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Neverwinter Days: Can the Foundry succeed?
For many gamers, the name "Neverwinter" goes hand-in-hand with player-created content. BioWare's 2002 Neverwinter Nights and the 2006 sequel allowed players to whip up their own story modules for friends and strangers to enjoy. While many RPGs put us on the receiving end of the developer's storytelling, user-generated content (UGC) in Neverwinter Nights and other similar games allowed the common gamer a chance to try his or her hand at making an adventure from scratch. In my opinion, UGC is the holy grail for MMOs. We all know how developers can never create content faster than the community consumes it, so utilizing the community's creativity, time, and energy to assist in making that content theoretically eliminates a content limit. There's always something to do because people are always, always creating. But UGC is notoriously tricky to handle in a persistent online world, and it comes with many trouble spots that haven't been fully addressed. Considering just how much Neverwinter is relying on its UGC, via the Foundry, to flesh out the game, I have to wonder: Can the Foundry succeed?
The Daily Grind: Is powergaming via PGC tools acceptable?
Any game that implements a player-generated content system runs the risk of creating a system that's more fun -- or more lucrative -- than the original game itself. Players of the now-sunsetted City of Heroes, for example, were forever finding ways to turn experience and currency gain within the player-content tool known as the Mission Architect to their advantage. Imagine designing a mission with mobs that deal nothing but fire damage, then bringing your fire Tanker with her anti-fire shields to blaze through a group's worth of mobs while soaking up the levels and loot. Overpowered? Most definitely. Fun? Frequently, especially when you just wanted to level up your 50th alt to get to the good powers. Exploitable? Some people did consider such activities to be expoits, and to pacify them, the developers brought so many nerfhammers down on the system that by the end, it was seldom used except by the most diehard storygoers. This same battle is now being waged on the forums of Neverwinter, which game will also implement a player-generated content system that allows participants to design and play each other's missions. Cryptic plans to curtail potential powergaming by limiting rewards earned through the tool, but there's always a danger of limiting rewards so much they're not worth the bother. Today, let's discuss what you think about the potential dangers of PGC. Are powergaming and farming acceptable uses of PGC tools like the Foundry? Do you prefer studios crack down hard on people who aren't doing it the "right" way? Or do you have a different solution? 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!
Some Assembly Required: City of Heroes' Mission Architect
The few. The proud. The quest writers. At the best of times, the fruits of their labors guide us along in our progression of a local or global story, immersing us in the world. Even the nefarious "kill 10 rats" versions can be mini stories that pull players in when done well. But how many of us have ever had a "I could do better than that" moment or have simply wanted to live out a personal story or share in a customized grand adventure with our friends? Someone wished upon the right star because with features like the Mission Architect in City of Heroes you can do just that. I am just going to come right out and say it -- the quest builder is one of the greatest boons ever for player-generated content in MMORPGs. Besides housing, it is the feature du jour for the creative crowd; I honestly can't see how any game can actually go without one. During this latest round of Choose My Adventure, I had the opportunity to check out the system in City of Heroes and revel in the creativity of others as well as try my hand at developing missions. And I tell you, it is addicting. Feel like trying your hand at shaping some stories for heroes (and villains) to star in? Stick with me, kid, and you'll be directing your own missions in no time.
Choose My Adventure: The last mile
You haven't steered me wrong. At least, not yet. I am pretty sure there is that nagging worry at the back of the Massively writers' minds when they give themselves over to the masses for Choose My Adventure. Sure, there is an element of mystery and excitement, but what if... just what if the majority manifests an evil streak and sends you careening over an embankment to your virtual doom? Or banishes you to tasks that would make you want to lobotomize yourself with your mouse -- things like run Death From Below repeatedly? Thankfully, you all spared me from such torture. And with this week's tour of the Mission Architect system in City of Heroes, you definitely steered me right -- this is my favorite aspect of the game yet! I am glad to say that my trust in you all has not been unfounded, and I will speak on your behalf to the others. The fact is, I have enjoyed our little road trip immensely and am sad it must come to an end. So let's take one last cruise through City of Heroes together before you drive off into the sunset with Eliot.%Gallery-155409%
Why I Play: City of Heroes
When I first sampled City of Heroes, I was just recovering from a nasty break-up with Star Wars Galaxies and looking for a new roleplaying paradise. What I found after a month was that I had a lot more fun planning my next character using the little booklet that came with the box than I actually did grinding my way up through the levels. That early version of the game... was not good. Fast-forward a few years to the Paragon Studios takeover and the implementation of the Mission Architect. I fell in love all over again. It took several years (and all the improved content those years enabled), but the game eventually became something I wanted to play. And I'm going to tell you why.
Some Assembly Required: A virtual world roundup
If you are perusing this column, chances are you are a fan of virtual worlds and the sandbox genre. Join the club! (Dues will be due on the third Tuesday.) The aspect that compels many aficionados to delve into a game is the ability to make an impact on the world in some small respect instead of making them into Hive Member 1593072 running a static, predetermined gauntlet. How that impact is accomplished, however, varies; there are multiple features that can facilitate it, and which ones are considered most important depends on the player. With the loss of one of the best sandbox games just last month, some players may be feeling a void. Others still are looking/hoping for the "ultimate" sandbox that contains nearly every virtual world feature. Certainly, there are some upcoming games that make some drool-worthy promises, but what about playing something now? There are actually games out on the market that have at least one aspect of the genre, if not more. To start off the new year, Some Assembly Required looks at some of the top features of virtual worlds and lists games that incorporate these features. While this list isn't exhaustive (considering the sheer number of games when you include all of the smaller free-to-play titles, I'd run out of column space!), it is a comprehensive enough overview to point you toward some games worth playing that perhaps you hadn't considered before.
Some Assembly Required: Issue #1
Hello folks and welcome to the preview issue of Some Assembly Required. Massively has a whole host of MMORPG-specific columns for your perusal, as well as a few general jaunts that veer off the beaten path to examine several different aspects of our crazy hobby. Some Assembly Required falls into this latter category, and every two weeks either myself or MJ Guthrie will be taking you on various deep dives into the world of player-generated content. What's player-generated content? Well that's part of what makes this venture so exciting. Player-generated content is often seen as some sort of nebulous activity exclusive to sandbox games. Others take it to mean roleplay. Still others see it as unrestricted PvP and the metagame machinations surrounding it. For our purposes, player-generated content encompasses all of these as well as anything and everything that showcases the creativity of both individual players and entire communities.
Looking back on busy times for City of Heroes with the development staff
There's been so much going on with City of Heroes over the past few months -- we've seen a new spin on older content and the anniversary and the new endgame system engaging the game's players in new content. It's a lot to take in all at once, and it's easier to process when you have the chance to talk it over with some of the development staff. During a special NCsoft event, our own Bree Royce had just such a chance to get some questions answered directly by the development team about Issue 20, the Incarnate system, and the state of the game both at present and going forward. Matt Miller and Nate Birkholz shared reflections on what has worked and what has gone a bit awry in the development, something that should be of interest to every City of Heroes player. Sadly, the discussion does not include any zombie catgirls -- just the parts that worked and the parts that wound up being problems.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Architect overload
If there's one thing that constantly amazes me, it's how many great ideas exist that I would never have come up with on my own. Playing through Mission Architect in City of Heroes just drives that point home -- as a longtime fan of superheroes in general and the game in particular, it's not as if I don't have ideas of my own. And then I have a stack of arcs sitting on my desk (metaphorically) that don't even use any of the same conceptual space but are filled with even better ideas. That's inspiring. After several sources of delay -- including fatigue, patch releases, internet problems, chupacabra, and continuity resets -- I've finally had enough time to dive into some of the arcs that I've had submitted to me and really give them the attention they deserve. What follows are my sometimes-disconnected thoughts on the various arcs, some tips and opinions, and how I'm going to handle the mountain of arcs I still have left to play through. Plus future arcs, since I can't leave well enough alone.
Saturday Livestream: City of Heroes' mission architect [Updated!]
Are you a City of Heroes fan or former fan? Are you curious about the state of the classic superhero MMO, its player-created content, or its combat mechanics? Massively's got just the thing for you, and you won't even need to leave your browser to check it out. On Saturday, November 20th, at 3 p.m. EST (noon PST), Massively will be hosting a livestream of City of Heroes designed to tour a slice of the Architect Entertainment system and test the effects of particle-effects overload on your retinas. Massively's City of Heroes columnist Eliot Lefebvre and I will be joined by Balázs Kiss, better known to fans as @Zaphir, the winner of Dr. Aeon's most recent Architect Challenge. Along with a few plucky guildies who'll round out our group, we'll be playing through @Zaphir's Who Dares Wins arc (#454805), chatting about the arc and the game, and answering your questions. Just super-jump your way over to Massively TV on Saturday to join us for the fun! And if you've got a favorite arc of your own, remember to mail it off to Eliot for possible inclusion in an upcoming article. See you there! [Edit: Thanks for coming out, everyone! The livestream is over, but it's available on Massively TV and just after the cut! Look for more CoH AE goodies in Eliot's column!]
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Steal me
A while back, a reader suggested that I talk about the five things that City of Heroes ought to steal from other games, inspired by a column written by our inimitable Ryan Green for a different game. (I've sadly lost the original mail through various cleanups of my inbox, so if the reader in question might speak up, that would be great.) In the wake of the big upgrades coming with Issue 19, now is a wonderful time to take a closer look at the things that would make fine additions from elsewhere. Of course, part of the reason this took a while (as the reader noted in the mail) was that, truth be told, there are a lot of systems that Paragon Studios was either the first or darn near the first to innovate. How many games even have content-generation at the level of the Mission Architect? But there are still places where City of Heroes could take a lesson or two that (hopefully) wouldn't require rewriting the entire game from the ground up.
Captain's Log: Five features STO should "borrow" from other MMOs
Hi, everybody! (Hi, Dr. Nick!) Thanks for tuning in to another edition of Captain's Log, where we laud and lament the finer points of Star Trek Online each and every Thursday. Last week sure was fun, wasn't it? Nothing gets the comments pumping like defending the work of Cryptic Studios, amirite? This week, I feel like having a little more fun. These are exciting times for MMO-lovers, and I admit my eye -- and my playing time -- have gone a-wanderin' of late. So I got to thinking this week about which features from other MMOs I would most like to see implemented in STO. Keep reading, because I'm going to tell them to you! And then I'm going to demand that you suggest your own features in the comments!
Paragon Studios spills the secrets of success
In a day and age when brand-new MMOs can run into serious trouble within the first few months following launch, it's remarkable to consider that City of Heroes has endured the test of time, studio transitions and competition, and still be running strong in the grand old year of 2010. Recently, the folks at Paragon Studios sat down with Gamasutra to celebrate CoH's six-year milestone, and pontificate on why the title succeeded when others failed. Senior producer Jesse Caceres and art lead David Nakayama shared particular pride in how CoH has grown and adapted over the years. One of the examples they cite is their recent "Ultra Mode" upgrade to the graphics engine, which allows players to pump up the pretty visuals that would've been all but impossible in 2004. Another reason for their success, according to the pair, is that the team worked hard to provide gamers with play choices, such as the ability to roll a villain or to create their own adventures through the Mission Architect system. Caceres has an additional idea regarding the game's longevity: its community. "I don't know if it's just the nature of our game or what, but our community is very mature... I think that kind of back-and-forth and that discourse that we have with our player base is one of the reasons why we have such a dedicated following." You can read the full interview and glean all of Paragon Studios' secrets at Gamasutra.
Preview: City of Heroes: Going Rogue
I got to play the new Going Rogue expansion for City of Heroes at Comic-Con. I haven't played the six-year-old MMO in a while, so I was out of the loop -- since I'd last played it, Paragon Studios has updated the graphics, added a mission editor, and put out a host of other upgrades and features. But Going Rogue's big feature is something players have been asking about for a while: For the first time in the game, heroes and villains will be able to switch sides with an interesting set of morality quests. Paragon Studios senior producer Jesse Caceres and the game's art lead, David Nakayama, told me that the alignment change is a natural evolution from all of the other customization choices they've given to players in the past. "One of our strengths is the character creation system," says Caceres, "and with the Mission Architect, players could custom create and craft their own stories, create their own villain groups. We want to give players more options, so with this expansion, we're giving them the freedom to change their alignments from Hero to Villain" (and vice versa).
City of Heroes returns to the Cathedral in Issue 18
We know that Going Rogue is going live for City of Heroes players in August, and that means a new major patch for the game. We know that the update will be Issue 18, followed by the much-discussed Issue 19 that finishes the Incarnate System and expands the endgame. What we haven't known until now is exactly what Issue 18 will contain other than expansion content -- and while it's unlikely that many of the game's players would be skipping out on the expansion, there's always the chance. The development team has broken that silence, however, revealing some of the additions to the game with the new update, including the long-awaited return of the Cathedral of Pain. Yes, Issue 18 will see the return of the Cathedral of Pain trial after a nearly four-year hiatus. Players can expect the trial to have been heavily rewritten while maintaining the same basic framework, the location itself being one of the core sanctums for Rularuu the Ravager. Beyond that is the addition of the Tips system, additions to Mission Architect, and the ability to trade inspirations between heroes and villains. Take a look at the official site for more previews of the next free update to City of Heroes, and take a look at the gallery for some more shots of Praetoria and the revamped Cathedral. %Gallery-97111%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Questions versus answers, no holds barred!
We interrupt your regularly-scheduled guide to playing a spider for a number of questions and answers, and possibly several comic book sound effects! (Okay, it's not exactly "interrupting" anything when I said that it would be here this week, but humor me.) As usual, the community has taken the opportunity to ask me a number of City of Heroes questions, and I have used my magical time-looker-forward tube to find the vast majority of the answers. So with that having been said, let's get into the down and dirty, shall we? Superfan asked: "Massively suspects the game has only 40,000 active subscibers right now?" No, the quick math done by one Massively writer suggested it as a possible figure, based on some generous margins and assuming everyone's subscription is on a one-month-recurring basis as opposed to the plethora of other subscription pricing plans available. The goal was to create a vague idea of how many subscribers on an active basis the game might have at the moment, since we no longer get actual subscription numbers for the game.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: We're all in this together
Community can be a funny thing. We pick the community we're in -- in this case, City of Heroes -- but we don't pick any of the other members. Sometimes they're all really stand-out folks, and sometimes... well, sometimes your choices are between Flower Power, Slug-fest, and Hammer Time. Lucky for us, the community that's formed itself around our favorite superhero MMO is pretty darn good at its worst and outright awesome most of the time. (And a proper shout-out to our community for the game right here, while I'm at it.) To be fair, we're a bit on the lean side at the moment. After all, we're not getting another update for a couple of months and we almost all know it. Issue 17 is pretty awesome, but we also know that Going Rogue is just around the corner, and so most of us are focused a bit more on the future. But we've still got a lot to talk about in our day-to-day adventures. That both helps everyone to feel that much more welcome, and it helps facilitate this week's look at some of the noteworthy community threads that have been cropping up lately.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Everybody needs a question answered sometime
If you haven't read Jason Vuic's excellent history of the Yugo, you're doing yourself a disservice -- at least, if you have any interest in terrible cars, history, or just the crazy stylings of Malcolm Bricklin. What does that have to do with today's bevvy of City of Heroes questions, hot on the heels of our anniversary? Well, not everyone can afford the Batmobile. There are places where the Paragon Monorail (aka Justice Mass Transit) won't take you. And on those occasions, well, you truly wish that you'd just dropped the ten dollars on the Martial Arts booster or taken the darn travel power. Onward! Dashel asked: "When will Blasters get more secondaries, original or proliferated?" Soon! Maybe. I've heard tell that we may well be due for another wave of powerset proliferation with the release of Going Rogue, although that's far from a confirmed fact. So Blasters can expect to get some more love there. But we don't have any idea of exactly when we'll see more secondaries as opposed to more primary sets. The trouble is that as Blasters have been designed, they have the undesirable trait that Masterminds share: they've got a setup for one of their sets that nobody else shares.
Issue 17 of City of Heroes goes live with launch trailer
Today is a big day for City of Heroes. Not only is it the six-year anniversary of the game, with celebrations taking place both in-game and out, it's also the launch of the much-awaited Issue 17. Dubbed "Dark Mirror," the update features the graphical tweaks collectively known as Ultra Mode, as well as new story arcs and missions, improvements to Mission Architect, and a whole host of additional changes. It's also the release of the awaited Demon Summoning powerset, which is available to everyone who has prepurchased the upcoming Going Rogue expansion. Behind the cut is the official trailer for the update, which should help whet the appetite of any fans anxiously awaiting the update to complete downloading. Aside from highlighting the visuals of Ultra Mode in real-time, it shows off some of the mission content, including the full-scale war against the Freakshow pictured above. There's also the doppelgangers and the Positron task force to show off -- and only a couple more months until the game's second major expansion. Click on past the cut to see the trailer, and enjoy the new changes that help keep City of Heroes fresh six years out.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Six (years) in the city
It's strange to think that City of Heroes is older than my car. But that's only the tip of the iceberg, as the game is six years old as of today and still running strong. Oh, sure, there are some signs of aging here and there, some parts that don't fit quite as well as they did back when it launched... but the game holds up pretty darn well. And that's astonishing, considering that it launched a full year before the game that generally gets the credit for starting new paradigms of MMO design. Of course, you can go further back and point out that a lot of the "innovations" that The Game Which Shall Not Be Named included were present beforehand, and you'd be correct. But after the EverQuest era of game design, City of Heroes stood as a vanguard of a new design philosophy. It was a game with unparalleled customization at the time, a game that put forth the idea that you could be just as cool at Level 1 as you could at max level. So how have things changed? How far have we come in the years? There's almost too much to cover to go over everything... but we can hit the big points.
