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Your threshold for success seems to be a bit high. Many of these "unsuccessful" games have decent player bases and are cash flow positive. I understand why the perspective of a consumer is to appreciate big productions taking big risks. If I had my way, that's exactly the type of thing that...

I'm more of an optimist. It's good to see a lot of these dudes from the older generation going to kickstarter and doing their own things. If they fail then they'll simply be hoist by their own petards.

Players have different expectations. Specific designs part of successful games have been established as part of the genre. That doesn't mean they are necessary, but it does mean that the reception to those ideas from players, the designers, and the people with the money will be different. Not to...

The designers didn't have super-duper powers of foresight and an 18 wisdom score. It was a matter of the gaming landscape at the time and the game "genes" they had inherited from the previous generation. As time goes on, certain designs become a given part of a genre until someone comes along to...

Longer... it was supposed to have been done in 2008. If I remember right, they started development with one engine and switched to another (AOC) a couple years later.

The local AMC had an event showing all three of the movies. Got plastered with a bunch of other fans, it was a good time. I'm really glad I didn't watch any previews or know anything about World's End though. The trailers would have fucked it up for me.

XP boost and some skins which were apparently taken away at one point after being legitimately obtained in game. People seem pissed about it. Massacring servers full of newbies could be considered a perk if you're into that.

This game is f2p now. It's fun for a week or so.

Schliessen just closes the page

I get this when I click that link: Square has definitely boned up a few things about this process.

They could have handled this shit a lot better. Lots of people are confused about it.

The preorder code is for the 24th (I think... whenever the preorder session starts). You have to go get a beta code to play right now if you haven't played in a previous beta. edit:https://secure.square-enix.com/accou...betatop?rgn=na

There's some sort of distinction between 'harder' and 'more technically demanding' that I can't find the words to properly articulate. Edit: The notion that a time limit necessarily makes any encounter realistically more difficult is a bit goofy though. It depends on implementation. I said...

Time limits can also create a sense of urgency and increase the perceived difficulty of encounters without actually making fights harder. Related, time scores be used as a factor for performance-contingent rewards, impacting motivation and behavior in different ways than task-contingent rewards.

No designer is really a fan of enrage timers for every encounter. It's a band-aid but something of a necessary evil with the typical design. Restricting unintended gameplay is a fine line to walk - few people doubt the awesomeness of rare hunting in UO or fd pulling in EQ, and neither was...

Making difficult enemy AI is almost trivial. The hard parts of designing "good" AI are exposing the decision making of NPCs to players, providing meaningful ways to influence that behavior, and allowing for interesting gameplay opportunities as a result of that behavior.

Smedly is known for his hyperbole and rhetoric. However, I didn't take his agreement to suggest that he believes open world pvp is the only way to have a meaningful sandbox game. If he actually believes that... well it's dumb for the same reason many categorical statements are dumb. Using...

Who said that? He's dumb. Or you are misinterpreting his stance. No sane designer would completely agree with that statement.

Thing about EQ and UO is that they were basically developed concurrently. There was enough of a gap between EQ and UO that some lessons could be learned about launching an MMO, but it's not as if they could have ever gone back to the drawing board. Also, the basic mechanics of EQ weren't...

What makes you think the language option is unilateral?

I've never played this game, but know a few folks who have. They say it's hard as fuck to figure out what to do, the interface is incredibly unintuitive, and the combat couldn't possibly be worse. Also, while the community is generally friendly, they don't have a lot of tolerance for people who...

When you're ready to move out of the safe zone, kill hags, ice elementals (they're villains too), arctic bears, and giants. If you're just starting, you can spend some time in the sewers of any major city to get started with a bunch of leather... enough to take you to hardened by the time you...

The difficulty of encounters scales extremely unevenly not only between the classes, but also across level ranges. Make sure you try stuff at multiple levels (and with a live character). Or don't bother balancing at all, and just let Cryptic do it for you (assuming you aren't doing anything...

Wasted resources, less attachment to avatar, increased likelihood for players to get bored if they run out of content, ensuring the game is engaging, economy control. Why does the leveling effort matter at all? If we started at level 60 would we feel the same investment in our characters and the...

It's not just MMOs today. Players and devs alike have lamented this behavior across muds and, to a lesser extent, tabletop games, too. The difference in tabletop is that you are more likely to congregate with like-minded individuals. If you give people a goal (reaching the top level is...

Hmm, that's the second time I've seen Kaldana mentioned. I'll have to give it a try.

I'd suggestAlter Aeon(alteraeon.com:3000). It has a strong diku feel while being a more accessible than most muds. They also have aclientyou can download. Godwars2(godwars2.org:3000) if you're feeling more adventurous. The interface can be a bitch for some. It's coordinate-based (no rooms)...

The limitations of the foundry are a bummer. I'm disappointed with the resource restrictions (big maps are hard to do well) and lack of custom encounter behavior. You can still do some cool stuff though.

(1. tintin++; 2. mushclient GW2 plugin; 3. mushclient Aardwolf plugin) Mushclient, tintin++ (cli), atlantis (mac), mudlet, blowtorch (android), and zmud/cmud are the "heavy hitters" of the mud client world. Kavir (creator of GodWars) a MSDP GUI plugin for Mudlet and Mushclient and a snippet...

Yeah, I know it's been around for a long time. I believe it has also been under steady development over the years and isn't even considered diku anymore from code point of view. Never gave it a try though.

The PvE might keep you entertained for a couple weeks. Monsters can be pretty mean if you aren't geared or have low stats or don't have a party, but there's nothing challenging about the AI. Despite many heralding it as a sandbox game, you'll find more prefabricated plastic toys than sand. If...

I think it's funny you guys are still using CLIs. Btw, zmud/cmud development is dead. Starting up a new generic diku is a terrible idea though if you're serious about making a game and getting players to enjoy it. The community is incredibly small and caustic. If you're making a roleplaying...

Stupid idea. The board really doesn't need such heavy hand-holding. Tossing out infractions on top of that is beyond retarded. Let the discussions run their courses. If someone is being an idiot then shout him down, neg him, and talk about something else. Ignore function is always there if...

Leashing and maximum number of mobs allowed to aggro on one person were changed - it's much easier to gather and kill huge packs of mobs now. Some of you may remember the really weird aggro with the giant packs of tiny mobs going wild in places like Necromancer's Tomb. That kind of thing doesn't...

I want more powers and to have more slots for powers. The combat in this game was VERY reminiscent of a more actiony CoH - not too surprising considering its pedigree. It's a solid game but I was hoping for more complexity. I might write a couple short campaigns for it. As a control wizard...

Lancer, warrior, and archer are all strong picks. Either healer works, although general consensus deems mystic superior.

If you're gonna shill, at least have some pride and put a little work into it ffs.

Edit: BTW, Foundry testing is separate from the beta weekend program.

Yeah, I definitely understand the problems with the previous system. It just feels more elegant to get better at the stuff you practice. The new system will encourage people to go find the most efficient mob to grind prowess from safely and funnel their points into whatever they want to level...