Government Forms and the Gaming Guild
By Ravenhawk | December 11, 2007
These days it is finally being seen as important by game developers to allow players to easily form groups. This is something that has been needed since the early online games, and I’m quite glad to see finally becoming a norm. However, I have personally found an issue with the forms of governance allowed by these groups. Most games only have one form of governance: Complete Autocracy.
For many games, this isn’t a problem and it is often the most efficient in order to get a particular action done. However, when a group gets to any reasonable size, a guild leader is going to, at the very least, require delegation of authority. Most of world understands that authocratic governments don’t work. So why is it that game designers feel that it is the only form of government that gamers need?
Now, to be fair, not all games have this great flaw.
Puzzles Pirates has a couple other forms of government, however, the implemented them in such a manner that you’re being sickeningly inefficient to get anything done unless you’re autocratic or have all your members with voting rights on a very regular basis.
Dream of Mirror Online has an interesting system for it’s guilds. In order to create the group you need 5 people over level 20 and like.. 40k. The person who creates the guild is the guild chairman and the others are the elders. Elders have the ability to recruit, etc. So far it’s pretty run-of-the-mill.
However, DOMO also allows you to create smaller, sub-guilds within your main guild. Then, you can set managers for these sub-guilds, which gives them complete control over the sub-guild. This allows not only delegation of power, but the setting up of specialized sub-groups within your guild. For instance, my friend’s guild is called Radical Dreamers. Within this guild he has a subguilds for the following activities: One for teaching new players the ropes of the game, one which runs guild events, one for PVP players, One for merchanting for the guild, and one for resource farming.
While still technically autocratic, the sub-guild system allows for some delegation of power, splitting the hold from the hands of one, to the hands of a small group.
I’m still waiting for a game which finds an efficient way to implement a democratic form of government for the guilds. If I work out exactly how I would see it working, I’ll of course post it here.
Posed Question to the Readers: What do you see as the ideal form of governing a gaming group?
Tags: Game Design, MMORPGS, Autocracy, Clans, Democracy, DOMO, Dream of Mirror Online, Games, Government, Guilds, Politics, Puzzle Pirates, PVP
Topics: Game Design, MMORPGS | 7 Comments »
Brigand Kings can Invade Islands!
By Ravenhawk | May 26, 2007
Puzzle Pirates has released a new patch that has added a variety of awesome new features. First one I went and tried out was the new tournament system. Basically you can now have double elimination tournaments so you get prizes for 2nd 3rd and 4th place. Apparrently you can go even further but I haven’t seen anyone do it yet. I consider making a tournament with a prize of like 20000 poe.. for whoever gets 7th place. (Or 4th if thats the lowest you can go)
The horror of the really good sfers at the fact that, in order to win the big money, they’d have to throw a fight.. Ah, beautiful. Might be a nice way to climb the rankings, actually. Sabotage the higher up people by offering them money.
The next (and probably most imporant) item added is the fact that Brigand Kings can now blockade and potentially take over islands. For those of you not up on the Puzzle Pirates lingo, Brigand Kings are the Boss npcs. They never run out of moves when you fight them and now, they have nice big navies under their command which float around on flotillas next to islands.
These flotillas, if not properly pruned by players eventually are the fleet used to blockade the island. If the Brigand King succeeds in taking the island, the release warns of negative effects on the economy. I assume this means tax hikes. Personally, I’m not worried as I do all my shopping on an Ocean Master controlled island. So, I doubt the Brigand Kings will ever effect my shopping. At least directly.
My hope is that the Brigand Kings will invade some islands controlled by the super powerful flags. The same stupid flags have been dominating the viridian ocean for a very long time, something needs to screw with them.
They also added a new puzzle in which you are able to pull up treasure from sunken ships. Treasure Haul, as it is called, is basically a matching game where you slide your tiles around, trying to make 3 in a row, then those three disappear and new blocks come in.
Tags: MMORPGS, Brigand Kings, Puzzle Pirates
Topics: MMORPGS | No Comments »
Proper Respect between Players
By Ravenhawk | December 18, 2006
Now, I know I made the post before about common courtesy in online games. This goes a little further than that.
You see, courtesy is being at least civil with people, respect is a bit more than that. On Puzzle Pirates Viridian, there is a chap who goes by the name of MrBalls. The occassional idiot will think he’s just some new player who has spent a whole bunch of money on dubloons with which to garner his fortune, but for those who actually pay attention it should be rather obvious that MrBalls is merely his merchanting character and that he has another.
Even I don’t know who that other is, but I’ve always held the utmost respect for MrB. He is usually seen standing in the upper right hand corner of Lima inn. He has been as long as I’ve been playing the game. I took to standing there myself, whenever he wasn’t in that inn. But upon his entrance, I would step aside so that he could once again claim the spot. The general populace considers it be “his spot.”
You may be wondering what this little story has to do with respect. Well, recently a small group of rather new players decided to take his spot. Not only did they take the spot with their characters, but they made alternate accounts, which they have been running under separate windows and they hold the spot with those while out pillaging. They say it is because people are often asked to move, by either MrB or one of the other lima inn regulars, so he can stand there. They say the spot should belong to everyone. And yet there is one specific pirate who always seems to be standing there now, unless they have an alt there.
This is about more than just a spot for standing. MrB is the type of person who watches over other players. He makes a strict point to enforce the rules on all chat in the inn and has helped stop countless spammers, scammers, and people who were being obscene. He helps out new players with their questions. The new people who took over our upper corner don’t do any of that. Not only do they not help enforce the rules, they break them; they talk excessively, something that isn’t supposed to be done in an inn as it is a small place and you would be flooding the chat screens of a LOT of players. They use alternate accounts which I believe is against the rules, although it is a common practice.
And they show no respect for new players.
Respect is not just something you give to players with powerful characters or your friends. It should be given to everyone. And I personally believe that an even higher level of respect should be given to those who go out of their way to help others.
In the real world, we (the world as a whole, ignoring the opinions of hormonal adolescents) have great respect of those who serve the public; teachers, fire fighters, etc. On games, we respect the Game Masters for their work to further the community. The way I see it, that same respect should be given to those who hold that same objective, even if they don’t have a fancy title or /commands.
Tags: MMORPGS, Puzzle Pirates, Respect
Topics: MMORPGS | No Comments »
Germs, Fevers and Video Games
By Ravenhawk | October 19, 2006
Alas, a week into my blog and already I’m making a post late. I do, however, have an excuse; Over the weekend I came down with a bit of a cold. I had a fever, sore throat, etc. etc. But it did give me a rather interesting insight that I thought I’d share. My post I had planned for tuesday will be bumped to saturday.
Generally its figured that if you’re sick, video games are a good way to spend your time. There really are certain types of games that are greatly preferable to others, though.
Games that require good strategic skills are out the window. I attempted to play puzzle pirates during my fever high. Due to my inability to plan out good combos, my swordfighting dropped two levels from Ultimate..
I tried DDR, but that was just stupid.
All in all, I would say that older games seem better suited to the restful, sick-person, game play than newer ones. This comparison being made between my Playstation 2 and my snes.
Take a nice platformer example. Classic lazy gameplay, right? Mario is wonderful game to play when you want something easy. So was most of Donkey Kong. (The end of the game kicked my ass.)
Jack and Daxter? Ratchet and Clank? Not so much. They threw all kinds of Puzzles in. Which when the brain is healthy and functioning is just dandy. Adds a bit more depth to the game.
For the sake of not rambling, I shall wrap things up. Basically this post is my excusing myself for failing to post yesterday. But I am mostly recovered now, naught but a few sniffles, a very red nose, and a low fever remaining.
Coming up saturday: Game Making and the Importance of the Design Document
Tags: Uncategorized, Classic Games, colds, DDR, Disease, Fever, Games, Nes, Puzzle Pirates, Sick
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Review: Puzzle Pirates
By Ravenhawk | October 14, 2006
Puzzle Pirates is a game made by Three Rings Design which defies typical Massively Multiplayer Online games in that it doesn’t revolve clicking, and then going and getting yourself a sandwich while your alter-ego slays a monster. In a way, it created its own genre as the first Massively Multiplayer Online Puzzle Game. As strange as the genre sounds, it works out surprisingly well, creating a solidly fun game.
Grind: 8
Level grinding is Puzzle Pirates, unlike most MMOGs, is nearly nonexistent. Players don’t have levels, but instead have two ratings for each of the games which they can take part in. The first rating is, basically, how much they’ve done the puzzle, and that is rated from Novice to Sublime. The other is how good they are at it, which is rated from able to Ultimate.
Experience has little effect on the playing of the game. Some crews require you to have certain Experience or Rating ro be able to get promoted to different ranks and getting the broad rating on puzzles allows one to get new puzzles with the Navy. When you have a higher rating you can get more difficult boards for the puzzles. For instance, a high ranked Gunner has faster moving pieces than a low ranked one.
Some would say there is a money grind in the game, but even that is rather minor. If you hope to purchase some extremely expensive item, then expect to need to save up, but overall, money is not too hard to come by.
Graphics: 8
The game’s low graphics may turn off some gamers as not being good enough. Personally I find them to be quite fitting. The have a nice cartoony charm to them, which rings back to a time when Graphics weren’t all that important. Also, due to the simple nature of the game, because its a collection of Puzzles, complicated graphics would be unfitting. One of the few valid beefs that have come up is your inability to move your camera while you’re moving, but that is a minor detail.
Sound: 6
Puzzle Pirates has very little in the way of sound. There is the occasional ocean sound when you’re on a boat but there is no music of any sort. They do have sound effects in all the puzzles and while they’re good sounds, which depending on the puzzle, can be quite helpful, if you’re looking a game with a totally sweet sound track, or a soundtrack at all, this isn’t it.
Community: 9
The community is somewhere Puzzle Pirates really shines. The people are generally pretty cool. The crew system makes it really easy to find others to play with, Crew members are encouraged to pillage together in order to raise their ratings. Eventually this allows them to create or join a flag, which is a group of Crews. The ultimate goal of a flag is to take part in blockades and control their own island. Crew and flags can be left at any time by those in them, if they feel they’d like to search for something better.
Any player can create a tournament for their fellow pirates to compete in for various puzzles while on land. And you can throw “parties” in your house or shop, inviting anyone to come over and chat.
The economy of the game is completely player driven and is actually one of the best economies I’ve ever seen in an online game. Money is pretty easy to come by, but items deteriorate over time, so you eventually need to buy new ones. Only ships, houses and shops don’t deteriorate. Although most of the things you’re spending your money on only have an aesthetic value, there is something about standing in your big new painted house wearing matching clothes, surrounded by expensive furniture that definitely makes you feel good about yourself.
Fun: 9
Unless you’re not a fan of Puzzle games, Puzzle Pirates can be a load of fun. There are a large variety of different puzzles to try your hand at, most of which resemble super popular puzzle games which are out there, with their own piratey twist. Everything from Tetris to Puzzle Bobble style games are available. Its usually pretty easy to find someone to challenge to a sword fight or rumble. And if you find yourself not in the mood for puzzles, you can go relax in the inn, and talk or play Poker, Hearts, or Spades with your fellow pirates.
Overall: 8
Puzzle Pirates is a load of fun. It’s great community and awesome economy mean that, unlike a lot of mmos, you’ll actually want to interact with other players, not just go out on your own and kill stuff for the sake of gather those last few gold to get your uberweapon. With its emphasis on fun, not leveling its a good game to play to relax rather that stressing about being the best. For those who’re competitive, however, the rating system for individuals, as well as crews and flags, gives plenty to strive for.
Giving it another step up on most online games, you don’t have to pay real money to enjoy the game to fullest. If you play on a dubloon ocean, there is no monthly fee. You can pay real money to get dubloons, but you can also use the dubloon exchange to purchase dubloons off other players; there is nothing that someone who buys dubloons can get that players who don’t can’t.
It’s definitely worth checking out, at least for a short play, unless you hate puzzle games. The game is free for download at their website and takes up under 100 megs of space on the hard drive. There is also a retail version which can be bought, but the only advantage I’ve seen to getting it is to gain the coveted Backsword, a pretty nice sword that doesn’t deteriorate.
To check it out, you can head over to puzzlepirates.com or you could always click that handy link I have on the sidebar. If you did that, you’d start with a little extra money, but you’d also be starting in my crew and, oh the horror, be giving me money too. Some people have a problem with doing that. But regardless of how you get there, you should check it out.
Tags: MMORPGS, Review, Games, Puzzle Pirates
Topics: MMORPGS, Review, Games | No Comments »