n3rfed

Watch That First Step, It's A Doozy

Braid McQuaid gives the first part in a series of Vanguard post-mortems.

"The first mistake that would have a serious impact later in development was the verbal agreement with Microsoft that Vanguard was to be a first rate, AAA title...

...So the moral of the story is one that should have occurred to us:  get everything in writing, get it into the contract, because even a company like Microsoft can suddenly undergo significant changes to its management and teams."

Who says creative types don't make good managerial material?

Don't tell me how this ends. I'm sure the situation can only improve from here on in.

And Lo, The Third Seal Was Opened

McQuaid, Garriot and now Jacobs are free to roam the world.

So, um, hey guys. Want to come over to my garage for a game of table tennis or something? Maybe later, for shits and giggles, we can form a company. There will be a cheese plate.

Bug #4316: The Bug Reporting Tool Is Broken

Vanguard's developers recently needed to do a poll to tell them that, hey, maybe players would like some bug fixes to the notoriously rushed game instead of a new mount or two.

From the announcement thread:

Player - "Neph's list could be cut and pasted or a myriad of other threads could be picked apart... why this route? is there not an endless list in the /bug dialog sent by players in game?"

Developer - "This way we are hoping to get the most high profile bugs that the players want fixed right away. Digging through /bug does not tell us just how important or how many people are seeing this problem."

Which makes perfect sense because having a proper bug tracking tool is really not as effective as trawling through a thread where a small percentage of your players will post.

More Crystals, More Spawns, More Obsessing Over Mithra Buttocks

Since the trailer-induced brain explosions of "Final Fantasy XIV??" have subsided, some pieces of information have been making their way out and it seems the developers have leveled up:

+ "The developers attribute the long-lasting success of Final Fantasy XI to the Job System, and plan to learn from it and greatly expand off the concept."
+ "Career loners will be happy to know solo play is getting a lot more attention this time around."
+ "They laugh as they admit that "growth" in Final Fantasy XI would often amount to an endless cycle of shoot-pull-kill, shoot-pull-kill.  The new MMO will focus on the variety and accessibility of methods to grow one's character.  This includes an emphasis on attracting people who are not as familiar with online games with a smooth progression of content."

My biggest reason for looking forward to FFXIV and that'll have me buying vast quantities of whatever drink/toy/fake sword/date sim marketing product that is pushed out with the game's release?

No PlayOnline.

And there goes half my hits.

I Camped This Sentry For 18 Hours And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt

You know, just because MMOs and RPGs have sold a few copies doesn't mean that one system that may work there will carry across to another genre.

Right, Valve ?

(If you are going to add a new system that does away with a familiar system that's been in place for over a year, it's a good idea to explain how it works on your, like, official blog or something that people have been checking all week)

Feel My Force

This can't end well.

Who is to say that if it can happen in the middle of a zombie apocalypse that it can't happen in a galaxy far, far away?

So, remember kids. Homosexuality in Star Wars, no! Incest though, A-OK!

That Time Of The Year We Know As "Blizzard Fools Day"

Whilst the Dance Battle System is smile-worthy, the forum prank is something humanity can get behind.

I'll Take BioWare For $100, Alex.

Lum's off to a new job.

I'm guessing it's a case of a mate helping out a mate. I'll take 5-2 odds.

Em-Em-Oh?

Kristin Kreuk, a presenter at this year's Spike TV Video Game Awards, when asked if she plays video games:

"No, but, I mean, I would rather communicate with people and, like, read a book…"

Well, industry PR seems to be going according to plan then!

Survey Shows Gamers Are People Too. Pimply, Smelly People, But People Nevertheless.

GamePolitics is following XBox Live's recent political polling;

In partnership with nonprofit Rock the Vote, XBL has just completed a new round of polling. This time users were asked to name which issues were most on their mind.

So what's the answer? In the words of Deomocratic campaign strategist James Carville, it's the economy, stupid. Here are the numbers:

35%        Jobs and the Economy
19%        Environment
18%        Foreign Policy
14%        Health Care
14%        Education

With the top 3 real concerns being left out of the poll - Invasion Of Earth By Bipedal Gun-Toting Humanoid Aliens, Having A Higher Gamerscore Than My Best Friend, and Getting The Pinky Finger Over To That Stupid Orange Button -, I wouldn't pay much attention to this survey.