mittentacular, by mittens
There are, as of my last counting, approximately a <i>gazillion</i> journalistic locales which offer game reviews on the internet or in print. There are not, to my knowledge, any columns which analyze a game mechanic within the context in which it appears along with detailing what is actually <i>fun</i> about the mechanic, and how it could be improved or exploited in the future. This particular edition of Mechanics will do none of that.
Majoring in English in college meant two things: I read a lot and I talked about what I read a lot. There is nothing more self-indulgent and pompous than a bunch of people sitting around a classroom talking about books in the setting of higher education. College students and, more to the point, English majors come up with some of the most absurd talking points based on their interpretations of a given text that it all becomes laughable at some points. I’m talking discussion matter along the lines of absurdity if I was to say that <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_the_Big_Red_Dog”>Clifford the Big Red Dog</a>’s existence merely served as a metaphor for the presence of communist Russia in the global sociopolitical scene and all of the people he comes in contact with in Norman Bridwell’s line of children books are all analogous to various world political figures throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Of course such a theory is absolutely ridiculous, but when intellectuals are asked to find a deeper meaning in a classical text there are instances of such crackpot theories.
There are, however, very legitimate techniques from <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_criticism”>literary criticism</a> (and <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Criticism”>new criticism</a>, more specifically) that can be brought over to the gaming industry in a very loose sense. Something like <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_fallacy”>intentional fallacy</a> can be interpreted as the experience a player of a video game takes from his time with a given title that is competely separated from any intended experience on the behalf of the game developer. The concept of a <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_reading”>close reading</a> is a far more applicable one as far as this column is concerned: the analysis of a very specific aspect of a game that can be used as a means to enhance a gamer’s or game designer’s understanding of a game as a whole.
This all sounds pompous on paper and may actually be <i>more</i> pompous in practice but the next edition of this column will be a test in analyzing a game mechanic from a game that is popular now, popular eight years ago, or never popular. I won’t be going heavy-handed down the aisle with any more literary criticism stuff in the future (unless, strangely, that kind of thing is desired) so much as I’ll be talking about how a game like <i>Braid</i> uses time manipulation to make gamers alter their perception of what initially appeared like a very simplistic, beautiful 2D world. Or, maybe, how the cover mechanics that first-person shooter gamers have been subconsciously applying for decades works in <i>Company of Heroes</i> and how that will alter the future of the real-time strategy genre. More importantly, though, why are these two example designs fun? Is it because Braid makes the people who play it feel smarter? Is it because the cover mechanic offers more for an already-overwhelmed RTS player to manage?
The real goal of this column, though, is to make game developers and gamers try to think more critically about the games they play beyond the “Well, it’s a seven-point-five out of ten” or “Damn, did you see that guy’s leg fly past me?” reactions. Also, I’ll be holding myself to a word count (!). Pinky swear. Read more
Developers Focus on Gold Selling
The hot topic of the week is online gold and Real Money Trading (RMT). Players are buying in-game cash, levels and gear and there is no shortage of companies now happy to supply them, despite serious attempts by game producers to gain control of the issue.
It can be difficult to keep up conversations taking place on blogs instead of newsgroups and message boards, so here’s a round-up of the recent discussion, with a brief quote to give you a taste of the post.
Mark Jacobs (Mythic Entertainment) started things off with this post on his blog: Online Games are a Niche Market:
A banning we will go, a banning we will go. Heave ho off the servers yo, a banning we will go!
I hate gold sellers/spammers. No, that’s not strong enough, let me try again. I HATE GOLD SELLERS WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. Ah, that’s better. Now, why do I hate them you may ask? I hate them for a number of reasons, most of which have been detailed in various interviews I’ve done over the years. And now that they have taken their obnoxiousness to new levels with gold service spamming, I HATE GOLD SPAMMERS EVEN MORE NOW THAN EVER BEFORE.
Syp the Engineer kicked the ball into play with his response on Waaagh! A Warhammer Online Blog:
The Golden Rule
The problem doesn’t lie with the gold selling companies — they suck, yes, and they’re going against the EUALA, yes, but they’re providing a service that is in demand. Let’s re-read that sentence, okay? They’re providing a service that’s in demand. If the potential for pay is high enough, shadowy forces will weigh that against the risk and take their chances. The problem lies with Mike, and people like him. People who have no sense of morality or honor in online games. People who go ahead and buy gold to be instantly gratified, and a lesser extent, friends that see them do this and say nothing.
Tobold posts a surprisingly reasoned response to Mark and Syp on his MMORPG Blog:
WAR and RMT
Syp is right in saying that the problem of gold selling is the demand of gold buyers. But his solution is wrong, because he short-sightedly attributes the demand to notions of “morality or honor”, which is just plain silly. Player’s demand for gold is simply a function of how grindy it is to get gold, and what you need that gold for. And that are all questions of game design. It is a lot easier to solve the problem with good game design than to start a successful crusade to stop people from cheating in video games. Google has 80 million hits in a search for “cheats”, most of which are about video games, that isn’t something we can make go away if we all just hold hands and wish for it very, very strongly.
Michael Zenke of MMOG Nation weighs in with his view of the real problem:
On WAR, RMT, and Goldspammers
The truth, though, is that people wanking about the dishonor of goldbuyers and the scourge of goldsellers should really put it back in their pants. For better or worse goldselling is something that’s … well, I’ll say it outright: in my mind it’s not an issue that players have to worry about anymore. Every game I can think of has done their best to deal with goldfarming and spammers at this point. Every one. It’s 2008, and if you are still getting spammed by goldfarmers in-game it’s becuase the game developers want you to be. It’s as simple as that.
Scott Jennings (author of Massively Multiplayer Games for Dummies) puts forward a detailed solution based on treating RMT as vice on Broken Toys:
How To Stop Gold Farming
However, my belief - and this may well be false - is that enlightened self-interest does in fact work, and given the choice between patronizing other players and bad actors for RMT sales, players will patronize other players.
And that, I believe, would completely devastate the third party markets because there was no financial interest for that free market to develop external to the game.
Chris F of I HAS PC weighs in with a different solution:
$0 DOWN, $199/MONTH 2.3% FINANCING
What we need is some sort of solution. An obvious one, but one I haven’t seen or heard much about (I don’t read every blog and website out there, so sorry if it has) is the simplest one of all. Make gold bind on pickup. Eliminate it from the equation altogether. How can we eliminate gold changing hands, without eliminating item trading? Enter the lovely world of leasing.
Matt (Sparkplay Media) writes about their blind auction and arbitage system on his blog, The Forge:
Dual Currencies in MMOs
At Sparkplay, we’re tentatively planning to restrict credit transfers as well as have the currency exchange (blind auction) that Iron Realms has, and I’m reasonably confident it will keep professional gold farmers out of the game. I firmly believe that gold farming isn’t the problem anyway - it’s the behavior of many of the pro gold farmers that’s the problem. Anyone throwing ‘morality’ out there as an indictment against gold farming is not to be taken seriously on the matter in my book, but it’s certainly legitimate to find being spammed with gold ads obnoxious as hell.
Will the next generation see the end of the gold spam? Certainly it seems to be a priority with the developers of the moment.
Posted by Taymar
on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.
Fiesta Online – Everyone is invited to play the open beta!
Hamburg, September 26th 2008 - Leading European MMOG publisher gamigo AG confirms,
that the European English version of Fiesta Online goes into open beta today. After
a successful closed beta period with a limited number of testers, now everyone who registers
at the official Homepage http://fiesta.gamigo.com/ can immediately download the
client and start playing.
A vibrant community is looking for new members
In Fiesta Online thousands of players can discover a colorful and breathing world full of
adventure. Together they complete missions, hunt for monsters or take part in epic
Kingdom Quests. But what makes Fiesta really special are many useful community
features. The game is not just about training the character in battle, but finding new
friends and spending time with them as well.
But not just its features separate Fiesta from the competition. Great cell shaded
characters and detailed surroundings are making the game a welcome diversion from
usual MMORPGs. Its unique look and thought-out features already made Fiesta a big hit
in Asia and the USA. After the official launch of the German version two months ago, now
players from all over Europe can join the growing community and discover big treasures
and even bigger friendships.
Now free for all!
“We want to thank all participators of the closed beta, who really helped us setting the
game up for a bigger audience” says Elmar Kofler, Product Manager of Fiesta Online.
“Now we are excited to offer the game to all players who want to experience the
fascinating world of Fiesta and help us to polish the game even further for its final
release.”
gamigo invites all interested players to go to http://fiesta.gamigo.com/ to sign up and
join the world of Fiesta Online. The official European version of Fiesta Online will be
released later this year. Like the beta, the final version can be downloaded and played
free of charge with no monthly fees.
Level Up Music Website Launched
One thing Level Up is really known for is how we use music in our marketing for the games that we publish here in the Philippines. For Ragnarok, we’ve had a bunch of bands and artists already - most notable was Kamikazee with their hit single “Chixilog”. For our sci-fi MMORPG, RF Online, we’ve had several rock stars compose songs like Grey Hounds, Loqui, and Razorback. It’s because of this that we’ve made a new website called “Level Up Music“. The Level Up Music website aims to serve as the primary portal of all of our music marketing efforts. You can watch MTVs, listen to MP3s, and read about the artists that compose music for our online games. It would be boring though to just launch the site with old songs so our Marketing Director, Jake San Diego, came up with a good idea to have a song that really speaks the local gamer language. We tapped Kevin Roy and he came up with the song we now know as “Ampfufu”.
Here’s the exclusive article that talks about how the song came about:
Who would have thought this hodgepodge of the worst day in the life of a gamer could lead to an MMO anthem?
Kevin Roy pens yet again another Level Up!-inspired song. And this time, the words ring true to the life that all average gamers lead. With scenarios worthy of a primetime sitcom, Kevin’s unfortunate hero starts his day with the excitement of an all-day leveling session. But as his day, or rather the song, progresses, his stay at the café turns out to be a gamer’s nightmare.
The song starts out sleepily, propelled by Kevin’s casual yawn. The narrative then takes place, as it paints a picture of your typical hardcore gamer. His day starts way after high noon, his idea of a nutritious meal being noodles in a styrofoam cup, his sole purpose for the day to own the virtual arena.
But Murphy’s Law suddenly kicks in, as he encounters his first stumbling block upon entering his favorite Internet café. He gets the worst PC in the shop, the worst possible seatmate, and of course, the worst possible lag.
This is the part where all gamers, MMO and casual players alike, can sing along in one massive shout out of “AMPFUFU!”
Kevin attests that the song was inspired by his own experiences as a gamer. He has allotted free days where his sole goal is to rule in PvP and farm to his heart’s content. Little glitches like enduring an unreliable connection and losing precious top-up credits are enough to cause his gamer temper to flare up, as he exclaims, “Amp!”.
AMPFUFU! is filled with gamespeak. The narrative is perfectly blended with terminology that all hardcore levelers have typed at one point in their virtual life. Scolding guildies with “Pasaway!” and self-proclamations of “Wafu!,” players can revel in this song that speaks in their own language.
So far, no other song can perfectly capture the grueling life of a gamer other than “AMPFUFU!” And for Kevin, this flagship song is his one big thank you to the virtual community that he has embraced and that has embraced him wholeheartedly.
I’d like to invite all of you to visit the Level Up Music Website! You can listen and watch the MTV of the newest gamer song that will take this country by storm - AMPFUFU! After you watch the video at the site, feel free to come back here to leave a comment and share what you think about the song.
By the way, I have an unplugged version of the song when Kevin Roy sang it at Mag:Net cafe when it was first being composed. I’ll post the video on my Youtube account and embed it here sometime today or tomorrow.
Cheers everyone! Ampf!
Ampfufu, Kevin Roy, Level Up Read more
Journal of Drew_Benton, by Drew_Benton
I’ve been trying to think of some “different” approaches to representing objects in classes. I began thinking about of the basic class members and functions that are normally implemented. For example, consider a simple player class that had such member variables as hitpoints, x, y, ammo, and function such as Move, Fire, Jump, etc… in those cases there is a strong mapping of variables and functions; they are explicitly defined. Interacting with the objects of that type just involves using the public functions. Pretty standard design.
So, with this new conceptual programming I am playing with things are setup like this: All objects derive from cEntity. The cEntity object has tow maps of values, strings and doubles. The cEntity class has API functions to Get, Set, Modfiy, or Remove attributes. The cEntity class also has private API functions that are invoked when those public API functions are used. Here is that class:
<!–STARTSCRIPT–><!–source lang=”cpp”–><div class=”source”><pre>
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>class</span> cEntity
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>private</span>:
CRITICAL_SECTION cs;
std::map<std::string, std::string> classStrings;
std::map<std::string, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span>> classNumbers;
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>protected</span>:
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> value);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> RemoveNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> ModifyNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> value, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> * outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> GetNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> & outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> SetString(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, std::string value);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> RemoveString(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> GetString(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, std::string & outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnSetNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> & value);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnRemoveNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnModifyNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> value, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> * outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnGetNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> & outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnSetString(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, std::string value);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnRemoveString(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnGetString(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, std::string & outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span>:
cEntity();
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> ~cEntity();
cEntity(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> cEntity & rhs);
cEntity & <span class=”cpp-keyword”>operator</span> =(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> cEntity & rhs);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> SetNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> value);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> RemoveNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> ModifyNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> value, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> * outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> GetNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> & outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> SetString(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, std::string value);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> RemoveString(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> GetString(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, std::string & outValue);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>void</span> Interact(cEntity * entity);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>virtual</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>void</span> Update(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> delta);
};
</pre></div><!–ENDSCRIPT–>
Now this class is still being worked on but that is the basics of it all. The Interact function is an interface function that represents one entity interacting with another. The update would represent real time “processing” of all entities, but is not used yet.
Here is an example use of this setup.
<!–STARTSCRIPT–><!–source lang=”cpp”–><div class=”source”><pre>
<span class=”cpp-directive”>#ifndef</span> ENTITY_H_
<span class=”cpp-directive”>#include</span> <span class=”cpp-literal”>”Entity.h”</span>
<span class=”cpp-directive”>#endif</span>
<span class=”cpp-comment”>//—————————————————————————–</span>
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>class</span> cBox : <span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span> cEntity
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>private</span>:
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span>:
cBox()
{
SetString(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”name”</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”Box”</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”x”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”y”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”z”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”gravity”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>1</span>);
}
};
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>class</span> cSpaceBox : <span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span> cEntity
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>private</span>:
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span>:
cSpaceBox()
{
SetString(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”name”</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”SpaceBox”</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”x”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”y”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”z”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
}
};
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>class</span> cImpossibleBox : <span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span> cEntity
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>private</span>:
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span>:
cImpossibleBox()
{
SetString(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”name”</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”ImpossibleBox”</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”x”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”y”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”z”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”gravity”</span>, <span class=”cpp-number”>1</span>);
}
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>bool</span> OnModifyNumber(cEntity * entity, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>const</span> std::string & name, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> value, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> * outValue)
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>if</span>(!entity || entity == <span class=”cpp-keyword”>this</span>) <span class=”cpp-keyword”>return</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>false</span>;
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>if</span>(name == <span class=”cpp-literal”>”y”</span>)
{
std::string ename;
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>if</span>(entity->GetString(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>this</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”name”</span>, ename))
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>if</span>(ename == <span class=”cpp-literal”>”Gravity”</span>)
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>return</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>false</span>;
}
}
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>return</span> <span class=”cpp-keyword”>true</span>;
}
};
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>class</span> cGravity : <span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span> cEntity
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>private</span>:
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>public</span>:
cGravity()
{
SetString(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”name”</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”Gravity”</span>);
SetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”g”</span>, -<span class=”cpp-number”>9</span>.<span class=”cpp-number”>17</span>);
}
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>void</span> Interact(cEntity * entity)
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> g = <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>;
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> y = <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>;
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>double</span> gravity = <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>;
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>if</span>(entity->GetNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>this</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”gravity”</span>, gravity))
{
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>if</span>(entity->GetNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>this</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”y”</span>, y))
{
GetNumber(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”g”</span>, g);
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”Position started at: %f\n”</span>, y);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>if</span>(entity->ModifyNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>this</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”y”</span>, g * gravity, &y))
{
entity->GetNumber(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>this</span>, <span class=”cpp-literal”>”y”</span>, y);
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”Position is now at: %f\n”</span>, y);
}
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>else</span>
{
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”Entity denied the affects of gravity.\n”</span>);
}
}
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>else</span>
{
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”Entity has not properties that can be affected by gravity.\n”</span>);
}
}
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>else</span>
{
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”Entity cannot be affected by gravity.\n”</span>);
}
}
};
<span class=”cpp-comment”>//—————————————————————————–</span>
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>int</span> main(<span class=”cpp-keyword”>int</span> argc, <span class=”cpp-keyword”>char</span> * argv[])
{
cGravity gravity;
cBox box1;
cSpaceBox box2;
cImpossibleBox box3;
gravity.Interact(&box1);
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”\n”</span>);
gravity.Interact(&box2);
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”\n”</span>);
gravity.Interact(&box3);
printf(<span class=”cpp-literal”>”\n”</span>);
<span class=”cpp-keyword”>return</span> <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>;
}
<span class=”cpp-comment”>//—————————————————————————–</span>
</pre></div><!–ENDSCRIPT–>
After running the program, the output is:
<!–STARTSCRIPT–><!–source lang=”cpp”–><div class=”source”><pre>
Position started at: <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>.<span class=”cpp-number”>000000</span>
Position is now at: -<span class=”cpp-number”>9</span>.<span class=”cpp-number”>170000</span>
Entity cannot be affected by gravity.
Position started at: <span class=”cpp-number”>0</span>.<span class=”cpp-number”>000000</span>
Entity denied the affects of gravity.
Press any key to <span class=”cpp-keyword”>continue</span> . . .
</pre></div><!–ENDSCRIPT–>
Whoa. Just imagine being able to have such control over any interactions in real life haha! Good bye gravity! Anyways, the design is meant to allow freedom and flexibility in terms of what an object represents as well as how it is modified. From a technological standpoint, anything would be possible as seen with preventing gravity. You could make gravity inversed so you actually float up or reduce/strengthen the effects of it. Of course, I am just using gravity as the prime example, any “force” would work the same, including things that we do not have, such as “side ways” gravity, which more or less would be a constant wind.
Moving on, I don’t have any practical things to do with this concept, just experimenting. R&D so to speak. There are some problems that I’ve yet to really address. For example, let’s assume I have my small universe of objects. Naturally due to how computers work, I will be handling Interactions and Updates in a sequential manner. Because of this, I do not have a way of implementing “order” or “priority” in the world. This would mean the implementation of the world is up to the actual program and not the class itself. I.e. one program might implement a number property that is a 1,2,3 and establishes a priority like that and another program might use a different system.
My idea was, if even possible, somehow have a game where players create their interactions with world objects. This is a bit vague so let me make up an example of what could be possible.
Start out with a cEntity that is a virtual tree. Let’s say it has a number property of “wood” as 5000. Now, the player has their own cEntity that represents them. By intuition, the player Interacts with the tree and learns it has wood that is harvestable. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say the player calls the ModifyNumber function of the tree with the “wood” property and a value of 1. The tree object verifies the operation in its OnModifyNumber and either allows the operation or denies it. Let’s say it was successful and it then sets the wood property for the player to 1.
Not the best example and a lot of questions result from that, but that’s the gist of it all. I think it’d be interesting if properly implemented, so I am going to keep playing with the idea until I get distracted by something else or make a breakthrough. Read more
Jack Thompson permanently disbarred
US attorney and anti-videogames campaigner Jack Thompson has been permanently disbarred, following a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court.
The Florida Supreme Court approved a recommendation made earlier this year that Thompson should receive a permanent disbarment. The ruling, effective October 25, further required the infamous lawyer to pay legal fees to the Florida Bar amounting to USD 43,675.35.
In handing down its decision, the Florida Supreme Court cited Thompson’s extensive history of public misconduct, along with recommendations from Judge Dava Tunis, the official who presided over Thompson’s 2007 ethics trial.
In response, Thompson has filed a request with the U.S. District Court seeking an emergency stay of the Florida Supreme Court’s decision, as well as publishing a press release that claims the Court’s decision is "in retaliation for Thompson’s Tyndale House book Out of Harm’s Way, published in 2005, which blew the whistle on the Florida Supreme Court’s earlier efforts in the 1990’s to literally pathologize his faith-based and successful activism against the American entertainment industry."
However the "Press Release" he gives a completely different reason for why this is happening to him.
PRESS RELEASE:
Thompson responded to the allegation by issuing a press release, in which he states that the disbarment was an act of revenge for him filing lawsuits against the Supreme Court.
"This disbarment is in retaliation," read the statement. "The timing of this disbarment transparently reveals its motivation: This past Friday Thompson filed a federal civil rights action against The Bar, the Supreme Court, and all seven of its Justices."
"This rush to disbarment is in retribution for the filing of that federal suit. With enemies this foolish, Thompson needs only the loyal friends he has. Thompson always wanted to own a Bar. Now, armed with multiple US Supreme Court rulings that no state bar can do what it has done to Thompson, he is set to own that Bar."
——————–
I find it funny that he is throwing blame in random directions, yet he still cant see that his past is very public and everyone can see the truth behind this decision. He is a power hungry loon who thinks the whole world should think and act exactly as he believes, and nobody should have the choice to be different.
I absolutely hate Censorship, and this guy is the living embodiment of censorship. I think it is about time that the court system did something positive and remove this cancer from their system.
Rant: Gold Spammers
“They should be kicked down a burning flight of stairs covered in broken glass and AIDS.”
These were the words a guildmate of mine recently used to describe his feeling towards the parasites of the MMO genre we have all come to know and hate, the gold spammers. Every major MMO in the last few years has been infested with the likes of these scumbags. It doesn’t matter if the game is big or small, these blood-sucking leeches are ready to offer you their dubious services in order to make your gameplay experience a more enjoyable one.
They always seem to find you. Most commonly many of us will receive the random tell from a gentleman with an almost unprenouncable name, probably generated from rolling his face over the keyboard. These worldly scholars mysteriously also seem to share the same commanding mastery of english language. In more recent games like Age of Conan, they could be seen shouting in general chat and filling your in-game mailbox with advertisements. Hell, even some MMO based websites find their forums and blog sections infested with these dingleberries clinging to the ass of the genre. For only few measly dollars, they promise to introduce you into lifestyles of the rich and stupid of whatever virtual world you find yourself inhabiting.
2-Sided Problem
On one side of the coin you have to deal with how these people directly effect the game. To the honest player, they are an annoyance first and foremost. Often times they can obstruct the gameplay of players. Gold farmers who gather the money will identify an area that enables them to generate the most wealth per hour. This can in turn lead to bottlenecks in these areas which often times are places that normal players will have to pass through during the natural order of progression. If left unchecked over time, the flooding of gold into the online economy can often time lead to inflation driving up the costs of items sold between players via the auction house.
The other side of the coin is the fact that players are to blame as well. These spammer would not be in the business they are in if it were not profitable. It is profitable as long as players are willing to take the low road and shell out real life cash for in game cash. Let’s say a farmer buys a box for $50 to play the game, and manages to send an advertisement to every player on the server one time before being banned. In many cases, that farmer only needs to find one or two players willing to do business to justify the $50 for the new account that gets banned.
The Solution
Most MMO’s that are infested by these shortbus-riding window-lickers are proactive about trying to shut them down as fast as possible. Final Fantasy 11 was notorious for having tons of gold farmers, but oddly enough, no spammers. The reason why they don’t bother the player I am guessing is due to the fact that Square-Enix has been known to wipe out thousands of accounts at a time. Anyone who has ever played this game knows how hard it is to get to a level to make money so I can only assume they fear the time investment in releveling in this old challenging MMO.
I want to take some time to talk about Warhammer online as this seems to be the hot topic at the moment. Mark Jacobs at Mythic has expressed his feeling towards this in a recent blog entry where he says…
“I hate gold sellers/spammers. No, that’s not strong enough, let me try again. I HATE GOLD SELLERS WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING.”
I think I speak for most of us when I say that we feel the same way. Nobody would shed a tear if these people decided to take a bath with their toaster, drank a bottle of Clorox, or took a leap down a slip-and-slide naked while carrying a scissors… but I digress.
Mythic has literally had the gold spammers invade Warhammer Online right at launch. The good news is that Mythic has put themselves out in front of the problem right away to face it head on, in a very transparent way. The first thing they have done is make it very easy to report the spammers. They have also built into the game’s mailbox mechanic a waiting period between sending mail to players of 20 seconds. This helps prevent the kind of mass mailings that Age of Conan still suffers from. When bans do come down, players have been receiving pop up boxes that have become somewhat comedic letting the players know certain players or sometimes entire guilds have been banned. I actually read a thread today where some people were actually complaining that the ban pop ups where just as annoying as the spammers, an argument which may get amplified over time. It was also pointed out to me today that Mythic has a counter on the War Herald site showing the number of bans handed out so far.
It’s good to see that the devs of all MMO’s are fighting back. Mythic seems to be leading the charge right now, so we will see how steadfast they remain as their game grows in popularity. Money is so easy to get in Warhammer right now, and other than buying a mount, I don’t see the demand for gold to be high enough to justify paying for it. I hope fellow WAR players will realize this and make it unprofitable for them to spam us in game.
One final note, a part of Mark Jacobs blog did jump out at me and raise an eyebrow that makes me question some of the other devs out there…
“I’ve been offered “a piece of the action” both personally and corporately in the past if I will either turn a blind eye or help them in their actions. This would have netted me and/or Mythic a very, very tidy sum, far more than we would see from box sales. My answer was and always will remain the same:
Go to hell.”
Paragus
Co-Leader of Inquisition
Rant: Gold Spammers
“They should be kicked down a burning flight of stairs covered in broken glass and AIDS.”
These were the words a guildmate of mine recently used to describe his feeling towards the parasites of the MMO genre we have all come to know and hate, the gold spammers. Every major MMO in the last few years has been infested with the likes of these scumbags. It doesn’t matter if the game is big or small, these blood-sucking leeches are ready to offer you their dubious services in order to make your gameplay experience a more enjoyable one.
They always seem to find you. Most commonly many of us will receive the random tell from a gentleman with an almost unprenouncable name, probably generated from rolling his face over the keyboard. These worldly scholars mysteriously also seem to share the same commanding mastery of english language. In more recent games like Age of Conan, they could be seen shouting in general chat and filling your in-game mailbox with advertisements. Hell, even some MMO based websites find their forums and blog sections infested with these dingleberries clinging to the ass of the genre. For only few measly dollars, they promise to introduce you into lifestyles of the rich and stupid of whatever virtual world you find yourself inhabiting.
2-Sided Problem
On one side of the coin you have to deal with how these people directly effect the game. To the honest player, they are an annoyance first and foremost. Often times they can obstruct the gameplay of players. Gold farmers who gather the money will identify an area that enables them to generate the most wealth per hour. This can in turn lead to bottlenecks in these areas which often times are places that normal players will have to pass through during the natural order of progression. If left unchecked over time, the flooding of gold into the online economy can often time lead to inflation driving up the costs of items sold between players via the auction house.
The other side of the coin is the fact that players are to blame as well. These spammer would not be in the business they are in if it were not profitable. It is profitable as long as players are willing to take the low road and shell out real life cash for in game cash. Let’s say a farmer buys a box for $50 to play the game, and manages to send an advertisement to every player on the server one time before being banned. In many cases, that farmer only needs to find one or two players willing to do business to justify the $50 for the new account that gets banned.
The Solution
Most MMO’s that are infested by these shortbus-riding window-lickers are proactive about trying to shut them down as fast as possible. Final Fantasy 11 was notorious for having tons of gold farmers, but oddly enough, no spammers. The reason why they don’t bother the player I am guessing is due to the fact that Square-Enix has been known to wipe out thousands of accounts at a time. Anyone who has ever played this game knows how hard it is to get to a level to make money so I can only assume they fear the time investment in releveling in this old challenging MMO.
I want to take some time to talk about Warhammer online as this seems to be the hot topic at the moment. Mark Jacobs at Mythic has expressed his feeling towards this in a recent blog entry where he says…
“I hate gold sellers/spammers. No, that’s not strong enough, let me try again. I HATE GOLD SELLERS WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING.”
I think I speak for most of us when I say that we feel the same way. Nobody would shed a tear if these people decided to take a bath with their toaster, drank a bottle of Clorox, or took a leap down a slip-and-slide naked while carrying a scissors… but I digress.
Mythic has literally had the gold spammers invade Warhammer Online right at launch. The good news is that Mythic has put themselves out in front of the problem right away to face it head on, in a very transparent way. The first thing they have done is make it very easy to report the spammers. They have also built into the game’s mailbox mechanic a waiting period between sending mail to players of 20 seconds. This helps prevent the kind of mass mailings that Age of Conan still suffers from. When bans do come down, players have been receiving pop up boxes that have become somewhat comedic letting the players know certain players or sometimes entire guilds have been banned. I actually read a thread today where some people were actually complaining that the ban pop ups where just as annoying as the spammers, an argument which may get amplified over time. It was also pointed out to me today that Mythic has a counter on the War Herald site showing the number of bans handed out so far.
It’s good to see that the devs of all MMO’s are fighting back. Mythic seems to be leading the charge right now, so we will see how steadfast they remain as their game grows in popularity. Money is so easy to get in Warhammer right now, and other than buying a mount, I don’t see the demand for gold to be high enough to justify paying for it. I hope fellow WAR players will realize this and make it unprofitable for them to spam us in game.
One final note, a part of Mark Jacobs blog did jump out at me and raise an eyebrow that makes me question some of the other devs out there…
“I’ve been offered “a piece of the action” both personally and corporately in the past if I will either turn a blind eye or help them in their actions. This would have netted me and/or Mythic a very, very tidy sum, far more than we would see from box sales. My answer was and always will remain the same:
Go to hell.”
Paragus
Co-Leader of Inquisition
Crazy Kart Drift Invitational: First Major EB!
Level Up’s online racing game, Crazy Kart, will be having it’s first ever major real life event on October 4, 2008 at the Mall of Asia. This is actually part of the ROAD TO LIVE event that will also be happening on the same venue. Crazy Kart is one of the fastest growing titles in the Level Up roster so it’s only fitting that we celebrate the success of the game with a party that involves… er… cars! That’s right! The first EB will be a Drift Invitational. We’ll be having several famous Philippine drifters do it ala Initial D!
Just so you guys have a better idea of what drifting is, watch the video after the jump.
Sep. 26,2008
Crazy Kart Drift InvitationalCK Drift Invitational
Be part of the excitement as Crazy Kart and Level Up! Games bring you the 1st Crazy Kart Drift Invitational at the SM Mall of Asia on October 4, 2008 from 10:00AM to 8PM.
16 Drift cars and their pro-drivers including Philippine “Drift King” David M. Feliciano and Atoy Llave of Atoy Body Kits burn rubber compete in single and in tandem competitions!
Practice sessions begin at 10AM and the actual race begins at 2:00PM. After which join the Level Up Family at the SM Music Hall for the Road to Live 2008 concert at 8:00PM.
So what are you waiting for? See the 1st Crazy Kart Drift Invitational and get the experience of a lifetime!
More details to follow!
See you guys there! w00t w00t!
Crazy Kart Drifting, Crazy Kart MMORPG
Tags: Crazy-Kart-MMORPG, Crazy-Kart-Drifting
Why Always Fantasy?
It seems that when it comes to MMORPGs most of us prefer the fantasy genre. This is evident by not only by looking at the top MMORPGs (Wow, GuildWars, LoTRO, Runescape, EQ, Lineage, DAoC, FFXI), but also by the fact that most of the MMORPGs that are created are fantasy based. Is this a case of developers giving us what we want or is the fantasy genre being shoved down our throats?
I believe this is a case of supply and demand. For most of us, including myself, it is much much easier to go from one fantasy MMO to another fantasy MMO. In the most recent case for me, jumping from Age of Conan to Warhammer Online. There’s already a built in system that I don’t have to relearn. Warriors carry melee weapons, mages have mana and spells, orcs and goblins are evil. I already know who my friends and enemys are before I create my first character. Not so with the sci-fi genre. Jumping from Starwars to Eve Online to Tabula Rasa to City of Heros is a learning experience each time. Sure we all know the Starwars story and that superheros fight super villains, but not so with most other sci-fi games. We must learn a new story line, new weapons, new races, new powers, which makes the learning curve much steeper. There’s something to be said about knowing where you’re headed. Same goes in real life, most of us have a favorite bar or restaurant we always go to and while we don’t mind trying something new, it’s always nice to be somewhere you’re familiar with.
Apart from the comfort factor with fantasy MMORPGs, there also seems to be many more big fantasy properties out there that already have a following and lore. Lord of the Rings, Warcraft, Conan, Warhammer, Camelot, D&D, Final Fantasy, Ultima Online to name a few. Most of us, being a bit on the nerdy side (or could just be me), already have at least some knowledge of almost all of these story lines. Which again makes it easier for us to join that universe. While sci-fi does have some big properties that have been made into MMOs, it doesn’t seem any of them have reached a level of success that the big fantasy MMOs have.
Does this mean that a sci-fi or other non fantasy MMORPGs can never become the top MMORPG? Absolutely not. In fact the next MMORPG I’m looking forward to is a sci-fi one which I wrote about a little while back, JumpGate. Even though I do prefer fantasy, it does get a bit stale after a while so I need to switch it up from time to time. How about you? Fantasy, Sci-fi or other?
