The PC Spotlight 1.15.09

Posted by Chris Vicari on 01.15.2009

Why the lack of epic RTS games? Did Funcom pull a bait and switch with Age of Conan? MMO gamers throw a tantrum and opinions abound in this issue of the PC Spotlight.

Welcome back to another issue of the PC Spotlight. Things are a bit slow this week, but I decided to do things a little differently anyway. People can get the news just about anywhere, and often do. I'm sure a majority of you know about nearly 99% of the stuff I post about, but what certainly lacks from nearly every column I've posted thus far is any form of opinion from myself. I'm changing that and it's becoming the focal point of the column. With that settled, let's get down to it then shall we?

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Why Aren't We Seeing More Grand-Scale RTS Games?



A rather puzzling inquiry, as the real-time strategy genre is one of the most popular out there, but why aren't we seeing more epic strategy games like Supreme Commander, Medieval 2: Total War or Total Annihilation, games which allow players to control hundreds of units or troops at any given time? I recall the low population cap Blizzard set for their award-winning Warcraft series, and it's disappointing because I don't consider a group of nine units and a hero to be an army. I want all-out war, not small skirmishes. I want to fight on battlefields measured in kilometers, not yards.

It seems squad-based strategy games like Dawn of War and Company of Heroes are becoming the new direction for the genre, but they really don't have the epic battle feel to them either. The Battle of the Bulge wasn't fought with two tanks and three squads of infantry. Strategy games need to begin encompassing the entire theatre of war. Only then can we truly experience some of the best strategy games ever conceived.

Even developers of current grand strategy games can be blamed. I've had countless ideas about pushing the Total War engine (pictured above) to its absolute limits. Infantry and cavalry could make way for tanks, airplanes, and vehicles. Why limit ourselves to medieval and early colonial weaponry? Why even stop there? Replace human armies with orcs, trolls, dragons, and undead troops and you've got Total War: Fantasy, an idea which hasn't even been discussed by pretty much anyone. Can only one company develop games on such a scale?

With the powerful machines we have at our disposal today, one would think we'd be seeing more strategy games of this scale. Is it not popular enough? Do people prefer squad-based tactics over coordinating massive armies? Does it all just become far too complicating? In my opinion, the only future the RTS genre has is to become bigger, much bigger. The genre has massive amounts of untapped potential and we've barely scratched the surface. We need more games with this kind of size and scope:




Supreme Commander is certainly not the best example available, but sadly there really aren't many games like it. That's a problem that needs to be remedied. We are seriously missing out on awe-inspiring games.

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Funcom to close 31 Age of Conan servers



Does anyone remember Age of Conan? I sure as Hell don't, and I bought the damn game. Age of Conan was yet another supposed WoW killer released by Funcom, also known for Anarchy Online, an award-winning Sci-fi MMO. Ironically, but not unexpected, Funcom was unable to learn from its mistakes after the post-launch debacle with Anarchy Online, a game plagued with post-launch bugs and lag making it seem more like a beta than an actual retail release. Age of Conan suffered from the same issues, but even after its owners' constant tinkering, it doesn't look like this little ship is going to stay afloat for very long.

On Monday, Funcom announced the closing of 31 game servers, dropping the once high 49 amount down to the high teens of 18. Funcom has nobody to blame but themselves for the cut, as product mismanagement, lack of game/class balancing, and content are just some of the symptoms yet to be cured.

Author Opinion: Did Funcom pull a bait and switch to receive positive reviews?

While I'm certainly not the type to go around claiming everything is a fraud, illegal, or simply a conspiracy, Funcom's handling of Age of Conan content, specifically the beginning in Tortage, strikes me as odd. The puzzling lack of content after level 20, which is basically the endpoint most reviewers reached before they felt they had everything needed to adequately review the game, is just weird. Did Funcom spend most of its development budget ensuring the first 20 levels were as alluring, beautiful, and interesting as much as humanly possible, only to drop it all after the Tortage starter town? For one thing, you'll notice a lack of vocal characters outside the newbie zone whereas NPCs prior to level 20 always had something to say to you. Personally, I think they beefed up the starter area more than the rest of the game to receive positive reviews and additional interest from prospective players. Why Funcom couldn't make the rest of the game as interesting as the beginning is certainly a mystery.

Call Scooby Doo!

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MMORPG.com: Best Overall Game of 2008 – Lord of the Rings Online



Every year, MMORPG.com, pretty much the go-to source for all things MMO, hosts an annual Reader's Choice Awards. This year saw a turnout of 5,212 votes and a majority of them were for Lord of the Rings Online as the best overall game of 2008, beating out World of Warcraft and CCP's EVE Online. Turbine's popular MMO also won two additional awards for Best Expansion with Mines of Moria, and for favorite MMO studio.

Congrats to them.

The editor of the site also provided some commentary on the results:

I can honestly say that when we selected our list of nominees for the awards this year, I had no idea that Turbine would come out the big winner, taking home three of the seven awards. That isn't to say that they weren't well deserved, but I thought that with the hubbub, both positive and negative, surrounding the launches of last year's two most anticipated games, along with the launch of another Blizzard WoW expansion, Turbine and its game based on the rich world of J.R.R. Tolkien might have left the spotlight. I'm pleased to see that I was wrong.

Originally, I thought that World of Warcraft would take home the award as it has in years past, especially given the strength of its own expansion, and ever-growing fan base. I'll admit that I underestimated the strength and voice of LotRO's loyal fan base which has been quietly building since the game's launch back in April of 2007.

Congratulations again go out to Turbine and all of this year's MMORPG.com Reader's Choice Awards. I want to take this opportunity to once again thank everyone who participated in the voting process. Sure, we could have picked our own list of winners and given out Editorial Awards, but in the end, it's always the players that know best.

I've never actually played Lord of the Rings Online, but these awards, coupled with the positive reception its new expansion attained, certainly has piqued my interest. I'm having trouble locating a free trial though. LoTRO sounds quite promising and it's a shame it isn't in the limelight like some of the other games out there, especially WoW.

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MMO gamers throw temper tantrums to avoid upgrading their computers



In a recent EVE Online Developer Blog post, CCP developers discussed the ailing problems with developing two separate versions of every art asset to accommodate players with older computers. Specifically, core development time is lost because too much time and resources are spent maintaining two clients, providing less time for performance enhancements. Currently, EVE online utilizes two content packs, Classic and Premium. Classic is the low-res graphics for players with older computers, and Premium is for modern ShaderModel 3.0 hardware. In the blog post, developers plan to remove Classic texture packs and replace them with Premium Lite, requiring only ShaderModel 2.0 hardware (GeForce FX (5 series) or ATi R300 series cards or compatible). Developers estimate that about 95% of all subscribers currently have hardware that is SM2 compatible.

Despite the >5% of players without SM2-ready technology, there has been much public outcry against the proposed idea, and laptop users appear the most vocal. Some have threatened to cancel their accounts and even go so far as to advertise the game negatively to anyone they meet. You may recall that Ultima Online developers are experiencing the same issue creating two versions of everything for a stubborn player base, and that game can practically run with on-board video. Outraged players claim CCP was not considering the current financial climate when drafting the idea, and they believe that if they whine about it enough, CCP will cave into their demands so they don't have to upgrade their computers.

Thankfully, CCP developers have more balls than Ultima Online's and will most likely move ahead with their ideas. These EVE Online players, just like UO's, need to understand that working on two separate clients is a waste of time. The crucial time spent working on two clients rather than just one could have easily been reallocated to bug fixes, new content or what have you. While laptop users may have a case, as they are a little more difficult to upgrade than desktops, laptops capable of SM2.0 are quite cheap these days. Video cards capable of the technology are also as low as $30-$50. That price is a much better alternative to spending the $450 I just paid to adequately play GTA IV and Supreme Commander.

CCP Dev Post: I Can Totally Run that on My Amiga

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Casual Zork MMO Announced
Story courtesy of IGN.com

Jolt Online Gaming, an Ireland-based company, announced today that it will publish Legends of Zork, an upcoming casual MMO based on the famous adventure game series.

The original Zork, published in 1980, was one of the first interactive adventure computer games. Entirely text based, Zork let you navigate its world by typing in commands. The series spawned numerous sequels, and in 1993 Activision and Infocom teamed up to deliver graphical Zork adventures. However, the last Zork game was published in 1997.

Legends of Zork will be entirely browser based, even becoming playable on Apple's iPhone. It will not be text- based like the Zork games of old. You can find the game at legendsofzork.com. While unreleased, you can sign up for additional information for now.

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Red Alert 3 Uprising Expansion Includes First C&C Dungeon-Crawler Campaign. Huh!?



Just last week, the upcoming expansion to the popular RTS series was announced, but one particular addition is the inclusion of the first ever Command & Conquer dungeon-crawler campaign. Players get to play as Yuriko Omega, the assassin for the Empire of the Rising Sun, and as you progress, you learn her back-story and how she came to be. Also included are three additional campaigns, new units and a Challenge the Commanders game mode in which you fight for world domination. The game is set for a March release.

All the content makes for one beefy standalone expansion pack, but let's get back to this new dungeon crawling aspect. Since this is the first time a Command and Conquer game has ever gone in this particular direction, it's puzzling that more information hasn't been released on the subject. Will it be similar to Warcraft 3's Frozen Throne campaign where you play as Rexxar, or will it actually be a dungeon crawler similar to Sacred, Diablo, or what have you? I'm a tad nervous about the whole thing. Hopefully, we won't be seeing the makings of a C&C RPG anytime soon, or ever for that matter.

Perhaps I'm overthinking it a bit too much. I'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

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Dark Templar New Look Decider is You!
Story courtesy of IGN.com and Joe Richardson for posting it on our site

Unable to decide between two looks for StarCraft 2's Dark Templar, Blizzard decided to rest the fate of the unit's attire into the hands of the game's fans. Over the next month, prospective players can vote on the Battle.net forums for which design they prefer. Fans may choose either the traditional Lenassa version, the new Zer'atai model, and even both, in which the model is chosen randomly once a Dark Templar unit is created.



"The first option represents the Lenassa tribe of dark templar, which made its debut in the original StarCraft. This unit carries a single warp blade, and a cloth shroud covers its face."



"The second option represents the Zer'atai tribe of dark templar, who wield dual scythes and wear an ensemble of heavy armor and the bones of slain zerg."

My vote goes to the old enshrouded look. It's cooler and fits the role of the stealthy unit.

A bit shorter this week due to the lack of decent news to comment on, but thanks for reading!