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The Daily Grind: What is player skill, anyway?
Today it's time to tackle the somewhat touchy subject of player skill in MMORPGs. With Guild Wars 2 touting its active dodging system and TERA just on the horizon with its action-based combat, many games seem to be attempting to force individual player skill to weigh more heavily in overall gameplay. Guild Wars 2's PvP takes it a step further, putting all players on an even playing field with equal gear and equal stats, leaving the only undecided factor to be the skill of each individual player. But what is player skill? Some people argue that twitch-based gameplay (such as GW2's dodging or TERA's movement and aiming system) isn't skill but rather is a matter of reflexes. Some argue that regardless of gear or character stats, a truly skilled player will always come out on top. Some argue that skill is a matter of knowledge -- knowing your class and the class of your opponent. So today we ask you, what is player skill? Is it the ability to aim a shot in such a way that you lead a player across the map and nail him in the head? Is it knowing to save your cooldowns for when a particular class lands a nasty CC ability on you? Does gear play a part, or does it simply impede a truly balanced experience? Perhaps it's some combination of the above. What does player skill mean to you? 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!
Novation Twitch touchstrip DJ controller makes the scene at Musik Messe 2011 (video)
We're not professional musicians by a long shot, but when we do get a chance to break away from the relentless torrent of cellphones and tablets, nothing quite hits the spot like a little music appreciation. Of course, when done Engadget-style this usually means a gadget of some sort -- and we'd be lying if we didn't say that Novation's newest didn't whet our appetites for some after-hours beatmatching. Twitch is essentially a full-figured DJ controller, but instead of some sort of round jog wheel (which the current reviewer has always found to be extremely counter-intuitive) the company added a touch strip, which can be used for everything from finding the beat to zooming in and out of the waveform display (after watching the video, it's hard to believe we've been beatmatching without pinch-to-zoom for this long). This bad boy also boasts a full compliment of controls for Serato, Traktor NI, and Ableton Live. You're probably interested in seeing how it performs in the real world, but unless you're in Frankfurt for Musik Messe, you're going to have to settle for the video after the break. Look for it in July for a street price in the $500 range.
Daito Manabe's sensor-based drum machine might actually melt your face off
Believe it or not, this isn't the first time that Daito Manabe has used some electrical stimulation in a face-twisting musical experiment, but he's taken things one big step further with his latest project. As before, this rig creates wild facial twitches controlled by music (not the other way around), but it also includes a second set of sensors that allows another person to tap on a virtual drum kit and send the (hopefully) willing subject's face into a fit of synchronization. All of which is, of course, better seen than explained -- check it out in action after the break. [Thanks, James]
The Daily Grind: Twitch reflexes or slow strategy?
The earliest games were all about reflexes. Look back at any classic game you care to name -- in the days of the arcades, skill was determined first, foremost, and only by how well you could react to changes in a split second. Combat in an MMO, by and large, is a very different creature. Due to issues of network latency and changes in design overall, most MMOs feature a slower pace and a greater emphasis on carefully planning out attacks. Certain games have entire classes devoted to a strategic building approach, such as the Warden of Lord of the Rings Online. But reflexes haven't vanished from games by any stretch of the imagination. There are fights with very little chance for players to react, fights where the difference between the dead and the living is how fast one gets off a heal. Upcoming games such as TERA and All Points Bulletin promise to bring a more action-oriented approach to MMO combat, but is that something you want? While no game swings entirely to one side or the other, would you rather have combat leaning more on your reflexes or your ability to plan?
Wacky Yurex odometer grabbing thighs on April 24th
Without question, Maywa Denki's Yurex is the oddest, most bizarre odometer that we've ever had the pleasure of seeing. The USB-enabled garter actually straps to one's leg in order to gather pertinent statistics, and while we highly doubt that serious athletes will even give this a shot, we're darn sure 3,000 nerds will snap up the limited supply when they become available on April 24th. There's still no word on price, but go ahead and start saving just in case it's far, far more than you had previously imagined.
Yurex: the stat-tracking, song-generating odometer for those with twitchy legs
If you're the sort who unconsciously twitches your leg when lost in thought, only to snap out of it abruptly when you realize the table in the conference room is shaking and everyone's scowling your way, you might be interested in this upcoming product from Maywa Denki, the crazy folks who love inventing "nonsense machines." It's called Yurex, a USB-enabled garter that straps to your leg and counts the number of times you twitch during the day, displaying your running tally on a 10-digit LCD. When you get home you can sync the device up to a PC, which will calculate your own personal rhythm and, get this, create a little song based on your "creative beat pattern." The idea is you can listen to this song, twitch your leg in concert, and boost your brain power to new heights! You'll even be able to chart your restlessness against others online once the things go on-sale in January but, with only 3,000 of them set to be made, you'd better get that order-clicking finger moving too.[Via medGadget]
Mixing skill into a multiplayer game
Clockwork Gamer posted an interesting look at skill in MMOs the other day. He categorizes skill in online games into three areas: character gear and advancement, game knowledge, and player skill.Character gear and advancement can be done by anyone-- the longer you've played a game, it's almost guaranteed that the better your character will be. Game knowledge is usually something cultivated both outside the game, and by social interaction inside the game. It's only by reading sites like this one and talking to your friends that you can learn strategies to defeat enemies (or other player classes). And player skill is the hardest form of skill to get a grasp on. It's that weird measure of how good you are at aiming the mouse and hitting the right buttons when necessary.Usually, when people say "playing skill," they're talking about games that require twitch and computer knowledge to conquer: first person shooters, real-time strategy games, and so on. MMOs don't usually fit into that because in most cases, the other two forms of skill can match up or even outweigh actual "skill"-- a level 1 character will never topple an endgame character, no matter how great his aim is. But there's a lot more research to do here-- it seems like there is definitely a sweet spot for player skill to be found in MMOs. While some have tried (and are trying) to find it, we haven't quite hit it yet.
