Communication with your Community March 21, 2008
Posted by Xeavn in General Game Concepts.1 comment so far
I want to talk about developer and community interaction and communication. What are the pro’s and con’s of communicating with the player base, and why is it even necessary? What have other games done in the past, and what would I as a player like to see in the way of communication?
I think the whole idea of having to communicate with the players of your game is still a somewhat new idea to most of the developers and game development companies. It is largely my belief that it has been at least somewhat brought about by massive multiplayer games and the subscription model that comes with those games. In the past if I purchased a single player game such as Master of Orion 2, my only expectation was to be able to install it, and start it up and play. If for some reason it didn’t play correctly on my computer, I might go as far searching their website for a patch or posting in a technical help forum on the games website, if one even existed. In the long run though I just wanted to play against the computer, and maybe a few friends online. I figured after patching most of the obvious bugs the developers likely moved on to a new project. If there was going to be any new features, new units or cool new ideas it was going to come in the form of an expansion pack.
You Gotta Fight for Your Right…to Chat!? March 21, 2008
Posted by Kendricke in Everquest 2, General Game Concepts, Uncategorized.3 comments
I was strolling through the internet’s many tubes not all that long ago when I came across a thread on SOE’s official forums where a player was suggesting that access to Everquest II’s exclusive level based chat be based on the highest level character a player has per account…as opposed to the current system which bases such access on the current character being played.
Now, for those of you who don’t actually play Everquest II (and why not!?), let me explain how these channels work in the first place. Across every server in Everquest II, there are channels referred to as “level chats”. These channels are named for the level a character must achieve in order to access the chat channel in the first place. Generally speaking, the channels tend to open up every 10 levels, starting with “Level 1 to 9 Chat” all the way up to “Level 70 to 79 Chat” and even “Level 80 Chat” (which will presumably become “Level 80-89 Chat” when the level cap increases next).
It’s an interesting system, to be sure. I’m just not convinced that it’s necessarily the right one.
A Glimpse Behind the Notes March 21, 2008
Posted by Kendricke in Everquest 2.add a comment
Greg “Rothgar” Spence (EQ2 coder) made a great post on his personal blog about one of the back end changes he worked on for an upcoming patch that likely won’t make the update notes.
It’s a fascinating quick read, particularly if you enjoy the more technical side of things.
Tabletop Lessons: Transparent Encounter Mechanics March 21, 2008
Posted by Kendricke in Everquest 2, General Game Concepts.add a comment
I’m a product of tabletop gaming. For years, I’d spend a few nights each month huddled behind a gamemaster’s screen, poring over charts and dice rolls, determining whether or not one of the player characters made the jump or fell to the street below; whether a player character’s ‘mech managed to get a long range lock; whether the system ICE was alerted to the decker’s hacking attempt.
Though I certainly spend a great deal more time in MMO’s these days than I do around the kitchen table, it doesn’t mean I think one medium is far and away better than the other.
One way tabletop gaming had it right was in transparent mechanics.
…and we’re back. March 21, 2008
Posted by Kendricke in Out of Character.2 comments
After a little over a month off (an odd alignment of planets that kept Zobek, Xeavn, and I completely off the map for a couple weeks in a row turned into around 6 weeks of limited posting), we’re back.
We’ve been in the process of updating a lot of our back-end (Zobek’s been busy) and have started down a road we hope will give us more control and scalability for the myriad of things we’d like to get done.
In the meantime, we’ve picked up a new writer to add to the staff (we’ll be introducing him formally early next week) and have contracted the services of a conceptual artist to work on some upcoming ideas I’m excited about (no, not just updating the site’s theme…but actual articles revolving around game art).
We’re working on a few contests coming up, and we’ve started to acquire a bit of a prize pile for giveaways.
Feel free to leave comments, complaints, or suggestions here, and you can probably help shape the future of Clockwork Gamer.
