[The Slow Decline of WoW]

So Jeff over at MMO Weekly wrote a pair of articles outlining the self-destructive pattern that WoW is falling into. His critique, however, is two expansions too late. The problems he's talking about were strongest in Original WoW, reduced in BC, and are even further eroded in WotLK. In reality, I think the destruction now is coming NOT from making the endgame 'too exclusive', but by making everything before the raid endgame too easy.

I loved The Burning Crusade's 5 and 10 man dungeons. I loved the Heroics, even though they didn't offer upgraded gear at that time, only badges. Both heroic and regular 5 mans required teamwork and strategy, and people had to learn the fights and utilize crowd control effectively. Even though they were 'only 5 mans', they were fun, and Heroics required some work to succeed in. And since 5-man dungeons are my favorite part of the game, I was happy. I could log in, run a heroic or two, and have fun.

Then WotLK came out. The instances were now super short, easy, with tiny loot tables that ensured you got everything you wanted in perhaps 3 or 4 runs, tops. Crowd control was basically rendered useless (my Mage and my trap-savvy Hunter wept), as now every tank could 'aoe tank', and most groups just rained aoe on group pulls without any need to think. Trash mobs were just that -- trash, with nothing needed to learn or beware of. Just shoot 'em til they were dead, and move on. Heroic dungeons are virtually indistinguishable from their Normal mode, aside from the upgraded drops and badges.

WoW's problem is not that 'reaching endgame raids are too hard'. Their fatal mistake (in my opinion) is that Blizzard tried to make endgame more 'accessible' by completely trivializing all aspects of the game that lead up to it. Therefore the entire game experience is now watered down and rendered pointless, since Blizzard has basically admitted that it's all just a speedbump, and not content that has any intrinsic value, or that should be enjoyed on it's own merit.

And THAT is what destroyed most of my interest in WoW. I was never a hardcore raider, nor was I a pure 'casual' player. For someone like me, WotLK's 'easy mode' style of play is a waste of time for me. I've been reduced to running once a week 25-man raids with my guild as an excuse to even log in anymore. Since the game has nothing in it that isn't built directly around the watered down 'speedbump/treadmill' that is now meant to feed playerfodder into the 'endgame', it's just plain boring. This is why immersive worldbuilding, RP tools, robust crafting mechanics and community is something so important in an MMO. Because without any of those things, I'm quickly losing any interest in continuing to play the game... since there is basically nothing in it for me anymore.

Gear drops do not provide a tie to the game world, or anything lasting (since gear is invalidated so fast and even if you like the look of it, you're 'not allowed' to equip your character according to aesthetics). If it wasn't for my guild, which is made up of great people and holds a lot of happy memories for me across the 5 years that I've been a member of it, I would've quit months ago.

[Marvelfail]

So, Marvel has decided to appeal to the 'female side' of their fanbase by releasing a selection of 'juicy' and 'shiny' lip glosses!

"With a branded line of make-up from Marvel, girls will be able to feel as if they are going from ordinary to extraordinary just like the super hero characters in the stories."

Orly?

Anyway, Shakesville points out that on the website, there are tons of costumes available for guys to be their favorite comic character. But... not any for girls. I wonder why?

"There is a very good reason there are no costumes mentioned here for girls. Can anyone guess what it is? It starts with an I...regular series here on Shakesville...that's right, it's Impossibly Beautiful for the loss!

See, with the costumes of men superheroes, we see muscle pads, inflatable bodies, and (this is crucial) covered bodies. Had a look at any of the costumes on any women capes lately? How do you make costumes drawn to make the heroes look like silicon-stuffed strippers fit actual women? Well, of course, you don't, because (back to the male gaze here), who'd want to look at some fat woman in a costume meant for a stripper, am I right?

Not to mention, what kind of seriously advanced structural engineering would you need to make a real woman look anything like the titanic-breasted figures put forward as "women" in Marvel's books? Not to mention, what kind of sick fucking company would make their hypersexualized women's costumes available for girls?"

Yerp. But of course, the only reason women complain about the design of women superheroes is because we're uptight harpies, amirite? It couldn't possibly be because it actually makes being a female comic fan a lot more uncomfortable than it has to be. Just look up the common complaints woman comic cosplayers make every damn year about getting harassed at comic cons for dressing as their favorite superhero... I'm assuming because they're TOTES asking for it by dressing like a sexdoll character, right? Nevermind that 'sexdoll costume' is the ONLY OPTION THEY GET. Seriously, if the tables were reversed you'd have geek guys up in arms about it all the time. Because it sucks when your favorite superhero is constantly splayed out like a softcore prop.

[Virtual Worlds as the Great Equalizer]

Colin Brennan talks about gender identity in MMOs:

"I owe much to my online escapes, as they aid me in more ways than just providing a fun distraction. They give me the opportunity to appear as I truly feel inside, and let me interact with others without the stigma of being or appearing to be transgendered attached. Beyond just me, however, are hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions of individuals who have gained an advantage or some sort of insight thanks to virtual worlds."

  On the one hand, the anonymity of the avatar can break down some social boundaries for people. But then you also have phenomenon like the borderline 'racism' between player factions like the Horde and Alliance being created within those same games. The fact that a MMO can allow people to explore an alternate identity as well as provide a way for people to show their true character is really fascinating. Who hasn't felt somehow more 'liberated' through an avatar? But conversely, who hasn't also made assumptions about others based on their avatar?

[The Making of Final Fantasy VII]

A cool interview with FF7 director Yoshinori Kitase is up at Edge. Lots of cool insights in it about the development of the first 3D FF. =)

"This was undoubtedly the game that changed everything. We felt a wind of change inside the company during the development process. There was this incredible feeling I’ll never forget: we were making a new thing… making history. Imagine.”

[Quick Review: The Hunter]

I heard about The Hunter on an episode of Shut Up, We're Talking. It's a beautifully designed free-to-play hunting game. You start out with a basic rifle and scope, binoculars, GPS, and camera (squee!). You travel through a lush hunting preserve, looking for signs of your prey. Your GPS will show you the radius and direction your quarry is headed based on the types of tracks you find, and the stalk begins!

The wildlife AI and hunting mechanics are very realistic. Running noisily through the brush or standing up in a clearing will scare the deer away. Holding your breath while sighting your shot improves your aim. The environments and sounds are beautiful and very realistic (complete with day and night cycles), and for an explorer and virtual shutterbug like me, being able to go all 'nature photographer' in the game is a cool bonus. Also, you get points based on how impressive a specimen you shoot, and there is an online ladder comparing the scores of every player. So competitive types should have some fun too.

As you complete quests, you can gain the ability to hunt more than just deer, too. There's a cash shop for buying new equipment as well as social networking tools. If you like hunting or are curious about it, it's definitely worth a download.

[How Not to Write A MMO Quest]

Via Shacknews: At the GDC, WoW's Jeff Kaplan did a panel talking about how NOT to write quests in an MMO:

“This is the worst quest in World of Warcraft,” he said. “I made it. It’s the Green Hills of Stranglethorn. Yeah, it teaches you to use the auction house. Or the cancellation page.”

“So I’m the asshole that wrote this quest. My philosophy was, I’m going to drop all these things around Stranglethorn, and it’s going to be a whole economy unto itself… It was horrible.”

“It was utterly stupid of me. The worst part… one of the things that taxes a player in a game like WOW is inventory management. Your base backpack that the game shipped with only has 16 slots in it. But basically at all times, players are making decisions. For a single quest to consume 19 spaces in your bags is just ridiculous.”

“So it’s a horrible quest, and I’m the only who made it, and somehow I am talking to you guys today.”

At least he admitted it. I never finished that quest on any of my four characters... =P

"Basically, and I’m speaking to the Blizzard guys in the back: we need to stop writing a f*cking book in our game, because nobody wants to read it."

You know, I actually don't mind 'reading a book' in my games, only in 99% of MMOs the story, quite frankly, is stupid. At worst, the lore makes no sense or goes on for miles on cliched world-building minutiae that serves no purpose.

I actually enjoy reading many of the WoW quests. But seeing as how WoW as a MMO is not really about the world and immersion in it as it is a fun treadmill game on rails, that kind of creative effort is pretty much wasted on most of the players. Because they're not playing the game for that purpose, nor does the game encourage them to (and it has no real tools for it, anyway).