Liza Shulyayeva

I get to be an awesome Demon Hunter who doesn’t look like a prostitute! – Diablo 3

I started Diablo 3 last night and it is awesome.

For the record, I’m not a Diablo fan. I’ve played 1 and 2 and enjoyed them, but never finished either one (I was little and got scared :( ). I didn’t follow any Diablo 3 news until a day or so right before release.

The Diablo 3 release has been plagued with technical issues and all kinds of complaints, among them:

• Internet connection required even for SP
• Server downtime on top of the above
• The game being pushed out in an incomplete state
• Game breaking armor bugs
• Lack of character customization/skill trees
• Microtransactions
• Graphics and art direction (really?)
• Pretty much anything else that you can think of has been whined about

Many of the above are valid, but I guess because I was never a big Diablo fan I didn’t really build up huge expectations over however long this game was in development for and didn’t feel too inconvenienced when issues came up.

Server problems are to be expected on launch, always. You’re an idiot if you give the game a score of ’0′ on Metacritic based on launch day server woes (in my opinion. I know this is technically debatable). I’ll admit that these things should not happen and would not happen in an ideal world, but come on – you have a huge number of people who preordered a game all logging in at once over the first few days post-launch and expecting everything to be just dandy? Could Blizzard maybe have staggered the release better? Maybe, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter because I expect these things at launch from any online game.

The always-on DRM does bug me. I should not have to be online to play a single player game. In practice, though, I’m used to MMOs where you’re online all the time. It’s not like this is anything different for me experience-wise. I don’t have the time or energy right now to go on a crusade against Blizzard’s DRM measures so pardon me if I’ll just deal and enjoy the game.

Everything else in terms of problems is ‘meh’ for me. I’m not seeing this as a sequel of D2 because I don’t remember anything about D2. The lack of skill tree does not bother me. I entered the game with a totally open mind, having next to no idea of what I would find (except I knew there’d be zombies). Yes, there are problems. Show me a game without any.

So meet Drakonka, my almost-level-11 Demon Hunter:

Drakonka

She is fricking awesome. My one complaint about her is that she’s wearing high heels while trying to stay alive in a zombie-infested Hellhole. She may not be the most practical of ladies in terms of footwear, but at least she doesn’t look like a total prostitute:

Tera -.-'

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Can we just stop being unappreciative jerks please?

This is not going to be a very popular opinion considering my reader demographic, but I’ve grown a little sick of the gaming community as a whole and recent whining about Diablo 3 has triggered…well…this post. Why do so many of us have to be so negative about everything that comes out? Ok, I understand things like being frustrated about server downtime, or installation problems, or major bugs. I completely understand the frustration there.

What really bugs me is not our annoyance about technical problems or things not working as designed, but how much we whine about design or art or other decisions that don’t tarnish our experience in the long run (or wouldn’t if we didn’t get so worked up about them) and things that most of us don’t even understand; things that were put into a game or left out of one for what is likely a good reason that you or I can’t fully appreciate because newsflash: we weren’t there. We take these things so personally, as if Blizzard or [insert whatever developer you're complaining about now here] went out and ruined this game just to spite us somehow. Yeah. I’m sure they all sat around a big fancy table in a big fancy meeting room and brainstormed all the different ways in which they can make the community at large hate this thing that they’re sinking 12 or 14 or whatever-hour days into building. That’s exactly what happened.

Developers make mistakes. I get that. Many mistakes. It just gets tiring to hear people be so negative over and over about every single thing they see. Can’t we just focus on the good parts for once? Why do you even play games? To have something to complain about? We are a bunch of spoiled, ignorant kids whining about anything we can think of – graphics, sound, art direction, story. And it’s not like I’m saying that we shouldn’t voice our opinions or bring these things up (that would make me a hypocrite), but most instances of people “bringing these things up” are very far from constructive, mature criticism and very close to repetitive foot-stomping like the developer is your fricking mother refusing to buy you candy at the supermarket. You know those kids? The really annoying ones that make you swear off of having children for life? Please stop being one. It’s exhausting.

“Whine whine whine, everything sucks. The game is crap. The story is crap. The animations are crap. It’s AAA and they want our souls. THE PIXELS ARE TOO SQUARE.” You don’t like something? Express your opinion in a way that doesn’t make you sound like a spoiled 12-year-old and move on.

I like playing games because they’re fun, not because I’m interested in seeing this thing that someone made for us to enjoy dissected like it’s some sort of challenge to find something, anything, everything that could possibly be wrong with it and then act personally affronted. As if someone putting in some mechanic you don’t like very much is the equivalent of them personally slapping you in the face. STFU and enjoy the damn game. And if you think it’s that horrible, STFU and play something else. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head (one would hope).

(Also I saw this on Reddit and had to share even though it is completely irrelevant to the topic):
</rant>

Update: Anthony was awesome enough to link me to an article on games.on.net in the comments, which I think was published just before this post and also deals with the sense of gamer entitlement. Check it out!

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iiNet TopGeek 2.0, Hippo Creek, & Diablo 3

Not many coding updates lately because of other work. I’m working on the game a little each day and will post when there’s a substantial update to make. Box2D is still driving me a little insane on a regular basis, but I’m getting the hang of it. Meanwhile, a quick overview of the past few days:

iiNet TopGeek 2.0 Final

On Thursday night iiNet hosted its TopGeek 2.0 final and the original finalists were amongst those invited. Some of you will remember that last year I got to the top 10, stopping just before the final round. I’ll be honest – I had next to no participation in this year’s competition in terms of TopGeek Facebook group or other activity, but the final was an awesome opportunity to meet up with many of my fellow contestants from last year, meet the new guys, and see much of the Perth Twitter community in general. And it was awesome!

The winner was none other than Steve Wright. I have to admit I was rooting for Skai (who was one of last year’s finalists), but then Steve gave me his omni-tool and of course I switched sides immediately. Sorry, Skaidris.

While the actual positioning of the competition (ehh..finding the top “geek” in Australia) is a bit meh for me, the entire contest does have a great atmosphere and community spirit. iiNet seems to have learned a lot from last year’s contest because looking on from afar, this one seemed much better organized and “fun” in general. Not that last year’s wasn’t. If it wasn’t for my participation last year I wouldn’t have met all the awesome people that I did. And I certainly wouldn’t have gotten a chance to go to EB Expo with the awesome Jess!

Hippo Creek!

On Sunday night I caught up with Dex, an old friend (has it been 4 years or 5 since we met, Dex? I can’t remember, but by my standards it’s old!). I had to blow him off the week before because I was sick, so this week we decided to go out for dinner to catch up after a long spell of…well…not catching up. We went to Hippo Creek at Hillarys Boat Harbor (I keep thinking there’s meant to be an apostrophe in Hillarys, but when I look online there isn’t one…I feel like I’m misspelling when I write it without). As someone who doesn’t eat meat except for seafood Hippo Creek (which is full of all kinds of meat) was an interesting choice. But they did have two seafood meals on the menu. I ate Marron and have never tasted anything this delicious in Western Australia in my entire life:

Mud Huts. AKA Heaven.

Marron. This was as delicious as it looks.

Dex had a giant meat…thing.

I forgot what this was called.

Guild Wars 2 stress test

Played a bit of the Guild Wars 2 stress test last night (there was no NDA) and made an awesome Necro who had missed an opportunity to join the circus:

Guild Wars 2 human Necromancer

This one hit close to home. One time I actually emailed a travelling circus and enquired about joining. They never got back to me.

Diablo 3

And today, this:

I don't think a description is necessary.

Enough said.

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The zombification of Adam Green

It was my fault that Adam became a zombie.

I see it in slow motion when I close my eyes: his hand reaching out to slam against my chest and push me into the wall as he throws himself between me and the oncoming Infected. I still see the sticky spiderweb of drool and blood stretching between its teeth as it comes at us with gaping mouth and hollow eyes and I still hear the crunch of tooth on flesh as it latches onto Adam’s bare shoulder.

By then my brain had restarted from its stunned stupor. I whipped the pistol from my belt and put a round in the zombie’s head. I never was a very good shot, but this time the risk of a stray bullet didn’t matter – for all intents and purposes Adam was already dead. When the zombie crashed to the ground in a heap of bones and skin I shifted aim to my brother’s head. But the adrenaline dwindled fast. It wasn’t until I noticed the gun shaking in my white-knuckled grip that I really felt the tremors. It took another second to acknowledge the combination of tears and snot dripping from my chin and down my neck as I gasped for air through racking sobs.

Adam stared at me with those big green eyes, his expression shifting from resolve to anguish. To pleading. To confusion. And then those eyes turned hollow as the last traces of recognition bled through the cracks in his mind. And that was that.

I spun, bolted through the doorway, and took the set of stairs in one leap. Something cracked in my ankle on the landing. I didn’t care. Busting out of the windmill and into the open field, sunlight invaded my eyes with technicolor blotches, telling me that I wasn’t welcome here either. I skidded to a stop in front of Star, the yearling filly tied to a wispy tree near the entrance.

“Kat?” I heard Adam’s voice inside the mill, getting closer as I fumbled to untie the reins. Some part of him still remembered. “Kat?” The footsteps now. His voice warped as infection built scars and tumors in his throat.

“Fuck.” The reins were stuck. I cut them loose with my pocket knife, swung onto Star’s back, and leaned forward to grab the sides of the bridle. The panicked filly reared against my heels and launched into a stumbling gallop toward the city. I chanced a glance back just as Adam appeared in the doorway, his movements broken like a stop motion animation brought to life. Only instead of life he was careening the other way.

It was my fault that Adam became a zombie and I still see it in slow motion when I close my eyes.

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Affecting the world and other things smelling up our fridge – by Joseph Hewitt

Liza: This post, aside from this brief introduction, was written by Joseph Hewitt. I met Joseph at Interzone Games, where he tried to do his job as Creative Director while I waved bug lists at him and got on his case about design specs. He is now Creative Director at Jet Set Games, where he works on Highborn and makes all kinds of awesome stuff happen. Joseph also has his own blog: Working as Designed. Oh and he worked on one of the first (if not the first) video games I’ve ever played – Disney’s The Lion King. I fricking loved that game. Also he dumped a stack of George R. R. Martin books on my desk one morning and introduced me to A Song of Ice and Fire. Anyway, on to the important stuff:

Affecting the World and Other Things Smelling Up Our Fridge

The conversation that started this was about MMO games, Fed-Ex quests (where you go get or go deliver something), and how these games would be better if the players had some impact on the world. I rambled and fired off several, mostly incoherent, thoughts on the matter. Now I am attempting to reorganize those thoughts into something more readable that Liza can post. It won’t be all that coherent because I have about an hour to write this. I really need about a week with lots of editing and focusing. This is still going to be bumpy and pretty erratic, so hold on.

The first thing I started with was a tale, and I have to admit I heard this second-hand, that there were many complex systems built into Ultima Online at its launch. An example that I was given talked about the ecology of the world where dragons fed on the deer who ate the bark of the trees. If the players cut down too many trees, the deer starve and their population lessens leaving nothing for the dragons to eat and so they attack the major towns.

The problem is that Ultima Online wasn’t the real world. It was (and actually still is) a game. Thousands of non-ecology friendly players slapped down their money, logged in and wanted to get some skill or other maxed with trees and deer be damned. All the systems blew up almost instantly and they had to turn them off. That was the equivalent of millions of dollars of development time put into something that failed on day one.

It would have been much easier for them to fake it. Just have the monsters attack the towns based on some random roll with some minor input from other systems and then just say the reason they are attacking is -insert fiction here-.

That example doesn’t really address the premise of players affecting the world, but Ultima Online was player driven. There wasn’t a quest system, no experience system, no levelling. It was skill based; you did something and you got better at it. What did people do though in this world without quests? A lot of them went off on their own adventures: exploring the lands, building castles, killing other players and taking their stuff.

I’m getting a little ahead of myself, we’ll get back to players being dicks in a minute. The example I was setting up there was that they spent all that time and money on those systems and they didn’t work. Not even a little bit. What if they couldn’t have turned them off and still had a game, what if they had built their entire game around those failed concepts, and it didn’t work when exposed to the masses? People are afraid to invest millions of dollars into games with that much risk for exactly those reasons.

I don’t mean that letting players have a major impact on the world isn’t a good idea. What I am saying is that it isn’t easy and isn’t going to happen tomorrow. It is going to take small baby steps, one game at a time, to get there and there will have to be a lot of thought put into it.

Each little step is probably much more complex than you are thinking. How about as an example we use letting the players elect some other players as the rulers of areas of the game? The ruler could set taxes, maybe adjust some game setting for their area, give it a name, and declare war on other areas. Sounds pretty cool doesn’t it?

Let’s think about it. First of all you have to make sure that you aren’t spending a lot of time and money on systems that only a few people will ever experience. Sure the ruling guy and maybe his guild could have some fun, but most players would never see all that. Second you have to make sure you idiot and jerk proof the hell out of those systems. People are dicks (told you we’d get back to that) and a whole lot of them will be more than willing to screw over everybody else for their petty fun.

Back when playing Everquest, I gave a lot of thought to a system for players to give positive and negative karma to other players. I even got to playtest it a bit in the large live-action game I was running at the time. Basically, you could give positive karma away one for one, but if you wanted to give somebody negative karma it would cost you double what you were taking away from them. There was more to it (how you earned it, how much you could have at one time, and what it would do in the game), but the point is the only thing that I could come up with in my live-action game that didn’t have everybody being dicks to anybody who wasn’t their friend was to have negative actions cost them more. They were forced to cut their own nose to spite somebody else’s face, to twist a metaphor around until it screams.

People love to bring up Eve Online when talking about players running the world. Eve has a lot in common with Ultima Online; both are skill based systems without any artificial quest and story. They are both player driven.

There are many cool stories we’ve all heard over the years about neat-o things that happen in Eve Online. Excuse me if I get details wrong, the points still stand. One such was the tale of a player starting his own bank that loaned money and paid interest. It was great until he got bored and took all the money.  Another story is about corporate espionage and paid assassination. A group was paid to infiltrate a major corporation by that corporation’s rival. The assassins rose to prominence in the guild, gained the trust of its leaders, and convinced them to fly their very, very, very expensive battle cruiser on a tour of the galaxy and right into an ambush. The group also robbed the corporation blind and stole all of their ships.

These stories sound cool. But they really aren’t for most people playing those games. Most of them never see that kind of action, they are just out there mining asteroids and trying to get money to get a better ship while they skill up. Those things certainly aren’t fun for the people who just lost all their stuff. How many of them do you think used that as a breaking excuse to leave the game? Breaking excuses are a big concern to me.

The thing that really annoys me about those types of Eve Online stories is that the real world breaks them.  You just got all your stuff stolen by another character, what can you do about it? Nothing. You can’t do a thing because the character that stole that stuff from you is gone. He transferred all that stuff to one of his other characters and there is no way for him to be tracked. Oh sure, he is still taunting you in the forums, but his in-game character is gone. There have been ideas revolving around marking things as being ‘stolen’ goods which have some detrimental effects in game or maybe even some way of being tracked, but there is a lot of stuff you have to work out and get right in order for it to work.

Another game I’ll bring up is Shadowbane, though note that this is another second-hand story. It had many problems where designers didn’t think things through.  A good example was unlimited guild size meant that eventually one guild took over the server. Players either joined or were beaten into submission. People started leaving the game. There was also nothing else to conquer so even the winning guild faded away.  If only they had implemented some sort of back pressure system, so that guilds couldn’t sustain such a large size. Maybe have their effectiveness work on an incremental curve where adding new members wound up costing them more upkeep than was worth the smaller amount of power they gained.

The actual point I wanted to mention about Shadowbane was that they had city sieges. The city walls had sally ports and anybody on the defending side could open them…and let the enemy in. No other defenders could stop them, because they were on the same side and you couldn’t attack your allies. Why were people letting the enemy in? They were secondary characters of the people on the other side and/or they were just being dicks. They really need a better system to handle those doors. I was thinking of a system where only the defending players could go through them, but have something on the outside where the attackers could hold the area in front of the door at the same time while not allowing the defender to just step back in and be safe. Maybe just having it be a one-way door would be enough?

Okay it is getting late so let me wrap this up. In all of those examples you have to remember that getting screwed over again and again, losing all your stuff again and again, isn’t fun and those players will leave the game. Then the people doing the screwing have nobody to screw over, they get bored and they too leave your game.

Those are big risks when you are spending millions on your game development. People are afraid that when Little Timmy logs in, he might not have a good time and instead of sitting around providing an income stream to the game, he leaves and goes off to play Defense of the Ancients. Even if Little Timmy stays, he probably won’t be able to affect the world even in a game where players affect the world. He might want to, but maybe all he can manage to do is mine asteroids while other players with more time and money have all the real fun. Think about all the cool ideas you have for a game where players affect the world. Think about all the players much, much, much more powerful and skilled than you in every game you have ever played. Do you think you will be the one doing all the world affecting or will you be mining asteroids? I was in one of those top of the game, first content, envy of the rest, uber guilds (two in fact). The funny thing was, I still felt the same while playing. Instead of a peon in the world, I was a peon in the uber guild because even inside those guilds that ruled the game, there were people who ruled the guild.

Personally, I think maybe the MMO as we are used to seeing it is going to fade into the background for a while and the two things you are going to see rise in popularity are more free-to-play game with micro-transactions (Yes, you hate them but remember that there are players who are willing to buy this or that for cash, and those players are letting you play for free.) and maybe games where player skill is made important (think Planetside 2 and Terra). I have a few ideas in those directions too, but I’ll kept those to myself for now.

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