Saturday, February 24, 2007

Original Art

Here is a plug for Blackmane, I love her art. There isn't a lot I miss about WoW, in fact there isn't much at all but I do miss the Pilgrims and some of the incredible artists like Blackmane and Baji.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Fond and Not-so-fond memories

There are many games I keep checking out and thinking about again. When I get addicted to some I don't think I ever get cured, I just get tired of it or sometimes I hate something about it so much I just have to leave for my own health.

Anarchy Online is certainly one of those, the first MMORPG I played. It is how I developed my alter ego because I had to look for a name that wasn't taken when I started playing. So I picked the name Sallust for the first time thinking of my favorite Roman author. I stumbled upon a unique name that has become a staple moniker for all games I play online. This is also where I formed the guild The Pilgrims as a roleplaying guild, and many of the members have played together in various games though I don't believe there is any active group left still bearing that name. I started playing because of the unique story and the online roleplaying primarily, and kept coming back because of the excellent community I became a part of in the game.



Eventually I had nothing I felt was worth the work that continuing playing had become and a serious harassment complaint was not taken seriously by the company. So I left for greener pastures along with a few of the guild I had been a part of.

I've poked my head back in a few times briefly and I'm tempted to do so again. The player (Shadowgod) I handed the guild leadership off to has become a leader of the "class" community we played. Plus it is interesting to stop and talk to the people who still haven't moved on after all these years. I know that the game story has been completely stagnant and that essentially nothing has changed for the MP class I played. But like visiting your old childhood home I'm tempted to go back and see what has and hasn't changed.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Public comments enabled



Now play nice or the Warmachine and I will have to Frag you!

Religion in Games

Most people in the world live in or among a religious society. I dare say most societies have too much religion rather than the few which have very little of it. But in popular culture like games you'll find it rarely at all.

In cases like the Left Behind games or some evolutionary simulations it would be much better if we didn't at all as those games are more cult indoctrination than entertainment it seems. Most fantasy games have some made up paganistic polytheism you must partake it and all the others are generally devoid of anything religious except to mock it.

In MMORPGs this bugs me more than ever because it would seem even easier to just let people be. Its like developers think people don't want to still adhere to their religion or religious values while playing a game. I believe that games which have any place for religion in them should have that great western value of "Freedom of Religion" in them. Developers shouldn't shy away from letting people be themselves and have fun, they should encourage it.

Like most of the world I'm a monothiest, a believer in one supreme Creator and Diety. You would think that with as much market share as Christians, Muslims, and Jews represent that we'd be taken a little more seriously and catered to slightly like in most of the money grubbing world. Commercial businesses love religion for all the holiday sales and any other gimic they can use to get money out of people.

So maybe the next fantasy game developer can make some monotheistic religions to pretend to adhere to. Maybe they can even add a generic Synagogue, Mosque, Church, Buddhist Shrine, Hindu Temple, etc for people to hang out in... or ignore. Even at worst if there is religious violence it is better to get it out in a virtual world than a real one.

But unfortunately most Game Designers and even worse most game company Execs are afraid of the uphill struggle it might be at first to make something with so much potential appeal to this overly religious world we live in. I believe the ideals of the U.S. constitution such as Freedom of Speech and the free exercise of Religion don't just make for better society but they generally make for better profits as well.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

What I'm playing - February

This month I've been playing Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike Source, Dawn of War, Shadowrun 3rd edition, Dreamblade, and a very little bit of Galactic Civilizations 2.

I've been busy working so I've not actually played all that much. Well, okay one of my two jobs actually involves playing one of the above mentioned games.

I've actually been buying Shadowurn 3rd edition sourcebooks I don't have before they're all out of print. Watching how much some of them ebay for is kind of amusing. So why did they go to a 4th edition again?

Friday, February 16, 2007

Lord of the Rings Online!!!

My Non-Disclosure agreement is lifted and I can admit to being a beta tester of this fabolous MMO from the first day of beta. That said I quit well before NDA was lifted, probably about the end of December.

I didn't quit because the game sucked. It was one of the best betas among many that I've ever been a part of. The game itself is excellent and the graphics and sound is spectacular. As a Tolkien lover I found the game was really well set with a lot of attention paid to detail and getting it right. Tolkien snobs will be just fine and I predict this game will draw in a horde of people who've never tried a MMO before.

That said I did quit and won't play the game at release. The problem for me is that I'm an old MMO player and I'm looking for something new in terms of mechanics and gameplay. While Monster play and the LotrO classes are unique, it just isn't nearly enough for me.

If you just want to play in middle-earth or play another EQ/WoW style game done right then play this game.

If you're looking for something different in terms of gameplay or the next "generation" of MMO then look somewhere else. Another than a nice twist on classes and PvP this game doesn't have anything remotely new to offer.

I expect this game will be Turbine's biggest success in the MMO market by far, their previous games don't light a candle to LotrO. I expect this game will be more successful than EQ2 and has the potential to rival WoW in time if after game development is good (it won't rival it at launch). I personally simply have no interest in playing that type of game and I AM looking for the next new MMO that wants to do things differently and not follow in the EQ mold.