RSVP

As a follow-up to my discussion of games within games, I wanted to mention one of my favorite web games: RSVP.

The premise is that you are hosting a dinner party and you, being a good host, must keep everyone happy.  This is achieved by seating matching guests next to each other.

This game has everything that makes a game enjoyable: simple premise, very simple rules, even simpler game play, and a lot of planning and thinking.  The retro look and jazzy lounge music are all bonuses.  And there is no time limit!  This is, in my opinion, a well-designed game.

You may play RSVP online here.

An Open Letter To Blue Castle Games

To the developers at Blue Castle Games:

I read a story over at kotaku.com regarding your upcoming Xbox game Dead Rising 2: Case 0.  I was disturbed by the game play depicted within this video.

I suppose I should have been better prepared for what I was about to see after reading "[c]heck out this video showing off the game's real world beer keg foam physics, vomit viscosity and drunk punching."  And the video delivers just that: the game's protagonist runs around and fights zombies, fires a weapon at a keg of beer, consumes alcohol and then doubles over and vomits.

While I recognize that this is just a video game – one that involves fantasy violence whilst battling zombies – I am nonetheless troubled by the questionable judgment used in the development this game.  Was it necessary to depict an individual vomiting?  I suspect that this matter was discussed within your development meetings: how did you arrive at a decision that vomit would bring value to the game play, and specifically what value does it bring?

I feel that there are better methods of showcasing your game's liquid/particle system (may I refer you to Portal 2 game play as an example), and I found it disappointing that you chose such a sophomoric display as representation of your work.

Respectfully,

>TELL OTHERS ABOUT LAMP.

I watched Get Lamp today.  The short review: I enjoyed the documentary for its nostalgia factor.

Director Jason Scott tackles the very broad subject of interactive fiction, covering the history of text adventures, the rise and fall of the industry during the 1980s, and the state of interactive fiction today.  There are interviews – and perspectives – from both developers and players (including fascinating interviews with several visually impaired IF players), and an amusing segment on puzzles.  There are also bonus feature-ettes which cover the Bedquilt (the RL caverns on which the original Colossal Cave/Adventure game is based), as well as a segment that focuses upon the history of Infocom and its games.  And that's all on disc 1!

The documentary is without a narrator leading the viewer from segment to segment – that is to say that Morgan Freeman is not there to tell the history of interactive fiction via lots of exposition.  Instead Scott allows the interviewees to tell the story, and this technique gives the film more of a low-key, intimate feel.  The pacing is pensive; Scott does not rush though topics nor does it linger on them.  What we're left with is a very large, broad overview of the world of interactive fiction.

What I love about this film is that it was done by an independent filmmaker who unapologetically loves the subject.  After watching Get Lamp, I wanted nothing more than to play Zork 2 again (and that's exactly what I did for the remainder of my afternoon).  If you ever played IF games and loved them, then I would recommend supporting this independent filmmaker and picking up a copy of Get Lamp.

[Edit: clarification on narration.]

Double-Clicking

The other day I logged on and noticed that the eleven people online comprised of

• one individual double-clicking in the foothills,
• one individual double-clicking in Metz cove,
• one individual triple-clicking (!) in noids,
• one bot healer in town,
• one bot librarian,
• one solo hunter in the east forest,
• and myself.

I do not know if I can adequately describe how troubled I felt witnessing this.  The heart and soul of Clan Lord has always been its community, and even though the population has declined, the sense of community has remained strong.  This is partly due to the role that players fill on a hunt: a hunt organizer determines what is needed for the hunt and seeks to fill those roles by contacting various players.  Sometimes players have hunted together and know each other, and other times new faces are introduced and new individuals are met.  Such interaction with each other strengthens the CL community as a whole.

I can not say the same for double-clicking.  It is an anti-social practice, and I feel that it is slowly strangling the game.  I wonder how many times a player playing a healer has logged on, asked if healing services were needed somewhere and then logged off because those roles were being fulfilled by double-clickers.  And as more people double-click, less roles require fulfilling.

I understand that sometimes a player may find it easier to just double-click instead of going through the hassle of organizing a hunt.  Others may not have the time to organize a hunt.  Some players may simply wish to be alone.  And I understand that the population is low and that there are time when there are no other people online to fill a hunting role.  This is when the problem becomes cyclical in nature.

I wish I knew how to address this problem.

MMORPGs Are Games Of Time, Not Skill.

Our cynical friends over at That's A Terrible Idea posted an entry regarding PvP within  MMORPGs, making the dry observation that MMOs are a game of time, not skill.  This is probably one of the finest summaries of RPGs that I've ever read.

I've often wondered how Clan Lord would play if it were more like the Capture the Flag area.  Players would have a selection of abilities which would never grow, thus making new players and older players equal in power.  Using this model, I could create a healer right now and hunt with a bunch of people on Metzetli Island.  Of course, I would never gain experience, so the next question would be "if there's no reward, then what's the point?"

This model would make more sense if Clan Lord were an achievement-orientated game: rewards would be granted by completing quests, and players would measure success by collecting achievements, badges and trophies in place of experience.  I could still collect these rewards to measure my progress within the game.

Some people simply don't have the time to invest within a MMORPG.  Should they be penalized for this lack of time?

Musings: Open Source Quests

I have been considering compiling a list of syntax for some quests and releasing this information to helpers.

I have been approached by some helpers who wish to help develop content and who have had some great ideas for quests.  The problem has been that personal spare time has been dwindling for me, so some of these quests have been languishing "on the list."  However, if I were to give some instructions to the helpers on how to create a quest, then they could do the majority of the labor.

And so that I am clear: I would not be releasing the actual scripts, but just the basic options for the quest.  For example, one quest that I have been using as an introduction to quest writing is the package delivery quest found within the Puddleby Post Office.  It's a simple quest with simple options.  Just fill in the blanks and we have a quest!

The hard part is finding time to debug the submissions.  If the submission has spelling errors or requires a little more polishing, then I can always send it back to the submitter and request a fix.  Assuming that the quest passes muster, then it would be my responsibility to assign rewards and any other back-end script support to the quest.  I can't just release quest information without owning responsibility to handling subsequent questions and organizing submissions.  And that's the part that requires more thought.  How am I going to manage time that I don't have?

Bugs, Features and Opinions

A portion of my day was spent reading the bug logs and fixing bugs.

I find it gratifying to close out bug cases: fixing a bug means that there is one less thing wrong with Clan Lord.  One of the bugs that I fixed wasn't even in the bug log: a Sentinel reader had lamented over the hues used for white shoes and white hair, and I was pleased to address both of his concerns.  I even expanded the shoe store and threw in some new shoes colors for V642.

Many of the bugs that I fixed today were the simple "two minute" fixes.  Some of the bugs were masking problems, some bugs reported misaligned images, and some bugs were fixed in previous updates but the cases were never closed (I like those fixes).  And some bugs were labeled as suggestions which required a little more scripting work.  For example: the hunting preserve to the south of town is accessible only by newer exiles.  What happens when a new exile falls in there and there are no other new exiles to rescue the fallen in this area?  The fallen either waits for a rescue from someone able to enter these areas, or departs.  I have added a new option for V642: time.  Beginning next update, after a certain amount of time, fallens will teleport from the hunting preserve to a location where they may be rescued by non-newbie characters.

One of the things that I want to address is making Clan Lord more fun.  Falling in a hard-to-access area is, in my opinion, not fun.  As only young exiles can access this area, I feel that the overall new exile experience should be better than being trapped and fallen behind a locked gate.  I am moving forward with my project of improving the experience for new players, and this is one small improvement.  I would like to think that many small improvements make for a better game.

Paths in YappyLord

I have one last comment on character classes in YappyLord and then I'll stop.

Staying with the Clan Lord character class model, a character would develop core skills within the class.  Players who train skills that keep their balance within the white triangle are considered well-rounded, having no real strengths or weaknesses.



If our character began training Earth-heavy skills, then the character's balance would begin shifting towards Earth, moving away from Moon and Sun-based skills.



A character crossing over into the red triangle would be considered an Earth-specialist, the equivalent of a subclass in Clan Lord.



The character's Earth skills would be strong, and her Sun and Moon skills would be weak. At a later time in the character's career, she could choose to develop her Sun skills, and slowly shift the balance of her training towards the yellow triangle.

I envision the game engine automatically calculating what type of character you had based on your training: if you had a lot of spirit skills studied, then you would be weighted towards the Moon.  There would be an NPC around similar to Kretski (found in Puddleby's fighter hall) to analyze your training for you.

No real point to this entry, other than the pretty triangles that I drew.  I wanted to see a visual representation of this idea.  Thanks for indulging me.  We now return you to our regularly scheduled Clan Lord blog.

Subclasses in YappyLord

Continuing my thoughts from yesterday, I had some other ideas on how I would handle classes and subclasses in YappyLord.

Instead of having subclasses, I think that I would have "paths" for each class.  Each path would be related to the sun, the earth or the moon.  All paths are open to a class, but the further one walks down a path, then the weaker becomes in skills of other paths.

An example: suppose we have a healer who has three paths available: the path of the sun, the path of the moon, and the path of the earth.  Our healer decides to walk along the path of the Earth, and gains benefits from its studies.  Our healer grows physically, becoming quite a skilled combatant and being able to withstand a great amount of damage (does anyone remember Jackie?), but our healer's skills slowly diminish in the realms of Moon and Sun skills.  At a later point in time, our Earth-strong healer could change paths and begin exploring Moon skills.  As the healer grows in Moon skills, the healer's Earth skills slowly diminish, and the Sun skills diminish further due to neglect.

One of the features that I don't like about subclasses is that once you make a choice, then you're stuck with it (unless you meta-game your way out of the class, which is a entirely different topic for discussion).  One of the GMs explained subclasses this way: it lessens a player's choice.  I didn't understand what he meant, but the more that I thought about it, the more I've come around to understand this point: if we were to combine all of the fighter subclass trainers and make them available to all fighters, then – asides from that being pretty cool! – allows a fighter to have many, many training choices.  As the system stands now, when a fighter chooses a subclass, then only one third of these subclass trainers become available to the fighter.

YappyLord would allow one class, like the healer, to branch out a little and specialize in a path, but at the cost of skills from the other paths.  Maybe I would go one step further and eliminate classes all together, and, using the above model, just allow players to train as they wish.  A player that studies fighting becomes a lousy healer/mystic.

I'm deep into SACWAG territory now, but isn't that what YappyLord is all about?

YappyLord

No one has asked me, but if I were to make YappyLord (or Clan Lord 2.0), then this is what I would do:

THIS STAYS

• Combat interface.  Collide into a monster to swing at it.  It's very simple and I love simplicity.
• NPC interface.  Another elegant system of interaction.  Just bump into an NPC and it automatically begins speaking to you.  Perfect.
• Speech bubbles. It's probably the finest feature of the game, and it really sets the cartoonish tone.

THIS GOES

• Client applications.  YappyLord would run from a web browser plug-in, just like QuakeLive.
• Spawns in purgatory.  I just hate them.
• Purgatory pendants.  If there's no spawns in purgatory, then there's no fallens to rescue in purgatory.  Therefore there's no need for healers to travel to purgatory.

THIS CHANGES

• The graphics.  I'd keep the same overhead view, but instead it would be in glorious 3D.  I would also keep the cartoony feel by cel shading everything.
• The experience system. It needs to scale better and be broader in its service. If you're out on a hunt with a group of people, then you should be rewarded for this activity, regardless on your slaughter level and shares.
• Classes.  There's a gross unbalance of the current class structure and, in my opinion, the entire system needs an overhaul.  In YappyLord, Mystics would be feared, and Healers would be revered.

My ulterior motivation for YappyLord is to stay home all day and get paid for playing an online game!  That would look pretty sharp on my resumé.

Love Potion #10?

I've been reviewing the potion scripts while entertaining the idea of making some more potions.  They're simple and fun and gathering ingredients could make for some fun quests.  "What variety of new potions should we have," I wondered.  I briefly thought of making more healing potions, but I quickly discarded that idea because doing so would hurt the game (pardon the pun).

Healing potions are great for emergencies.  They provide instant, one-time healing at the cost of some initial raw materials plus some pack space to hold the potion.  If we were to introduce a new healing potion that had more healing power for the same cost in pack space, then why would anyone carry a bottle of the weaker healing potion?  The stronger potion would be the obvious choice.  Making the ingredients rare won't really impact this choice because it doesn't impact the decision on which potion to carry when the materials become available.  The potion that does more work per inventory slot will be the clear choice.

Then there is the issue of healers.  Why would we need more varieties of healing potions when the Art of Health Recovery is already covered by healers?  If a fighter needs more healing, then the solution should never be "buy more potions," but instead it should be "invite one more healer to the hunt."

Adding healing potions to the game is not going to make healers useless, true, but it does little in the way of increasing their value either.  Keeping that in mind, I have removed healing potions from the list and I return to the drawing table – or in this case, return to the alchemy table.

Open Source Quests

I had an idea about offering an open-source-like format for players who wish to create their own quests.

The idea is still young and I haven't given it any developmental thought, but I feel that there is some potential to giving players the tools to write their own quests.  The format would need to be fairly simple and flexible, covering basic information:

• The NPC's name
• The Greeting (what the NPC says when you bump into it)
• The Service provided by the NPC (take an item, give an item)
  
• The Condition(s) under which the NPC provides the service
• The Success message (spoken when the conditions are met and the service is provided)
• The Failure message (spoken when the conditions for providing the service are not met)

Here are two examples of how the quests could work together.  One NPC could be structured to preform the service of accepting hand axes:

/name "Bevis"
/greeting "Hello! I've been trying to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with this herring. If I had a hand axe, then the job would be much easier."
/service TAKE=HANDAXE, CONFIRM (the NPC asks for confirmation before accepting hand axes)
/condition EQUIP=HANDAXE (the player must be holding the hand axe for the service to happen)
/success "Thanks for the hand axe, mate! I'll tell all of the other lumberjacks that you're okay."
/fail "If you know of anyone with a spare hand axe, then please send them to me."

Another NPC could be structured to preform the service of giving the player a log of wood – but only if that player gave a hand axe to the first NPC:

/name "Frost"
/greeting "Hello. These woods are lovely, dark and deep."
/service GIVE=LOGOFWOOD (the NPC gives a log of wood)
/condition NPC "Bevis"=SUCCESS (the NPC preforms this service only if the NPC "Bevis" successfully preformed his service for the player)
/success "Oh, Bevis had mentioned that you're a friend of the lumberjacks. He sent this wood to you as a token of thanks."
/fail "I'd love to chat, but I have promises to keep."

The idea needs a lot of development, but there's some potential to it.  I would need to address error trapping and error feedback.  I would also need to think on where and how quests would get implemented.  Maybe the player would bump into a Quest NPC in the fairgrounds and speak the commands to it.  If the NPC didn't like a command, then it would complain right then and there ("I don't recognize the name 'Beavis.' Please check your spelling and try telling me the command again").  To place a Quest NPC in the game, maybe the player would go to a location and say "BEVIS COME HERE," and the NPC would automagically appear by the player's side.

There's a lot to think about before this goes anywhere near The List.  For now, I'd file this idea under "Vaporware."

MLK

Take a moment today to remember a great man who had a great dream.

Perspective

There have been some heated discussions on the Sentinel.  I admire the fact that people are still passionate about this game, and that folks still discuss its flaws and how to resolve them.  Sometimes I feel that this passion grows disproportionately to the topic, and there are times when I find myself getting caught up in the excitement of the debate.

And then there are times when I'll see something that puts this eleven year old game into perspective.

Today I drove to a seminar in New England.  It was cold and windy, and I was relived to be in a vehicle with working heat.  During the drive I passed the time stressing over Awaria, submission deadlines and a couple of upcoming quests.  While I waited at a traffic light, a man stepped into traffic and carried a sign: HOMELESS AND HUNGRY. PLEASE HELP.  He hunched into the wind as he walked the length of the cars at the light.  Suddenly my worrying over Awaria seemed so trivial and unimportant.

I think that sometimes it's easy to lose perspective on how privileged we are.  We have homes, we own computers, we have internet connections and we have the luxury of time for entertainment.

If worrying over Clan Lord is as bad as our day gets, then we're having a pretty good day.