persistence
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Gamerzines blog series on crafting the perfect MMO
Gamerzines doesn't want to sound arrogant, but they're pretty sure they can design the perfect WoW-killer and because they're such nice folks, they're going to spill the beans in a series of blog posts. There are five parts so far that include their must-have elements for the next best MMO since [insert your favorite MMO title here]. Part 1 - User generated content that passes through a quality filter Part 2 - Persistent world and good story Part 3 - Crafting and economy 2.0 (see EVE Online's industry) Part 4 - Old school RPG customization system (stats, appearance, gear, etc.) Part 5 - Real world simulation This is obviously a pretty bold series if it aims to change the MMO landscape, but the ideas do seem interesting even though none of them are exactly novel so far. That said, they are starting to fit together nicely as newer parts of the series come out.For instance, allowing players to have a visible and lasting impact on the game and then mixing it with the concept of a more real world simulation could produce interesting outcomes; e.g., too much hunting of one particular species could throw the ecosystem and biodiversity of the surrounding area out of balance.[Via: Warcry]
Tabletop veterans to lead the MMO persistence revolution
What do you get when you combine $20 million in venture capital, two giants in the tabletop gaming industry and a World of Warcraft veteran-founded MMO development company? A pretty good chance at a successful MMO, that's what. However, in addition to that you need an innovative idea, and you need a successful execution of that idea. Red 5 Studios' Ed Stark and Dave Williams might just have that idea with their recent yet-to-be-named MMO project. They recognize that the two major ingredients in any MMO are community and persistence, so they're banking on improving those concepts. "Right now for most of these games, when the player saves the princess and he starts walking away from the tower – if he looks back he's going to see the princess at the top of the tower again," says Dave Williams. Their ideas revolve around expanding upon the sandbox concept and allowing players to affect and change the world around them, not just play in it. We'll certainly be keeping our eyes on Red 5 Studios for more on this exciting project.
The Agency under the scope, RMT not a part
Genres are a sticky thing when it comes to gaming. On the one hand, they help us categorize and succinctly describe a hitherto unknown game. Simply referring to a game as an MMO, for instance, instantly conjures up a number of elements like a persistent world, large sharded player base, and character progression. While that sort of pigeon-holing is effective for most games out there, occasionally a game comes along that really defies our best efforts at categorization. In this blogger's mind, The Agency is a perfect example of that.In a recent preview of the game, we're treated to details of the ways in which The Agency is both more than and less than a traditional MMO. A lot of the usual elements like persistence and character progression are there, but they're twisted in interesting new ways. None of this is especially new information per say (we spoke with the lead designer ourselves not long ago), but it's another new perspective on the game, and we can't help but gobble it up. Also out of the Eurogamer camp is a reiteration of the point made last month at ION that The Agency will not be using an RMT system for weapons, operatives, or anything else that would give one player an edge on another, which we're happy to see as well.
Anti-Aliased: It will all be fine in ten minutes
Back in the day when a 500 Mhz processor was fast, we were lulled into these weird online universes with multitudes of golden tongued promises. "Play online with thousands of others!", "Make a hero and save detailed and vast worlds!", and, my favorite, "Live in an persistent universe where your actions will have long lasting effects!"Certainly, two of those promises have come true. Our worlds are traveled by thousands upon thousands of users daily, and the characters we have created are truly the stuff of legends who have saved these vast worlds countless times. But the one thing that has still eluded us all this time... persistence.The funny thing is, it's not because we can't program or realize persistence in our games. We have the technology and expertise to do that just fine. We don't have persistence because persistence isn't profitable.
HTML5 Client Side Database Storage + iPhone = ???
Will the next iPhone firmware release support client-side database storage? That's what TUAW reader Jorge believes. Way back in October, we saw the HTML5 standard promising client-side persistence for Webkit-based browsers. Jorge apparently ran a client-side SQL check on the new Simulator-based Safari and found that it ran properly. Of course, simulator tests do not mean actual 1.2/2.0 implementation and we have no way of verifying whether this functionality extends to the actual iPhone firmware.
Online shooters have discovered MMOs' secret formula
A recent article asked the question, "Are online shooters turning into MMOs?" That's a good question. Lets go over the basics and see if they fit into the mold. Ever since Call of Duty 4 came out, it's become an addictive online experience for many people. Is it because of the tight controls, excellent visual/audio design and enormous variety of online modes? Perhaps, but we're fairly certain that many players are finding themselves addicted to what we here at Massively refer to as, "The Desire to Ding"
