Another perennial topic that seems to pop up around the MMO world is whether folks exclusively play their own gender or if they’ve played the opposite gender. I’m not too sure why this is such a “hot-topic,” but it does rear its head fairly frequently. “Back in the Day,” you didn’t have a choice – if you wanted to play a big-time caster/nuker in D2 – you played a sorceress – period. Again in D2, if you wanted to be an archer/ranger type you played an Amazon – period. The … Continue reading
Ok, so the question of whether a game is an MMO or not an MMO keeps cropping up, and I think it’s a symptom of the problem that the term is starting to become outdated. Traditionally MMO referred to games that would be correctly termed “virtual worlds,” like EQ, DAoC, WoW, etc. But with the introduction of centrally hosted, highly instanced network games (what I tend to refer to as “battlenet style” games) like Guild Wars, DDO, and Hellgate: London, the term MMO is beginning to lose its original meaning and is also becoming less … Continue reading
What actually prompted me to start writing this post was my thinking to myself (a dangerous thing), “Why do I hold DAoC in such high regard compared to other MMO’s that I’ve played? Is it just because it was my ‘first,’ or is there something else to that?” Then I started wondering (oh oh, here’s trouble) what MMO did I play after DAoC that I really liked, and why didn’t it unseat DAoC from it’s top position. And then my stream of consciousness (OMG) continued wandering on to wonder just how … Continue reading
Ok, so yesterday I posted 3 (or 4) design elements where I think HG:L fails in the design department. Where is it better than Guild Wars? Or where did Guild Wars’ design leave a bit to be desired? I’m glad you asked, ‘cuz I’m going to tell you my thoughts on the matter. So without further delay – The Three biggest failures of Guild Wars: Number One: Forcing people to group for certain quests. And not just group, but to work with another group. Now I would be fine with this if … Continue reading
When it comes to reviewing Hellgate London, the natural game to compare it to is Guild Wars. They were both made by ex-Blizzard folks, they share similar game design features, and they have some interesting differences. A union of the best features from each game and culling the inane designs might improve both games considerably. I have both games, including all expansions for GW, and I enjoy both games quite a bit. For now, I like HGL better, but that might be just because it’s new and shiny. The three biggest … Continue reading