A Bounty

So the new bounty quests have arrived for us level 60s. Easy IXP and a nice opportunity to go and visit all those places we had maybe forgotten about whilst scrubbing around in Moria. I think this system needs expanding, as it has great potential. My idea? Reputation. At present gaining reputation always ends in a grind. Aside from the dwarven Reputation in Moria (pick one, not both) most rep gaining never comfortably sat within the questing chain. When Forochel was released a dev bravely stated that rep could be gained easily, and that by following quests, reputation would progress at a comparable rate. It never did. Forochel was the first area I gained Kindred with - I wanted the armour - but it was a grind. So how about creating a series of bounty quests across all the 'tiers' of leveling? The only difference would be to tie earlier bounty quests into reputation instead of IXP. Turbine have created a nice idea, that has plenty of room for evolution and experimentation, I just hope they don't let it stay as it is and instead try to integrate the bounty system into the rest of the game, so all levels can have a go.

Aion - The Emperors new clothes?

For most people, entry into a new MMO is a solitary affair. Attracted by good reviews, compelling gameplay or a rich lore, lots of players begin on their own, usually killing wolves or boars. The game needs to grab thier attention, in a meaningful way and quickly. It needs to stamp it's identity within the first few hours of play, a message to the player, 'this is ultimatley what the game is going to be about... are you in?' In WAR, within the first few levels, and within the first hour of play you are given the chance to take part in PVP, in LOTRO the game starts with the beginning of the Epic quest chain and WoW gives you a dungeon reasonably early on in the game. All of these beginnings tell the new player, what the focus of the game will be, stamping it's identity early on with the implicit promise that if you like this now, you will absolutley love our 'end game'.

If Aion has one of these 'mission statements' early on in the game, then it's difficult to find. There's no arguement that what Aion does, it does well... but here in lies the puzzle. What exactly does Aion do that others before haven't? Playing through the early levels, up to the first class change the game feels comfortable. Everything you would expect is there. A steady ladder to climb, whilst unlocking new skills and gaining access to new areas. There's even crafting. All the desired classes are present and correct: The holy (or un-holy) trinity reveals itself more clearly at level ten, with classes more clearly dividing into tank / healer / dps, but nothing challenges our understanding of how an MMO should work, it all feels very comfortable.

If we were to believe the MMO community we desire change, we desire something new. If we were to look at the buzz and opinions and initial pre-order sales of Aion we would be led to believe that the MMO community actually wants nothing of the sort. Alot of people seem to think that Aion is a new MMO, breathing fresh air into stagnent market. But the same people seem to be missing the fact that it is a year old Korean import, with a very tradtional structure that can be found in other (free games) such as Perfect World or Runes of Magic. But then to actually acknowledge that would suggest that the much derided free to play market may not be that bad.

Most alarming is the belief that the game is good because it is pretty. Much has been made of the game's looks, and there's good reason for this. Character models are beautiful, landscapes are indeed pretty, but having been beaten across the head with countless discussion and pictures and videos, the end result when standing in the world is a feeling of academic appreciation, sure it's pretty, but it feels a bit clinical. It lacks that emotional pull of something like the vast emptiness of Eve's universe or the first steps into Lothlorien in LOTRO, or even blighted granduer of the Undercity in WoW.

A generation of Youtube watchers and media downloaders, has dismissed content and context for immediate gratification, the immediate lush visuals of Aion tap into this market. The feminisation of the male form sits in distinct contrast to the bearded men of LOTRO and AoC, but presents an image that exsists in the wider media, no burly adventurers here, but magazine models and pop stars. The females in the game are all young, pert and present images of perfection, again an image that can be seen in every magzine, advert or film. All flawless and 'buff'. The overall effect is a shallow veneer but it's veneer that many gamers will not bother to scratch at, instead many will believe that better means prettier.

Like many korean MMOs before it, Aion has everything it should have, everything is exactly where it should be, and everthing does what it should, but at no point does it surprise, shock, excite. It just presents a long, pretty, and predictable road to an endgame that has been the focus of korean MMOs for years - PvP

Of course the game is going to be massive, and result in more challenging or interesting MMOs falling by the wayside. Whether it has a shelf life with it's large scale PvP depends on whether enough people populate the servers. balancing this will be a challenge, as WAR found out to it's detriment. Interestingly, one thing Aion did seem to do that was innovative in it's original Korean form was eschew the more traditional monthly subscription model, and the free to play with cash shop option. instead the original version of the game allowed players to play for game time, in-game time. Unfortunalty this one innovation has been dropped for it's western release.

Books, Betas and busted PCs... plus a few monsters

So haven't updated this blog for some time. I thought I'd quickly post this before I decide to post something a bit more meaningful.

Well first things first, Book update has been a fair success in my eyes, and the new patch with better crafting means I should really get off my arse and level my metalsmithing. New bounty quests are a nice addition, I would love to see this expanded on in the future.

Haven't posted in a while, due to a number of things: My PC broke (most annoying), Book 8 came out, I got into the 'Fallen Earth' closed beta (can't remember when I actually signed up for this) and 'Monster Hunter Freedom: Unite' (catchy name I know) was finally released, and my 4 year obsession with the series was rekindled. It helps that I can now get the damn thing online through the Playstation Network and the wonderful Japanese programme 'Ad-hoc Party'.

When I can think of more interesting things to write about, I'm sure I will.

Team Fortress 2 - meeting my makers

Finally found where the snapshots end up...

Can we have tattoos please?

So I was messing around in Photoshop, making portraits of my characters... not sure why, just seemed like a fun thing to do. Anyway, I got a bit carried away with my Champ's portrait and gave him some tattoos... and it got me thinking. Could we have tattoos in the actual game?

Hope and Dread... or whatever

There has been much discussion and heated argument on the official forums, and other interweb haunts, concerning radiance and radiance requirements, there is even a forum petition. I've been a bit unsure what my own feelings are towards the whole radiance / gloom, radiance armour / gated content thing-a-ma-jig. I was fairly sure I didn't really like it, but I was fairly sure it wasn't for all the reasons that had been mentioned. Well, today I had an epiphany. I realised that I dislike the system, because this whole radiance/gloom/hope/dread... or whatever the hell it's called nowadays has stopped making sense.

Back in the days of Shadows of Angmar (much better days than today. Apparently) hope and dread made perfect sense. As much as we don't like to admit it, we are not heroes in Middle Earth. We are tailers, farmers and scholars trying to help the real heroes complete their quest. Because of this Dread and Hope made perfect sense. It was no surprise I'd feel a sense of Dread when traveling through the Great Barrow. Thorog filled me with lots and lots of Dread... he was. afterall, a Giant Zombie Dragon. The Balrog quite reasonably could wipe all hope from me and leave me cowering. And it was fitting that a Minstrel could fill my heart with hope and remove that nagging feeling of Dread. This all made sense. It was a logical system, even elegant.

Now. To the Watcher. This is what confuses me. By the time I faced The Watcher in the 12 man raid, I like most others I assume, had already faced the thing at least twice. I hadn't felt that dreadful... sorry gloomy... or whatever, on both of those occassions, so what had changed? I was a fair few levels higher, I was wearing better gear and had finished off a few deeds to nudge up those all important stats. If anything I should be feeling hopeful... sorry, radiant? But instead I cowered... like a big girly cowerer. With Book 8 comes a new 12 man raid and a radiance pre-requisite. But what are we facing in this new raid? Oh right... orcs. Yeah, actually that does make me feel a little gloomy.

I don't mind a system that means I need specific armour / weapons for a particular fight, but using hope/radiance or whatever as the deciding factor just makes no sense, and turns a logical and thematically fitting game mechanic into an artifical barrier

Defenders of Eriador - Kin Duo Event

We are currently running an on-going kin event over in DoE. Seven teams of two are slowly working there way through all the 6 man instances in LoTRO. So far the Great Barrow has been done and teams are currently working on Garth Agarwen

The scoring:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=r1tOgym29k1Y4forBb7oacg

Team 5's Great Barrow run, not sure how far a Burg and a Champ will get later on. I cut the video to 'The Man Comes Around' but copyright meant I had to remove it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eoi7Ne0kXo