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Diablo Online - Work in Progress

Jul 03, 2008

It has been an exciting time lately, especially with all of the recent press releases from the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. Updates on Starcraft 2 have been keeping fans of the series on their toes, as well as fans of the World of Warcraft having plenty to be excited about, especially after the sign-ups for Wrath of the Lich King beta have gone up. But the really big news has been the announcement of the long awaited Diablo III. Players have been asking for this from Blizzard for a long time, myself included, and with the teaser page they put up last week we all had our hopes set high. But Blizzard has confirmed there is another project in development aside from the three that have been surrounding the online-game industry news for the past week. What could this new project be?

Well, although it may be extremely unlikely because of the recent announcement of the next game in the Diablo franchise, imagine this project: Diablo online. I'm not saying take Diablo 2/3 and make it into a MMOG, but create a game set in the same time as the Diablo franchise that follows the storyline.

Three Years - Congratulations MMOsite!

Jun 11, 2008

Interviews.
News Article about the latest games.
The best contests around.
Friendly and helpful staff.
Active forums with great discussions.
The best reviews.
Reliable and fast downloads.
Answers from gamers like you.
Helpful game information.
The best community!

What more could you ask for from a gaming site? Nothing jumps to mind for me, and that's precisely why I have stuck around MMOsite for over two years now. What other site would I use if it wasn't for MMOsite? No other site provides as good article, reviews, interviews, and contests as MMOsite, not to mention the incredible community MMOsite has. I've been insulted a couple times here, but it's part of the territory in an online community, and this is one of the more friendly communities I have been a part of. MMOsite is nearing it's third anniversary now, and it seems so soon. I originally joined to find information on new games since Maplestory and Runescape were getting boring, and since then I have played almost every game on the gamelist. I have been a reviewer for MMOsite, a temporary moderator, and lately a member of the Writer's Club. I can't say I have any complaints about my stay at MMOsite, and I just hope it

Kwari

Jun 09, 2008

Kwari

Kwari was released not too long ago, and it was a game that caught my eye. I have been a fan of shooter games for a long time, and competitive gameplay has always been a plus in any shooter. From games such as Unreal Tournament to Team Fortress, I have been a fan of them all. This is why when I heard of Kwari, I was intrigued. A game that pays players if they're good, and is basically pay to play if you're bad. But I had my doubts about the game, especially after doing an interview with the community manager before it went into beta. After finding out the pricings of ammunition and such, I was skeptical to even try the beginner part of the game. Some people think it was a totally new type of business model for online games, but to

Key Factors for Success

May 24, 2008

Creativity is one of the features that has been lacking in the online-gaming industry for quite a duration now, some would even stretch so far as to say that before Age of Conan, the World of Warcraft was the last innovative MMOG. I probably wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I do feel that game developers are focusing more on the marketing aspects, which in turn leads to lack of an audience to market to. We've seen games come, and games go of all different styles. Some games are a huge success, while others, sometimes extremely similar, go down a path to failure. But why do some games remain hits long after release, while others dissipate shortly afterwards? In this article I will look at several factors that can lead a MMOG to success or failure depending upon how the developer and publisher approach them, and backup my reasoning with examples.

The Features.

I chose this first because in my eyes it's not only one of most important parts of a game, it's one of the most common parts to change.
When I find out about a new game from another source, one of the first things I look at on the website is

Cloining - For Better or For Worse?

May 14, 2008

First off, yes, another article about the same issue. Sorry for the similar articles, but you'll understand why later on. Think of it this way, it's another example of cloning since we all have the same topic. ;)

Clones.

    To start things off, what exactly do I mean when I speak of a clone in the sense of online gaming? I am talking about a game which is so eerily similar to another, you begin to think that the game was a concept stolen from the other online game. Such examples in the online gaming genre would be a very popular one; Maplestory, Ghost Online & Windslayer. People have the sense that Ghost Online and Windslayer, which will be mentioned as GO and WS from here on, are a stolen concept of Maplestory. To me, which one came first is not a concern. Why? I encourage the cloning of online games, because it gives one developer the opportunity to take an already successful concept, and correct the places where the previous game went wrong. Let's begin with MS and GO.



                            What Maplestory Did Right:                                                     What Ghost Online Took:
     - A new visual style as well as online game sty

Don't Dread The Grind!

May 07, 2008

In my several years in the industry a lot of things have changed, from the companies to the games their market and develop, to the consumers to which they aim their products. The audience of online gaming is expanding in both directions, as now older audiences are being targeted with games such as 3Feel, but at the same time younger audiences are being aimed for with titles such as Hello Kitty Online. One thing that has not changed is the eternal hate for that oh-so dreaded 'grind' that people always complain about in online games. The one thing that can demolish a nearly perfect game, one with amazing graphics and fun controls all backed up by a great storyline and friendly community. But why do people dread the grind so much, and why do some people feel other games are 'more grindy' than others? Today, we'll take a look at what exactly a grind is and how it's portrayed in several different games.

Grinding - The repetition of an action in order to achieve a goal.

What exactly does this definition for the grind in online games mean? It means constantly repeating something in order to reach your goal, of which the most common instance is repetitively pressing a button or cli

The Best MMOG.

Mar 11, 2008

I've spent a long time in the online gaming industry, playing games ranging from Warcraft all the way up to the present games such as Requiem. Hours of devotion have gone into several companies for volunteer work, and countless nights spent grinding away at the levels have been used. I've journeyed through hundreds of different online worlds, and interacted with thousands of others who shared my passion for the game. I've played games at 5 fps, just because they looked great and my crappy computer wasn't going to stop me. I've played legit to the top of the ranks, and I've played on some private servers just for fun. I've blogged about games for almost a year now, going on and off of the job and changing sites a handful of times. But throughout all my interactions in the industry, only a few games have really stood out at me. These game are the most revolutionary games that have brought the industry to a new milestone, raising the bar up again for the rest of the industry to follow along with. No, I am not talking about your typical 'revolutionary' games such as the World of Warcraft. I am talking about a handful of games that have exceeded in the industry by a large margin compare

What is the best subscription model?

Mar 01, 2008

What is the best subscription model?

    Ever since World of Warcraft hit the industry, we've seen a lot of new types of subscriptions in the online gaming industry. Some companies have decided to try and compete with World of Warcraft in the 'Pay to Play' model for online games, while others have avoided this model and gone to the more popular 'Free to Play' model. Some have even created a mixture, where users can either play for free or pay for more options, maps, skills, and other advantages. But out of all the models in the gaming industry, which one is the best for gamers?

    A lot of people have been discussing the cost of a game that is supposedly 'Free to Play', since the entire theory behind it is getting money off of a cash shop. Some games avoid having to provide completely unfair items in the cash shop to earn money by placing advertisements in-game and on their website, which brings in another source of income for the company. People say that the 'Free to Play' model, referred to as F2P from here-on, is actually more expensive than games that require you to pay a monthly fee.

    But is this actually true? Are F2P games really more expensive than P2P games? I will take a

World of Warcraft - Bad For The Industry?

Feb 12, 2008

   World of Warcraft - Bad For The MMOG Industry?

    People like to find something and blame it for anything that goes wrong, or that goes badly. If you do bad in school, you blame it on the teacher. If you forget something, you blame your parent's for not reminding you. And lately it seems that MMOG enthusiasts are the exact same way, blaming WoW on failures in the industry including dropped project. Recently the Marvel MMOG project was even shut down because they didn't think it would be successful with the P2P model they originally wanted it to have because of World of Warcraft, saying it dominated the industry and provided little room for other games in that model type. Now everyone is moving on to F2P models, trying to revolutionize those with new innovations. But has the vast success of World of Warcraft actually hurt the industry, or has it actually been a blessing in disguise?

    First off, most people are mis-led by the numbers. Having a friend who compiles MMOG information and analyzes it to see which models are most successful, and which games are most popular, I understand the numbers that are actually being compared. First off, most people gasp in amazement when the

2008 Lineup - A Look Ahead

Jan 26, 2008

2008 - A Look Ahead
Note: This is a follow up to my last blog post entitled "Was '07 really a bad year for MMOGs?" located here.


    I've seen a lot of talk lately on game forums and other gaming blogs about what we have to look forward to in the upcoming year. After my last article giving the rundown of the previous year in the MMOG world, I figured it would be nice to do a follow up and answer some questions about the upcoming year and what it looks like as of now. Ever since World of Warcraft raised the bar in the industry, there has been a lack of creativity from game developers, who have tried to use the World of Warcraft success to their advantage instead of making a truly unique game of their own. The best example to date was this previous year, where instead of creating a new game developers just imported generic MMOGs from overseas, a lot of which were duplicates of other games such as Maplestory or even World of Warcraft. Will 2008 be any better? What do we have to look forward to?
Florensia.
    Florensia is aimed to be released into the CB phase within the first quarter of 2008. The game is a unique game that follows along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbea