Category Archives: Uncategorized

New features and some other changes

Posted on by
Reply

Well, anyone who’s been to the site in the past couple of days has probably noticed some changes. First of all, I changed the top of the site, mostly because the theme I started with in WordPress was well designed and coded, but hideously misshapen (the top part of the site was seriously like 30% of the screen, and there wasn’t even anything up there). I whipped together that little EyesLikeOurs logo that you see now, but I’m not sure I’m sold on it. It would look better on a white background, so that may be the direction I take it from here. Hopefully, at least, the site looks a bit more roomy.

Second, and most importantly, I’d like to announce a new feature of the site. It’s something I worked on for a surprising number of hours last week and have finally got in a condition where I don’t feel bad showing it off. It’s the MMO Breakdown, a meta-database of all the information you could ever want to know about any of the most popular MMO games, at-a-glance. It’s by no means complete yet, but I’ve got what I consider the major players in the industry on there right now, and I’m working on getting all of the data up in the near future. After that, more games will be added, and after enough games are added, more features will be added.

It seems like there is some demand in this niche for a way to compare games more easily, and that’s one of the goals of this system. The main feature I’m working toward is the ability to quickly select two or more games, click “compare” and get a readout of the strengths and weaknesses of each system. This could be for the sake of discussion (black and white comparison of given game features), as well as a helpful guide for someone looking for a different game to play.

So, I’d be honored if you took a look at the new MMO Breakdown section of the site, and suggested any changes or additions you would like to see!

Lastly, I’ve rearranged and reformatted some of the ads, as well as added a new EVE online affiliate ad on the right side of the page. I’m trying to keep the ads as transparent as possible, but still in relatively good positions just to keep google happy. On a sad note, the addition of the MMO breakdown and my use of wordpress templates therewith has apparently broken the wordpress.com stats package that I loved so much. It says that there are no views to the site for every day that I’ve had the MMO breakdown there. Also, my blogtopsites counter reset to 0 inexplicably, which is extremely annoying.

Lord of the Rings Online: Why I like the quests

Posted on by
Reply

Well, after having played Lord of the Rings Online for a couple days after my initial reaction, I’ve changed opinions on a couple of points (and I’ve also gained opinions on a couple of new points!)

First of all, I’m not quite sure that I like the map.

I can’t put my finger on it, but the map bothers me in a lot of ways. Don’t get me wrong, the map is useful, and it tells you quite a lot of information about where you are, which direction you’re facing, and (sometimes) where important locations are, but it just seems to vague. Not to mention the fact that it’s sometimes hard to tell which areas you’ve been to and which areas are unexplored. For example, my map of Bree-Land didn’t have the “Old Forest” on it. I realize now that it wasn’t there because I hadn’t been there yet; well, great. I also haven’t been to Nen Harn yet (and according to TAGN, I probably I won’t be for a while), but that’s still on my map. Why would Turbine do this? I think they either need to show the entire map, or none of it at all until you’ve explored the said areas. That was always one of the things I liked a lot about other third-gen MMOs: there was an element of uncertainty regarding the map. You had to uncover it. Why the back pedaling?

Secondly, I am loving the Epic quest line.

During my stay in newb town (Archet), I was keeping up with the main (epic) quest line (I’m human, so I had my adventures with Amdir the Ranger). Then, in the second town, the epic quest line turned into a Fellowship quest. I didn’t really want to group at that point, so I figured I would just outlevel the quest by a huge margin and then solo it. Well, I got so caught up in grinding all of the deeds in Bree-land that I forgot about the quest, and didn’t get to it until I was level 14 (it’s a level 9 quest). At that point, I figured it would be time to try.

After finishing that portion of the quest, moving into Bree, talking with Strider, and starting the “Book 1: Chapter X” quest series, I really regret not pushing forward with this quest and joining the fellowship when I was designed to. The Book quest line is one of the most engaging I’ve ever played in a game, and if I had to put my finger on one thing that’s really keeping the game sticky for me right now, that would be it.

I think the reason the quest line is so interesting is because it follows the story in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but from a distance. It adds characters into the mix that aren’t there in the book, just to give an idea of how complex the “journey” actually was. Turbine clearly took some creative license here, but I’m glad they did. They’ve taken an already intricate story and weaved in new characters and drama points in seamlessly. I enjoy doing my part to ensure the success of the fellowship of the ring!

Third, the travel quests are fun and the world is beautiful, but stop making me run so far!

I can’t believe how much travel there is going on in this game. Good lord. I seriously do not remember running this far in any game ever. The horse paths are great, but, is it just me, or are they the most expensive things ever? Considering that my highest payout from a quest or item yet is 2 silver, paying 15 silver to ride from the Lone Lands back to Bree (a 3 minute ride, 7 minute run) seems atrocious. Unless there’s some incredible inflation going on at the upper levels, I don’t really know how they got that number. Those horse ride charges should be based on supply and demand, but that’s a whole different blog post.

I’ve heard that Vanguard has a reputation for being very travel intensive without a means for doing so quickly. If that’s the case, maybe Lord of the Rings Online isn’t so bad and I’m just a whiner. Maybe I’ve been pampered by one too many carpet rides across The Sinking Sands and maybe just a few too many interconnected flight paths in World of Warcraft. Then again, maybe they’re just making me run too far.