PotBS :: “if you don’t like how the game is designed… it’ll be our fault, not SOE’s”

In the last couple of days, there has been quite a bit of information come out regarding PotBS. Flying Lab Software have signed with Sony Online Entertainment as the “platform publisher” for Pirates of the Burning Sea to mixed reviews by the community.

Thankfully, I’m pretty ignorant to MMORPGs and their history and so I don’t have strong personal opinions on any of the publishers for the various MMO games. In LOTRO for example, I think, from my limited reading, that Turbine had a pretty poor reputation with initial releases and with Dungeon and Dragon in particular hanging quite heavily on their reputation. That said, I have nothing but positives based on my experience. Coming from NWN where sooo much was known, it is nice to be in the more ignorant camp and simply enjoying the game. Ok…. ok… that rambled, but the point is simply that when I saw “SOE” I had to Google the letters to figure out what / who it was. Quickly browsing the forum I saw several negatively toned posts and I tried simply not to read them. After all, what is done is done and in reality it won’t matter – either I’ll like the game or I won’t.

That said, I was very pleased to see this blog – Link to Editor Blog – talking about the state of the game by Rusty who is the head of Flying Lab Software. All in all, I think it says all the right things – so much so, I made it the title of this post.

They updated the release date to be sometime in the Fall. I’m very interested in this game from a development perspective as well as from a player perspective. I think it has a very unique opportunity to be something different that fits more into a sub-culture all-time classic rather than a mass target release project. But…. I’m sure they will feel pressures and opportunity if they can expand the focus a bit and cover a few more bases. You can see this already with the boarding combat, the hand-to-hand combat, and most recently the publisher. The good news is that I think each of those moves helps to not only broaden the player base but make the game more enjoyable for me.

So all sails up and head for the Caribbean!! Fall should be great time!!

Portrait of a Lv 19 Burglar :: Character Decisions

Certainly deciding what character to play in any game is a big decision. In an MMORPG, you can argue it is even more important due to the time commitment to get up decent levels. That said, I thought I would post my character’s portrait and skill sets and talk about my experience as a burglar in LOTRO. This is NOT an uber build or anything like that. This is where I have ended up by questing alone and simply playing in pick up groups – no guild help and no alts and this is my first time up to this level so this is pretty much where you can expect to be as a floor.

Appearance wise, I am happier in the last 5 levels or so. I played a hobbit on Windfola and I liked his “look” better but in the last few levels, Derrid is looking a bit better. I haven’t messed with dyes and I certainly think it would help, but in the recent two weeks he has gone from kind of ugly to a better looking character.

Above is the current character sheet for those interested in stats. He dual-wields a sword and a dagger.

Derrid – Skill Set

Finally, above is a big composite photo of all the skills – both passive and active that I have accumulated. This is every skill available at level 19 outside of the music skills. At level 18 (IIRC), I ended up having to show the additional quickslot bar so that all skills available could be readily used. In the photo, the ones on the blue background are PASSIVE while the others are the active skills.

Typical Battle:

Ok… I just got a couple of newer skills so this may evolve a bit as there are a few more options available now than a few levels ago. The newer two are Trick: Dust in the Eyes and Addle – so I don’t focus on those but I do think they have good uses.

When I solo, it ends up being stealth up to an enemy – Aim for the critical and Surprise Attack. It is currently around 200 damage on the first blow. If there are more than one (mostly 2 enemies), I change targets and Riddle the second one before returning to the first to continue with Burglar’s Advantage and Cunning Attack. From there I sprinkle in Trick: Disable and Subtle Stab.

That works great most of the time. If things are tougher, then the next move is use Evade and Mischievous Glee. That is about all the fire power I have in the arsenal. I think the next step for me is to figure out how to integrate the newer two skills above to go to the next step.

In groups, the highlight is clearly beginning fellowship skills on elite and signature enemies using Exploit Opening. It is a great feature to begin and quickly end the tougher battles. Combat in groups becomes a bit chaotic in pick up groups, but I’ve had pretty good luck. Burglar’s have good staying power and I certainly have felt like I have been equal to other classes and if anything stronger. Riddle is super-effective but AOE attacks can certainly ruin it. So teamwork and strategy come into play.

Note: You can’t pull anyone except through an attack or being visible but stealth more than accommodates for that loss.

Overall:

My overall impression is that it is a very fun class. I love stealth and it’s a good class to solo and a fun class within fellowships. It isn’t the most desirable class – that goes to the Minstrel healers, but it is a very fun class to play and one that I would pick again. I usually enjoy characters that are a little more difficult but allow for a little more variety and require a bit more coordination and I think burglar fits that nicely.

Personally, I think I like the idea and look of the hobbit I had on Windfola a bit more than the man, but I’m glad I stuck with the burglar class for this go around. Hope that helps a few with decisions.

Kids Gone Wild :: Online Games Aimed at Kids

If your house is anything like mine, online games for kids have simply taken off in the last year or so. It seems like a rampant spreading disease quickly consuming new users on a daily basis. Granted, I’ve set up two old computers in the game room for the kids and I encourage them to use them, but there is a new business model aimed at young kids – “free” online games that then offer subscriptions or require an initial purchase.

I decided to post what I know after seeing a post after seeing a blog review the top MMOs and seeing some of the numbers and thinking that this information might help out a few parents. From my perspective I think it is very interesting to see these evolving so quickly and it seems like the bigger MMORPGs like LOTRO should be evolving towards this audience and certainly paying attention to this competitor.

First things first, I have 5-8 yr old children. In the last year or so Webkinz seemed to take over our house. Webkinz is a pretty unique model in that you purchase little “pet” animals in toy stores or even airport shops and with the animal comes a unique code – so Benie Baby + a unique web code. Entering that code into the website allows the child an account with an avatar (the “character” they are online) matching their doll. So your child goes out and gets a Webkinz white dog and gets a code to start an account. In Webkinz world, they will be a little white dog. It is a unique hook type model and it is a really a pretty nice concept.

Within the world, the game is geared towards little kids. From what I have seen, all chat is selected from pre-generated lists. A quick comment on this: Obviously when you are online you have to watch what you say and what information you give out, but the second part of the equation is what will the other people online with you do and is it appropriate. To fix this, Webkinz and Club Penguin (which I’ll cover next) allow users to select text from a drop down list of options. So you can say “hi” or “bye” or “dance” etc. Think of it as not much more than a box of smilies that you can have your character say.

That is really the foundation. Within Webkinz, you have a room and can decorate it (I’m pretty sure) and you can visit other people’s rooms or get / send messages. It is honestly a bit weird when “Penguin546″ invites you “to their room”, but all it does it allow you to see their room and they can do anything more than float a smiley face on their little character so whatever fears you might have about going into a strangers room are really handled in a kid safe fashion in my opinion (IMO) even if the initial concept seems a bit odd for anyone older than 10.

The next game is Club Penguin. It is a step up in complexity and freedom. It “feels” much more like a dumbed down town in a classic MMORPG than a kids game. As you enter, you are in town with a number of penguins, say 50 or so standing and moving and occasionally speaking. If you are a parent, I’d encourage you to read the introduction and sign-up sheets pretty closely. There are multiple levels of freedom that you can grant for your child based on age which basically go back to limiting the chat options as I covered earlier.

Once in the game, it is a bit more like a social oriented MMORPG. There are mini-games to earn points and with those you can decorate your room or change your avatar appearance. It is, again, pretty well done. It lacks the high end graphics and it lacks the combat with “classic” MMORPGs but it is a pretty impressive operation. Characters can move from server to server and my kids are often calling friends to coordinate where they will meet up in the world. Really pretty funny. My kids are on the most structured account (for the youngest kids with the same limits on chat to pre-generated only) and I haven’t seen anything close to a PG movie.

The newest site that my son has found is a bit different and really seems like a single player experience: Adventure Quest. This is new in the last 2 weeks or so, so I have less experience. I’ve watched this one and basically it is like a single player game from about 15 years ago except online and free. Think the old battle interface from Might and Magic with less options and you have it. If not think, lightening bolt vs. sword attack vs. arrow attack. It is very simple and there is no chat interface so there is essentially no risk from a parent standpoint. There is “violence” but really not much more than a cartoon and certainly no where close to a PG movie IMO. The site claims to have some multi-player goals (without any chat) but my son hasn’t found that portion of the game as of yet. Basically it ends up being two kids in the game room playing side by side without much interaction in the actual game – more of just doing there own thing and glancing back and forth at what each other are doing. That said, they like it and they are on free accounts.

Those are the big ones that my kids are into. They are fun and have pulled my kids off of the Xbox and online so they are entertaining and IMO they are safe and appropriate if you provide just a little bit of oversight. All in all, I’d recommend looking into Webkinz for girls and littler children. If they like that initial step, then I think these other two are very good places to look for variety.

A quick note on LOTRO and how these stack up. First off, LOTRO is NOT geared for little pre-teen children. I don’t think anyone would say that is. That said, basic gameplay for AAA MMORPG titles is amazingly straightforward and streamlined – so easy a child could do it. So I’ve let my 8 yr old make a character and then I went in and disabled all the chat interfaces and it works nicely and it is pretty kid-friendly IF you know how to turn off chat options and IF you are around and are MMORPG savvy.

For comparison, I think LOTRO is much more violent appearing because the graphics are better. They are still cartoonish say next to the Pirates of Caribbean game on X-Box 360, but they are more realistic than the online games and therefore one step up the maturity ladder. But after that LOTRO is decent kid experience. In reality the gameplay is a little bit more complicated (even at super low levels and that complexity increases greatly as you level up). But that isn’t the biggest detraction. The biggest detraction is 1) the initial costs and requirement of the actual game and 2) the simple fact that computer comfortable parents are few and far between and 3) there are not any parental controls on MMORPG accounts. All of these really make the multi-friend social component of the game fall waaay short of the prior 3 true kid-oriented pieces of software discussed previously.

From my perspective, LOTRO and other mainstream MMORPGs should be aggressively looking at parental controls and sub-accounts if they hope to maintain their current hold on computer games. Great controls would really address two of the three issues above and only leave the initial purchase of software for a far more robust product.

Anyway, if your kids are looking for online entertainment there is plenty of free, really pretty quality stuff available if you look around. If you have two computers where kids can play next to each other – these are huge hits. One computer and it still goes head to head for my children’s time on gaming systems and it wins easily with the girl who has never been interested in gaming systems.

If you have questions, post and I can try to get answers or if you see something incorrect, post so that other people can see good information.

Huge Patch :: Shores of Evendim!

A huge patch titled Shores of Evendim was unleashed yesterday into Middle Earth. It is the first free expansion for LOTRO. With more changes than I could even read through, it looks like a great update to an already outstanding game. Here is a link to the official patch notes which will take you a while to sort through.

Official Patch Notes

I can’t say much more than what the official notes hold, but it certainly looks like a very good game took another large step forward. It will be interesting over the next few days to see if they accidentally took steps backwards. If not then they are really doing a standout job with this game.

Note: The patch is big. It took me a good 1 hour to install on a pretty high end machine with a good cable modem. Good news is that in contrast to the NWN2 updates that seemed to always break something and always not work; these remain smooth as silk.

And a quick note from my post yesterday where I pointed out I made a “Fastest growing” list; it must be real because for the first time since opening this site I’ve gotten spam Thankfully, it is automatically filtered so another plus for WordPress.

When Darkness Falls Upon the Marshes:: Introducing Derrid of the Dale

OOC:

In an unusual twist, I have a Saturday post… A few days back, I posted that I was wavering between the Landroval and Windfola servers. In all actuality, that struggle continues. I had pretty much moved exclusively to Landroval (the unofficial “roleplay” server) when I got word that Hamish (head of the Highland Confederacy) had joined on Windfola thus throwing me back into a seesaw battle. That said, I haven’t properly introduced my Landroval character and so here is an in character tale of his adventure into the Midgewater Marshes. No real spoilers at all in this, more of a quick tale with screenshots. Enjoy.

IC:

Trouble seems to be covering the land of Middle-Earth and much of it flows from the darker places. After seeing Archet burn first hand and watching the effects that had on the people; there was little to do but take to arms and try to make things right. With the smaller towns of Staddle and Combe sitting near the great Midgewater Marshes, I had been asked on several occasions to travel into that swamp and help the people of those nearby towns.

I still recall standing on the hill and looking down into that vast wasteland. It was closer to nightfall than I would have liked but the journey to the swamps edge had simply taken longer than I had planned and… in hindsight… perhaps ego ran ahead of the mind pushing me forward rather than seeking shelter in a nearby town for the night.

It was not long before the sun set. But by then my boots were wet and I was well into the thick of the marshes. Again, ego pushing forward into the darkness.

Shortly thereafter the marsh seemed to come alive. Bugs and critters and things I have never seen before seemed to come up from the ground. Constantly under attack in the darkness that was quickly covering the vast swamp, I must have wandered off course where I stumbled upon ancient ruins. It was there I wondered if I had seen the sun for the last time. The ego that led me to that point was noticeably absent.

Goblins! And not one of them, but waves it seemed appeared to flow to and from the ruins. I quickly took close to the ground and hid as groups of them passed but I could not stay forever. Gathering my strength I began to make progress for a small mound. There, not more than 10 feet away, one carrying a large canister appeared from over the mound. There was no retreating. I went to strike out at the goblin, but it was too late. The beast threw the canister to the ground causing a massive explosion. Within the fire, I struggled to kill the beast and then fell to the ground wondering if I would survive.

At that point, I had lost most hope. I had little option but to try and make it to safety… somehow… somewhere outside of the marshes. I knew I would not survive the night. For the next several hours, I remained silent and moved ever so cautiously so not to stir even a ripple.

Confused, tired, disoriented, I struggled in search of high ground… for a place to rest and gather my thoughts. There in the distance was safety – a large hill. Slowly I crept along the marsh before climbing to the top. There I realized that I my hope should have been fear. I had stumbled into a hideout of sorts. It seemed to be the lair for the goblins from which the smaller camps had been sprung.

For nearly an hour I watched as goblins carried on within the camp. Patrols came close on one occasion but soon I found myself alone with an opportunity for escape without conflict. Scanning the horizon, I saw the mountains of Midgewater Pass. I was far to the south of the pass and now needed to head there for higher ground and hopefully safety. Under cover of the moon, I made my way north and up.

There within the pass, I knew I was safe. With fair less accomplished than I had planned, I rested in peace knowing that morning would soon arrive.

The Republic of Pirates!

Recently, I’ve finished up the book “The Republic of Pirates”. It presents itself as a historical account of the rise and fall of the age of pirates that spanned the decade from 1715-1725. It has literally serveral hundred or more references and the text itself is littered with quotes from historical documents.

I think I should also set the context for this review of the book. I’m coming at it from the perspective of someone interested in Pirates of the Burning Sea who has very little other knowledge of that era outside of what Disney has provided in recent years and through my childhood adventures on that famous ride (which has always been a favorite of mine). I picked up the book to try and gain insight into that era so that I could enjoy the loosely historically based guild, The Highland Confederacy.

So now that you have a bit of context, I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed the journey. It is, for the most part, a fun tale giving great details into the life and times of 1720’s in the Caribbean. I certain it left me much better equipped to actively participate in our up and coming guild for POTBS. I liken the book to “1776″. From my perspective, I had less context to work within and therefore, the book seemed more segmented and flowed less like a story and more like historical bits and pieces. But I’m honestly not sure if that was due to the difference in context between the two subjects. Not that I’m a revolutionary expert, but history was required in school and the revolution gets more attention than pirates in middle school.

What did I learn?

I left quite shocked at the minute time frame that pirates actually existed in the Caribbean. It certainly made me thankful to be alive today and not 3 centuries ago when life must have been truly brutal for all but a rare few. Supply lines simply didn’t exist and the Caribbean was a brutally harsh environment where many men died. I was surprised to learn the scope of the pirates; going up and down the eastern seaboard of the early United States and their interactions with leaders and governments and their effects on cities as far north as Boston or Maine. The Treaty of Union and the decision over James Stuart not being given the throne seemed pivotal and directly relates to our guild background. All in all, it kept my interest and I learned quite a bit and that is something.

With respect to The Highland Confederacy, I give kudos to Hamish MacBane for establishing the charter in such a way that it ties our little guild to pirates, the French, Spanish, and English through a single event. Further, I think the slant of the guild offers great opportunity for roleplayers to have a huge variety of backgrounds that work within the framework and so I’m more excited than prior to the book. I’d recommend the book to anyone looking for a historical account of the time of pirates and I think most people interested in POTBS pre-release would find it an entertaining way to spend your days until you set sails on the high seas!

The Party Tree: A Good Thing Gone Bad?

A role-playing storyline taken from an event run on the Windfola server for Lord of the Rings Online. For context on the event, please see the following two links:

The Party Announcement

Dermid, Spider-Sting Journal Entry: The Night Before

What follows below is an account of the event through the Eyes of Dermid of the Harfoots now living near Scary; Second cousin of Dermid, Spider-Sting. Throughout the account, he is openly shaken but has attempted, the best he can, to recall the events of the evening.

First things first, be reminded that I’m Dermid of the Harfoots and not Dermid, Spider-Sting. I’m a cousin of the hobbit and a good friend. I’m a farmer from near Scary and Spider-Sting is my 2nd cousin on my fathers side. You see, Spider-Sting recently decided to throw a party and invited several folks to meet at the party tree and it having been several good years since I traveled anywhere near that side of the Shire, I made the long trip.

The day seemed to began pleasantly enough. I showed up quite early and spent a good half-day cleaning tables and baking pies in the nearby ovens. I knew I’d have to help and didn’t expect Spider-Sting to arrive until near the start of the party so this wasn’t unexpected.

A good handful of visitors arrived during the early moments of the gathering. I really think that Spider-Sting would have been most pleased. People from the “Lone-Lands” to other short people, dwarves I believe they are called from the cold mountains, all within the Shire. It was a pleasant sight and one I wished I could of enjoyed. Some danced, a few enjoyed a good smoke, and I think most, if not all, partook in the pies.

As the time rolled past, it became increasingly obvious to this hobbit that something bad was afoot. Spider-Sting is not one to be early, but not one to be late; especially at his own event. I remember nervously waiting with the others, trying to keep up a decent mood. From standing upon tables for a better view, to trying to see if pipeweed might ease the nerves, little to nothing seemed to settle the knot quickly forming within my belly.

It was nearly a quarter past before I broke down. I’m quite saddened, now in looking back, that I didn’t give into my gut a bit earlier. It pains me to no end that I could have altered fate. *A tear comes into his eyes. After pausing for a moment to gather himself, he paints a rather timid smile on his face and continues to recount his memories of the event.*

The time had come for action so I took to the stage and made, for me at least, a bold step. I announced my fear that Spider-Sting was in trouble. It was the reason for my nervousness, for which I apologized, and I supplied his final journal entry as proof of my concern. I know that hobbits can be a little paranoid at times and even I myself only rarely leave Scary but something within me knew that all was not well.

Questions ensued and I attempted to remember all that I could from the conversations I had had with Spider-Sting. I remembered talk of bandits or thieves or something… as well as a waterfall and or a camp. Details slipped as I’ve never cared much for adventure and Spider-Sting can often ramble. After sharing my memories, several within the group apparently thought he went South into a camp of brigands in search of greater treasure. Sadly this made all too much sense. He is a pleaser and was clearly nervous about the event and wanted “grand prizes” for whatever simple contests might evolve during the festivities.

Thankfully I had brought the fireworks for the party. A member of the crowd had a wonderful idea to use them as flares; I hate to admit that I have forgotten who it was by name but much of the last is somewhat of a blur. I handed each of the leaders of the 3 groups a firework to use when they or if they found Dermid, Spider-Sting. You see, they’d rise high above the Shire and be a clear signal for all, much faster than the mail system in the Shire which always seems to be in a state of chaos.

There and then, I think I must have fainted at the base of the tree. I remember little else until I awoke within the The Ivy Bush Inn some several hours later with my cousin lying next to me.

Within the inn, I was told it was as I had feared. Dermid, Spider-Sting had gone into a camp of thieves alone in search of prizes for those who might attend. He carried a small pouch labeled “Prizes” that carried several hand-crafted pieces of jewelery that, at least to this hobbit, seemed quite enough and then some. But he’s always one to go a step beyond and so I guess it is not surprising.

*Moves over to Spider-Sting, still barely clinging to life, and places a hand on his chest.* I can only imagine what you have seen and what you might have been through. *Dermid of the Harfoots lies down next to his cousin and slips into a more peaceful rest now that this tale is told.*

Pirates!! Delayed!!

For those that aren’t following Pirates of the Burning Sea pre-release, I think there is some good news and bad news.

Let’s start with the good news first. To me at least, the good news is that they signed with a publisher and I think that is still very much a requirement for a top tier game. I still think a strong shelf presence and marketing is just about mandatory in this day and age. Along those lines, I think it is actually very good that the game is/was close to complete before they signed with the publisher. I think that means the developing company has more say in the game and that should always be a positive.

On the bad side, they pushed the release back so those looking to take to the seas in mid-early summer will be disappointed. The developers stated the main reason is simply to give the publisher time to do everything they need to do to get things in line to have boxes in the store.

All in all, I really think it is good for the game. I’m sure it will afford them time to tweak, and improve, and add features that maybe otherwise wouldn’t have made the release. New company on the MMORGP scene and new approach – I don’t think a few months really will have a negative impact and a good initial release is very important to long-term potential IMO.

I’ve followed the boards and at least in our guild, it HAS taken the wind out of the sails for the moment, but I really see this as a positive and continue to remain excited about this upcoming release.

Link to Developer Article on Delay

Dermid, Spider-Sting

One aspect of LOTR that I have enjoyed are titles. I’m new to the MMORPG genera but I really think this is a pretty nice feature that adds some flair to the mundane. Whenever you meet certain requirements, you gain access to a new title. It might be something simple killing 30 wolves or it might be something less expected like getting hugged 100 times or finding all the farms in the Shire. Regardless, titles let you personalize your character and showcase some feat or accomplishment. I’m in the Shire right now and you still see some pretty high level characters coming back through in groups to clear out brigands so that they can get a new title, so I’m pretty certain it is working as intended.

Here are my current titles. I haven’t chased after these, but rather these names have found me simply through my gameplay, these have opened up.

Dermid, Member – I’m a member of the Watch and therefore get a pretty mundane title. If you look in the screenshot, you’ll see that even with a different title in place, the guild membership is shown so lucky for me this one won’t be seen flying above me.

Dermid of the Harfoots – The Harfoots are the most prodigous hole-dwellers. This one was granted simply by me choosing my origin in the character creation.

Dermid, Bounders Friend – The Bounders of the Shire look kindly upon me for my help. I’ve done a number of quests in the Shire to gain this title.

Dermid, Fur-Cutter – Just as in olden days, wolves threaten the Shire, but not now that I’ve killed a good handful. This is title that can be “leveled” up as more wolves are removed.

Dermid, Spider-Sting – Like so many place in Middle-Earth, the Shire has seen a recent infestation of dangerous spiders, but luckily Dermid has stepped in to save the day.

Below is a link to a composite screenshot showing off how they appear in game and the selection screen.

(Notice how he smiles for the camera. They are pretty rare items in Middle-Earth and Dermid is easily assumed.)

From the reviews I’ve read, this is somewhat of a new twist and I certainly think it is a good one. Adds a bit of RP, customization flavor to the world around you.