Category Archives: I like shinies

FFXIV: With a little Help from my Friends

Eorzea is beautiful alright – FFXIV was recently added to my personal MMO journey portfolio. Some games make it very easy for you to take great screenshots.

Tangentially, I was reminded there is much to be said for NPC companions. I like them a lot. They’re a bit like my cats; they don’t say much but they’re always there, keeping a close distance, making funny faces and causing mischief when I’m not looking. And sometimes they remind me that it’s okay to take a rest and just be. Happy Monday everybody.

Holding on to your Escapism

Hello, my name is Syl and I am a screenshot junkie. I admit, I have a weakness for shiny fairytale worlds. Sometimes, I wish I lived there.

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There have been times in my life when I have. Half of my childhood (literally) was spent lying on my bed, listening to audio cassettes (fifty-two, for which I will always thank my late grandfather) full of international folklore, mythology and fairytales, while reading the colorfully illustrated booklets. All day long I watched Jack climb the beanstalk, Sindbad fly giant birds and Odysseus fool the cyclops with sheep skins. When George killed the dragon, I was there with him. The secret backdoor in my wardrobe has been wide open all my life. Escaping to fantasy land always came easily to me. It’s what has kept me sane. I don’t want to imagine my life without stories growing up.

There’s nothing wrong with escapism. The key points of consideration, though, are what you’re escaping from, and where you’re escaping to. [source]

When less informed people talk about game-related escapism (for that still seems to be less established than the literary form), they only ever focus on the escape; the negative distancing, the social estrangement. Hardly ever do they understand that when we do, when we need to, we escape to a better place – maybe to the only, currently right place in our life. That it’s only there where we find shelter, safety and peace of mind. For a little while. And that it may save us from something. That it gives us hope.

The objection to fairy stories is that they tell children there are dragons. But children have always known there are dragons. Fairy stories tell children that dragons can be killed. [source]

gw2x

I will never apologize for my escapism. I don’t know where I’d be without it. I will never be ashamed of what’s kept me alive. Things could have gone badly – instead, I found universal meaning, truth and understanding that reaches beyond the struggles of our everyday lives.

We read to know we are not alone. [C.S. Lewis]

Moving on to the interactive stories of video games was the natural progression of my childhood thirst for fairy tales. Discovering JRPGs around age 10 was a revelation. Later, MMOs finally allowed us to enter the worlds we’ve been day-dreaming about in Lord of the Rings or the Forgotten Realms in full capacity, as ourselves.

The rest is history. I love this genre – I love it for its immersive otherworldly-ness, its places of order and beauty where, for a little while, I can rest in peace and recharge my batteries. In a way, this is self-medicating. Bhagpuss commented elsewhere that ‘the reason games are “fun” is because they allow us to forget for a small time that we are all going to die one day and probably sooner than we would like to think’ and that may be a part of it too, the older we get. I do not fall down the rabbit hole as deeply as I used to nowadays, yet there are still moments in my daily life when I feel completely drained and in almost physical need to switch off and just play games for a while. There have been times when I neglected this part of myself for real life demands and that didn’t go well. I need to keep in touch with my wardrobe; it restores my sanity like nothing else does.

lotro1

I wish that more people understood this because so many of us deal with the world in similar fashion. In the words of my old philosophy teacher: “the greatest gift we can give our children is to give them stories”. So keep yours close (and check out my new screenshots gallery!) and a happy Monday to all you MMO escapists out there. Hold on to that escapism for as long as you need it.

Badass is the new Sexy! That Female Armor Blargh

In context of the dinosaur-debate that is female armor and character representation in videogames, there have been several tumblrs I’ve been wanting to share with you for a while now. However, as these things go, something always came up and so I didn’t – so in case all these links are old news to you, I apologize. They’re really good though!

It’s no secret that I enjoy armor in MMOs and playing around with cosmetics. I’m a sucker for immersion in games and when it comes to my avatars, I treat them as virtual representations of myself. I also have a very clear idea of what’s proper armor in combat-centric games and MMOs are that. I’m happy to suspend disbelief where dragons and fireballs are concerned, but if you were to try convince me that my female fighter is fine with bare stomach and thighs (while her male counterparts are not), you’re going to have a very hard time.

Alas, that is my personal view. I realize that some people (women included) are quite happy with the way things are and never mind the boob and ass flaunting that is often part of the ‘female aesthetic’ in videogames. That’s good for you. Me, I like some serious armor on my chars that serves my personal escapism and power fantasies (as it usually does for male characters) rather than to delight others, usually male gamers. All I ask for is variety, especially in genres with customization sliders. That said, I draw a big line between what’s attractive and what is blunt objectification/sexualization of female characters. I too, like my characters to look good. I just don’t like them to be all about their nekidness and sexual availability – that perpetual stereotype.

“Badass is the new sexy” – Three links that make it visual so you can’t claim otherwise

1) The Hawkeye Initiative
Quite often when you try to make the point about how female and male character representation in video games differ, you’ll face issues explaining the concept of skewed gender equivalence or “why male body proportions and gear serve power fantasies and female ones do not” – not seldomly when talking to men uneducated on the subject. This is also popularly known as the “…but what about the menz??”- debate. Lucky for us, The Hawkeye Initiative has taken this exact subject to heart not too long ago, showing audiences just how exactly male characters in game and comic culture would have to look and be presented like (body language, oh my) in order to create “sexy equilibrium” between genders. I know a fair amount of men gamers; I can say for certain none of them would be thrilled if all their male character choices in games looked like a doe-eyed batman in transparent thighs. Do I need say more?

2) Repair her Armor
I would very much like to believe that if you were to browse all the amazing female armor over at Repair her Armor, such as illustrated on this Guild Wars 2 concept art sheet, you would nod in agreement that this is some good-looking and adequate gear you’d have your female toons wear in a heartbeat. Page after page does this newly started project illustrate just how easily and effectively female armor could be adjusted and brought on par with male models, while looking every inch as shiny and aesthetically pleasing as before.

Of course, none of the “amended” armor on this website is the real one – just like that concept art sheet wasn’t. So, here I raise my question: who does truly think the fixed armor versions are worse / less attractive than their originals while being a lot less skimpy? Who indeed?

armorz

3) Badass Lady Armor
The Badass Lady Armor gallery is a project I started myself and that simply collects various game-related (mostly MMOs with some fantasy card- and boardgames in the mix) female armor I think looks fabulous. Criteria to be met are similar to the well-known Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor tumblr, although that one serves much wider a focus and also includes real life shots. I’ve always had an extensive videogame concept and fan art database on my personal PC, so this is an attempt at bringing together women’s armor I’d love to wear in MMOs.

And yes, boob plate is still represented in an overwhelming majority of all these pictures (as opposed to this); but I’d say this is a pretty stellar array of high quality images that was quite a journey to collect. Believe me when I say these picks are a stark minority among all MMO fan and concept art out there. However, I was still able to beat my goal of getting a 100 pictures to pass the test (also in terms of body language which spoils at least two thirds of all otherwise passable images), so yay for more badass armor in videogames! Let nobody claim more realistic female armor can’t also be good-looking or similar nonsense. Now if only developers / designers caught up with this soon!

[GW2] The Three-fold Cosmetics Fail

I love the Super Adventure Box in Guild Wars 2, I really do – but this needs to stop! –

So, there are new vests available in the gemstore and I don’t even wanna know. The only emotional response I have to such announcements by now is seeing the Simpson’s infamous “See my vest, see my vest” play down before my inner eye. Besides the underwhelming variety of cosmetics in general, the ingame shop has seen no additions worth mentioning between the temporary Halloween costumes and Quaggan/Charr backpacks since the beginning in August 2012. Remember some of the GW2 “shop panic” pre-launch? Yeah, that was a waste of time!

Now granted, the shop has been a bit more active of late; there are the SAB mini-pets and items that will finally let you redo the overall looks and hairstyle of your character. You know, what’s usually called a barber shop in other games. Oh and they added one more epic piece of gear to the store in 2013: hoodies! Yep, you heard that right. The armor designers at ANet have gone completely wild with this one –

These come in three different colors, one of which is an unidentifiable mesh of grey and brown, although why you wouldn’t re-dye is beyond me (but then, if you actually paid money on this already who knows what else you’ll do). They’re about as exciting as the riding pants which have also been added recently – not at all.

This isn’t even funny anymore. I actually love playing with looks in MMOs, so this mess is just tragic. And I just don’t get it! Let’s get this straight: we are talking about a visually stunning, fantasy MMO epic where players, myself included, generally run around looking like this:

Yes, so much yes! And in which conceivable, parallel reality would I ever consider wearing one of those lackluster, plain boring hoodies instead of the badass royal armor composition above?? That’s not the worst of it though because TOWN CLOTHES!

Cosmetics gone wrong, Chapter #2: Introducing town clothes

My character currently possesses two pieces of town clothes which I was given via promotional code by other players. Both items are ANet “fan attire”, displaying the red dragon logo in an attempt of ingame merchandising – because you need to promote GW2 to those who have already bought it. The pieces are extremely ugly (not to mention immersion breaking) so needless to say, I never ever display them and why on earth would I? I’ve mentioned it before and it bears repeating: town clothes are the most inane and failed attempt at cosmetic gear ever! This is where you will find consensus across the board: nobody thinks it’s fun to have cosmetics you can only ever wear inside cities! A great deal of players won’t spend money on such items. Simply put, ANet is losing a big avenue of additional income by under-using their shop and also using it the wrong way. My 850 gems (which I transferred via cash, not ingame gold) have been rotting in the market tab since last year. Why does this company not want to sell me anything?

Cosmetics used to be a big deal in Guild Wars, especially considering the lack of high-level gear progression. I was probably not alone in the assumption that GW2 was going to be similar. I stand corrected and vastly surprised. ANet’s poor attempts at adding to the gemstore since launch can only be interpreted as an equal lack of enthusiasm or inspiration for the whole thing, so maybe we get lucky and they remove the town clothes feature already and let players finally go wild on their combat gear. Anything else bespeaks an ongoing lack of understanding of your customer base.

What I do wonder at this point too is this: did ANet shoot themselves in the foot by also allowing ingame gold to be converted to gems? Is this why they put no effort in offering more interesting items on the market?

Cosmetics gone wrong, Chapter #3: Introducing Transmutation

Unfortunately we’re not quite done with the cosmetics gripes. GW2 has possibly the worst approach to armor skin-transfer (of non-town clothes) I have ever seen. I’m not kidding. Anything, from WoW’s transmogging to the simplest and best of solutions, the cosmetic tabs in Rift or LOTRO, is preferable to the transmutation system in GW2. In case you missed it, transmuting items in order to give one the look of the other, always results in the loss of one involved item! If you are matching stats of item a (which would be your best combat gear for example) with the looks of item b (a new skin you received), you will irrevocably lose item a as far as looks go. Tough luck if you kinda liked them both and were only looking for a bit of diversity!

Again, this makes no sense to me. Not only is the system hurting collectors (by far not all skins are easily acquirable or cheap), it’s reducing armor variety in a game that already has very few sets to choose from compared to its predecessor. If there’s something GW2 currently could use more of it’s epic cosmetic armor and not more urban hoodies! If I wanted to dress up in street-wear in MMOs, I’d be playing The Secret World (and be much happier with my choices there)!

“Dear Armor Designers at ArenaNet”

I think you created a fantastic, visually stunning game. Not just that, it’s subscription-free and nobody is complaining about featuring an item store in a game like yours – only seems fair. When it comes to your approach to gear and cosmetics however, you are currently missing out and bigtime. Here’s why: there’s plenty of people in your player base who…

Care for cosmetics, like variety and would love to hang on to and collect gear
Are happy to pay extra money for great cosmetics
Would actually want to wear their cosmetics (not just in towns)

MMO players are incredibly imaginative and enthusiastic when it comes to making their characters look unique and different. There are countless webpages dedicated to nothing else. Many players will go to great lengths to acquire new skins, trade skins, update skins. Gear looks are a source of fun, pride and recognition value in MMOs.

And also this: beautiful, eye-catching cosmetics and Guild Wars 2 go together like chocolate and coffee. They are literally meant to be! So, can we please have some consistency here? Thank you!

Reverse Psychology

Some people wonder – how does this B2P or F2P model really work? How can they give away so much stuff? There’s gotta be a catch, I bet the game is just bad!

…Of course it isn’t. Of course they don’t just give away stuff for free. Well, they do – but not in the way one might think. They’re way more devious than that.

If there’s something to be said for GW2 by now, then that it’s a master of opposite effect. Scores of players who never knew the word journey before are suddenly confessing to putting on that explorer’s hat every night, looking to climb mountains or swim down the deepest caves, for another vista, a point of interest, a jumping puzzle – or just one more stunning land mark discovered. Because the world is vast and beautiful like that and the next bend of the road is rewarding. To anybody.

Players proud to be die-hard soloers, sick and tired of stale grouping mechanics, find themselves partying up with strangers on a regular basis, chatting and cooperating more than ever – even crossing half a zone just to get a fallen player back on his feet. Finally, an ally. Not somebody to race to that next node.

Those sworn off questing permanently still enjoy the more random, dynamic events that spawn around heart areas, following narratives up to the big baddie at the very end. Maybe there’s a chest, maybe not – either way it’s fun and while it’s still questing, it lacks the orchestrated linearity to actually feel like it.

Then, there’s people like me – done with the holy trinity. Done with setup gripes and inflexibility, to a point where the idea of tanking or healing has become appalling. Lo and behold, GW2 brings back some of the fun about these jobs. Why? Because roles aren’t strict and nobody expects you to stick to one of them.

“Hear me, I am a fickle creature! I don’t want what I have and I crave what I have not! That which I am forced to do, I loathe – that which I choose freely, I cherish. I am homo sapiens!

The ultimate move

So, by that same rule of reverse psychology, how would a smart MMO developer (with the whole package) go about his B2P (or F2P) business model, getting his audience to spend a little more than just what they “have to”?

….But of course –

ColinJohanson.2394:

“No need to buy them, Gw2 will feature consistent free content updates and in-game events going forward. Our goal is to make it so you get more from Gw2 for free than you get from a game you pay a subscription for.
On top of a large amount of free bonus content, we will be expanding on offerings in the Black Lion Trading Company going forward, as well as be doing large-scale expansion content down the road.
We’ll cover a lot of the details on the kind of support and plans we have in place over the next month or so on the Gw2 blog and with our press partners.
We do appreciate that you’d like to buy lots of new content, but we’d prefer to give a lot of it to you for free, cause that’s what we think a responsible MMO company does!”

“Thanks for the response and I’d just like to say that the attitude you just described is why you guys are my favourite games company! It’s also why I’ve bought bank space, dye packs and 2 character slots already, even though I normally spend nothing in cash shops & never buy dlc.”

Of all the comments and articles on GW2 I have come across these past two weeks, this forum conversation is the most remarkable, awe-inspiring and uncanny one of all. Love or hate this MMO, think of ANet whatever else you like – this is free-to-play marketing done to perfection. This is convincing your audience that they’re making such a superior deal, they might as well re-invest those imaginary savings! And all delivered with an air of casual frivolity. My god ArenaNet, you do know what you are doing!

In that same spirit of effectiveness, I wish you all the most horrible weekend and many awful adventures in Tyria! I know you will have lots of them.

[GW2] Light Armor Styles and Sets, Levels 1 – 35

One of the wonderful things about GW2 armor sets is the detail and of course the dye system; even if many items look similar, it never feels as if everyone around me is wearing the same stuff. Gear looks different on a tall Norn than it does on other races and with the endless color variations, you get a way more individual look for players than in most other MMOs, already at a low level.

Another nice thing to notice is that instead of limiting armor classes to very specific materials, such as cloth, leather or mail, GW2 introduces light, medium and heavy armor. This means in terms of fabrics and material, there’s a lot more variation for every class in what they can wear. My Elementalist is currently adorned in a mixture of cloth, leather, fine metal and bone. Depending on the gear I choose, I can look like a classic caster clad in soft silks or then a tribal warrior princess. Even the dyes will react to different materials: if you use the same color on a soft fabric, it will produce a fuller color than for an obvious leather strapping for example. I love this level of authenticity!

Naturally, like I did for Skyrim or WoW before, I’ve had a look at what armor sets and generally shiny gear combinations GW2 has to offer for my level range and armor class. My bank is currently stuffed with some of my favorites (seriously wtb more bank slots!) for potential transmutation use later on. For my fellow MMO fashionistas, here’s the four more unique, classy light armor styles I’ve mainly used up and around level 35, including names and some information on where I got them. Many different level items in GW2 share a model and often vendors in the same area sell stat variants of the same item (with prefixes such as “strong”, “mighty”, “honed” etc.). So, checking the market place would be another solution or alternatively Guildhead to find similar item models.

All styles are mix and match with a focus on chest, leg and shoulder pieces (I personally don’t care as much for gloves or shoes and I usually don’t display the headpiece) and no gemstore items were used. Enjoy!

(click image to enlarge)

Information (numbers from left to right):

1) Items: The entire “Oldgate set” is acquirable from the lvl 15 heart vendor located at Nolan Waypoint, west of Oldgate Clearing, Diessa Plateau. Other heart vendors in the vicinity sell same-model pieces with different stats. The set includes a rather nice hood not shown on the picture.

2) Shoulder: “Conjurer Mantle of X”, random drop, levels 30+
Chest: “Magician Coat of X”, frequent random drop
Skirt: “Magician Legs of X”, frequent random drop

3) Shoulder: “Johan’s Cloth Mantle”, lvl 26 heart vendor in Snowblind Peaks, NE of Gendarran Fields
Chest: “(Hearty) Student Coat”, frequent random drop
Skirt: “Bronson’s Bone Leggings”, lvl 28 heart vendor in The Bloodfields, NW Gendarran Fields
Note: Same-model items and matching pieces can be obtained by crafting the “Shadow Armor” set with tailoring. The patterns can be bought at the lvl 24 heart vendor in Jormabakke Stead, NW Snowden Drifts.

4) Shoulder: Norn Cultural Tier 1 armor, lvl 35
Chest: “(Strong) Country Coat”, frequent random drop
Skirt: Norn Cultural Tier 1 armor, lvl 35
Note: All unique Cultural Tier armor 6-piece sets can be acquired in the capital of each race. The first set is lvl 35 and costs approx. 3 gold in total. I skipped the chest piece due to money shortage (and not liking the huge bare midriff very much).

So, what’s to say that being a noob means you also have to look like one? Level up in style, I say! =D

[GW2] Panaroma Screenshots

“I see trees of green…….. red roses too

I see em bloom….. for me and for you

And I think to myself…. what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue….. clouds of white

Bright blessed days….dark sacred nights

And I think to myself …..what a wonderful world.”

[Louis Armstrong]

Lion’s Arch – Full res version here

Queensdale – Full res version here

Godlost Swamp – Full res version here

Shiverpeaks Mountains – Full res version here

Snowden Drifts – Full res version here

[GW2] Day 1

Disclaimer: This is officially not a hype post. Why? Because GW2 is out now! Lalalaa.

After launching three hours early (and me being in two hours early), GW2 was off to a rocky start yesterday noon when the EU servers suddenly kicked out everybody and went dead for three full hours. That makes me think that cannot have been coincidence – maybe the three hours early start anticipated what was to come? Just kiddin’…

Anyway, the day still ended on a very high note for me after ANet fixed the server hiccups. Many of my own impressions are resonated in Pewter’s current list of thoughts, particularly what she says about not feeling alone but part of a bigger body that is all around you. Games like Journey prove that the feeelings of togetherness an cooperation are not created merely by speech/chat. Since players do not rely that much on chat during questing, they actually start minding each other more directly and proactively; my partner pointed out how for ongoing events, even large groups would stick together tightly, keeping up coordinated formations. I find myself frequently hovering over players killing tougher mobs, just to check for their healthbars (wtb HP display here). And even when the big ass giant in Nageling wreaked havoc on an army of 50 players and I died instantly like a noob, not one but four players came to my aid! This is GW2’s cooperation – day one – for you.

Besides that. I will follow my blogging neighbours’ example in posting a few quick first day tidbits:

While skills and tiers are still somewhat obscure to me right now (why do I still need to “waste” so many points on lackluster skills?), I recommend the following three must-get skills to my fellow rookie Elementalists. They will make your life much easier at start:

Go straight for the 3rd superior healing skill, Signet of Restoration
Signet of Fire is great for its extra passive boost to your crit. I like straightforward skills like that
Get Glyph of Elementals; even if your pet only lasts 1 minute, it will save your butt by catching “aggro” frequently and offers a sense of crowd control

GREEN is the new BLUE! That’s right, be careful you don’t dump a green item by mistake, thinking blue is superior – it’s not!

Is anyone missing a mount thus far? I admitted before that my initial waypoint worries for GW2 were unfounded – the world is so huge that using teleports to get to more remote locations is not just convenient, but in fact a well-conceived, elemental feature. You will be walking plenty in GW2 as is, but instead of fighting your way back grinding fast-respawning mobs through an endless tunnel you just cleared before (fuuun), the game sends you on your way to go enjoy the next, new challenge. I have a feeling I need to re-visit the topic of shortcuts in MMOs again, sometime soon.

If you’re a child of WoW, Rift and Co. do yourself a favor an re-bind some keys, such as ‘R’ for chat-reply (by default backspace) or ‘B’ for bags (by default ‘I’). Once I went through the trouble of adjusting some keys in the interface menu, I felt that my gameplay enjoyment increased drastically. Old habits are hard to break.

There is still quite a lot for ANet to fix currently, such as the marketplace stability, WvW, guild functions and overflow….yeah, that is still a concern and I am disappointed that after so many betas, they still can’t seem to let party members enjoy the game together smoothly. Come on already!

While I keep repeating how awesome I find the Asura (and there are plenty), my very tall Norn Elementalist is now safely home based on Desolation EU which hosts a large English speaking community. I only just found out today that I can still join my fellow bloggers’ guild on a different server despite that (shows how much I read up on guilds before!) and how awesome is that?

So much for the first day and I sincerely hope that ANet will be able to solve the current issues swiftly for all you official launch date folks out there! More juicy GW2 impressions from me next week – I have a game to catch! Happy Sunday!

[GW2] Managing expectations. And see you there!

While speakers don’t realize it anymore in everyday language, the German word for “disappointed” has a rather intriguing, literal meaning: it’s to be “un-deceived”. If we feel disappointment, it is generally because we were let down on our expectations – our hopes, dreams, illusions maybe. In any case, there was a deception of some kind involved and quite often it’s a self-created one as much as the other way around.

With GW2 finally at our doorstep and me still shocked that official launch time is set more in favor of EU folks than US (amagad I get to log on to GW2 for breakfast!) for a change, it’s sensible to take a moment and consider personal expectations. I spend a lot of time dissecting and criticizing single features and aspects of MMOs on this blog, so it’s probably hard to believe that I’m also quite the big picture person. I know exactly what I want from GW2 and my personal hopes for this game have already been half fulfilled in the betas. Lucky for me, GW2 offers a lot to explorers and lovers of the shiny!

Powerful expectations

For a while now I’ve had the feeling that player expectation towards upcoming titles has increased in significance compared to the olden days. Expectations have a tremendous power over individual perception and reception; more than that, they also have the potential to spread side-effects, for better or worse.

When The Secret World launched its free 1-month anniversary weekend two weeks ago, I ended up having a look at Funcom’s latest progeny quite unintentionally. I suspected that TSW would not appeal to me personally, for reasons of theme already, but I like a first-hand look at any game especially when there’s nothing to lose. Alas, rather quickly TSW confirmed my misgivings; I would never get even close to a well-rounded and fair overall judgement after such short a playtime, suffice to say though that I can only marvel at Funcom for their chosen business model, considering TSW serves a niche inside a niche and all past AoC baggage. I also didn’t like combat one bit and then there’s the looks of the game….and while you can disagree with me on style, no MMO launched in 2012 and coming with a key, sub and item shop is allowed to look like a Sims game! Complete and utter no-go in my world (I got a new rig for a reason!). If SWTOR got a beating for looking dated, it’s only fair that TSW should get one too!

That wasn’t the big insight I took from TSW though. Much rather, there was something very interesting going on in terms of player reception in this particular case – a case of a more niche and quite low profile MMO launch. Just to give one example of many similar echoes I’ve come across during the free TSW weekend, here’s an excerpt of a recent twitter conversation with two of my fellow bloggers, Belghast and Heather:

Tip: read from bottom to top 😉

What I’m not implying with this is that either of them isn’t genuinely enjoying TSW, by now probably for many reasons. Assuming they are still playing, they most certainly have found enough reasons to retain them. However, these are two examples of what I suspect is quite a substantial group of players who ended up taking to a new MMO they had not followed much at all pre-launch, and who did not only find enjoyment despite that but maybe even because of it? Naturally, expectations (or the lack thereof) will not decide over the longterm choice to stay or leave a game, yet it’s intriguing they would have the power to influence initial impression so heavily. We all know how pivotal a time launch and also individual “entry stage” are for new MMOs.

Now, “pleasantly surprised” or “better than expected” aren’t exactly labels new MMOs usually thrive for but I still need to ask myself what is the conclusion of all this? And what does this potentially mean for game developers and publishers? That maybe it’s beneficial to hold back on too much exposure and heavy marketing pre-launch? That a low profile is preferable in some cases? Should developers start and spread their own false or obscure rumors about their game just so it reaches intangible cult status, luring a potentially bigger audience out of sheer curiosity? No really, I’m quite serious!

If we consider the last few weeks of the GW2 waiting rush, it’s probably safe to say that there is such a thing as too much exposure and for some players I am told, there’s such a thing as detrimental hype – to a point where omni-present talk of the same game becomes so overbearing it may even turn somebody off from buying the game at all. I don’t know how frequently that occurs, and personally I wouldn’t want to attribute a vocal minority of forum trolls that much power over my own game choices, but if a potential customer refrains from buying GW2 because of overbearing hype that can’t be in ANet’s interest. That’s not to say that they have any direct responsibility or means to change anything. It does shed some light on the power of expectations though.

I will also officially bet on this here blog that GW2 is never going to get the soft and benign player treatment for its no-doubt yet undiscovered flaws and failures, the way more low profile MMOs like TSW usually do. GW2 will be hacked into pieces mercilessly and with every conceivable double standard, simply for having been praised and expected so long and publicly beforehand. No doubt there are already some people lying in wait for that moment of grand punishment…like the resented, vengeful twin waiting for his one-minute monologue. I won’t comment on that but yeah, it does show us another shade of potential effects of expectations…

Finding one’s own enjoyment

I mentioned feeling lucky before because GW2 could be an entirely different game, not catering to any of my very personal selling points. There is a beautiful world to explore in the fashion I endorse, there are undeniably wonderful graphics and music, quest and combat mechanics I consider fresh at the very least, plenty of cosmetic items….safe bets all of them. I look forward to enjoy this at my own pace and hopefully with the freedom to group up with any of my friends. Most of the aspects that are currently criticized or eyed with worry don’t interest me that much: I don’t worry about the guild system, dungeon loot, “endgame” or even PvP should it turn out to be lacking. I’m also not one to fret over bugs or imbalances so early – there’s time. Furthermore I consider the current bashing of the community very over the top; WoW was never a good place to go for forums nor general chat. That didn’t mean there weren’t cool people to be found on servers. Community is always also what you are contributing.

I’m going to play GW2 for my own reasons that may seem trivial to somebody else. Much of that enjoyment will be up to myself too which is what managing expectations is all about. I look forward to meet up with some of my old WoW mates so much it’s silly and for that already I thank GW2, for that long awaited opportunity!

How long will it all last us? I don’t know and frankly don’t care. GW2 doesn’t have to fascinate me for 5 years straight, I am no longer that gamer. Neither did I ever consider this the big, all-changing MMO revolution but as The Cynical Brit rightfully points out towards the end of his final beta conclusion, “a next evolutionary step”. A very important step at that – one that may impact on much to come. I care for this genre, I care for GW2 to be a solid success which I’m confident it will be. Mid-or longterm? I will probably get bored for lack of things to do and fluctuate more again between several games. So what? Even if I only got the famous 3 months of amagad-shiny-awesome-noob-time out of all this (which I doubt), it will be a hell lot more fun than I’ve had in a long time!

…With that I am off to the long awaited weekend and my Saturday morning launch. I wish you all the grandest GW2 head-start weekend and that you can enjoy this new MMO simply for what it is, unaffected and untouched by the backlash of other people’s expectations. I’ll see you and all your Asura Engineers on the other side! ^^

[Allods] Would you like to….divorce me?

So I picked Allods Online up again the other night because that’s what we do, me and Allods have this steamy on-and-off latenight relationship. The game has changed much since last I played it – there’s been the Game of Gods expansion this February 2012 and the look of the game has improved in every aspect. Allods has always had great characters and customization, but now there are more choices and oh my god the bard class! That’s right, you can now play a BARD in Allods! I haven’t had much time to level one yet but apparently the class mechanics are somewhat similar to the bard class in Rift.

Personally, it makes me happy to see that Allods is still alive and kicking and that Astrum Nival were able to launch a full expansion stuffed with shiny new content. The game has always been described as shameless WoW clone, mostly due to its similar cartoony graphics, and no matter for how long dedicated Allods players and fans have been working on dispelling that notion, the comparison stuck to this much younger Russian MMO like duct tape from hell.

Let’s look at this just briefly. Yes, Allods looks like WoW at first glance. Yes, it also pretty much adopted the questing system and the talent tree isn’t all that different. The zones are a little empty here and there despite looking nice. Combat works different from WoW in certain aspects, for example there are pre-charged attacks and no auto-attack. Experience gain used to be fairly slow but over the years the developers improved the system several times to make both combat and progression feel smoother. Also, Allods is a free-to-play which means RMT is part of the deal and a very stylish item shop is an integrated part of the game – which doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy this game without spending money. I do.

Other than that? Allods is awesome. The overall graphics are much sparklier than WoW’s. The polish, music and performance have always been top notch, especially for an FTP. Races like the Arisen or Gibberlings are legendary. There is quirkiness, humor and atmosphere in the world. There’s also the rather refreshing Russian flair which shows in some of the NPCs or cities. In short: Allods doesn’t feel one bit like WoW and from what I know about endgame, it is a different game entirely (there be lots of war ship PvP up in astral spheres!). If you’ve got any spare time to dabble at some free games, don’t skip Allods.

Amazing armor! …Wait what, divorce papers?

One thing I’ve not mentioned yet is Allods’ armor and how that too has taken a massive step up since I played it last. Now, if you’ve got any love for the eye candy, customization and gear in MMOs, you will love this game. If anyone’s going to emulate WoW’s graphics, they should at least do better than WoW in the armor department – and Astrum Nival have. You want wicked armor? Allods has it! I browsed tons of high-level gear and tier sets and was dazzled by a flamboyant carnival of colors, fabrics and quite possibly the greatest cloaks ever! If you’re going to pose in your shiny epics, it better look like this:

Too sexy for my shirt!

Like to see more? Fear not, I finally added an Allods gallery. I need to highlight my favorite piece here though because….whoa – this gotta be like the greatest, badass look ever:

He’s got a raven!

I named this guy the Scarecrow and if you’re still wondering what he’s got on his back, that’s a wooden box (I bet full of torture tools). And there’s a black raven perching on his shoulder! Amagad! *worship*

…….

Thus hunting down irritated high-level players for screenshots, I came across a chapel the other night and found this:

I’ve certainly heard about MMO marriage before, wedding bands and ceremonies and whatnot, but divorce papers? Now that’s new. I started digging a bit and it turns out Allods Online has possibly the most intricate and complex marriage and divorce system of them all. And unlike so many other games where the union of two players is merely symbolic, marrying in Allods comes with a list of special, spouse-related spells and abilities to give the relationship more meaning. Getting married isn’t quick and neither is getting rid of a spouse – so hedge therefore, who join forever!

For those of you who prefer a TL;DR version of the above link, I’m going to highlight the few most remarkable points about Allods’ marriage system:

You are eligible to marry a person of the same faction, minimum level 15. There is no restriction for enlisting same-sex relationships.
Every faction has dedicated wedding manager NPCs who will offer a quest to the person properly equipped with a wedding ring. Both players will have to take vows and actively consent to the union….and pay a tax.
Once legally declared married, you will receive special wedding gifts along with several “spousal spells”. These are unlocked for both characters and draw on a resource called heart affection.
The spousal abilities can be leveled while both players draw on the same pool of heart affection. Just to give one example of such an ability: “Enheartening: Your spouse’s health is increased by a certain percentage if you are within 50 yards from each other.” (aww)
In case of a divorce, players lose access to their spousal abilities. Both partners will have to be present for a particularly sad quest and have one minute each to consent to the divorce prompt.
Astrum Nival have announced an upcoming shop item, a bottle of champagne, that will be required in special cases of a forced divorce where one spouse has been offline for a very long time.

One must wonder what exactly that champagne bottle is for! I think we can agree they do take their weddings seriously in Allods (is there any MMO that comes close?). And a system that comes with bonuses like this may well appeal to a wider audience than just a roleplay corner. To me personally it’s a fascinating approach and illustrates the many depths of MMO dynamics that still haven’t been explored fully, by a wider range of titles.