Star Wars, The Old Republic: The Evolution of Gaming?

We’ve seen Star Wars games by the dozens and MMORPGs by the handful. Even a Star Wars-based MMO is nothing new. The franchise alone doesn’t always sell games, which are inevitably judged on their own merit.

So what makes EA and Bioware think they can profitably challenge industry behemoth World of Warcraft and its competitors? Is the Force with them?

I tested Star Wars: The Old Republic this weekend, possibly the most ambitious game ever made. It was innovative and surprising, and takes the genre in new directions as promised.

Continue reading

I’m a Jedi, like my father before me.

Greetings Lomerell,

Your account has been selected to participate in an upcoming Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Beta Weekend Test. If you have previously tested or are currently participating in an ongoing test, you will be invited again. Additional details for this upcoming test will be announced soon.

As part of this test, we will be partnering with games industry sites to distribute additional beta codes as necessary. This will help ensure we meet our population goals, so we can effectively stress test our servers in preparation for launch. Please do not acquire and redeem one of these codes as it could jeopardize your ability to participate in this test.

As a reminder, should you choose to participate, everything associated with this test (game information, process, forums communication, etc.) is confidential and may not be discussed outside of the Game Testing forum. Additionally, your participation in the Game Testing Program is subject to the Game Testing Agreement.

May the Force be with you,
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Team

What kind of “play” is more work than work?

I had to write a short sample for admission into ecopywriters.com. It turned out so well, I thought I’d share it here.

My hobbies include time-travel, dragon-slaying, zombie target practice, and military command. As a child, such opportunities were afforded by books. But books, for all their greatness, have one major flaw: They are static, unchanging. I can add my own interpretation, but not my own ending. I can make the meaning personal, but I can’t determine the hero’s strategy.

This is why I turn to another art form, yet in its infancy:

They’re called ‘video games’. But I prefer to think of them as interactive books. Continue reading

RIFT: The Next MMO?

I’ve had the pleasure of beta testing RIFT, a new MMO from Trion Worlds.

As a six-year veteran of World of Warcraft, I have hardly encountered another game (of any genre) which comes close to WoW in quality of storyline, world depth, intelligent game design, difficulty calibration.

During WoW’s impressive reign of the genre (and before), I have tried many other MMOs and found them sorely lacking in one or more regards. Among those discarded lie Dark and Light, EVE, City of Heroes/Villains, Perfect World International, Champions Online, and Warhammer. And while I have good things to say about most of them, they simply didn’t capture me in the way WoW did.

I bring a critical eye to the MMO landscape, an eye tempered by years of game-tweaking of my own in tabletop roleplaying, as well as endeavors into player-content-creation opportunities afforded by venues like Spore: Galactic Adventures and Neverwinter Nights.

RIFT was the first game in a long time to bring some new concepts to a saturated market: Ideas like truly mixed classes, and dynamic world-altering events.

So how does RIFT stack up to the giants of the industry? Is it worth playing? Or will it shortly be set aside? Continue reading

The Proper Method of Procrastination

I’m ambitious and competitive. It drives me to be a better writer.

But I’m not always writing. In truth, I write a lot less than I feel I should (though still more than anyone else I know.)

So what do I do when I’m not writing?

Well…something ambitious. And competitive. And difficult and driven. One such example is playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero games at “expert” difficulty. Work up a sweat, pull out all the stops. When you make a critical error, hurl profanity at the screen.

For no other reason than to inflate my own ego, here follows a non-exhaustive list of my Rock Band and Guitar Hero accomplishments. Continue reading

Friends with Imaginations are Better

thank-you-note-002~~~WARCHIEF LOMERELL DAWNBRINGER AND SHIELDMAIDEN MAGUENA~~~

~~~ORGRIMMAR, DUROTAR~~~

The 27th day in June, in the year 2009:

To Warchief Lomerell Dawnbringer, bringer of the dawn of pain!

NUMERON BELLINGER, LORD OF THE UNDEAD and everone else.

To Warchief Lomerell Dawnbringer, bringer of the dawn of pain!

And Shieldmaiden Maguena, fairest and deadliest of ork maidens:

THROM-KA, MIGHTY WARRIORS!

I write this letter of thanks in the blood of your enemies. Your china place-setting was very well-received, as were your well-wishes on my upcoming marriage. I have decided to kill neither you nor your people at any time in the near future!

I greatly anticipate your coming at the time of the next moon. Until then,

LOK-TAR OGAR! VICTORY TO THE HORDE!

–Lord Numeron

thank-you-note-022

~~~LORD NUMERON’S FLYING CITADEL OF  BONE~~~

~~~DELIVER TO THE LORD OF THE SAME~~~

Warchief Lomerell Stormbringer

to Numeron Bellinger, Lord of smelly corpses:

The very least of my shamans detected the glamer you believed so cleverly hidden within your letter of thanks. Did you really think you could show gratitude with one hand while delivering a spell of dominance with the other?

I guess it’s true what they say: You can’t teach an old necromancer new tricks. Your powers are weak, old man, like that fool of swordsman whose name you slander me by uttering.

Still, perhaps you meant no insult and years among the dead have addled your brain. ‘Throm-ka’ indead, since when have YOU led warriors into battle? Living ones, I mean!

Our gift was well-intentioned, but my associates insist that this be the end of our correspondence, declaring you a greater pestilence than the Lich King’s plague and a greater annoyance than the Forsaken. But please do not let these compliments go to your head.

We wish you well on your upcoming matrimony with the foolish damsel — beg pardon, BRILLIANT LADY who has chosen you for a companion. We will join you for your wedding day, but my shamans are preparing their best wards against undeath for the occasion, and you’ll forgive us if we come armed.

In the meanwhile, I say to you — and I understand this is the highest possible compliment among necromancers:

I HOPE YOU ROT!

–Warchief Lomerell Stormbringer