Month: April 2017

I just dinged 30 in a game that offers 40 glorious levels. Yes, I’m sure there’s more than all of that, but I feel especially happy so far because I soloed 99% of this experience on my magus. And yes, there were the ninnies along the way who always tell people on chat, “Ummm, it’s a game about grouping,” and yep, I’m sure they have a particular point of view–just like Ben Kenobi.

And I’m sure it’s all that and a box of chocolates, but since most people online are basic boobs, I refuse to group in order to reach level 40 because I’m in no great rush. Yes, I’m sure there’s an “end-game” to see and drool over, but here’s the thing about me: I’ve never seen WoW’s end-game, and I’ve never seen DDO’s end-game. Nope. I’ve never seen the all important jizz splatter end-games for Guild Wars 1 or…

It occurred to me over the weekend that MMO’s by their design can encourage socialising, or not, by even simple little design choices. One of the Mage features in Legion is to summon an image of Archmage Vargoth who will dole out an hour-long buff to adventurers who talk to him.

It’s a lovely example of a social item, and not the only one in the game. The various versions of Blingtron offer both a once-per-day present to all of the same faction as the engineer who created him. It’s a great item, and apparently quite popular as I regularly see a 6000 or older 5000 series standing in Dalaran or a class hall.

A Blingtron ‘scrum’

I love design choices that reward players for using public spaces like this. WoW doesn’t have the monopoly on this, of course. I remember fondly the campfire system in Tera, which allows players…

Pet classes in RPGs tend to provoke strong reactions. Most people either love pet classes and play them at every opportunity, or hate pet classes and avoid them like the plague.

I’m a strange case in that both of those are true of me. Depending on the game, I either love or hate pet classes.

For example, you’ve probably heard me complain bitterly about pet classes in World of Warcraft. Yes, one of my most played characters is a warlock, but I started her as a leveling challenge to see if I could play a lock without pets, and once Grimoire of Sacrifice became a thing, I’ve used it as much as possible. The pets have always been my least favourite part of being a warlock.

Similarly, pets are one of the bigger reasons I haven’t spent much time playing a hunter, and it’s not entirely a coincidence I started…

A few days ago I was watching a video of a single-player RPG — Witcher 3, I think — and what really caught my attention was how expressive and natural the various NPC characters were with their body language and emotes. Just little things, like hands fluttering to different areas, eye contact, leaning against things, but instantly I had this connection with the game world and felt that it was more “real” than what I’ve been used to in MMOs.

I love MMOs, don’t get me wrong, and one of the things that I love the most is how I get to inhabit a world populated by many other people. Even if they’re running by or standing around or being silly, it’s all the difference to me between being in an empty room and hanging out at a coffeeshop with like-minded people.

But what’s subtlely bugged me over the years…