VIFA Valley road About RPG Games
Breakfast Topic
2009-03-10
Karthis, a feral Druid from the Garona-US server, wrote a thought-provoking treatise on the current end-game on his blog a few days ago. Of course, he's hardly the first to declare the current end-game far too easy, but he brings a very interesting angle to the discussion -- namely that of the casual. He interviews various casual raid guild leaders in his piece. These are guild leaders who, back in Burning Crusade, mostly ran Karazhan and maybe dabbled a bit in Zul'aman. They certainly were far behind the curve. But they had a dedicated core of 10 raiders who got together, faced the challenges, and overcame them. But now, even these casuals are saying that the end-game is just too easy. One guild leader interviewed is finding that some of their raiders have gotten all the loot they need from Naxxramas and maxed out Northrend Achievements and Reputations, and, for lack of anything to do, ar...
2009-03-10
Karthis, a feral Druid from the Garona-US server, wrote a thought-provoking treatise on the current end-game on his blog a few days ago. Of course, he's hardly the first to declare the current end-game far too easy, but he brings a very interesting angle to the discussion -- namely that of the casual. He interviews various casual raid guild leaders in his piece. These are guild leaders who, back in Burning Crusade, mostly ran Karazhan and maybe dabbled a bit in Zul'aman. They certainly were far behind the curve. But they had a dedicated core of 10 raiders who got together, faced the challenges, and overcame them. But now, even these casuals are saying that the end-game is just too easy. One guild leader interviewed is finding that some of their raiders have gotten all the loot they need from Naxxramas and maxed out Northrend Achievements and Reputations, and, for lack of anything to do, ar...
Breakfast Topic
2009-03-10
Wow. It's already the end of January. Time flies by so fast that one twelfth of 2009 is already finished. Now would probably a good time as any to ask how you've done so far in Wrath of the Lich King. I'm rather proud that our little guild has downed 25-man Malygos -- I should probably tell Mike to give us a shoutout on Guildwatch -- and that the only thing left for us to do right now is Sartharion with three drakes. Sure, we didn't finish it all in an unimaginable three days, but I'm very happy nonetheless. On a personal note, my wife gave me a Nobles Deck...
2009-03-10
Wow. It's already the end of January. Time flies by so fast that one twelfth of 2009 is already finished. Now would probably a good time as any to ask how you've done so far in Wrath of the Lich King. I'm rather proud that our little guild has downed 25-man Malygos -- I should probably tell Mike to give us a shoutout on Guildwatch -- and that the only thing left for us to do right now is Sartharion with three drakes. Sure, we didn't finish it all in an unimaginable three days, but I'm very happy nonetheless. On a personal note, my wife gave me a Nobles Deck...
Breakfast Topic
2009-03-10
Yes, I've stolen the title from an old Simpsons episode, before anyone nabs it in the comments. Well, WoW -- happy birthday! I don't think anyone, least of all Blizzard, expected the game to be anywhere near as popular as it's become, and it's just getting stronger. The game has changed a lot in the past four years, both for better (if you're me) and for worse (if you're a forum troll commenting on every change that has ever been made or ever will be made, unless it results in their character being absurdly overpowered, in wh...
2009-03-10
Yes, I've stolen the title from an old Simpsons episode, before anyone nabs it in the comments. Well, WoW -- happy birthday! I don't think anyone, least of all Blizzard, expected the game to be anywhere near as popular as it's become, and it's just getting stronger. The game has changed a lot in the past four years, both for better (if you're me) and for worse (if you're a forum troll commenting on every change that has ever been made or ever will be made, unless it results in their character being absurdly overpowered, in wh...
Breakfast Topic
2009-03-10
We're so close to getting Twilight Vanquisher, I can almost taste it. A lot of my guild mates would love to have the title, and I'm sure when we down Sartharion with three drakes this week -- fingers crossed... -- a lot of them will be sporting it in Dalaran. I'm not too keen on it myself. I couldn't actually care less. It's cool and all, but what I really want is Battlemaster. I'm just one or two Achievements short on every Battleground to get Master in each one. Even if I had the skill to obtain Arena Master (and I admittedly don't, seeing as how I've never broken 2200 on any bracket in any Season),...
2009-03-10
We're so close to getting Twilight Vanquisher, I can almost taste it. A lot of my guild mates would love to have the title, and I'm sure when we down Sartharion with three drakes this week -- fingers crossed... -- a lot of them will be sporting it in Dalaran. I'm not too keen on it myself. I couldn't actually care less. It's cool and all, but what I really want is Battlemaster. I'm just one or two Achievements short on every Battleground to get Master in each one. Even if I had the skill to obtain Arena Master (and I admittedly don't, seeing as how I've never broken 2200 on any bracket in any Season),...
Breakfast Topic
2009-03-10
I probably should've mentioned this in my Breakfast Topic yesterday, which asked about your favorite noob moments, but my brother-in-law had a major one with his very first character. Playing a Druid, he eventually found himself in Moonglade. Not the best person with directions, he actually got lost in Nighthaven, unable to find his way out. He even tried to kill his Tauren by drowning in a Moonwell. Didn't work. In frustration, he deleted his toon and rerolled ano...
2009-03-10
I probably should've mentioned this in my Breakfast Topic yesterday, which asked about your favorite noob moments, but my brother-in-law had a major one with his very first character. Playing a Druid, he eventually found himself in Moonglade. Not the best person with directions, he actually got lost in Nighthaven, unable to find his way out. He even tried to kill his Tauren by drowning in a Moonwell. Didn't work. In frustration, he deleted his toon and rerolled ano...
Breakfast Topic
2009-03-10
There's an interesting post on the forums that's become a catalogue of what old-time players miss most about classic WoW. While it's become a pretty thorough compilation of iconic moments, there are admissions that, well, maybe some of the stuff that's fun to look back on wasn't actually that much fun at the time. The examples include trying to get past a 40-man raid of the opposite faction into Molten Core, the boredom of raiding as little more than a g...
2009-03-10
There's an interesting post on the forums that's become a catalogue of what old-time players miss most about classic WoW. While it's become a pretty thorough compilation of iconic moments, there are admissions that, well, maybe some of the stuff that's fun to look back on wasn't actually that much fun at the time. The examples include trying to get past a 40-man raid of the opposite faction into Molten Core, the boredom of raiding as little more than a g...
BRK
2009-03-10
10. Blizz has given up on gold-ads and just made the Launcher scan my hard drive for credit card information, charge me $10, then I receive 5000 gold in an in-game email. 9. The Frogger gauntlet in Naxx has been moved to west-door of Ogrimmar. Alliance raids going for Thrall shall be forced to go through the front door. 8. The daily quest to steal 12 puppies for the walruses has been modified. We now have to hand out 12 packages of contraception to the Wolvar. 7. The hunter Beastmastery tree has a new talent, "Shutdah3llup", which adjusts all damage-meter addons so that th...
2009-03-10
10. Blizz has given up on gold-ads and just made the Launcher scan my hard drive for credit card information, charge me $10, then I receive 5000 gold in an in-game email. 9. The Frogger gauntlet in Naxx has been moved to west-door of Ogrimmar. Alliance raids going for Thrall shall be forced to go through the front door. 8. The daily quest to steal 12 puppies for the walruses has been modified. We now have to hand out 12 packages of contraception to the Wolvar. 7. The hunter Beastmastery tree has a new talent, "Shutdah3llup", which adjusts all damage-meter addons so that th...
Bulger
2009-03-10
MMOs are games that seem to be very well named. They certainly allow a massive number of players access to a shared online space, from which their names derive. Yet, there is something to keep in mind: the 'MM' part of the genre's name (Massively Multiplayer) is really a feature of the games. One of the main draws that MMOs have going for them is that you, as a player, can play with a bunch of other people, including your friends. However, while the amount of players per world is certainly a feature of these games, they are also a resource for developers. This resource is one that developers can use to create game systems with that they could not have in other games. It does beg the question: how do MMOs truly take advantage of the sheer number of players? Most games do indeed make use of the multiplayer aspect of these games by allowing groups, trade between players, chat, and often raids. Yet, not every game is necessarily taking full advantage of this special resource that MMOs have. Now, you might see a debate between the 'theme park' and 'sandbox' MMO design styles cropping up here, and as much as I would like to greet you with your expectations, this is actually not the purpose of this col...
2009-03-10
MMOs are games that seem to be very well named. They certainly allow a massive number of players access to a shared online space, from which their names derive. Yet, there is something to keep in mind: the 'MM' part of the genre's name (Massively Multiplayer) is really a feature of the games. One of the main draws that MMOs have going for them is that you, as a player, can play with a bunch of other people, including your friends. However, while the amount of players per world is certainly a feature of these games, they are also a resource for developers. This resource is one that developers can use to create game systems with that they could not have in other games. It does beg the question: how do MMOs truly take advantage of the sheer number of players? Most games do indeed make use of the multiplayer aspect of these games by allowing groups, trade between players, chat, and often raids. Yet, not every game is necessarily taking full advantage of this special resource that MMOs have. Now, you might see a debate between the 'theme park' and 'sandbox' MMO design styles cropping up here, and as much as I would like to greet you with your expectations, this is actually not the purpose of this col...