Honestly, there are a lot of bad, very bad RPGs out there. Mostly because of story stuff, others because of gameplay related things, but rarely because of graphics. Gfx stuff does not matter. Take Gothic - the higher the number of the sequel, the lower the votes. It seems that there is a strange correlation between sequel number and the votes they get. But today I will try out another game from which many people said and keep saying: "Woot, the best game in the world, directly after "Jesus Online" and "The End of WWII - Aftermath"!".
So I installed the game and had much fun to wait as Steam was having issues with their downloadservers. I am patient, very patient, thus I tried it ten seconds later. Eleven seconds and even thirty seconds later. Then five minutes later, fifteen minutes later, one hour later.
In short: Four hours later I could download Skyrim which took some time to get it on PC, causing interesting lags during the session of World of Warcraft. Those moments where you think "Oh, great, nobody in raid dies, nobody gets harmed, everything is fine... wait, something is strange" and the game suddenly continues and you realize you are dead...
Ok, so Skyrim finished downloading, the installer took some time to prepare the game and then... waiting. Thank God Skyrim loads in a fast way so I suddenly had the menu with a few things to click. No "NVoodooa - they way it's meant to be uninstalled" or "Optimized for people with too much money", no visual orgasm of a designer who wanted to express himself on the virtual kindergarden they call "intro". Just the developer, menu, finish. Good, very good.
Started the game, blackscreen. In the following first seconds I really thought the game would start with a crash as I only heard sound but saw nothing. While I was going to beat the display with my mouse and my keyboard and the cat which was passing by I "opened the eyes" and realized I was a prisoner. The guy in front of me was telling me something about who they are and the thief on my side and such things, which really interested me as much as the square-root of Pi. I was more focused on graphics which was really great. A little voice in me told me to pay attention: Good gfx offen means... Ok, shut up, voice, the guy has something to tell me!
Prisoner.... check
We gonna die.... check
I have no clue who I am... check
After arriving at a little... uh, camp which was only there to punish people by cutting off their head ("camp Haircut", I think it was the name). Thanks guys - five minutes of intro, had no opportunity to make something wrong but was going to lose my head. I think such troubles are pretty normal for a "Head start".
I had the possibility to create my character. Interesting... I was wondering how strange it would be if someone would ask me who I am and I would start to change my face and name till I'd say "So, finished, call me....".
But hey, this is a game so: let's take a look what we can do...
Ok, we are gamer so it does not matter how ugly we are as we are in reality, too. The perfect identification with the character I was creating was established, good. But for a woman having some sympathy for aesthetics and taste will have as much fun with the characters like Flipper had with a chainsaw. Really: Either the developers wanted to create the uggliest races ever or they designer simply hates people.
I decided to take the first style the game gave me and bam, I was ready to get my head off. But hey, did I hear a noise? Ah, no... let's continue, I want to die. No, wait, really, a noise.... aww, impossible. Not in Skyrim. Ah, there, another one...
Is it the wind? No
Is it a jet? No
Is it Superman? No
It is: super dwaggon coming down from the ceiling to land on a tower and play "Bob Loss - The Joy of Burning".
I was able to flee and landed in a tower. Then my worst enemy was my greatest fan: Here, come up. Here, run. Here, follow me.
Mate, sorry, but you wanted to kill me. Now I am here to follow you? Yeah? For sure. Go play with the raging dragon out there, greetings from hell, unlucky bastard.
But no, I had to follow. Well, later I got the possibility to get a sword and rush to the next village with my new best friend: Captain Head Off. He proposed me to join the army who wanted to kill me. Good idea, why not? I have far more good ideas - why not joining the Team Edward? The one with the dragon? I've got far more friends there than I had in the Camp Headache.
Ok, I went on, to the next village. There I learnt a new important thing about Skyrim: This game was made for consoled. The menu is as intuitive as nuclear physics for children. Tab to leave a menu - ok, but this is not always described so you have to guess. And E for taking something and R for taking everything - the same "R" you press to drop your item. But only one, not all items. Good to know - the idea of getting completely naked while talking to someone would be strange.
The textures are a little bit... "blurry", the engine is still the same like other games of Berthesda before. This could be a perfect mod created for Fallout 3. Some things are a little bit different...
The fights itself, for example. If you fight with a sword you sometimes get to see interesting slo-mos in 3rd party perspective giving you the feeling of being Conan The Barbar - or the guy of "crank" - or both.
There is no clear "class choice". You cannot say "Uh, I am a healer" or "Uh, I am a fighter" as you have to improve your character while levelling. Pretty good for guys loving to fight with a sword, mace or a big rat they found. But not for the magician who rather sets himself on fire than others. No matter what you do, you will soon learn to set things on fire, destroy them, smash them, whatever.
Because the main story of Skyrim is as interesting as two pounds mehl on a table. Most of the time you explore, do side quests, whatever. Imagine you were playing World of Warcraft, but without any other gamers. Well, imagine you are playing a former WoW expansion - now. This is Skyrim.
You are the Delta Force, dropped off on.. who ever knows they dropped you and now you are trying to find a way to entertain yourself. Welcome to World of Explorecraft - The Boring Crusade.
So after two hours of intensive gameplay I've got to admit that Skyrim is the better Oblivion. Sure, it has its problems, it's often boring (at least for me) as not everyone wants to talk for a lot of minutes to guys they never know and with other guys who some minutes ago wanted to cut off your head.
And yes, the concept of enemies levelling with you is as motivating as ten hours of grinding for a very rare item. But in the end that's the true flair of a world in which you have a lot of opportunities to die, pardon: to explore. To lose yourself and drop the reality, for people always wanting to know why they hate vikings. Or Sweden. Or both.
To sum it up: Skyrim is great for people loving this genre. If someone wants a tight story, with a lot of focus on strict character specialization and a well seen path to follow then Skyrim is as suited as a bycicle for a fish. Play something different, like Dragon Age (the first part, not the arcade mod they called "Dragon Age 2").
Side note:
I am wondering about myself, to be honest. I mean: I used to play those games very much, I loved Fallout 3 and I even loved Morrowind. What happened to me that I cannot get "stick" to Skyrim?
See you at the next "So I tried...." part.
P.S.: Here a very interesting way to steal. Should be doable in reality, too
Noc
Monday, 14 November 2011
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Did you mean: "kindness"?
In the last week I've been doing some leveling with my druid and because I simply hate to quest with the 6th character through the lowlevel stuff I simply used the dungeon tool to have some fun. Well, at least I hoped it would be funny. After all it's not endlevel pugging, so what could ever happen?
A lot.
People often ask me if I know a guy that is nice during pugs. I tell them: "yes, me". And I really want to be it. Honestly.
But sometimes I beg for an earthquake or a lightning bringing those servers down so I can escape the group. Not because the group itself is unskilled or simply unable to achieve anything - this doesn't matter to me, after all it's not the highlevel dungeon. But there are people out there who make me feel nervous.
For example: I am healer. As long as people are happy or at least quiet I am focused and cool enough to stand every situation, no matter how stressful it gets. It's pure fun to heal people when they rely on our abilities and hope the end of the world they are suffering ends soon. Ok, so far, so good.
But sometimes there are guys in group who disturb my repose, my inner silence, balance,... Chi. Whatever. When a tank says "NOOB" to a dps or "stop being idiot" to another. Those things disturb me very much, they unbalance me, really much as I not only be worried about getting to read the same stuff about me...
... but also because it makes me angry.
What happened to the social aspect MMOs ever had? In Everquest, for example, realms were small and people had to play together. You saw them at least twice or even more often so nobody wanted to be the bad guy. There was something like respect for each other and when I came to talk about these nice days I often got to read that this was only because humans were forced to do so, not because they are nice beings.
I never believed this.
But now I'm starting to thing that a lot of people, at least the ones I met, are exactly those unfriendly guys, not able to be nice because they don't need to. After all it's a pug, right? You never see each other, especially after putting each other on ignore list.
This anonymity seems to tease out the worst side of some people. This results in one simple rule: If you want to know how some people really are if they could, just pug them. Not nice what you see.
Yes, former times weren't that perfect and being nice all the time was exhausting. Also it was not honest as there was a lot of backbiting going around. I don't want those times back. But I want at least the same respect for each other like people have for guys of their guild or at least: their realm. Is it that difficult?
I don't know. But I believe in Karma. Everything starts from you. If you are not nice, other people probably won't be nice, too. On the other hand: If you are nice, then it does not mean other turn to be nice, too. It's the most difficult way, but it may be that it is a signal for others. Something saying "the world is not that bad, stop biting around".
This is, at the end, why I do not leave those groups. I remain till end and do my job. If the tank or the dps gets rude I say what I have to say and if they have problems they can still kick me. Not my problem - it's theirs.
That's why I often hear music during fights and especially during discussions in group chat.
Nothing is more deescalating like a debate while you hear the theme song of The Smurfs.
A lot.
People often ask me if I know a guy that is nice during pugs. I tell them: "yes, me". And I really want to be it. Honestly.
But sometimes I beg for an earthquake or a lightning bringing those servers down so I can escape the group. Not because the group itself is unskilled or simply unable to achieve anything - this doesn't matter to me, after all it's not the highlevel dungeon. But there are people out there who make me feel nervous.
For example: I am healer. As long as people are happy or at least quiet I am focused and cool enough to stand every situation, no matter how stressful it gets. It's pure fun to heal people when they rely on our abilities and hope the end of the world they are suffering ends soon. Ok, so far, so good.
But sometimes there are guys in group who disturb my repose, my inner silence, balance,... Chi. Whatever. When a tank says "NOOB" to a dps or "stop being idiot" to another. Those things disturb me very much, they unbalance me, really much as I not only be worried about getting to read the same stuff about me...
... but also because it makes me angry.
What happened to the social aspect MMOs ever had? In Everquest, for example, realms were small and people had to play together. You saw them at least twice or even more often so nobody wanted to be the bad guy. There was something like respect for each other and when I came to talk about these nice days I often got to read that this was only because humans were forced to do so, not because they are nice beings.
I never believed this.
But now I'm starting to thing that a lot of people, at least the ones I met, are exactly those unfriendly guys, not able to be nice because they don't need to. After all it's a pug, right? You never see each other, especially after putting each other on ignore list.
This anonymity seems to tease out the worst side of some people. This results in one simple rule: If you want to know how some people really are if they could, just pug them. Not nice what you see.
Yes, former times weren't that perfect and being nice all the time was exhausting. Also it was not honest as there was a lot of backbiting going around. I don't want those times back. But I want at least the same respect for each other like people have for guys of their guild or at least: their realm. Is it that difficult?
I don't know. But I believe in Karma. Everything starts from you. If you are not nice, other people probably won't be nice, too. On the other hand: If you are nice, then it does not mean other turn to be nice, too. It's the most difficult way, but it may be that it is a signal for others. Something saying "the world is not that bad, stop biting around".
This is, at the end, why I do not leave those groups. I remain till end and do my job. If the tank or the dps gets rude I say what I have to say and if they have problems they can still kick me. Not my problem - it's theirs.
That's why I often hear music during fights and especially during discussions in group chat.
Nothing is more deescalating like a debate while you hear the theme song of The Smurfs.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
World of Warcraft lost 800k subscribers - incoming: the end
After the announcement about losing 800 000 subscribers (after the 300k and the 600k before) forums are full of "apocalyptic messages" around the incoming end of World of Warcraft. It seems as if World of Warcraft is really dying and all the skeptics are leaving their holes to tell that they have been always telling that. Good, let's clarify some points.
First: World of Warcraft is old. Not as old as Everquest 1, for sure, but old. Seven years are a long time - not only regarding gfx stuff, but gameplay, too.
Ever played chess for about seven years for at least two hours per day? If you would take a break this would be more than understandable.
But: What would happen if you would tell that your break is symptomatic for the problems chess has?
Honestly, it would be difficult to not laugh. But why?
Because it would be clear that you left because you got bored, not because chess is like chess has ever been. No one would change the rules to make it more appealing to you. And there will always be people playing chess. Good.
But what would happen if you mention other games? Like "Halma got a release soon, this will smash chess, believe me!". Again people would laugh. But why again?
Because diversification is a blessing, not a bane. The more different games exist, the more people are able to choose. Regarding MMOs this is much better as they can learn from each other which would be not possible if there would only exist one big game, World of Warcraft.
So learn to accept the truth that over 10 mio. subscribers are still playing a game, the same game, and that there is a reason for it: Either there is no other choice for them or because they are quite happy with the game, beside the bad aspects every MMO has. Pretty normal.
It has never been and will never be good for markets if only one company rules - we honestly need competition, we really need new ideas, new stuff.
So I've always have to laugh when someone writes that WoW has serious problems, often written by guys who already quit a long time ago. They seem to justify their decision, where nothing has to be justified: Play what you want, World of Warcraft is not made for everyone. And if you find something else, feel "congratulated" and be happy that you found something. Perhaps some of the remaining 10 million gamers still haven't. But also accept that a bunch of guys are happy, too, and that they could quit if they want. After all other MMORPGs have far less active subscribers - and I consider only Pay2Play as "Free2P(l)ay"-subscriber-numbers are a joke (create 10 accounts, costs nothing and you have a bunch of toons to play with).
These high amount of active subs means that even if WoW keeps losing players at that speed it might last some years till it would be really considered dead. Let's say the game would have reached a lifetime of ten years. Ten years... some games even exist for one year. And then? Will Blizzard shut down everything?
Probably not. It might get F2P and, before, there will be some server merging (which will take a while considering the high amount of servers out there). And even then Blizzard probably won't shut down WoW - they even patched Diablo 2 some time ago and this game is really old.
In other words: Do not panic. This game will last for a while and even if it might end one day, ok, acceptable. After all it's only a game. We play because it's fun, because of the people we've met. We play for the moment - not for family planning or house building purposes. We simply want to have fun. If someone plays only because he hopes the game will exist for a while he will never be happy - those times are over. The risk of server shutdowns is not abstract anymore, happening all the time. Some will say "yeah, the games deserved that", but never forget that there were players who had the same hopes like the guys now judging and laughing.
We're all in the same boat. We want the same following different paths but still marching in the same direction. Accept the truth of others and hug differences - they might help you, your game and helps you to quickly find new paths if you lose yourself during your walk.
First: World of Warcraft is old. Not as old as Everquest 1, for sure, but old. Seven years are a long time - not only regarding gfx stuff, but gameplay, too.
Ever played chess for about seven years for at least two hours per day? If you would take a break this would be more than understandable.
But: What would happen if you would tell that your break is symptomatic for the problems chess has?
Honestly, it would be difficult to not laugh. But why?
Because it would be clear that you left because you got bored, not because chess is like chess has ever been. No one would change the rules to make it more appealing to you. And there will always be people playing chess. Good.
But what would happen if you mention other games? Like "Halma got a release soon, this will smash chess, believe me!". Again people would laugh. But why again?
Because diversification is a blessing, not a bane. The more different games exist, the more people are able to choose. Regarding MMOs this is much better as they can learn from each other which would be not possible if there would only exist one big game, World of Warcraft.
So learn to accept the truth that over 10 mio. subscribers are still playing a game, the same game, and that there is a reason for it: Either there is no other choice for them or because they are quite happy with the game, beside the bad aspects every MMO has. Pretty normal.
It has never been and will never be good for markets if only one company rules - we honestly need competition, we really need new ideas, new stuff.
So I've always have to laugh when someone writes that WoW has serious problems, often written by guys who already quit a long time ago. They seem to justify their decision, where nothing has to be justified: Play what you want, World of Warcraft is not made for everyone. And if you find something else, feel "congratulated" and be happy that you found something. Perhaps some of the remaining 10 million gamers still haven't. But also accept that a bunch of guys are happy, too, and that they could quit if they want. After all other MMORPGs have far less active subscribers - and I consider only Pay2Play as "Free2P(l)ay"-subscriber-numbers are a joke (create 10 accounts, costs nothing and you have a bunch of toons to play with).
These high amount of active subs means that even if WoW keeps losing players at that speed it might last some years till it would be really considered dead. Let's say the game would have reached a lifetime of ten years. Ten years... some games even exist for one year. And then? Will Blizzard shut down everything?
Probably not. It might get F2P and, before, there will be some server merging (which will take a while considering the high amount of servers out there). And even then Blizzard probably won't shut down WoW - they even patched Diablo 2 some time ago and this game is really old.
In other words: Do not panic. This game will last for a while and even if it might end one day, ok, acceptable. After all it's only a game. We play because it's fun, because of the people we've met. We play for the moment - not for family planning or house building purposes. We simply want to have fun. If someone plays only because he hopes the game will exist for a while he will never be happy - those times are over. The risk of server shutdowns is not abstract anymore, happening all the time. Some will say "yeah, the games deserved that", but never forget that there were players who had the same hopes like the guys now judging and laughing.
We're all in the same boat. We want the same following different paths but still marching in the same direction. Accept the truth of others and hug differences - they might help you, your game and helps you to quickly find new paths if you lose yourself during your walk.
New World of Warcraft races for everyone
People often ask my what my opinion is regarding the newest expansion of WoW, Mists of Pandaria. Before I can even answer they start telling me why it will fail (which often seems as if those guys want to tell my why it _should_, it has to fail).
Well, after a while of listening I answer. Saying:
I accepted E.T. crashing with his ship into my BC garden. I suffered from palas on Horde side,... so why not Pandas. They fit far more into the wow lore than Dranei. Those guys caused a lot of headaches. But hey, why not invent far more new races? Why not...
... unicorns...
Well, after a while of listening I answer. Saying:
I accepted E.T. crashing with his ship into my BC garden. I suffered from palas on Horde side,... so why not Pandas. They fit far more into the wow lore than Dranei. Those guys caused a lot of headaches. But hey, why not invent far more new races? Why not...
... unicorns...
- Call them "UniCron", a time warped horse creature.
- Or Whalen - the marine life who decided to overjump some generation and got some legs, working for Mr. Burns - a self-igniting dragon.
- Bankdaren - the auctioneers and bankers get molten with their collected gold to a new race with the racial skill to get invisible during financial crisis.
- Antologists - the ant life form who realized that they are far more than all other players together. A race of bookkeepers, empowered by idle times.
- Kangoorox - the stone life. Has no arms, no legs, why should they - they are hills and mountains. But they can jump on others and have pets which do all the jobs the Kangoorox would need arms to.
- Forensicks - a strange life form, mainly present in the virtual realities engis found during their experiments which include the combination of an enema syringe, arcane dust and a mage. Their racial is "Tears from Heaven", a omnipresent killer wave of QQ runs through the whole zone destroying everything. Only counterspell is provided by the next race...
- Mosesmerize - a race that can divide seas, mainly called "GM class" but now a playable class, too. Often present in forums but because of the engi experiments also present in Warcaft (expansion: "Mists of Proctologia")
You see, it isn't that difficult to implement a new race. And it's very easy to make fun of ideas by just exaggerating. But what is really fun is the claim of reality in a game where you can transform yourself into a dragon, dance the moonwalk as nightelf and beat bosses being made of fire.
Guys, honestly: This is like travelling to Mars and wondering why there is no Fast Food restaurant there.
But who knows, perhaps there is one? We all know the famous class/race "Hamburglar". Sneaky class that travels from planet to planet to build up restaurants before any other species can claim the planet...
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Total burnout
Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with someone about the topic "burnout". To make it clear: this is no modern word for not being motivated enough, and it's no way an excuse for simply being exhausted. This is very important as it means a lot regarding the whole life.
This wasn't the first time I talked about suffering a "burnout". Some years ago - I was playing Everquest 1 - our best rogue who not only played a lot and well, too, suddenly finished playing from one day to the other. No announcement, nothing. Later I met him, asking him what happened as we all were worried what happened (in Everquest 1 the guild was far more than a family only as it was crucial to have a group, a good group). The answer was: He was at hospital, because of a burnout.
He said that there were some symptoms before he simply ignored: The light feeling of being exhausted (which he could negate very well by simply ignoring it), the lack of motivation regarding everything else, the feeling of having to do something - against all inner odds. And the little voice asking him why he should go on doing what he's doing - and where the heck was the sense behind everything. He continued to play, driven by a obsessive behavior. The end was: Someday he had problems to leave his house, going to work, even to play.
This is the point where you already overstepped the frontier from being able to stop it. This is a very deep issue, nothing which can simply be stopped by saying "Oh, good, let me change game" or "hey, take a break" or "take it easy". It won't work, as those mechanism would have been better used much time before. Now it's too late, the lack of motivation has won and this is really evil. Because from now on it has _nothing_ to do anymore with a special thing - which led to the burnout - alone. Everything is now "senseless".
The line between why we should do what we do and why not is very thin. In short: If you're not able to find a proper solution nobody can give you a plausible answer. Yes, family needs one; yes, friends need one - but this is again what I call the "should-problem" - the imperative that led to the burnout itself.
So the answer is not a "should", but a "could" or "would": What often helps is to be more egoistic. Think about yourself, take your time. If you stop by a flower because you'd like to watch it for twenty minutes: do it. If you want to paint: paint - no matter if you're talented or not (abstract art is what you want it to be).
One of the most interesting persons I ever met was a guy telling me that he lost a lot of stress because during dialogues he simply stopped talking and begun to listen what the other had to say (instead of waiting for the opportunity to talk again). Honestly: It works. Everyone has to tell his own story, so the more you listen the more friends you'll get.
Or the other way around: If you have the feeling to talk, talk. If you've got the opportunity to find someone who listens carefully he might show you new paths or simply help you to clear your path by not talking and just listening. This could be a friend, this could be your dog or just your shadow. Or the shadow of someone else.
I do not have any solutions for burnouts, honestly. But the answer is hidden behind small steps. And those little steps are the one who will help as they helped the mate I talked about. As far as I know he never played Everquest again - I miss him, for sure. But it makes me happy to know that he is out there, smiling again and having the life he wants to. Because a burnout is the best chance for a "life reboot" - be thankful.
This wasn't the first time I talked about suffering a "burnout". Some years ago - I was playing Everquest 1 - our best rogue who not only played a lot and well, too, suddenly finished playing from one day to the other. No announcement, nothing. Later I met him, asking him what happened as we all were worried what happened (in Everquest 1 the guild was far more than a family only as it was crucial to have a group, a good group). The answer was: He was at hospital, because of a burnout.
He said that there were some symptoms before he simply ignored: The light feeling of being exhausted (which he could negate very well by simply ignoring it), the lack of motivation regarding everything else, the feeling of having to do something - against all inner odds. And the little voice asking him why he should go on doing what he's doing - and where the heck was the sense behind everything. He continued to play, driven by a obsessive behavior. The end was: Someday he had problems to leave his house, going to work, even to play.
This is the point where you already overstepped the frontier from being able to stop it. This is a very deep issue, nothing which can simply be stopped by saying "Oh, good, let me change game" or "hey, take a break" or "take it easy". It won't work, as those mechanism would have been better used much time before. Now it's too late, the lack of motivation has won and this is really evil. Because from now on it has _nothing_ to do anymore with a special thing - which led to the burnout - alone. Everything is now "senseless".
The line between why we should do what we do and why not is very thin. In short: If you're not able to find a proper solution nobody can give you a plausible answer. Yes, family needs one; yes, friends need one - but this is again what I call the "should-problem" - the imperative that led to the burnout itself.
So the answer is not a "should", but a "could" or "would": What often helps is to be more egoistic. Think about yourself, take your time. If you stop by a flower because you'd like to watch it for twenty minutes: do it. If you want to paint: paint - no matter if you're talented or not (abstract art is what you want it to be).
One of the most interesting persons I ever met was a guy telling me that he lost a lot of stress because during dialogues he simply stopped talking and begun to listen what the other had to say (instead of waiting for the opportunity to talk again). Honestly: It works. Everyone has to tell his own story, so the more you listen the more friends you'll get.
Or the other way around: If you have the feeling to talk, talk. If you've got the opportunity to find someone who listens carefully he might show you new paths or simply help you to clear your path by not talking and just listening. This could be a friend, this could be your dog or just your shadow. Or the shadow of someone else.
I do not have any solutions for burnouts, honestly. But the answer is hidden behind small steps. And those little steps are the one who will help as they helped the mate I talked about. As far as I know he never played Everquest again - I miss him, for sure. But it makes me happy to know that he is out there, smiling again and having the life he wants to. Because a burnout is the best chance for a "life reboot" - be thankful.
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