Task Force Trinity
We’ve been teaming with some of the VirginWorlds podcasters in City Of Heroes over the last couple of weeks. So in order to break from the normal levelling grind, this week we decide to attempt the Positron Task force.
For those readers that are not COH players, a Task force (TF) is like a series of missions that require completing sequentially in order to finish the task force. On completion each member gains a badge and the has the choice of a reward.
The main issue with this TF is that it’s effectively two taskforces combined and thus is rather long and has lots of steps required to complete it. Another factor in the mix is that due to the level range being 10 to 15, the powers available to all the members it still quite low.
In order to aid the team in a fast completion of the taskforce me and Rachy equiped our characters with Recall Friend to help teleport our team around the map, combined with us both playing healers we hoped to get it completed quite fast.
There was alot of nipping to and fro to various contacts and mission, the primary enemies are Clockwork, Circle of Thorns & Vahzilok, all of whom put up a decent fight and we narreoly escaped getting wiped a few times.
Tiny Tammy, Crazy Duchess, Teppalot, Tundra Templar, Wolfshead, Electro Nick, Mornington in action.
Overall we were quite lucky and I think we only team-wiped twice during the 4 hours, which was rather nice as none of the team had done the task force before.
Hopefully if we can remain at similar levels we aim to tackle each of the Hero task forces while still being within the level range, which will allow everyone to still gain XP and levels while on the missions.
Post mortem
I really enjoyed this task force, although the time resctrictions meant we didn’t take in alot of the story line, but it was cool that we completed it in one sitting. Thanks to all that showed up and I hope you enjoyed yourselvesm half as much as we did. I’m looking forward to plotting out the future progression and challenges for the team.
Guitar Hero (4) World Tour (Wii)
I was very surprised when I got home on Friday to find that Rach had bought me the latest in the Guitar Hero series.
I have to admit I wasn’t planning on purchasing this until the new year but I was very excited by all the new shiny components. So on Friday evening we started on the career mode for our band JAM BADGER.
I got stuck into the drums while Rach stepped up and took on the task of singer. It was tricky to start with but we soon got the hang of it and tore our way through a good few gigs.
On Saturday Dok visited and we made some serious progress into the track listings. It is quite silly that you earn more cash from single player than group play, which meant that some solo parts had to be played before we could unlock the Tool gig.
I think one of the hardest tracks but also the most satisfying was System of a Down – B.Y.O.B.
Dok highlighted the fact there are potentially issues with the drum kits, he’s experienced this on his Xbox GH drum-kit where the green drum isn’t working at all now. He also highlighted the fact that Activision have admitted issue with the drum-kit and will be supplying drum tuning kits. The only issue with my drum-kit is that it can activate star power by accident, so not all bad just quite annoying.
But all in all I really enjoyed playing it, top stuff Rachy.
EDIT: it appears that Dok has resolved his issues with the drum-kit.
Future & Console MMOs
Every new MMO currently in a pipeline seems to have been branded with the “Going to be on Console” iron, I ponder on what the future for cross-platform MMOs and MMOs in general could hold.
Cross-Platform
The biggest concern is the compatibility between platforms, it leads us to ask, “can I team up with my Xbox friend to complete quests?”. This very important keystone in the future of console MMOs, if you split the population based on platform, it’s not exactly that different to the current situation.
Difficulties are glaringly obvious off the bat, how to deliver a fun game for all users not matter how they choose to play.
Interfaces / Crafting
I feel that in order to achieve this goal, all the excessive elements of MMOs currently will need to be trimmed down if not done away with. Take your current PC based MMO, all the dialogue boxes lurking beneath the surface, options / quest log / friend list / map / Inventory, all waiting ready to spring into action when needed.
The MMO interface is a complex beast, how do you cater for all these in an console environment without boring the user to death? Does spending 25 minutes arranging/identifying/sorting through loot on your Xbox sound enjoyable?
Of course not, and standard core systems like this will need to be well thought through and examine before making it into a future MMO.
Having crafting systems is all good and well, but if it’s overly complex, navigating it using a controller would seem hellish. Would a future game opt out of a full crafting system or go for very light model?
Classes
Do you need a class system?
Would it be more practical to let the players plot their own path, choosing powers to fit a situation or fight? Locking in users to a set number of powers could be a model of MMOs of the past, giving player more options and choice could expand the longevity of the game for many gamers.
Going back to my MMO roots take a Planetside certificate system, player can alter their powers to suite their mood or the teams needs. Could this system maybe more ideal for the drop-in nature of the console audience?
Result
Building a future MMO is going to need to take a number of items in consideration:
- Character controls that work equally on the PC and the console
- No overly complex systems for crafting, if any at all
- Catering for the drop-in nature of modern day gamers
- Allow friends to team up no matter the length of time played
If the future of MMOs is really going to encompass the console market, then I for one shall cheer when it finally and successfully occurs.
