Kwill
Something that we can never forget, is that when we play an MMO, we play with real people. Most of the time, our relationships with our fellow players are superficial. Sometimes, real friendships form, and outlast the dragon slaying. But it’s those chance encounters, those brief moments when the paths of human beings cross for just a few moments, that brings into focus the reality of human relationships in a world where we choose just how much we want to reveal about ourselves.
Kwill’s Quill
One of the problems that the developers have been working on lately is to make sure that non-participants or “slackers” don’t get rewarded in Public Quests. In the original version of the Public Quests, which started out with an arbitrary threshold of acceptable spell casting or DPS, too many AFK players were getting chest drops, at least in the eyes of other players, who expressed their concerns to developers. For Dev Gninja, this was an unacceptable situation that needed to be rectified. He was mad about it. So back to the drawing board he went, increasing the threshold yet...
SOE has sent out another mass email advertising Fortune League, their EQ2-themed Facebook game. I was curious enough to go look. They entice players to play by offering Alternate Advancement scrolls and other in-game goodies. Sounds great to me, until you click on the “Play Now” button. Up pops a screen asking you to share with SOE and other players all your basic information on Facebook — friends, personal information, and all your contacts. Whoa, hold on a sec guys. I personally appreciate an MMO where all that stuff is revealed on a purely voluntary and individual basis, like, oh,...
The player base has started a very interesting discussion thread on how long the Public Quests will remain popular. Currently, everyone is scrambling to get gear — raiders, non-raiders, casual players. The PQs are packed, players are complaining no one wants to group or do anything else, and for most people who are participating, they are getting most of their gear slots filled with the best upgrades. Being nearby a successful raid seems all that is necessary. But how long will the gearfest last? Once everyone gets what they need, why would they continue to join the PQs? The...
In an amusing use of a Station Cash illusion item, clever player Meha turned himself into a treasure chest and planted himself where the normal chest would drop in a public quest raid. Apparently, the actual chest hadn’t dropped, so they took matters into their own hands to lighten the mood. Needless to say, player Rabbie from Butcherblock and his guild The Black Knights were laughing at the ensuing chaos: Everyone ran to him, clicked on him, there was shouting, snickering, and cursing indeed. Then about 5 minutes later, someone else did it, off to the side. And half the zone...