tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63144699512345311292024-03-08T07:08:40.931-05:00The Incidental AnalystA Repository of Commentary, Examination and Meanderings About Fun ThingsBlack Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-58180828114017214842018-05-16T13:07:00.000-04:002018-05-19T20:01:05.353-04:00In Which I Talk BabymetalI am about to say a lot about Babymetal, and about their concert I attended last night.<br>
<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2018/05/in-which-i-talk-babymetal.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-62170639413565180162014-05-10T10:35:00.003-04:002014-05-10T10:35:58.206-04:00Hacking Affiliatons in Cortex Plus HeroicIn which I discuss/think through the difficulties of hacking one specific part of Cortex Plus.<div>
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The Cortex Plus system is generally very hackable. The core concept of the game lies in building a dice pool by selecting appropriate items from various available traits, and the specific traits selected help define not just the action being taken but how it is being taken and, depending on the specific C+ system, why. The process of hacking the game for a specific genre or story involves switching out the available traits, or modifying them in a way to better fit your vision.</div>
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I don't think it is of particular value for me to go heavily into the details of that process in this post. Instead, I am going to focus on one handling a "core" trait in a game, as this is what is coming up recently.</div>
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One of the most important things for a Cortex Plus game to function is to have two traits that are <i>guaranteed </i>to be used for every roll. Since every roll consists of adding the two dice together for the result, you need to have at least two dice in your dice pool for that to work. Each version of the system uses something different here:</div>
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<li>In the Action version of the game, they fall back on a more traditional system of character attributes and vague skill sets. For each action, you determine what statistic makes the most sense and what skill set applies best.<br /></li>
<li>In the Drama version, they used Values and Relationships, deviating from a more grounded approach to action for the sake of defining why one is performing it instead of how. You select the Value that drives your character in performing the action and who you're performing it for (or against, in some case). As these have die values as well, this still fits easily into the paradigm.<br /></li>
<li>In the more recent Firefly version, the Action concept is modified to be more clear and more hand-wavey at the same time. Instead of a specific list of statistics, you determine whether the action is Physical, Mental, or Social, and then select the available list of skills. Firefly also borrows the Distinctions from Drama, though they feel more standardized, and these also come into play almost uniformly.</li>
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Of course, I'm not worrying about Drama, Action , or Firefly. I'm playing Heroic, and it has its own quirks. The two traits that are always used are Affiliations and Distinctions. </div>
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Distinctions are slightly different than in Drama and Firefly, in that they are a descriptive phrase about the character, much like an Aspect in Fate. Also available for the Distinction die are Scene or even Event Distinctions, which are descriptive phrases about the location/scene (Cramped Hallway, Tensions Running High), or for the entire story (Red Skies, Fear of the Superpowered). These can be accessed in place of or in addition to character Distinctions, making this trait generally reliable for a die in the pool.</div>
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Affiliations are guaranteed. They are Solo, Buddy, and Team, and are basically good for determining what situation your character shines in and where they are weaker. The purpose of this is a constant die, but with the easy ability for the GM to change it to something you're weaker at. If you have a high die in Team, your GM can occasionally drop you into a Solo situation where you're not as strong.</div>
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The reason I am pondering this now is that I'm going to be playing a Heroic game soon, but we only have two PCs. Logically, based on what we know of the game, we would both take Buddy d10, Solo d8, Team d6. The only way for the GM to force us into a Team situation is to add more NPCs on our side. In some cases this could work, but the way we play games leads me to think we'll generally be using Buddy all the time, with rare moments of Solo, and Team will almost never be used.</div>
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With this in mind, I've been looking for alternatives to Affiliations for the game. With how easy it is to switch things around, you'd think it would be easy to figure out something. If anything, you can plug in items from other versions of the game. As I'm discovering, it's not that easy.</div>
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In <a href="http://rdonoghue.blogspot.com/2012/03/dont-take-affiliation-even-though-its.html" target="_blank">this excellent article</a>, Rob Donoghue talks about removing Affiliations. One thing he mentions in the article that I have been using to guide my thinking is that this trait should be something that helps define the game itself. The Affiliations as listed in Heroic speak to how comic books work, with heroes constantly switching between Solo, Buddy, and Team situations. But what to replace that with?</div>
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I know that you might say "well, what's the game about? Maybe that can help guide you?" Well, yes and no. And this is where I get to the actual point of this article: why replacing this is hard.</div>
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Dropping in Values is easy enough, but it's incredibly abstract, and not all players are as keen to work with a stat that doesn't reflect a tangible concept. Standard stats are okay, but suffer from a less severe version of the issue with Physical/Mental/Social stats from Firefly, or the Steel/Guile/Lore stats from the <a href="http://exploring-infinity.com/2012/03/14/sword-sorcery-heroic-roleplaying-part-1-of-3/" target="_blank">Sword & Sorcery hack</a>. That issue is that if a situation arises and the player can control what he will use to act in that situation, they will always try to choose what they're strongest at. If you're best with a hammer, everything becomes a nail. That should be avoided.</div>
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Some people have suggested ignoring this entirely and just using a static die, either just a d10 or starting at d6 and raising it as a representation of character experience. I'm not sold on that, though. I like the idea of choices to make describing the action feel more dynamic.</div>
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So what needs to fill the hole that Affiliations leaves should is something that either a) allows the player to choose something different each time, and somehow encourages this, or b) that the character and thus to a degree the player has no control over the selection of. The first is how Values tries to work, though I think it might end up in the same boat as the other player-controlled options, while the second is essentially what the current Affiliations option does.</div>
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I admit, I haven't come up with a particularly good option here. Thus far, all I have come up with is a very simplistic concept of Action, Reaction, and Preparation. The idea here is that all three will likely come up, and the player would inherently be switching between Action and Reaction in a combat situation. It ensures that you'll regularly be rolling different dice. But it's very simplistic, and I'm unsatisfied with it. I do like how the assignment of dice to them defines something about the character, though. In some ways, that definition works similarly to how a <a href="http://pksullivan.com/2012/03/mass-effect-hack-for-mhr/" target="_blank">Mass Effect hack</a> tried to handle this, by using Paragon/Renegade as the traits.</div>
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This post was not about me finding an answer, obviously, but more a basis of discussion about the process and the difficulties involved. I hope it was at least interesting to you.</div>
Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-53912244030452078612012-08-23T18:03:00.000-04:002012-08-23T18:03:00.023-04:00Guild Wars 2 - I'm Here, Now What?So you've decided to jump into Guild Wars 2. You could be brand spanking new to MMOs or coming to this game with experience from other games. Either way, Guild Wars 2 is not quite like other MMOs, and so I'm giving you this insight into what's going on, in the form of answers to some questions you might be having.<br>
<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/08/guild-wars-2-im-here-now-what.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-41863924125408188572012-05-10T19:43:00.000-04:002012-05-10T19:43:04.910-04:00Guild Wars 2 - Guilds<div>
There are two things that really keep me interested in a game beyond the core story and fighty stuff. Certainly, these are important in their own right, but there needs to be more to really maintain my interest. </div>
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One is crafting systems. I can spend hours crafting and not doing anything else, if the system really allows it. Aion was best for this to date, letting me craft and level while not actually having to go out and obtain materials. I'll get into the crafting system for Guild Wars 2 at a later time, bit it is interesting, and I enjoy it.</div>
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Second, and in the end most important, is guilds. Not that the system the game uses for guilds is a vital part of the experience (though having an interesting one makes being in a guild more fun), but really the fact that I'm in one with my friends. Of course, different games have different systems for how guilds work. Since I'm very interested in Guild Wars 2, and am planning on dragging many of my friends and guildmates into it, I figured I'd investigate how the guild system works.</div>
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</div><a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/05/guild-wars-2-guilds.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-69050965820628285792012-05-03T19:29:00.002-04:002012-05-03T19:29:34.365-04:00An Argument For Small Skill BarsI was listening to the wonderful daily that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodenPotatoes" target="_blank">WoodenPotatoes</a> does for Guild Wars 2, because I love listening to his views and encyclopedic knowledge of Tyrian lore. One of his viewers mentioned in this daily that the number of skills available was small and might become boring to use after a while. I will admit I had considered this in my early exposure to the game, but I've had some time to think about that, and I now disagree with the idea.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/05/argument-for-small-skill-bars.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-4405745743170936532012-05-02T21:37:00.001-04:002012-05-02T21:37:20.012-04:00Guild Wars 2 - OdditiesI know I said I was going to talk about Utility Skills next, but I haven't gotten around to it, and I'm the one in control here. Heh.<div>
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I was in the recent Guild Wars 2 Beta weekend, which gave me some more insight into the game, and also revealed some things I wasn't entirely aware of. Some was very easy for me to grasp because of my time in the original Guild Wars, others less so. I'm going to briefly talk about some of those today.</div>
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</div><a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/05/guild-wars-2-oddities.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-17856424740957598972012-04-09T18:18:00.002-04:002012-04-09T18:18:27.013-04:00Guild Wars 2 - Weapon SkillsIn <a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/04/guild-wars-2-overview-of-skills.html" target="_blank">my last GW2 post</a>, I tried to give an overview of all skills. It ran a little longer than intended, but I still didn't get into specifics. So in my first attempt to get into said specifics, I'll try to talk about Weapon Skills today.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/04/guild-wars-2-weapon-skills.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-82240938353885723932012-04-09T12:35:00.003-04:002012-04-09T12:35:34.455-04:00Playing Guild Wars - Slow BeginningsI finally managed to get somewhere in Guild Wars Prophecies, but not very far. I feel like doing the first Post-Searing Ascalon mission is actually a step forward. I'll briefly talk about playing the game here.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/04/playing-guild-wars-slow-beginnings.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-43106169947706691082012-04-01T12:54:00.000-04:002012-04-09T18:18:42.232-04:00Guild Wars 2 - An Overview of SkillsThe core of any game is the abilities your character(s) have to affect the world around them, most commonly to murder things stylishly. They are called by many names in MMOs, spells, abilities, skills, etc. You gather them by progressing your character and training new abilities, slowly filling up your hotbar with new and fascinating options, or simply adding new ways to murder people with your mouse depending on the game. In Guild Wars 2, these are referred to as Skills, regardless of whether they are magic spells or stabby things or traps or whatever.<br>
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I'll be going into the specific types of skills in more detail in future posts. First, however, I would like to examine the basic layout of skills in Guild Wars 2 as it compares to that of other games.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/04/guild-wars-2-overview-of-skills.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-45838463518360265712012-03-31T22:48:00.002-04:002012-03-31T22:55:52.511-04:00Guild Wars 2 - The Sour End of Combat, Or Why Death Is Also AwesomeI will be submitting some posts to describe some of the more fascinating innovations in Guild Wars 2. I figured that I would start at the end rather than a beginning. So we're going to start with the mechanics involved with losing fights, death, etc.<br>
<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/03/guild-wars-2-sour-end-of-combat-or-why.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-40303822938620367182012-03-30T12:15:00.002-04:002012-03-30T12:15:31.930-04:00Commitment and MMOs, Guild WarsFor those who know me, this will not come as a surprise... I am easily bored. When something new ans shiny comes out, I immerse myself in it and focus on it to the exclusion of all else, but after a short period of time, usually following a notable milestone of some kind, I lose interest and start rooting around for other things to occupy my attention.<br>
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I've decided to work on this a bit, partially by investigating the reasons behind it within games, and partially by choosing to do otherwise.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/03/commitment-and-mmos-guild-wars.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-29359456225685199842012-03-26T19:39:00.003-04:002012-03-31T22:51:57.895-04:00Guild Wars 2 - Why I Want To Play It<b><i>The Subject At Hand</i></b>
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I was talking to my brother-in-law today about Guild Wars 2, and he asked me why I was so interested in this game, when my descriptions thus far had made it sound like more of the same. Obviously, my descriptive capabilities are not particularly good, at least verbally, and certainly when I'm excited, but I want to make up for this particular shortcoming here.<br>
<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/03/guild-wars-2-why-i-want-to-play-it.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-44607048177238346592012-02-23T18:44:00.004-05:002012-02-23T18:44:45.683-05:00Marvel Super Heroes RPG - Why I Don't Like ItI would love to call this a review and sound all fancy about it, but that just isn't the case. I haven't actually played it, I have not read every single line of the game book, nor do I have much interest in doing either. This is, instead, an examination of the flaws I see in this game.<br>
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With that in mind, feel free to read on.<br>
<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2012/02/marvel-super-heroes-rpg-why-i-dont-like.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-10710151064391831582012-01-03T11:31:00.002-05:002012-01-03T11:31:12.738-05:00SWTOR: Awkward Moments"Why don't you just let the military handle this..."<br />
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This is what I said to a guy on Balmorra who was panicking about getting something done. I play a Trooper, so I have a very military bent to all of the things I say. When he mentioned his inability to get the job done, I chose the "I'll handle this" option and the above is what I said. Nice and simple.<br />
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Except I was running with a group when this happened. I've decided to try leveling with a group for a bit, so I can see more of the game - I get to spectate for the other character's stories - and also actually do some of the heroic quests. My sister and her husband are playing Jedi, a Consular and Knight respectively, so we have very different activities.<br />
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So when we first start the conversation with this fellow, it's the Knight who starts the conversation. "Oh, thank goodness, a Jedi, maybe you can help." And then the poor fellow gives out his sob story of being sucky at his job of guard/rebel/soldier and asks us to do it for him. And I say the above line.<br />
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The context of the conversation changed a great deal there. I am the Captain of an elite Special Forces unit in the Republic military. I am a badass, and so are my squad. Heck, I just went into an Imperial Destroyer with only one partner in tow and captured the whole thing. I'm awesome. And this guy is all "Oh, thank goodness, a Jedi." I am learning why the Republic military hates the Jedi. Friggin' scene-stealing, scenery-chewing, showboating psychics.<br />
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And I'm reaching a point where if someone tells me me "May the Force be with you" one more time...<br />
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What this really highlights for me is the strangeness of the team conversation in everyday use. Sure, you see it all the time in Flashpoints, and occasionally in heroic quests, but you don't fully see how weird these team-ups are until you're teaming for plain old quests. Suddenly every ounce of praise given to a Jedi is one more insult to Havoc Squad. Every time you flirt is one more time you try to mack on some chick while a judgmental space monk is watching.<br />
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It's fun, but it changes the way the story progresses. I love being able to breeze through difficult areas, and actually accomplish heroics. But it's at the cost of me feeling like I get my due. Which is funny. Also, I get no more affection from my companion, because she's never around. Very frustrating.Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-88820201628789749752011-12-22T16:25:00.002-05:002011-12-22T16:25:49.025-05:00Tipping At SWTOR: StatsAt a glance, the stats in Star Wars: The Old Republic are simple. There are 4-7 primary stats (depending on how you view it) and they are fairly easy to understand. You view your character in the game and see those stats, and can mouse over them to see what effects they have. Simple enough.<br>
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Except that, for one, there are 4 to 7 stats, depending on how you view it. And then there are ... many more that are not listed at all in the character profile. This post is to talk about all of those, and why the primary stats are weird.<br>
<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2011/12/tipping-at-swtor-stats.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-15057870409827209182011-12-21T12:54:00.000-05:002011-12-21T12:54:03.319-05:00Tipping at SWTOR - AugmentsAnother tip for Star Wars: The Old Republic. As I find this, I'll keep posting. Because why not?<div>
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I've been leveling the crap out of Slicing lately, because it is made of pure money, something I'll post about in the future. With Slicing, you send your companions on missions to acquire one of two things: Augments or Lockboxes. It took me a while to figure out what Augments are any good for, so I share with you here.</div>
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</div><a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2011/12/tipping-at-swtor-augments.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-87901243829200881542011-12-12T19:11:00.001-05:002011-12-21T12:46:23.309-05:00Tipping at SWTOR - Crafting MaterialsQuick post while I'm thinking of it.<br />
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I was going through various SWTOR websites to pass the time before Early Access, and the workday that prevents me from enjoying it like a true geek, when I came across a useful piece of information, which I will share with you now. It's even related to my recent binge of posts about crafting.<br />
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As mentioned so many times, you go forth into the world/galaxy, gather materials and go make stuff. Aside from the usual reasons for crafting - I Want To Make The Things and I Want To Level The Skills - there's the third and in some ways most important reason to craft: I Want My Inventory Space Back. You build up various materials in hopes of making things but eventually have to stop and either craft or store them in your bank, just so you have space for anything new.<br />
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Now, being able to send companions off to craft while questing is valuable for this, but not as valuable as this little tidbit:<br />
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<b>You can craft items with materials that are in your bank.</b><br />
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Yes, that's right. You don't need to have it on you to use it. You can stow your hundreds of Desh and then, with no Desh on your person at all, craft with it. This, this is brilliant. I can see myself wishing for this in so many other games.Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-20166839909593699612011-12-07T11:09:00.001-05:002011-12-11T15:01:57.000-05:00Making Crafting Fun: What Works (For Me)<b><i>The Subject At Hand</i></b>
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As I've mentioned before, crafting is something I find to be a significant draw in an MMO. If the crafting system is boring, the rest of the game will have to strain itself to keep my interest. Only WoW has been able to survive under the weight of having a bland crafting system, thanks in part to my guild and some undetermined something that WoW has that keeps me.<br>
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Today, I will define aspects of successful, interesting crafting systems. On its own, crafting can be fun in its own right, but these features, when added, can improve the overall experience greatly.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2011/12/making-crafting-fun-what-works-for-me.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-89365585049400265242011-12-06T19:35:00.001-05:002011-12-07T11:26:55.901-05:00Crafting In The Old Republic<b><i>The Subject At Hand</i></b>
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I love crafting. It wasn't always so, but somewhere during my long career playing MMOs, I came to realize that crafting was something that was vital to my enjoyment of a game. I don't know what it is, but the mini-game within the game has always been able to make or break an MMO.<br>
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Today, I'll take a look at the crafting system in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and see how it draws me in.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2011/12/crafting-in-old-republic.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-63079643915173121562011-12-06T18:18:00.001-05:002011-12-07T10:31:41.621-05:00Item Modifications in the Old Republic<br>
<i><b>The Subject At Hand</b></i><br>
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Recently, World of Warcraft instituted a system in which you could take the graphical skin of an existing item and overlay it on another, so that the second item would then look like the first. This answered the prayers of many people who retain the belief that some of the earliest skins for armor in WoW were the best. They can now get awesome new items, pay some cash and make those items look like something they obtained in 2005.<br>
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In Star Wars: the Old Republic, they are instituting a system that, at its most basic, might allow for this kind of thing. But it is so much more. This is the Item Modification system. While the end result, if you choose to view it as such, is to allow you to keep the same look as you level up, while still keeping armor up to date and competitive, the details are more complicated than that.<br>
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I'm here to examine some of those details.<br>
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<a href="http://incidentalanalyst.blogspot.com/2011/12/item-modifications-in-old-republic.html#more">Read more »</a>Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6314469951234531129.post-38889715154607144302011-12-06T16:15:00.001-05:002011-12-06T16:33:18.515-05:00Obligatory, Introductory, Definitory, VagueI have been considering creating a blog for some time now, because I like to write and I don't do it enough. I have plenty of topics I could conceivably write about. For the moment, they will all go here.<br />
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The initial purpose of this depository of miscellany is to describe and, to a very limited degree, analyze various systems I find in the games I play, read about, explore, hear people talk about, etc. I am not a game designer. I play many games. My word is not law. It is hardly definitive, it is unlikely to be consistent from one moment to the next, and it is almost certainly uninformed in some capacity. I am not an expert, and I am capable of changing my opinions very quickly.<br />
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That said, I love games, of all kinds. I enjoy video games. I enjoy table-top RPGs. I have been know to play LARPs. I read tabletop RPG systems for amusement. I watch videos, read articles and listen to pointless conversations about games I don't intend to play. For games that I do play, I enjoy researching how best to play them, optimal character builds, shortcuts, etc. In short, I am a game nerd, with no particular focus.<br />
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So the point here is that this will be a repository of opinions and examinations of such things, because I like to do that. I will try to be concise. I will be clear when my statements are my opinion or guesses and whether they are fact - though you should not expect too much by way of sources. That sounds like work.<br />
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This won't be regular. It won't be Expert Level Commentary. It'll just be me writing stuff about things I'm interested, and hopefully I will be able to entertain and inform with it.<br />
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If I don't, well, that happens, too.Black Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01309667051100609856noreply@blogger.com0