Massive Multiplayer Online Games

Um, is this a Good Thing? World of Warcraft is rolling in "player achievements" with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

...*sigh*

I'm slightly intrigued, but a bit more revolted by what feels like a strange addition to the game. Here's where I found a take on it that can I relate to. Although I'm on the "they pull me back in" phase of my journey with WoW, I've most certainly begun to find an end in sight with some of the end-game goofiness. Here's the thing... I've never been in the WoW end-game world before pretty recently.

I played the game since late-ish beta and loved it for a year.5, but fell out of things before ever getting to 60 with any avatars... yeah, I played the game for well over a year and never hit 60. I was always soloing or playing with a single friend while my guild went through the raid progressions of the time. I was never quite high enough level as I wasn't playing nearly as much as others in the guild. Playing catch-up for over a year finally wore on me and I let the 'scrip go.

Then, after Burning Crusade came out, I got back in to see how things were. I finally leveled to 60 and had only two people to rejoice with -- everyone else laughed and pointed. ...onward to 70! Yay. Now I've been in the world of 70's for a while and I'm of course massively undergeared, even with most peoples' 2nd or 3rd alts. Yay!

So I've found a home of sorts in the world of PvP and here's where I realize this game is testing my limits of determination for MassMOGs in the long run. I would really love to do some of the raiding since I missed out on almost all of the instances -- no exaggeration -- but I don't have time to run through any of this stuff unless that Lotto check comes in.

Running battlegrounds persistently has scored me copious amounts of honor and more AV marks than I can possibly spend (maybe I should buy another Stormpike Battle Charger, just in case my other one gets tired??). Now my gear isn't totally crap (for PvP, anyway) but I still have a LONG way to go in that world... how much more can I take of running BG's repeatedly just to get the currency to buy gear so I can run BG's more effectively??!? Oh, and by the way, Season 4 just came out, so now I'm getting rapidly outgeared -- if my outgeared gear wasn't outgeared enough already.

My nephew and a good friend of mine want to start an arena team, so that's why I'm currently motivated to gear up. We'll see how that goes, but damn, it's been months of playing just to get geared enough to feel like we can do anything worthwhile in PvP! All that gearing to prep us for more gearing! Whooo!!

Anyway, I told you all that to tell you this: Achievements??!?

Maybe I don't get it, but I'm not about to embark on the journey of re-exploring the world so I can have a new tabard to mark my achievements. Now, I might find some satisfaction in getting this achievement!

...maybe I'm missing something.

...maybe I'm just rambling about nothing worth reading. Well, you can stop now. :-P

Ya know... it's long, but just read the press release -- with all the fluff and fervor that the marketing folks could drum up:
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It’s All Access for City of Heroes and City of Villains
NCsoft readies the number 1 super-powered MMO for more

There is a reason for the rejoicing in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. It is official – NCsoft has completely merged the two games into one game universe. All current subscribers who only had one of the games (City of Heroes or City of Villains) now have access to the features of both games. Additionally, all City of Heroes and City of Villains games for sale at retail or online will grant access to both games.

This is the final step needed in preparing the IP for future projects, to be announced later this year. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have always been a part of the same game universe. When City of Villains launched in 2005 as a stand-alone game, it did not launch with an extra subscription fee, so there has always been this feeling that they are closely related. What’s different here is that NCsoft has taken down the barrier where players had to have a City of Villains serial code to make a villain, and vice versa. Now, it doesn’t matter if you bought Heroes or Villains, you can make characters from either faction and experience their unique game content. Additionally, Heroes now have access to base building, which was previously only available if you had purchased City of Villains.

“In setting the stage for our upcoming plans for the IP, we felt the time was right to truly consolidate the City of Heroes and City of Villains universe,” said Brian Clayton, General Manager and Executive Producer. “We have removed all restrictions that were created when City of Villains launched in order to make way for some really cool content and features we have in the pipeline. This is an evolution of the IP that lays the foundation for what’s to come.”

The most recent game update, Issue 12: Midnight Hour, launched in May and included a wealth of features, including a new Greek and Roman inspired zone, Villain Epic Archetypes, Powerset Proliferation, as well as more character slots so that players can try out the new character powers and Archetypes.

“We know that character variety is one of our greatest strengths and that’s why our players love to create new characters” said Matt Miller, Lead Designer. “Even former players who reactivate will be pleasantly surprised to see new open character slots waiting for them.”

Uniting the City of Heroes universe enables the development team to focus on other features slated to come in future installments. Improvements to Supergroup Bases and raids, an offline character reward system, and the previously revealed Mission Maker are just some of the systems that will see the benefits of a unified City of Heroes game.
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Oh, and there's also "Double XP weekend" starting on Friday, while we're on the subject of City of Heroes.

This is one of a long line of Q & A posts done by the good folks over at Cryptic Studios. Today (well, a few days ago, more accurately) the questions revolve around character leveling, in-game stats, powers, costumes and such. I figure I'll just point you there instead of trying to summarize... yeah, I'm that lazy. :P

Ask Cryptic (July 11, 2008)

Actually, I have no clue which "version" this site is at. It's been a looooong time since the whole thing started. Roughly in 1999, I think -- I'm sure someone will email me about it. :P

Anyway, here we are again with another back-end upgrade to the latest version of the wonderful Drupal CMS-type site thingie! I'm stoked. I've been working with Drupal 6 for a while on other sites and it's really slick. Yeah, that's boring to most of you, so we'll leave it at that. Get more info on Drupal here if you want it. I don't mind supporting that project.

So I'm sorting out a new schedule for my work weeks that I really hope will include very regular posts on MassMOG.com (along with many other sites of mine.) This should mean that people will have something to read when they get here... imagine that.

Thanks a TON for dropping by. If you're new, then WELCOME! If you're a veteran... suffice to say, I know it's been slow here for a long time. I'm working on that.

Thank you for your support and visitorship!

-- Hoza

[update -- yeah, I know the colors suck. I'll get it changed soon! Promise! (please stop emailing me! :-P )]

[I was going to summarize, but hey... you know I'm lazy, so here's the pasted press release: --Hoza]

Disney Online today announced that Pirates of the Caribbean Online (www.PiratesOnline.com), an immersive massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) and virtual world inspired by the popular film franchise, has launched for the PC and Mac platforms. Pirates of the Caribbean Online allows thousands of players to fully experience the adventures made famous in the films and explore beyond these boundaries in a quest to become the most legendary pirate on the high seas.

A bit of "congrats!" is in order as the team at Intent Software has launched their new Astonia world Urd out from beta. The announcement from Alexander J. von der Geest at Intent says: "During the one month beta test Astonia attracted 10.000 registered players. Astonia is free to play. Players can upgrade to paid premium accounts, which offer even more game features."

Well... that's it for a quick "press release comes in, so I post it" moment. Now, if you can all just get me to do that every day, you'll be standing in freezing rain of fire, 'cause it will be a cold day in He... wait. That's not really what I meant to say...

[Let's just get to the point... here's the announcement as it came into my mailbox:  --Hoza] 

BatMUD (http://www.bat.org/) , the now 17-year old online Fantasy game Veteran has renewed its strategies in order to respond to the Commercial onslaught of MMORPGs of the later date; and has turned partially graphical. By providing an up-to-date Java-based lightweight Game Client, it shifts the whole MUD Community towards the younger MMORPG generation.

In their prime, text-based hack & slash MUDs were thought as the most advanced multiplayer online games feature-wise, already having implemented with such features as City ownership and very deeply customizable guild, skill and spell paths; and by utilizing the 'most powerful graphics engine' of all time - your own imagination. BatMUD has lived up to its promise, by still being one of the most diverse games available on the Internet, with constant development during its 17-years of existence. Generally, back in the day, MUDs were thought as terribly hard to adapt to due to the text-based playing style, but BatMUD's new Game Client shifts the odds on this and does its job remarkably well without losing the old magic feeling of playing a true MUD.

Screenshots and feature list available at http://www.bat.org/batclient/ , the Client is a Free download and playing includes no hidden charges. Take a look at this ancient game, which truly re-introduces the word newbie into your consciousness, properly written.