Entries in competition (4)
Casual Yet Competitive Raiding
iTZKooPA on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 8 Comments Tags: Ulduar, a game, casual players, casual raiding, competition, keeping up with a guild, max dps, optimus prime, raiding, raiding ulduar 
The Curious Case of High-End Raiding Guilds
Amatera on Friday, July 3, 2009 - 17 Comments Tags: The Wizard, billy mitchell, blizzard, boss kill, competition, counterstrike, digital athletics, ensidia, espn 2, exodus, fred savage, guilds, hidden warp zone, king of kong, mlg, professional gamers, professional gaming, progression, quake, raiding, steve wiebe, twin galaxies, walter day, world firsts
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Their existence is of no surprise, coming from humanity's need to define a "best." From the minute we are born, we start building hierarchies and classifications, sliding different people, organizations, and things into them like blocks in a pyramid. Quite simply, given anything, there are those individuals that will seek ways to be, make, or facilitate a standard. High-end raiding guilds just represent the capstone of the WoW universe.
I don't think it matters whether or not a particular goal is worthy, merely that it exists to be conquered. But what of it, then? How do we measure the importance of a world first kill? As a long-time gameplayer myself (and I'd pretty much have to be, if I were blogging for Project Lore!), I'm not about to call it a waste of time, but it feels to me as though there's something that needs to be sorted out when your "win" seems to consist of nothing more than learning and executing a set pattern.
If that were truly it, then we'd all be able to do it given enough time. No, you need skill, mental and physical dexterity. A quality rig and decent connection doesn't hurt, either. There's little doubt that your average high-end raider is playing at a completely different level than you are. And as many of these top-tier progression guilds are also home to rock star PvP teams, you certainly can't knock their expertise.
I suppose my concern arrives at the point of content, and what is being "conquered" in WoW. Most of those old Twin Galaxies records are endurance trials. Arcade games have a history of running indefinitely (or at least as long as the programming let them), allowing your average record attemptee to play and rack up points until they run out of steam. On the contrary, a world first in Warcraft amounts to a race to see who can reach a benchmark first. But once it's accomplished, that's it.
As it is, everybody gets to sit on their hands until the next dungeon comes out. So perhaps it is the mere nature of the competition that makes it seem so fruitless on the surface. What can be done to remedy this? I'm not entirely sure, but the measurement likely needs to be changed. Currently, MMO-Champion keeps a log of world firsts called the Hall of Fame, which records only the time, date, and guild associated with an initial kill.
We could go the route of cataloging reams of personal data (things such as DPS, healing effectiveness, and so on), but that almost seems too complex. Personally, I'm a fan of the speed-run, something that's been a stock measurement of finite-end video games for awhile now. You can find loads of them all over Youtube and other video sites, covering everything from Super Mario Bros. to Final Fantasy. It's a convenient mark of efficiency that's even started to creep its way into the World of Warcraft. A few enterprising individuals realized that they could still squeeze some fun out of Naxxramas before the release of 3.1 by completing it as fast as possible. Watching them, I was amazed at how the players handled certain encounters or deftly side-stepped trash mobs in ways that I hadn't conceived of before.
The downside of speed-runs is that they're ultimately susceptible to the same foul play as world firsts, by means of taking advantage of bugs and glitches to achieve faster times, but they do offer a wider range of accomplishments to be had. But whatever measurement might ultimately be employed down the road (and it will have to be as the field of eligible guilds expands), there's still the issue of competitive progression on the WoW playerbase.
Having browsed forums, fansites, and in-game chat, I've seen everything from cheerleading to vitriol. Whether you hate them or love them, there's little doubt that these guilds are community touchstones. Even Project Lore's own iTZKooPA claims to "live through them vicariously." While I lean just a tad towards the critical side, I've caught myself referencing the timing of world firsts as standards by which to judge the difficulty of the content.
Stepping back for a moment, common sense sets in, and I realize that talent is a greater factor in these accomplishments than a lack of complexity, but that sort of mindset is dangerous for content developers. Namely, Blizzard. Perception, especially when combined with the mob mentality of the internet, can quickly and easily trump the reality of things. If the community sees a difficult boss kill achieved within the first few days of a dungeon's release, they're going to start questioning whether or not Blizzard's given them their money's worth, and that seems to be one of the major problems they've run into with providing content in Wrath.
On the other hand, top guilds can be a huge boon for the game's popularity. After all, how pervasive would most professional sports be without the cult of personality? All the pomp and circumstance associated with teams and players does amount to something. As the proletariat of Azeroth, guilds like Ensidia, Exodus, or Premonition give us rare insight into the inner workings of upper-level game mechanics. They might even inspire us to play better or to become something ourselves, just like little Jimmy did in "The Wizard." *cue Stan Bush*
The controversy associated with high-end raiding guilds, however, will not go away, and it may even metastisize as more and more join them at the pinnacle. I'm honestly not sure what to make of Exodus' response to their own banning. Their complaints, citing past game explotation by rivals, may stink of butthurt, but are nonetheless valid. The blatant flag-waving, though, whether or not its tongue-in-check, leaves a real nasty taste in my mouth.
If this is a sign of things to come, I'm not sure I like it, and it's most certainly not something that Blizzard, a company founded on fair play and a commitment to quality, would want to be associated with.
To close out this post, I'd like to emphasize that despite some of my skepticism concerning the phenomena of high-end raiding and competitive progression, a lot of the guys and gals involved are ultimately classy and well-respected players. They've mastered elements of the game I can only hope to one day in the distant future and consistently proven their dedication to a product that many have waned on out of sheer frustration. Their knowledge and input may just make World of Warcraft a more fun and interesting game to play.
But my concern remains. After years of observing (and in some cases, even help running) gaming competitions, I'm all too familiar with the complications and inconsistencies that can arise. Organizations like MLG are doing their best to create a standard set of rules which we can all play by (though I don't believe they currently cover the brand of achievements I've talked about here), and if "professional gamers" are seeking to live up to the first part of that title and gain more mainstream acceptance, it is in their best interest to follow them. "Another lengthy post by Amatera, right? What is this guy thinking?! This is a blog! Posts are supposed to be bite-sized and easily digestible!" Well, I'm sorry for making you all sit through my verbal torture, but I hope you've enjoyed what you read, and I'm especially interested to hear what you all have to say about this topic. It's one that I think rarely gets taken seriously, but has the potential to explode in the future. What do you think of the existence of high-end, competitive raiding guilds, and what kind of effect do they have on the community? Do you believe that their accomplishments have honestly influenced WoW's development over time, or is the whole affair of world firsts completely pointless? Readers, the floor is yours.
Another One Bites The Dust
iTZKooPA on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - 16 Comments Tags: age of conan, closed mmorpg, competition, layoffs, ncsoft, polish, richard garriott, tabula rasa, ultima online, warhammer online 
I am not sure how many of you may have heard of this game, but earlier this week it was announced that Tabula Rasa, a MMORPG set in an original science fiction universe, will be closing early next year. The closure of another AAA MMORPG title is never good for the market, as it scares potential publishers and other investors away from the sector. This is no exception due to the fact that the man behind the title is considered the father of modern MMORPGs, Richard Garriott.
Garriott, creator of Ultima Online, had high hopes for his latest title, which was developed by Destination Games, a company he co-founded with his brother Robert and Starr Long. After negotiating a deal with the big name in Korean MMOGs, NCSoft, to become NCSoft Austin, the company announced its first original project, Tabula Rasa. Tabula Rasa was launched in late October to slightly positive reviews, highlighting its differentiating features such as combat that involved targeting, cloning of characters, and putting players in the middle of a war.
Yet, Garriott's title failed for a myriad of reasons, although I place the blame on its initial lack of end game content upon release. Upon discovering this, players including myself left en masse upon completion of the trial. This was something that alpha/beta testers had been warning the company about.
The fact of the matter is, many MMOs are shoved out the door before they can reach that final level of polish. In my mind, World of Warcraft's initial success was due to the incredibly polished opening levels, as seen in territories like Westfall. Granted, WoW's endgame was incredibly difficult at release, but Blizzard's title had it. Age of Conan's launched product was a buggy mess, while the latest big name MMO, Warhammer Online, has receives hotfixes every few days to address remaining bugs. This is something its subscribers appreciate.
Had AoC and Tabula Rasa been given another six months of development, perhaps they would have held onto their playerbase. I know Tabula Rasa surely would have held onto me. Since launch the developers behind TR have addressed many of the main complaints, adding endgame, more PvP options and a much needed auction house. Sadly, few players ever take a second look at an MMO they left because “it sucked.”
The death of Tabula Rasa in late February will lend more credence to the genre being a very risky market, causing fewer new products, and fewer companies trying to be innovative. Competition is a good thing, and we now have one less title that was trying to be something besides a WoW-clone.
Along with the announcement, NCSoft has laid off an unnumbered amount of workers, retaining the core development team to run the game till end of life. I will be revisiting Tabula Rasa once the free play starts on January 10th. Hopefully the closing events are worth revisiting something that could have been awesome.
My Raiding Days May Be Over - Till Wrath
iTZKooPA on Monday, September 15, 2008 - 20 Comments Tags: PvE, competition, patch 3.0.2, release date, taking a break, war, warhammer, wotlk, wrath, wrath of the lich king 
A few things happened this weekend that have me worried about my PvE excursions for the week. As you can see by our chilly site, Blizzard Entertainment has officially announced Wrath of the Lich King's release date. Wrath is officially set to launch November 13, just shy of two months from now. Why does the launch of the second expansion have me worried?
Simple. With a new expansion coming so soon, many players will go into a coma of sorts. Most will simply cut back on their playtime. Perhaps in a squirrel like effort to store it up for Wrath's inevitable push to level 80. Then there are the players who will no longer see a point in putting the time in, when any activity they pursue will change drastically in a months time. Especially when the change will make all those efforts fruitless. Many guilds will take a break from their normal schedules and perform some house cleaning as they wait for the new content. The launch of patch 3.0.2 – which hit the PTR this weekend as well – will keep many people interested but I doubt my guild will be performing any Karazhan badge runs again.
That is one half of the battle though. So what was the other thing that has me worried about my PvE plans? Well, a little game called Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has gone live. The game isn't actually out until September 18th but Mythic Entertainment and Electronic Arts have a head start program if you pre-order the title. If you ordered the Collector's Edition, one of the bonuses is getting the server to yourself for two days. That started on Sunday morning. Then the people who pre-ordered the normal edition join you for two days before the game launches to everyone.
I know many of my guild mates are interested in WAR, so if they aren't put off by the closeness of Wrath then they may head there to check out the title. Blizzard's recent timing of various announcements - a new round of beta keys, PTR character copying enabled and official release date – are an obvious diversion tactic from WAR as well. Thinking about it further I am not worried about raiding anymore. Now I am just hoping my main's guild still exists two months from now.