Archive for the ‘ World Design ’ Category
Winning Civilization 5 on Deity difficulty is a serious test for one’s sanity. It’s not a strategy game, it becomes a fantasy RPG, where you play the kid that rolled 7′s and 8′s for all his attributes: weak, stupid, and poor. In my latest game, Persia has conquered all three nations but me (still friends) [ READ MORE ]
I recently complained that Facebook web games are too expensive. A tractor was going for $25 but it seems that even Zynga decided that’s too much. In their new game, you can get an F-35 Lightning for a real bargain price – $10. Of course, tractors are a lot more useful as they cut your [ READ MORE ]
Despite what “academic” game designers say, rock-paper-scissors is a valid approach to balancing classes. When done right, it is highly intuitive (though I never felt that paper beating rock makes sense conceptually). Case in point: we have assassin units in Riftforge. Based on WoW and many other RPGs, people who play assassins expect that: They [ READ MORE ]
You have probably heard that Minecraft is a runaway indie sensation. So of course, I went ahead and generated a map with seed “Riftforge“. OMG! This has to be one of most beautiful minecraft maps I’ve seen. There are huge hills with enormous caverns, some floating islands, and other goodies. My castle is on top [ READ MORE ]
Looking back at the original Diablo, it is still a source of inspiration when it comes to character design. Mostly because of production constraints, Blizzard has opted for a very minimalist approach to character design. It boiled down to the three classic RPG archetypes: Warrior Role: melee, bruiser, tank (Riftforge equivalent: Guardians) Summary: Excellent defense, [ READ MORE ]
GameIndustry reports today that EA has stated the following about its upcoming MMO: Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). EA’s CEO John Riccitiello said: 500,000 subscribers will be substantially profitable, but it’s not the sort of thing we would write home about… Anything north of one million subscribers is a very profitable business. Essentially it [ READ MORE ]
I just read this enlightening post by ROB CONLEY, a D&D veteran. Being an online RPG, Riftforge also features organizations that could be described as warrior societies. In modern terms, Riftforge’s orders are more like a political/trade/religious organization with its own paramilitary wing. According to Wikipedia, military orders are formed by religious organizations and this [ READ MORE ]
It’s funny thing. I was watching History Channel – the show was about the Middle Ages. Or more precisely, Edwardian rule – circa 1363. At the same time, I was “playing” Habbo, or rather, visiting one of the more popular teen hangouts. Back to Edwardian times and the Sumptuary Laws of 1363. I won’t bore [ READ MORE ]
That’s right: reality beats imagination. At least, that’s happened at the dentist last Friday, while I was browsing an old issue of National Geographic magazine. I have been struggling to come up with a very expensive trade good that could be found in marshes in the western part of Warzone Icecrest. I came up with [ READ MORE ]
I came across this video thanks to BrokenToys. It has close to four million views on Youtube already. It strongly resonates with my personal experience of World of Warcraft – there is simply WAY too much lore. I understand there are close to 80 quest writers in Blizzards who are producing an avalanche words on [ READ MORE ]
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