I'm back, with a very specific purpose in mind.
It's no coincidence that after I quit World of Warcraft updates to this blog slowed and eventually ceased, and it's no coincidence that a new post here appears in the months following the release of Warlords of Draenor. I am playing WoW again, and looking back on the game after almost four years away I've made observations I intend to share.
Initially I had thought to simply post them to various forums, but eventually I decided that the sheer amount of analysis I wished to do and thoughts I wanted to share precluded forums as an appropriate medium.
So I have returned.
Showing posts with label Blizzard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blizzard. Show all posts
20150320
20111022
Blizzcon 2011: Day 1
Blizzcon this year had a few notable changes from last year, but was otherwise very similar. Unlike last year they began letting people in as early as 9:30 and will presumably do so tomorrow as well. The change is welcome, as it gave people significantly more time to settle in and also allowed for some amount of exploration before the start of the proceedings.
I took a brief turn around the building before taking a seat for the opening ceremony, and immediately noticed that the WoW section of the convention was effectively cordoned off and hidden from prying eyes. It was pretty obvious that there was going to be a big WoW announcement, and given how much we already knew about patch 4.3 it was equally obvious that it would be the next expansion.
Mists of Pandaria seems like it has a ways to go before it'll be ready for launch, but what I did play felt pretty typical of WoW. Simple starter quests, fluid starter zones, and beautiful vistas. The only jarring aspect was the lack of auto-attacks on the Monk class. It didn't take long to figure out, but it was unexpected.
Overall, however, I'm not terribly excited about the expansion. Obviously I don't play anymore, but I never completely wrote out the idea of briefly reappearing in Azeroth to take a gander at what might have changed. In fact, Blizzard's changes mostly serve as a reminder that the game is no longer being designed for people like me.
In essence, Blizzard has given up on content as a means of progression, and is instead wholly focused on cosmetic or gear-based progression. You "progress" toward the look you want for your character by getting the hard to get cosmetic loot from Challenge Dungeons. You "progress" by getting better gear through valor points. It hardly matters that I can acquire the valor points by doing anything I want if in the end the only progress I truly make is always better gear. Picking daises for druids daily and killing evil overlords should not reward the same epic gear, no matter how many daisies you pick.
On the upside I was glad to hear about questing moving away from the linear mess it was in Cataclysm, and I'm sure many people will be overjoyed at the launch of a newpokemonpet battle system.
The Diablo 3 boothes are sadly just the beta content, and doubly sadly no D3 beta keys were given out. The special rewards for the new yearly WoW subscription don't appeal to someone who has given up on WoW. It will likely stem the tide of canceled subscriptions somewhat, but it's too little too late in my case.
What is interesting on the Diablo 3 front was an edited trailer "The Black Soulstone" and the Diablo 3 art featured prominently on various promotional materials. The Diablo pictured in these materials is distinctly feminine which is extremely interesting when the trailer and tidbits from the beta are taken into consideration. My pet theory is that Deckard Cain's adopted daughter/granddaughter/niece/whathaveyou, being the daughter of the previous host of Diablo and a powerful witch, will be forced to revive him using her own body in some convoluted plan to protect the black soulstone and defeat Azmodan. I have no idea how Belial fits into this.
I have not yet had the chance to try the new SC2 Campaign or the revamped Blizzard DotA, but I have had some change to try the new SC2 units. It's hard for me to say how well they work given that I'm terrible at SC2 and there's very limited time to do anything, but they seem to do their jobs nicely. I'm only peeved that Blizzard seems intent on removing the Carrier and Mothership. What gives???
There were some extremely awesome SC2 matches today, and I very, very highly recommend the GSL finals. The level of play that went on, the back and forth battles, and the insane precision and determination of each player was absolutely phenomenal.
Tomorrow will likely be somewhat less exciting given there are no more big reveals to be had, but there will be plenty of SC2 matches to watch and the D3 Q&A so all is not lost.
Also someone in a minecraft/Paladin T2 costume fell off the stage during the costume contest. Hilarity.
I took a brief turn around the building before taking a seat for the opening ceremony, and immediately noticed that the WoW section of the convention was effectively cordoned off and hidden from prying eyes. It was pretty obvious that there was going to be a big WoW announcement, and given how much we already knew about patch 4.3 it was equally obvious that it would be the next expansion.
Mists of Pandaria seems like it has a ways to go before it'll be ready for launch, but what I did play felt pretty typical of WoW. Simple starter quests, fluid starter zones, and beautiful vistas. The only jarring aspect was the lack of auto-attacks on the Monk class. It didn't take long to figure out, but it was unexpected.
Overall, however, I'm not terribly excited about the expansion. Obviously I don't play anymore, but I never completely wrote out the idea of briefly reappearing in Azeroth to take a gander at what might have changed. In fact, Blizzard's changes mostly serve as a reminder that the game is no longer being designed for people like me.
In essence, Blizzard has given up on content as a means of progression, and is instead wholly focused on cosmetic or gear-based progression. You "progress" toward the look you want for your character by getting the hard to get cosmetic loot from Challenge Dungeons. You "progress" by getting better gear through valor points. It hardly matters that I can acquire the valor points by doing anything I want if in the end the only progress I truly make is always better gear. Picking daises for druids daily and killing evil overlords should not reward the same epic gear, no matter how many daisies you pick.
On the upside I was glad to hear about questing moving away from the linear mess it was in Cataclysm, and I'm sure many people will be overjoyed at the launch of a new
The Diablo 3 boothes are sadly just the beta content, and doubly sadly no D3 beta keys were given out. The special rewards for the new yearly WoW subscription don't appeal to someone who has given up on WoW. It will likely stem the tide of canceled subscriptions somewhat, but it's too little too late in my case.
What is interesting on the Diablo 3 front was an edited trailer "The Black Soulstone" and the Diablo 3 art featured prominently on various promotional materials. The Diablo pictured in these materials is distinctly feminine which is extremely interesting when the trailer and tidbits from the beta are taken into consideration. My pet theory is that Deckard Cain's adopted daughter/granddaughter/niece/whathaveyou, being the daughter of the previous host of Diablo and a powerful witch, will be forced to revive him using her own body in some convoluted plan to protect the black soulstone and defeat Azmodan. I have no idea how Belial fits into this.
I have not yet had the chance to try the new SC2 Campaign or the revamped Blizzard DotA, but I have had some change to try the new SC2 units. It's hard for me to say how well they work given that I'm terrible at SC2 and there's very limited time to do anything, but they seem to do their jobs nicely. I'm only peeved that Blizzard seems intent on removing the Carrier and Mothership. What gives???
There were some extremely awesome SC2 matches today, and I very, very highly recommend the GSL finals. The level of play that went on, the back and forth battles, and the insane precision and determination of each player was absolutely phenomenal.
Tomorrow will likely be somewhat less exciting given there are no more big reveals to be had, but there will be plenty of SC2 matches to watch and the D3 Q&A so all is not lost.
Also someone in a minecraft/Paladin T2 costume fell off the stage during the costume contest. Hilarity.
20111018
Blizzcon 2011
It starts this weekend; I'm going. I may not play WoW anymore but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good SC2 tournament live, or a chance to play more Diablo 3.
Expect me to post some daily reflections and/or a big lump post at the end if my hotel's internet buckles under the strain of a million nerds.
Expect me to post some daily reflections and/or a big lump post at the end if my hotel's internet buckles under the strain of a million nerds.
20110802
Money and Power in Video Games
Blizzard announced yesterday that Diablo 3 will have an auction house for players to buy and sell their hard earned treasures, which surprised no one. Blizzard also announced that players would be able to post auctions both for gold, the in-game currency, and also for real money. That surprised many people.
This announcement represents two major policy shifts for Blizzard. First, after years of fighting the underground item/character markets for Diablo 2 they are instead embracing and facilitating them. Second, they have crossed the line between only selling cosmetic effects and selling power/achievement, even if only slightly.
It's the second of these two policy shifts that has my attention. Selling power isn't universally a mistake (it works very well for the supercapitalist EVE Online) but is so frequently one as to warrant, at the very least, extreme care. Without absolutely perfect execution it can and will destroy a game's longevity and community.
This isn't unique to selling power, any game mechanic which trivializes accomplishment will undermine a game's community. There need to be goals, accomplishments and prestige in games for their communities to thrive. Most implementations of selling power, including what we know of Diablo 3, undermine these fundamental aspects of the game.
Diablo 3 is still something I'm very excited about, and it's extremely likely that I will be staying up to play it the night it launches. However, I worry that the community of the game will suffer for decisions like this one.
This announcement represents two major policy shifts for Blizzard. First, after years of fighting the underground item/character markets for Diablo 2 they are instead embracing and facilitating them. Second, they have crossed the line between only selling cosmetic effects and selling power/achievement, even if only slightly.
It's the second of these two policy shifts that has my attention. Selling power isn't universally a mistake (it works very well for the supercapitalist EVE Online) but is so frequently one as to warrant, at the very least, extreme care. Without absolutely perfect execution it can and will destroy a game's longevity and community.
This isn't unique to selling power, any game mechanic which trivializes accomplishment will undermine a game's community. There need to be goals, accomplishments and prestige in games for their communities to thrive. Most implementations of selling power, including what we know of Diablo 3, undermine these fundamental aspects of the game.
Diablo 3 is still something I'm very excited about, and it's extremely likely that I will be staying up to play it the night it launches. However, I worry that the community of the game will suffer for decisions like this one.
20101206
20101008
20100909
Still Alive
Duke Nukem Forever is actually being released. My mind has exploded.
I'm having random flashbacks to my childhood education. I think I can trace my obsession with logic to losing an argument over whether something costing a quarter in a penny store is expensive back in first grade.
Blizzcon in a little over a month. Bliss.
I'm having random flashbacks to my childhood education. I think I can trace my obsession with logic to losing an argument over whether something costing a quarter in a penny store is expensive back in first grade.
Blizzcon in a little over a month. Bliss.
20100421
Purchasing Power
Thanks to Gamestop's current promotion by which one may obtain a StarCraft II beta key via a preorder, I am now in possession of the StarCraft II beta.
Wheeeeeeeeee...............
Wheeeeeeeeee...............
20070519
Warp Field Stablized
At the Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational in South Korea, StarCraft II was announced.
I'm sure there'll be an official English page later today, complete with screenshots, but until then make do with what I've linked.
It's been a while since I've played any RTS games. I'd looked forward to Supreme Commander, but was rather disappointed with the result. It had been marketed as a "macromanagement" game, one where the insane amounts of micromanagement done in StarCraft and WarCraft would be unnecessary. Playing the Beta, I saw a few interesting tools that reduced some forms of micromanagement, but not the most common ones. Coordinating attacks isn't hard, it's having to individually order several hundred units that's bothersome.
StarCraft II currently doesn't claim to be the end of micromanagement. Without that expectation, I'm assuming I'll probably like it a lot more than Supreme Commander.
It's inevitable I'll blog more about this later. Until then.
I'm sure there'll be an official English page later today, complete with screenshots, but until then make do with what I've linked.
It's been a while since I've played any RTS games. I'd looked forward to Supreme Commander, but was rather disappointed with the result. It had been marketed as a "macromanagement" game, one where the insane amounts of micromanagement done in StarCraft and WarCraft would be unnecessary. Playing the Beta, I saw a few interesting tools that reduced some forms of micromanagement, but not the most common ones. Coordinating attacks isn't hard, it's having to individually order several hundred units that's bothersome.
StarCraft II currently doesn't claim to be the end of micromanagement. Without that expectation, I'm assuming I'll probably like it a lot more than Supreme Commander.
It's inevitable I'll blog more about this later. Until then.
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