This is the sixth (and last) in a series about improving roleplaying in MMOs. But in this last installment, I’m going to cut to the quick and ask how we can legitimise RP as a playing style. In order to do that, we need to find ways to measure and reward it in games. Previous [...]
Archive for September, 2009
Professor Layton and the Curious Offline Experience
Posted in about me, geekery, links, tagged district 9, in the loop, offliine, professor layton and the curious village, silver cord, wolf hall on September 13, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Tesh wrote this week about how losing internet access for three weeks nudged him into playing more offline games and breaking the online umbilical cord. I enjoy feeling connected when I’m playing games. I’m the kind of nethead who thinks it’s great that connectivity is becoming more ubiquitous, but it can’t be denied that there [...]
The power of naming
Posted in general mmo, tagged naming, pets, star trek online on September 12, 2009 | 13 Comments »
I realised this morning that whether or not you get to name your own ship will be a big factor in whether I want to play Star Trek Online or not. edited to add: On checking, they have said that they plan to let you name your own ship. So full speed ahead, I guess. [...]
Are we too obsessed with choices in games?
Posted in general mmo, tagged choices, class, crafting, illusory choice, mmo, real choice, world of jewelcrafting on September 11, 2009 | 17 Comments »
Suzina writes at Kill Ten Rats about her disappointment with the crafting system in Star Wars Galaxies. There were lots and lots of different professions to choose from … but many turned out to be mostly disregarded by the rest of the player base. if you chose to be an crafter, a doctor, or an [...]
10 ways to make the most of text chat
Posted in general mmo, tagged making the most of text chat on September 10, 2009 | 7 Comments »
I commented previously that text chat is very core to our gaming experience. But how to make the most of text in chat channels? How can we try to communicate clearly, unambiguously, and across multiple culture and language gaps? Here are some basic rules which may help. Feel free to break these whenever it fits [...]
Sorry ma’am, I don’t speak text?
Posted in general mmo, tagged communication, console, massive, text, why text on September 10, 2009 | 17 Comments »
What might our games might be like if we couldn’t communicate via text? It’s a difficult concept, because text based communication has been absolutely core to every MMO I’ve played. No guild chat? No whispers? No way to carry out multiple conversations at once? The more I think about it, the more I wonder if [...]
Ni Hao to Stars, and So That Was The Argent Coliseum
Posted in warcraft, tagged crazy hardcore, ni hao, server transfer, stars, trial of the champion on September 9, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Either Blizzard are getting soft in their old age or else hardcore raid guilds are getting harder. The heroic mode of the new Trial of the Crusader fell for the first time to Paragon (who pipped Ensidia to the post, which must make the US players happy .. or at least those who care about [...]
The Power of Memory in an MMO
Posted in general mmo, storytelling, warcraft, tagged cataclysm, emotion in computer games, home, memory, nostalgia, starting area on September 9, 2009 | 8 Comments »
There’s no place like home Over the last couple of weeks, I have been helping to clear out my father’s flat. I have spent quiet hours sitting on trains*. I have walked many miles to and from the train station; retracing the same path that I travelled every time I went to visit him. The [...]
Harnessing the desire to show off in front of noobs
Posted in tanking, warcraft, tagged bizarro, gear, guildies, heroics, nursing, off spec, pug, showing off, that guy on September 8, 2009 | 18 Comments »
If there is one thing that all human beings share, it’s the desire to show off in front of other people. If we’ve picked up useful skills, knowledge, gear, or achievements, they just seem more meaningful after they have been paraded in front of other people. We imagine the awed silence as the pecking order [...]
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