Hyborians.com

The Age of Conan beta signups have begun! Go and signup at http://beta.ageofconan.com/.

New developments for dealing with griefers in MMORPG’s.

“The most common ‘griefer counter-measure’ is to put in place a strong community system,” says Stephen Davis of IT GlobalSecure, a firm that specialises in developing security technologies for online games.

“These community services provide clan features, friends lists, reputation stats, and other features both to tie players more closely to the game and create an environment that reduces anonymity for misbehaving players.” Increasingly, the solution to griefing is not simply to ban nuisance players, but to encourage the development of virtual societies capable of dealing with their own virtual crimes.

This is becoming essential for titles falling within the genre of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). These complex and persistent worlds are particularly vulnerable to negative behaviour, not only because they offer more rules to break than the average first-person shooter, but also because there is more at stake for players. The gap between virtual worlds and real life is constantly closing, with developers encouraging in-game economies with currencies that translate to real-world pounds and dollars. A player might craft a rare item that can be sold via eBay; if such digital property is stolen, the player is effectively losing real money.

Despite most online games being based around combat between players (often permitting the winner to take their opponent’s possessions) the increasingly high stakes have prompted the gaming community to reassess its ethics, asking whether all strategies are equally permissible simply because they are all possible.

Read the whole thing.

“Sometimes after slaying a monster together your hearts are racing and you’re celebrating a great triumph, and then it just happens,” said Andrea Fryer, Finnish digital artist and game designer. “You get closer and then, well, you’re having sex.”

Uhm, okay. Scoring with XXX Games.

Good article about how to improve storylines and immersion for MMO’s on mmorpg.com.

If you are reading this article, you’re probably familiar with the term MMORPG. The MMO part,” Massively Multiplayer Online” was coined somewhere to describe games like EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Eve-Online, and City of Heroes. At any given time, there could be hundreds, or even thousands, of players online simultaneously. I suppose that’s what makes the multiplayer part “massive”. I can accept that. Then there’s the RPG – Role Playing Game – part of the acronym. When I think of an RPG, I think of Dungeons and Dragons. The Dungeon Master always tells a story and brings the character on an adventure, the kind of adventure that inspires poetry, and somehow they involve YOU and make you feel as though you have just personally saved kingdoms and planets alike! When was the last time you remember an MMORPG making you feel like that? Is there something about it being multiplayer that detracts from the story?

Looks like we only get one update today on the official Age of Conan site. It’s an interview with the music composer for the game. We are also treated to sample tracks at the end of the interview.

This issue of The Escapist magazine is devoted to Blizzard Entertainment, and how they rose to become the gaming powerhouse they are today. Pretty interesting read.