Lord British, whose real name is Richard Garriott, was the one who started it all in 1997 with Ultima Online. Although World of Warcraft and Everquest left UO in the cyber-dust long ago, Garriot is planning his comeback.

Garriott recently signed on with NCSoft, developers of  Lineage and City of Heroes.  He is currently working on a new MMO title, which he calls Tabula Rasa.

Garriott launched UO as the Internet began to explode, and no-one was more surprised that he when it started a phenomenon. Recalling the early days of MMO gaming, he compares it to "the Wild West," with little in the way of policing. In addition to graphics problems and frequent crashes, online player "homicide" was commonplace.

UO was apparently the origins of a practice known as "gold farming," in which gamers who obtain large amounts of "virtual" in-game currency attempt to sell it for legal currency - something of which Garriott and NCSoft disapprove.

Garriott believes that too many MMO's have fallen into a rut in which players simply kill monsters to obtain gold in sword-and- sorcery fantasy worlds. He is planning to integrate voice-chat into Tabula Rasa, which he believes will increase both the pace and the excitement.

Check out his audio interview here.

"Concentrated Coolness" is the an important part of Blizzard's game design philosophy as said by Rob Pardo in the Austin Game Conference. He continued by saying to not try to do everything at once and start small, start "cool" - address problems as the pop up, determine what gamers like, and build from there in logical steps. That way, unwieldy situations like having to fix major problems in a wide range of big areas can be avoided, reducing player frustration. Go for Depth first, then Accessibility - but don't forget that both are required.

As an example, he spoke of a dev team who  kept a dungeon classified - then had to redo it because they had forgotten about the accessibility when designing the depth. Passages in the high level dungeon were too small for the large raid that would have to pass and fight through them. The Scarlet Monastery content, on the other hand, is an example that clearly illustrates Pardo's "donut" metaphor. Hard-core gamers could blitz every wing in one session, while casual gamers can just to a single wing.

What connects Depth and Accessibility is Pacing, says Pardo. In WoW, Blizzard provides a well-paced leveling curve and re-playability.  "In WoW you can Solo to Sixty if that’s what you want to. Then most of our players play another to sixty and then another."

Finally, Pardo emphasized that Blizzard will "release no game before its time."

"What we found in every review of WoW was the word polish. How well polished the game is. That polish has to permeate every aspect of a game. You may not notice the one polished aspect of the game, but you sure notice it when 1,000 polished aspects come together," Pardo said. Like the dating game or a Broadway opening, you get one shot to impress your audience. "You publishers out there. Listen up. You don’t get a second chance."

While Blizzard's philosophy seems like a brilliant business plan, it is - like most great ideas - based on simple, common sense principles.  Decide what it is you're doing, determine your market, create a philosophy - then start small and build from there.

As a Chinese philosopher said over two millenia years ago, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Author note: This is an imaginary interview; I have never actually met Rich Vogel, and have no idea if he really speaks this way.  That said, the following information is true and correct at the time of publication, and hopefully, you'll find this a heck of a lot more entertaining.

KJ: Hey, Rich, que pasa?

RICH VOGEL: How's it hangin' dude?

KJ: How's the Austin Gaming Conference?

RICH VOGEL: Totally awesome.

KJ: You help run the fort at BioWare, there in the Alamo City. So, a lot of the folks who read our MMORPG Blog wanna know - what is BETA testing really like from your end? After all, you run the things.

RICH VOGEL: Wow - like dude, it's intense. It's like, great for the players, ya know, 'cause they can do pretty much whatever they want, it doesn't cost anything - and we really want 'em to catch bugs.

KJ: How is it different from "live" play?
RICH VOGEL:  Well, back in the day, the hard-core gamers were like, really into playing the game, y'know? They really wanted to help us work out the bugs. Nowdays, it's all about gettin' one-up on everyone else - figuring things out about the game so they can really kick everyone else's ass when it goes live.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Raising your own dragon in Lineage II  can be both rewarding and challenging. On the upside, they're great hunting partners and can take damage for you (while being better able to absorb it). When your hatchling reaches Level 55, they can become Striders, and thus rideable.  It's no bad thing to have quick, agile transportation, especially if a PvP encounter is not going your way. Finally, if you have entrepreneurial inclinations, you can always breed a number of them open your own Dragon Lot!

The bad news: Dragons are not cheap to keep. Although some are less expensive than others (Stars require the highest level of maintenance, followed by Winds and Twilights),  Dragon chow is expensive no matter how you look at it. Even if you keep food in its inventory let will auto feed itself, it'll cost you 50%. Gear is also expensive - expect to drop about five million for suitable armor and weaponry. Finally, dragon stats are not as impressive as you might think. They look mean and nasty, but when it comes to actual attack and magic power, their bark is worse than their bite.

Here's a summary of the various Dragons available to players:

Star Hatchling/Star Strider

• Classification: Mage

• C4 Special Skills: Bright Burst (hits mob with an aura flare) and Bright Heal.

• Comment: Nice additional damage dealer for tank classes.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Today, gaming publisher Icarus Studios and online voice communications specialist Vivox technology that delivers high quality and real-time in-game voice communication">Vivox announced that they are teaming up to provide on-demand, in-game voice communication for the upcoming MMORPG, Fallen Earth. Vivox technology that delivers high quality and real-time in-game voice communication">Vivox will provide Icarus with game-embedded voice custom communication services to be integrated into the game experience. Players will have the ability to talk to other players and create private audio conference channels and join or leave channels at will. Best of all, since the voice communication will be hosted by Vivox, there should be little, if any, impact on game performance.

The MMO is set in a near future post-apocalyptic world struggling to emerge from the collapse of civilization, brought on by perpetual warfare, pandemics, and environmental disaster.

"We pride ourselves on our cutting edge, internally developed technology, but when it comes to offering real-time voice communications to our players, we turned to Vivox for their ability to deliver superior server side VoIP technology and easy expansion for external and cross-game IP voice chat," said Icarus Studios CEO Jim Hettinger. "The Vivox Network managed service offering allows us to get up and running quickly. In addition, they have been great partners in the development effort to bring our vision for in-game communications in Fallen Earth to life."

Vivox CEO Rob Seaver added, "Industry veterans and visionaries such as the Icarus team continue to raise the bar for richer gaming experiences in an exhilarating MMOG market...including real-time voice in Fallen Earth demonstrates their commitment to innovation and to the immersive player experience".

Fallen Earth is all about a nightmare world where the last human survivors struggle to survive on a planet nearing ecological collapse. Icarus Studios plans to offer a preview of game demonstrating the embedded voice solution at the Vivox booth number 314 at the Austin Games Conference, September 6-8 in Austin, Texas.

It's an old question for those who have reached the top of their game, whether it's World of Warcraft or tennis or something else altogether: "Where do you go from up?"

In WoW, those of you who reach the sixtieth level actually have several options during the endgame. PvP and raids are the usual places to start.  For the uninitiated, "PvP" refers to "Player vs. Player" - individual duels between yourself and another player or a "non-player character" (NPC). These contests, governed by an elaborate set of special rules, are not for everyone and definitely not for the novice. Beginners will consistently get their arses kicked and are likely to get frustrated.

As far as "raiding" goes, this is pretty much what you think it is: a chance to invade an area or a territory and take on some monster. Again, this is usually for advanced players. However, raids are not generally conducted by individuals (with good reason). It's a nice opportunity to play in a "team" setting, and acquire loot - which, by the time you get to level 60, is really what it's all about.

Since your character has probably acquired and honed all the skills available to him or her, the endgame in WoW focuses on acquiring the loot that will increase their ability. "Epic" armor and "epic" weapons will enable you to defeat a wide range of enemies, whether PC or NPC. It's true that some NPCs are well-nigh invincible, but if you've acquired enough "loot"  consisting of high-end gear, you'll have a sporting chance - and after all, doesn't  part of the thrill of the game lie in the possibility of defeat? While society in general is fixated on "winning," it's a good bet that if you were invincible, even World of Warcraft would get pretty dull in short order.

And the winner is...War Machine!!

War Machine has been announced as the winner of the Guild Wars Factions World Championship beating out five other competitors. All-in-all, it was a rippingly good row, with many surprises. With new builds and strategies, we can expect to see some interesting contests next season.

Teams usually had a two-Monk backline, using a combination of Divine Boon Protection Monks and Blessed Light Monks. This combination provided mobility, defense and healing power. For the most part, the guilds in the competition used balanced builds, although Idiot Savants tried a novel attack using a Triple Smiting Monk build, while the Esoteric Warriors attempted to trip up the Treacherous Empire with a Feast of Corruption spike build in the third round. Most of the Guilds added Debilitating Shot to their Rangers' arsenals, which are capable of catching casters with their pants down.

Idiot Savants made a nice show using Traps. These caused area damage as well as blinding and crippling Warriors. War Machine gave as good as it got, adding a Barbed Trap to their Ranger's Skill Bar.

Audaces fortuna iuvat ("fortune favors the bold"), as the Romans used to say. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the success enjoyed by those daring Guilds willing to innovate. Inspired Enchantment  served to manage Energy and remove Enchantments - as well as turn a foe's weapons against him. When it came to high-pressure builds with Disease, most guilds used "Tainted Flesh" to remain immune. A Mesmer from War Machine inspired Tainted Flesh from one of the opposing guilds and was able to use it in defense for 55 times.

Other surprises included the use of the Meteor Shower, Recall, and the "Life-Bonding Ganking Duo" - an innovation in which War Machine deployed an Assassin and Illusion Mesmer to sneak into an opposing camp. Each character maintained Life Bond on the other, allowing them to get past sentinels  without dying. It didn't come off perfectly, but provided some resiliency and NPC-killing power.

Despite the many innovative and unexpected surprises that turned up in this tournament, the key to victory is to know one's enemy - and the ability to adapt quickly and anticipate a foe's next move. Be willing to change when necessary, think, decide and do - and your Guild too could walk off with a Tournament victory.

What, armswomen with 4000 RPS don't make the "Top 25 Armsmen" List?!? What kind of sexist #$&@*# is this?!?

It's an oversight, according to Sanya Thomas of EA-Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot. The request was sent in a month ago, but the Herald techs had been busy migrating to the new server. The fix is in, however. According to Sanya: "If you or someone you love is not on the Herald in their true and proper form, wait 24 hours – and if things still aren’t right, send a feedback form, category 'Herald Issues.' Thanks for your patience with all this. I’m told the worst is over."

Other items of interest:

- The answer to the question of whether or not the Labyrinth will be instanced is currently classified information. However, if you're going to Las Vegas later this month, we're told you'll be able to play the next expansion at the LAN.

- Those of you chompin' at the bit for the Labyrinth of The Minotaur can pre-order at the Dark Age of Camelot website. Pre-order today (or soon) and you'll be gifted with a "Clockwork Cat" - whatever that is.  (Incidentally, I'm a bit confused - the Arthurian Age was at least 2000 years after the Golden Age of Minos. What's up with the Minotaur?)

- Those of you who thought v 1.85 didn't contain enough "class fixes" will be disappointed to learn that what you got is all you'll get, for now. Apparently, the class balance designer wound up going to a different project, so rather than do things badly, it was decided to postpone major changes until they could be done correctly.

- The Artifact Database is now on-line (whoa!)

Regarding rumors of upcoming crafting changes at the Leipzig Game Convention, Sanya wanted to be very clear as to exactly what was said and what could be expected:

- An interface artist was hired to help design a better crafting interface

- Crafting timers are being changed so no recipe takes more than one minute to do

- The skill increase rate will be adjusted so that it will take roughly 40% fewer items in order to reach LGM status

- Characters will be allowed to get more than one tradeskill, without facing a cap on their secondary trade

- Any class will be allowed engage in any trade

- Crafter titles will be added to title

- New tradeskill quests, downtime reducing devices, and more are in the works

Sanya has this message for all who have been frustrated: "This has been a very strange, unusual, and I dearly hope unrepeatable summer. A lot of things happened all at once, things that won’t ever happen again. I mean, we can only be bought by EA once, right? And now that EA has bought us (and is busily recruiting programmers) we’ll be big enough that we can better absorb staff changes and the unexpected."

 

CuppaJo, coordinator for City of Heroes/Villains is leaving after two years. The following statement was issued:

"To say thank you to everyone who has made my last two years in City of Heroes and Villains so great we are throwing a huge party on the Test Server, September 1st [2006] from 12pm to 12 am Central time!"

W00T Radio will feature a live broadcast during the day, and DJ Jester and CuppaJo will be on air. It is recommended that those planning to participate download and install the Test Server ahead of time, and use the "Copy Character Tool" for each character they want to bring along.

Some of the events planned include a coffee chat in Pocket D, a Java Rumble where you can take on CuppaJo himself, a Victory Dance for Lord Recluse (who is NOT sorry to see CuppaJo's departure), a Coffee-Themed Cloning Contest, a Party of Doom Costume Party and an ongoing CuppaCode deciphering contest.

In case you missed it, here's CuppaJo's farewell address:

"It is my sad duty to inform everyone that August will be my last month with City of Heroes and City of Villains.

"I am taking over community management of Tabula Rasa full-time as of Sept. 1st. Cricket will be your primary community person when Sept. 1 rolls around and I will no longer accept PMs as of that date.

"I just wanted to take a second and thank everyone for all their support and kind words over the last two years. Even in the darkest hours I could always count on there being a few bright posts, emails or PMs in my inbox. These kept me going more than coffee ever could and they always brought a smile to my face.

"I also want to thank everyone who has ever created well thought out, constructive post/PM. I know bugs or other game issues can be frustrating at times, but a community person's best friend is the player who takes that little extra step to research and document their issue while keeping it about the issue, and not about Statesman's momma.

"Special thank you's to all the staff both here at NCsoft and at Cryptic for all your hard work, for answering questions and for listening to community concerns. Staff may not always agree - but they always listen.

"Finally, thanks to you - the community. This has been a great community to work for and be a part of for the last two years and it's very hard leaving such a wonderful group of people. You are so intelligent, passionate, creative, funny and charming that it amazes me every day. And despite how it may appear on the surface sometimes - you all care for each other deeply and are always ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate. You are true heroes and there is no Paragon City without you. It has been my honor to serve you."

Okay, all you Vampires, Oil Company Executives, Congressmen and other drinkers of blood, listen up: Dungeons and Dragons Online's much awaited Litany of The Dead Part One is now live. Here's a little tavern song to give you a little hint of the horrors that now await you in the (mwah-ha-haHAHAHAHA!) Necropolis:

"They lie here at eternal rest
The dead of ages past
And when his power reaches out
They will serve at his behest.

"Four tombs comprise a wicked heart
A scholar sits in solitude
A thrice-cursed text and magic-hexed
The bloody prophet crafts his art.

"He'll hold the living in his hands
Like worms pulled from the soil
The Dead Time comes for one and all
The Abbot's mark will scar the land."

At the center of all this macabre business is a former alchemist, now known as the Black Prophet, who goes by the name of Brother Coure. "Coure" denotes "heart" in at least two Romance languages, and it's appropriate: he runs a number of tombs with delightful monikers like  The Crimson Heart, The Sanguine Heart, The Burning Heart, The Immortal Heart...and oh, yes...The Bloody Crypt.

In any event, The Silver Flame and the Emerald Claw are going to have to set aside their differences if they plan to pull off a Van Helsing manoeuvre.  As things stand, the vampires who have been locked away by Brother Cuore and charged with the task of creating a "Litany of The Dead" have completed the first chapter. The Black Prophet now roams the night once more...(insert more diabolical laughter here)...are you up to challenging him?