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Free for All: Zeroing in on my favorite free-to-play mains
I felt a little nostalgic this week. Heck, at my age, I feel nostalgic every time I smell chimney smoke or hear Christmas music. I suspect it will only grow more common with age. MMOs have been such a huge part of my life for well over a decade now that I feel nostalgic about many of the things that happened during that time, and for many of the characters I have grown -- and lost. I'm not overly sentimental about it, but it is interesting how we feel about the pixelated versions of ourselves, the ones we control while sitting at a keyboard or while touching a tablet. I don't want to downplay how important gaming can be for many of us, either. Once, years ago, I met a fellow player in a social game called There. She was a wonderful person who had over time lost the ability to walk. She loved the freedom that the avatar gave her. Needless to say, she was very connected to her character. I made a short list of some of my favorite characters from the years. As I think about it, this list says a lot about me as a gamer and about the types of games I love.
Free for All: Revisiting the rules of immersion
Years ago, I found myself wanting something more out of my gaming. I never was a "typical" player; I never achieved max level or defeated the greatest enemies. After some thought, I realized that I played the same as I lived: always curious, needing to explore, willing to step into someone else's story, or wanting to create my own. I needed games to mean more than just a stat-sheet or a weekly raid schedule. I needed to feel more connected to this activity that was taking up so much of my time. Otherwise, it was just a job. At the time, I was very much into Vanguard. I still am, but my schedule has left me without enough time to play as much as I'd like. I loved how the world of Telon sucked you in with its massive landscapes and endless waters. Yes, the game has many issues, and yes, the community does as well. I wasn't going to let that stop me from writing up a series of rules -- more like guidelines -- that would almost force myself to slow down, to connect to the character I was playing, and to have fun. I've decided to re-examine and update the rules, especially because I could use them now more than ever. We'll start by breaking down the original set.
Extra Life extravaganza: Donate to (and watch) our 24 hours of live marathon MMO gaming
Hey Massively readers! We need you guys to rally up and help us help an awesome cause! As we reported on earlier, the Extra Life charity video game marathon is going on this weekend, and we're participating in it! Beau Hindman and I (Seraphina Brennan) will be stepping up to our keyboards for 24 hours of non-stop grinding this weekend, and we'd love it if you could support us! Extra Life is asking for donations of $24 (but you can donate whatever amount you wish), and this year the money is going to Children's Miracle Network. Beau is supporting the Texas Children's Hospital, while I will be supporting the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Every dollar donated is 100% tax deductible and will go towards helping out these two fine hospitals and the many kids who depend on them. So please click on this link to support Beau, or click on this link to support me (Seraphina). If you're participating, you can also join our site's team and lend your fundraising efforts to the Massively.com Mob! For more information on participating, check out the Extra Life homepage here. Even if you can't spare the money, you can still join us this weekend and cheer us on as we livestream our gaming to the masses! I will be livestreaming my gaming on Massively TV, while Beau will be streaming on his own channel, Beau Turkey TV. The madness begins at 9:00 a.m EDT for Beau and me, but you can drop by at any time that day to watch us and cheer us on! Please contribute if you can. Every amount helps, and your donations will help give kids an extra life in their fight!
Acclaim CEO says Spellborn version 2.0 is on the way
If you're a fan of The Chronicles of Spellborn, Beau Turkey at Spouse Aggro found something today that will make you very happy. There have been rumors floating around lately about a restructuring of the game, and those rumors were recently confirmed on the official forums by Howard Marks, the CEO of Acclaim Games: "The rumors are true! Spellborn Version Two is on the way." Marks went on to explain that the new version has already been released in Japan to great success. They've been fine tuning it, and plans for the English version are underway. If you are a current player of The Chronicles of Spellborn, be sure you have a valid email address on file with Acclaim, because everyone playing the current version will be invited to beta test the new version via email. While details are minimal at this point, it's great news for players to know that more is on the way. You can take a look at the forum announcement here, and Beau's take from a fan point of view here.
Spouse Aggro explores Darkfall's self-imposed limitations
Beau Turkey from Spouse Aggro took a look at Darkfall yesterday, a game he checked out earlier this year, and had an interesting perspective on the game and how it's painted itself into a corner with regards to its player base. "[...]the game really deserves more praise than it gets. It is fantastic looking, is very immersive and so far the developers have proven that updates will be frequent enough and great.", says Beau. So what's the problem? Whether it's a problem or not really depends on your perspective. Beau explores the combination of open PvP, hefty system requirements, and no ongoing free trial period and how they combine to aim toward a very specific target audience: young, male, and aggressively PvP-centered. What this means is that Darkfall is unlikely to enjoy the huge player base that WoW or similar games like EVE Online do. As Beau points out, EVE Online is similar in several ways, but gives players the option to get away from PvP areas/turn the graphics down and still enjoy them/use a free trial, which potentially opens the game up to many more paying customers. The entire post can be read over at Spouse Aggro.
Extra Life raises over $150,000
A little over a week ago, we told you about Beau Turkey (from Spouse Aggro) and his participation in Extra Life, the gaming marathon created by Sarcastic Gamer and the Texas Children's Hospital to raise money for the Texas Children's Cancer Center. He easily achieved his goal of $192 -- raising $270 -- but he was one of many, many people who pitched in their time and money to help out. Thanks to Beau and all the others who helped out, Extra Life hit quite a milestone. Yesterday they announced that they had raised over $150,000 -- an amount well over last year's total which will see 100% going to the Cancer center (Check out the header for a running total). Extra Life has designated this Saturday as "make up day," when participants can finish up their full 24 hours, if they couldn't make it before. Of course, the site will remain open for donations until then as well. We applaud Beau, Sarcastic Gamer, and all of you who participated. Thank you!
Blogger to play 24 hours of MMOs for charity
Beau Turkey, the guy-half of the Spouse Aggro blog and podcast -- and a regular guest on our own Massively Speaking podcast -- is participating in a very special charity event all day today. The charity is called Extra Life, and it is a 24-hour gaming marathon with the slogan "Play games, heal kids", created to raise money for the Texas Children's Cancer Center. Beau has chosen his games -- twelve games for two hours each -- and posted his list here. He's included in-game names and servers for each game to make it easier for those who'd like to join him. If you're more of a voyeur, Beau has been kind enough to set up live streaming video of the event as well. We're predicting that it's going to be pretty fun to watch, especially around hour eighteen or so, when he starts to lose feeling in his right hand.Of course, it's good if you want to watch; better if you log in and play with Beau, and best if you donate. Beau's goal is a pretty reasonable $192.00, and you can help him reach it here. Good luck Beau, we think you're doing a great thing. Hope you have plenty of coffee on-hand!
The Daily Grind: Short or long quest arcs?
A little while back, Beau from Spouse Aggro wrote a post about the fun of doing long quest arcs with cut-scenes in Dream of Mirror Online. While I can also say I've enjoyed questing in DOMO, sometimes there's something to be said for a quick "get in, get out" setup like, say, some of the one-off, well thought out missions I've seen created in the City of Heroes Mission Architect, or jumping in and doing something quick in Free Realms when you only have a short period of time. While there is a space for both, it almost seems like long quest arcs involving lots of time (and grinding) are becoming something of an endangered species. Games that have long time-requirements to complete them are often sparsely populated (as per Beau's mention of Final Fantasy XI) compared to many other MMOs on the market these days. Thus, we raise the question - are long quest arcs full of "grind for x drop" "must complete with a group" "run all over the place for a while fetching things" slated to go the way of the dodo, with players instead opting for quick bite-sized missions instead? Or do you think longer quests are better, as they require you to get out into the world more and see/do things you wouldn't if you just ran outside the five-feet-away gates and knocked over 10 wolves for their paws then ran back?
Parallels between free-to-play MMOs and the iTunes Store
Have you ever looked at your favorite subscription MMOs and thought about how much of the content available there you actually play through, use, or experience? Do you ever feel you're paying for more than you're actually using? Beau from the Spouse Aggro podcast points out an interesting parallel between how free-to-play MMOs vs. subscription titles relates to the iTunes Store vs. buying CDs. Even though many people embrace the piecemeal approach to buying music through services like the iTunes Store, there are still plenty of consumers out there who still prefer to buy their music on CDs. After all, that's just how it's been done for years and some people really like to own a CD. They might not listen to every track frequently, but the music's always there for them in case they choose to enjoy it at some point. But how many times have you bought a CD after having heard a certain track you like, only to find out that only a few tracks on that CD are actually good? Maybe your friends like the whole album but for you, there are only a few you'll ever listen to. Did this make you look at the entrenched idea of having to buy the whole CD differently?
Vanguard vs Ryzom: Is "harder" better?
Ryzom is a game that has surely seen its fair share of peaks and valleys throughout its lifetime. It has closed and reopened several times, but the reasoning for this is up for debate. Is the game too hardcore or just too "hard"? Over at the Voyages of Vanguard blog, Beau Turkey (former host of Ryzom Radio) takes a comparative look at the two games he knows the best: Ryzom and Vanguard. In this comparison, Beau explores the idea of Vanguard utilizing some of the difficulty of Ryzom. That's not really to say that Ryzom is a particularly difficult game in terms of gameplay, but as Beau points out, many of the game's mechanics make it more hardcore than others. This includes no real definitive class structure, map travel options and non-repairable loot that deteriorates over time. Would Vanguard players be able to handle a Ryzom-type world, or would Vanguard itself benefit from being more "hardcore"? Check out the complete article for Beau's prognosis.
