What's the problem?

In the last days I've been asked several times what's my personal problem with Guild Wars 2 is. Not because my last blog post was not read, but because it wasn't understandable _why_ I'm not able to like such "a beautiful game" and why I wanted to "badmouth" the game.

First of all: I've never said that Guild Wars 2 is a bad game. To be honest, it's a good game, well done and much nearer to "perfection" than World of Warcraft was on release. The attributes of the game are presented well, o.k.
But it's a matter of taste that makes things complicated. As I wrote in the former post there are several aspects I don't like at GW2. In short: setting and story. Plus the fact that I miss the "holy trinity" of tank, healer, dps and, last but not least, I need quest hubs, not "heart attacks"...
(really: I like the possibility to consume the "brain afk"-quests like in World of Warcraft or Lord of the Shops  Rings Online. After all you could turn brain off or an and enjoy the game, regardless of whether you paid attention to the game or not. This is not really possible in GW2, not so easy).

But all of these things are a problem in the sum and they are all a matter of taste. Nobody has to share my taste and nobody has to think like I do. GW2 is really a good game and if I point out why I don't like something then it's _my_ opinion.

So I encourage everyone to try out new games and to not rely on what me or anyone else says. In the end it's up to you to find out what you like or not, nobody can decide this for you and nobody should do so.

As for me, one of the best MMOs I played so far was Lord of the Rings Online (before it got a shopping mall), followed by World of Warcraft. Then Star Wars - the Old Republic follows. Just, because and especially because of the stories these games have. You can clearly see that my taste will surely be different of yours and that' o.k.

As I already wrote I will give GW2 a 2nd try as soon as I finished my "break". And if I am able to find a good class I can identify myself with. Which is, to be honest, still a problem.


Noc

Guilt Wars

For the last days I've tried to take part at one of the most anticipated adventures since the Moon landing: Guild Wars 2.

I've got to admit that I wasn't very well informed about the game. Sure, I played Guild Wars 1 and yes, it didn't fascinated me very much. Less than that, I played it two times for about one hour.
But, to come back to GW2, I decided to learn about the game, the mechanics, the idea, the concept, etc. and so I took part at the stress tests.

Guild Wars 2 makes many things different, although it's the same meal but with more salt. In short: The idea of a dynamic world is good, the world well designed. But the rest is the same: same kind of quests, same "turn off brain and play"-mode to gain level, same concept of a health bar, abilities bar and so on.
This isn't bad, some well proofed concepts shouldn't be ignored - or ever tried to build a car with cornered wheels?

No, that's all ok. My problem with Guild Wars 2 is a little bit more complex and I don't know how to explain. To put the focus more on the symptoms than the disease: I am not able to light the fire. I get no passion, no "must play"-feeling. I have to convince myself to log in and I fail on the launcher.

But I don't know: why? Is it because I am totally destroyed by World of Warcraft? I am WoWized? Is it the shop which killed my feelings towards Lord of the Rings Online? Or is it the fault of the numerous other MMOs which have been released during the last four years?

Perhaps - and I have to put emphasis on "perhaps" - it's because of a combination of "setting" and "story".

Setting...
... because I've got problems with those manga style games. Very thin, very tall, big eyes. The female characters look like children with almost nothing on - some like it, for me it feels strange and "not right", but that's just "my personal non-taste".
Another important "setting"-aspect, although it's almost "game mechanics", is the class system. I don't get into it, I really loved the concept of the healer-tank-dps-trinity. Now everyone can do everything and as a matter of fact, everyone is expected to do everything. That's one of the reasons I never really liked hybrid classes - I tried to play _one_ role, never got into more than one as I wasn't able and willing to change dynamically during fights.

Story... 
... because I fell asleep during the introduction. "Oh, look, the city is burning - let's help. Oh, uh, something hit me, where am I? Lost? Ok, let's find a way out. Look, there are some friends and look, they are in trouble".
Really? Honestly? There was more story in Portal - and I'm talking about the first part. And yes, when it comes to the story topic everyone knows that almost every story has been told in any way before - even Star Wars isn't really "new".
Maybe others love the story. Sure, there are also people sleeping away during Star Trek. But the story doesn't get me.


My problem is that I bought the game. And, more than that I wanted to play with my guild.
But at the moment it's hard work to log in and I keep failing which makes me feel guilty towards my guild and friends there. I like the big community feeling and sure, it's good to meet all of those faces from WoW again. But I came into the game and found nothing to do. Jump here, jump there... trigger an event, tried to understand through the fog of confusion what the hell is happening on the screen...
But still no "Hey, play me, play me"-feeling when staring at the GW2 icon. It's more like a "they are waiting and you let them down? Again? Remember Star Wars!".

After all those own voices inside my head raising I decided to break with Guild Wars 2 for a while and make something completely different. To be honest, I am watching Sopranos. It's not only not a game, it's also something which has absolutely nothing to do with any computer related stuff at all. I am just watching movies on my computer...
Damn, feeling so old...

But I take it as a cure. As a possibility to re-join the guild after a complete tabula rasa. Perhaps this will help me to get into GW2. I hope so. Not for the game, not for the spent bucks. But for the guild, the friends there, the community.

New blog entries inc...

Much time passed since my last update on this blog and this was because of several reasons. I could start with my World of Warcraft break (which lasts till now), could continue with the fact that I didn't find any new MMO or that I'm not a native English speaker (and writer). But none of them alone hits the bull's eye.
The truth is much more simpler: All of those reason matter.

This blog started as World of Warcraft "diary" along with my guild members - not because it was planned so, but because it was the first impulse to start with. After my break at WoW I did not had any special experiences I could write on. Sorry about that, but that's how it was and it took me months to realize. Months in which I tried to blog, to write posts and finished at 5, 10 or even 50%. It felt wrong and I did not know why...

Plus: I wanted to avoid "doubling" of topics, which is based on the fact that I got another blog in German. This makes thinks more difficult, but I also understood that not everybody understands both languages. This leads to another problem: topics.

I could write about nearly everything, I could write - without thinking - twenty pages about a spoon or a fork or my newest creation, a "spork" (something between a spoon, a fork, a pork and Mr. Spock. It is a very rational instrument with beaming abilities... do not ask me for the problems during the beta...).

However, there are good news now: I found something to write about and guess what, it's Guild Wars. It's the new sandbox of my guild and this makes things easier. But, to be more precise, I found a new MMO to talk about.

So expect further blog entries about this new game and I hope there are still readers around. Do not hesitate to write comments - as usually please in a polite way, avoid throwing hammers... or sporks.


Noc

DPS comparison tools in MMOs

People will, sooner or later, cry for tools to compare themselves, especially if there is challenging content. The more time goes by, the more and louder they cry. Because they have groups which are easier or harder to perform challenges with. If they always play the same, the main difference must be the skill level of the other group- or raid-players.  And this means for them: 

DMG meter, NAO!

The problem is the limitation of space in groups and raids. If content is difficult then people are automatically classified in good or bad - either you can play your class or get lost, that's it. This is _not_ what _I_ like, but that's reality, get it. And there are two ways to solve that issue.

1. No group or raid limits - making zergs possible

2. Visit special zones and difficulty levels only in your preferred groups, resulting in faster or, in case of equally low-skilled-gamers, slower progression

Blizzard tried to reduce the problem by simply implementing different difficulty levels and, now, the LFR. People crying "Ohh, that's TOO easy" get automatically slapped their faces for not being able to shift to the next difficult level instead of doing too-easy-content and powerwhining forums. That's it: Put responsibility on gamers, not on developers. 

But this does _not_ solve the problem as it comes back as soon as you hit normal or even hardmode zones. Then people, especially the one thinking of themselves how great they're doing, want tools to demonstrate that player X isn't that good as he or she is. Competitive gaming, known from PVP, "infects" PVE, which makes things curious: My best friend in raid is not only my best friend but my first opponent and if not him, then the idiot from last time - HAR, come, be my enemy...

And yes, you are right: This is also a form, a very bad form of putting the responsibility on gamers, not on devs - people are not blaming the lack of creating good fights without reducing everything on numbers, but are blaming, instead, each other. 

For raid designers those tools are great. Not only they have proper tools for balancing, they also educate peoples to focus purely on numbers. If that point is reached the one and only target of a game is to implement items with higher numbers. And again. And again. And again. Till you reach a level which is too high, then you flatten the item numbers and BAM, there we go again and again and again. This is easy to implement and the greatest motivational engine for upcoming expansions. That's what I call "Fast Food Content" or "Wash 'n' Go Itemization". 

For me those DMG meters aren't a great idea. Not because the tools are bad - but because people are. And statistics are dangerous if not well understood or not well used as people tend to reduce _everything_ on few numbers. Not because they are idiots, but because they - already searching for a simplification of a complex comparison task - are willing to act that way. They _want_ a simple number they point to and say "hey, look, you suck".

In my long career as mmo gamer I've met perhaps ten players who really were able to use statistics in a proper way. The rest used to turn boring raids in a GCC, a genital-comparison-challenge, making raids more interesting for them but raised up a lot of bad and evil backbiting...

... which, yes, would also exist without dmg meters, but with less substance as there would be no "proof" for their accusations. 

And, btw., reducing a game to numbers results in some kind of demystification of the game. I like the world and the fact to be part of it. As soon as numbers hit the game, it suddenly turns into a World of StarWarsCraft, Riftcraft or Lotroworld of Rings. At this point there is no reason for me to play a copy if I could easily play the original - from which I've escaped. 

So far.