Month: October 2007 (Page 2 of 2)

Nine Ways To Misuse Bartle’s Four

October 11, 2007 / Damion Schubert

There are a whole bunch of people who reach for the Bartle’s Four when discussing MMO concepts. Frequently, they are talking about it as if it is gospel and all design should respond to it, whereas others believe that the whole thing is old and busted, and we should move on.

That being said, I see both advocates and detractors often use Richard’s paper in ways that conflicts with my own experience. Here are some of the ways I would suggest reconsidering how you use this important paper (and note, this is solely my point of view, and even Richard’s may vary). Continue reading

I’m Sure It Will Consistently Be A Place of Dignified Reflection

October 10, 2007 / Damion Schubert

The Vietnam memorial will be recreated in Second Life.

I’ve actually been to the real wall numerous times in my life. Knowing what I know about SL, this almost makes me angry.

WoW Toyota Commercial

October 8, 2007 / Damion Schubert

The 360: Not Worth It (Yet)

October 4, 2007 / Damion Schubert

I didn’t buy a 360. Sure, it’s true that I haven’t even seen an XBox 360 as of yet at the stores, but even if I’d come across one hidden in the back of a sales rack that everyone else had missed, I’m not sure I would have picked it up.

Given I’ve constantly harped about gameplay over graphics, this may not come as a surprise to a lot of Zen readers. It’s not that I don’t appreciate great graphics. But really, I don’t buy a console for ports of games that appear on other consoles. The 360 desperately needs an exclusive game made with it in mind. Continue reading

Guild Matchmaking

October 3, 2007 / Damion Schubert

Whenever a band breaks up, you often hear the quote, “Hey, you know how tough marriage is? Imagine being married to 5 people.” In that light, it’s a wonder any band stays together. I assume drugs and groupies has a lot to do with it.

Joining a guild in most MMOs is like being married to 40 people. When you’re in a high-end raiding guild, you’re playing with, and depending on 24 other people to be minimally competent and to not try to cyber the Priest when the guild is in the act of taking Leo down itself. Some guilds are run by drill sergeants, and their guilds respond well to orders being barked. Other guilds have a more laid back leadership style. Some guilds have language that would make a sailor blush. Other guilds try to keep things family oriented. Continue reading

How Genre Progress Hurts Your Game

October 2, 2007 / Damion Schubert

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has an excellent interview with Robin Walker and Charlie Brown, key members of the about-to-be-released Team Fortress 2. I expect big things – BioWare Austin has pretty much stopped eating out in favor of TF Lunches. Many topics are covered, including why the game took 10 years to make. My favorite snippet:

RW: Not really. The arc of TF2 is something that’s probably familiar to a lot of amateur developers or designers. When we got here the first thing we built was overly complex, very hard core, almost impenetrable to anyone who wasn’t familiar with FPSs in general. And as we found as we played it, wasn’t more fun because of it.

Brandon Reinhart on Raid Pacing

October 2, 2007 / Damion Schubert

I’ve been thinking a lot about raid design, as my guild has finally hit the raiding game.

About a month ago, I almost posted that WoW Raids are too hard. But that didn’t feel right. Continue reading

Richard Garriott is Richer than You

October 1, 2007 / Damion Schubert

Richard has long wanted to venture into space – it’s been a lifelong dream, and he’s been a major investor for private companies who have been pushing towards reaching that goal. Some may remember his recent jaunt on the “vomit comet”, a trip he enjoyed with Stephen Hawking. He enjoyed the trip so much that he arranged for flights to go up from Austin for AGC, and a handful of developers with cash to burn got to experience it as well.

Richard is finally going to realize his dream. And, this being the Aughts, he’s going to blog about it.

The price tag? Roughly $30 Million Bucks. I only hope that, once I’m rich, I’m equally unafraid to enjoy it.