Anyone who's played an MMO has hopefully at some time experienced the timelessness of the following event.
You: "Hey! I learned how to craft a new item"
You: "WTS [New Item]!"
Generic Citizen X: "Who would possibly buy that. . ."
And it as that time that you truly ask the same question to yourself. Comparing loot from quest rewards, other crafted items, bosses, and random gear of the world you realize that there is absolutely no use for this item.
It is surpassed by almost every other obtainable piece of gear and must be implemented to solely increase your skill in your profession. Now I believe I had most of you with my example but if you need further proof, see the first 20% of any professions. They have you pump out enough junk to overwhelm a chronic hoarder - and yes, it's junk. Stuff so bad that you can't give it away.
This has been the case for several MMOs I've tampered in - and while some have tried to break away, none have ever managed escape items you eventually have to offload on NPCs.
I'd like to talk about some of the more enjoyable experiences I had with crafting systems though. Two games spring to mind as champions of farming and crafting, and those are Vanguard and EVE. Both of these games attacked the monotony of grinding through professions in the same way - letting you bring your friends. In both games groups were allowed to facilitate each member to gather more quickly. In both experiences, gathering to me became a sort of mini-game with everyone playing a role to get the most out of our collective effort. There were no real rules or goals but through gameplay it was obvious the roles that needed to be filled (the rules) to reap the most resources (the goal).
As interactivity is the flagship of our industry I really have no clue why this isn't incorporated into more games, it just makes too much sense.
To get back on track though, once you've got your cache of goodies (which was hopefully enjoyable to get through a good harvesting system) you reach the problem stated earlier. I've been mulling with a couple ideas on how to possible get around spending your hard won prizes on crap (which I believe should be avoided at all costs!) and here are some points that bear discussion.
First - it is my belief that quest rewards should never surpass craftable items in quality. To me this is because of one single truth of MMOs; players will quest. Questing (whatever it's called in your MMO of choice) is the bread and butter of MMOs and it is in every single MMO I've ever experienced. So by rewarding people for doing what they must do with gear better than people who are taking extra time to level a profession just seems a bit batty to me.
Secondly - once we have prizes worth spending our resources on, how are we to go about spending them. With the joy I experienced in group resourcing I'm sure a similarly enjoyable experience could be worked out for crafting. Vanguard had a very in depth system that made a game out of it, this was fun but got tedious when you were looking just to pound something out. WoW is simply click and done, which makes it ever so delicious when you have the wealth to spend. I've heard in EVE ships can take MONTHS to build, which I imagine builds a great sense of achievement when you complete your task.
All of these have something to take from - a system that is interactive, cooperative, but can be automated would be ideal.
Hmm I'm going to spend a couple days drawing up a system of this I think
While I realize I have not even truthfully offered an answer to the question, I hope I've got you thinking on a problem that seems pervasive in my experience of MMOs (and how I'm looking at the problem). Crafting is a big part of MMOs, to have an underdeveloped and boring system is suicide in my opinion.
But as this has ever only really been a site for me to rave to myself. . .
"At least we'll keep ourself company"
"Quite Right"
"You forgot the line idiot"
"What line?"
-Daddy Out
P.s. MMOs I've dabbled in include DoAC (twenties), Tabula Rasa (twenties), Vanguard (thirties), Phantasy Star Universe (tweens), WoW (too much time to openly admit), Age of Conan (just started - wish me luck :P)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Daddies Log - Razzle Dazzle
Besides being an awesome spell (+100 nerd credit if you can catch this gaming reference), I felt it was time to give the blog a bit of TLC.
I must say it looks like something I might read now. I'm happy with it and I hope you are too :).
P.s. I've got a couple things to talk about in daddies thoughts now. Since I said up next was common or poor quality items in MMO/RPG professions, and I'm anal like that, it shall be so.
After that though, I think I'm going to contemplate the phenomena of vaporware games and the cult following associated there in.
Alas tomorrow is thrusday, it's 11pm, and I am tired
I must say it looks like something I might read now. I'm happy with it and I hope you are too :).
P.s. I've got a couple things to talk about in daddies thoughts now. Since I said up next was common or poor quality items in MMO/RPG professions, and I'm anal like that, it shall be so.
After that though, I think I'm going to contemplate the phenomena of vaporware games and the cult following associated there in.
Alas tomorrow is thrusday, it's 11pm, and I am tired
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Daddies Log - Working Man
Well as the title prescribes, I am a working man!
after enjoying a brief stint as a technical designer for the FlatRedBall crew (link for development environment awesomness - http://www.flatredball.com) I landed a job as a junior designer working for Team Bondi on their upcoming release L.A. Noire
The last four weeks of my life have been spent getting into and ready for this job. The commutes a bit of a pain (three hours plus per day in total) - put totally worth it.
I enjoy what I do with Team Bondi and wish me luck working my chops off to prove I'm worth keeping around after the trial period :P.
Daddies Thoughts returns. . .::waves hands:: sometime! ::more hand waving:: I know what I'm going to talk about next though - craftable common items in MMO professions (a personal pet peeve of mine).
Can't even tell you how much this has opened my eyes to how far I have to go, still happy it's Friday tomorrow. . .
after enjoying a brief stint as a technical designer for the FlatRedBall crew (link for development environment awesomness - http://www.flatredball.com) I landed a job as a junior designer working for Team Bondi on their upcoming release L.A. Noire
The last four weeks of my life have been spent getting into and ready for this job. The commutes a bit of a pain (three hours plus per day in total) - put totally worth it.
I enjoy what I do with Team Bondi and wish me luck working my chops off to prove I'm worth keeping around after the trial period :P.
Daddies Thoughts returns. . .::waves hands:: sometime! ::more hand waving:: I know what I'm going to talk about next though - craftable common items in MMO professions (a personal pet peeve of mine).
Can't even tell you how much this has opened my eyes to how far I have to go, still happy it's Friday tomorrow. . .
Monday, April 14, 2008
Daddies Log - Fingers and Toes
Well lads and ladies of Daddies Log
I've been afk from this blog for a while so here's an update in my life and my endevors in game develpment.
Jasmine (my beautiful little girl) is nearing her first birthday of April 27th. It's weird how quick this year has passed. How a child impacts your perception of time, is definitely different than anything I can ever envision. Things seem to travel on her time now instead of mine, which is a hopefully soul-deepening experience.
A lot has been happening career wise, but as things are still a bit shaky I'm hesitant to say more on the blog.
But cross those fingers and toes that everything goes well :)
I've been afk from this blog for a while so here's an update in my life and my endevors in game develpment.
Jasmine (my beautiful little girl) is nearing her first birthday of April 27th. It's weird how quick this year has passed. How a child impacts your perception of time, is definitely different than anything I can ever envision. Things seem to travel on her time now instead of mine, which is a hopefully soul-deepening experience.
A lot has been happening career wise, but as things are still a bit shaky I'm hesitant to say more on the blog.
But cross those fingers and toes that everything goes well :)
Monday, March 17, 2008
Daddies Thoughts 04 - Emotional Contact
This daddies thoughts is about a very curious article, which was published by PC Powerplays 150th issue.
The article is entitled "150 Wasted Years?", at the time of this article I couldn't find an online copy of the article (although I suggest you hit up your local newsagent or order the magazine from http://www.pcpowerplay.com.au/games/index.php, one of the funnest PC magazines I've read to date).
The article details a very intriguing problem though. That games do not have as an emotional impact on their player base as books or movies though. I'll take an excerpt from the article that emphasizes this underlying problem
"Consider all the movies you still love to this day, the albums that helped shape your life, that excited you to new levels of political awareness or whatever.
Why don't games do the same thing? Hell, I was in at the PCPP offices the other day and I saw a boxed copy of Prey stiting on the shelf. I thought to myself, hell yeah, I should really play that game one day, it's one of the vapourware greats. Then I got home and realized already had a copy of Prey and I had in fact already finished it"
I've found myself in this similar situation with Nintendos "Zelda: Twilight Princess". I saw it lying on the desk and thought to myself "oh yeah I meant to play that game, popped it in and discovered I had played it for eight hours previously.
Later in the article Guerilla Gamer (the author) suggest that the quality of the games we remember are why we remember them. Deus Ex, Neverwinter Nights, Diablo, Starcraft, the Monkey Island series. All these games are classics in their respective genres and they will stand the test of time.
Any gamer has seen this share of games that are"the real stuff". The stuff that nerds geek out over. The stuff that hoodwinks your entire LAN parties for the next month. The thing that you can't explain to anyone who doesn't play games but you wish you could.
I'd like to propose an amendum to guerillas theory though. While the games visual, interactive and storytelling quality are the largest factor to having a compelling game; what makes a compelling game epic is the fanbase.
Think about it, would the lords of the rings movies have received half the attention if they didn't have people lining up three weeks for tickets? probably not. These eccentric acts cause other people to look at the work we produce and most of the time they'll find it to their liking. Bringing these subcultures "up" allows those in the subculture to share their passion with everyone else. It gives them a talking point with and without their friends.
For me, what makes the games I consider epic, epic, is the memories I have with them. In the original diablo: taking down a hacking character while I was legit, In Warcraft III: my friend and I being ranked top 500 in the USWest 2v2 at one point, Neverwinter Nights: Playing through campaigns with my more experience friend screaming instructions over monitors, in Deus Ex: Sharing strategies with my brother late at night. All these memories are memories that were shared. I don't believe that these games would have made such a potent impact if it wasn't for the group of people, virtual or not, that I shared them with.
A game that invites it's player base to talk about it, act upon it and share it is truly a game that is interactive in my mind. As designers it is our job to make games that are as enjoyable to talk about, as they are to watch, or as they are to play. And to me, this means building as many connections into a maintained community as you can possibly think of.
Your community is the lifeblood of your company, they answer the most potent design question you should worry about "Will they play this game?"
It is our responsibility as designers to make a great game; but, a company as a whole (and this includes us) must ensure that the community is looked after and enthusiastic.
Just my thoughts, and with that-
-Daddy Out
The article is entitled "150 Wasted Years?", at the time of this article I couldn't find an online copy of the article (although I suggest you hit up your local newsagent or order the magazine from http://www.pcpowerplay.com.au/games/index.php, one of the funnest PC magazines I've read to date).
The article details a very intriguing problem though. That games do not have as an emotional impact on their player base as books or movies though. I'll take an excerpt from the article that emphasizes this underlying problem
"Consider all the movies you still love to this day, the albums that helped shape your life, that excited you to new levels of political awareness or whatever.
Why don't games do the same thing? Hell, I was in at the PCPP offices the other day and I saw a boxed copy of Prey stiting on the shelf. I thought to myself, hell yeah, I should really play that game one day, it's one of the vapourware greats. Then I got home and realized already had a copy of Prey and I had in fact already finished it"
I've found myself in this similar situation with Nintendos "Zelda: Twilight Princess". I saw it lying on the desk and thought to myself "oh yeah I meant to play that game, popped it in and discovered I had played it for eight hours previously.
Later in the article Guerilla Gamer (the author) suggest that the quality of the games we remember are why we remember them. Deus Ex, Neverwinter Nights, Diablo, Starcraft, the Monkey Island series. All these games are classics in their respective genres and they will stand the test of time.
Any gamer has seen this share of games that are"the real stuff". The stuff that nerds geek out over. The stuff that hoodwinks your entire LAN parties for the next month. The thing that you can't explain to anyone who doesn't play games but you wish you could.
I'd like to propose an amendum to guerillas theory though. While the games visual, interactive and storytelling quality are the largest factor to having a compelling game; what makes a compelling game epic is the fanbase.
Think about it, would the lords of the rings movies have received half the attention if they didn't have people lining up three weeks for tickets? probably not. These eccentric acts cause other people to look at the work we produce and most of the time they'll find it to their liking. Bringing these subcultures "up" allows those in the subculture to share their passion with everyone else. It gives them a talking point with and without their friends.
For me, what makes the games I consider epic, epic, is the memories I have with them. In the original diablo: taking down a hacking character while I was legit, In Warcraft III: my friend and I being ranked top 500 in the USWest 2v2 at one point, Neverwinter Nights: Playing through campaigns with my more experience friend screaming instructions over monitors, in Deus Ex: Sharing strategies with my brother late at night. All these memories are memories that were shared. I don't believe that these games would have made such a potent impact if it wasn't for the group of people, virtual or not, that I shared them with.
A game that invites it's player base to talk about it, act upon it and share it is truly a game that is interactive in my mind. As designers it is our job to make games that are as enjoyable to talk about, as they are to watch, or as they are to play. And to me, this means building as many connections into a maintained community as you can possibly think of.
Your community is the lifeblood of your company, they answer the most potent design question you should worry about "Will they play this game?"
It is our responsibility as designers to make a great game; but, a company as a whole (and this includes us) must ensure that the community is looked after and enthusiastic.
Just my thoughts, and with that-
-Daddy Out
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Daddies Log - Moving Out
I believe that humans have progressed in terms of emotional understanding to empathize with others trials, no matter how trivial they truly are. Of course, there comes a point when this is unhealthy (for example: crying that the new Porche you got as a present is the wrong color). But it is important as a whole to understand that, for the person in tribulation, what they are going through is a challenge and you must look from their perspective to help them through it (whether with empathy or tough love).
Growing up, I was told many times after my refusing cauliflower (I still find it a disgusting vegetable by the way :P) that "there are children starving in Africa who'd love to have it".
Statements like these cannot make an impact on the recipient because the recipient cannot comprehend the context. When I was a kid my gut response to the "starving children" argument was "they can have it". I just didn't understand what starving, true starving, was and I couldn't see the effects it had on people. A better lesson would be to have me volunteer with my parents at a soup kitchen, the literal effects of hunger would provide a sharp context for me next time I "didn't like it".
But I'm out of my parents home, it is up for me to search for my own context now. I was lucky enough to have that context thrown my way in the form of moving. Lately my wife and I have been having a bit of financial troubles, which will hopefully be alleviated by me finding a job(good motivation right there eh?). But, I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for myself "my PC is six years old" "so much upkeep on the house" "This is not where I want to be in life" blah, blah, blah.
The act of moving really lets you take stock on what you do have in life. I have a full fridge, a working computer with many games, subscriptions to some of the finest gaming magazines in Australia, and a wonderful house and family. Lets face it, I'm doing quite well!
Moving all the luxuries I possessed, I kept thinking "Wow I forgot about that, I remember when my friend gave this to me. . .". It quickly became a somber event as I moved more and more stuff over, another much appreciated potent lesson from the big guy upstairs.
"Brian, roll up your sleeves and quit your bitchin"
I have full control to change any situation in my life, this is the single greatest luxury I posses. So as long as I have two hands, there's a way.
I'd invite you to unpack one room of your house. It's amazing how much stuff we truly possess, and it was certainly an enlightening experience for me.
Anywho I like to share all aspects of my life, the humbling and the triumphs, so I've hoped this has shown you another aspect of my personality.
Growing up, I was told many times after my refusing cauliflower (I still find it a disgusting vegetable by the way :P) that "there are children starving in Africa who'd love to have it".
Statements like these cannot make an impact on the recipient because the recipient cannot comprehend the context. When I was a kid my gut response to the "starving children" argument was "they can have it". I just didn't understand what starving, true starving, was and I couldn't see the effects it had on people. A better lesson would be to have me volunteer with my parents at a soup kitchen, the literal effects of hunger would provide a sharp context for me next time I "didn't like it".
But I'm out of my parents home, it is up for me to search for my own context now. I was lucky enough to have that context thrown my way in the form of moving. Lately my wife and I have been having a bit of financial troubles, which will hopefully be alleviated by me finding a job(good motivation right there eh?). But, I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for myself "my PC is six years old" "so much upkeep on the house" "This is not where I want to be in life" blah, blah, blah.
The act of moving really lets you take stock on what you do have in life. I have a full fridge, a working computer with many games, subscriptions to some of the finest gaming magazines in Australia, and a wonderful house and family. Lets face it, I'm doing quite well!
Moving all the luxuries I possessed, I kept thinking "Wow I forgot about that, I remember when my friend gave this to me. . .". It quickly became a somber event as I moved more and more stuff over, another much appreciated potent lesson from the big guy upstairs.
"Brian, roll up your sleeves and quit your bitchin"
I have full control to change any situation in my life, this is the single greatest luxury I posses. So as long as I have two hands, there's a way.
I'd invite you to unpack one room of your house. It's amazing how much stuff we truly possess, and it was certainly an enlightening experience for me.
Anywho I like to share all aspects of my life, the humbling and the triumphs, so I've hoped this has shown you another aspect of my personality.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Daddies Log - The Pros
It's been a couple days since my last post (I'm so getting back to those comments today)
But while digging around I've found a pretty cool videos of people I consider the pros of game design (Valve).
This video alone should give you a hint at the monumental knowledge and work these guys put into your game, not going to lie, it gives me the jibblies of awe.
Definitely a good review even if you haven't ever played (or don't intend to play) TF2 just to experience the level of depth in the design and implementation (Have the shading algorithms I felt like I was watching an episode of star trek).
"Sir! the Phong terms are off the chart!"
"RED ALERT!"
But while digging around I've found a pretty cool videos of people I consider the pros of game design (Valve).
This video alone should give you a hint at the monumental knowledge and work these guys put into your game, not going to lie, it gives me the jibblies of awe.
Definitely a good review even if you haven't ever played (or don't intend to play) TF2 just to experience the level of depth in the design and implementation (Have the shading algorithms I felt like I was watching an episode of star trek).
"Sir! the Phong terms are off the chart!"
"RED ALERT!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
