Green Text on Black

Dynamic World State

Jay — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:37:54 +0000

DISCLAIMER: Let’s leave Muds out of the equation. We know MMOs as a genre are catching up to MUD in tech. DISCLAIMER: DK spoilers Dynamic character state, or RPG, is easier then dynamic world state. Historically, looking at the amount of MMOs with dynamic character progression is par for the course. World events, that actually change the [...]

State of the Industry - Q3 2008

Jay — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Over the past quarter there have been many news stories about studio closings. Flagship Studios, developer of Hellgate:London and the acclaimed Mythos was recently closed over a year long fight. Emsemble Studios, developer of the critically accalimed Age of Empire series, was closed by Microsoft, with a new studio to form. THQ is also closing 5+ [...]

Left 4 Dead is ground breaking!

Jay — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:54:29 +0000

Left 4 Dead is possibly the single best FPS release since Portal. I imagine Valve will win many awards for this game. Playing with 3 other buddies against a horde of zombies, fighting every step of the way gets my adrenaline going. Hats off to you Valve. You’ve consistently delivered games far beyond anyones expectations! BRAVO!

Collector’s Edition is staring me in the face

Jay — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:50:05 +0000

I just got my collector’s edition! Its staring me in the face! I’ll be rolling a Death Knight immediately, level him/her to 70 and dual boxing my way to 80. Fun fun! Can tomorrow come any quicker please!

Visceral Combat - Animation part 1

Jay — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:15:30 +0000

I have a hobby outside of video games. I know! Its strange… I study interactions, body language, dance, practice martial arts (Aikido) and teach dance. I’ve learned to describe what my body is doing and most importantly, be able to describe that motion to a group of people in order to re-create those motions. You [...]

Visceral Combat - Intro

Jay — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:21:31 +0000

Ask yourself about visceral combat design? Which titles come to mind? How about movies? Here is a list of games, movies and books that feature visceral combat. This is from my personal recollection and from titles that I have read, watched or played. God of War (ps2) Dead or Alive 4 (360) F.E.A.R. (PC, 360) Fight Club (movie) R.A. Salvatore [...]

Tank in Order, Heal if destruction, Rant if player

Jay — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:08:25 +0000

I just hit 14 on my swordmaster and 13 on my zealot. Going from tier to tier is a lot of fun except a few minor issues. First, where are my flight paths? Seriously, there’s like 1 per region, what’s that shit about? What it does is penalize me the player for wanting to experience new [...]

Importance of consent in World Events

Jay — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:11:21 +0000

With the Hallow’s Eve event in World of Warcraft, players abound are becoming infected, turining into zombies and in general having a hoot! Or are they? There is a facination social phenomenon occurring. Many players ask for a way to “change” the world. The zombie event provides an opportunity to do just that. Why then would [...]

Why I’m not playing Disc until 80.

Jay — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:59:16 +0000

I’m not playing discipline again until 80. I’ve had it! Gone are the days for me where I will happily sit behing the front line of various DPS and keep people alive ( healing ) or try to get everyones attention so my buddies can do their stuff ( priest tanking ). Each of these [...]

Disc Priest 3.02 Build - First impressions

Jay — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:35:39 +0000

There’s a lot of subtle differences when it comes to the new discipline. You’ll spend the majority of your time at 35% mana. Its wierd but it happens. You MUST live through the opening burst. If you can survive for 5-7 seconds you’ll live through the encounter. Mana burn is much more important. Shield + Aegis + Many damage [...]