Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Monday, June 24, 2013

Games Made Me: IDOCs

There are certain games and gaming moments that made me who I am as a gamer.  One of the most critical to my development as an online gamer was Ultima Online (UO).  It was an amazing game that was truly a virtual world (not just whack-a-mole).  There was real consequence to action and there was an equal and opposite reaction to almost everything.  UO ushered in a golden era of MMORPGs; an era we will never see again.  One of the most critical elements to that virtual world excellence was the idea of habitable player housing that existed in the game world.  It is something that has not been equally matched since and remains one of UO's strongest features (yes, the game is still chugging along all these years later).  To top it off, player housing wasn't permanent.  There was a real possibility to losing your housing in the early days by losing your house key to a thief or player-killer.  Later on after that was changed, players only lost their housing after their account subscription expired.  Then it was a countdown to one of the greatest phenomena in my online gaming memory: IDOC (in danger of collapse).
A crowd of hopeful IDOC campers.

The premise behind an IDOC was that the player-placed structure was about to disappear from the game world leaving behind all of it's now unlocked items.  Anything in the house was available for the taking from the bookshelves to the rarest of rare items from Ultima Online's past.  Player's would camp out for days at IDOC houses (and the term houses is used loosely as sometimes they were actually massive castles).  In the case of houses in the Felucca realm where open world PvP was allowed it was a blood bath as the time ticked nearer and nearer (and Felucca being the oldest realm in UO, it's collapsing houses offered the chance for the rarest loot).

After the loot was scooped up the real prize was yet to be had: one lucky person would get to place a new structure.  This may seem insignificant in today's MMOs where there is an endless supply of special housing areas, but in Ultima Online's case there was literally not a single bit of land left to build on.  There was far more players wanting to place a house than there were spots to place one.  Placing a house after an IDOC was cleared out was a feat for the history books, especially when it was done in Felucca where there was a very real chance that the player would be killed and have their "house deed" stolen (which for a lot of players was a very expensive item to lose).

I can't claim to have ever "won" an IDOC.  I was more of the opportunist when it came to IDOCs.  I would take the time to make runes so players could portal/warp to the IDOC location.  Becoming well known for finding IDOCs and not selling bogus runes to players meant good income.  Then to opportune even more with the situation if the house was in Felucca it was time to bring out my sneak thief and pick pocket any of the campers visiting.  Or if I was up to the task I could unstable an entire army of tamed dragons on my tamer and let them loose upon the camping crowds.

The IDOC is something I truly miss in today's MMOs.  The idea of actually losing something; of the world actually changing.   This is deep thought stuff that developers stand up on grand stages and get voracious applause for before they turn around and build another WoWClone in the background.  MMOs will never return to their golden age, but the memories I formed in that time will never stop me from dreaming about them.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Where does time go?

I don't honestly know, but when I find out I'll let ya'll know.  Just a post to say I'm still here and I do plan to post some more at some point.  I've been on a self-imposed break for video games.  Aside from a little dabbling here and there I have not played much of anything lately on the PC.

I have gotten back into weekly board game night and may share some of that goodness at some point.  I have a burning desire to write a review about Small World, but I fear the backlash when I finally admit that it is actually not all that great.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Wildstar: MMO Housing done right

Long time, no post.  But had to share because Wildstar is really starting to impress me.  Their latest entry is player housing.


Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Oh, is it 2013 already?

Long time, no blog post.  More on that some other time.

2012 is gone, the world is still here (as predicted by yours truly) and 2013 is rolling on through the neighborhood.  It's about damn time I take a look at my oh so bold predictions for the year that was.

First, head on back in the way-back machine and read "2012, the first post".

First prediction: The world will not end.
Verdict: You are reading this right?

Second prediction: I will post more than I did in 2011.
Verdict: Horribly inaccurate.  I posted only 36 times in 2012, less than once per week.  I posted 100 times in 2011, about twice a week.

Third prediction: "the game that shall not be named" will have a tough year, but will survive.  The argument to take the game Free 2 Play will begin around July.
Verdict: 100% accurate, down to the month.  It was July when Star Wars: The Old Republic announced its Free 2 Play future.

Fourth prediction: Warhammer Online will be shut down this year
Verdict: I had to Google whether this game was still even running, so to me that is as good as being shutdown.  However, it pulled at my heart strings to look back on WAR again as I still see the glimmer of promise that is still housed in the game.

Fifth prediction: DOTA2 will launch, but fail to make much more than a drip into the MOBA scene.
Verdict: Horribly inaccurate.  DOTA2 didn't "launch" technically, but Valve is pulling a GMail beta with DOTA2 currently.  Secondly, DOTA2 is immensely popular, easily reaching the most played game on Steam in it's beta form.  I'm still not sold on DOTA2 long term as I feel the game still shows too many hold overs from a game restricted by a game engine that wasn't built to support the game.

Sixth prediction: League of Legends will hit 50 million players and still be flying under the radar in the online gaming market
Verdict: Close call.  League of Legends hit 32 million players in 2012.  LoL is the biggest game on the planet between all consoles and PC games, but you would be hard pressed to know that visiting any gaming website or reading through any gaming magazines.

Seventh prediction: A major game will "surprise launch" this year with little to no notice and possibly be Free 2 Play
Verdict: All in the eye of the beholder.  Some would consider DOTA2 as having surprised launched in 2012 with its beta-thats-not-really-a-beta-because-they-are-cashing-in-on-it.

Eight prediction: Indie games will continue to creep into the spotlight and we will see another Minecraft-level indie break out this year
Verdict: Day Z

Ninth and final prediction: At least 4 of these predictions will be right
Verdict: Winner, winner, chicken dinner.