In the second half of his two part article called "To Be A Hero" (Part One is here), Jonathan Steinhauer gives us more of his personal take on how MMORPGs and how players want to be the center of that universe.
Every other Monday, Steinhauer brings us his design related MMO thoughts in this column.
Another method of achievement is through the use of competitions. Asheron's Call had a story writing contest that generated over a thousand submissions and the top nine were placed in game as actual books you could purchase from vendors. Other contests games have introduced have been as varied as screenshots and cloak designs.
But recognition isn't the sole property of game designers. Many guilds host contests, the most popular being PvP matches. Back when I played AC, my guild setup its own rank structure which awarded members for participation with the prize being different colored robes. Admittedly, player-based fame has the tendency to be more localized, but it does give the opportunity for increased prominence among the fellow gamers that you know the best.
Read more after the leap.
Comment | View Article
Comments Off
Sean Bulger is back with a new column in his bi-weekly look at issues of community and MMOs. This column focuses on player made content: what's good, what's bad.
As strange as it may seem to some, there are plenty of people out there who enjoy creating things by using parts of the game they play, or by creating something for the game. Even more people like to enjoy those creations - more so the videos in this day of age. This is also something that developers could take advantage of when trying to build a strong community.
Read more after the leap.
Comment | View Article
Comments Off
This Monday, Jonathan Steinhauer begins a look at a new issue in his bi-weekly column. In "To Be A Hero" asks the fundamental question that we all face when it comes to our time, our darkness and MMOs: why do we play?
Why do we play MMOs (or adventure style games of any sort)? Fundamentally, one would hope, because they are fun. Aside from that, there are a myriad of reasons, but a major one is that it gives us a chance to be heroic in a way we really can't in real life (and if we could, probably wouldn't want to given the massive death rate our avatars suffer). Games give us the chance to be "the hero." Yet how can we truly be the hero in a world where 100% of the world's population are hero-aspirants and each step down the road to renown is identical for everyone?
Read more after the jump.
Comment | View Article
Comments Off
WarCry is proud to announce that on Thursday March 20th, we'll be hosting the developers of Pirates of the Burning Sea. The event is a chance for fans to get their questions in with the guys from Flying Lab Software in real time. The chat will kick off at 8:00pm EDT (5:00pm PDT).
When: 03/20/2008 8pm EST
Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry
Who: The following Flying Lab developers will be on hand.
- Russell Williams (FLS CEO)
- Kevin Maginn (Lead Game Designer)
- Joe Ludwig (Producer)
- David Hunt (Game Designer)
- Drew Clowery (Game Designer)
- Troy Hewitt (Director of Community Relations)
- Tom Atkinson-Edwards (Community Specialist)
Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or Chatspike's IRC Client.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Comment | View Article
Comments Off
In the second part of a two part look at The Close Combat Archer (click here for part one), columnist Jonathan Steinhauer looks at the design of this tricky class in MMOs.
In the medieval era, a man who was struck by an arrow in the chest was either dead or severely injured, whereas in gaming, a man who is hit by ten arrows might very well shrug them off and win the day.
What does all this mean for archers? Simply this. The potency of archery is to inflict damage at range before the target can get into melee. But when health is super-inflated to offer the survivability necessary in MMOs it also makes the task of an archer killing its opponent at range almost impossible.
Read more after the jump.
Comment | View Article
Comments Off