Profile: Torak
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| Username | Torak |
| Real Name | Phil Roman |
| Rank | Elite Member |
| Joined | May 10, 2004 |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 40 |
| Location | APO, Germany |
| Last Visit | October 6, 2008 |
| Post Count | 4140 |
| Biography | 1st AD History 1/37 Armor 1st AD |
| Quote | Don''t Panic!!!! |
5 Most Recent Threads by Torak [more...]
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Players...just wondering... on 9/28/08 @ 5:39AM
Viewed 668 times, replied 20 times, last post was 9/29/08 -
Rumors of financial trouble at CME(?) on 9/19/08 @ 8:02AM
Viewed 840 times, replied 15 times, last post was 9/30/08 -
The 13 year old WoW player myth on 9/18/08 @ 12:38PM
Viewed 788 times, replied 28 times, last post was 9/19/08 -
R.I.P. Ned Cleverson of "Maggie the Jackcat" on 9/16/08 @ 6:55AM
Viewed 473 times, replied 11 times, last post was Today -
Since there is a free trial now and all... on 9/12/08 @ 11:12PM
Viewed 317 times, replied 5 times, last post was 9/13/08
Latest Blog Entry - MMORPG conventions that need to banished!
From my blog Ramblings of a depraved gaming madman or pure genius? You decide. [Torak]
Ok, so there is a lot going on in the MMO industry these days, it seems that devs are finally starting to realize that the current line of MMO design thought isn't working.
If I was a dev (and I'm not and far to old and indebt with too many kids to be switching careers) here are some of the things I would look at changing.
Classes
Classes are one of those things that devs are sticking to like like super glue. I ask myself "why is that?" The only real reason I can see is because they are "easy" and the community is more then willing to except them. But what "classes" really do? Well they are basically are restricted skill set. They make it easier for a dev to balance against other classes. By confining a person to a specific role, it makes it easier to design. The MORE restrcted the role, the easier to make. I think we see this idea in just about every MMO.
So what is the alternitive you ask? Obviously a skill based system. Using an optional "profession" so that you get an idea for the opporating framework is fine but after the initial creation the player should be able to pick and chose HOW THEY WANT TO DEVELOPE THEIR CHARACTER THEMSELVES. The only MMO's I have seen that successful do this are Asherons Call, EVE and pre-NGE SWG. All very successful games in their day with EVE still going strong.
Levels
Whats the first thing players want to do when they see levels? Get past them. Finish them. Get to the cap. For some reason CRPG players seem to think that there is some sort of reward for finishing levels in record time. MMO devs have accomidated this thinking with easier and baser point grinds. If the object of the levels in the players mind is to finish them and get them out of the way, why have them? Several companies have even indirectly acknoledged this with the idea of "free levels" namely Mythic and DAoC and now WoW with its refer a friend program. Whats the message? "We know leveling is dull so we will reward you with the ability to skip it". Hows that for a kick in the eye?
Levels are the root of all evil in MMO IMHO. Everything from pointless level & faction grinds, power leveling, botting and farming. ALL of it is driven by levels. In fact at this point, I cynically doubt you could take them out as the MMO community would collapse into arachy and chaos without them.
Raids
Now the idea of the Raid was started by SOE in EQ. The most despised MMO maker in the genre and yet the player community has latched onto this convention like a drowning man does to a life preserver. Devs have followed suit. Now I have no idea how many people in MMO's actually participate and better yet, how many actually enjoy "raiding" but I do know that it does not get a whole lot of love in public.
Even the simplier games like WoW have come to realize the flaws of this system reducing both the amount of people required and the time commitments.
Whos brainchild was it to make these things for 40 people anyway? What sort of arbatary off the cuff number is that? Why is it so restricted and more importantly why is the concept of good content reserved for the upper tier "levels" anyway?
And probably the most obvious reasoning why its a bad idea...because its an SOE concept. Come on people, why would anyone stick with an SOE idea?
MMO's should have fun, meaningful and challenging content throughout the entire game.
But again, why do that when you only need to worry about the last "level"? Makes it easier for the devs. Add in a single raid dungeon and "oh look, we have challenging endgame".
ENDGAME
A curse on the dev who came up with that! In the beginning MMO's were virtual worlds that players had the freedom to play and do what they wanted at anypoint (mechanics allowing them to become better / more proficient over time) Non-linear gameplay was what MMO's were all about vs the linear gameplay of most other games. Now however MMOs have turned on a dime and in some cases are MORE linear then even console games.
Again IMHO this is just done for ease of design nothing more. Why bother with deverse gameplay when you can ramrod a player into a class with a linear level progression path and the illusion of the "most fun and reward" at the end?
Summing it up...
The core issues with MMOs as I see it is devs taking the easy route of design and the players totally buying into their laziness and allowing to continue.
The next time you see a game releasing look for these things and ask yourself...self, do I really want to do this again????
Read more from my blog [Torak]
Recent Forum Posts [more...]
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- A question about my manager at work...
Originally posted by Cleffy
The inheritance of strength isn't all about how the muscles and bones are setup. There is also how the muscles react. Take for instance Tigers. They have the same musculature and bones, yet the female tigers are bigger and stronger. Lions the Males are larger and stronger. It is a natural occurance despite them having the same structure. In humans, with little effort put into muscular development. A man can lift over 150 lbs. during thier prime. The same cannot be said about woman. This is naturally. I have met women who can lift this wieght, but only through building up thier body more.
It doesn't really matter in the case of lions and tigers and bears, we are talking about humans and according to U.S. EEO laws it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender. That's it. The Boss could have asked the female if she can lift the amount of weight in the actual job description. Based on her reply only then could he decide if she was able to assist in the work or not. "Can you lift 50lbs?" Its a Yes or No. It doesn't matter if its male or female, thats the job requirement. More men then Women may answer "yes" but that is irrelevent.
The OP asked if it was right what his Boss said and the answer is "no". You guys can yammer on about genetics and bone structure all you want, if you practice discrimination someone will land your ass in court at some point and I wouldn't want to be the perverbial "you" cause a judge is gonna hand you yo ass, especially if you start with talk like this citing animals and boy vs girl talk.
Read about EEO Laws and forget about the animal kingdom as their rules do not apply -
- Posted: 10/05/08 10:27 AM
General Discussion
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- name one single thing you DON'T like about EVE
Well only a few things
It seem impersonal because of the ship / portrait thing.
Pacing was typically slow for my taste and I think that's what gives people that "spreadsheet in space" feeling that I have read a few times. You tend to pass the time managing different math screens.
But other then that, not to much to complain about. The game pretty much captures what it sets out to do dead on.
- Posted: 10/05/08 8:28 AM
EVE Online
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- A question about my manager at work...
It is in fact a discrimitory remark as he phrased it.
You can not exclude based on sex.
If the position (stocking ) requires heavy lifting (50lbs for example) and she can lift it, she can do the work.
You can not discriminate base on sex. You can only qualify people indiviually based on job requirements and job preformance.
It is unlawful to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of his/her sex in regard to hiring, termination, promotion, compensation, job training, or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment. Title VII also prohibits employment decisions based on stereotypes and assumptions about abilities, traits, or the performance of individuals on the basis of sex. Title VII prohibits both intentional discrimination and neutral job policies that disproportionately exclude individuals on the basis of sex and that are not job related.
- Posted: 10/05/08 4:26 AM
General Discussion
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- AoC is implementing an advanced Linage II similar PvP system on patch 3.0
Could you post a link to the changes? The AoC forums are litered with folks bitching about just about anything including the stock prices, Geez. Doesn't anyone just play MMOs anymore?
There must be a lot of SWG vets playing that game.
Anyway, L2's PvP system has a few things in it. You build "karma" when you kill other players in addition you acrew PK points. Over PK points and you have a chance of dropping gear if someone kills you while you are in a chaotic state. Is AoC going to have a drop system put in?
Just wondering. There use to be a time in L2 when yo always had a chance of dropping no matter what but they softened that up over time now only reds (PKers) drop. You also lose a bit of XP on death. All that normally applies except during a siege or duel. The L2 system also depends on who attacks who first, who fights or doesn't fight, as that determines who goes chaotic or gets karma or whatever.
Aside from town guards attacking you what other "consequences" are there? Sounds more like an alternate adventure path with perks the way you describe it. (they get their own quest / communtiy / spawnpoints)
L2 is really about Guild politics and wars. I dunno what AoC is suppose to be about. The reason L2 has open PvP is so guilds can piss each other off between sieges in a nutshell.
L2 completely revolves around castle sieges and that is a completely different matter. Guilds that control castles control a portion of the gameworld and economy. Castles are not simply for show in L2, they have a huge impact on the gameworld. Similar to owning a station in EVE. - Posted: 10/05/08 4:18 AM
Lineage II
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- Campfires = GU7 ???
I believe it was in one of the podcast last summer (beauturkey posted it) with the lead dev. He briefly mentioned it along with a bunch of other things. There was no mention of any class restriction for it and no timeframe that I can recall.
I wanna say fishing, some area revamps and new content were the focus now that the customization stuff is done from what he outlined.
- Posted: 10/03/08 7:13 AM
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