Zenimax vs. Facebook
This series explores the troubled history of VR and the strange lawsuit between Zenimax publishing and Facebook.
The Game That Ruined Me
Be careful what you learn with your muscle-memory, because it will be very hard to un-learn it.
Philosophy of Moderation
The comments on most sites are a sewer of hate, because we're moderating with the wrong goals in mind.
Bad and Wrong Music Lessons
A music lesson for people who know nothing about music, from someone who barely knows anything about music.
Bowlercoaster
Two minutes of fun at the expense of a badly-run theme park.
So, are Rangers just unable to think straight? Is it some sort of Nàºmenórean trait passed down through the generations? :)
I do find the combat/non-combat quest distinction an intersting one – easy experience versus more loot opportunities. It does look like an interesting game though, even if it’s amazing all the hobbits aren’t enslaved somewhere, I just wish I had time.
They generally get saner the further you advance the story. In Angmar, Evendim and North-Downs you actually get to see more organized efforts on their part. Annàºminas is where they’re being the most badass, though it’s arguable if it’s a good idea to keep fighting over a half-sunken city.
I suppose, if I were the ranger-in-chief, the guys I sent to guard a bunch of delusional hobbits from the ghosts of golfballs and the depredations of Evil Pies might not exactly be the cream of the crop either…
“Now Bill, I’ve got a VERY important mission for you.”
“Even more important than the get-my-bootlaces-untied one?”
“Yes Bill, even more important than that.”
Probably the funniest of the series thus far. Most of that attributable to the Loud Song. Best song yet.
My brain kept trying to set it to the tune of “The Song that Never Ends.” Somehow that just made it even better and more appropriate.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one.
I agree. “the message is for me, and I barely care,” The Loud Song, “I hate you and I hired you anyway”… comedy gold.
Yes, a great one, thanks Shamus!
A tried and true approach!
Apologies for the tangent… Here is the closeup of one of Heather’s watercolors I promised yesterday. I love how the shading on the flowers was layered on, but you can’t see the 3D-ness very well in the scanned image.
Huzzah for supporting Shamus (and his family) by shopping!
Ugh, travel time. Some game developers just don’t ever figure this one out.
Don’t get me wrong. I like and appreciate travel in some games. When I played Oblivion, I always made the first trips between big cities by foot; much of the landscape in-between is quite easy on the eyes. But when you’re on a quest that takes you back and forth between the cities? Yeah, that’s what fast travel is for.
It’s one of the reason why certain zones in MMOs (WoW being my drug of choice) end up ghost towns. Nobody likes being sent to the ass-end of nowhere to trawl all over it, only to have to go back and forth between there and civilization over and over.
Distance to travel is definitely a balance. If the quest objective was too close to the quest giver, I’d bet you’d hear Shamus slamming it for being absurdly close – “What, can’t you go get it yourself???”
And in this case, I didn’t find the distance to be too far since you can pick up several quests to do at the same time from the lumber camp that you pass through on the way. I know Shamus cherry-picks for the funny, but it’s not as bad as he makes it out to be.
I dunno. Being forced to make a 10 minute round trip three or four times – because each trip is given to you serially in the quest line – can get kind of annoying.
I see you’ve run the Sundered Frontier questlines in EQ2, also…
The only thing that made it vaguely bearable was having a friend in voice chat to MST3K it with. “Here’s your shrubbery, Mr. Erudite, what would you like us to go get from the exact same cave next?”
Seriously, I hope the quests in that zone were designed by the summer intern… if it was a real MMO designer, he should probably consider a new line of work.
I’m with krellen. Best song so far. I normally don’t care for such things, but this one was funny in context.
For some reason I was immediately reminding of the campfire song in Spongebob. <..> WHAT!? Don’t judge.
I’m basking in the epic-ness of this episode right now. Basking in it so hard it would rupture the basking gland of any lesser man.
I do wonder how often you’ll get to visit scenic Chetwood, though.
I think you can safely assume it’s going to be a big number given Shamus has started counting it.
“My plan was to send a messenger to Brackenbrook to tell you to talk to the barmaid so she could send you to me so you could go and talk to Underhill for me.”
Not quite the worst plan ever but still pretty bad. Good for a laugh abet unintentional. I’m betting to pass off as a brigand you’ll have to get a wanted poster of a brigand, draw a mustache on it, then construct a fake mustache out of animal hair and maple syrup.
And how many boar and bears will you have to kill to get the animal hair to make the mustache?
Exactly 6.
Of each.
Then, you’ll fail the tradeskill check, and have to re-do the whole thing.
OMG! EPIC!
On a related note:
http://turbine.com/news/105-warner-bros-interactive-entertainment-announces-the-lord-of-the-rings-online-to-adopt-global-free-to-play-model.html
Pretty much what it says in the link.