Are you a fan or a fanboy?

In most dictionaries, a fan is defined as “an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.”  A fanboy as defined by the Urban dictionary, is “a passionate fan of various elements of geek culture (e.g. sci-fi, comics, Star Wars, video games, anime, hobbits, etc.), but who lets his passion override social graces.”

How does this affect the MMO world?  People can become very passionate about their game.  Those that play MMO’s, for instance, tend to spend a lot of time in their virtual world, developing a passion for it that can become addictive.  But that doesn’t make them a fanboy, does it?  They are enjoying their pastime and just happen to be devoted to it.  They aren’t necessarily so passionate for their game that they might disregard or override social graces.

So why do people lash out at others who choose to play a different game than them?  What is the reasoning behind the whole my game is better than your game attitude?

Are fans predestined to become fanboys?

Do people that play ” game A” have to hate people that play “game B?”  For instance, do people that play EVE automatically have an animosity towards people that play WoW or EQ2?  Can they curb their feelings and be civil to each other without all the mud-slinging and name-calling?  Do we really need to choose sides in this so called MMO vs MMO conflict, or can we just say that both games win because both companies get our hard earn money every month?

I enjoy playing World of Warcraft, but I don’t spend my days trolling Everquest 2 forum sites telling people how they should dump their loser of a game for something as exciting and rich as World of Warcraft or spend my free time pointing out how superior WoW is over their game.  I respect that people have different tastes and some people favor Everquest 2 just as I would expect them to respect my enjoyment of WoW.

Will I defend my decision to play WoW?  Of course, because I enjoy the game, but that passion for WoW doesn’t make me a fanboy, it makes me a fan – someone who will enjoy the game for what it is a simple mmo game.  Sure I’ll be cheering its accomplishments, but I’ll also be telling people when developers screw up and do something stupid to break the game, because being a fan means being able to criticize as well as praise something you enjoy.

The truth is you can be a fan without being a fanboy.   The trick is to not become so passionate that you forget your social graces or common sense.  You can have a difference of opinion, but you can also be civil to each other and understand that there is no us against them mentality when it comes to gaming.  We are all MMO players no matter what game we play.

- Oakstout

© Posted by Oakstout for Im Talkin Games with No comments on 01/25/2010.
Posted in: Commentary, Featured, Opinion, Uncategorized Tags: World of Warcraft

Blizzard will be making several improvements to the user interface for tracking quest objectives in their next content patch, 3.3.  Here are some of the features:
Quest Log

We’ve added a new “Show Map” button on the Quest Log. The “Show Map” feature highlights any quest in the log and will pull up the map for the zone in which the corresponding quest objectives are located.

Map

When viewing the large zone map (‘M’ key), players will notice that all quests they have for that zone will be automatically tracked. In addition, this large map is now separated into four separate interface panes. To the right of the map, all active quests for that zone will be listed by name and be represented with a number. These numbers will be placed on the map highlighting areas of interest for each quest.A third pane below the zone map will give players the full quest text for any highlighted quest, while the fourth pane will display the quest reward. The quest map tracking feature is enabled by default. Players can disable this feature and restore the map to its original state by un-checking the “Show Quest Objectives” box in the lower right corner.

Areas of Interest

All areas of interest in a zone will be represented with a number corresponding to the number assigned to each active quest in that particular zone. When highlighting a specific quest, the corresponding number on the zone map will be highlighted as well.

If the area of interest is large, for example, and a player needs to kill a number of quest creatures or collect quest items found within a large area on the map, the entire questing area of interest around the number on the map will be shaded blue.

If quest objectives can be accomplished in multiple areas of the zone; for example, certain creatures need to be killed for a quest and have several different locations, the map will automatically display the nearest area of interest in proximity to the player.

Shrunken Map and Objectives Tracking

When viewing the large zone map (‘M’ key), players can click the arrow in the top right corner to bring the zone map out of full-screen mode.

The map will show all areas of interest for the zone; however the other three interface panes will be removed so players can still view their character, spells, and abilities with the map open. The standard quest objectives window has been improved and will now show numbers next to each quest displayed, or a gold question mark if the quest has been completed.

The objectives window is now docked below the mini-map, next to the right two action bars and can display up to ten active quests in the zone. Players can toggle between minimizing and maximizing this quest objectives window at any time by clicking on the red arrow in the top right corner of the objectives frame.

What does all this mean?

Blizzard has sent their ultra secret elite team of thieves out to steal another great community mod, Quest Helper.  The reason?  Does Blizzard need a reason to pilfer another great idea?  Quest Helper, of which I am a huge fan, basically performs the same services as listed above.  The leveling process  was boring and grinding at best ’til this little sweet mod made itself known through word of mouth.  Now players can zip through zones with ease,  not having to search high and low for mobs they need to drop those elusive quest items.  Arrows point the way to the promised land of XP. It changed the way people play WoW, which in this case is a good thing.  Even Warhammer Online incorporated a similar system into their game at launch.  This mod helped the player do their questing quickly and efficiently is now the new trend and Blizzard isn’t letting the opportunity to add to their arsenal slip through their fat little fingers.  Apparently, to be a successful and long running MMO, you have to take from your competitors and your friends.

I’m sure this isn’t the first time Blizzard has tried to pass off someone else s idea as something original.  The first blatant evidence I noticed of this particular business practice was when Warhammer Online released information on their inclusion of  siege vehicles in their PvP areas.  Blizzard spy’s hard at work had already taken steps to include the same in their next expansion,  Wrath of the Lich King expansion.   Another community mod, Itemrack, was a victim of its own success.  A very nifty little mod that gave the user the ability to swap out their character’s gear during different gaming situations was one of the first independent modifications to get rolled into World of Warcraft code.  I presume that community developers understand the cruel fact that, if they produce a mod that is both useful and popular with the masses, there is a chance that Blizzard will covet it for their own.   I suspect that modders feel a great deal of pride when their little idea gets snatched up in the night, but once it becomes a feature in the game, the mod makers are pretty much out of business.  Sure, they can go back to the drawing board and develop a new exciting mod, but why waste the time, when it will likely be stolen as well?   The thing that I wonder is why doesn’t Blizzard compensate the little guy for helping them craft something that should have been in the game since launch?  I have heard of companies that pay people for ideas that save the company money, but Blizzard just, well, steals them without so much as a thank you.

My question is this – why doesn’t Blizzard steal all the successful community crafted mods?  Auctioneer has been a staple of WoW for years, but there’s been no indication that Blizzard will incorporate that into the game.  It’s always at the top of any mod download list and yet Blizzard has no interest.  Blizzard hasn’t addressed the fact that millions of their subscribers don’t even use the in-game action bars.  Like most players, I have a mod that gives me the ability to create lots of different action bars, to size them, make them large or small and move them anywhere on the screen.  How hard would it be to add something as mundane as that to the game?  Why don’t they?  Because they are busy adding  new $10.00 micro transaction in game pets to their online store.

Take from the best and leave the rest!

I guess  understanding such a complicated business model like Blizzard’s is something I’ll never grasp.   Frankly, I hope I never do.

© Posted by Oakstout for Im Talkin Games with 4 comments on 11/22/2009.
Posted in: Featured, Opinion Tags: New Questing, Patch 3.3, World of Warcraft

Recently, Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist, Robert Bowling, announced that Modern Warfare 2 would not ship with any dedicated server support.  Instead, the game would be using their new IWNET matchmaking system.   Robert “FourZeroTwo” Bowling’s on his own blog, posted some of the benefits of this new system, which were most likely crafted to quell the lynch mob forming in the shadows.  Here are a few highlights that got lifted for clarification:

• Matchmaking & Smoother Game play: Bowling says IWNET matchmaking allows players to find and join games much easer than scrolling through lists of servers, each with their own rule and mod sets. This new IWNET infrastructure will “automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection as well as matching you with players of your same SKILL.’

• Playlists and Private Matches: Bowling says the new playlist will allow for easier use to finding the type of game you want to play. “This now allows you to play custom games out of the box without the need to install mods, find a modded server with the rules you like, or worry about not being in control of the match,” Bowling explains.

• Party System and Friends list: IWNET’s friend list system allows players to see when your friends are online, and makes it easy to invite them into your party and move from game to game. Bowling highlights the fact this is great for Clan use.

• Cheat / Hack Free Games: “The biggest benefit of using IWnet by far is the fact that you don’t have to worry about joining a server full of aim-bots, wallhacks, or cheaters,” Bowling writes. He says this will allow them to control the quality of the game as well as utilizing the VAC (Valve-Anti-Cheat) system.

This has a large portion of the gaming community, especially those in favor of dedicated game servers in an uproar.  The short explanation is that this new matchmaking service basically turns their beloved PC into an Xbox or a PS3.  It eliminates or at the very least hampers the creation and implementation of mods for Modern War 2.  It takes a lot of control out of the gamers hands and places it firmly in the hands of the gaming company.  Why?  So  they can effectively control,  see and record everything thing the player does during their online play.

Sure that sounds very paranoid, but why else would they stifle creative control of the PC community in favor of a system that basically cuts players off at the knees?

-Oakstout

© Posted by Oakstout for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 10/30/2009.
Posted in: Commentary, Featured Tags: Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2