Cosmetic Changes in WoW: Cataclysm

OK, WoW CATA beta testers, I have just one question. Have the character avatars changed; and if so, what do they look like? I am worried because of some of the stuff I see in WotLK. Let me illustrate.

On the left, you see what Jaina Proudmore used to look like: a bland but pretty face that was available to any player role-ing a human female. I liked her almost as much as I liked my twins Rowanblaze and Hollyhammer (see below). The new Jaina, on the right, is pouty; her lips aren't quite right somehow. And don't even get me started on her eyes. Perhaps it goes with her new whiny, crybaby persona. As much as people seem to dislike Garrosh Hellscream, I think it is the suddenly weepy, pining-after-Arthas Jaina that has suffered the most annoying character change. I can't remember who brought it up in another blog, but why the heck does she call Varian Wrynn her king after the Deathbringer Saurfang fight? Absolutely ludicrous, as she is the sovereign of her own city-state on another continent, and didn't even come from Stormwind in the first place. It's as if Barack Obama were to address Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands as his queen. But I digress.

I am worried that my lovelies will end up looking like they are from LOTRO.

I hope that if they do make these cosmetic changes, that players are given the opportunity to re-customize their characters. I may not like the new face that Blizz thinks corresponds to my avatar's old face, but I may find another I like better.

Do the Borg Have an Afterlife?

The interior of the Borg wreckage was dark and humid. A sick green light bathed the injured and dying drones, while sparks rained from a ruptured conduit. Emergency bulkheads had sealed the compartment from the vacuum of space before the cube had broken up. But the life support system was failing, the air growing stale. The telltale whine of a Starfleet transporter echoed down a corridor toward the chamber.

In another chamber, six figures materialized in a combat-ready formation. As the transporter effect faded, one of the figures holstered her weapon and flipped open her tricorder, which murmered and beeped. Speaking though her re-breather, she declared:

"Radiation elevated but within tolerances. Gravity at 75% Earth normal. Oxygen levels below normal; CO2 elevated, unsafe. Keep your masks on."

A chorus of voices responded with "ayes." One of the other figures, even smaller than the captain and positioned directly opposite in the defensive circle, pulled out her own tricorder and began to scan for life signs. Pointing down a corridor, Auzzie said:

"Picking up faint readings, Captain. Down that corridor."

Major Gasira and one of her MACOs took point, followed closely by Rowan and Thierry, with Auzzie and the third MACO bringing up the rear. Debris littered the floor of the corridor, and the away team cautiously through the wrecked ship. They came upon a widening of the hallway where they found several regeneration alcoves occupied by drones. Rowan and Auzzie scanned the bodies, but they were all defunct. Thierry scanned the alcoves themselves.

"Dey appear to have overloaded, mebe a power surge when de cube exploded."

"Yes," responded Rowan. "The tissue surrounding the cybernetic interfaces is burned, some charring. They died in their sleep."

Auzzie continued to track the life signs. Further down this corridor there is a larger chamber. I don't think the explosion happened more than a day or two ago, Captain."

The metallic groan of fatigued struts sounded through the corridor. Thierry adjusted his tricorder and took in the readings.

"Capitaine, de artificial gravity generators are beginning to fail. Gravemetric shifts as dey go offline may cause the structure to collapse."

"Understood. Let's move on. These creatures no longer need our help."

The structural moans continued to reverberate down the hall as the party moved forward. As they approached the large chamber, they came across their first animate drone. Rowan rushed forward with her tricorder. The drone's face was badly burned; the ocular implant looked melted, and the remaining eye was charred. It seemed to be attempting to rise, at least the mechanical portion was. A strangled gasp rattled in its throat. The wall opposite the drone was just twisted metal and polymer. Thierry checked it.

"Dese appear to be de remains of an interface panel, Capitaine. De drone must have been using it when it blew up."

"Only minimal activity in the brain stem. No activity in the cerebral cortex or cerebellum. I think the machine is keeping this one alive. There is nothing we can do here."

"We should put it out of its misery." This from the major. Rowan glared at her through her mask. Gasira just gazed back impassively.

"Do you not think killing this drone will bring whatever defenses they have down on us?"

"I think whatever defenses they might have are not functioning."

"How is it that a Starfleet medical officer knows more than a combat specialist about the tactics of one of the Federation's deadliest enemies? From the first contact with the Borg by the Enterprise-D, they have not reacted to boarders unless specifically attacked."

"Captain, Voyager and even Enterprise-D and -E encountered Borg that were immediately hostile to boarding parties. It is my assessment that if they have not attacked us, they are unable to. Meanwhile this drone is suffering. I simply proposed a humane solution."

Rowan shook her head, "There is no mind to suffer here. And I will not endanger this team needlessly. Let's move on."

"Captain, I also believe that leaving this creature between us and the beam out point endangers the away team."

"Major, I have made the decision. Move out."

Gasira gazed at Rowan, calculating, then gestured to the rear MACO, who replaced her on point while the major took up the rear guard. Rowan fumbled in her medkit for a hypo and, finding it, made some adjustments and injected the drone with a sedative and painkiller combo, just in case the Major was right.

"The life signs are becoming clearer, but they are fading, Captain." This from Auzzie.

"OK, let's go."

As the team moved cautiously down the corridor, the vessel groaned more loudly. The screech of tearing metal rang through the hallway. The away team stumbled, Auzzie falling to her knees as the deck seemed to lurch then list to starboard of the away team's orientation.

"Report!" shouted Rowan, over the cacophony.

Thierry responded, "One of de gravity generators has failed. De others are tryin' to compensate but dey are already strained. Plus, de altered gravimetric fields are strainin' de superstructure."

"How much time do we have?"

"Too hard to say, given our lack of familiarity wit Borg technology. We need to get trough dis mission and get out of here."

"OK, let's move."

The large chamber was a complete shambles. Strangely, it appeared to be some sort of cargo or parts storage bay. But debris was everywhere. Pipes, conduits, and components looked as if they had been tossed off shelves and out of containers. A few more bodies lay amongst the rubble. The team fanned out, stepping through the carnage. One drone had its skull bashed in, apparently by a large pipe that lay  half across the corpse Another had been cut nearly in half by a structural support that had broken loose. Suddenly, Rowan's tricorder began beeping urgently, directing her toward a pile of loosely coiled conduit. A foot and calf protruded from the material.

"These signs are fairly strong. Let's get this stuff off of it."

Thierry and one of the MACOs moved to assist. Together, they threw off the larger coils slowly revealing an unconscious but apparently uninjured female drone. However, when Rowan scanned her closely, she discovered shattered ribs, a collapsed lung and other bruised organs; the drone was barely breathing. Her pulse was thready and blood oxygen levels were half normal. Rowan could detect the Borg's nanites working to repair the misaligned bones, but was unable to determine the functionality of the drone's mechanical components.

"Thierry take a look at these readings," she said as she handed the tricorder to the engineer. He studied the readings for a few moments.

"Cher, de subspace transponder is not functionin'. She's lost contact with de collective."

"I think we can transport her safely to La Gitana."

Auzzie had discovered two more drones under a collapsed shelving unit. "Captain, this one is pretty bad off, but there is still brain activity. The other seems stronger, but still comatose."

Rowan moved to scan the second drone confirming Auzzie's assessment. The third was indeed better off, but had a brain injury. There were no other life signs in the wreckage.

"Auzzie you will accompany these two back to La Gitana. Thierry, deploy the pattern enhancers." Rowan  turned to the MACO standing over the first drone. "Sergeant, you will accompany that one.  "

The Sergeant glanced at Major Gasira. "Yes, Ma'am."

Rowan tapped her commbadge. "Starblanket to La Gitana."

"This is Commander Shintarah. Go ahead, Captain."

"Tarah, alert the medical team and security detail in the Borg containment unit. We're almost ready for beam out."

"Aye, Captain."

Thierry gave Rowan the thumbs up. Rowan nodded to Auzzie, who tapped her own badge. "Torbin to transporter room. Three to beam directly to Cargo Bay Four from my location." The whine of the transporter sounded over the groans and cries of the Borg wreckage. The transporter effect shimmered around the young Trill and her two charges. Rowan nodded to the MACO.

"Starnes to transporter room. Two to beam to Cargo Bay Four." Once again the transporter whined and the MACO disappeared with the drone. But even as the two figures faded, there sounded a giant crash as the floor lurched again, sending the remaining four flying into a wall on top of the debris.

Innovation

Inspired by Yeebo's post on MMO innovation and WoW and a wonderfully predictive article from Lost Garden from 2005. This is also a continuation of the discussion from yesterday's post. (Once again commenting on others' posts. When am I going to feel inspired enough to finish my own stories?)

Interesting that Blizzard and even the Warcraft RTS are mentioned in the Lost Garden article. Of course, he was right, Blizzard is about taking an established genre, looking at complaints about gameplay, and making better or more responsive games. I don't know why people complain so much about the game mechanics of WoW. They aren't perfect, but they are polished and encourage a huge number of people to play.

As far as who is the Nintendo of MMOs? Hard to say, because despite variations in story content, MMOs are a single genre themselves, as opposed to a platform/brand like Nintendo. I certainly would not say Farmville, it is an innovation in casual play, but has its roots in the RTS genre, not RPGs.

I am not sure how innovative I personally need a new game to be. I have said it before, story drives my games. Obviously gameplay needs to be enjoyable but that is highly subjective. Maybe I should say "Lore" instead of "Story." I like the feel of a real persistent world with a history.  But even I am finicky, I dismissed LOTRO as being too similar to WoW, in an "uncanny valley" sort of way. Even now, I struggle to like AoC, but I thoroughly enjoy STO. I am looking forward to SWTOR and even GW2 is intriguing.

The funny thing is that "hardcore" in the Lost Garden article seems to be different than how self-described hardcore gamers would identify themselves, since they are the ones complaining loudest about how "dumbed down" WOW has become, and in comparison to EQ, for example. So what do hardcore MMO players play, exactly, in the sense of Halo, Call of Duty, and GTA, what have you? Is it EVE? Or Warhammer? Maybe Guild Wars? Because if they're still playing WotLK, all the while bitching about WoW is dumb and too easy, I may have to smack somebody.

On a side note, apparently Google has decided to mess with Blogger's picture uploader. Very annoying. Hah! I may have just answered my own question about my tolerance for innovation.

Searching For The World of Warcraft-Clone

Originally posted on Petter M.'s Don't Fear the Mutant blog, edited here for some clarity and to fix grammar. I highly recommend reading the original post and comments, but couldn't believe I'd spent that much time and thought on a comment on someone else's blog :P

What would a New MMO need to not be a WoW clone?

FFA PvP?
Already in WoW; Gurubashi is just one example.

Forced grouping?
Not sure what forced grouping is outside the WoW instancing and LFD scenario. Did EQ do this? I turned off auto-grouping in STO, partly because there was always some clown taking all the crafting mats as we ran the mission.

Meaningful Death Penalty?

Hmm, not many solutions have I found, other than not calling it death at all, like LOTRO and STO ground missions. The problem with creating “meaningful death” in any game is that death IRL is so permanent. I suppose you could shorten the level grind so that creating a completely new character after losing your current one to death would be an option. How about specific injuries, rather than a general HP system. You’d end up with an extremely complex and potentially unwieldy wound system. Remember most injuries that involve sword and/or guns will be debilitating for the remainder of the fight, at best. It’s a game remember? No matter what game you are talking about, the only death penalty that could be meaningful would also be permanent.

How about non-quest related leveling?
I agree with Yeebo about the questless grinding for XP. I certainly would not stay with a game for any length of time if I discovered that sort of mechanic involved. For me, quests represent the story of the game; which is the reason I am playing the first place, to follow the story. Killing boars in the forest for no reason other than XP is asinine.

Another commenter said, “Quests are not at all required if devs can think outside of the box and find new and interesting solutions.” Looking for an actual alternative solution here. If we are talking about just about any genre of fiction, quests are at the heart of the plot. Heck, even RL is full of “quests,” though we usually call them tasks or assignments or some such. They are goals to achieve. IIRC, questing and leveling predate all computer games, starting with tabletop RPGs and arguably, regular boardgames. There is always a goal in a game, usually it is to win in some way–or at least to prove that you have made progress. Regardless of how the "quest" or task is presented, without a quest there is no plot to the game.

More "sandbox" or player created content or drama?
I have no experience with sandbox games, except maybe RTS style freeplay. But I know that EVE does not appeal to me, both for the PvP and the extreme penalty for death/failure. If this is held up as an example of sandbox, then count me out as well.

In conclusion, I like the persistence of the Worlds in MMORPGs. It is the reason I play. I am not particularly social when I play, preferring solo quests with only the occasional group interaction. OTOH, I do like that the social interaction is possible. And I have fun playing and chatting people from my guild/fleet/group. People need to remember that WoW--for all its faults--is extremely popular precisely because Blizzard made a conscious effort to rectify complaints people had with previous MMOs, and continues to do so. Their success or failure might be open to debate, but they have the numbers on their side. They have a rich epic plot to rival any major book series, and players get to participate to a greater or lesser degree in this history. I have enjoyed WoW immensely, just as I enjoy STO and to a lesser extent, AoC. It might be “showing its age”; but I, for one, am looking forward to Cataclysm, and I am willing to try, at least, anything else that comes along that promises to deliver a similar but better experience.

My point is that WoW is already a clone: of EQ, of DIKU MUDs, of tabletop D&D. It is simply more popular than any other  MMO already out there, and most hardcore MMO gamers have played it either currently or in the past. So people will inevitably compare everything new to the big boy.

Blogging in Paradise . . .

 . . . doesn't work very well. I have the continuation of Rowan's encounter with the Borg wreck half typed. I was writing a longhand manuscript while traveling and in my spare time at work this week. But how can I write when my desktop background looks like this?

I mean, really. . . even if I am honored (very honored) with a mention in We Fly Spitfires' Best of the Rest (Thank you, Gordon!), I can't help breaking away for vistas like this

taken from a little stop right there.

Heck, I haven't even played a game in over a week. I did log on to WoW, but only to see if I got a meet-up date and time with my Guild Master, who is lucky enough to live here. So, Dear Reader, I promise I will deliver the next installment of Rowan's story in a few days--maybe after the sun sets on Paradise.