scott-jennings
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Global Chat: Let it go
Now that I've cursed your day by triggering that earworm song from Frozen, you're probably going to be in a grumpy mood. Don't fret; snow empowerment isn't the only way to set you free. Sometimes it's the well-penned prose of MMO bloggers who put to the page what only previously existed in your thoughts. On today's edition of Global Chat, one blogger and developer has a gaming heresy to share, another has a few harsh words to say about crowdfunding, and a third thinks that the future of the genre is all in getting smaller, not bigger. Check out these great posts from the past couple of weeks!
Shroud of the Avatar's Release 8 is here, and so are its tutorials
It's time for Shroud of the Avatar's Release 8. No really, it's time right now, as you're reading this. Portalarium has published instructions and a lengthy list of features (both included and not included) in this particular build. The focus is on PvP this time around, and to that end both Scott Jennings and Chris Spears have posted tutorials. Jennings' takes the form of a PvP deck-building guide that's hosted on the SotA forums, while Spears narrates a 24-minute video that you can watch after the break. Release 8 started at 11:30 a.m. EDT this morning and it runs until 11:00 a.m. EDT on Monday, July 28th.
The Game Archaeologist and the Classic MMOs in October
Today we're going to start a new feature of this column in which we devote a week to catching up with previous Game Archaeologist spotlights and see what's going on in these classic MMOs. I figured that it was a shame to give these titles a big burst of publicity and then dump them like yesterday's news. After all, if these games' communities are still alive and kicking, and if the developers are churning out new content, then it's worth a monthly mention, don't you think? I won't just be regurgitating news here; I'll also peek at the various official forums to see what the community is talking about and highlight discussions and debates that are of interest. Not every classic MMO will be featured every month in this space, as I'll try to rotate around to make sure they all get their fair share of mentions. October was an interesting month for classic MMOs in that several of them produced extremely newsworthy stories that got front-page mention on Massively. On a special note, I won't be covering Asheron's Call today as we're prepping a special anniversary tribute for later this month!
Devs reminisce on Dark Age of Camelot's 10th birthday
Dark Age of Camelot turns 10 this week, and if that doesn't make you feel old, well, you're probably not very old (and while we're at it, kindly remove yourself from our lawn). At any rate, Scott Jennings waxes nostalgic about the fantasy RvR title on his personal blog by posting a remembrance from original Mythic producer Matt Firor. The piece is heavy on the meta details, and a read-through will give you an idea of how drastically the MMO industry has changed over the past decade. Firor talks about Mythic's scramble to meet the crushing demand for more servers and the resulting mad dash for the nearest computer retailer to purchase a dozen desktops that were quickly loaded with Linux and whipped into an ad-hoc server cluster. There are more interesting details, of course, and you can read them all at Broken Toys.
The Daily Grind: Do you follow industry personalities?
Every field has celebrities of one stripe or another, and MMOs are no different. Some of them start off as programmers, some start as producers, and some start as commentators that later move into an official capacity. Some have a track record of success, some have a big success and a big failure, and some are considered to be solely at fault for anything that goes wrong in a game. But no matter what the background, they're personalities of note, whose words start having an impact on people even when they're not working on a big project. People listen to them, quote them, and take note of their various projects. Especially in light of recent personality-based developments, it's certainly worth asking how much people really follow the paths of programmers outside of playing their games. The MMO industry doesn't follow Richard Garriott like mainstream media follows Brad Pitt, but he still finds ways to be seen even when he's between major projects. Do you follow specific people in the gaming industry, either out of liking what they've done or wanting to avoid what they're working on? Or does the practice annoy you, and all you want to focus on is the actual games they produce?
NCsoft's Game Survelliance Unit speaks out on account security
The extra attention to security measures at NCsoft continues, with the latest being a message on the Aion site from Scott Jennings (GM Luminary) of NCsoft's Game Surveillance Unit. The point of the message is to make sure the players understand what a large, aggressive business the RMT market is. There is a huge amount of money on the line, and those involved are working very hard to make sure the profits keep rolling in. Jennings explained what NCsoft views as their job in this fight and what they've been doing on their end, even detailing a few specific examples of security testing. The message continued with a much longer list: what players can do on their end to protect themselves. While much of it may seem obvious to veteran players, with account security attacks becoming ever more frequent and aggressive, it's a pretty good idea for everyone to read through what Jennings has to say, and be sure you're protecting yourself as much as you can.
A bird's-eye view of China's MMO market
To a western MMO developer, China's market is alluring in much the same way that winning the lottery is alluring to everyone else. There's a huge market right there, even disregarding the almost stereotypical amount of gold farming associated with the country, but thus far western games have yet to make much of a dent. The only one that's been largely successful is World of Warcraft, and even that has a bit of a tortured history. Scott Jennings has taken the opportunity to expound a bit on what makes China so appealing as an MMO market and why it's been so difficult to get a solid footing in. One of the points he makes is that, by and large, China hasn't attracted a good portion of the western market either -- Perfect World International comes the closest to making a splash, and it's nowhere near the popularity of, say, Runes of Magic. He also discusses several of the difficulties in negotiations between western businesses and the Chinese counterparts, as well as the government's vested interest in ensuring the market stays solidly in China. The full article also offers as comprehensive a breakdown of the entire World of Warcraft controversy as you're likely to find in one place, making it an excellent reference point for anyone interested in the vagaries of the worldwide market.
2009 from a developer's point of view
We're finishing up our 2009 Reader's Choice Awards, but that doesn't mean we can't take note of the fact that the last year of the decade hasn't exactly been a stellar years. We've watched a recession hit hard, several games turn the lights off for good, several others lose staff, and generally not had the best of years. And it's something that's even more obvious if you're in the thick of game development. Scott Jennings has taken a few moments to look back at what he sees as the three major developments of 2009: layoffs, Facebook, and microtransactions. Of course, as someone who had an unpleasant brush with the recession, it's understandable that Jennings wouldn't be predisposed to mention things such as the free-to-play model making large inroads via high-profile titles such as Free Realms and Dungeons and Dragons Online. But the article is interesting as a retrospective of the many south turns the industry took this year, as are his guesses from a year ago regarding what things would look like. Here's hoping that 2010 provides us with slightly better news -- believe it or not, we don't like announcing shutdowns or layoffs any more than you like reading them.
Anti-Aliased: The Quest of Vindication
Happy Holidays everybody! Hope you're all having an exciting time that's full of epic loot drops from purple gift packages sent by the jolly NPC in the red suit. This week's column is a holiday-tacular rant fest as I feel like tackling one of the major sticking points of an MMO player's behavior: the need to pursue vindication. This isn't something unique to MMO culture or even video game culture at large. We all feel this rather odd need to defend our decisions or opinions to others, even if they will never ever agree with us.However, when it comes to MMOs, vindication can be a bad thing. When communities become polarized in thought and begin to shut out others it can hurt the game's growth and the game's sense of community.
The dangers of PvP-focused games
The trouble with PvP is... well, there are several problems with PvP. The problems of balance are always there, of course, as they are in every aspect of the game. There are the problems of making PvP both accessible to new players and rewarding for veterans, their are issues with keeping people engaged in the game without being gimmicky, there are issues with even such little things as how players get equipment. But as Scott Jennings notes in his most recent column, a lot of the problems with PvP-centric games center around perceptions -- both those of the players, and those of the developers. Developers who make PvP-centric games frequently are players of games themselves, of course, and so when they strike off to make a game with "PvP done right" they can sometimes fall victim to tunnel vision regarding their game. (Jennings cites Shadowbane, Darkfall, and Fury as examples here.) But there's also a problem of perception from the player end, as whether or not a class is overpowered often pales in comparison to whether or not the players believe it's overpowered. From Guild Wars to EVE Online, every PvP game has had to contend with these issues, so it would be well-advised to take a look at the full column if you're at all interested in the design of games.
The art of the expansion
Expansions are a fact of life for MMOs. We all know it, and while we might not necessarily like the fact that at least once a year we probably have to drop another chunk of change just to keep playing the game, we accept it as the price of progress. (And if you're a Guild Wars player, it's not like you also have a subscription to pay for on top of it.) Scott Jennings has taken his most recent regular column to talk about the ways expansions work -- both their benefits and the drawbacks they have. Because as he points out, more is usually better, but sometimes more just means more. Ranging from the free large content patches used by games like Lineage II and Darkfall to more conventional expansions, and discussing World of Warcraft: Cataclysm as one of the major points of deviation in the usual expansion model, the article talks about the benefits and drawbacks of the almost ubiquitous selling model for the genre. While it's not a revolutionary look, it's something that every MMO player -- and many designers -- could do well to look at. More understanding is never a bad thing, after all, and if we can avoid another Chains of Promathia we'll all be better off.
The breadth of morality in MMOs
It's been touched on before, but there's still more thought to be put into it: morality in MMOs, if you think about it, can be a touchy business at best. Scott Jennings recently took the opportunity to discuss the genre's stance in light of the Modern Warfare 2 controversy, pointing out that the genre as a whole has generally failed to touch on morality tacitly but has frequently done so passively. The game we play are almost relentlessly imperialistic, as he puts it, with an unambiguous march toward taking everything at gunpoint (or sword-point, or laser-cannon-point) and becoming the undisputed master of all you survey. It's equally true in EVE Online, where the game implicitly sends you up against all other players in a bid for maximum possible gain, or in World of Warcraft, where you can find yourself invading homes for no reason or killing people for holding a legitimate grudge. The only games that even start escaping from the whitewashed attitude are superhero games such as City of Heroes and Champions Online, and even there you most likely send several thugs to the hospital without so much as an effort to negotiate. Whether this can or should change isn't easy to say -- much of the rationale behind it is tied to the game design rather than player choice. It's a topic worth considering, however, and one that will doubtlessly be addressed more as the industry grows in maturity.
Why RMT won't go away
"Companies should just stop gold farmers." It's a consistent complaint in many games, with "gold" replaced by your game's currency of choice. As complaints go, it's right around "somebody should do something about all the problems" in terms of overall utility, but heck, no one likes the practice and it should just be eliminated, right? Well, as Scott Jennings has pointed out recently, it's not quite that easy. As Lum points out, there are several common misconceptions about the entire process. Among them are the idea that the game company doesn't step in because they're getting kickbacks, which is pointed out to fail the simple test of Occam's razor. When developers want to get more money from an existing game, there are usually better ways to run it, such as the Champions Online model or the Dungeons and Dragons Online approach. He also tackles the infamous statement that the farmers are paying customers and therefore the company has even less incentive to stop them. So if everyone hates RMT, why is it still around? The article briefly touches upon it, but We Fly Spitfires had a recent post that articulates more specifically: more people buy gold than would necessarily admit it. Since no one will admit to it, no one ever asks, and as a result there's a large culture of silence that publicly despises it and privately takes part. In short? As long as there's a customer base, the farming will continue. Food for thought all around.
Scott Jennings discusses fixing bugs in live games
If there's one thing that MMO gamers all agree on, it's the short list of things we almost universally hate: cheaters, gold (or equivalent currency) farmers searching for your credit card, and bugs. Oh, the dreaded bugs. They do so much damage to your gameplay experience, why doesn't the company just fix them? The inimitable Scott Jennings tackles this question in his latest column on game design, explaining that the main reason bugs don't get fixed faster is because doing so is much harder than it seems. As he points out, the architecture of an MMO is a tricky thing at the best of times, frequently only held together with the coded equivalent of a wing and a prayer. Some bugs are so massively detrimental to the game that they get to jump to the head of the class, but others are annoying and bad but not at the highest priority. Or -- as sometimes happens despite everyone's best efforts -- fixing the bug would require doing so much damage to the rest of the game that it's better to work around it. If you're wondering why your favorite company hasn't fixed a much-hated bug, this article should prove an interesting read.
Scott Jennings MMO interview prep
It looks like Scott "Lum the Mad" Jennings started up a new column over at MMORPG.com granting players a rare peek behind the MMO industry curtain. His first article covers some of the things you can expect to be confronted with if you are ever lucky enough to land a game designer interview with an MMO studio. Given the competitive job market out there, these insights should not be taken lightly, even though they are just one man's opinion. But what a man! No, we're not talking about his wild charisma and manly beard. Okay, that too, but Lum has been around the MMO block in various roles from programmer to lead designer. Put simply, his advice is valuable. The biggest point he made that stuck out to us was the suggestion to have opinions and back them up. "[A]s a designer you are being paid, in large part, to have opinions. Your job will be to analyze parts of the game and determine whether it will work, how it can be broken, and whether or not it will be fun." So, whether you're an aspiring game designer or simply interested in boosting your interview skills in general (not a bad idea in these trying times), we recommend you take a gander at Lum's new column.
Unraveling the mystery of John Deere Online
Scott "Lum the Mad" Jennings, well-known blogosphere participant and game designer, has recently been working on a game that is now sadly canceled. This is bad both for the natural sadness of a game having been canceled and the voyeuristic MMO fan impulse to ask, "Well, what was it going to be?" We don't know. The only reference made was to the cryptic in-joke name of John Deere Online. In his own words: "As a condition of my severance I can't discuss a great deal, and anything I say here will most likely be picked up by the MMO news sites (wave, wave!)." Well, he's right about that last part. But neither waiting for him to change his mind nor camping outside his front door has yielded any new information, so perhaps we can take a look at more pieces of information and speculate? After all, we know of at least two of his co-workers. From them and from the little which Scott Jennings himself has said, we can derive the following bits of information: that they were working for 2K Games, developing an MMO based on an existing franchise, that the game would have been strategy-based, and that it might possibly have had something to do with tractors. Considering that Jon Jones mentions on his LinkedIn page that he "created a series of low polygon highly optimized building models with a small set of textures that can be reused across that nation's entire series of buildings appropriate to that age," it's difficult to argue with the conclusion that the team was working on a Civilization MMO. But 2K Games also could mean Elder Scrolls projects... which might be pertinent, as both Jon Jones and Matthew Weigel have been working on Dungeon Runners. It's all idle speculation, sadly, and for all we know the game really would have been a massively multiplayer tractor simulator. (In which case it might even be for the best - lawnmowers would probably have been totally overpowered against seeders in PvP.)
Richard Bartle encourages MMO writers to make people think
Richard Bartle wrote an interesting QBlog post on the art of quest design using WoW's Stranglethorn Vale zone as a model. This elicited a number of responses from various MMO bloggers. Scott Jennings had very few positive things to say about STV, while Tobold mused about STV's relevance in today's MMO landscape given its age and Syp and Raegn pointed out a perceived condescension.It's always time to grab a hot cup of coffee when someone vocally disagrees with Dr. Bartle because he will always engage in a discussion and defend his views. He took special offense to Syp and Raegn when called out as being condescending in his original article and urged more people to write things about MMOs that make others re-think and take the genre more seriously.In response to Syp, Bartle wrote: "If you haven't done this kind of analysis, OK, I'm calling you out: write one. Go on, choose any quest from WoW and explain what it's saying. You say you can see behind the curtain: show us. I want the art, not the craft. I don't intend to seem arrogant or mean here, although I'm sure that won't make any difference to how what I just asked is interpreted. I'm pushing because I want to encourage people to think of MMOs as art, not as low culture."In response to Raegn, Bartle wrote: "I urge you, if you see something you like, that takes MMOs in a new direction, that says something that makes you think (you don't have to agree with it – so long as it makes you think), then please give it publicity. Then, you'll have people who genuinely deserve your praise, not someone who is merely where they are through an accident of history."
Cryptic used NCsoft forums for beta recruiting, not really sorry though [Updated]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Cryptic_uses_NCSoft_forums_for_underhanded_marketing_tactics'; So some new developments have been made concerning allegations that Cryptic Studios was using the City of Heroes forums for Champions Online beta recruitment.Massively commenter PunkRockDiva has pointed us to a forum post by Cryptic associate community relations manger IronAngel, who relayed a message from his boss, Ivan Sulic. Within that message Ivan confirmed the rumor, saying there was no ill intent in what happened. He then explained why it happened -- that community, PR and marketing are in the middle of restructuring. "Shills, poaching, bullshotting... No chance, man. We make good games and we hope people will play them. Best anyone can do, right?" Was how Mr. Sulic concluded his message. If the name Ivan Sulic sounds familiar, you may remember him as the Hellgate: London community manager telling players concerned about the game's lack of a LAN mode, "Who the fuck cares?" Well, we're pretty sure a lot of people care nowadays, Mr. Sulic. This was all dug up by Scott Jennings, who posted his opinion of the whole matter on his website, Broken Toys.As Scott points out, it's not an apology if you make light of the matter and pretend it's not a big deal. As people who love the MMO genre, this is not the sort of behavior we want the industry to feel is acceptable. And as such, when a developer has upcoming titles we very much want to play -- like Champions Online and Star Trek Online -- it evaporates our desire to support them.
The Digital Continuum: Is free-for-all PvP really for nobody?
Many MMOs with the "hardcore" PvP mentality are often argued as an experience that isn't for everyone -- something for a very set niche. Or in other words, these games aren't for people who prefer a little structure and intelligently crafted incentive to participate.Don't get me wrong, I love me some crunchy PvP snacks. What I don't have any affection for is a system that promotes players being douchetards. Sure, we're going to get them regardless, but encouraging the behavior is just not smart at all and it makes for a terrible experience.Here's the problem: If these PvP-centric games aren't for "carebears", then who are they for? Griefers? Well when you design a game that only they want to play, then yes.
So, you think you're a hardcore PvPer, eh?
The Darkfall hype has shot through the roof these past few days. Since the NDA was lifted, many reviews have surfaced and they all say pretty much the same thing; Darkfall is technically sound but lacks content polish, and due to its core game design and griefing potential, will only really appeal to the hardcore PvPer. And by "hardcore PvPer," they mean pre-Trammel UO slash AC Darktide fans. Haaardcore.A few interesting blog posts popped up yesterday that bring something a bit new to the table. Tobold shared his Darkfall beta experience and suggested that while the game may find it's niche, it will be a very small one because most gamers prefer to play it safe. He points out that even in other PvP-centric games like EVE and UO, people tend to congregate in the safe havens if given the option. Scott Jennings also weighed in on hardcore PvPers. He believes people may appreciate the idea of hardcore PvP in the abstract, but tend to wuss out when push comes to shove. He cites past experience with the quick to rise and fall of PvP servers in DAOC. Finally, Keen lets us know that he finally got his pre-order after refreshing the order page for many hours. He shares a quote from lead Darkfall dev, Tasos, who says they are receiving 20 times the amount of web traffic to their order page than originally estimated.
