MMORPG

Lanys T'Vyl and friend plot against the player Still figuring out what Ello is for… slow at work today, new projects are being specced but this close to the end of the year and a department-wide vacation, not much is getting done. We had a release early this morning which went fairly well. I was barely conscious. But since I was up so early, I decided to work a little more on Crushbone’s Revenge. I’ve spent so long on this now that it seems like there was never a time when I wasn’t working on it this year. In reality, I started development on it in October, I think, or early November, so it really hasn’t been that long. ...

By my estimates, we’re about halfway through the foundry contest. So far, interest seems to have been generally falling week to week. Three Week 1 entries hold their grip on the prize spots. Since I changed my scoring method to the one (I hope) the devs will use to judge the contest midway through Week 2, the Week 1 entries might have an unfair advantage in my charts… but, we’ll see. Were the best three quests all just randomly in Week 1? ...

Wow, week 3 already. It’s been a rollercoaster so far, but this week is special. We have missions by two of the foundry’s pro builders – and the unluckiest contest entry of them all. But we’ll get to that one later. First, one of the three quests the overworked cleric who stands near Sergeant Knox gives out this week. The Dragon’s Prize by sc00teR This is the only foundry this week where the quest page is entirely taken up by a disclaimer. I think I was supposed to sign and date it somewhere. Yes, I indemnify the author against any blame for an end reward that I can’t or won’t use. Yes, I will control the mobs I pull and not blame you if I pull too many. Yes, if the sparkly trail leads me over a cliff, I won’t haul you in front of Lord Neverember. ...

It’s hard to figure out just what people are looking for when they choose a foundry. Daily quest completion? Experience? Treasure? And don’t laugh at that, because the latest expansion lets you power up your weapons and certain armor by sacrificing treasure to it. Story? Puzzles? Jumping? Last week, we saw a standard adventure-type foundry come in third place… while the top two spots were held by an adventure/combat hybrid, and a straight-up combat quest. ...

Okay, it’s finally here – the first six featured quests in the Cult of the Dragon foundry contest. The devs say this contest could take MONTHS to finish. We start out with a mixed bag of quests… and there’s gonna be some you want to play. And some you want to avoid. I was going to rate these things with an elaborate point system I came up with, but who cares about that? It’s the players who will decide. ...

Tomorrow, the first batch of Cult of the Dragon foundry quests will go live. I don’t know when mine will show, or if it will show. I kinda think the first few batches will have the advantage of player interest. I’ve been over and over the quest since the supposed deadline back on the 6th, ripping out stuff but more often, adding in new stuff. One disadvantage of coming up with the plot last is that by the time I figure out what the plot is, I’ve put too much work into the quest to make that plot clear to the player. ...

Back to the Foundry once more. Kasul and I had intended to start reviewing the Cult of the Dragon foundry contest entries tonight, but the start date for those has been moved to next week. The new module and the inevitable Foundry issues made it impossible for many authors to get their quests into shape before the deadline of yesterday passed. For instance, using the words “to pass” anywhere in your quest flags it as profane. ...

Was a huge night for Team Spode in #DCUO – the first night we had enough people on to do a couple operations and a raid without any pickup group members. Seeker Oeru (?), the rage tank on the left, joined us after leveling so very fast to join us. The others in the shot below are, continuing from the left, Stingheal, Lord Spode, Kaptain KY, Blighted Redeemer, TealLantern, Stingharm and Clever Clara, who is sporting a teal and white based color scheme as well :) ...

Got this note from Shard@prettycelt, the author of the “Turtle Soup” foundry: Hi there– Thanks for leaving a review and a tip! Based on your comment about lore, I did want to let you know that Eastern lore does, in fact, exist in the Forgotten Realms, including Yakuza. You can see for yourself: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Nine_Golden_Swords http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Xiousing And where there’s Shou Lung/Wa influence and Yakuza, it logically follows that there might be Sumo Wrestlers (but we can just call that artistic license lol). ...

Another Monday, another foundry night in Neverwinter. I know I said, last week, that I wouldn’t be reviewing any more Cult of the Dragon contest entries until the contest goes live on the 19th, but… there are just so many entries. It’s hard to find any new quests that aren’t contest entries. But, we did find one shining example. City of the Lost by mittensofdoom A cleric of Kelemvor has given you directions to the city of Luskan, and a mysterious holy arrow. Once arrived, we will be told more. ...