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 #99Sat, 5 Jan 2008 16:42:00 GMT [download/play]
Drawing ever closer to show 100. Number 99 is a special show featuring the annual joining of forces by VirginWorlds (Brent and Brenden) and Massively Online Gamer (Ryan and Gary). As you would expect we talk about MMOs, we cuss, we talk about non-MMOs, we make references to obscure pop culture, we talk about console games, we carpet bomb the podcast with f-bombs, and we spend some time making fun of each other. Not your typical VirginWorlds Podcast, but that is what makes it fun. If you're adverse to intense language, stray away. If you're a fan of both shows, you won't want to miss it.
'LOL' by darrenl Submitted on 2008-01-05 15:54:19 CST ohhh my gawd that was funny as hell.
Good work guys.
'PERFECT' by MattGraham Submitted on 2008-01-05 23:41:33 CST Another great meeting! Awesome episode! :D
'omg wow' by Lumio Submitted on 2008-01-06 03:08:37 CST I cant believe the next show is show 100, that like 1000 in podcast years!
Pre-Grats!
'Good show!' by Ammon777 Submitted on 2008-01-06 20:13:00 CST That was a good show, thanks guys.
'Unexpected agreement.' by Nosferum Submitted on 2008-01-06 20:15:15 CST ---I've generally found that those who began their MMOGing a few years ago think very differently about the games than those (like myself) who began ten years ago. However, I was surprised to hear a very important issue:
(1) Players often don't know what they like in a game. They can't qualify or explain accurately.
---I'm not yet convinced that the ballooning of player numbers in MMOs are necessarily good. WoW might have done more harm to the genre than help, by pushing aside otherwise good games and by bringing in a very large audience of gamers who don't necessarily like MMOs; they like WoW.
---However, what's the functional difference between killing a rat at level one and killing an orc or goblin? Is it an issue of seeing the same types of creature; such that you wouldn't want orc or goblin, either? In Ultima Online, killing rats and birds and pigs made the move up to orc a major event in a gamer's life.
---Equally, I've heard complaints about the simplicity of quest types for years, but I very rarely ever heard new ideas. However, BIG PROPS to Darren for reminding us of A Tale in the Desert.
'thanks for the laughs' by odinseye Submitted on 2008-01-06 21:46:41 CST omg i laughed my butt off at work today listening to this show. I think my boss was very curious wanting to know what the heck was so funny, lol. It was really great to hear you loosen up a bit Brent. Never really listened to the MOG army cast before, but now I think I will have to give the subscribe button a click on that one as well now.
Was kinda dissapointed that you guys blew over Stargate Worlds like you did though? I wonder why most of you feel it is vaporware? You know something I don't? Please tell if you do, lol.
'sound quality is... !!!!!' by ktin Submitted on 2008-01-07 07:58:58 CST i was listening to the MOG army version of this podcast, and the sound quality is much, much higher. no questions asked. enough to make me want to tell you. Mog army released a much, much better version of this podcast.
*cries*
great show and great work, as always!
Regaurds,
K
'I think...' by Shawn Submitted on 2008-01-07 09:08:14 CST Last year I was one of the people who didn't like Gary and Ryan, and didn't think they fit with VW. But since then I've started listening to MOG and I really love those guys. I think this was a great show and I'm always pleasantly surprised at what comes out of Ryan's mouth next. Also, as others have said, it's great to hear you let loose occasionally, Brent.
'What?' by Wilhelm2451 Submitted on 2008-01-07 12:37:12 CST No argument over "sandbox" this year?
Good show! Still more of a MOG podcast than a VW podcast, but much less unbalanced in that regard than last year.
'Awesome' by Grugio Submitted on 2008-01-07 15:16:16 CST Pretty. Effing. Hilarious. I just went and subscribe to mog Podcast.
'Great Discussion' by Kylvan Submitted on 2008-01-07 22:49:58 CST I had a hoot listening to this one. The discussion was great. I think having Brendan and Ryan working in the industry injected a nuanced perspective to the discussion, balancing out Brent's analysis and Gary's instinct. Great job.
'VW + MOG = Magic' by Mezzum Submitted on 2008-01-08 11:34:40 CST As always, great show. I would have added Darren to the mix. Keep up the good work, we need more of these shows as well... once a quarter would work.
'audio quality: ktin' by Brent Submitted on 2008-01-09 12:11:22 CST 1. The audio for both versions is based on the same source recording.
2. Mixing the file louder (which MOG did in this case) doesn't necessarily mean it's "higher quality".
3. You may have gotten the two versions confused in your comparison because to my ear there is a constant hissing noise on the MOG version and on the VW version I cannot detect any background noise at all.
4. Admittedly, I did not mix Gary's track quite loud enough because sometimes he gets extremely quiet.
'Cooler quests = More instanced content (not that that's bad)' by RFWarrior Submitted on 2008-01-11 10:44:44 CST Great show.
Regarding better quests in future MMOs: I agree that more in depth quest chains with environment changes and stuff is going to be awesome. However, this content will almost certainly have to be instanced. Otherwise it will be really odd to see the same thing happen over and over in an environment. It sounds like LOTR has done a good job with this and I know the EQ2 adventure packs are pretty cool. Just thought I would comment as I’ve played pen and paper RPGs for over 20 years and making the translation to an online massive game isn’t going to be easy.
Keep up the great work.
'Interested in hosting some "Old-School" POD Casts?' by Fear Submitted on 2008-01-11 13:15:18 CST I have 67 shows from Battle Vortex back in 2000 to 2002 or so. If you guys want to archive them for me, I would be grateful.
Interesting stuff from many of the older developers that are still in the industry today including Raph Koster, SunSword, RuneSabre, even interviews with Pundits like Lum The Mad (Scott Jennings) etc...
Let me know, I am still out there at www.battlevortex.com...
'hey Brent and crew' by Ammon777 Submitted on 2008-01-12 04:02:21 CST Would you guys still write-off and /ignore Darkfall Online if it releases in Spring 2008?
Just curious. I have waited for 7 years for Darkfall and the wait doesnt get any better. But I dont totally dismiss Darkfall like you guys do. I still have hope.
'10 minutes' by scytale2 Submitted on 2008-01-12 08:52:56 CST Well, I took the advice of the commenters and listened a bit.
ISimply, don't bother - it was, if anything worse than last year. Maybe it got better, but ten minutes proved that you guys learnt nothing from last year's "fiasco", I quote.
There's nothing wrong with having "expletive-filled" conversation, if that's what pushes your buttons, but don't let it taint what is a serious market, trying to find its way to the mainstream, yet finds itself tarnished by immaturity.
Even once in a year is too much. I'm guessing the other half of the listeners didn't bother listening to this. It's a shame, when a "once a year podcast" could have some proper "special guests", with insight, not chatter.
Oh, and btw, thanks for the mention:)
'Darkfall Online' by Wilhelm2451 Submitted on 2008-01-12 13:10:46 CST I am sure if Darkfall Online shipped in the first half of 2008... or shipped at any time... people would not ignore it.
But after years of slipped dates and badly set expectations, the team at Adventurine has zero credibility. For most people now, it is a matter of "put up or shut up." Hype won't cut it.
I am interested in what you mean by "I have waited for 7 years for Darkfall and the wait doesnt get any better." Does that mean you have enjoyed the time? Some have speculated that Darkfall is nothing but a website game being played by a few people posing as devs. Could it be true?
'Brow of the show rises.' by Nosferum Submitted on 2008-01-13 03:48:48 CST ---After about fifteen minutes (I haven't actually timed it), they begin to actually discuss issues, and it becomes worthy.
'huh?' by Ammon777 Submitted on 2008-01-13 06:21:32 CST No, I meant that waiting for Darkfall for 7 years is truelly an AGE to wait. I have played other MMOs in the meantime and have had fun with those (mainly EVE and WoW), but I mean that it isnt fun to wait for a game for over 7 years that may or may not amount to anything. Either Darkfall will be revolutionary, or it will be such a tremendous let-down to me that I might just leave the MMO-player-space and never look back. If you think I didnt invest anything for 7 years... hell, I have waited 7 years for Darkfall -- that is an investment of my time, patience, and most of all, its a HUGE investment into my HOPES and dreams. If Darkfall fails, then I fail at hoping for anything beyond level treadmills in this genre. Ad nausium.
'LOL' by darrenl
Submitted on 2008-01-05 15:54:19 CST
ohhh my gawd that was funny as hell.
Good work guys.
'PERFECT' by MattGraham
Submitted on 2008-01-05 23:41:33 CST
Another great meeting! Awesome episode! :D
'omg wow' by Lumio
Submitted on 2008-01-06 03:08:37 CST
I cant believe the next show is show 100, that like 1000 in podcast years!
Pre-Grats!
'Good show!' by Ammon777
Submitted on 2008-01-06 20:13:00 CST
That was a good show, thanks guys.
'Unexpected agreement.' by Nosferum
Submitted on 2008-01-06 20:15:15 CST
---I've generally found that those who began their MMOGing a few years ago think very differently about the games than those (like myself) who began ten years ago. However, I was surprised to hear a very important issue:
(1) Players often don't know what they like in a game. They can't qualify or explain accurately.
---I'm not yet convinced that the ballooning of player numbers in MMOs are necessarily good. WoW might have done more harm to the genre than help, by pushing aside otherwise good games and by bringing in a very large audience of gamers who don't necessarily like MMOs; they like WoW.
---However, what's the functional difference between killing a rat at level one and killing an orc or goblin? Is it an issue of seeing the same types of creature; such that you wouldn't want orc or goblin, either? In Ultima Online, killing rats and birds and pigs made the move up to orc a major event in a gamer's life.
---Equally, I've heard complaints about the simplicity of quest types for years, but I very rarely ever heard new ideas. However, BIG PROPS to Darren for reminding us of A Tale in the Desert.
'thanks for the laughs' by odinseye
Submitted on 2008-01-06 21:46:41 CST
omg i laughed my butt off at work today listening to this show. I think my boss was very curious wanting to know what the heck was so funny, lol. It was really great to hear you loosen up a bit Brent. Never really listened to the MOG army cast before, but now I think I will have to give the subscribe button a click on that one as well now.
Was kinda dissapointed that you guys blew over Stargate Worlds like you did though? I wonder why most of you feel it is vaporware? You know something I don't? Please tell if you do, lol.
'sound quality is... !!!!!' by ktin
Submitted on 2008-01-07 07:58:58 CST
i was listening to the MOG army version of this podcast, and the sound quality is much, much higher. no questions asked. enough to make me want to tell you. Mog army released a much, much better version of this podcast.
*cries*
great show and great work, as always!
Regaurds,
K
'I think...' by Shawn
Submitted on 2008-01-07 09:08:14 CST
Last year I was one of the people who didn't like Gary and Ryan, and didn't think they fit with VW. But since then I've started listening to MOG and I really love those guys. I think this was a great show and I'm always pleasantly surprised at what comes out of Ryan's mouth next. Also, as others have said, it's great to hear you let loose occasionally, Brent.
'What?' by Wilhelm2451
Submitted on 2008-01-07 12:37:12 CST
No argument over "sandbox" this year?
Good show! Still more of a MOG podcast than a VW podcast, but much less unbalanced in that regard than last year.
'Awesome' by Grugio
Submitted on 2008-01-07 15:16:16 CST
Pretty. Effing. Hilarious. I just went and subscribe to mog Podcast.
'Great Discussion' by Kylvan
Submitted on 2008-01-07 22:49:58 CST
I had a hoot listening to this one. The discussion was great. I think having Brendan and Ryan working in the industry injected a nuanced perspective to the discussion, balancing out Brent's analysis and Gary's instinct. Great job.
'VW + MOG = Magic' by Mezzum
Submitted on 2008-01-08 11:34:40 CST
As always, great show. I would have added Darren to the mix. Keep up the good work, we need more of these shows as well... once a quarter would work.
'audio quality: ktin' by Brent
Submitted on 2008-01-09 12:11:22 CST
1. The audio for both versions is based on the same source recording.
2. Mixing the file louder (which MOG did in this case) doesn't necessarily mean it's "higher quality".
3. You may have gotten the two versions confused in your comparison because to my ear there is a constant hissing noise on the MOG version and on the VW version I cannot detect any background noise at all.
4. Admittedly, I did not mix Gary's track quite loud enough because sometimes he gets extremely quiet.
'Cooler quests = More instanced content (not that that's bad)' by RFWarrior
Submitted on 2008-01-11 10:44:44 CST
Great show.
Regarding better quests in future MMOs: I agree that more in depth quest chains with environment changes and stuff is going to be awesome. However, this content will almost certainly have to be instanced. Otherwise it will be really odd to see the same thing happen over and over in an environment. It sounds like LOTR has done a good job with this and I know the EQ2 adventure packs are pretty cool. Just thought I would comment as I’ve played pen and paper RPGs for over 20 years and making the translation to an online massive game isn’t going to be easy.
Keep up the great work.
'Interested in hosting some "Old-School" POD Casts?' by Fear
Submitted on 2008-01-11 13:15:18 CST
I have 67 shows from Battle Vortex back in 2000 to 2002 or so. If you guys want to archive them for me, I would be grateful.
Interesting stuff from many of the older developers that are still in the industry today including Raph Koster, SunSword, RuneSabre, even interviews with Pundits like Lum The Mad (Scott Jennings) etc...
Let me know, I am still out there at www.battlevortex.com...
'hey Brent and crew' by Ammon777
Submitted on 2008-01-12 04:02:21 CST
Would you guys still write-off and /ignore Darkfall Online if it releases in Spring 2008?
Just curious. I have waited for 7 years for Darkfall and the wait doesnt get any better. But I dont totally dismiss Darkfall like you guys do. I still have hope.
'10 minutes' by scytale2
Submitted on 2008-01-12 08:52:56 CST
Well, I took the advice of the commenters and listened a bit.
ISimply, don't bother - it was, if anything worse than last year. Maybe it got better, but ten minutes proved that you guys learnt nothing from last year's "fiasco", I quote.
There's nothing wrong with having "expletive-filled" conversation, if that's what pushes your buttons, but don't let it taint what is a serious market, trying to find its way to the mainstream, yet finds itself tarnished by immaturity.
Even once in a year is too much. I'm guessing the other half of the listeners didn't bother listening to this. It's a shame, when a "once a year podcast" could have some proper "special guests", with insight, not chatter.
Oh, and btw, thanks for the mention:)
'Darkfall Online' by Wilhelm2451
Submitted on 2008-01-12 13:10:46 CST
I am sure if Darkfall Online shipped in the first half of 2008... or shipped at any time... people would not ignore it.
But after years of slipped dates and badly set expectations, the team at Adventurine has zero credibility. For most people now, it is a matter of "put up or shut up." Hype won't cut it.
I am interested in what you mean by "I have waited for 7 years for Darkfall and the wait doesnt get any better." Does that mean you have enjoyed the time? Some have speculated that Darkfall is nothing but a website game being played by a few people posing as devs. Could it be true?
'Brow of the show rises.' by Nosferum
Submitted on 2008-01-13 03:48:48 CST
---After about fifteen minutes (I haven't actually timed it), they begin to actually discuss issues, and it becomes worthy.
'huh?' by Ammon777
Submitted on 2008-01-13 06:21:32 CST
No, I meant that waiting for Darkfall for 7 years is truelly an AGE to wait. I have played other MMOs in the meantime and have had fun with those (mainly EVE and WoW), but I mean that it isnt fun to wait for a game for over 7 years that may or may not amount to anything. Either Darkfall will be revolutionary, or it will be such a tremendous let-down to me that I might just leave the MMO-player-space and never look back. If you think I didnt invest anything for 7 years... hell, I have waited 7 years for Darkfall -- that is an investment of my time, patience, and most of all, its a HUGE investment into my HOPES and dreams. If Darkfall fails, then I fail at hoping for anything beyond level treadmills in this genre. Ad nausium.