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Daily Column

17 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 70 so far in December!

The good folks at Bounty Bay Online sent me the following, which I thought was important enough to pass on to you. Not much gets by me. I have a mind like a sponge. In fact, I act a lot like Spongebob Squarepants in real life. It's a gift.

"Starting today, its even easier to become a world famous pirate, explore the seven seas and collect treasures beyond imagination in the award-winning MMORPG Bounty Bay Online. The game client previously retailing for 20 Pound Sterling is now completely free. It can be downloaded from the games website and also includes a 10 day free trial period.

The change to a free client business model is a way to improve BBO game-play by offering a slick, easy way to get into the game. Players who already bought the boxed version of the game will be compensated with a free month game time.

Also starting today, the first free add-on for Bounty Bay Online called Storm Island is available. This add-on will be included in the content update applied automatically when the players log in. It contains a new tropical island close to the North American coast. There, evil creatures wait guarding precious treasures.

Features of BBO Storm Island:

- A large new island full of dangers and adventures for the most courageous players
- Level cap has been raised from 100 to 120, giving players the possibility to improve their characters skills even further
- 21 additional special abilities for fishing, stamina, sewing, shipbuilding, foundry and more
- New quests and new dungeons, made especially for groups of adventurers
- New enemies, monsters, weapons, armour and extras
- A brand new gem system, which allows players to upgrade their weapon and armour. Now you can upgrade your favourite items to match the new requirements

You can now upgrade your skills from phase 2 (lvl 31 - 100) to phase 3 (lvl 100 - 120) using the skill books which can be bought in the in-game net shop for 52.5 mil silver. Later there will be a new NPC implemented from whom you will be able to buy them from for the same price."

Our own rodeo clown, Jeff Woleslagle recently wrote the first preview of Bounty Bay Online: Storm Island. Feast your eyes on the fancy graphics while you wrap your head around Jeff's high-brow words. He's got a huge vocabulary for a rodeo clown!

Raph Koster has posted his GDC Prime 2007 talk in JPG and PPT formats. If you are interested in the industry as a business these are worth a look. Some of it may not make a whole lot of sense if you are just stumbling into the MMOG world, but stick with it and ask if you have questions.

I am especially fond of this quote,

"The more similar the goods on offer, the more likely you are to get a monopolistic situation, because we buy what our friends have."

I have mentioned this in the past, though not nearly so eloquently. MMOGs are exactly as good as the people you play with. If you solo the entire time then they aren't very fulfilling. If you find a core group and it becomes a social outlet then they consume vast amounts of your time. It's the people, not the game that takes us as players to the next level of enjoyment.

A poorly designed game is still a poorly designed game however, but as Raph so elegantly wrote, if games are similar then we will play what our friends play. It is a vicious circle that drives players away from games like EverQuest 2 and Lord of the Rings Online and back to World of Warcraft.

I reintroduced myself to EverQuest 2 recently. I absolutely love what they have done with the game. I find it much more like World of Warcraft now than it was at launch. I had a great time playing it, and I will play it on occasion as part of a guild with non-other than Scott Adams, but and it's an enormous but... my wife enjoys WoW, so that is what I will play when I'm playing for enjoyment and not work. Will I hop back to EQ2? Of course, I enjoyed it, but only because I have people that I can jump back to, namely Scott's guild. The people make the game. If the game is similar to another title then I'll play what my friends play. The pleasure of gaming comes more from the people I surround myself with than the game I am playing.

Jeff, Cody, Phil, (Some Garrett) and I often talk about the core community that built TenTonHammer.com. It was our EverQuest 2 guild. We were such a tight group that on a whim 20 or so of our guildmates flew to Las Vegas to meet us while we were attending meetings. We have yet to put together (as a staff) a guild as compelling, innovative and fun as that group. With Warhammer Online and Age of Conan around the corner it is probably time that we tried.

Comments, questions or naughty pictures? Hit the forum or hit my mailbox. --Boomjack

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to.

Real World News

Court Orders Cartoon Characters To Witness Stand [Thanks Matt]
Everyone knew that someday that anvil would land on an innocent passerby.
Nun Reels Off List of Banned Curse Words [Thanks Matt]
Bad habit?
Man Gets Hit By Car, Sets World Record [Thanks Matt]
In other news, would-be record setters seen loitering on highways across America.

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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