The player’s are the best part of LOTRO.

Lord of the Rings Online is celebrating the second anniversary of the game.  They are offering a 2 week free trial, and bonus experience. I thought it might be a good time to write a short review.  I tried the game when it first came out, but due to lack of time, I put in on the back burner for later.

I recently started playing again. This time I began a new character on the Elendilmir Server, because I found out a good gaming buddy was playing there.  I was invited to join a pretty nice guild, The Knights of Amon Sul. They seem like a good group of people, with a strong leadership team.  They have been helpful in answering so many questions. (Thanks Kin!) Read more

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Ellery Jones - A Magical Player - He could cast ’smile’ and it was never resisted.

All I can say is, if we had more people like Ellery, games would be more fun!

I met Ellery, back in 1999 in Everquest.  He was still a high school student, and very silly.  It’s now 10 years later, and he is still very silly, which is why I wanted to highlight him.

When Everquest first began, players were not very concerned about leveling to end-game. (which was a good thing, since I don’t think most of the end-game content was actually finished yet)  Most of us wandered around aimlessly.  It was not unusual to find us all in ‘the tunnel’  of the Commonlands.  We would be shouting to sell our bronze swords, dueling, teaching languages, dancing, and drinking.  That’s where Ellery comes in. He had a character named Twyl. Read more

Best Player Housing - 2009

The following games were considered for this award:

Everquest 2

Ultima Online

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Lord of the Rings Online

Star Wars Galaxies

Many other popular games could not be included, because they don’t have player or guild housing.

I decided to write an accompanying blog about what designers could do to make housing more fun and useful in MMORPG’s. I also detailed the shortcomings of current housing. For now, lets get on with the award for the BEST, at the current state of gaming development!

LOTRO came in dead last. The housing isn’t worth the time they put into developing it. Read more

Why have player housing?

Dear Designers,

Today I want to talk to you about player housing in MMORPG’s. Many developer’s have decided to ignore housing as unimportant, yet they spend thousands of dollars marketing to the female marketplace.

I will give you a hint. (some geeky programmers just don’t know how to get a girl) Give us a cute little apartment, complete with a way to do crafting. Throw in a few house pets, and a Christmas tree, and you will get the chicks! Read more

Keep your politics to yourself..

I am a very political person.  I will not talk about that here.  Period.  End of Story.

I don’t think political statements should be part of any website that is related to gaming. We play games to get away from real life for an hour or two. I don’t want to go look up a quest, and have political ads and banners all over the page. I don’t want to read a gaming forum, and have to scroll through pages of “Vote for —insert names –”. I go to a technical support forum to find out if anyone else is having problems gating home. I really don’t care who you are voting for. I don’t know what makes you think I do. Read more

WoW is the best game for a busy life…

I have often talked about what draws me back to EQ over the years, but today I want to talk about what draws me back to WoW.

Life sometimes has a way of becoming unusually busy. At those times, I dread the thought of logging on to most MMO’s.  I just don’t have the time to get a group, or commit to raid schedules.  If I do have an hour, I would like to log on and actually get something done!  World of Warcraft is the perfect game for the one or two hour gamer. Read more

Best New Idea - 2008

When you play a ton of MMORPG’s, like I do, you see very few really “NEW” ideas. Once in awhile, the developers use some creativity, and come up with something different!

Not all of the ideas work out as intended. Some are not fully implemented, the way they could have been. A few were not exactly a new, but the designers took the concept to a new level.

This award is more about the IDEA than the actual implementation. Read more

Don Spatafora (aka “Big Perm”)

Don Spatafora had many aliases. He was “Big Perm” to all the folks at the Ivory Tower Game club. He was known as “Phred” to many of his gaming friends. He was also lovingly called Bear by some.

He was to me, the ultimate gamer. He loved D&D, and was a very good Game Master. He knew all the rules, and was creative. He could weave a wonderful tale, and lead his groups into the best of adventures. The reason he was better than most, as a GM, was that he did not bring his Ego to the table. He didn’t flaunt that he was the GM, or want all the attention, or become the “Lord of the Rules”. So many GM’s get on a power trip, and ruin the game for the players. For him, the most important part was the players enjoying the story. Read more

Don’t join MySpace Mobsters

A few weeks back, my daughter sent me a link to join a game called “Mobsters” on Myspace. (They actually have several similar games - Heroes, Rockstar etc.) It is just one of those little Apps you can add.

At first it was kind of fun. I didn’t get into it as much as she did, but I would log on every day and buy more territory, do a few missions, and add people to my Mob. Read more

U give me grp plz? I need this mob.

Dear Game Designers,

Please fix the current issues, with grouping in MMORPG’s.

It used to be, that grouping was something we naturally did. It was difficult to be in a world, wandering around getting jumped by orcs. We would form groups, and hunt together for the day.

Now, games are designed to guide us through the content, and level. People will come up and ask for a group because they need a certain kill, for a particular quest. They join, we kill the mob, and they leave. Read more

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