornjom glavom) - nego ga ostaviti na razini seksualnog razvoja u kojem užitak traje 3 sekunde. Nije ni čudo da se brakovi raspadaju kad se baziraju na samo 3s.
