The PvP Report #4: Think Different

I've published my fourth weekly "PvP Report" for GGL, covering the WoW Arena Tourney scene.

In this column, I reply to Mahmood Ali's column criticizing WoW as a pro gaming platform:

I don't see WoW's "leveling requirement" as making it inferior to traditional pro games. I see it as different. Different from FPS games, different from RTS games. But not worse. It's just another way to play a game.

One of pro gaming's major problems is the supposed dearth of pro games. "Quake 4" sucks, so we're left with "Call of Duty" and "Counter-Strike," plus Q3 and UT. There's "StarCraft" and "WarCraft III" on the RTS side, both because they are well-balanced games, and because the Hangukin love them. But that's pretty much it.

Every time a new game comes along that might possibly add to the pro games stable, it immediately gets shot down by the community. Take "Battle for Middle-Earth 2," for example. Is BFME2 as good as "StarCraft" or "Warcraft 3?" No, it absolutely isn't. But is it good enough for pro play? Yes, it absolutely is. Would a new, fresh game breathe life into the moribund pro gaming scene? Yes, it absolutely would. (Should SC and WC3 play suffer, to make room for a new, inferior game? No. But it wouldn't have to.)

Is WoW PvP as good a pro game as any of the above listed? Let's take it as granted that no, it isn't. But would the pro gaming scene benefit from a "new" game, part of an immensely popular franchise, created by a venerable pro-gaming company, that pro-gaming n00bs would understand and appreciate? Only if it genuinely tested the skills of the best players.

Does WoW PvP test those skills? Yes, it does. And automatically rejecting this game from the competitive community would not only be (actually) elitist, but damaging to pro gaming as whole.

Check it out if for nothing more than the pic of me as Xerxes from "300."

Link.

Legiticorp's MMO pitch

Regrets for not posting more, folks - but I'm in one of the original multi-player games, a theatrical production! No time for gaming, it's all singing and dancing for me. Still, this clip from "Attack of the Show" was topical and darned funny - clueless pitchmen trying to interest backers in their awful MMO ideas.

"Dragon Ball" MMO Announced

Japanese game site DBMania(nihongo) announced the development of an MMORPG based on the venerable anime, manga and game franchise "Dragon Ball."

The tale of a monkey-tailed boy and a collection of dragon-summoning magic balls was popular in Japan and America in the 1980s and 90s.

The game is expected for 2008. Using the Game Developer-to-English translator, this means you can expect it in 2015.

Via Japanator.

Join An Invite-Only Dungeon-Crawl MMORPG

MMORPG.com is offering invites to "Dungeon Runners," a free invite-only fantasy MMORPG.

I don't know much about it, except that it's based on D&D-style hack-and-slash dungeon crawls. You know, like "Dungeons & Dragons Online" was supposed to be.

Maybe it will do a better job.

Link.

Hilarious German Web Terms

This is from a translation of a German article, giving funny definitions of web terms. Definitely worth a read.

MySpace
MySpace was founded by the music industry and is the largest MMORPG in the world. Kind of like World of Warcraft, but the graphics suck. Everybody who can make up a nickname for himself may join. The goal is to add as many other players (called "friends") as possible to your own profile. The winner is the player with the most "friends". If you leave the game or get kicked out, you also lose all your friends.

Second Life
Second Life is a virtual swinger club for journalists. The platform is financed by the big media conglomerates of the world with the goal to replace editorial staff restaurants, work outings and conference rooms. And also to finally allow sexual harassment at work to the unemployed.

Via Hitchhiker's Guide to the Web.