The Back Page – Friday, August 14

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Welcome to the back page for Friday, August 14, 2010

Yes, I said August 14th … Yes, I do know what the date really is, and it’s not that I’m superstitious or anything (knock wood). Still,  you can never be careful. O.K. so its Friday (fill in the date) during the month of August 2010.

The Man, The Legend

O.K. so Dr. Bartle is due to receive the first Online Game Legend award from the Game Developers Choice Online Awards .  Dr. Bartle co-authored the original MUD () with Roy Trubshaw . Aside from numerous articles, and being a professor at the University of Essex, he is also the author of Designing Virtual Worlds and Artificial Intelligence and Computer Games. So it’s safe to say that when it comes to designing virtual worlds, not only did Dr. Bartle write the book, he pioneered the subject it was written about.  We are pleased that Dr. Bartle is receiving the award, he is truly a legend. Don’t forget to take a look at Dr. Bartles Q’Blog about his legendary status.

Hearing Voices

What do Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Blade II), Rene Auberjonois (Boston Legal, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Kris Kristofferson (The Blade Trilogy), Matthew Perry (Friends) and Wayne “Mr. LasVegas” Newton all have in common? They are all scheduled as voice actors in the next edition of our favorite game series – Fallout New Vegas. One of our favorite features in Fallout 3 was the Three Dog character who was the radio D.J. in post apocalyptic Washington D.C.  It turns out that New Vegas will have its own radio D.J. as well, voiced by none other than Wayne Newton:

“That his essence endures such desolation suggests Newton’s spirit “could almost survive anything,” says the entertainer, 68, a Vegas fixture for more than 40 years, whose show goes to the MGM Grand this fall.” – Wayne Newton, in USA Today

We aren’t hearing voices in our heads – yet.  Starting on October 19th we will be.

Just Shocking

O.K. we will admit it. No one on staff here has ever played a game in the Bioshock series. There we said it. But what we DO love is steam punk and the latest edition in the Bioshock series by Irrational, Bioshock Infinite is described as “a cross between steam punk and Star Wars Bespin Cloud City”.  One look at this trailer and we were hooked.

News of the release first came to us by way of Edge Online .  A quick search told us Bioshock Infinite is set in the air-city of Columbia in 1912.  As you can see in the trailer, the city is suspended 30,000 feet above ground by giant blimps and balloons.  Here is a description from Techland.com :

“In Bioshock Infinite‘s story, Columbia embodies a hugely public example of American ingenuity and democracy, something for the average U.S. citizen to be proud of. But, Columbia also harbors a secret. After an international incident yet to be detailed, it get revealed that Columbia’s essentially a turn-of-century Death Star, weaponized to a degree that no one was expecting. But rather than try and subjugate the country or the world, Columbia lift so high into the sky that no naked eye can see it and disappears into the clouds. Some time after Columbia’s disappearance is when the game’s story starts. Players will be controlling Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton agent. DeWitt’s a rough-and-tumble fixer, a man who prowled the seedy docks of New York City and busted up strikes. He gets things done for the right price. A new client needs him to find a woman named Elizabeth, who’s been imprisoned for 15 years. “ – Techland.com

Mind you we aren’t big on first person shooters (we still prefer the over the shoulder view thank you). Still we don’t care if it’s first person or not – we love the setting so much we will play the Bioshock Infinite even if the gameplay stinks like last weeks fish.

The Great Communicator

No, we aren’t talking about the late President Ronald Regan (that was one of his nicknames). What we are talking about is the way things would be if everyone followed the advice of Craig Morrison  in his latest edition to his Feeling Strangely Fine web site. He discusses forums and what we have always called “The unsilent minority”, and “Play the game, play some more, and then play some more…” The last, as he points out, is something that developers are often accused of not doing, but as listeners hear Mr. Shannon Posniewski (executive producer, Cryptic Studios) tell our listeners on Show 59 that just isn’t so.

There is a balancing point here however.  In any business good marketing is making your product meet the needs of the consumer, no matter who those consumers are. We can see what happens when a developer tries to force their community to play the game the way the developer wants – just think about Warhammer Online and the whole RvR lakes/Scenarios situation. But trying to be all things to all people doesn’t work either.  As Glen “Famine” Swan told us on Show number 55 if they gave their community everything they asked for there would be spaceships in Age of Conan.  Still, as we have all seen with World of Warcraft, simply having a game with a medieval setting doesn’t necessary preclude spaceships in the game.

La Traviata Revisited?

We love Star Trek – the entire No Prisoners, No Mercy (NPNM) team.  In fact Julie has a lifetime subscription to Star Trek Online.   This is perhaps why, when Fran and Julie were watching The Big Bang Theory recently and the show opened on the main characters playing Klingon Boggle it was a bit too close for comfort. Mind you we don’t speak Klingon, but if YOU do and will be in The Hague, Amsterdam on September 9-12 you might want to stop by the Zeebelt Theater.

According to an article that crossed our news desk recently a group called The Klingon Terran Research Ensemble will be presenting a Klingon Opera entitled “U”.   Considering the nature of Klingon we hear in the movies the whole thing has the possibility of turning out to be “La Traviata”    – but let’s hope for the best.

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team