Well, hopefully, somebodies out there on the great series of tubes called the Internet has found this blog, and will instantly be amazed at all the wonderful posts that will hopefully eventually call this place home.  If you just stumbled upon my blog, feel free to add and check back from time to time, as I hope to write about interesting topics from a unique point of view as a game designer in training.

First things first, name is James Thompson, and in the online world, I tend to go by the names of Gideon or Garrett Skye, although in a few games I've been known to use others as well.  I got my initial start in MMORPG's with the grand-daddy of them all, Ultima Online.  With me and my friends being huge Ultima Fanatics, we all were keen to roam the world of Britannia and create our own stories.  But we were disillusioned quickly by the horrible lag of the early days, and how being in a city for us was practically impossible.  We quit that game very quickly, and longed for something else.

Some time later, I was accepted into a beta test for a game called Asheron's Call, and this game was incredible.  The story line was grand, and constantly updated, keeping the game constantly fresh for us, the gameplay was solid, the world was huge (and seamless, no zones ala Everquest) and the people we played with were amazing.  We ended up starting a small guild amongst our close friends, dubbing ourselves Stone Thunder.  But we were inspired by the developers of the game to create our own stories, and our own world.  Given the nature of the world of Asheron's Call, we were able to craft an elaborate backstory, establishing our characters as a unique race of people from a unqiue world, and had many an incredible roleplaying session with other players, some well aware of what we were doing, and others spontaneously joining in on the act.

We played this game all through our high school years, and into our college years as well.  But as anybody old as I am knows, priorities shift as you get older, and I started doing more and more schoolwork and social affairs than gaming.  So after so many years, Stone Thunder was disbanded with a story that was epic, and friends went their separate ways.

Now, after changing degrees, and trying to find my place, I discovered a local school offering a degree in Digital Entertainment and Game Design.  I quickly enrolled and have been having a blast with it since, even though it's incredible how much blood, sweat, and tears go into a video game.

And so, I've been researching one of my biggest loves in life, roleplaying games, specifically of the MMO variety.  And I"m on the lookout for what makes MMO's so much fun.  What features are the most important things in an MMORPG, and how do these things differ from other players.

So if you've discovered my blog, first off a million points to you.  Secondly, leave me your comments with what YOU love about MMOs.  Any answer is valid except gold farm spammers.  If you like "qfffkekqd" spamming in your newb towns there is seriously something wrong with you. 

DISCUSS!