tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52748044628027501872024-03-14T05:58:44.074+03:00This Machine Age ...A blog for new and casual players of the MMO Age of Conan.Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-8605984274225982382014-04-27T20:14:00.004+03:002014-06-30T21:51:54.435+03:00CUT IT OFF ... CUT IT OFF!This is just a very lame quick post ...<br />
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And I chose the word 'lame' intentionally ... that's because I've got the gout. I'm lame figuratively and literally. <br />
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Added to the constant pain, sleeplessness and latent rage (and dissapointment ... I get to eat yummy lettuce for 3 weeks); I have house guests for the next three weeks.<br />
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Murd has a new topic in the works but it may be slow coming. To the regular readers ... thanks for being patient. What would Conan do?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Oh my GOD my foot hurts ... CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF!</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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More to come in late May or June.Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-91225254561403621562014-03-27T14:20:00.000+03:002014-04-08T21:25:46.612+03:00Alts, Nostalgia and the Quest for 'That Special Something'<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Murd’s in a bit of a rut. Blaelock, Theodosius and all Murddock's alts are too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time in over five years, the idea of levelling another toon is utterly underwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a couple of reasons for this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the main one is simply facing the "been there, done that" veteran syndrome with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i> and yes, being weary of waiting for something new from Funcom.</span><br />
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</span>Now don’t misunderstand, this is not the beginning of an anti-FC post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the recent slowdown in development, <a href="http://thismachineageblog.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html" target="_blank">I recognize that FC's delivered enough, </a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://thismachineageblog.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">at least</span> for me, over the years</a>. As a casual player I concede, too, there’s lots of content left for Murd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It's to its credit that <i>AoC</i> can keep a casual subbed for so long. </span>However, after 8 months of an RL work-schedule, which has precluded serious raiding,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there’s less incidental content that calls to me … so c’mon crafting revamp!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The other element that’s in play is that I (Murd’s RL alter-ego) have taken a few weekends off to beta-test <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elder Scrolls Online</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the first time that another MMO, has seemed remotely alluring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the past, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Rings Online</i> was given a shot … and despite reading and re-reading Tolkien’s Middle-Earth novels and stories yearly from the ages of 12 to 22, (and as well, a few subsequent albeit less regular re-reads over the past few decades); nonetheless Turbine's game version of Middle-Earth didn’t deeply grip me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s very pretty and there’s great content, but well … meh!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Likewise, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rift</i> was considered but its ads never quite excited me. The early PR for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aion</i> (with the flying demons and anime moves) looked pretty interesting, until I saw what seemed to be well uh ... <a href="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110125033807/aion/images/c/cb/Steel_Rake_Archer.png" target="_blank">pirate-squirrels in a hot air balloon</a> ... so, nooope!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More recently, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Defiance</i> appeared to have potential … but then having seen the TV show I thought … meh! The show’s okay for the boob-tube but on the whole, the milieu just didn’t suggest I’d want to waste hours of weekly time there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Peculiarly, this trial of <i>Elder Scrolls Online</i> got me thinking about MMOs and the idea of re-playability. What makes us play and then, more curiously, what makes us <b>re-play</b>? It's fair to say that one of the aspects of MMO<u>RPG</u>s that even permits a variety of replays is the presence of alternative play options, such as character classes. In some respects, these might be seen as vestiges of pen-and-paper RPGs. After a little thought, I began to wonder whether, at its core, a key motivator is <i>nostalgia</i>: that desire to re-experience a prior activity or place, simply because we remember some of the positive aspects of it.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">TSR's Basic and Expert D&D Rulebooks from the early 1980s.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Let <i>TMAB</i> wax nostalgic for a paragraph or two, and revisit my earliest RPG play and replay. When I was 13 in the spring of 1981, a new schoolmate, who'd come the year earlier to Canada from the United States to live, asked me to make a trek across town to play what he described as 'kind of a board-game'. He knew I was an emerging zealot for the <u>cult of J.R.R</u>, and so he introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons: <i>Basic D&D</i> (<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/09/D%26d_original.jpg" target="_blank">the 1977 rulebook</a>) to be exact. And for two or three cold rainy April weekends a few guys from his neighbourhood across town and I learned the way the game was played. Its underlying mechanic of polyhedral dice, tables and chance modifiers and so on, was mind-blowing (yeah when you're 13, just about everything is). On the first meeting we played a brief 14-15 room 'teaching' dungeon, he'd made. And the following weekend, we mapped and hacked a swath through a module called <i>Keep on The Borderlands.</i></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Nostalgia: B2 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">the first module most silver-age players typically played</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">For a few reasons: possibly that his house was somewhat far away, and that other players were just not as engrossed as I was, but that group didn't maintain much inertia (my American pal and I remained friends for years). Several months later though, another good friend of mine, who lived on my street, broached the idea of playing D&D. A new group was formed composed of guys who either lived closer or who just really got into the game. And within only a few months, that group moved on to <i>Expert Rules</i> (the 1981 editions above) and then to <i>Advanced D&D</i>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">My buddy and I began bugging our parents to buy dice, AD&D parephenelia and whatnot. In time, we amassed a cardboard box full of hardcover rulebooks (c.f. The <i>Monster Manuals</i>, <i>The Fiend Folio</i>, a pile of <i>Dragon</i> Magazines, boxes of lead figures, the <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TQnzgXCADuc/TG1ibw-RSJI/AAAAAAAAALo/mLw6rqvd_Ow/s1600/Known_World_24_Miles_Per_Hex.png" target="_blank">World of Greyhawk</a> hex-map and guides and so on). This box with much unoriginality, was dubbed "The Box" and whoever was the DM usually kept it. Meanwhile, the players might pass the <i>Players Handbook</i> around. I DM'd for a few years, but I was more head-in-the-clouds interested in narrative and world building and admittedly a lax DM. Later, the co-owner of "The Box" DM'd and he was a rules stickler (I inwardly had to admit, this made the game demanding but very fun). That group, with a few additions, stayed together throughout high school until the summer of 1986, at which the time most of us graduated and moved on in our lives.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">AD&D, a veritable religion during high school</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Despite the longevity of that group, I think that my favourite recollections of playing <i>AD&D</i> came from those earliest efforts. When the game was raw and simple and learning to think about probability was as equally exciting as imagining killing Orcs or Kobolds and tackling <a href="http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/144/8/d/gelatinous_cube_by_supergroverfanclub-d3h3nj6.jpg" target="_blank">Gelatinous Cubes</a>. Additionally, that second D&D group initially played through module B2 again, but as I'd done it before, at least one player among us had a few inklings of how to proceed. The second time through was in some ways better: it moved faster; stupid procedural mistakes were avoided; the game mechanic was far better understood: roll initiative --- roll each player-character's 'to hit' and 'damage' --- and the Dungeon Master rolls the opponents' likewise --- roll 'saving throws' etc. Rinse and repeat until the the group was envisioned as ankle-deep in goblin gore and divvying-up their loot ... </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>DM:</b> "Shit, your Magic-user dropped his damn torch! ... Suddenly it's dark; all you can sense is the hot stink of fresh goblin entrails."</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>Us:</b> "No big deal, we start lighting a new one!"</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>DM:</b> "Hmm remember, you didn't buy that tinder box! (the DM D10s and rolls a 9) ... What an incredible shame," he snidely quips, "the remaining 9 torches are on the floor soaked in goblin guts (-5 on a D6 to light one) ... Oh and you hear a slurping dragging noise ... It's getting closer. What do you do?"</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>Us:</b> "We drop the loot and friggin' RUUUNN!"</span></span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Mayhem ensued. One hysterical character inadvertently killed an other. Soon we were all dead and bickering, a.k.a. "negotiating", with the DM as to where we should get to restart from. Yeah a module could take weeks at that speed, but it was addictive and engrossing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b> Flash Forward ...</b> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Now much of what kept me playing <i>AoC,</i> in 2008, was that same mix of enjoying learning how technically to play an MMO while also liking Hyboria and the <i>AoC</i> story-lines. This was a time when the game was fresh, yeah buggy and imbalanced, and leveling was super-slow. But it offered all the elements of fun and challenge as <i>Keep on the Borderlands </i>did over 25 years earlier.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">And this I think is one of several factors that motivates players to replay an MMO via their <i>alts</i>: their second or third characters often of different classes. Many players want to recapture that special something, that charm of the first play-through ... the nostalgia factor.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #93c47d;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Alts: some things to consider when playing an MMO.</span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Now beyond this nostalgia issue (which I conjecture is what helps a lot of folks incidentally stick with their re-playing), there are more practical reasons for alts</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">1) As with good ol' module B2 in 1980, <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>contemporary players of MMOs indeed benefit from a second play-through but in a different class.</b></span> My first class in <i>AoC</i> was HoX and then I tried ToS, despite imagining that being a mystical and dangerous Stygian mage would be cooler than being a cliched (cheap Conan knock-off) Cimmerian fighter, within two weeks Murddock was born; given light hair and a goatee to avoid being too much like "the man"; and those magic-wielding 'toons were deleted their names forgotten. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">2) Despite some database limits in the game's ancient coding, in <i>AoC</i> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Funcom </span></span>has made some reasonable efforts to help players access more storage. Nonetheless, <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>having a few alts does additionally allow a player to pile the detritus of many months and years of adventures into the inventory of several characters</b>.</span> With the advent of the vanity slots, wrangling inventory has become an art and a science.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">3) Once Funcom had introduced more new content over the first few years, culminating with <i>Godslayer</i>, it became apparent that <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>it might be fun to re-grind from scratch to try locations not previously seen.</b></span> Murd was leveled with very little group play and largely outside a guild. <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Having a second or third option within a guild made play about the players again, not so much about building the main character.</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">4) Another aspect of having choices to re-play older content, is that <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">it allows players, in time, to try different roles within the context of well-known instances.</span></b> While you might be sheepish about trying tanking on your alt guard in a raid for the first time, you'll probably be more inclined to put your main ranger aside, and try <u>Reliquary of Flame</u>, on the 400th run. I'd hazard a guess that this is a motivator for many PvP players, too ... if you have to play another mini-game, maybe it'd be more interesting to do it on a different class??</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">5) Another possibility for keeping a corral of alts,<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> <b>is to get a grasp of the workings of all classes. This is a good way for a raid-leader neophyte to start memorizing the ability names and builds for the kinds of tactics he or she might have to lead.</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">6) There's no doubt about it, even though it's an older MMO, AoC still looks pretty sharp. The concept art and <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">in-game designs, might be a motivator for a player.</span> </b> I do admit, that I decided to level a Barb, because I like the armor sets that were available. Having access to a solid supply of gold on Murd, has made the leveling of one or two alts, and exercise in getting best gear, just as a point of pride. <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>I suspect too, that in the spirit of the saying "a change is as good as a break", some players try other classes (possibly even different character genders) just to see a different avatar</b></span> running through <u>Refuge of the Apostate</u> or the <u>Jade Citadel</u>.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Murddock and 2 of his alts in Conall's Valley <span style="color: #999999;">(Thanks, Photoshop)</span></span></td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #93c47d;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Alts: the down side.</span></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">7) The chief objection to having alts, is<b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">that every hour re-playing the villas or Tarantia Commons on an alt, is one less hour that you will put into your main.</span></b> So if you are gainfully employed, or have a family, and you nonetheless wanna have the best gear and pwn Toth Amon within a few months, then don't level alts. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">8) Alts are each kind of a cash-sink too. <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Every FC point you spend in the shop on the purple stuff for your twinks, is money that might later be used to buy something more appealing for your main.</b></span> That being said, for a veteran player, FC's speed of adding stuff to the shop is slow, so ... ahhh fukkit ... buy the Yothian War-Mare.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">9) <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>The final minor quip: it's a pain in the ass is managing your <i>friends list</i>.</b></span> If I were the god of MMOs, I'd make a friend's list that tracks a player's user ID (one, distinct from your login name), so that your pals can see when you are playing on an alt, and vice versa.* Clearly such a list could also allow for exclusions (for anonymous play).</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #93c47d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Balance nostalgia with practical reasons.</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">When ya think about it,
it's a pop-culture truism that most heroin addicts get hooked in their
desperate attempt to recapture that 'special something' that made the
first ride on the horse appealing (that and, yeah, to escape some dismal RL stresses and pain). </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The former aspect is the cautionary bit. You might enjoy your 2nd or 3rd alt's liberation of Tortage, but you'll probably never really reacquire </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">100% </span></span>that first-time electricity. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">To
conclude, yeah creating alts can represent much more than a
manifestation of the desire to recapture that 'special something' which
made the first great play-through in a game memorable. </span></span>However, if you plan to build a repertory company of 'toons, then accept that you'll be better off doing so, when you have practical reasons for it, as well as that yen for little misty-eyed nostalgia. </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: #ffe599;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* POST SCRIPT Mrs. Murddock has joined ESO and when exploring the friends functionality, we discovered that Bethesda/Zenimax has done just that. Friends are recorded by both 'toon name and player ID. It's pretty convenient!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-52910383378730974512014-02-24T20:57:00.002+03:002014-03-02T11:50:33.198+03:00Filthy Casuals: Apologia Pro Vitam Nostrum.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #e69138;">First, Murddock wants to apologize for his rusty Latin … ahem …
Aquilonian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the first of a few 'apologiae' to be forthcoming in this month’s meandering entry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This outing takes a sideways and meandering wander from <i>Age of Conan</i> specifically to contemplate the place of casual players in MMOs.</span></span><br />
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Accepting for the moment that global capitalism through its mechanisms of various class, race, sexual, and religious tensions, is doing a first-rate job creating a world ripe with divisiveness; why is there a specific vector of contempt from some gamers for other gamers, when conventionally gamers as a whole are a subset of geeks. And furthermore, why so when geeks have traditionally been classed as <u>outsiders</u> ... a social position that geeks themselves often encourage and relish: "Can't we all just get along?"</div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b>That Meme - A Double Edged Sword </b></span><br />
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If you play and follow MMOs (or probably any video games) on the
web, you’ve no doubt seen it: the meme that disparages casual (and this entry will immanently argue, hard-core) gamers ---<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Don’t touch
me you <u>filthy casual</u>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
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As far as Murd can ascertain (in a brief web search) the term<a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/filthy-casual" target="_blank"> "filthy casual" began its life on <i>4chan</i>'s VG forum</a> and the meme followed soon thereafter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ny_yCphT_A/UwuIAGZfZAI/AAAAAAAAAkM/NIIeZV78fEw/s1600/cd3+cut+out+w+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ny_yCphT_A/UwuIAGZfZAI/AAAAAAAAAkM/NIIeZV78fEw/s1600/cd3+cut+out+w+poster.jpg" height="222" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yeah at first glance, it's pretty funny in its own dry douchey way. After all, it initially appears to be just an amusing indictment of players
who dabble in games by the hardcore types. Yet, upon reflection the meme is just as much a shot at the depicted hardcore player, whose self-definition, is derived from being good at or dedicated to a game. It reinforces the stereotype of the anti-social couch-potato bespectacled dude, who equates his awesome tenacity, experience, and skill in <i>Dark Souls</i> with somehow being an elite. As self-satire, the meme is funny and telling: it plays on the stereotype of gamers as having their own Nietzschean caste system ... complete with nerd Ueber-Menschen aiming for the top echelons, and semi-nerd untouchables at the bottom.<br />
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The meme is extrinsically meaningful because many gamers see themselves as part of a reactionary counter-culture (this is the legacy of 80's and 90's cyber-punk). The meme highlights a milieu that rejects not only the Pinot slurping, chino wearing, Michael Bolton-loving So-Cal types. The meme's intrinsic meaning additionally seeks the exclusion of poser-geeks and wannabes in their boutique aged Green Day (or Green Lantern a la <a href="http://i01.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/880506955/The-Big-Bang-Theory-font-b-Sheldon-b-font-Cooper-Green-Lantern-2-Color-Red-Green.jpg" target="_blank">Sheldon Cooper</a>) t-shirts. It goes ultimately to the point of trying to invalidate genuine game-nerd misanthropists by suggesting that real commitment to game supremacy requires the adoption deep pure alienation from all compassion to achieve a state of pure isolated otherness. Yet by reinforcing the stereotype that constructs 'true' gamers as outsiders, as a meme specifically, an signifier native to the web, it reminds us that in cyber-space, we gamers are anything but. We are a core element of 21st century culture, so paradoxically, the more a gamer tries to be an elite, a stand-out among gamers, the more he or she cements himself or herself into that cultural brick wall. In short: in the 21st century, outsiders are the in-crowd. <br />
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The schmancy term for this is "out-group homogeneity bias". It's a feature of human psychology that when individuals observe cultural groups (or sub-groups) of others from the outside, they perceive and catalogue general similarities shared within the observed group and thereby create a broad mental category. A week ago <i><b>Io9</b></i> <a href="http://io9.com/why-hipsters-are-all-the-same-1526705694" target="_blank">ran an article on this phenomenon</a> looking at hipsters specifically, stating their "relentless pursuit of individuality seems to make them almost cardboard cut-outs of each other". The implication of this is that by trying to be ultra-hardcore; in aiming to be a stand-out; in trying to be a distinct individual within the game community, such players to some degree actually inform a new stereotype. This is why the "Don't touch me" meme undermines the dignity of hard-cores as well as casuals. Conforming to a stereotype is the very antithesis to being individuated. <br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b>Geek Culture and the Pursuit of Individual Recognition.</b></span><br />
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Think about our stereotypes and archetypes: among the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/#page:2_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20countries_filter:All%20categories" target="_blank">paragons of power</a> and wealth and influence in Western Culture, side by side the Rolandos, the Jay-Z's and Pope Francises, the are the nerd-oligarchs: the Gateses, the Jobses, the Musks, the Brins and the Pages. The most sought after (top earning and pirated) movies are ripe with nerd-holy icons: Hobbits, Avengers, Batman, and Supes. We geeks are the market place; we probably keep the publishing industry alive: George RR Martin's tomes have ruled the <i>NY Times</i> Bestseller's list so often in the last 5 years that it'd make Norman Mailer or Truman Capote turn over in their respective graves. Sincere but financially less successful writers (those who self-conceived notion of 'literary' excludes genre fiction) are feeling the pressure. Some are obviously foxes (as in Aesop's talking animals) who see the success of popular fantasy as <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lynn-shepherd/jk-rowling-should-stop-writing_b_4829648.html" target="_blank">sour grapes</a>. Academically too, nerd-culture has been the mainstream for decades with the works of Mary Shelley, Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Kurt Vonnegut, and Anthony Burgess are all Lit 101 canonical fodder and yeah, they're fantastic genre fiction.<br />
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Whereas in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, fantasy/sci-fi were considered escapist or infantile (if you can find <span class="st"><a href="http://urbanhonking.com/spacecanon/2014/02/12/on-the-boredom-of-fantasy/" target="_blank">Arthur Koestler's 1953 essay "The Boredom of Fantasy"</a> it typifies the academic elite's view of genre.)</span> In those days the gronk was king ... the culture told nebbish, bookish nerd-kids (male ones, at least) they were inadequate. Social influence, sexual success, and self-determination were achieved by physicality not intellect. Get respect by getting ripped! Such classic Charles Atlas ads were still ubiquitous in comics in the 70s and 80's, after Atlas passed away.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jv-2XeJ1eqM/Uw9xD5bOQmI/AAAAAAAAAkc/1IKSKxwoop0/s1600/musclead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jv-2XeJ1eqM/Uw9xD5bOQmI/AAAAAAAAAkc/1IKSKxwoop0/s1600/musclead.jpg" height="390" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Charles Atlas' immortal parable</span></td></tr>
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Quaint, yeah? In 2014, mo-fos are <u>cyber-bullied</u>. Muscles don't friggin' matter ... folks just <a href="http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/local/2013/10/19/4625283/" target="_blank">even the odds on Facebook by creating and harnessing the power of community</a>. That's if you're lucky. Woebetide the knob who kicks sand in the face of the wrong nerd, these days. He's is rolling the dice in a rigged game. Lose and just maybe 'Mac' will get revenge by spamming the offending bully's facebook page or Linkedin account, so it's chained by HTML to politically objectionable factions' online. Then some sketchy agency flags him, spots his police record of misdemeanors for pubic drunkenness or petty assault; and soon doors are battered down, flash-bangs go off and when the ringing in his ears subsides, the arrogant meat-head realizes he's in a darkened shipping container ... and next he'll be hanging ankle-bound on a plank while getting generous helpings of water poured into his sinuses. <br />
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Plus who actually wants to be the "hero of the beach"? Beaches on the Atlantic are covered in the benzene rich residue of BP's incompetence, and in the Pacific ... yup ... <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/fukushima-radiation-west-coast_n_4859603.html" target="_blank">radioactivity</a>! Hang out on the beach long enough, you'll acquire a nifty mutant super-power: the power to lift fastest growing tumors on Earth, the ones in your armpits. Okay okay, this is a little glib, but we're much <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K40EL9N41RA" target="_blank">closer to William Gibson's 'unevenly distributed' future</a> than thought likely when <i>Neuromancer </i>hit the presses in 1984 ... Shit we're closer to the reality of <i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> than ever before (How close? Just measure your distance from North Korea ... do it! Use Google Maps. Better still, follow Cory Doctorow's blog, <i><a href="http://boingboing.net/" target="_blank">Boing Boing</a></i> )<br />
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It's no irony that most stand-out hardbodied celebs currently owe their financial success, not to body-building per se, but to the roles they served cinematically. Arnold Schwarzenegger's career was cemented by <i>The Terminator</i>, but his Conan was the point of no return. His hollywood muscle-beach forebears Buster Crabbe (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027624/?ref_=fn_al_tt_8" target="_blank">Flash Gordon</a>) and Johnny Weismuller (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023551/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_34" target="_blank">Tarzan</a>) had the great misfortune to work in Hollywood at the height of studio system, which gave them fame but only moderate wealth. Arnold's physique gave him access to the star-power of the films created by geek outsiders like Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron or even the late-great John Milius. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IKU7DnpEvok/UxBGbCgd-lI/AAAAAAAAAks/MV7_lKy4R1Y/s1600/tumblr_ms5e2im2pJ1qmxhgeo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IKU7DnpEvok/UxBGbCgd-lI/AAAAAAAAAks/MV7_lKy4R1Y/s1600/tumblr_ms5e2im2pJ1qmxhgeo1_500.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Edward Summer (left) Frank Frazetta (center) and George Lucas (right)</span></td></tr>
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Consider the photo above. These geeks made our culture. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0838598/" target="_blank">Edward Summer</a> was a contributor to Milius' <i>Conan The Barbarian</i>. Frank Frazetta is well ... <a href="https://www.google.ca/search?newwindow=1&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1149&bih=722&q=Frazetta+fantasy&oq=Frazetta+fantasy&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i5l2.1574.6671.0.8740.16.15.0.1.1.1.220.2310.4j9j2.15.0....0...1ac.1.36.img..4.12.1501.SN6fzxfjIPQ" target="_blank">Frazetta</a>, the guy who most created the visual tone and sensibility of low pulp fantasy in the 20th century. Frazetta is the bare-knuckles Brooklyn dude with a duck-tale 20 years outta style ... a fact about which he could've cared less. While George Lucas is a furry man in an unfortunate sweater, gladly holding his Frazetta print book (autographed?). So the next time you're trying to score some nerd conversation points, you can say definitively that when Lucas put Carrie Fisher in that <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0838598/" target="_blank">slave girl get up</a> ... he had Frazetta's work in mind.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MJCzWt4JLdo/UxBJtaXn6nI/AAAAAAAAAk4/x4lDErNbOM4/s1600/frazetta_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MJCzWt4JLdo/UxBJtaXn6nI/AAAAAAAAAk4/x4lDErNbOM4/s1600/frazetta_8.jpg" height="400" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Frazetta's risque aesthetic, no doubt inspired Leia's more PG costume.</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Blah Blah Blah ... Get to the point.</span></b><br />
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If you followed this ramble with even the slightest of interest, or if you found yourself doing a furious web-search, to attempt to see whether the painting above predates <i>RoTJ</i> ; ... if you actually know what <i>RoTJ</i> stands for, then you're simply culturally literate and critical. And that's what the huge silent majority of we "filthy casual" players do, we bring <u>that</u> cultural critical mass to <i>AoC</i>, or to any MMO we play. Casuals constitute the 'massive' element in a multi-player community: in which the Brownian motions of individual players keep games alive (via subs, box or shop purchases, or even as F2P numbers on servers). Casuals are the very mass against which fiercely individualistic players react, and in so doing obliterate their own individuality.<br />
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Don't take this the wrong way, <i>TMAB</i> is absolutely not against hardcore players. Murd's first-rate<a href="http://www.dawnsong-guild.pl/viewnews.php?s=d8701726589bf70085bd6354f4094bd38fcb6c88" target="_blank"> guild</a> is full of great experienced players, who generously provide excellent advice and who make <i>AoC</i>'s broader player community all the richer. Even trolls and ninjas have a place in the massively shared game space; without them MMOs would be less random, less human, and lack the spark and drama, that separates them from closed predictable game worlds. This week, <i>AoC</i>'s premier and longest continuous blogger and Hyborian aficionado, <b>Slith - the Blonde Myth of Aquilonia</b>, unsubbed and has indicated that he's not logging until some new substantial content appears. This is a real loss for both the game and the community.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Don't go, Slith! Don't go.</span> </td></tr>
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Games, especially ones that aspire to have the longevity of an MMO, absolutely need skilled, passionate, competitive people. And yeah, Murd deeply admires the folks who have the free time and energy and focus to progress quickly. Real life work scheduling has kept Murd from doing T3 raids for just about a year. That's a far as Murd's gotten, so far and as a proud filthy casual, Murd's just fine with that.<br />
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-65721406544521958592014-01-27T21:07:00.002+03:002014-02-23T16:35:53.607+03:00My Name is Newbie ... and Yes, I'm a Raid Virgin<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #93c47d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So you’re a new player who’s just hit Level 73, 75 or above and you
want to score some much better loot than the city or culture gear that’s
currently selling for premium prices on the trader. What’s an impecunious PVE newbie to do? Well it’s time to think about doing a raid.</span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In this installment of <i>TMAB</i>, Murdy will offer some guidance
for green players who’ve never tried a raid instance before. The goal is to take some of the trepidation
out of it; particularly if <i>Age of Conan</i> is your first MMO (or at least the first one
you’ve stuck with long enough to consider moving to some ‘massive’ player-versus-environment challenges.)
Hopefully, you’ll come away from this entry with a better sense of how
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">For the truly virginal players, it’s beneficial
to know what a raid is and how it fits into the game's group play progression. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RpLeHCk4yrc/UuanzmBC11I/AAAAAAAAAhw/Ju0cAveF_zw/s1600/TMAB+Image+702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RpLeHCk4yrc/UuanzmBC11I/AAAAAAAAAhw/Ju0cAveF_zw/s1600/TMAB+Image+702.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Raid Dungeons are some of <i>AoC</i>'s most impressive play-fields</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As players level up, the game provides several additional kinds of areas (a.k.a. zones or instances) in which
complex play is possible. These include:</span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>Open-world play</u> (as Normal and Epic) zones such as <i>Field of
the Dead</i> and now with open-world bosses appearing in various places
periodically.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>6-man dungeons</u> (as Normal,
Hard Modes, and Unchained Modes) such as <i>Scorpion Caves </i></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>Single player dungeons</u> (Normal and Unchained etc.) The <i>Villas</i> in the Noble District, or <i>The Forgotten City</i> in Gateway to Khitai</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>PvP minigames</u> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>Massive PvP Sieges</u> (admittedly <i>AoC</i>’s least successful
modality)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>A Cooperative/competitive dungeon</u>, <i>Threshold of Divinity</i>, that
can accommodate four 6-man groups at once.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>and ...</b> </span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #38761d;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>24-player “raid” dungeons</u> (e.g. <i>Yakhmar’s Cave, </i></span></span></b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span class="st">Kyllikki</span>’s Crypt,
Vistrix’s Lair, Black Ring Citadel</i> ... etc.)</span></span></b></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A somewhat up-to-date list can be viewed <a href="http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeons">here</a> … it doesn’t yet include the
<i>Secrets of Dragon’s Spine</i> content yet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1. The basic mechanics of world zones, instances and invites.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You have already figured some or all of this out from doing 6-man play, but if you haven't here goes ... </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The essential difference between an <u>open-world zone</u> and an <u>instance</u>
is that the <i>open-world zones </i>generally </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">are</span></span> persistent play-fields that are not created for use on a player-by-player or group-by-group
basis. So all players can enter and leave
zones at will but there’s always at least one available. When a world zone hits a maximum population, the game
creates a second copy of the zone and populates it with newly entering
players. This is done mostly to control
the loads on the game’s server hardware. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When the game creates <u>any</u> new play-field area, it’s called an
<i>instance</i>. So if the aforementioned open world zones have multiple
copies, each copy can be described as an instance. To see this in action, click the instance icon at the top of the game's user interface (UI) near the map. A window will appear that allows you to go to another instance, if it’s
been created. The alternative instances will have names in quotation marks. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Note that your character should be standing on a
rez pad to actually move to the new instance.</b> </span></span> This is good to know for
world-boss battles or sometimes for gathering crafting materials.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FQxnJB-bLa4/UudL7Wzj68I/AAAAAAAAAis/4UvAYarPmFA/s1600/TMAB+Image+708.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FQxnJB-bLa4/UudL7Wzj68I/AAAAAAAAAis/4UvAYarPmFA/s1600/TMAB+Image+708.jpg" height="253" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View instances icon and selection window.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Now when a player-character enters a solo, 6-man or raid <i>dungeon</i>,
these play-fields are likewise created as instances but they’re assigned to
players specifically; so different groups can actually be in their own discrete
copy of a dungeon play-field. For example,
two, three, or more groups can be doing the same 6-man play-field, but they’ll
never bump into another 6-man group because each group is in its own instance </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(except in the case of <i>Threshold of Divinity</i> which can
hold up to four 6-man groups)</span></span>. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the case of a raid dungeon, the instance is ‘owned’ by
the character who, first enters, leads and assembles the 24-player group by
inviting players to join his/her raid.
The invitation will appear as a window that prompts a 'yes' or 'no' reply. Not understanding this mechanism, can lead to classic <u>super-noob</u> mistake <b>number 1</b>. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you simply follow
players into a dungeon, because you're hoping to have a peek, or you're a wall-flower looking nonchalantly for a dance; but you haven’t accepted any invitation:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 5.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">a) Your character may end
up in an instance of that dungeon by him or herself and will be automatically
teleported out of that dungeon after a minute or so, if you haven’t started your own raid-group. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 5.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 5.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">b) Alternatively, you may briefly appear
in the same instance as the players you followed; but you will also be automatically booted out
of the instance because it’s owned by (a.k.a. 'bound to') the group's Raid Leader (RL, for short). The instance will only tolerate your presence for
a few minutes --- enough time to be invited. Players are booted-out
automatically, if they’re not invited, because the game doesn’t want to allow mischievous ne'er-do-wells to interfere with another
group's collaborative play.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Also note, that even having accepted an invitation, sometimes
you may have to leave/re-join the raid to get into the same instance, depending a few
snarly variables (e.g. differences between your instance and the Raid Leader's, when you accepted the invitation and yadda yadda yadda). Finally, if and when you get invited,
be sure to wait outside the entrance until the RL confirms you can
enter. If you’re not sure, simply send
the RL a /tell in chat “Enter?” and he
or she will let you know.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZzEriarMsY/UuaogIPMGbI/AAAAAAAAAh4/b1EmJjD9bvo/s1600/TMAB+Image+703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZzEriarMsY/UuaogIPMGbI/AAAAAAAAAh4/b1EmJjD9bvo/s1600/TMAB+Image+703.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Vistrix defeated ... a satisfying prospect</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remember that once your group kills that first <i>boss</i> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(namely a very tough and dangerous adversary)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">in the raid, your character will become 'bound'<i> </i>to that RL's raid-party. This means you won't be able to start a fresh instance for that play-field until the instance resets. Understand it's not on a set timer that's linked to the group's RL.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Your character, like all, in time will be 'unbound'. </span> T<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">his happens regularly once a week:</span> the raids reset on </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="st">Tuesday evenings (I believe at 04:00 GMT). This essentially restricts access to raiding that play-field to roughly <u>once every seven days per-character</u>. If your raid group, plans to re-try the instance at a later time, any bosses you've killed will stay dead (but <i>trash-mobs</i>---the minor incidental adversaries will re-spawn). Being bound has a quasi-benefit in that you could opt to re-join a group formed by the RL the next night and keep trying in the instance as long as you don't run over the Tuesday reset time. If you try to join a group started by another RL for the same instance, your character's bound status will prevent this.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="st"> </span> </span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2. Be prepared!</span></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So if you plan to get invited to a raid, there are a few things to work on before you go looking and volunteering.</span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>a) Know your class</b> and <a href="http://aocfeats.com/">develop a good PvE raid build</a>. Know the names of your skills, weapons,
abilities and your feat build: for example,
the RL may ask all Conqs: ‘Have you set your skills specification to “Brute” or “Carnage” or
“Hybrid”?’ or for <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">'</span>Sins, ‘Are you spec'd as “Lotus” or “Corruption” etc.?’ </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>b) Consider how you'll communicate</b>. It’s very common for raids to use
voice over internet protocol (VoIP) apps often called “Voice Comms”. These are little programs that run in the
background and allow you to listen to the other players, in particular to the Raid
Leader. While not essential
for the simpler starting raids (e.g. Yakhmar or Vistrix), they really do make things smoother when trying to coordinate
24 individuals (who can be in various countries or time zones; have various
linguistic strengths or deficits; or may just be incorrigible boozers … man, I love my guildies!) The three most common Voice Coms
I’ve seen <i>AoC</i> players use are <a href="http://www.teamspeak.com/?page=teamspeak3">Team Speak 3</a> (</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CUIW3PP1yI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUC8FZLiWgeM8qd7ONIBSBNA" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">TS3 set-up video</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">), <a href="http://www.typefrag.com/ventrilo/?gclid=CIargYufnrwCFUT3wgodGjIA-g">Ventrillo</a> (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct04JL17cEU&list=UUC8FZLiWgeM8qd7ONIBSBNA&feature=c4-overview" target="_blank">Vent set-up video</a>) or <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/mumble/" target="_blank">Mumble</a> (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z9j_3mAQDU&list=UUC8FZLiWgeM8qd7ONIBSBNA" target="_blank">Mumble set-up video</a>) You should download each and learn how get them
working <b>before</b> you join a group. Being
in a guild really helps with this, as setting up some of these apps may seem finicky to a
new player. Your guild may have a server
ID# and password for one of these. Once you fidget
around with them, you’ll get the gist of how they work.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nP2AyVP-0f4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">video </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">above</span></span>, recorded a few years ago on the then separate US servers, gives a fairly general impression of what a player might see and hear when using Voice Coms in an <i>AoC</i> raid (Note the player recording the video employed a custom user interface, so some on screen elements here are not typical.) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP2AyVP-0f4" target="_blank">(Are you an iOS user who can't see it? Click here!)</a></span> </blockquote>
<br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>c) Buy plenty of potions and foods</b>. Many players will be willing to
share a few here and there but they shouldn’t be expected to carry you all the
way.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>d) Find and collect the associated quests in advance.</b> Some players will offer to share some raid quests when folks are waiting around, but once the groups are formed and instructed people may not have time to do that. So for example, if you're planning on starting with Yakhmar's Cave ... visit Fenella just near the path to the hunting lodge and do her quests. She won't give you the Yakhmar quest immediately, as it's the last in a chain. Do this well before you look to do the raid, so you can start collecting the furs you'll need <a href="http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Yakhmar%27s_Cave" target="_blank">for the epic reward</a> asap. </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>e) Set aside time</b>. Very-skilled or experienced players can
clear a T1 raid in a short time, but if you’re a newb in a raid (and chances are,
there are other newbs there too) it may take a while. Sometimes the longest
part of the experience is just waiting for everyone to arrive. It's a common annoyance for things
to become delayed because some players do reasonably have to go and newer ones have to be recruited. If you don’t have an hour or two of
dedicated time then you’re not going to get the most out of a basic raid. Longer raids can take even more time. On the other hand, despite our on-line
reputation as savage players, I’ve never been in a raid where anyone was kicked
out for needing to check on kids, sick spouses or the elderly. In the poignant lyrics of <i>Spinal Tap</i>: “ ... Folks
lend a hand in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk9aThIovMA" target="_blank">hell hole</a>”.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>f) Be primed to hang
in there for multiple tries at raid objectives.</b> IMO there’s
a reasonable amount of time or number of attempts on each objective that should be
made: four or five is not unacceptable. Players, no matter how skilled,
who petulantly leave after the first or second attempt fails, regardless of the raid’s
difficulty level (because the tactics or groups are not spot on), are being
selfish. There’s no guarantee that a
raid should cruse along at a rate of 20 mins per objective. Nonetheless it is admittedly very nice when things are efficient and go smoothly.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bx7hkIGX6w8/UuasntT-ZAI/AAAAAAAAAiE/mouNg1rGKks/s1600/TMAB+Image+710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bx7hkIGX6w8/UuasntT-ZAI/AAAAAAAAAiE/mouNg1rGKks/s1600/TMAB+Image+710.jpg" height="203" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The entrance to Yakhmar's Cave near the Hunting Lodge in the Eigolophian Mountains.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3nfxa9uoq0/UudEMGkyLuI/AAAAAAAAAiU/-FrFYWfT_l0/s1600/TMAB+Image+707.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3nfxa9uoq0/UudEMGkyLuI/AAAAAAAAAiU/-FrFYWfT_l0/s1600/TMAB+Image+707.png" height="200" width="189" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Become familiar with various raid entrances' locations </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>g)</b> <b>Know where the raid's entrance is … and get there ASAP.</b> Most players will giggle and eye-roll when
they see a newbie, in chat who’s plodding on his sloped-back nag </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">slowly </span></span>across three Hyborian open-world zones to get
to the entrance. Buy a fast
travel potion in the in-game store (or, if you’re lucky enough to have Vet Points, get the appropriate travel buff from the quartermaster; they tend
to teleport you to a rez pad somewhere near a raid’s entrance. Try not to burn through them in the hour
before you raid; so they’re not in cool-down).
<u>In short, have a travel plan.</u></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b0XDMHybviE/UudKA5kRA-I/AAAAAAAAAio/o1eCjePvWRo/s1600/TMAB+Image+706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b0XDMHybviE/UudKA5kRA-I/AAAAAAAAAio/o1eCjePvWRo/s1600/TMAB+Image+706.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">A guardian in front of the icy portal to Vistrix's Lair in Atzel's Approach</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">3. How to get an invite ...</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you're in a guild, your mates will show you how to sign-up and when and where to go etc. easy-peasy. But even if you have to look outside a guild for T1 activity, this is relatively straightforward. In the <i>general</i> , <i>global</i> or <i>LFG</i> chat channel-windows be vigilant for open <i>calls</i> for raid groups (often called <i>PUGs</i> - short for 'Pick-up Groups'). The calls will keep appearing repeatedly with a running tally of the required classes being posted every so often. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A generic raid will often recruit two characters of each class:</span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span></b>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">[General][Murddock]: YAKH PUG needs 2DT, 2RANG, 1CONQ, 0SIN, 1GRD, 1DEMO, 1NEC, 0BARB, 2HOX, 0POM, 0TOS, 1BS.</span></b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Send a brief /tell to the player posting the call such as, ' <span style="color: #674ea7;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1BS for Yakh</span></b></span> ' and if you don't get an invite within 20 seconds, don't get exasperated. Give the organizer another 40-50 seconds and resend your /tell. The RL might just be contending with several windows looking for interest from guildies, friends' list pals, and global. Your /tell may simply have scrolled up out-of-sight and disappeared in a flurry of IRC text. Similarly, if you don't get actually an invite on your first foray, don't be irked. Just keep your eyes peeled another raid will materialize in time. My rule of thumb is if I really want to join a PUG, I'd send my /tell ASAP. But occasionally, I do hang back to determine whether the raid will actually fill. It's a gamble, cz we conqs are a dime a dozen on global.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One thing that held me back from raiding in my first year of the game was the belief that I had to be a hard-core ueber-powered player to do raids. That's not at all the case ...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>a) You’re not the ‘worst player ever'.</b> Don't assume it's skill or experience that are the key things in a raid. The <i>AoC </i>raids are designed to scale with ability: so if you're in a raid with a lot of new players, you may have to work at it collectively. But if you're there with a some seasoned folks, success can be smoother. It there is a 'worst' player; it the one who ruins the fun, or rage quits, or <i>ninjas</i> loot (a player who rolls on loot inappropriately, wins, and then leaves).</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>b) Likewise, you’re not the star. </b> If you solo frequently, it's easy to slip into the solipsistic head-space, that the success or failure of reaching a raid objective is wholly dependent on you. This is an even easier assumption, if you're the main tank or if your class has a key roll in a mechanic. There's really no 'star' ... not even the RL. The team collaboration is the 'featured attraction'. </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>c) You’re not there to get the best instant loot.</b> I think I had done 6 raids before I actually won a roll for something really tasty. If you go to a raid expecting a tier weapon or armor, you're probably gonna be disappointed. <i>AoC</i>'s raids will nonetheless provide you with tokens that can be collected and eventually spent at the armory for epic loot. So every outing, will be worth the effort. Be sure to learn the raiding loot rules. Some guilds employ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_kill_points" target="_blank">'DKP'</a> which boils down to rewarding players on a hierarchical basis, rather than the more democratic Need/Greed/Pass system. Murd's only seen DKP used when a guild's team is learning a new and elite instance. There's a fair bit of time and fail-stress required for mastering an elite raid, so it's natural that they'd want to build a core team with the right gear. Also, in some raids, special rare crafting materials drop. These <a href="http://cynarablog.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/shards-of-the-exiled-god/" target="_blank">Shards of the Exiled God</a> are used for crafting higher tier items. They'll sell for a nice chunk at the trader. It's common for the first shard to go to the RL. That's not someone being greedy, it's pretty much customary.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>d) You might meet a few jerks but there'll be more pals to enhance the experience. </b> In my first raid ever, a guildie (named Dantheman) encouraged me to join (even though I emphasized that I was a newbie greenhorn screw-up). And yeah, I did all the newbie dork-nik things. Yeah, I ran straight at Yakhmar just to get a better view ... and activated the encounter. Folks were pissed but most were good about it and some chuckled, as we all died, rezzed and re-formed positions in the ensuing 7-10 minutes. On the other hand, there was one f**kwad: no doubt, a greasy troglodyte with self-esteem issues, poor hygiene, and a bench-warrant for outstanding fines from his incessant traffic violations. This </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="st">coprophile</span> decided to send me an abundance of abusive /tells to let me know that he was the more experienced player: yes, a troll. Now, I can take trash talk and I own up to my shortcomings, but this dude was in it for the sheer joy of being a dick. He made that first raid memorable for the wrong reasons. Anyhow good ol' Dantheman instructed me to /ignore him in chat and at least I wasn't distracted by his grief. Even other players, told him to cut it out. But ya know what? That shit-sauce turd-muncher was the only full-on psycho-troll I've ever encountered when raiding. 99.99999% of the time often you'll meet great folks who are decent, fun-loving, and keep the whole MMO pastime in perspective. But just so's ya know ... IMHO a self-respecting RL really should eject an aggressive troll, even if he/she's the most skilled player in the raid. Trolls don't make PUG raids go any smoother and folks may even leave at the out set, if they recognize the name of a school-yard bozo who's there just to act out and waste time. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Before long you'll relish the ebb and flow of challenges and jokes that make raiding a hoot.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">5. Learning Tactics helps</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There are too many nuances to describe every encounter here. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Each raid instance has a
series of objectives to be overcome. They generally lead up to killing one
boss</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> or two bosses simultaneously.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">For newbies, here's a <span style="color: #674ea7;"><a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071009051440AAchotu" target="_blank">Coles Notes</a></span> version of t</span>he <i>AoC</i>'s simplest beginner raid, Yakhmar's Cave, in which the raiders are usually divided into two squads: </b></span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The first squad (consisting of two groups) will be assigned go to the boss, Yakhmar a huge ice worm, where tanks will be expected aggro him and after a minute the others will ramp up their Damage Per Second (DPS) to wear him down. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The RL will remind everyone not to use any attacks or buffs that do fire based damage on the boss. The HoXes all start griping. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Meanwhile, the second squad (the 2 remaining groups) will assemble a short but specific distance away just out of the boss's range. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Off-tanks in the second squad (cf. Conqs and DTs or possibly a Guardian) will form a line facing the boss, the rest stand even a little further back. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When everyone is in place, the RL will give the command to go and the first squad to move on Yakhmar, who will defend himself with various buff and abilities. The main tank(s) will position Yakhmar for the best results. The second squad will wait ... until ... </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Periodically, five or so smaller ice worms will emerge near the boss to attack the first squad who are doing the DPS. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The off-tanks run in and each irritates (to get aggro) one of these worms (such enemies are called 'adds' short for 'additionals') and then the off-tanks lead them away from the DPS squad back to the second squad, where all try to kill the small worms ASAP. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If these smaller worms are not drawn away and killed quickly, they will head for the DPS squad and overwhelm them. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This cycle DPS and drawing off adds will be repeated 3-4 times until the Yakhmar is dead.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you die, you may either lie there or <u>opt to be resurrected</u> (a.k.a. 'released') at the pad outside by the hunting lodge. Be sure to follow the RL's instructions. (If you're rezzed or you self-rez too close to the boss, after he's re-set; you'll trigger the raid prematurely). </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">At the end, all the dead are rezzed or re-admitted, only then is the loot box opened by the RL and the rewards distributed. (If you have the "</span></span><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Great Ordeal" quest you may be told to get one of the "furs")</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Accept the automatic rewards you received, these will go to your gear inventory (where you can click them to send them to the appropriate token inventory). Then roll 'Need' 'Greed' or 'Pass' as instructed by the RL's loot rules. Generally you should pass on gear that's not for your class ... some weapons can be used (to lesser effect) by classes for whom they weren't designed specifically. So pay attention ... when in doubt 'Pass'. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Nobody likes a Ninja looter; so if by chance, you genuinely get an item you weren't supposed to roll on ... /tell the RL ASAP and apologize once or twice (but not excessively) and wait for them to get a GM to sort it out. This is a royal pain in the anus and can take time ... but if you want to be an ethical newbie, you'll stick around and do the right thing.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Before you leave the raid group, it's good form thank the RL or her/his guild. </span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some are simple burn-downs but most are a bit more complicated. </span>Suffice it to say, new players should try to learn each raid's tactics. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>a) Become familiar with the chat and raid interfaces.</b> When you accept a invitation to join a raid a window will appear that lists you and all the other player-characters who are going to participate and who've also accepted an invitation. You can use you game options menu to set this window to display complex or simple info on each other players. You'll note that if you click on another player's name in the menu, the name-tag over the character's head will become more obvious ... this is helpful, particularly if say you have to resurrect or heal a specific player. (e.g. Murd, as a conq, will inevitably be called to use a in-battle rez; finding the team-mate quickly is crucial) You can also use this interface to check what buffs other characters are adopting. Additionally, you should navigate through the chat menu options and set your chat window to display as "raid" (Note: you'll only see "raid" as a menu choice if you're actually in a raid.) Chat is used to confer with individual team mates to coordinate actions. It's quite fine to ask another player of the same class, for pointers.</span></span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Typical Raid Specific UI elements: Note that players are clustered into 4 distinct groups</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>b) Identify key player-characters.</b> Sometimes you'll have to be aware of the other player's jobs. Rezzing, healing, and swapping aggro often require this. Become familiar with character names and note the role-symbol on the raid UI (note: these don't exactly show class as much as roles: Tank, Off-tank, Healer, Ranged, DPS, Pet users etc. ... yellow star-symbols indicate each group's local leader). In some encounters, a specific class or role will be a lynch-pin job. While often this is tanking, it can be just as likely to be some other class. If you have a selection of characters, you may want to try them to see which roles you're comfortable with. Personally, main tanking has never been Murd's thing, but it <b>is</b> a lot of fun to be off to the side doing something in a trusty supporting role. If a role is new, try it and learn its quirks. If it's not working for you, responsibly suggest another player do it. Observe them, if possible, and try it again next time. Trial and error are a chief mechanism in learning, after all.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>c) Listen and ask questions.</b> It's the RL's job to intuit how you'll best be able to contribute. If he or she assumes you know too much, ask for clarity on Voice Coms or, if you prefer, quietly via through a /tell or two. Some players have special mods that will allow them to post tactics or loot item-name lists for extra help.</span></span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A 'Sin takes a stance in </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><i>Kyllikki</i></span>'s Crypt.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A final caveat. Just as you're a novice raider; some RL's are learning their skill-set too. If they're having trouble, be patient and supportive: you'll make more in-game friends like that.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Always bear in mind that <i>AoC</i> is a game! It should be fun and involve facing, understanding, and overcoming challenges. So if solo or small casual grouping open-world play is getting a bit repetitive, take a couple of days and do some prep and make your first few T1 raids productive and engaging.</span></span><br />
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-35455979721042828972013-12-20T09:38:00.003+03:002014-01-01T23:13:48.331+03:00Supply and Demand – Some Fundamentals of Trading in the Hyborian Age.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">In this post, Murddock covers the bare essentials of trading items for newbies so that they can make the most of their in-game lucre over the first few days and weeks of playing <i>Age of Conan - Unchained</i>. </span></span></span><br />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Okay
Okay … so you’re super new to <i>Age of Conan</i> (and perhaps to MMOs) and your new
character doesn’t have a lot of moola and you wanna improve the character’s
gear. What’s a new player to do? </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When most players start out on Tortage Beach, Kalanthes, the enigmatic Priest of Ibis, greets you and offers you something invaluable: a reason to live ... a new destiny to persue. What the miserly bastard doesn't do is give you the basics, like food, weapons, or money. Yes yes, he's a mystical priest and he's all about the journey not the destination and all that <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/24142-life-is-a-journey-not-a-destination">Emersonian</a> blather. (Truth be told, Murd plied him with booze once and then asked why he didn't give friggin' money ... "Dude," the old Stygian scoffed, "If I gave every mo'fo, who washed up on <i>that</i> beach, a few gold coins, I'd be one destitute sonovabitch!")</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wldisdMhw9I/UrF_wviTzHI/AAAAAAAAAeI/9CEdFTDgSEI/s1600/TMAB+IMAGE+505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wldisdMhw9I/UrF_wviTzHI/AAAAAAAAAeI/9CEdFTDgSEI/s400/TMAB+IMAGE+505.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Kalanthes: Generous with his wisdom, but stingy with his simoleons</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Well the Priest of Ibis might be a tightwad, but <i>Age of Conan</i>, does provide various means to make your wallet swell. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">1) This first thing a new player needs to accept is this: <u>you're not going to be excessively rich anytime soon.</u> </span></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The game initially indicates progression via your experience points and levels accrued. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> If you could buy your way to the top, from day one, what would the point of playing be?</span> <i>AoC</i> wants you to take your time and learn its intricacies and as such, it mainly employs the mechanism in which players pursue better <u>loot</u> as one of several incentives. For the time being, accept that you'll be trying to earn tin or copper, and that silver, gold and other currencies will be relevant later.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hence, once you've fought your way up the beach; gutted slavers, Picts and demons; killed Saddur; slaughtered the Ape King; and defeated the Big Bat to get Turach his friggin' stone-blocks in exchange for having those shackles removed; you'll have acquired ample starting-loot and can access Tortage City. Your first chance to sell some of the crap in your inventory is upon you. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fimsAx88aeI/UrGUXSxdN-I/AAAAAAAAAeY/sJht0fgc56E/s1600/TMAB+IMAGE+504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fimsAx88aeI/UrGUXSxdN-I/AAAAAAAAAeY/sJht0fgc56E/s400/TMAB+IMAGE+504.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tortage trader and, nearby, Nalla, a food vendor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Most players understandably run straight-away to the 2 types of commercial </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">non-player characters</span></span></span></span></span></i> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(aka. <i>NPC</i>s, the term for in-game quest givers, enemies or merchants etc.) </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> the game presents nearby: </span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A) The <b><i>vendors</i></b></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span>who sell things like potions, foods, armor or weapons etc. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">B) The <b><i>trader</i></b> who's one of several NPCs that allow players to store, or sell items to other players in a persistent on-line market. The trader window's "Buy" tab provides access to the same market-place no matter where you encounter a trader NPC. </span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Okay, it is reasonable</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> to notice that some posted items, some just like yours, are for sale for tidy sums of gold or silver and thereby assume that the most of the stuff you gathered is valuable. That's </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">t</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">he first novice mistake: <i>assuming</i>.</span></span> The loot's generally not that valuable ... most of it is essentially pooh. But even pooh has <i>relative value. </i>Good things can grow from pooh.<i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9u01nfoZfGY/UrGVV8qhZEI/AAAAAAAAAeg/jofe6HkgAUw/s1600/TMAB+Noob+Selling+a+no-demand+item+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9u01nfoZfGY/UrGVV8qhZEI/AAAAAAAAAeg/jofe6HkgAUw/s400/TMAB+Noob+Selling+a+no-demand+item+1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trader window showing players trying to sell the Ape King's Treasure.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The slaver's gold teeth and <i>Ape King's Treasure</i> are all items that new players sometimes try to sell to other players on the trader. This usually happens because the items are presented as 'gold' or 'treasure' and, as such, are perceived as having value to other players, because the items seem to have value within the game's fictional setting. The logic is reasonable: <i>The Ape King's Treasure</i> is some kind of gem. Gems are usually valuable in fantasy settings. For that matter gem's are valuable at any real world jewellery store; so this thing should be worth something to the scrofulous jerks on Tortage, n'est pas? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Unfortunately, new players sometimes forget that some of the other players selling those very same items suited for low-level play, are also themselves novice players, who also don't have the full picture. So when new players do sometimes see these items for sale on the trader, they mis-percieve their own items' values. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">However, a little more puzzling is when players try to sell items that have no seeming value, such as the <i>Half-digested Foot</i>.
... Perhaps their experience in other games has sparked a hypothesis
that it just might be needed by others for a quest: which some items
will indeed be.</span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G7HN6gTZyng/UrGcA49FbAI/AAAAAAAAAew/pYLBHrAUXWI/s1600/TMAB+Noob+Selling+a+no-demand+item+2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G7HN6gTZyng/UrGcA49FbAI/AAAAAAAAAew/pYLBHrAUXWI/s400/TMAB+Noob+Selling+a+no-demand+item+2b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newbies mistakenly over-price items that won't sell. The tool-tip better indicates an item's base worth.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Look it! These items you've struggled to accrue </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(viz. demon blood, weapons you can't use, duplicate bandannas, etc) </span></span>are principally suited for just selling to the <b>vendors</b> to enable new characters to buy some basic armor or weapons. Don't worry about selling them on the trader.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The simplest rules of thumb for your first couple of days: </span></span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Yes, check the trader to see whether others are selling an item you want to sell </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In general, don't sell items labeled as whites or greys on the trader, stick with greens or if you get any, blues. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Don't expect to sell all your items for lots of gold or silver while on Tortage. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There are exceptions</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> of course</span></span> (like the Eyepatch, see below), but typically at levels 1-20 you'll earn some solid copper, if you're shrewd. And maybe you score a few silver, if you're fortunate.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">2) Look at the Tool-tip pop-ups to appraise items.</span> </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You can read the <b><i>Vendor Price</i></b> on the tool-tip to ascertain an item's <u>minimum sell value</u> at any NPC vendor. Vendor's always buy item's for considerably less than they sell them (as in 'buy low, sell high' - that's<i> capitalism</i> people!) If you put your item on the trader for less than the vendor price on the tool-tip, you're selling yourself short, because a vendor would pay you more for it than the player buying it will. Most other players know this and they might actually capitalize on the seller's error, by buying the item, exchanging it at a vendor, and making a small profit. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlRDANfAtlc/UrHdL4hYJpI/AAAAAAAAAfA/HgusZugKXJU/s1600/TMAB+TRADER+Tool+Tip+lg+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlRDANfAtlc/UrHdL4hYJpI/AAAAAAAAAfA/HgusZugKXJU/s400/TMAB+TRADER+Tool+Tip+lg+1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Peek at each item's Tool-tip window to get a sense of its cost.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">3) Items within <i>AoC</i>'s player-community also have market-value determined by our old friends,</span> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand">supply and demand</a>. </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">An item's <b><u>supply</u> </b>is determined by factors such as:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Drop Rate:</b> The frequency with which an item is 'dropped', (i.e. provided) by NPCs or by crafting 'nodes' (eg. trees that yield wood or beasts hunted for leather) affects the supply. Regardless of level, some things 'drop' incessantly (eg. the <i>Ape King's Treasure</i>); some commonly, such as enchanted (green) items; some a little more rarely (blue items, such as the <i>Savage Chest, Bloodleather Leggings, or Briskrunner Boots</i> armor); and some are exceptionally unlikely to drop </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(eg. the Eyepatch) and yet are highly desired for their novelty factor. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_sYDodm020/UrHfhcxCzyI/AAAAAAAAAfU/3t19yz2vIyA/s1600/TMAB+Eye+patch+EG+1b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_sYDodm020/UrHfhcxCzyI/AAAAAAAAAfU/3t19yz2vIyA/s400/TMAB+Eye+patch+EG+1b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Eyepatch - authentic supply-side pricing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Difficulty of Crafting:</b> Items crafted in-game are produced by players who acquire materials through gathering drops (over time) or by buying materials in the player-market on via the trader. If the crafting recipe requires rare expensive materials, then the crafted product will be correspondingly pricey. You may observe crafted greens are very common. They're routinely produced to satisfy the requirements for crafting progression. Therefore they are often lower in price than the sum of the values of the materials used to make them. However, crafted blue items which are more beneficial and which require a few rare materials to produce, are seldom sold at a loss.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">No matter how the seller acquires an item, as a general rule, the more copies of an item that are for sale on the trader, the lower the market-price they'll typically fetch.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o4tJPjh5GE4/UrKszutaJOI/AAAAAAAAAgc/9pFPJLrTKOg/s1600/TMAB+IMAGE+503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o4tJPjh5GE4/UrKszutaJOI/AAAAAAAAAgc/9pFPJLrTKOg/s400/TMAB+IMAGE+503.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">"But if I sell this thing, people might find me uhmm ... repulsive without it!?!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">An item's <b><u>demand</u></b> is an even more complex phenomenon. It's </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">ostensibly dependent on many variables:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span>
<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How many players are online at any given time</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How many of those are of a class or level that might want the item</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And how many of those have a feat-build that requires an item's specific attributes </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How many of those players have the item already</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How many players' guilds share items in their guild bank</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How many players prefer to buy rather than <u>grind</u> (i.e. acquire over time) for the item</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> ... and so on.</span></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TzwnQvOasCA/UrKybZ3jYRI/AAAAAAAAAgs/-vtOKgdy0hY/s1600/TMAB+Rare+Item+Life+Essence+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TzwnQvOasCA/UrKybZ3jYRI/AAAAAAAAAgs/-vtOKgdy0hY/s400/TMAB+Rare+Item+Life+Essence+1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Learning which items are in demand and <i>when</i> is part of successful trading.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This can seem daunting, and frequently it is. However, some approaches to trading are a mix of intuition and common sense.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">For example, it's a good idea to set your items for sale on a Wednesday evening, to insure that their item's posting doesn't expire while the majority of players are online over a weekend. This is a time when demand goes up; but after a time so will supply.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">4) Be patient and proactive. Monitor the competition's prices regularly.</span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">By checking the 'Advanced' box in the trader window, you can access more search filters. It's a good idea to use this feature to have a look at similar items when you're trying to estimate an item's worth. For example, filter for all 'Cloth Armor' and 'Belts' for levels 30-40. You might notice that there are more belts suited for mages than assassins in this level-range ... so you can ask for more for an assassin oriented belt.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You may also want to occasionally, re-check how your item's price compares to others' prices. Over a seven-day cycle, you can sometimes see a price drop dramatically, as players adjust their prices to undercut each other. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0dtbJkZlNmM/UrHoI0jie1I/AAAAAAAAAfk/oITqehZ0i4I/s1600/TMAB+Toon+Selling+a+Rare+Blue+FULL+RANGE+1b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0dtbJkZlNmM/UrHoI0jie1I/AAAAAAAAAfk/oITqehZ0i4I/s400/TMAB+Toon+Selling+a+Rare+Blue+FULL+RANGE+1b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Examining prices over 7 days, implies an item's most recent set price drops to 10 times less than a prior competitor's asking price.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">For certain things, it's more effective to sell common items, such as <i>tradeskill materials</i> or <i>consumables</i> (i.e. food or potions), in <i>stacks</i>
by grouping a number of the same kind of item into a bundle of several. Not
all items can be stacked; but if they can, take a lesson from
the bulk-barn: sell larger stacks for relatively low prices. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">For example, you can determine
your optimum stack price by slightly undercutting the lowest prices on the
trader. First you determine who is selling a commodity for the lowest per-unit cost, and then you set your stacks for a slightly lower per-unit cost. This works best when the supply is high, and demand is constant. If demand suddenly increases, a buyer may tolerate higher prices than your asking price. Your stack will sell quickly, but you may nonetheless feel frustrated knowing that others got paid at higher per-unit prices. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You may alternately choose to adopt a <i>line-in-the-sand</i> approach, by setting a price below which you won't budge, in the hopes that over time once all the sellers who've undercut you have sold their stacks, that someone will be inclined buy yours. This sometimes actually works, if the demand is high and the supply low.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QPvuDS_pxm4/UrH96pblH2I/AAAAAAAAAgM/HuocFZsSVhw/s1600/TMAB+Vendor+selling+Rat+in+a+Trap+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QPvuDS_pxm4/UrH96pblH2I/AAAAAAAAAgM/HuocFZsSVhw/s400/TMAB+Vendor+selling+Rat+in+a+Trap+1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Rat-in-a-Trap sweet spot!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IJGfDVsEat0/UrH9XqjAWSI/AAAAAAAAAgE/16cN0R8h5JQ/s1600/TMAB+Toons+selling+Rat+in+a+Trap+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IJGfDVsEat0/UrH9XqjAWSI/AAAAAAAAAgE/16cN0R8h5JQ/s400/TMAB+Toons+selling+Rat+in+a+Trap+1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Which stack of 5 Rats-in-a-Trap would you snap-up?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The aim is to find the economic <i>goldilocks' zone</i>, in which you undercut the competition, without selling yourself short.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">5) Yes, other advanced players may want to buy items you've found.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Longtime players frequently generate alternative characters (called 'alts') to try out other classes or just to help friends. When a player, decides to fast-track an alt, by equipping that alt-character with the best gear (so as to make advancement a more rapid and efficient process), the resulting character is called a 'twink'. So longtime players do feed the demand for select blue and green items at lower levels. For example, <a href="http://thismachineageblog.blogspot.com/2013_07_01_archive.html">'Traveler's' items</a> provide movement speed boosts: a player may never want such an item for combat, but could want one for moving around. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">6) It gets better! Big scores are out there ... but you have to play to get them.</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So where's it all heading? Well the current <i>AoC</i> economy is stable but not especially dynamic. As a result, it serves players adequately, but it doesn't motivate players to be economically forceful. Beyond the elite players selling a limited assortment of </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">epic</span></span> crafting materials and items (eg. <a href="http://cynarablog.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/shards-of-the-exiled-god/">Shards of the Exiled God</a>), not much has changed since 2009.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">That being said, with normal PvE play at some of the more recently introduced areas, such as the <i>House of Crom</i>, <i>world epic</i> items do drop and some can fetch you a dandy price. These have stirred up the economy somewhat. Obtaining them is a matter of patience, skill, perseverance and yeah, luck.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8IpA9bVSDv0/UrK8Z5jT8dI/AAAAAAAAAg8/nBNf44KqWLU/s1600/TMAB++Selling+a+HIGH-demand+item+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8IpA9bVSDv0/UrK8Z5jT8dI/AAAAAAAAAg8/nBNf44KqWLU/s400/TMAB++Selling+a+HIGH-demand+item+1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ibis weapons are currently the big earners at the trader.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Come to think of it, well maybe ol'Kalanthes' knew all along that, if you persevered as a player, you would indeed be in for some shiny loot. Ahem, loot bearing the name of Ibis, no less. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5ObF-l1pMw/UrK_m1o9thI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1ImaGvpp_r0/s1600/TMAB+IMAGE+501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5ObF-l1pMw/UrK_m1o9thI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1ImaGvpp_r0/s400/TMAB+IMAGE+501.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Despite a plodding pace, caravans move constantly, conducting traders' commerce.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">7) Though the market is stable now, a storm's a-comin'.</span></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But the discussion doesn't quite end with Ibis rewards. In the latest patch 4.1.5, a long lost tier of prestige has re-appeared. 'Legendary' as a designation has returned after many years of being mothballed within some code on a USB drive in a file cabnet in Oslo or Montreal. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Murd can't help but think that <i>legendary</i> is an ironically apt adjective. There's a legend among Funcom developers, that someday ... in a forthcoming era known cryptically as "soon"; the currently inviolable ebb and flow of all commodities' supply and demand
will become a maelstrom once the new crafting system goes live. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If a legendary tier for crafting is introduced to replace, the epic Ibis crafting format, such legendary items might initially be obscenely priced. Beyond such conjecture, we do know that new crafting materials will be coming, as will epic crafting for level 20 and above. We also know that dropped items can be dismantled and some constituents salvaged. So the overall supply of what are common greens and blues now, may dwindle; that crappy level 35 green cloth assassin belt may suddenly command a higher price than anyone would expect. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The implications are intriguing. An elite HoX might start buying Guard oriented items, to salvage certain materials. Sin's may start to furiously buy up Mages' staffs. <a href="http://aochideout.blogspot.com/search/label/Rants">Slith</a> may learn to love PvE in Azeroth! Cats and dogs may start inter-breeding and giving birth to abominations: Oh god ... 'kippies' or 'puppens'. Whatever they'll be called, Murd expects they'll stink up the place with their unholy bodily emissions.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Seriously though, it
will be <u>interesting</u> to see how the economy changes as players react and
adapt. Though the the Khitan merchants curse their rivals with the words "May you
live in interesting times"; Cimmerian profiteers, like Murddock, regard the arrival such opportune conditions as a blessing.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-31205911560429396292013-11-25T14:49:00.001+03:002013-12-21T14:31:57.914+03:00What Will We Make of the Crafting Revamp?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->Now that the latest upgrades of the three renovated dungeons have hit
the live servers, it seems that the new tradeskill system might be the next chunk of content to be implemented on test live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Funcom can actually get the revamp to test live this week, that
would allow the devs to test the new code for about a month and hopefully release
it just before the December holidays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what a nice gift from Santa (or Satan, or
Xotli ... or whoever) that could be for players!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aNgp3GBqvU/UpDMct9PzwI/AAAAAAAAAdU/zn-5fCuEooc/s1600/TMAB+Image+230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aNgp3GBqvU/UpDMct9PzwI/AAAAAAAAAdU/zn-5fCuEooc/s400/TMAB+Image+230.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noobs in Tortage waiting to try the forge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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With the assumption that it’ll be on the test servers sooner
rather than later, in this post Murd will recap what players do and do not know so far,
and conclude with an early Yuletide <u>wishlist</u> to the jolly round man himself,
Game Director, Joel Bylos.</div>
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For the few new <i>AoC</i> players who may not ready be aware, the forthcoming trade-skill system has been
designed to wholly replace the current one and, as such, it will re-conceptualize crafting progression and materials
gathering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ubPZ-KrZk">From the press</a> and <a href="http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=180573">forums</a> players have been expecting
several specific things:</div>
<br />
<ol>
<li>Removal of
the crafting system’s quest-based progression and requisite recipes; with the exception of those for architects: these will still be required for building guild cities.</li>
<li>Many new crafting materials (e.g.
resin) will be introduced and hence, nodes and other sources for mats (e.g. loot drops and vendors) will too</li>
<li>A limited selection of existing in-game materials
will remain: presumably ones which are needed for architect recipes</li>
<li><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Some kind of
trade-in vendor/system will be implemented to recoup the value of legacy materials.</li>
<li>Crafting will begin at
much earlier levels (level 20). Progression will be acumulated through crafting-experience, and lead to higher-level crafting expertise</li>
<li>Items will be created by fabricating and assembling physical
components (e.g. hilts, blades, etc.) and then using other components, likely to be gems, to imbue the resulting item with statistical aspects.</li>
<li>These stat-effect gems will imbue different item-stat bonuses depending on their order, variety and
possibly number when installed into the UI's 'gem' slots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There will be considerable experimentation required to understand the
desired way to make the most of the many permutations.</li>
<li>The extent of a stat’s value (viz. how high it can be)
appears to be tied to the material (gem) used. The tooltip (in yellow square) on the following screenshot suggests that
materials are classified by colour “Effect: Strength (Green)"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Su-22kKa1VU/UpDU8DcZZ0I/AAAAAAAAAd0/N3JBZMeYjlk/s1600/TMAB+Image+233.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Su-22kKa1VU/UpDU8DcZZ0I/AAAAAAAAAd0/N3JBZMeYjlk/s320/TMAB+Image+233.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vid cap of new system's elements (from 2012 <a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/news/gameId/191/showArticle/26210">MMORPG.com video</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</li>
<li>Crafting blue and purple items will be now possible at lower levels.</li>
<li>The creation of an item will not be the short and sweet assembly-action it currently is; some time constraints (either via a cool down or a crafting energy resource similar to sprinting or both) will be in effect </li>
<li>Presumably the
higher a player’s tradeskill level, the more frequently things can be crafted; possibly through production queues</li>
<li>Players will somehow
acquire additional design 'templates' that allow them to produce items of differing visual
appearance</li>
<li>A set of basic item
skins (i.e. appearances) will be available from the get go: some of the basic armor set visuals will be new (see the following vid caps)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E-ixwBegm2Y/UpC3w01nWQI/AAAAAAAAAdE/WbT_KGOLqLM/s1600/Leather+Armor.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E-ixwBegm2Y/UpC3w01nWQI/AAAAAAAAAdE/WbT_KGOLqLM/s320/Leather+Armor.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New basic light armor set (vid cap from MMORPG.com )</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DhFtEpVoioY/UpC3fdk39FI/AAAAAAAAAc8/GP0u5Mutnwg/s1600/Heavy+Set.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DhFtEpVoioY/UpC3fdk39FI/AAAAAAAAAc8/GP0u5Mutnwg/s320/Heavy+Set.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New basic heavy armor set (vid cap from MMORPG.com )</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</li>
<li>Most of the in-game
items visuals can be acquired (clearly some with ease and some with tremendous
effort or time investments) … this is done to address the absence of vanity
weapons (which were apparently hard to implement, as the animations and
fatalities for weapons differ widely).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In part, creating a large variety of visuals for this aspect was
responsible for the long delay (reported in late March), as many in-game items
had to be converted from an earlier game-engine format to the newer Dreamworld
versions created in, Gaia, the developer’s content tool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<li>As part of the final steps for crafting an item, there’s a
chance a player can roll a critical bonus, that will further boost the final
statistical bonuses of an item.</li>
<li>PvP activities will definitely produce PvP oriented
crafting mats and some provision will be available to help players who are
exclusively PvP oriented to acquire materials that PvE players otherwise gather
in PvE activities (so PvP hardcore players don’t have to do a tonne of PvE
stuff to make PvP items)</li>
<li>Crafting critical success chances might be buffed by using
in-game workshops found in cities and guild cities and for a time after
completing a major goal (e.g. killing a raid boss etc.)</li>
<li>All items (e.g. world drop greens, blues, etc.) will be able
to be dismantled to retrieve some of the materials via a “salvage” function.</li>
<li>Existing crafted items will remain as legacy items, but no longer be newly created</li>
<li>Finally, crafting will continue to support the Guild Renown system.</li>
</ol>
<br />
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What remains unclear …</b></span></span></div>
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Most of the press to date has focussed on the creation of armor and weapons. Murd's curious. </div>
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</div>
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<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Will there be an alchemy system?</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if so, other than the standard stamina, mana, etc. bonuses from the current system, will players be able to make potions that buff things such as the sprint resource, exp bonuses, AA Exp bonuses, or core game stats like strength, critical damage, unholy protections etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b>Will new guild buildings be required to do crafting in guild
cities?</b></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Murddock would actually prefer to
see a new set of guild buildings or structures be introduced just to re-inject
some communal goals for long established guilds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These would also prevent the young guilds
from being disadvantaged because they don’t already have the guild facilities
in place.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">How frequently can one craft an item?</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a suggestion that there’ll a
production queue and, with more progression, that additional queues can be
started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But how long a production will run or cool down is not known … nor is the ultimate number of production
queues one player cab have running at one time.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">How could the in-game shop affect crafting?</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we be able to buy item design skins?
Will we be able to buy crafting bonus potions? Murd would never support FC selling
potions that give crafting-stat bonuses (e.g. improved critical chances) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>unless far superior ones were available through game play (e.g. as
drops in Raids or PvP minis) but he could get behind <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the selling of potions that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>boost the speed of production. Those would allow serious crafters to learn the permutations and sell items a little more rapidly.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>There’s been mention of <b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">set bonuses</span></b>; but as to how this
would work, it’s hard to say (e.g. when wearing a full set of gear created by
the same crafter, bonus X or Y goes into effect.)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b>How will Shards of the Exiled God be relevant?</b></span> It's seems they might be retained, even though Ibis crafting will be gone.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Will players assign names to the items they make</span></b>, or will that be done automatically by an algorithm?</li>
</ul>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XqLOdxoWJVM/UpDM4xH5wvI/AAAAAAAAAdc/vzj_FsSHSqk/s1600/TMAB+Image+231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XqLOdxoWJVM/UpDM4xH5wvI/AAAAAAAAAdc/vzj_FsSHSqk/s400/TMAB+Image+231.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ol' abandoned market in Old Tarantia: an ideal spot for new crafting facilities! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span>
<br />
<div>
</div>
</div>
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What’s not likely to be possible …</b></span></span> </div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Players won’t be able to affect the colour of items.</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Dreamworld engine does have the ability
to do mask-tinting (to allow players to create different coloured versions of
items (c.f. using dyes in <i>Guild Wars</i>), but it’s not likely to be implemented in <i>AoC</i>, as it
requires items to be designed for this from the ground up, and isn’t possible to
implement retroactively.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">There will be no in-game means to record gem combos</span></b>, so players will
have to memorize or keep detailed notes to learn the nature of the effects and permutations of
objects.</li>
</ul>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLAmZdlWugg/UpDNjJJky_I/AAAAAAAAAdk/JhQ78abLBok/s1600/TMAB+Image+232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLAmZdlWugg/UpDNjJJky_I/AAAAAAAAAdk/JhQ78abLBok/s400/TMAB+Image+232.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disused market stalls: a venue where Alchemists could trade materials. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
Bearing all this in mind, Murd's been able to scribble his hopes for the holidays on a piece of whorled leather (a soon to be worthless commodity) and hopes that it will catch the glance of the capricious powers that be as they toil in the hyperborean wilds of North ... uhm Carolina.<br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wishlist …</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b>Dear All-Father Joel Bylos</b>,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Murd's been a good 'toon all year: promoting the game and helping noobs and being fair to Funcom and to other players ... and paying subs without complaint! ;) </div>
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<br /></div>
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For the holidays this year, he would appreciate some new seasonal content. Additionally, kindly make the new crafting system even more engaging. <br />
<br />
So please stuff Murdy's festive sabatons with the following:</div>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b>New AAs that boost crafting actions:</b></span> in the starting tier, add one Prowess perk to support the crafting of PvP items; one for Mastery perk for PvE crafting; and one Expertise AA that boosts critical success crafting chances (after level 80). In the class tier, an AA ability that boosts crafting stats when making accessories like rings, necklaces, cloaks. (e.g.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PoM can boost heal rating or holy damage).<br />
<br /></div>
</li>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<li><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b>Allow us to have a new top tier of loot for which crafters can aim</b></span>; call it 'legendary' (or 'Awesome' or whatever).</div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal">
Holidays sometimes involve special libations, hence it would be very welcome if alchemy crafting empowered players to<span style="color: #9fc5e8;"> <b>create potions that boost the crafters own crafting stats a little</b></span>; and with more work let player-crafters make potions that buff critical success chances for a few hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Murd's not greedy, so these p</span>otions shouldn’t stack against similar potions but could against other crafting buffs. If a player is willing to put in the extra time and energy to harness some recursive boosts, why not?</div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Allow players to craft clothing and items that also add small buffs to the crafter's efforts</span> </b>(e.g. aprons, caps, hammers, tongs, mortars, and pestles).<br />
<br /></div>
</li>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<li><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">New trader search options to search by stats and also the option to search by character-crafter.</span></b> Ideally, searches could be cross-indexed with 2 or 3 stats.<br />
<br /></div>
</li>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<li><div class="MsoNormal">
And, because all these new crafting-gifts could leave each player's hovel stuffed to the rafters, kindly give players <span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b>more inventory space</b></span>, especially in the trade-skill resources but aslo in store-and-sell, and gear bags.</div>
</li>
</ul>
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If these are just not possible, kindly just leave Murddock a tin of all-butter shorbreads, a rasher of maple-smoked bacon, and a bottle of <a href="http://i.imgur.com/0ULqv.png">Lagavullin</a>!</div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dgRCW1sXr8c/UrV7krqwh-I/AAAAAAAAAhg/NHKK9sNkj_4/s1600/santa+bylos+03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dgRCW1sXr8c/UrV7krqwh-I/AAAAAAAAAhg/NHKK9sNkj_4/s200/santa+bylos+03.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What will Hyborians get this year?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #ea9999;"><b>P.S. Oh yeah, one more thing ... Can you do anything to make the mayor of Toronto resign?</b> </span></div>
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Til next time ...<br />
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</div>
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-43102406769654314472013-10-14T09:15:00.000+03:002013-11-26T06:37:22.917+03:00Beyond Dragon's Spine?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;">This blog was initially started to help new and casual
players with a view to helping to clarify some stats and explore the <i>new</i> (and
that word’s being used ironically) crafting update.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the plan nine months ago, and in the
meantime <i>TMAB</i> has produced some content to meet those needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #f1c232;">After a hiatus, Murd’s found some time to again deliver some content. Originally, this material was supposed to have been 3-4 shorter entries ... so go grab some tea and cookies, beer and pizza, or bacon and absinthe (essentially whatever you prefer) to accompany a longer read. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Minor News</span></b></span> </span></div>
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Now much credit has to be given to the FC team for the
by and large smooth server merge and addition of new versions of the old world
dungeons to live and to test-live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes
there were glitches, but it wasn’t the Armageddon that it might have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Additionally, in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the recent Game
Director’s letter Joel Bylos gave a welcome update on the crafting revamp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was somewhat of a “do you want the good
news first or the bad news?” update for crafting oriented players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the
long slow process of converting all the old assets into the current
post-DreamWorld re-vamp format is complete, Bylos intimated that there was still
more to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
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The GD did answer a
question that’s been nagging Murd somewhat:</div>
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<b>Originally Posted by ibrock (a.k.a.
Murddock) </b></div>
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Joel, you probably know this
question has popped us elsewhere, but given that some GUI work has to be done,
will you also be making any changes to the trader window, so we can search for
crafted items (e.g. search by item stat or by crafter etc.)?</div>
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<b>Nusquam (a.k.a. Joel Bylos)</b></div>
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It’s not the GUI work I was
referring to, but it *is* a good idea. I'll see if we can fit it in.<br />
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Thanks Joel ... being able to search by stat would be a useful option: and searching by crafter will help reward those who really speacilize in the activity.<br />
<br />
In the meatime, Murd’s had another question to consider ...</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What's coming further out in <i>AoC</i></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">’s future?</span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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With the <i>Secret</i><i>’s of Dragon</i>’s<i> Spine</i> content now seemingly rounding
second base (crafting’s still underway, the PvP mini-game, and the raid are the
two final zone components in the production line).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s reasonable for players to wonder what’s
next; what new area of the Hyborian Age’s world will be opened up (or will
there be just more systems tweaks and those purported carry overs from <i>TSW</i>)?</div>
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While the <i>TMAB</i> staff of one really approves of FC’s choice to use the Serpent
Men legacy in south Stygia as central pinning point for the narrative in
Dragon’s Spine, the zone itself seems a little sparse. Exploring more desert (albeit
very impressively rendered) fell a little flat for Murd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now it must be understood that in RL, <i>TMAB</i><i>’s</i> lone hack
actually lives and works in an oil rich desert country in the Middle-East.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every day, Murd sees camels, sand dunes, and
giant sandworms --- Hey, they may look exactly like convoys of cement mixers blocking
traffic but locals know they’re sandworms in disguise --- so the desert setting isn’t that
exotic for this blogger.</div>
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As such, Murd thought he would let his imagination wander and suggest
some viable possibilities and permutations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The guiding principle here is to keep to Funcom’s current make more out
of less approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The goal is to achieve
more variety but allow FC to use some existing assets as a starting point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, Murd remembers hearing that FC can implement
procedural aspects to DreamEngine games, so why not include that as a way to
create variety in any new content. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Part 1 - Khosala, Vendhya & </span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Kambuja </span></b></span></div>
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Khosala, Vendhya, Uttara Kuru and Kambuja: this region is R.E. Howard’s equivalent of the
Indian subcontinent and South East Asia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As such, they can
provide some variations on existing themes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, clearly have incredibly
diverse geographies and cultures to draw on, but as these areas fill the cultural
continuum between Persia (Turan) and Egypt (Stygia) to the west, and Indo-China (Khitai) to the north and east: there’s less need to create
completely new assets.<br />
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ja0-Qi75avc/UllVv_M8LDI/AAAAAAAAAYo/JKgZP-lRuXA/s1600/Vendya+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ja0-Qi75avc/UllVv_M8LDI/AAAAAAAAAYo/JKgZP-lRuXA/s400/Vendya+2.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kambuja offers new South Asiatic style jungles.<br />
(Original Image: <a href="http://cra2.com/wartorn/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/youarehere__1169298600_jungle-temple.jpg">cra2.com</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></b></div>
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A new adventure pack situated in Vendhya could recycle some of the wire-frames used
for Kopshef (peasant houses), Ardeshir (Domed Palaces), Khemi and
Keshatta (Souq’s and ships), and Black Lotus Swamp (huge statue heads) which
would be supplemented with some new skins and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>few new buildings (see images) that employ a more south Asian colour
scheme (viz. Saffrons, golds, purples and yellows).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vendhya, too, could employ some elements
from Khitai, such as statues of Yag-Kosha, Yun etc. Also useful could be some elements from the Varghasan Tiger’s (Armor sets) as well, as they’re supposed to
have come from Vendhya.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are already
meshes for Turbans, pantaloons, and similar attire for various cultures in the game, that could be
re-skinned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there are plenty of
existing animals that could be situated in Vendhya (tigers, cobras, water buffalo,
monkeys, crocodiles, etc.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Some new assets might include Indian
Elephants (or more interesting prehistoric members of the elephants’ family tree).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That might be especially apropos, as the
Yag-Kosha (an elephant-like god resembling India’s Ganesh) aspects of Khitai would be tied-in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3l5rRC7vTQ/UllWOZVxYsI/AAAAAAAAAY0/2uzDHwIbtNI/s1600/Vendya+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3l5rRC7vTQ/UllWOZVxYsI/AAAAAAAAAY0/2uzDHwIbtNI/s320/Vendya+8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sRVJGrB22y0/UllWOc4mGKI/AAAAAAAAAY4/bBydZtgyVXg/s1600/Vendya+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sRVJGrB22y0/UllWOc4mGKI/AAAAAAAAAY4/bBydZtgyVXg/s320/Vendya+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Using the existing mammoth elements (e.g. bodies and animations)<br />
some new <a href="http://dino-art.blogspot.com/2011/06/prehistoric-elephants.html">prehistoric pachyderms</a> could be introduced.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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One element that <i>TMAB</i>
would especially like to see in <i>AoC</i> is a truly deep dark grim jungle. Parts of
Tortage and Dead Man’s Hand come close visually, but they’re just creepy and a truly horrifying jungle is a must.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while much of the flora from the jungle
areas might be re-used; it’s be nice to see a really new use of day and night …
so that by day there are merely little islands of light and colour in an otherwise dark green jungle zone (imagine the area around the Lemurian ruins in NG, but on a huge scale). By night, it should simply become preternaturally dark and friggin’ precarious and unsettling (use sound
for this!).</div>
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With plenty of pulp and camp culture to be mined here along the
lines of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk2E1CoGe98"><i>Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom</i></a>: cannibal cults, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuggee">thuggee</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0aRqwuEaGQ">Kama Sutra</a>, lost over-grown
temples in <a href="http://www.elfwood.com/art/k/i/kimdee//naga-web.jpg">naga filled swamps</a> make Vendhya compelling.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NrCBEsgPcYU/UllXElXCSzI/AAAAAAAAAZM/bDwASQ0wm5U/s1600/Vendya+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NrCBEsgPcYU/UllXElXCSzI/AAAAAAAAAZM/bDwASQ0wm5U/s400/Vendya+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>AoC </i>Could do with a touch of Ray Harryhausen’s Magic.<br />
(<a href="http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/01/gorillas-riding-dinosaurs-harryhausen%E2%80%99s-sinbad-movies-to-comics-to-movies-again/">Original Image: </a><i><a href="http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/01/gorillas-riding-dinosaurs-harryhausen%E2%80%99s-sinbad-movies-to-comics-to-movies-again/">The Golden Voyage of Sinbad</a>)</i></td></tr>
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<b>Proposed ideas</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #a64d79;">A) PvE</span></b> - A raid just cz they’re always expected and needed; and 1-2 new solo/unchained 6-man instances <b>TMAB</b> strongly suggests that all new 6-mans function like 'The Breach' in which one location that serves two play styles: 1) an auto-content leveling solo and 2) a max level unchained group instance.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QTUnrxYtY0w/UllXC3QgCGI/AAAAAAAAAZE/IIR5LbwcRD8/s1600/Vendya+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QTUnrxYtY0w/UllXC3QgCGI/AAAAAAAAAZE/IIR5LbwcRD8/s400/Vendya+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An <a href="http://www.puretravel.com/uploadedresources/continents/subcontinents/countries/Overgrown%20temple%20Cambodia_20090302124156.jpg">overgrown temple</a> in the Kambujan swamps might serve as<br />
the setting for a solo/6-man unchained dungeon.</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #a64d79;">B) PvP</span></b> - Something a bit fresh … some kind of
zone that employs procedural jungle terrain elements that establish unique, so the
play field is different each time.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-spj4i1y4tJo/UllYDIo1y9I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/ZFehQpGl018/s1600/Vendya+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-spj4i1y4tJo/UllYDIo1y9I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/ZFehQpGl018/s400/Vendya+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knut Avenstroup could supply some sensuous new<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyBUjD0m35c"> South Asian inspired music</a>.<br />
(Original Image: <a href="http://www.superweb.de/bollywoodworld/actors_and_actresses_2/aishwariya_rai.htm">Superweb.de</a>)</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;"> <span style="font-size: large;">Part 2 - Visit Zamora</span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: large;">’s infamous Shadizar the Wicked</span></span></b><br />
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Now the idea <i>TMAB</i> has for this new location might be too ambitious for FC as it stands,
but here’s the suggestion: this area, as with Vendhya, could re-employ
some
of the Middle-Eastern urban architectural wireframes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shadizar should be used to introduce something
the game really needs, an <u>extensive</u> new <u>urban</u> environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HLQN1N9Y2BU/UllaRHERWVI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/-NHQmS49_6U/s1600/Shadizar+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HLQN1N9Y2BU/UllaRHERWVI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/-NHQmS49_6U/s400/Shadizar+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shadizar: the original "hive of scum and villainy"<br />
(<a href="http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/assassins_creed">Original Image: Assassin’s Creed by Ubisoft</a>)</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Shadizar has always figured prominently
in the Conan <a href="http://www.rick-johnsons-atlas-of-hyboria.webs.com/cities.htm">pastiche materials</a>. And it</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s high time for FC to put it to use in our
MMO. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pWVofwetcQY/UllaO541voI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/4xvRjFZh9_k/s1600/Shadizar+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pWVofwetcQY/UllaO541voI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/4xvRjFZh9_k/s400/Shadizar+4.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shadizar: Beloved setting for so many <a href="http://benitogallego.deviantart.com/art/STREETS-OF-SHADIZAR-color-122169682">Conan interpretations</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The general thinking is that in the centrally located country of Zamora, Shadizar</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s an East-meets-West kind of milieu not historically unlike Istanbul (or also Andalusia). It</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s a trade-route crossroads where cultures clash and mingle. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">There</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s some evidence that Howard intended the Hyborian era to have a kingdom inspired by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people">Romani culture</a>. 'Zingara' is an Italian term for a Romani woman which was perhaps erroneously transposed with 'Zamora'. The real world Spanish place name 'Zamora' came to be applied to the Romani/Byzantine themed fictional city; while the noun 'Zingara' ended up being applied to the clearly Iberian themed fictional western Hyborian nation. Confused? ... Don't worry ... Howard</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s fantasy world never really coherently maps one-to-one with our own. The simplest rule of thumb is that Shazidar is ancient, dangerous, and a melting pot of ruthless and cunning denizens.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cDbk9LAv8Tg/UllaKyM7sbI/AAAAAAAAAZg/AfzsxuN5oLY/s1600/Shadizar+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cDbk9LAv8Tg/UllaKyM7sbI/AAAAAAAAAZg/AfzsxuN5oLY/s400/Shadizar+1.jpg" width="370" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shadizar: She’s most seductive and, as such, especially dangerous!<br />
<a href="http://x-p-r-e-s-s.deviantart.com/art/Dreaming-313884413">(Original Image: deviantart - "Dreaming")</a></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Shazidar</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s precise appeal is that
it offers the adventure of a deeply seedy and dangerous urban space. It
should make Tarantia Commons, the last genuinely major urban zone, seem safe and
bland. The wicked city
should amount to <i>AoC</i></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i>’s</i> version of <i>Assasins Creed</i> or <i>Prince of Persia</i>:
a sprawling city where there</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s as much going happening on the rooftops, as there
is in the taverns or temples. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zsdgT6kNg8/UllaRZxio3I/AAAAAAAAAaI/iuC5A8YPbUw/s1600/Shadizar+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zsdgT6kNg8/UllaRZxio3I/AAAAAAAAAaI/iuC5A8YPbUw/s400/Shadizar+6.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shadizar: Where your next drink, could be your last!<br />
<a href="http://golden-zephyr.tumblr.com/post/9040712244/muffybot-my-my-what-beautiful-eyes-you-have">(Original Image: deviantart - woman from Rajasthan)</a></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Currently there are in-game locales, such as the souqs in Khemi and
Keshatta, that hint at what Shadizar the Wicked should be: busy with trade and full of dodgy back alleys,
sketchy locals and the most notorious operators from across the world of
the Hyborian Era. Shadizar must also be about money ... It would be fitting if a mechanism were in place such that <b>every</b> item in-game could be purchased (albeit somewhat randomly available) and every in-game and appropriate currency (gold, silver, relics, MoAs etc.) could be spent there (albeit from merchants who gouge players unashamedly). Additionally, it should be an environs where players might randomly have their pockets picked or be out-and-out mugged and yes lose actual money (just a few silver, mind you)! Likewise, in game gambling could be a small but interesting mini-game to keep some suckers ... er I mean, <i>players</i> engaged.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NZeRMXOlEr4/UllaOF868hI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/dc2oXw123CQ/s1600/Shadizar+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NZeRMXOlEr4/UllaOF868hI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/dc2oXw123CQ/s400/Shadizar+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What happens in Shadizar, stays in Shadizar.<br />
(<a href="http://wallpapersdepo.net/free-games-wallpapers/prince-of-persia-city-wallpaper-1582">Original Image: Prince of Persia Wallpaper</a>)</td></tr>
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FC could build the
narrative for a Shadizar adventure pack around faction play (one faction for each
class-archetype). Simply put, each faction wants to run all the Shadizar’s criminal and commercial syndicates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every two weeks a leader board would
identify the <b>archetype faction</b> that’s in the lead; points would be accrued by 'toons
doing the dungeons and PvP competition.</div>
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<b>Proposed ideas</b></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>A) PvE</b></span> - Beyond the obligatory raid, 2 new dungeons with solo / unchained 6-man options (see above).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>each new 6-man version of the dungeon would employ mechanics which are designed to be played by archetype dominated groups. So that each entering group
must have 4-5 players of the same archetype and one of any other archetype (e.g. a group could have 5 priests and a rogue or, say, have 4 mages and a soldier).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> One instance would be designed to be played by groups or mainly rogues or alternately groups mainly of soldiers; while the other instance, would alternate between groups predominated by priests and those predominated by mages. T</span>he Rogue/Soldier 6-man zone could be set in Shadizar’s warren-like neighborhoods where melee is suitable,
and might employ some procedural elements to add variation to the warren layouts. While the Mage/Priest-oriented 6-man instance could be tied to the Spider-Cult of Zath and put the emphasis on magical tactics ... spider webs would make an ideal procedural element within a temple labyrinth. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cNqFAkcDxK0/UlpjJrEo_BI/AAAAAAAAAbg/UQb1XtA9A6s/s1600/Shadizar+PvP+Arena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cNqFAkcDxK0/UlpjJrEo_BI/AAAAAAAAAbg/UQb1XtA9A6s/s400/Shadizar+PvP+Arena.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shadizar needs an Arena<br />
(<a href="http://spartacus.wikia.com/wiki/Amphitheater_of_Capua">Original Source: Spartacus Starz TV</a>)</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>B) PvP</b></span> - This is a location that screams out
for a colosseum: an area with an open air arena and also some kinda sub-basement hell-hole for pit-fighting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where FC could
start a real ranking system for PvP players, who can duke-it-out in 1-v-1,
2-v-2 in the pits or 4-v-4 team competitions played out on the arena’s main field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If it were done right, FC could add new arena floor set-ups and minis as later content. </span><b>And for cripesakes, let players do the 4-v-4s in premades, </b>so that there’s something for everyone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, players could do random stuff for better PvP loot, but the Premades
could serve as a means for players to also get team bragging rights and vanity gear. The pits instance for example could be developed from the existing <a href="http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Armsman%27s_Arena">Armsman Tavern area cellar</a> in Tarantia’s Noble district with a facelift and a few new prop and lighting tweaks.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5_e6CzPYsRk/UlpjEr-RuGI/AAAAAAAAAbc/YNs8xfBAXcE/s1600/PvP+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5_e6CzPYsRk/UlpjEr-RuGI/AAAAAAAAAbc/YNs8xfBAXcE/s400/PvP+small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It'd be great to have a fully functioning PvP colosseum in Shazidar<br />
(Original Images: <i>Spartacus</i> Starz TV and <i>Spartacus Legends</i> Video Game)</td></tr>
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Finally, <i>TMAB</i> suggests this system employ cross-server tech to be
implemented<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in such a way that players
can spectate: ½ the arena seats would be restricted for PvE players (with its own
entrance) in which no one can unsheathe their weapons (let’s call it the ‘noble’s
boxes’ a la <i>Spartacus </i>). And the other ½ of the gallery would be more a rough and
ready space in which spectators could PvP in the ‘Cheap Seats’ (again a la <i>Spartacus</i>), but not
enter the combat floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do it like
this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well I really believe that more
PvE<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>players would do PvP if they could
see it and get a feel for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus,
while Murd doesn’t PvP, he admires the folks who do play it … Murddock would
like to observe his guildies doing their PvP thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s no watering down of PvP in this concept, rather it’s actually a
way to bring both player communities together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cross-server might allow this kind of innovation.</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Part 3 - Hyperborea</span></b></span><br />
<br />
Okay here’s my final
suggestion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where the prior two make
ample use of the game’s Middle-Eastern and Asian assets, this one addresses a
cry that’s been on the forums off and on for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s have<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>new content that returns to the specifically northern Hyborean zones,
and offers a cultural injection of northern European themed gear (<i>House of Crom</i>, a visually impressive set of instances, was the last area to do this, but the <i>HoC </i>gear itself was visually not
really that innovative and IMO looked like stuff that was left-over from early
development).</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XZI8hkXo7DA/UlldhQkYKAI/AAAAAAAAAbE/IKAKdG4V8QY/s1600/Hyperborea+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="321" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XZI8hkXo7DA/UlldhQkYKAI/AAAAAAAAAbE/IKAKdG4V8QY/s400/Hyperborea+8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On a clear night you can almost hear the distant sobbing of a brass monkey!<br />
(Original Image: <a href="http://hyperboreanvibrations.blogspot.ca/2011/02/hyperborea.html">Hyperborean Vibrations</a>)</td></tr>
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Now Murd’s home in Canada is the
eastern-most region and he grew up in a North Atlantic sea-side town that regularly sees
icebergs (in March);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whales, seals, and
moose (a traffic hazard) are occasional visitors; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and where the snow can still be on the ground
in June.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>½ the resident’s have Irish
ancestors from around County Cork and the other ½ claim descent from Devonshire folk in
the UK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yes, my town was a base of
operations for piracy in the 1600’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">. The most frequent visitors were longliner crewmen from Norway and Faeroe. </span>For
my neighbors in the Middle-East, that counts as exotic! Indeed Murd sometimes
misses home; and it's no surprise Murd friggin’ loved <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Skyrim</i>
because its environment looked precisely like his childhood landscape (save
for the cars, TVs, and shopping malls).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So <i>TMAB’s </i>kinda biased here.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
Hyperborea is the high arctic: Northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland
and even more so, Finland, the Baltics, and Russia, as they are the modern 'counterparts' of Hyperborea. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E5RlLwT95Hg/UlldemsN2hI/AAAAAAAAAak/f-pFeThhSYQ/s1600/Hyperborea+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E5RlLwT95Hg/UlldemsN2hI/AAAAAAAAAak/f-pFeThhSYQ/s400/Hyperborea+1.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hyperborea should look like Russia in winter.<br />
(<a href="http://www.tourismontheedge.com/places/europe/the-seven-giants-of-the-urals-man-pupu-nyor-russia.html">Original image: 7 Giants of the Urals</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
You
get the drift:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>very sparse trees and lots
of harsh driving snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An extreme arctic
zone that draws on such Hyperborean elements which might be accessed in the northern
part of the Eiglophian Mountains<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>complete with midnight sun, Aurora Borealis and so on, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>could feature environmental debuffs
associated with the harsh cold conditions, much in the same way Kara Korum has
a negative effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The tough Hyperborean folk have inhabited the extreme cold for a long time and their culture relatively ancient.</span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Where The
Black Ones and the Serpent Men more properly belong to the pre-catyclysmic Valusian
epoch of Kull, the Hyperboreans are somewhat similar to the Stygians, they emerged
during the earliest days of the game</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">’s contemporary eon. </span>In the <a href="http://hyboria.xoth.net/history/hyborian_age.htm">"Hyborian Age"</a> Howard hints at the history of Hyperborea, which eventually emerges after the cataclysm:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
...the first of the Hyborian kingdoms has come onto existence, the rude
and barbaric kingdom of Hyperborea, which had its beginnings in a crude
fortress of boulders heaped to repel tribal attack. There are few more
dramatic events in history than the rise of this fierce kingdom, whose
people turned abruptly from nomadic life to rear dwellings of naked
stone, surrounded by cyclopean walls ... [but after some time] ... the
first kingdom of Hyperborea is overthrown by another tribe which,
however, retains the old name. </blockquote>
So it could be said that the game’s current Hyperboreans, live amid the
vestiges of the original 'first kingdom' Hyperboreans, who, though
initially barbaric, became civilized earlier in history. The subsequent
group of <i>nominal</i> Hyperboreans had their own kingdom and, indeed fought
against, "Hyrkanians and Turanians together in time, [who were] united under one
great chief.
With no Aquilonian armies to oppose them, they were invincible,
sweeping first over Zamora, then Brythunia, Hyperborea and Corinthia."<br />
<br />
The
Hyperboreans players encounter, are more of less the rough and driven
descendants of the more civilized Hyperboreans. It could be very
appealing to see their communities that lie to the north.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KyxgAnpy9BA/Ulldf3wm0PI/AAAAAAAAAaw/8dTJGlvFmFs/s1600/Hyperborea+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qPyM7eahYd4/Ulldd2k5jzI/AAAAAAAAAaY/15EwrE_fW5A/s1600/Hyperborea+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qPyM7eahYd4/Ulldd2k5jzI/AAAAAAAAAaY/15EwrE_fW5A/s400/Hyperborea+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last hotspot in Hyperborea.<br />
(Original Image: <a href="http://hdw.eweb4.com/search/iceland/">Iceland Wallpaper</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
Let’s keep the architecture, initially
encountered by 'toons upon entering the zone, really basic. A few hide tents around a lone volcanic hot
spring, could suffice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Players would move through a
large hostile ice field that has a few ice covered stone butes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet at the farther end there could be a
Hyperborean enclave (Haloga), a place that was once clearly more advanced
technologically, but now reveals a few centuries of decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span>It’s aesthetic could be something that re-uses generic ruins (e.g. in Amphitheater in Ymir’s Pass) but with new touches from Finnish and Russian
Pagan art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
There are already some Hyperborean items
in the game, so it might just be a matter of broadening some of their colours and distributions to make
the Hyperborean culture seem more rounded, such as adding Hyperborean<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>women (e.g. QueenVammatar or Louhi) and children. A few renovated fur cloaks, boots, and robes couldn't be that hard to produce.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f5fWjzGu-Qg/UlldixzV3AI/AAAAAAAAAbM/HqGGfweFBH8/s1600/Hyperborea+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f5fWjzGu-Qg/UlldixzV3AI/AAAAAAAAAbM/HqGGfweFBH8/s400/Hyperborea+9.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are Hyperborean women!<br />
(Original image: <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/?q=idolum+witch">deviantart’s idolum</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
For no direct reason, there’s also a little part of me
that likes the idea of taking some visual cues from Ridley Scott’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prometheus</i>. It’s a minor coincidence that the aliens, called Engineers, in that movie, seem to share a similar aesthetic as the Hyperboreans (tall, pallid and cold) in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Scott’s movie presents the primeval icy Icelandic terrain as perhaps version
of the early Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conceivably it’s also
an association that comes from knowing Scott’s creatures are informed by the
art H. R. Giger, and the latter illustrator’s material sometimes has looked
to modernize the mythic weird horror atmosphere of some of the Lovecraftian
stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Funcom, why not likewise
imply that some of the Hyperborean’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>history is tied to the Cthulhu mythos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clarke Ashton Smith, whose Hyperborean tales were an extension of both Howard’s and Lovecraft’s weird tales,
certainly tried to unite these strands. Smith’s work, albeit canonically gray, may also provide some plots to be mined. Forgive the digression.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmhIxNOBJRw/UlldebKp3bI/AAAAAAAAAag/X2QxT2iPKFQ/s1600/Hyperborea+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmhIxNOBJRw/UlldebKp3bI/AAAAAAAAAag/X2QxT2iPKFQ/s400/Hyperborea+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hyperborean design could take a cue from Ridley Scott’s <i>Prometheus </i><br />
<i> </i>(Original Image: <a href="http://www.prometheus2-movie.com/media_display_img.php?id=528">Prometheus 2 Movie</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
As for assets, arctic foxes, hares, wolverines,
lynx, and polar bears are all currently available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Re-skinning deer and could be done to create reindeer
or caribou.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some new animals might be
included here (e.g. walruses, narwhals or even some pre-cataclysmic sea-mammals might be designed as unique Hyperborean
hazards).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KyxgAnpy9BA/Ulldf3wm0PI/AAAAAAAAAaw/8dTJGlvFmFs/s1600/Hyperborea+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KyxgAnpy9BA/Ulldf3wm0PI/AAAAAAAAAaw/8dTJGlvFmFs/s400/Hyperborea+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An <i>ambulocetus</i> catches its prey in the Hyberborean Arctic<br />
(Original image: <a href="http://pyramidbeach.com/2011/07/07/when-whales-had-legs/">When Whales Had Legs</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<b><span style="color: #a64d79;">A) PvE</span></b> - A 12-man raid features some creatures
models (maritime-monster undead types adapted or inspired by) <i>The Secret World</i>
(see image below); A 6-man; a new solo/unchained 6-man (like the Breach) </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-piEfaAN-1h8/UlpysXDHA1I/AAAAAAAAAbw/CINslQNxmAc/s1600/Hyperborea+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-piEfaAN-1h8/UlpysXDHA1I/AAAAAAAAAbw/CINslQNxmAc/s400/Hyperborea+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the existing <i>Secret World</i> Lovecraftian inspired monsters<br />
might feel at home in the seas under Hyperborea’s ice caps.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>B) PvP</b></span> - A mini-game that stresses
environmental hazards (mind you not PvE play as in questing or gathering).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a combat mini-game that’s played out on
procedurally generated ice flows, such that via jumping, sprinting, and hiding, movement
become more decisive would shake up current PvP combat practices somewhat.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YCp8yzrw2-I/UlldgM3M7bI/AAAAAAAAAa4/70qy3ZbSjK0/s1600/Hyperborea+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YCp8yzrw2-I/UlldgM3M7bI/AAAAAAAAAa4/70qy3ZbSjK0/s400/Hyperborea+7.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lone Hyberborean looks north to home. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<br />
While this posting has hinted a few off the cuff ideas for systems and possibilities, the main intent of these three ideas is to suggest that new cultural areas of the Hyborian Ages world could be developed with the less-is-more approach. Furthermore <i>TMAB</i> intended to insinuate, that by employing some procedural elements with interesting mechanics, FC could push the longevity of both PvE and PvP instances. <br />
<br />
Before this admittedly loooonnnngggg entry concludes, it has to be mentioned that
Murd’s most desired new area has always been be an <i>expansion</i> (yeah, a Khitai-sized affair)
based on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Queen of the Black Coast</i> but
that’s another daydream, for another post.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-54021786936377941692013-07-29T10:49:00.001+03:002013-08-11T07:39:01.974+03:00Speed Freakin'Ok this month's entry is very brief because Murd's on vacation. In
fact, many players are taking some time off for the summer holidays.
Murd's been traveling but has still found time to grind materials in order to keep some gold rolling in.<br />
<br />
One of the annoying
issues for players who are new to AoC and who are grinding in Poitain or Lacheish Plains etc. is getting the job done rapidly. It's annoying as
hell when you're level 75 and riding the basic horse and some knob like
Murddock keeps beating you to the next node, because he's on a faster
faction mount. But Murd's gonna do it, because it's one of the only microscopic thrills to be had while harvesting. A few days ago an exasperated newb (high on suspicion) accused Murd of cheating "somehow"
cz he was moving "a bit too fast".<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x22DStYC9Mk/UfYYEI7XCCI/AAAAAAAAAXg/xOeEuehsjAo/s1600/TMAB+Image+140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x22DStYC9Mk/UfYYEI7XCCI/AAAAAAAAAXg/xOeEuehsjAo/s400/TMAB+Image+140.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dripping with irony "Whooosh!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
So I showed him my "secret exploit" and he went away feeling a little silly but, one hopes, a little more tuned in.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Turbo Charging</b><br />
<br />
Now
there's no actual secret here that a veteran player will not already
know. So this post is intended for really new or especially casual players.<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Players can boost the speed of almost any mount (even the Camel) or any 'toon on foot by 3%-15% (the boost is somewhat level dependent).<br />
<br />
First
you need some Veteran points. Go to Old Tarantia, Khemi, etc. and buy
the Veteran's Boots from the quartermaster. These give a substantial boost to your
<i><b>out-of-combat-movement</b></i> speed (this includes your speed when mounted).<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OAsJMduU51w/UfYYw23LqDI/AAAAAAAAAXo/LrvK1o-olwM/s1600/Veteran%27s+Boots+TMAB.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OAsJMduU51w/UfYYw23LqDI/AAAAAAAAAXo/LrvK1o-olwM/s320/Veteran%27s+Boots+TMAB.png" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
But you can still squeeze a few more km/h outta your tune. Be on the look-out (at the trader or as dropped loot) for items labelled as "Traveler's ..."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L1AQN1nmMLo/UfYZh7UQKqI/AAAAAAAAAX4/17ZqlG44_bY/s1600/Travelers+Heavy+Stitched+pants+TMAB.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L1AQN1nmMLo/UfYZh7UQKqI/AAAAAAAAAX4/17ZqlG44_bY/s320/Travelers+Heavy+Stitched+pants+TMAB.png" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XrsbV8g-bPQ/UfYZWPOHhOI/AAAAAAAAAX0/CmCnNOQhYLA/s1600/Travelers+Canvas+Leggings+TMAB.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XrsbV8g-bPQ/UfYZWPOHhOI/AAAAAAAAAX0/CmCnNOQhYLA/s320/Travelers+Canvas+Leggings+TMAB.png" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--25Ej2UP46g/UfYZ7lzibQI/AAAAAAAAAYI/x1wDO7ryBbg/s1600/Travelers+Ironsilk+pants+TMAB.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--25Ej2UP46g/UfYZ7lzibQI/AAAAAAAAAYI/x1wDO7ryBbg/s320/Travelers+Ironsilk+pants+TMAB.png" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s2nHUorW0DM/UfYZxxzyyEI/AAAAAAAAAYA/zkmkqzM2_iY/s1600/Travelers+Ironsilk+pants.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
By combining the Vet Boots with the various Traveler's faulds and leggings, a sluggish toon can get a reasonable increase in travel speed. Now note these items don't increase your energy resource, but when used in concert with the <i>Sprint</i> ability (and for some classes the AA perk that improves energy use) a player or some classes can get substantial improvements when moving around a zone.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3iz9OXL2B5g/UfYbl6CIS3I/AAAAAAAAAYY/keCnHg0mGuE/s1600/TMAB+Image+141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3iz9OXL2B5g/UfYbl6CIS3I/AAAAAAAAAYY/keCnHg0mGuE/s400/TMAB+Image+141.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even an old PoM could pass a random doping test! </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Just remember to get in the habit of re-equipping your normal combat gear once you dismount, or you may just end up using the improved speed to re-acquire your headstone.<br />
<br />
<br />Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-38322067842528772702013-06-27T07:54:00.001+03:002013-06-27T09:47:33.195+03:00Time for a Little Sweetpressed Haste?<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><span lang="EN-US">Murd learned a lesson last
month: don’t rush blog content just to meet a deadline, as folks are actually reading this now. Thanks to the players who offered constructive help to improve last month's table (further feedback is still welcome). In the meantime for this entry, the comments are more modest.
With summer approaching and the Funcom team now seemingly in place in North
Carolina, <i>TMAB</i> will cover a hodge-podge of issues.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: yellow;"><b><span lang="EN-US">1. 0 The 5<sup>th</sup> Anniversary Event.</span></b></span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">This was an all round
successful outing, given the short lead-in for the new team in NC. While Murdy’s reliable but aging <a href="http://blog.screenaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Alienware-M17X-Core-i7-Gaming-Laptop-Review-01.jpg" target="_blank">Alienware M17X</a> (it’ll be 4 in October) was not quite up to
the task of regurgitating sufficient polygons for smooth play in all the boss
battle areas, the general impression from my guild-mates, many of whom have newer, more
robust machines, is that even with some stutter, players were happy with this
event. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6beOLfz5kdU/UcdHnrG2ucI/AAAAAAAAAWg/lrsURpjpidA/s1600/TMAB+Image+110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6beOLfz5kdU/UcdHnrG2ucI/AAAAAAAAAWg/lrsURpjpidA/s400/TMAB+Image+110.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Relaxing in the shade, while awaiting a Kraken.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Player HenryX, who is well-known for producing very polished <i>AoC</i> fan videos, posted the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhoG1rbQsiU&feature=player_detailpage&list=UUYVYgFTVlUnCFM9zR-OFdTg" target="_blank">following</a></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhoG1rbQsiU&feature=player_detailpage&list=UUYVYgFTVlUnCFM9zR-OFdTg" target="_blank"> </a></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhoG1rbQsiU&feature=player_detailpage&list=UUYVYgFTVlUnCFM9zR-OFdTg" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhoG1rbQsiU&feature=player_detailpage&list=UUYVYgFTVlUnCFM9zR-OFdTg" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">5<sup>th</sup>
anniversary </span>commemorative piece</a> to YouTube a few weeks back. It certainly gives a sense of the variety of bosses and player enthusiasm during the anniversary weekend.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TySdXeEldz8/UcdI2xDE0EI/AAAAAAAAAWs/qRe0KxJuyCM/s1600/TMAB+Image+111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TySdXeEldz8/UcdI2xDE0EI/AAAAAAAAAWs/qRe0KxJuyCM/s400/TMAB+Image+111.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Players inspect some impressive road-kill on Conan's drive-way.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">With respect to Joel Bylos and the new team, the scope, detail, scale and duration of this event indicated that they’re listening and that they’re working to meet player expectations. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">It's also worth noting that event
included the introduction of new tech that will allow GM’s to periodically and
more spontaneously add world events. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Although I wouldn’t want to see these on a
daily basis (familiarity breeds contempt); knowing they could come every so often is a solid morale
builder. I hope the team decides to implement these on a smaller scale, as way to get some variety happening on the odd weekend. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">The additional gift of a veritable arm-load of AA points was also a very much appreciated gesture to vets and premium players. While some F2P folks may feel somewhat left out of this, I think it's fair to suggest that there's nothing wrong with having an anniversary gift that generally benefits veteran subscribers. </span></span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><b>2.0 <span style="color: yellow;"><em>Coils of Ubah Khan</em></span> hits Testlive.</b></span></span></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: yellow;"></span></strong> </div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Well they didn’t get this new content on testlive in
May, as they'd hoped, but it’s there. I haven’t
tried it, but I gather that some players are sending feedback to the devs, and
again I get the feeling that they’re listening.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect Joel’s next letter to provide an </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">imminent</span></span> date for the delivery of the this content patch.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Additionally, some of the testlive patch notes,
show numerous little fixes coming to some quests. GD Bylos, <a href="http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2048237&postcount=17" target="_blank">has indeed commented on the forums</a>,
that this was work done by a former employee, prior to the move to NC, and as such it doesn’t
necessarily represent a concerted
bug-fixing spree. Catching this stuff is a dreary task and more suited to the crowd source approach on testlive.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Murd’s most pressing thought about this is
to wonder "Why doesn’t FC try to lure more players to the testlive server, by
offering more incentives? Is it so hard to
send some gifts to the account claims of players who: a) log a few testlive hours; b) test play the new content;
and c) fill-in an open-ended survey form?"
I’m not suggesting they send us all 50 gold and a some Ibis weapons (ahem ... just send those to Murddock); but thanking sincere and dedicated testers with 2-3 of those grab-bags from the item shop might be a productive
gesture.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: yellow;"><b> 2.1 Speaking of 'Slithering Chaos' …</b></span>
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Joel Bylos is enjoying some much deserved empathy this month because he’s just become a dad, I gather,
for the second time. And a new <a href="http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2045022&postcount=10" target="_blank">baby</a> and
a tired spouse, are no doubt much more demanding than we, the loveable curmudgeons
who play <i>AoC</i>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b><b></b></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></span><br />
<center>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-size: large;"><b>
Big Gratz to the Bylos
clan!!</b></span></span></center>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">3. 0 The Network Update.</span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Now Murd’s most fortunately connected to the net by a dandy fiber
optic connection thanks to the fact that he lives and works in a prosperous county (in the GMT +3 timezone) that's the size of his
thumb. Small rich nations can afford to
re-vamp and implement the latest telecom infrastructure much more rapidly than big ones (c.f.
at home in Canada we’re doubly cursed as the world’s second largest country
geographically, and which nonetheless has a fairly small population.) All this preamble to say, there’s been little
change in latency … Murd gets 220-260 mS (microseconds) and when the servers
were in Europe Murd got 200-240 mS. In short, sometimes, '<u>yes'</u>, the lag is now more perceptable … but
mostly, '<u>no'</u>. For Murd, at least, the game-latency is fine for PvE, activity. </span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVsC7HWL_p0/UcdN37i3ezI/AAAAAAAAAW8/rpnkDe6MhYE/s1600/TMAB+Image+112.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="327" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVsC7HWL_p0/UcdN37i3ezI/AAAAAAAAAW8/rpnkDe6MhYE/s400/TMAB+Image+112.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sunday June 23rd, 2013 ... not a lot of change.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Now that being said, Murd is
still seeing rather frequent redline spikes and getting dc’d more than he’d like. Additionally, he’s experienced a few login
authentication and database errors that have made alting a royal pain.
There’s nothing here that’s game breaking but these are the type of “quality of
life” issues, that a few months back, FC indicated it would try to address. It will be interesting to see whether more perceptable network optimizations are forthcoming. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">In a related vein, the dev team's network/server squad <a href="http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2048428&postcount=18" target="_blank">appears to be working on the expected merge</a>. As with most technical projects, logistics coupled with those unexpected wrinkles are probably the real hobgoblins.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">4.0 The "Your Voice" Forum Concept ... at last!</span></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Yes, Director Bylos has been out helping raise his newest little rascal, but Murd, as with many players, was somewhat nonplussed that this community-oriented feature seemed destined to be a vapor-thread; </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">until two days ago</span></span>. Murd suspected that nobody in the office was really authorized to act on it. More cynical folks might even have surmised that pehaps some FC employees are <i>playful mice</i>, enjoying the Carolina spring time, while the <i><a href="http://i.qkme.me/35858i.jpg" target="_blank">top cat is away</a>. </i>To be fair, it just as likely that the devs were busting their butts writing code and adjusting hardware. Many of these people are probably still trying to settle in to the new location <a href="http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/60/6004/VCDB100Z/posters/christopher-weyant-finally-the-cat-s-away-and-i-get-stuck-with-the-davidson-account-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg" target="_blank">professionally</a> and domestically.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">When the dev's nixed the weekly update from the community manager, it was an understandable and sensible aspect of the corporate re-organization. Over the years, it sometimes felt as if Tarib was grasping at straws just to have something to post. The subsequent "Your Voice" thread is a very solid <u>less-is-more</u> concept: one that priovides some feedback to the information-hungry players, while letting various developers share the writing and PR tasks. Now just (at the very time of writing this entry's first draft) as it was looking as if posting a "Your Voice" thread for July would seem a bit disingenuous, "Your Voice" was finally heard and to his credit Joel Bylos gave more than a few answers. One of Murd's questions made the cut, so he's contented now.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7GyWUzH9k7s/UcdTCnZwJqI/AAAAAAAAAXM/STEvlwiuZ5U/s1600/TMAB+Image+113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7GyWUzH9k7s/UcdTCnZwJqI/AAAAAAAAAXM/STEvlwiuZ5U/s400/TMAB+Image+113.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Like the anniversary event "Your Voice" brings players and devs together.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>TMAB</i> makes these comments because, 2 months ago, it really appeared that FC was listening. And although later than expected, FC is showing <u>they really are still listening</u>. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Specifically, while player's opinions about the latest info may vary, <i>TMAB</i> is pleased to see some things are in the works beyond what we know of the 6-mans, PvP area, crafting and the Cetriss raid: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">New AA feats</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">PVE and PVP achievements and a TSW lore system</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">some kind of PvP scoreboard</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">and the possibility of legendary items ... ;)</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Implementing new AA perks and feats is a no brainer as is the introduction of stats scoreboards. Murd thinks that legendary items might just be the replacement for Ibis-level content in the new crafting system. Considering how much time/effort is required to acquire an Ibis weapon, for a casual-player, these are already perceived of as practically legendary. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">The listed ideas are all reasonable, less-is-more approaches, to creating further types of goals and player progression: afterall conventional MMOs motivate players socially by means of goals and measure it by progression. It makes sense.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">It is also particularly interesting to get a glimpse some FC corporate lore. Joel had this to say about earlier plans: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>The original Khitai design actually had the expansion starting in Zamora
(Arenjun) and players dealing with the aftermath of the events of Tower of the
Elephant. Which lead across the Vilayet and eventually to Khitai. That was too
ambitious and we were told to focus on one culture from an art production
perspective. So we just did the Khitai bit (and snuck in some Hyrkanian
stuff.)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">This leads me to wonder whether some story concepts and rudimentary plans exist for a Zamoran zone. Murd would prefer to see Hyperborean, Vendhyan, and/or a genuinely African themed Black Kingdoms (a la <i>Queen of the Black Coast</i>) zone but Zamora could be interesting too, particularly if they went full-on with a <u>city of thieves</u> experience. Another dense urban zone comparable the Tarantia ones, would be welcome!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: yellow;">5.0 Summing Up</span></b><span style="color: yellow;">.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">The other small item of <i>AoC</i> news is the recent appearance of the <u>Slope Backed Horse</u>, a low-level mount, in the game shop. It's inevitably slow: no amount of <i>sweetpressed haste</i> (just what the hell IS that stuff anyhow?) will matter. It's not going to go faster. In June, it was tempting to crack more caustic jokes about the speed of things since the anniversary event, but thanks to the better-late-than-never "Your Voice" comments, Murd's satisfied that the FC team
indisputably </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">knows that players want content, network, and systems changes; and they're on the job and are attentive. The anniversary event was proof positive of that. It's also satisfying finally to get a glimpse of some of the other plans, that are afoot.</span><br />
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-13450561858727892922013-05-29T18:08:00.000+03:002013-06-07T15:51:58.841+03:00Stats All, Folks!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JOAdORH4kA0/UaeeiZ6nQII/AAAAAAAAAVc/df7Jiaf2i_I/s1600/Value+of+item+stats+by+class+JPEG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Ok, this post is more than overdue. Murd’s been
fighting a crummy cold, as busy as hell at work, and trying to find time to enjoy a bit of the 5th anniversary content. So <i>TMA</i> is gonna
keep it short. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I have <i>alt-itis</i>. A lot of <i>AoC</i> players do. As they level each
new class, they can’t help find blues that they have to decide to use, sell, or
mail to lower level alts. If your main-toon, say a Guard, picks up some Clothy blues ... pesky casters ... what to do? </span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ls1GOEO1d2M/UabQN-T95AI/AAAAAAAAAVM/S4uYgrQDiGU/s1600/TMAB+Image+100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ls1GOEO1d2M/UabQN-T95AI/AAAAAAAAAVM/S4uYgrQDiGU/s400/TMAB+Image+100.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lemurian drops a nice box. Now what?!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Figure 1 is an expanded version of the <a href="http://thismachineageblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/hyborian-pick-up-lines-introduction-to.html" target="_blank">pick-up table</a> for easy
reference for those with alt-itis. It’s
very general and neither keyed to specific builds nor to PvP. It’s basically built from: a) my modest
experience with the classes I know; b) by peeking at the manuals and forums; and
c) by surveying T2 sets. It’s probably best
for PvE leveling and for those who are about to start their alts raiding.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Clearly there are item sets that have more specific
roles. For example, The Last
Legion's soldier sets, can be used to build a tanks who are either more
able to withstand magic or are built to take
melee. The Tamarin Tigers set, can
provide some DPS and so on. Additionally,
the culture sets can be tweaked with multiple gems (in the current and yes, limited, crafting
system). Nonetheless, the scuttlebutt on the forthcoming system suggests that with the right
combination of ingredients, almost any combination of standard stats can be achieved
including builds that rival epic items. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">A while back (a
long while, mind you), I had a tweet from then <i>GD</i>, Craig Morrison, that
some miscellaneous stats were not available in the new crafting system:
specifically out of
combat speed. He suggested that such a
stat could be added at some point. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the meantime, it's useful to have the most common item-stats rounded up. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wf9enGief_0/UbHTRWpq6QI/AAAAAAAAAWM/GFiaOr2GVyc/s1600/Value+of+item+stats+by+class+JPEG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wf9enGief_0/UbHTRWpq6QI/AAAAAAAAAWM/GFiaOr2GVyc/s400/Value+of+item+stats+by+class+JPEG.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Table 1: A Rough Guide to Stats - Looting for Alts. <span style="color: #b6d7a8;">(updated)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Note that Table 1 lumps resource concerns together (so say <i>Mana</i> in reflects the overall benefit of mana to the class by covering issues like "+1000 Mana" and "4% Mana increase to Mana regeneration" etc.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: small;">In one instance, the difference between <i>Avatar</i> and <i>Possession</i> spec'd HoXes, builds has been considered, as a result of reader feedback.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Keep in mind that this is a very quick and dirty tool that
should help players, who are leveling, decide on what to do with unbound loot: use, keep, send,
or sell. It’s not a matrix intended for fine tuning
or a guide for advanced gear collectors. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Additionally, I'd like to thank players <span style="color: cyan;">Mantic0r3</span>, <span style="color: cyan;">Jaedelyia</span>, and <span style="color: cyan;">HaremBunny</span>
for providing some specific suggestions and for spotting some errors in the table,
as originally posted . If anyone sees further room for adjustments,
yes, yes <u>please</u> post feedback here or in the AoC forums: feedback is welcome.</span></div>
Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-69234289811298879772013-04-25T17:10:00.004+03:002013-05-29T17:49:22.613+03:00Should a Lone Wolf Enter the Guilded Cage?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #f1c232;">It's been a very quiet 4 weeks, and GD Bylos, has officially indicated that a monthly letter (is with the translators and) is indeed forthcoming this week or early next. The only real news is that the <i>AoC</i> new player population seems to be creeping up just a little. So rather than wait for Funcom to set the agenda, <i>This Machine Age</i> would take a stab at a topic that new folks might find useful. Here goes ...</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i> is
currently enjoying a modest but consistent in-flux of new players, many of whom
have likely joined through <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/search/?snr=1_5_9__12&term=Age+of+Conan" target="_blank">Steam</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A reasonable
of portion of them appear to be MMO fans who’ve tried several other games and
some are new to MMOs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, one of the harder
pills to swallow, as a vet MMO player, has to be starting a game that’s been
around for a while, but as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new-to-a-game
player</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas being a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new-to-MMOs</i> player means making mistakes
and learning ropes, which for a true MMO virgin is all part of the
adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a vet who’s joining a
game such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i> for the
first time there’s the prospect of having to grind, learn, and build your
toons’ skills and assets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s no small wonder that most <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new-to-a-game </i>MMO players want in on the ground floor of a fresh
MMO property, so that fellow players are likewise new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who wouldn’t take that ground-floor prospect,
rather than trudge up the stairwell to the penthouse, where most of a mature game’s
long-time players live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now if there’s a
metaphoric elevator that facilitates a player’s upward progress when the MMO is an established venue,
it’s a guild.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Hence in this installment, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Machine Age</i> will be undertaking the general matter of joining a
guild in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i>, with a view to illustrating
their benefits to players who are either new to the game or those who are altogether
new to MMOs.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rfjBlW7PFA4/UXkc7MRwTcI/AAAAAAAAATA/sHfp8eyGy_8/s1600/TMAB+Image+81.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rfjBlW7PFA4/UXkc7MRwTcI/AAAAAAAAATA/sHfp8eyGy_8/s400/TMAB+Image+81.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From time to time vets and newbs, alike, will consider joining guild.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Murddock’s First
Lesson: Guilds and reciprocity:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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At the onset, the issue of whether even to join a guild
needs to be addressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a game that’s
approaching its fifth year, it’s easy to see that there’s a lot of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">lore</b> for a new player to acquire:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lore,</i>
I’m not quite talking about the fantasy back-story and mythology of the
Hyborian Age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lore is the shared
knowledge, beliefs, concerns, stories etc. of a community and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC </i>is like all MMO player bases, a community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game world is full of curiosities,
secrets, and short-cuts; there are also, bugs, bad-practices, and <a href="http://cynarablog.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/the-t3-that-never-was/" target="_blank">artifacts of developer-plans</a>,which never came to pass, that a player might want to know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the initial questions are: 'Do you want
to learn at your own speed through direct experience?', or 'Do you want helpful folks to
fill you in?'</div>
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<br /></div>
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There's nothing wrong with either
option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ol’ Murddock started as an MMO
virgin back in July of 2008.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that
guilds were a part of advanced play, but I was hesitant to join for a few
reasons: 1)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was worried that my game
skills were lame (they were) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and that
I’d look like a knob; 2) I had no clue about most of the lingo, so I frequently
didn’t fully comprehend what was being typed in global; and 3) my first experience
with a guild was staggeringly atrocious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The guild I joined was just abysmal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Having nothing to compare it to, I came away from the experience
thinking that all guilds were collections of wierdos and ass-hats.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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It happened like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At level 18 or 19 Murddock was focused on getting out of <a href="http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Tortage" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tortage</i></a>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i>’s starting zone in the <a href="http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/tg/image/1348/89/1348892363703.jpg" target="_blank">Barachan Isles</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Over the course of a week and after about 16 or 18 invites to join this
specific guild (it’s unnamed in this blog in case it still exists in another MMO, albeit I hope, in a
better incarnation),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
finally relented and accepted the invite, thinking if they conclude I’m a crap
player, they will have only themselves to blame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the next week or two, it was made clear
to all new guildies, that we were unequivocally expected to do nothing but grind
staggeringly ridiculous quantities (500 to 600 stacks a day) of stone and wood
to build the new guild city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guild
offered no organized groups; no one would pair-up to help get newbs
off Tortage (even the ones still in the zone); and the guild officers seemed to
think belittling the newbs in guild chat was great fun (not jocular ribbing, nor
even douche-bag locker-room obnoxiousness, these guys were just a bunch of organized
trolls).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Newbs were expected to grind
mats while the guild’s brass and a few other vets, played instances and
raided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A guild, was a cage for virtual slaves. In 2008, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i>
player base was still quite large and so I realized, I was having more fun
grouping with the easy to find pugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, I left that
guild with an unceremonious /tell<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Eat
my slick-steaming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">crap</i>, you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wang</i>-knobs!” (I didn’t actually type
‘crap’ or ‘wang’ … I chose sweeter harsher profanity.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that bridge was well-burned via the fires
of vulgarity.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LX_YMEa-XuE/UXklMgXq7EI/AAAAAAAAAT8/Rq5ViKUhzYo/s1600/TMAB+Image+86.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LX_YMEa-XuE/UXklMgXq7EI/AAAAAAAAAT8/Rq5ViKUhzYo/s400/TMAB+Image+86.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes being a lone-wolf is a good thing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Second Lesson: Going
it alone is a mixed bag</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For about 6 months, I unequivocally declined every subsequent
guild-invite I received. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Murddock, avowed
to be a lone wolf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as Murdy was
concerned, guilds were for chumps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
time however, I noticed the toon’s with the best PvE gear, the purple stuff ---
the epic stuff --- were raiding and apparently doing so, happily within the
context of guild activity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">While going it alone occasionally, areas of content were skipped (<a href="http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Frostfather?file=Frostfather-Chained.jpg" target="_blank">Frost Father</a>) and sometimes level progression dragged. </span>Nonetheless
while leveling, I moved at my own pace and developed confidence in my skills and
broadened my understanding of the game. There were
two outcomes from this, 1) I became more prepared to be a effective contributor
to a guild; and 2) the guilds in the game matured (insincere or disorganized
guilds became less common) and soon had more to offer wary players like
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lJiw0y5jEpM/UXke6C2DKTI/AAAAAAAAATU/unOtKGHXS4U/s1600/TMAB+Image+83.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lJiw0y5jEpM/UXke6C2DKTI/AAAAAAAAATU/unOtKGHXS4U/s400/TMAB+Image+83.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are places that are best visited with one's pals</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Third Lesson: A guild
is about having heart and sharing fun.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In time, by grouping with various guild's players and watching the
global chat, it became easy to see which guilds seemed to be a good fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day while grouping, a player, whose tag was <a href="http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/oo248/Mallrat7410/MinAoC1.jpg" target="_blank">Minoc</a>, just
casually mentioned it: “We’re having a laugh … are you looking for a guild? We’re
welcoming new players.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him about
my previous guild and he just said “Nothing like that, we just like to have a
good time.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So it was that I did end up joining this friendly player’s guild,
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phoenix Storm</i>, when Murddock
hit about level 72 or so (leveling was very slow in <i>AoC</i>'s first year and I was
in no rush to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>get to the max level cap). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a relief to find a guild doesn’t have
to top-tier in order to be supportive or fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PS</i>, players did grind for reasonable amounts of crafting materials. As a group, players chose to help out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was good just seeing the city grow and we enjoyed crafting for each other: the communal
activity bolstered camaraderie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vets
socialized with all players all the time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were as many “gratz's” typed in guild-chat
for a new player who finally killed Strom, as there were for the ones who were hitting 80. As many
“gj’s” were typed for players winning their first T1 purple item, as there were expressed for the first player in the guild to
grind tokens and get the wolf mount (me BTW: and well before the item-shop existed). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phoenix
Storm</i>, players put fun and jokes on an equal footing with raiding and
occasional PvP minis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not an elite
guild. And sometimes we would even fail, yes, the easiest <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> raid, <a href="http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Yakhmar" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yakhmar’s Cave</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was always
more <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSbHw19EVtI" target="_blank">about the fun</a> than about being the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The guild’s core team, were from various countries: UK, Holland, Norway,
Australia to name a few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This made the
voice-coms experience rich and respectful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other thing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new-to-MMO</i>
players might notice when joining a guild is that, yeah, even within a guild,
there might appear to be in-groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
first in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phonenix Storm</i>, this seemed
a little off putting, but after a while it became clear that, there was a
tight-knit group of vets who were the core and who had the most to teach
others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So despite feeling a little left
out when the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrl2l-s5jKY" target="_blank">veteran group</a> would start a new tier; it was soon evident that
what they learned, all guild members would benefit from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It also quickly became clear, that the same core group members were leading
weekly T1 and T2 raids, managing the guild’s web-page, updating the guild’s <a href="http://bebot.shadow-realm.org/" target="_blank">bebot</a>,
and doing constant recruiting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of
which a player such as me was expected to do. Suffice it to say, that in a good guild you benefit
more from the work of others than you could possibly bring by yourself. As the guild flourished and grew, I found
that the more one socialized, the more one becomes part of that guild’s community. On one occasion, when I was living in Canada, I was DC'd from a T2 raid, when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9q_nGB7vOA" target="_blank">Hurricane Igor hit the city in which I was living <span style="color: #3d85c6;">(that's my street at the 15 second mark)</span></a>. I had the best excuse, and players were pretty amused and curious about the event. Once in a while, real life intrudes into guild life in startling ways.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a real jolt the day I logged-in after a few weeks
off (for overseas vacation at home in Canada), only to discover that our guild was going to be
disbanded. Shit, just when I was getting the hang of it! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>If <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phoenix Storm</i> was a cage, it was a golden one. The guild’s leader felt he
needed to put more time into his real life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I neither expected the
disbanding, nor anticipated the disappointment of knowing that this group of
folks was going to dissolve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guild
had some excellent and skilled players and very responsibly, the leadership
approached another like-minded guild and proposed a merge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qGY8dqGYADM/UXkeDIeI48I/AAAAAAAAATQ/GKDtdO0XWFs/s1600/TMAB+Image+82.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qGY8dqGYADM/UXkeDIeI48I/AAAAAAAAATQ/GKDtdO0XWFs/s400/TMAB+Image+82.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For MMO players, circularity is a common experience</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fourth Lesson: Guilds
have a life cycle.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Certainly not all the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PS</i>
players moved to the new guild, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brothers
of Arms</i>, but a majority did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
certainly made joining the new group easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BoA</i> was a little larger
and a little more competitive than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PS</i>,
but it was also even more organized and more seasoned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The experience was akin to moving from
elementary school into junior high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bigger kids, bigger stakes, but in time it was fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I don’t think that I was ever a
spirited or prominent member of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brothers
of Arms,</i> the experience did offer many rewards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among
others,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BoA</i> helped me come to two noteworthy realizations. First, it was instructive to observe
how solid MMO vets ran a guild proficiently; they never burnt bridges when a
player left (and players frequently came and went).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They took social activities seriously and recognized
that non-guild invitees to raids expected all players to be efficient and
focused.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
The second realization was more affecting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BoA</i>’s
guild leader, named for his main character, <a href="http://brothersofarms.net/gallery/albums/userpics/gorilla.jpg" target="_blank">Gert</a>, was a plucky guy from the UK, who was passionate
about: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i>; his comrades in
the guild; and about never wasting time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In groups and raids, he often took the demeanor of a hearty rugby coach, always
shouting “Get off the bloody rez pad and get your arses back here!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Gert, you always felt that dawdling was
an infraction worse than making a newb-mistake. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not often that one’s raid defeats all
its bosses like clockwork; but as my particular time zone requires late hours
for raiding, I grew to appreciate Gert’s emphasis on efficiency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I relished my weekly raiding sessions,
listening to Gert, learning from him, and also witnessing him learn, as
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So even more startling than the announcement of
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phoenix Storm</i>'s fate, was that late
spring afternoon when I read the news from <i>Brother of Arm</i>’s second in command, Albae, that
it was strongly believed that Gert had passed away in real life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
It was utterly unexpected and we
were floored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly some of Gert’s
closer pals (who had more real life contact with him) discerned he was not
answering on other social networks. That’s the thing about a virtual
community:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s so ephemeral, so
invisible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Understandably no grief-stricken
family would remotely bother to contact his virtual MMO-chums: it’d be the
farthest thing from their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Player-tags,
preclude us finding obituaries or memorials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So Gert’s passing was sadly both indefinite and yet tangible. The news
stayed with me all that day and for the next few, not because I was troubled
about the guild or my own fun; but simply because the feisty guy, who I’d
listened to on <a href="http://www.typefrag.com/ventrilo/download/?gclid=CJW1woP_5bYCFYIc6wod8w0Apg" target="_blank">Ventrilo</a> for over a year; this guy, who gave so much of his
time to folks like me, was presumably dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t know truly what happened to him. The impression was made had
some guild members that he may have been chronically ill; so in retrospect, I
couldn’t help but wonder that in an MMO, which most of us play to pass our
leisure hours, that conceivably for Gert time at his MMO was more treasured to
him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Despite the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BoA</i> leadership trying to keep going, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brothers of Arms</i> wilted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By
the time I returned from my three off-line summer weeks in Canada, the guild
had dwindled to just a few players, who out of respect for Gert, didn’t
disband (they renamed the guild <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BoA: the Legacy of Gert</i>). However, for all intents and purposes they were now a just a small cooperative of
nice folks but were players who in practice wanted to be lone wolves: that's not who I was anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
let them know I wanted to do more grouping, and that I was looking for a more
vital guild and they were amiable when I did move on.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The thing to take away from this solemn anecdote is that
MMOs guilds can owe their vitality to one or two leaders; and as such, like the
very people who energize them, they can wither or perish unexpectedly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-St-DGJnMc0c/UXkg2rC9toI/AAAAAAAAATs/UeIYQlLCckU/s1600/TMAB+Image+85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-St-DGJnMc0c/UXkg2rC9toI/AAAAAAAAATs/UeIYQlLCckU/s400/TMAB+Image+85.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whenever I'm just waiting around, I'm reminded of <a href="http://brothersofarms.net/gallery/albums/userpics/w1_boss3_down.png" target="_blank">Gert</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Final Lesson: Applying to a new guild</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you are indeed an MMO vet and your time is precious, then
the best thing to do is simply to keep an eye on global chat and look to see
who’s recruiting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By following three
guilds (viz. <a href="http://blacksphere.guildlaunch.com/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Sphere</i></a>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.lochlainnguild.com/" target="_blank">The Free City of Lochlainn</a>, </i>and <a href="http://dawnsong-guild.pl/viewnews.php?s=63a123da93a498e59b12578165fa4823bd84046d" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dawnsong</i></a>) via their recruiting messages,
their posts in the official game forums, and by looking at their webpages, it took just under two weeks to find and join new guild.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Free City of Lochlainn </i>seemed
a little de-centralized (lone wolves?!?), so I approached the other two: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black
Sphere</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dawnsong.</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In just one day, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dawnsong</i>
sent a link to their webpage to sign up; whereas, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Sphere </i>took somewhat longer to reply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The decision was clear and I chose
right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dawnsong </i>is a large, solid guild with a core of knowledgeable
helpful players; they run regular T2 and T3 raids and many have solid T4
experience. Ironically, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dawnsong</i> frequently teams with a group
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Free City of Lochlainn. </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dawnsong’s</i> leader <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21541309/Thain.jpg" target="_blank">Thain</a>, is a jovial ribald
guy from Norway, who makes players feel instantly welcome and who lets players
find their own place within the guild.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
To summarize: </div>
<br />
<ol>
<li>Guilds are great when they’ve got a core of vets and they
should offer reciprocal benefits. </li>
<li>Being a lone wolf, is not a bad thing, but it can limit quick access to content, at times.</li>
<li>Don’t join a guild merely to learn the game mechanics or
community lore; join because you want a social experience and to play a game’s
social elements</li>
<li>Guilds come and go for various reasons, so make the most of
your time with one: and remember that the leaders not only put time into the
guild’s activities; their passion often is what keeps it vital (and yeah, let ‘em
know you appreciate their efforts) </li>
<li>If you do have to look, take some time and do your
diligence; find a guild that’s a good fit for you and don’t expect to (or try
to) be the guild’s perpetual centre of attention … have fun and keep it light;
and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if it’s not a good fit, leave
graciously.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yJhsmsJxE-E/UXkf1yRe3SI/AAAAAAAAATk/cFktKKIxkWA/s1600/TMAB+Image+84.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yJhsmsJxE-E/UXkf1yRe3SI/AAAAAAAAATk/cFktKKIxkWA/s400/TMAB+Image+84.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joining a guild is a worthwhile action, should you want to fully enjoy a game's social elements</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
New MMOs can be susceptible breeding grounds for
ill-intentioned, naive, insincere or inept players, who may try to create guilds that
don’t or cannot benefit their other player-members. The advantage of joining a mature game such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> is that new players can count on most of the established
in-game guilds to be able to offer organized raids and instances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most offer guild cities that are generally
complete, and which don’t require the slavish grinding of mats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a game with mature players, most <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> vets are good-natured and understand
and appreciate whatever level of commitment you can contribute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While they don’t all endure, a newly formed
guild, conversely, does offer the prospect of becoming a core-member and the
chance to enjoy the guild-progression process that's full of common basic goals
and shared solidarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while you
shouldn’t be in a race to find a guild ASAP; in the long run, when the time is
right for you, joining an appropriate guild will enhance your MMO experience
and, maybe just a little bit, enrich your real life too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-14623050042016261272013-03-23T17:00:00.000+03:002013-03-24T20:13:46.147+03:00A Little Age of Conan News Things have been somewhat quiet in Hyboria for the last few weeks. Additionally, Murddock’s real life has been making more demands. Nonetheless the <i>Age of Conan</i> community is beginning to peer at the virtual horizon expecting the monthly community letter to appear in the next week or by month’s end for sure.<br />
<br />
It’s not that nothing has happened, several small changes have nonetheless accumulated. However the <i>AoC</i> community abides in a constant state of expectancy, one which swings from high expectations for an immanent or major moment of game content to the ongoing state of waiting for something that’s overdue to finally appear. Since <i>The Dragon’s Spine</i> content went live those states have merged: the New GD’s appointment (I think technically he’s now maybe called Creative Director); the consolidation of Funcom’s MMO base of operations in North Carolina; and the growing desire for new content have resulted in an almost month long state of irritated suspense.
Joel Bylos, has got to be aware of this and must find himself in a correspondingly aggravating spot: without a team that’s settled and working he can’t offer new timelines, and yet he won’t want to loose the positive inertia that the restructuring news has managed to create. To his credit, he has been present on the forums and in the press and at least he’s hinting at ideas.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x5ZbGTQB_XQ/UU24PMzEPfI/AAAAAAAAASQ/4pAw9JMsC9A/s1600/TMAB+Image+71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x5ZbGTQB_XQ/UU24PMzEPfI/AAAAAAAAASQ/4pAw9JMsC9A/s400/TMAB+Image+71.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes, waiting is the hard part.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Hence in this post, in anticipation of Joel Bylos’ forthcoming, first, real on-the-job monthly letter, <i>This Machine Age</i> will try to assemble some of the scattered tesserae of news. A survey of the minor developments can be revealing.<br />
<br />
<h4>
The news:</h4>
<ol>
<li>The consolidation of the US and EU forums </li>
<li>The delivery of the Yothian mount </li>
<li>The tidbits Joel has dropped across his recent interviews.
<b> </b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<b>1) The new, and yes, improved forums.</b><br />
<br />
<i>This Machine Age</i> would have been an ardent supporter of the community folks who were concerned about the impending loss of the old forum’s archived info. <i>TMA</i> would also have been guilty of assuming that no end of bickering might have broken out about things like the spelling of “neighbour” with or without the “u” (I did see one cute diversion about how we Canucks, with our 1/3 francophone culture, spell centre ending in “re” while our Yank and Brit brethren spell it “center”). However it must be said that the merger has been not only smooth but in some respects beneficial. Folks are being great about mining the old forums for useful info. The forums, at least as they stand now, are more efficient and welcoming for new and casual players.<br />
<br />
Additionally, the forum mods are on the job; so by and large the forums feel less trolled and more constructive than they have in quite a while. The <i>AoC</i> community is not well-known as a cuddly lot; our alternate fantasy lives center (see what I did there?) on beheading or severing our enemies’ limbs. At times, our forums have been a reflection of how we relish brutality. It wouldn’t be surprising to discover that Bylos’ new leaner regime is focused on <u>peace, order and good government</u> (a term of Commonwealth legislation common to Canada and to Australia, Bylos' homeland).<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gXXpB4ArQQw/UU24pkAFBtI/AAAAAAAAASY/XiLlandL_A0/s1600/TMAB+Image+70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gXXpB4ArQQw/UU24pkAFBtI/AAAAAAAAASY/XiLlandL_A0/s400/TMAB+Image+70.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Folks are now more than eager to learn what's coming next!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2) The War Mount</b>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Murddock and his alts have, so far, seen only one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://thismachineageblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-02-28T14:07:00%2B03:00&max-results=1" target="_blank">TMA has already opined on this in a previous post.</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it makes them some money …
well,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>thas’aaallllright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s IMHO not a 'must have' item.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, the inclination to roll back the first
attempt at that patch was a good decision in the face of a crappy situation; it
looks like they took some time and figured it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's worth noting that the additional inauguration of
routine server re-starts is a welcome indicator that likewise on the tech side, the FC
devs appear to be trying to implement a leaner disciplined service.</div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>3) Squinting at Interviews.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joel Bylos, in the past few weeks, has given about seven or eight interviews to the
various web-based gaming outlets that cover MMO’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Age of Conan</i>’s baby sister, <i>The Secret World
</i>(yes, it’s an <u>infant</u>: it’s younger and gets more attention and takes up more time
and resources … and it's kinda cute) is the focus of most of the interviews, but
several appear to provide some clues as to what’s ahead for <i>AoC</i>. Most of the articles, not unexpectedly cover Bylos’
experience with <i>AoC</i>, <i>Godslayer</i>, and the <i>TSW</i> but each interview has a tidbit or two to offer . </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/404/feature/7194/The-Secret-World-Joel-Bylos-Loving-His-New-Role.html" target="_blank">Garrett Fuller, on March 07 in MMORPG.com</a>, prompted Bylos to reveal what he could in about his first
few weeks on the job: “I am in the process of taking a look at what has been done
by the former team, on both the content <b>and</b> the systems side. The priority is
<i>Dragon's Spine</i> and the crafting revamp. I am also taking a look at the PvP
systems and seeing what can be done to improve things on that end.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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So it's clear that from the get go, the he sees that PvP, at long last, deserves some substantial attention.</div>
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<br />
</div>
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Also on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/03/07/funcoms-joel-bylos-on-the-centralized-tsw-aoc-and-ao-team/" target="_blank">March 7, M.J. Guthrie at <i>Massively.com</i>,</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>coaxed Bylos to reveal how
team changes have impacted the number of <i>AoC</i> developers:</div>
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</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Age of Conan</span></i> team
lost more people than the other projects (as a percentage, of course, <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Anarchy Online</span></i> had fewer people to
begin with). The reasons are relatively simple: Almost all of the people on <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Secret World</span></i> have experience
with <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Age of Conan</span></i> in their various
positions. The Lead Systems designer for <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Secret World</span></i>,
for example, was formerly a Systems Designer on <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Age
of Conan</span></i> and worked on all of the classes and the AA system on <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Age of Conan</span></i>. So he has experience
with both games that really couldn't be found elsewhere in the company.”</div>
</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bylos also described the new North Carolina team:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Everybody is able to work on both <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Age of Conan</span></i> and <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Secret World</span></i> because of the
flexibility of our DreamWorld engine technology. The world building program,
<u>Genesis</u>, can just as easily create the savage lands of Hyboria as the
mist-cloaked towns of New England. Our other tool, <u>Gaia</u>, allows us to create
items, monsters, spells and abilities, visual looks packages, achievements, and
more, which can be used in all of the projects. With such a flexible tool base,
it is easy for the gameplay designers to switch between projects quickly and
efficiently.”</div>
</blockquote>
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</div>
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From this it looks like the North Carolina team will be working
on in-progress projects such as <i>Anarchy Online’s</i> long cooking new game
engine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bylos’s says “I am just signing
off the Issue #6 milestone for <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Secret World</span></i>,
and then I will be looking at the next slice of Dragon's Spine for <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Age of Conan</span></i> before moving back to
Issue #7 for <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Secret World</span></i>.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At least <i>Massively’s</i> interview suggests that the in-progress content for <i>AoC</i> has
been prioritized, in this production cycle.</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In <a href="http://kotaku.com/joel-bylos/" target="_blank">Mike Fahey’s interview (Kotaku on March 8)</a> Bylos’ implies
that he sees his job as requiring discipline from his devs:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i>The Secret World's</i> launch went pretty smoothly, due in no
small part to Bylos' experience on <i>Age of Conan</i>. Not wanting a repeat of that
game's uneven experience, as lead content director he made sure <i>The Secret
World</i> didn't fall into the same trap. … [Bylos says] 'With <i>The Secret
World</i> I really pushed the guys – every area needed to be the same'.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is well ... <i>somewhat</i> encouraging, and somewhat supported by
the aforementioned observation about the new tone and mods on the forums, as well as their decision to rollback a shaky
patch.</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About 10 days later, on <a href="http://www.curse.com/news/funcom/47851-interview-with-joel-bylos-creative-director-for" target="_blank">March 16, Curse.com posted an interview (attributed to Auroralyn)</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in which Bylos’ indicates:
“As a general goal, I want to grow the community of <i>The Secret World</i>, <i>Anarchy
Online</i> and <i>Age of Conan</i> by providing more of the experiences that our gamer
have come to expect.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More interestingly, through the combined dev team’s efforts,
he suggests:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That can mean something as simple as <i>Age of Conan</i> players
being able to get all of the minor improvements that we made in <i>The Secret
World</i> (area loot button, mappable dodge key etc.) and it can apply to larger
features like the Lore and Achievement systems. … What it means for players is
that they will (hopefully) see more regular updates on their title of choice
and those updates might be slightly smaller, but will hopefully contain a good
mix of both features and content.”</div>
</blockquote>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/19/interview-with-funcoms-joel-bylos-one-content-team-three-games/" target="_blank">March 19, <i>PC Gamer’s</i> T.J. Hafer</a> presented a more lengthy
to-and-fro with Bylos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creative
Director hit a desired talking point when he says:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Age of Conan</i> is free-to-play, which means there obviously is
content gating which can only be removed via a subscription. Currently the <i>Age
of Conan</i> model causes a division between paying players and free players—too
much of a division, in my opinion. We are discussing ways to broaden the
experience in <i>Age of Conan</i> for free players. That’s a priority for me.”</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hafer’s interview nicely reveals that Bylos is aware that
MMO community members are savvy to the vicissitudes of language that serves
corporate imperatives: “Of course, everything can be construed as ‘marketing
speak’, so I’d rather just say that players should wait and see what we do, and
judge us on how we deliver.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are obvious limitations. Given Funcom’s financial woes, Bylos’ reply to Hafer’s question,
regarding the likelihood of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>another
<i>Godslayer</i> sized expansion, is not surprising: “Never say never, as they say, but it is more feasible for
the team to deliver smaller, more regular and more focused updates than it is
to cordon off a portion of the team to spend 18 months on an expansion. So I’ll
say it is unlikely, but not impossible.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Also on <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/579164/online-gaming-has-a-bright-future-at-funcom-an-interview-with-creative-director-joel-bylos/" target="_blank">March 19, Wolff Bachner at Inquistor.com</a> asks Bylos
what is coming for long time <i>AoC</i> players, and he replies,</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
“For the veterans who have been with us for a
long time, we will continue to expand the game, adding both PvE and PvP content
… We’re also paying close attention to the new movie project which sees Arnold
Schwarzenegger reprising some role as the barbarian – we’d love to see if there
are events in the movie which will tie well to content in the game.”</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vt3PYqcdGyQ/UU8z5gAaCOI/AAAAAAAAASw/RZ5t2KCKx3I/s1600/TMAB+Image+73.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vt3PYqcdGyQ/UU8z5gAaCOI/AAAAAAAAASw/RZ5t2KCKx3I/s400/TMAB+Image+73.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Murddock wonders where Bylos' real sympathies lie.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And finally, despite the fact that some of the other
interviews seem to imply that Joel Bylos’ is more concerned with baby <i>TSW</i>, in a
more intimately revealing <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=32075" target="_blank">interview (March 22) at <i>Zam.com</i></a>, Bylos genuinely appears indicate that running
<i>AoC</i> is a task that holds personal resonance:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It’s scary, because there’s a lot more expectation. It’s
interesting; <i>Age of Conan</i> I love, and have loved, because it’s the first game I
was a developer on. I guess you always look at what other people are doing with
the game, especially if you’ve worked on it in the past, and you want to make
your own mark there, and I feel like there’re things still to be done on <i>Age of
Conan</i>.”</blockquote>
<br />
More so, Bylos reveals the story of his promotion:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“While I was on Christmas holidays I sat down, because I had
a couple of days free. I sat down and I planned out everything in <i>The Secret
World</i> we were going to do until about mid-2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then I came back, and my second day back at work they were like 'Yeah, we’re restructuring, and downsizing teams, and so forth.' ”<br />
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Zam’s</i> article reveals that Bylos, “… came back from
Christmas just so excited about the future for <i>The Secret World</i>. I had a good
grasp on what we could do - I’d been working with the guys for about six months
by that point, and I had a really good feel for how the live team could
deliver, and I sort of planned based on that for the next couple of years. And
then I got crushed by the revelation, and then I got offered a new job amongst
that situation.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Bylos presents himself as placing much emphasis on planning. In the <i>Zam </i>post, when explaining that moving an operation internationally is a convoluted
undertaking, he concludes by saying that the team should be more or less
assembled soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He indicates that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some Montreal employees will not be in North
Carolina until the end of March: “… this is the worst period in terms of having
them split, and then from April onwards it’ll be fine.”<br />
<br />
As the most recent communique, the <i>Zam</i> article suggests
that Bylos is getting a firmer grip on the project, as things solidify.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bylos, at last, is in a postion to suggest what
he’s bringing beyond finishing in-process projects. He offers both short term carryovers,
and repeats his long-term goals of adding systems that serve both <i>AoC</i> and the
baby:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Certainly <i>Age of Conan</i> will benefit from stuff trickling
down - I think you’ll see that. I’ve already stated my intentions to do a
quality of life patch for <i>Age of Conan</i>, where we get some of the major things –
they aren’t huge, but as a day-to-day thing they’re great. Things like just
being able to push V in The <i>Secret World</i> to auto-loot every bag around you, <i>Age
of Conan</i> doesn’t have that functionality now and it really should because it’s
a few lines of code that can be easily moved over. So I want to do a lot of
those small quality of life things in a quality of life patch for <i>Age of Conan</i>,
and they shouldn’t be much work on our end either to get over. … An example I
gave was a PvP arena system with ranking and stuff; that can work in both games
if we have the time to do it, so it’s those sorts of things that I think you’ll
definitely see becoming cross-value features.”<br />
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tuhRzIcPeJI/UU25zxfXx0I/AAAAAAAAASg/yWj2grSDgSc/s1600/TMAB+Image+72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tuhRzIcPeJI/UU25zxfXx0I/AAAAAAAAASg/yWj2grSDgSc/s640/TMAB+Image+72.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ships moored on the Styx:<br />
"Bylos is at the helm ... but what's the course?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
To summarize, while there are certainly other details to be found in these
articles, reading between the lines with a view to Hyborian fun there are no surprises: <b>1)</b> <i>AoC</i> needs stable tech and content updates … these will not be huge but hopefully more
regular and smooth; <b>2)</b> Beyond the in-process crafting re-vamp and <i>Dragon’s
Spine</i> content,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more PvP systems are a
good candidate; <b>3)</b> Bylos’ isn’t taking the task lightly. (I take him at his word. Let’s face he got a
higher-profile job … when most of us screw up at work, only 2-4 people know or care; if
Joel Bylos drops the eggs,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s covered on the web)
and <b>4)</b> hopefully, the team will start producing more substantial output by the end of
April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>TMA</i> wouldn’t be overly
astonished,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>were some of the quality of
life perks to appear late next month.<br />
<br />
<br />
In the meantime on a side note, <i>Spartacus: War of the Damned</i> is delivering a final season of bloody mayhem (In a parallel universe <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0215299/" target="_blank">Steven S. DeKnight</a> is doing a Conan series for Starz). God damn, I'm gonna miss it! <i>Game of Thrones'</i> third season is immanent. In the world of MMO fun, <i>Defiance</i> (game or show) might be a nifty diversion. ... and of course, there's that community letter!<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-71103236375906977002013-02-28T14:07:00.000+03:002013-03-02T11:39:38.175+03:00 That GD Craig Morrison<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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This week it was announced that Funcom was placing Joel “Nusquam”
Bylos in charge of its 3 MMOs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rumors
were out and, while not surprised, I received this info with mixed emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new perspective and a fresh approach are
not a bad thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funcom is doing more
with less - the economics dictate that they must.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly for
now, TSW is going to be the center-piece MMO, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i> still apparently has a stable population and is
profitable on a smaller scale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funcom
would be foolhardy not to try to grow the game somewhat, given the considerable
time and resources they’ve put into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/22/age-of-conan-pillages-steam/" target="_blank">The appearance of <i>Age Of Conan</i> on Steam</a> this week, suggests that such an approach has been recognized. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Players are excited to see what Bylos will
accomplish … and yes, many are impatient to see the remaining Dragon’s Spine
content come soon, (especially the crafting revamp!!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Bylos's first GD letters across the 3 games' forums </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">were neither generic nor redundant </span>(which is a nice early indicator that he respects all three communities as distinct customer groups). </span>AoC's 5th anniversary in May will be an more appropriate time to write more extensively
about the new GD's early impact.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For the record, I genuinely respect Craig Morrison (present tense … he’s
not dead) and I very much appreciate the vast majority of the things that
he accomplished in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Morrison came to the MMO, the game was a
staggering amalgam of captivating ideas, technical innovations, exceptional
music, and peerless visual design. Nonetheless, these were mixed with frustrating
content gaps, glaring bugs, disappointing feeble systems (e.g. crafting); and worst of all, a
game mechanic that didn’t really motivate many players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
The loot itemization system had been conceptualized
to be shallow precisely to keep the PvP skill-oriented combat from being
imbalanced by PvE item stats: an idea fascinating in theory but untested in
practice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Players quickly complained that there was no compelling incentive to pursue loot (i.e. "Why bother raiding or doing instances, if we don't really need the rewards?) </span>Despite reporting great sales
at launch, the game was not ready and many frustrated players departed. <i>Age of Conan: Uncooked</i> has become something of a cautionary
tale in the MMO industry.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Precisely why Funcom released what was essentially a
beta-version in May 2008 remains unclear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game was
visually stunning but essentially was premature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At that time, the Game Director, Gaute Godager, had a very different vision
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan</i>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hyborian Adventures</i>. His original vision emphasized a game with both PvP and PvE in equal measure, with an endgame focused
on PvP siege competition. Presumably PvE elements were supposed to supply gear that gave a slight edge and PvP play to cultivate player-skills and ultimately earn guild prestige.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elements of this plan were
frequently reflected in the marketing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Brawling in
taverns, for example, was generally promoted as an exciting in-game
option. Well, it was there ... briefly ... and now exists in a minor way as a quest completion item,
not as a major PvP system. </span>The game was simply not what what had been hyped. (IMHO: Very likely Godager's AoC might been destined to be a
more a niche game. It probably would never have become aWoW killer, a destiny that most promising new MMOs seem briefly to acquire in the popular imagination.)<br />
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o6HrE66cK4s/US89UybJ4VI/AAAAAAAAAP8/tZRaMnfpZVo/s1600/TMAB+Image+52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o6HrE66cK4s/US89UybJ4VI/AAAAAAAAAP8/tZRaMnfpZVo/s400/TMAB+Image+52.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In May 2008, Tortage Beach was a hot spot!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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By late summer of 2008, subs were declining. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://kotaku.com/5051102/age-of-conan-game-director-quits-dissatisfied">In
September of that year, Godager left in frustration. </a>The popular inclination ever since has been to blame
Godager for leaving players with a flawed masterpiece. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is somewhat unfair, Godager had
actually worked on the project for about 6 years and should also be credited by those of
us, who love the game, for actually establishing a starting point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It must have been hard to leave a company he helped create over a decade before, seeing his dream project not quite meet his hopes. That being said, seldom do current </span>players seem to grasp that Funcom’s
shareholders (many of whom probably don’t care exceedingly about MMOs being ideal) were
legally entitled to demand a return on their investment after a long
development period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regrettably, many
players still have difficulty accepting that Godager’s ideal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i>, while intriguing and appealing to
many; was not what we got; it's sure not what we have; and as things stand now, it's not what we're
likely get.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Community Director, Craig “Silirrion” Morrison, who had also
spent considerable time working on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i>
and Funcom’s previous MMO, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anarchy Online</i>,
stepped into the breach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There can be no
doubt that Game Director Morrison’s first assignment was to make the game relevant to the
majority of players and stop it from seeming like a beta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under Morrison’s watch the 1.05 patch began a
re-imagining of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> and a re-shaping
of the game to be more appealing to mainstream MMO players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Subsequently, thanks to Morrison much was added, changed, and definitely improved:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<ol>
<li>A PvP system was adopted</li>
<li>Consequence system</li>
<li>Leveling content was added (from Atzel’s Approach to
Tarantia Commons etc.)</li>
<li>Classes have been ‘vamped’ and re-vamped</li>
<li>New leveling instances (Slaughter House, Iron Tower, etc.)</li>
<li>T2 (Feb 2009) & T3 (Feb 2010) Raiding was completed</li>
<li>Direct X 10 Client (March 2009)</li>
<li>Innumerable polishes (e.g. adding inspect other’s gear in GUI; new
mounts; Seasonal contents, Facebook, Lock-out window in GUI etc.)</li>
<li>The Gem revamp (June 2009)</li>
<li>Veteran points and vendors</li>
<li>Guild play content<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Feb 2010)</li>
<li>PvP tokens </li>
<li>Shrines of Bori (sigh)</li>
<li>Local Fast-Travel improvements</li>
<li>Offline leveling</li>
<li>Initial <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGFDqUAVwDg" target="_blank">Rise of the Godslayer</a> </i>content (May 2010)</li>
<ol>
<li>AA</li>
<li>Critigation gear</li>
<li>Exotic Mounts</li>
<li>Factions</li>
<li>Numerous instances and some raiding / repeatable quests</li>
<li>Silk Road</li>
<li>New tokens </li>
</ol>
<li>Jhebbal Sag</li>
<li>RP horse racing</li>
<li>Dreamworld update (much of this is less obvious)</li>
<li>Refuge of the Apostate (April 2011)</li>
<li>Ai District and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T’ian’an District (May 2011)</li>
<li>Free-to-play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzcyHFjxEns&playnext=1&list=PL88276BF169433F4D&feature=results_main" target="_blank"><i>Age of Conan</i> is 'unchained</a>'</li>
<ol>
<li>In Game Shop </li>
</ol>
<li>Forgotten City and the Breach (July 2011)</li>
<li>Blood & Glory</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INsmcwnha-k" target="_blank"><i>Savage Coast of Turan</i></a></li>
<ol>
<li>Ardashir Coast</li>
<li>Fort Ardashir</li>
<li>Isle of Iron Statues</li>
<li>Dead Man’s Hand</li>
<li>Temple of Erlik Raid</li>
</ol>
<li>More Dreamworld updates<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>- e.g. server side PhysX (Nov. 2011)</li>
<li>2 House of Crom instances (Jan 2012)</li>
<li>Jade Citadel Raid content begins (March 2012)</li>
<li>Multi feat specs (June 2012)</li>
<li>Unchained versions of Dead Man's Hand (solo), Forgotten City
(solo) and The Breach (group) (June 2012)</li>
<li>Jade Citadel Raid content is completed</li>
<li>New Amphitheatre of Karutonia Unchained (Oct. 2012)</li>
<li>New Sprint Mechanic and Mount re-vamp (August 2012)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwT9cFVQCMw" target="_blank"><i>Secrets of Dragon'sSpine</i></a> (Jan 2013)</li>
<ol>
<li>Sepulcher of the Wyrm</li>
<li>(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ubPZ-KrZk" target="_blank">Crafting revamp underway - confirmed</a>)</li>
<li>(New raid content underway - suggested)</li>
<li>New PvP mini-game </li>
<li>New Yothian Mount (Feb 2013)</li>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
There’s
a considerable amount of solid and great work here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, it is fairly certain that a few
more of Morrison’s initiatives are still on the table such as the long awaited
stealth revamp and maybe some ideas for cross-server implementation.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bq3YOLMOyIc/US9A8Y4PtNI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/cPlSoP8nJIg/s1600/TMAB+Image+50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bq3YOLMOyIc/US9A8Y4PtNI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/cPlSoP8nJIg/s400/TMAB+Image+50.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This PoM remembers a time when entering the Iron Tower<br />
couldn't be done but Silirrion made it possible.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
Although
it seemed at times like the game was dragging and players were starving for new
content; the fact remains that for a game that has a smaller but apparently stable
player base, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan: Unchained</i>
is neither dead nor neglected.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
For
the majority of his tenure, Morrison was always in communication with the
community and whether players agreed or not; he tried to professionally
communicate his perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when
faced with occasionally personally oriented abuse, he frequently expressed his acceptance that it came
from passionate players who, at heart, wanted the game to succeed (albeit in a manner
most amenable to their play preferences).</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
Lest
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Machine Age</i> be accused of producing a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>retrospective flattery-fest: Morrison’s era was not always smooth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though no doubt sincere, the communication of timelines
and delays was often aggravating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the decisions made on his watch seemed
to serve corporate imperatives (e.g. the initial Khitai grind; or free-to-play being
limited initially to 4 classes). How these benefit players is debatable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
yeah, some bugs in the game persist (such as the minor invisible-mount bug or
the more exasperating issues of lag spikes, and undependable siege-play performance).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evidently, Godager’s PvP-oriented plan for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> is ancient history. Nonetheless, the difficulty of managing the game's PvP content provides a instructive lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
The
Shrines of Bori content is the obvious case. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bori was a productive idea in theory; one designed
to help PvP newbs gear up faster and so become more competitive with vets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the PvP community largely felt it was
more akin to PvE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was clear that at
the time, Morrison acceded to PvP players’ demands for PvP content a.s.a.p. and
Bori was released sooner than he wanted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Funcom probably has a policy geared towards
avoiding that miscalculation … <i>The Secret World</i>’s smooth
launch is a case in point.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison was between
a rock and a hard place and got some toes squished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lesson learned … the subsequent<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PvP idea for world bosses (something on a small scale but akin to
<i>Rift</i>’s world events) was scrapped at length when the PvP guys protested. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
Wanting
to avoid similar missteps, when determining player preferences, surveys were employed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While a nice idea in practice, surveys have a
few fatal weaknesses: 1) even sincere surveys are vulnerable to the <u>perception</u>
of question bias; 2) similarly such stats can be perceived to be <u>interpreted</u> to suit bias; and 3)
while superficially democratic, a survey of a community with a small but
dedicated minority (e.g. PvP) will seldom produce an overwhelming case for that
community’s needs especially when other groups (PvE raiders or crafters) who want their own
wishes fulfilled and who are competing
for the same dev resources, are completing the same survey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, angry
and (however justly or unjustly) disgruntled sub-groups seldom acquiesce to
survey results (unless miraculously, they find in their favour).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the survey probably benefited a PvE
player like me, it still remains a tool that's vulnerable to negative-perception and as a potential exercise used to
dismiss PvP players: even if that wasn’t its actual intention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes to surveys: use with caution. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
One
wonders whether Craig Morrison, in hindsight, just wishes he’d taken the same
time and resources to deliver a tiered-arena system (and in-game coliseum) or a
revamped siege system both of which have been the observable desires of many vocal
PvP players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It's likely that by the time this solution was clear, he wasn't in a postilion to deliver it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
Not
being Funcom employees, most players cannot really know what limitations affected
Morrison. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, I cannot
fairly judge. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And despite my admittedly arm-chair
expert views on the PvP matter, I genuinely do admire Craig Morrison’s
efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_pQF3banA4/US9CKPdmSiI/AAAAAAAAAQY/ZcElpDMg2rQ/s1600/TMAB+Image+51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_pQF3banA4/US9CKPdmSiI/AAAAAAAAAQY/ZcElpDMg2rQ/s400/TMAB+Image+51.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ya never know; that nameless faceless Sin you see chillin' in<br />
Khemi next week,<br />
could be Silirrion just enjoying the fruits of his labours.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
In
fact, Craig Morrison, I hope he's free now to join us as an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC </i>player! And this is meant this in the best spirit; I hope he
gets to enjoy the game for what it is and reap the simple pleasures of his hard
work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like the idea that, somewhere in
a pug raid there’s a nondescript HoX or Sin who seems too shy to speak on voice coms;
an otherwise typical player, but who is in fact GD ("Gamer Dude") Silirrion playing for kicks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From what one can ascertain about him from
his blog and on Twitter, he’s a talented, thoughtful, likeable guy, who loves
his career in game development. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He always
brings his A-game; and in his work-life, he gets to play in the major-leagues.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-12090678280360911512013-02-09T17:30:00.003+03:002013-03-01T09:00:31.965+03:00Thoughts on Mounts: Let's Be a Little Frank ... Frazetta<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Last week, Funcom’s weekly community update did something
some players found a little unexpected and which elicited mixed reactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the earlier revelations that company
restructuring (i.e. consolidation of all MMO development to the North Carolina)
would mean a delay for more Dragon’s Spine content in the near-term, we actually learned
that we’ll be seeing a new series of game mounts in the in-game shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
mount is indeed unusual. Design-wise its well executed and nicely in-keeping with the Dragon Spine serpent-men design as well as the rhino-horn motifs of the adventure pack's culture armor.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vw4F2JAg8sw/URZWdc23M0I/AAAAAAAAAOg/rRNZv28k--w/s1600/yothian_war_mare_big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vw4F2JAg8sw/URZWdc23M0I/AAAAAAAAAOg/rRNZv28k--w/s400/yothian_war_mare_big.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yothian War Mare</td></tr>
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This mount and the reactions to it (including my own ambivalence) got me
to thinking a little about the conundrum of adding mounts to <i>AoC</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some players were out and out hostile to what
they felt was a creature that might break the atmosphere of Conan’s low
fantasy setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we see every player using this beast, we may feel ourselves to be more in Burroughs' territory (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs" target="_blank">William S.</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs#Pellucidar_series" target="_blank">Edgar Rice</a>?) Others welcomed the
mount, as it is indeed something different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
<br />
When the Khitai content was released many players felt the wolves were
exotic but acceptable, while the tigers were more outlandish and the subsequent cultural echoes of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_the_Universe#Origin_of_the_franchise" target="_blank">He-man and the Masters of the Universe</a>, were a little too loud for some.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x6S_Q48L5iM/URZiwhpBuTI/AAAAAAAAAPo/veH2gGFgFEw/s1600/Wolf_mount1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x6S_Q48L5iM/URZiwhpBuTI/AAAAAAAAAPo/veH2gGFgFEw/s320/Wolf_mount1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ridden Death</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
I liked the wolf immediately and was the
first in my guild (at the time <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phoenix
Storm</i>) to grind one when Khitai tokens were still very slow to accrue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GLPOBhcm58k/URZXYwC5W6I/AAAAAAAAAOs/Bim5chnioNw/s1600/TMAB+image+31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GLPOBhcm58k/URZXYwC5W6I/AAAAAAAAAOs/Bim5chnioNw/s400/TMAB+image+31.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Murddock making a routine run in Chosain on his faction mount.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Though I don’t <i>love</i> them per se, the tigers have certainly grown on
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bPHEVof25FQ/URZYFQlZaJI/AAAAAAAAAO0/6Gv_0vf0Q_k/s1600/TMAB+image+32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bPHEVof25FQ/URZYFQlZaJI/AAAAAAAAAO0/6Gv_0vf0Q_k/s400/TMAB+image+32.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Dark Templar prefers Chosain's forests from his game-store mount. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
At the time, the incentive to acquire one stemmed from the speed and endurance the new beasts supplied. Both 'eastern' mounts (with the right AAs) were more effective
for traversing game zones, at that point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Khitai also brought
with it a series of <a href="http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Hyrkanian_Horse" target="_blank">Hyrkanian horses </a>for players possessed of more
traditionally oriented tastes.</div>
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The problems for Funcom are several: <b>1)</b> there’re only so
many way to re-package horses, yet horses don’t cause too many issues for the
game’s setting; <b>2)</b> Some players want vanity mounts (the camels are proof of
that … I always felt that the camel’s function <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>should’ve provided a few 6-8 extra inventory
slots that could be accessed only when the mount was summoned) and don’t always
want speed; <b>3)</b> with the mount-speed revamp what will motivate players to buy or
grind for the Yothian mount?; <b>4)</b> how can new exotic mounts be introduced and
integrated?</div>
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<br />
Clearly, Funcom needs revenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new mount is a means to that end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I neither blame them for this nor am I going
to be a knee-jerk cynic who feels that they shouldn’t have a monetization scheme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want them to pay the devs who make content
for Age of Conan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Yet I’d like to have seen something a little more low-fantasy
in the vein of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Frazetta" target="_blank">Frank Frazetta</a>’s fanciful mounts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frazetta's depictions always managed to balance credibility with the weird
exotic elements by suggesting, rather then openly depicting, drama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P9x7w4SgVsc/URZYtgvbexI/AAAAAAAAAO8/EGmEsMLrYpA/s1600/Frank-Frazetta-self-portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P9x7w4SgVsc/URZYtgvbexI/AAAAAAAAAO8/EGmEsMLrYpA/s200/Frank-Frazetta-self-portrait.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Frazetta (self-portrait)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Frazetta’s images of mounted low-fantasy characters were always pregnant with
enough real bestial energy to make the viewer feel that by taming or controlling these creatures, the rider and
or their culture was one that respected the majesty of the animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Animals in Frazetta’s paintings establish
ferocity, sexuality and struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
polar bear chariot (<i>image 1</i>) is less practical, but who would mess with the people who routinely
use them. The woman brandishing her spear on the lizard (<i>image 2</i>) rides it bareback, straddling the firm ridge
of her mount's spine: she controls it perhaps more for its sensuousness than as a means of transport. Finally and most clearly, the duo on the horned-reptile (<i>image 3</i>) are
presented in a suggestively coital posture (as the male fends off pterodactyls with
his bow, the female presents her posterior). It's a snapshot of sex and combat … of vulnerability and pleasure ... of risk and struggle. That’s the precise dramatic moment Frazetta wants
us to see: the essential male power fantasy. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eTvG7rCqf9w/URZZ4cy_qxI/AAAAAAAAAPE/URUr6AEmlyM/s1600/Frank+Frazetta+-+Icon+-+14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eTvG7rCqf9w/URZZ4cy_qxI/AAAAAAAAAPE/URUr6AEmlyM/s400/Frank+Frazetta+-+Icon+-+14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frazetta image 1</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EAYngE4VBdY/URZaKqifquI/AAAAAAAAAPM/aEkappf0uYA/s1600/Ara0740_Frazetta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EAYngE4VBdY/URZaKqifquI/AAAAAAAAAPM/aEkappf0uYA/s400/Ara0740_Frazetta.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frazetta image 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S2nZi22D-ro/URZaWE1OmLI/AAAAAAAAAPU/yZxbW6OR6qs/s1600/frazettafz10_jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S2nZi22D-ro/URZaWE1OmLI/AAAAAAAAAPU/yZxbW6OR6qs/s400/frazettafz10_jpg.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frazetta image 3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
So far, the Yothian mount doesn’t seem capture anything as dramatic as Frazetta's<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>... and let's face it: perhaps, it just isn’t supposed to. <i>AoC</i> doesn't look to tough-as-nails men with 1940's post-war Brooklyn values <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">as its customer demographic. As much as Frazetta is a central contributor to the Conan pastiche, Funcom like Dark Horse comics and the other modern contributors is entitled to posit a Hyboria that speaks to a broader 21st Century consumer of pop-culture.</span><br />
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Nevertheless, I can’t help but see this particular mount as more inkeeping with the
rhinos and mammoths which were originally intended to serve the siege elements
of the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As such, a very very ... <u>very</u> ... small part of me is
hoping that the Yothian war mount is a harbinger that, unbeknownst to us, a
siege-revamp is slowly cooking and that PvP players might be getting a new
option sometime in 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, once
the crafting revamp finally is delivered and patched, some of the systems devs will be
freed up. But hey, that’s just wishful thinking … <a href="http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=178485" target="_blank">then again the ‘eastern riding’ skillwas designated to the more generic ‘exotic’ name in August of 2012</a>, suggesting, at least, that
FC had a new culture-mount on the drawing board, well before the financial
re-structuring and HR issues were common knowledge.<br />
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If this mount makes them money, then mission
accomplished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it is the first of few
new siege mounts that portend a smoother siege system for PvP, then that’s good
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will I buy a Yothian War Mare? I’m
not sure, give me a practical reason, Funcom, and I certainly will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now however, a wait-and-see attitude is more likely.</div>
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-6761605141174935472013-02-01T13:39:00.002+03:002013-03-01T11:44:50.069+03:00Combat Mechanics ... Uhhh Simplified?In last month's main post, an attempt to explain the trickle down effect of base stat benefits was covered. However, clearly loot on White Sands, in Tortage Underhalls, and all other Hyborian locations provide explicit bonuses beyond boosting strength or wisdom etc.. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lz99u-SzhCw/UQuWr6Ny3OI/AAAAAAAAANQ/xSNzbMp6cCY/s1600/TMAB+image+27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lz99u-SzhCw/UQuWr6Ny3OI/AAAAAAAAANQ/xSNzbMp6cCY/s400/TMAB+image+27.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Barb alone in Khitai: unconscious of all the complexity<br />
that underlies his shenanigans</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Most <i>AoC</i> items offer benefits, and sometimes penalties, to stats such as <i>hit rating</i>, <i>protection</i>, <i>fatality chance</i> and so on. This post will present a table that compares these stats, as they pertain to the two main types of combat attacks, defenses, and damages: <b>melee</b> and <b>magic</b>.<br />
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<h4>
Combat: What's going on under the hood?</h4>
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Simply put, the systems run in near tandem, with a few exceptions. Combat can be divided in to approximately five phases:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Hit rating stats & Countering the hit</li>
<li>Crowd Control (optional) & Countering CC</li>
<li>Damage stats, Mitigation & Penetration (optional)</li>
<li>Critical & Critigation (optional)</li>
<li>Fatalities (optional)</li>
</ol>
<div>
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In each phase a stat is <b>checked</b> (i.e. the game rolls/generates a random number, within an appropriate range, on your behalf; adds your benefits or penalties and so on in order to determine whether you are successful or not).</div>
<div>
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<div>
The initial phase determines whether your <u>attack</u> is successful. It tries to answer questions such as: Can this character, at this level, actually do harm to an enemy? If the enemy is of much higher level; statistically, you shouldn't be able to damage it easily, and if it's of much lower level, you should statistically. In addition to level, the game asks, what other effects might give an advantage? The countering aspect of this phase simply asks: what statistically does the enemy have in place to help <i>Evade</i> the melee attack or to render <i>Immunity</i> to the magic?</div>
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<div>
The Crowd Control (CC) phase is the first possible point for actual damage to be calculated, if your hit was successful. You may have opted for an attack that would stun, knock back etc. the opponent. Some CC's do small amounts of damage. And not unexpectedly, some opponents may have items and buff effects that help them against a CC statistically. These are called <i>Resistances</i>. The phase is 'optional' in that, if there's no CC in the attack, these <i>Resistance </i>stats are generally irrelevant.<br />
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In the next phase, the main damage is calculated. For melee, it's generated from the DPS stat (the blog covered that one in the 'Hyborian Pick-up Lines' post last month). For magic, damage is calculated via the <i>Base Spell Damage</i> and <i>Bonus Spell Damage</i>. As with the previous phases, the opponent might have mitigating circumstances, which stem from items, base stats and or buffs. Melee damage is mitigated by A<i>rmor Rating,</i> whereas spell damage plays out against the various <i>Protection</i> stats. This is one area where the two are not quite the same, as protections are specific to the magic type (e.g. unholy), but armor mitigates all physical damage. </div>
<div>
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<div>
Some buffs and items may give you spell or armor penetration. Essentially these rarer effects lower stats on your enemies' <i>Armor</i> and <i>Protection</i>, giving your character a small but meaningful advantage. Penetration is, indeed, optional. (And yes, I'm really trying not to give into the urge drop a more cynical the double entendre here.)<br />
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The next phases are also sort of <u>optional</u> (that is, they <u>are</u> checked, but may not go into effect in some or most circumstances).<br />
<br />
After the main DPS is calculated, a chance exists for further <i>Critical</i> damage. If the check is successful, you will indeed deliver considerable additional damage <a href="http://forums-tl.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=42446" target="_blank">(The exact amount is harder to pin down: it's supposedly a 50% additional DPS minimum with that 50% further modified by percentage stemming from </a><i><a href="http://forums-tl.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=42446" target="_blank">Critical Bonus Damage)</a>.</i></div>
<div>
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<div>
Countering critical damage is also quasi-optional, as it depends on your <i>Critigation Rating</i> (some items and buffs, particularly ones associated with Khitai content) will allow you quite effectively to reduce the critical damage. </div>
<div>
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<div>
Finally a <i>Fatality Chance</i> is checked, if your damage is high enough to kill the opponent. You might trigger an animation that depicts your opponent dying a more gruesome death. The chances are small and are independent from the critical chance. Largely, its a nice touch that adds variety to a combat bout. <a href="http://aochideout.blogspot.com/2011/05/guide-fatality-and-you.html" target="_blank">A Fatality, may also give you a bonus to the XP recieved from the win and allow you to receive heals and regenerate stamina etc, while somewhat invulnerable for the duration of the animation.</a></div>
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<div>
This is indeed a lot to digest and internalize. Figure 1 presents a more detailed comparison of the steps in combat.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dRJDewapj20/UQzIubNjLMI/AAAAAAAAAOM/ZQSi9RXN060/s1600/Combat+sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dRJDewapj20/UQzIubNjLMI/AAAAAAAAAOM/ZQSi9RXN060/s1600/Combat+sm.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 1. Melee and Magic Combat Stats in approximate order of application.<br />
(NOTE: Available in sharp format - <a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-sUiMrn7FeZdm10WEt3aG90OXc/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">click here</a>).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Consider this a first run at, ahem ... <i>simplifying</i> an explanation as to how combat works and how the various stats affect the bout. There's much more to be said with regards to pets, traps, and healing. Most of this information has been gleaned from the tool tips and various explanations from players and developers in forums. I cannot vouch that it's exact and <a href="http://cynarablog.wordpress.com/2012/12/25/a-few-notes-on-combat-mechanics/" target="_blank">other players have made more detailed and revealing investigations and have more exact understandings than are presented here</a>. Nonetheless, for new and casual players, it's a start that can help make some broad sense of the combat stats: at least, faster than combing the forums would.</div>
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-4436910655165381932013-01-11T17:40:00.001+03:002013-08-01T10:15:40.209+03:00Hyborian Pick-Up Lines: An Introduction to AttributesThis post is the first of a few intended to help new and casual players make more sense of the itemization statistics.<br />
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Right from the get-go, MMOs such as <i>AoC</i>, require players to make informed decisions, as in: Should I spend more on a starter pack to get the handy weapons that are advertised? If I equip that <b>Pirate Ring</b> the crocodile on Tortage dropped, what will <u>+1 Constitution</u> do for me? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Etuu-Agh’s Dirk apparently gives me <u>+4.8 DPS</u> … WTF does that mean? My goddamn inventory is full, but the creepy-ass obese eunuch I killed has dropped a scimitar that I can't actually use, should I even pick it up ... will it give me syphilis?</div>
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Very often, these new player concerns only elicit further questions about more obscure information such as, “How does more ‘constitution’ actually help me?” or “How is my character's DPS influenced by a weapon's DPS?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A p</span>layer who may have tried pen and paper RPG’s will have an advantage in MMORPGs, as thinking about statistics that characterize probabilities in game terminology is familiar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However someone, who’s trying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> as their first MMO (and maybe even first RPG), may find the stat system a little less-transparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly a casual player, who enjoys the game viscerally as a result of its action or because of the immersiveness of its virtual world, might not fret about the statistics overly. Perhaps not until … Dommm-te-dom-dom … he or she faces that first hurdle, such as killing Strom to get heck off Tortage or perhaps surviving that <a href="http://media-curse.cursecdn.com/attachments/49/186/blood_defiler_v03.jpg"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blood defiler</i></a> long enough to burn it down and get the bloody <i>Phoenix of the South</i>. Sometimes surmounting these challenges requires an understanding of the encounter mechanics (e.g. when to run or what to click); or sometimes a matter of having the appropriate stats; and most often, of being able to combine both.</div>
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Some RPGs are pretty simplistic at the onset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember waaaay back in the summer of 1980 when I was just trying <a href="http://www.daddysdice.com/2012/03/13/a-short-history-of-dd/">Basic Dungeons & Dragons</a> (yes, I am a lich ... my DM's hot older sister always seemed to have the Go-Gos' "We Got the Beat" on in the background!) I recall getting my first +1 sword and learning immediately that it added 1 to my dice roll to improve my character’s chance to hit the enemy as scribbled in pencil on my <a href="http://www.dragonfang.com/archive/dungeons/first/dnd_basa.jpg">character sheet</a> ... all pretty simple. But I digress. <br />
<br />
Most RPGs, ancient and modern, allow their players see the immediate benefits. Single player titles such as <i>Elder Scrolls -</i> <i>Morrowind</i>, <i>Oblivion</i>, or <i>Skyrim</i> and <i>Dragon Age: Origins</i> tend to keep this system of benefits simple, so players of all ages can follow the game’s system and remain deeply immersed. <i>Age of Conan</i> is targeted at a mature player demographic. You can indeed generally play without fretting about the stats, by adopting a trial and error approach, letting Hyboria’s simulated version of survival of the fittest guide your decisions. However, if you want to improve your performance by enhancing your character’s performance stats there are some things you’ll need to know: particularly when you hit that wall.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fCTvAVnc9fU/UPAgdvMkzcI/AAAAAAAAAL4/_mU8Bsf5IRM/s1600/TMAB+image+22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fCTvAVnc9fU/UPAgdvMkzcI/AAAAAAAAAL4/_mU8Bsf5IRM/s400/TMAB+image+22.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last thing a mob sees before he truly appreciates DPS.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Before stats are discussed in a little more detail, it’s useful to understand that when the game was designed and initially released in 2008, it was structured such that stats didn’t give tremendous benefits. This was done with the hope that the game would create an appetite for player-skill based combat. Player-versus-player systems and player-versus-environment systems were statistically very similar, because at that point the endgame for Age of Conan was intended to be player sieges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While initially an interesting idea, the outcome was that players didn’t care about the loot. In short, the incentive for most RPG veterans to do quests or play instances was low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Players were asking, “Why spend a few hours or days trying to get an item, if you don’t really need it very much?” So in 2009, patch 1.5 revised the combat system to make items’ stats more influential and the traditional RPG player majority was satisfied, and the seeds for an item-oriented expansion (Godslayer) were sewn.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Essentials …</b></div>
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The remainder of this post will attempt to explain how the fundamental character attributes initially influence your performance. In the next post, the combat system for melee and magic attacks will be described in greater detail.</div>
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The current (1.5 patch) combat system works on a trickle-down format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Base attribute</i>s give specific benefits and when a base attribute is increased, there’s a smaller benefit to subsequent base stats, as you move down the line. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, as your character gains levels, some <i>Base Stats</i> increase as do some subsequent stats.</div>
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The inherent set of <b><i>Base Attributes</i></b> with which your character starts out (<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">viz. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, </i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Dexterity)</i> helps determine your various subsequent outputs (e.g. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">damage</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">healing</i>, or how much <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hate</i> the character does or doesn’t elicit in an enemy.) Some of these stats are easy to understand (e.g. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Health</i>); but getting clear information on others (e.g. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating</i>) requires a little more digging; and finally, some stats (e.g. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hit Rating</i>) can always be somewhat nebulous.</div>
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Players can open the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Attributes</b> Window and see their base stats in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">General Tab</b>. Here it’s easy to see some trickle-downs in effect, when we examine a generic fresh character on Tortage Beach as depicted in Figure 1.</div>
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With nothing equipped (except some shackles which can’t be removed at this point) this conqueror's progression can be observed in the leftmost window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This stat, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Damage Per Second</i> (DPS), it should be noted describes <u>only melee weapon damage</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Magical / Spiritual attacks will be discussed more in the next post.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TUZwJEKJkIU/UPBXEP1p-tI/AAAAAAAAAMU/unX1lnT1vGo/s1600/Conq+stats.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TUZwJEKJkIU/UPBXEP1p-tI/AAAAAAAAAMU/unX1lnT1vGo/s640/Conq+stats.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 1. Basic Conqueror with Attributes Shown from Levels 1-3</td></tr>
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Having equipped no weapon which actually contributes a statistic, the far left window shows this conq’s base melee DPS is 1.6 points. Mousing the cursor over your actual DPS numbers reveals some useful information in a pop-up that appears just to the lower-right of the letters “DPS”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This little window shows that the base DPS is clearly the sum of her “DPS from Weapon”, which is 1, added to her “DPS from Combat Rating”, which reflects her lack of acquired skill and, so is a mere 0.6; these two stats add up that base DPS of 1.6 points.</div>
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Now consider the three windows on the right side of Figure 1. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first one, just to the character’s right, is a copy of her Attributes Window as it appears after she has equipped her starting weapon, the Broken Oar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This weapon provides a 6.1 DPS (its stat is shown the tool-tip window in the yellow box in mid-bottom of Figure 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, her base DPS at character Level 1, becomes 6.7 (viz. “DPS from Weapon” (6.1) + “DPS from Combat Rating” (.6) = base DPS of 6.7.)</div>
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Finally, the subsequent two windows are copies of the Attributes Window as they appear after the character further progresses. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gains 2 more levels (by killing crocodiles and then human scavengers on the beach; releasing Cassilda; and then killing poachers). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These windows show that as she progresses to each new level, the character’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating</i> increases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It increases because, as she levels up, her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength</i> attribute increases (c.f. level 1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength</i> is 1; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>at level 2, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength</i> is 4; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and at level 3, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength</i> is 6).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating</i> is the pop-up window shows a trickle-down benefit from those increases to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Players might also ask “Why does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength</i> go from 1 to 4 to 6?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s actually an <i>Archetype</i> trait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a conqueror, like all classes within the game’s Soldier <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Archetype</i></b>, she will receive better DPS as her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength</i> attribute goes up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soldiers develop proficiency with martial melee weapons.<br />
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Other archetypes receive benefits to<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Combat Rating</i> from different base attributes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example Assassin’s will get improved <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating,</i> when using daggers because that class is supposed to cultivate a talent for that kind of weapon because they are nimble and well-coordinated; so the class’s <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>trickle-down benefits come from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dexterity</i> and applies to dagger <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating. </i>Whereas a Necromancer could also use a dagger as well, but won’t get as much benefit from their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dexterity </i>attribute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Necromancer class gets trickle-down benefits to their magic damage by increasing the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Intelligence </i>attribute<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Dark Templar, a soldier class that employs some magic, will therefore cultivate both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Intelligence </i>to receive trickle-down benefits to stats that affect melee and magic.</div>
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So the key to understanding what to collect begins by knowing where the best trickle-down benefits per class can be enhanced. Table 1 presents all the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> classes by archetype and suggest how the trickle-downs apply to each by indicating which benefits they boost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note: The table was generated by looking at the official forums and a few pages here and there on the web (click to enlarge).<br />
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><b>UPDATE: An extended, more accurate, and improved version of this table can be <a href="http://thismachineageblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/stats-all-folks.htmll" target="_blank">found in this post</a>. </b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wyo0vcKM9Gg/UPqwnqGmdYI/AAAAAAAAAMo/2NyVCKYLOog/s1600/BenefitsTable.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wyo0vcKM9Gg/UPqwnqGmdYI/AAAAAAAAAMo/2NyVCKYLOog/s400/BenefitsTable.tif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 17.33333396911621px;">Table 1. Areas of Benefit According to Attribute by Archetype and Class.<br />
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A small caveat, I don’t play some of these classes and there might be a few where I've unwittingly applied a benefit that's less relevant, so feel free to offer suggestions where this table could be fine-tuned.<br />
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It should be remarked that many items will boost a stat further along the trickle-down chain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, one item will give a boost to a base attribute like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strength,</i> which can have broader benefits like to each of improved melee <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating</i> (viz. roughly 36 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating</i> points trickle down into one melee DPS point) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Health</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Health regeneration</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Armor</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, another item might give a direct a sizeable benefit to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Combat Rating; </i>meaning substantial boosts to melee DPS but no trickle-downs for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Health</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Armor</i>.</div>
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What players will ultimately notice is that the benefits of many items with a broad trickle-down will be less than those of items with a more focused benefit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game often giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other; in time that conundrum will become the essential chestnut. It’s where the game’s complexity moves from hard the science of mere number crunching into the jurisdiction of nuanced player intuition. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Finally, you may already remark some items might give benefit like to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fire Damage</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evade</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next post will assemble what I have garnered from the game’s forums and so forth, to sort out a rudimentary chart comparing two <i>AoC</i> attack mechanisms: dealing physical damage and casting spells to do harm and to describe which stats apply to defend against each attack.</div>
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-9878318190132871062013-01-11T08:40:00.001+03:002013-01-11T08:45:16.280+03:00Postscript: Funcom Delivers the Goods.Yesterday, the first component of <i>Secrets of Dragon's Spine</i> adventure pack went live. So far, other than the existence of guards in the new playfield on the PvP 'Blood and Glory' ruleset server most reported bugs are very minor. A small patch will hit next week or so, I imagine. The testlive server forums suggest that the next component is most likely the crafting re-vamp. This month's GD letter can't come soon enough with details of what's coming a little further out. So GJ Funcom.Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-28043340969286703642013-01-04T15:15:00.000+03:002013-01-05T16:26:09.766+03:00Stygia ... A Little More to See?While preparing the next full post, it struck me that Funcom's deadline for <i>The Secrets of the Dragon's Spine</i> update is now less than one week away. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8YDUWyiql_c/UOafIVcACRI/AAAAAAAAAIU/iKwSYyCY1zE/s1600/TMAB+image+21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8YDUWyiql_c/UOafIVcACRI/AAAAAAAAAIU/iKwSYyCY1zE/s400/TMAB+image+21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sombre Khemi: where most players get a first taste of Stygia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On the forums and in the 'blogosphere', players rightly are expressing skepticism as to whether the first phase of the expansion will delivered on time and bug-free by next week. Funcom is up against the old triumvirate of quality, cost, and speed. In most commercial projects, only two of these are really possible. As we know FC is on a budget, so <u>cost</u> is not an option. Players are either gonna get <u>quality</u> or <u>speed</u>. <br />
<br />
Funcom may indeed have had a crack-core of Followers of Asura, unpaid interns, and entry-level devs testing an internal build over the holidays. This approach would've mitigated <u>quality</u> shortfalls or more likely enhanced delivery <u>speed</u>. However, this is highly unlikely for a company that's just had to tighten its belt due to restructuring after TSW's slow start.<br />
<br />
Ol' Murddock here is tacitly rooting for <u>quality</u>. Why doesn't Funcom just take another week and run it on the test-live servers? To be effective, why not offer all players, who put in a few hours on test-live reporting bugs, a small incentive? Is it difficult to send an additional cluster of items, such as the ones given freely as part of the seasonal event, to the accounts of players who log a 3-4 hours on test-live? Just generate a list of coupon numbers that can be entered on the a player's account page, then PM them to players who report new playfield design, gameplay, and quest bugs over a 5 day period. It's not as if this would break the bank.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6S3SRYgk7kQ/UOajcSGJrRI/AAAAAAAAAIo/P0va0UfVWb8/s1600/TMAB+image+20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6S3SRYgk7kQ/UOajcSGJrRI/AAAAAAAAAIo/P0va0UfVWb8/s400/TMAB+image+20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A conqueror exuberantly embraces the test-live experience.</td></tr>
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Regardless of whether they get the Dragon's Spine outdoor and group instances out next week, the next question is: what else will the expansion bring? A new raid instance has been promised (maybe the <b><a href="http://www.tsumea.com/files/unit/palace%20of%20cetriss_elevation_final_sm.jpg" target="_blank">Palace of Cetriss</a> </b>which has concept art) and we're all very keen on the crafting revamp. But if <i>The Savage Coast of Ardashir</i> is any measure then, shouldn't we expect a second instance for solo or group as well? The size of the playfield suggests that this ought to be the case. <br />
<br />
It's reasonable to ponder what's next for our game: it's just after New Year's Day, after all. Currently, some of the forum threads show players suggesting what they'd like to see happen in 2013.<br />
<br />
So far the gist is as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>General:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Class revamps and fine-tuning (Conq [as OP] and HoX [as needing some love] are both good cases)</li>
<li>Stealth system</li>
<li>More progression options (more AAs?)</li>
<li>Cross server tech to improve player interactions</li>
<li>New/improved GUI elements (for LFG and LFR and for the trader)</li>
<li>New loot options / More options to spend tokens</li>
<li>An achievement system</li>
<li>Bug fixes and streamlining (c.f. missing facial hair on selection screen, the invisible mount, stuttering in some Khitai zones etc.)</li>
<li>Mesh-tinting to allow customization of crafted items.</li>
<li>Content based on the <i>Legend of Conan</i> movie</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>PvE:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>An announcement of new content areas beyond <b>Dragon's Spine</b></li>
<li>Revamps (e.g. Entity) and <u>unchained</u> versions of the existing instances (e.g. FotD ... personally I want to see <b>The Breach</b> get another pass: at least make an unchained solo comparable to <b>Forgotten City</b>).</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<b>PvP:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Revamped/improved sieges (including PvP rewards from sieges)</li>
<li>Another revamp to make Bori work</li>
<li>A Colosseum and PvP ranking system</li>
<li>New PvP Levels</li>
<li>Address issue of hacking</li>
<li>New Premium PvP content to make F2P PvP subscribe</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<br />
Although the new Schwarzenegger filck is still somewhat further out, some very new content areas could be considered for an interim adventure pack: <b>Vendhya</b> - an area based on ancient India would be interesting; <b>Hyberboria</b> - offers Finnish or Slavic mythology; <b>The Black Kingdoms</b> - think <i>Queen of the Black Coast'</i>s climactic location, that ruined city; <b>Shazidar</b>, the city of thieves, in Zamora as a new fully urban location with lots of stealth quests; or even <b>Vanaheim</b> (or <b>Asgard</b>) but as a coastal area (dare I say it, ... a la <i>Skyrim</i>) with long ships and icebergs. Even on a smaller scale, FC could even deliver a few simple instances inside existing locations. Let us see more of Conan's palace; the obsidian tower in Khemi; the long house in Conarch; or the <a href="http://media-curse.cursecdn.com/attachments/49/127/The_temple_of_Mitra_concept.jpg" target="_blank">Temple of Mitra</a> in the Noble District. There's still a healthy amount of Hyboria to be explored in this game. If <b>Dragon's Spine</b> (<a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/mobile/forums.cfm?ismb=1&threadId=248927" target="_blank">which dates to 2009</a>) is any indicator, FC still has a considerable inventory of concept art and ideas to draw upon. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3asMhsfZNB4/UOa_NZ8MuiI/AAAAAAAAAI8/HG1w03drufg/s1600/TMAB+image+19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3asMhsfZNB4/UOa_NZ8MuiI/AAAAAAAAAI8/HG1w03drufg/s400/TMAB+image+19.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What exactly IS inside that obsidian tower, anyway?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
To conclude, as the crafting revamp holds so much potential; I'm all for more PvP TLC this year. Whatever the case, let's hope that the Game Director does some extensive PR next week to let us know what's afoot. <br />
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<br />Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5274804462802750187.post-58107647952369352382012-12-26T14:00:00.000+03:002012-12-28T18:54:23.480+03:00This Machine Age ... Unchained<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">"So
why blog about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age of Conan </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">)</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,</i> and why
now?"; "What's the appeal?"; "Isn't that game four years old?";</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> "Aren't there newer <i>better</i> games?";</span> "What kind of players are there?": these are some of the
questions that gamers who happen across this blog might raise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there are probably plenty more
pointed questions out there than I could list here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">For this
inaugural entry, I'll address those aforementioned quips and I suspect a few more
obvious questions will make their way into these initial entries in due time.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Why an <i>Age of Conan</i> blog now? First and
foremost it fills a need. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i>
players, as do most MMO devotees,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gobble-up
information and enjoy discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
aren't a lot of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> blogs out there
and the better known ones are generally for more experienced players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game's population isn't as large as bigger
MMO titles, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eve Online</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">World of Warcraft</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars: The Old Republic </i>or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guild
Wars 2</i> ... I'd be willing to bet that even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Rings Online</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Secret World</i> have slightly bigger populations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> probably
sits alongside <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aion</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rift</i>, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Invictus</i>:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>all of which are niche games with smaller dedicated player-bases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As such, the number of
good blogs for our game reflects the population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i>AoC</i> has plenty of casual players who are enjoying the game at their own pace.</span> Likewise, new
players do join <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> all the time and
many have questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to get that
info from the game's US and EU forums can be time-consuming considering that
<i>AoC </i>has evolved and some info on the forums is out of date. So this blog will comb the forums and try to consolidate some of what's there for the new and casual crowd. <i>I hope that this site might, </i></span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><i><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">in due time,</span> function like a supplementary manual.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie8mN1ct5Mo/UM72z2-prUI/AAAAAAAAAE4/RKbWUX9nnfo/s1600/TMAB+image+alt+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie8mN1ct5Mo/UM72z2-prUI/AAAAAAAAAE4/RKbWUX9nnfo/s400/TMAB+image+alt+6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Hang on, Old Man. Where IS this bit covered in the forums?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">The fact
is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> is currently making
another leap in its evolution: it has opened up further options for free players; new quests and locations will be available in <i>The Secrets of Dragon's Spine</i> update series that's scheduled to begin in January with additional content to follow. Additionally, the game is turning towards a more systems-based philosophy with the
advent of revamped and more dynamic crafting mechanic that will be part of the update.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Accordingly, this blog will attempt to help new and
casual players negotiate that option for gear, as it becomes more familiar.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KJWd-D3OL_Y/UM717Dm6GnI/AAAAAAAAAEw/_vMMod9lZmg/s1600/TMAB+image+alt+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KJWd-D3OL_Y/UM717Dm6GnI/AAAAAAAAAEw/_vMMod9lZmg/s400/TMAB+image+alt+8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Conqueror 'practicing his swing' in Dragon's Spine </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> </span> </div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">An older game? Sure, the
game is heading for its 5th year. As such, it doesn't have the novelty
factor that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GW2</i> has.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yeah, the technology is aging; nonetheless it still
looks better than most other older MMOs and </span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">visually </span>is still astonishingly
impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's also had over 4 years to
mature: most of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the glaring bugs and
all the content gaps that impeded the game after launch are gone (Are there still occasional
bugs? Yup. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>All MMOs have 'em.) With the
launch of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Secret World</i>, Funcom
seems to have worked hard avoid rushing content to
market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i> game community has been nearly unanimous in urging FC not to
serve the next course before it's cooked. Personally, I like what Funcom's about: they make engaging MMOs and I want them to prosper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Funcom is at its best, it's when they deliver solid challenging
content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
Player-versus-Environment (PvE) aspects of<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
AoC</i> are usually engaging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">This is not to say they're perfect. Funcom isn't a huge operation like Blizzard or even Turbine, and indeed they
are slower to deliver than most players would like (yeah, we MMO players are greedy: we want it all and we want it now).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, the US server population is lower than that of the EU (hopefully
Funcom's cross-server tech will help there); yes, improved player-versus-player systems need to be explored (in addition to a new mini-game, the game director
has indicated that revamping sieges and/or a full PvP arena system are being
considered) and yes, the development team is not always able to deliver updates
'yesterday' (few game companies can do this). Most of these won't influence a new player, there's plenty to keep you busy for months. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">What's the enduring appeal? Conan, in his pit-fighter days relished, some oft quoted values ... </span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/xAdzBaPDmJk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Take Conan's word </span></span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">(otherwise go read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics#Defining_Happiness_and_the_aim_of_the_Ethics" target="_blank">The Nichomachean Ethics</a>.)</span></span></span></h4>
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">That's the <i>AoC </i>appeal.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Those </span>better or newer games? Defining what makes something <i>the best</i> is a personal issue, and likewise <i>newer</i> does not mean fully cooked. If population is any measure of an MMOs quality, then <i>WoW</i> is hugely popular and despite a dropping population, retains massive numbers. However, it's directed at younger folks and isn't really a mature player's game. Players out grow the smurfs. <i>GW2 </i>and <i>SW:TOR </i>are indeed newer. The buy-to-play, <i>GW2, </i>looks appealing (I really liked the original <i>GW</i>) but the smurf-factor is there. <i>SW:TOR</i> has the fan-base and great appeal but, like so many MMOs, is now following the pattern Funcom established with <i>Anarchy Online</i>; it has moved to free-to-play to retain players. Few games will hold huge their initial numbers for long, and they inevitably spend time adjusting to player-base preferences. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">This Machine Age</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> is intended to be neither a soapbox for </span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">blindly </span>praising Funcom nor for hurling invective at its decisions or its personnel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm sure this blog will weigh in with the
occasional wish list or post hoc analysis; but generally this blog will try to
approach its topics from the perspective of the game as it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will leave the back-seat drivers to offer any dissenting views on the official forums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">So what are the players like?
</span>The vast numbers of dedicated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AoC</i>
players are largely a passionate, thorny, funny, ribald, and easy-going
bunch. We're delighted to see folks join in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><i>What this
blog will try to do is offer constructive insights to new players and give a
voice to the casual players. So if you're wary or weary of the official forums, this blog might constitute a second option.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">There's simply no other game like it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funcom</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s take on the Hyborian Age
offers bloody brutality, wicked eye-candy, reasonable complexity, and a solid share of MMO </span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">escapist </span>high-jinx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What it doesn't
have is <a href="http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/276/b/2/guild_wars_2__my_asura_chars_by_madt2-d5go5pg.jpg" target="_blank">'smurfoids'</a>, <a href="http://www.blogcdn.com/wow.joystiq.com/media/2006/12/zbeflirt.jpg" target="_blank">elflings</a>, <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mZtHe5qMcgU/UBTzMtZiPeI/AAAAAAAAEcQ/os1OFXjGvdA/s1600/final_fantasy_12_1920x1080_1920x1080_3280.jpg" target="_blank">anime-inspired <i>wu-shu</i> Barbie-dolls</a>, or <a href="http://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2012/3/22/e5502d9b-00b9-4a80-8f4f-08a18c771db3.jpg" target="_blank">snot-nosed 12-year-olds</a>
who</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ll trash talk you at every turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If these latter elements are your thing, then
you ought to look somewhere else. If you're a casual player looking to get a little more out of your <i>AoC </i>time, then stay with </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">This Machine Age</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">.</span><br />
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Murddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11211383058249071824noreply@blogger.com0