Star Trek Online

As many know, I love Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMO). I have played almost every single major title that has ever been released. I got hooked with Everquest, and have been playing them all since. The last I had is Warhammer Online, but it's time for something new.

Star Trek Online will be coming out in February 2010. There is a lot of anticipation on the game. Here is one of the latest videos on the gameplay.



As you can see from the images the space battles look like it was the emphasis of the graphics and game design. In other videos you will notice the lower level of graphics for characters even more. So the question that comes to my mind is if the game will live up to even most of the hype?

Another game that had a lot of hype and was somewhat inferior in graphics was Star Wars Online. As I recall there were a few question about the graphics, and the level tree that was being used. As well as the whole resource decay issue. The game was a failure even accounting for the hype that nothing could live up to.

Star Trek Online (STO) also cannot possibly live up to the hype that its source material has created. Even if this game runs perfectly smooth at launch and had no bugs (neither of which will happen) it could not live up to expectations. So that may save it to some degree among fans.

But is the game worth it? Well the general word out is that the game is decent. That there is content and diversity. But until there is a community playing, who knows.

I hate to guess about video games. There are so many unknowns to try to figure out. Actual gameplay can often be deceiving, and critical elements of the game may never be even hinted at in a preview. World of Warcraft had no hype and stormed the MMO community. It created fans that ranged from casual gamers to the very hardcore. And its kept them. But before the launch there really was not clue how good it would be.

I want STO to be a good game. I want to join up and have a Klingon cruiser blasting away at the Federation, Romulans, and the Borg (yep they are in the game - though not as playable characters). But I'm just not sure.

Lesser graphics are never an indication of how a game might turn out by themselves. But like with the Matrix Online (now defunct) it's one part of many potential problems that can spell the doom of a game.

Currently the game is in closed Beta. Lot's of things are likely being tweaked and added. No word has leaked on how good or bad things might be. so the question remains, is this being put out to cash in on the hype or is it what the fans have been waiting for?

We only have 2 1/2 months to go to find out.

The impossible has been done - World of Warcraft undone

If you are one of the millions that play or have played World of Warcraft then you know the game is filled with content. Like all Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMO) there is more than enough to keep anybody busy for years. And that does not include the time to reach the next level up once you get past the first easy 10 levels.

If you are not familiar with these types of games I'll help you out. In an MMO a new player can go from level 1 to level 5 in generally 3 - 5 hours. Reaching level 10 requires another 8 hours of time to be invested in the game. To reach level 15 could take a week more time. To get to level 30 or more than several months of gameplay time. And since the max currently in WoW is 80, well you are looking at perhaps a year or more of hardcore gaming time, and far more than that for a casual gamer.

Obviously that's a huge investment of time. But for all of that gameplay, I have never heard of anyone out of the millions that have played the game, that has done everything the game has to offer. Such is the nature of an MMO. They can become a life of their own.

Of course I need to correct something I have said. I never heard of anyone essentially beating an MMO before today. It seems that a Tiawanese man has in fact done it. He has completed every mission and acheivement the game has to offer. That's 986 seperate items that involve the most difficult and obscure things offered in the game. Like gaining a complete outfitting of all epic gear (very hard to find each piece as they are rare), or eating 50 different kinds of food from across the entire World of Warcraft game world.

To some it may not sound like a big deal. But to gamers it is amazing. To my knowledge this is the first time anyone, EVER, has done everything a game has to offer. I honestly cannot imagine the time it has taken to get all of it done. And out of over millions of people playing the game currently and likely tens of millions that have played the game since 2004, only "little gray" has made this milestone.

Just thinking about it, finishing the unfinishable, completing the incompletable, it makes me wonder what else is possible. Maybe a President that could complete all of their campaign promises? Maybe a Congress that could balance a budget? Maybe a world without nuclear weapons?

Nah, that won't happen unless it's in a game. But then again anything is possible.

World of Warcraft or Dad: The cause of boy's collapse

I can hear it now. The horrors of video games, the internet, and Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMO). And the fuel of this latest round of the fire comes from Sweden. Thanks to a 15 year old and his obsession with World of Warcraft (WoW).

It seems that the kid, and several of his friends, spent 20 hours straight playing the game. They barely ate or slept, and the kid in question collapsed after the 20 hour mark. When brought to the hospital he was diagnosed with lack of sleep, lack of food and over-concentration - but he will be fine.

The father in question said

"...he now plans to limit his son's computer time and urged other parents to do the same."

Well isn't that jumping into the fire and saying it's hot. Where was he during this 20 hour period when his son was playing? Watching television? Asleep?

The game is not the problem here. Like a weapon, tool, or anything it exists but its what people do with it that makes it potentially dangerous. If this father was paying attention to his kid we would have seen what was going on long before there was a need for the hospital. If he was an involved parent he would have checked in on his kid, maybe watched the game and been involved in the playing. Maybe he would have come in at 10pm and said it was time for bed and made sure his son went to bed. And in the morning looked in on what the kid was doing.

As I said in my post Danger for kids on the internet

"It's not enough to just watch what children are doing on the internet. We all, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents, need to be involved. We all need to explain why some things are wrong, and what the history of these things are. Because if we don't kids will use them, act on them, to their detriment."

The detriment in this case was a child that pushed himself beyond limits his body could stand. That's not the fault of the internet or WoW. It is directly and solely the fault of the father in this case. And blaming anything and anyone else is just trying to deflect the responsibility of the parent on someone else. It's seeking sympathy when none is deserved.

In this case the MMO is no different than a gun in the house. A parent that takes no precaution, that has no involvement in their child, is asking that child to shot themselves. That may sound harsh, but it cannot be more harsh than having to take your unconscious child to the hospital.

Let's not look for scapegoats in this holiday season. There are many things that are inappropriate for children on the internet and in some video games. But the real danger comes from a parent that is uninvolved and uncaring enough to let that child get access to, and abuse, the tool in question.

I remember being told as a child

"Don't run with scissors"

Today it seems that everyone wants to blame the scissors, not the child running. And god forbid someone blame the parent for not telling the kid to not do it.

Age of Conan - MMO review

I hope that everyone has enjoyed the Memorial Day holiday that is provided to us by those servicemen and women that have given up their lives for our freedom and comfort. As for me, this year the holiday was marred by news of the death of a friend, and another very good friend’s parent.

But let me not dwell on that. Let me discuss Age of Conan, the massively multiplayer online game (MMO). This is the latest major MMO to come out and was much anticipated. It’s based on the artwork and original storylines of Conan the Barbarian. I don’t mean the movie starring the Guvernator Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the original source that inspired the movies.

Like the source material the game is for adults, and very dark. When I say adult I mean just that. Bare breasted NPC characters and decapitating foes in battle are just a few of the things that make this game not suitable for kids. So don’t say you weren’t warned if you let your kids into the game.

Now I’m running the game on a modified older computer. With 2.5 RAM, and a Raedon 1600 Pro video card this is not the fastest computer out there. If you have similar configurations expect to drop several of the video options below the low default setting to garner a framerate of 10 -15 on average. And that’s with a cable connection.

But the graphics are very good even at this setting. And you can fight without much difficulty; though in an area with 5 or more characters fighting, expect to have problems.

The sound quality is nice. Though the voice track for quest givers really can’t be heard unless you max your volume, but then the background music will be staggering when you’re done. Other than this glitch the sound is good and not distracting from the game.

But how is the gameplay?

Addicting, like most good MMO’s. Conan starts you off with a simple storyline of a slave surviving a shipwreck and losing most of your memory and skills. The basic movements are straightforward, and reminiscent of all MMO’s. The GUI is similar to WoW and others in that the main skills are on the bottom of your screen. All the HUD boxes are of decent enough size to be seen and used but not obtrusive. There is no side skill bars but that really isn’t important (at least as far as level 25 that I can speak of).

One of the first major differences you will notice is that there are 3 directional buttons between the ability and fighting combo buttons in the skill bar. They are important and vital. Unlike any other MMO fighting is not just mashing button but it’s also about selecting direction of attack. Thus the arrows. And it makes a difference.

When facing an opponent you will be faced with shields surrounding the target. The more shields, the less damage and vise versa. Depending on your foe, and the level they have, as the battle goes on the shields shift – thus necessitating different combo attacks and style. Several targets will have similar styles in this defense, but the early game is pretty easy to lean and obvious. Questing and searching is easy enough, as is gaining new abilities and skills. Feats become available at level 10, and I’ll discuss that later.

The tutorial for the game is essentially the beginning section of the game. In this part you will be alone in the world during the daytime. You will have a NPC companion, but don’t count on her to do anything for you; she’s only there for looks at this point. Still you should have little difficulty getting through this section if you’ve played a MMO before. If you haven’t expect a couple of deaths before you get the hang of it. I doubt if it would take more than 5 unless you try to go Rambo about it.

Once this section is finished you will enter the game world, sort of. You will enter an area (at level 5, possibly 6 if you get lucky) that is the staging area for your character. A small island that you cannot escape (sort of) until you reach about level 20 is you are strictly soloing (which most seem to be doing). There are several fetch quests here, and more than a few kill X number of this guy quests. Leveling goes pretty fast up to about level 15.

One thing that is of note is that quests provide better experience than power killing in my opinion. In fact it’s hard to camp an area, though respawns are even-paced. There just are too many people in the zone to let you really hold a spot. And since the main quest areas are not instanced, be careful running too far into an area that seems extra empty. You may find that the respawns will set you beyond your capabilities quickly. And don’t expect a lot of help from passerbyers, most will leave you to your circumstances (and more than a few I noticed used my impending death to help them capture quest items).

I believe you have an option to skip the main portion of your progression in the staging area, called Tortage Island, but I have yet to take this option. And as I mentioned above this is not the main game, because you will need to pursue the night time option to advance your characters path off the island. And when you get to the end of that path, you will be given the option to go to the final stage. This is an instance, and enemies will not respawn (except in one section). But once you enter this stage there is no retreat. Any unfinished quests are unavailable, as is returning to the daytime zone, so keep that in mind.

Once this path is done you will be transported to the appropriate zone based on your nationality picked in character creation. In each you will find a few easy fetch quests, as well as several that will require you to travel to several zones far away. And at about 20 you can start to collect resources to be used for eventual crafting (which is only available at level 40+).

So what are the problems? Benefits?

There are many minor problems on the game. It’s very easy to flip or delete the directional arrows in the middle of a battle. That can be very problematic. The skill bar has plenty of space for the beginning levels, but could use more space after level 20ish. The trader is inaccessible, in Stygia at least. The bank is nowhere to be found. There are no guides to pint you towards any critical area (like a trainer or bank) though they do usually show up on the map – usually. The gem cutter crafter does not work if you don’t have gems in hand (hold onto the early gems you receive if this interests you). Space in your inventory is highly limited – just one bag – and I have yet to see an extra bag anywhere. All the weaving trainers are broken except for the one in Portia which is buggy.

A bigger problem is the feats tree and armor/weapon upgrades. At level 10 you get a feat tree with several options. Some are general and some are class specific. You may note that there are effects mentioned in feat descriptions, but you can’t find out information on them. There are really incomplete answers on the feats as well.

This works hand in hand with the gear. There is no explanation of what is better a high quality low level item or a higher level low quality item. In fact there is no way to really see the difference in one item or another. Armor for example tells you nothing about its total damage it will absorb. Just that it has X additional benefits. So a high quality low level item, like a blue (high quality) chest plate, may or may not be equal or worse than a white or green (low quality) item 2x it’s level. The weapons are a bit more descriptive since they give damage output, but it’s still not overly clear.

The game manual that came with the game is very light on information. The same can be said of the in-game manual. And the chat box channels are odd to me.

Now with these annoying problems you might think I find the game unappealing. That would be untrue. I have played one character to level 25, 7, 5, and 5. I enjoy several of the areas, except the Purple swamp which is just too dark to be real useful for anything.

Overall it’s a good MMO, but it’s not WoW. But also unlike WoW it’s not overly crowded anywhere.

Is this better than Vanguard, yes. Better than Pirates, absolutely! Does it beat Lord of the Rings, yes. Will you enjoy the game and feel good about the money you spent – so far I have to say yes. Hopefully some of the bugs I mentioned, and a couple of broken quests, will all be fixed soon. The game is less than a month old so may fixes are bound to be on the horizon.

I say it’s worth the time you will invest in it. Now how I feel in 3 months is another question. Especially when Warhammer is be out about then. So we will see.

When the MMO joy ends

For all the fans of MMO’s (Massively Multiplayer Online) out there, some potentially bad news. The same can be said to fans of all things Star Trek. Of course this means that I can only be speaking about Star Trek Online.

It’s been reported that there are going to be massive changes to the up-coming MMO, and the end to the equally in development Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. The creators of Star Trek Online, Perpetual has been sold to new owners and they want a new focus on the game. Those changes include a move to become a more casual gamer friendly format. I would call that a horrible move.

In addition there is the rumor that the subscription based fees will be removed. Now most games that do this tend to instead offer perks to the game that can only be gained by purchasing those perks in real cash. While that has been a huge hit in some games (like Second Life as I recall) it’s not something I like. Then again most Americans I would say are against that format. But in Korea this is a very popular idea.

In my opinion, the game is dead. Any potential that might have been there has been hit by a full force phaser blast. So it’s warp speed onto another MMO. That means Conan. So far expectations are that we can see the game out in 2008.

As for Tabula Raza, which you may recall I reviewed recently, the joy has subsided a bit. My review covered the first 5 levels to the game. The initial feeling of constant action and improvement has lasted beyond level 5. But it seems to be waning fast.

Now at level 15, I have to honestly say that this is not a long term MMO. At least not for me. While I still maintain it’s a nice change from WoW (World of Warcraft) it is not a keeper. The higher level stats and abilities are only slightly different than early levels. Weapon strengths do improve, but not quite as quickly as most opponents. The scenery of post-early stage lands are still well detailed and inviting, but somewhat still the same.

I’m playing the game as a solo character, no guild or groups. That makes most of the instances very difficult. Sadly that’s where the best gear is of course. Still several can be beaten by one character (at substantially higher levels and better gear). But the meat and potatoes of the game still leave me less than enthused.

Bugs are still present, and the latest patch was a while ago (pre-Thanksgiving).

And the difference in ability between my newbie and my level 15 ranger is sparse. The different abilities just don’t seem too relevant. And the logos still make little sense.

Probably the main thing keeping me going is the desire to reach Sniper at level 30.

So if you have a month or 2 to kill, or want to blow off some steam from work, Tabula Raza is ok. Otherwise, look for Conan in March 08.

**this can also be found at Video Gaming Blog where I am a contributing author.**

Laurence Fishburne, Sealand, Disney and Iwao Takamoto - 1.9.2007.2

Here is some recent good news for Mr. Laurence Fishburne. It seems that he is expecting a new child with his wife Gina Torres. Mr. Fishburne is a father already, with 2 other children, so I’m sure he’s well prepared for the task of fatherhood. I wish their child a health birth and great success.

In odd news I think I know what you can do if you win the lottery for XXX millions. If you think it’s too crowded where you live, or disagree with the government you can always just buy your own nation. I’m serious. The principality of Sealand is now on the market according to Prince Michael Bates. It seems the family took over a platform that’s 7 miles off the coast of England and claimed sovereignty. Already the miniscule nation has fended off a hostile takeover and the British Navy. So you get a little history with you nation. And a currency as well as a national anthem.

I wish I had the money. Though the view is a bit parse, and it’s hardly self-sufficient. If it comes with a seat at the U.N. (and thus international aide) I think it’s a steal. I could really have some fun with this. So what would you do if you had your own country? Talk about a dollar and a dream.

In other odd news is the announcement that a sequel to a 43-year-old movie is now going forward. Yes it’s only taken more years than I have been alive. The demand must be intense, the money has been rolling in. Or so you’d assume. In fact is a sequel to It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. This is a genuinely funny movie. It’s filled with an ensemble cast (which is virtually impossible in the current environment of mega-pay for top entertainers) and a decent script. It made me laugh at least. But the plans have been made to continue the story with stars from today. Considering the quality of most sequels and re-makes these days I don’t have high hopes. Since most stars will not forgo their pay to make a movie, lesser stars are probable and I doubt a top notch comedy director is available at a discount (though most comedies these days makes me wonder who is a top-notch comedy director). Lastly the story is a bit dated, without a solid comedy writer I don’t think the idea grabs today’s generation. Essentially all the reasons why Rat Race was such a failure. Let’s hope this try is better.

Another thought that scares me a bit is the fact that Disney seems determined to enter the MMO space. If you aren’t familiar a MMO is a massively multiplayer online game. You may have heard of, or seen commercials for, Everquest and World of Warcraft. These are not a niche game genre, many games boast millions of players. And they get to play together in real-time. So you begin to see the attraction for Disney.

While the current efforts to bring a Pirates of the Caribbean MMO to life may be interesting I’m just afraid of a trend. Disney is know for running amok when it goes in a direction. I base that observation on Disney Europe and 42nd Street in New York City. Some may enjoy the mini-Disney that is now on west 42nd, I tend to feel that all the character has been sucked out of the area. When I’m there I don’t feel like I’m in NYC, I feel more like I’m in some kind of corporate vortex. So news that this corporation plans to try to map out world’s of whatever vision it would like to sell to our kids, terrifies me. My only hope is that they lose enough money to prevent any other mega-corp from following. If not I fear the gaming landscape that will appear.

Lastly, I wish a sad goodbye to Mr. Iwao Takamoto. His name may not be familiar to many but his creations are known world-wide. Mr. Takamoto created one of the most loved dogs ever, Scooby-Doo. Mr Takamoto was an animator, a career he started on due to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. His legacy far outstrips the deplorable conditions that gave rise to it. In multiple decades his animations have brought joy to millions. Whether it’s the humor of Alexandra from Josie and the Pussycats, or Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web (which he directed), to Astro from the Jetsons. The artistic that provide us such wonderful gifts always go too soon. Any time we lose them it’s always too soon.

This is what I think, what do you think?