Archive for January, 2011
An Economic Backyard Brawl
0The latest installment of EVE’s expansion, Incursion, is officially here. I say installment because CCP has decided to roll out updates over time for Incursion instead of following the traditional path of dumping the full expansion on our doorstep in the middle of the night. So far this has turned out to be a nice adjustment. Every week or two since late December we have seen something new or a fix to a bug that was rolled out earlier.
If you’re not familiar with the Incursion Expansion I’ll give you the quick version: Sansha’s Nation has amassed a military force and is attacking players in high security and low security space alike. There are rewards to be had for taking on these PvE baddies, including ISK and blueprints for Sansha’s ships. CCP has also decided to release the first piece of the forthcoming Incarna expansion, due this summer, by giving us a sneak peak at how our avatars will look. The new Character Creator is a truly impressive component of EVE and is a hopeful preview of what’s to come.
Incursions as they exist today are somewhat flawed, though. You’ll need a smart fleet of players and good team work to swing the pendulum in your direction so that you can progress through each level of Sansha’s forces. Environmental affects, such as lowered resistances on your ships, will have a big impact on your ability to fight the Sansha and you’ll need to work through the lower encounters before you tackle the larger ones. This is an intended part of the design and CCP has done a fantastic job of implementing AI that behaves like people, at least within the confines of EVE’s mechanics. This comes mostly from having observed how Player vs Player battles have evolved over the last few years. Unfortunately, most players in High Security space have not be as focused on combat as CCP has. This has resulted in an incredible number of player’s ships being lost within seconds of attacking the enemy.
The saving grace in all of this is that players can avoid these encounters by moving a few solar systems away from where these random attacks are happening. So miners can keep doing their thing with a little bit of extra time and effort. This fact aside, there is a growing undercurrent of displeasure in regard to Incursions. A lot of players are willing to take part in them, but they are finding that it is simply too difficult to field a fleet of random players and have any success.
To add to this CCP recently acknowledged a problem with the economy of EVE. An increasing number of players are opting out of PvP. This is a significant problem for a game that behaves on the rules of supply and demand. If the number of ships being destroyed is declining than the demand for new ships and modules will decline with it. The resultant overstock drives down the price of products sold on the market and this creates a stagnation for players and their investment of personal time. If you’ve noticed a link between this economic problem and the introduction of highly destructive PvE encounters than you’re not alone.
EVE is unique for an MMO in that CCP needs to consider a completely different set of forces when designing new features. While other MMO’s can implement a new feature as a separate component with distinct balancing, CCP must watch its ecosystem and respond accordingly. This kind of infrastructure means that CCP’s resident Economist can have as much pull in determining the new direction of EVE as the game design team does.
UO–Learning The Ropes
0If I remember correctly, the original launch of Ultima Online did nothing for you. You created the character, picked a starting city, and you were dropped into the world with nothing more then the clothes you were wearing. We didn’t know any better; this was The Future Of Gaming we were experiencing here. We considered ourselves lucky that we weren’t naked as we set out to make our place in Sosaria.
Time and tide waits for no noob, however, and neither does UO. Now the game sports a tutorial island, complete with quests and safeguards to keep young players from dying. That’s actually a good thing, because without those safeguards, players would be dying. A lot.
The game begins by introducing you to the lovely Gwen. She’s some kind of mystic, which we know because she’s holding some kind of – flaming ball, which is something that mystics do, I’m told. She also is an official UO guide, and her advice leads you through the standard MMO tutorial fare: how to move, how to use your UI, how to kill stuff, how to loot it, and, of course, what to do when you die. But the lovely Gwen has many appointments to keep, and once you’re in the walls of New Haven, she hurries off to refuel her glowing ball or whatever mystics do when they’re not babysitting new players.
Quests in UO aren’t advertised by the usual “!”. The residents of New Haven are more vocal, shouting at you by posting their words above their heads. “How would you like to make some cash?” is the general gist of their come-ons, which makes UO look like it’s infested with gold-sellers. No, these are corporate sanctioned quest givers. This particular variety usually wants you to escort them to a particular place, so it’s fairly easy money. Another variety comes in the form of archetype trainers.
Archetype trainers are a bit different, because they don’t advertise. You get the first name from Gwen. Once you locate that contact, they’ll tell you who else to see. That’s when you realize how UO differs from other MMOs. There’s no markers that point you in the right direction. You DO have dots on your mini-map that show names when you hover over them, but UO will challenge your navigation skills in this age of quest helpers and GPS technology. You need to find each of these other trainers and chat them up. Most of them will give you quests to raise your skills to 50.0, and they’ll give you a prize. The good thing is that you need to do this anyway, and the better thing is that because of UO’s skill system, you can talk to almost any trainer to get a 50.0 quest.
With your arrival on the island, you are granted “young” status. This has multiple benefits, including a general non-aggro state. You’re free to wander the island pretty much unmolested until you decide to open fire on one of the fauna or undead that inhabit the island. Some creatures will aggro you, like the ettin that chased me away from the southern mountain range, or the infamous mongbats which inhabit the northern landscape. You can renounce your young status at any time if you get sick of being able to travel around without incident, but I left it on to facilitate exploration. If you’re really tired of the citizens of New Haven, you can take the moongate located to the west of the town in order to get to civilization proper.
For a 12 year old game, though, and a tutorial zone to boot, New Haven was pretty hoppin’. There were constantly people around, and chat was pretty active. At one point I had to hit the forums for some answers (At good old Stratics, which was the “go to” network back when UO was new, and is still in operation to this day), and there were several posts from returning players looking to hook up with other vets.
UO is pretty new-player friendly now, having added this tutorial zone and hiring Gwen to be a tour guide. It’s also sad to see this veteran world bowing to pressure from the upstarts, in a way. I can see how dropping a player into a world with no guidance might be a one way ticket to cancellation-ville, but having a hand-holding session takes away some of the wilderness feel that was part of UO’s charm as I remember it. With no guidance, there was no expectation, and with no expectation, players did what they felt they wanted to do. We’ll see if players are still blazing trails once I get out of New Haven.
Moving
2As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, I’ve decided to re-route Levelcapped.com.
I got the hosting bill this morning, and was shocked — SHOCKED — at the renewal price. They wanted a year’s commitment up front, which is more than I was willing to pay in one lump sum. I’m sure it was cheaper than paying in 1 or 3 month bursts, but there’s a real psychological factor at work, seeing that much cash go out the door. Plus I had to weigh the benefits and costs of hosting my own site: I could customize it to my liking, but I also had to deal with upgrades and such. So in the end, I decided that the benefits weren’t worth the cost, and have initiated the Transfer Protocol.
If you’ve never dealt with actually owning a domain name, consider yourself blessed. It’s gone from a fairly straightforward process of register and renewal to a byzantine affair involving secret handshakes and mind-numbing processes worthy of the greatest secret societies humanity has ever fostered. I had to unlock and un-hide the domain name, then obtain a secret code. The code was passed to the new registrar via duffel bag deposited at a pre-arranged drop point, which was then picked up by the new registrar’s currier and secreted away in some vault buried under a mountain, where it will be housed and re-released sometime in the next 14 days. Meanwhile, I’m driving this ghetto domain around; same engine, but different rims and bourgeois paint-job. Free hosting doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles, but the price is right.
The “official” Levelcapped.com domain will be back soon, so if you manage to see this, know that the levelcapped.wordpress.com domain won’t be the end all, be all, and once the official URL is back, I’ll update the RSS and all that for those of you who are kind enough to subscribe to my humble and long-winded musings.
Thanks for the support.
Image Problems
1By now, you may be aware of EA’s “Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2” ad campaign, which features several middle-aged women (the “moms”) who are filmed reacting to what we are lead to believe is some select footage of the upcoming shooter sequel. The spot then shows several comments from the “moms”, and ends with the tagline "It’s revolting. It’s violent. It’s everything you love in a game. Your mom’s going to hate it."
We may wonder why gaming has such a negative reputation in non-gamer circles. Wonder no more.
Gaming has come a long way from when it was the domain of young, awkward, white boys “living in their parent’s basement”. That gem is still trotted out on many occasions despite the fact that video gaming has become more or less mainstream. The elderly play video games. Football players and cheerleaders play video games. Moms play video games. But like music and movies, video games have different levels of engagement; there’s something for everyone and conversely, there’s content there that just isn’t for everyone. EA isn’t content to just let it sit at “to each their own”. Instead, they’re antagonizing those for whom Dead Space 2 does not appeal, and in the process, they’re taking us all down a slippery slope.
It’s hard, even today, to get a staunch non-gamer to look beyond the stereotype that games are nothing but violent gore-fests that are teaching kids to kill. We could bring out all the PowerPoint presentations we wanted to show them that the majority of the market is between 18 and 40ish, and that women make up an enormous portion of the gaming demographic. They’ll still just think that we’re making up numbers to support our argument because anyone who enjoys shooting people can’t possibly be sane enough to mount an “adult” argument.
EA is giving these people – pardon the term – ammunition against us. OK, to be honest, I doubt that this ad is going to bring Tipper Gore out of retirement, but exactly who’s side is EA on here? Yeah, I’m doing their dirty work for them, right now, by talking about this ad…I get it, but someone, somewhere in the bowels of EA, believes that this Mature rated game is both targeted and designed to appeal to a demographic over whom mom’s say is still absolute to a defining degree. On one hand, EA is violating the ESRB by suggesting that teens should buy this as a big “fuck you” to their thin-skinned moms, while on the other hand are telling those moms that video games are disgusting, overly violent and that they are a poison arrow pointed directly at America’s youth.
Personally, I don’t think the industry is doing enough to meet any opposition half way. We live in an age when “compromise” is only expected to be reached on one party’s terms, so I’m not surprised by the lack of bridge-building in practice. EA would most likely shrug and say that it was all in good fun, a way of making light of more prudish misconceptions of the gaming industry, but then that would mean that they chose to run with juvenile prank of an ad. I really don’t see how that position is any better then EA’s choice in proving to these “moms” that their fear of video games is well founded.
UO – Creating Your Character
1It’s been a very long time since I’ve created a new character in Ultima Online. I wish the habit of taking screen shots went back as far as the late 90′s, but we were lucky enough to be able to connect to the outside world at that time, nevermind have an arsenal of screen-cap applications available to us. But for those who remember the original UO, keep it in mind while we take a tour through the current character creation system.
After logging in, you can choose the server to play on. I was impressed by the number of servers (‘shards’, a term which I believe UO is responsible for). Many modern AAA MMOs have fewer servers in operation, although the populations on most of them were “Low”. If you opt to have the game help you choose, you can select your closest location using a world map. Convienient! I went with Atlantic, because…it’s where I am.
Character Creation
As with most games, the first hurdle is to select your race. UO makes it easy: you have human, and elf. If you have the Stygian Abyss expansion, you can select gargoyles. The humans and elves are really just re-skinned versions of one another, so you don’t get a lot of differentiation.
Next up, you can select a profession if you want. Professions in UO are templates; they start you off with skills that fit into a rough class. If you want more control, you can select Customize and set your own values and skills. For new players, playing off a template is the best option, but veterans can give themselves a stronger push in the desired direction though customization.
The Appearance tab is fairly limited: face, hair and hair color. Some of the faces are pretty comical, and combined with some pretty silly hair makes for some rather laughable combos.
Once you’ve customized your avatar, you can review his stats and give him a name, and head out in to the world.
Aging Ungracefully
UO‘s character creation facilities are really lacking compared to the direction that most MMOs are going in: tons of sliders and a lot of customization options. Considering that the only time you actually see your avatar as its built is in the paper doll view — which often times ends up covered in armor anyway — this may be a throw-away feature.
The real gem is the introduction to the skill system. Out of the box, a new player might be overwhelmed with the options, but the skill system is really one of the best parts of UO. Advancement isn’t handled through levels, but through use: to become better with your sword, you use your sword, and you’ll progress naturally. If you some day decide that you no longer want to swing a sword and want to wield a wand, you simply stop using the sword and start using the wand.
This system has several benefits (or setbacks, depending on your point of view). First, the concept of the class and it’s hard and fast role is thrown out the window. It’s totally viable for a player to create a battle mage, or even a chef who’s also trained in bushido. The downside is that you need to find other players who cover necessary bases: healers, damage dealers, and so on. The second benefit is that there are no levels. Level based systems are frequently a point of contention in some circles, but have been around for almost 30 years now, and very few games make an effort to try something new. Considering that UO has been level-less for the past 12 years, it’s entirely possible to do a skill-based system that works.
UO’s skill system has been one of my all time favorites for its flexibility and the sheer number of skills available. Because it’s such a wide open sandbox, the game features skills like “glass blowing” and “forensics”. Each skill has a use, so no skill is dead weight. Some may be more important than others based on what you want to accomplish, but all skills are useful in some capacity. It would be nice to see some of the other sandbox titles take a cue from this concept. The skills also give a clue as to what is possible within UO. Some are more mundane than others, but offer a huge opportunity for players to customize their abilities beyond the usual hack, slash and heal of modern MMOs.
A (Possibly) Triumphant Return To Britannia
0I frequently use Ultima Online as a poster child for many of the systems that I think should be examined by modern MMO fans when they complain about classes, levels and a lack of “things to do”. While not the first MMO, I regard it as the Granddaddy of the Modern MMO, despite it’s isometric camera. It was a sandboxed, open world, skill based, community driven game which featured housing, boats, mounts and more skills then one player could possibly master on one character.
Still in operation after 12 years, UO is truly the elder game in the MMO genre, but over time it’s had to adapt. it’s gained a tutorial zone and quests, among other things. These and other aspects have brought UO a little bit closer to what more recent additions to the MMO community would recognize as an “MMO”. Because of it’s dated graphics and weird camera choice, few gamers who cut their teeth in Azeroth would even consider taking a side-trip to Britannia.
Since I frequently use UO as an example, I thought it might be fun to revisit the first MMO I ever played (and beta tested, on dial-up, no less) and see how it’s fairs in today’s day and age. Also, I’d like to talk about the systems that UO uses that I remember enjoying 12 years ago. For people who have never played UO, it should be an easy way to stick one’s head in the window without committing to a full blown visit, and for those who have fond memories of the game, a way to either wax nostalgic, or complain bitterly about how much the game has changed in attempts to corral some modern MMO players.
Stay tuned!
Get Yer Lernin’ On! 3DBuzz.com
0I usually don’t want to advertise stuff; this blog is more about my views and opinions on topics du jour, but I feel that this particular case warrants an exception because it’s relevant to gaming, and educational! It’s not about MMOs or anything; it’s about learning design and development. Please, bear with me in my off-topic postings, and enjoy…
About maybe a year ago, I wanted to get into game development with XNA. I bought some books, but really wanted to get some kind of real-time lessons with practical application. A lot of book examples are very focused on something very specific, and even if the book maintains single project throughout, the editing can inadvertently do away with that natural instructor-led feeling that you get from videos.
I somehow stumbled across 3DBuzz.com. This site offers custom video training on a whole raft of subjects, from XNA to Maya to 3DSM to iPhone development. They have both free and paid content, and the paid content is either physical DVDs you can order, or for $35USD per month, you can get the all-you-can-eat streaming pass which also gives you certain other perks.
I ponied up the $35USD, aiming for the videos on XNA, and was incredibly satisfied with the series. These aren’t your normal YouTube quality videos. They are done with high quality gear by highly experienced instructors who have been using the software that they’re teaching. More importantly, each video in the series is very involved; the instructors start at the start. They rarely assume that you’re a design or development god, and they take time to explain why they are doing things the way that they are, which is absolutely important when learning, as opposed to just mimicking and modifying what you learn from books. They also take time to explain game design concepts. This is a primary failure of a lot of instructional materials that I’ve found. There’s a lot of how to be found out there, but almost no why.
I wanted to bring this up now because they’ve been dumping an absolutely mind-numbing number of Unity Fundamental videos – around 124 at the current count – all for free [Link 1 ] [Link 2]. You can download em, or stream them for free from the site (requires registration, but that’s free too). If you want to learn Unity, you absolutely owe it to yourself to go here and see what they have to offer. My only gripe is that I don’t have enough time to actually watch these videos.
I will say that the $35USD per month is pretty steep. If you’re looking for a single course, then paying for the DVDs might be a more economical option, since you’ll have them forever, and will surpass their cost in only 3 months time with their subscription. However, if you want to be able to partake in anything the site has to offer, $35 is a pittance to get access to design and development resources of this caliber. Also, in the case of the Unity lessons, 3DBuzz is holding a special live class where they are going to build an MMO. You need to be a subscribing member to get in on this, so membership does have benefits aside from just plain old access.
Naivete
2Chances are you’ve seen the “World of Starcraft” video that was going around for the past few days. Ryan Winzen, an apparently very talented modder, took the mod stick to StarCraft II and created an amazingly convincing third person MMO-style way to tackle the game. Blizzard has provided the tools with the game to allow people to mod it, and Winzen took advantage of them to create something unique and, quite frankly, mindblowing. Winzen should have released this mod to the community, as is intended to be done with mods, and garnered the accolades of an appreciative Internet. Instead, Winzen aimed higher. Much too high.
Winzen took his hat (and mod) in hand and went to Blizzard with “World of Starcraft” as his resume.
Ryan posted a thread in a “World of Starcraft” forums (which is obviously no way associated with Blizzard):
Dear Blizzard,
Thankyou for coming all this way in your nice suit to my crummy forum. I’m guessing you’re a little upset with me right now, or maybe you’re happy. I don’t know.
You created a tool that allowed us to do anything with your assets. You encouraged us to use your assets and were eager to see what we might come up with. You had to have seen this coming?
I know it’s hard to trust someone you’ve never met to piggyback on your own legacy. The brilliance of Starcraft combined with the multiplayer focus of World of Warcraft. You might be a little worried about your lore being butchered… or even more-so worried about a guy with no supervision tainting the name of your company with poor product.
Let me assure you that I am in no way shape or form going to deliver anything less than complete perfection. I’ve been following your work since Warcraft. I’ve worked with every editor you’ve put out since I was 13 years old.
I’m 25 now and I’ve never made a single penny from any of my artwork. I exist only to entertain people and make this world we live in a more colorful and exciting place. I’m not even a programmer. I hate programming. I’m a charcoal artist.
But ever since I was very young it has always been my dream in life to create an epic game for people to enjoy. I’m just trying to finally get my name out there and show people what I can do.
This market is so oversaturated right now and you guys get thousands of applicants every month. Most guys who do get a job working in video games right now are driven like slaves working with little creative control. But you know what… I’m a virgin in the industry. Because my talent has never tasted a penny, I remember the core of gaming. I remember the heart of gaming, and I know what people love.
AND I’M HERE TO DELIVER
If you have a problem with what I am doing… or would like to talk about it. I’m all ears. But please don’t send me some messenger with a cease and desist letter. I’m aware of the similiarities between this situation and FreeCraft.
This game holds possibilities for both of us. The custom maps sector is dying out, and less and less people are logging into SC2 NA. I truly believe this is a step in the right direction.
Furthermore, if you like this idea and would be willing to grant me a seal of approval to continue… that would be wonderful. I won’t let you down.
~Cordially, Ryan Winzen
Winzen has chutzpah, that’s for certain, but there was only ever one way this could have gone down, and down it went. His video was pulled from YouTube at the request of Activision, citing copyright infringement. The info posted at Ryan’s forum doesn’t give much more information then that.
While I realize that a lot of people are all pumped up over the idea of a SC MMO — even a fan-serviced one — Winzen ran through this gnarled forest with his eyes on the stars:
Mistake #1: Thinking that Activision-Blizzard would give a damn about his bleeding-heart letter. I’m almost certain that AB receives all kinds of “I’m doing this [Insert copyright infringing work here] because I’m your ultimate fan!” letters every single day. While people may love Blizzard, Activision is holding their leash now, and they’re not the most charitable of publishers.
Mistake #2: Calling it “World of Starcraft”. Oh Christ, this was probably a red flag to Kotick’s lawyers. Bibs must have been donned to keep the slobber from staining their $5000 suits. It’s more then likely that this is the reason why AB approached Winzen and took his video down, and not the work itself. After all, Blizzard gave him the tools; I’m sure they were just as excited as the rest of the Internet was to see Winzen’s masterpiece. They just didn’t appreciate him using their very well known (and probably trademarked) naming convention “World of…”, followed by their (certainly trademarked) product “StarCraft“. Sure, you and I know it’s a mod, but there’s a whole lot of people out there who would only see “World of Starcraft” and will start reaching for the tissues because they think that this is the fabled “Titan”. Using this name upsets Blizzard’s marketing plans — even if there is no “World of Starcraft” — by co-opting their IP in a way that could cause confusion among consumers. Yeah, it’s a cold-hearted, mechanical point of view, but it plays into the decisions that AB makes — the decisions on the stuff they make that we want to buy.
Mistake #3: The post itself. Like I said earlier, Winzen’s post just smacks of stary-eyed fanboy. Ultra-talented stary-eyed fanboy, absolutely, but come on!
Let me assure you that I am in no way shape or form going to deliver anything less than complete perfection. I’ve been following your work since Warcraft. I’ve worked with every editor you’ve put out since I was 13 years old.
Winzen claims that he can do what industry vets can’t do: release a perfect game. Not even Blizzard themselves claim to be able to do that. No dev would ever claim to do that, because they’ve got the experience and the grounding to understand that it’s impossible to do.
This market is so oversaturated right now and you guys get thousands of applicants every month. Most guys who do get a job working in video games right now are driven like slaves working with little creative control. But you know what… I’m a virgin in the industry. Because my talent has never tasted a penny, I remember the core of gaming. I remember the heart of gaming, and I know what people love.
A resume is about selling yourself, and Winzen is going for the gusto. He makes bold statements about the gaming industry as if he’s got his finger on it’s pulse. Honestly, if he did, he never would have tried to curry the favor of AB in the first place, especially not with this kind of post.
If you have a problem with what I am doing… or would like to talk about it. I’m all ears. But please don’t send me some messenger with a cease and desist letter.
Winzen was totally aware that he might be in AB’s crosshairs with this project. He was directing his efforts straight at AB, and knew that there was a chance he might bring the suits down on his house, yet his desire for official approval was stronger then his common sense.
This game holds possibilities for both of us. The custom maps sector is dying out, and less and less people are logging into SC2 NA. I truly believe this is a step in the right direction.
I don’t know where Winzen get’s his info, although I suspect it’s probably conjecture from conversing with other modders, and possibly second-hand sources or extrapolation from his own experience. We all do this to support our arguments, but we don’t all use these tactics in letters to high profile publisher-developers asking for their blessing on our mod projects, and permission to use their copyrighted names. We also don’t step up to major developers and claim that our basement efforts “hold possibilities” for a multi billion dollar corporation that has been making games for longer then we’ve been alive, or to know what’s truly a “step in the right direction”. I’m sure Blizzard — creators of the 12 million player-strong World of Warcraft — knows which side of the bread their butter is on.
Just to be clear: I admire Winzen’s technical expertise. Aside from some graphical continuity in the video, it would amazingly easy to ignore the fact that his product was made with provided tools, and without the assistance of a whole development team. He deserves all of the accolades he has received from the community on his work.
However, he took the wrong path. He should have given it an alternate name, knowing that AB would be breathing down his neck. He should have put the mod on the websites for other gamers to download. He should have let the whole thing go viral in order to accomplish what he tried to accomplish by pushing AB into a corner. The fact is, Blizzard could make a World of StarCraft if it wanted to. It doesn’t need Winzen to do so, and through his naive actions has caused Blizzard to scramble to protect their option to do so in the future. I don’t think that Blizzard will squash the project, as it’s born out of the tools they’ve provided, but I hope this situation teaches Winzen to keep his eyes open the realities of the business of video games (or any business for that matter).
Solidarity
7Being a gamer is a choice. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a hobby. It’s a passion. It’s a source of inspiration. It’s also a source of anger.
We live, love, eat, sleep, breath and dream of gaming. Our virtual adventures present us with problems to solve that we fall asleep thinking about, and wake up knowing how to solve.
It’s thanks to the Internet that we’ve found one another, which is something we tend to forget. There are those who are too young to remember the days when talking about video games in public was verboten, lest you be shunned, or even beat up. Believe it or not, there was a time when it was hard to find other gamers. Video games were sold in toy stores, which were the domains of little children, not teenagers or even young adults. If you had a modem, you might find other gamers on a BBS, or if you had a local users group, you might be able to find kindred souls in a church basement or unused library room.
The internet has allowed us to come together at the same time as gaming is maturing. Having expended it’s store of geeks and nerds, the industry turns to the mainstream, pulling the stereotypes of those that decades ago wouldn’t admit to playing video games: the moms, the jocks, the females. Being a gamer now is acceptable, and verily borders on commonplace when shopping meccas like Wal-Mart and Target get their own “exclusive” versions of pre-release titles. Anyone with an Internet connection can jump into the fray, playing online with strangers, talking about their favorite games, and coming together as a community.
But what has brought us together also can push us apart. Differing opinions were never much of a stumbling block in the early days of gaming because there wasn’t enough stock to diversify opinions, and any opinions to be had were rarely heard in large numbers. The Net has opened the doors for people to toss their hat into the ring to express their opinions, and to confront and engage those of differing minds. This freedom can, when executed in a controlled, civil manner, make us all better though exposure to points of view, if we’re willing to accept them on their own terms. When discourse turns to debate, and debate into partisan sniping, we lose what gains the Internet has given us: connections, friends, and solidarity.
If you’re old enough, think back to the times when heated exchanges over video games was impossible because there was no one to have them with. Remember when it was far less socially acceptable to talk about video games because they were considered toys that tethered children indoors and to the television. Remember how much of a relief it was when you did find another gamer that you could talk to about the things that you wanted to talk about, but otherwise couldn’t with the people around you. If you’re not old enough, then try it: unplug for a month. No blogs, no social networking, no news feeds, no digital downloads, no online gaming, no trips to GameStop. Engage your non-gaming friends, family and co-workers in discussions about gaming, and record their reactions, and then pretend that you can’t get out of that loop.
We’re lucky that things have turned out the way that they have, and in a way and at a pace that we never could have imagined back when we enjoyed our gaming in isolation. We can’t take it for granted, though. This hyper-connectivity isn’t a conduit for anger, sarcasm or combat, and shouldn’t be used to isolate ourselves and others behind arbitrary walls of unwavering opinion. We’re all together now, sharing our experiences both good and bad. It’s the kind of togetherness that we wished we had when video gaming was first taking off, and that is something that we should not forget.
Just a footnote: We tend to get into some heated discussions on the net, which is perfectly fine because it signals our passion for the topic, but because it’s all walls of text, it’s often times difficult to really make the exact point that you want to make the way you want to make it and not have it read in a totally different way by people on the other side. It’s unavoidable. The key, then, is to remember that we’re all talking about things that we love, and while we all want to share our enthusiasm, the net is in imperfect vehicle for conducting our excitement and passion. We’ are all very lucky to be able to be able to have these discussions these days, and with the kinds of people we always wanted to have them with.
In Defense of F2P
5Here’s a kind of random post. It’s not totally topical, but I just got to thinking about it thanks to a sudden burst of discussion on DC Universe Online.
I tried the beta on the PS3 and PC. DCUO is most certainly a console title; of that there is little doubt in my mind…or in Sony’s. When using a gamepad with the PC version, buttons were referred to using the Playstation button scheme of triangle, circle, X and square. To the best of my knowledge, Sony doesn’t make a PS-style controller for the PC, so I fail to see how this is informative to the PC gaming crowd. But I digress (a lot).
My thought was that, while I’m not a huge super-hero genre fan, DCUO was fun as a console title. More importantly, having DCUO might make me use the PS3 more often as a game machine. But there’s the monthly fee. That right there is holding me back, which lead me to say to myself, “Self,” which is what I call myself. “There are some cases where being F2P is the linchpin in a decision.”
There are games which I like “OK”, but which I don’t want to pay a monthly fee for. Considering I’m paying for 2 World of Warcraft subs at the moment, with an impending Rift subscription in my future, fence-sitting contenders basically have no chance if they come with a monthly fee attached. Free to play or freemium, though? I’ll sign up without reservation.
My friends and I are occasionally playing Vindictus, since it’s a game we can all play (freemium) and which has a low barrier to entry (kill stuff…period). If this game had a monthly fee, it wouldn’t even show up on my radar. The graphics are stellar, the gameplay is OK, and I’d say it’s a pretty solid title – but not something I’d be willing to throw money at.
I know that this kind of logic may be like bending light for some people, though. There are those who are violently opposed to the F2P/Freemium movement. There are also those who play differently then I do, preferring to have a “main” MMO, if they have more then one at all. The way I view it, F2P/Freemium allows people like me to play the games which may be perfectly good, but not good enough in our estimation that we’d pay an ongoing fee for. Maybe, however, we’d find that we like the game enough to buy something through the cash shop at some point, but before we can get that far, we need to get a foot in the door.
