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The Daily Grind: Are character bios due for revival?
One of my favorite things about classic MMOs is that they refused to give up on the "RPG" part of MMORPG. As in a tabletop game, in classic MMOs you were often given an opportunity to write a biography for your character, then import it into the game and attach it to your profile in some way so that other players could read it. In some games, having a superb character bio could snag the attention of a gamemaster and land you even more recognition in the form of a badge or achievement. It bothers me that these little touches are missing from so many modern MMOs. They don't take much effort on the part of the designers, and they sell the impression that creativity still matters, that your character is more than just a chat handle and a suit of armor. Are character bios due for a revival? Did you ever or would you use the option in your game of choice if you could? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Behind the Mask: Making concessions for roleplayers
There's been almost universally positive feedback for Champions Online since the Free For All expansion launched. Although there has been some criticism of the C-Store prices increasing (bad!), the vast majority of changes in F2P have been positive. In many ways, it's been sort of a new genesis for the game, and I feel as if it's overcome a lot of the negative press present at its launch. But not everything about F2P has been positive, and while I put a small amount of blame on the devs (especially since I brought up the issue with Poz in an interview), much of the trouble was really inevitable. The problem in question is RP griefing. Champions has a large, robust roleplaying community.The center of roleplaying in CO is Club Caprice, and Caprice is currently under siege by unruly heroes lifting and throwing chairs around, spamming powers that destroy nearby tables or chairs, and being disruptive using the in-game chat. As one friend said, "Everyone who has thrown a chair in here has been under level 20, in a F2P Archetype, and wearing a lame costume."
Behind the Mask: A roleplayer's calling card
Roleplaying is kind of a big deal for a lot of people in Champions Online. The community members are a pretty intense crowd and they take their in-character exploits pretty seriously. Getting involved with RP has very little to do with gamer skill. Integrating yourself into an RP clique is mostly about social maneuvering and just being a little extroverted. I've already gone over some of the best ways to get involved in an RP circle, but this week I'm going to hit a very narrow point: the art of bio writing. A bio isn't the most important thing when getting to know new RPers, but it sure helps. Having a well-written bio for your character draws people to you without any spoken words. You still usually have to make the first move, but a good bio lets people know what to expect. Sometimes a good bio can even draw people to start up random conversations with you. Ever get tells saying how cool your bio is? After we're done here, you will!
