One question…
How many of you have played games on a console but not on your PC? Alternatively, how many of you play games on your PC but haven’t bothered to buy a console, or have one collecting dust somewhere?
I’ll comment more after I see what the responses are like.
End part one….
Stealing, Thieving, Pickpocketing, Robbing, Breaking and Entering… Should this sort of stuff be allowed in our MMORPGs? There is certainly a nice adrenaline rush to the process of robbing someone blind and getting away with it, but what about the victim? I had a car stolen once and I felt completely violated and helpless. For me though, it wasn’t that my car was stolen, it was that I didn’t know who did it and I couldn’t DO anything about it. All of my anger and venting was towards a ghost.
Anyway…does having these skills and abilities in a MMORPG make it better? If you remove the thieving bits from the classical rogue archetype, is sneaking, backstabbing, and picklock enough? Do they HAVE to be able to steal? I’m not asking about how to implement this, or rules and restrictions to keep things fair or not, but rather what do you think about having it as part of the game to start with?
Stealing, pickpocketing, corpse looting, robbing player homes…you get the idea.
Give me your arguments for or against and any personal anecdotes. Try to look at things from the other point of view as well. Some things are a necessary evil…and others are not at all.
People are willing to spend hundreds of dollars for characters, items (useful or fluff), gold, virtual land, “premium” access, privilege and even life-time accounts. But what else would they be willing to part with their hard-earned money for?
I’ve charged people to officiate weddings in some games, I’ve seen artists charge gamers to draw their pencil/paper RPG characters, and I know a few talented writer types that have charged to write cool backgrounds or stories for their friend’s favorite characters.
Would you pay to name a street in a city? How about christening a bar or tavern in some metropolis? What about naming a creature or being able to design a creature? How about having your favorite RPG character immortalized in the history and lore of an MMO?
Continue reading What Price Fame and Immortality?
So, I joined Guild Cafe and made a profile. Go check it out and add me to your friends list.
The site is pretty cool, lots of nice features, but it feels like it is still missing some stuff. I’m not surprised to see someone trying to combine myspace and MMORPGs, but I haven’t seen anyone doing it *right* yet. Still though, Guildcafe has a nice start. Let’s see how it turns out.
I don’t usually plug stuff, but I think this is worth it. The Intel 2007 Game Demo contest has started and a new friend of mine has an entry there. He was in the lead with over 800 votes when Intel reset everything to “officially” start the contest…again. So, now he only has 28 votes.
Go check out his game, Hexaxis XXI and if you like it, give him a vote!
I met him a few weeks ago at the Digital Games Expo here in Raleigh and he really impressed me with his skills and creativity.
Thanks!
Yep, part one of the interview is live.
Reading over my own comments, I realize I should have edited them a bit more than I initially did. Silly me. Still though, take a look to see what I think about some stuff and my own real world MMORPG adventure with Neogence Studios and Immortal Destiny.
Robert / Nicodemus
I’ve been paying attention to the forums here so much I’ve neglected posting here. Omg wth! To make up for it, I thought I would come up with a snazzy lolcatz title (hey, everyone else is doing it) that would surely make its way across the internet, RSS feeds, reposts, and linkbacks. This will assuredly draw your eyes to these very words! Ah, the power of greysku…er the internet!
Anyway, I just moved into a new place and the stupid AC doesn’t work. APPARENTLY my anti-industry rantings have caused a small cabal of evil developers to band together and they have set out to silence me. Galileo knows what I’m talking about. Anyway, these guys are total amateurs. I caught them trying to load a copy of Vanguard on my computer (dorks) and they had the nerve to throw old AOL disks at me like shurikens. HA!
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition you know.
Continue reading I’m in ur market stealing yer customers…meowlolz
Even if it is just across town, moving sucks. Royally.
//long rant about moving, cable installation, utilities transfer, etc. etc.//
Shwew. Almost as bad as trying to move a large guild from one MOG to another or herding cats. Anyway, I’m getting settled now. I’ll post something interesting here soon.
ITwire.com reports that Google recently filed a patent for monitoring player character behaviors in MMORPGs to build user profiles which are then used to target in-game advertising to players.
I used to think that the people over at Google were pretty smart. Apparently, they are dumber than a noob begging for gold. Oh wait, we should show that guy advertisements for credit card offers.
One would think that Google staffers would at least run a quick search on what a MMORPG actually is. They are supposed to have the world’s most powerful search engine, right?
Some conversation about independent MMORPGs has started in my last post, mostly about getting exposure and getting the word out.
So here is my challenge, if you are working on or starting an independent MMORPG, drop me a line. Tell us about what you are working on and what your goals are. Get on the radar. No, I won’t ask you about the super secret stuff you should be keeping under NDA, but I will talk about you.
Be careful if you ask for my opinion though, I’m a mean old ogre and very critical!
So, what are you working on?
PS: I’m interested in non-game virtual worlds, as well as any MMO style projects going on in the academic and “serious games” sectors.