Oh man Second Life's opendedness reminds me of Ultima Online. Yet at the same time it shows me some of the differences my current MMO has compared to UO. The professions in WoW are largely secondary. Characters are forced to quest and kill monsters to gain experience points in order to level up. Without leveling up it can't be possible to train up professions beyond basic levels.
In UO, your character did whatever you made it do. It was easily possible to make character's that never left the town. In fact, since players had a limited number of training points to distribute, mixing trade skills with combat skills was foolhardy. It was very common for people to create characters specifically as merchants.
In WoW, you MUST fight against monsters and you are limited to only two primary trade skills. This is kind of a let-down compared to UO, especially since the craftable items and gear are typically substandard to quest rewards.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
It's a game, not a job man.
Another chapter in the (mis)adventures of my paladin.
During my early days of WoW, before I started the "honor grind" as it was known, I attemped to raid dungeons, rather than fight enemy players. One thing quickly became apparrent: people took (and still take) WoW waaaaaay too seriously. The following stories are taken from the two guilds (an association of players with the typical intention of raiding computer-controlled dungeons).
The first guild required me to download modifications to the game, such as the ability to see all 39 other team member's life bars, rather than the other 4 in my group. Another such download was a calendar that you had to "sign up" for raids and "hope" to be accepted. People would review your gear, your talent spec (all character classes have 3 talent trees involving various aspects of the character. My Paladin, for example, could spend talent points in the Holy skill tree to improve healing aspects, Protection to improve defensive capabilities, or Retribution to enhance offensive capabilities), and how long you had been playing.
If you were declined, you were told to play more, get better gear, or choose a different talent spec to benefit the entire guild. This game isn't free; people play about $15 a month to play. And here comes someone else telling you to spend YOUR $15 dollars differently if you wanted to play the game with them. Frankly, what a bunch of bull&%*^.
After that guild, I attemped to join another. I was asked to "fill out an application" for the guild. That's right; I needed a resume to participate in an online video game. That wasn't the worst part either. The raid organizer was very biased towards my class, seeing it as nothing other than a "heal-bitch class" as the term came to be known. If a monster dropped a piece of gear you could use, you had to see if you had enough "currency points" within the guild to "afford" the item, provided you were allowed to bid on it in the first place.
I also have to say that I have quit jobs before due to blood-pressure from obnoxious bosses, but the organizer gave the absolute worst tongue lashes I have ever heard. Profanity, insults, threats, beratings in giuld channel chat and over headsets or in private channels where she/he could scream at you. I timed him/her, beratings were over fifteen minutes.
Was this a job or a game? What the Hell....?" I told myself.
After all this I walked away from Player vs Environment (PvE) and focused on Player vs Player (PvP).
During my early days of WoW, before I started the "honor grind" as it was known, I attemped to raid dungeons, rather than fight enemy players. One thing quickly became apparrent: people took (and still take) WoW waaaaaay too seriously. The following stories are taken from the two guilds (an association of players with the typical intention of raiding computer-controlled dungeons).
The first guild required me to download modifications to the game, such as the ability to see all 39 other team member's life bars, rather than the other 4 in my group. Another such download was a calendar that you had to "sign up" for raids and "hope" to be accepted. People would review your gear, your talent spec (all character classes have 3 talent trees involving various aspects of the character. My Paladin, for example, could spend talent points in the Holy skill tree to improve healing aspects, Protection to improve defensive capabilities, or Retribution to enhance offensive capabilities), and how long you had been playing.
If you were declined, you were told to play more, get better gear, or choose a different talent spec to benefit the entire guild. This game isn't free; people play about $15 a month to play. And here comes someone else telling you to spend YOUR $15 dollars differently if you wanted to play the game with them. Frankly, what a bunch of bull&%*^.
After that guild, I attemped to join another. I was asked to "fill out an application" for the guild. That's right; I needed a resume to participate in an online video game. That wasn't the worst part either. The raid organizer was very biased towards my class, seeing it as nothing other than a "heal-bitch class" as the term came to be known. If a monster dropped a piece of gear you could use, you had to see if you had enough "currency points" within the guild to "afford" the item, provided you were allowed to bid on it in the first place.
I also have to say that I have quit jobs before due to blood-pressure from obnoxious bosses, but the organizer gave the absolute worst tongue lashes I have ever heard. Profanity, insults, threats, beratings in giuld channel chat and over headsets or in private channels where she/he could scream at you. I timed him/her, beratings were over fifteen minutes.
Was this a job or a game? What the Hell....?" I told myself.
After all this I walked away from Player vs Environment (PvE) and focused on Player vs Player (PvP).
Soapbox hits a homerun in regards to WoW
I recently read through that soapbox article. Man oh man, did that thing nail WoW.
I played World of Warcraft since its beta, and I remember keenly the honor rank system. Killing enemy players and participating in battlegrounds based on popular themes such as capture-the-flag and king-of-the-hill earned you honor points.
At first, the system wasn't so hard. You had to wait a week for your honor to calculate your rank. There were caveats to ranks, such as a private (and later knight) tabard you could wear to prove your rank, an insignia that could free you from being stunned or paralyzed, weapons and armour sets as well.
But the system was skewed towards who had the most time. It didn't matter how good you were; you still received the same honor for victory. This rewarded not skill, but time, as your rank was determined by how much honor you were ahead or below the other ranks. There were people who dedicated their entire spare time only to see they lost rank.
That wasn't the only problem; there could only be one rank 14 (Grand Marshal for the Alliance, High Warlord for the Horde). Being rank 14 gave the recipient access to a very powerful, top-end weapon. But people could remain rank 14 and antagonize other players striving to reach follow suit. There was no reason to remain rank 14; you forever had Grand Marshal or High Warlord added to your name and your weapon could never be taken unles you yourself made the decision to discard it.
In the end, time does not neccessarily indicate skill. Furthermore, alot of people wasted good money and time striving to reach something out of their reach and had nothing for it but bitter memories.
I played World of Warcraft since its beta, and I remember keenly the honor rank system. Killing enemy players and participating in battlegrounds based on popular themes such as capture-the-flag and king-of-the-hill earned you honor points.
At first, the system wasn't so hard. You had to wait a week for your honor to calculate your rank. There were caveats to ranks, such as a private (and later knight) tabard you could wear to prove your rank, an insignia that could free you from being stunned or paralyzed, weapons and armour sets as well.
But the system was skewed towards who had the most time. It didn't matter how good you were; you still received the same honor for victory. This rewarded not skill, but time, as your rank was determined by how much honor you were ahead or below the other ranks. There were people who dedicated their entire spare time only to see they lost rank.
That wasn't the only problem; there could only be one rank 14 (Grand Marshal for the Alliance, High Warlord for the Horde). Being rank 14 gave the recipient access to a very powerful, top-end weapon. But people could remain rank 14 and antagonize other players striving to reach follow suit. There was no reason to remain rank 14; you forever had Grand Marshal or High Warlord added to your name and your weapon could never be taken unles you yourself made the decision to discard it.
In the end, time does not neccessarily indicate skill. Furthermore, alot of people wasted good money and time striving to reach something out of their reach and had nothing for it but bitter memories.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Missed Days and Online Courses
Something has been on my mind lately. Is it possible to have a "missed" day with online courses?
I remember the day and age of staying home and having to make the work up later. That dirverged into stay home and have a sibling or class mate drop the work off. Then that became "it's your responsibility to make up for any days you miss".
Anyways, what made me wonder is can an online course have a missed day? I thin back to the flood we had, and how supposedly some students still have homework to do since their course was online.
This makes me wonder what happens if there is a legitimate reason for not participating. Is the student held responsible since he/she merely needs an internet capcable computer or can exceptions be made?
I remember the day and age of staying home and having to make the work up later. That dirverged into stay home and have a sibling or class mate drop the work off. Then that became "it's your responsibility to make up for any days you miss".
Anyways, what made me wonder is can an online course have a missed day? I thin back to the flood we had, and how supposedly some students still have homework to do since their course was online.
This makes me wonder what happens if there is a legitimate reason for not participating. Is the student held responsible since he/she merely needs an internet capcable computer or can exceptions be made?
What do we do about our privacy?
I ran across an interesting facet of online profiles. People can access your information freely. Even if you have your profile on private, they can often become friends with other people that know you, or other people who are your online friend.
What happens if they casually happen to mention your profile and innocently inquire personal information from them? What happens if someone creates an alternate identity just to try to get close to you?
It's a situation where you have to make sure those people you have set to "friend" are really trustworthy.
What happens if they casually happen to mention your profile and innocently inquire personal information from them? What happens if someone creates an alternate identity just to try to get close to you?
It's a situation where you have to make sure those people you have set to "friend" are really trustworthy.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Social Bookmarking
It's interesting to see social bookmarking sites. I can attest to saving lots of bookmarks. Often times, my list gets waaaaay to big and I find myself creating folders or deleting stuff. Other, worse times, I lose some neat stuff to computer crashes or an overzealous internet security person who regulary deletes browser history, temporary files, and even bookmarks I may set up.
The pages I have could be mired in over a thousand search results. At times like this expletives would run from my mouth like a waterfall, as I lament the loss of a neat little gem of info.
At least, if I understand social bookmark sites, I could still find stuff I am interested in even through a computer crash or deleted PC bookmarks.
The pages I have could be mired in over a thousand search results. At times like this expletives would run from my mouth like a waterfall, as I lament the loss of a neat little gem of info.
At least, if I understand social bookmark sites, I could still find stuff I am interested in even through a computer crash or deleted PC bookmarks.
Pretty cool Congress
I just have to say that it's pretty cool to see those photos of Congress. It's really cool to get this peek into the past. It's kinda like an online museum, except we get free admission and leisure of time.
It's really neat to see some of these war photos, historical people, and even historical photos of some of America's quintessial pastimes like baseball.
Needless to say, I will be devoting some time to look at these.
It's really neat to see some of these war photos, historical people, and even historical photos of some of America's quintessial pastimes like baseball.
Needless to say, I will be devoting some time to look at these.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)