February 22, 2007

Holy EMAIL OVERFLOW, Batman!

Well, the press release got some attention. Here's a shortlist...

Game Daily
Gamasutra
MMORPG.com
Fierce Game Biz
Kotaku
Games Industry.biz

Lots of legitimate questions have been raised, particularly regarding the concept of bringing the excitement of single player games to online games. I'll post more about that in a bit, but first I have a ton of work for my current client to finish, then I've got all the interviews, job inquiries, business dev, GDC meetings and general spam to get through. Wee!

Posted by SunSword at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2007

In response to MMO != VC

Over on Terra Nova.com, Dan Hunter commented on the sad state of funding for online games.

It frustrated me because the MMO development as a whole suffers from the scarcity of funding. Since I consult for one of the few venture groups that actually funds MMOs, I get a chance to talk to MMO developers. Specifically, I spend a lot of time hearing one thing: “VCs and I.Banks don’t get us.” I am a gamer. I want people to understand the industry. I want my colleagues to get the MMO industry, so they fund good games.

Obviously, this topic keenly interests me, as Heatwave is considering taking on some external funding in the near future.

Part of the problem is that MMO Companies aren't great at having a strong business plan that VC's can understand. I think this is widely true of the game industry in general. It's also a hit driven business and unlikely to support as many companies as the forecasted market numbers may indicate at first blush.

To complicate matters, it's really really difficult to find developers that actually have all of the right components put together for a likely successful liquidation event. I can't fathom the number of online games that I evaluated last year that were non-starters within 15 minutes. Wrong idea, wrong staff, wrong business plan, wrong technology...

MMOGs are hard. Perhaps the hardest thing to do in this business. I imagine it's a scary place for traditional VC's and banks to find success. I can only think of one major exit of an MMO company, and that's EA's purchase of Mythic. I'm sure there are others, and yes the industry is young.

In all honesty, I've assumed from the beginning that we'd get our funding from non-traditional sources. Mostly because of the kinds of stories many game developers tell of the difficulties associated with traditional VC's. Control issues and external pressures don't always mesh well with a highly creative, iterative process. So it's possible the problem goes both ways. MMO companies may not want VC funding in the first place.

Well, anyway, there's my perspective. I too bemoan the lack of funding in the game industry, but I also believe that it takes a special kind of backer to understand what it takes to find success in the MMO business. If you know any of those folks, feel free to send 'em my way ;).

Posted by SunSword at 01:46 AM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2007

Heatwave lights up the East Coast

Since my previous post, Heatwave has already passed some very important milestones. We've made an offer to our first employee and landed our first business contract, all in the space of a few days!

I can't discuss our first client, but I have to say, I'm pleased to see Heatwave already in the black. Assuming our first offer of employment is accepted, I think Heatwave is off to a solid start.

I'd like to thank all the well wishers for their thoughts and advice on this new venture. I know some people may have felt a little "left out of the loop" because they didn't know what I was up to, and I'm sorry for that. I'm also flattered, as I didn't know so many people cared :). Allow me to explain. We have a very specific business plan that focuses on our first client and then bringing on a more sizeable staff. My experiences in the past have made me extremely aware of the affect my actions can have on other people's lives, and I'm going to make damned sure that we're only getting people excited and involved if I'm supremely confident that the time is right. That might seem like an obvious thing to say, but I've learned that even the slightest hint or indication can be taken by some as reality or a promise. Maybe that's because my enthusiasm is so infectious, but nevertheless, I've had to very carefully keep my expressions of excitement limited to a close group of trusted people.

However, now I can talk about it! So, if you're interested in working with me at Heatwave or just talking about what we're up to, you can always drop me a note at anthony ||at|| heat wave interactive . com. While we're not aggressively hiring at the moment, I'm always happy to talk with people who are passionate about making games.

Today, I'm in Philadelphia, PA. I've never been to the city of brotherly love before. So far it's been great. We came in from New York on Friday night, having completed some business there. We took the train from Manhattan and arrived in Philly about an hour later. The 30th street train station is an amazing structure. I'm staying with my business partner and Heatwave Co-founder, Donn Clendenon, in his very cool converted fire house.

The weekend has been spent working on business plans and taking care of miscelleanous corporate details, such as a failed attempt to open up our corporate bank accounts. I suppose that's a tale worth retelling...

We went to an American bank here in Philly on Saturday. The lobby was a little busier than expected, but that gave us the opportunity to watch Barack Obama's speech while we sat in the waiting area. It was very interesting to watch the other bank patrons watch the speech. Regardless of your political bent, or your thoughts about him as a candidate, Barack is undeniably an interesting person to watch. As Senator Obama delivered his speech, the bank, which had been blubbling with the hubub of tellers and customers doing business, grew noticebly quiet. Donn looked at me to get my attention and then pointed over to the teller desk where everyone in line had turned to watch Barack talk about his entry into the presidential race.

I have to wonder if that will be something worth remembering, or just an interesting mote of experience, soon forgotten.

Oh, and it was a failed attempt because after all that waiting, the computer systems went down and never came back online. We'll have to try again on Monday...

Anyway, the "big thing" we've been discussing this week is the Heatwave Interactive Inc. logo.

More on that tomorrow...

Posted by SunSword at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2007

ArchLord gains momentum

Regardless of whether ArchLord is the game for you, it is an interesting product to watch from an industry perspective. Since we announced in December that no subscription is required to play, the average number of players in the game each night is up by 100% (that is to say it has doubled). Why is this significant?

First, it is significant because the game still requires a box purchase. The game's increase in users is tightly connected to new accounts which have come from box sales. Why is this important? Primarily because retail was in significant decline only a month or two after launch. The new pricing model has had (in the very short period thus far) a significant REAL impact on retail sales and active server populations.

Okay, that's all very well and interesting for AL. I'm happy for the community and of course it makes the business much more pleasant.

The second significant item here is that it validates the assertion that the MMO audience has become more price sensitive.

The bottom line is of course that now that we've found the right price for the service, we can continue the work of actually improving the game and addressing the many and various concerns that the players have with it.

The last piece of the business to shape up is item sales. So far, they've been very popular (uptake), but are they enough to operate the game service profitably in the long term (revenue)? Early indications are promising, but only time will tell.

Posted by SunSword at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2007

How I got back into the game industry

Thanks to Damion, I got to read a "way back when" post on UO by Dan Rubenfield. Mostly he concentrates on the amount of ganking and griefing that went on in UO, but it brought back some memories.

One of the stories he told is almost an exact retelling of the event that brought me back to Ultima Online, and more importantly prompted to me to leave my cushy Unix consulting gig to return to the game industry.

From his site:
Everyone talks fondly about it, but there’s never a happy story.

It’s always the shared moment of getting slaughtered in a dungeon, losing your stuff, hiding traps in your backpack and killing people who snooped and more.

But regardless of the tone, people still loved it. The fucked up moments, the slaughter of the innocents, the absolute depths that you could sink to.

When it first released, people would break into your house, steal all of your stuff, sapping you of thousands of hours of gameplay. Then, not content with having ruined your experience, they would leave you a book on the floor of your now empty house, with a note in it.

“You Suck”

When they broke into my house, they left all the furniture stacked in the back, with a book in the armoir. The book said "Thanks for all the cheese."

Now, I don't have the best memory, so I'll give you the romaniticised version of what happened next. I called Raph Koster on the phone (whom I had met when I was working in QA at Origin through an informal game design group called "Project Brainstorm" (memories anyone?)).

As the story goes, I told Raph, "Dude, you need to hire me so I can fix your game." A few months later and I was working my first large system in UO: House Security. Looking back an the resulting system, it seems like a fairly crude game design solution, requiring chat commands for a lot of functionality. But it sure did make houses more secure!

Thanks for the memories, Dan. Happy New year!

(As an aside, it seems like a UO day for me, as it keeps coming up. This morning I ran across the MMORPG.com Interview with UO Producer Aaron Cohen.)

Posted by SunSword at 05:04 PM | Comments (1)

January 03, 2007

A day in the life of a community manager...

Kyle Rowley, COG's RF Online Community Manager extraordinaire has penned a very readable article on MMORPG.com.

For those of you who are not familiar with myself, or my alter ego “Laeth” I’ll do a quick introduction. My “real name” is Kyle Rowley and I’m the Community Manager (CM) for Codemasters Online Gaming’ Sci-Fi MMORPG Rising Force Online (RFO). Professionally, some could call me a n00b in the Community Management business – I’ve only been CM for RFO for around 10 months after all – so my words are not to be taken as the bee's knees on what community management entails, or how one would go about doing this for a living; but it should provide some insight for those of you who are interested."

Certainly no n00b, Kyle has done an excellent job representing a difficult project developed in a far away country through a significant language barrier.

As a bonus, there are a few shots of some of my co-workers and our office out in the middle of the English countryside.

Posted by SunSword at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2006

Too close to home? Doubtful, I wasn't aiming at you...

I listed this entry under "site news," because the original post was about my site and the poor content frequency (if not quality). I feel the need to respond because someone I respect a great deal has considered taking offence (although I doubt he really takes offence).

As I didn't intend for this to become a snipe fight between myself and other people in this segment, and as I don't intend for it to devolve into such, I'm going to briefly make two points and then move on:

A) The post was about my failings on this site, and the contributing reasons. Yes, I made references to other blogs, but
I didn't call out anyone specifically because that wasn't the point. The point was that there are a lot of pressures that make posting both interesting and brutally honest articles about our industry difficult for me.

B) Scott, you only referenced one of my reasons, you left out the lack of personal time. To your point that there is room to comment on things you don't directly work on, or that are not projects your peers work on, I don't disagree, but I haven't had the time to assimilate all the data tertiary to my everyday dealings and then form a useful (and entertaining!) blog post about it. I leave that to you.

I suppose it is an interesting idea to poke the nest and see who reacts, but that wasn't my goal. Scott, I respect you perhaps above all when it comes to commenting on the universe of online games. I imagine that it is your critical nature that makes you as incisive as you are but also contributes to your own inner criticism. For anyone else tempted to take personal offense from my internal criticism, ask yourself why you assume I was talking about you. Is it because you have a popular blog? Or because you secretly suspect your site is unworthy? Either way, consider your reaction before you decide to take offense. I'm not going to get into it any further.

Posted by SunSword at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2006

Owned.

Read this. Make sure you're not drinking anything when you get to the end.

Although unlikely to be true, still very funy.

Posted by SunSword at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)

July 26, 2006

EA's Lord of the Rings RPG

For those of you who haven't stumbled across it yet, check out the website for EA's newest Lord of the Rings game "The White Council".

I had the pleasure of working on the early phase of this game, and I have to tell you some of the best people in the industry are on that team. I really am looking forward to playing it when it comes out. In a few short months I learned a hell of a lot from Executive Producer Steve Gray and crew about pre-vis and keeping the highest standards. Several of my ex- Ultima Online team members remain on that project as well. See if you can pick them out in the "CREATORS" section.

It seems I just can't stay away from Lord of the Rings games. If you're reading my blog then you're probably already aware of this game in the works by Turbine. Of course, unless you went to Camp Zone or E3, you haven't had the pleasure of playing it before the BETA begins like I have! Muahaha.

Posted by SunSword at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

How to get into the game industry

Someone has suggested that I give my thoughts on "how to break into the game industry." Sure. Why not? Everyone else does it. More on this tonight...

***Updated***

Okay, "in a few days" would have been more accurate.

I only have a few thoughts for you, the first of which is a cop out.

Go visit Zen of Design's Breaking In Page and follow all of the links. Plenty of good advice there.

In no particular order, or mixed together do the following:

That's it. It's not genius. As my mom has said to me in the past about the book trade, "Writers talk about writing. Authors write." Get out there and make something. It won't be brilliant at first, but as everything in life, the skills you need to succeed in this industry are not latent. You must build on whatever talent you have by constant practice. The end result will be some rudimentary skill and something demonstrable to talk about when you apply for that entry-level position you found on http://www.gamasutra.com.

Posted by SunSword at 07:37 PM | Comments (3)

July 05, 2006

Online games don't HAVE to bore the crap out of you

but they sure seem to try real hard...

As a consumer, I am continually confounded by the amount of boring crap one has to slog through in just about every MMO. Why can't we make online games that are consistently fun? There's only one real reason we developers ever give for it, and that's the cost of creating enough good content. The other reason no one ever talks about is that they haven't figured out how to do it consistently as the core game mechanic(oops, I let the cat out of the bag! I might get kicked out of the s00per s3krit MMO designers club). People write books about it, but can they actually deliver on it? So far, from my experience the answer is no.

Most MMOs I log into these days, I can play about 5 minutes before I think to myself "I know how this ends...and I don't want to get there." It's actually very depressing.

But really, as a player, I don't give a rats ass as to the reason. We all pay a monthly fee, plus the retail box price. Why don't we expect a gameplay experience as riviting as HALO, Half-life, or even Knights of the Old Republic? Why do we settle for hours and hours of multiplayer "whack-a-mole" (not to mention "steal-a-mole")?

Of course, I'm not referring to the down-time associated with socializing or even preparation (although I have issues there as well). My gripe is the core, basic, fundamental activity of almost every major MMO: combat & questing.

I may have said it before, but I'll say it again, just about every second of every session of Battlefield 2 has been more entertaining than every second of every session of World of Warcraft (or DDO, or RFO, just add your favorite MMO here). Perhaps it's the twitchery of UO's combat that kept me engaged for so long?

So why is it I find these other games more fun? It's not because I don't like story with my game. It's not even because I like 1st person over 3rd person. It's because I like some game in my game. The hardcore raid boys (or PvPers) will tell me that I'm missing out, because they have that game, that second by second heartpounding, you'd better not make a mistake or the whole night is shot, stress that makes the game challenging and therefore fun. Fine. That's great. I still say there's too much boring filler crap in between.

In the short term, my professional goal in life is to blend the highly entertaining experience of a traditional retail boxed product with the connectiveness and persistence of MMOs. As a publisher, that's where I think the FUN is.

So, why the sudden rant? I guess it's because I spent part of the last week playing an online game that actually delivered on the fun. FINALLY. Fun from the get-go. Fun all around. Fun fun fun. And not just "fun" fun. Sticky FUN! (not that kind of sticky fun, you pervs), the kind of fun that I think one could play for months if not years. The kind of fun you want to foist on all your friends.

And you know what? NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.

Now all I have to do is sign it and I can tell you all about it. And if for some unforeseen reason I can't bring this one to the table, I'll be furious.

P.S. - I'm in the Airport lounge in South Korea. I've just finished watching Italy beat Germany with about 50 Korean folks stuck in the airport just like me. I've flown 2 legs of my riveting 24 hour flight back to England. One to go. Nothing like an 8 hour layover that starts at 5AM to make you grumpy.

Posted by SunSword at 01:29 AM | Comments (3)

June 25, 2006

A HUGE crowd greeted me upon my arrival in Seoul!

As I passed through the customs gate in Incheon Airport, a huge crowd erupted in cheers! They had banners and everyone was holding their phones to take pictures. The airport lobby was packed to the gills, even the 2nd story balcony was jammed full of onlookers.

At first, I was confused. Then I stopped for a nice pose, until a Korean military guy in full gear and semi-automatic weapon tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to move out of the Korean Soccer team's way. Oh well. I was *this* close to being famous.

It's a nice warm day in Seoul. I had a great dinner, including a pork dish with some ridiculously hot garlic and a "korean pizza" which was an egg-based flat pancake with squid and veggies. Accompanied of course by "100 years wine" and kimchi.

I'm just putting the finishing touches on my speech for the iPark ICT Summit and I'll be ready for tomorrow's all day visit to NHN to see the progress on Archlord!

Or maybe I'll stay up all night playing New Star Soccer...hmmm.

Unfortunately, I'm going to miss Mr. Knopf this time around. Probably better, otherwise I'd end up dead in a gutter somewhere and Rob would have another great story.


Posted by SunSword at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2006

Every developer should be this enthusiastic

Paul Barnett gesticulating wildly

Paul Barnett has me rolling in this E3 footage where he explains Warhammer Online. I don't know the guy, but I'd want him pushing my game, that's for damned sure.

If you haven't seen his Video Blog as well, it's worth checking out, whether you're into Warhammer or not.

I'm guessing he's a pain in the ass to work with =). (sorry Paul)

Posted by SunSword at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2006

Sign up for our free trial! (Give us your soulllll...)

Anyone in the game industry is probably familiar with this debate, but I must admit, I've become somewhat thick-skinned on this issue, now being on the business side.

We had a bit of an "open discussion" (read "argument") today about the use of websites such as IGN to host free demos and beta programs. I've always found community folk to be particularly opinionated about this. The issue is whether or not it is a turn-off for people who come to your website to sign up for a free beta, who then get redirected to a third party website where they are encouraged to "sign-up" to download without a wait. Critics might say:

* It's a turn off, what does this website have to do with the beta?
* I don't want to sign up for spam!
* Why can't I download it from the company website for free?

I say, "what's the big deal?" Transmitting a 2GB file isn't FREE. Working with a partner offsets the cost and helps get the word out.

So, quit being a pansy. Either wait in line (download manager anyone?) or better yet, just sign up and opt out already. Sheesh.

Would I like to always provide a direct download without a 3rd party? Well, sure, that would be nice, but unfortunately, not every organization can afford to bear that burden.

So, what do you think, is having to register with a 3rd party to accelerate a free trial download a big turn off for you? Hmm..maybe I need to upgrade my blog so I can do polls again...

Posted by SunSword at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2006

Congrats, Mark!

Looks like EA and Mythic finally found a song they can both dance to. I wish them both well. I know how much enthusiasm there is at EA to do a great MMO,and Mythic is certainly a great partner to make that happen.

Posted by SunSword at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2006

BRraaaainsss...

Check out The Zombie Game. I've been ranked as high as 9th! I'm just about out of steam now, but I think this site is a great example of how a simple web application and some elegant social engineering can create a compelling diversion.

Posted by SunSword at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2006

There can be only one...

Archlord

Okay, a little selfish hype. The Beta Sign-up for Archlord, the upcoming MMORPG being released by Codemasters Online Gaming, has gone LIVE. Check, check, check it out!

The Archlord in all his glory

Our first English translation build of the game came through a few weeks ago and I've begun playing it. The Producer, QA Team, Product Manager and Community Liason Officer have all been working hard to take what is a very successful game and put those little touches of westernization which will allow it to be successful in North America and Europe.

NHN has been fantastic to work with, but obviously there's a lot of learning from RF Online which we are working hard to pull through to Archlord. I can't wait for the start of the Beta test!

Posted by SunSword at 05:02 AM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2006

MrTact has a blog!

Who knew? Not I! But now we both do. Go read it. His most recent entry takes issue with Mr. Koster's MMO lament.

Posted by SunSword at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2006

Nick Yee has a new survey up!

From the Daedalus Project newsletter:

"A new issue of The Daedalus Project is now available at:
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/

Also, two new surveys are available for current MMORPG players. You can participate at: http://www.nickyee.com/mmorpg/"

While I found his most recent article on farming/racism in MMOGs less than convincing, the site is always worth a read.

Posted by SunSword at 07:46 AM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2006

Consumer products are finally catching up with technology...

This holiday season has been a pretty good one for my inner geek. Unsuprisingly, a lot of the things I'm going to mention here are also a result of the travel I've been doing. I find myself with a bit of free time to game and the desire to keep in touch with family, both of which the internet serves so well.

skype logo

First, I'm sure most of you are aware of Skype, well now so are my parents, in particular my mom. Kim and I have been using it to keep in touch when I'm overseas, and I figured that since my folks have readily taken to the old intstant messenger, no reason not to show 'em VOIP technology. Great way to keep in touch with the whole family, even from Europe! Plus, the mental image of mom wearing a headset to talk to me over the intarweb gives me a good chuckle.


SlingBox picture

Next, my wonderful wife bought me a Slingbox for Xmas so I can keep up with my favorite shows while on the road. In particular I don't want to miss the Rosebowl this year, as my Longhorns go for the BCS title! Now, this kind of technology has been available for a loong time for those tech savvy folks out there, but now that broadband is commonplace, devices like this can be found at your local ciruit city. Works great on the home network. I'll be giving it a field test in 2 days. :)


GameTap logo

Lastly, I signed up for a GameTap account. I downloaded a few games and confirmed what I thought...old games aren't as fun as you remember them being. But that's the nature of skill-based activities, eh? However, with over 300 games to choose from, some of which are only a couple of years old, I think the value (~$10/month) is a good one and I recommend it.

Anyway, I think all three of these products are excellent examples of how consumer electronics are finally bringing long standing potential of the internet to the average joe. The setup on all 3 of these things was a snap, which in the case of the Slingbox was very suprising.

-Happy Holidays!

Posted by SunSword at 02:18 PM | Comments (1)

October 24, 2005

Austin Game Conference

I'll be in my old stomping grounds later this week for The Austin Game Conference!

I'm not speaking this year, as a matter of fact, I almost decided not to go because of the new baby. But, we have family coming to fill in, so I'm don't have to eat those plane tickets :).

For those of you in Austin or travelling to austin, drop me a line if you want to get together!

Posted by SunSword at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)

Nexus - The Jupiter Incident

So, somehow I've found a litle time to play Nexus: The Jupiter Incident which I picked up as an impulse buy at Target a few weeks ago.

Purty, ain't it? Thanks IGN

I'm rather enjoying it despite some very serious flaws, including some frustratingly obvious work-flow design errors (such as the lack of an incremental "undo" in the fleet configuration interface).

When I picked it up, I expected a "Homeworld-esque" space-based RTS, which this is NOT. The scale of the game is smaller, and really, it has a lot more in common with one of my all time favs, Independence War. Very simulation-oriented, very detailed tactical combat. The difference being that I-War is played primarily from the 1st person and is faster paced (to oversimplify things). They're both really HARD. But also very satisfying to the simulation junky. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who played I-War with a ridiculous joystick in "real physics mode."


Finally, and perhaps the coolest thing, the game ships with a full suite of mod tools. If you can figure them out, it's pretty neat. Extremely detailed. I'm currently working on my very own little mission, mostly because you can create your own solar system! God complex, anyone?

Anyway, pretty cool space-based tactics game from a small studio in Hungary.

If you want to read a real review of this game, IGN has one that I largely agree with, other than the comment about crashes. It hasn't crashed once on me.

Posted by SunSword at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2005

SETI@Home for games?

I have this wacky idea -- well, I have lots of those -- but this one felt like maybe it wanted to be blogged.

I'm toying around with the idea that complex mathematical problems could be solved through iteration by utilizing specific mechanics in games.

Obviously, this isn't a direct correlation to SETI@Home, but it would be using distributed computing for a purpose beyond the owner's original intent (voluntarily).

Now, I realize this is purely academic and in therefore may bore the crap out of the gamer in you, but for some reason I keep returning to the idea.

Why? Well, we have millions of people around the world playing online games, making all kinds of decisions and trying all kinds of wacky, unexpected actions inside the game experience to solve problems. And while brute force isn't always the best way to solve complex problems, it certainly is a legitimate one. However, the challenge of brute forcing really complex problems is that you have to make sure your algorithms attempt all the possible variations, or at least the most likely ones. The appeal of using humans as the source of effort is that they are somewhat unpredicatable and may try variations that no one else would.

Now, as anyone who knows me will point out, I'm not a mathematician, but for whatever reason, my brain is telling me to check this out.

Would it be cool to players if they knew that their choices in taking down the dragon in a raid also found the solution to a rare genetic disease?

Maybe not, but would they even have to know?

Has anyone ever heard of such an idea? I'm going to research it tomorrow, but I know there are lots of people out there smarter than I am, or who may have already heard of such a thing. Feel free to let me know!

Posted by SunSword at 12:26 AM | Comments (1)

May 22, 2005

Games update

Games I'm currently playing: (in order of current interest)

* FarCry (PC): Fired it up this weekend, can't seem to put it down!
* God of War (PS2): Only reason I haven't finished is that I'm never in my bedroom when I'm awake...
* Wipeout Pure (PSP): I don't like the position of the PSP's analog thumpad, and it's preventing me from using it for anything but a movie viewer...unfortunately, I have a great big HD TV to do that with...
* WoW (PC): Current Character LvL 22 Mage (bored out of my mind). I'm still playing for other reasons, but certainly not because I'm having fun.
* Lego Star Wars (GBA): eh
* Fight Night Round 2 (Xbox): Never seem to want to use my TV for gaming...I'm 23-0 in career mode, have been since X-mas.
* X-men RPG (Xbox): (forget the name), 3/4 through, think I lost interest

Games I've recently finished:
* Half-life 2
* Is that it?? Stupid WoW...

Games I'm ready to play:
* KOTOR II
* Guild Wars (Played the beta, but might as well play the release to check it for differnces)
* Time Splitters
* Burn Out (still haven't gotten around to this one, other than in the kiosks at work ;) )
* Swat IV
* Jade Empire (sorta...)
* Empire Earth II

Posted by SunSword at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2005

I finally bought a PS2...

Just so I could play God of War. Isn't that sad? Now I have 4 consoles. Not counting our 2 gameboys, 1 gameboy color, 1 gameboy advanced SP, and a Nintendo DS. Wee. And just think, the NextGen consoles are right around the corner...

So far, God of War rocks. SS out.

Posted by SunSword at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2005

Where hast thou been, o SunSword?

Well, I've finally gotten around to playing two of last years biggest games, WoW and Half-life 2.

I managed to resist playing WoW until last week. Kim tried it out immediately, got to level 20 or so, and then got frustrated and stopped playing because she wanted me to play too.

Honestly, I had very little interest in playing, and actually I still do. Nonetheless, I now have a 15th level Tauren Hunter named "Tumult," and I'm still too far behind Kim to make partying worthwhile (because of the XP penalty).

So, why am I playing? Well, for two reasons. First, Kim really seemed to be enjoying herself, and how could I come between my wife and her computerized entertainment? Second, because of its popularity, WoW has become the measuring stick against which everyone seems to be measuring MMOGs these days, particularly my bosses...and their bosses...and so on. Which is great! I mean, at least they're playing an MMOG, right? And I get to be amused when people are astonished that WoW hasn't had any significant impact on UO.

I'm of two minds about WoW, which is good, because up until now, I've been of ONE mind about EQ-style MMOGs...I don't like them. They bore me. I guess I did all of my grinding in text MUDs during my college years, but *yawn*. Please.

During the 3D MMOG days, I've spent my time playing lots of great first-person shooters, traditional RPGs, and all kinds of other games, some online, some console and some PC. During that time, I've tried just about every MMOG that's come out, including ones you probably haven't even heard of, but between the quality issues and the lack of good core game-play, most of MMOGs have been nothing more than lackluster rehashes of text MUDs. I'm still of that mind about WoW. Actually, I did play it when it first came out, I got to level 5 and thought to myself, "Yup... I know how this ends." Kim got tired of me bitching almost immediately. So I gave her the account.

Anyway, I decided to give it a concerted effort and ignore my misgivings this time. At first, the second experience was almost identical. Fedex quest. Kill quest. Walk up to bad guy. Press 2 until dead. Loot. Rinse, wash, repeat. Level up. Buy skills. Update EQ. Gripe, gripe, gripe. BAH. And somewhere around level 6, at the end of my first session, I had that viceral MMO Gamer Addict MOMENT. I was thinking to myself, "Man I hate this game, I'm quitting for the night. Oh wait...I'm almost level 7. Maybe just another 15 minutes..." OH DAMN. That was it. I could swear my right eye started twitching. Kim just laughed at me.

The second perspective I have on WoW goes something like this: While the moment-to-moment activity of the game leaves me wanting to punch the screen (or fall asleep), the pacing of the game so far is pretty damned good. It's ramping up slowly enough, and the world design is so good, I'm actually enjoying the exploration and achievement factors of the game. If only it played like a good action game, I might actally enjoy the overall experience.

Speaking of which...Halflife 2. I used STEAM to d/l the game when it originally came out in...what, November? But neither my graphics card, nor my monitor were up to the challenge of H2. (Props to WoW for not making me deal with that issue.) There was just waaay too much ghosting on the NEC 19" LCD monitor Kim got me last year and the Geforce MX 400 that came with my Dell just passed out at the thought of running H2. I can never seem to force myself to drop cash on a top-of-the-line video card. And I still can't.

So last week, I did a little homework and then hit Pricewatch.com and ordered a Hyundai 19" L90D+ from Newegg.com. I used Newegg because they were near the lowest price and I had at least HEARD of them, is it CGW that always refers to them in their hardware recommendations? I can't remember.

Anyway, I got the monitor. It's great! Except it has one of the feared DEAD PIXELS, which really is annoying. Luckily, Hyundai's service center is in San Jose (another great benefit of living in Silicon Valley!), so I'm going to swap it out this week. Anyway, no ghosting at all. Very nice. Crappy install software/setup, but who really cares? I had nicer cables in my hardware stash anyway.

And so...you're going to give me a hard time about this I know, I was at BestBuy on Sunday and picked up an AGP GeForce FX 5700 VE for like...$90. 256MB of DDR RAM, decent shader support, DX9...for less than $100! See what I mean about me and video cards?

Anyway, yeah, not bleeding edge, but perfectly capable of handling H2. And man, is that a great game. I just wish they'd hand me the gun from the get-go. No one likes creeping around trying not to get killed. If you're not sure, just try the Banner levels of The HULK.

So, I'm sure you're wondering why, if I play shooters, I have such a crappy setup these days? Well, since I've become a dad, I've been doing a lot more hanging out with the family, and less of what I'm doing right now. And if I do have time to game, it's a console game so I can still be near/with the family. A fine trade-off if I do say so myself.

What else have I been up to? Spending lots of quality time with the Kids. I'm a panelist this week at "future" conference. I'll post more about that tomorrow.

Posted by SunSword at 02:36 AM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2004

There's sooo much that I don't post here.

I tend to err on the side of caution with my blog, particularly with regards to games and the game industry because as a Producer at EA, what I say carries certain implications. I often find myself staring at some rant or thoughtful post with the mouse hovering over the "publish" button. Like today.

I usually hit cancel. It's feels a bit like giving a speech with one hand covering my mouth.

So, instead of actually commenting, I'm just going to list the several items I've written about today and then cancelled:

* IPY
* WoW & EQ2 and the lack of interesting MMOs to play
* All the speculation about "the secret UO project"

BAH.

So anyway, since I'm not actually going to express any opinions on these matters, I might as well link to some people who might. I'm updating my links with some thoughtful folks, Lum and Ubiq.

Posted by SunSword at 11:32 PM | Comments (2)

December 07, 2004

I suppose my tastes have changed

It's been a while since I took the old Bartle's Test, and while I'm not a big advocate of the system, it can be an interesting platform for discussion...anyway, here's where I stand these days:


Thanks for taking the test. You are person number 289025 to take it.

Your type is: KEA. 3% of respondents so far fall into that type.

The numbers below represent percentage of how many times you selected a given suite when given the chance. Since there are 15 questions for each suite out of 30 total, the number will add up to 200%. 50% thus means average for each suite, and 100% is the maximum score.

Your answers were split as follows:
Killer 73%
Explorer 73%
Achiever 46%
Socializer 6%

Perhaps that's why I play all those FPS games...or maybe it's a meaningless silly test that changes depending on my mood...hmmm?

Posted by SunSword at 12:29 AM | Comments (1)

October 07, 2004

I'm in China!

I'm at China Joy! I've been in Shanghai since Monday.

China Joy has been fantastic, and EA had a huge display as usual. I was very suprised by the huge number games being developed for china, and the speed with which the Chinese game industry has taken off. In addition to checking out a lot of the online games for the Chinese market I've also been talking with different game developers about the industry and their plans.

It's been a lot of hard work, but luckily it's also been a lot of great food. When I get done here, I'm headed straight for Tokyo!

Jet-set SunSword!

Posted by SunSword at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2004

I fell off the wagon...

Since my weekend was spent putting my A/V setup together in the living room, I made the mistake of "testing" out my X-box to see how the higher res options work. I think I got Knights of the Old Republic for X-mas, but I had only put 4 hours into it before I got side-tracked...until yesterday. 14 hours later... WOW. What a good game. Sure, the console controller is a bit cumbersome for an RPG, but that's about my only complaint. The D20 combat rules are great and the dialogue is out of this world. I can't wait to play through on the dark side...of course, I'm nowhere near finished my first run-through.

Ah well, back to work tomorrow. I probably won't see my X-box again until the weekend...

Posted by SunSword at 12:33 AM | Comments (6)

May 10, 2004

In game economies are not REAL economies

I was recently quoted in Wired News in an article focusing on economies in virtual worlds. Obviously, there's been plenty of discussion regarding the topic, which is handy PR, but what we should really focus is the relevant issue: FUN.

I think the interviewer was a little frustrated when I didn't provide him with some real data about UO, but my reason for not doing is that it is extremely difficult to provide enough information about a game's economy for anyone to be able to come to real conclusions about whether it is "working" or not.

For example, in the SWG article, many people were initially upset about the distribution of wealth in one of the charts. Ultimately, Raph or someone else pointed out that a large number of the accounts on the "poor" end of the chart were trial accounts that never converted into full-time play. That's just one example of how difficult it is to present the whole picture. For example, so what if 99% of the wealth is held by 2% of the players? What if you only had to be in the bottom 95% of all players to be able to have fun?

My argument is that it's far more useful to analyze what parts of the game players are enjoying or not enjoying, and then make correlations to what's happening in the economy. Then you can make informed changes. This isn't counter to what Koster was saying at all. I just think the people that like to research in-game economies tend to focus on the wrong end of the equation.

Posted by SunSword at 05:23 PM | Comments (4)

February 29, 2004

My new Tribes?

I've been playing the UT2004 demo over the weekend. I'm really enjoying it. It's seems well balanced. In particular, I like the "Onslaught Mode" where each team tries to protect their base by controlling nodes on the map. At first, I was just running around getting familiar with the weapons and map, but after a while, I settled down and found a strategy that seemed to work pretty well. There's one node on the map that can be critical and is out of the way. I spend mnost of my time defending that node and it generally keeps me at the top of the scoreboard. Good stuff.

Also, it runs smooth as glass on my machine, which is about a year old and for some reason still has a GeForce4 MX (I know...stop groaning). Most games are memory bound when it comes to performance these days, so I haven't really run into issues, other than the fact that I can turn all the bells and whistles on. I'll get around to upgrading it one day...you know, in all the free time I have between running UO, spending time with my toddler (UT2k4 happens at nap time), hanging out with Kim and oh yeah... moving to California.

Posted by SunSword at 10:34 PM | Comments (2)

August 24, 2003

UXO Announced!

The UXO Premier event was a blast! I got to meet a lot of long time players for the first time, and we finally got to chat openly about UO's new sister product that Stellerex, Calandryll and others have been working on for the last 18 months. Checkout the new website at http://uxo.ea.com!

Posted by SunSword at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)