

Welcome to Show 79: Rift podcast part 2 – dinnertime aboard the Airship Embracement
Topics include:
Flank speed – how many elves does it take to balance a dwarf?
Massively develops time warp technology.
Throwing the ship in reverse – how good does your mmo do Wow?
Full Speed Ahead - What’s new under the (Telaran) Sun?
Paths to leveling in Rift other than questing.
Will Rift grab players by the subscription rate?
Rift throws a “come as you are” party.
Karen and Saylah pitch Rift – dynamic content
Borrowed and improved – Trion worlds doing it the right way this time.
Will Asshaticus R. rear its ugly head again?
Will lower end content suffer as the average population level increases?
Does Rift “have legs”? – Lessons learned.
Come join Julie, Fran, Saylah, Tipa and Karen as we discuss what is new under the Telaran sun and what is not – and along the way share a lot of laughs.
'Instances, where they came from.' by Celestian
Submitted on 2011-02-05 21:13:01 CST
Tipa was WAY off with WoW coming up with instances.
Lost Dungeons of Norrath instances (EQ1) was WAY before WoW's instances ... however before that a small company crashed into the MMO scene with Anarchy Online who, as far as I know, are the first folks to use instances.
'Superman is a WOW clone' by gt4980b
Submitted on 2011-02-05 21:19:07 CST
Soo...at what point will we stop comparing MMO's to WOW? I could understand it if we compared it to WOW on day 1. But we compare a brand new game to whatever WOW is today. Hence, the MMO is dead and buried before it launches.
Its really irking me. I recently purchased DCUO and I'm enjoying the game. I have read reviews and listened to podcasts about the game. I can understand DCUO getting bad scores. But to crucify a game because its not WOW? People have literally said DCUO should have features because WOW has it. We really need to let games be their own game. I know WOW is at the top of the MMO tower but some people(ME) do not like WOW. So to say a game that I like is bad because its not like a game I do not like is slapping me in the face. I'm voting with my dollars but my vote is being tossed out by crappy website and pedestrian(wish they had the talent to be developers) writers. (Number+Direction)
I don't really have a main point. Just frustration. WOW has been the worst thing to ever happen to MMO gaming. Including NGE...take that SWG fans! :)
'Gotta agree' by Token
Submitted on 2011-02-05 21:33:16 CST
First 2 or 3 years I'd say WoW was an important step forwards for MMO's. Now though it really is the worst thing to ever happen to the genre. I don't know if all their talent is on other projects or if they just don't have any passion, or if they are too scared, but my god Cataclysm was a fucking insult.
'Superman is a WOW clone' by gt4980b
Submitted on 2011-02-05 21:35:28 CST
Soo...at what point will we stop comparing MMO's to WOW? I could understand it if we compared it to WOW on day 1. But we compare a brand new game to whatever WOW is today. Hence, the MMO is dead and buried before it launches.
Its really irking me. I recently purchased DCUO and I'm enjoying the game. I have read reviews and listened to podcasts about the game. I can understand DCUO getting bad scores. But to crucify a game because its not WOW? People have literally said DCUO should have features because WOW has it. We really need to let games be their own game. I know WOW is at the top of the MMO tower but some people(ME) do not like WOW. So to say a game that I like is bad because its not like a game I do not like is slapping me in the face. I'm voting with my dollars but my vote is being tossed out by crappy website and pedestrian(wish they had the talent to be developers) writers. (Number+Direction)
I don't really have a main point. Just frustration. WOW has been the worst thing to ever happen to MMO gaming. Including NGE...take that SWG fans! :)
'Superman is a WOW clone' by gt4980b
Submitted on 2011-02-05 21:50:35 CST
Soo...at what point will we stop comparing MMO's to WOW? I could understand it if we compared it to WOW on day 1. But we compare a brand new game to whatever WOW is today. Hence, the MMO is dead and buried before it launches.
Its really irking me. I recently purchased DCUO and I'm enjoying the game. I have read reviews and listened to podcasts about the game. I can understand DCUO getting bad scores. But to crucify a game because its not WOW? People have literally said DCUO should have features because WOW has it. We really need to let games be their own game. I know WOW is at the top of the MMO tower but some people(ME) do not like WOW. So to say a game that I like is bad because its not like a game I do not like is slapping me in the face. I'm voting with my dollars but my vote is being tossed out by crappy website and pedestrian(wish they had the talent to be developers) writers. (Number+Direction)
I don't really have a main point. Just frustration. WOW has been the worst thing to ever happen to MMO gaming. Including NGE...take that SWG fans! :)
'Generic Post Title' by Julie
Submitted on 2011-02-06 06:07:21 CST
Interestingly enough I don't recall talking about DC Universe Online at all (with the possible exception of my "it isn't even the same genre" comment).
Beyond that, while TIPA may be a controversial guest from time to time, I wouldn't classify any of the guests nor NPNM team as "crappy" nor "pedestrian". And if you want to hear opinions from executive producers, creative directors, community manager, and independent developers on our shows all you have to do is go back through the last 79 shows - in fact an executive producer friend of ours offered to do a Rift show but we beat him to the punch so he has decided to delay his Rift input. If Tipa decides to write an article called "how wow-like is your game?" for her website why would that detract from anyone else's opinion?
Does the success of WoW affect other mmos under development? There is no doubt about that - which is why Dr. Richard Bartle talked about it when he was a guest on the show, and we agreed with him. In fact you will note that on the show Fran objects vehemently when Tipa compares Rift to Wow.
But there is something to that - as Karen said, Mr. Hartsman (also a guest on an earlier show) and his team chose not to throw the differences at their players from the start but waited a few levels so players would have a comfort zone. Karen also said she wishes that Rift Developers had decided to acquaint players with what sets Rift apart from the first.