Gaming Signal: March 2007 Archives

Wednesday March 21, 2007

Gold farmers can be fought

I'm not sure if anybody realizes this, but Blizzard has embarked on a major campaign to ban accounts of the so-called 'gold farmers' in a way to try to hurt the rampant secondary market that has grown up around their wildly successful game. And guess what - it has been working.

Last year about this time you could purchase 1000 WoW gold for about $100. Today, that price is double that - about $200 for the same 1000 gold. That's a major change from one year to the next when you would normally expect prices to go down (prices had been dropping significantly throughout 2005.)

As a non-purchaser I have to say that I'm happy with this, overall. It shows Blizzard has in fact made good on the promises they made regarding a focus on this. But as a person who thinks purchasing items for games is inevitable, I fear it is fighting against the tide.

Monday March 19, 2007

WoW: Casual Corner

To my friends and family, I'm a hardcore PC gamer. I play something nearly every day, and I enjoy many different types of games from Titan Quest to Flight Simulator X to Lego Star Wars. But in the game World of Warcraft, I'm a casual gamer. Despite how many hours I put into the game per week (never really counted) or how many level 70 characters I have (I have two - a Druid and a Warlock) I'm not in one of the hardcore guilds. I'd like to start a series looking at how to help the casual gamer get the most out of this game, and see where it takes us.

I don't have to plan my life around the raid schedule, nor do I have to put up with leaders who want me to spec a certain way or limit my participation based on my class. That's just not for me. I play to have fun with friends, and bunch of rules around who can play what isn't conducive to that, in my opinion. My guild couldn't get 10 level 70's together for a raid if we wanted to right now. We have a slew of people in the mid-60's working up, but they are as far from Karazhan today as we were from Blackwing Lair before The Burning Crusade. I believe that my group is in the majority. But if you were to read the forums and the blogs, you'd believe that everybody is running Karazhan and heroic instances. That just isn't the case. Now I don't mean to imply that everybody who is doing that is hardcore - they aren't, but they are still in the minority.

I also don't care a tremendous amount what others do. If you are decked out in Tier 4 raid gear already then that's great for you. It doesn't impact me much, and that's a good thing. But don't come on to the forums or blogs and make it sound like most of the players have your problems. They just don't.

For the casual players, Outlands is amazing. The level of items you get when you first get in are a great leveler. It instantly brought players up to the level of about Tier 2 raid gear (not quite, but close.) To me that was liberating. It meant I got to see how my classes played out for players who were in that gear and see what they had been enjoying. It also showed me how gear-dependent the game is (and that's overall a bad thing, but that's for another column.) Blizzard made items available via simple quests (both group and solo) that had a great wow factor and got all the players to feel good about the rewards they got for the time they invested. I can't state it enough - Blizzard got so many things right for the casual gamer in The Burning Crusade.

For example, take a look at the instance opportunities. There are a bunch of 5-man dungeons for folks to enjoy. There is even a key quest series and progression for 5-mans that allows the small and casual guilds a great time. The instances are fun - with unique and interesting bosses that get everybody a chance to see what previously had only been in the big instances. How cool can you get? It's content for everybody no matter the amount of time you can devote to the game.

I'm going to try to write-up tips for casual gamers every so often both to make the hardcore aware of what every else faces as well as give a voice to the less-vocal: the casual gamer.

Friday March 16, 2007

Wii Top-Selling Console

According to market research firm NPD, the Wii was the top-selling video game console in the United States in February. Here is overall list:

Console	Sales (units)
Wii	335,000
Playstation 2	295,000
XBOX 360	228,000
Playstation 3	127,000

The Wii has more than double the sales of the PS3. To me that is a trend I see continuing - the Wii is going to end up being the best-selling console for 2007. I'd bet that despite for a few hardcore gamers who disdain the Wii, most PS3 buyers will have a Wii eventually because it's such an easy console for friends and family to play.

Thursday March 15, 2007

WoW Play: Skill or Gear?

I read an interesting article today over at Tobold's MMORPG blog about his feeling that skill isn't as important in World of Warcraft as gear is. He's responding intelligently to a common forum response of 'learn to play' or 'l2p' that comes up whenever somebody complains about how hard they found an encounter or instance. While that's a reasonable goal, I think discounting skill is a bit of overkill the other way.

Teamwork
For me, working together is a team is the major skill in the game. Lots and lots of players get stuck in the solo mentality and forget all the things they can and should be doing when in a group. For example, while I love shadow priests and what they bring to the table (that Vampiric Embrace is awesome) the players are often so used to soloing that they just open up 100% on a mob and pull from the tank. I'm not immune from this - I suddenly found myself in an instance with my Druid needing to do a battle-rez and realizing I had removed the spell from my bar. Yikes.

But when a team is working together, they can accomplish quite a bit. I'm sure you've all been through encounters that suddenly went horribly wrong (a wayward fear or runner that brought another 5 enemies, for example) and yet through everybody working together the group handled it all and was able to continue. That's an awesome feeling (one of the best in WoW, in my opinion.)

Gear
There is no doubting that gear matters. A tank with 10k armor is going to take more damage than one with 20k. The priest with 9000 mana can do more than one with 5000. After my guild ended up with several players having Tier 2 gear, it was certainly much easier to handle Upper Blackrock Spire. So yes, gear has a huge impact.

But I'm afraid I've seen plenty of players (and I mean plenty) who had nice gear, but couldn't play in a group. I'll never forget the Warlock that played in our guild and had a full set of tier 1 (Molten Core) gear. She had twice as good a gear as my Warlock - but yet consistently sat at the bottom of the damage charts and added very little to the group (bristling at being asked to Soul Stone, not giving out Healthstones, only using her Felhunter pet "because of the resists"). It isn't all about damage charts by any means - but a Warlock can't be on the bottom unless you are clueless. It was mighty frustrating and I considered her a liability (which reminds me of another of Tobold's observations that Molten Core didn't really take 40 people and thus folks like this could slip in and not really help or hurt - and that this is a totally different situation with the touch 5-man instances introduced in Burning Crusade.)

Learn2Play
I agree with Tobold that people saying "learn 2 play" is hardly productive and misses the point many times. If you're group is constantly wiping on an instance (like the Opening the Dark Portal event) you probably ought to take a break, get some better gear, and then make another attempt. But don't forget the power of teamwork and ability to utilize all the tools at your disposal. Very few players in my experience are able to do that on a consistent basis.

Wednesday March 14, 2007

Lord of the Rings Online - a change in business model

While Tim has a great write-up on the gameplay in the about to be released Lord of the Rings Online, I was more surprised at the changes in business model than in the changes to the mechanics of 'run a quest, get a reward'. Sure, you can buy the game at retail and pay a monthly fee (which has yet to be set, but probably won't be too far away from $13.) But Turbine is giving you another option - one that has my interest peaked.

If you pre-order the game (and thus become a Founder) you get a different set of choices. If you choose it, your monthly rate is set at $9.99 - thus providing a monetary incentive to pre-ordering. Personally, I like this choice - it lets you give them some of your money up-front (helping them pay salaries) with a promise of lower cost over the time of your subscription. It seems like a fair trade assuming the non-Founder monthly fee is a few dollars higher - if they set the non-Founder fee to nearly the same then it's not so good. But as a Founder you get a second choice - a Lifetime Subscription option. For $199 you can pay no more fees ever. That's about 20 months in advance, but also means that you never have to pay them again.

What intrigues me here is how many of my old, retired, MMO characters might I return to if I had a lifetime subscription? Certainly I'm still a sucker for Star Wars: Galaxies so I would definately have done that one. And if I could, I'd probably play Planetside sometimes too - it's much less time-intensive. But I have no interest in returning to Everquest, Everquest 2, City of Heroes, Dark Age of Camelot, Ultima Online, Auto Assault, or Earth & Beyond (the fact that some of those are defunct not withstanding.)

By becoming a Founder you also get the ubiquitous 'exclusive in-game items' and the ability to play in the open beta and have your character transfer over into the main game (albeit capped at level 15.) I'm curious to know what this does to the economy (seems like there will be lots of level 15 characters with time to gold farm, but that's just me) but sounds like a reasonable progression in beta program and pre-orders.

Saturday March 10, 2007

Preview: Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

That is one long title for the game. This is a massively multiplayer game from the folks over at Turbine and Midway using the using the Lord of the Rings license (which should be obvious from the name.) Turbine was the developer for Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2 (which is closed now), and most recently Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach. From February 23 through February 26, Gamespot helped Turbine run a stress test event to allow folks a view of the game. It was also an opportunity to get a better idea of how well the infrastructure they are building will handle the large influx of players when the beta officially launches on April 7 (although preordering will allow folks access on March 30 - along with other Founder privileges.) I took part in this stress test along with some other folks (who I hope will offer their experiences in the comments) and wanted to share my opinions and impressions of the game. I tried to experience as much of the game as I could within that very short period of time. I also did not play as every character and class since that again would not allow me to experience some elements of the game - Monster play for example is only open to characters level 10 or higher. With this in mind, I entered the game to play as a single character/class combination to allow me to reach level 10 and experience the other side. I did create some other characters to walk through the movies that are offered and play with the character creation engine.

Character Creation

This for many gamers is a key feature since everybody wishes to look unique, and that is not a bad thing. Character creation works here much like it does in every other MMO in that you choose your character race and gender (elf, dwarf, man, hobbit). Dwarves only have a single option here since Tolkienesque female dwarves are almost indistinguishable from male dwarves (well except if you are a dwarf). With your race and gender selected, the player can move directly into class selection but can also watch a short movie that introduces the race with a narrator describing them. The movies are all well done and being optional is nice for players who are already familiar with the races in question. Class creation works exactly the same with the player's race limiting the options (and I won't repeat what is available on the LOTRO website since it is better presented there). Again a player has the option to watch a short movie that describes the character class in all its glory. With these options selected, the player then goes about the process of customizing the look of their avatar from body shape to home region. The options are well done although its not nearly as customizable as Star Wars Galaxies which pretty much allowed the ability to change almost any aspect of the face. The home region selection was very interesting since it helped define a color palette for the skin, eye and hair color choices. I do not believe they affect any other statistics at this point, but it was nice to be able to choose to be a Man (or woman) of Rohan for example.

For me, it was all about creating a dwarf champion named Nhorgi hailing from the Iron Hills.

Game Play

Upon creation of my dwarven avatar, I entered the world of Middle Earth. Every new character enters into a sort of new player island similar to that found in Everquest 2 and Guild Wars. I call it an island since the area is limited in scope and is meant to give the player some instruction on how to play and accomplish quests while setting up the Epic quest that each race has. This is very similar to the main story quest that flows through each race in World of Warcraft.

In the dwarven case, I was in the region of Eriador called Erud Luin, and next to me Gandalf was explaining to Thorin the merits of taking a burglar on his journey - which I was totally entertained by. After getting past the "ooooh Gandalf" moment, I proceeded to perform a series of quests that introduced the game, and gave me a fair amount of starting equipment. At about level 5 or 6, the player will have completed all these quests and is basically taken on a scripted instance. In my case, it was a quest with Dwalin against the Dourhands who were consipiring with Goblins. Furthermore, they captured an elf, and were going to sacrifice him. This event was very well done and is somewhat unique in that it is an instance for only a single player.

Upon completion of this prologue, the character returns to Middle Earth but has entered "general population". That is probably not the best term, but at this point the player has entered a world that has changed from the prologue which for the dwarves took place before the hobbit. The time frame also has advanced to the point at which Frodo has left the Shire with the One Ring. This is the world in which your character will spend the rest of his time in Middle Earth, and it is presented in great detail.

The paradigm is generally the same as any other MMO that is out today. Obtain quests, kill stuff, get loot, and level up. This is not what make the game interesting and as an evolutionary title it simply grabs what works for other games in this genre. The concept that experience is best obtained from quests and that experience can be increased by taking time off between playing sessions (rest experience). So right about now folks are thinking that this is WOW with Gandalf right? Well not exactly, and I hope to illustrate how the game is different.

The first is that each race has a quest that is marked as "Epic" and is only available to your race. The dwarven one deals with the Dourhands, their dealings with Goblins, and the rebuilding of the Halls of Thorin. I spoke to JP, who played as a human, and his quest was different. This epic quest is intended to lead your character through the world and is not really intended to be ignored. The experience and story progresses for you through this quest. The other supplementary quests are open to almost every character, but they are all used to help provide gear and experience to your character.

Another unique gameplay element is the concept of goals or achievements. These are somewhat secret things that can offer attributes, skills, or titles to your character. They are uncovered by you as the game progresses. My first achievement was to complete 10 quests on behalf of the citizens of Erud Luin, and that would give me an trait that I could use to customize my character. A trait is a skill or statistic bump that is passive. In some ways they are like the Talents found in WOW, but as with most of Middle Earth are more subtle. Another achievement occurred when I killed some amount of goblins, and I unlocked the title "Defender of Erud Luin." This was what folks who had titles turned on would see my character named as. Admittedly, this is not a big deal, but I found that there were many titles that could be acquired and I would often spend time trying to acquire them to make my dwarf different from the other folks running around. And this is where I think the strength of LOTRO is at, the customization of your character from your choice of race and character class to the attributes you apply to the title you choose to have for yourself. It all makes your character feel somewhat unique, and very much a part of Middle Earth.

Crafting was something I barely touched, but exists in the game. You have the option of a number of vocations or jobs that your character can "apprentice" in. This job has a number of subjobs or crafting areas associated with them. For me, I went with Historian who could craft weapons, create scrolls via scholarly research, and farming. That's right I said farming, and I wish I had a chance to try it out - as such all I did was create a couple of low level scrolls that improved my combat skills for a short period of time. Apparently farmers can grow food and tobacco and that is just touching the surface. I really look forward to seeing what the system turns out as characters rise in skill and items start flowing out. There is a newer post over on the LOTRO website that gives a better introduction than I can to the crafting system.

Upon reaching level 10, players have access to a feature called Monster Play, and that feature is available via an altar in Bree. Now if you look at your map of Middle Earth, Erud Luin is quite some way from Bree and unfortunately the only way to get there is on foot and that will open up some new travel routes via horseback. Therefore in the interest of experiencing as much as possible, I commenced my trek to Bree from the Halls of Thorin in the Blue Mountains. That meant travel through The Shire and then on across the Brandywine Bridge into the Breelands. And this was one area that was not as pleasant since the run to Bree (while being able to see the fantastic scenery) was quite a trek. The good news is that once I arrived I was able to unlock a horse route that would return me to the Halls of Thorin a lot faster than my trip to Bree. One other element I enjoyed about horse travel was the ability to dismount mid-travel. It was a thing that we used in the Dark Age of Camelot to travel to between areas that may not have a stable.

Monster Play

Effectively, this represents the Player vs. Player (PVP) element of the game. Players can enter the monster play element and can select from a list of 5 possible evil characters. They are a Mordor Orc bezerker (melee), a Uruk Hai Archer (ranged), a Worg (rogue), a Spider (caster) and an Uruk Hai Captain (healer). I have listed the class types with them, but they are not pure classes in any case, and they are all level 50. They are members of Sauron's army fighting in the Ettinmoors.

These characters also have quests and goals that can be accomplished, but receive points instead of experience (they are level 50). These points can be used to buy unique skills and capabilities for the evil folks that allow for customization from any other of Sauron's grunts (other players). These characters are somewhat persistent too, but are more like facets upon your "good" character. These points are not restricted to your evil side, but can also be spent for rewards on your player avatar as well. One of the available rewards is bonus experience for a certain period of time.

One element I liked about Monster Play is that players can engage in raid level encounters starting at level 10 as long as its playing an evil character. Our adventures in Monster Play consisted of an assault on the fortress of Tol Ascarnan which would allow the collection of things like dwarf beards, elf ears and human parts. Sounds like a soup recipe for the orcs, but really they are used for quest rewards. This element played very much like raids in other games but since we were all level 50, but with less concern about gear and more about raw carnage. As I said before, the classes here are not exact and you will not see the captain throwing out big heals but he does get the ability to resurrect up to 5 folks close to him simultaneously - which would not be good for morale if you ask me. I really would have liked to see how this element will play out with normal player characters being involved in the fight, but it was still great to be an orc laying siege to the fortress of the humans.

Final Thoughts

I am hooked, and while I cannot claim that the game is perfect nor can I claim I experienced everything there is in the game - I did not notice any instances beyond the initial one I entered to transition from the new player area. The game looks very good and plays much like any other MMO should play at this point. They seem be building upon the positive elements of games like WOW and EQ2 and attempting to remove the negative elements of those games. I will be intrigued to see how things like smoking are handled since that is definitely something the characters in this world do. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings both speak about Gandalf's skill with blowing smoke rings. And with that, look for me in Middle Earth somewhere around March 30 as a champion against the armies of Sauron!!!

Friday March 09, 2007

PS/3's Home Thingy And Also A Bit On The Wii

So there I was listening to Gaming Steve's first podcast from this year's GDC. In it, Steve and Gamer Andy discuss the new PS/3 Home program and diss on the Wii.

First, Andy disses a bit on the Wii, saying he only really plays it when his girlfriend comes over, and that apart from Zelda, the Wii isn't any great shakes (paraphrased). I'm thinking that someone who calls themselves Gamer Andy and runs a gaming related website isn't the target audience for the Wii. It's aim is to get the non-gamers into playing games, and to do so with their friends, hence the plethora of part/mini-game titles. Again, not what the harder core gamer will be playing. Only time will tell how successful the Wii will be, but look at how incredibly well the DS is doing and it was nothing more than a small technology upgrade of the Gameboy Advance. The games will decide its ultimate fate.

Which is ironic considering Andy fawns all over the new Home service for the PS/3. Home is a cross between game achievements, Miis and a persistent world like Second Life. It isn't, in fact, a game at all. It's a way to interact with friends and show off your l33t game skillz and is really aimed at more casual gamers, in my opinion. The ones who don't mind just hanging out in a 3D chat program instead of, you know, playing games. The same casual gamers who seem to love the Wii. Now, while Home is rather interesting, I don't see it selling more PS/3s because the casual gamer isn't going to shell out $600 for it just to get Home. Again, it will be the games that cause people to buy it, and there are no casual games for the PS/3. Yet. So I'm confused as to why one can get all excited over Home, where people interact virtually, and pan the Wii, where people actually physically interact without any intervening technology.

As we all know, price sells cars. And consoles. The Wii is way ahead of the game here and Sony will have to do a lot more than Home persuade the millions of potential casual gamers to take a shot on their Blu-Ray test bed. The new Singstar may help, but it will take more than that. I see the Wii poised to lead a revolution for casual gamers. Nintendo should have stayed with that name...