Taking it Slow

At this point, I am trying to stop and smell the roses whenever I have the chance.
~Belghast, Tales of the Aggronaut

Though the Aggronaut was referring to Warlords of Draenor, this has kind of become my mantra regarding Rift. Already a smell-the-flowers kind of MMO gamer, I am now moving through the content at what some might consider a glacial pace. For some reason, Scooter and I spend more time each evening doing crafting and Autumn Harvest dailies than "novel" questing. I've even put the breaks on the patron leveling boost, even though I suppose it's not really necessary. Thanks to the mentor system, I can enjoy the zone stories at roughly the level they were designed to be experienced. On the other hand, unlike GW2, if I want to gallop through a lowbie zone without being unhorsed by every mob in sight, I am free to do so. (Yes, I know GW2 has no mounts.)

We re-upped in Rift specifically to mess around. I've been fishing, crafting (two things I rarely really enjoy), wandering around looking for achievements and shinies, trying to organize my dimension houses (I'm up to three slots, now). Scooter even spent Harvest Tokens on a Deepwood Cottage on Sunday. We may run a dungeon or two, Soon™.

So, all in all, we are enjoying our return. This was the first game Scooter and I played together that I had not already played. Rift is where we really bonded as a couple. It's the game that cemented our duo-dynamic. We had a fun run to 50 the first time around; here's for making it to 65 this time, even if by an even more roundabout path.

~~~

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.

Whence a Gamer?

Expecting everything to be custom tailored for you is the surest way to end up angry in the end. It is like walking into a store and complaining that a red shirt isn't blue enough for you. If you don't want to wear a red shirt, don't buy a red shirt and then expect it to change into the color you want it to be.
~Belghast, Change is Scary

Apparently, there was much discussion yesterday on Twitter about trying to define the term "Gamer" and specifically, who gets to claim the term. Belghast would like to include folks playing Bejeweled on their phone while they wait for the bus, while others are far more exclusionary. Roger Edwards questions the need for labels at all. I think there is some value in labels, but that labeling everyone who happens to play Minesweeper a gamer diffuses the term so as to make it meaningless. I am not a mini-golfer just because I go to Putt-Putt once in a blue moon.

Let's put it it this way:

• If you consider the games you play to be a hobby, you might be a gamer.
• If you set aside time to play a game on a  regular basis, you might be a gamer.
• If you spend time thinking about a game while not actually playing, you might be a gamer.
• If you've ever bored or annoyed someone because you're talking about a game you've played, you might be a gamer.
• If you do research to improve your performance in the game you are playing, you might be a gamer.
• If someone who is definitely not a gamer would comment on your gaming when describing you, you might be a gamer.
• If you write about gaming, you might be a gamer.
• If you argue on social media about who gets to be called a gamer, you're probably a gamer.
• If you think you are somehow more a "Gamer" than someone else because you play on certain platforms or difficulty levels or are more "hardcore" or are more skilled or more committed—or whatever—shut the fuck up.

If you're interested in joining the circadian sun showers of Blaugust, breeze on over to Belghast's Blaugust Initiative Page on Anook and let him know you're there. It may even mean a small windfall for you, as Belghast has prizes prepared for high achievers.

~~~

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.

So Sayeth the Tobold

The subscription business model is still dead, and those two announcements don't change anything.
~Tobold Stoutfoot.

Tobold and I don't always agree. But when we do, he's right. He's more harsh about it than I like to be, but then he generates far more traffic, as well.

Honestly, the only thing any of us finds interesting about the F2P/Subscription debate is which side benefits each of us personally. And we smell "victory" with every official pronouncement. But I have seen several people, like Mogsy, put forth the idea that these announcements reflect at the very least a hope on the part of the devs/publishers to get a bit of revenue before the inevitable conversion to F2P. Or, as the more cynical among us will say, a "Money Grab."

Are We Talking About This Again? Sub-Only Rears Its "Ugly" Head

So The Elder Scrolls Online has "thrown in" with Wildstar and the Sub-Only Crowd. (Sorry, Wildstar. As TAGN said, you can't claim to be F2P with the same model as EVE). I've seen some pretty reasonable posts; I've seen some inexplicably self-satisfied ones. Even Syp is getting smug with Smedley.

Just a couple months ago we were hashing over whether F2P was going the way of dodo (TL;DR: It's not). Now Syncaine is gloating over his "impeccable" sense of prophecy. Then again, I have a feeling "smug" may be Syncaine's default emotion. Given the recent history of "AAA" MMOs not called WOW or EVE, I think Mogsy might have a more accurate bead on what's going here. Time will tell.

L2P, F2P!

TAGN and others are pointing to perhaps poorly designed F2P models as the epitome of the business model and the reason they want to keep sub-only. I say they have only seen it done badly. Trust me, I have too. But I have also seen it done well. Games where I don't feel I have to go buy something to fully enjoy the content of the game. Games where they reward players for subscribing, but don't punish players for not subscribing. Guess what? I'm actually playing those games. I do pay for stuff when I am so inclined, when I think it's worth it. And I don't feel like I'm paying for content I'll never see, because I lack the time to do so.

Arguments about the quality of the community in free-to-play MMOs don't hold water for me, either; since I've seen the groups of people that pass for "communities" in subscription-based games. Frankly, they're about the same regardless of business model. I've only ever found true communities in smaller subsets of the gaming population, like Mercy Gaming, Beyond the Veil, and House Stalwart.

No Problem with Subscriptions

Just this morning, Belghast was saying he'd happily throw his money at a subscription based TESO. Here's his chance. Unlike Bel, I have no history with The Elder Scrolls franchise, so I am less inclined to buy the box or subscribe to TESO. Like Bel though, I don't have an issue with subscription model itself. I just don't see any games (current or upcoming) that are worth it to me. Not when there are quality F2P options.

Come to think of it, I tried WoW originally only due to the free 10-day recruit-a-friend trial they had running back in 2006. If I'd had to buy the box and commit to a subscription sight unseen, I never would have even started playing. The only game I have preordered without playing at least a beta weekend was SWTOR, and that ended up a disappointment for me.

Are there things that annoy me about F2P? Sure—*cough* lockboxes *cough*—but there is plenty to annoy me about subscriptions, too, including the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I have to "maximize the value" by playing as much as I can for that monthly fee. Honestly, it's the same reason I hardly ever go to a buffet restaurant.

My Time is Mine

Syp is rethinking his gaming habits, which currently involve bouncing between several MMOs each evening. It was interesting to see in the comment section how different people approach their gaming time. In Syp's case, his game time is at least partly reflective of his status as an editor for Massively. For most of us, it's fully a leisure activity

In my case, given that it is my leisure time, I tend to devote myself to a game as long as it holds my interest. My posts reflect that interest, I am sure. So, for example, while I am still very much interested and involved with TSW, for the past week or so, I've been spending almost all my game time in Rift.

Why? Because of the shiny Dimensions. I promise not to turn this into a plug for those again. Suffice it to say that is what's holding my interest right now. I'm playing Barbie dream house. Eventually that excitement will subside, I suspect. I plan to return to TSW; it's been a consistent winner in my book.

So I binge on different games here and there. The point is I want to have fun. Therefore I will play (and blog about) what strikes my fancy—today. Tomorrow, it might be something different.

Theory and Practice: Running With Syp

After yesterday's post, and in preparation for tonight's webcast of Beyond the Veil, my lovely bride and I tumbled back into The Secret World in order to finish the main storyline for Issue 7, "A Dream to Kill" yesterday evening. I'll probably have some more RP-ish story related to that tomorrow or this weekend, but I wanted to discuss last night's run. Scooterz and I finished up the portion involving the Shadowy Forest and moved on to the Carpathian Fangs; where, just after picking up the mission "You Only Die Twice," we encountered fellow Knight of Mercy "Yeti," a.k.a. Syp, of Bio Break fame. He was one tier ahead of us and suggested we join forces, which we happily agreed to. And together we caught up to his tier in short order. Chatting through text, we got through the various tiers, fighting baddies along the way.

Since the content was fresh for Syp, too, we didn't feel like we were being led through the mission, and discovered the various nooks and crannies at what I considered a good pace. Plus, there were a couple of occasions where Syp had to step away for whatever reason or we had to deal with dogs (our babies), and we all either took advantage of the break or waited patiently in place. What do you think, Syp? Did we waste too much time reading in-game computer monitors?

The last part is a solo instance, and I was a little slow on the final puzzle. So Syp did finish a little before us, though much of the ending is covered in a cutscene anyway.

All in all, a quieter, slightly creepier, evening. I've received a couple of responses from fellow guildies and others with similar sentiments. There are occasions for group play over TeamSpeak, where verbal coordination is essential. And when it's necessary, it is certainly enjoyable to laugh and have fun with friends. However, for me, those occasions are less immersive for a variety of reasons. I love to "lose myself" in the game world. I tend to be slightly off neutral on the introvert/extrovert scale, more extroverted than many people I know. But still I am firmly on the side of introversion where too much interaction causes undue stress in what I want to be a relaxing activity.

QOTD: Group Play, Theory and Practice

I am extremely gun-shy about committing to ANY organized activity. . . [E]ach time I join a group with friends, I have this fight or flight instinct kick in telling me to run.
Belghast, Tales of the Aggronaut

I have never been a guild leader nor a raid leader like Belghast, so I have an incomplete idea of the pressures involved. What I do understand is the dichotomy between desiring group play and experiencing it. Now what I am about to say is no reflection on my awesome guildmates in Mercy Gaming. They just have a different playstyle than my lovely bride and I.

On Monday night, Knights of Mercy got together in The Secret World to run the "A Dream to Kill" storyline from Issue 7. Most of us had not gone through it, but a few already had. We ran two groups, one of which was a few minutes behind the other. Scooterz and I were in the second group, but one member had already gone through the missions. I'm not sure if the other two were trying to catch up with the first group, but Scooterz and I started to feel hurried through the content. As anyone who has read this blog for any length of time could probably tell, this caused a bit of stress on my part. I prefer to take my time and savor the story of my MMOs, particularly TSW. Again, this is not a reflection on my cohorts; I spend most of my gaming time here and can "afford" to draw out the missions. Many of them are here maybe one night a week.

Another thing that complicates my enjoyment is the voices on TeamSpeak talking over the in-game dialogue. I don't have an easy way to mute TS (maybe there's a toggle I could keymap) and during these Issue missions, I can't always take time to mute TS before starting a cutscene. For me, it is easier if either the in-game dialogue or the guild/party chat are in written form.

Since we felt we were holding up our group and had no inclination to hurry and catch up, Scooterz and I bid goodnight to Mercy Gaming and slowed to a more comfortable pace. We ended up doing a couple more tiers (stages) of the storyline before calling it a night. We plan to pick it up again tonight and finish. The rest of the group finished very late, about 1 a.m. for the East-Coasters.

Something about the way the storylines for these Issues have been written does not lend itself to group play, at least in my humble opinion. Some missions designed to for stealth can be barreled through by a group like ours, defeating the intended feel of the mission. Others are made almost impossible because NPC triggers are alerted to everyone's presence by one clumsy player.

Xander of BtV had expressed interest in accompanying me on my first adventure through "A Dream to Kill." No offense to my worthy Holosuite boss, but I didn't really want to do it with someone who'd already gone through (didn't realize before starting on Monday that one of my cohorts was already a veteran). While I've often said I am not creeped out by anything I've encountered in TSW, I do still feel that any creepiness I do experience would be diminished by tag-alongs waiting to laugh when I touch the duck.

Dead Horse Discussions: F2P Rears Its "Ugly" Head

Hugh Hancock, over at MMO Melting Pot, has his finger on the pulse of the gaming blogosphere: Today, he rounds up three posts about the headaches of Free-to-Play. Rather than rehash his rehash, I'll just redirect you to it. However, I'll put my two cents here (having already them put on Rohan's Blessing of Kings.

A discussion arose in the comments of Rohan's post about the time it takes to get through content, and whether it makes more sense for the typical player to subscribe or to pay for amenities in a cash shop.

I have never taken less than five months to reach max level in any game, between real world obligations and severe alt-oholism. However, I really only jumped on the F2P bandwagon following my experience with GW2. (Yes, I realize GW2 is not pure F2P.) I spent years plunking down 15 bucks a month (sometimes less with longer commitments) for each game I played. I still haven't gotten to see ALL the content in any MMO, whether I've played for a day or for over six years, because of the weekly time commitment required.

In the case of WoW, I came to resent having paid for content I would never see. This demand from players to see what they've paid for actually drives what the self-styled hardcore gamers among us refer to as the dumbing down of the game. For me, it's not that it's behind a pay-wall, but that it is behind a time-wall. With F2P, I can buy what I need, or decide that I don't need.

Also, I may have a higher tolerance for it, but I haven't played a game I think is as intrusive as what Kleps describes in his post. Most of the time, some additional feature requires a special currency to unlock. As it turns out, this currency is available through an exchange of RL cash. But is that any different from other special currencies in the game that you have to earn through dungeoneering or short-term events? Remember the Time=Money equation. I don't have as much time as some folks, but I do have a little extra money. I don't mind spending it on something I feel directly benefits me.

Roll vs. Role

I've ranted before about people who are all about the stats, rather than getting into the rather immersive experience of Online RPGs. In tabletop gaming, these folks are (or were) referred to as "Munchkins," but they seem to have taken over much of the community. Developers like Blizzard seem to cater to these sorts of people, putting tiers of gear that are ever slightly better than the previous tier, provoking a frenzy of activity in their games. Then again, "computers" are called that for a reason, their strength lies in doing arcane calculations, despite the fact that we use them for many other things, like making pretty pictures and chatting with friends. I'm not above trying to maximize my stats, but for me it's more about surviving an encounter or area, than squeezing that last bit of DPS out my stuff.

Used under CC.

Two conversations I had on Twitter this week coalesced into this poster I made using Creative Commons photos from Wil Wheaton and Lisa Brewster. In the first, @Baybdoli and @theeriver were debating the merits (or demerits) of WoW's 5.3 patch, and stat changes to PvP gear. Now having special stats (resilience) on gear for different aspects of the game rubs me completely the wrong way in the first place; but apparently, the PvE Raiders think the PvPers don't "work as hard" to get their gear and therefore shouldn't be able to stroll into Raids in that shit. Really? I'm guessing truly hard-core raiders don't ever see people trying to get into their groups in PvP gear anyway, so what does it matter?

This reminds me of the rant I heard from a raid leader about people getting the Violet Proto-Drake from doing all the Holiday Achievements. "They don't really earn it because it's not like they're raid rewards like the Black Proto-Drake." He still hadn't gotten a Proto-Drake at the time, because he was stuck with us scrubs, second or third tier raiding. Meanwhile . . .

Yep! That's my WoW main and namesake "Rowanblaze." Isn't she cute on her Proto-Drake? It took over a year of patience and work, doing things I wasn't normally inclined to do, like PvP. You bet I earned it. I don't think my raid leader ever got a +310% mount in WotLK. When Cataclysm came out, I was sitting pretty, automatically getting the Master Riding skill thanks to my violet friend. Of course, I no longer play WoW, so a lot of good it really did me in the long run.

The second conversation happened just this morning. @FerrelES was lamenting his lack of prowess in the combat side of the Tabletop RPG sessions he serves as the Game Master. He favors "story and intrigue." He worries that his combat interaction with the players isn't up to snuff, though. I think his players keep coming back because they like his style. He has nothing to worry about. It is, after all, a Role-playing game, not a Roll-playing game.

Time Travel, Ancient Artifacts, Dapper Mummies, Oh My!

So my lovely bride and I got together in TSW with guildies from the Knights of Mercy to run as much of the Issue #6 content we could. We got through the first three of six main/sabotage missions, plus a few side missions.

I'm not sure how much to spoil here. Besides, it was a little confusing, with the cross-talk on TeamSpeak. One of the Marya was talking about wanting to be a taxi driver in America when the conflict in Egypt ends, something safe. But he probably won't get a chance, since it seems unending. Then we ran around killing stuff. I think I may need to do this story solo or just me and Sctrz, LOL. Then I remember we had to track down some bad guys and get message fragments from them. This was a situation where the chaos of running with eight people meant some people didn't get everything at the same time, so we had to kill far more than the basic four needed for the quest. It was fun though.

Next, we headed toward an instanced dungeon (no really, there were cells and prisoners), Our bee-given weapons were taken away. We're still pretty tough though, and fought our way out with bare-knuckle fisticuffs.

At that point, we headed over to Saïd, the Dapper Mummy from my title. He sent us on an errand through a time portal to a nearby ancient Roman settlement. This is where being in a large group got really hairy, as we were unable to plow through the enemy as we had previously. So there were many resets of the instance. We all got through it, though, and delivered the artifact to Saïd, who then sent us on a mission to Cairo. This is where we called it a night.

A word on the side missions. We were coordinating over TeamSpeak but the somewhat chaotic cross-chatter meant that sometimes people missed verbal ready-checks and were on different stages of the quest. At least once, someone jumped the gun, so that the others couldn't finish the precisely designed quest at all. I am not laying blame, but I officially suggest we come up with something to make sure everyone is ready to move on before we do. I don't know if TSW has a formal Ready-Check system like WoW, does, but it would be nice. I'm sure we'll be repeating these, as the "Indy" outfit is only available through currency earned by completing the Issue #6 missions.

I am of two minds on this sort of Guild activity. Knowing what we needed to do and how to do it efficiently might have helped. But I don't want to read some guide ahead of time and spoil the story as it unfolds. While I think we could stand some more organization during the event, I love the spontaneity. I don't want to turn it into a raid-style chore. I had a blast running around with buddies—can't wait to do it again.

QOTD: A Voice of Dissent

The Ancient Gaming Noob is debating whether to buy and play either Guild Wars 2 or Mists of Pandaria at a bargain. Most of the responses were positive toward GW2, especially at a discount; considering that it is subscription free. And then came Solf, a voice of dissent out of the desert. I don't know what the protocol is for wholesale copying of comments from someone else's blog, but to fully understand what my response, you have to read his whole comment, so here it is:

Since everyone and his mother seems to be so ‘pro gw2′, here are my two cents.

If you generally like character-progression gameplay in Rift and WoW — e.g. five man instances, like skill progression with level ups (getting new skills as you level up), this kind of stuff — then odds are you might be seriously disappointed by GW2.

For the certain definition of “nothing” there’s “nothing” to do in the game after level 20. You can get all skills that you’ll ever need (excepting I believe elite ones which are often situational at best) by that level and then it is just “keep killing stuff using the same buttons forever”. And don’t forget the auto-scaling mechanics which basically mean you’re not supposed to ever feel e.g. too much overpowered which might be fun sometimes etc.

And the stuff I’ve heard [emphasis mine] about GW2 dungeons and group mechanics (back when I played which was early fall) was uniformly horrible. Taking away the holy trinity doesn’t magically make your game awesome, it only takes away the holy trinity. Which is replaced by what exactly? Everyone fending for themselves? Which doesn’t seem such a great group mechanic to me.

In short, for a certain kind of player (me :P; the guy who likes challenging small-group content in Rift and WoW [back when it used to have one]), GW2 is nothing but a disappointment.

What was that Syncaine said? “If GW2 fixed all the MMO problems, I’m so glad so many games got it totally wrong.” Some such.

Upon rereading Solf's comment, I see that he never even went through an instanced dungeon. So his judgment on the topic is hearsay. Having been through at least a couple different GW2 dungeons, I can say they are interesting, if sometimes frustrating. Like many fights in WoW, Rift, and others, there is a key to each fight in GW2. They are seldom simply "Tank-and-Spank." Here is my response, with some fixes:

Solf, I hope you’re playing TSW with that gaming philosophy, since it will take you hours and hours of gameplay to get all the possible abilities, even after you’ve maxed out all your gear. Entertaining trinity-based dungeons with good storylines that fold into the larger world, as well.

As for GW2, I like it. For most definitions of “nothing,” there is plenty to do even after reaching level 80. The game doesn’t have a ton of depth, but I continue to reassess the skills that I have at my immediate disposal depending on the current fight, or the one I just lost. Like TSW, the limited buttons create a strategic element to the game (by strategic, I mean the time you spend on your current abilities outside of combat), since you can’t have every oh-shit ability spread across 48 or more action buttons.

The original GW maximum level was 20, if I recall correctly, including the ex-pacs. It’s my understanding that this was the case in the original design of GW2, and there were many complaints this past autumn about the way content is gated by the increased number of levels. And despite downleveling, I can still faceroll my way through the starting areas on my max-level engineer.

And if you don’t like the dungeons, then maybe you aren’t playing with the right group of people. Despite a similarity in names, tanks in a real battle do nothing to draw fire from the opponent other than being amongst the highest damage causers. And other than patch-you-up field medics, the healers are all in the rear, nowhere near the steel-raining artillery. There are tactics involved that don’t require a big (or little) dude in heavy armor shouting taunts at the enemy. And battle itself is very chaotic. In that respect, I think the dungeons in GW2 are very realistic, far more so than trinity-based fights (which can also be a ton of fun).

I’m guessing that no one reading this has found a predominantly PvE game really challenging for at least a decade. Much like in-game crafting, there’s only so much you can do to make button-and-mouse-based combat challenging, before you suddenly make it impossible for any newbies that may come along. I eagerly await a VR/Holodeck style game where we all have to actually learn fencing and blacksmithing techniques, but I’m not holding my breath.

As for Syncaine, his smug default position that nothing awesome has happened in gaming since the turn of the millennium brings nothing the conversation about the current state of gaming.

Full disclosure: regarding MoP, I have little to say. Other people enjoy it, I found it to be the same ol' same ol' now boring WoW when I tried it this past fall. If I am an apologist for GW2 and TSW, I most certainly am not for MoP, despite having enjoyed WoW for years. In some ways, that makes me as bad as Solf and Syncaine.

NO SUB!! liminal Message

So it seems the hiatus I spoke of yesterday will be rather short lived. Karl, Hinageshi, and Samantha are rarin' to go. Much like Syp, I am doing a bit of a happy dance today. I just need to patch, which may take a while given that I went on a business trip this morning and have only a hotel connection. Which is also why I didn't scoop anyone on this.

I have said repeatedly that TSW's mechanics and skill/ability progression system is my personal favorite of all the games I've played. The grimdark meant I would only play occasionally and I couldn't justify the subscription when I was spending so much more time with the no-sub Guild Wars 2. There are a lot of other people who have said they'd play if it were sub free. Given that there don't seem to be any restrictions on non-subbers, only perks for those who are still paying monthly (or did lifetime subs), Funcom seems much wiser than EA/BioWare at this point.

As MMOGC pointed out, we've known Funcom had the infrastructure for F2P in place from the get-go. They tried subscriptions, and struggled for a couple months. Then came GW2, with its box-only pricing plan (with cash shop). It was only a matter of time, sez HZero. I think this may be the way to go for MMOs going forward. They need to have a plan for making their money from box sales and cash shops, not subscriptions. And I'm glad I haven't sprung for any lifetime subs (for STO, Rift, SWTOR, or TSW). I haven't played any of them for long enough to recoup the expense. As Arkenor has pointed out, lifetime subscriptions increasingly seem like a bad bet, even with perks given to lifers when the games go sub free. Now, paying a box price (dare I say, $60+) isn't too bad, if I play for a while.

I'll probably be running with the TSW branch of the Knights of Mercy on Monday nights; I wonder if Sctrz will want to join in.

Finding the Real Tyria

It's been over a week now since launch, almost two since the head start. And, like ... many ... others, I am loving Guild Wars 2. I've dabbled in pretty much everything but the dungeon content (because I don't have a single character high enough level) and it's all really great. ArenaNet has certainly turned me into a fan.

"Ugh, I hate Thunder Bluff. You can't find a good burger anywhere."

The cities are huge, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that Divinity's Reach makes WoW's Stormwind seem like a frontier outpost. Even Hoelbrak, which is less densely populated, is bustling with activity. And Lion's Arch, the "neutral" pirate city, sprawls across a protected bay, with a ton of underwater exploration, a high diving board, and more than one challenging jumping puzzle, including one in a pitch black cavern that I spent a couple hours completing on two different toons with guildmates from Knights of Mercy.

"Why does everyone automatically assume I know Tailoring and Cooking?"

Crafting is similar to other games of this sort. I was gratified to have the ability to make fairly large bags right off the bat, as well as some gear that was actually at—or a little above—my level—which was also quickly remedied. Last night was the first time I had issues with too much stuff in my bags. Basically it was all loot that I'd accumulated, but hadn't figured out what to do with. I have the ability to break everything down using salvage kits regardless of my character's craft skills. With the common bank for all characters, along with the ability to deposit collectibles (crafting mats) in the bank, from anywhere in the world, I can store mats for all my toons, even though I am concentrating on a single character when I play with Sctrz. When I am crafting on a different character, I just withdraw the mats I need. Another interesting element is the experimentation tab, where you can take materials and components and learn how to make new items, rather than buying all your recipes. Did I mention that leveling crafting also gives XP? The first person to reach max-level (80) in GW2 did so almost exclusively through crafting, with help from guildmates.

"I apologize profusely for any inconvenience my murderous rampage may have caused."

I normally dislike PvP, but while exploring Hoelbrak, I came across a Norn offering to get me into a game of Keg Brawl, a game sort of like rugby or basketball with a special of abilities like "punch" and "kick." I had a blast playing, giggling like a maniac the whole time, and getting funny looks from Sctrz. After a couple rounds of Keg Brawl, I discovered that I actually had a (low) PvP ranking. I also dabbled in WvW on my engineer. That was a lot of fun, as well. In structured PvP skirmishes, you are upleveled with all your skills and abilities, giving you a chance to see how your toons will play in "endgame." In WvW, you are upleveled in HP and that's about it, as far as I could tell.

"Someday I hope to find the nuggets on a chicken."

So I have my Norn Elementalist, Donar Stormsage,up to about level 18, and three of my alts up to 7 or 8, with the fourth about 4. As mentioned, there are folks at max-level already, and many of my guildmates are in their upper 30s. I'm in no hurry to reach 80, not that I've ever been a fan of power leveling.

"Ooo! Igot it! What if we tried to organize crime? Yeah."

I, for one, am absolutely loving the wander-around, no-real-plan style of playing in GW2. Sure there's a story, but I don't have a laundry list of quests to fulfill when I log in so I can level up. No matter what I am doing—map completion, DEs, PvP, WvW, crafting, . . . healing defeated characters—I'm never "wasting time." ArenaNet has created a big beautiful word to explore. I am happy to explore it.

Insert Gushing GW2 Post Here, or No Time to Blog!

Maybe later I'll post a bunch more screenies of GW2. I am also behind the curve on that Gamers Survey analysis post I promised. I might blog more about the fun I am having, but I have been busy at work, and once I get home, I'd rather be having fun in the game than blogging about how much fun the game is. Make sense?

I played quite a bit this weekend, but not as much as I originally planned. On Saturday morning, discussing things we might do outside the house, I discovered that Sctrz had never been to Cabela's ("Why would I go to a hunting store?" "Holy Cow, it is so much more than that! Get dressed; we're going.") If you have not been to Cabela's and there is one within an hour or two of your house, I highly recommend it. So off we went on our little adventure IRL. Three hours after arriving, we exited the place with new Timber Ridge Zero-Gravity Loungers for our "game room."

Where to put the computers (Asus gaming laptops) and our peripherals was the next question. Since we spent the better part of Saturday a couple hours from home, the search for portable gaming surfaces was Sunday's project. After a couple trips to home improvement stores where we fleshed out some ideas, we decided to try some Mainstays Deluxe Laptop Carts from Walmart. These turned out to be incompatible with the lounges, so we headed back over to Lowes Home Improvement and picked up some items for DIY desks. We wrapped 1" x 12" x 36" Stainable Kiln-Dried Pine Panels with Duck Black 7' x 12" Shelf Liners, using LOCTITE 13.5 oz High Performance Spray Adhesive, creating light-weight, sturdy "desks" for our gaming lounges. Add a side table we'd already bought from Ikea, and voila, Gaming Central:

Obviously, that's the living room. The "game room" sets up and tears down in about ten minutes, including gathering everything together and stowing at the end of the evening. There's plenty of room for our mice and my Nostromo, plus snacks and drinks. While there's no mini-fridge, I gotta say, the set-up is fabulous. The lounges are more comfortable than our desk or the bed or the couch, much more ergonomic, methinks. They're perfect for an evening of adventuring through Tyria, the Alpha Quadrant, or even the Secret World.

The Death of the Subscription Model, Warmed Over

The news that SWTOR is transitioning to a "free to play" model (actually a hybrid P2P/F2P model) has sent the gaming/blogging/tweeting world into yet another tizzie. The pro-F2Pers are dancing in the streets to the strains of "Ding! Dong! Subscription's Dead!" Meanwhile, the self-appointed MMO pundits are sitting back in their armchairs, declaring, "I told you so," and trying yet again to nail the coffin shut on SWTOR. While I think the Truth is out there, I doubt we'll ever have enough information to prognosticate the end of the sub-based MMORPG.

by quaziefoto

Lest We Forget

The solar radiance of WoW shines a huge light on the matter. The elephant in the room has more active subs than all other "AAA" games out there combined; and while there are chinks in Blizzard's armor, I don't see that changing in the foreseeable future. Add to this shining example other veteran MMOs like EVE and Rift (does it count as veteran?) and you begin to see a trend—or at least a plateau.

But look, the "pundits" say, at all the games that have free to play just to survive! LOTRO, STO, CO, AoC. Now add SWTOR, the biggest budget game since . . . EVAHR! And they just cried uncle. ArenaNet didn't even bother, they're launching GW2 as F2P just as they did with the original GW. Clearly the trend is toward free-to-play.

Things are tough all over, even for Blizzard. But time and again I hear people say that they are willing to pay for a quality gaming experience. Some others would rather not pay a sub on top of a stiff box price. Stil others refuse to pay a subscription for any game, no matter what. These people are giving their personal philosophies rather than actually commenting on the business models. There are quality games that have no monthly subscriptions. Many more have a hybrid model, where for an upfront sub fee, you get extra content privileges or a stipend in an otherwise RMT shop. Others require a full subscription to play at all. If the quality is there, this is not a problem for me. But when I stop having fun, I don't want to pay anymore.

Everything Must Go!

Tesh commented on the recent Steam sale as well, and I think it is related. Sales are always great for the consumer. But we all to often think the sellers are doing us a favor, partly because they try to make it seem that they are. The reality is very different.

Imagine you're a shopkeeper. You've paid a hundred bucks for some cat food, 50¢ per can. You figure you can sell for the cat food for twice as much as you paid, $200. You sell about 50 cans at a dollar a piece. With a quarter of your inventory gone, you're half-way to the break-even point. But then sales start to dry up. Everyone willing to pay a dollar for a can of cat food has done so. So you reduce the price. And put a sign up. SALE! Cat Food, 75¢! You sell a few more but then sales dry up again. So you reduce the price again. Given the trend, you'll probably break even, but you won't make your profit goal. Under some circumstances, however, you'll be more worried about cutting your losses than making a profit.

While development costs muddy the water, the cost to produce a game license (because that's what you're really buying) is so close to 0¢ that it may as well be. Therefore, if a company can get any more sales by reducing the price from an initial premium, it is only to their advantage to do so. If it gets to the point where you're only paying a few dollars (or euros) for it on Steam, it's still worth it to the producer to sell it, regardless of whether they are making a profit or recouping a loss.

by Martien van Asseldonk

A game transitioning to free-to-play may be the best thing that ever happened it, turning a foundering title to a profitable venture. If reducing the box price of SWTOR and offering a F2P option induces more players to try it, that can only be good for EA/BioWare. It doesn't alter any perceived flaws in the game, itself.

As I said before, many people are willing to pay a subscription for quality content (much like a magazine sub). They say it's a more honest model. Others want to play for free and buy stuff from the cash shop only if necessary. Luckily, as I also said, most (all?) of the F2P games I've mentioned have the subscription option. Let's face it, the developer/publisher needs to make a profit to continue providing the game service. The money has to come from somewhere.

More Bang For Your Buck

The real question is, Does the game service provide you value? That is, is the game designed to your tastes? Do you enjoy playing? Is your investment in time (and money) worth it? If not, move on. Hopefully, the game will find its audience and succeed. If not, it will fail.

The other question is, Does providing the game service give value to the producer? Are they getting a return on their investment? Don't forget sunk costs, which can be a problem as the executives irrationally try to get back what they put in, perhaps throwing good money after bad. Or focusing too much on the bottom line and not enough on the art.

Regardless of the quality of the game itself, SWTOR may simply have been too ambitious a project, with too much money thrown at it in an attempt or expectation of WoW-like player populations. Like LOTRO and several others, SWTOR will hopefully find its footing in the hybrid model. There are too many games on the market, and they are all—for good or bad—in orbit of the elephant. It is my hope that new projects will have more realistic expectations of player populations, whether P2P or F2P.

As for those that bemoan the communities that may or may not sour as a result of the "rabble" invading the Halls of the Emperor, I say you can find the community you want in every MMO. I, for one, am grateful to be part of the (now) meta-Guild Republic Mercy Corps, as well as the relatively small community of like-minded bloggers and twitterers I follow. Every game I have played has brought me more friends. We don't always agree, but we always have fun. If we aren't having fun, then why play?

On "The Decline of Hardcore"

My friend River, of High Latency Life, wrote a guest post on Syp's Bio Break about how he worries that there aren't any more hardcore gamers in MMOs. Hopefully mine will be up later this week. This is my response.

You know happened to all the hardcore gamers? They grew up and got adult responsibilities. This is not a rant, just an observation. Hardcore gamers are like "hardcore" high school athletes. You could extend that to college athletes, too, I suppose. When you're young, with little responsibility other than getting through school, you have plenty of time to play games. Maybe you're involved in football, or band, or tabletop roleplaying, or maybe even first person shooters or MMORPGs. Heck, maybe you smoke a lot of weed.(Don't do drugs, kids.)

Only a few very lucky people get to continue that utter devotion into adulthood, after they graduate from high school or college. Maybe they become professional athletes or musicians or gamers. That's hardcore. The rest of us get "real" jobs that restrict us to one degree or another from simply doing what we like. We get a significant other that, more likely than not, does not share our enthusiasm for our hobby. We might have kids or ill parents that demand our attention. There isn't time enough in the day.

We're lucky to get a few hours in the evening to relax and play our games. We may get bored with the same old games, and move on to new ones, forever trying to reclaim that feeling we had when we were young and playing hardcore with our friends.

But our friends have grown up, too. If they haven't or we haven't, then we probably grow apart as our interests and responsibilities evolve.

I was in the Army for about four years, and then was lucky to get a job where I knew a lot of the people from my tour of duty. However, the further I get from my time of service, the fewer new people in the office are friends I knew. That doesn't mean that people aren't enlisting and then getting out when their tours are done. I am simply ever more removed from that time myself.

I am sure there are just as many hardcore gamers out there as before, River. You are just no longer moving in those circles, and neither are your friends. There is also the dilution aspect. There may be just as many hardcore players. But as the genre becomes ever more mainstream, they become ever less prominent in the sea of casual gamers who only need a few hours of relaxation after work is over and the kids have gone to bed.