Gaming and Number Crunching

Games can be crunched into numbers. The first number would be your level, usually starting at the newbie level of one, then incremented by linear degrees of one as dictated by another number – the xp number (xp stands for experience). You need a bigger xp number with each incremented level. Getting xp is dictated by several factors, some of those being the mobs you kill (mobile enemy units), the chores you finish (such as quests and assignments) and the bosses you slay (bosses being extra strong mobs).

Stonehead and Numbers

Other numbers represent your skill in killing mobs. For example, your vit number (stands for vitality) might indicate your life line. The more vit you have, the more numbers a mob would have to crunch out of you in order to kill you. If you use magic to kill your mobs, you would have a number indicating your magic power, usually called mana. When your mana gets zeroed out by excessive use of your amazing magical powers, it means you have to find another way of defeating your enemy. Unfortunately, most of the in-game magic users are low on numbers representing things like physical strength and substantiality, making them easy targets for various in game mobs.

Games are not all about killing and looting though. Most modern MMORPGs allow you to learn a profession or two, probably even more. In-game professions are again all about numbers. The kind of fish you can fish out of the WoW water for example would depend on factors like your fishing skill level, while in cooking you would also need the exact number of several ingredients. In short, being a gamer is a little like being a pocket mathematician without realizing it. Do you ever have numbers running around your head while you game? Tell me about it…

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"Gaming? But It's So Cold…"

Recently, I mentioned to an art critic friend of mine that I’m a gamer. Her first reaction was “but it’s so cold”. Naturally, that’s the reaction of someone who have never played a game before, but there’s more to that. There seems to be a consensus amongst some non gamers that games are inferior to other forms of art. In fact, many think that games are not a form of art at all.

Grom Hellscream, suggesting that leaving the continent by ships would be a good idea at the beginning of Warcraft III (click to enlarge)

Modern games have become highly sophisticated entities, combining digital 3D art with literature, narrow AI, searing musical scores and social networking. Modern games give you a cinematic experience in which you are the star, or one of the stars. You become an adventurer, saving a virtual world from evil, or sometimes saving the world from good. Many games give you a story ark with conflicts that can set up philosophical discussions with other online gamers about the world around you, some even let you see the real world in a new light.

The Prophet, sending Thrall the former slave and his Orcs to their destiny at the beginning of Warcraft III (click to enlarge)

While being works of art, modern games also require playing skill, something that is absent from most works of art unless you are the one making them. Other artworks are meant to be absorbed and appreciated from afar by an audience. In fact, most works of art can’t be fully appreciated unless you’re an artist. Games are a participatory experience and as such, you can’t just sit back and absorb the way you watch a movie or read a good book. You have to participate, to become a part of the artwork in order to understand it. You can’t remain the cold observer in gaming because you are part of the game and because of that, the game becomes part of you. It’s not gaming that is cold. It’s most of any other work of art that is a cold, outside experience that leaves you on the outside to appreciate it. Other artforms are narcissistic entities screaming “look at me”. Games are an artform drawing you inside and making you a part of itself. You experience games from the inside, not from the outside, and once inside, you can’t stay indifferent. Are you a gamer? How is your gaming experience? Tell me about it…

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Minions of Mirth, You Monster You

Fixbat at the monster starting place, Trinst, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

I’ve been playing Minions of Mirth for about a month now and there is one fun feature they have that is missing from most MMORPGs. At a previous post I talked about how MoM has two playable factions, the Fellowship of Light and the Minions of Darkness. Well, there is a third option. As you complete in game quests, you unlock playable monsters. Monsters are any of the mobs you kill in game, including various animals, undead, dragons and more.

Fixbat, nearing the docks at The Desert of Mohrum, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

Fixbat at The Jakreth Jungle, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

The lowest level monsters include bears, bats and chiggers who are a kind of cockroaches. While seeing the MoM world through cockroach eyes might have a sort of Kafkaesque feeling, playing a bear is pretty practical. In other MMORPGs, bears are excellent tanker pets. Being one has it’s advantages. On the other hand, exploring the MoM maps in aerial view while playing a bat can be rewarding for your other characters. Since no maps are provided within MoM, a good scout can improve your game play by helping you find your way around. A bat is a good scout if you keep it high enough not to aggro various mobs.

Fixbat at Eastern Wasteland, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

Fixbat, caught in a storm at Eastern Wasteland, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

While I enjoyed playing the low level monsters, I do believe the higher level ones provide a more interesting experience. One thing I haven’t found yet is monster quests, though I’m told they do exist. I’ll keep you posted as I advance and get better monsters. Have you played a monster in MoM? How was your experience? Tell me about it…

Fixbat, entering the Hazeroth Keep zone, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

Fixbat, nearing Hazeroth Keep, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

Fixbat, inside Hazeroth Keep, Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

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When Hyperreality Meets Reality

The real and the surreal are about to collide. Gaming and real life are about to become interchangeable. It would probably happen sooner than you think. In the middle of this change is what we now call virtual reality, though hyperreality might prove to be a more suitable name.

Second Life, IMVU, NuVera and similar virtual worlds reside on your screen. Those virtual worlds are cartoonish, unreal and could hardly pass for something more than computer simulations. As graphics improve over the next few years, those virtual worlds would become closer and closer to reality itself until they become indistinguishable. New 3D real world rendering technologies, probably based on programmable matter would enable 3D worlds to be rendered all around you. The real and the virtual would finally become indistinguishable.

Bluesmoke Hextall in his former Second Life gallery, Corona Cay, 2009 (click to enlarge)

As the real and the unreal collides, society would change. Your work habitat for one thing would become independent of your physical location as work and play would become similar. In fact, the fun factor might become a high priority in actually choosing a job. People would meet up and work together through avatars. Some of the people you work with would look completely different in their work environment then in real life. Indeed, the way your avatar looks like might become a measure of your creativity. Who knows, a guy coming to work in a suit and a tie might become as rare in the future as a guy with blue skin, pointy ears and a parrot on his shoulders is today. What would your avatar look like in such a world? Tell me about it…

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Fixwaffle – The Goblin That Came To Be…

I’ve been trying Minions of Mirth for a while and decided it was time to upgrade to a paid premium account. While MoM has old graphics and is much lower scale than most MMORPGs, it does give value for it’s money without breaking the bank. Another advantage – upgrading to premium also let’s you create a Goblin. Sure, it’s not a World of Warcraft Goblin and doesn’t have any of the humor of WoW, but I can still name him Fixwaffle.

The first moment of Fixwaffle the Goblin in Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

Playing a Goblin means turning over to the dark side. MoMs’ story arc is based around two opposing factions, the Fellowship of Light and the Minions of Darkness. Goblins belong to the later. I’m liking the way the dark side’s place is built. It reminds me a little of how the Orc city in WoW used to be before The Cataclysm, only a little darker. The NPC characters tend to be rude to newcomers. That is also true of Fellowship of Light NPCs, but even more so for Minions of Darkness NPCs. The player community on the other hand is very friendly and helpful.

The gate leading to the Minions of Darkness main city (click to enlarge)

Still a low level character, I can’t say much about what the game offers at higher levels. The free unpaid version only let’s you level up to 15 of 100 available levels. This makes experiencing end game contents impossible. I’ll be giving you updates as I progress alone the game though. Have you tried it? Tell me about it…

One of the bridges surrounding the main Minions of Darkness city (click to enlarge)

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A First Look At NuVera

While Second Life still works on my old computer, it does so with the old viewer and with lots of lag, which meant for me it’s time to look for alternatives.

Fixwaffle's first screen capture at NuVera (click to enlarge)

NuVera Online is a virtual world developed by Nitrous Butterfly. It’s being developed by a very small team. In fact, the  Nitrous Butterfly website mentions there are only two people working on this project and the results are very impressive indeed. The project is still in beta. It still has some bugs and it’s liable to change, but after talking with Wyllo, one of the developers, I came to the conclusion it’s going only to develop for the better. There are many things that don’t work yet like character customization, but those things are being worked on as we speak. So – bearing in mind that we are talking about a beta, let’s get in world and see how we like it there.

Fixwaffle at the Welcome to NuVo area in NuVera Online (click to enlarge)

Your avatar starts at it’s own privet space – a private apartment. One of the things I like about NuVo is the way they distinguish private and public areas. In short, your avatar can’t go around public areas doing what is considered private in real life, like going naked in public for example. This, and the fact that content for NuVo is created by registered users who actually paid a one time cost to become creators would probably keep the griefing (the act of using scripts to spam other players with object or going naked in inappropriate zones) to a minimum. While NuVo is meant for an adult audience, it’s not an adult website but more of a social networking site.

After logging on, I went looking for Tutorial Island and ended up in a welcome area where I had a nice conversation with another avatar. Hmm… is it our avatars having the conversation or us people who are driving those avatar? I digress… anyway… asking other people always helps you understand things better so I soon found myself knowing more about avatar customization (thanks Liquidlight) which is currently limited to changing the avatar’s cloths, hair and skin. More options would probably be coming on the next viewer release. After spending some NuVo Notes (the local currency) I ended looking somewhat better.

Fixwaffle after customizing his avatar a little in NuVera (click to enlarge)

Playing some more with the controls around my NuVo apartment, I managed to change it a little… well… more then a little…

Fixwaffle getting surreal at NuVera Online (click to enlarge)

After I finished trashing my virtual apartment with bats, fishes and some blue-purple fog, I went over to Tutorial Island where I met Wyllo, one of the two developers behind NuVo. We talked at length about their plans for NuVo and it sounds allot like what SL should have been with some of  Linden Labs mistakes taken into account. While many new virtual worlds work allot on the bells and whistles of their worlds, trying to make them look as sparkly and glamourous as possible, they often neglect the social aspect of VWs. NuVo is first and foremost developed as a social network and that’s the sort of thinking that would keep worlds like this one from becoming a novelty iOS app, such as Blue Mars is becoming. I think I’m going to stick around, see how this one comes out. Go check it out yourself, and if I’m there say hi. I’m Fixwaffle over there. Have you checked it out? Tell me about it…

Fixwaffle at Serenity by Wyllo in NuVera Online (click to enlarge)

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Welcome To Your Life Away From Life

Many say that Second Life is not a game. Many say that life is not a game. I say that Second Life is a game in the same way life is sometimes a game, and just like in real life, you are the one creating the Second Life world. Second Life is a state of being. The so-called residents of SL (and that would include me) would call this a “virtual world” but that’s only part of the story. SL is an ongoing experiment. It’s a lab where the future is being tested. While computer games make a world for you with laws and a set of rules that can’t be bypassed, a full-fledged virtual world is something you create. It’s a glimpse into your mind.

Bluesmoke Hextall in his early Second Life gallery (click to enlarge)

When I first came into SL somewhen at the end of 2006, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. First, my SL character needed a name. My main focus at the time where music and digital art, so the name “Bluesmoke” somehow seamed appropriate. As for the characters’ family name, the “Hextall” name popped out of the suggested name list. A virtual character is made out of pixels, so it somehow seamed to fit, and I was going to make him very tall and very thin. When creating the Bluesmoke character, I didn’t go with the path of those trying to make their avatar look like their real life personage. I went the way of fantasy, from making his skin blue to fit his name to finding a parrot to fit his shoulder. I got involved with the gallery scene of SL, created various surreal galleries representing my digital art. I also creates virtual statues that could only exist within this virtual world. I included my music in some of those statues. You would click a part of the statue and it would play a part of the music. You would then click another part and it would play another part of the music. Second Life gave me a platform in which I could create something I couldn’t create in real life. Bluesmoke is not my representation in Second Life. He is a character I created and an art-form that couldn’t exist in real life.

Bluesmoke Hextall with one of his Second Life sculptures (click to enlarge)

I believe the right path to the future lay not with those who imitate the presence but with those who reinvent it. That’s what makes SL so unique. It let’s you experiment with reinventing reality. In SL you have the tools of rebuilding and reshaping your world, and that is the way of the future. In the future, the boundaries between reality and surreality are going to crumble, and Second Life is where we first explore this. Have you been to Second Life? What are your thoughts about this? Tell me about it…

Bluesmoke Hextall plays the piano (click to enlarge)

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Minions of Mirth – First Impressions

As I mentioned in a previous post, my computer is old. In fact, it’s so old, most MMORPGs just won’t work on it. Add to it the fact that it’s a Mac and I’m left with few options. Did I mention it’s a G5? Yap – my Mac is that old. *sigh*

In my quest for finding games that would work on my renegade machine, I came upon Minions of Mirth, an independent MMORPG developed by Prairie Games. Download completed, I eagerly double-clicked the dragon-like icon only to be confronted with a patch download. Expecting a WoW-like half-day patch ordeal, I made some coffee and got ready to go to work only to find the patch at it’s end. Delighted at the thought of a new gaming experience I created a new Elf Wizard. Naturally I named him Fixwaffle. I entered the Minions of Mirth world and immediately got killed by a bear. *noob*

Bear 1, Fixwaffle 0 - Fixwaffle, killed by a bear in Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

The graphics of MoM are strictly old school, reminding me of the classic late 90s, early 00s games. The game characters walk a bit awkwardly, but they get to wherever you steer them eventually. The learning curve doesn’t seam to be high. It looks like we have everything we would expect from a fantasy MMORPG setting. You can access everything you need from a single panel at the top of your screen. At the bottom you would find the obligatory chat window and macros/shortcuts window. Press the “M” key and you’ll get a map. The names on the map tend to be too big. Thankfully you can turn them off. There might be an option to make them smaller, but I’m not sure. *A note to self: check this when you get back home from work*. All-in-all, the game looks promising and I’m looking forward to checking it out. Have you played this game? Tell me about it…

Fixwaffle in Trinst, a starting zone of Minions of Mirth (click to enlarge)

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Those Old Games

The classic games I used to play… My first encounter with computer games somewhen in my childhood was, believe it or not, with Pong. It was at a friend’s house, and I knew at once there was something special going on. That was in the mid-to-late 1970′s. I had to wait for the mid 80′s for my first computer though – a Commodore 64. On this glorious 64k machine with its full 8 colors and 8 sprite glory I played classics such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man.

In the 90′s I watched gaming change to become something else. Some of those full-blown adventures have made their way into my iPod Touch and brought back little pangs a nostalgia. Role playing games such as Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Wolfenstein 3D now reside beside my large collection of books on a device that fits in my pocket. How things have changed since my childhood.

Naturally, not all of those games are going to make it into the iPod. Some were created by companies that no longer exist. Some are long out of print, and some just disappeared into the time vortex of obscurity. Some of those, like the original Final Fantasy series are enjoying a surprising revival. Looks like I’m not the only one suffering from a wave of nostalgia. All of those games would probably always be remembered fondly by someone, somewhere, and as long as someone remembers some obscure, out of print game, there would be some hacker enthusiast, porting it into tomorrow, maintaining the gaming vaults of the past into the future.

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Fixwaffle – The Goblin That Never Was

I used to play World of Warcraft. I didn’t stop because I grew tired of the grind or the game. Indeed, I would still be playing today if my computer could take it. Sadly, my computer has now grown too old and tired. It keep crying that his old hard drive aches and his memory card is not what it used to be. In order to continue playing I would need a new one, one with youthful spirit and a sparkle in its webcam. I might be able to afford one right around December.

Before I left the game, I was going to roll up a goblin, one of the new races The Cataclysm made available. Unfortunately, it was also The Cataclysm that made playing the game to much of an ordeal for my old computer. “Give me something I could deal with”, that blasted machine would cry out “something like a game of Pac-Man, or maybe Pong“. *sigh*.

A goblin would have been the perfect choice for me. They are nasty, but also funny as hell. They are inventors and innovators. They just don’t give a shit, unless there’s money involved and oh yes… they are green Naturally, a strong character like that needs a suitable name. Fixwaffle was the name I came up with, a name that catches both the quirky side and the engineering twist of the goblin. Than came The Cataclysm and the goblin never was.

Fixwaffle is a good name for a goblin, but I also thought it was too good of a name to let it go. I decided to get a domain with that name and make a blog about World of Warcraft from the perspective of a former player. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can say about a game once you stop playing it, so I repurposed the website. I decided to experiment with a new format of Wiki based story telling. I set up the blueprint for a story and invited people to join the writing. No one came. After about half a year it was obvious the experiment was an epic fail, so I scraped that one and came back to blogging, this time from a much wider writing spectrum. This is where I am today. The writing experiment that was called Fixwaffle World is now the sketch pad of my mind. As I write my way into the future, the voice of the past but a whisper to me, I see a world around me form as reality and game become intertwined in whole new ways, and I know – the goblin that never was would be.

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