tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67111568508791626852024-03-06T00:07:06.266-08:00Yeebo Fernbottom's MMO BlogMMO gaming and other random topicsYeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.comBlogger265125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-40512531243360722322023-11-29T17:02:00.000-08:002023-11-29T19:39:26.797-08:00Very late thoughts on Cataclysm coming to Classic<p>During Blizzcon it was announced that early next year the Classic servers will be moving on to Cataclysm, as I am sure anyone that reads this blog is already well aware. While likely all but inevitable (crazed ideas like <a href="https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/alternate-timeline-classic-retail/1354675">alternate universe classic branches</a> aside), this decision likely ensures that I won't be going back to WoW for another few years. <br /><br />It's certainly not because I hated Cataclysm. In fact Cataclysm was probably when I got most heavily invested in WoW overall. It's literally the only time I managed to hit the cap and not bounce. In every other era, once I hit the cap and finished farming up all the mounts I cared about I was done. In Cataclysm, I hit the cap and <a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2011/03/warcraft-not-winding-down-as-quickly-as.html">kept playing for at least another six months</a>.</p><p>The main reason I stopped playing WoW a little over a year ago was that Blizzard ticked me off by being terrible to their employees, even for a gaming studio.* Now of course it wasn't something they suddenly started doing, it was just back in 2021 when news of what horrible place it had been all along finally leaked. Really egregious revelations like "<a href="https://kotaku.com/inside-blizzard-developers-infamous-bill-cosby-suite-1847378762">The Cosby Room</a>" completely soured me on the studio. I kept waiting for some sign that things had improved, but to me announcements and leadership changes always came across as meaningless lip service with little intent behind them. </p><p>That may be getting better now that Microsoft is buying out Activision. I presume the worst of Blizzard's cultural practices will begin to be somewhat reigned in. I mean it will still be a large gaming development studio, so it won't be rainbows and kittens. But it does seem likely they will manage to improve (i.e., move up the <a href="https://uniglobalunion.org/news/video-game-workers-crushed/">abysmal industry norms</a>) to the degree that I could begin to support them financially without moral qualms.</p><p>Unfortunately, this is coming a bit too late for me because Cataclysm itself is a barrier. Despite how reviled the expansion was, I enjoyed it <a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2010/11/obligatory-wow-shattering-post.html">quite a bit in 2010</a>. However, even ten years on I still feel like I played the PvP to death.** Added to that, with years of hindsight I can also see that the pre-Cataclysm era of WoW is simply a better game to me. For me, Lich King was the largest that the "good version" of WoW ever got, and apparently I only have about six more months (at most) to play that version if I want to. </p><p>With hindsight, Cataclysm marked the beginning of the end of the WoW I loved, when the process of gradually simplifying the game began in earnest. Changes to core systems from Cataclysm on don't feel like fully considered quality-of-life changes, like the ones that came in Burning Crusade and Lich King. Instead, they feel like a fruitless attempt to widen their audience past core MMO players. For example, talents became <a href="https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Talents_(history)">simpler and simpler from Cataclysm on</a>, until they got reduced to one choice every five or ten levels. While that is indeed much easier for a casual player to understand, it also makes most levels incredibly boring. Your hit points and mana go up, and that's about it. </p><p>Piece-by-piece Blizzard began removing design elements that existed solely to create the illusion of a realistic world with sensible rules. For example, needing learn how to use your weapons and practice with them to be proficient eventually got tossed aside. Choice of pet for a hunter became almost solely a cosmetic decision. Missile weapons stopped needing ammo. Quests to learn new class abilities got pulled. The process kept going, and by the time <a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2019/12/wow-classic-versus-retail-game-and-its.html">I last played retail</a> it felt more like a lobby based dungeon crawler that happened to be embedded in a MMO than a true MMORPG to me. </p><p>I was tempted to go back for Lich King Classic. I missed it the first time around because I didn't enjoy the endgame of Burning Crusade, and didn't make it back to WoW again until after Cataclysm launched. However, the revealed awfulness of Blizzard has kept me away recently purely out of protest. Now I have seemingly missed my chance to level through the Lich King era game for a second time, they will be setting it on fire again in <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2023/11/3/23945447/wow-classic-cataclysm-season-of-discovery-blizzcon-2023">just a few months</a>.<br /><br />What somewhat surprised me is that Blizzard also has no plans to create any permanent "locked in the Lich King" era servers. They already have a few servers <a href="https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/World_of_Warcraft:_Classic">for the launch era game</a>, I just assumed they would do the same for Lich King since it's so often touted as the best version of WoW. It's certainly <a href="https://powerwordgold.blogspot.com/2013/07/world-of-warcraft-subscribers-2005-2013.html">when the game peaked in popularity</a>. If the base game is going to be post Cataclysm going forward, is it really still Classic? </p><p>At this point the only upcoming version of WoW "Classic" that seems likely to tempt me is Legion. By all accounts the implementation of Artifacts in it was a lot of fun. Yet that is surely at least two or three years out. So it seems like my long absence from WoW is likely to continue even if the culture of the studio does improve once Microsoft takes over. </p><p>*<span style="font-size: x-small;">A bar so low that it is already resting comfortably on the floor at most studios! </span></p><p>**<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was a little odd that the one era in which I didn't bounce right off the endgame of WoW was in an expansion that everyone seemed to hate. However, w<span>hat is especially odd for me is that I spent most of my time at the cap doing PvP for gear. I'm not super competitive to start with, and PvP has to be balanced "just so" for me to enjoy it. I want meaningful and disparate choices on offer, yet I also want all of them to be solidly useful to a team. If there is a useful but unpopular role I can specialize in, like setting up to defend a spot, so much the better. Very few MMOs have ever managed that balancing act well to my tastes, and in WoW your PvP specialization options are basically healer, DPS, more DPS, or Even Moar Deeps. Yet during the Cataclysm era I did enough PvP to <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2011/03/warcraft-not-winding-down-as-quickly-as.html">wrack up the 1000 honorable kills achievement</a> and buy a full set of PvP epics. I even eventually got the staff I was drooling over in that post. For me that's a heck of a lot of time spent doing endgame stuff in general in a MMO, much less PvP. I was clearly enjoying it.</span></span></p><div><br /></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-66608663420612887712023-09-16T08:13:00.019-07:002023-09-18T11:08:00.541-07:00A Field Guide to LBGs: Magic Streets<p>Lately my main location based games have been <a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-field-guide-to-lbgs-pokemon-go.html">Pokémon Go</a> and Jurassic World Alive. There is a post stewing about JAW. However, I wanted to highlight another game I play every once in a while: Magic Streets. I've never seen it covered by anyone else, and it hews closer to a PC MMOPRG than any other LBG I have played. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFKjlk6s2P9CaGt4dzNq6OSftJq39ny9kqMkmg8uClWQvD3F7EeZjg7renetKhCSHKvMtG9V4P5nvYZXv_meh2r6aQBOS85-I3x1WcbMzXANvEjLdyPq_6GnqhZn3i-oehiOUmXjRVxWkCwhKVSmOOnC8Ln5GQdMdojMq8r1G7yJLAnoS0-KXPfTLeipW/s2300/Screenshot_20221028-192428.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFKjlk6s2P9CaGt4dzNq6OSftJq39ny9kqMkmg8uClWQvD3F7EeZjg7renetKhCSHKvMtG9V4P5nvYZXv_meh2r6aQBOS85-I3x1WcbMzXANvEjLdyPq_6GnqhZn3i-oehiOUmXjRVxWkCwhKVSmOOnC8Ln5GQdMdojMq8r1G7yJLAnoS0-KXPfTLeipW/w150-h320/Screenshot_20221028-192428.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Magic Streets, the location based RPG! At least the splash screen doesn't lie to you with a pretty painting, those ate definitely the graphics.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Magic Streets is a fantasy LBG inspired seemingly heavily by classic <a href="https://oldschool.runescape.com/">Runescape</a>, with a dash of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Hearts">the old PS2 game Shadowhearts</a> in terms of combat mechanics. Magic Streets is a bit primitive in some ways. For example, to me the graphics (as you can see) are whatever is the opposite of charming. However, the game also has a lot of interesting features that I really like: timing mini-game based combat, good depth that isn't overwhelming, tons of loot to dig through, and a skill based character development system that lets you build out for whatever combat style you like. <br /><br />Overall I like it a lot better than <a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-field-guide-to-lbgs-orna.html">Orna</a>, which is the only fantasy RPG LBG that <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/07/massively-on-the-go-orna-spices-things-up-with-step-tracking/">anyone</a> ever seems to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPvLxSJJYTY">talk about</a>. The issue with Orna for me was that it got repetitive very quickly. Magic streets doesn't have the same depth of classes as Orna, but I find the combat to be a lot more fun. The combat and other features, like being able to gather crafting mats, has kept me engaged with Magic Streets for much longer than I ever was with Orna.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkp9jfGpx8YQW-_t1LPZe1WB4uc4pv1BRQf2yebOCquUKLQKipkWHL4z838x3oAOLR2xo9B9AGRNxhar84Pv_cqzH2GhyTHx3RzeQ5fAqm_BUE2fb__w_bVKYoA68y7TZ_wWveToMyy3Jq3HFWNGPlRqudOXRciQNMh2k38VZ-s-f2LEhsfQeLyPZgujcQ/s2300/Screenshot_20220723-180701.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkp9jfGpx8YQW-_t1LPZe1WB4uc4pv1BRQf2yebOCquUKLQKipkWHL4z838x3oAOLR2xo9B9AGRNxhar84Pv_cqzH2GhyTHx3RzeQ5fAqm_BUE2fb__w_bVKYoA68y7TZ_wWveToMyy3Jq3HFWNGPlRqudOXRciQNMh2k38VZ-s-f2LEhsfQeLyPZgujcQ/w150-h320/Screenshot_20220723-180701.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Here I am wandering around my neighborhood. The bunny person near me (with his face turned away) is a pet that I think helps me in a fight. What trade-offs choosing to level one pet vs another represents I really have no idea. As you can see the graphics are overall quite primitive. I suspect it's a conscious style choice to mimic Runescape, which is a MMO that you used to be able to run in a browser even in the 2000s. The NPC in the back sells stuff. The cave entrance leads to a dungeon where you can fight a series of increasingly stronger mobs for better loot. The other icons represent mobs you can fight, or NPCs you can rescue (also by fighting mobs). What this screenshot doesn't show are any crafting material nodes, but in general they are quite abundant. As nearly as I can tell, your ability to harvest mats is limited only by your inventory space and your ability to walk over to a node IRL.<br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>What do you do? </b> The basic gameplay is to wander around killing monsters to take their loot and gain XP. However in addition to that, you can train pets that fight along side you, harvest crafting materials, and craft either lots of different types of gear and consumables or create and upgrade buildings in your personal keep. More on that below.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQUPQcRRlkbZ2_Wz8B5WzlZ_yJjicea4Y2f_5qgZ3LGWAw94DRD2JCJhRPt1ybIKs3mqE8lk19AeYgkMb1XaUSjz-gvfjF3dZ33t3JaWUG_UJHuWzdyKrkMgXbgR00BeEriieGvgUrd3EvLoO4Jgc1CNXkjrwLIE-QFZDaHMlvPZ8EimL8r9bTojcmCvd/s2300/Screenshot_20221028-193939.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQUPQcRRlkbZ2_Wz8B5WzlZ_yJjicea4Y2f_5qgZ3LGWAw94DRD2JCJhRPt1ybIKs3mqE8lk19AeYgkMb1XaUSjz-gvfjF3dZ33t3JaWUG_UJHuWzdyKrkMgXbgR00BeEriieGvgUrd3EvLoO4Jgc1CNXkjrwLIE-QFZDaHMlvPZ8EimL8r9bTojcmCvd/s320/Screenshot_20221028-193939.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The character development system is skill based. As you level up you get points to spend on the attributes of your choice. There are also simple skill trees to unlock and level up combat abilities. Note that these screenshots were all taken nearly a year ago, my current character is a bit further along than this.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The character development system is based on allocating points to skills. You have no class, instead you level up abilities that qualify you to use better gear. There are also simple skill trees where you can purchase and level up abilities. For example, as I am writing this my guy can wear most medium and heavy armor I find, and is pretty good with big two-handed weapons and missile weapons. However, he is terrible with more mage-style stuff like magic wands and cloth armor. The combat skills I have invested in mainly allow me to execute melee attacks that auto-crit for a lot of damage. I can only use one of these attacks two or three times before I have to rest and regenerate mana, but the attacks are pretty close to an "I win" button in a fight where I use one.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWlH-VRW55XGyC5udxDIb95Dta_4nErW2K33YZk5NOloD8l_Bkji8w-UDU4AzBflZ1iirbgBSDPvI4jaaFeUyJXiPvYIrhDsC7YnVuxuLIXDoR_l9gHvzhrYFRa23RsnEaQWStkVAcaEVQEgRQrlYnDyBY6pfiB-om0vuRTP0BImLttDGPWeW9AS3vKujM/s2300/Screenshot_20221028-192454.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWlH-VRW55XGyC5udxDIb95Dta_4nErW2K33YZk5NOloD8l_Bkji8w-UDU4AzBflZ1iirbgBSDPvI4jaaFeUyJXiPvYIrhDsC7YnVuxuLIXDoR_l9gHvzhrYFRa23RsnEaQWStkVAcaEVQEgRQrlYnDyBY6pfiB-om0vuRTP0BImLttDGPWeW9AS3vKujM/s320/Screenshot_20221028-192454.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>When you click on a mob, you get this info screen about it and you can decide whether to attack it. One way in which it is very different from a real MMO is that mobs will never attack you, it's always your decision.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For me the combat is what really sets the game apart from Orna, the closest LBG competitor I am aware of. In Orna, you attack pretty much like you would in an old Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy game. You choose an ability from a menu, and that's about it. In Magic Streets, the combat is still turn based. But there is also small element of skill, where timing your attack well determines how much damage you do. <br /><br />For example, for big two-handed swords when you attack a small circle inside a larger one starts growing. If you time the attack so that the two circles overlap you do a ton of damage. Hit the attack too soon and you will do very little damage. Wait too long, and the attack will miss altogether. Different weapons have slightly different mechanics to them, but they are all about a timing mini-game. The closest analogue I am familiar with is the Shadow Hearts series of games on the PS2 from the late 1990s (a reference that I am sure at least no readers whatsoever will instantly get!). </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrxSQOh7geBST2Y27_vIVJdut7Y3lrB4t5eMmDyB_cxYpGVddC96THt2rg5-_wJtoAcJ_B0Pam0Zhl9cXnJg136KnUoXVx97O7ILdQp-7FWgktkaa5sjd-DDkgO5hyBg9cIpUHzE3j02uHO2zzt9yl3dv5TjXlwDqa9FtgFngVVCh0AD6R1cYR3bg4cjKK/s2300/Screenshot_20221028-193923.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrxSQOh7geBST2Y27_vIVJdut7Y3lrB4t5eMmDyB_cxYpGVddC96THt2rg5-_wJtoAcJ_B0Pam0Zhl9cXnJg136KnUoXVx97O7ILdQp-7FWgktkaa5sjd-DDkgO5hyBg9cIpUHzE3j02uHO2zzt9yl3dv5TjXlwDqa9FtgFngVVCh0AD6R1cYR3bg4cjKK/s320/Screenshot_20221028-193923.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>With this weapon type the circle slowly shrinks, and you try to tap it when the circle is as close as possible to the point in the middle. Wait too long an the attack will miss. Hit the circle closely, and you will do massive damage. Different weapons have slightly different timing based mini-games to use them. Special attacks, here greyed out because I decided to make a normal attack, use mana (the blue bar) and are guaranteed to do good damage, heal you, or whatever else. I'm not far enough into the game to really know what the possibilities on offer consist of. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>What is the world like? </b> The world is filled primarily with random mobs and crafting material nodes, like many many PC MMOs. Mobs drop a wide variety of gear, most of which you won't be able to use unless you have specialized in the skill it needs. For example, I can wear a lot of heavy armor and very little cloth. You also have a keep that you can level up and build out however you like. Mine has some merchants for buying and selling random loot, an alchemist that will give me a free mana potion once a day if I check in, and a camping area where I can rest. Lots of other building types are available, but I have no idea what most of them might do. You also have to gather a heck of a lot of wood, rocks, and other stuff to create any building.</p><p>When you attack mobs, very often you also rescue an NPC. These can be recruited for your keep in a system I barely understand. You can also use all the crafting mats you gather to craft your own gear, but I get so much random gear as drops that I am a bit fuzzy on why you would ever bother with that. You will quickly murder all the monsters nearby if you don't go walking around. You can't just sit in your living room and grind your brains out like Orna.</p><p>You can see the keeps of other players out on the landscape. However, the game doesn't appear to be all that popular. Only a few people in my entire neighborhood seemingly play. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8DIFwAALvqzaJzjVD0ilYCiXOUPrVDNu0z8FMg14S2_G1WjQsZ8cII3iUlGk60KzUsq1T9Lh81tFncjq9liJfFB8kbOcnK2VlylwebqZ7cD_nV9UcjujtXYmjBt_CrUvfM7rWbXb1sYSucMQwEhkwSf07Sdd52QFKZ1_-T3e49rk11_f-GqrOUrZLrL3/s2300/Screenshot_20221028-193947.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8DIFwAALvqzaJzjVD0ilYCiXOUPrVDNu0z8FMg14S2_G1WjQsZ8cII3iUlGk60KzUsq1T9Lh81tFncjq9liJfFB8kbOcnK2VlylwebqZ7cD_nV9UcjujtXYmjBt_CrUvfM7rWbXb1sYSucMQwEhkwSf07Sdd52QFKZ1_-T3e49rk11_f-GqrOUrZLrL3/s320/Screenshot_20221028-193947.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Loot is abundant, and comes in the standard array of MMO rarities from gray common gear to rare and powerful epic gear. One of the main reason to level up skills is so that you can use different pieces of gear. I spent a ton of points on missile weapons so I could use this shuriken, and it paid off. I immediately became much stronger, able to quite easily take down mobs I was struggling with before.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Asynchronous interactions. </b> You can enter the keeps of other players and buy and sell stuff. There also appears to be some PvP system where you can attack someone's keep and try to loot it. However I haven't attempted this. The few keeps I could have attacked had high level guards that likely would have made short work of me. My keep hasn't been attacked even once since I have been playing. Whether this is because there is some flag I haven't set, because I'm too low level, or because my neighbors are polite I can't really say. </p><p><b>How do you interact with other players?</b> As nearly as I can tell this is quite limited. If there is a way to form parties or hook up and do a raid, or collaborate to clear a dungeon, I haven't figured it out yet. I assume there is some kind of guild system, but I haven't found it yet if there is.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cqA-wXGDQRvmy8t34y1IaAJmo0vfc7eL8ftEqYue1iZCIDGYLlyJrO7RJNVD0vWmS7BaUOI-r8fsxuNJ-81an4EHxwoAM2KgrRc7YvhZZD3LfDPSyG1UAdAPCYkiOz3ac3cGzxcBFogd9-f-1ALas6JEEsUMDxAzFCDDG4kXplYpvx4czd8Rq7zqrWdj/s2300/Screenshot_20221028-192607.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cqA-wXGDQRvmy8t34y1IaAJmo0vfc7eL8ftEqYue1iZCIDGYLlyJrO7RJNVD0vWmS7BaUOI-r8fsxuNJ-81an4EHxwoAM2KgrRc7YvhZZD3LfDPSyG1UAdAPCYkiOz3ac3cGzxcBFogd9-f-1ALas6JEEsUMDxAzFCDDG4kXplYpvx4czd8Rq7zqrWdj/s320/Screenshot_20221028-192607.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">In addition to dropped loot, wandering NPC merchants sell items. There is also a blacksmith in my keep that has a bunch of random gear when I check in with him. However I mainly use him to break the gear I don't want down into crafting mats. It takes a lot of wood and rocks to upgrade an Inn, I'm not going to let the handle of an axe dropped by an ogre just go to waste!</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Is it good exercise? </b> As I said above, you will exhaust everything within striking distance of you fairly quickly if you don't walk around. However, I find that by the time I have cleared out my yard, or the parking lot of a doctor's office, or whatever, I am satisfied with my progress. If I want more stuff to do where I am, generally I'll switch over to Pokémon Go instead of walking anywhere. </p><p>I can imagine that if you really got into the crafting and building aspects, it would be to great advantage to walk around your neighborhood looking for crafting mats to harvest. There doesn't appear to be any way to get stuff to respawn quickly, or any way to move to a new location short of actually walking there. If I were more deeply invested in the game, it might be very good exercise indeed. </p><p><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>This is the 5th post in a series on Location Based Games. Here are the others:</b></span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/08/new-post-series-field-guide-to-location.html">Overview</a><br /><br /><a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-field-guide-to-lbgs-pokemon-go.html">Pokémon Go</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-field-guide-to-lbgs-walking-dead-our.html">Walking Dead Our World</a> (sadly shuttered earlier this year)<br /><br /><a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-field-guide-to-lbgs-orna.html">Orna</a></span></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-27405374299925869222023-08-30T17:43:00.009-07:002023-09-02T23:02:56.851-07:00What is a MMORPG, and why does it matter to me so much?<p>I think many if not most online multiplayer games have become MMOs in the broad sense. To me MMORPG is a narrower concept, and seems to be the pretty much the same thing that Tipa means when she says MMO in <a href="https://chasingdings.com/2023/08/30/what-makes-an-mmo-an-mmo-2/">this recent thought provoking post</a>. I articulated "everything is a MMO, MMORPGs are different" much more fully <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-mmo-genre-is-dying-all-hail-dawn-of.html">in a post here</a> a few years ago. However, I inadvertently typed 99% of a blog post in the response to Tipa's post, and I have never really explored where I feel the limits of MMORPGs here. So here we go!</p><p>To me what distinguishes a MMO from a MMORPG is not really any particular mechanics but a design sensibility. If the one of the central design goals is to create the illusion of a shared fantasy world (or fictional world in general), with at least some of the expected entertainment coming from social interactions with other avatars being run by players (even if indirect like an AH or looking at other player's outfits when you run through town) it's a MMORPG. It's more of a "I know it when I see it" than a hard limit, and any two observers might disagree on the edge cases. But if there is a straight line in the design history from the game to UO or EQ (or a MUD) I likely consider a game a MMORPG. </p><p>Social interaction is also key. The only way to experience the game has to be to hang out in at least some areas where other people you don't know could also choose to play. It's kind of like when you decide to leave your house and go to a store. You might not see anyone, but you certainly could and it isn't your choice. The only way to physically shop in the store is to take that risk. The only way to play a MMOPRG is to engage in shared social spaces that could, and in fact almost certainly do, have total strangers in them. </p><p>However that is far from enough, or Fortnight would be a MMORPG. Fortnight is definitely not a MMORPG to me, and the main reason is that design goal of the game is different. Some edge-case examples might give a better idea of where I am coming from.</p><p>To me DDO and Guild Wars 1 are edge cases, because the only areas that aren't instanced are villages, cities and keeps that lead either directly to quest instances or to wilderness areas that lead to more quest instances. However a major design goal <i>is</i> to create the illusion of a shared world inhabited both by yourself and other player characters, so I tend to include them. Diablo I-III don't count in my mind because you can get to the hub areas offline. It's by design that you don't have to fool with other players if you don't want to. Same with PSO, and any number of survival games like Arc Survival Evolved. However, a particular server of Arc that is always up and has a lot of players comes really close to being a MMORPG in my mind. Especially if it has more active players than can be logged on at once.</p><p>Second Life is another edge case, but I wouldn't include it because the original design goal is not to create the illusion any specific fictional world. The only reason I consider even an edge case that games made by users are now embedded in it, making a kind or proto-metaverse. Location based games are yet another edge case, but I don't include them because our world is so integral to them. I am on pretty shaky ground there with Orna or Magic Streets I will allow. However, I consider <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/08/new-post-series-field-guide-to-location.html">LBGs in general</a> something new. </p><p>RPG is also a necessary part to me, but almost everything seems to have some RPG mechanics such as XP and levels these days, so presence of RPG mechanics is not all that useful by itself. But in what I think of as a MMORPG the mechanics are there at least in part to help make the world feel more fleshed out, kind of like in a PnP RPG. They aren't there purely to give players more things to grind towards. </p><p>All this is a very long winded way of saying I consider MMORPGs a specific genre with fuzzy edges. All bloggers and commentators seem to agree on what's in the middle, and there will probably never be a huge amount of agreement about where the exact edges are. </p><p>Whatever a MMOPRG is is though, it's a genre that's really special to me. They are a lot more enchanting and "sticky" than almost any other type of game. For me they have an indefinable magic that really makes them pop. It's a genre that hints at endless possibilities to me. However, it's a genre that also often makes me somewhat wistful, because I believe the potential will almost certainly never be fully realized by any design team. I'm not sure whether that's possible, even in theory, for a single game. <br /><br />That said, I certainly love seeing how different teams of designers have taken a crack at it! Doing so most of my adult life has led to a series of fascinating journeys.</p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-65337038654244112192023-08-14T16:10:00.014-07:002023-08-15T08:10:22.937-07:00Creator appreciation week: all the teams running retired MMOs<p>I have been way too busy to post this year. As I feared in my previous post, lurking on other people's blogs is about all I have had time for lately, though my "unusually busy" stretch is taking even longer to abate than I imagined it would back in January. However, I couldn't resist joining in on Blaugust fun in a small way when I saw<a href="https://bhagpuss.blogspot.com/2023/08/thank-you-whoever-you-are.html"> this post over at Inventory Full</a>. Developer appreciation week was always one of my favorite parts of the event back when I used to regularly participate. </p><p>This year, my appreciation goes out to all the volunteer teams keeping defunct MMOs alive. Off the top of my head there is the one for <a href="https://www.returnofreckoning.com/">Warhammer Online</a>, the one for <a href="https://mystonline.com/en/">Myst Online: Uru</a>, <a href="https://www.project1999.com/">Project 1999</a> that is keeping the launch era Everquest experience alive, the one for <a href="https://vgoemulator.net/index.php">Vangaurd: Saga of Heroes</a>, a <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2020/05/13/working-as-intended-the-big-list-of-city-of-heroes-rogue-servers-2020-edition/">pile of them for City of Heroes</a> (of which <a href="https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/3-city-of-heroes-homecoming/">Homecoming</a> is my favorite), a wide variety for <a href="https://mmofolklorist.com/2022/07/25/the-complete-list-of-star-wars-galaxies-rogue-servers-2022/">Star Wars Galaxies</a>, and the one for <a href="https://www.phantasystaronline.net/">Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst</a>. </p><p>These teams are doing a great service for fans of these games, and for anyone interested in the history of MMOs in general. Beyond that, they are often actually doing a better job with their games than some of the teams running "live" MMOs. In general unofficial server teams are legally forbidden from doing more than simply breaking even on their server costs, and they have zero incentive to do anything other than create the best experience they can with extremely limited resources. These are people that care about making players happy first, and everything else second. Their passion really shows in a lot of these projects. </p><p>For an enlightening comparison, contrast the experience that MitchManix had in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ULAipzDFYY">Champions Online</a> vs <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UfyHTXtWks">City of Heroes</a>. One is full of interesting ideas but ruined by lack of developer attention and poor monetization. In the other you can't spend money to play even if you <i>want</i> to, and the game absolutely thriving. For a live team to not be able to keep up with what a bunch of volunteers can do in their spare time is absolutely embarrassing, and is a decent microcosm of what has gone wrong in some parts of the MMO space. </p><p>These games can also be a lifeline to people that can't afford to keep up in a pay-to-play MMO. A relative of mine is in the middle of a divorce, and has never been financially all that well off to start with. She has about enough money to keep her PC running and an internet connection going, and that is literally her entire entertainment budget. I introduced her to Homecoming, and it has been absolutely wonderful for her. We meet about once a week to hang out in the game, and it has been a blast for both of us. <br /><br />The fact that so many of these games exist is a constant reminder to me that most people are actually pretty decent. So my hat goes off to all the teams that sink their time into these projects! They really are making the online world a richer and happier place.</p><p><br /></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-18810312060092081072023-01-02T11:46:00.014-08:002023-02-20T08:21:05.863-08:00Virtual people? <p>Via CNBC, and for me <a href="https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/01/02/1544246/companies-can-hire-a-virtual-person-for-about-14k-a-year-in-china">via slashdot originally</a>, you can <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/02/companies-can-hire-a-virtual-person-for-about-14k-a-year-in-china.html">now hire a virtual person</a> for around 2-14K a year in China depending on whether you want a 2D or 3D person. My first thought was "Why in the hell would you want to do that?" However, after a bit of digging I found <a href="https://democreator.wondershare.com/screen-recorder/create-virtual-person.html">this handy guide</a> to how you too can create your own virtual person. The article mentions some reasons why you would want to create one that I am a bit skeptical of. For example, in my experience "automating simple tasks with AI" is a great way to generate a ton of data you will need to double check manually, or at least spot check and take into account an assumed error rate when you use it for anything. The fact that AI image generators often generate multiple images and let you pick the one that turned out well is not a quirk of that application of AI. </p><p>There was one thing on the list that caught my attention. The idea that there is a ton of interest in metaverses, and virtual spaces need virtual people so they don't seem empty when you enter them. It's still not exactly a home run. The metaverse is such a poorly defined term that I think it's all but meaningless. However, I do think there is real potential for something like Roblox or Fortnite but open for the public to build out whatever they like, so it can grow organically. Second Life did this in the 2000s, but the tools to build stuff for it were clunky and arcane. You also had to set up an account and install a client to get to any of it, and Second Life itself was hard to navigate. ROBLOX and Fortnite* have done a good job addressing some of these pain points, but they remain locked into single company ecosystems so there is a limit to how big they can get.</p><p>I believe it's only a matter of time before someone creates something a lot like ROBLOX but with open access tools under a freeware style license. Much like the early days of the web, as long as you are willing to host whatever you create on your own hardware you will be able to link it to a central listing/ network/ link repository and anyone that cares to can visit. Once that happens, a bunch of linked virtual environments that you can wander around in might become a thing. It will never be as big as the web proper, because for most purposes a flat webpage with scrolling text is actually much better. For example, Amazon would not work nearly as well for me if I had to screw around with navigating a virtual store to find items I want to buy, and being able to rotate a 3d model of a DVD case, PS5, first edition of some book or whatever doesn't really give me additional information I need to figure out whether to buy it. </p><p>Regardless, once virtual spaces start popping up more organically, to capitalize on the potential advantages of the medium one of the things many of them will need is virtual people. We MMO enthusiasts have a lot experience with how exciting it can be to jump into a virtual space and feel like we are setting foot into a new community that we might want to be a part of. However, if you stick your head into one and it's dead as a doornail, often you won't hang around to give it a chance. The designers of online communities have recently started to catch on to this, and have begun to take steps to address it. </p><p>For example, when Reddit first got going the founders <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/reddit-founders-made-hundreds-of-fake-profiles-so-site-looked-popular/">had hundreds of fake accounts</a>. They would post links under different user names to make the site look more populated than it was. After a while, the site had enough real users that it took off on its own. However if they hadn't tricked users into thinking other people were around, it probably never would have gone anywhere. It isn't as if <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet">user moderated message boards</a> weren't thing before Reddit. Less benignly, dating apps that are trying to get off the ground often have a lot of fake dating profiles embedded in them. After early app makers that did this got the crap sued out of them, newer ones now <a href="https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/can-dating-sites-post-fake-profiles-to-lure-in-members-31561">apparently often embed</a> the right to do so into their EULAs.</p><p>In MMOs, we can see various levels of this same basic idea. In bars, dance halls and other areas that are meant to function largely as social gathering places, there are generally obvious NPCs hanging around drinking, talking, dancing or whatever. The obvious reason for that is that a dead empty dance hall completely kills any fantasy you might be able to maintain that it's a real place. You will promptly turn right around, and the chances of any real people deciding to hang out there becomes approximately zero.</p><p>However, I am also starting to see designers blur the line between PCs and NPCs in a few games. I am sure any MMO vet has experienced an occasional brief moment of confusion where you weren't sure whether someone you encountered in a game was a PC or NPC. Fortnite also <a href="https://foreverfortnite.com/2022/12/29/fortnite-penalize-players-hire-npcs-win-matches/">allows you to hire a NPC</a> to team up with in a match with other players. In FFXIV, the game is making joining a party of real players more and more optional for group content. Past the starting areas, you can now clear every dungeon in the game with NPCs, and when I do that it's generally me rather than them that bones a run by failing on one of the complicated raid boss dances. They will even do their best to keep you rezzed when you screw up if you don't cause such a catastrophe that everyone dies.</p><p>The most amusing example of this I have encountered recently was in Phantasy Start Online 2. Every time I would enter a dungeon zone, teams would fill out nearly instantly. At first I assumed that this meant the game had amazing matchmaking. However, after a while I realized that these "teams" were usually entirely made up of randomly generated NPCs. The thing that's funny about it is that they gave me about the same level of interaction that I often get from some of the less social groups of real players in random dungeon runs in WoW or FFXIV, which is why it took me so long to catch on. However, it did allow me to get hip deep into some of the group content and get my sea legs without having to wait around for groups to form. I probably would have bounced right off of the dungeons without them.</p><p>How to get players to bond with NPCs is also a topic designers <a href="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/creating-stronger-bonds-between-players-and-npcs-through-group-conflict">have been thinking about for a while</a>. I don't know if NPCs will ever be convincing enough to fool most users in my lifetime. Even it it becomes possible to do so, I think for ethical reasons it should always be clear whether there is a real person behind whoever you are interacting with. However as a tool to set up some sort of virtual social space that users don't reject the moment they set foot in, I think more realistic NPCs have a real place. Call them virtual people if you like. </p><p><i>An aside:</i></p><p>My blogging schedule is likely to be quite haphazard again this year. My work schedule will be frankly insane for the next few months, though I do have a lot of goals I am genuinely excited about. This may be my last appearance save for random comments on other people's blogs for a while. May your 2023 be awesome! </p><p>*<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Whatever the hell Facebook/ Meta is doing with the vast sums of money they are setting on fire is barely even worth mentioning in this arena, imo. </span></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-4671806933383763582022-12-29T15:35:00.014-08:002023-01-01T09:57:33.659-08:00Standing Stone Games: the perils of being part of a captive audience<p>I was recently reading the "<a href="https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/15/massivelyops-2022-awards-biggest-mmo-disappointment/">biggest MMO disappointments</a>" piece over at Massively, and one of the comments really stuck out to me. MJ Guthry talked about how a close friend of his/ hers had their extremely expensive lifetime LoTRO account stolen, and after two months and many customer service requests Standing Stone Games has done absolutely nothing about it. Normally I might be a little skeptical of this friend of someone I have never met, but this is Standing Stone Games. That story not only tracks, I would be slightly surprised if it went any other way. </p><p>I personally have been lucky enough never to have any issues I needed CS assistance with in LoTRO. But I have had a handful of issues come up in the other SSG game, DDO. I stopped submitting tickets over there altogether a couple of years ago because the chances of one getting resolved in a way that is helpful seems to be zero. Out of something like a dozen tickets over the span of a decade, most of them were closed without any comment. I did at least get comments on two. The first comment was "You weren't online when I checked so I have closed the ticket." Note that this was done in the middle of the day more than 48 hours after I submitted the ticket. I do have a job, why on earth anyone would expect me to be on then I can't imagine. </p><p>The other one said "I don't understand what you are asking for, ticket closed." I submitted the ticket a third time, laying the issue out in enough detail that a mentally challenged elementary school student that was only vaguely familiar with DDO should have been able to figure out what my problem was, and that one was completely ignored.* It may still be in the system to this day for all I know. I stopped paying attention after about the first two or three months after I submitted it.</p><p>I fully believe that the only reason SSG even has a ticket system is as an escape valve for pissed off customers. They hope that most players will submit a ticket, give up after a while, and then forget about the entire incident that made them submit one. This might make a slight bit of sense if SSG was some unknown studio working on obscure games no-one has ever heard of. But they aren't and they don't'.</p><p>Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings are incredibly well known properties in fantasy nerdom, arguably among the two most important. Right up there with Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Final Fantasy. The games themselves are also doing well. The last set of <a href="https://www.enadglobal7.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EG7-Investor-Presentation-Dec-2020-Acquires-Daybreak-Games.pdf">hard numbers we got</a> indicated that DDO and LoTRO alone have a "net revenue" of somewhere in the 10 million a year range.** However, since then <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/25/q4-2021-eg7-and-daybreak-mtgo-lotro/">revenue has apparently more than doubled</a>. This is a company that could easily afford to have a functioning CS department. They simply don't care to allocate the resources to it. </p><p>SSG is also in a good position to get away with this because the two games they run don't have any real competition. There really isn't any other MMO that combines the insane character customization of DDO with traps, puzzles and real time combat. Probably the closest competitors to DDO in terms of character customization are City of Heroes, Champions Online, Star Trek Online and Project Gorgon. Most of those are in a completely different genre, and the combat and gameplay loops of Project Gorgon are completely different from those of DDO. <br /><br />LoTRO is another game that for me has no real competition. There isn't any other fantasy property I'm as invested in as Tolkien's Middle Earth. Even if there was, LoTRO is an amazingly faithful realization of the source material that I seriously doubt will soon be equaled for Middle Earth, the Harry Potterverse, or any other property. While you can quibble about some of the MMO mechanics, the world itself is a damn near perfect reproduction of the areas of Middle Earth that Tolkien described in detail. Other areas that SSG has filled in itself, such as the depths of Moria, are very logically and respectfully extrapolated from the limited descriptions Tolkien did give. <br /><br />SSG has a small, but essentially captive audience with these two games, and they act as if they know it. The utter lack of functioning CS is part of a larger pattern where it's pretty clear that very little of the income of either game gets folded back into development or support staff. That isn't to say that they don't put out new content. In the grand scheme of things, SSG is actually <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2022/03/they-dont-make-expansions-like-they.html">better than average</a> at putting out decent sized hunks of new content for their MMOs. <br /><br />The problem is that they appear to have no internal testing department. They also tend to completely ignore player feedback on the test servers, to the extent that expansions get put out with bugs and balance issues that players have already documented. They seemingly have the bandwidth to either create content or maintain it, but not both at the same time. For example, the last big expansion of DDO, Isle of Dread, actually broke the reincarnation system for nearly two weeks. That's a central gameplay loop in DDO. It would be analogous to the Alternate Advancement system broken in a way that prevents you from earning new AA points for a couple of weeks in Everquest, or all the raid dungeons at the cap being closed for maintenance in WoW.<br /><br />All in all, the studio seems more and more focused on figuring out how to get the most money possible out of their big spenders. For example, to celebrate the holidays they currently have a deal going where you <a href="https://www.ddo.com/news/ddo-double-bonus-points-dec-2022">get a free mount</a> if you buy the $200 package for DDO points for the item shop. However the mount can only be added to your stable on one server, it isn't account wide. Even their end of the year holiday sales this year only offered a 25% discount on their two most recent expansions, <a href="https://ddowiki.com/page/Sinister_Secret_of_Saltmarsh">one of which</a> came out more than a year ago. Even giving the studio the fact that the total amount of content they put out in a year is usually pretty good, the quality control on it tends to be abysmal. Recently the single most well known DDO content creator***, Strimtom, has even <a href="https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/535856-I-said-SSG-should-stop-rushing-things-SSG-has-decided-to-remove-the-brakes">started begging the studio</a> to slow down and take more time for quality control. <br /><br />Yet despite all that, I keep handing SSG my money. DDO is by far my most played MMO this year. LoTRO also remains likely my most played MMO of all time by a wide margin. I do keep trying new-to-me MMOs and revisiting old favorites. This year alone I have ventured forth into Everquest, Everquest 2, Guild Wars (the original), Phantasy Star Online 2, Terra Online, Destiny (also the original), Warframe and probably some others I am forgetting.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>Yet it is the two SSG games that I always come back to. Analogies to bad relationships certainly suggest themselves . . . </p><p>I don't mean to imply by all this that DDO and LoTRO are bad games, or you shouldn't check them out. To my tastes they are both amazing games, which is why I have spent so much time in them. I just wish that the studio seemed more committed to giving them the resources they need to flourish instead of constantly doubling down on milking the current player base.</p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>*</span><span>The issue I had is that one of the expansion bundles comes with a new pet, a pseudo dragon vanity pet, and a cosmetic wizard hat that you can use once, and only once, for the pet of your choice. One would naturally assume that the hat would work with the pet that it comes with, but that is not the case. In fact, the hat is completely invisible on that pet. If you use it on an pseudodragon, you have essentially set the item on fire. Keep in mind, this hat comes as part of an expansion bundle that was originally roughly $100. Supposedly CS can give you a new copy of the hat if you make that common mistake. However, I was never able to get whatever random janitor they have going through tickets to even understand what my issue was, much less help me with it. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">**Based on 22% of 63 million in "net revenue" (= 13.8 million), which I assume means profit or I am not sure why they would have the term "net" in there. Regardless, it's very hard to crunch the numbers that we have available and come up with a financial picture of a company that couldn't afford to pay a CS team of a dozen people 30K a year.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">***That's admittedly a lot like saying the most well know species of <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinorhyncha">kinorhynchan sea worm</a>, or the perhaps most well known <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Czech_silent_films">Czech silent film</a>, but he does feature prominently in the tiny DDO community :-)<br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-54453414240985549112022-09-10T12:49:00.008-07:002022-09-11T13:15:44.882-07:00Why I like blogs and blogging better (it's not just because I'm old)<p>Bhagpuss put up a really <a href="http://bhagpuss.blogspot.com/2022/09/futureproof-your-mind.html">thought provoking piece about blogging the other day</a>. I typed out a response and realized I had most of a blog post. Given my spare time quotient, and since I am not ready to <a href="https://chasingdings.com/2022/09/07/the-life-of-a-medical-student-who-sold-himself-as-an-nft-to-pay-for-school/">turn all my blogging over to an AI</a> just yet, I can't really afford to waste a 90% written post these days :-) So here we are.</p><p>I think everyone that follows blogs knows that the form is in the middle of a slow decline in popularity. However, I don't think anything that's come along to replace it really will or even <i>can</i>. There are things I like about prose communication that podcasts or videos are not good substitutes for. For example, there are a lot of blogs like Inventory Full (and everyone else listed off to the right if you are viewing this on a PC) on which I will at least check out almost every post that goes up. There are exactly zero YouTubers or podcasters that I follow closely enough to watch/ listen to everything they put out. Even my absolute favorite YouTube channels like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/inanutshell">Kurzgesagt </a>and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzR-rom72PHN9Zg7RML9EbA">Eons</a> have a lot of videos out I have never watched. </p><p>Why is that? Am I a cranky old person? Well yes, obviously, since I wasn't playing EQ as a toddler in 1999 and I blog about it a lot. I also have a lawn, but the last person I had to chase off of it was around my age. However, there is more to it than that!</p><p>For me personally, a really big part of it is that I can suck down prose at my own pace instead of having to set aside whatever hunk of time the person making content has decided I need to invest. Guides to games especially, I absolutely hate having to sit through a video to get past one thing I am stuck on. I am absolutely amazed at how many people prefer a ten hour video walkthrough to a prose guide where they can just look up exactly what they need. You know there are <a href="https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/">indexed text guides to damn near everything right here</a>, don't you? **Waves cane around wildly**</p><p>I also don't find that many opinions are worth sitting through a 20+ minute video to experience. Obviously an insightful opinion can be thought provoking in any format. I have become a big fan of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/JoshStrifeHayes?app=desktop">Josh Strife Hayes</a> for example, just like everyone else in this corner of the blogosphere. Not a big enough fan to watch everything he puts out of course. If I have a solid damn hour to fart away I will almost certainly spend it in a game. But what I have watched is great, entertaining and often insightful.</p><p>In contrast, there are bloggers I almost never agree with, yet who I will still read everything they put up. The risk you take when you decide read through a blog post is a lot less than when you commit to a video. If some blogger that I follow posts something that strikes me as patently myopic or cranky, I can still engage with it and not be upset that I read it. I'll even consider their opinion and occasionally change my own as a result.</p><p>For example, it's worth sitting through one blogger's somewhat disconnected-from-reality screeds because there are still occasional posts I enjoy, and sometimes even ideas embedded in the screeds that are interesting to consider. If I sit through an hour long video to get to a punchline that I think is idiotic, I am generally quite upset over the time I wasted. Five minutes or less spent reading a blog post to get there, not so much.</p><p>There is also something a bit more honest about prose. It has to get by on what is there, the ideas being presented, much more than a video does. To me an audience of even a few hundred steady readers feels like a badge of honor. A few hundred or a few thousand views on YouTube is all but meaningless. </p><p>Finally, I have the feeling that bloggers are more often motivated by the pure love of what they are writing about than other sorts of content creators. These days blogging is a terrible way to even become internet famous, much less attain actual fame and fortune. This news story went around recently saying that more than <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-media-influencers-86-of-young-americans-want-to-become-one/">80% of young people want to be social media stars</a>. Now I am sure if you dig into that the number it's exaggerated, really shocking headlines like that often are. Regardless, I really doubt that any of those hopeful youngsters are firing up a blog! </p><p>No-one does this for any reason at all any more save that they simply enjoy it. It's nice to be able to settle into a chair and engage with a community united by a love of what they are doing, and not by any delusions of grandeur, fame or fortune. I like the honesty and the (general) lack of pretension that comes with that. </p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-38803652361978743302022-06-04T07:31:00.014-07:002022-06-04T08:02:26.326-07:00History of the Erudites Part III: Everquest 2<p>This is the final post in a series about the Erudite race across three games. You can find <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-strange-history-of-erudite-race-as.html">part one here</a>, which covers Erudites during the time of EQOA 500 years before Everquest. <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2022/01/history-of-erudites-part-ii-everquest.html">Part two here</a> covers Erudites dring the time of the original Everquest. This final post covers them during the time of Everquest II, set 500 years after the original game. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsu-pmfVncuziudlahkcbS5pl8ZuqjO5-bBZOKUSzQ3GcPf9DijDFz_XXP7tpfP3_Rhb82mH-V1YITrSRJ_UVm0ovxCLBBINdPfQg4LAZGoPsNBagNnzOfTbvVypDmwNSIr2srAZ7vWHWXLLta2Ns_7EnG8pROomEiCnFu-_Im4kYh75rz8ovriDvhQ/s1083/EQII_SS8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="1083" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsu-pmfVncuziudlahkcbS5pl8ZuqjO5-bBZOKUSzQ3GcPf9DijDFz_XXP7tpfP3_Rhb82mH-V1YITrSRJ_UVm0ovxCLBBINdPfQg4LAZGoPsNBagNnzOfTbvVypDmwNSIr2srAZ7vWHWXLLta2Ns_7EnG8pROomEiCnFu-_Im4kYh75rz8ovriDvhQ/s320/EQII_SS8.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A male Erudite from EQ II. </span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The race has been altered so much by years of close association with magic that they are beginning to take on a rather alien appearance. </span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Erudites of this era are completely hairless, and have skin and eye coloration far outside the human norm. They also still have the highest starting intelligence of any race, expanded cranial volume apparently no longer being necessary for this heightened mental capacity. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Erudites began as a regal race of dark skinned but fairly normal looking humans based out of the city of Highborn, on the shores of Antonica south of Quenyos. During the time of EQOA they colonized the Isle of Odus to the west. Always a race of mages and magic using warriors, by the time of Everquest their long association with magic had begun to alter them on a physical level. Members of both genders showed greatly expanded craniums and foreheads, indicating a vast expansion of the brain areas responsible for language and reason. By the time of Everquest II this process has gone much further. They no longer have expanded craniums, but in other ways Erudites of this era have begun to look positively alien. Now completely hairless, their skin tones tend towards towards shades of gray or bone white, their eyes no longer appear wholly human, and under certain lighting their skin now glistens with a faint metallic sheen. Tattoos have also become extremely commonplace. However they mark themselves with magical glyphs rather than ink, and the designs can only be clearly seen under bright light.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKLzbgCJ-DIhyCy6p17USzcUpR9oam7_iIiMrnHyc6w3bRZ17kN4BOuaA9iTaT-_dHKhyggfyKQuEdYPag3_6xWB_2E-gZG-JYNyM6iTT-uTSZNkxn-iAK7sCJDKcLZBqXIMB5wNu-f8X7DHYaI_QScl_Y-Wl-NNs3Oe-R23Ol9UVrPpdsBhtQukJbg/s1920/EQII_SS3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKLzbgCJ-DIhyCy6p17USzcUpR9oam7_iIiMrnHyc6w3bRZ17kN4BOuaA9iTaT-_dHKhyggfyKQuEdYPag3_6xWB_2E-gZG-JYNyM6iTT-uTSZNkxn-iAK7sCJDKcLZBqXIMB5wNu-f8X7DHYaI_QScl_Y-Wl-NNs3Oe-R23Ol9UVrPpdsBhtQukJbg/s320/EQII_SS3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The city of Paineel, near where you first arrive.<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table>The history of the race since the time of EQ has also been eventful. EQ II is set after a mysterious cataclysm that destroyed much of Norrath and reduced former continents to a series of archipelagos. When EQ II launched the homeland of the Erudites on Isle of Odus had apparently been completely destroyed, and Erudite players were forced to start in one of two primarily human cities. However, during the 6th expansion of EQII, <a href="https://eq2.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Sentinel%27s_Fate#:~:text=Sentinel's%20Fate%20is%20the%20sixth,cap%20is%20raised%20to%20250.">Sentinels of Fate</a>, it was revealed that Odus had not been completely destroyed. Instead, a disaster involving teleportation spires transported the island into a pocket dimension. For decades or centuries the inhabitants of this dimension were isolated from the rest of Norrath. However at the beginning of Sentinels of Fate the Erudites inhabiting the ruins of Odus were able to reactivate a dormant teleportation spire in the city of Paineel. <div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYPBOF5-6TnnAiwk0ZmTA1qA9C20PK_BpLse3FrKFLkJ7uCImtXEfoQGnfZs-oyMt1Pj8PAYUR2O8QjVmq-3v_5iG13N0Tb1Nipf7TWvdO2C4qVJESBnjfdUUkQH45OpRkscGAAxAWnhRRewV-U4h696wH0IS-e8aWcKusYG-EBqrmQo_Xnp3-BMbMg/s860/EQII_SS4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="860" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYPBOF5-6TnnAiwk0ZmTA1qA9C20PK_BpLse3FrKFLkJ7uCImtXEfoQGnfZs-oyMt1Pj8PAYUR2O8QjVmq-3v_5iG13N0Tb1Nipf7TWvdO2C4qVJESBnjfdUUkQH45OpRkscGAAxAWnhRRewV-U4h696wH0IS-e8aWcKusYG-EBqrmQo_Xnp3-BMbMg/s320/EQII_SS4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Sundered Frontier, one of the two major landmasses that remains after most of Odus was destroyed in yet another magical accident that the Erudites caused. Like most zones released during this era of EQ II, this "zone" is actually a large region containing many different areas with distinct biomes and separate quest lines.<br /><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>During the time of EQ Paineel was inhabited solely by Necromancers, Shadowknights and Clerics of Cazic-Thule (god of fear). However, when you are able to travel there 500 years later you find a city that is also inhabited by wizards, enchanters, and even paladins. As during the time of EQOA, practitioners of all forms of magic and worshipers of both Cazic-Thule and Quellious (goddess of peace) now once again live and work side-by-side as a single people. At first no explanation for this state of affairs is given. However, after questing for several evenings, a NPC reveals the story of the final cataclysm of Odus. The Paineel of EQ II is the third city to bear the name. It was rebuilt after an accident involving teleportation spires built by the Erudites transported Odus into a pocket dimension called Ultera. Ultera exists between the prime plane, where most of Norath still lies, and a plane of void. Though most of Odus and the surrounding islands were unstable in this new area of extraplanar space, the connection to the Plane of Underfoot beneath the ruins of Paineel created a large stable area of land. Here, under the leadership of necromancers, Paineel was rebuilt for a third time. </div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXgicN9771NyCt3pN49GZTMHHtaNU7kjh9tAr9TAJ17WgWKaZW2fUFRxIf-qNiKM7TrJrI27up_VmzAfyr03zHoVoVgcOMwM2GcCtktAijBJCYf9pGCjErOQbO-WoO3Dq5KtTYwAAYkdnXO0EXM-JuNIDyqo9xxovI7SVXoyLs_OHKXYGiOG2stIH6w/s1920/EQII_SS6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXgicN9771NyCt3pN49GZTMHHtaNU7kjh9tAr9TAJ17WgWKaZW2fUFRxIf-qNiKM7TrJrI27up_VmzAfyr03zHoVoVgcOMwM2GcCtktAijBJCYf9pGCjErOQbO-WoO3Dq5KtTYwAAYkdnXO0EXM-JuNIDyqo9xxovI7SVXoyLs_OHKXYGiOG2stIH6w/s320/EQII_SS6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The character I played through Sentinels of Fate with, a Necromancer now in the mid 90s. I did finally figure out what familiars are about, that space octopus boosts all of my stats by 12% and will grow stronger as I level it. <br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table>At first the rivalry and isolation of the two factions of Erudites seems to have continued in Ultera. However, this was disrupted by intelligent beings from the realm of void. They appeared to the leaders of Erudin, and at first seemed friendly. However, one-by-one the leaders of Erudin became possessed by these evil beings. By the time anyone outside the inner circle of Erudin elites realized what was happening, it was too late to save the city. Erudin was captured without so much as a battle, and those few followers of Quellious that remained untainted were forced to flee. The inhabitants of Paineel, showing remarkable kindness of a city full of "evil necromancers", took in the refugees. Though the Erudite race is now in exile from their greatest city, it is once again united.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKjJcNwQqqG_hOMmCxWCJcnnaX2DjQ8QzQ_rN7lmMOgZPmpEYpGe9oHez9J5GmhQLlvnFf1Rpqkd2_HyXxaYOXRaQOgBZzbjmWdt2jwjqxyV_RHFtxRqQuy2w8Nj7OIcjI8XIvjUph6DzPhD4NbHee6GZ4TdsIvAftRmGMzmwjATVCJcH6byBFtUkVg/s922/EQII_SS5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="922" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKjJcNwQqqG_hOMmCxWCJcnnaX2DjQ8QzQ_rN7lmMOgZPmpEYpGe9oHez9J5GmhQLlvnFf1Rpqkd2_HyXxaYOXRaQOgBZzbjmWdt2jwjqxyV_RHFtxRqQuy2w8Nj7OIcjI8XIvjUph6DzPhD4NbHee6GZ4TdsIvAftRmGMzmwjATVCJcH6byBFtUkVg/s320/EQII_SS5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">It took me more than a week of evenings to make it far enough in the Sentinels of Fate questlines that any NPCs would explain to me what happened to Odus since the time of EQ. Here, one of these NPCs is describing how the remnants of Odus were sucked into a pocket dimension called Ultera, which is connected to the Void.<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table>The Erudites that you encounter in the shattered remains of Odus are truly neutral, caring for little but knowledge. They do have their own odd sense of honor. For example self sacrifice, even dying, to preserve knowledge is considered a noble and necessary act under certain circumstances. However, in most ways that count the Erudites of EQ II are completely amoral. They place almost no value on the lives of most humanoid races, and those few Erudites that are even aware of the other races that inhabit the Sundered Frontier seem to consider them of little importance. Though they don't go out of their way to persecute outsiders, the inhabitants of Paineel will kill anyone that seems to threaten their society or their individual scholarly pursuits without the slightest regret. Many of the experiments they conduct, especially into the inner workings of death and resurrection, would be considered depraved by members of races such as men and elves. Even the deaths of other Erudites involved in this work are taken completely in stride.*<div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZ8pm9e4PDEoCANRQ6fck62bIM8O_hvVMz2r4qNw9NQ5GX7dssD-NkNqNWCvr8Y_kJQ9Re6ELU0azgyR-i77kPFpVf3fKLqnfVw5XBVuYT0KRNVMdYunVyHp7ugyOabw63thaQnKsL3VtrgRmVzXJww672HOfX6zyWTn5A_ZI-vOiluEtr1Y-nleAKw/s1920/EQII_SS2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZ8pm9e4PDEoCANRQ6fck62bIM8O_hvVMz2r4qNw9NQ5GX7dssD-NkNqNWCvr8Y_kJQ9Re6ELU0azgyR-i77kPFpVf3fKLqnfVw5XBVuYT0KRNVMdYunVyHp7ugyOabw63thaQnKsL3VtrgRmVzXJww672HOfX6zyWTn5A_ZI-vOiluEtr1Y-nleAKw/s320/EQII_SS2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This village of Kerrans lies on a small island isolated from the larger landmass that contains Paineel.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Because of their moral ambivalence, the other two humanoid races that share the remains of Odus with with the Erudites avoid all direct contact with Paineel. The cat like Kerrans confine themselves to an island which they only leave occasionally to gather supplies. They also keep a small force of spies near Paineel to make certain that no threats issue forth from it. Another race of humanoid pandas have a small community in the village of Hua Mein. It lies in a valley which is hidden from the rest of Odus by powerful magic. The Erudites of Paineel seem to believe they succeeded in a war of extermination against the race of Hua Mein several hundred years ago, and the modern villagers are careful to maintain this fiction. In order to enter the valley you need to perform a series of tasks proving that you are willing to lie to the inhabitants of Paineel and help the Hua Mein avoid discovery.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2joVKk157kvCEAzesjG5bR0-QXFzgRqAbd4dfNlD6L_vk-VJkiVTYKbqbsQGCcV6mhp2ne-lqj9VrqSdFoMX565TaM9lY6_BAbFF4KJeoIBiDZWKhLiYQ5-LR03kufO462EURWZoDeO62rISQPfkcyS9vCUmeB2D1yKlZ-b4M0wI8jfTUyIaensXVGg/s1920/EQII_SS1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2joVKk157kvCEAzesjG5bR0-QXFzgRqAbd4dfNlD6L_vk-VJkiVTYKbqbsQGCcV6mhp2ne-lqj9VrqSdFoMX565TaM9lY6_BAbFF4KJeoIBiDZWKhLiYQ5-LR03kufO462EURWZoDeO62rISQPfkcyS9vCUmeB2D1yKlZ-b4M0wI8jfTUyIaensXVGg/s320/EQII_SS1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The island is protected by these magical devices, which also maintain the same physical conditions on the island that it experienced before yet another magical accident caused by the Erudites transported Odus and the surrounding islands into the Ultera. The Kerran's have little direct contact with the Erudites of Paineel, who in turn completely ignore the Kerrans.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In the Erudites of EQ II we see a race completely transformed by the reckless pursuit of knowledge. Both physically and philosophically, they are now quite alien from the other human races. Their resilience is admirable in a way. After each cataclysm they rebuild and continue to gather ever greater knowledge as they always have. However, this quest for knowledge is so single minded and so heedless of the damage that it causes that Erudites as a race are only a step removed from truly selfish and sadistic races such as the Trolls and Dark Elves. Though not truly evil, no-one could mistake them for a force of good.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPThVM1p1HU5vFYZEN-OUzc-jqOSff4_Ot5G4c5xb7iGYm9lb3aQZQudFqj9chA09UjXFZEaGkadBPfzJmxRWv_Vm_Z0Xz4vYOdzH8_SeunNY_DLCh3cgyvWmeI9mKHRMyzU63Mq4aVaHW7CERzmQ9JDsx5wHUE9YohC8Do1rfYd5wepGBpyadJ28tA/s1920/EQII_SS7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPThVM1p1HU5vFYZEN-OUzc-jqOSff4_Ot5G4c5xb7iGYm9lb3aQZQudFqj9chA09UjXFZEaGkadBPfzJmxRWv_Vm_Z0Xz4vYOdzH8_SeunNY_DLCh3cgyvWmeI9mKHRMyzU63Mq4aVaHW7CERzmQ9JDsx5wHUE9YohC8Do1rfYd5wepGBpyadJ28tA/s320/EQII_SS7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The inhabitants of Hua Mein, another humanoid race that was nearly destroyed by the Erudites centuries ago. It is unclear what the two races were in conflict over. However, the Erudites clearly believe they completely destroyed this race, a fiction which the villagers of Hua Mein are eager to maintain. As an aside, whether this race was "inspired" by the Pandaran's of World of Warcraft is unclear. Mists of Pandaria was also not even announced until 2011, so it seems unlikely to have been a direct inspiration. Kung Fu Panda came out about the time development of this expansion likely got underway. The movie came out in 2008 and the expansion was released on 2010, but my guess is that too is a coincidence. Trying to appeal to the same demographics as a children's movie seems as though it would have been an odd choice for this rather complex MMO. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Perhaps more than any other race, Erudites have often proven themselves a dire threat to all of Norrath. When they colonized Odus in the time of EQOA, they pushed aside the native races that inhabited the area without a thought, treating them no better than wild beasts. Some time after, a magical war between two factions of Erudites nearly destroyed the world. Finally, in between the events of EQ and EQII they again caused a major cataclysm, this time involving experiments with the teleportation spires. Odus was ripped from the world into another dimension, and whether this played any role in the wider cataclysm that so drastically transformed the rest of Norrath is unclear. However, even if the Erudites knew for a fact that they had caused this devastating event, seemingly very few would regret it. Knowledge is the only master they truly revere. This is a race that would have been delighted to discover the atom bomb, or something even worse. </p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><b>Series Wrap Up</b></i></p><p>Erudites are an interesting fantasy race in a game where every other playable race in launch EQ was "borrowed" from first edition AD&D.** Even Barbarians were a class in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unearthed_Arcana">AD&D Unearthed Arcana</a>. It's mainly in the Erudites where we get a truly original fantasy race. They have few analogues in other games or fantasy fiction in general that I am aware of. Their accelerated physical evolution due to connections with magic is especially unusual, and I find the fact that it is an Easter egg you can only experience by playing three completely separate MMOs delightful. </p><p>I can only think of a handful of game series like Star Wars and Elder Scrolls where it's possible to time travel by moving back and forth between different games, and in most of them the changes from one time period to the next are mainly cosmetic. Not so Everquest. In only 1000 years we see a world radically transformed by a series of magical cataclysms. The world map of EQOA is completely unrecognizable by the time of EQ II, much like a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/World-map-of-the-Late-Triassic-Carnian-220-Mya-showing-the-position-of-key-floras_fig1_274774431">map of planet earth during the Triassic era</a> bears almost no landmarks recognizable to modern eyes. The races and classes you can play also change a good bit from one game to the next. Deeply associated with magic, and themselves responsible for many world shaking events, no race has been transformed during the history of Norrath as much as the Erudites. Though they have friendly relations with many "good" races such as the humans and elves, for those races that live near them such as the Kerrans Erudites have also embodied the worst aspects of humanity. The Erudite legacy is one of towering achievements in the magical arts, particularly the construction of the spires linking Norrath, Luclin and planes beyond. But it is also a legacy of colonialism and perhaps even attempted genocide in the case of the Hua Mein. </p><p>The singular focus of Erudites on the pursuit of knowledge above all else also is both admirable and tragic. It's an admirable fictional counter example to our world, where where members of different political parties have stopped even agreeing on fundamental reality. But Erudite history also reflects how badly things can go when the pursuit of knowledge and the power than comes with it is not balanced by any sense of morality. Even the banning of "evil" necromantic arts from the city of Erudin during the time of EQ comes across as hypocritical. Time and time again it was the practitioners of other forms of magic that truly threatened the world. In the end it was the city of Paineel that was the last major refuge of the race and all the knowledge they collected.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*I don't mean to convey that Sentinels of Fate is some sort of grimdark expansion. These deaths are very much played for darkly humorous laughs in the questlines that involve them.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">**Undoubtedly this is because <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2015-01-03-the-game-archaeologist-how-dikumud-shaped-modern-mmos.html">DikuMUD</a> also drew so heavily on AD&D. AD&D in turn borrowed heavily from Tolkien of course, but the precise collection of races and classes in launch EQ is very much 1st Edition AD&D. For example, Dark Elves first appeared in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiend_Folio">AD&D Fiend Folio</a>. Races and classes added in expansions, starting with Kunark, were much more likely to be original to the setting. For example Iskar and Beastmasters don't closely resemble anything in AD&D I can think of.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-4405734347776579952022-03-26T10:59:00.026-07:002022-04-03T10:46:57.724-07:00On difficulty, accessibility and Elden Ring<p>Bahgpuss has a <a href="https://bhagpuss.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-difficult-matter-of-difficulty.html?showComment=1648311303814#c1272863900281560659">great post up</a> that does a really good job of articulating the of issues that have been floating around the blogosphere about game difficulty since Elden Ring came out. Having been both both sides of the debate, both a kid that was a hardcore gamer and an adult that gives truly difficult games a wide berth, I had a really immediate response to it. The core issue that really resonated with me is whether developers should feel obligated to put in difficulty settings that make their games clearable by anyone that is physically able to play them. </p><p>I have been playing video games since the Atari era, so my thoughts on whether a game is obligated to include different difficulty settings for users of different skill levels is pretty simple:<i> </i>absolutely not. The original conception of video games was that they were kind of like any game: some of them were hard enough that not everyone could do very well in them. I used to play insanely difficult games when I was younger. For example, I actually beat the game that is right at t<a href="https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/a669116/the-12-hardest-games-ever-made-from-ghosts-n-goblins-to-dark-souls/">he top of this list</a>.</p><p>I had to dump a solid month of my spare time into it to get good enough to do that, and I had the reflexes of a cat on amphetamines back then. I absolutely could not do that these days. I have neither the reflexes needed nor the spare time necessary to commit an entire game to muscle memory. However, the fact that it was so brutally difficult, and that getting really good at it was the only way to see the whole game was kind of the entire point of the experience. Every time I was finally able to see a new level, it was elating. Hell, sometimes getting to see a new six inches of a level I was working on was elating. Absolutely, developers should be able to sell those kinds of experiences if they want to. The world would be a smaller less rich place without them.</p><p>A common counter argument is "Well if you want it more difficult, just crank up the difficulty. Why do you care what other people do?" Once difficulty settings became the norm, I sometimes did just that. For example I beat the <a href="https://ourculturemag.com/2018/08/07/a-quick-look-back-at-goldeneye-007/#:~:text=Goldeneye%20came%20with%20four%20different,quantity%20in%20which%20they%20appeared.">N64 Goldeneye</a> on "007" difficulty, and it felt like an accomplishment. The absolute zen focus needed to do and the adrenaline rush when I finally did was similar to beating Super Ghouls and Ghosts. But it wasn't exactly the same. Knowing that literally the only way to see the next level was to buck up and get good enough to do it gave Super Ghouls and Ghosts a psychological layer that just wasn't there when I was playing through GoldenEye on "Holy crap, you must have a hell of a lot of spare time" difficulty. The closest thing I can compare it to is the difference between the view from a mountain where you can choose to either hike up or ride in gondola, and hiking out to a spot that you simply can't see without serious physical exertion. </p><p>I don't think I have ever hiked a mountain when I could ride ride a gondola up. However, I have taken 40 flights of stairs to the top of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Learning">a tall building</a> when I could have taken the elevator. It was very much the Goldeneye "007" experience. It was fun, it was elating to finish, the view at the end was nice, and I'm glad I did it. But it was not the same as slogging my way down into a cave that most people will never see, or hiking out to some obscure waterfall most people don't know about. The latter just feels more special. I really think some developers are trying to let us have a tiny bit of that special "most people will never be here and see this" feeling in our living rooms. That is not to say that that is a financially sane strategy for most developers in the modern market. However, I really feel like that is what the Dark Souls games are trying to tap into.</p><p>Another aspect of the debate is whether developers need to be clear about what they are selling, and my answer to that is <i>absolutely yes</i>. In fact, if a studio is creating a game for the tiny niche audience of "teenagers and 20-somethings with absurd amounts of spare time" they need to go out of their way to be crystal clear about it. In 1990 it was expected that roughly 30% of games were hard enough that most people would never beat them. That is very much not the norm now, and selling people a product they probably can't use without warning them is incredibly irresponsible.</p><p>There is also the issue of accessibility for people with physical disabilities. I think developers should do their best within the constraints of their budget to support peripherals that allow people with various types of physical disabilities to play. Some of the peripherals designed for people with neurological disorders that affect manual dexterity might also allow feeble old people like me to play some games as a side effect, so I'll admit this is a gray area. However, I don't think of being older than 29 or fully employed as physical disabilities, and claiming that developers are morally obligated to cater to those demographics pretty absurd in my mind. Admittedly, since those are by and large the people with money to spend, it's generally pretty stupid not to. Nonetheless that is a different issue.<br /><br />In the end I feel that the one clear moral obligation that developers have in this area is to be upfront about what they are trying to sell us. Don't steal my money by tricking me into thinking I might be able to fully experience your game when I clearly will not be able to. If a developer is dead honest about what they are selling, and someone that clearly cannot get full use out of it decides to buy it anyway, that is on the buyer. If I bought a Formula 1 car, no one would get mad at the manufacturer when I couldn't get it out of my driveway. They would think I was an idiot, and rightfully so. </p><p>I will probably never see Elden Ring . And that's perfectly ok with me, because I know it isn't for me. That's also the exact reason I won't be buying the game. They aimed their game directly at a market segment I'm just not part of any more. Regardless, I'm not mad at FromSoftware for doing it. Far from it, I'm excited to see a new RPG subgenre thriving, and I can actually understand why some people would feel that the game was diminished of there was a "story mode" that would let you skate through it. There are more games "for me" than I could possibly play through if all I did between now and my deathbed was sleep, eat, groom and play games. I think that's plenty. </p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-74165077554936356012022-03-12T12:10:00.012-08:002022-03-12T17:13:45.662-08:00They don't make expansions like they used to<p>Per <a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2022/03/eq-ii-in-2022.html">my last post</a>, I have been playing through some of the original EQ II expansions lately. I remember when they came out they weren't considered particularly large expansions. However, by modern standards they are quite meaty. For example, I played through Kingdom of the Sky last month, and I am now in the middle of the Rise of Kunark, the second and fourth expansions for EQ II. Rise of Kunark consisted of five new zones, a new 1-20 starting area and four new high level adventuring zones. It was released a few months after Burning Crusade for WoW, which included two new starting zones and seven new high level adventuring zones. So at first glance, it seems pretty meager for the era.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqFP_BcR5e5t912Dwda1-ue4jICS0mKtBA973ZdvEBQ1fKHX5wdJjLPy3PNbFzCJNcttmzPQiqzOHry3qsEwYxYEo0ImmIYaxNMuSqhm6nvP_iIU7Xeb3mSUwx6tfGkkJXsQdJ3pi3JQLRL_FNXb4E6CKnpsC9b0s_H1e8KHDYy3IlB6wMsE2UShhzjQ=s853" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="853" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqFP_BcR5e5t912Dwda1-ue4jICS0mKtBA973ZdvEBQ1fKHX5wdJjLPy3PNbFzCJNcttmzPQiqzOHry3qsEwYxYEo0ImmIYaxNMuSqhm6nvP_iIU7Xeb3mSUwx6tfGkkJXsQdJ3pi3JQLRL_FNXb4E6CKnpsC9b0s_H1e8KHDYy3IlB6wMsE2UShhzjQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Kylong Plains, one of four high level adventuring zones that came with the Rise of Kunark Expansion for EQ II in 2007. The map is actually a lot bigger than it looks, each of the four main areas is about the same size as a normal MMO zone. For the last month I have been playing through some of the early EQ II expansions, and it's remarkable how much more content they have than some expansions I have been playing in more modern MMOs. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Now of course this ignores the fact that by this time EQ II had released three previous expansions, to the 0 that WoW had put out. The zones themselves are also absolutely enormous. Playing through Kunark took me roughly three weeks weeks of evenings, and by the time I hit 80 and move on to the next expansion there are also still going to be huge areas I haven't yet set foot in. However, Kunark vs Burning Crusade is really a debate for 2007. What has really struck me as I have been playing through these expansions from over a decade ago is how much developers have degraded the meaning of the term "expansion" over the years. </p><p>Back in 2007, if a content drop wasn't at least a good solid few weeks of entertainment for most players, you didn't call it an expansion. For example, in EQ II SOE used the term "adventure packs" to distinguish smaller hunks of content from mainline expansions. They likely did this because (a) they didn't want to confuse their customers and (b) because they would have gotten crucified in the court of public opinion if they had tried to call something like <a href="https://eq2.fandom.com/wiki/Fallen_Dynasty_Timeline">The Fallen Dynasty</a> an expansion. It only contained one new adventuring zone, two new group instances, one solo quest series, one tradeskill quest series, and 20 quest series of trials in the group instances. Clearly that's not an expansion!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqjRnCzvqUMZ51TY4V8wg51Anuzsmc9cg2_e6O3VoNcqNK4pT0AnbJY0uZyyb1vasUik04tys2g5wxpeo0LECJjeMLT7cSZ7_xh4cH8YTwagVH7uLHyoDQsi__go5NJ_mwBXAYoQbCzsAGgF9qxKKt9Je6oWpD8sESE1xKLDd33KOiMOosMukSqUjN3A=s853" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="853" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqjRnCzvqUMZ51TY4V8wg51Anuzsmc9cg2_e6O3VoNcqNK4pT0AnbJY0uZyyb1vasUik04tys2g5wxpeo0LECJjeMLT7cSZ7_xh4cH8YTwagVH7uLHyoDQsi__go5NJ_mwBXAYoQbCzsAGgF9qxKKt9Je6oWpD8sESE1xKLDd33KOiMOosMukSqUjN3A=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Fens of Nasthar. This was actually the first zone from Kunark I got going in, and because I didn't know what I was doing I managed to royally jack up my faction here. I am kill on sight to every NPC in roughly half this map (though the ones in the corners absolutely love me). Games were a lot less likely to hold your hand in 2007, but at least they didn't skimp on content. This map does not remotely convey what a big zone this is. Just flying from one corner to another on an NPC mount is a "go make a snack or something" moment. <br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>How much things have changed. Legacy of the Sith is the ultimate case in point. The latest "expansion" for SWTOR came out last month, and reactions to it were not good. A lot of the negativity has focused on things that are pretty subjective, like whether the new UI is any good or not or whether changes to classes and gearing have improved the game or made it worse. However one repeated criticism that I think is a lot less debatable is that Legacy of the Sith doesn't have enough content to be called an expansion, clocking in at about two hours for most players. It really has me scratching my head and wondering whether this is the smallest update that any MMO publisher has ever had the temerity to call an "expansion." It probably is, but in the modern MMO era it certainly has some competition.<p>So what even is a proper expansion? First off, if new content doesn't have have any actual new areas where players engage in whatever the normal gameplay loop is, I don't personally think of it as an expansion. New mechanics can help distinguish an expansion from a normal content drop, but if there is nowhere new to go the world hasn't really been expanded. The first MMO that I can think of that tried to get away with calling something that was clearly not one an expansion was Dark Age of Camelot. <a href="https://camelotherald.fandom.com/wiki/Foundations">The second "expansion" for the game, called Foundations</a>, added nothing but housing and consignment merchants. I don't consider that an expansion at all because it doesn't really add to the world, it's just a bunch of new mechanics. Of course even at the time Mythic released Foundation they charged nothing for it, and always referred to it as a "free expansion" to distinguish it from paid expansions like Trials of Atlantis and Catacombs that did actually have a lot of new areas to adventure in. So if that's not a good comparison, what are some bottom of the barrel examples of actual past expansions?</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhl9RXoQqBHsiYi641OP06Ssr4d993PVxwfg1quZ4R3fbuhdLNyWY2eHid_CxWv3SIkO7o8XcQO8LwWuCa4eNQLGgGn5L-JbTKlkeNqm9ODKNUlvIRs34Wy74wpH2wBv9wVtigrITDuXKCeiG4-i0J_r77CjyA0ioek2Hn1F1tUziyAcK391Y8w9Ry9hg=s859" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="859" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhl9RXoQqBHsiYi641OP06Ssr4d993PVxwfg1quZ4R3fbuhdLNyWY2eHid_CxWv3SIkO7o8XcQO8LwWuCa4eNQLGgGn5L-JbTKlkeNqm9ODKNUlvIRs34Wy74wpH2wBv9wVtigrITDuXKCeiG4-i0J_r77CjyA0ioek2Hn1F1tUziyAcK391Y8w9Ry9hg=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kunzar Jungle. This is definitely the smallest zone that came with Kunark, and it still has at least five quest hubs that I have found so far. I haven't looked it up, but I think the first hub I did had around 20 or 25 quests. There were five main NPCs giving them out, each of which had between three and five quests. By the time I finish out the first two hubs, I will have hit 80 and be ready to move on to the next expansion, Sentinels of Fate.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Standing Stone Games certainly has to make the list. Recently they have taken to charging for content drops that they would have given away for free with a sub in prior years. They refer to these as "mini-expansions" rather than full expansions, but when you can pay <a href="https://www.lotro.com/expansions">up to $100 for collectors editions</a> that seems like an inconsequential semantic difference to me. A paid expansion is a paid expansion, and it needs to have a good bit of content. The two content releases I am referring to are War of the Three Peaks in Lord of the Rings Online and Saltmarsh in DDO. Regardless of what you call them and being the start of my list, they were actually both decent sized updates. <a href="https://www.mmorpg.com/editorials/lotros-new-mini-expansion-is-giving-me-mixed-feelings-2000119917">War of the Three Peaks has been compared to Evindim</a>, which is a zone that can easily last you a solid week of evenings. Saltmarsh consisted of one wilderness area and ten quests. That doesn't sound like a lot. However, a quest in DDO is set in an entirely separate instance so in reality it's something like 11 new play areas. One quest in DDO can take anywhere from five minutes to an hour. Altogether I would guess that both "mini-expansions" contain roughly 10 or 15 hours of content if you really see everything. Small, but not egregiously bad. They only look bad in comparison to what has historically been done in both games.</p><p>Another example that comes to mind is the final content released in Secret World Legends. In a move that many of us are still bitter about, when the original Secret World didn't do as well financially as Funcom hoped, they spent a year revamping the game so that they could re-release it as Secret World Legends. SWL was designed to be easier to get into compared to TSW, and was released as a free-to-play game. To help get players to move to SWL, Funcom released a new <a href="https://secretworldlegends.fandom.com/wiki/South_Africa">South African adventuring area</a>. It is the smallest adventuring zone in the game by a wide margin, probably taking about six hours to play through at most. In consisted of essentially two areas, a prison camp and a mansion. What was there was good, but it was way too short and ended up being the last major piece of content ever released for the game. Not a great expansion, but it was also added to the game completely free, whether you subbed or not. It was also billed as the first content drop for a planned full expansion if SWL did well, which unfortunately never materialized. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijIUvkcOj5C3zf_cUYkOX91GnTjcJA4L8jBB8eHomBIaSs6bxfbwAC00nu6G7s39WN3wXAvuKLrA-FqMux9enepTFABbB-kVPuzkBH8kTcRG4RH8hzTYkVw4JlYFEX_XN9ChgL2ZufYcFKFvkaH3OqIA21YehxdFRsK6JHgro6WYtgQCY_4fI6jYfwew=s856" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="856" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijIUvkcOj5C3zf_cUYkOX91GnTjcJA4L8jBB8eHomBIaSs6bxfbwAC00nu6G7s39WN3wXAvuKLrA-FqMux9enepTFABbB-kVPuzkBH8kTcRG4RH8hzTYkVw4JlYFEX_XN9ChgL2ZufYcFKFvkaH3OqIA21YehxdFRsK6JHgro6WYtgQCY_4fI6jYfwew=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Jarsath Wastes. Save to grab this screenshot I will not have set foot in this zone before I move on to the next EQ II expansion. I would imagine you could take at least three characters through the 70-80 content in EQ II and do very few of the same quests. Both Rise of Kunark and Shadow Odyssey cover this level range, and I have not been to any of the zones from the latter. Not to mention content packs in this level range I have payed no attention to, each of which SSG or Bioware would refer to as "an expansion" in the modern era.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Another notable modern entry into the "should this really be called an expansion?" subgenre was the previous SWTOR expansion, Onslaught. There was a lot of grumbling at the time about how short it was. Despite this, it was still a good 3-6 hours per faction, and well worth playing through twice to see both sides of the story. It also launched with two new sets of daily areas that were pretty entertaining, so on the whole I was ok with it being called an expansion. Six hours for an initial play through plus new dailies for gear was not bad, and certainly larger than a normal update for the game. However, clearly we can also see a the bar for "expansion" getting ever lower. </p><p>Which of brings us back SWTOR's latest expansion, Legacy of the Sith. For me personally this release has finally crossed a line that I think is pretty absurd. Calling one zone that takes two hours to see an expansion is unprecedented as far as I know. If they had called it a "10th Anniversary Update" or "The Legacy of the Sith Adventure Pack" I suspect they would be getting a lot less flack. But they didn't, and they are not being called out purely on semantics. Bioware called LotS an expansion, they paid some inordinate amount money for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgbMAdtp7aE">a trailer for it</a>, and chose to hype the hell out of it for months leading up to the release. That really comes across as conscious effort at deception. I know a lot of players subbed before it even came out in anticipation of it, and I feel bad for them if that is really the only thing they subbed up to see.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFA6oXO_EVmIBKQoe1f5A7SToJk3Ouznfa70O5i72_BoPb7s4CGrW7GF9qlwUXDqR_EhN6Dtyj9LEXBGU88tDqPZpacn5VbFn-aLgULOq4JT82CRkiiUCjfCCPqKRDW6JlyOXNgWK9uDV8JwPVuNvXGgO5Xz1UjpkBlc8bjsOqRkmVOii4PbWXvLXIzA=s862" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="862" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFA6oXO_EVmIBKQoe1f5A7SToJk3Ouznfa70O5i72_BoPb7s4CGrW7GF9qlwUXDqR_EhN6Dtyj9LEXBGU88tDqPZpacn5VbFn-aLgULOq4JT82CRkiiUCjfCCPqKRDW6JlyOXNgWK9uDV8JwPVuNvXGgO5Xz1UjpkBlc8bjsOqRkmVOii4PbWXvLXIzA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>In addition to the new high level zones, Kunark had this new 1-20 levelling area, a new race (Sarnak) and a new capitol city. I recall there being a bit of back and forth between EQ II and WoW players, because Burning Crusade launched around the same time. It had two new races, two new starting areas, and seven new high level zones. I think the days when we will be arguing about which of two competing MMO expansions with weeks of content is really bigger are well behind us.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In my mind the absolute extreme lower limit for something to reasonably be called an expansion is at least a few evenings of new content for an average player. If almost anyone can get home from work and play through a content update in a single sitting, it is absolutely not an "expansion." Calling a content drop that small an expansion is like calling a pair of socks a new wardrobe, or a large refrigerator box a house. At that point you are so far outside of the accepted meaning of the term you are using that you are obviously intentionally deceiving potential buyers. The entire debacle with LotS has really shaken my faith in Bioware.* </p><p>So how did we get to the point that a major developer of a highly visible game feels justified hyping up two hours of content for several straight months as an "Anniversary Expansion." We got here the same way we almost always start in a good place and end up somewhere that nobody likes. Someone pushes commonly accepted polite boundaries a little, gets away with it, and then the next person pushes them a little more. Since there is no clear line in the sand that upsets everyone, eventually we end up in a place that almost everyone agrees is terrible. But at that point it's too late to go back.** </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9UwbpRc631D5ocwd3USzGp10lp968mu9i9-LXXhK8oyFfCxufV2zBGJXqkN_ZgxUTc2d7grzglDKHVL3zzjCcNigNuBD5znA-gh3ZM3VQbllpTZlhGWGlHJF0DTQ7bcLxfdJXE5CubNJWp-5ejSvp1HWYEHfpirSyncnTUcv0NqMON7PufZcwtSQ_fA=s824" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="824" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9UwbpRc631D5ocwd3USzGp10lp968mu9i9-LXXhK8oyFfCxufV2zBGJXqkN_ZgxUTc2d7grzglDKHVL3zzjCcNigNuBD5znA-gh3ZM3VQbllpTZlhGWGlHJF0DTQ7bcLxfdJXE5CubNJWp-5ejSvp1HWYEHfpirSyncnTUcv0NqMON7PufZcwtSQ_fA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Overall Rise of Kunark added an entire new continent to EQ II (Kunark in the lower right hand corner). On argument I have seen floated for the disparity between modern expansions and expansions of this era is that new content was easier to make back then. While I am sure that costs have gone up, I am extremely skeptical that's the primary explanation. As an example, Rise of Kunark has a ton of new art assets and new geography, all of which were built by hand. It also has an absurd number of snippets of voice acting, and two versions of it. One that is gibberish (before you can understand NPCs), and the other is all in English (for after you have deciphered the language of a given NPC race). I can't find hard numbers for RoK, but EQ II launched with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EverQuest_II#Audio">130 hours of spoken dialogue</a> (that's 5.4 straight days) recorded by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428505/fullcredits?ref_=ttfc_ql_1">266 voice actors</a>. RoK is not something that a small team could have whipped up in a few months, it represents a substantial investment of resources in any era. It's also not as if EQ II has ever made insane amounts of money. I firmly believe that MMO studios simply aren't folding as much of their income back into new content development as they used to in the 2000s. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Over the years a lot of developers wanted to have all the hype and free press that comes with calling a new piece of content an expansion, without having to actually make an expansion. But this whole thing isn't just their fault. We the players have let MMO developers get away with calling smaller and smaller content updates expansions, so it was inevitable that they would keep pushing the trend. In a way I can't be mad at SSG and Bioware for doing what almost anyone would be tempted to do in their shoes. The reason that this trend bothers me is not that I think the English language should never change. Nor am I really upset over the semantic distinction between "expansion" and "content pack." I am upset over the the implication that a lot of developers seem to think their players are naïve children that will believe anything they are told, all facts to the contrary. "It's an <i>Expansion</i>, no really!" </p><p>In 2007 SOE was afraid to call a mere week or two of content, Fallen Dynasty, an expansion. In 2022 EA/ Bioware released a mid-sized content patch, called it an expansion***, and the thing that players got most upset about overall was <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/suol04/the_visual_design_of_the_ui_changes_in_the_new/">the UI changes that came with it</a>. Now that Bioware has seemingly gotten away with calling one evening of new content an expansion, I imagine other developers will feel free to do the same. We have now firmly reached the point where you can't believe anything a developer tells you about a content release until after it's out. Now that's not exactly a new trend. If I'm honest, we've <a href="https://www.cyberpunk.net/us/en/">been</a> <a href="https://www.nomanssky.com/">here</a> for <a href="https://www.spore.com/">a few years</a> already. For me Legacy of the Sith just happens to be a particularly absurd case-in-point from a developer I used to have a lot of affection for. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>Not that they have the most amazing </span><a href="https://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2012/08/swtor-baffling-ineptitude-on-latest.html?m=0">track record</a><span>. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">**Edward J Watts <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1541646487/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1">has argued convincingly</a> that this was how the Roman Republic fell. However, I do not mean to imply that the inspiration for this whiny post is in any way comparable ;-)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>***</span>I think it's worth noting that Bioware claims that they will be steadily expanding their "expansion" over the course of the year. Some commentators have even given them a bit of a pass on LoTS being so tiny based on that claim. I'm no phone psychic, but I am skeptical. If Bioware really was sitting on an ambitious planned release schedule for the rest of 2022, they would be pretty daft to have told us absolutely nothing about it after the backlash that LoTS got. </span></p></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-66188410876756246902022-03-05T13:55:00.025-08:002022-03-10T20:13:51.232-08:00EQ II in 2022<p>Roughly a month ago I got going on EQ II again to research my last post in the series series on Erudite lore. My highest character was only level 60, having just finished out Desert of Flames* the last time I was seriously playing. My goal for this run is to play through the past mainline expansions of EQ II in the order that they were released. To get a better feel for what they were like to play through back in the 2000s, instead of using a level boost (and I have at least several available) I have been levelling my character the old fashioned way, one quest hub at a time. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7dwfxKgDwpXMr2FnX2dAwgBTB4U-kWIP5Oek3Gq9yjfsPj2L0hNcOcHPXo1y3pbX6Jqv-5knx5NuVs8oO2Ly7_yXBAwFzpyWMO7JyYO1JMca4ScyJsL44WEXcbI4SOPJb8TuerypqrFlKnd4UiFGfHFpEQ6F3VMmXZJwOuqebWn38L5DEvreD9vBWiw=s1163" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="1163" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7dwfxKgDwpXMr2FnX2dAwgBTB4U-kWIP5Oek3Gq9yjfsPj2L0hNcOcHPXo1y3pbX6Jqv-5knx5NuVs8oO2Ly7_yXBAwFzpyWMO7JyYO1JMca4ScyJsL44WEXcbI4SOPJb8TuerypqrFlKnd4UiFGfHFpEQ6F3VMmXZJwOuqebWn38L5DEvreD9vBWiw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This is the main character I have been playing for the last month. He is a level 75 tailor, 76 necromancer as I type this</i></span>. <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">He actually has a ton of much fancier mounts, but I have taken to this lizard mount that I got from one of the early quests in the Kingdom of the Sky expansions zones.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>One thing that's always a challenge about picking up a mid-level character in a MMO you haven't looked at in years, is figuring out what all the abilities do. Oddly, in this instance having forgotten some of the really basic controls turned out to be a boon. The first week I was playing I couldn't figure out how to activate more than one hotbar. Instead I just made do with the one bar that was up by default. That bar turned out to have a solid three-spell single-target attack rotation on it that was really easy to figure out. Even when I figured out how to get my other hotbars up, abilities on the other four I had set up the last time I played turned out to be for less common situations like wanting to travel while invisible, or needing a strong AoE rotation. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPwPL-GeMjkOdGi-qCM0YJLQKDwm0ELBYtizDM3PV-PsfCSgWanueE-AG9h1pX5CEsDAvIshKx4kiRrhGO6Ff4D5DWLpL3GEuQJveAbP5Bs-DlM_R_xCUErWWHWVwZ8TMkQwE9AFT_-tqCrlC8bP9PaUI35StRbgIY6Ustv68DJZa2bB_Rk7OE8aIHYA=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPwPL-GeMjkOdGi-qCM0YJLQKDwm0ELBYtizDM3PV-PsfCSgWanueE-AG9h1pX5CEsDAvIshKx4kiRrhGO6Ff4D5DWLpL3GEuQJveAbP5Bs-DlM_R_xCUErWWHWVwZ8TMkQwE9AFT_-tqCrlC8bP9PaUI35StRbgIY6Ustv68DJZa2bB_Rk7OE8aIHYA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This is the crew he normally hangs out with. From left to right: (1) a nightshade pet that does absolutely absurd damage. I cast spells mainly to aim him at targets via assist. (2) another non combat pet that follows us around and keeps the whole party buffed, and perhaps debuffs mobs as well (I'm not 100% sure what he does). (3) A mercenary. He costs me four gold an hour to keep running, which is nothing in the modern game. He can tank entire groups of mobs and hits pretty hard, but probably doesn't even do half the damage of the nightshade. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Another initial difficulty I faced was that as I levelled I was earning new abilities. That doesn't sound like a problem unless you know a bit about the game. EQ II has an interesting character development system where every ability in the game can be upgraded. When you gain a level all the new spells you can cast are granted to you at the lowest possible power level, Apprentice (LV1). From there they can be upgraded to better and better versions, all the way through Ancient (LV7). However, in practice Expert (LV4) or Master (LV5) is more than strong enough for nearly any purpose. Regardless, I needed a strategy to upgrade all of the new abilities I was learning at Apprentice level.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjd8CKiVR_cJFgq_Gj1Umjw6P0NvlqhHOSdrAtavL4ayyz1IFWg-FF3lUVWR1t2f1UXBp6vEDpafg4BiT9ABXUyDH91Tlle9lPkl1qdw6J28pNFxPCRcBhm3P9B5VlVgzc_APmXhBqiQZa9F4PcnQ5s4hK1bM3nUnp6oRczRkdCj61BzQbx1VGuBtDglA=s853" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="853" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjd8CKiVR_cJFgq_Gj1Umjw6P0NvlqhHOSdrAtavL4ayyz1IFWg-FF3lUVWR1t2f1UXBp6vEDpafg4BiT9ABXUyDH91Tlle9lPkl1qdw6J28pNFxPCRcBhm3P9B5VlVgzc_APmXhBqiQZa9F4PcnQ5s4hK1bM3nUnp6oRczRkdCj61BzQbx1VGuBtDglA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the zone I have been adventuring in lately. Every one of the biomes you see there is functionally as large as a typical MMO zone, and this "zone" functions more like a region. It's one of five zones that came with the third annual expansion for EQ II. It's remarkable how much meatier expansions were back in 2007. However, that's a whole post . . .</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />There are a number of different ways you can upgrade your abilities. One method is to study them over time, using an upgrade menu built in to your spellbook. You select a spell, and after a certain amount of real-time (outside of the game) passes it will get trained to the next level up. In some ways it's like the way all skills work in EVE. This method works really well at low levels, when an upgrade can take only a few hours. However by level 60, this method starts to takes an inordinate amount of time. I was getting a up to three new abilities every time I levelled, and taking one spell from Apprentice (LV1) to Journeman (LV2) takes about four or five days of real time training. To upgrade even a single spell from even to Expert (LV4) would take the better part of a month. That would obviously not be a viable strategy for dozens of spells. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnLp2JnKSCHVr-9kVZa2jP3w8TbT-m88vFyOV8BptwM2y5w_vQa5oRckYNjug7BwXogsYELY69X2d-u4PKVeM3NhriF1wd11AoKIIJBef88Nq7dpIhJ_wcqae9PqE3QpTFiM8AcqH4WBo2MHhmbT2DSDcCQScRbkDZX7gSywYlFuil0_LXzo4btccvkw=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnLp2JnKSCHVr-9kVZa2jP3w8TbT-m88vFyOV8BptwM2y5w_vQa5oRckYNjug7BwXogsYELY69X2d-u4PKVeM3NhriF1wd11AoKIIJBef88Nq7dpIhJ_wcqae9PqE3QpTFiM8AcqH4WBo2MHhmbT2DSDcCQScRbkDZX7gSywYlFuil0_LXzo4btccvkw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Flying through part of the snow area on a "taxi-cab" NPC mount that makes navigating the zone faster. DAoC did these first, but EQ II and WoW were really the games that popularized them. They have since become nearly universal.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You can also pay Daybreak points to upgrade abilities instantly, but that soon becomes pretty expensive. To "instant upgrade" one spell to Expert would be about $10 at current conversion rates. Books that can upgrade your spells to Adept (LV3) do drop randomly, but with so many classes and abilities the odds of you finding one yourself for any given spell are abysmally low. Due to inflation I also didn't have anywhere near the platinum I would have needed to buy one on the auction house. This left me in a bit of a bind. Fortunately, my second highest level character was a level 40 sage, the crafting class that makes spell upgrades. You can very easily get all your spells to Journeyman (LV2) with one, which is nothing to sneeze at when you need to upgrade 2-4 spells every other evening you play. With the right recipes and ingredients, you can even get them up to Expert (LV4). </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzmip6FyJGE71PthM95ijZCH3VJaDHHcHi8Ta-O6IJKg_blpKqREiWdDp_9M2Ab7Fu__RKBso-gTLH52eCNF0kTaKd0mH6GcJdJBF_9gH74EF58beat3OdAZV29bQaEd5sAV9Hs8KHdc5qQH2BRm91yx_fLf_-PX2m79aBkyYBTKN5QEv3g-zYkUaJqQ=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzmip6FyJGE71PthM95ijZCH3VJaDHHcHi8Ta-O6IJKg_blpKqREiWdDp_9M2Ab7Fu__RKBso-gTLH52eCNF0kTaKd0mH6GcJdJBF_9gH74EF58beat3OdAZV29bQaEd5sAV9Hs8KHdc5qQH2BRm91yx_fLf_-PX2m79aBkyYBTKN5QEv3g-zYkUaJqQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here is my support crafter, making scrolls at a scholar's table. He is up to 77 sage, and provides spell upgrades for my main. Levelling a sage from 40 to the mid 70s actually turned out the be the most efficient way to get my Necromancer's spells a slight boost. Most of the time I play this character, a crafting table in Neriak is where you will find him.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Crazily enough, the quickest way to upgrade all my spells turned out to be to gain 20 levels on my sage. A nice side effect of this was that I got to see what it is like to play a pure crafter, as my sage class (now level 75) quickly outstripped my adventuring class (Warlock level 40). I had never seen the game from the perspective of a pure crafter. It's not quite as well done as in FFXIV, where you can essentially turn mob aggro off when you are playing a crafter. However there are quite a few crafting quest chains, and levelling as a crafter alone is eminently doable. Because of all this, I am seeing both the adventuring side and the crafting side of each past expansion as I go. On the crafting side, I see things both from the perspective of a tailor (level 75 so far) that is also quite strong in a fight (level 75 Necromancer) and from the perspective of a crafter that has to run for his life if he gets any aggro at all.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlZuDW24n3PV0iyOhT53DWwg3D5AL-SRYON3dFjbFZKZZWpH1OuuMF5P-VeDLsqyb1_05Ki_ANYj2peO6x3zkAdgR7CG3XMNLeJ46tZIE4Wr2NvMSCmOd4c9BRPm_lIxOZedqt7Tdh1wNBWJi1b7LOF_zmt5PlqSYt9cO-926ydAgHSfg9YrLT13UJ6g=s1117" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1117" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlZuDW24n3PV0iyOhT53DWwg3D5AL-SRYON3dFjbFZKZZWpH1OuuMF5P-VeDLsqyb1_05Ki_ANYj2peO6x3zkAdgR7CG3XMNLeJ46tZIE4Wr2NvMSCmOd4c9BRPm_lIxOZedqt7Tdh1wNBWJi1b7LOF_zmt5PlqSYt9cO-926ydAgHSfg9YrLT13UJ6g=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">EQ II has a really great gathering system, where any character can gather everything, you can harvest the same node up to three times, and can get up to 13 items per harvest (for a range of 6 to 29 per node). This all keeps the price of crafting materials down in the in game economy, and means that one high level character can very easily keep every crafter on your account in supplies. The wood I am gather here will be used by my sage to make spell scrolls for this character.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Once I got my sea legs back, how was the actual game? In 2022 terms, EQ II is showing its age in a lot of areas. However, it is also remarkable how many things it does better than almost any other MMO on the market. For example, character advancement. In most modern MMOs there are a lot of empty levels, where advancing yields absolutely nothing except for an increment of one for the number next to your name. Levels where neither your gear or ability loadout changes at all feel especially anti-climatic. In EQ II, every time you level you will gain at least one new ability, even if it's only an upgrade of one you already have. It also grants you the base level of all your new spells without having to hit a trainer, so if you are out in the middle of nowhere and gain a level it still feels immediately rewarding. Finally, the myriad paths for upgrading abilities from the base power level gives the whole experience some real meat to dig into. I have really enjoyed levelling my support crafter, and checking the auction house for bargains on the tomes that let me produce expert level spells for my main.</div><div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5TVazgCb_1UjKuUcW0pwZr2UdcWH6bHbSZ7sUfc3BRvUT8sre6NJh2gV8VhvqG1Phpy1zuT3Xj3XHrvUK4Qd7oBPaXi6s69olZ3QRzniZ5KaNG4PmMCigZ1uHMy6hs5416LnDj6BfKI-jJDcmzkJzpE0MOqvQnm65SanLPwcv9fenT48j50T20caw0g=s1301" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="1301" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5TVazgCb_1UjKuUcW0pwZr2UdcWH6bHbSZ7sUfc3BRvUT8sre6NJh2gV8VhvqG1Phpy1zuT3Xj3XHrvUK4Qd7oBPaXi6s69olZ3QRzniZ5KaNG4PmMCigZ1uHMy6hs5416LnDj6BfKI-jJDcmzkJzpE0MOqvQnm65SanLPwcv9fenT48j50T20caw0g=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Very often, the best way to navigate the absurdly large zones is to turn invisible and sneak past all the mobs. I don't know if every character can do this, but all of the cloth casters get an invisibility spell. The spell also affects my nightshade, and the other pet does not generate aggro. My mercenary had to be dismissed before I could cross the river into hostile territory, since I have no way to make him stealthy.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>The housing and crafting systems are also well above average. Crafting is not remotely hard, but it does have just enough interaction to it that you feel like you are really making something. The items that you can make are also quite useful. I already talked about needing to level up a support sage for my necromancer. The necromancer is also a tailor. Roughly every ten levels new sets of crafted gear become available. They are not quite as good as the gear that you will get questing. But you can replace an entire set all at once. For example at level 60 I immediately replaced all of my armor with crafted gear that was a huge upgrade. By level 69 I had replaced all of it with gear from quests. But a that gear was only a few points stronger than what I had crafted, and I couldn't even wear a lot of it until the high 60s. It makes you happy to be able to craft, while still leaving a little bit of room for improvement so that you will also be happy with many quest rewards. EQ II often splits the difference between competing design goals with unusual skill.</div><div><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdycAeu8VxcEFdiFnZB181Qh3O1IaFE_Ww5adpwhk11r_VgdUwrvbK6deG9-LcOHFCEjFNbfGH_ogNdrzUxzfm0EQpYQQ1Dwd3_5Xb8Zaa2UL52Wx06Q7LOQJjiq2Vpk902OdNbRjwIRe2dNo5PAKgsM00BK5tpchCwPMMg0l5yEXK1IN-06qK1XfhJQ=s1417" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1417" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdycAeu8VxcEFdiFnZB181Qh3O1IaFE_Ww5adpwhk11r_VgdUwrvbK6deG9-LcOHFCEjFNbfGH_ogNdrzUxzfm0EQpYQQ1Dwd3_5Xb8Zaa2UL52Wx06Q7LOQJjiq2Vpk902OdNbRjwIRe2dNo5PAKgsM00BK5tpchCwPMMg0l5yEXK1IN-06qK1XfhJQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Even on my pure crafter, I need to leave the crafting hall occasionally to pick up crafting quests. The gnome that no longer has a feather started a long chain that netted me three or four crafting levels, but involved a lot of flying around on gnomish airships. EQ II was the first MMO I know of to offer full series of quests for crafters parallel to the ones for adventurers, and it's still fairly uncommon. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>The housing system is likewise really easy to understand, while still giving you tons of flexibility. Unlike many modern MMOs, it doesn't force you to use hook points, you place place items anywhere you like. It also largely lacks arbitrary limits on what you can place. For example, in my apartment in ESO I found that by the time I had filled roughly half the space it looked like I had, my one bedroom apartment was "full" and I could place no more items. Almost certainly the system in ESO is designed to get you to buy a bigger house in the item shop. The housing system in EQ II will let you do pretty much anything you want right from the start. The cheapest house you can buy has space for 200 objects, and a lot of items you can place are considered decorations and don't count towards that limit. </div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj279QFT-9Lvu5ZRxCfV06iyX2ZdNHHuwMNEabDYz1hrmPe5t7HgQ12F962xip7KDL6P9V3J6ARv9Ssi7EjUpK7PULVjMIF4l_cqS8IjdQOJGtB7arA1BpKqRXZLTUROIze4_0AdTHkVTcv3p8ASSMN5k9XpZvo0klKGfQxxKnZZ14ucAkcs6lu6lvVEg=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj279QFT-9Lvu5ZRxCfV06iyX2ZdNHHuwMNEabDYz1hrmPe5t7HgQ12F962xip7KDL6P9V3J6ARv9Ssi7EjUpK7PULVjMIF4l_cqS8IjdQOJGtB7arA1BpKqRXZLTUROIze4_0AdTHkVTcv3p8ASSMN5k9XpZvo0klKGfQxxKnZZ14ucAkcs6lu6lvVEg=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">My Sage on the mount he uses when he needs to actually leave Neriak. I think it came as a bonus with some expansion, or maybe a collector's edition, back in the day.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>So many of the systems in EQ II are simply really solid. You can tell that EQ II was designed by people that have played a lot of other MMOs, and know what works well and why. I honestly can't think of anything else I have played recently that doesn't fall completely on it's face with respect to at least one core PvE system: combat, crafting, housing, character advancement. For example, among all of the big five at least one of these things is true: (1) combat is way too easy or actively annoying to me, (2) crafting is completely pointless, (3) either there is no housing or the housing is way too restrictive, (4) gaining a level often does not change your character in any meaningful way. I am not sure I would say EQ II exactly knocks any of this stuff out of the park. But all of them work really well, and skillfully split the difference between conflicting design goals. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB1EoZTpbmNpvhmYBhMsIA4ZrumUT6TC46eOVBie2Jl8g1ev66_ugqtFGus6tYBM1njofldWxdxCcJK_Uw-leawJTOf8TzujIj5lJAAQqUYwN7_P4owKmOEysuusPwFTDuBAm1xpUDgJ1TVay_LcfyizmDRtgQ3awksqxE1YS2YEjWZ6OG1UfdRIFeDA=s981" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="981" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB1EoZTpbmNpvhmYBhMsIA4ZrumUT6TC46eOVBie2Jl8g1ev66_ugqtFGus6tYBM1njofldWxdxCcJK_Uw-leawJTOf8TzujIj5lJAAQqUYwN7_P4owKmOEysuusPwFTDuBAm1xpUDgJ1TVay_LcfyizmDRtgQ3awksqxE1YS2YEjWZ6OG1UfdRIFeDA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This ghost wolf thing was hanging out on one of the adventuring zones I played through last week. I have no idea what his purpose is, no quests directed me to interact with him. As with nearly any older MMO, I often encounter things that are a bit mysterious to me.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The game isn't perfect of course. The graphics are often dated, though for a game that game out in 2005 and tried for hyper realism they are also better than you would expect. It has so many systems that it's often hard to get your bearings. For example, I've been playing for a month and I still don't know what familiars are about, how to get one or exactly what they do. The game itself is also often hard to navigate. When you finish questing in one area, it's sometimes next to impossible to figure out where to go next without consulting a guide. Quests are often also quite old-school. In some zones there are no in game markers, and the written instructions on the quests are vague. You will often get stuck and need to consult a wiki. However, to my tastes these are mostly nitpicks. I like exploring, and all that "cruft" that's accreted over the years actually gives me a lot to dig into. I even like that I can pick whether to work through a zone that holds my hand with quest blobs on the map, or head to an older one where I will actually have to explore. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoyCjKCnghSUGkDgIVyc5qLjPbIBVIhuaFiVP4S0URBHnVHOSBxYWEwqB0Sip5T4xIgbPxhSvOG4nDvr4sN9hVjnHHesXGHHTGBkeYTORy8IJri1rN-gjN0aA7K0fcQimflMxQHJNxPJy3vIYnb1QErwzyXD29VrEWOVq8NvMTQtOnFGMrmtJZmu3Gng=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoyCjKCnghSUGkDgIVyc5qLjPbIBVIhuaFiVP4S0URBHnVHOSBxYWEwqB0Sip5T4xIgbPxhSvOG4nDvr4sN9hVjnHHesXGHHTGBkeYTORy8IJri1rN-gjN0aA7K0fcQimflMxQHJNxPJy3vIYnb1QErwzyXD29VrEWOVq8NvMTQtOnFGMrmtJZmu3Gng=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My character's tiny apartment. This is one of the cheapest ones you can get, and it allows you to place more than 200 objects anywhere you like. The housing items also have a lot of neat little details. For example, the books on the table on the left are individual books, any of which you can pick up and read.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><p>If you can get past the slightly dated graphics and gameplay that is at times arcane, you will find a real gem of an MMO with months of content in every direction. The core systems, when you finally understand them, are also really well designed. "None of the core systems are completely broken" is so rare in modern MMOs** that it's practically a revelation. That this is true of a game that came out nearly 20 years ago, but not of so many more modern MMOs with budgets comparable to 100 EQ IIs is absolutely baffling. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Desert of Flames was the game's first expansion, released in September 2005.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>**</span>FFXIV perhaps excepted, and even there you have the issue where advancing a level often has almost no affect on your character. </span></p></div></div></div></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-34430226035946031022022-02-12T12:23:00.018-08:002022-02-13T12:51:57.309-08:00The future of LoTRO<p>Via <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/10/lord-of-the-rings-gaming-rights-are-going-up-for-sale-what-will-this-mean-for-lotro/">Massively</a>, the video game rights to the Lord of the Rings owned by the Paul Zaentz Company are going up for auction. This is the company that licensed Lord of the Rings to Standing Stone Games. Unfortunately, I doubt that bodes well for Lord of the Rings Online. A MMO is simply too obvious of a game to make with the license. I find it hard to believe that any company would acquire the rights and not at least contemplate creating a new one of their own, and there is a good chance that LoTRO would be seen as unwanted competition.</p><p>That isn't to say LoTRO <i>would</i> be in real competition with any new MMO. A new MMO, Tolkien themed metaverse, online survival RPG or whatever would likely have little in common with Lord of The Rings Online save the names of characters and places. LoTRO is a sprawling old school MMO with a lot of design elements that are clunky and quant by modern standards. It's a deep game that focuses on accurately reproducing Middle Earth from the books as a core design goal, and executes on it amazingly well. In many ways, the development priority of the game is seemingly (1) accurately portray the setting (2) anything else, including compelling gameplay loops. However, for a certain bent of player that is delightful. </p><p>Walking around in such a well realized depiction of the books is so inherently fun to me that I honestly don't care that the gameplay set there is sometimes a bit crusty. In some ways, that even adds to the charm. I <i>like</i> harvesting wood for hours, and then sitting in a crafting hall processing logs into boards. I <i>like</i> all the quests in the Shire where you are asked do do some of the most inane quests imaginable (deliver pies!). I think it's <i>awesome</i> when I arrive at some new village where, despite having saved Middle Earth more than once, no-one has never heard of me and a farmer asks me if I can help him round up farming equipment. The admixture of big story arcs where you are an important hero and more mundane sets of concerns makes the setting feel more grounded and real to me. The very things that turn off a lot of new players in LoTRO are some of the exact gameplay elements I find charming. Hell, my first <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2009/01/litmus-test-for-lotro.html">post here that anyone actually read</a> was basically about that.</p><p>Whatever new game gets cooked up by Amazon, EA, Microsoft or whoever ends up buying the Lord of the Rings license will almost certainly invert those priorities. The priorities won't be "get the setting right first, everything else second." The studio assigned to create a new Lord of the Rings RPG or MMO will likely start by thinking about gameplay and systems, and then shoehorn the game they want to create into the setting of Middle Earth. Because of that the game won't actually resemble LoTRO all that much, and the two games will not really be competing for the same audience in a significant way. LoTRO and whatever new MMOish product gets released in the next few years could quite happily coexists.</p><p>However, much like EA, SWTOR and Star Wars Galaxies, I don't expect that will matter much. Back in 2011 <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2011/12/star-wars-galaxies-death-of-sandbox.html">SWG was shuttered</a> right before EA's new Star Wars MMO, Star Wars: the Old Republic, came online, despite the games having very little potential audience overlap. That is not to say that the shut down was caused directly by EA. The game had already shot itself in the foot long before EA bought Bioware. You can find a lot <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2011/06/24/star-wars-galaxies-shuts-down/">of post mortems</a> about how the "<a href="https://massivelyop.com/2015/08/22/the-game-archaeologist-star-wars-galaxies-nge/">New Game Experience</a>" doomed SWG by chasing off the existing audience in the hopes of attracting a different audience that never materialized. I don't debate that, the NGE was the first step on the road to doom for sure.* However back in 2011 I also heard rumors that the final nail in the coffin of SWG was that SOE was not willing to pay for the license any more, and didn't even try to negotiate to keep the game going once EA and Bioware started working on SWTOR. SOE would have had trouble even breaking even if they had needed to keep paying for the license, the price of which presumably went up once EA acquired the video game rights to Star Wars.</p><p>I fully expect the exact same thing to happen with SSG and LoTRO. LoTRO will be safe for at least a few more years while the agreement that Standing Stone Games has right now with Zaentz still holds. However, I will be moderately surprised if SSG (or Endad Global 7) is able to afford to keep the license whenever it come up for renewal. Whatever company ends up paying north of <a href="https://www.gamesradar.com/lord-of-the-rings-rights-sale/">2 billion</a> for the Lord of the Rings License is going to be pretty jealous of it. Even if that company is willing to let LoTRO keep going in principle, which seems somewhat unlikely to begin with, they will almost certainly want to charge a lot more for the Lord of the Rings license than SSG can afford. LoTRO is solidly successful niche title, reportedly bringing in about <a href="https://www.enadglobal7.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EG7-Investor-Presentation-Dec-2020-Acquires-Daybreak-Games.pdf">10 million a year</a>. However, a company that pays 2 billion for the license to Lord of the Rings is not going to happy with less than pretty much all of that in licensing fees. </p><p>That said, the example of SWG also offers a ray of hope. Pretty much from the NGE on, attempts to emulate Star Wars Galaxies began. Once SOE shuttered the game a flood of projects got underway and existing teams redoubled their efforts. The end result was in subsequent years a number of EMUs came online, some of which are thriving. For fans of the original Star Wars Galaxies we have arguably entered a golden era with <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/18/which-star-wars-galaxies-rogue-server-is-for-you-heres-the-best-list-weve-seen/">numerous successful variants</a> of the game available to play 100% for free. Some shards of the game are now arguably better supported than the commercial game was the last few years SOE was running it, with <a href="https://swglegends.com/">EMUs</a> even developing and releasing new content. </p><p>So will LotRO be able to follow the EMU route if SSG/ EG7 loses the license? It's hard to say. I'm frankly astounded that Disney has let all the unauthorized SWG servers keep going as long as it has. I am also skeptical that Amazon, EA or Microsoft would be as benevolent towards unauthorized LotRO shards. However, I could also easily be wrong. So far I can't think of a single major fan server that has been shut down by anyone besides Blizzard. Servers for COH, WAR, and SWG are some of the more visible examples of shuttered MMOs you can play for free now, and at least one (the EQ server Project 1999) is actually officially sanctioned by Daybreak. So perhaps it's not too farfetched to think that if SSG loses the rights it needs to keep LotRO going, a series of semi-legal free shards will be able to launch. In that ecosystem I can think of a lot of cool variants of the game that could spring up. Another strong possibility is that SSG has a lot more clever agreement with the Zaentz Company than anyone outside SSG knows, and they have the option to renew once or twice at their current price. </p><p>Regardless, we'll see how it works out the in next few years. Commentators <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/01/what-is-bare-minimum-lotro-needs.html">including myself</a> have been saying for a while now that LoTRO needs to shake things up. One way or another, that seems likely to happen soon.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Or maybe not, see the discussion in the comments :-)</span></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-40147056424722771462022-01-21T21:36:00.008-08:002022-01-22T15:20:32.500-08:00History of the Erudites Part II: Everquest<p>At one time it was possible to follow the cultural and physical evolution of the races of Everquest across three games, EQOA set 500 years before EQ, EQ and EQ II which is set 500 years after EQ. For most races there weren't particularly interesting changes from one game to the next, most of the changes relating to the quality of the character models available. However in the erudites we can witness a profound set of physical changes as the race is slowly altered by their close association with magic. There are also dramatic shifts the Erudite society during the 1000 years the games cover. You can find <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-strange-history-of-erudite-race-as.html">Part I of this series here</a>.</p><div><i><b>Erudites in the time of Everquest:</b> civil war and the first cataclysm </i></div><br /><div>In the time of Everquest, we see the first clear signs that magical experiments are beginning to alter erudites on a genetic level. While they still have hair, they gained noticeably larger foreheads than even the most naturally "five headed" of normal humans. Presumably this reflects their brains beginning to expand, as their high starting intelligence (compared to most races in Everquest) begins to be due not only differences in cultural traditions and educational systems, but also differences in physical characteristics. Always a tall and thin race of men, they are now starting to look not just regal but also a bit alien with their bulging craniums.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkB_WuumDmRYH_hQhZ82bmlz4D8CJMhpCfafSPDUOD3nu7WvM6N5emd8_KwZMHdANpYZbx71su7h24_WVDhYKQ8t6zvIJdxrJdZBIzxaLB7zor3OUpRr4T5Qna-yI9kMnXsaBU4agGInFji4-RkZLbv3V8kL-icuNtr2UnuiAUksYCw7ikkEf_iHUQkw=s2047" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1557" data-original-width="2047" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkB_WuumDmRYH_hQhZ82bmlz4D8CJMhpCfafSPDUOD3nu7WvM6N5emd8_KwZMHdANpYZbx71su7h24_WVDhYKQ8t6zvIJdxrJdZBIzxaLB7zor3OUpRr4T5Qna-yI9kMnXsaBU4agGInFji4-RkZLbv3V8kL-icuNtr2UnuiAUksYCw7ikkEf_iHUQkw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Erudites from the character selection screen in EQ. Tall humans that are slender and dark skinned. In this time period they are still fairly normal looking humans, save for their greatly expanded craniums</span>.</i><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>In EQOA, high men started in the city of Highbourne, a city along the coast of Tunaria south of Quenyos. The city seems to have been completely abandoned by the time of EQ. It may have been somewhere in the modern <a href="https://wiki.project1999.com/Southern_Plains_of_Karana">Southern Plains of Karana</a>, or it may have been swallowed when the much smaller lake Rathe, that appears on <a href="https://eqoa.fandom.com/wiki/Map_of_Tunaria">maps of EQOA</a> , expanded into modern <a href="https://wiki.project1999.com/Lake_Rathetear">Lake Rathetear</a>. However, the most interesting change since the time of EQOA is that there is now been a rift between the erudites that study most forms of magic and those that study necromancy. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjta-1UFTCcdLbhuutFpzUDtUVuCwdfu6zKgOEll9-6qSEC3OQQQyrMrqKR0U5WIk2Nr5NgHpp4LFjThzyFQ2P0XLioi8DL-6cH_0VYVaTxnThukxFdb3gYeYePrpiCBFw5mBSUXT2sIf_bkNjfqSWlDhOeINxdYb8f96v_NmYcNwL2iCkNSjx0whSZNw=s3840" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2130" data-original-width="3840" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjta-1UFTCcdLbhuutFpzUDtUVuCwdfu6zKgOEll9-6qSEC3OQQQyrMrqKR0U5WIk2Nr5NgHpp4LFjThzyFQ2P0XLioi8DL-6cH_0VYVaTxnThukxFdb3gYeYePrpiCBFw5mBSUXT2sIf_bkNjfqSWlDhOeINxdYb8f96v_NmYcNwL2iCkNSjx0whSZNw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The part of their brains that seems to have expanded to most is the cerebrum, associated with <a href="https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatbrain.htm">higher brain functions</a> such as reasoning, language and learning. The 500 year gap that separates EQOA and EQ is not nearly long enough to have wrought such dramatic changes via organic evolution, representing perhaps 30 or 35 generations. We can only assume that this rapid evolution represents the influence of magic, something that will become even more clear 500 years hence when we revisit erudites in the time of EQ II.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>In the time of EQOA, players that studied all forms of magic lived in the same settlements. The fact that one of the main NPCs that necromancers interact with in Highbourne at higher levels <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-strange-history-of-erudite-race-as.html">was a little hidden away</a> hints that this may have been a somewhat uneasy alliance. Nonetheless, High Men of all faiths and professions were still working towards common goals, and were part of the great crossing when the race began its migration to Odus from the mainland of Tunaria. The settlement they founded on Odus, originally Arcadin, was renamed Erudin some time after the great leader Erud died. During the time period of EQ this elegant city is where most erudites can be found, and where players of erudite Wizards, Enchanters, Magicians, Paladins and Clerics of most gods start.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgF7DFckv2ZXPCM0074hHr5wcLESOYzUk4GVxyZLvsBZS-a1-YYY5Zgypr86J9-q5f0H7iFh7qoOCk7My-eefhEcYvf0XdyiaNv37UYXJNYbiN12aKDmmdxK-vIWykzqzoPxNy7HkR0bxX6r5_5xjPudmH8NxXSt7jUY7UJrKnieYt7Ty6HyY_CZb88wQ=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgF7DFckv2ZXPCM0074hHr5wcLESOYzUk4GVxyZLvsBZS-a1-YYY5Zgypr86J9-q5f0H7iFh7qoOCk7My-eefhEcYvf0XdyiaNv37UYXJNYbiN12aKDmmdxK-vIWykzqzoPxNy7HkR0bxX6r5_5xjPudmH8NxXSt7jUY7UJrKnieYt7Ty6HyY_CZb88wQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Erudin, where erudites of most classes used to start. An elegant city reflecting an enlightened people. Of course now mebers of all races and classes start in the neutral city of Crescent Reach by default.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>However, players that choose to play a Necromancer, a Shadowknight, or a Cleric that worships Cazic-Thule are no longer welcome in Erudin with their brethren. Instead they start in the city of <a href="https://wiki.project1999.com/Paineel">Paineel</a> or in the neutral city of Crescent Reach. In fact, players from Paineel are so despised by other erudites that they are kill-on-sight to guards in Erudin. This is also where the erudite lore starts to get really interesting. According to <a href="https://wiki.project1999.com/Erudite">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.giantbomb.com/erudites/3015-3912/">sources</a>, the founding of Paineel was related to a civil war caused by erudites that recklessly pursued necromantic magic. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpI7YF6E1K-_SPVtvc8KvPmzNJJ72MTUCsM9BCgZhLBjTF4rzz3Do3VNIi57FYg47BgSATgHc72gpjfTotvOjX-DiCg3zLYc1PvsZN2--aiVHFkT5yGwPk53pr25ohXuZv-W_7wNvyz5TqGBzPgPyj3OIIcnzytZuLyjbuV3FBOjSGz_M0mqHOr5I_Ww=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpI7YF6E1K-_SPVtvc8KvPmzNJJ72MTUCsM9BCgZhLBjTF4rzz3Do3VNIi57FYg47BgSATgHc72gpjfTotvOjX-DiCg3zLYc1PvsZN2--aiVHFkT5yGwPk53pr25ohXuZv-W_7wNvyz5TqGBzPgPyj3OIIcnzytZuLyjbuV3FBOjSGz_M0mqHOr5I_Ww=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The ruins of old Paineel. Paineel is the city </span></i><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">where erudite necromancers and shadowkights used to start. I assume these are the ruins of an older settlement beneath the city. I ended up here after trying to jump down to the city proper from the edge of the Hole. Since the character I was taking screenshots with is not friendly enough with the local guards, none of them were willing to give him a copy of the key to the secret elevator leading there from Toxxulia Forest. Getting around in EQ is often the opposite of convenient. Everquest is a game that still flies its oldschool MUD roots proudly, which I actually find delightful when I'm in the right mood for it.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The story (which you <a href="https://wiki.project1999.com/Paineel">read more of here</a>) goes that an Erudite named Miragul was obsessed with dark magic and personal power. Followers of Miragul visited the Dark Elf city of Neriak, and returned with knowledge of both necromancy and the god <a href="https://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/Cazic-Thule">Cazic-Thule</a> (the god of fear). Miragul's followers concluded that Cazic-Thule was the strongest god, and the best way to serve him was through necromancy. When the high council of Erudin discovered what they had been up to, it led to a civil war. The followers of the high council eventually won the war to all intents and purposes with a blast of magical power focused on the largest concentration of forces in Miragul's army. So great was the power of this blast that it ejected part of Odus into space.* Miragul's followers were presumed killed by the victorious inhabitants of Erudin. However a few survived and founded a new hidden city, <a href="https://wiki.project1999.com/Paineel">Paineel</a>, deep within the crater created by the blast. There they can be found to this day, in a city populated by more animated skeletal servants and guards than by live erudites.</p><p> I find this story really fascinating, because I know that it isn't true. . . or is at least extremely misleading. I have been to the past (EQOA), during the time of the great crossing. At the time erudites already had a long history of necromancy, and necromancers worked alongside practitioners of every magical tradition. Erud himself embraced followers studying all forms of magic, including necromancy, and worshipping any gods. In the screenshot of him for my previous post, if I remember correctly I was even talking to him while playing a Shadowknight! So what really happened? </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZYVnVB65GfygtHfNcuotAe2CSMphf-yoVsTH5xhhpODeHZIBKtR1abeKBt2k0soawj5x-hupqAQ7VLpVKBfv0c4aiXpWViNU-ISYN1sqvp0_cmYnJ4XXwrAUuVFZwibpJgr9kwZH4OBUnK4-9NE02ves5nVHUF7xTuPXw82GSv4Ie9uYU8UBxyPwygA=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZYVnVB65GfygtHfNcuotAe2CSMphf-yoVsTH5xhhpODeHZIBKtR1abeKBt2k0soawj5x-hupqAQ7VLpVKBfv0c4aiXpWViNU-ISYN1sqvp0_cmYnJ4XXwrAUuVFZwibpJgr9kwZH4OBUnK4-9NE02ves5nVHUF7xTuPXw82GSv4Ie9uYU8UBxyPwygA=s320" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The famed library of Erud. According to several sources, it is the largest and most famous library in all of Norrath, It's filled with merchants selling spells, and I presume in the launch era used to have one of the better selections available anywhere. In the modern game, this function has been supplanted by the Plane of Knowledge.<br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>I suspect that it was not the followers of Miragul that caused the rift, but an intolerant high council of Erudin that tried to outlaw necromancy, holding that only elemental, arcane and holy magic was fit for civilized society. When erudite Shadowknights and Necromancers tried to protest these changes, their calls fell on deaf ears. The eventual result was a civil war and a cataclysm. <p>The cataclysm itself was probably the nearly inevitable result of a war between arcane and necromantic spellcasters. Presumably in any prolonged conflict with necromancers, things soon start to go quite badly for the opposition. Anyone that falls and leaves a body in either army during the fighting is raised from the dead and added to the ranks of the necromancers. Perhaps desperate to end the battle in a way that wouldn't leave even more fodder for undead soldiers, the followers of the high council of Erudin resorted to a concentrated blast of pure magic. However, they seem to have underestimated the power they harnessed, nearly cracking the planet asunder. The explosion left an enormous crater, and the dust thrown up probably caused a period of global cooling (similar to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1815_eruption_of_Mount_Tambora">volcanic winters</a>) and famine from failed crops across Norrath. Ironically, it was the practitioners of arcane magic that nearly destroyed all life on Norrath during the conflict, not the "evil" necromancers.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMXk_-4FyTMRD5Uywrr78PoD-5s4G_qu0HHD1oBLOAGKwannCngyxwk1F0cU3ObNGJVu3z2rAGIRQ0G-ZA385FKO8F37EV0q58XgzL9H7vVRvOfXoL67STvexxAfstUY0pCvg_Mxr5noxAlEt0e9znXCTazdUcHhDee0ztTOUZ0fxKT_U-BcwQbdtypA=s1164" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1164" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMXk_-4FyTMRD5Uywrr78PoD-5s4G_qu0HHD1oBLOAGKwannCngyxwk1F0cU3ObNGJVu3z2rAGIRQ0G-ZA385FKO8F37EV0q58XgzL9H7vVRvOfXoL67STvexxAfstUY0pCvg_Mxr5noxAlEt0e9znXCTazdUcHhDee0ztTOUZ0fxKT_U-BcwQbdtypA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>From the entrance of the crater leading to Paineel, you can see this intriguing structure separated from you across a chasm. I am not sure whether it's part of Paineel or something else. The crater formed by destructive magic during the erudite civil war is referred to as the Hole, though this chasm is only part of it (most of it, the Hole proper, is a zone connected to this one).</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The story of Miragul's followers sneaking off to learn about necromancy from the sadistic Dark Elves is probably just propaganda written by the victors after the war. But clearly there was a change in policy towards necromancy at some point. So why the sudden change after hundreds of years of coexistence between all schools of magic in Highborn, Arcadin and later Erudin? Perhaps the followers of <a href="https://everquest.fandom.com/wiki/Quellious">Quellious</a>, the goddess of peace, decided that they could no longer coexist beside followers of Cazic Thule. Or perhaps the association between necromancy and sadistic and brutish races such as dark elves, ogres and trolls became an embarrassment to some faction that sought a closer relationship with students of arcane magic among the High Elves. Or perhaps the followers of Miragul truly did do something abhorrent that triggered the war. We will likely never know what really happened, since history is written by the victors and in this case they seem to be lying. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9ZHjrFFKPvHh91IkCw0PZyd-Li1EBh2tymGJwwrKHes7_bWnSHl2RXLxmvzb6JtMwT0pepI61UASRALkFgK5wMQfnlKs5eOqrAd2C9ovu7dNtr9o53RfIshbJm10YcS7rZvfqVgzk9jh_mvZWETWPSvomu14MtwBZA2N-tg6pCbyTdAdd8G1sVFANJw=s1233" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1233" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9ZHjrFFKPvHh91IkCw0PZyd-Li1EBh2tymGJwwrKHes7_bWnSHl2RXLxmvzb6JtMwT0pepI61UASRALkFgK5wMQfnlKs5eOqrAd2C9ovu7dNtr9o53RfIshbJm10YcS7rZvfqVgzk9jh_mvZWETWPSvomu14MtwBZA2N-tg6pCbyTdAdd8G1sVFANJw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A brand new level 2 Erudite Mage in the tutorial area, with his pet and a free mercenary (the later makes the modern game a lot easier solo experience than it was a decade ago). Erudites were always one of my favorite races for Magicians. They have high Int, so a deep mana pool, and they learn magical skills extremely quickly. Of course in the modern game starting stats make little difference, because even a Troll or an Ogre is going to have capped Int. by the ripe old age of level 19 or so if they focus on it. However, at least in places like <a href="https://www.project1999.com/">Project 1999</a> I would imagine it's still a consideration.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Regardless, by the time of EQ, the story of the evil Miragul and his followers causing the great war has become broadly accepted as truth. Even the erudites that live in Paineel seem to believe it, and to revel in the fact that despite the best efforts of powerful foes they survived the cataclysm and have prospered in their own way. However the test of erudite resilience is far from over. Though the cataclysm was dramatic, even that planet shaking event will pale before the next disaster that erudites will contribute to. </p><p>My next and final post in this series will be about erudites in the time of EQ II, 500 years in the future. I originally was going to cover EQ and EQ II in this one. However after I got done typing up the absolute bare minimum I wanted to say about erudites in the time of EQ, I had a full blog post. </p><p>*<span style="font-size: xx-small;">This chunk of Odus it landed on Luclin carrying some Kerrans, a race of feline humanoids that lived on Odus before the high men arrived. The descendants of these Kerrans later evolved into the <a href="https://everquest.fandom.com/wiki/Vah_Shir">Vah Shir</a>. Of course this is a vast oversimplification. To read about what really happened to the Kerrans and the history of Erudite colonialism, see the first comment below from Bhagpuss.</span></p><p><br /></p></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-6425592526666035962022-01-13T08:40:00.005-08:002022-01-16T09:45:06.348-08:00History of the Erudite Race I: Everquest Online Adventures<div>The Erudites are a humanoid race in the Everquest series of games. It's actually one of the more original races in the game, with no direct analogues in fantasy fiction I am aware of, though they did borrow somewhat from Tolkien's <a href="http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/D%C3%BAnedain">Dunedain</a>. By traveling through Everquest Online Adventures, Everquest, and Everquest II it once was possible to witness their evolution first hand, as they gradually evolved from regal but normal looking humans to a hairless and somewhat alien looking race. EQOA is no longer with us, but I took a bunch of screenshots of it the last few days it was up.* And so I present the first post in a planned series on the history of Erudites across three games.</div>
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<i><b>Erudites in the time of Everquest Online Adventures: </b>the High Men</i><br />
<br />EQOA was set 500 years before the original EQ. Several things were noticeably different. For example the wood elves and high elves had not yet diverged into separate races, and many bits of geography mentioned only in lore in EQ were still around to be visited. Perhaps the most noticeable difference was the erudites. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEj8FJD1tdRVmcWy04m9Va-nrzSkdSPQ0_OCOEzfLRyVBN9dDElZdAvQjPtayonI-d0hGF2anGNiWpuNhpn3SIHC7ARhNovHM9cgYnbJc6mdcSvpg4c-flNzQhhsx56d3zPzNs82TFr3W/s1600/Erudites_M_F.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1217" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEj8FJD1tdRVmcWy04m9Va-nrzSkdSPQ0_OCOEzfLRyVBN9dDElZdAvQjPtayonI-d0hGF2anGNiWpuNhpn3SIHC7ARhNovHM9cgYnbJc6mdcSvpg4c-flNzQhhsx56d3zPzNs82TFr3W/s320/Erudites_M_F.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Male and Female Erudites from the character creation screen of EQOA</i>. <i>While they have prominent foreheads, they also still appear quite human</i>. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />Originally the Erudites of all professions lived together in one city, Highbourne, on the same continent as the other human cities, south of Quenyos on the coast. They also referred to themselves as "High Men." Though taller, thinner and darker skinned than most humans, they didn't really appear to be a distinct race from human at this time (at least not the the same degree as barbarians and humans, for example). If you looked around Highbourne, you could stumble across this mysterious figure in a shrine: <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocgwuDF_Smu2uDQdoUBl1Oi-rFKRK_OfFvQpNclmNTHwOqf5aSed2T9Lps0BWF3eDZfZdaITauM2cC7jNqoAO4DYFzPFm7K2GGruJiNhKxkZmXedr4kURVYR5NHQHNFJK_OxEGXnjgcJx/s1600/Duke+Morthalis.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="1600" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocgwuDF_Smu2uDQdoUBl1Oi-rFKRK_OfFvQpNclmNTHwOqf5aSed2T9Lps0BWF3eDZfZdaITauM2cC7jNqoAO4DYFzPFm7K2GGruJiNhKxkZmXedr4kURVYR5NHQHNFJK_OxEGXnjgcJx/s320/Duke+Morthalis.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Duke Morthalis, a mysterious NPC in a part of the city of Highbourne that only Necromancers and Shadowknights were likely to go to.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I assume he granted class quests to erudite necromancers at higher levels than I ever made it to. However, the presence of this somewhat secret NPC hinted at the rift that was to divide the erudite race in the future. When EQOA first came out, high men were confined to the mainland. However, if you went to the shore you could find boatbuilders talking about preparations for founding a new colony in lands to the west, over the sea. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hYkkk9_J03KckaQl71C3kCUVUAbqquHXygg52VS3y4rgVcXF70UCUbKkkwm1F9haUOhahm1RVxN135Y0tnfPGTaClL85s4Z0DRPI7M6C22rxSfeGWTs8pJxpoxmLSdS1DMunbCnLD1_e/s1600/Prexus.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="1600" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hYkkk9_J03KckaQl71C3kCUVUAbqquHXygg52VS3y4rgVcXF70UCUbKkkwm1F9haUOhahm1RVxN135Y0tnfPGTaClL85s4Z0DRPI7M6C22rxSfeGWTs8pJxpoxmLSdS1DMunbCnLD1_e/s320/Prexus.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This stone greeted you when you first traveled to the new colony of Erudites, founded on the island of Odus.</span></i></td></tr>
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<br />The new landmass, the Island of Odus, was added with the first and only EQOA expansion: Frontiers. Erud was the leader of the high men in the time of EQOA. The stretch of sea in between the mainland and Odus is referred to as Erud's Crossing in some later maps. Erud founded a colony on the island, which he named Arcadin. However, some time after his death the name of the city that sprung up from it was changed to Erudin in his honor. Erud had such a profound impact on the cultural development of high men that members of the race were generally known as Erudites in later years, regardless of whether they lived in Erudin proper or other parts of Norrath. <div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1Y1O0KxhyphenhyphenSKrUD5CmKAFQ4RF3cnq_sC3Bk_f2BOtCenRseAg_VNqUpayiBUKAmlSpZ9Vdfv14qVmWjEPh5dQnB5LoGfTPRfoKQU3ka9lCv_-UjGd_wfNv5oCigYKQaRyKmhD2006g7hX/s1600/Erud.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1259" data-original-width="1600" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1Y1O0KxhyphenhyphenSKrUD5CmKAFQ4RF3cnq_sC3Bk_f2BOtCenRseAg_VNqUpayiBUKAmlSpZ9Vdfv14qVmWjEPh5dQnB5LoGfTPRfoKQU3ka9lCv_-UjGd_wfNv5oCigYKQaRyKmhD2006g7hX/s320/Erud.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Erud, for whom the Erudites (i.e., followers of Erud) are named.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />In the time of EQOA, you could talk to Erud by travelling to Arcadin. If you had played the original Everquest, it was kind of that fantasy equivalent of getting to chat with George Washington. When you talked to him, Erud gave the following speech:**<br />
<br />
<i>Behold you bear witness to the founding of Arcadin!</i><br />
<br />
<i>[Response: " What is Arcadin exactly?]</i><br />
<br />
<i>Now it is but a humble beginning, stone and wood slowly being fitted together to reveal the shadow of what is to come. I have envisioned a great metropolis, one that will span for miles across the land and stretch upwards to the heavens. It is here that we will give birth to the epicenter of enlightenment, arcane mastery and discipline, and prosperity in peace. </i><br />
<br />
<i>Enlightenment, prosperity, and peace. The are the elements upon which Arcadin is founded and destined to uphold. And not just the people of Highbourne shall bask in the glory of this place. Nay, for this is our gift to the world. All beings who share a thirst for enlightenment and bear within their souls the pursuit of peace and mortal righteousness . . . it is them who are welcome as friend and citizen. She will hold them dear, for it is they who are her lifeblood and her pulse. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>This is my vision, this is our intent and it will be done for no being stands above the cause . . .And none who strive in parallel of her goal . . be them high man, elf, dwarf or man . . are beyond her reach.</i><br />
<br />
As NPC speeches went in EQOA it was a heck of a long one. For any kind of Everquest lore grognard, the whole encounter was also a guaranteed nerdgasm. <div><br /></div><div>High men had the highest starting Intelligence of any race in the EQOA. Intelligence determined the size your mana pool, and I believe also affected the chances that mobs would resist your spells. Oddly, dexterity determined how much damage spells did. Regardless, the high starting Int. made high men a good choice for wizards, magicians, necromancers and enchanters. They were also an interesting choice for a Shadowknight, the racial option that yielded the strongest possible spellcasting ability for the class. </div><div><br /></div><div>Magic was central to the culture of high men, an association so intimate that it eventually began to affect their physical evolution. High men were very much a neutral race in the time of EQOA, fully embracing all forms of magic. Practitioners of elemental magic, enchantments and illusions, as well as both holy and death magic, all lived together in several communities in western Norrath. However, what started as different areas of intellectual interest soon became philosophical differences, and later led to real conflicts. Eventually followers of the necromantic arts were banished from Erudin entirely. </div><div> </div><div>My next planned post is on Erudites, as the high men came to be known, in the time of Everquest. Though given my current spare time quota, I can't put a timetable on it!</div><div><br /></div><div>*<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Apologies for the quality of these "screenshots", they are actually photos of my old CRT television.</span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">**Yes, I did sit in front of my TV and transcribe the speech word for word. <br /></span></i>
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<br /></div></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-38254286812548811642021-11-28T15:58:00.022-08:002021-12-17T09:05:44.847-08:00Ragnarok Origin (Android) and Cowboy Beebop (Netflix) <p>As you may have guessed from my entire <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/08/new-post-series-field-guide-to-location.html">series on location based games</a>, I have started to become somewhat enamored with modern portable games. Both my phone and my Switch console have started to get a lot of use. I especially like the switch because it instantly coverts to proper a video game console just by docking it in a little stand that sits behind my television. It's like having a PS4 that you can take to bed with you. </p><p>This week I have had a couple surprises, a game and a new television series both of which completely defied my initial impressions of them. </p><p><i><b>Ragnarok Origin</b></i></p><p>Ragnarok Origin has been getting advertised to me a lot when I play other games on my Android phone. Curious what a real MMO would play like on it, I decided to fire the game up. While there are certainly the bones of a good game there, it is also currently an extremely frustrating experience. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXxvPUqBGrqF6-XV0ynlXoAt1tYAsONd-7N_W1_oj6PPWb80iXYfGwD5Sd0J29nQ-OL6XI7oHae7DTvClC3I4krqfieXDJrHwESG0mkS9WUa0yMmVANqBV6O_Vxg7qCScnjGbDDIz6aPp/s2300/Screenshot_20211127-013402.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2300" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXxvPUqBGrqF6-XV0ynlXoAt1tYAsONd-7N_W1_oj6PPWb80iXYfGwD5Sd0J29nQ-OL6XI7oHae7DTvClC3I4krqfieXDJrHwESG0mkS9WUa0yMmVANqBV6O_Vxg7qCScnjGbDDIz6aPp/s320/Screenshot_20211127-013402.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A screen shot from Ragnarok Origin, an Android MMO released at the beginning of November.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>First the good. The graphics are charming, if perhaps too cutesy. The gameplay also works amazingly well on a tiny phone screen. Combat in particular strikes exactly the right balance of being stripped down enough to work well with only a few buttons, but still deep enough to be entertaining. You need to pick a loadout of up to five active abilities from everything you have access to, which makes for some fun strategic choices. However even using a screen area the size of a few postage stamps, it's still very easy to select the abilities you want to use. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnK3b0oxLVLptXc0iWc2IhXBi5Bc4tpHreol0kqfVwwfk0kR-GS3CH1cF6_qSZEndKWQF-Opaq8kq0AQdQ9k1d0zZ4Dgte8m5r587yVNKDyphyphenhyphenqmbFgEftL_baioUPpMqrC5g7j7EmSuEK/s2300/Screenshot_20211127-013555.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2300" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnK3b0oxLVLptXc0iWc2IhXBi5Bc4tpHreol0kqfVwwfk0kR-GS3CH1cF6_qSZEndKWQF-Opaq8kq0AQdQ9k1d0zZ4Dgte8m5r587yVNKDyphyphenhyphenqmbFgEftL_baioUPpMqrC5g7j7EmSuEK/s320/Screenshot_20211127-013555.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I find the graphics overall charming, if a bit too cutesy. The aesthetic seems aimed squarely at tweens and tweens-at-heart. You can see the hotkeys used for combat in the lower right hand corner. Basically five hotbar abilities, a button to target the nearest mob, and an attack button. The controls work surprisingly well in a fight, giving enough options to be interesting but not so many that it's a struggle on a tiny screen. Movement is a bit clunkier, and rotating the camera so you can see where you are going even worse (it's best not to do so at all if you can get away with it).</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>However, once you get over the surprise of a full featured MMO that looks good and plays well on your phone, the game starts to completely fall apart. Having played MMOs since EQ in 1999, I consider myself a veteran of the genre. However, I still find the game incredibly confusing. The entire first hour of play is a tutorial taking you through what seems like a hundred systems, each of which you will only start to vaguely understand before being whisked off to learn about the next one. By the time you get through it all, you are guaranteed to have forgotten half of what you were just introduced to. There are simply too many advancement systems crammed into RO, and none of them are explained very well. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORHon_5J9zvMhrC2kxOIoa7NCrlSDeEIT3WWEnGRMrm9pfBGOeZsByalq1YSNhbup9WlnnLNWQEY6ZklOUsCwlU76KLcOq99n9LV3NLSNQWi_cmFqTjV7UccHM1QgbpQO9hLgc07Rx5f0/s2300/Screenshot_20211127-013507.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2300" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORHon_5J9zvMhrC2kxOIoa7NCrlSDeEIT3WWEnGRMrm9pfBGOeZsByalq1YSNhbup9WlnnLNWQEY6ZklOUsCwlU76KLcOq99n9LV3NLSNQWi_cmFqTjV7UccHM1QgbpQO9hLgc07Rx5f0/s320/Screenshot_20211127-013507.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The game is also confusing, and wants you to spend money more than any other android game I have tried. I am not sure what half of the icons in the upper right do. However almost all of them lead to a different way to spend money. For example, one of them leads to a limited time "gift" that you have to pay $4.99 for. That is literally all it does. What the butterfly wings are used for, how I got them or how I will get more when I used them up I have no idea whatsoever.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You often find yourself staring at a screen full of stats to allocate points to, and little guidance on where the best place to put them, or a lot of skills to pick from that are hard to evaluate until you try and use them. You can of course just have the game make all the choices for you, but at that point it feels like the game is playing itself. There is also gear to be leveled up. Not only does it quickly become very expensive to do so, there is always the chance that an item you are trying to upgrade will break and become completely useless. The more powerful the item you are trying to upgrade the greater the risk of this happening, and <i>of course</i> there are ways to get around all of this in the cash shop. For some activities it's also not all that optional. Rumor has it that to be competitive in PvP spending hundreds of dollars to upgrade your gear is pretty much mandatory. The game is also quite eager to charge you real cash for respecs if the confusing series of advancement systems leads you to screw anything up.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN-92Q4G9v4WjJzVlnLzrrLiztsekVvBcbLb6gR8vebNOG4RSzggq_tHDyk5mlpBmRD3DhuYS3JhNSBqr97TuuyJ8N41qTjepoUaPB_mQyDeYisN5GyF8ixJf_N1LtBb_ql8f1XHNfrpV/s2300/Screenshot_20211128-163426.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2300" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN-92Q4G9v4WjJzVlnLzrrLiztsekVvBcbLb6gR8vebNOG4RSzggq_tHDyk5mlpBmRD3DhuYS3JhNSBqr97TuuyJ8N41qTjepoUaPB_mQyDeYisN5GyF8ixJf_N1LtBb_ql8f1XHNfrpV/s320/Screenshot_20211128-163426.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The advancement systems are surprisingly deep, but also extremely poorly explained. Most of the time it's better to let the game allocate points for you than to try and make sense of things yourself. The game tells you what a point in each stat literally does for you, but does not really give you enough information to decide if that is something you should care about are not. It's a problem many MMOs suffer from, but RO takes it to a new extreme. The idea seems to be to all but ensure you will bone up your character and need to pay money for a respec at some point.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Finally, the moment to moment gameplay is often really frustrating. The entire first hour of play is one of the most convoluted and boring tutorials I have ever weathered through. Once you get through that to the "real game" things barely improve. While the controls are competent, they aren't up to some of what the game wants you to do with them. Some quests are difficult simply because it is hard to precisely control a character moving around in three dimensions on your phone. For example, one quest had me tailing an NPC, and I lost them because they went around a corner and I couldn't rotate the camera into the right position to allow me to continue to follow them in time. To be fair, the game does make it clear which missions require precise controls and which can be cleared using autorun. However, some of the latter missions are atrocious. For example, the last quest I did before I stopped playing was called "Fountain Dance Party." The entire quest was to let your character navigate to a random spot near a fountain, and then dance there for 15 solid minutes of real time while a timer slowly creeped down. Not showing off dance moves from a list or anything like that. Just run to a spot, hit the dance button, and watch your wiggle and clap for 15 full minutes. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56SrQPkqhUyg75o3EuQj4_0X5UGdBWlHZSleK0VGnshcivWhgxxub2kp515y8KX9Rdx9JW6N4COcceY7-xi2vaSE59KFl62RXnIZ-qauOHiu-iY_K-wv84R94wSnzeMittZ7vcwuMHT8u/s2300/Screenshot_20211128-163435.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2300" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56SrQPkqhUyg75o3EuQj4_0X5UGdBWlHZSleK0VGnshcivWhgxxub2kp515y8KX9Rdx9JW6N4COcceY7-xi2vaSE59KFl62RXnIZ-qauOHiu-iY_K-wv84R94wSnzeMittZ7vcwuMHT8u/s320/Screenshot_20211128-163435.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Even really basic choices leave me scratching my head. Should I switch to knight as soon as it's available? How do I unlock the other part of that class tree? Probably by paying some money. If I did, would it be worth it? I have absolutely no idea. Online communities like the Reddit board for the game mainly consist of players <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/RagnarokMOrigin/comments/r40r3a/idk_what_im_missing_but_the_grind_for_this_game/">complaining</a> about <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/RagnarokMOrigin/comments/r2caet/quit_a_week_ago_and_just_logged_back_in_for_fun/">how egregious</a> the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/RagnarokMOrigin/comments/qxskj4/im_sorry_i_cant_do_it_it_was_a_fun_week_but_im/">P2W mechanics are</a>, and so have been of little help.</span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's all a shame because as I said there are the bones of a solid game in RO. For example, some of the early quests are extremely entertaining. Once quest conveyed a funny story by having me briefly play as various NPCs with delusions of grandeur. Content like that sticks out because it's so much better than most of what is on offer. By and large the game is overly convoluted, poorly explained, has pretty tepid moment-to-moment gameplay, and has more obvious pay-to-win elements than just about anything I have tried. Do not recommend! </p><p><i><b>Cowboy Bebop (Netflix)</b></i></p><p>Now on the the pleasant surprise. Cowboy Bebop is a classic anime from the late 90s, and Netflix recently released a live action series inspired by it. Based on the abysmal live action remakes of Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Last Airbender years before that, my expectations for this show were rock bottom. <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/cowboy_bebop_2021"> Reviews</a> also don't give you a lot of hope, with critics nearly hating it and the user ratings hovering at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, I am seven episodes in now and really enjoying it.</p><p>The show starts off weak, the first episode especially I would describe as only "ok." The fight choreography, which is unfortunately used in the show's trailer, is not very exciting. I would compare it to <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/marvel_s_iron_fist">Iron Fist</a>, the bafflingly bad member of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel%27s_Netflix_television_series">Netflix's Marvel line up</a>. However, the Bebop was obviously filmed in the order that episodes appear in, since the quality of everything from the characterization to the fight scenes improve quickly. By the third episode, I was thoroughly entertained. </p><p>I think the low review scores are from viewers expecting a one-to-one remake of the anime. It is absolutely not that. It's more of a new show that draws heavily on the anime. When I watch the the live-action show, I often don't feel like I am watching the same characters from the anime at all. For instance, Spike in the show and Spike in the anime have similar visual designs, but very different personas. The new show also has an overarching story that seems to have been invented largely out of thin air and tacked on. Any given episode spends more time on that story through-line than the entire anime did in every episode combined. That's one of the reasons the run times went from 22 minutes to 40. The new show takes major story beats, the overall setting, and some aspects of the character designs from the anime, but goes off in completely new directions with most of the details. </p><p>However, I don't think of those differences as flaws, I think of them as features. Why would I want to watch the anime again in a different medium? The anime is damn near perfect for what it is trying to do. Simply spiffing it up with modern visual effects would not improve it in the slightest. If I want to watch the anime, that is exactly what I will do. What I will not do is watch the new show and then get upset that it's not the anime.</p><p>I think of the anime vs the new show on about the same level that I think of Marvel comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yeah it's the same setting, ostensibly the same characters, and even many of the same story beats. However, expecting the newer interpretations to be exactly the same as the originals is not the right way to approach them, and is not a realistic expectation in two such disparate mediums. Much like <a href="https://www.cbr.com/dark-knight-batman-best-movie/">Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy</a> vs. the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_The_Animated_Series">animated series from the 90s</a> in the land of DC, each interpretation of the characters and setting has strengths and weaknesses. If you take the new Bebop on its own terms, I would say it's at least as good as the original. <i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></i> </p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-91277365511534301442021-10-02T11:24:00.023-07:002021-10-02T19:06:12.896-07:00Where to go next?<p>MMORPGs have a bit of a reputation as being a dead genre, and yet it never feels that way to me. It always feels like there is more I want to do than I will ever get to. Right now, trying to decide what to dive into next is a pretty typical case in point.</p><p><a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/07/ffxiv-every-one-else-jukes-while-i-dodge.html">FFXIV wound down for me</a>, and STO while original and entertaining, has never managed to really reel me in for more than a few hours a week. Instead for the last month or so I have immersed myself in <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/08/new-post-series-field-guide-to-location.html">Location Based Games</a> (two of which I am still playing every night) and a <a href="https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/final-fantasy-viii-remastered-switch/">port of FFVIII to the Switch</a>. Nothing shows that you have moved along with the times like playing through a game first released 22 years ago . . . Also, thanks to <a href="http://bhagpuss.blogspot.com/2021/10/monsieur-bezos-with-these-free-games.html">a recent post from Bhagpuss</a> I realized I have a ton of free games from my Prime subscription, which in turn led to the discovery that I had a free copy of <a href="https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/squadrons">Star Wars: Squadrons</a> sitting there unclaimed. In fact, that is almost certainly what I will be playing this weekend.</p><p>As for what MMO to play next, there are so many good options I'm a bit paralyzed.</p><p>Probably my overall two favorite MMOs, at least judged by time played, are Lord of the Rings Online and Star Wars: the Old Republic. LoTRO is getting <a href="https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/fate-gundabad-faq-and-information">the biggest expansion in years</a> at the end of the month, along with the first new class since 2014. As much as it annoys me that the UI looks terrible on a 4K monitor and that the game itself may or may not decide to run on any given modern PC you install it on, it remains a great game. I had an absolute blast playing through Gondor the last time I was there. SWTOR is also <a href="https://vulkk.com/2021/07/01/swtor-7-0-legacy-of-the-sith-expansion-announced/#:~:text=BioWare%20has%20unveiled%20Legacy%20of,which%20will%20continue%20throughout%202022!">getting an expansion this Christmas</a>. So I could head back to familiar lands and have a lot of fun for the next few months.</p><p>There are also at least two members of <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/MMORPG/comments/g7ks0a/out_of_the_big_five_mmos_wowff14esogw2bdo_which/">the big five</a> (and I guess with Amazon's New World we are up to a big six now) that I have never tried. Guild Wars 2 especially looks really interesting. I have been meaning to try it <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2012/03/future-is-bright-for-mmo.html">since before the game launched</a>, and I know factually that I would get at least a solid month of enjoyment out of it. For that matter, I have always wanted to play the original Guild Wars. The "combat skills as collectibles" system sounds interesting, and it had very good art direction for its time.</p><p>And of course there is <a href="https://www.newworld.com/en-us">Amazon's New World</a>. The first big budget MMORPG we have gotten in quite some time. Hell I think the last one may have been ESO in 2014. New World has an absolutely inescapable amount of hype right now, and looks <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/02/new-world-stops-people-from-rolling-on-full-servers-posts-capacity-list-and-hits-800k-concurrent/">set to hit player concurrencies</a> of more than a million soon. The one real hesitation I have with it is the setting. The promotional art for the game seems to glorify colonialism, and Spanish conquistadors in particular.* While the 15th and 16th century Spanish explorers did have an interesting fashion sense that has not really been mined for visuals in games very often, they were also murderous, amoral, genocidal bastards for the most part. Christopher Columbus, for example, <a href="https://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day">was an absolutely terrible person</a> (warning: what you will read about him there is not pleasant). </p><p>Putting that concern aside, word on the street is that the gameplay of New World draws most heavily from Elder Scroll Online, which is very encouraging to me. I liked <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2020/10/elder-scrolls-online-impressions.html">literally everything about the game but the combat</a>. Elder Scrolls, but with combat that's not terrible would absolutely be my cup of tea. </p><p>So where to go next? I don't know, there's too many good choices. Maybe I'll go outside and <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-field-guide-to-lbgs-walking-dead-our.html">shoot some zombies</a> while I think about it.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*Thanks to Bhagpuss for pointing out the login message distancing the game from the historical New World, I was not aware of that when I wrote this. </i></span></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-71090059377561178982021-09-11T09:46:00.007-07:002022-01-28T09:20:25.677-08:00A field Guide to LBGs: Orna<p>In the last post of this series for at least a bit I turn to Orna, a game I was extremely excited about when I first heard of it. Orna is a fantasy LBG inspired by 16 bit console RPGs. A large, or at least visible and enthusiastic, community seems to have sprung up around it. Message boards are quite active, there is <a href="https://ornarpg.fandom.com/wiki/Orna_RPG_Wiki">a good wiki</a>, and a lot of you tube videos are already available (though few of them even have 5,000 views). Of all the GPS based games I have tried so far, Orna perhaps hews closest to being a true MMO-LBG hybrid.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Orna </span></b></p><p><b>What do you do? </b>The main thing you do is kill monsters, collect their loot, and level up. The moment-to-moment gameplay is exactly like an old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_(video_game)">Dragon Quest</a> or Final Fantasy game, save that instead of monsters attacking you randomly as you walk around they appear on your map and you choose the ones you want to fight. Battles are menu driven and turn based. Each turn you have the option to attack with your equipped weapon, to use whatever abilities you have memorized, or to consume items such as healing and mana potions. The number of skills you can have "memorized" is determined by your current class, and you are completely free to mix and match skills from any class you have unlocked. However, that is not to say any skill works well with any class. For example, a physical attack ability is going to do terrible damage if your are currently a mage type class with low strength. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAuNz_3Yl2iKduhCK4oeRjY41vQIXIRg5py58nHDhgc-mIwTR404vpmLv8XJcbgPi9m3tzynEMKvYYArniPc9GFyEoSa4m6N3bZ0GOt1dmgVfywMXIWI-aZ7OafwSOM8KQ69OkxHqE2P_/s2300/Screenshot_20210902-212838.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAuNz_3Yl2iKduhCK4oeRjY41vQIXIRg5py58nHDhgc-mIwTR404vpmLv8XJcbgPi9m3tzynEMKvYYArniPc9GFyEoSa4m6N3bZ0GOt1dmgVfywMXIWI-aZ7OafwSOM8KQ69OkxHqE2P_/s320/Screenshot_20210902-212838.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This is what you will spend 90% of your time doing. The battles play out almost exactly like an old Dragon Quest game.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Mobs drop a ton of loot for you to dig through. In addition to gold and consumables, perhaps 2/3 of foes drop one or more a pieces of equipment. On a scale of launch era WoW to Diablo, Orna is probably more than half way to Diablo with respect to loot frequency and variety. You can also go looking for particular kinds of gear by focusing on the right types of foes. For example, a Mage or a Witch will often drop a magic staff or wand. Gear can be upgraded by blacksmiths or can have enchantments added to them by alchemists. However, new gear drops so quickly that there seems to be little reason to mess around with these upgrade systems, at least at low to mid-levels. No gear appears to be restricted by level or stats, only class. </p><p>At level 1 you start out as one of three classes, a classic fighter type, rogue type or a mage. The fighter has good defense, the rogue does high martial damage and has middling defense, the mage does extremely high magic damage and has terrible defense. However, rather quickly you will earn enough of the game's central currency, called "orns"and for which the game is named, to unlock the other two classes you didn't pick. You can then swap classes at will. You have an overall level based on the highest level you have been able to achieve in any class. When you change classes or unlock a new one it automatically increases to match. Different classes aren't so much alternate advancement paths as alternate combat styles and new groups of abilities that you can add to your loadouts. For example, lately I have been spending a lot of time as an Archmage, mainly focusing on nukes but also with a healing ability I learned when I unlocked the the Paladin class.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7R-C777NVF4_rP24jMVmz8kSinhcfb5usFsS6LuHcTA9Cy-L2q6DC50dPvuI57Blsewzls6OuzqF1nGskePSfVd9n3QDqEdT0HMZMSlcy13oa9MVCPgpqtIvipLtaux0WE9s-DqknjNCW/s2300/Screenshot_20210904-065202.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7R-C777NVF4_rP24jMVmz8kSinhcfb5usFsS6LuHcTA9Cy-L2q6DC50dPvuI57Blsewzls6OuzqF1nGskePSfVd9n3QDqEdT0HMZMSlcy13oa9MVCPgpqtIvipLtaux0WE9s-DqknjNCW/s320/Screenshot_20210904-065202.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>You start with three classes to pick from, and are able to unlock more classes and specializations as you go up levels. All classes are at the same level. For example, if you hit 50 on a mage you will still be 50 when you switch to fighter. Abilities can be mixed and matched between classes at will. All of these Paladin specific abilities seen here can be used by other classes, though classes vary a lot in how many skills they can have "memorized." So far I think the most abilities any class I have unlocked can use is maybe six, and some have as few as two or three slots for skills.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Very early on you will be asked to pick one of four elements: lightning, fire, earth, or water. This will give you a damage bonus with attacks that utilize that element. However, it also determines your "team." These four elemental teams work a lot like the three teams in Pokémon Go (i.e., Instinct, Mystic, and Valor). You can only join a kingdom that matches your element (below), and kingdoms can only declare war on kingdoms of other elements. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVentyR5oUZYSLQ0kz6SADJ2A8Vv6ikbqRWN_idzdCmbpqg8bBGoQJiBYbk4em62tUTCPSRZ1yaRA-tPo9SoCGLY7o_bNOpb3sYGakvN9SZvBF04NTZL2qSsrseeQwaRp7HZneu7NYPb9Z/s2300/Screenshot_20210904-064941.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVentyR5oUZYSLQ0kz6SADJ2A8Vv6ikbqRWN_idzdCmbpqg8bBGoQJiBYbk4em62tUTCPSRZ1yaRA-tPo9SoCGLY7o_bNOpb3sYGakvN9SZvBF04NTZL2qSsrseeQwaRp7HZneu7NYPb9Z/s320/Screenshot_20210904-064941.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The other big thing you do is collect loot. Classes vary a lot in the equipment they can use, so I often find myself changing classes just to see if a new sword or pair of shoes I have found is an upgrade for one of my unlocked classes.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In addition to killing random mobs, there are also simple quests like "kill six spiders" or "upgrade six items." These grant gold, XP and orns when you complete them. There are story quests, that appear to be mainly a tutorial for game systems, daily quests, weekly quests, and quests that help your kingdom advance. If that all this sounds pretty complicated, trust me if you have ever played a JRPG it's really not. The basic gameplay loop is 99% murdering monsters via extremely simple combat and checking to see if a dagger, staff or hat that has been dropped might be an upgrade for the gear you are using on one of your classes. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpGEBxh_3Z8pOPxnqLU5xrSXyOywm85kaUqmw9uHwDK_cBjo4zkOjWEiPHIWD93gsQiSjgHmvp8URgcTMtMK9KmUJfFme2iJL7VMe59KK8ZmHXTufFtuChsBJlEybdkJCQa7TTOZfChQm/s2300/Screenshot_20210831-225244.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpGEBxh_3Z8pOPxnqLU5xrSXyOywm85kaUqmw9uHwDK_cBjo4zkOjWEiPHIWD93gsQiSjgHmvp8URgcTMtMK9KmUJfFme2iJL7VMe59KK8ZmHXTufFtuChsBJlEybdkJCQa7TTOZfChQm/s320/Screenshot_20210831-225244.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The world of Orna, at least on my street. That shop in the middle of the screen is my entire home village. When I am near it I get some slight bonuses, and eventually I will be able to expand it by adding more buildings to it. When you claim a village, you get to decide whether the buildings are public or private. The random monsters, like the slime on the right and the wolfman at the top, I can tap to attack. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>What is the world like?</b> I am not entirely sure what map it's built on, perhaps Open Street Maps. It shows roads and a few buildings, but not street names much like Pokemon Go. Near me it assigns some areas to be forests vs open and populates open areas near roads with random buildings. Whether it includes additional biomes to forest in other regions I have no idea. The buildings I have seen so far are general stores where you can sell loot and buy potions, a pet shop that sells companions that follow you around and help in battle, blacksmiths for upgrading gear, and dungeons (below). I have read that there are a wide variety of other types of shops, but I have not yet seen any of them. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjenB2FunREqQB-i6e9eUHeni1k2w-8jKqS9NOkmegV2xpef_eWHBnLuhCRv-TSBRD_nwhMGhSao8SsxNTr4WFO2TfZo1bbF-i5v1dWpnMKpz7rRJIsGWAttvVU1xNz-oKZWpa9WgY9M7V/s2300/Screenshot_20210831-225442.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjenB2FunREqQB-i6e9eUHeni1k2w-8jKqS9NOkmegV2xpef_eWHBnLuhCRv-TSBRD_nwhMGhSao8SsxNTr4WFO2TfZo1bbF-i5v1dWpnMKpz7rRJIsGWAttvVU1xNz-oKZWpa9WgY9M7V/s320/Screenshot_20210831-225442.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I decided to make the one building in my village public. I get a tiny bit of income from this shop every day when I log. Whether I would make a crapton of money if someone came by and bought a bunch of stuff, or what exactly another player would see on entering this shop I'm not sure.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Mobs spawn quickly and randomly around any spot in which you are standing. In fact mobs spawn so quickly that it's completely impossible to clear out an area, which means you technically don't have to ever walk anywhere to advance. As you gain levels, the levels of monsters that randomly spawn around you also gradually increase. Different monsters spawn in forests vs open areas, and at night vs during the day. This led to some confusion when I first started playing. I had a "baby's first level 1 quest" to kill five goblins. I was baffled at first because the entire first week I played I didn't see a single goblin. However, I had only played at night and it turned out they only spawn during the day.</p><p> Dungeons, called "gauntlets" provide an interesting challenge. You can only enter one if you have a gauntlet key. Once you enter you have a few hours to clear every floor. There are ten floors, each with progressively tougher monsters (one monster per floor) and better loot. You can first try one when you hit level 50, but you sure as heck won't be able to clear it at that level. I ran straight to the nearest dungeon when I hit 50. While I was able to clear more than half of it, the mobs in the bottom few floors were well over level 100. You start with one gauntlet key. After that, as near as I can tell the only way to get more keys is to buy them in the item shop, which is a bit frustrating. However, there are also gauntlets associated with your kingdom you might be able to participate in for free (more on this on "other players").</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2hTDHRtN-onmnrrdk1m0z24xGL8fA5UvhIrCDPAKj_lsMiEq7RgIMP5ZM9TMe0UPz7HMM-NVJTTtnVFcPizD99p_oAP6n0KIVptHEKRgiv8WgG3MzlxM2HYKbtOc2iz5Wz2hOXFSRYjB/s2300/Screenshot_20210904-064706.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2hTDHRtN-onmnrrdk1m0z24xGL8fA5UvhIrCDPAKj_lsMiEq7RgIMP5ZM9TMe0UPz7HMM-NVJTTtnVFcPizD99p_oAP6n0KIVptHEKRgiv8WgG3MzlxM2HYKbtOc2iz5Wz2hOXFSRYjB/s320/Screenshot_20210904-064706.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The main kingdom menu, which is essentially like a guild in a MMO. Like many more modern MMOs you can work together to level up your guild. I believe Kingdoms can hold up to 50 players.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Asynchronous interactions.</b> The main way you alter the world is by building up your starting village. When you first start playing, you have a chance to choose one village as your home village. When near it you get a some minor stat bonuses. Most villages consist of a single random building. As you progress through the game there are a wide variety of different types of buildings you can add to it. However I don't yet know a lot about how this works because after playing for two weeks I am up to level 60 and still nowhere near being able to put up any buildings in my village. I have about half the material I would need for the simplest building. You do at least get to decide whether everyone can see and use the buildings in your village, or whether only you have access to them. I believe that in an open village changes to the inventory of NPCs as players buy and sell items are shared with everyone, a bit like how NPC merchants work in Everquest.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxAO2NUPFYH1PaZapX2T6J9fNxRO1usw3b99XjWCZma46KA4Own-EKZvZOYXY3udi6brtzjYGocDAMYKFawkhYHf1fNQDFJ7H5R91I7V_Bo-ZNDnTXWz-9FEgHA00P3gK88NHC27CGv6S/s2300/Screenshot_20210904-064751.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxAO2NUPFYH1PaZapX2T6J9fNxRO1usw3b99XjWCZma46KA4Own-EKZvZOYXY3udi6brtzjYGocDAMYKFawkhYHf1fNQDFJ7H5R91I7V_Bo-ZNDnTXWz-9FEgHA00P3gK88NHC27CGv6S/s320/Screenshot_20210904-064751.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">One way you can help advance your guild is by helping to clear gauntlets (dungeons). Members of the guild have a chance to be assigned to take on the opponent on a random floor each day. So far I have been left out of this system, presumably because I am too low level to handle the fights on most floors.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b>How do you interact with other players?</b> The main way is by joining a Kingdom. Kingdoms are basically guilds of up to 50 players. Like typical MMO guilds there are ranks, a chat window, and often an optional discord server somewhere. There are also guild quests and guild gauntlets that you can undertake to help level up your guild. In guild gauntlets, everyone in the guild has a chance to be assigned a random floor and corresponding monster. If everyone takes out their monster, all players in a guild gets some kind of reward. Your guild can also pick fights with other guilds, in which case I believe you will be assigned a random player in the opposing guild to challenge to a duel. Like the whole town system, this seems to be something that you need to be rather high level (100+ is my guess) to really participate in. At level 60 I am barely qualified to take on a few of the lowest level gauntlet floors so I haven't yet been assigned one at random. The low level guild quests I can handle also quickly get snatched up by other players. There seems to be some kind of group raid battles, but that is another system I haven't been able to see much of yet because I am too low level. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqx3NYwNWGgLNVaED-8i7PXBveoYI3SugGDt6iYMx_9nVNg2P0Ssvvkpyr3iRd5jNewZllNZvAS0IrW8CEsyJ_qO6NeXodCoe4DQDmcJV_23gsPznzRdMFUQws8dnHClv5oaNnPUsvlZU/s2300/Screenshot_20210904-064734.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqx3NYwNWGgLNVaED-8i7PXBveoYI3SugGDt6iYMx_9nVNg2P0Ssvvkpyr3iRd5jNewZllNZvAS0IrW8CEsyJ_qO6NeXodCoe4DQDmcJV_23gsPznzRdMFUQws8dnHClv5oaNnPUsvlZU/s320/Screenshot_20210904-064734.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can also undertake quest for your guild. This is another system I haven't been able to do much with because the low level quests I could handle all get grabbed by other players pretty quickly.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b>Is it good exercise?</b> At first I thought Orna was terrible exercise, and a frustratingly simple game. There were two random stores and a dungeon near my house. They stores didn't sell anything I care about apart from potions, and even potions I get from mobs frequently enough that I rarely need to restock. Since mobs re-spawned quickly and in unlimited numbers in my yard, there seemed to be no reason at all to walk anywhere. I thought the whole game was sitting in my living room grinding until I got high enough level to add some buildings to my feeble starting village. Though I was mistaken, you can certainly play that way if you want to.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b7gH9kbsWv57wojyf1reQ55Qdsh4ibLSumz6ZfitV7-tWJH7Mj3c7Z4RQYLpoBLdkQ440fa3VbEtFEQooTSl4u8eoBOgbLeNeNkNT991329hjIWtAKDFnrS2h3cc38b3_lmpHDillUDC/s2300/Screenshot_20210904-065043.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b7gH9kbsWv57wojyf1reQ55Qdsh4ibLSumz6ZfitV7-tWJH7Mj3c7Z4RQYLpoBLdkQ440fa3VbEtFEQooTSl4u8eoBOgbLeNeNkNT991329hjIWtAKDFnrS2h3cc38b3_lmpHDillUDC/s320/Screenshot_20210904-065043.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>One major difference from Dragon Quest is that the fights aren't really random. You tap on a monster that you see on the map, and then get this screen explaining what it is where you decide whether or not to attack.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>However I soon discovered that there are other building types in my neighborhood. For example, near where I set up a shelter in Walking Dead: Our World there is a blacksmith. It takes him about an hour to upgrade a piece of gear, so once per evening I walk out to him, pick up something he has been working on for me, and drop off something else. I tell my wife "Ok, I'm off to pick up my hat" (or whatever) before I head out for the evening. There are also random bosses on the landscape. These are worth one or two orders of magnitude more XP than regular mobs, are distributed very sparsely, and take a long time to respawn after you kill them. It's well worth it to head out and look for bosses instead of being happy with whatever happens to show up in your yard. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fM8op_EiCE3LIyOYISWGWdg_6Zp5C_sKg-NS593RNx0prD6XSEglEuJnPqmfWPP_ebSeJJ9pWOgawmcY2cXyN00bzvfN13GnEBfAGVUoTewecYa6dknlkztKo8r2b9gh5rrBWxw_PXlr/s2300/Screenshot_20210904-065509.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fM8op_EiCE3LIyOYISWGWdg_6Zp5C_sKg-NS593RNx0prD6XSEglEuJnPqmfWPP_ebSeJJ9pWOgawmcY2cXyN00bzvfN13GnEBfAGVUoTewecYa6dknlkztKo8r2b9gh5rrBWxw_PXlr/s320/Screenshot_20210904-065509.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Even if the moment-to-moment gameplay generally is exceedingly simple, the game overall has a ton of depth that I have barely plumbed. For example, I am not at all sure what summoning a raid boss is about.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>All that said, due to the "unlimited spawns anywhere you happen to be," there is less reason to walk around in Orna than in the other LGB I've played. Further, if you want to power level it's a lot more efficient to drive around and look for bosses you can handle than to do it on foot. Within the entire part of my neighborhood I can get to without crossing highways, there are only four or five boss spawn points, and I have never seen more than two I could actually handle up in one evening. I can see why so many players like the game, but even after two weeks I am very much on the fence about it.</p><p><br /></p><p><i><u>Initial series Wrap up</u>:</i></p><p><i>That will probably be my last post in the LBG field guide series for the time being, though there are quite a few more of them on my radar. If you have a suggestion for which you would like for me to try next, let me know in the comments. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Es_A8lLi40">Otherworld Heroes</a> which claims to be an honest-to-goodness LBMMORPG (!) looks interesting. However, the game has been out for a more than a year and I haven't heard a thing about it, so I am a bit skeptical.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-30315341293112567082021-09-02T08:50:00.016-07:002021-09-07T14:46:22.995-07:00A field guide to LBGs: Walking Dead Our World<p>Walking Dead: Our World was published by Next Games in July 2018. It's one of the more visible LBGs, and is based on the hugely popular AMC TV show and the lesser known comic books. After a brief surge of popularity when it first came out, interest in WD:OW seemed to wane rapidly. These days online communities around the game seem pretty dead. However, according to <a href="https://videogamesstats.com/the-walking-dead-our-world-facts/">at least one site</a> it still managed to make $17 million in 2019. Solidly profitable if not a huge hit. Next week I will be discussing one final GPS game I have been playing a lot of, the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=playorna.com.orna&hl=en_US&gl=US">16 bit RPG inspired Orna</a>. </p><p><b>Walking Dead: Our World </b></p><p><b>What do you do?</b> The main thing you do is walk around looking for encounters filled with zombies and other NPC opponents to fight. Fights reward random cards to gain new or upgrade existing equipment, NPC allies or perks. All of these come in different rarities: gold > purple > blue > gray. Gold allies and weapons are quite rare and powerful, but difficult to upgrade. At the other extreme, gray weapons and allies are dead common and quite easy to max out. There is a real trade-off here. For example, in some weapon categories the best I have is only blue because the purple and gold ones I own haven't been upgraded as much. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUYeg6UGE1wdqGXYrx8D7yNkWWdupar2ixSRoaJ9N3Sq3Pjcsf8HbrxetD3dJME3gI15NDDjYtpUXlK6ZiArVEnDgWWifUPPYHdlyOX4j4Ak36B6jNKUURQtySl5a_VV_7kDtuRJ53Kcg/s2300/Screenshot_20210820-224326.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUYeg6UGE1wdqGXYrx8D7yNkWWdupar2ixSRoaJ9N3Sq3Pjcsf8HbrxetD3dJME3gI15NDDjYtpUXlK6ZiArVEnDgWWifUPPYHdlyOX4j4Ak36B6jNKUURQtySl5a_VV_7kDtuRJ53Kcg/s320/Screenshot_20210820-224326.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Far and away you spend most of your time fighting zombies in encounters like this one. Before challenging an encounter you choose a loadout of one weapon and one ally. Here I am using a machine gun and chose a tough ally that uses a shotgun. The only real "oh shit" button you have are grenades, so it's best to use them sparingly. The red square also show optional upgrades in play. I have given my gun the ability to reload faster after I empty a clip. My ally has an increased chance to get headshots and also reloads faster than before I upgraded her.<br /><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Perks are the abilities of your character, things like how much damage you do with grenades or how many survivors you can shepherd around at once. They work a little differently from weapons and allies. Perk rarity doesn't have anything to do with how powerful it is. Instead, rare perks tend to be rather specialized abilities most players won't care a whole lot lot about. For instance, the rarest perk I have adds 18% to the blast radius of grenades, which is so subtle I am not 100% sure it's doing anything.<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9MCAUUxCNv7zslmlnmL_fMl1XqojVIZ4n7NiuuNCgNi-CJX0IQrqk1QNyWIpRK8PLrV1z7mU34pyAu8Wqgf4mhqabb3npS2DJ0dgIQZloqJDgVglhBWBBDEnZz4PdjT3IDXx3ZDrdfTT/s2300/Screenshot_20210828-161435.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9MCAUUxCNv7zslmlnmL_fMl1XqojVIZ4n7NiuuNCgNi-CJX0IQrqk1QNyWIpRK8PLrV1z7mU34pyAu8Wqgf4mhqabb3npS2DJ0dgIQZloqJDgVglhBWBBDEnZz4PdjT3IDXx3ZDrdfTT/s320/Screenshot_20210828-161435.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Ultimately the primary way you get stronger is upgrading cards. Rarer weapons and allies are more powerful for their level, but also take more resources to power up. For example, for the number of tokens that it takes to add one new modifier to this weapon I could max out a gray common weapon.<br /><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>To upgrade an item you need both cards and coins. For example, to take a gray item from level one to two takes two matching cards and 50 coins, while a gold item costs two matching cards and 7000 coins. When I first started I would have said the game was much too stingy with coins. My first week I was even forced to buy a few to upgrade my main weapon (I have $7 invested so far). However an in-game event last week gave me 70,000 coins for free, and I am now having trouble finding enough card matches with the weapons and allies I care about to spend them. Challenging an encounter takes "energy." I now have enough now to play for about an hour before I run out, though it was less when I started at level 1. By the time I've gone through my energy I have also hiked a very leisurely mile or more through my neighborhood, so it feels like enough. Resting for an hour in real time is enough to completely replenish your energy pool.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvhWRba_ZnNrmpTKEL0cT6n6fOh42859-LkwKmod7nrzMRvKUOcRnm_gCaTQ_N4XfWsVIKMtSx6WGYB8-bTtuYR_OVpoMzJ6DpW2ecPrD3IuGSGXOFgB_YPSWciIrH7h0sGfj2kmUxiHl/s2300/Screenshot_20210828-170528.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvhWRba_ZnNrmpTKEL0cT6n6fOh42859-LkwKmod7nrzMRvKUOcRnm_gCaTQ_N4XfWsVIKMtSx6WGYB8-bTtuYR_OVpoMzJ6DpW2ecPrD3IuGSGXOFgB_YPSWciIrH7h0sGfj2kmUxiHl/s320/Screenshot_20210828-170528.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The main reason you do encounters is to get random cards for upgrading your weapons, allies and perks (character abilities). This draw has a lot of strong cards and came from one of the boards I am working together with my team to clear.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If you are a fan of the show or the comics, you will probably quickly acquire at least a blue or purple version of most characters you care about. As you get better gear, better NPC helpers and better perks the strength of encounters you are able to handle goes up. You have levels, those determine the maximum level of encounter you are able to attempt to clear. There are a lot of different types of encounters, but they all boil down quick fights where you tap your screen to shoot (it's more fun than it sounds like!). There are one-off encounters to rescue NPCs you can take to a base (below), one-off zombie fights for really feeble loot, fights with humans for better rewards, and multi-stage fights that have the best rewards. The strategy of the game comes primarily in deciding what gear and NPCs to invest your limited resources into, and what bases to invest in. Solo you can likely keep two out of the four base types going at a time. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vOQm7_3bZrMvrVAdArItfse06D7ZE2-v58D1ehQ0kh7rj_JjPZUmN9W-AyBoBJKeKM0EoRG3YOIDDR5GusKOnNMwYecD5zjIaE0hK2WJQpKwYVw9SVjAyB6qBAXr88MssZp_3z1PEsrL/s1690/0.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1690" data-original-width="794" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vOQm7_3bZrMvrVAdArItfse06D7ZE2-v58D1ehQ0kh7rj_JjPZUmN9W-AyBoBJKeKM0EoRG3YOIDDR5GusKOnNMwYecD5zjIaE0hK2WJQpKwYVw9SVjAyB6qBAXr88MssZp_3z1PEsrL/s320/0.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is what a street near me looks like in game. As you can see even out here in the boonies it's very well populated compared to Pokémon Go. Most of the icons are different types of encounters I can try to take on, some with better rewards than others. The blue crates will give me random supplies (usually energy or grenades).</span><br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>What is the world like? </b> The game uses streets and buildings from google maps and adds zombie encounters to those. If you get within 100 meters of most encounter types you can try to clear them if you are high enough level. Players can also set up buildings (below) that grant you rewards if you help grow them by rescuing survivors and dropping them off. In addition to randomly generated encounters, there is an extremely simple story line to play through. Even out in the boonies, the density of encounters is pretty high. There are five or six I can reach from my house, and plenty for an hour of play in my neighborhood.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQ1J5Snh1XpYtw7_7C4xvkM4xVHo4izQU1hKVliZzcHbtQkNmkbUUm6cIYWkCgY_Ibo3fkmZDBzwPzhTlnO_HeRrqcLAtYqMipwK7X_Zjrb8L0NGtT309A5DMspt_VUp3d7_-siB3AZV7/s2300/Screenshot_20210828-165931.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQ1J5Snh1XpYtw7_7C4xvkM4xVHo4izQU1hKVliZzcHbtQkNmkbUUm6cIYWkCgY_Ibo3fkmZDBzwPzhTlnO_HeRrqcLAtYqMipwK7X_Zjrb8L0NGtT309A5DMspt_VUp3d7_-siB3AZV7/s320/Screenshot_20210828-165931.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">An armory I set up near my house when I first started playing. Whenever anyone drops off survivors, the base gets powered up a bit and then receives random cards for weapons in return (one card per survivor and base level). Right now I have six days left to drop off enough survivors to take it up to level eight, or zombies will swarm it and destroy it. Setting up these bases is one of the main ways you can control what kinds of upgrades you get. They are completely random from most sources, </span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">yielding, an admixture of cards for perks, weapons and allies</span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">. Bases only ever grant cards of one of the three types.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Asynchronous interactions:</b> The primary way you affect the world for other players is setting up bases. There are four different kinds you can set up, and a higher level base grants a decent chance at strong cards when you drop off rescued individuals. If there isn't already one near you, it's advisable to build an armory that grants weapon upgrade cards when you first start playing. Once you drop off enough rescued people for a base to go up one level, it will maintain itself for anywhere from nine days to several weeks depending on level. However, if you don't level it up again before that timer runs down, eventually zombies will swarm it and destroy it. Anyone that is playing can drop off NPCs at a base that you set up. Eventually I will probably have at least two imaginary buildings in my yard for me and other players to use. If you join a team, you can also work together with other players to clear a board that gives all of you really nice rewards.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtZN0h8NQJz-UWkB3Tpt3rFPg6IlcSpy5sOWtn7xy2GC4mOajootOyNvqoppySZYxY3MQk1cN75kX_uVfARnv9_PtOXAScvyDTe1Jv7Zr62kyp45jCMIUjLjPMIhelx6nwY9OkEGQpIKb/s2300/Screenshot_20210828-161242.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtZN0h8NQJz-UWkB3Tpt3rFPg6IlcSpy5sOWtn7xy2GC4mOajootOyNvqoppySZYxY3MQk1cN75kX_uVfARnv9_PtOXAScvyDTe1Jv7Zr62kyp45jCMIUjLjPMIhelx6nwY9OkEGQpIKb/s320/Screenshot_20210828-161242.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The main way you play with others, apart from helping to upgrade random bases, is cooperating to clear boards like this one. It works like bingo, when you clear all the vertical and horizontal rows connected to a bag you can claim it. The bags on these boards contain quite a bit of loot. Most of the objectives are things like "kill 150 zombies with grenades" that everyone in the entire team contributes to no matter where they are. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b>How do you interact with other players?</b> The main way is by joining a team. It's a lot like a typical MMO guild with different ranks and a chat channel. Teams can hold up to 25 players, and getting into an active one is pretty essential to enjoying the game long term. The main thing you do is work together to clear boards. There are global rankings where different teams compete to clear boards as quickly as possible. It feels a lot like <a href="https://vulkk.com/2018/03/20/swtor-conquest-and-guild-invasions-guide/">Conquest in SWTOR</a>. The boards also grant very nice loot to everyone on the team as you clear them. Each space on the board has a random requirement, like "drop off 70 survivors at an armory." Everything done by team members contributes to the total. You can also send up a flare that allows anyone on your team to teleport to your location, anywhere. If there is a way to group up and fight together directly, I have not figured it out yet. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-41cOFmqFAd9uGg-q2Zp1vUJwBB8ckShkNHeQjvXOm6BlGkswVoRAQm1KyfEbQIW6vnFHvsxMcxi7-3q4XmJii4ElyOvLaJfrxLlC_HsohmwCXyoWAt_AH4yRVn9Spp1vrEpthJzJxTXX/s2300/Screenshot_20210828-161422.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-41cOFmqFAd9uGg-q2Zp1vUJwBB8ckShkNHeQjvXOm6BlGkswVoRAQm1KyfEbQIW6vnFHvsxMcxi7-3q4XmJii4ElyOvLaJfrxLlC_HsohmwCXyoWAt_AH4yRVn9Spp1vrEpthJzJxTXX/s320/Screenshot_20210828-161422.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I have been playing less than a week, and I already have a lot of characters I recognize from the show. My wife is also a fan of the comics and says that these portraits resemble both the actors in the show and the comic book character designs.<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Is it good exercise?</b> If you are playing in a place that at least has a few houses nearby, it hits the right balance better than anything I've tried. Any given encounter you clear takes 30 minutes to respawn, so if you want to spend all your energy for the evening you really do need to get some walking in. If you are lucky there might be enough to spend a third of your total near your house, you can't just sit in one spot. However, the density of encounters is also high enough that you don't have to walk too far. In my neighborhood, I can can play for about 40-50 minutes before I need to let my character rest. By that time I will have cleared every nearby encounter I can easily handle, so there isn't a strong incentive to spend cash on the game. Walking around your neighborhood hoovering up humans, bringing them back to your base, and watching it grow is really rewarding. </div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-13344616348131541142021-08-28T10:44:00.032-07:002021-08-31T19:02:41.317-07:00A field guide to LBGs: Pokémon Go<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Today I am kicking off my LBG Field Guide series with a game that is likely familiar, and so will form a useful point of reference for future posts, Pokémon Go. This is really the standard LBG against which most others are judged </span> right now, sort of like EQ in the early 2000s or WoW from about 2005 on in the MMORPG scene. It is also supposedly one of the <a href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/pokemon-go-statistics/">most profitable games on the planet</a>, with a staggering 166 million users and more than a billion in revenue in 2020. As a point of reference, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population">only eight countries in the world</a> have a larger population than Pokémon Go. Next week I'll continue this series with a game that has a very different tone (to put it mildly), Walking Dead: Our World. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Pokémon Go</span></b></div><p><i><b>What do you do? </b></i> The basic gameplay loop of Pokémon Go is to catch random pokémon. You can play it entirely as a collector, just trying to get as many species as possible. For this approach rare variants called "shinies" that have a slightly different appearance from the base specimens are highly sought after. You can also play it as more of simple RPG, looking for the pokémon with the best statistics and attacks for either group PvE (taking down raid bosses), PvP battles with other players, or attacking and defending gyms. You have to pick which of three global teams, Instinct, Mystic or Valor, that you will associate yourself with when you start playing. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMYES1Id1GJnIPCfyiD028mzRMax0qi8k103vzmTDL6OvUQtP5EZAB75Pz8uc1ZNMZsQYrGWxiTpRnh6HOeigJmr_bdClrEmlnaf0NXJfg3enZry9IxXRJxGBpX1kcqHq1YpqRGoD4dtL/s2300/Screenshot_20210823-020303.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMYES1Id1GJnIPCfyiD028mzRMax0qi8k103vzmTDL6OvUQtP5EZAB75Pz8uc1ZNMZsQYrGWxiTpRnh6HOeigJmr_bdClrEmlnaf0NXJfg3enZry9IxXRJxGBpX1kcqHq1YpqRGoD4dtL/s320/Screenshot_20210823-020303.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pokemon Go for an active player in the country. This is what my street looks like when I fire up the game. We live in the boonies, so there isn't a heck of a lot around. However, the game has also figured out that there are two very active players at this location so it has made my yard an active spawn point. Besides that random handful of pokémon, a hot air balloon with a member of Team Rocket (NPC bad guys) that I can challenge to a duel comes by about once an hour. Sometimes random presents from advertisers also arrive by balloon. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i><b>What is the world like?</b></i> In addition to random pokémon wandering all around you, the game adds Stops and Gyms to the world. A Stop is an area with a disk that you can spin every five minutes for random items (e.g., balls that you use to catch pokémon, potions to heal your pokemon). Gyms are buildings that can also be used to get supplies of items like a stop, but primarily are the focus of asynchronous PvP battles. They are also the areas where raid bosses, which often require teams of players to take down, can be challenged.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEDsaCd6o3p4o59Sj8KewhKDs-y8_NMw5Xop4NhnYsIW61gE5xidv9afn4WRnL7shENmiFxVGkhe-qUH6jyyA0zsH5-iAW7P-fwSR22T8Hmp9Rgf-ppEsT5Vf-U1kgtztfJaQn4SLdVoF/s2300/Screenshot_20210827-105948.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEDsaCd6o3p4o59Sj8KewhKDs-y8_NMw5Xop4NhnYsIW61gE5xidv9afn4WRnL7shENmiFxVGkhe-qUH6jyyA0zsH5-iAW7P-fwSR22T8Hmp9Rgf-ppEsT5Vf-U1kgtztfJaQn4SLdVoF/s320/Screenshot_20210827-105948.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is what the game looks like if you play in a more public area. You can see a stop and three gyms in the background, as well as a new pokémon species that was recently released.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><i><b>Asynchronous interactions:</b></i> Gym battles. If a gym is held by a players of a different team, you can fight the pokémon in the gym to take it over. It can take a while to defeat everyone in a gym that has a really good defensive team, but it is quite doable even with fairly weak pokémon. The exception to this is if owners of the pokémon defending the gym are actively healing them as you fight. A determined defender with a lot of resources can hold you off, but this is extremely rare. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPX_SpCr7swIl0e040Mo4Yrj3nR8aAY_GqXR9xWYNOfoZUDPIFaFOegWvkGhXVC134R7QbfcexP-82lDpC_Lz13p-I1DKpxUQYVmQFZZTVykaWp7Rq0jzH6R5YO1fYuo9rgUXYOKhBJZM7/s1678/screenshot+go2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1678" data-original-width="788" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPX_SpCr7swIl0e040Mo4Yrj3nR8aAY_GqXR9xWYNOfoZUDPIFaFOegWvkGhXVC134R7QbfcexP-82lDpC_Lz13p-I1DKpxUQYVmQFZZTVykaWp7Rq0jzH6R5YO1fYuo9rgUXYOKhBJZM7/s320/screenshot+go2.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">T<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">he primary asynchronous interactions focus on gyms. This one is being guarded by two pokémon, including a Garbodor (the evolved form of Trubbish, below). I could fight them, knock them out of the gym and place a pokémon of my own in the gym. That would bring me a few coins if members of my team are able to hold the gym long enough. A more friendly interaction involves presents. You can send and receive presents from anyone on your friends list once every 24 hours.<br /><br /></span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>If a gym is held by a member of your team, or if you clear it of defenders yourself, you can add a pokémon to the gym. If the gym is held by your team long enough, you will get up to 50 coins for the game's currency as a reward. The reason that determined defense of a gym is so rare, is that the reward maxes out at 50 coins after a few hours. After that, there is no in game reward for holding the gym any longer. This ensures a pretty steady turnover of gym ownership.<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EHtMOaGwbZgalutUwWih5S5QHC_w7_vP7CZRwJbF8uQBR9vRdQo5iDdwcAcnl9TGlGgN5As-qvmocYjn8zV-5mlUxbk3LxecLzqeD59a7j8SwQMp8fKWTbq-LGQK7su-Y-cvW4Qk7D4l/s2300/Screenshot_20210823-020325.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EHtMOaGwbZgalutUwWih5S5QHC_w7_vP7CZRwJbF8uQBR9vRdQo5iDdwcAcnl9TGlGgN5As-qvmocYjn8zV-5mlUxbk3LxecLzqeD59a7j8SwQMp8fKWTbq-LGQK7su-Y-cvW4Qk7D4l/s320/Screenshot_20210823-020325.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Far and away the main thing you do is catch and manage pokémon. Here I am trying to catch a Trubbish, the trashbag pokémon, one of the newer designs.<br /><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b>How do you interact with other players?</b></i> Primarily you either challenge other players to PvP battles where your pokémon fight, or you group up with other players to take down raid bosses. Both of these activities can be undertaken either with players that you are hanging out with in real life, or remotely with players that are on your friends list. Until very recently it was only possible to participate in a raid if you were physically standing near the same gym. However, this year the game added remote raid passes, which allow you to join a raid from any distance if someone on your friends list invites you, or to join random pick up groups that are fighting raid bosses within roughly a quarter mile radius of your current location. You can also send presents to players on your friends list once per day. When opened, a present grants a random supply of consumable items, much like spinning a stop.<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxTdfS4mU5p5yoIW0llAXj8lJ9aYteUsym6i2GWhv7zy-8OwbnNo6L0Lp8ljMB4Vb2UZbfS7kJopwZN2F30gq1lRvHi0UoxkeaeC2PJzSUEGeZP7pwY9MFfBGIDd3nvONURjhTIc-6Pzl/s2300/Screenshot_20210827-184313.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxTdfS4mU5p5yoIW0llAXj8lJ9aYteUsym6i2GWhv7zy-8OwbnNo6L0Lp8ljMB4Vb2UZbfS7kJopwZN2F30gq1lRvHi0UoxkeaeC2PJzSUEGeZP7pwY9MFfBGIDd3nvONURjhTIc-6Pzl/s320/Screenshot_20210827-184313.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>If you are playing purely as a collector, shiny pokémon are the ultimate prize. They are rare variants of normal species that have a slightly different coloration. Here is my shiny Trubbish I caught in my front yard one day. She is more black instead of the olive green of most Trubbish. Some of the super rare ones can even sell for a bit of cash on the pokémon black market (because </i>of course<i> some people take the game too seriously . . .)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><p><i><b>Is it good exercise?</b></i> It depends. If you are in an urban area with lots of stops and gyms, walking around to spin them for goodies and to look for new pokémon is really helpful. However, if you are out in the country, in many areas there are no stops and no gyms. In these locations, it doesn't make much difference whether you walk around or not. Pokémon will generally only spawn if you are burning incense, and that works almost as well sitting on your couch as it does walking around. When I lived on the city I got a lot of exercise walking from the game. Now that I live in a rural area, I get very little exercise from it unless I decide to go into town.</p></div></div></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-31013268868304905532021-08-27T17:00:00.018-07:002021-08-29T13:16:50.434-07:00New Post Series: A Field Guide to Location Based Games (LBGs)<p>Lately I have started to become really enamored of location based games (LBGs*). For example, Pokémon Go is one LBG that you are almost certainly familiar with. However <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/best-location-based-games-mobile">that is but one of many games in this emerging category</a>. What they all have in common, apart from being phone games, is that they use GIS to figure out where you are physically located and to determine which objects in the imaginary world of the game you can interact with. There will generally be a few things in or near any random spot where you happen to be. But to get to new objects and really make progress, you often have to walk or drive to new locations. They also usually incorporate real world elements, such as streets and buildings around you. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHyyrruKtjFwK4zv4-svZBsl08PkRG5dn8XQewSSqX3Gpa25ljwtNKEaGQcxzdoz8a9092ky5e4ChRyKJGLZVP3Yz1ofNWrbFHpx22h8tLFf_oVld3U70eKTHdMPpeIZYzDaamtNLRyUe/s2300/Screenshot_20210823-020636.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHyyrruKtjFwK4zv4-svZBsl08PkRG5dn8XQewSSqX3Gpa25ljwtNKEaGQcxzdoz8a9092ky5e4ChRyKJGLZVP3Yz1ofNWrbFHpx22h8tLFf_oVld3U70eKTHdMPpeIZYzDaamtNLRyUe/s320/Screenshot_20210823-020636.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Pokémon Go is one of the few LBGs I think I can safely assume most readers are familiar with.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I find the potential of this genre really intriguing. For example <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/03/augmented-reality-next-big-thing-in-mmos.html">earlier this year I speculated</a> that they could form a major stepping stone between PC and Console based MMORPGs (e.g., Everquest, WoW) and the true 3D virtual worlds we have been reading about in sci-fi for ages (e.g., the Multiverse). What I didn't realize when I wrote that post is that there are so many of them out already, and how many MMO design elements these games are already experimenting with. There are always interactions with other players, generally some mechanical RPG elements (stats, levels, equipment to collect), and they are also all online by definition. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalJ265dkOJJ1NwNGPsQJoO9yEewjZf2o9DEgyt_nW_o2yERYCR_wMhP8Cd366laln6JRLHzdEBA8jRwY934-D11PZcn9st6gmADBAeVlIm7obzRBvpcN-bdnM59G1FtaRuRcFtath2aqN/s2300/Screenshot_20210820-224326.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalJ265dkOJJ1NwNGPsQJoO9yEewjZf2o9DEgyt_nW_o2yERYCR_wMhP8Cd366laln6JRLHzdEBA8jRwY934-D11PZcn9st6gmADBAeVlIm7obzRBvpcN-bdnM59G1FtaRuRcFtath2aqN/s320/Screenshot_20210820-224326.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">However the LBG genre is really exploding right now. Shown here is Walking Dead: Our World which I will be posting about after Pokémon Go. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Like MMOs, they have a shared world that can only be seen and interacted with by you and other players of the game. They also very often contain digital objects you can interact with and alter, changes that will be seen by other players whether you happen to be online or not. In fact these asynchronous interactions with other players, even if still generally somewhat limited, are a hallmark of LBGs. That and walking, lots of walking! </p><p>I also find that very few location based games are being covered by bloggers or news sites that I follow. It's a bit surprising to me, because these games by-and-large do play like some sort of stripped down experimental MMO. It's also really hard to figure out which ones are worth trying from the limited coverage that I can find for most of them. </p><p>To try and kick start a conversation about this budding genre, I am going start posting impressions of random LBGs that I try. In all of my posts I will use a standard format, with the goal of the series slowly becoming a proper guide over time. I will be focused on answering a series of questions that I hope will help readers decide if they might like a game, and that I also find very interesting from a design perspective. </p><p><b>What do you do?</b> What is the basic gameplay loop and / or goal of the game? All of the ones I have tried so far involve walking around and either collecting stuff and/ or getting into some kinds of battles. However I have read about some where exploration appears to be the entire point of the game.</p><p><b>What is the world like?</b> What kind of world does the game create for you to walk around in? Most of these games seem to be powered by Google Maps. However Niantic and a few other companies seem to have have developed their proprietary maps of the world. For example, Pokemon Go, Ingress and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite are all published by Niantic and consequently have buildings to interact with (or lack them entirely) in exactly the same spots because of it. Regardless of how they generate the base map, the games vary a lot in terms of what fantasy elements they layer on top of it.</p><p><b>Asynchronous interactions?</b> One thing that all these games seem to have in common is some way to interact with other players whether you happen to be online at the same time and place or not. If finding other players to hang out with in a MMO can sometimes be challenging, in a LBG, where the gaming space you are sharing is literally the size of a 1-to-1 scale planet, it can sometimes be all but impossible. Because of that, these games generally allow for you to affect the world in some way. If other players happen to visit a location you have interacted with they can see whatever changes you have made, and sometimes try to undo them. These persistent shared elements are probably the aspect of this new genre I find the most interesting. </p><p><b>How do you interact with other players?</b> When you are on at the same time as other players how can you interact with them? What can you do with players anywhere, vs players that happen to be in the same spot as you? Many of these games have interactions you can only engage in if you happen to be in the same general location at the same time (e.g., think walking up to a dungeon or grouping up for a raid in a MMO and you won't be far off). At the same time, most of them also have pretty typical matchmaking, in one form or another, that can hook you up with players anywhere for a short interaction like a PvP match.</p><p><b>Is it good exercise? </b> Another thing that I really like about these games is that they often encourage you to walk. A LBG can be a very fun way to get a bit of exercise. For example my wife and I got to be in very good shape, at least in that we could easily walk for hours non-stop without tiring, from playing Pokémon Go when we lived in town. The only other game I have played that does a better job of gamifying exercise is <a href="https://www.nintendo.com/products/detail/ring-fit-adventure-switch/">Ring Fit Adventures</a> on the Switch, and tricking you into exercise is literally the entire design goal of that game. That said, some of these games making walking a lot more fun and rewarding than others. </p><p>I am going to leave this up for 24 hours, so that at least a few people will read it, and officially kick off the series tomorrow with an overview of Pokémon Go. I expect most readers to be familiar with it, and so I think it will serve as a useful point of comparison. From there I will be moving in to Walking Dead: Our World, and then Orna. Regardless of whether my interest in this project waxes or wains after my initial posts, I am going to be very interested to see where this genre goes in the next few years. This really feels like the emergence of something well and truly new to me.</p><p> <i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">*LBG: I considered LBMG (location based multiplayer games) to avoid potential confusion with commentary on LGB and LGBT games and social issues, but decided I was probably being paranoid. However if you have a strong opinion about it let me know in a comment.</span></i></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-14704056887336278302021-07-24T09:45:00.022-07:002021-07-26T08:25:50.161-07:00FFXIV: Going against the flow<p> According to <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/20/final-fantasy-xivs-naoki-yoshida-addresses-the-player-population-explosion-and-asks-for-patience/">Massively OP</a>, FFXIV is getting so popular these days that a producer <a href="https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/c2d7b35d55577879086b64cfde0acb6c23ccd07f">released a letter</a> to apologize to players for the server loads and difficulty creating new characters. FFXIV does appear to be insanely popular. I haven't seen a login cue less than 16 players deep on my server in ages, even in the wee hours of the morning on a weeknight. However, I am not sure I would say my server is more crowded than normal these last few weeks. The game has always been hopping since I've played. That said, the game sure is <a href="https://aggronaut.com/2021/07/21/players-and-toxicity/">appearing</a> all <a href="https://gamergirlconfessions.com/2021/07/20/vibing-in-ffxiv/">over</a> my <a href="https://www.mmogypsy.com/2021/06/pugging-in-ffxiv.html">blogroll</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT8d3mpaLhEcuVResAdnf-5kf9m_xPpsnPK7w2NW5jXMxTquA5WlBw3HfJpn_TlmibLijvpFFgjMBAF4Eg3PxRso0ViiMXbfOWylKMPIAgvEHeNOCoTnUIHu1oaopBvm92vKAIUI_NEh1K/s2048/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-32-00-70.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT8d3mpaLhEcuVResAdnf-5kf9m_xPpsnPK7w2NW5jXMxTquA5WlBw3HfJpn_TlmibLijvpFFgjMBAF4Eg3PxRso0ViiMXbfOWylKMPIAgvEHeNOCoTnUIHu1oaopBvm92vKAIUI_NEh1K/s320/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-32-00-70.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My character flying around on the first non-chocobo mount I earned. Even if my current outfit is a big goofy looking (a fantasy fur trader?), I find the game to be quite pretty.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If populations are ramping up, I think it may have something to do with the woes of retail WoW. We are now on the second poorly received expansion in a row. According to Metacritic, user ratings are sitting at a fairly abysmal<a href="https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/world-of-warcraft-shadowlands"> 5 out of 10</a>. Though to be fair, even that is a <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/world-of-warcraft-battle-for-azeroth">step up from the last one</a>. Regardless, a lot of players seem to getting fed up with retail WoW, and Blizzard in general,* and the perception (real or not) is that a lot of them are switching to FFXIV. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlaGx0EM5-JBoH_3o4CLbIEgiZHYPehwZKVTkKmdp3rQoCXzxT6k5fxHRJ8e4sqPPu3VFFCZ_w-pMfJ0b80ldKNjUrRU1FnwxayQkvOB_E1qSS5Kf-8jGm3jaVKLVQJkrbd7MX8aLp79J/s2048/ffxiv_dx11+2020-12-21+20-29-04-52.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlaGx0EM5-JBoH_3o4CLbIEgiZHYPehwZKVTkKmdp3rQoCXzxT6k5fxHRJ8e4sqPPu3VFFCZ_w-pMfJ0b80ldKNjUrRU1FnwxayQkvOB_E1qSS5Kf-8jGm3jaVKLVQJkrbd7MX8aLp79J/s320/ffxiv_dx11+2020-12-21+20-29-04-52.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My main character in another slightly goofy outfit, this time seemingly inspired by the mad hatter.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's a scenario that makes sense. When a lapsed WoW player looks around for another tab-target combat Diku MMO with strong production values from a publisher they have heard of, FFXIV is one they are probably going to at least consider. Even Blizzard may think this is happening. They recently released a poll asking players whether they <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/21/blizzard-surveys-world-of-warcraft-players-about-their-final-fantasy-xiv-endwalker-intentions/">plan to play the next FFXIV expansion</a>. Soon after getting the results, they released a new mount that you get for free with a six month sub. This mount, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6esNqTmPhdQ">the Sapphire Skyblazer</a>, bears more than a passing resemblance <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeoOIA7HqTs">to a mount that</a> every player of FFXIV that plays through the main story of the Stormblood expansion gets for free. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOrpWttjXbUu48NienJ4smndN6Vc7V4JEzbcxTL-4NJbPIAevzUXNqMt88CvPpezhrDwuwpW3ChvDAMY_rDfVBDinTT2aJ8BEBX5z1Sv4dZzPq5qtIIhQ8xGE4ow7hBPJv9DaZhwFUelY/s2048/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-16-03-09.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOrpWttjXbUu48NienJ4smndN6Vc7V4JEzbcxTL-4NJbPIAevzUXNqMt88CvPpezhrDwuwpW3ChvDAMY_rDfVBDinTT2aJ8BEBX5z1Sv4dZzPq5qtIIhQ8xGE4ow7hBPJv9DaZhwFUelY/s320/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-16-03-09.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A mount that everyone gets during the main story of Stormblood. Yes this is an a cool mount, but it's probably not why players are gravitating to FFXIV.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I could get a whole post of of comparing the two games, and there aren't a lot of points in which retail WoW would come out ahead in my mind. I have been wildly entertained by FFXIV until recently. Somewhat ironically, even as the hype around FFXIV builds to a fever pitch in anticipation of the next <a href="https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/endwalker/">expansion</a>, I find that the game is finally winding down for me. Part of it is that I am nearly to the end of the main adventuring story line, and the last few steps I have left to to finish it just don't sound like a lot of fun to me. However, I hit that soft content wall a few months ago, and remained highly engaged for a few months past that. That's a bit unusual for me. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqJwWFZbw25Do7P6SfI8BVM7-BdWYjTF71Hw856yZNHvr3gnYLxRS48SQI_rtJ47ZA0_HT4pFl_FbQG_QM7VlAuezriFX2hDkeaqm-LAR6DxYpdUav29PBdyT6Q5CxmEz4u1cD4l66vIE/s2048/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-45-52-95.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqJwWFZbw25Do7P6SfI8BVM7-BdWYjTF71Hw856yZNHvr3gnYLxRS48SQI_rtJ47ZA0_HT4pFl_FbQG_QM7VlAuezriFX2hDkeaqm-LAR6DxYpdUav29PBdyT6Q5CxmEz4u1cD4l66vIE/s320/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-45-52-95.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yet another night shot, this time of one of the last big cities you discover in the most recent expansion. The storyline that runs through it depicts a stark contrast between the wealthy elite of the city and the have-nots living in the shantytown outside it. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In many MMOs hitting the end of the levelling content is a death knell for my interest, because for whatever insane reason many designers seem have this idea that endgame in a MMO should equal raiding, PvP or "time-to-uninstall." Not so in FFXIV. Whether you are leveling or not, there is simply a ton of fun stuff to do in the game. The developers have put real thought into making activities that are boring and grindy in most MMOs deeper and more engaging (or needlessly complex depending on how you look at it I suppose). </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAzUSRolppM9RQIBUkm5laecB_dPuDtvr4p8-ZjTJ6u3I009SooD4cCFQFqJ6dtGINkKEMg0bD07rnB42WbDcSB7XrO6n5-MfmheCbjTEsrjmrsyLS3_HzhBcdXfTHRf9hWwBude4kIhyphenhyphen/s2048/Bontanist_v3b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAzUSRolppM9RQIBUkm5laecB_dPuDtvr4p8-ZjTJ6u3I009SooD4cCFQFqJ6dtGINkKEMg0bD07rnB42WbDcSB7XrO6n5-MfmheCbjTEsrjmrsyLS3_HzhBcdXfTHRf9hWwBude4kIhyphenhyphen/s320/Bontanist_v3b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Crafting and gathering classes are really well thought out in FFXIV. For example in this screenshot I have switched over to botanist. It's class that gathers wood and wild plants (e.g., cotton to spin out into cloth). All of those hotbar buttons are different abilities I can activate while gathering. I can choose to emphasize quantity or quality, or activate abilities that make it easier to gather items at the edge of my abilities. There is also an entire chain of botanist quests with a delightful, if somewhat inane, storyline. FFXIV is also unique among MMOs I have played in that there is a whole gear progression just for gathering. Many games have one or two items that help (e.g., high level mining picks in LoTRO). Here I am decked out in a full suit of gear, fully socketed with materia, that does almost nothing but make me better at gathering. I'll be replacing it all in a few levels, just as I would on a normal adventuring class </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For example, the crafting system. FFXIV has the most fun gathering and crafting professions of any MMO I've ever played. The closest comparison among the games I've played would be EQ II. Like that game there are entire crafting quest lines, one for for each profession in FFXIV, and you have to activate abilities to make items. However it's also a fair bit deeper in that there are entire gear sets for crafting and gathering, and many more abilities to learn. When I switch over to the goldsmith class, even at level 41 I have something like a dozen different crafting abilities I can use. Various abilities increase progress on a finished product, increase quality, restore endurance, or restore small amounts of the "mana" that powers all the abilities. You often have to balance them carefully to make the best products. Any decent crafter can make high quality items by starting with high quality materials, and being a skilled gatherer (e.g., a high level miner or botanist) makes obtaining high quality materials easier. However, an exceptional crafter can make high quality items out of any materials, even starting with a zero item quality bonus. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZf1FGR5xXvAYqfFq45U8vSyl8e0ymKLT6VdGiCkXj65k_voXc0Aq16_59OC3IDH-BhuxE4jBGiKCJGVcQfuH_DkZZyxyuCNEelCHLbg-6sIdcyClAJLu0CKColCboRKOvf_FDJoYDO8ps/s2048/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-18-05-00.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZf1FGR5xXvAYqfFq45U8vSyl8e0ymKLT6VdGiCkXj65k_voXc0Aq16_59OC3IDH-BhuxE4jBGiKCJGVcQfuH_DkZZyxyuCNEelCHLbg-6sIdcyClAJLu0CKColCboRKOvf_FDJoYDO8ps/s320/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-18-05-00.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>FFXIV has an absurd number of classes, and once you have unlocked one you can switch in and out of it at will using the outfit system (shown). I have unlocked something like 18 classes, but almost all of them are crafting classes. As far as classes that fight monsters and go on (non-gathering related) adventures, I have only unlocked four so far including my main class of Black Mage. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>It's really incredibly fun, and I have gotten every crafting and gathering profession in the game to at least level 20 now (and some more than half way to the cap). However, despite how engaging it is, I find myself wondering why I am learning to make all this gear if I have no intention of ever using it. I could use it to kit out different adventuring professions, and I have done that to a point. The problem is that lately the repeatable content that you use to advance new combat classes has started to get stale to me. I have taken the crafting far enough to make completely awesome gear for any class. Yet I have almost no combat classes high enough level to use the best gear I can make. For example I can make suits of plate armor for level 30ish characters, and my highest level tank class is 22. </p><p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QK1XQQy8j7SdqkdkgcjzTPwnj8P9As9N7UpCWngZlHFAkMNhvPkhqx0IF0rDWo17De0I9dk2mawM9vUAYO7Fhyphenhyphenf3j8ueVyG3RfaiO-RvYsc-Fyf3SM0iTRzCO_hA4dBlF06tV5SeC_rb/s2048/ffxiv_dx11+2021-05-16+21-15-51-96.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QK1XQQy8j7SdqkdkgcjzTPwnj8P9As9N7UpCWngZlHFAkMNhvPkhqx0IF0rDWo17De0I9dk2mawM9vUAYO7Fhyphenhyphenf3j8ueVyG3RfaiO-RvYsc-Fyf3SM0iTRzCO_hA4dBlF06tV5SeC_rb/s320/ffxiv_dx11+2021-05-16+21-15-51-96.bmp" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I recently went to another guild wedding. It was adorcable, and this time I had duds a little fancier that my adventuring garb to wear.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>It's a bizarre quandary that I have never gotten into in any other MMO because I generally make gear to use it first, and for the fun of making it as a distant second. I could in theory make gear just to sell to other players. However, the crafting market is pretty crowded on my server. It would be real work to find a niche I could profit from. Even if I did find one, I would be reduced to crafting only a few items that sell well. A related issue is that I find the gathering even more fun, and I can gather stuff that's so high level none of my crafters can use it. At least it's fairly straight forward to make a profit on, since it costs me literally nothing to gather. However, I don't have the patience to gather a lot more than I really strictly need to level my mining, botany and fishing.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJYT99WghE3101iSBLLhJiJ_gwATIfyBhaDg_gisdJMw1TmgIajCP7AR9LPQFBMj7i7vJdf1hqQLLJLB9ZJSIRlMM059LHBKRvmNUl3tGpYh5VYT87urC0u7u02VZGnuSPPtHOlqcJYZb/s2048/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-25-47-41.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJYT99WghE3101iSBLLhJiJ_gwATIfyBhaDg_gisdJMw1TmgIajCP7AR9LPQFBMj7i7vJdf1hqQLLJLB9ZJSIRlMM059LHBKRvmNUl3tGpYh5VYT87urC0u7u02VZGnuSPPtHOlqcJYZb/s320/ffxiv_dx11+2021-07-22+21-25-47-41.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I find the fantasy themed visual designs of FFXIV in general really compelling. My wife collects Asian (mainly Japanese) <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=japanese+ball+jointed+dolls&sxsrf=ALeKk03s8tB_gLPqNSo0Z6J1sgf8-d0dbw:1627071795695&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjT3J_jgvrxAhXP0p4KHZGCAGwQ_AUoA3oECAEQBQ&biw=1346&bih=953">ball jointed dolls</a>, and the aesthetic is very similar. She has asked about this game a lot more than others that she has seen me playing when she wanders past my screen.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>The last few weeks I have been logging on less and less, and I will probably cancel my sub by the end of the month. This is not to complain. I've been playing for eight straight months. That is a great run on any game, and I don' regret the time I've put into FFXIV a bit. I may even come back for Endwalker. But for now it's probably time for me to take a break. </div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSqZF62Z25fNMTsWyEMA7XIIz8RmsdS8oz0rsrI_oo7__U-DIqRYS0qm8WhoEPkkRT-PcqC4a0Fd63kKspuzrFmj6NfOz49Rc6FVD_F7Oa4jVKO7xGbsqNLi023vHlJGYKmWNFpkUWNoH/s2048/GameClient+2021-07-23+21-34-01-49.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSqZF62Z25fNMTsWyEMA7XIIz8RmsdS8oz0rsrI_oo7__U-DIqRYS0qm8WhoEPkkRT-PcqC4a0Fd63kKspuzrFmj6NfOz49Rc6FVD_F7Oa4jVKO7xGbsqNLi023vHlJGYKmWNFpkUWNoH/s320/GameClient+2021-07-23+21-34-01-49.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My next post?</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I have started dabbling in Star Trek Online, and I may be posting about that soon. It's an interesting game that's not very much like anything else I've played (besides the tween MMO <a href="https://www.pirate101.com/">Pirate 101</a> oddly enough). As a side note, I haven't died. I've been on hiatus, from even my normal infrequent posting schedule, because real life has been insanely busy for me the last few months. Six months from now, I'll be in a new house, in a new job, in a new city, so things certainly won't slow down in the near term. </p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>*I wrote this before recent news broke about what has been going on at Blizzard. I am not going to get into that save to say that I am boycotting their games until I see indications of real changes. When harassment in a company gets so bad that someone <i>commits suicide over it, </i>and it continues to be tolerated, that is over a line for me. Work conditions like that should not be legal, much less rewarded financially.</span></div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-28714501113491042262021-04-18T18:21:00.011-07:002021-04-18T21:39:48.996-07:00Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO cancelled, at least mostly<p>From <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/17/amazon-and-leyou-have-canceled-that-unfinished-lord-of-the-rings-mmo/">Massively OP</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-17/amazon-cancels-lord-of-the-rings-game-announced-two-years-ago">Blomberg news</a>, the Lord of the Rings MMO that Amazon was working on has been cancelled. If you dig into the Blomberg piece and the companies involved, a surprisingly convoluted story emerges. </p><p>Apparently the Lord of the Rings game was being developed by both Amazon Game Studios and another less well known company I had never heard of. A Chines FAX machine repair service, turned poultry product manufacturer, turned game developer called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyou">Leyou Technologies</a>. The company also changed hands several times during all this and, after finally settling on video game development, secured the rights to create an online RPG based on the Lord of the Rings from <a href="https://www.middleearth.com/">Middle Earth Enterprises</a> in 2018. By the end of 2018 <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2018/09/04/the-lord-of-the-rings-universe-is-getting-a-free-to-play-online-game-from-athlon-games/">a FtP online game set in Middle Earth was already in development</a>. In 2019 Amazon <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-10/amazon-will-co-develop-lord-of-the-rings-game-with-leyou">formed a partnership with Leyou</a> to complete the game and to publish it in the US and other markets outside of Asia. Despite the game generally being referred to as "Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO," a lot of the development seems to have actually been underway at Athlon Games. Athlon is <a href="https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-23-digital-extremes-chinese-owner-stealthily-launches-new-us-publisher">an offshoot of Leyou founded specifically to publish games in the US</a>. All of this makes me wonder how the agreement between Athlon/ Leyou and Amazon happened in the first place. Was Leyou having trouble with the US market? </p><p>In December 2020 Leyou was was purchased by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent">Tencent Holding's</a>. I assume that at least part of the reason they acquired Leyou was to get access to the Lord of the Rings license. Tencent is a very large company, reportedly worth more than $500 billion. Unlike Leyou, they were probably able to negotiate with Amazon on a pretty even footing. For example if the negotiations went badly and the entire game disappeared in a puff of lawyers (as it apparently has), it really won't affect Tencent very much at all. What, if anything, Tencent tried to renegotiate with Amazon no-one has said. However, the net effect of the purchase was "contract negotiations" between Tencent and Amazon, which eventually broke down and caused Amazon to lose the rights to publish the game. </p><p>So it sounds like whatever was being produced at Amazon Game Studios specifically will never see the light of day. However one thing that the Blomberg story does not emphasize is that Tencent is a specialist in video game development and internet technology. If Tencent wants to use whatever parts of Leyou's game they still own to create a complete game, they certainly will be able to. I also assume they still have the LoTR license because the agreement with MEE and Athlon predates Amazon's involvement. The license also seems set to become quite valuable. Amazon's streaming program, the first two seasons of which are rumored to be <a href="https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2021/04/rumour-first-1-2-seasons-of-lord-of.html">very nearly be the most expensive series ever produced by humans</a>, is getting ready to come online soon. It seems almost guaranteed to be a big hit, and has the potential to create a lot of demand for video games set in Middle Earth. </p><p>So to summarize, Tencent may still own whatever Leyou created before Amazon got involved, and it was being developed as an online FtP multiplayer game of some sort. It could be that Tencent realized they had a very valuable game, or at least license, on their hands and decided they didn't want to share it with Amazon under the original terms that Leyou negotiated. In terms of MMOs, the only real competitor to a new Lord of the Rings MMO is getting <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2021/01/what-is-bare-minimum-lotro-needs.html">a bit long in the tooth</a>, and is run by a studio that increasingly seems to <a href="http://bhagpuss.blogspot.com/2021/04/bad-idea.html">have little interest</a> in appealing to audiences beyond their existing core user base. Leyou was focused on the Asian market, and something will almost certainly still come out there in time to take advantage of all the hype around the Amazon show. Whether that game will be anything that would appeal to Western audiences, or come out here in the US at all, remains to be seen. </p><p>Adding spice to the entire mix, presumably at some point <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2020/12/eg7-ddo-and-lotro.html">EG7 will have something to say about the focus the existing Lord of the Rings game</a>. So far they have seemed happy to step aside while SSG doubles down on systems that seem designed around extracting more money from existing users. This could all get very interesting in the next year or so, especially if the Amazon show is a big hit.</p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-82543125415381111872021-03-05T17:02:00.005-08:002021-03-06T04:38:51.114-08:00Augmented reality: the next big thing in MMOs?<p>Niantic recently posted this <a href="https://nianticlabs.com/blog/microsoft-ignite-2021">proof-of-concept video</a> that shows off Pokemon Go as viewed through VR glasses. You can already experience a really primitive/ terrible version of this with your phone by turning on the camera when you play. I never do so because it makes throwing poke balls accurately absurdly hard, I much prefer the abstract cartoon backgrounds. However, what is on display in the video looks much more interesting. It also go me thinking about how augmented reality could be used as a major step in between current MMOs and something like the Multiverse from Ready Player One. </p><p>Probably the biggest challenge remaining for creating truly immersive 3D worlds <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2020/09/what-do-we-want-from-mmos-of-future-is.html">ala the Multiverse</a> is the interface. How do you make players feel like they are physically running around in and interacting with with a real place? Science fiction authors would have us believe that the answer will be a neural interface that allows us to jack into something like the Matrix. Much as when we sleep, the connection between our <a href="https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-motor-cortex">motor cortex</a> and our bodies' skeletal muscles <a href="https://www.livescience.com/21653-brain-chemicals-sleep-paralysis.html">will need to be temporarily turned off</a>. Electronics and software will then be used to interpret signals from the motor cortex, and perhaps also <a href="https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s3/chapter05.html">the cerebellum</a>, and translate them into the movements of a digital avatar. At the same time signals representing the virtual world will be transmitted directly into the <a href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ap/chapter/functional-systems-of-the-cerebral-cortex/#:~:text=Sensory%20areas%20are%20the%20areas,cerebral%20cortex%20via%20the%20thalamus.">sensory centers of the cerebral cortex</a>, or perhaps the major nerve groups that connect to it. Simple enough! </p><p>However, that's not really very simple sounding to me. The technology for every part of that scenario is probably years off, and getting them to work well together likely years beyond that. The simplest way I can imagine getting most of it to work would involved planting tiny electrodes directly into your brain. As much as I love Everquest and WoW, I am not going through surgery to play the next versions of them. However complete artificial realities are not the only way forward. For the next generation of immersive online roleplaying games, augmented reality is a good alternative that is very much in our reach already. </p><p>Augmented reality neatly sidesteps a lot of the problems games based on neural interfaces will need to overcome. You don't have to shut down a player's skeletal muscles, figure out how to translate signals from the brain's motor centers, or figure out how to beam complicated information about a virtual place straight into the brain. Instead you take advantage of the real world and layer some fantasy elements on top of it. To help create a highly detailed world players can walk around in, you let real life do the heavy lifting. The primary new technology that's needed is a way to project a 3D images onto what players are seeing, and we already <a href="https://www.google.com/glass/start/">have technology that's at least close</a>. For the illusion to be really convincing, a system of cameras and software that interpret the space around you and incorporate the game elements into that space is also needed. This seems to be exactly what Niantic is working on <a href="https://nianticlabs.com/blog/microsoft-ignite-2021">in their work with Microsoft</a>. </p><p>Beyond technological considerations, I also feel that current augmented reality games have barely scratched the surface of what is possible. Much like when you were a kid and you pretended the floor was lava, or a wrapping paper tube was a light saber, augmented reality games could take what is already available and work with it. I want to something like Everquest, but where there are random mobs to fight in the woods near my home. I want NPC vendors that buy and sell gear or consumables to set up shop at major landmarks in my neighborhood, or perhaps in my utility room. I want to be able to see the avatars of other players that I run into and trade items with them. I want to be able to spawn raid bosses in a park or in my living room by getting enough players together and performing a ritual. I want a troll under every bridge, a dragon in every sewer tunnel, and spooks in every graveyard. I want monsters in my closets, and if they have a bit of treasure I certainly wouldn't mind that either. </p><p>Basically, I want to be able to play a full featured fantasy or horror MMO in the neighborhoods, parks and shopping malls near my home. I also want there to be something fun to do in my house or apartment when I can't or don't feel like going outside. I want classes, levels, gear, some kind of specialization system and all the other basic mechanical stuff we expect from a MMORPG (though certainly more on <a href="https://www.kingdomofloathing.com/login.php?loginid=8b4afce3ea9b48bdb9e4935b3b3fc69a">Kingdom of Loathing</a> end of the complexity scale than EVE). As much as I enjoy Pokemon Go, there is so much more we could be doing with augmented reality games. It's such an obvious next step, I find it hard to believe someone isn't already building one. The design writes itself once you start thinking about it.<br /></p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-59126535976195157842021-02-14T16:42:00.022-08:002021-02-16T17:04:10.445-08:00Why do MMO developers keep taking our toys away? On MMO content amputationsA<a href="https://24hoursinmmos.blogspot.com/2021/02/dungeons-dragons-online-day-3.html"> recent post over at "24 Hours In . . ."</a> got my gears turning. In it Sixuality complains about about an upcoming expansion for Neverwinter in which a whole set of zones are being removed from the game. An entire module released in 2013, <a href="https://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Fury_of_the_Feywild">Fury of the Feywild</a>, is being retired <a href="https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/11482903-dev-blog%3A-sharandar-campaign-new-%26-old">to make way for new zones in the same location</a>. I don't follow the Neverwinter community very closely. However, in the commentary I could find players <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Neverwinter/comments/kvuoqc/the_old_sharandar_campaign_and_area_will_be/">seem less than thrilled</a> with the change. Sixuality remarks:<div><br /></div><div>"<i>No MMO is so inexhaustibly rich in content that the dev team can afford to throw away entire zones.</i>"</div><div><br /></div><div>I couldn't agree more. Yet, for no sane seeming reason, MMO developers do this all the time. Forget about the old, in with the new! </div><div><br />Take the Catacombs in Dark Age of Camelot. It used to be some of my favorite content when I was playing in the early 2000s. When I returned to DAoC a few years ago, I found a PvE game that was much richer than I remembered from the previous decade. There were two entirely different chains of PvE quests, a new one running through the main zones of the game and another much older series of quests that ran through the Catacombs. About six months after I started playing, Mythic effectively amputated Catacombs. All of content in the zones was cut out so the zones could be repurposed for raids. In the process, the amount of solo PvE content in the game got cut by nearly half.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't like raiding, so it was a net loss for me. I also never understood why Mythic couldn't have created duplicates of the zones and left the old quests in place in the original zones. Adding insult to injury, the gear that you earn in those raids is now much easier to earn with bounty points (which can be obtained solo) than by running the raids. The raids have very little reason to exists now, and all the quests I remember with rosy nostalgia from when I used to play in the 00s are still gone. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mythic is far from alone. The most recent large update to Destiny 2, Beyond Light, removed entire planets. I had only been playing the game for a little over a month at the time. The update removed Mercury, Mars, Titan and several other whole large areas from the game. Most of what they removed I had yet to even set foot on, and it absolutely killed my enthusiasm. Instead of being excited about all the new content being added, all I could do was mourn the loss of zones I would never get to explore. Destiny is another game community I don't really follow. However, in general players don't seem all that enamored by the shakeup, with current Steam reviews of Beyond Light trending "Mostly Negative."</div><div><br /></div><div>Other notable examples include the Cataclysm expansion in WoW, which set all the old levelling zones on fire (in some cases literally) to make room for revamped zones. <a href="http://yfernbottom.blogspot.com/2010/12/wow-activities-recent-and-planned.html">At the time</a> I enjoyed the changes, but hindsight has not been kind to the expansion. It's now widely considered the expansion where Blizzard started to lose their way. There was also something called the NGE, where an entire game was pretty much ripped out and replaced with some other game using the same setting and art assets. <a href="https://massivelyop.com/2015/08/22/the-game-archaeologist-star-wars-galaxies-nge/">Players were not amused</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>I can see why developers amputate systems. In many cases the only way to implement a new system, like switching character development from skill lines to classes, is to remove and replace it. What really baffles me are designers that seem eager to remove entire zones, with all of their content. Play zones are an absolutely enormous amount of work to produce. The art, the writing, the items that you can earn; game designers put their hearts and souls into all of it. When you remove a zone from a game you are likely removing thousands of person hours of work from a product. In a series of offline game players can always load up older editions of the game if they want to. Not so in a MMO. If you close off areas they are simply gone, and all the work from that designers put into them has basically vanished.</div><div><br /></div><div>Losing explorable content hurts especially hard in a MMO. One of the main reasons I love MMOs so much is because they give me the illusion of exploring a living breathing world. There are two things that really make MMOs pop for me. Other players, the knowledge that there is a real person behind so many of the digital avatars I encounter, are a big part of it. However that's not enough by itself. The other half of the equation for me is the places themselves, how enormous they tend to be and how permanent they feel. The feeling that I could spend months there seeing new sights and having unexpected new adventures. The knowledge that like any real place, things still happen and change when I'm not around. </div><div><br /></div><div>When developers decide to rip content out of game, that sense of endless possibilities is diminished. Of course it makes the game smaller in a literal sense of diminished virtual real-estate. However, it also reminds me that the game is not a real place, and that ultimately MMOs are as impermanent as any other game that ceases to exist when you shut off your PC. Further, if the developers don't care enough about the content they build to even bother to keep it around when they add newer content, why should I get invested in any of it? </div><div><br /></div><div>Now of course there are a lot of very good, or at least explicable, reasons for developers to retire zones. To keep players from getting too spread out as the geography of a game expands. To reduce the footprint of a game on storage devices. To stop players from wandering into older areas that no-longer meet expectations for design quality. So that the lore of the game makes mores sense, and players aren't wandering between zones with story lines that obviously take them back and forth in time. I could go on.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet all too often it doesn't feel like these or similar sensible reasons to me. Frequently it feels like zone amputations happen for some combination of one of two reasons: (1) To force players to buy new content by removing old content that competes with it or (2) New designers want to put their stamp on a game, and place little value on the things that designers before them built. Rather than a a reluctant choice forced by the holistic needs of the game and the player base, too often content removal feels like greed or hubris. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you aren't sure whether to leave a zone in or take it out, maybe it's better to err on the side of making your game a bigger, better value for players. More importantly, maybe it's better to err on the side of not ticking off everyone that likes the zones. Sure some players won't care much one way or another. But in a MMO, the ones that do care will likely care deeply.</div>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711156850879162685.post-91331112356683555102021-02-05T23:29:00.005-08:002021-02-05T23:47:55.606-08:00Universal Paperclips<p>For the three or four readers that might not have heard of it yet, this is far and away the best game about making paperclips I have ever played:</p><p><a href="https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips">Universal Paperclips</a></p><p>Supposedly inspired by the <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/ai-and-paperclip-problem">paperclip problem</a>. Now I have to head back to the other browser tab and see if I have made enough paperclips to earn the next level of trust yet. That advanced wire extruder isn't going to buy itself!</p>Yeebohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com0