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D&D co-creator Dave Arneson dead at 61
After a long battle with cancer, Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson passed away in his sleep late Tuesday night. The sad news came from an e-mail from Arneson's family, which includes details on where to send condolences, as well as the time and location for his visitation. We extend our deepest sympathies to Arneson's family and loved ones as they cope with the loss of this truly remarkable man.Even if you've never hurled icosahedrons with a group of fantasy-obsessed friends, Arneson, along with D&D co-creator Gary Gygax (who sadly passed away last year), is responsible for the evolution of the RPG format as we know it today. Though the influential hobby's creators have passed away, their legacy will live on through the skittering of dice across tables worldwide. Rest in peace, Mr. Arneson.
D&D co-creator Dave Arneson in hospice care [update 2]
[Update 2: Joystiq has learned that Mr. Arneson passed away on Tuesday, April 7. Our condolences to his friends and family.]Dave Arneson, half of the duo -- the other half being Gary Gygax -- that created influential tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons, passed away earlier today is still alive "in a hospice where he is being cared for at this time," according to Grognardia. Updating the original post regarding Mr. Arneson, Grognardia says, "I am both glad to hear that Dave is not dead, as I was led to believe, and rather mortified at my having posted this information before it had been confirmed by a second source. I had no reason to doubt my original source, given his close proximity to Dave, but apparently I should have." He's not the only one who feels this way, trust us. The rest of the original post we wrote remains as it was, below.Known recently for his teaching at Full Sail College in Florida as well as his fantasy RPG Blackmoor, Arneson had been struggling with his health ever since a stroke in 2002. According to The Escapist, Arneson's health worsened last week and he was admitted to the hospital. Unfortunately this morning, things took a turn for the worse. We here at Joystiq extend our deepest condolences to those affected by Dave Arneson's passing, especially his loved ones.[Thanks, Jeremiah]
WarCry explores types of game settings
Should MMOs try to become to gaming what Rocky is to movies? A series of sequels with the same base setting, familiar characters, and expected outcomes? Or should they create a new world with each release? This is the debate offered in a recent article from WarCry, exploring the types of intellectual property offered by MMORPGs.In the past year, we have heard announcements from some of the largest MMO companies that AAA titles were being closed and games with tremendous recognition may not be getting sequels. It seems there is a movement towards the new and unfamiliar out there, even as the lists of new titles are filled with the likes of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Trek Online, and DC Universe Online. So it begs the question, are the games you're most looking forward to based on what has come before or a fresh new world and lore to explore for the first time?As a caveat to an example used in Mr. Steinhauer's article, this blogger would point out that the Forgotten Realms setting was originally from Dungeons & Dragons settings and had a rather extensive series of novels behind it.
Since the WoW movie probably won't happen anyway, here's why it shouldn't
Above is the sole bit of evidence that the World of Warcraft movie has seen any completed work at all -- one item of concept art. We know very little about the film, and the only news we've gotten recently is that Uwe Boll will not be directing it (admittedly that's very good news). Joystiq blogger Kevin Kelly is perfectly fine with that, as he wrote a blog entry over at Spout about why this movie really oughtn't ever get made at all.Three reasons were provided: Dungeons & Dragons was a disaster, it couldn't earn back its huge budget even if every WoW player in the world went to see it, not even most WoW players know what the story of the game really is. There was a fourth reason, too, but it isn't so much a reason as why it shouldn't be made as why it won't be -- the concept art is all we have after two years.It's true that the movie couldn't make it on WoW players alone; it'd have to be appealing to people unfamiliar with the franchise, too. But we really doubt that's going to happen, and it doesn't matter anyway because, as we said, it probably will never get made![Via WoW Insider]
Mythic working on expansion and 'new-new classes'
If you go to Paul Barnett's personal blog, you'll discover two enticing things. One, there's a lot of videos with him doing his thing in a pretty much unfiltered manner. And two, you can grab sneak peeks at upcoming Warhammer Online updates and fixes in general. Today Paul posted a video in where he flashes a sheet of paper filled with his thoughts on expansions and new careers, but not just one's we've heard of apparently. Nope, Paul quickly points out that these are "new-new careers" before Mr. Josh Drescher (also featured in the video) pulls the latch shut on that topic. Oh, how they love to tease us.So now we're left the with a question: Are these new-new careers to possibly replace one of the old ones, or for an eventual expansion? We wouldn't be surprised if they were for both, honestly. Don't put it past Paul -- a man who just finished having a wonderful time playing D&D over the weekend -- not to have oodles of careers ideas written on pieces of paper. Check after the break for the latest video update.
The week in Massively features
Anti-Aliased: Games you should have played, but probably didn'tWhat games would I recommend to my readers who just aren't happy with the current mainstream market? What games should you have played, but probably overlooked? I think I have a few. Massively in Metropolis: How your superpowers are going to workThe big question behind a game about superheroes is pretty blunt. How am I going to feel powerful? How are my powers going to work? If you don't feel superheroic there's been a failure right from the get-go. That's entirely the point behind the development process at SOE Austin, for the DC Universe Online project. Dungeons & Dragons Online Module 8: The new player experienceYou can certainly expect more feature articles here at Massively concerning Module 8 in the near future, but for now, we wanted to focus on the new player experience for anyone looking to get into the game for the first time. Massively's WAR Camp: Tier 3 Scenario GuidesThis week on the WAR Camp, we're hitting the scenarios again, and we're focusing on a couple of the offerings in Tier 3. In Tier 3, knockbacks really start to make a difference, with most classes by this point having received their knockback abilities. The Digital Continuum: December updates for WARWarhammer Online has its flaws that like to run up and slap you in the face from time to time -- it can put a damper on the fun. Lucky for us, one of the strengths found in Warhammer Online actually comes from its design team, Mythic Entertainment.
Anti-Aliased: Games you should have played, but probably didn't.
So I learned two things since my last column. The first is if I mention Warhammer Online or Playboy models in any capacity, my traffic rating graph begins to resemble the Swiss alps. So... Warhammer Online and Playboy models.The second thing I learned is that everyone is pretty much agreed on Warhammer, except for a few outliers. The game has faults, but all those faults are easily overlooked when the game provides a fun environment to romp around in. But that made me start thinking... what other games on the market are pretty good, but overlooked due to a lack of popularity? What games would I recommend to my readers who just aren't happy with the current mainstream market? What games should you have played, but probably overlooked? I think I have a few. Show Me The Games >> %Gallery-34710%
CoX Lead Dev to rattle the d20s for charity
Most City of Heroes players know that many of their Devs love good old fashioned pen-and-paper RPGs. They've chimed in on mechanics discussions and discussed the games they run. Now, as part of HeroCon, lead CoX developer Matt 'Positron' Miller is going to be donning his Dungeon Master hat to run a select group of players through a Dungeons and Dragons scenario. It's all in a good cause, with proceeds going to Scare for a Cure. Matt's raising said proceeds by auctioning off the six seats in the game, with bids starting at $49.99. He'll be setting up the DM's screen at 8:00 pm PST on Friday, October 17, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Santa Clara, California - the venue for HeroCon, of course. And Matt will be using the slick new 4th Edition rules, so we won't be seeing any multiclassed dual wield spiked chain half-dragon-half-unicorn characters.
The Daily Grind: What do you think of table-top games?
There exists a very close relationship between MMOs and table-top games.Yesterday saw the launch of Ethernauts, the fifth expansion to EverQuest-related collectible trading card game Legends of Norrath. LoN is digital, but gameplay-wise, it's totally a table-top game. World of Warcraft has an entirely material trading card game. Warhammer Online is of course based on the Warhammer miniatures game, and WoW is getting a miniatures game of its own. And of course, the RPG genre originated on the table-top with Dungeons & Dragons.We're wondering: how much crossover is there between digital and table-top games? How many of our readers play them? Tell us! What do you think of table-top games?
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a draenei
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the eighth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.The draenei are one of Warcraft's more unique contributions to the realm of fantasy fiction, the one player race without no real precedent in earlier fantasy worlds. These are not your typical elves, orcs and dwarves borrowed from Tolkien or Dungeons and Dragons; the draenei are tall, with hooves, tails, horns and even face-tendrils -- but they are noble and spiritual people, the last remnants of an ancient civilization of magic and beauty.To begin thinking about what it must be like to live as a draenei, imagine how the human race might be many thousands of years into the future, maybe a quarter of a million years from now. Whatever technology those people might have would probably seem like magic to us. Our descendants might unravel the mysteries of biology to such a degree that they can halt the aging process and live as long as they want to. They may be able to tap on sources of power we haven't even imagined, and act with motivations and purposes we could scarcely understand.The draenei as a people were once like this, 25,000 years before the setting of World of Warcraft. Even at that time, they were already ancient in their history and advanced far beyond what you and I might understand. Their world, called Argus, was a prosperous society full of great achievements and magical wonders, quite unlike anything we see today. They had a different name then, however -- they were called, the "eredar" -- a name which now upsets the draenei as a painful reminder of everything they have lost, the corruption, the betrayal and the near extermination of everything they have ever known and loved.
The Daily Grind: Do you use builds?
This blogger was intrigued, on looking through a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Player's Handbook, to see that each character class had two different 'builds'. Apparently, the terminology (and the thinking behind it) has now officially migrated all the way back from MMOs to the pen-and-paper games that preceded them. Some players create characters purely for concept, some for efficiency, some to fit a particular playstyle. In City of Heroes, a suprising number of not-so-good powers will still get picked if they fit a character's concept, such as Flurry for a superspeeder. In fact, one of the developers said some time ago that concept should be the primary reason for picking any power. But other players come up with carefully structured builds and respect them like Cordon Bleu recipes. The thought and planning that goes into these builds, which are arguably a form of engineering challenge, is impressive. The individuality of the character doesn't matter; what matters is how well the character's abilities milk the game for every possible drop of performance.Are you a build-user? Have you ever worked a character out to the specifications given in someone else's build? Do you like to plot and plan, and possibly share your work? Or would you rather make characters freestyle?
Atari and Interplay settle D&D licensing drama
Although using an image of "Bum Fighting" would have been insensitive, that probably would have accurately portrayed the feeling of watching publishers Interplay and Atari fight over Dungeons & Dragons rights. Big Download reports the once great publishers have settled a D&D licensing dispute, with Atari agreeing to purchase all rights that Interplay had to the franchise and canceling a $1 million promissory note.Wonder what we could get the two companies to do for a block of cheese and a bottle of Listerine?
Meet Joe Wreschnig, Champions Online's resident UI coder
Meet the man behind both the in-game user interface and character creation interface for Champions Online. He's into Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy and anime -- which sort of goes hand-in-hand with the first two. He's also into Dungeons and Dragons and happens to play with the rest of Cryptic every Monday. We just thought that was kind of cool to know. Oh and of course he's a coding guy, so be careful or he might just melt your face off with some kind of demonic, alien script.Joe is also one of the many people looking forward to the Nemesis System in Champions Online and mentions that, "Showdown combat looks really cool." Hm, we're curious about how that looks ourselves, actually. Sadly we'll just have to keep waiting it out and watching for any new information as these weekly "Meet The Team" articles continue to flow out of the Cryptic website. You can read the rest of his interview in case hotdog re-enactments give you a cause to be curious.
The Daily Grind: What makes a boss fight memorable?
Over on his blog, 4th Edition D&D developer Mike Mearls has been thinking over the design challenges posed by a solo monster fight. In 4th Edition, solo monsters are creatures designed to be a challenge on their own, without needing a group to back them up. As Mike has observed, the issue with solo monsters is designing the encounter so that it isn't boring: 'It's important that a solo fight take place in an environment that encourages movement and interesting choices. Otherwise, you end up with the party standing around, trading blows with one monster.'We thought this was a game design point that applies every bit as much to MMOs as it does to D&D. In City of Heroes, where the environment makes little difference, fights with Archvillains used to be straightforward affairs; the AV was a big bag of hit points that got hammered. Now, with Archvillains like Romulus and his cadre of supporters, new twists have been added to keep the fight interesting. The boss fights in World of Warcraft are said to be some of the best in gaming, because they aren't simple surround-and-bludgeon affairs.What do you look for in a fight with a Big Bad? What are your best and worst experiences?
Anti-Aliased: Fourth Edition and the Kamehameha Fallacy
I've wanted to do a post on Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition for a while now, but I just couldn't put my finger on what I wanted to talk about with it. The rules are very much made in the vein of World of Warcraft -- you can tell that by just opening up the book, going to the classes and seeing all of the various powers that you can obtain by leveling -- and the whole system feels a bit more MMO-ish than normal. The funny part is, if you're expecting a "D&D Fourth Edition blows" rant, you're not going to get one. Instead, let me entertain your opinions on the way we design our MMOs. This column is dedicated to something I like to call the "Kamehameha Fallacy," otherwise lovingly known as the "Mine's Bigger!!!!!11one" syndrome. This fallacy is the reason you're addicted to MMOs, the reason you hate Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition, and the reason today's MMO leader (World of Warcraft) is doomed to fail all wrapped up into one little ball.
What MMOs can learn from D&D Fourth Edition
Gamasutra is running a great article right now in the wake of the Dungeons and Dragons Fourth release, looking at what videogames can learn from the newest iteration of the tabletop classic. In a way, the possibility of games being informed by 4E is just the latest in the back-and-forth theft that has gone on between pen and paper gaming and the digital form.The article waxes at length about some of the new mechanics in the game, including class powers, skill challenges, and the streamlined way that Wizards of the Coast has defined party roles. One of the most successful elements of Fourth Edition is the new way that encounters can be created -- something that should be kept in mind in every videogame as well, whether MMO or not: "Since most monsters are on-screen only long enough to take a few swings at the players and then die, that's what they should be designed to do. Unless it's the big boss, just give each monster two or three interesting attacks at most. Leave the non-combat design to the individual DM's world. Fourth edition really focuses on designing content to do what it needs to, and nothing else. Develop a clear vision for each piece of content, then cut away everything that doesn't serve that goal."
Know your roots have changed; 4E launches a new world
Even while creative maestro Metzen experiments with making World of Warcraft unique among its fantasy peers, there's not much denying that WoW has some pretty solid roots in, and respect for, Dungeons and Dragons. You can see proof of that in the patch notes from 2.4, which were dedicated to pen-and-paper legend, Gary Gygax. Many of us cruising Azeroth have some experience with good old D&D. WoW has pretty strong, deep roots in D&D, and those roots changed with the newly released 4th edition. What's new in the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons? The class system is radically different, spells work differently, healing works differently, and fights work differently. Okay, it seems everything is pretty much different. But there's one big change that will probably make more than a few folks happy: no more Gnome PCs. Gnomes are now monsters, and not available for play in the core rules. A lot of the speculation about these changes is that D&D might be trying to distance itself a little from the World of Warcraft juggernaut. It's a good thing Blizzard isn't still following its roots. I'm looking forward to my Gnomish Death Knight in Wrath of the Lich King.
The Daily Grind: Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition?
Today's the day, long anticipated by tabletop gamers of the d20 variety; Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition releases today, coming to a Friendly Local Gaming Store near you. If you aren't familiar with the new edition of the game, Eurogamer has a great rundown on the system's ins and outs. For a more hands-on technical approach, you can't beat the official Wizards of the Coast site and their lengthy series of preview articles. You might have also noticed Penny Arcade's recent discussion of 4E. Though it requires a site login to reach, their hands-on playtime with PvP's Scott Kurtz is hilariously listenable.We ask, because we have to imagine some of you MMO fans out there also have occasion to 'roll the bones'. These games are ultimately all built on the foundation that the late, great Gary Gygax built, right? So, how about it: are you jumping to the newest edition?
Roleplaying is a wave of the future
When you look at games like World of Warcraft versus games like Dungeons and Dragons, you can see that in some ways they are just the same, while in others they are vastly different. Thematically, they're both about romping through a fantasy world having adventures, and depending on the kind of activity you enjoy most in your games, the actual content of either one can be very similar. The difference lies in the user interface: WoW takes over your computers screen and presents you with intensive graphics, while D&D relies on paper, dice, and your imagination. While WoW is obviously a child of the early 21st century, all the practical tools used in D&D have existed for thousands of years. One might well wonder: "why didn't Plato (or any other suitably wise old figure out of history) ever think of putting together a dungeon adventure?" A recent Escapist magazine article asks that very question, and then provides us with a bunch of theories about what roleplaying is and why people do it. All these are interesting in themselves, but they leave me wondering "but wait... why didn't Plato ever think of it?" The answer I think the article is trying to give is that roleplaying is actually a form of social innovation that couldn't have existed before, because the culture and ideas to give it form hadn't developed until the '60s.So tonight when you get home and log into WoW, especially if you are logging in to roleplay your character, remember that you are participating in an activity that is on the growing edge of human civilization. Just as, all those hundreds of years ago, it was a great innovation for the Greek playwright Aeschylus to bring two actors onto the stage at once as opposed to letting one actor and a chorus carry the show -- in our own era, the way players get together today to collaboratively create worlds, characters and stories with one another is a new and exciting innovation that never existed before. Roleplaying itself is one of many brilliant and beautiful examples of how society and culture continue to evolve and progress well into the the future... and beyond.
Anti-Aliased: I wear funny hats and I'm proud of it
Since when did role-playing become a dirty word? Apparently even mentioning the initials of the dreaded "RP" is enough to make people want to prove John Gabriel's Greater Internet Dickwad Theory as loudly as possible. Players go out of their way to make others feel uncomfortable and to ruin any sort of fun some people may have. Is it because it's the internet? Or have we forgotten the history of the role-playing game?Because I can't exactly spend a whole column talking about the horrors of the internet (NSFW) I'm going to be focusing on the place of role-playing and how it got interjected into these online games of ours.
