Repeats

So, lately, my roommate and I started back in WoW, leveling together like we did when we started the game.  It's funny, what changes and what doesn't.

There's no going back to wide-eyed ignorance, once you've learned the world of MMOs.  Once you've got a handle on it, you can't ignore the obvious patterns and you certainly can't help but know what's coming.  It's not a bad thing.

For measuring distances only

So, yesterday, I was fortunate to run a large chunk of Naxx in WoW.  It's outdated content, as far as numbers go.  Gear and player power have inflated a bit since it was revamped back in '08.  But, the fights still have the same mechanics and the dungeon crawl experience is still fun.

The thing that I didn't realize until I stepped inside was that I was running with a bunch of people that usually farm the current raid content, dabbling in the hard modes.  So, they had a substantial leg up on me as far as output goes.  The kicker is: I had no meter addons installed, no way of measuring everyone's damage/healing, etc.  So, while I couldn't quantify it exactly, they probably eclipsed me in terms of death-dealing.

Things died just the same.  Who did the most damage didn't matter, from where I was sitting...we all hit the bad things and said baddies died...so who cares?

Why should we give a crap about these little graphs o' damage/heals?

2 quick things...

1.) Cheap giggles:

Building a world

I spent some time playing my Scoundrel on The Old Republic over the weekend, working through the class story on Tatooine and beginning the world arc for Alderaan.

The great thing about the Smuggler class story is that it's fun.  There's humor, there's great wit...it's good.  On Tatooine, I was impressed with how they wove the player's story in with some NPC's story.  Skipping around spoilers, I can say that it was nice to see a bit of the rest of the world going through its motions and the player's story just happening to go along the same path for a little while.

Feeling like you're part of a larger reality helps immersion a lot.  You can do it with nameless NPCs just hanging around, not interacting with players directly, simply being living set pieces.  Swtor is one of the games that does this a lot.

One of my favorite examples is walking into just about any cantina on a contested world.  Immediately, you know what kind of life the locals live, without saying a word to any of them.  It's a small thing, but it's cool.

Star Trek Online has a number of NPCs in social areas that are aware of which players are nearby and what those players have accomplished, and make a point to say something about this information.  It's a nice consideration, and makes you feel recognized...as long as you don't hang around that same NPC so long that you see them do the same for a handful of other players.  Groupies.

                     

Handicaps

In my D&D group, one of our DMs has a standing practice with character creation: you get to ask for something cool.  Some people go with a perk or a neat history, or even a feature that makes their character unique.

A couple of times, I've passed on the freebie.  And you know what?  Purposely limiting yourself can be a reward in itself.

More after the jump...

Must be willing to commit...

So, I enjoy endgame in MMOs.  It's usually pretty fun, and running group content that's entertaining is a good time.  If the group happens to be a bunch of people you enjoy spending in-game time with, that's a bonus.

Unfortunately, being successful at challenging endgame content takes time and effort.  Just like improving your skill with an instrument, there's an investment/reward element.  You seek outside help, you get critiques, you work for it.

More after the jump.

You're so vain...

I used to play City of Heroes.  The character creation setup gave players a HUGE amount of control over exactly how their avatars looked.  It was practically its own game...and then you could use the characters in the real content!

I liked that.  Being able to customize how you appear in-game is a wonderful option, even if it's just fluff.  It's easy to write it off as "my current gear looks stupid as hell, and I don't want to look at it anymore," but for a lot of us, it's something more...

Give it time.

The last few months, I've been talking with gamers across a decent spectrum of interests about why they did/didn't stick with a particular game, or what they think about what's coming down the line.  Basically, most of my sample doesn't like thinking about the bigger picture or how their attitudes might change closer to release.  Settle in, this one's a lengthy entry.

Blizzard Gamers - I was fortunate enough to land a ticket for Blizzcon 2011, and attended it with great enthusiasm.  It was awesome, and I'll hold it as one of my greater geek experiences for years to come.  This was the year that Diablo III was about to be released, and they announced the upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria.