An (overdue) update

Yeah, it’s been a while again, and I still make no apologies for my absence this time around. It’s not like a have a bunch of followers here, so I only have myself to be disappointed in for not keeping up with this thing. Hopefully, take 3 will go better.

The last major thing I was writing about on here was the Mortal Online closed beta. Well, it’s been several months since then, and MO has finally gone into the open beta stage. Needless to say, a lot has changed in that period of time. As someone who was around when “Sausage Lake” had its name coined, I’ve seen the game evolve from some sort of medieval FPS, to a nearly fleshed-out MMO. So what’s my verdict on the game thus far, you ask?

Meh, it’s okay.

To be sure, MO is a unique game: its race-mixing feature brings a level of depth that has been lacking in many other MMOs, the realistic day-night cycles bring about a sense of primitive community to the game experience, and the breadth of the crafting system is simply awesome. For an independent game developer, Star Vault has gone the extra mile in trying to realize their Vision.

But at the end of the day, it’s still a “hardcore PvP” game, and it is therefore unsurprising that there is an extreme sense of tedium in the gameplay for solo/casual players. Be prepared to spend you first day or so in Nave simply mining and lumberjacking, and then a whole lot of time thereafter swinging wooden weapons to skill up. You can, of course, join a guild to make the process easier, but I wish I didn’t have to do so in order to get ahead.

Still, I can’t fault MO for that really. People playing the game are gonna join up for the very guild vs. guild combat that is fostered in this environment. The actual PvP handles nicely, and I had fun both dueling during the closed beta and ganking resting toons in the wilderness of the open beta. As a game that’s focused on PvP gameplay, it seems that MO is off to a good start and moving in the right direction.

So despite some bugs and clunkiness to the UI (which is to be expected in a beta), MO has still come a long way in development. The game is stable, beautiful, and should stand the test of time. At the very least, it will outlast Darkfall, though that wouldn’t be that hard to accomplish. Basically, it’s a good game, just not my kind of game.

On PKs and Statloss

It is no secret that the Mortal Online developers were heavily influenced by their time as player-killing murderers in old school Ultima Online. This is evident by the fact that many of the core mechanics in MO are very similar to those found in UO, with statloss for chronic PKers being the most notable and controversial. For those unfamiliar with the concept, statloss was a penalty players incurred on death when they had killed many non-criminal players in a short span of time. When a murderer was slain in this state, he or she would lose a portion of their stats and skills that they had to spend time regaining. The reasoning behind implementing the system was that it purported to curb rampant PKing and griefing and forced murderers out of the battlefield for a period time to recuperate. It’s effectiveness as a game mechanic and its influence on the game population has been a topic of debate since it was introduced in UO, and remains so to this day.

The devs have taken a firm stance regarding this subject, and seem to feel that statloss will add a challenging element to the PK lifestyle that is needed in their game. When it was announced that statloss was going to be in MO a while back, the forums began engaging in many discussions and polls about its inclusion. This thread is one of many lengthy discussions on the subject, and is the only one I attempted to participate in. It’s long, somewhat convoluted, and many posts amount to nothing more than long-winded flaming, but many of the ideas and issues put forth are worth reading.

Sentiments regarding statloss are pretty divided, with both antis and pros having very vocal members in their camps. Those who want it included in the game essentially agree with the devs, citing a need for PKs to have a hard life and to prevent excessive killing of non-PKs. Those against the system say it has no place in a game that is supposed to be a sandbox, as punishments for PKs should come from the playerbase and not directly from the game. In addition, those opposed are concerned for the possibility of statloss simply creating another mechanic to be used to grief players.

Personally, I am reserving judgment until I see how the mechanic works at launch. What concerns me most at this point is the possible abuse of the system due to the way combat works in MO. Since it seems somewhat similar to DFO with regards to the way damage and flagging are connected, it could potentially be real easy to just give people murder counts by jumping into their line of fire when you are low in health. Still, a part of me feels that the challenge created by statloss will indeed serve as potential weeding out process that ensures only those who truly want to live the lifestyle will do so for the long run.

I’m going to go ahead and stop here as I don’t want to get carried away and inadvertently break the NDA. If you read that thread and come across my posts (user: Nonest), understand that my argument at the time was that it was more important to have a lot of content to the game outside of PvP (more sand in the sandbox and tools to use the sand, as it were) so that things such as solo PvP and PvE, which many people are worried would be ruined by statloss, will exist in solid amounts regardless of the inclusion of statloss since the playerbase will be more dispersed doing a myriad of things. My stance on some issues have changed since I posted in that thread, but I will probably expand on that at a later date.

And the wait is over

Well, after about an hour or so of dicking around with the beta files and underclocking my computer, I am finally testing Mortal Online. I am currently bound by the NDA, so I cannot discuss any specifics about the game. However, I will say that while the game certainly has potential, it still requires a lot of work to be done in the coming months. Here’s hoping that the beta goes as smoothly as possible and we see a solid Q4 release. Whenever the NDA is lifted, I will begin posting a journal of my time in beta.

Still Waiting

Well, it seems that the delay is going on much longer than expected with the 2 day mark getting a little bit closer (it’s currently 9pm in Sweden as I type this). I’m in a bit of a love-hate thing with the devs right now. On the one hand, I appreciate their hard work and their willingness to stay in the various chat rooms to talk to the fans. On the other hand, I hate the fact that they will take breaks to post useless little remarks without just giving an honest statement on the ETA. Repeatedly saying that it will be out “soon” and then letting 3 hours pass each time you do is like a gigantic cocktease to all us nerds. Why not just get some balls and say “Look, shit’s happening, we didn’t get it out on time, we’ll update you again in 8 hours?” I mean, people would be pissed for sure, but not any more than they are now. And even if you finish before the 8 hours is up, you’ve given people a time frame so that they can plan around that.

I dunno, in these instances I sort of miss Tasos’ dictator-like posts on the forums whenever there was an issue going on. Sure the information was little and far between, but I never felt compelled to stay up to receive an update. Ah well, it’s my own fault for staying up. I’m just really excited about this damned game.

End nerdrage transmission.

Update, about 30 min. ago: The torrent for the beta client was finally posted to the MO mainpage. The download speeds are just as much of a cocktease as the devs are.

Waiting for Mortal Online

I make no apologies for my absence.
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I am sitting here awaiting the arrival of the Mortal Online beta client. While the developers have experienced a rocky start (the beta has been delayed for over a day now), it is obvious that they have been working non-stop on the project and many of the problems are simply out of their control. Just minutes ago, I finished listening to an interview with Henrik Nystrom, the lead developer/CEO over at StarVault. He sounded absolutely drained, having been awake for three days straight. To have such dedication to a project, in the face of bullshit criticism and a host of unforeseen problems, speaks volumes for the team’s character. Needless to say, I am looking forward to testing the game.

I realize that jumping to the next big sandbox MMO is a pretty significant event. However, I have chosen not to write anything about it because I don’t have much to go on just yet. I could sit here listing the ways it compares to DFO, and why I feel/hope MO will be superior, but that would be a fool’s game for sure. Depending on the status of the NDA, I hope to post my beta experiences here, along with a more concrete opinion of the game.

Time to go get another cup of coffee.

Too little, too late

From the May 15th Darkfall patch notes:

* Zoom added to World Map

‘Bout goddamn time. To their credit though, the people at Aventurine are doing a decent job of listening to user feedback and have corrected several other notable grievances regarding skill ups and magic. However, I am wary of the “adjustments” that were made to knockback. If they made it so that you can’t hit AFKs into the lava, then my account is definitely closed for good. But if my favorite past-time in the game is left intact, I may come back for another tour of Agon in the not-too-distant future.

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P.S.: Sorry for the delay in posting/replying. I was out of town for Memorial Day weekend and just got back.

My Ideal MMO: An Introduction

I had thought about doing a write up about the various philosophies and stances I held regarding MMOs. Instead, I’ve decided to go a slightly different route and actually outline an ideal MMO game from the ground up. I will go through a list of several aspects of MMO games, describing and arguing for elements that I think are necessary, innovative, and fun. This list will include aspects of MMOs such as setting, PvP mechanics, character creation, etc. Using both history and my imagination as a guide, I will then illustrate how these aspects would be implemented within my creation. To be clear, I do not mean that this fictitious game will be “perfect,” but rather would represent an endeavor to discover the various flaws and triumphs within it to improve upon them as to achieve the most fun for players. However, much of what is determined to be “fun” will be purely from my perspective, and therefore this game will inevitably not appeal to all.

Through this series, I can hopefully express my opinions regarding the genre a little bit easier and, if I actually get people to read this, engage in a fun internet experiment with others. Next week, we will begin with what setting I would use for this game’s world.