We Fly Spitfires – MMORPG Blog

I did a jig of joy this morning as I awoke to an email from my team of Norwegian designer monkeys containing a lovely favicon for my blog. At last, I no longer need to deal with the shame of lacking a tiny browser icon for my site! Take that Internet!

Of course, it’s also that time of the week again when I whip open my RSS reader and randomly pick articles with my eyes closed. Erm, I mean handpick a selection of the finest blog posts from around the globe within the last seven days.

• Stargrace puts my 300 posts to shame as she celebrates a stonking 1500 posts. Hats off to you Stargrace, you’re an inspiration to all bloggers out there (including myself). Big congratulations and here’s to the next 1500!
• In lieu of last weeks ruckus over the Allods Online cash shop, Game By Night says lets take everything in sensible proportion and not overreact.
• Brian “Psychochild” Green isn’t attending this years General Dental Council. Hmm maybe he’s talking about the Games Developer Conference…
• Ever wanted to see Kirsten Dunst sing “I’m Turning Japanese” whilst running around Akihabara in Tokyo? Well now’s your chance.
• CrazyKinux gives a history of the EVE Blog Pack. I just discovered this blog last week and it’s jolly excellent.
• Pete from Dragonchasers is feeling the pinch and ponders if MMORPG expansions are getting a bit pricey these days.
• That MMORPG Genius, Dustin, ponder whether World of Warcraft is bad for bloggers and if it’s addictive grasp causes us to ignore our blogs. It doesn’t cause me to ignore my blog, just wish I only needed 3 hours sleep a night like Batman.
• I had an excellent Buzz conversation, started by Krystalle, with a bunch of folk about phishing emails that basically turned into Batman vs Chuck Norris. My was vote for Batman.

P.S. Thanks again to Espen for his hard work on the favicon. Looks great!

WAR 40K - making shoulder pads from the 80s look small

There really isn’t much to be known about the upcoming Warhammer 40K MMORPG or even if it will ever materialise (let’s face it, it’s not uncommon for MMOs to die before even hitting the shelves). Still, after the disappointing Warhammer Online MMO from 2008, I’m hoping for a better implementation of such an exciting IP.

Although I never played the original table top game, I did use to paint the miniatures when I was a kid (my secret shame revealed to the world) and always enjoyed the style of WAR 40K. It’s over the top sci-fi theme and darkness was always very original and appealed to the geek in me (as most geeky things do). It’s still early days but here are some of the things I’d like to see in the Warhammer 40K MMORPG:

Ditch the Holy Trinity

The Tank/Healer/DPS combo is just so passé now. I know it’s a hard thing to escape but I’d like to see some MMORPGs try a different model. Perhaps it involves restricting healing to downtime only and giving all classes equal ability to take and give out damage. Wild fantasies of thought, I concede, but one can dream.

Diverse racial areas

Although Warhammer Online offered some nice and different starting areas, I was a little disappointed when they canned the racial cities and went live with only two, one for each side. Maybe it’s just nostalgia from the original Everquest but I always loved the variety of cities that the game offered and I feel that it gives the player not only a strong connection to the identity of their character’s race but also makes the whole world feel more alive and vibrant.

Interesting classes

Assuming WAR 40K is going down the themepark class route, I’d like to see some original and interesting classes come our way. I’m just plain tired of seeing remixes of Warriors, Rogues and Mages all of the time.

An immersive world

Tying in with my point about racial cities, one of the mistakes a lot of MMORPGs make (at least in my opinion) is their dramatic separation of content (i.e. you can’t run from A to B, instead you teleport between zones or queue up for action areas) which in turn kills immersion. I don’t want to play a glorified arcade game based around an online chat room, I want to escape into a character who inhabits a growing, bustling and living online world. Easy to say, hard to accomplish, I know.

Fast paced combat

If any setting is going to be suitable for fast paced combat, it will be a sci-fi one and especially Warhammer 40K. Laser guns, Terminators, vehicles, giant robots and rabid aliens, I can’t think of a MMO that would suit a depature from the traditional hotbar, click 1-2-3 action keys more than this IP. I’m not talking about FPS or twitch-based mechanics suitable to only hardcore gamers with lighting fast reflexes, just give us something a little less mundane that the usual fair.

IGN PC had an article today with a quote from THQ President and CEO Brian Farrell in which he states that the forthcoming Warhammer 40K MMORPG won’t be competing with World of Warcraft.

Just when you thought Warhammer 40K couldn't get any cooler

Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder? Isn’t that a little like saying Burger King doesn’t compete with KFC or the Xbox 360 doesn’t compete with the PS3? Of course Warhamer 40K will be competing with WoW! Just because it has guns instead of bows doesn’t mean it suddenly appeals to a whole new set of gamer or will suddenly cause 10 million dormant MMORPG players to crawl out of the woodworks and subscribe to it.

Yes, I duly take the point that the MMO market is expanding and that there are players who are diehard WAR 40K fans and those who love WoW and will never leave it but to assume that a MMORPG can be as equally successful as World of Warcraft without eating into its playerbase seems incredibly naive. Equally so, it seems very foolish to think that the majority of players would be willing to subscribe to multiple MMOs at once. It’s been my experience as a longtime MMORPG gamer (if that counts for anything) that, apart from a short period of ‘tourism’, players tend to focus on one game at a time and don’t the time nor money to play several at once.

The whole idea of being able to accrue millions of subscribers without competing against WoW seems spectacularly optimistic at best and utterly clueless at worst. This foggy thought resulting in a lack of realism also seems like a convenient excuse for not actually having to try hard enough with development. It’s easy to excuse lack of polish and gameplay if there’s no need to compete against World of Warcraft and it seems to be like a failing attitude right from the start.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with MMORPGs having a modest subscriber base but if a development company is truly beholden to the idea of creating the same success as World of Wacraft then they have to be realistic about what it means. If a MMO is going to achieve 11 million plus subscribers then it means taken on Blizzard at their own game (pardon the pun), directly competing against them, and producing a product that is more fun, more highly polished, and better in every single way. Only then will a game have the chance of succeeding in the same capacity.

It’s often hard to gauge the ’success’ (if we can use that word although we really shouldn’t) of a blog. To some, 10 regular readers is a success yet to others only 100,000 will suffice. It’s all relative. And even then, rewards can vary and are often very subjective. Professional bloggers are successful because they make enough money to earn a living; I’m successful because I get the occasionally flattering email or comment that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Regardless, success is hard to measure. But there is one way…

Here are the steps, in ascending order, of knowing if you’re blog is successful:

1. You get automated spam comments advertising viagra, dental floss or facelifts

Receiving that first comment in your spam folder is such a lovely feeling. Finally you know that the world of the Interweb has accepted you into it’s emotionally scarred bosom. Enjoy this first moment and soak it up, it will never feel the same again.

2. You get automated spam emails from people looking to advertise their online casino or Flash based MMO on your blog

Now you’re warming up! Not only are the spammer targeting your comments section with automatic spam but they’re now sending you direct emails too! Those clever devils. Advertise for an online Chinese casino on my blog? Sure, thing! Need my bank account details to send me my massive cheque? Of course!

3. You get personalised spam comments from trolls

What’s that? Someone took several minutes out of their lives to think up poorly worded insults and badly written slurs? This is the sign you’re truly starting to make it as a blogger so savour every moment of it. Take a screenshot of those comments and email it to your mum for her to see your new found success.

4. You have your own nemesis

Ahh, now you’re starting to get really popular! Your own personal stalker who can’t write their own original blog posts and instead has to counter everything you say with their own parasitic rebuttal. The nemesis is rare and few and far between so count yourself lucky if you’re one of the few with their own personal stalker. And remember, underneath that veil of pretence is someone who admires you deeply.

5. You have your own parody

Whoa! Jackpot, baby! Imitation is the highest form of flattery, as they say. Very few bloggers have had their own parody before and it’s truly a sign of greatness when it happens. Highly sycophantic, incredibly funny and very flattering, just be wary that the person parodying you is probably fantasising about wearing your skin as a mask.

I reckon I’m just starting to edge into #3 and I’m looking forward to achieving the next few steps over the years to come (one can only hope). Where does your blog reside?

Please excuse the vulgarity of the title and my apologies to any prostitutes reading, it’s nothing personal against your profession.

I’ve been using the World of Warcraft Dungeon Finder tool quite a lot recently and every time I’ve finished a ‘run’, I feel like I need to take a bath. The whole experience leaves me feeling dirty (and I don’t mean that in a good way). Unless I’m playing with friends, my typical experience finds me receiving a group invite immediately after selecting myself to fill the tank role (talk about instant gratification or what) and then thrown into a room surrounded by my new Johns.

“Go”, is usually the first word to be uttered by one of the Johns. “Hi there”, I reply. “Go, go!” they respond. “Everyone buffed up and ready to start?” I enquire. “Go, go, go, go!” they persist. I pull the first couple of enemies and start to tank them. “Bigger pulls! Pull bigger!” someone demands. I pull more. “Bigger, bigger, bigger”, the Mage runs off to nuke a huge cluster of enemies around the corner. I let him die.

After learning their lesson, my Johns become submissive and let me lead the show. Like a robotic German surgeon, we cleanly and efficiently finish the dungeon in record time and in pure silence. Silence is best I find, who wants to form lasting bonds and friendships with other players anyway? Sometimes my efforts are appreciated with a “ty” or “gj”. I savor those moments and add them to my mental memory box of happy thoughts so I can whip them out to cheer myself up when I’m feeling sad or depressed. Finally, I scurry off to check my rewards.

A little bit of coin, a few blue tanking items that the Warlock didn’t roll ‘need’ on and a random reward in a sack of delight. My job is finished, my Johns satisfied, I feel used and abused. But a little bit closer to the next level… and that’s all that matters.

I just noticed that yesterday’s article was my 300th blog post. Absolutely insane, I tell you. For some reason the number caught my attention and really sticks out to me as a landmark. I guess that when I first started my poor little blog back at the end of the 2008, I never thought I’d stick it out for so long. And not only have I stuck it out but I’ve been loving every minute of it (except for when I get called a cock for writing provocative guest posts… well, maybe just a little).

300. Good comic. Good film. Good number of blog posts.

If you look through my archives, I started off pretty strong in January 2009 and posted very frequently but it then it all took a big nose dive in the Spring as my commitment wavered. Back in March and April 2009, the pressures and commitments of work and relationships made it difficult for me to clear a path for my budding blogging hobby and I found things just weren’t clicking.

However, I woke up one day in May and decided, with sheer utter determination, that I was going to make a solid go of this whole blogging lark and since then I’ve been blogging almost every day with no sign of stopping. I think now I can honestly understand the whole mentality behind mind over matter and all that guff. If you want to accomplish something, you just have to make it happen regardless of the obstacles. Of course, now it sounds like my blog has done something tremendous like found the cure of cancer which it hasn’t (yet… that tomorrow’s post) but it’s still a personal sign to myself that I can actually do the things I want in life.

I’ve gained so much out of blogging that I never anticipated. I’ve made great cyber friends through other blogs and social networking and learnt more about MMORPGs than I ever could have imagined due to all of the great feedback I’ve had and other blogs that I’ve discovered. It’s all been very rewarding. If, of course, you think knowing a lot about an addictive video gaming genre is valuable.

My writing, another passion of mine, has also developed a lot in my last 300 posts. I started off very self-conscious then went through the stale, purely objective phase and now I’m entering more of a subjective, personal and intimate phase. I’m restraining myself less and writing more sarcastic and opinionated articles which are hopefully more humorous and engaging. It may not be to everyone’s tastes but it’s very interesting to me to see my style of writing evolve this way. I guess now I’m off the opinion that I want to challenge and shake things up a little (in a very British mild-mannered and sexual repressed kind of way).

So that was post number 301. Tomorrow, more interesting facts such as how I’ve received 4,033 comments, some not even spam. Excited? I bet you are.

It’s that time of the week again where I slack off from blogging and instead highlight some of the mostly MMORPG related wonders of the web from the past week. Yep, I know what you’re thinking – getting listed here is like winning an Oscar, only better right? Damn straight.

• A lot of bloggers this week have been consumed with Allods Online, it’s almost offical launch and cash shop blunder. Petter, the one who does not fear mutants, sums up his thoughts on the game. Meanwhile Keen isn’t a happy chappy and doesn’t like the goings on with it’s overly expensive items. Our favourite rascal Syncaine even has his say about why the move has completely harmed F2P models.
• Google Buzz was another hot potato this week, some loving it, some hating it. Scarybooster reckons Buzz killed his Twitter friends (figuratively, not literally) and Pete from Dragon Chasers reveals how to hook your blog up to your Buzz feed if you so desire. Useful stuff indeed.
• Kirai gives us chocolate flavoured soda pop. Hmm… yummy.
• Ferrel from Epic Slant looks at the launch of Everquest 2’s latest expansion, Sentinel’s Fate.
• Wolfshead, MMO blogger extraordinaire, discusses the importance of newbie friendly games and starting areas and how Blizzard and SOE are both now taking note of the exact same thing.
• On an adorable note, the Big Bear Butt blogasaurus has a heart warming article about his son venturing forth into the World of Warcraft to slay bunnies (and other hideous creatures). For some reason my comments on his blog get eaten by his spam filter. Guess he doesn’t like the British much.
• And finally the genius that is Charlie Brooker discusses why he’s an e-book convert. His rationale? You can read trashy celebrity autobiographies with no one being any the wiser. E-books: hide your shame!

So there’s my hodge-podge pick of the week or, at least, what I can remember of it. I spent most of last week in an opium daze. I kid. It was more of a malaise than a daze.