stargrace
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MMObility: Data caps, throttled signals, and blocked sites
One of the main reasons I enjoy covering mobile MMOs is the fact that many gamers have access to a poor connection at best, and my articles might offer these fellow geeks a selection of games to play. I often take some of the things in my life for granted, like my healthy dogs or the one cup of coffee I have in the morning, but I never take my internet connection for granted, especially when I'm reminded every time I pay the bill just how much it costs me. It's an awesome 150/65 Mb/s, and I tend to get speeds pretty close to that. I often tell people that because my wife works at home with me, our internet connection is our "work vehicle." But many of my friends complain about having a really bad connection to the internet. Some of it is the result of location, but a lot is because companies can actually throttle the signal, providing unlimited yet barely workable internet. While there are several titles out there that are playable on almost any connection, throttling can kill gaming for many of us. So just how bad is it?
The Game Archaeologist and the Legend of the Sims: Our memories
Last week marked the beginning of a brief foray into the world of The Sims Online -- "brief" because the title is defunct (meaning no hands-on experiences to share these days) and I doubt that any of the game's creators are itching to reminisce about this lackluster entry into The Sims franchise. So chances are that today marks the end of our expedition, but we'll put our chins up and try to do it justice. Recently in the Massively office, a few of us spent a bit of time chewing the fat about The Sims Online. It's hard to imagine, but when the beta came out for this title, it was actually pretty hot stuff. The Sims had that crack-like addictive quality to it, and a lot of people -- myself included -- thought that the online version would make it exponentially better. Instead of every copy of The Sims being a little island unto itself, now we could connect and build in ways that were limited only by our imaginations. Oh, and also questionable developer decisions.
Foraging for furniture in EQ2
SOE is getting sneaky. Along with their recent EverQuest II game update 46, SOE added (without telling anyone) red shinies to the game. In EQ2, you might see little harvest-able white sparks here and there while you are walking around. These shinies can be collected and turned in to collectors for experience and items. The Echoes of Faydwer expansion introduced "blue" shinies, that can only be seen when wearing special goggles that are themselves the reward from a collection quest. And now, GU46 brings us "red" shinies.Red shinies may only be seen by level 80+ crafters that have obtained and are wearing the crafting epic, the Earring of the Solstice. Stargrace of MMO Quests has an excellent article showing off some of the many house items you can get from red shiny collections. So head down to the Barren Sky, Loping Plains, Steamfont or the Fans of NASCAR (er, Fens of Nathsar) and get digging!
EverQuest's killing fields
If you find a mysterious scroll pulsing with some strange, dark power, consider letting them eggheads down to Qeynos have a look at it first. Reading it aloud in the hopes it will make your crops grow better ... well, that ain't the brightest thing you ever thought. Farmer McClein got a first hand look at just how bad an idea that was in a GM event last weekend on EverQuest's Luclin server.GM events -- impromptu adventures run by GMs disguised as monsters -- were one of EverQuest's most loved traditions. Raiders and casual players alike would be tossed together to try and figure out a puzzle, kill a certain dragon in the Swamp of No Hope that spawned just once a year, or take on a deadly, zone-wide battle against the Fawcez of Ebil. Perhaps GMs are "in world" now in support of the Living Legend promotion, perhaps MMOQuests' Stargrace was just fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time for this one, but GM events like this one bring back a time when EQ's dedicated server GMs always seemed to have something happening, somewhere in the world.
