At approx. 2:20am, the "Corrupted Blood" plague reached IronForge, spreading quickly. It was a minor annoyance for some and instant death for others. Somehow, this disease was brought back from Zul'Gurub, but after almost an hour of constant deaths in and around the bank and auction house, it finally subsided. Our sources say however, that it's unlikely to have been completely eradicated.

Aftermath photos: Mailbox, Auction House & Bridge

Update (Sept 17, 2005): Blizzard is curing the plague by removing its existence from anywhere but the Zul'Gurub instance. A rolling restart of all servers is set for 4am. The Great Azeroth Plague of Sept '05 lasted approx 2 days.

Update (August 22, 2007): Corrupted Blood has resurfaced in the news.

Update (March 23, 2008): Corrupted Blood is back again.

It's very refreshing to hear that Blizzard won't be going with one of their existing IPs for their second foray into MMOs. I was both wondering how they could manage with their somewhat derivative existing choices, but I have to admit I also assumed they would, given their history of game design and IP choices.

I'd just finished listening to an interview with 38 Studio's Curt Shilling and Steve Danuser and was equally encouraged with their take on the advantages of going with an original property. Just so long as it's done well.

Games we've seen recently have delved deeply into the most revered universes. As a player though, even if / when they recreate the world well, it's still a recreation and just lends that Theme Park feeling even more. I'd love to immerse myself in something new and well crafted from scratch.

Without going on at length about it, I think this screenshot comparison speaks volumes on its own. It's sort of a UI evolution.

(click for the full image that demonstrates it best)

1999 = Asheron's Call
2002 = Asheron's Call 2
2004 = World of Warcraft
2007 = Lord of the Rings Online.

Note: Kudos to Jim @ MMOG Chronicles for compiling this image.

Jeff Kaplan's GDC talk is making the rounds. Tigole (Kaplan) roasts WoW from the inside, trying to explain lessons Blizzard has learned. Except some of the elements he disparages, were the best parts for me.

Lum the Mad deftly pulled out some notable quotes. I'm going to follow his lead.

On Quest text:

I don't know about you, but when I'm playing an MMORPG, I'm not seeking my inner-child. In some console games perhaps, but when it comes to an RPG I like to be treated like a literate adult.

It's not like I want to see a wall-of-text on quests, but there's a difference between rambling on and well-written (and concise) progression of story.

I'm all for putting the story into the action too, but I'm going to be bored and disappointed if I feel everything has been dumbed down. If it's going to be in the action, why bother with quest dialogues at all? In that style of game, action should just happen by entering into an area or encountering an NPC, etc..

You know what else children like? Fast Food. Ask most children where they want to eat and the answer is McDonalds. I asked my niece and she answered "Candy!". I'm not much for candy myself except in small doses and that's the same way I am with games that try to appeal to kids.

Showing a flow chart of Loch Modan's quests:

I loved Loch Modan. Yes it started with almost randomly clustered quests as he described, but those quests funnelled into a few distinct directions: Like the wonderful questline to prevent terrorist dwarves from blowing up the dam. Most importantly I felt like I was leading these quests, rather than the quests leading me.

On mystery:

The Stalvan mystery quests are among my favourite, spanning Elwynn, Westwood and Duskwood. The quests that awaken Stitches in Duskwood are also great. Both of these started with the sort of mystery he describes here.

Oh, that quest:

Worst... quest... ever.

Honestly I think Jeff Kaplan is / was a good quest designer. I believe he's responsible for some of the better quests, especially in Duskwood, which still stands in my mind as the best zone of the game (or any MMO for that matter). At least as it was on launch. Duskwood has been pretty much butchered since TBC sadly, it's been poorly maintained to keep up with changes in the game. Apparently it doesn't fit into what Blizzard considers good questing now.

Duskwood's downward trend pretty much sums up what I feel about WoW overall. Much of the great leveling content has been trivialized. Kaplan has transformed from starry-eyed quest designer into a sort of head honcho that's ripped apart many of the good things that were and replacing them with watered-down lowest-common-denominator content and gameplay.

Using another paradigm:
I loved U2's earlier music, it was full of passion and oomph. They've progressed further as musicians, but in the process they've become less impassioned and more of a machine.

WoW is now mass-market, for sure. It just doesn't appeal to me as much as it did.

Jeff Kaplan's opinions here and his effect with them on the game, are pretty much why I no longer play World of Warcraft.

So apparently Tigole (Jeff Kaplan) won't be in charge at World of Raidcraft anymore. I stopped playing that game just over a year ago, but still it's hard not to notice such a huge change. WoW has been under the same direction more / less since release and Tigole was the butt of many jokes (and frustrations) while I played the game for three years. Whether his departure signals an upswing or decline for the game remains to be seen, but regardless I'd say it's the end of an era in MMOs. At least until their new MMO comes out, because hey Tigole is in charge of that one now.

One immediate thought is, does that leave Tom Chilton in charge of WoW now? He was always painted as Tigole's PvP counterpart in the eternal struggle between raiding and PvP balance. Will WoW's scales tip deeper into the PvP side?

In what's probably unrelated news, Blizzard has hired Fargo away from Gamespy. Makes some sorta sense, Flintlocke and all.

Nazrin gleefully exclaimed she'd found a game of Tag, just north of Bree-town by the fairgrounds. I had to check it out and we spent a few minutes chasing each other around pillars within some ruins. It's a simple thing really, I'm sure Turbine didn't spend a lot of time making it and we didn't spend much time playing it either. Sooner or later, when we've got a bigger crowd hanging around the area, we'll probably run around like schoolchildren, at least for a few moments.

This is the kind of thing that makes me love MMORPGs. Throw in a few toys here and there and let players make their own fun. It's not always about killing mobs.

In Ultima Online, I spent some time in an inn, playing backgammon against another player. They hadn't coded in the full rules, they simply provided the board and the pieces. In WoW, I had a hoot with the RC tanks at the Darkmoon Faire. And with the help of WoW's addon system, our guild organized several popular scavenger hunt races on our server.

I know there's a whole genre of mini-game collections, and UO's interface didn't lend all that well to boardgames, but MMOs are these huge social hubs perfect for this stuff. So with all these players hanging out, why not have a few little in-world distractions? I don't mean just for the roleplayers, I mean as added amusements and immersiveness for all of us.

And yeah, that's right, while Gandalf and Frodo are off trying to save Middle-Earth from the evils of Sauron and Saruman, we're playing tag. =)

This topic went 'round the blogosphere a few months back, but I'm revisiting it because the situation on the ground has changed.

I think Mark Jacobs was just playing the marketing game, it was a defensive 'WotLK won't hurt us' much like his recent 'layoffs won't hurt us'. He was just trying to put out fires.

I didn't buy into it. And if it was true, why should Mythic be proud of it?

MMORPGs encompass a variety of activities and gaming urges for the players. So if your game's population is taking time to play another MMO, then you've probably got some gaping holes in your content. In other words, if it was as compelling as it should be, they shouldn't be wandering so easily.

I understand playing other games, that makes sense. MMOs don't cover the same kind of gameplay as say Guitar Hero or Wii Fit. But to jump back and forth between two Diku-derived MMORPGs? These are time and focus consuming: Players invest in their characters.

So it probably wasn't true back in October, but it's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. I know I clued in that WAR's PvE content lacked a good foundation. And Mythic's emphasis has shifted fully to RvR (PvP) since release. It's become the 'why would you come here for PvE?' game.

On the forums, on the blogs, on the channels in-game-- It's evident that a good deal of players are playing WoW (or EQ2 or LOTRO) for PvE and WAR for PvP. In the blogosphere alone it's getting hard to find WAR players that are solely for WAR, it seems like they've all re-subbed for WotLK. I could make a long list, but more effective is Tome of Knowledge's "A Tale of Two Hunters" comic:

(Note: Not my comic, it just illustrates this so well. Go visit Tome of Knowledge to fully appreciate it.)

The problem for Mythic is whether Blizzard clues in. I suspect it'd be a lot easier for WoW's PvP to get patched into something more compelling, than for Mythic to rework most of WAR's PvE. I'm of the opinion that PvP content is much easier to create, the players do much of the work for you. That's WAR's driving force altogether, in the masses of players.

And here's the bottom line:

I don't think players want to subscribe to multiple MMORPGs. They do it because they want both experiences to be great: PvE and PvP. If one of the games does both well, they wouldn't need the other.