by Wolfshead on July 12, 2010
Lately I’ve been enjoying the Cataclysm closed beta videos of a WoW enthusiast named John “TotalBiscuit” Bain. His videos are quite informative and entertaining to say the least. He also runs a blog called The Cynical Brit.
If you watch his videos using the highest resolution on YouTube and go full screen you can get some good idea of some of the changes coming our way in Blizzard’s next WoW expansion. I heartily recommend his videos. In particular, there’s a video review of the Dwarf/Gnome starter zone entitled: A case study in bad starting zone design that is exceptional.
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on July 5, 2010
Something has changed about the MMO experience in the past six years. Chances are you probably haven’t even noticed it but you can probably feel it just the same. MMO critics and veteran players all suspect there is something amiss with today’s MMOs but can’t quite put their finger on it.
Part of the answer to this riddle may be that the intentions, goals and objectives of MMO companies have changed from being primarily about creating a world of adventure to creating an amusement park. MMOs have become all about delivering short bursts of “fun”. Making sure you the player is entertained at every moment has become the holy grail of game design.
Design based on delivering instant gratification for the masses has replaced a philosophy of hard won satisfaction gleaned from the rigors and challenges of survival in a dangerous virtual world. This change of design focus has fundamentally altered the MMO experience for the worse.
So how did this happen?
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on June 14, 2010
Twelve starving men sat down at a table. Before them was placed a sumptuous banquet. Then one of the men protested: “I don’t like salt…”. So in order not to offend him the others agreed to remove the salt from the table. Then another man exclaimed: “I detest pepper…”. So in order not to anger him they all consented to remove the pepper from the table. Each remaining man rose in turn and protested yet another ingredient until there was nothing left on the table. With nothing left to eat the twelve men died of hunger.
Sound familiar? That story is a metaphor for the disintegration of MMORPGs in recent years. One by one, mechanics and features that have caused the slightest inconvenience to players has been removed or watered down as thoughtless subscribers unconcerned about the long-term health of their MMO cheer from the sidelines.
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on June 3, 2010
I used to be a big fan of Steve Jobs and Apple. But lately he’s been acting like a bully and a tyrant. Apple’s unashamed embrace of greed and it’s insatiable need to dominate the universe is troubling. Someone should film an expose on him. Where are Oliver Stone and Michael Moore when you need them?
It’s now clear there’s something rotten to the core at Apple. There’s the glaring disconnect between their actual behavior and carefully crafted public image of Apple being a socially conscious, artsy fartsy, “cool” company. Apple used to be fighting against the man; now Apple is the man.
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on May 21, 2010
Admittedly, I’ve fallen out of love with MMOs. After 11 years of being passionately involved in this pursuit and having the patience of a saint, the same old predictable formula of endless DIKU MUD/EQ/WoW clones has failed to keep my interest.
This situation is akin to a personal relationship where one person keeps growing and the other person fails to grow. In the case of MMOs, they are stuck in a state of perpetual adolescence. Refusing to mature into adulthood. Refusing to reach their potential as exciting immersive interactive experiences. I feel like I’m living in an abusive relationship. I want a divorce.
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on April 2, 2010
Once upon a time as a teenager, I recall being exposed to a book called Future Shock by futurist Alvin Toffler. Along with many wild and outlandish predictions about the future, Toffler described the shock component of his book’s title as being “too much change, in too short a period of time”.
That quote may well characterize the plight of many of us in today’s society and in particular those of us interested in the ever changing landscape of MMO and video game production.
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about the future of video games. Many of us are contemplating the meteoric financial success of social networking games like Farmville and are scratching our collective heads and wondering what it all means for both game designers and players.
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on March 13, 2010
It goes without saying that Peter Jackson’s Academy Award winning Lord of the Rings movies were a boon to the fantasy genre of fiction and film. Not only did these fantasy films introduce a whole new generation of readers to the meticulously conceived world of Middle-earth designed by Oxford philology professor J.R.R. Tolkien they also put a lot of cash into the coffers Tolkien Enterprises and of course the Tolkien Estate
After the release of the movies, Professor Tolkien who died in 1973 was included on Forbes List of Top Earning Dead Celebrities for a few years. He even made the 2009 list!
Given the fact that Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro are making two new Hobbit movies that are due to be released in 2012, I can guarantee that there will be yet another Tolkien renaissance.
So given this almost certainly bright future for all things Tolkien, what plans does Turbine who makes the Lord of the Rings Online MMO have in store to capitalize on this anticipated event?
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on March 8, 2010
Last week Raph Koster posted a controversial article entitled Are Virtual Worlds Over? It was a reply to a more readable article by Cnet’s Dan Terdiman. In order to even try to decipher Koster’s insightful article which is loaded with lofty academic language, first you need to read Terdiman’s piece.
I’ve long been a huge fan of virtual world visionary Raph Koster. His A Theory of Fun For Game Design is a classic book on game design and being well versed in it probably helped me land my first job as a game designer.
However, I have to respectfully disagree with the implications of his article that somehow the developers of virtual worlds and MMOs have to admit defeat and realign their thinking to the mindset of companies like Zynga who produce extremely profitable social networking games like Farmville and Farm Town.
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on March 2, 2010
This past weekend I finally decided to start reading Robert E. Howard’s sword & sorcery classic Conan the Barbarian. At one point the author felt the need to write a history of the world that Conan inhabited in order to give him a greater sense of “realness”. It’s remarkable how both Howard and Tolkien both supplemented their fantasy worlds with such detailed historical backdrops in order to fully immerse the reader.
In many ways it was those authors who laid the foundations for the idea that worlds beyond our own could be imagined and created. Today’s virtual worlds and MMORPGs owe both of them a debt of gratitude.
However, it was during my reading of this history in the book entitled “The Hyborian Age” that something caught my eye that gave me pause and may be of interest to MMO enthusiasts.
[click to read more…]
by Wolfshead on February 22, 2010
Dear King Varian of Stormwind, please explain to me why I should leave the comfort of my beloved farmstead here in the rustic pastures of Elwynn Forest to fight in your endless war against the Horde? What have the Horde ever done to me, my family or my fellow villagers? Why should I deprive young Seth and Anne of a father and my faithful wife Susan a husband, all in the name of your unjust and pointless war?
I refuse to be a pawn of the aristocrats and nobles of Stormwind. I will not sacrifice my life for your or their misguided notion of glory.
Wolfshead
Outlaw of Elwynn Forest
[click to read more…]
![Image of Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51C2YWY-6-L._SL160_.jpg "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage [Blu-ray]")
