Comments on: Blows Against The Empire http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/ Random Comments About Gaming And Tractors Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:52:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Mist http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4501 Mist Sat, 02 Sep 2006 20:10:22 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4501 Exactly what I've been saying. WoW is successful because its very easy, and doles out 'funness' very rapidly at the beginning with little to no investment, and then because it at first slowly, then sharply ramps up the difficulty at the very end, doling out 'funness' in large accomplishments only after even larger investments. Exactly what I’ve been saying. WoW is successful because its very easy, and doles out ‘funness’ very rapidly at the beginning with little to no investment, and then because it at first slowly, then sharply ramps up the difficulty at the very end, doling out ‘funness’ in large accomplishments only after even larger investments.

]]> By: Ghiest http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4500 Ghiest Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:00:36 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4500 SWG failed because it was boring to say the least ... nothing more nothing less (i didn't even stay till the second incarnation).<br> <br> Time sinks are part of MMORPG's, it's a fact of any of the ones I have played. Things designed to be fun are soon condemed as time sinks by players, I've hear the term grinding for honour and grinding for weapons and armour. Seriously one persons grinding is another persons fun.<br> <br> WoW won and is winning because it's easy to get into but takes along time to hit the pinnacle of raiding (if that's what you want to do) or the highest ranks in pvp. EQ, daoc, ao and a few others were long and laborious, tedious and repetitive to start with.<br> <br> Just an example, I went back and started a new character in EQ when they opened the new progression servers (for a laugh) about 3 weeks after they had opened so I didn't get caught in the 300 other people camping the same spot to exp. It took about on average 10 times longer to level to 15 than it did for a WoW character.<br> <br> This combined with spells (if you are lucky) coming every 4 levels in EQ compared to skills and spells (no matter the class) in WoW giving reward for every little thing you to start with. They may not be massive improvements for the character and the big levels (every 10) give a good improvment with major skill/spells, contributes to the sense of achievement in WoW compared to EQ and others.<br> <br> That's just my thoughts anyway. SWG failed because it was boring to say the least … nothing more nothing less (i didn’t even stay till the second incarnation).

Time sinks are part of MMORPG’s, it’s a fact of any of the ones I have played. Things designed to be fun are soon condemed as time sinks by players, I’ve hear the term grinding for honour and grinding for weapons and armour. Seriously one persons grinding is another persons fun.

WoW won and is winning because it’s easy to get into but takes along time to hit the pinnacle of raiding (if that’s what you want to do) or the highest ranks in pvp. EQ, daoc, ao and a few others were long and laborious, tedious and repetitive to start with.

Just an example, I went back and started a new character in EQ when they opened the new progression servers (for a laugh) about 3 weeks after they had opened so I didn’t get caught in the 300 other people camping the same spot to exp. It took about on average 10 times longer to level to 15 than it did for a WoW character.

This combined with spells (if you are lucky) coming every 4 levels in EQ compared to skills and spells (no matter the class) in WoW giving reward for every little thing you to start with. They may not be massive improvements for the character and the big levels (every 10) give a good improvment with major skill/spells, contributes to the sense of achievement in WoW compared to EQ and others.

That’s just my thoughts anyway.

]]> By: ubvman http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4499 ubvman Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:03:39 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4499 Third movie as in "Revenge of the Sith" Star Wars III. Not, "Return of the Jedi" Star Wars VI. Third movie as in “Revenge of the Sith” Star Wars III. Not, “Return of the Jedi” Star Wars VI.

]]> By: ubvman http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4498 ubvman Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:00:40 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4498 SOE already has "EQ3" in the works, its called Vanguard. They tried casual and easy with EQ2 and it flopped badly; now they bring back the hardcore, "I hate all you players - heres the tedious gameplay (Vision\'e2\'84\'a2) you masochists seem to enjoy in spades" from Brad.<br> <br> No, SOE is definitely not challenging the WoW behemoth anytime soon.<br> <br> BTW, IMHO the big news ought to be how SOE fumbled the SW:G license so badly. THAT could have been a WOW beater, or rather beaten WOW to the gajillion subs numbers since SW:G came first. SW:G is the ultimate wasted opportunity.<br> <br> You want big numbers?<br> Cut SW:G loose as a lost cause or close it down. Relaunch a completely new Star Wars branded MMOG. Cut out all the tedious catass gameplay, gigantic timesink tradeskill rubbish and artificial enforced social interaction BS. Its too late now for the Star Wars license though. Should have done all that by the time the third movie was released. SOE already has “EQ3″ in the works, its called Vanguard. They tried casual and easy with EQ2 and it flopped badly; now they bring back the hardcore, “I hate all you players – heres the tedious gameplay (Vision\’e2\’84\’a2) you masochists seem to enjoy in spades” from Brad.

No, SOE is definitely not challenging the WoW behemoth anytime soon.

BTW, IMHO the big news ought to be how SOE fumbled the SW:G license so badly. THAT could have been a WOW beater, or rather beaten WOW to the gajillion subs numbers since SW:G came first. SW:G is the ultimate wasted opportunity.

You want big numbers?
Cut SW:G loose as a lost cause or close it down. Relaunch a completely new Star Wars branded MMOG. Cut out all the tedious catass gameplay, gigantic timesink tradeskill rubbish and artificial enforced social interaction BS. Its too late now for the Star Wars license though. Should have done all that by the time the third movie was released.

]]> By: Mist http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4497 Mist Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:19:40 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4497 Theres no way you can build a game that 30 million people want to play. 30 million people don't like the same thing. Theres no way you can build a game that 30 million people want to play. 30 million people don’t like the same thing.

]]> By: Zygwen http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4496 Zygwen Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:10:55 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4496 I don't think SoE is going to try to build a WoW killer. They seem more interested in diversifying their interest and getting lots of small chunks of the the market and bundleling it under Station Access. I don’t think SoE is going to try to build a WoW killer. They seem more interested in diversifying their interest and getting lots of small chunks of the the market and bundleling it under Station Access.

]]> By: Wolfgang http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4495 Wolfgang Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:10:33 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4495 Having jumped in the MMO game late-I started playing with guildwars last year- I haven't really played a wide variety of games; so I will start with what I loved about guildwars, and why I eventually left GW for World of Warcraft, and what would prompt me to leave WOW for something else.<br> I enjoyed GW because for the first time I was able to play a game other than Halo or Madden online with other people. I loved being able to instantly travel from one area to another and having more than 50 skills that I could change at anytime kept my character fresh.<br> What I didn't like about guildwars was how people were able to pay runners to get them to the town with the best armor and then warp back to the newbie area and clean house without a challenge. This practice was so common that I wasn't able to find a group unless my character had Droks armor. Bad deal.<br> I tried world of warcraft as a 10 day free trial and by day 2 I was a subscriber. WoW's crafting system, rep system, and game mechanics -ie swimming and jumping- kept me logging on for the past 5 months. Now that I have a char that is 58 and 3 more ranging from 19-38 I am starting to realize why I am beginning to long for a game that offers more realism and less time sinks. Epic mounts are considered the crown of achievement, and yet acquiring one will run 800+ Gold which I think is a crock. Most of the poeple in my guild only got their epic mounts because they bought ebay gold and while I do not encourage people to buy gold online, when it comes to their epic mount, I understand why they would do it. Also, PVP in world of warcraft is a joke, you never suffer any durability damage, never lose an item, and thus you accomplish nothing other than the thought of knowing you just caused someone to lose travel time. whoopie. I'm not saying that the penality should be harsh like die once and you are done for, but I do think that there should be some system in place where a player is rewarded for icing another player; especially if you kill a player of a higher level.<br> The game that I long for is one that has meaningful PVP, interchangable skills, crafting, rep bonuses, affordable transportation, and realism. Age of Conan so far looks and sounds awesome and I can't wait to see if that game is able to bring forth a rated M MMO with some serious PVP options. But until then, I will continue to enjoy WOW and wait for Burning Crusade to expand the playability of a great franchise. Having jumped in the MMO game late-I started playing with guildwars last year- I haven’t really played a wide variety of games; so I will start with what I loved about guildwars, and why I eventually left GW for World of Warcraft, and what would prompt me to leave WOW for something else.
I enjoyed GW because for the first time I was able to play a game other than Halo or Madden online with other people. I loved being able to instantly travel from one area to another and having more than 50 skills that I could change at anytime kept my character fresh.
What I didn’t like about guildwars was how people were able to pay runners to get them to the town with the best armor and then warp back to the newbie area and clean house without a challenge. This practice was so common that I wasn’t able to find a group unless my character had Droks armor. Bad deal.
I tried world of warcraft as a 10 day free trial and by day 2 I was a subscriber. WoW’s crafting system, rep system, and game mechanics -ie swimming and jumping- kept me logging on for the past 5 months. Now that I have a char that is 58 and 3 more ranging from 19-38 I am starting to realize why I am beginning to long for a game that offers more realism and less time sinks. Epic mounts are considered the crown of achievement, and yet acquiring one will run 800+ Gold which I think is a crock. Most of the poeple in my guild only got their epic mounts because they bought ebay gold and while I do not encourage people to buy gold online, when it comes to their epic mount, I understand why they would do it. Also, PVP in world of warcraft is a joke, you never suffer any durability damage, never lose an item, and thus you accomplish nothing other than the thought of knowing you just caused someone to lose travel time. whoopie. I’m not saying that the penality should be harsh like die once and you are done for, but I do think that there should be some system in place where a player is rewarded for icing another player; especially if you kill a player of a higher level.
The game that I long for is one that has meaningful PVP, interchangable skills, crafting, rep bonuses, affordable transportation, and realism. Age of Conan so far looks and sounds awesome and I can’t wait to see if that game is able to bring forth a rated M MMO with some serious PVP options. But until then, I will continue to enjoy WOW and wait for Burning Crusade to expand the playability of a great franchise.

]]> By: Pluto's Dad http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4494 Pluto's Dad Thu, 31 Aug 2006 14:25:34 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4494 they really all need to read a book on disruptive technology (heh, the other buzzword we've heard too much of)<br> <br> of COURSE there will be a replacement for WoW, and if history is any judge, it will NOT be developed by Blizz, since that would mean they'd have to deliberately kill their cash cow.<br> <br> Will it be any of the suggestions above? maybe, maybe not. Usually the new kid that triumphs is laughed at and ridiculed though, but they just hit the right formula that the other players denounce.<br> <br> Microsoft tried very hard to avoid this fate, Gates knew monopolies ended up being their own worst enemies, but now it looks like Google might take the crown from them. Who knows. they really all need to read a book on disruptive technology (heh, the other buzzword we’ve heard too much of)

of COURSE there will be a replacement for WoW, and if history is any judge, it will NOT be developed by Blizz, since that would mean they’d have to deliberately kill their cash cow.

Will it be any of the suggestions above? maybe, maybe not. Usually the new kid that triumphs is laughed at and ridiculed though, but they just hit the right formula that the other players denounce.

Microsoft tried very hard to avoid this fate, Gates knew monopolies ended up being their own worst enemies, but now it looks like Google might take the crown from them. Who knows.

]]> By: D-0ne http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4493 D-0ne Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:20:57 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4493 I\'e2\'80\'99d just like to add my overly common $0.02 worth. Wow will be beaten and beaten badly. It\'e2\'80\'99s only a matter of time before someone at long last figures out there are about 30 million MMOG players in waiting. They are waiting for a game where they can from logon to logoff accomplish something in 30 minutes. Yes, this game will not appeal to the million or so of the \'e2\'80\'9creal gamers\'e2\'80\'99 that have been holding back the MMOG industry for the last eight years, but so what? I\’e2\’80\’99d just like to add my overly common $0.02 worth. Wow will be beaten and beaten badly. It\’e2\’80\’99s only a matter of time before someone at long last figures out there are about 30 million MMOG players in waiting. They are waiting for a game where they can from logon to logoff accomplish something in 30 minutes. Yes, this game will not appeal to the million or so of the \’e2\’80\’9creal gamers\’e2\’80\’99 that have been holding back the MMOG industry for the last eight years, but so what?

]]> By: No.6 http://www.brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-4492 No.6 Thu, 31 Aug 2006 05:10:11 +0000 http://brokentoys.org/2006/08/29/blows-against-the-empire/#comment-4492 "An MMOFPS only has the ability to do one thing that a regular FPS cannot: Provide a sense of REAL WAR."<br> <br> Careful, down that path lies WW2O, or something like it. :) “An MMOFPS only has the ability to do one thing that a regular FPS cannot: Provide a sense of REAL WAR.”

Careful, down that path lies WW2O, or something like it. :)

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