Communism and WarCraft

Simpson’s Paradox talks about culture clash and WoW. The subject starts out as red communist party insignia:

…receiving one is a prerequisite for joining the Party as an adult. Although my colleagues tell me that the best students get the first honglinjin, but virtually every student in the class gets one eventually.

“You know what that means?” Stick asked.

“Um, some of your kids are right on track to join the communist party?”

“No! It’s almost Children’s Day! We have to get on WarCraft to run the Children’s Day seasonal quests!”

Full article here.

HiPiHi: more than Chinese Second Life

A post on VGViews discusses HiPiHi, China’s answer to Second Life:

HiPiHi is pretty new, and so it’s struggling to get out of the shadow of Second Life. The similarities are pretty strong, but I think there’s enough interest in virtual worlds to keep both going. Also, China’s market share in MMORPGs is growing by the minute, so there are more and more online citizens, which are all potential HiPiHi-ers.

Chinese MMORPGs are collossal, with just huge numbers of subscribers. They’re also huge in another way, as the casual online gamer is pretty rare in China. (Which isn’t to say casual gamers are rare, just they they’re more likely to play a game on their cellphone or handheld.) Marathon gaming sessions are nothing new to Chinese high schoolers, who have been prepared for such long hours in front of the PC by marathon cramming sessions. So I don’t think HiPiHi will have any trouble getting subscribers!

Still, HiPiHi will need more than just bodies to distinguish themselves from Second Life.

Read the whole post on VGViews or check out HiPiHi’s English page.

Terraworld Online RPG

I found this mmorpg last year and I love it! It’s got a small download, only 10 megs and best of all, it’s FREE!

Terraworld runs good on low end computers and doesn’t eat up your memory like some mmorpgs I’ve played. Terraworld uses 2d graphics, which some might not like but it suits me fine. Terraworld has added more quests to the noob island (beginner’s island) and you have to complete them before you can go to the mainland. It takes longer with the new quests but I think it’s better this way. The quests help build up your stats before you get to the mainland, where the monsters are harder but the drops are better.

Terraworld has a great community with lots of helpful players. Chat is closely monitored by moderators. Spamming, shouting and cursing can get you muted and if there are repeat offendings then jail time or banning can happen.

To try out this great mmorpg just go here: www.terragaming.net

Losing Interest In WoW?

Game reviews tend to be love or hate. Either the reviewer thinks this game is better than anything else in the whole world, and you should play it RIGHT NOW! Or the reviewer hates the game, it sucks and it’s a waste of money. It’s hard to tell what’s worth playing. But here are some middle-of-the-road comments from a WoW gamer, thinking about changes in the game:
As I reach higher levels, the proportion of powergamers is increasing. Instead of occasionally finding myself in a party with one guy who’s a bit obsessed with his shiny new sword, higher levels seem to be all about the gear. Like high school from hell, only those wearing the right clothes are invited to the party… where the main subject of conversation is who has what, and where they got it. It looks like end game is entirely focused on gear.

And gold spamming has gotten out of control recently. Hawkers shout URLs in Ironforge and Goldshire like pushy sovenir vendors in Beijing. Hello! Best price! I don’t need WoW gold any more than I need a plastic doohicky embossed with the Olympics logo, and I resent the harassment. Is there that much of a market for broke WarCraft characters, who can’t follow the ads on Thotbot or google BUY WOW GOLD?

Via VGViews

WoW: Outland Interactive Map

“Beyond the Dark Portal lies the shattered realm of Outland, the broken remains of the orcs’ homeworld, Draenor. Among the ruins of this world, the survivors of the cataclysm are trying to rebuild, and in other parts of Outland, life continues to thrive. Those brave enough to make the journey through the Dark Portal will find new allies, new enemies, and limitless adventure beyond an untamed horizon.”

Aye, I’m a European player of World of Warcraft-or at least was, until very recently, since starting studying again has put a toll on my ability to be equipped with a computer actually able to handle the game. Anyway, for the interested ones, there on our official European website, I picked that nice interactive map of Outland. I have no idea when I’m able myself to discover it in game, and for the moment, the map can and will do. Isn’t it the same for everyone else, waiting as we are for Burning Crusade.

So here I go, clicking on the various areas of the map to discover new names, new zones, new information about this odd and still unknown land. Yes, perhaps my avatar in WoW will never set her digital feet there at all; right now, though, it can be interesting to try to imagine what all these areas will actually be like…

World of Warcraft: Blood Elves In Action

Every WoW player (or almost) must be awaiting the Burning Crusade expansion, and with reason: it seems to bring quite its lot of end-game content, lore, and the new races and profession.We still don’t know what the Alliance race will be–I very much doubt it’s going to be this–but just for your eyes’ pleasure, here’s a link to a video from the Blizzcon showing the soon-to-come Blood Elves in action.

The 360° every two jumps look a bit weird to me (well, alright, it looks really weird–at least the Kaldoreis’ sommersault seemed to fit better), but I must confess that it’s going to be interesting to try one once the expansion is finally out, just for the sake of seing on my screen something a little different from my own character.

Hidden Prison In Second Life Revealed

Although not playing the game as often as I used to, I still keep up at regular intervals with what happens in the world of Second Life. A few days ago, Tony Walsh at Clickable Culture posted an interesting article about the hidden prison of the ‘Corn Field’:

Nimrod Yaffle, a resident of the virtual world Second Life, has revealed details of a bizarre and dark prison Second Life’s maker Linden Lab is now using to lock up criminal avatars. Dubbed the “The Corn Field,” the moonlit environment contains only rows of corn, two television sets, an aging tractor and a one-way teleport terminal allowing no escape. It exists as an alternative to standard disciplinary measures, which traditionally prevent access to Second Life completely.

While this isn’t new in the little corner of MMORPGs (I know of at least one other game that makes use of a ‘jail’ to help unruly residents to calm down), there hadn’t been confirmation until recently of the rumor about the Corn Field, and lots of people simply were unaware of its existence. The prison is used as an alternative to standard measures, such as short-term ban. If a player ends up permanently banned from the game, s/he won’t have acces to it at all anymore, including the Corn Field.

The TV set in the prison only displays one “movie”, communications with the main grid are cut off, and one cannot create objects there. Of course, I suppose that nothing prevents the player from logging off and doing something else (I don’t know how long the punishment is meant to last–it probably depends on the offense itself). I’m not sure myself of what might get out of the use of such a simulator (as the article mentions it, people in Second Life are one bunch of curious fellows, and it indeed wouldn’t be that surprising to see some commit an “offense” just to be sent there and see the place with their own eyes!). At least it’s an original enough setting, in a way.

Conquer Online: Who Wants To Move From Kylin Server?

This is the latest announcement currently up on the Conquer Online website, and it may be of interest to anyone playing on the (overpopulated) Kylin server:

To ease the population of the Kylin server, we give the option for our players on Kylin server to move their characters to the new server named Saturn in Galaxy Group.

If you wish to participate, visit http://account.conqueronline.com/enzf/split/Kylin/ to learn the details and start the process!

After you submit your move decision, please remember to check your move status by selecting “I wish to check My Current Move Decision. Here is my Conquer account ID and password” at http://account.conqueronline.com/enzf/split/Kylin.

The new server will be named “Saturn”. Be aware, though, that you need to make your decision before Jan 17, 2006 9:59pm PST. After this date, the move won’t be possible anymore.

In the case of move, the characters’ guild, spouses, friends and enemies will be transferred along onto the new server. However, if the others players don’t follow this move and remain on Kylin, one won’t be able to meet them anymore, will find oneself in a guild without a leader, and so on. Better think the decision over, indeed!

(Source: MMORPG.com)

World of Warcraft: Expansion Pack

Several years have passed since the Burning Legion’s defeat at Mount Hyjal and the races of Azeroth have continued to rebuild their once shattered lives. With renewed strength, the heroes of the Horde and Alliance have begun to explore new lands and broken through the Dark Portal to investigate the realms beyond the known world. Will these heroes find friends or foes? What dangers and rewards lie in wait beyond the Dark Portal? And what will they do when they discover that the demons they thought vanquished have returned to renew their terrible Burning Crusade?

World of Warcraft’s first expansion pack, titled The Burning Crusade, has now been officially announced. Players won’t have to get it to enjoy all of its features, but for some of them, such as the new races, it will obviously be a necessity.

Here are some of the new features and add-ons you’ll find in it:

• Two new playable races, including the magical Blood Elves
• The entire new continent of Outland, reachable through the Dark Portal
• Many new high-level dungeons to explore in Azeroth, Outland, and elsewhere
• New flying mounts in Outland
• New quests and items
• A new profession: Jewelcrafting

Special Offer on Irth Online

The game itself looks interesting for some of its announced features (non-instanced player housing, open skill system not involving levels…), even though it seems to me like one of the “calssical fantasy-types MMORPGs” out there, but one thing is certain: it never harms when one can subscribe to a MMORPG while benefitting from a few discounts.

Therefore, for anyone who would be interested in subscribing to Irth Online when it goes live on November 1st, Magic Hat Software, its conceptor, has announced a pre-launch special offer going from October 15th to October 31st:

The Pre-Launch Special Offer allows gamers to purchase Irth Online for $19.95, a 33% discount off the at-launch price of $29.95. The pre-order subscription fee will be $9.95 per month for the first six months, representing a 30% savings over the at-launch fee of $13.95 per month. Pre-Launch Special Offer orders may be placed online only at www.irthonline.com which explains the ordering procedure and payment options.
[…]
If those who pre-order Irth Online choose the option of paying in advance for three months of subscription fees, they will receive an additional, fourth month for free. This offer will not be available after Irth Online is launched.

The offer is valid for the three types of distribution (download, CD and DVD), but won’t be anymore, of course, once the game is officially launched.

If you’re among those who would’ve subscribed anyway from the start, it looks like something to keep tabs on.

ROSE Online: Q&A

Stratics presents today a series of Q&A with Gravity, makers of the famous Ragnarok Online, about ROSE Online, their upcoming MMOG. This one seems to be targeting a younger audience (namely “Teens and Tweens”), yet can probably be of interest to older players as well (after all, it looks like there is a deeper, evolving storyline happening behind).

Here’s a short excerpt of the Q&A in question:

Stratics: Why did ROSE Online choose to target the teen and tween market?

Gravity: Well ROSE is meant to be a game that people of all ages can enjoy. It’s just that there are so many games out there that are designed strictly for an older audience. We wanted to create an online game that youngsters would also like. The challenge was to create an experience that would be fun for MMO players already used to certain “MMO features� and yet palatable to the sensibilities of a tween or teen audience.

Stratics: How has ROSE Online achieved this? What features in particular are you proud of that achieve this?

Gravity: ROSE has apparent qualities like its cute, cartoon graphics and playful music that kids would like. At the same time, it has an evolving storyline of galactic struggle and adventure that more mature audiences might get into more so than kids. At any rate, the very nature of self-discovery that a player goes through as he levels his character and ventures throughout the game world is something that, I think, both the hardcore MMO player and youngster can understand and appreciate. We just tried to make it so that the game struck a chord with a child or person’s inner child.

This is only the first part, and more is likely to follow (soon?). Note that if you’re interested in taking part to the beta, you can apply here on the official website.

Second Life: GOM Closing Down

We regret to announce that Gaming Open Market will be stopping all
trading of L$ effective 10pm eastern time Sunday October 2nd. After
that, the site will remain open long enough to allow everyone to
withdraw their cash and L$ balances.

This choice has not been made lightly. However, we feel that closing the L$
market to concentrate on other projects is in the long-term best
interests of GOM.

Thank you all for taking part in what was for us an interesting adventure.

This is the e-mail I got from GOM, announcing the closing down of the service. It’s all over the place now, and has caused a bit of a turmoil in the L$’s rate in the past 24 hours. As lots of people playing Second Life know it, GOM (Gaming Open Market) has been trading the virtual world’s currency against real-world one (namely US $) for quite some time.

Coming on the heels of its former president’s resignation and of Linden Labs announcing that they’ll also hold currency exchange, this closing may not come as too much of a surprise, but it remains a blow no matter what. Given that LL’s exchange system hasn’t been implemented yet, we’re currently left with IGE’s clumsy system as the only alternative… and it’s not a very appealing one, I admit.

World of Warcraft: Everyone Has The Plague!

I couldn’t resist adding a little bit about this here, because I’ve found this bug (or should I say “intended feature that completely backlashed”?) to be highly interesting in the way it has spread. What I’m talking about is the Corrupted Blood debuff, that will kill low-level characters, and be transmitted like a viral agent by characters high enough in level to survive it:

Blizzard adds in a new instance, Zul’Gurub. Inside is the god of blood, Hakkar. Well, when you fight him he has a debuff called Corrputed Blood. It does like 250-350 damage to palyers and affects nearby players. The amazing thing is SOME PLAYERS have brought this disease (and it is a disease) back to the towns, outside of the instance. It starts spreading amongst the genral population including npcs, who can out generate the damage. Some servers have gotten so bad that you can’t go into the major cities without getting the plague (and anyone less than like level 50 nearly immediately die).

My first source about this was a post on Shacknews, but I also found this entry on Brian Carnell’s blog, that describes how exactly the “plague” was able to start spreading:

Included in the patch was a new 20-person raid instance called Zul’Grub. Some creatures in Zul’Grub randomly infect players with a Corrupted Blood, which causes a large hitpoint loss over a short period of time and can also be transmitted to other characters in the instance.

The problem is that a character with the debuff can apparently leave the instance using a hearthstone (a method of quickly teleporting back to one’s home city) and go to a major city, like Ironforge, and spread the disease to hundreds of characters. Most low-level characters will die very quickly. High level characters won’t, however, and will spread the disease. In addition, high level NPCs can also pick up the debuff and then spread it themselves.

Of course, while it wields promises of terrific roleplay for a person like me, I’m also very aware that low-level players probably don’t find this very amusing—nothing’s more frustrating than dying like that when all you wanted was to grab a couple hours playing after a day at work! I’m not sure as of yet how this is going to be fixed by Blizzard, since quarantining players hasn’t worked so far (they keep on breaking free!), but the very process has been fascinating to follow. It’s almost more true than real life itself, in a way—and almost more frightening as well, to see how something supposed to be completely created and kept in control by the hand of man has just… well, escaped from any control.

Where MMOGs Go To Die

Today, the Guardian’s games blog features a piece about developers pulling the plug on games. Last month, I had already linked to the press release regarding the end of Asheron’s Call 2; this made me think even more to what happens to MMOGs when they come to an end, and furthermore, to their players.

Nothing lasts forever, and we all know this. Sooner or later we happen to finish a standard PC or console game for the tenth time and don’t feel like playing it anymore, or the console breaks, the current OS become too different to play our old games… These things happen. My boyfriend has a good deal of games he’s had to tinker with heavily only to make them run on XP, since he had bought them ten years ago, when his machine was still running goold ole’ DOS. What about these real-time strategy games you can’t play anymore because you machine’s CPU is way too fast compared to the formerly planned calculation time? I could list many more examples.

MMOGs, in my opinion, are a different problem. It’s not about when you get tired of the game: it’s about when the developers (or other players) pull the plug. Every time I’ve seen my guilds die, it was a heartache. These were people I liked to game with, an ambience I liked to find back when I’d log in, characters I had taken time to level… Then, one day, too many people have lost interest and the guild is disbanded, the players you’ve come to be close to leave the game and you’re left “forced” to find new partners, or, like in the case of Turbine recently, the developers decide to stop the game because it doesn’t generate enough subscribers and revenue anymore. What to do, then, with your high-level characters, with this inability to play when you weren’t tired of the game yet?

There’s no argument that dedicated players of such games have spent time, energy, money and effort in developing characters, communities and online existences which are important to them, financially, emotionally and psychologically. Online friendships, economic benefits, self-efficacy - these are all important aspects of play for MMOG gamers

Where do MMOGs go when they die? Every person who plays such games has a degree of involvment with them, from casual to daily game style. Depending on this degree, a MMOG coming to a halt, or losing its appeal because of external circumstances and not because of our own perception of it, can be a hard thing to deal with. “It’s only a game”, yet we’ve had fun in it, we’ve built links and friendships, some of them having the ability to last way after the game’s end… It’s not just another nothing in one’s life.

Sometimes, I wonder if it’s really worth it, to invest money and time into a game when not knowing how long you’ll be able to have fun with it—but then, as said, nothing lasts forever. Shouldn’t we all be aware of this, and seize the day while it lasts, right?

Katrina: Help Flowing From 3D Worlds

The BBC News has an article about how donations are being gathered by residents of online worlds, namely There and Second Life:

Virtual worlds Second Life and There are using their community and technology to let players donate funds from within the games.

In Second Life, a virtual memorial has been created, where residents have been donating and placing virtual candles.

The companies behind There have also pledged to match gamers’ contributions.

“In support of these Community efforts and in response to this disaster, Makena Technologies, together with The Maya Foundation, will match the Community’s contribution up to $50,000,” a statement on the website read.

The contribution system in Second Life, notably, allows people to turn game money into real dollars, making the process even more efficient.

In these troubled times, after days of media coverage and seeing the efforts but also the awful things happening in the wake of the hurricane, it’s good to see that even in something as abstract as a “video game”, people also contribute to the much needed help.

Instancing in MMORPGs

Neil Thompson at MMORPG.com gives us an interesting editorial about instancing in MMORPGs.

Instancing (he explains it in the article) is when a specific place in a MMOG is opened only to a certain amount of players (usually, the maximum size a group can have); once this amount is reached, the next group to enter the place will appear into a new instance of it, and won’t meet the previous group. This can raise serious problems, for instance when a player gets disconnected and, upon logging back in, finds himself in another instance of the dungeon, and not with his group anymore.

This is one of the things Thompson deals with, by taking examples from Ultima Online (no instancing at all), Guild Wars (much instancing) and City of Heroes (which stands in the middle). Instancing can indeed affect gameplay and community sense to quite an extent, and the fears he exposes here are, in my opinion, legitimate enough:

I hope that instancing isn’t being seen as the way forward for MMOG, or not total instancing in the style of Guild Wars anyhow. If handled correctly I do think it can add to a game (anyone who has played Ultima Online will appreciate the joys that instanced housing would bring) otherwise is it not the same as sitting around a console with four controllers plugged into it playing a linear game with 4 friends? Part of the appeal of online gaming is surely the unpredictability that only human interaction can bring.

Not the longest nor most detailed editorial ever, but I found it a good read no matter what.

The MMOG Manifesto

Game analyst Babylona has posted a very insightful MMOG manifesto on her blog, and it was too worth the read for me not to mention it in here. It’s all about MMOGs, their industry and audience, also about her beliefs and thoughts regarding the matter.

As an appetizer (since the post is way too long to be quoted here, and Babylona’s page deserves a visit in any case, if for her other articles and not this one only), here are some of the points I especially dig out:

4. People, en masse, are extremely smart. (Individually is often a very different story.) Underestimating this has probably cost game companies – in terms of exploits, hacks, bugs, support, etc., more money than one would like to think.

5. There are ways to share control of a world that live in a space between Second Life – and its attendant ethical issues now that #4 has been proven to be true – and more traditional MMOGs.

8. Given the opportunity and the reason, players will usually take some responsibility for their environment (they already do, mostly.) Remove the opportunity and the responsibility and they will explode into tiny pieces, totally messing up your lovely landscape.

11. Players who have something to say deserve to be listened to.

13. Give them control over the world and they will reward you a hundred times over. Figure out a way to make that work AND make you money.

I may not agree with each of her points—after all, the fun in this is to think and discuss, not to nod one’s head—but they sure raise lots of thoughts and questions.

The End of Asheron’s Call 2

Following a short but to the point announcement on the official Asheron’s Call 2 website, GameSpot has published an article about the scheduled closure of Turbine’s MMORPG on December30th, 2005:

In a posting on the official Asheron’s Call 2 Web site, Jeffrey Anderson, CEO of developer and publisher Turbine Entertainment, has announced the impending death of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

“In spite of our hard work and the launch of [Asheron’s Call 2 expansion pack] Legions, AC2 has reached the point where it no longer makes sense to continue the service,” Anderson wrote. “We will be officially closing the Asheron’s Call 2 service on 12/30/05. Until then, we plan to run live events, but we will not be adding any content or features.”

A Turbine spokesperson confirmed for GameSpot that the title was no longer profitable, and will be shut down in all existing markets. All staffers previously working on Asheron’s Call 2 have been reassigned.

It very likely feels weird and sad, when a game one has played for long suddenly shuts down with only a meager four month’s notice (it’s better than nothing, at least). Perhaps the negative reactions on the AC2 forums may seem exagerated to an outsider, but anyone who’s played and liked a MMORPG knows that you can’t just erase the game and the friends you made through it in a simple matter of minutes.

(Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/08/25/news_6131975.html)

Star Wars Galaxies: House of Commons tonight

I’m not going to announce these every time they’re held, but for once I catch word of it before it’s actually over, I thought it’d be worth mentioning it. Why, yes, it’s… today.

Therefore, at 5 pm PDT/8 pm EDT, a House of Commons will be held with the developers of Star Wars Galaxies:

Once again, Stratics is pleased to announce a House of Commons with the developers of Star Wars Galaxies. Come join us tonight Wednesday, August 24th at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT / midnight UTC/GMT in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

We will cover two topics tonight; the upcoming expansion SWG:The Trials of Obi-Wan, and also last week’s XP Publish. We also have two copies of SWG:The Total Experience to give away so stick around after the HoC has ended.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado
• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta

You won’t find me there, as it’s too late for my European timezone, but don’t hesitate to fire off these IRCs, if you’re interested in knowing about SWG developments through other means than “simple” articles.

Source: Stratics.com

Read or Game: EVE Online Magazine

E:ON is the announced EVE Online official magazine, to be published quarterly: 68 pages of news, interviews, fiction, player guides and more, “all of it professionally written and produced by a dedicated team of writers and designers from within the EVE community and beyond”.

In any case, you can check the E:ON page that is now finally online. The first issue is bound to ship by October 1st, but the stock will be limited; for those who want to make sure to lay their hands on one, it can however be preordered.

Issue 001 will feature, among other things, a comparative article on the eight Heavy Assault Cruisers, three new stories illustrated by Börkur Eiríksson, guides on trading and space survival, and interviews of (seemingly) well-known players.

Tales of Eternia Online Enters Closed Beta

According to GameSpot, Namco has now begun closed beta testing for its first MMORPG, Tales of Eternia Online:

TOKYO–Namco has begun closed beta testing in Japan of its debut massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Tales of Eternia Online. As the title suggests, Tales of Eternia Online takes place in the same universe as 2000’s Tales of Eternia for the PlayStation (released in North America as Tales of Destiny II). The beta test lets players travel around the western half of Inferia, including the continents of Barole, Mints, and Moruru. The game features locations from the original console RPG, such as the village of Rashuan, where TOE’s main character Reid Hershel was born and raised.

At the current stage of beta testing, players can create up to three characters per server and select each character’s gender and class. Five different classes are currently available for selection: warrior, swordsman, martial artist, white sorcerer, and magic sorcerer. The player can choose to start out from one of three locations: the port town of Barole, the village of Moruru, or the town of Mints.

Namco being one of the newcomers in the world of MMORPGs, it’s hard to tell how things will evolve: crafting quality content for such a game is never as easy as it could seem, and anyone who has played more than one of them (or at least played one at length) knows very well that nothing is ever written in stone. For the moment, let’s simply wish well to what looks, all in all, like a nice MMOG, if still a tad bit limited regarding available classes. After all, this is closed beta only, and there’s no doubt that once the feedback starts arriving and it goes into a more open stage, things will once again have changed.

The Stages of MMO Gaming

Another reflexion today, rather than simple “news about gaming”. MMORPG.com’s writer Erich Von Hase has published an editorial on the topic of The Roles of the MMO Gamer. He starts by a description of the different “phases” a player generally goes through—and for being one of these players myself, I can tell that these are indeed exact, or at least very close to what happens.

First there is a ‘Buzz’. Players hear news of a new MMOG soon to be released or they hear good things about an MMOG from magazines, websites, or friends. Second is the ‘Acclimation’. We all know the drill - buy the game, install, and then spend a little time figuring out how to make it work. Depending on the game, it can take a few minutes, hours, or days to master the interface and basic gameplay so that we can actually get rolling. Next comes ‘Fascination’, or so the developers hope. This is the point at which players become enamored with the game, get lost in it, and make friends there. If a player doesn’t lose interest in the Acclimation phase, the Fascination phase is what sets players onto the path of the recurring monthly subscriptions. During this phase players are having too much fun to worry about the price of the subscription. It is negligible compared to the amount of fun they are having. There is so much to see and do. At this point, many of us have gotten so infected with an MMOG that we’d probably pay more each month because the game has become such a priority in our lives. But eventually, most of us lose interest for one reason or another and ask that inevitable question, ‘Why do I keep paying to play this game?’ I’ve played enough MMOGs to know that when someone asks that question, a cancelled subscription is not far to follow. Which brings us to our final stage, ‘Cancellation’, where we ask ourselves what we were thinking for playing so long and stop paying our hard earned money to do something we no longer enjoy. Although many players have gone through what could be called the ‘Reactivation’ phase, it is essentially just the cycle starting over.

The editorial also shortly comes back on the beginning of role-playing games, starting with table-top Dungeons & Dragons and 80’s early MUDs, to go on with the explanation about why nowadays’ MMO players behave the way they do. Then come a quite thorough portrait of what I could call the main “trends” in behaviors, namely the Socializers, Explorers, Conquerors and Collectors (in case anyone is wondering, I’m primarily a Socializer in this little crowd). If knowing MMORPGs a little, and taking some time to observe fellow players, one can easily see that in a nutshell, things can indeed be summarized this way.

Every time I stumble upon such an article, editorial or blog entry—you name it—, I can’t prevent myself from feeling the fascination that lies in these mechanics. Perhaps even more than other kinds of games, due to the human factor heavily involved in it (opponents and allies aren’t “only” NPCs anymore, after all), MMOGs hold, in my opinion, an important dimension regarding social behaviors as well as psychology. Which indeed gives me one more reason to plug the Daedalus Project (see my previous entry). Simply because it’s interesting and, well, instructing.

Latest Daedalus Issue

Because the latest issue (the 3-4) got out at the very end of July, I thought it would be worth a little mention here. The Daedalus Project is part of a research conducted by Nicky Yee about the demographics and psychology of MMORPGs. While this isn’t exactly about playing, and pursues a way more informative path (let’s not look for any news about the latest games there), it however contains many interesting entries regarding topics that every MMORPG player has necessarily met at some point, such as the rise and fall of guilds or the tendencies to gender-bending in these games.

For an introduction and links to the most prominent articles, you can also head to the Daedalus Gateway.

The Chronicles of Spellborn

Caught on The Chronicles of Spellborn official website, here come the first in-game screenshots. There, a Quarterstone alley lies next to the Mount of Heroes. Check out for more on the screenshots download page.

The Chronicles of Spellborn is a MMORPG currently in development for PC. Said to boast “an original setting and storyline and offering a distinctive art style, the game is being built using the renowned Unreal® Engineâ„¢”. It’s very hard right now to tell whether it will hold its promises or not (I’m used to every MMORPG not holding them completely, so I never put the cart first, so to say), but their approach to conceiving the game, even simply through the artwork, sure looks like something interesting and almost delicate. Going to keep an eye on it.

Second Life: Win a Lifetime Account

A lifetime account is a great opportunity – anyone who’ve ever played Second Life probably can tell that it is. Alas, such accounts (that cost $225 at the time, but gave you access to a permanent 500L$/week stipend as well as to a land allocation of 4096 sqm) were only available during the initial launch, and never returned since then.

In the news this week, however, is the announcement on Second Life forums that on July 31st, there’ll be a chance to win a coveted Lifetime Account. How? Here’s what Jeska Linden writes about it:

Finally you have a chance to win a coveted LIFETIME (Charter Member) Second Life Account! All you have to do is login between the hours of 7pm and 9pm PST on Sunday, July 31st. Any Resident 18 years of age or older who was logged in for at least 30 minutes during this time will be entered to win a drawing for a FREE Lifetime Account. In addition, these residents will also be entered to win one of 25 special limited edition Second Life necklaces. Just for participating, all residents (including the teens) will receive an in-world Second Life Benshee, a personalized in-world primitive pet that interacts with other Benshees it meets.

All details and rules can be found in the July 31st - Log-A-Thon 5000 Sweepstakes: Win a Lifetime Account post on the official forums.

Now, if only this wasn’t happening at a hour when it’s… uhm… either very very late at night or too early in the morning for me…

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