T w e n t y S i d e d
I managed to emerge from the weekend without having written anything substantive. <?php generate_excuse (); ?> So as a way of distracting you, allow me to point out that even though I poke fun at Lord of the Rings Online and I savaged Champions Online, they are nowhere near the bottom of the MMO barrel. Check out this visit to Mortal Online via Serial MMOgamy. Actually, read the last few entries. Leslee plays a lot of esoteric MMO games and it’s amusing to see some of their outlandish design decisions in action. Some are just attempting to cater to unusual tastes or a small niche. But others just seem to be designed by people who don’t know what they’re doing.
Object-Disoriented Programming
C++ is a wonderful language for making horrible code.
PC Hardware is Toast
This is why shopping for graphics cards is so stupid and miserable.
The Opportunity Crunch
No, brutal, soul-sucking, marriage-destroying crunch mode in game development isn't a privilege or an opportunity. It's idiocy.
Self-Balancing Gameplay
There's a wonderful way to balance difficulty in RPGs, and designers try to prevent it. For some reason.
Gamers Aren’t Toxic
This is a horrible narrative that undermines the hobby through crass stereotypes. The hobby is vast, gamers come from all walks of life, and you shouldn't judge ANY group by its worst members.
Awww.. thank you so much, Shamus!
Now everyone will want their very own Gary the Attack Gazelle.
Leslee
I know I do.
Seconded… but I’ll settle for finding one in WoW. On my …sixth trial account. (WoW for free! You just can’t ever get past level 20…)
Last thing I need in my gaming is an anatomically kinda-correct avatar. Bleh.
I would kill to have a Gary. May need to sign up for Mortal Online just to get one. Except that whole junk hanging in the wind thing is a little off-putting for me. Not that I object to nudity (even the gratuitous variety) but I strongly object to UGLY nudity. I avoid nude beaches for this very reason.
You bet I do!
Now, if only I can see them…
Been following Leslee since you first recommended her blog several months back… as for Mortal Online, I’m not sure what’s would disturb me more – the fact that there’s nudity on the character creation screen, or the fact that I’d be afraid to find a scale for those particular, *ahem*, assets as part of the creation process.
Also, this kind of reminds me of the coverage of Wurms online at RockPaperShotgun… might have to make a recommendation for Leslee if she hasn’t visited that particular brand of stupid yet :)
Yes, I was wondering about that myself. Has teen locker room folklore failed to mention the Swedes somehow?
Even censored, I think it might be a good idea to put a NSFW tag on that link Shamus :/
Who here would pay $7.99 plus shipping for their very own Gary the Attack Gazelle plushie?
I’d love one, but just to clarify: would it actually ever ship, or would it just get halfway here before transporting itself back to the warehouse?
It’d be a brilliant business plan: You could make money from sales and then dock your sales staff for not moving enough product after you take inventory every month. It’s win-win!
Don’t sweat it, Shamus. Hope you had a good one. There’s no thing worth burning yourself out for, not even a bevy of blogfans.
So it’s released already? I thought it was still in beta, hence no quests.
I really genuinely like the idea of a “hardcore” MMO that doesn’t give a break to anyone. Also, if your character dies, and none of your friends manages to resurrect him/her, it’s time for a new character.
I said I like the idea, I didn’t say it’d be fun or that I would necessarily play it for long, or at all.