[GameRatty] tag: bloggers

Blogs are irrelevant and subjective

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:46:00 +0000

One interesting subject from the open Sunday thread was why some people react so strongly when they read somebody praising a different game, or even start shouting "conspiracy!" when they read some less than raving report on their favorite game. And I think one anonymous commenter got a step closer to the answer by asking about the influence of blogs. It seems logical that if somebody believes that blogs wield a huge influence in the decision of people what to play, or even on the developers of those games, they would feel threatened if a blogger writes negatively about their favorite game, or positively about a different game. But I do think that would overestimate the influence of blogs. In reality blogs have no, or very, very little, influence on developers and players. They are just a reflection of the subjective opinions of one or few people.

The reason why I can state the lack of influence with some certainty is simple math. I'm proud to have a "popular" blog, but popular still means only 5,000 visitors a day, of which 55% come here from some search engine, 25% following some link, and only 20% by either typing the URL of my blog, or having me bookmarked. So I maybe have 1,000 regular readers. Most of them are of the "I read what Tobold has to say, but I sometimes disagree" type, which is how it should be. But even if I could influence all 1,000 of them to lets say switch from one game to another, the impact on the subscription numbers of a major MMORPG would be minimal. 99% of WoW players have never even heard of me.

Not only is there a lack of influence, but also there is no conspiracy or hidden agenda. I'm just a regular MMORPG player, with certain preferences. Just like everyone else, I get excited about new games, like some games more than others, and inside one game have features I like and others I dislike. I generally prefer PvE over PvP, and if I PvP I prefer the "carebear" sort. I like storytelling and variety of gameplay, and dislike grinds. I prefer content to be accessible to casual players, and don't like exclusive content for a small elite. Besides games, I have an interest in economics, so you'll often find me discussing game economics, both the real world economics of business models, and the virtual economics of tradeskills and auction houses. None of this is secret in any way, and since it is inevitable that I repeat myself in 5 years of blogging, you can find ample evidence of these preference all over this blog.

Currently I am very much excited and happy about the Wrath of the Lich King expansion of World of Warcraft, because it very much corresponds to my personal preferences: As always in WoW, it is mostly PvE, with some carebear PvP. It has better storytelling and more varied gameplay than the previous expansion. And it promises to be more accessible and less elite in the endgame. A near-perfect match. But I'm not vain or stupid enough to believe that the Blizzard developers read what I wrote on this blog and created the expansion to fit my personal preferences. What I do believe (and again I only have indirect evidence) is that The Burning Crusade was not quite as big a success as Blizzard had hoped. It sold a lot of copies early, but then relatively quickly lost players. I do believe that the reason for that decline was that the players reached level 70 and because raiding was relatively difficult never even got started in the raiding circuit. I think Blizzard got that message through various exit interviews from people canceling their accounts, and is trying to do better this time. My personal agenda just happens to coincide with what a large number of casual players prefers, it isn't as if they were in any way influenced by me. And Blizzard is influenced by profits and subscription numbers, not by what anyone says about their game on any blog or forum.

Another evidence for the lack of influence of bloggers on players and developers is that people who take the time to discuss games on the internet are already a minority among players in general. By definition they are less casual, because it takes an above average interest in a game to not only play it, but also to want to talk about it when not playing it. I believe, without having proof for it, that the people who discuss games on the internet on average have somewhat different, less casual, interests than players who don't. Thus aspects of gameplay which require more dedication, for example hardcore PvP or raiding, are more popular on blogs and game forums than they are in the games themselves. I think developers don't listen too closely to what people say on forums and blogs, because they know that doing so would risk to miss the interests of the silent majority.

While it is obviously hard to judge oneself correctly, I would say that overall I'm a rather rational type. I try to avoid posting obvious falsehoods, and I usually do see both the good and bad sides of any given game or feature. But that doesn't make the content of this blog completely fair and balanced. Blogs, by their very nature, aren't even supposed to be objective. The word "blog" comes from "weblog", and that is what this is: A log of my thoughts, a kind of public diary. Objectivity isn't even a stated goal of that, I write my subjective feelings on games, features, or sometimes even non-game issues. And, being personal and subjective, my attitude towards one game can, and frequently does, change over time. If you read my archives, you will find that I never liked The Burning Crusade very much, and during that time wrote a lot of negative stuff about World of Warcraft, including an "I quit" post, taking an extensive leave from the game. You will also find some very positive coverage of WAR from the late beta and early release days, until the preponderance of scenarios ruined that game for me. And then there are lots of games that get no or very little coverage from this blog at all, because they are simply not on my radar.

If somebody expects me to cover and praise every existing game equally, he simply is at the wrong spot. Being personal this blog reports on the games I play, with a subjective slant towards the games I like. I am certainly trying to be balanced and fair, but there simply aren't any game review sites that praise all games equally, because frankly that wouldn't be of much use to anyone. The very act of reviewing a game introduces subjectivity. Besides reviews and personal opinions this blog has some "MMO news coverage", but that very often consists of links to the totally subjective reviews and personal opinions of other bloggers, with my subjective comments thrown in. Game companies are private enterprises, and there is a lot of interesting data they have and don't publish. Thus subjects like subscription numbers or future strategy of a game are surrounded by a lot of speculation, some circumstantial evidence, and very few absolute truths. But the fun is in the speculation and discussion, nobody should expect the same level of proof from a blog post than what would be required in a criminal justice court.

So, in summary, I do think that some people overestimate the influence of blogs. And some people have trouble making the distinction between a blog and the Washington Post. It is obviously hard to convince these people that I'm neither out to influence the MMORPG world, nor am I likely to do that. So the best advice I can offer is that if you believe so strongly that a single person with a blog hosted for free can influence both developers and players, then you should go and make your own blog. If it's so easy to move millions of subscribers to one's preferred game, and change the way in which future games are designed, why don't you go out and do it?

Updating and Sharing My Google Reader

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:30:18 +0000

I finally updated my Google reader; cleaning out a bunch of old sites that don’t update anymore and adding a crapload of new ones I just learned about. Here are my Warhammer Online and General MMO Gaming lists in case you wanted to check them out.

I have tagged a few blogs with a * symbol as their recent posts suggest they may be not be playing WAR anymore. If they don’t post something within a couple weeks, I’ll take them off my list or move them into general gaming (if I find their writing interesting). Also of note is that some of the general MMO gaming bloggers may be playing WAR right now, but it isn’t the main focus of their blog. I have marked these blogs with a - symbol.

Am I missing anyone cool? Is there anyone you especially enjoy from this list? Let me know!

Warhammer Online

General MMO Gaming (and maybe some WAR)

Contemplating a switch from Bloglines to Google Reader Bloglines seems to go down for me several times per...
Warhammer Bloggers, Unite! Regis of Wizards and Wenches recently set up a community...
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Catch great MMO Black Friday deals at Amazon.com

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Filed under: Culture, Economy, MMO industry

If you're like the bloggers at Massively, you're wisely staying away from the doorbuster crowds at the major US retailers. That said, even MMO players have to buy Christmas gifts, right? Do what we're doing, then, and shop from home. Joystiq's fantastic Black Friday guides cover the length and breadth of gaming deals today, but you know where we're interested. That's right, the online stuff. Amazon.com not only allows us that great 'avoiding the crowds' feeling, they're also the only retailer to offer bigtime MMO deals! Check them out: Guild Wars - $9.95 (Reg. $29.99) Guild Wars: Eye...

Catch great MMO Black Friday deals at Amazon.com originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Real celebrities get Avatar'ed

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:30:00 +0000

Filed under: Fan stuff

Unlike the list of rich and famous Avatars we already shared with you where most (all the Joystiq network bloggers) weren't really celebrities, GamesRadar has a listing of really real Hollywood, gaming and political celebrity Avatars. Of course, Chuck Norris is included.

Make the jump to view all five pages of celebrity Avatars including gaming legends like Mario, Zelda and Kratos from God of War. If Hollywood celebs are your cup of tea, they've done up Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson and Stephen Colbert in Avatar form. There's even a Bush, Obama and a really accurate looking Palin Avatar. If only someone could make one look like Cliff Bleszinski ...

[Via Game Stooge]

Real celebrities get Avatar'ed originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:50:00 +0000

Hello, my name is Tobold, and I am the author of this post. Why the heck would I need to introduce myself on my own blog, after 5 years and over 2,000 posts? Because there is a significant chance that you are not reading this on my site, but on somebody else's site who simply copied and pasted my content. If you are reading this on a site whose URL is not www.tobold.com or tobolds.blogspot.com or some RSS feed reader pointing to these sites, then you are reading a copy. Not necessarily an illegal copy, because my terms of service that clearly state: "You do have the right to quote me, and use my posts partially or in full, as long as you attribute them correctly as having been written by "Tobold" and link back to the source.". But if you read this on a website which is making money by advertising, or selling gold, or any other means, I can assure you that I won't see a single penny of that money.

There is a saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but that dates from before the digital age. Why imitate if you can simply copy? Internet traffic is driven by content, so people who want a lot of traffic, which can be turned into some revenue stream, but are too lazy to create content themselves, simply copy the content of others. Happens to a lot of bloggers. As this blog is not a commercial venture, and I'm mainly interested in getting my ideas out, I'm making life especially easy for the copiers: I have the full content of my blog posts on RSS feed, so people who can't access the site itself (usually due to a firewall at work) can still read my posts via a feed reader. What I write in my terms of service about copying doesn't really matter, because even if I explicitely would forbid copying my content, I would not have the means to enforce that. If I was a bit more childish I could find the sites that copy me, and make blog posts saying " is a bunch of ripoff scumbags", just to see that post copied on the site I'm insulting, as this copying is nowadays fully automated in most cases. But honestly, I don't really care if somebody copies me, as long as I get full credit for having written it. So as long as whereever you read this is linking back to my blog, I'm fine with it. If you see this on some site under a different author's name and no link back to tobolds.blogspot.com, then it is real plagiarism, and not just a copy.

But whether the copy is legit or not, you have to ask yourself why you are reading a site that doesn't produce its own content. Is it some sort of "news aggregator" site, making it easy for you to read the posts of several blogs at once? Wouldn't you rather set up lets say Google Reader to follow all of your favorite blogs? Are you aware that even if you don't click on the ads of that site, you might create some advertising revenue for somebody who isn't the author of the content you are reading? Are you comfortable with directly or indirectly financing plagiarism?

There are ethical forms to link to the content of others. All blog entries in the form of "I've read an interesting article on XXX's blog. "". And here are my own thoughts on the subject." are perfectly fine. But if a site basically just consists of some code that automatically creates a page from the RSS feed of others, the ethics are a lot more questionable. And if the name of the original author and link back to source are suppressed, the action becomes downright plagiarism. There are even sites that copy my content, run it through a parser which replaces some words with the help of a Thesaurus, and thus create a less traceable copy!

Breaking down Mark Jocobs WAR update

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:09:32 +0000

Mark Jacobs gave the WAR community an update on Mythic’s future plans for Warhammer, specifically the continued focus on making open RvR WARs absolute main attraction. It encouraging to know Mythic recognizes what separates WAR from other MMOs, and will focus on oRvR over PvE and scenarios, two aspects of WAR that are good enough as is. This post will be in break-down fashion, as I think Mark talks about a lot of important changes, changes that are much needed and perhaps long overdue.

Folks,

Over the last few months I’ve spoken about our continued focus on improving our open RvR systems. While we have taken some major steps in the last month, we believe that there is much more we can do to encourage people to take part in oRvR throughout the entire evolution of their character(s). Over the next few months we have some very exciting changes and additions taking place. Please note that as always, this does not represent everything that either we are doing or thinking about doing, just what we, as of now, plan on adding to WAR.

Somewhat basic here, other than the fact that Mythic now acknowledges oRvR as the main focus of WAR, rather than a piece of the puzzle in addition to scenarios and PvE. Major step forward, as no one is playing WAR because of it’s amazing PvE, or because we were looking for an update to WoW BG system. Scenarios will improve with class balance changes, and PvE (imo of course) is good enough right now to fill in the gaps between oRvR. The lack of oRvR has placed too much attention on PvE, which is why it continues to come up as an issue.

We have a number of major initiatives planned for oRvR in WAR. Please keep in mind that these changes/systems apply to oRvR only and not to scenarios. This is not all we are working on but these do reflect the majority of oRvR additions that we are currently working on/planning for the next few months.

Interesting statement only if over analyzed, but since this is exactly that, here goes. Pointing out that the changes are being made to oRvR, and not scenarios, seems somewhat bold to me. Previously Mythic was afraid to alter the importance of scenarios, mainly because of how popular they were. It’s encouraging to see that they are moving away from this stance, and willing to downgrade the effect scenarios have on the overall focus of the game.

First, we have created an RvR Influence system. This system is designed to reward our oRvR players with lots of new stuff that you can only get through oRvR. This will be a complimentary system to our PQ Influence system. This system is already implemented in 1.1 and is scheduled to go LIVE along with that version in December.

Another huge addition to the very anticipated 1.1 patch (and overhyped? Can you overhype a patch?). This was something fans and bloggers have commentated on often, and Mythic has responded. How the influence system was not in oRvR from day one is a bit puzzling, but at least it’s being added in fairly quickly. As long as the itemization is in line with the rest of the game, this should be well received.

Second, we want to improve the visibility that players have into oRvR and make it easier for players to get involved in the action quickly and easily. We have a number of wide-ranging changes going into our map and travel systems to allow players to better understand the state of oRvR in our game and also allow them to get to the action faster. We have already taken one step with putting a Rally Master in each Warcamp but we will also add the ability for people to have a second bind point to make it even easier for players to move around the maps. We will also make it easily for players to see where players from their Realm are engaging in oRvR, a Campaign HUD for all tiers and other improvements We will also improve Tier-wide messaging about what is going on in Battlefield Objectives and Keeps. Other additions include changes to the UI, in-game manual improvements, map enhancements, and a few other changes.

I found this section interesting because it’s a large collection of little fixes, which I think could add up to a big change. WAR’s main problem is getting players together in oRvR, and each piece above is a tiny step towards that ultimate goal. WAR does not need an NGE-style change, but rather a collection of these small steps to help guide players into the best content. The great gameplay is there, Mythic just has to get the players to it now.

Third, we want to provide greater incentives to players to participate in oRvR. In order to accomplish this we will be adding additional layers to the questing system of oRvR including the addition of Keep Quests, “Daily Event Quests”, Chained RvR Missions, improve the initial Tome Unlocks and other oRvR-oriented Events. We will also improve our BO itemization. Our goal is to provide players with even more incentive for participating in oRvR than we have already.

Catering to the PvE crowd here, and I’m ok with that. I think more MMO fans would be PvP fans if it was presented in a shinier package, and the above seeks to do just that. Execution and itemization will be key for these changes, both to keep them in-line with the rest of the game, but also to make them attractive enough for players to bother with.

Fourth, we want to encourage guilds to take and control keeps, and we will continue our work on adding better rewards for Guilds who own Keeps as well as the addition of a system of Keep upgrades. This system will be added to the game in several stages beginning in the late winter.

Late winter is a long ways away, but this is a good change. Currently guilds have very little motivation to own a keep, and increasing that will also increase a guilds willingness to defend one. Adding significant benefits to keep ownership will also strengthen a players motivation to stick with a guild. Mark later made a post about focusing on improving the rewards for defending a keep, which is a major issue right now.

Finally, we will begin work on a global oRvR “Fame” system that will be tied directly to the Tome of Knowledge which will provide more rewards, titles, experience, etc. for participating and being successful in oRvR. This system will provide even more incentives for people to participate in oRvR than the current systems and one that fits nicely both with the ToK’s concept as “This is your life” as well as an additional advancement and reward system.

“Fame” system, interesting. Anything that tracks more day-by-day RvR progress would be good. Let me know which day I killed the most players, which day I captured the most keeps, when I won a gold bag, that kind of stuff.

Please keep in mind that these additions are subject to change and given the nature of these changes/improvements, they will not go LIVE until we have thoroughly tested them. However, these are crucial improvements to WAR and are being treated as such by the team.

So release them yesterday!

Finally, I want to close this out with a brief explanation about the role that we believe that oRvR should play in WAR. It’s really as simple as this, oRvR should be a major focus for leveling, item gain, etc. in WAR. Some of the systems are already in place and in Tier 4, oRvR is alive and well. On other Tiers, however, oRvR is not being engaged in as often as we had hoped when we launched WAR. Our goal is to ensure that oRvR is the place where players can level the fastest, get the best items and overall, have a great time while doing it. It is supposed to be riskier, more challenging but ultimately, more rewarding than any other place within WAR. What is outlined in this letter are some of the ways we plan on making this happen over the next few months and beyond.

Considering keeps were not even in the game in early beta, this is a significant change to the core of the game. Basically, Mythic should have made DAoC 2.0, and not some reinvention of RvR. Mistake made, now time to correct it. Luckily Mythic has shown a willingness to correct mistakes, and do some rather quickly. These changes need to happen before more players bleed out from WAR.

As always, we thank you for your patronage and support. We won’t let you down.

Mark

And if/when you do, fans will let you know. (see: ToA)

There are a few more comments by Mark in the thread, so go scroll through for the full details. And as always, everything above is just talk, and needs to actually be delivered. Events like The Witching Night and Heavy Metal show Mythic CAN react quickly to address issues, but mistakes like keep contribution, itemization, and scenario over-emphasis also show Mythic has a ways to go before they get WAR where it needs to be. Hurry up!

GameSetQ: Where Next On The (R)Evolution Of GSW?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:00:29 +0000

Well, it's a rare appearance of the GameSetWatch spaceman guy (designed by Mira Han, yay), so that must mean it's time for a little rumination on the history of the site, and a question on where you'd like to see it go next.

Firstly, I'm not sure if everyone has been reading for long enough to realize this, but GSW has been through quite a major series of shifts over the past three years or so (yes, we've been running since 2005).

Here's a potted history, with links to weekly archives to give you a good idea along the way:

- Early Prehistory (January 2006)
We started things off with more of a group feel and eclectic, six+ posts a day styling. In fact, our initial group bloggers theoretically included Michael McWhertor (nowadays at Kotaku, of course), Brandon Boyer (who just started the BoingBoing-affiliated Offworld, which early GSW vaguely resembles, only with less Greenblat), and Wonderland's delightful Alice Taylor. It evolved into a solo effort (with a few exceptions) over time, though.

- The Mid-Period Evolution (April 2007)
Halfway between the oldschool and the new school, GSW in mid-2007 had quite a few link-style posts. It was still clocking in at about five posts a day, some on eclectic subjects, but now had a regular-ish GameSetLinks link round-up. It was also starting to increase longer-form columns from folks like Slashdot/Massively's Michael Zenke, the indefatigable John '@Play' Harris, and quite a few more besides. It was a transition time...

- The Here And Now (November 2008)
Well, now we're at three posts per day, with the daily GameSetLinks round-ups picking up some of the more thoughtful writing online. The other posts alternate between GSW-exclusive columns (generally design analysis/critiques, like 'The Interactive Palette', or more personal perspectives, like 'Chewing Pixels'), and there are more crossposts from sister sites - particularly longform writing from Gamasutra that we think might get lost, but also link round-ups from sister sites like FingerGaming and IndieGames.

So that explains where we were, and where we are.

In a lot of ways, today's GameSetWatch is an 'unblog'. Which is to say - instead of lots of tiny, pithy posts, we hit you with three big chunks of text every day. I guess this is a little bizarre - and in our regularity in doing so, we're practically recidivist.

Of course, the site's current structure is partly a reaction to the site itself being a sideproject to our regular dayjobs running Game Developer magazine, Gamasutra, and helping with GDC, so there you go.

But I'd like this to be a call for ideas, and feedback. What bits of GSW do you dig now - which columns, whose writing, what particular features? What would you like to see more of, and what would you like to see less of? What are we doing that's important and enjoyable, and what are we doing that's tedious or less than necessary?

[Feedback to editors at gamesetwatch dot com welcome, of course, but the blog comments are the best way to get discussion going.]

More Club Nintendo goodies announced for Japan

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:55:00 +0000

Filed under: News, Fan stuff, Imports

While it prepares to wheel out Club Nintendo in North America later this year, Nintendo has decided to torture us one last time with stuff we can't have.

Every year in Japan, Platinum and Gold members in the Japanese program get a free gift. This year, Platinum members have three to choose from, including the snazzy golden Wii Wheel you see above. This takes us back to GoldenEye's multiplayer, and us petulantly refusing to play unless we could steer Oddjob with the only gold-colored N64 controller in the house. Also up for grabs is a Super Mario Cap, which Nintendo reports is too big for girls and schoolkids (but not adult male bloggers), and a Club Nintendo Calendar 2009, which will be the only option for Gold members. That's better than our only option, which is to own nothing.

All very lovely then, and all very out of our reach ... but for how long? Go past the break for a look at the cap and calendar.

Want to see Club Nintendo's greatest gifts to Japan and Europe? OF COURSE YOU DO. So go here.

More Club Nintendo goodies announced for Japan originally appeared on Nintendo Wii Fanboy on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blade Interactive to self-publish Hydrophobia in March '09

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:50:00 +0000

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

According to a Eurogamer report, Hydrophobia developer Blade Interactive will self-publish its waterlogged, third-person adventure in March 2009. Set aboard a sinking ship, which we're informed is by far the worst kind of ship, Hydrophobia has players solving numerous aquatic puzzles and has bloggers clumsily incorporating unnecessary water words into any articles they write about it.

Should the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 game make a splash next year, the sequel is certain to surface soon after.

Blade Interactive to self-publish Hydrophobia in March '09 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameSetLinkDump: The Run Of Shadows

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:00:30 +0000

Good Lord, it's time for a little more GameSetLinkDump-age, headed by the UK Guardian discussing game addiction as an alternative to facing up to bad realities - a strangely needed personal perspective on gaming and feelings, something that maybe isn't done enough.

Also hanging out in here - the sad disappearance of WizKid Games, a version of Shadowrun (pictured) that you might not have seen before, the rise of doujin, something about Second Life that almost makes sense to me, and lots more.

Yee haw:

Naomi Alderman: Computer games are good for you | Technology | guardian.co.uk
On post 9/11 trauma and Diablo: 'I remember surfacing from four-hour Diablo II sessions feeling as if I'd been on holiday, so grateful that I'd been able to blot out the images of genuine horror filling my city.'

WizKids Games shuttered by Topps
"We feel it is necessary to align our efforts more closely with Topps' current sports and entertainment offerings which are being developed within our New York office.” What a shame - a genuinely interesting tabletop gaming company closed.

Shadowrun Xbox prototype info
Completely different from the shipped one: 'After shipping Crimson Skies HRTR, the FASA Management team asked me to art direct their next title, Shadowrun. They wanted a new Shadowrun, one that was real in the way Peter Jackson made the "Lord of the Rings" universe real.' Via Superannuation.

ARGNet: I Swear, I'm Not Claiming All Girl Gamers are Fake: Personal Effects Goes Live
Following up on the story I broke-ish recently - apparently, a couple of other bloggers had worked it out, but hey, I had the first/loudest mouth.

game girl advance: The Futures of Entertainment
Heartily agree with both 3 and 4.

Confessions of an Aca/Fan: Changing the Game: An Interview on Games and Business with David Edery and Ethan Mollick (Part Two)
Good two-part chat with the business game book folks.

Canned Dogs » Blog Archive » Otaku market size 2007
Rise of indie in Japan, too? 'Also at the same time, the doujinshi market is still growing as more become aware of doujin events such as comic market, increasing the number of casual fans.'

Second Life Users Furious Over Barely Understandable Controversy « Broken Toys
Nice disclaimer, and a good explanation of the ever odd, insular SL world.

Sex Games | Moving Pixels | PopMatters
Discussing a game I hadn't heard of called... BoneTown?

Crayon Physics Deluxe - the official website
2008's IGF Grand Prize winner now available for PC pre-order. Do it.