Ex-NCsoft Employees on Tabula Rasa's Demise2010-02-24 00:00:00analysis on
the reasons that led to
the eventual demise:
In
the online games industry, if we keep quiet about
the causes,
the hopes,
the fears,
the successes, and
the failures of
the best part of $100million burnt on a single project,
then what hope is
there for us to avoid making
the same mistakes again?
Unlike Scott, I actually (superficially speaking) agree with this statement as to why Tabula Rasa, Age of Conan, Pirates of
the Burning Sea, and Hellgate:London failed (TR, AoC, PotBS, and HL from now now...)
"No,
these games failed because
their developers let it happen."-Funcom *should have* learned enough lessons with Anarchy Online not to make
the mistakes
they did with AoC; not
the precise same mistakes, but
the same "...
World of Warcraft: PvP Panel Discussion2009-10-24 00:00:00While much of
the World of Warcraft PvP Panel was dedicated to
the hows and whys of designing
the game's battlegrounds, a few choice tidbits of information were revealed during
the discussion that preceded
the Q&A session. Once
the attendees were able to ask questions, it was clear that
their most pressing concern was balance -- specifically
the underpowered state of
their own played classes, and
the overpowered classes everyone else plays (at least, that's
the way players often s...
Unadulterated Awesomeness2009-09-21 00:00:00 the Mage They Call Jayne(z) died quite a bit. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and all that. Thanks to
the wondrous magic of "Rez Spells"? death was in no way permanent. Oh, video games. Where else can you die and live to complain about it?
After going up against some nifty bosses and actually not winning, Jayne(z) decided that he'd had enough of this zone for now-besides, he didn't like it ANYWAY. So THERE! He made his way to
the gentle rolling plains of Nagrand, ran into Sir Hemet Nesingwary of Nesingwary's "Gank Me" Expedition, and ended up in Garadar, home of
the Mag'har tribe of brown Orcs.
I kinda wonder what makes
them "Brown." I mean,
they're definitely biological kin: we see Kilrogg Deadeye's son, Grom Hellscream's son, Saurfang's son... and
they're all brown, not green like
their kin. Strange. Perhaps it's something in Outland? Let's just say a wizard (Medivh!) did it.
As one can expect,
there's a boatload of quests for yours truly, with objectives all over
the massive zone of Nagrand. I can tell right away that this is going to be a blast. No, really, it's actually pretty cool. But what would I be without my sarcasm? Certainly not your loveable, humble, narrator!
I've got quests up
the wazoo, which is a very uncomfortable place for quests. Apparently,
the Mag'har had ano
ther village far to
the West, which was
then invaded by
the Murkblood tribe of Broken, who slaughtered most of
the inhabitants. But since
the Greatmo
ther is sick and dying, Garrosh Hellscream can't get off his emo ass and go do something. So,
the orcs ask if a certain awesomely nifty Mage can go help
them get revenge. Unfortunately, as revenge is against my code, I have to decline.
Just kidding. You know me better than that, people! I'm all...
