Undead Labs – “Zombie Apocalypse Console MMO”

24Nov09

Jeff Strain (ex Blizzard/ArenaNet/NCSoft)  made some waves last night, with the announcement of his new MMO studio ‘Undead Labs’. As the name implies, Undead Labs will be focusing on a zombie apocalypse survival MMO for consoles.

“The Seattle, Washington-based studio is “on a mission to take online gaming in bold new directions”, beginning with it’s in development zombie MMO for consoles.” – Source: EDGE Online

They have even gone so far as to reveal some interesting gameplay info:

“”One of the things that is key in [the zombie] genre is really giving players a sense of purpose that is not just kill monsters and level up,” he tells us. “MMO players like to have a home, and that is one of the reasons I’m not going to throw them out into a post apocalyptic world. The goal here is to make them feel like there is a purpose. You’re trying to restart society. You’re trying to reclaim the world. One of the very first goals is going to be to get together with other players and establish a place that you can call your own that you must actively maintain and defend, and that over time will allow you to have a home base that will allow you to restart the economy, start trading with other ‘blue zones’ and feel like you have a home again.” – Source: Destructoid

It’s a cool idea for a game, certainly, but as an MMO? With a subscription? On a console? That just seems crazy.

I could be wrong. Perhaps by the time it releases the gaming landscape will have evolved enough to be more accepting of an idea like this. I hope so, even though I would be forced to sell my soul and buy one of those pathetic little boxes with their silly, awkward controllers.

Filed under: Game Design, Industry   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Apocalypse, Jeff Strain, Undead Labs, Zombies

Dragon Age: Origins – Final Word

23Nov09

Finally got finished last night.

The ultimate sacrifice, I made it.

Filed under: Game Design, Personal   |  1 Comment
Tags: Dragon Age: Origins, review

Navel-Gazing: Fansites

11Nov09

I still remember my first moderator gig with some clarity, and how much I enjoyed taking on the responsibility. That was about 7 years ago, on an Unreal Tournament mod forum with about 200 active members.

These days I’m part of a team that runs a network of fansites. The two that I am directly involved in have about 500 people browsing at any one time. The older of the two records that the highest concurrent user count was 6,830, which seems impressive, though it’s a relatively small percentage of the total membership: 202,375.

Things have changed a lot over those 7 years. People began to realize that there are two attractive reasons to run a gaming website: It’s a lot easier to make a profit using adverts than it used to be, and it’s a great addition to your resume if you have aspirations to end up working in the games industry.

Filed under: Community Management, Personal   |  2 Comments
Tags: fansites, GuildWars2Guru, moderation

Dragon Age: Origins – AI Woes

10Nov09

There’s no other way to put this: The AI of your companions is absolutely abysmal. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been trying to wing it through an easy fight, only to flip through my team-mates and see none of their skills are recharging. A game of this caliber having AI so poor can only be intentional; they are forcing you to micromanage or use their ‘combat tactics’ system.

Filed under: Game Design, Personal   |  6 Comments
Tags: AI, DA:O, Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Origins – Quick Review

09Nov09

Time to report in after a weekend spent hacking and slashing my way through the kingdom of Ferelden.

Alistair regretted saying helmets were for pussies.

Filed under: Game Design, Personal   |  2 Comments
Tags: Baldur's Gate, Bioware, D&D, DA:O, Dragon Age: Origins, Immersion

Funding ‘Free to Play’ MMOs

04Nov09

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a copy of the Guild Wars 2 Art Book…

Fantastic collection of concept art, from the cream of the industry.

… and for the hell of it threw one of the better looking Guild Wars t-shirts in with my order. Hell, why not? There’s some odd pleasure to be found in being such a devoted fan. I imagine people with an interest in professional sports have the same feeling when they buy this years jersey or a signed ball.

Then I went home and threw them on the shelf, next to my Guild Wars Nightfall baseball cap, under my Guild Wars Factions poster, just next to my Guild Wars EotN map… and it struck me that perhaps there is some money to be made here.

Filed under: Industry, Personal   |  4 Comments
Tags: Guild Wars, merchandise

The Death Of Traditional MMORPGs

04Oct09

So right now there is an interesting debate going on between Tobold and syncaine, on whether the next Blizzard MMO has a shot at getting over one million subscriptions. Syncaine thinks it doesn’t, because WoW’s success is largely down to timing and the sheer amount of work put into it over the years. Tobold does, and blames the failure of more recent MMORPGs on failing to have the same attention to detail and craftsmanship as WoW.

I like the premise of the discussion, and I think there are some very valid points being made, but I wouldn’t quite agree with either of them. I’m a firm believer that the age of traditional MMORPGs is coming to an end. (By ‘traditional’ I mean the standard quest systems, crafting systems, economy, leveling, shoddy PvP… and so on.) I’m not going to go out on a limb and say the next Blizzard MMO will fail, because we don’t know enough about it yet, but it’s possible it might if they stubbornly stick to the same formula.

Filed under: Game Design, Industry   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: elephant statue, Hardcore Casual, MMO, MMORPG, syncaine, Tobold, WoW

What I’ve Been Up To

01Oct09

Just a quick note to let you (yes, all two of you) know why my blog hasn’t seen much love recently.

I’m a huge fan of Guild Wars, having played since beta, racked up 6000+ hours over multiple accounts, and so on… (yes, I am trying to improve my image after the last entry). Over the past few years I’ve also helped out a number of Guild Wars fansites, one in particular being Guild Wars Guru.

Guild Wars 2 Guru has been planned ever since the sequel was announced, and over the last few months has finally come together. Just in time, too! ArenaNet opened the gates on Guild Wars 2 at PAX this year, unveiling an awesome trailer and holding developer panels you can view here. They haven’t slowed down since then either, with interviews, Q&As and more concept art coming out every week.

The community at GW2Guru is already quite large (3,000 members and 50,000 posts since it opened about a month ago), and helping to set the right tone and oversee moderation has been no small task – not to mention keeping up with news on the front page. It’s fantastic to be in the position to help grow a community from the ground up again, with new opportunities and fresh challenges. It also helps to have such a great team to work with, having all weathered their fair share of trials and tribulations on the original site.

Things have calmed down a little, for now, and I’m hoping to spend some more time writing here over the next few weeks. In the meanwhile, if you are interested in Guild Wars 2 (and you really should be) head over to GuildWars2Guru.com and see what we are doing.

Filed under: Community Management, Personal   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Guild Wars 2, Guild Wars Guru

Does This Make Me A Casual Gamer?

01Oct09

I finally finished Plants Vs Zombies a couple of days ago. Thoroughly enjoyable game, and perfect for playing on a laptop whilst travelling. It’s nothing particularly ground breaking, just a nice twist on the classic tower defense format with some great humor and creativity.

Plants Vs Zombies

With PvZ finished I found myself staring blankly into the distance, tending to my Zen Garden during occasional periods of cognizance. Thankfully (120 bug sprays and 200 bags of fertilizer later) I snapped out of it, and set forth once more into the Steam store, looking for what to pick up next…

My mouse hovered over Aion for a good few minutes, feeling the temptation to try the ‘latest and greatest’ MMO. I’ve heard so many positive comments about the game, and many friends from previous MMOs have picked it up… but I just can’t bring myself to get into it. Why? Fed-Ex quests and grindy leveling. I’m so tired of both of them. Is killing ten rats in Aion really that different to killing ten rats in WoW? It just reeks of lazy game design, padding out the experience for the less judgmental masses. I’m sure Aion is a great game, but it’s not for me.

So instead, I picked up Trine! Trine is a wonderful little side scroller, with some very interesting physics puzzles to work your way through. You can switch on the fly between three characters (Thief, Mage, Knight), each with very distinct abilities. Gameplay is fluid and fast paced, and feels well polished. The only downside is the lack of online co-op, which apparently was cut from the release version of the game to meet deadlines (damn publishers). Here’s hoping that gets patched in soon to complete this fantastic game.

Filed under: Personal   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Aion, Plants Vs Zombies, Trine

Second Skin Review

09Aug09

I just got finished watching Second Skin. Here’s the synopsis for anyone unfamiliar with the title:

Second Skin takes an intimate look at three sets of computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by online virtual worlds. An emerging genre of computer software called Massively Multiplayer Online games, or MMOs, allows millions of users to interact simultaneously in virtual spaces. Of the 50 million players worldwide, 50 percent consider themselves addicted. From individuals struggling with addiction to couples who have fallen in love without meeting; from disabled players whose lives have been given new purpose to gold farmers, entrepreneurs and widows, Second Skin opens viewers’ eyes to a phenomenon that may permanently change the way human beings interact.

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