Friday Humor: Certified Virtual Life Coach

You may have heard about the growing trend of having a "life coach." Yes, life coaching can truly help you become a better person, advance at your job or even have a more fulfilling personal life. A life coach can encourage you to succeed and push you to new heights of personal growth!

But seriously, who cares about that?

Isn't your virtual life much more important?

With our new Aggro Inc. Virtual Life Coaching Service (certified by the International Association of Virtual Coaching) we focus on what really matters - your virtual life.

* Are you a complete freaking noob?

* Have you been unable to get your level into double digits?

* Does your guild spam for members in the newbie zone?

* Do your friends laugh at your sad little weapon?

* Do you embarrass your group time after time?

If you answered yes to any of these questions - you need our services!

We have on staff some of the finest virtual life coaches in the multiverse and they are waiting to help you! We’ll push you to new levels…of levels!
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Question: Can you really just choose to stop being a complete noob?

Answer: Yes! But you have to take the first step and contact us!
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Before: Boo-hoo! I don't have time to level up as fast as my friends! I have a marriage and a job and I like to go outside.

After: Heh. I am an accomplished level 70 Paladin with great gear. Virtual Life Coaching gave me the courage to quit my job, leave my wife and move back in with my parents.
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Proactive! Synergy! Meta-strategy! Do these words mean anything to you? Of course not - you can barely log into your account, you worthless loser.
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"But Virtual Life Coach! I'm already a high-level dood with awesome gear! But this cute Elf healer won't talk to me. How can you help me?"

Well, we have specialists for just that situation! Lay some delightful neg hits down ("Um, that staff is an 'interesting' choice") on that HB 9.7 Elf maiden and move from chump to PUA in days! Do you know what all that means? Of course you don't Mr. Nice-Guy! We revolutionized virtual kino and text based-NLP!"

Whatever the situation...Virtual Life Coaching is here to help. Virtually.

Hello, empowerment - how are you today? I'm empowering - thanks!

Just listen to this testimonial:

"I am now uber!" - Some guy

"I'm the most popular guy on the vent server!" - Some other guy

As Heidi from the Hills so eloquently put it: "Virtual success is 92% perspiration and 10% inspiration!"

Let us give you that inspiration! And perspiration! Call Aggro Inc. Virtual Life Coaching today!

Figgy Pudding

"My team has collaborated on an overarching epic storyline..."

"Essentially, new [players] enter [blank] Universe with nothing: no money...no stuff. Then they go through the world completing challenges, defeating enemies, gathering goods, discovering treasures and unlocking secrets."

Okay, try to guess the MMO these quotes are referring to (I redacted a few giveaways).

Gee, could be anything, right? Those serious sounding quotes could describe WoW, Everquest, LOTRO...

But they actually describe LEGO Universe Online.

I ran into this post on Kotaku, and since then I've been poking around the LEGO website.

When I first heard about this game I figured it would be a more family friendly version of Second Life. But the descriptions make it sound more like WoW. They're talking about "defeating enemies" to earn "plastic," the currency of the game, in the midst of an overarching storyline.

The question on the current poll is: "Minifigs love minigames, and LEGO Universe will have massive amounts of each! Which minigame will your minifig love the most?"

Apparently a minifig is a miniature figure - one of those little LEGO people and your avatar in the world. The answers to choose from are:

"Collecting hidden sets of trinkets

Rebuilding broken LEGO models within a time limit

Timed Obstacle Courses to jump and bounce through."

Okay, the second one does sound really fun and fitting with the LEGO theme. But the others?

I envisioned making an insane lego creation. And then another one. And then having a friend check it out. I thought it would be less limiting then real legos because you would have access to every lego ever made and endless storage space.

I'm not saying there won't be some LEGO creativity. The designer, Brian Booker states that he is the most excited about:

"The systems that allow users to generate their own content—things like original, highly customizable creatures as well as static models. It’s just amazing to be able to build your own creation, deploy it and have it come to life in the game world, and then show it off to your friends."

Which is great and what I was expecting. But the following surprised me:

"Essentially, new minifigs enter LEGO Universe with nothing: no money, no bricks, no stuff. Then they go through the world completing challenges, defeating enemies, gathering goods, discovering treasures and unlocking secrets. Along the way, the minifigs find bricks and collect a highly valuable currency— plastic. "

I could be totally wrong but I imagined most people's expectations (children and adults alike) were that they would log on and start building lego creations right away. I expected you would have a sizable number of building options to begin with.

"But an individual minifig may have to scale back their dreams if they haven’t collected or earned enough bricks to build their creations. "

I don't like scaling back my dreams - not when it comes to legos. Are people going to have the patience to play mingames, grind for plastic and participate in the "epic" storyline in order to have suitable building options? I get that this game is targeted to kids - I do. But it's the creativity and endless options that made legos so popular with kids in the first place.

I can't say they are making the wrong design decision. The decision to make LEGO more of a game and less of a sandbox may be based on research regarding subscription numbers and player interest. I should have just remembered the success of Lego Star Wars and realized that they would go that route. The sandbox aspect might be quite limited by obscenity concerns, so perhaps they had to focus on questing and mini-games.

The designers may very well have made the best decision based on what they were aiming for and the limitations they were faced with. Even though the direction of the game surprised me, it could still be fun.

And Then There Was One...

I received an email from the peeps at Planetside yesterday. They are merging the two remaining North American servers into a single server named Gemini on May 20, 2008. As a past player, they also offered me the chance to play for free until May 21, 2008.

"With the goal of maintaining a high level of battle between the three Empires of PlanetSide, the two North American servers, Markov and Emerald, will be merged into one server, Gemini, on May 20, 2008. Starting today, as a part of a select group of past PlanetSide players, you will be able to log in for free until May 21, 2008.

Preserve your Legacy! After the merge, many character names will be duplicated and priority will be given to players who have logged in most recently and to those who created their names first. As an added bonus, special merits will be given to native Markov and Emerald players to represent your loyalty to your past server. Characters will receive their merits upon logging into Gemini for the first time after the server merger is complete.

If you haven’t played in a while come check out what’s new in PlanetSide! Experience elevated battles and more competitive play! "

If you want more details you can find them, along with a faq, in this thread. Another thing to note is that if you want a deleted character restored, you have to request it prior to the merge. See here for details.

I read the reaction thread and most players seem pretty happy about it. The ones who were not had the following issues:

1. What about Werner? (the remaining non-North American server)

2. It's a short term fix.

3. Fix stuff instead: hacking, TR MAX.

But again, most seem excited about the increased population. Any bets on how long Planetside can hang around for?

Barkley: Shut up and Jam: Gaiden

Ah, yes. To give the full title: Barkley: Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden: Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa.

If you haven't played this hilarious game yet, please check it out.

Barkley is simply one of the funniest games I've ever played - right up there in the top 10 with Portal, some Infocom stuff and a few old Sierra graphic adventures. It's not just a parody of all RPG's - it lampoons anything and everything.

I could take a screenshot at any point in the game and it would crack me up. Did I mention it's free?

I thought the humor would get old after an hour or so but this thing kept me rolling right until the end. I figured that the actual gameplay might be awful but it turns out the combat is actually more fun then most Final Fantasy games. I ending up varying my skills and attacks to a greater degree then I usually do in RPG's.

I love this game. I hate Jordan. I cherish the save points.

If I keep writing I'm just going give stuff away - I can't control myself. Just go play it. The specific brand of humor in Barkley might not work for you but you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Mount and Blade

I've talked about Mount and Blade before so I thought I'd mention that version 0.950 has been released.

I still wouldn't call it polished and I'm not crazy about the graphics but the mounted combat is incredibly satisfying. I even love the sword and shield battles on foot - crazy fun.

The fact that the version number is so close to 1.0 makes me think that time is running out to grab this game for a mere 25 bucks. But check out the demo and see what you think.

I recommend starting out by doing tournament after tournament. It's a good way to gain some cash and renown and, more importantly, you really get the hang of the combat.

Trading seems a bit too easy and you can get pretty invincible with the right gear relatively quickly. But I find myself returning to this game quite a bit.

Did I mention that Mount and Blade is very mod-friendly? There are some insane mods already and I bet they only get better.

ForumWarz

I've been enjoying ForumWarz lately. It's a browser-based, multiplayer rpg that parodies internet forums and internet culture in general. The brand of humor is not for everyone and may be considered offensive but I think it's really well-written and funny.

The game is very polished and the tutorial is quite smooth. Your main mission is to pwn various forums. This happens as a kind of turn-based battle in which you use various skills or items.

The "world" of ForumWarz feels pretty deep for a free, browser-based game. You can talk to various NPC's via an IM client, send and receive e-mails that advance the story, visit various websites for goods or services and even mess with a google type search engine. The NPC's are very distinctive and the dialogue is really well written.

There are character classes to choose from and you can select various upgrades to your character as you level up. Not surprisingly, I play as a Troll. You get a certain number of forum visits each day which prevents you from rushing through all the content too quickly. It's a great way to kill some time.

For a multiplayer game - you don't really interact with other people during the main gameplay. However, there are community features which lend a social nature to the game. There are leaderboards, achievements to be gained and a weekly challenge called Domination. But the most fun way to interact is with forumbuildr - a collaborative way to create new forums. Users can come up with ideas for new forums and write dialogue for the posts and thread titles. It's fun and, once complete, anyone can play through the user created forum.

They recently added another multiplayer feature called INCIT (still in test mode) in which users caption photos. And of course, there are actual forums (on which some people even roleplay as their ForumWarz characters).

The community/multiplayer aspect of ForumWarz does seem a bit divorced from the main game. But the community is a good one and the game itself is perfect for a fun play at work.

There's a good interview with one of the developer's here but it's probably best to play the game before reading it.

Evil Bloggers

This has nothing to do with gaming at all but the bloggers out there might find this ambush of Will Leitch (of the sports blog Deadspin) on Costas Now interesting. It was amazing to see the pure rage Bissinger, representative of the "old guard media," explodes with. This video is not safe for work, not because of the "vile blogger" but because of Bissinger's own profanity-laced diatribe. Even those who agree with his arguments (I don't) have to admit he did a terrible job by becoming just what he was railing against and turning Leitch into a martyr.


Video here.


It was so bizarre I actually found it more amusing then annoying. But I did get annoyed when Mad Dog Chris Russo (of Mike and the Mad Dog WFAN radio fame) got ambushed by Michael Strahan in the show's second segment (unfortunately not in the video). How can anyone not love the Mad Dog?

Be A Hero and Create Your Own Content

The idea of user-created content in MMO's is something that's long been discussed on this site. For instance, I talked about it here and Karnatos wrote about it here. It is not something that is right for all games. But there is definitely so much opportunity to utilize community created content in the right framework and it is a facet of gaming that will be huge in the future. The public is definitely hungry for it. I don't know if it's humanly possible for me to hear any more about Little Big Planet and it's user created content from the gaming media.

So it is very exciting to see that City of Heroes will feature user-created content in the future, according to Lead Designer Matt Miller (Positron) in his post here.

"One of the things I can talk about is a feature that we are planning. Similar in concept to our character creator, it allows you, the players, to create missions and story arcs for your characters and others to participate in. You’ll be able to pick the map, villain group, and objectives, as well as write the dialog and any clues needed for the missions. When you are satisfied with it, you can upload it and have other players across all servers play it and rate it. Fame will come to the players whose stories rate the best overall."

As I said, community created content would not work for all games. It would be extremely difficult to implement in EQII to this level. But COH seems perfect. The beauty is that COH is not at all item-centric and is a relatively simple game. People have called it a "shallow" MMO, but now that very shallowness may be a great asset, as implementing this type of content will be so much easier.

Take a moment to think how cool it would be to design your own superhero mission with your own dialogue! People are going to have so much fun designing their own missions. I can pretty much guarantee that when this feature is released, I and some friends from this site and going to be jumping to re-sub and work together on some missions - funny, serious and everything in between.

And don't forget, it provides much needed additional content to players without any work on the developers' part. Someone who is bored with the "official" missions can do some top-rated user created ones. And that extends the subscription life of the game.

The community certainly seems super excited about it to say the least. That is a positive reaction - page after page.

There still will be some difficulties. The first thing people will do is try to abuse the system to farm. But who really cares about farming in COH? I mean it's not that kind of game - we're not talking about WoW here. I'm sure they will try to have safeguards in place anyway. For example, I noted that Positron did not refer to the placement of individual mobs but rather referred to the ability to pick the "villain group." So it seems to me like you select the type of villain and the game populates your zone. This is less control, I know, but it also makes preventing abuse a lot easier. You have to start somewhere.

I guess the main problem I see is dealing with user-created dialogue that is mature, racist or otherwise problematic. I don't see an easy answer to this. I predict they will have users "flag" content of this nature and then look into it and ban the party involved. But is that enough? Reviewing all dialogue before it goes live would be impossible. There will be a filter but human creativity will always top that.

Well, it will be very interesting to see how the whole system works and I'm sure other MMO developers will be watching closely. There will be a lot to learn. If COH pulls it off I think it will be an amazing step.

Back at the Keyboard

Wow, has it been this long? Tip for aspiring bloggers: this is actually a lot easier when you update every day.

Even though this site has not been updated, you may actually have caught some Aggro writing if you picked up a copy of Equinox - the official EQII magazine. I have a humor column on the last page of issue two (and you will probably see one in issue three as well). If you read it - let me know what you thought.

(Note : I deal only with the publishing company, not SOE and I don't receive any compensation).

But anyway, I plan on updating this site again and hopefully this post will provide sure-fire motivation to do so. I'm going to start by discussing some of the bizarre, off-the-radar games I've been playing the last few months. I've also been working on a couple of other mystery projects that you will hear more about soon.

I hope everyone is well and has had some good gaming!

Legends of Norrath: Initial Impressions

I finally got around to trying Legends of Norrath a week ago. I'm surprised it took me so long because I'm definitely into collectible card games. I've played it a good deal but I haven't yet challenged many real human beings or tried trading or tournaments yet. So this is just the start - I will follow up on this post.

The important thing to make clear is that this is a great game. I've played it every night since I first tried it, sometimes for extended periods of time. I'm always excited to log on. The general design of the game is excellent. I love the aspect of dual win conditions (you can win either by questing or defeating the enemy avatar). It plays very smoothly and has a perfect pace. I find it fun and challenging and the artwork is definitely beautiful. There is a nice variety to the cards and a good number have very interesting effects which allow for strategic play.

I just think SOE did a fantastic, polished job and I can't wait to log on again. So the slight negative comments I'm going to make should not dissuade you from trying this game. If you are an EQ or EQII subscriber (meaning you get a free starter deck) I strongly urge you give it a play. But nothing is perfect, so here are a handful of issues I had:

The Tutorial: When I was playing through the tutorial, I quickly developed a headache. "They made this game way too complicated," I thought to myself. "They should have gone the route of making it accessible to all." But don't worry, those impressions weren't accurate. The learning curve is actually modest and you'll figure things out very quickly in your first few actual games.

So why did I think it was so complicated? It's the tutorial's fault. It's split into way too many segments and it needlessly muddles things. The tutorial tackles each type of card individually (items, abilities, quests, etc.) in too much of a vacuum. The important thing to teach is the gameplay. I promise you, the game is much much easier to learn when you actually play it through, because you understand the flow of play and how things relate.

I understand the concept of the tutorial. It is attempting to give you the basic knowledge you need about each type of card and then tie it all together at the end in the summary lesson. But that's way to late in my opinion to tie it all together. That should be done throughout.

Players would be much better served by being led through an actual continuing game. The tutorial should force you through a number of turns. And when a new type of card comes up, say "items," it should then explain that card in the context of the larger game. Then the tutorial could tell you to raid and explain how combat works, again in the context of the actual game. Having eleven tutorials is needlessly off-putting and really doesn't help.

The Scenarios: The scenarios are absolutely great and a ton of fun. I love the fact that some force you to win using a certain victory condition and familiarize you with different styles of play. The whole thing is well-written and enjoyable. I absolutely love what they did in Scenario 14 by connecting the story and events in the game to actual cards. The way they used the Altar and the Rift are just terrific. I absolutely loved playing the scenarios through and I strongly urge SOE to add more from time to time. I was impressed that they took the time to make these so enjoyable.

My negative on the scenarios is really minor and related to lore. And it's very rare that I ever get tweaked about lore. But, okay, here it is. In EQII we basically never see Lucan or Antonia (unless things have changed). I always felt this was a mistake, though I know it is trickier to do then it sounds. It would have been nice to be more connected to the central characters.

So am I now going to complain because the scenarios are chock-full of Lucan and Firiona Vie? Yes, a little. The problem with introducing legendary characters like this into an MMO or any other type of game is that we have pre-conceived notions and expectations of them. So when we play through the scenarios and see Lucan and Firiona have rather pedestrian stats, it's a little disquieting. I realize that this is necessary to keep the game balanced but it definitely is an issue. I also thought it was weak to use Firiona as the classic damsel in distress. It's just cliche and not really suited to the character. Just nitpicks, as I said.

Card Text: The "flavor" text on the cards is fine. But that's about it and that's the problem. I don't think the writing is weak by any means but it just doesn't reach out and grab my emotions like some of the Magic text does. I think it can really help draw you into the game if superbly done.

Again, none of the card text in Legends is terrible or even bad. But it's just my personal belief that writing flavor text for cards in these type of games is just about the greatest, most exhilarating job any fantasy buff can ever have. You have such an opportunity to be hilarious, dramatic, beautiful. To me it's almost the poetry of geekdom.

I'm designing my own episodic flash-based card battle game (still in the pen and paper stages) mainly for the golden opportunity to write flavor text. And it is hard, a heck of a lot harder then you might first think. So I appreciate the difficulty. But I just beseech whoever it is out there penning the prose: put your heart and soul and lifeblood into it. And enjoy it, because it's a fantastic opportunity.

Business Aspects: In general I think the price is right. It's great that you get a free starter deck if you are an EQ or EQII subscriber and great that you can play around a bit even if you're not. I think the booster decks are quite fairly priced. So, overall, I really like the model. I just have a few issues with it, one major and one minor.

The major issue I have is that there is no benefit for Station Access subscribers. If there is and I don't know about it, I apologize. But for those out there who are passionate enough to pay the quite high price of $29.99, I think it's almost absurd not to take advantage of this opportunity to reward them.

Would it be that big a deal to give Station Access subscribers a free booster pack a month? I certainly don't think so. They're paying you enough money and interest has to be waning considering Vanguard and some of the other "titles." This is a golden opportunity to make these subscribers feel good about the cash they are handing over every month. In the end, it might even make SOE more money to be a little generous here as perhaps fewer people will go back to a one-game subscription.

Again, if there is a benefit, I apologize. I didn't see mention of one. But if not, this probably bothers me more about Legends then everything else put together.

On a more minor note, it would be nice if the booster packs could be somewhat tailored to each class. It's pretty lame to buy a booster with only a few Mage cards in there. Okay, I think this will be alleviated when I start trading, but I still think it might be nice to have class-based boosters.

Well, that's it. As you can tell, pretty minor nitpicks and on the whole a wonderful job by SOE. The main thing to know is that the game is great and you should give it a whirl.

Two questions for the more advanced players out there: How is the balance between the different classes? How is the balance between the two victory conditions when playing a live opponent (do people mostly win by questing or by knocking the opponent's health down)?

I hope to meet you on the fields of battle in Legends soon.

PSP = SRPG

When I first bought a DS and a PSP I placed them down next to each other on a table. It seemed clear that the PSP was miles ahead of the DS. The gorgeous screen, the style - it just seemed like the PSP would dominate. I was obviously wrong in my initial impressions. I've spent about 90% of my handheld time on the DS, simply because the software was so much better. But lately, that percentage has completely reversed. Why? The PSP has come through with some very solid SRPG's. I've loved the strategy RPG genre since Shining Force and I find it very well suited to the handheld world. Following are the three SRPG's I've been enjoying for the PSP.

Jeanne D'Arc

This excellent game really hits all the right SRPG notes, combining challenging strategic gameplay with wonderful graphics and a solid story. There are plenty of fun combat mechanics to play around with such as the Unified Guard, the transformations and Burning Aura. I also enjoy the quick pacing of the battles, something a lot of SRPG's falter on. The setting may be a bit odd, but it is a really refreshing change from the standard fare. The story falters in points but on the whole it is a compelling drama with interesting characters. The graphics are just fabulous, both in the cutscenes and the actual battles.

All in all, Jeanne D'Arc is a great game. If I had to find a negative I'd say there isn't quite the depth or complexity of the other two titles on this list. But you certainly can have fun combining skill stones and trying various combinations of skills on different characters. As for the challenge level, it's really up to you. If you want to try to plow ahead through the story missions without leveling your characters it can be tough. But if you are having too hard of a time, simply level your force up on the free battles for a bit. I think it's the perfect game for someone new to the genre.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

I really don't understand some of the incredibly high review scores this game received. I admit I'm a little biased. I'm just so tired of ports, remakes and rehashes coming to the handhelds. And while I recognized the greatness of Final Fantasy Tactics, I always found it more flawed then most.

But I think even putting that bias aside, there is no way this game should have received the level of favorable reviews it did. I find the slowdown that occurs when using magic or special attacks completely unacceptable. This annoyance is more than minor to me when you are spending so much time battling. The fact that the clunky control scheme is unchanged combines with the slowdowns to really kill the pace of the battles for me. And while they certainly did a solid job revamping the script, almost none of the problems with unit balance or the camera have been addressed.

But of course, you are getting the almost limitless depth and complexity that Final Fantasy Tactics brings. And it is definitely a robust, exciting game that I do enjoy playing.

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness

Yes, like FFT, this is a remake. I've only played this one for a few hours so far but I think they did a great job with the port. It's smooth, it looks good and the voiceovers are surprisingly well done. Unlike FFT, the framerates are perfect throughout. This is another one with incredible depth and complexity with the added bonus of humor. There is also an element of almost puzzle type gameplay with the geo panels. Whether you enjoy that or not is dependent on whether you enjoy that type of puzzle play. With the Dark Assembly and Item Worlds there is also more to do in Disgaea outside of actual storyline battles than in the other two games.

If you haven't guessed I would recommend the games in this order: Jeanne, Disgaea and FFT. But the real point is that these are three very sweet SRPG's available right now to PSP owners. That's why my DS is gathering dust right now. Does anyone have any SRPG's to recommend for the DS? I expected a plethora by now, especially since the stylus control seems so perfectly suited to the genre. I've identified Luminous Arc but the reviews have been pretty bad and also Hoshigami Remix which features even worse reviews.

I am making the somewhat arbitrary distinction between the SRPG genre and the turn based strategy genre. I differentiate the two genres in that SRPG's focus on individual characters in battle which you can level and carry forward into future battles while TBS's feature larger scale battles with units that you can not individualize. Does that make sense? Anyone have a clearer definition? If I broaden my scope to TBS games, there are other options. For instance, we have Advance Wars for the DS or Field Commander for the PSP. These are two very solid games hampered only by what is some of the most poorly written dialogue I have ever seen. I'm not sure what percentage of overall production costs it takes to hire a good writer but I'm constantly surprised that so many companies still don't think it is worth it.

Well, I hold out hope for some good DS SRPG's in the future. Archaic Sealed Heat for the DS sounds promising, though I'm not sure it's an SRPG in the traditional sense. In the TBS arena, Warhammer 40K: Squad Command (DS and PSP) is very intriguing. But probably the biggest one to watch for is Fire Emblem DS.

And hey, if you have to do remakes, how about Shining Force for me? And from the turn-based strategy genre, I would love to see Heroes of Might and Magic on the DS. I'm thinking the simple but beautiful art from the first three iterations of the series. Wouldn't it be great to use the stylus to move around the exploration map, position units in battle and poke at town buildings to buy units?

Best Cosplay Ever?

When you're playing EQII, LOTRO or WoW do you ever want to be an Elf? But I mean do you really, really want to be an Elf? Yes?

Okay, click here.

I'm 95% sure that this is an elaborate prank or art project but it is a well crafted one.

Fantasy Wars

Turn-based strategy games are not exactly flooding the market, so I wanted to bring Fantasy Wars (available for purchase at GamersGate) to your attention.

I can't give a formal review because I haven't finished the game yet. Honestly, the only reason I'm posting about this one is that I haven't seen a single review or even advertisement for this game. I'm not quite sure how they expect to sell any copies.

What kind of name is "Fantasy Wars" anyway? Could you get more generic? Yeah, I was just playing some "Role Playing Game" and then "Platform Side-Scroller." But forget the name. It's basically a series of turn-based battles on a grid (though the field is a 3-D affair with fairly pretty graphics). You move your units, attack and defend against the enemy and take cities and other important areas. You also purchase new units, upgrade units and discover and equip artifacts.

Really, the game calls to mind Fantasy General, another game with a generic name and hex-based strategic play. It was a 1996 SSI release in the Five Star General series. Now, Fantasy General was one of the greatest games I've ever played and had a huge impact on me. The combination of compelling strategy, beautiful but simple art, incredible music and lengthy campaign were very memorable. I can close my eyes even now and I'm the Warlord Marcas, battling through the Vale of Sorrow, grimly resolute in the face of the Herculean task before me.

So I'm not comparing Fantasy Wars to Fantasy General in terms of overall quality. It pales in comparison. But that doesn't mean it's a bad game. The battles are exciting and there is plenty of depth and complexity. One of my favorite features is that when a unit levels, you can choose from a large branching tree of skills. So two units which start out the same may soon have quite different attack and defense skills. Some may be better in the forest and some on the open plains and still others may be experts at storming a city. The story is nothing special but the voiceovers are surprisingly not horrible. It is a challenging, fun campaign and I'm enjoying it so far.

I have noticed a few negatives. There are very few single mission scenarios included outside of the three large campaigns. The scenery looks a little too pretty and bright to me for a war game. And in general, when it comes to games like this, I prefer simplicity in the graphical design over bells and whistles. For instance, I much preferred the first three Heroes of Might and Magic Games to HOMM V because I liked the simple, clear map much better then the 3-D one. I hate having to constantly mess with the camera. But I'm pretty sure that's just me. I don't think most people will mind the graphics.

But don't take my word for it. Just download the free demo which contains two short missions and have at it. From the main page just click "Bonus" and it's on the left hand side of the page under wallpapers.

Another option to consider for your turn-based strategy fix is Dominion 3. I could wax poetic about the depth of this game but in this case there are already plenty of reviews out there for you.

And of course, no matter what genre you prefer, get Portal before any other game. Trust me on that one.

Why Can't I Stop Playing This?

Via Independent Gaming...The Abrupt Goodbye, user-created interactive fiction.

It seems so simple but I can't stop playing it. Must close browser window...

It's pretty remarkable that the users haven't ruined it yet. See if you can pick out the Aggro dialogue in there.

A Rogue's Revenge: MMO Influences on D&D 4th Edition

There is no debating that every MMO is deeply indebted to pen and paper D&D. It's the foundation we all game on. But I've found something interesting as I've casually followed the news of the upcoming 4th Edition of D&D. With 4th Edition, D&D seems to be taking strong inspiration from the MMO world. My information regarding the 4th Edition comes mainly from EN World, the D20 Source blog and, of course, Wizards.

I intend to look at some of the links between MMO's and the 4th Edition of D&D and the lessons each group could stand to learn from the other.

Technology

D&D Gaming Table

The D&D Gaming Table provides a way to play D&D online with other people. You can create maps, move characters, traps and monsters around and roll dice. Check the video out here. They do some pretty neat things with lighting and "fog of war."

Hmm...a roleplaying game played online with other people. Sounds like an MMORPG doesn't it? Well, not exactly. While the online D&D Gaming Table is a multiplayer, online experience, the real "game" portion is taking place outside of the online space. And the number of players is limited.

Now, nothing will ever, ever replace for me the excitement of sitting around a table and gaming with real people. But this option will give me the opportunity to play D&D with people I met through playing MMO's or through this site who do not live anywhere near me. And I'm truly looking forward to that. I do think it may take a few iterations before this first attempt is a truly solid product. And remember, the real game takes place between the DM and the players. Wizards is just providing some tools to play that game. You could honestly play D&D online right now in an IRC chat room or even Second Life. But I think it's great that Wizards is attempting to give us a polished option to take our D&D game into the virtual world.

Character Creator

This is direct from MMO land and looks just like any MMO character creator (you can view the D&D Character Creator in the same video about 2:58 in). While characters created using this tool can be imported directly into D&D Gaming Table, I think it may also prove handy for games played around the traditional table. It's just a cool way to set up your character sheet and even have a graphical representation that you and others can enjoy. I wasn't blown away with the video but I do see it as having nice potential.

The Business Model

It's pretty interesting to see D&D working the subscription model, a true MMO staple. In fact, they even reference MMO's in their Ask Wizards feature:

"At Gen Con, we did state that the price would fall somewhere between the cost of a single print issue of Dragon magazine and the monthly fee of a MMORPG (in other words, between $10 and $15)."

I believe some people (especially DM's) will sign up for this subscription service even if they never intend to use the online Gaming Table. Rather, they will use available tools and additional resources such as the DM Toolkit or the Campaign Vault to better their real life D&D experience.

Patching = Errata

What happens when there's a bug in your MMO? Well, it gets patched (or at least you hope it does). It's a pretty good system and I appreciate when companies patch their games often. But what happens if there's an error in a D&D book? Well, they can't really patch that can they? It's a physical text. But Wizards may be borrowing the concept of patching for D&D. See the following quote from here:

Another factor that will change the face of errata is the implementation of the database, which plays such a central role in our management of 4 Edition. With the institution of ebooks that accompany one’s physical copy, we have the option of keeping one’s ebook updated with the latest changes, from the very small (a “+2” instead of a “+3”) to the very big (changing the text of an ability or feat). That’s not to say there still won’t be a physical copy of the errata, but we might simply compile quarterly changes made in the database into a readable format, rather than the sporadic release that now exists.

If they handle this the right way, they could build a ton of goodwill with customers. Here's my opinion of the "right way:"

1. Player buys the Monster Manual at a gaming store and takes it home.

2. There's an error in the text.

3. Player enters a code from the Manual on Wizards' website and is given access to a special section dedicated to updating the Monster Manual. (I don't believe there should be any subscription fee for this feature if you purchased the book).

4. Player prints the change and affixes it to his or her physical book.

I think that kind of D&D "patching" could be great.

Game Updates

But updates in MMO's aren't only about patching existing problems. I know I looked forward to each Update in EQII to see if new abilities, new weapons, new items and even new zones were going to be made available. I felt this was a terrific way to keep players excited and interested in the game. MMO's have the advantage of being able to do this online.

Now D&D will be able to accomplish a similar goal through their online services. By getting issues of Dungeons Magazine and Dragons Magazines online, in addition to other information provided through D&D Insider, players will be able to supplement their games with new adventures, items and skills. This could truly be beneficial to both Wizards and the players.

Going Further

In one case Wizards seems to be borrowing more from the broader Web 2.0 world than from MMO's. Wizards has a website called Gleemax (awful name but horrid website names are web 2.0 to the core) which looks to be a sort of Facebook for D&D and Magic players. Although various MMO companies have attempted things like Gleemax, I think Gleemax looks to be more robust. Well, it's pretty much exactly what I was talking about just a few posts ago. I do think it will take Wizards some time to perfect the system. And while I wholeheartedly endorse the idea, I think the design and layout of the website need serious work.

The Core

All the above relate to technology, which I view as supporting but secondary portions of the 4th Edition experience. What I found most fascinating is that even at the core of the 4th edition, the actual pen and paper rule-set, you can see what I think are MMO influences.

Defined Player & Monster Roles

One of the strongest MMO connections in 4th Edition is the intent to define player roles more clearly. They may be calling the roles other names, but I sure recognize Tank, Healer, CC and Ranged and Melee DPS. I know some people are worried that this will take away from the variety of the characters. But I believe that 4th Edition is actually going to give players more options to customize their characters both in and out of combat. The use of player roles is more about making it easier to balance groups. There should be no more "oh, you have to play a cleric, the party needs one." So this change should result in more options, not less. And it should make balancing encounters a lot easier for the DM.

Now, where D&D is going further then MMO's is giving the mobs (or monsters if you will) similar classes. So some monsters will be tanks, other will do crowd control and so on. This will definitely make it easier for DM's to put together solid, exciting encounters in much less time. Believe me MMO's would love to do this - it would make combat far more exciting. And to some extent they have, but it's really not there yet. The beauty of D&D is that you don't have to worry about AI, because the DM is the AI. But I think MMO's will reach this point someday. Just think about fighting a group of orcs in an MMO. Would you rather fight five orcs who just sit there and swing the same club at you or a coordinated group with tanks, healers and ranged dps? It would lead to so much more excitement as players put together different strategies based on what they are facing.

Raising the Level Cap

Just like an MMO expansion, 4th Edition raises the level cap to 30. I wonder if this is a direct response to the fact that many MMO players are used to more levels then 20. Even if not, it's a move strongly reminiscent of MMO-world.

Level Balancing

It's one thing to raise the level cap. It's another thing entirely to make every level just as fun and playable as every other level. But that is one of the major stated intentions of 4th Editon. It's also something that's often been discussed in the MMO world. MMO companies are always trying to ensure that the lower or middle levels are as fun as the higher levels, or vice versa. Their success is debatable so I think it will be interesting for MMO fans and developers to watch how Wizards handles this.

Racial Bonuses

MMO's and D&D are both faced with the challenge of making race actually mean something. Whether you choose to be an elf or a dwarf in an MMO does the character play any differently, graphics aside? When you roll up an elf or a dwarf in D&D does the character play any differently, roleplaying aside? MMO's have made strides in this area. EQII, for example, introduced special racial quests and racial traits. In LOTRO, different deeds are available for different races, allowing you to further customize your character.

D&D also seems to be headed in this (positive) direction by allowing for different racial traits to be achieved as the player levels. This attempt to make classes of different races play differently from one another seems to be one of the focuses of 4th Edition. The goal is to make an elf fighter play differently then a dwarf fighter, and so on.

Note the importance of both MMO's and D&D making race a factor as you level. If you play an MMO and choosing an elf gives you 5 points more dexterity when you begin, well, that's great. But that difference will be long forgotten when you're at level 50. It's important to make the distinctions in play continuous ones that effect you at the high as well as low levels. Gaining new racial traits as you level is certainly a way to do this.

Character Customization

Just as it's important for race to play a role in your character, it's also critical for you to continue to customize your character level by level. Again, this is important in both D&D and MMO's. You never want your wizard to be the same as every other wizard, no matter what game you're playing. Allowing customization is key to building that connection and emotional attachment between player and character. I think Wizards is really refining the customization of characters with feats and talent trees, just as we have seen further refinement in the MMO world.
Wizards also seems to have picked up a lesson which MMO companies learned. Just as it's important to have character customization, it's also important not to have players feel trapped by "bad choices." EQII and WoW allow for spending money to change your character customization decisions. Likewise, 4th Edition will apparently allow for swapping out or switching various feats and abilities.

Choice of Classes and Races

One thing I find of great interest in the MMO world is the amount of classes and races each game gives you. The obvious feeling may be the more the merrier and variety certainly is important. However, back in August of 2006, I argued that, based on some very interesting scientific studies, perhaps too many choices is a bad thing. To dramatically oversimplify that post, a quick summary is that consumers faced with more choices actually purchased less. And students given less choices for an assignment actually performed better. So I'm not bothered that 4th Edition will somewhat reduce the amount of races and classes in the game in an attempt to hit the sweet spot.

Forums Frenzy

If there's one thing MMO's and D&D really have in common it's the insanity on the forums. Both communities are intensely passionate about their games and whenever a change or expansion is announced there is a mix of excitement and anger. And it's a wild ride. You get the same personalities and even many of the same arguments on the D&D forums that you do on MMO forums. And I understand the concerns people have.

But for me it's simple. It comes down to the fact that I trust these designers as much as any group of game designers out there. They have the passion for the game and they have the design skills. I don't have to agree with every move they make, because I have faith in the overall picture.

As for the financial aspect, I know it stings to buy more books. But you really don't have to. I think you can ride 3.5 for another decade, especially with the Open Gaming License (and the OGL better be just as strong for 4th edition - it's critical). If you sit down and analyze the entertainment value you received from D&D and compare it with your financial outlay, I'll think you'll agree that this is a value investment, especially when compared to other forms of entertainment.

Bilateral Lessons

MMO Companies Should Learn This D&D Lesson

If you listen to Episode 16 of the official D&D podcast (available for free on ITunes) you will hear some ideas regarding monsters in the 4th Edition that I think MMO developers could stand to hear and apply to mob AI and mechanics.

* Interesting At Any Level - Just because a mob is Level 3 doesn't mean it has to be ten times less exciting than a level 30 mob. Designers should strive to make combat exciting at the early levels to hook new players. In the podcast, the designers discuss changing the mechanics of a Level 2 monster, the Kruthik, so that it is a challenging and exciting encounter for players. How many incredibly boring low level monsters do we encounter in MMO's?

* Making the Mechanics Match the Story - When we are fighting a monster in D&D or a mob in an MMO, we're basically fighting a collection of numbers: attack, defense, hit points and the like. So what makes one monster different from the next? What makes us feel like we are fighting a Griffon or a Beholder? In MMO's we have graphics and in D&D we have our imagination and roleplaying. But if you put that aside and think about it, doesn't it seem like many of the monsters we fight, especially in MMO's, are very similar?

So how do we make fighting a Griffon seem different then fighting a Beholder? The D&D designers stated that they really made an effort to make the actual combat mechanics for each monster match the backstory and "feel" of the monster. I think this is crucial. I realize it is harder to accomplish in an MMO, but it's worth the effort.

* Differentiating Similar Monsters - If an MMO asks you to kill 10 orcs and then to kill 10 goblins and then kill 10 gnolls, is there really a difference? Sure the graphics might be a bit different, but that's it. On the podcast, the designers discuss attempting to significantly differentiate the backstories of similar monsters. And then the next step is to make the mechanics and "AI" match the concept. An example given was that Gnolls might attack you like a pack of hyenas while Hobgoblins march towards you like Roman legionnaires. This variation in attack procedure is based on the differing backstories of each race. Again, the mechanics aspect of this is harder to capture in an MMO but I think it's something worth striving for.

Wizards Could Learn This MMO Lesson

If there's one strong lesson to be learned from the MMO world over the last few years, it's that taking the time to polish and playtest is incredibly important. Just look at WoW on one hand and Vanguard on the other. Heck, even SOE has caught on to the importance of a polished product, breaking with their previous hard-line expansion release schedule. But I don't think Wizards learned that lesson.

I believe that Wizards has not allocated enough time to polishing and playtesting. In reading and listening to the comments of the designers I just don't think they are in the place they should be to release this product on the timeline they want to. And even though I know they shut the whole company down for months of hardore playtesting, I don't think they have allocated enough time to exterior playtesting. I could be wrong in this assessment but it is my belief. I just think polish is key these days.

Conclusion

It's a wonderful and exciting time to be a D&D player. Let's not forget that there have been some really tough periods in D&D's history. It's great to see Wizards continually working to bring us the best game they can and experimenting with different ways to do so. And this isn't only about current players. I have to think that this will be good for new players and even those who, like myself, have been away for a bit. That can only help the game.

I will say that the views expressed in this post are coming from someone who has not actively played in a while but who is dying to get back in. Current players may have a different (and more informed) perspective and I certainly understand and appreciate that.