Dearest wife,

My love for you is like an eternal well that spouts sparkly pink champagne love drops. I pondered many ways in which to show my deepest affection for you and pondered even further the ways we could celebrate our loving relationship together. A romantic candlelit dinner for two, mayhaps? Nay, too cliché. 24 red roses delivered to your bedside by a naked me? Non, too contrived. Some shiny silver jewellery perhaps? Niet, I know how you just deplore material things like diamonds and platinum.

But alas, fret not my dear, for I have foundest the perfect way for me to convey my feelings towards yonself! I shall spend all evening in front of my computer questing by myself in World of Warcraft in order to complete a series of trivial tasks and earn special “Love is in the Air” achievements. I shall then take some screenshots of myself receiving the rewards for you to peruse on your laptop alone at a time of your suiting. And thus through this bound our love shall grow ever stronger.

I can only hope that one day you shall find it within your heart to return this favour and shower me with the cyber affection that I so wholly give to you.

You humble and ever obedient husband,

Gordon

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

How To Be Romantic: Celebrate Valentines Day In A MMORPG

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Although I’ve dabbled with PvP in many MMORPGS, the only game that I truly gripped me with it was Everquest 2. I played for several years on first Darathar and then Nagafen and I stand by my opinion that SOE managed to create one of the best PvP experiences available. Aside from creating a fair yet competitive environment that offered me the sort of mildly sanitised and strategic PvP I was looking for, SOE did something exceptionally clever - they made proper tanking part of PvP gameplay.

You can run but you can't hide

Being a tank is about being the meat shield of the group and soaking up damage like a dirty sponge so your comrades can do their jobs. It’s a role I adore and one that’s always frustrated me in many PvP games as it often just doesn’t exist. In PvP in most MMORPGs you don’t play a tank, you play DPS. You may have more hit points, more armor, and more defensive abilities but at the end of the day you’re just another damage dealer because actual tanking doesn’t do anything. And why would it? If you run up and engage your opponent, they will just run around you and target the feeble finger-wigglers in your party instead (poor fellows). SOE had the perfect solution.

They made taunt work in PvP.

In PvP in EQ2, taunt will force your opponent(s) to attack you for a good 3 seconds. That’s 3 seconds they can’t attack your healer, your scout, your mage or your pet Chiwawa. Start being clever with your taunts and suddenly you’ve got the thing that’s the most important aspect of any PvP fight: control.

The ability to taunt in PvP in EQ2 made combat a whole lot more interesting. Fights lasted longer and required more strategy and thought. It wasn’t about who did the most DPS or who was the highest level, it was about working as a team and having faith in your friends. Trust me, there’s nothing quite as exhilarating as taunting an entire force of enemy players onto your backside and hoping that your group shows their mettle, keeps their cool and does their job.

Since playing Everquest 2, I’ve been quite surprised at how little affect the taunt ability, and often tanking as a whole, has in PvP in other MMORPGs. Games seem determined to offer a very singular focused form of PvP and relies on damage and independence rather than grouping and strategy. It also seems very odd to me to suddenly re-write the rules of the game. We all know that PvE groups require a tank, a healer and good DPS so why should PvP be any different? Why should my tank have to play a DPS role just to be competitive in PvP?

Tanking in PvP is an interesting thing to ponder and I think it’s lack of purpose has a lot to do with the haphazard development of PvP as a gameplay form. It’s certainly something I’d like to see explored more and given more attention by the developers. PvP shouldn’t just be about rushing and overwhelming your opponent with damage, it should offer the same strategy and group dynamics that PvE does. Kudos to SOE for doing it well.

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

Tanking In PvP

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Whilst waiting for the World of Warcraft patch 3.3 to download a few days ago, I decided to try out the Armory Facebook app seeing as Blizzard were pushing it through the game loader. The installation was, as you would expect, quick and painless and within a couple of minutes I had hooked up Facebook account with my Battle.net account WoW Armory feed. My WoW account is now ubiquitous. Awwwsommmeeeee (!).

Yep, that was sarcasm.

Behold, my glory! (As if you care.)

As the title of this post probably gives away, I’m kinda baffled by this Facebook application. I mean, I can see Blizzard’s reasons for developing it; they have a shiny new feed of every player’s activity ready to be abused and the more they can get people to chat, spam and spread the word of Warcraft (clever pun there), the more free marketing they can receive. “What’s that, Billy? You equipped a tabard in an online computer game? I must subscribe to this and find out what all of the fuss is about!”

I’m not dissing Blizzard’s ability to make funky little web do-das and pieces of jiggery-pokery (I actually really like their 3D character viewer), I’m just questioning the actual need of something like a Facebook application. Do we honestly need to share every single micro-accomplishment in our hobbies with everyone we’ve ever met in every web service we’ve ever used?

Trust me, when I take down the Lich King, you’ll all hear about it (whether you like it or not) and I’ll do it the good old fashioned way - by tell telling people. Until then, I don’t need to integrate my WoW account with my Twitter account with my Facebook account with my OpenID account with my Flickr Account all just so I can broadcast to the cyber world every time I gain a level in a video game. It’s social networking gone mad.

P.S. If you want to follow me on Facebook, feel free. Occasionally I say something amusing but most of the time I’ll just ignore you.

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

WoW Armory Facebook App - Why?

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Just to clarify, I’m referring to physical game boxes and packaging in the title here not an actual cricket box. Interesting fact: I once held a used cricket box over my face when I was a child in an attempt to impersonate Darth Vader. I didn’t know what it was for at the time.

This is not the box you're looking for

Anyway, I am of course referring to Global Agenda and it’s release only digitally via Steam or a special limited edition boxed version on Amazon US. Some people ask what’s the fuss and initially I was inclined to agree but after realising that I still haven’t bought the game yet, I can’t help but wonder if it’s because of this limited distribution.

Even though I’m a huge fan of MMORPGs and they are my predominate gaming genre, I still prefer to buy my software in boxed copies. Although there are obvious advantages to this form of media (not having to re-download the entire game if you want to install it another PC for example) I find that honestly I just have a strong desire to rip open the polythene wrapper, cradle the box in my arms, read the manual on the toilet, install the game on my computer and then shelf the case to stand triumphant on my bookcase. Illogical and irrational, I concede, but gosh darn it I just want to feel like I’ve bought something more than a bunch of 1s and 0s and digital signals.

I suppose it’s lot like people who resist the evolving media of electronic books and still want to buy and read paperbacks the old fashioned way. There’s something nice and distinctly natural about the need to actually obtain and hold a physical product. I love technology and I’m a big fan of the Interweb but I still like to be flexible in my options.

The price point is another issue for me. Global Agenda retails for £35/$40/$55 on Steam and that just seems a tad excessive to me. Shouldn’t games be cheaper when distributed digitally as the publishers don’t need to pay packaging or store expenses? I bought my boxed copy of Mass Effect 2 from Amazon UK for 1/3 less than that and I know if GA was more widely distributed, I’d be able to find a better deal somewhere else. I can’t even get it on Impulse for instance. I know that’s a minor quibble but I already use Impulse, I like Impulse, do I honestly need to install Steam and another piece of software cluttering up my PC?

Overall, I know that these factors aren’t truly preventing me from buying Global Agenda but they are niggly enough to give me the excuse to hold off for a while longer. I want to play GA and I will play GA but just not for another few weeks yet. Who knows, maybe it will be on sale by then…

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

Where’s My Box?

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Regular readers will know that I have a bit of a man crush on Brian “Psychochild” Green and with just cause. He’s got a fantastic blog, writes excellent articles and his little finger knows more about the MMORPG industry than my entire brain does (and I have a big brain). Yesterday he wrote an interesting article about the cultural differences in gaming and invited all our responses. Being a topic close to my heart not only did I leave a hefty comment but decided to expand upon it in a blog post of my own.

Multicultural gaming will be extinct by 2032

Being a Brit, I’ve been playing on foreign servers ever since I started with Everquest back in ‘99. I’ve played on US servers with Americans, US servers with Koreans, US servers with Europeans, European servers with Americans and UK servers with about a whole five other people. All of that has certainly given me plenty of fascinating insights and experiences into all of the different gaming cultures from the Western (and occasionally Eastern) world.

However, whilst mulling over and responding to Brian’s article, I started to realise something. 8 or 10 years ago it seemed incredibly easy for me to identify different nationalities of players and spot the cultural differences between us all but now it’s a lot harder, if not completely impossible. Every player I meet, regardless of where they’re from, seems to talk the same, type the same and act the same.

Gone are the days when I could spot a Frenchman a mile off in Everquest or had to witness British players vomit Cockney on their keyboards in Dark Age of Camelot. If it wasn’t for accents over voice chat, I would probably have no idea where most of my US and European brethren hailed from now. My Austrian and Italian friends type with perfect Internet-English (Intglish) and everyone I know throws around American vernacular and phrases like they were born speaking it. It seems to be that our cultural individuality is slowly melting away and being replaced by a singular language, primarily driven by Americano, influenced by Europa (let’s not forget who gave us the term uber), and spread via the Internet.

Obviously it’s not just MMOs that are causing this and it’s probably a normal evolution from the fact that the current entire 20 and 30 year old generation has grown up watching US TV shows and films and playing American computer games. I don’t fret it nor try to stop it, it’s just part of the natural cycle of language. English is, after all, a mongrel language that has cannibalized dozens of others and that’s part of it’s charm.

It does make a little sad though that we’re losing some of the uniqueness that being foreign brought to Internet gaming. As much as I’m against enforced localisation and a stern advocate for allowing everyone to play their games anywhere with everyone, it’s undoubtedly contributing to the decline of our cultural originalities.

It may uber suck but that’s just my two cents. C’est la vie, m8s.

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

The Death Of Multicultural Gaming

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Ever since we got some new 22″ and 24″ widescreen Samsung monitors at work I’ve been fantasizing about getting one for my home PC. I can’t really afford one and gosh knows I don’t technically need one (as my wife keeps reminding me) but the other week I came to the conclusion that I just can’t live without one. I don’t know how or why this fixation suddenly occurs but I name it the “Call of the Geek” and I react to it like a canine hearing a dog whistle.

Suffering is desire. Desire is Samsung.

Acquiring new bits of technology reminds me a lot of the drive behind MMORPGs. There seems to be a little bit in our brain that tells us that if we get another item or another upgrade then our lives will be easier, faster and more efficient. Perhaps it some sort of subconscious Nietzsche desire to become supreme beings and reach a state of utter perfection but it seems to really stir us onward in everything we do, and I feel particularly affected by it being a geek and gamer. I’m sure psychologists have a clever name and reasoning behind why we behave like this but all I know is that Samsung monitors are black and shiny and I want one.

The big problem is that there seem to be so many different models of widescreen monitors out there and I have no idea which one to pick. The P2250 or the P2270 or the SM2233RZ or the SM2333SW? Who would’ve thought picking a widescreen monitor would be so difficult? And that’s just from one brand. Plus I have no idea about what to look for in terms of specification. I know I want a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and nothing less but that’s about as far as my knowledge goes. Anyone got any advice?

Of course, I’m also open to suggestions for recommendations on any widescreen monitor, it doesn’t have to be Samsung (they do look very sexy though). I briefly considered Dell but dismissed them due to price and I always considered other brands like Acer to be a bit shoddy.

All of this does really remind me though of the four noble truths of the Buddha. For all of those non-Buddhists out there, let me summarise: suffering is desire. Pretty apt in this case huh?

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

Samsung Monitor Lust

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I came up with this blog title whilst in the bath tonight. It made me chuckle. Anyway, on a completely unrelated point, my brother has been slowly getting to grips with World of Warcraft some more.

Yoda meets Noob

It’s funny how so many of us think of WoW as being too easy (often said, whether we honestly mean it or not, in a derogatory manner) yet I wonder how long it’s been since we’ve approached the game with fresh eyes. It’s certainly simple compared to most of the other MMORPGs on the market but is it too easy to those unfamiliar with the genre or even non-gamers? I used to think so… but now I’m not so sure.

My bro is a pretty smart guy and a lifelong geek, hardcore C++ programmer and wannabe Trekkie. Although he hasn’t played many computer games in the past few years, he’s not unfamiliar with them and yet, given all of this, he’s still experienced a reasonably steep learning curve with Warcraft. Stuff that I just take for granted or assume as basic, common knowledge, he’s struggled with. It’s not like he’s mentally disabled or anything either, I honestly think it’s just because WoW does have a learning curve which we’ve all forgotten about now.

It tends to be subtle things that get him too. Like remembering to put points in his talent tree every time he levels, how to properly set up his action bars and abilities, what add-ons to download and install and when not to camp out in the middle of an area full of aggressive mobs (OK, even I’ll admit that was a little dumb). He’s learning though, like a monkey learning to operate a spaceship from the ’60s, and one day soon he’s sure to manage lift off.

I guess I see a lot of my own experiences in his and the learning process that he’s going through reminds me of what I went through when I started playing EVE Online last year. Yes, that’s a little bit like comparing brain surgery to first aid but, still, you get the point. However, it does make me think that we should remember what it was like for us all that first time, before we really had any clue what a MMORPG was or how they work.

It also reinforces my suspicions as to WoW’s success. It’s so popular because Blizzard managed to tap into a long dormant player-base… the non-gamer.

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

Noobosaurus On The Rampage

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Petter over at Don’t Fear the Mutant had an interesting post about his reaction to some players exploiting others (in particular to some bank heists in Darkfall). It got me thinking about ganking and stealing and all of the less savoury activities which occur in MMOs and how we perceive them. Are they bullying tactics that some players exploit to ruin the fun of others? Or are they legitimate strategies as allowed by the confines of the game?

The Loco-Motion in action

Right back when I first started playing Everquest, I soon heard the words “ganking” and “griefing”. These were terms coined to describe activities that were outside of the considered norms of acceptable behaviour. For instance, in EQ it was possible to purposefully ‘train’ NPC enemies onto unsuspecting players and wipe them out completely. It was a side effect from the game design as enemies were incredibly tenacious and would literally chase you until you were either dead or reached another zone. They were also incredibly fickle and aggressive and had no qualms about focusing their attention on anyone else that got in their path. Fansy the Bard became infamous for this and it was an activity that was bound to not only irritate players but also attract the attention of the GMs.

A little later when I started playing Dark Age of Camelot on a FFA PvP server I had my first ganking experience. I distinctly recall my level 8 character being killed repeatedly at my spawn point by a level 50 Lurikeen Eldritch. Eventually I had to pull the plug and walk away because he just wouldn’t stop and, suffice to say, it put me off PvP for a while. However, unlike trains in Everquest, this was not considered a player offense and the GMs would do nothing about it as they deemed it to be a perfectly legitimate PvP activity.

Of course now we have games like EVE Online in which infiltrating corporations, betraying comrades and robbing banks are not only legitimate parts of the game but actually part of it’s appeal. It’s all very confusing. If I betrayed my guild in EVE I could be a hero but if I did it in World of Warcraft, I’d be the scum of the Earth. Where exactly are the boundaries and who defines them?

It seems to me that the more freedom the developers bestow on the player, the less they will interfere with the activities that go on within the games walls. So long as this made clear, players don’t seem to have a problem with it either. The other end of the extreme are games like WoW which heavily shackle players (not necessarily a bad thing) and protect them from ‘anti-social’ behavior. This of course stems into the whole risk vs reward discussion and even into the hardcore vs carebear debate.

Conflict seem to occur however when a players conceptions of a game don’t meet the rules of the gameworld. If you play Darkfall and don’t expect, at some point, to be slaughtered without mercy, you aren’t going to have a good time. Same goes if you play WoW and expect the freedom to kill someone who looks at you the wrong way but don’t have it.

The thing I don’t understand though is how available activities within a game can be branded as “good” or “bad”. This isn’t the real world and the developers have the power to influence and restrict or control any activity we can do. Should the player really be reprimanded for doing something that’s entirely possible within the game world? If it’s not desirable, it just shouldn’t be allowable within the game.

For instance, if Everquest allows trains then isn’t that a perfectly viable strategy for clearing out unwanted players from a camp spot? Why wouldn’t it be? And if WoW allows me to infiltrate a guild and pillage their bank then isn’t that just another part of the game? Why would it be acceptable in one game but not in another? When does an activity go from being a viable strategy into a bully-boy tactic?

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

Ganking, Stealing & Training: Bullying Or Viable Strategies?

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The iPad. Giving us juvenile jokes since January 2010

As it seems like most people were, I was rather underwhelmed by the recent release of the iPad. I don’t have anything against Apple and I adore my iPhone but I’m not going to praise every product they release just for the sake of it like one of those Mac Evangelists (you know who you are!). Still, a few delusional souls pondered whether the iPad could run World of Warcraft and suddenly, my interest was piqued.

Of course, I use the term delusional because there is no way the iPad could run WoW and thus, even if the bodies were willing, it could never be a reality. The iPad just doesn’t have the power, speed or capacity to run the game so it’s sadly never going to be an option. But still, let’s just imagine for one moment that it could. What if the iPad could run WoW at a reasonable framerate and, better yet, a reasonable latency over 3G? Wouldn’t that just be awesome?

So assuming this fantasy was a reality and WoW was just another app in the Apple Store, would it convince you to get an iPad? Let’s vote.

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

Would You Get An iPad If It Could Play World Of Warcraft?

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Blizzard recently revealed the World of Warcraft Arena Season 8 armour sets and given my current interest in Project Runway, I figured I’d write up my reactions. I don’t know where my recent infatuation with fashion comes from but I do have a sneaking suspicion that my wife is secretly slipping estrogen supplements into my morning coffee. Although I have no proof to back that claim up, it does provide a convenient excuse for my budding man-breasts, or “moobs” as they’re sometimes referred to. But alas you’re not here to read about my imminent ability to lactate so let’s crack on with a section I like to call “Passion For Fashion”.

Paladin's Receive The Fashion Passion

First off, I gotta commend Bizzard on doing a fine job of creating interesting and grandiose armour that really captures not only the essence of each class but also the feeling of power and achievement behind them. I know some people hate WoW’s over-the-top cartoony appearance and, yes, although a lot of characters do end up looking like Power Rangers with fluorescent over-sized ’80s shoulder pads, I find the artist style of the game quite appealing. Ironically, when WoW first came out I really wasn’t a fan of the art direction but over the years it’s grown on me and it’s certainly allowed the game to age gracefully. EQ2 in comparison looks and runs like a dog’s dinner now and I’m glad for anything which offers armour in colours other than grey, grey and greyer.

Whenever Blizzard release new armour sets, I immediately rush to check out the Warrior set as it’s my favourite class. After the stunning Tier 10 Warrior threads, I was hoping for something equally awesome but instead found myself a little disappointed with the Arena Season 8 design. It’s OK, I suppose, and certainly not as ugly as the ridiculous looking Hunter armour but I just don’t understand Blizzard fascination with half-cut helmets/face-plates. I quite dig the fact that it’s red and spikey but, honestly, do you want to run around with your Warrior worrying that if you nod too quickly you’ll impale yourself through the face?

The Death Knight, Rogue and Warlock armour are certainly rising to the top of the class though and get a solid grade B for coolness, inspiration and quirkiness. Although not as funky as the Tier 10 Scarecrow version, the Arena Season 8 Rogue armour has an odd charm to it that I find appealing. I’m pretty sure the designers have given up trying to make Rogues look as if they are wearing leather to enhance their sneaking ability and have just opted for crazy spikes and weird shoulder pads. Works for me.

The real winner here though is Blizzard’s Favoured Son, the Paladin. Being Scottish I loved their skirt armour from Tier 10 and being a teenager at heart, I love this new look with it’s crazily exaggerated shoulder pads and plumed helm. The style suits their class down to a T and it captures the spirit of the Holy Crusader perfectly. Well played, Blizzard, well played.

So there you have it. Tim Gunn eat your heart out.

Original post from: We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog

WoW Arena Season 8: Fashion Victim

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