WAR’s Fallout

Yesterday was a mite bit… confusing and chaotic, following the news that EA was making major cutbacks and layoffs, especially with Mythic Entertainment.  I’ll back slowly away from restating any numbers, because there’s been enough doubt and no real official word as of yet — all we can say with certainty is that layoffs happened, and Mythic was hit with some.  Maybe a lot, maybe not.

Of course, this sent people scurrying to their keyboards to discuss the fate of Warhammer, wondering if it might be kept running but with no new significant content in the game’s future (such as, oh, an expansion).  I mean, if Age of Conan can take a similar hit to the game’s staff and reputation and still cobble together an X-pack, why not WAR?

Jeff Hickman arose from his golden sarcophagus to write a letter to Mythic players, being as comforting as he could while evading the big questions (how many are laid off?  is WAR in a “maintenance mode”? are there any content-producing devs left?).  You really can’t read much into his words, other than “It’s been a crappy day, but we’re still here, and we want you to continue to have confidence in us, because we think you should!”:

With all that is going on within Mythic Entertainment and EA, I would like to take a moment to reinforce the studio’s dedication to both our games and our players.  At Mythic, we remain committed to our games and the passionate people who play them – we’re going to continue to deliver the content and service that keeps you playing. We want to assure our community that we will maintain the same high level of customer support you’ve come to expect and continue to improve our games with an exciting schedule of patches, live events and new content.
…Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has had a solid first year despite some issues that we’re working to address every day.  We’ve seen a great response to 1.3.2, which introduced tremendous performance improvements. A flood of new players are discovering the game every day thanks to the recently released Endless Trial and New User Journey. Moving forward we remain committed to releasing more great patches, continued performance improvements, and changes based upon your valuable feedback!

We want to thank you again for your continued commitment to our games.  In return, we remain committed to providing you with the best possible gaming experiences and customer support both now and in the future. Be sure to keep an eye open for more information about upcoming patches and the exciting plans we have in store for your favorite MMORPGs.

NaNoWriMo: The Week Two Blues

This is me. If I was 10 years younger. And a woman.

Oh yeah, I’m deep in the pit of the blue monster.  He’s singing to me discordant jazz, and I keep snapping my fingers and thinking, “Woe is me!”

Actually, most of my fellow writers will probably throw me little to no sympathy, as I’m around 5-6 days ahead of schedule, word count-wise, and am not eager to lose that lead.  But wherever you are in your word count on the second week, that’s when it hits you.  Writing gets hard.  First week is all sorts of fun and open possibilities and huge gushings of paragraphs.  Now I find myself slogging through chapters, absolutely hating the dialogue, and desperately trying to pick up the lose plot threads and elements to connect them together.  What I once thought was a fun, breezy book is now mired in a whole bunch of question marks.  I don’t know where I’m going, exactly.  And even a little over halfway to 50K, I’m feeling the pull to just not write.  To lay down the pen for one day and stop.

It’s tempting, especially if you have a bit of a word count buffer built up, but down that path lies the dark side.  You stop writing one day, and it gets easier to not write the next, and the next, and before you know it, you’re behind.

My wife’s feeling it too.  She did a massive writing spree over the weekend in an attempt to catch up, and even though she topped out 20K on Sunday, it’s getting tougher to keep on going.

I’m struggling with the feeling that this novel has no potential past the end of the month.  I was hoping, as I always do, that a demented sort of genius, or at least competency, would pour out and I’d end up with a product I’d want to refine and perhaps let others read at some point.

I also feel hemmed in by my two rules for this novel: that no matter what, I would not descend into either fantasy elements or wacky, unbelievable comedic setups just for the sake of a laugh.  I wanted it to be something that could, possibly, happen, and that means that when I have to characters that start back up a defunct college radio station, I’m straining to think of ways that security wouldn’t just figure out either where to find them or how to shut it down.  Kind of hard to move a 900 watt transmitter, methinks.  And they don’t want to go to jail, so much.  So I don’t know.  I have to figure this stuff out in a way that is reasonable and present it so that the reader doesn’t think I’m just full of crap and ignoring the logic of the situation.

Just me venting.  It’s almost easier to write about NaNoWriMo than it is to dig down and hack out the cursed thing.  The best advice I’m following is what the NaNo founders said today — not to focus on the whole book, the 50K or what’s wrong, just to do 1,000 words at a time.  It makes it more bearable that way.  1,000 words I can do.

The Syp Side of the Force

Last night I was invited to join the Darth Hater crew for their weekly podcast, during which we jawed about Dragon Age, Imperial Agents, and what class Jabba the Hutt would be.  Well, we didn’t talk about the last one, but really — Gangster?  Slug Supreme?  Whatever he’d be, I’d play him, even if my run speed would be two feet per day.

So if you feel inclined, you can listen to the podcast and my purdy voice here!

Surviving the Microtransapocalypse

If 2009 is to be remembered for one specific thing in the MMORPG history books, other than Fallen Earth’s greatness, it will probably be called the year when the microtransactions floodgates finally broke and swept into the “mainstream” of MMOs.  Sure, we’ve had microtransactions before, and I’m not going to get bogged down in semantics over what constitutes a microtransaction or not (such as purchasing a collector’s edition that has a special item vs. the regular edition) — I just want to note that it seems that we’ve passed some sort of point of no return in 2009, and it’s going to be Microtransaction City from here on out.

Turbine’s putting a lot of faith in these things, with DDO’s switch to “free to play + microtransactions” and their LOTRO expansion with micro-dealies attached to it.  Cryptic is so infatuated with them that it gets creepy when you see the two of them in the room together and there’s lots of inappropriate touching going on.  Runes of Magic, Wizard101, anything SOE, and even World of Warcraft — they know that we’ll pony up additional cash for extra niceities, and that means that there isn’t a power in the universe that’s going to stop them now.  In fact, it’s probably going to get worse from here on out.

I’ve waffled on microtransactions in the past, both liking and disliking them depending on the day and situation.  It’s hard to take a firm stance for or against them, because it tends to make hypocrites out of us when we’re not looking.  The bottom line here is: are microtransactions going to benefit the players more, grow their games (and the overall MMORPG genre), and increase the quality of our gameplay?  Or are they turning our game worlds into web sites, with 60% real content and 40% annoying ads for services?  Here’s how I see the division:

The Good of Microtransactions:

• We’re much more accepting of microtransactions in almost every facet of our society and economy these days — the iTunes app and music store is a clear example of this.  It makes sense that our games would begin to include these as well, as they’re a successfully proven business model.
• Microtransactions are, in several cases, helping to run otherwise free to play MMOs — and “free” is always a good thing for players, even if they are are on the receiving end of a microtransaction sell every so often.
• They allow players to purchase upgrades, items and services that MMOs might not the compulsion to include before that point.  In other words, the high demand for these things was identified by the company and provided accordingly.
• Many microtransactions, such as non-combat pets or additional character slots, do not give you an advantage over a player who doesn’t purchase them.  Additionally, other purchases that do give you an advantage (like an XP bump for X hours) aren’t that significant in the long run.
• Microtransactions allow you to buy the features and content that you want, instead of a lump fee for all of the content, even stuff you won’t ever use.
• You aren’t forced to buy these things, and shouldn’t ever *have* to, unless it’s a free game that uses such transactions to unlock further content.

The Bad of Microtransactions

• Double-Dipping: many players, myself included, feel as though we’re being taken to the cleaners when a company tops a subscription-based game with additional microtransactions.
• Any microtransaction that gives an in-game advantage over a player who doesn’t (or can’t) pay for them will always be negatively received and hotly debated in the community.
• The persistent, and quite possibly true, perception that game companies deliberately withhold full content from a subscription game in order to stock their microtransaction store.
• The perception that if you don’t get X item/service/content, then you’re not playing the “full” version of the game.
• Microtransactions cheapen the feel of the game overall, particularly for titles that are blatant and shameless about constantly asking and reminding you to buy more features.  One of the appeals of straight-up subscription MMOs is that it was just a one-time-per-month price, then they don’t bother you after that.
• It’s entirely possible to end up spending more per month through microtransactions (death of a thousand cuts) than through a single subscription fee — just look at the Facebook MMOs for proof of this.
• Several microtransactions are anything but “micro”, costing upwards of one to two times the subscription cost for a service or item.

But as I said, we’re still only at the beginning of everyone figuring this mess out — for players to sort out how they feel and what is acceptable and not when it comes to microtransactions, and for companies to gauge the “sweet spot” of how far they can push these before it becomes more of a nuisance than a welcome.

Quote of the Day #2

“Mythic laid off 80 people today, which is about 40% of the company and responsible for 90% of the content. According to a friend of mine who left before this happened, they’re putting Warhammer into ‘maintenance mode.’”

~ Athryn

Monday’s Good, Bad and Ugly

The Good: BioWare has responded to (reasonable) player concerns about the Warden’s Keep DLC in Dragon Age being a monetary barrier between players and a storage chest by providing a new patch that gives every player a chest in their camp.

The Bad: Both Gamasutra and Kotaku have reported that EA just cut 1,500 jobs and the closure of several facilities as part of a cost reduction plan.  We do know at this point that Mythic was hit with 80 layoffs as part of this.  It’s a mind-blowing number of layoffs for this mega-publisher, and if you’re a Mythic — or even a BioWare — fan, it might not be unreasonable to worry about your product when this publisher continues to cut away staff positions like this.

The Ugly: Star Trek Online has officially announced their launch as the beginning of February 2010.  Why is this ugly?  Because I’m getting bad vibes from it: there’s been lackluster marketing, underwhelming interviews and in-game footage, the beta just started up a couple weeks ago, and Champions’ launch has shown us that Cryptic is more concerned with getting their products out there quickly than having them 100% ready.  Still, hands-on impressions of the game have been more or less positive, and Champions is far from a total wash, so ugly it shall be until it proves otherwise.  But I really feel as if this is too soon for the game.

MMO Blog Alliance Charity Drive 2009!

A number of MMO bloggers have agreed to band together to promote their favorite charities for this holiday season, and to encourage their readers to check them out and possibly donate.  You can read all about mine, as well as links to the other bloggers, on the Bio Break MMO Blog Alliance Charity Drive page!

Quote of the Day

“Fallen Earth: The first MMO in a long time not to have me checking my watch and XP meter as I rush to hit ‘endgame.’  I’m actually crafting!  It has refreshing depth imho.  Maybe it’s just the change of scenery (post-apoc vs. fantasy), but I just get lost in all its wonder.”

~ Snafzg on Twitter

Save the Environment!

I once took a seminar at a youth pastor convention that solely dealt with environments.  Not the Al Gore, save-the-polar-caps environment, but the physical space in which you met and worshiped.  It was both of interest and eye-opening to me, because I’m the type of person who is greatly affected by my environment.   They pointed out how we respond better to more natural light than artificial (open more windows!), how people are more likely to talk if they sit in a circle than just facing front as if you were in school, how smells and sights and arrangements and colors and sounds can make a crucial difference between relaxing and being uptight, between being more social or more isolated.

Winter depresses me, as does a cluttered room, flourescent lights, and any sour smells.  I don’t like “old” smells, like what you experience in a local Salvation Army store.  I take a weekly class in a room that has no windows and no clock, which makes me feel confined and unhooked from what’s really going on “on the outside”.

And yet if you were to see my office, you’d think you were in a kids’ bedroom — I have a couch, easy chairs, toys everywhere, an old SNES, and a pirate flag flying proudly.  I hate Starbucks coffee, but I love hanging out in their shops, because they’re designed to look and feel “cozy”.  And at least on a weekly basis, my wife and I take a drive down a long and winding park that cuts through our urban sprawl and gives us a taste of pure nature.

This is all to say that environment is important.  We have a very real, very emotional reaction depending on our surroundings, which is why most of us connect strongly with some MMOs and various zones, and are repelled by others.  It made me laugh when I found out that next year, Blizzard is transforming what I consider to be their most depressing and dreary zones — Desolace — into a tropic paradise.  I loathed doing quests in that zone because I could feel my will to play draining just from the visuals.

Lately, I’ve been checking out the environment in Fallen Earth.  Fallen Earth is interesting, in that it comes across as both a post-apocalyptic setting and a Western, the latter of which is reinforced by cacti, horses, shanty towns, sheriffs, mines and the like.  The blend of the two genres have propped each other up with a mutally agreeable setting — it’s barren and vast, but that makes sense for both.

And yet, unlike most MMOs I’ve experienced, I haven’t left this arid desert environment for the month and a half that I’ve played the game, except to go in underground bunkers and the like.  I’ve heard that sectors 2 and 3 are a bit more lush, but I’m not expecting radically different settings than what I’ve already seen.  And as much as I love the game, once in a while the desert waste impacts me emotionally, making me feel isolated and on an endless quest through the same-old, same-old scenery.  Fallen Earth’s vastness, which works for its purpose in many ways, also means that its players are sentenced to long stays in the same environment, like it or not.

Of course, this has the effect of making the world feel more natural, and less of an artificial theme park where the climates swing wildly every 500 yards (a bird’s eye view of World of Warcraft or EverQuest reveal how artificial their landscape really is, while LOTRO does a better job blending natural environments together).

Personally, I’m always happiest in tree-lush zones, or Christmas-like winter landscapes, and least satisfied with lava zones or barren rock.  What say you?

/AFK – November 8

I’ve finally crossed the barrier that separates the overwhelming compulsion to play a new game, and the ability to continue to play it while going to other games as well.  Your days of ruling my life are over, Dragon Age — I needs me Fallen Earth fix!

• Werit re: WAR/Aion – “With a long grind to 50, seeing bots make me wonder why am I bothering?”
• Hawley re: Fallen Earth – “In Fallen Earth, I’ve had to relearn how to tie my shoe-laces.”
• Emily’s Wish – “They really treated her as a design professional, and her humor and creativity made the day.”
• Bronte re: Champions – “Cryptic cares more about making quick bucks and pushing out content on strict deadlines than the quality of their products or the sentiments of their customers.”
• KIASA re: D&D – “It’s a party composition straight out of Hideously Doomed To Fail PuGs 101.”
• Brent re: Champions – “For now, I’m hanging up the spandex.”
• Sharon re: Aion – “My main problem with Aion is that PvP just isn’t that complex… or fun.”
• Darth Hater re: TOR – “Some industrious individuals have taken it upon themselves to sift through the official site, attempting to ferret out any content clues hidden within the website architecture.”
• Evizaer re: Character Progression – “How continuous (or discrete) should advancement in RPGs be?”
• Beau Turkey re: Free Realms – “In other words, the SOE bashers will have another reason to use the letters “NGE”. I have already witnessed it.”
• Chris re: WoW – “What we have is an example of fitting the lore around the game instead of the game around the lore.”
• Tipa re: Free Realms – “For every good, original MMO, there are nine that are crap.”
• Spinks re: Shields – “Is it any wonder that shield using fighters in games feel attached to their shields?”
• MBP re: DDO – “Dungeons and Dragons online has possibly the most confusing currency system of any game I have yet played.”
• MMOG Chronicles re: Anarchy Online – “This was the first time that I know of instancing was used.”
• Word of Shadow re: Aion – “What’s the fastest way for a Cleric (healer), who is responsible for keeping the entire group alive, to get 100 resurrections?”
• Fool’s Age re: Emotions – “Sorrow is a profoundly deep and negative emotion, and is not casually experienced.”
• PvD re: LOTRO - “Still, what’s the point of charging for an expansion and then going so far out of your way to give it away?”
• Incoming Pull re: WAR – “From the start, Mythic has been back peddling to get their game where it should have been at launch”
• Ferrel re: Leading Raids – “Most readers will not agree with everything I say and it certainly won’t work for every guild but in my experience this is what has worked best for me.”