VirginWorlds MMORPG News Host: Brent VirginWorlds is a weekly news podcast covering Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Eve Online, Vanguard, Lord of the Rings Online and many many more. The VirginWorlds MMORPG Podcast is the flagship podcast of the VirginWorlds MMO Podcast Collective found at http://www.virginworlds.com
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VirginWorlds Podcast #59 - GDC Day Five (Part 1)Sun, 11 Mar 2007 05:23:00 GMT [download/play]
And finally, here is part one of day five from GDC 2007. Within, Brenden and I discuss several of the roundtables we attended and afterwards you'll find interviews with Lockpick Entertainment (Dreamlords), Frozen North Productions (a new MMO company with some great ideas), and Multiverse. Part two will follow within the next few days and will feature Cheyenne Mountain and Netdevil. Enjoy!
VirginWorlds is a weekly news podcast covering Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Eve Online, Vanguard, and many many more. The main site can be found at http://www.VirginWorlds.com
'Great Show' by Shouryuu Submitted on 2007-03-11 09:47:16 CST A lot of very interesting stuff in this episode; I really enjoyed the Frozen North interview, Project Hippasus looks very promising and fun, I am definitely going to give it a try when some form of beta comes out.
I obviously disagree with some of the things you said about combat in MMOs, and I guess you do too, however I thought the combat/sex comparison was interesting and to some extent unsurprising. I am all but an expert on Freudian psychology, but most of what we do in MMOs can be linked to sexual acts; thrusting your sword into someone; firing your gun at someone; re-entering the earth's crust in WoW (Molten Core) which can be compared to re-entering your mother's womb; are just some examples of an endless list of acts with sexual connotations.
I hardy consider it as "bad", one of mankind's sole purpose is reproduction; we are all animals, in the purest most biological definition (we have qualities that elevate us above animals, such as love and morals; but we remain animals scientifically speaking) and one of our main drives is to ensure the passing of our genetic code to further generations. Even human society is comparably organized like "animal society" (using "society" for animals, is disputable); an animal that is better able to ensure the survival of its offspring will become the dominant species; a man that can offer a better education, better protection for his children, will have the most desirable wife, and to a certain degree dominate the social ladder.
This though process can be applied to basically any form of competition; whoever is best at something (the strongest, the smartest, the best looking...) has a sexual advantage over an average person. The same goes for MMOs and combat; if you can beat someone, that means you are better than him, stronger, smarter... And to some extent you deserve the girls, and the sex.
Combat in MMOs merely mirror our basic sexual drives which are omnipresent in society, and this explains why combat can be so easily associated to sex.
'GDC Comments on the Negative Aspects of Combat in MMOs' by kamolahy Submitted on 2007-03-11 20:36:54 CST Funny that the whole comment about combat in MMOs being geared towards guys and being anti-social came up.
#1 - Remember when MMOs tried hard to be focused on party play only? How well did that work? I'll never forget countless hours of sitting in Bastok while waiting for a party to Valkurm Dunes while playing FFXI... and that was one of the most popular partying places.
#2 - I think that recognizing some people having a problem with combat being focused on males could have a silver lining. I'm not saying I agree. I am saying that it's always pushing devs to find more diverse ways to immerse players. Sometimes these problems are good.
I agree that the whole MMO combat thing being focused on men is a bit strange to me, but I can only speak for guys. Maybe someone will catch on to this idea real well and try to fix it. Who knows.
'A wealth of things' by scytale2 Submitted on 2007-03-12 06:22:17 CST It was a lot of fun hearing some more visionary aspects to the genre. Problem is, when are we going to see some of them? Your comments on Raph's lack of tangibility to his ideas are probably testament to that.
Enjoyed the Multiverse interview the most. One thing I would like to know, though, is the "cross-world" compatibility. Can I be a mermaid in one world and then cross over a boundary and become a butterfly in an Elvish wood? If they want to rule the world with this product (and link up with Raph's ideas) then this is kind of a requirement. Good strategy to take over billing, as it clues them in to performance and also takes over the kind of responsibilities that artistic and creative people hate.
Sex and combat - tbh the whole Freudian thing is just plain tosh. I think it just plays to the "giggle factor" that the Brits and Americans have about sex.
Lastly a controversial comment to Brendan, my fave commentator on MMOs that I rarely agree with:) I think the expletives impacted negatively on Brent's podcast, although he would be too polite to tell you. Let's treat this important global podcast of the future with the respect it deserves.
'Who knows C# then ?' by Dathmar Submitted on 2007-03-12 13:01:53 CST So the new(Multiverse created) MMO dream team could be -
Brent - CEO and all sound work..including an Angry Rock intro.
Brendan - Customer Services VP +
Stories , Lore and Quests (Falcon Twin the MMO ?)
MMOG Army - Christmas Party organisers / PVP consultants
any more ideas ?
;)
'Brent holds up a stop sign' by Brent Submitted on 2007-03-12 16:12:28 CST Dathmar, would you please close that can of worms and seal it up tight?
'Great Show' by Shouryuu
Submitted on 2007-03-11 09:47:16 CST
A lot of very interesting stuff in this episode; I really enjoyed the Frozen North interview, Project Hippasus looks very promising and fun, I am definitely going to give it a try when some form of beta comes out.
I obviously disagree with some of the things you said about combat in MMOs, and I guess you do too, however I thought the combat/sex comparison was interesting and to some extent unsurprising. I am all but an expert on Freudian psychology, but most of what we do in MMOs can be linked to sexual acts; thrusting your sword into someone; firing your gun at someone; re-entering the earth's crust in WoW (Molten Core) which can be compared to re-entering your mother's womb; are just some examples of an endless list of acts with sexual connotations.
I hardy consider it as "bad", one of mankind's sole purpose is reproduction; we are all animals, in the purest most biological definition (we have qualities that elevate us above animals, such as love and morals; but we remain animals scientifically speaking) and one of our main drives is to ensure the passing of our genetic code to further generations. Even human society is comparably organized like "animal society" (using "society" for animals, is disputable); an animal that is better able to ensure the survival of its offspring will become the dominant species; a man that can offer a better education, better protection for his children, will have the most desirable wife, and to a certain degree dominate the social ladder.
This though process can be applied to basically any form of competition; whoever is best at something (the strongest, the smartest, the best looking...) has a sexual advantage over an average person. The same goes for MMOs and combat; if you can beat someone, that means you are better than him, stronger, smarter... And to some extent you deserve the girls, and the sex.
Combat in MMOs merely mirror our basic sexual drives which are omnipresent in society, and this explains why combat can be so easily associated to sex.
'GDC Comments on the Negative Aspects of Combat in MMOs' by kamolahy
Submitted on 2007-03-11 20:36:54 CST
Funny that the whole comment about combat in MMOs being geared towards guys and being anti-social came up.
#1 - Remember when MMOs tried hard to be focused on party play only? How well did that work? I'll never forget countless hours of sitting in Bastok while waiting for a party to Valkurm Dunes while playing FFXI... and that was one of the most popular partying places.
#2 - I think that recognizing some people having a problem with combat being focused on males could have a silver lining. I'm not saying I agree. I am saying that it's always pushing devs to find more diverse ways to immerse players. Sometimes these problems are good.
I agree that the whole MMO combat thing being focused on men is a bit strange to me, but I can only speak for guys. Maybe someone will catch on to this idea real well and try to fix it. Who knows.
'A wealth of things' by scytale2
Submitted on 2007-03-12 06:22:17 CST
It was a lot of fun hearing some more visionary aspects to the genre. Problem is, when are we going to see some of them? Your comments on Raph's lack of tangibility to his ideas are probably testament to that.
Enjoyed the Multiverse interview the most. One thing I would like to know, though, is the "cross-world" compatibility. Can I be a mermaid in one world and then cross over a boundary and become a butterfly in an Elvish wood? If they want to rule the world with this product (and link up with Raph's ideas) then this is kind of a requirement. Good strategy to take over billing, as it clues them in to performance and also takes over the kind of responsibilities that artistic and creative people hate.
Sex and combat - tbh the whole Freudian thing is just plain tosh. I think it just plays to the "giggle factor" that the Brits and Americans have about sex.
Lastly a controversial comment to Brendan, my fave commentator on MMOs that I rarely agree with:) I think the expletives impacted negatively on Brent's podcast, although he would be too polite to tell you. Let's treat this important global podcast of the future with the respect it deserves.
'Who knows C# then ?' by Dathmar
Submitted on 2007-03-12 13:01:53 CST
So the new(Multiverse created) MMO dream team could be -
Brent - CEO and all sound work..including an Angry Rock intro.
Brendan - Customer Services VP +
Stories , Lore and Quests (Falcon Twin the MMO ?)
MMOG Army - Christmas Party organisers / PVP consultants
any more ideas ?
;)
'Brent holds up a stop sign' by Brent
Submitted on 2007-03-12 16:12:28 CST
Dathmar, would you please close that can of worms and seal it up tight?
:)