MMORPG. What do you like in an MMO?

Sitting down with a nice cup of tea, typing up my MMORPG ideas. Once it's complete (and that's not for a longgggggg time), I'll be hoping to send it in somewhere for feedback and what not. Throughout this whole process, it's really got me thinking...On the average, what do players expect in an MMO? What are the components that really make an MMO feel ripe, and approachable? 

Being a female, I have to admit that I probably take time to focus on too many aesthetic components of a game. I like being able to choose. I like variety. I like a lot of cosmetic, aesthetic aspects. I sometimes wonder how the male perspective varies. I ask at least one of you to please enlighten me as to what you think makes an MMORPG great. Regardless of gender, I think we can all agree on one pretty obvious fact: We all want a game that feels real. A game that can take us away from our reality, and place us in another one.

As for what I think makes an MMO great, I think it's absolutely vital to focus on graphics, customization,  fluidity of online gameplay, music scores, and of course, story-line.

I am currently in the process of extracting components I enjoy from certain MMO's and games in general. I am also analyzing what I DON'T enjoy about these games. A pretty vanilla thing, but it's actually very useful.

For instance, let's take Guild Wars 2. Before I get started with talking about it, I actually really like this game and think it's a bit underrated. The professions are well executed, the graphics are extremely impressive (assuming your PC can run them to a decent capability), and interactions with other online players are surprisingly enjoyable. One of the few complaints I have is that this game didn't make you feel all too much a part of some bigger, greater cause. Sure the story line takes you there, and is pretty enjoyable, but when hitting 80 for instance, a player can easily feel pretty lost. It doesn't feel like there's anything too "new" to do. The lack of any new weapon slot skills (unless using another weapon of course) is also a bit frustrating, and adds to the dulling down of the game.

The biggest complaint I have about GW2 would be about the leveling. I love how the leveling curve is not as dramatic as other MMO's, but I HATE how you have to go to different starting zones just to get the experience needed in order to catch up to your main quest line. Even when you aren't focusing on your main quest line, it is difficult to milk out the experience needed to move onto a new zone, without traveling to another race's starting zone. This problem vanishes completely towards the higher levels, but still. It can be a real PIA.

Anyways, I can sit here and talk for days, but I'll take it in increments. Hope you all have an amazing holiday. I cannot wait. Santa is getting me something for X-Box and I have no idea what it is! What are ya'll getting? Asking for any good games?!

xoxoxo

Come make some Halo armor with me!

I don't know if I've ever been so motivated to do a project before. This is actually fun and if I can do it, I will feel like I can do anything! :) 

Anyways, I'm making a Halo armor suit, very traditional one at that, the Mark VI set. If you want to do this with me, the first step you'll need to take is to download Pepakura. Once you've done that, go the Halo Costuming Wiki and download what files you want. 

During this part of the armor process, you are going to want to have Cardstock paper. I'm currently experimenting with normal print paper, but have been told it's recommended to use a paper that is slightly more "heavy duty". The decision is up to you! But now let's move onto scaling your armor so it fits you correctly!


To scale your armor, read the following: 

You can use this formula to determine how big you should make your armor: Master Chief is 7'2" tall (86 inches).

1. Find out your height in inches.

2. Add 4-6 inches to that(If you don't, your armor will not fit)

3. Divide your height by 86. (xx / 86 = x.xxxxx)

4. Take the number you found in step 3, and multiply it by the current scale (usually around 31.9).

5. Go to Pepakura Designer, open the .pdo file, and go to the "scale" and then "scale factor".

6. Enter the number you found in step 4 in the "scale" box.

Suit created by LilTyrant from the 405 Forums.

Once you've done this, arrange the pieces in the program so that they will print neatly. I liked to arrange mine with similar section pieces. Print them out, and cut them out. This will take you a long time to finish, trust me. ALSO, a good tip. I put the number of the page I can find my piece on. For instance, if I had a top visor piece that I cut out from page 7, I wrote the number 7 on it. It is REALLY useful during the folding process and also the gluing process. It is up to you how you want to organize the process. For my I cut similar pieces out and glued them together, but you may want to cut them all out first and THEN glue them. Completely in your ball field, folks. 

I'm still currently on this process and am looking for Resin to solidify the pieces of my project that I am near completing. Right now I'm working on shoulder pads, since I got the dimensions for my helmet wrong...(I think...) It looks a little big. We will see. I will update progress as this moves along, but GOOD LUCK with the starting process! 

/xo

Sony Vegas Platinum Complications

My apologies for not releasing a video lately, but Sony Vegas has been shitting out right when I have 3 film projects to work on for school, and it deleted my HD template and will not let me create another one. I don't want to release another video until I can make my way through these complications and solve the problem.

One thing that pisses me off is that to acquire any sort of help from Sony with this issue, you have to pay them just to ask a simple question of how to solve the problem or what is wrong with the product, and this could range anywhere from 10-60 dollars. Are you kidding me? Am I the only one who gets bothered at that, or does it make sense somehow?

Anyways, if the problem persists for longer than I expect, I will be looking for new software and will release videos, but please do not feel cheated if you find that you can only bump them to 480 p vs, 720 and 1080. Trust me, I'm beyond frustrated at this and am doing all I can to fix it.

If any of you are tech savvy and know what I could do it would mean the world. I'm currently seeking aid from some fellow YouTubers so hopefully it helps. Thanks for your continued support. /xo

PS: In gaming news, I've reallllly picked up on playing Skyrim again which is dangerous considering finals are next week. Ugh! And the Dragonborn DLC looks amazingggggg. Dear Santa.... :)

Will the Wii-U be on Your Wishlist?

Wondering whether to gift the Wii-U or to ask Santa for it? Let's see some of the features it provides to figure out whether or not it's worth it to wait:

The WiiU has:
-an IBM power based multi core processor
-A processing unit for High-Definition Graphics
- A controller that is pretty much a household handheld console (but cannot play older console games and has been said to have short battery life)
- 5 player capabilities
- Touch screen interactive gameplay.

Complaints have been (from other console owners):
-Short battery life for the controller.
- Online capabilities are not truly reliable (yet) and are not the best performance wise.
- Loading screens are pretty slow, and it takes a while.
-For the basic set you really are not getting your money's worth.
-Interface performance is slow.
-Game choices for the console really have been limited so far and displeasing.



TVii  (a free program that allows you to watch live TV, streaming services, DVR, etc) still has not been released/activated yet so ratings of the console are still very malleable.

The WiiU in general still cannot be given a solid review because we will be seeing vital changes over the next month of so that will change the way the console is viewed completely.

My own personal opinion?

I will be waiting until I see a game I really am excited about before buying this console, and unfortunately I may not buy it at all. For me, Nintendo has not been keeping up the the current consoles, aka Xbox and PS3. Their graphics are now "on par" with Xbox 360 and PS3 (if not still a little bit behind these consoles), and Microsoft and Sony are currently working on their next gen consoles which will blow the graphics of WiiU out of the water. Nintendo still does not have a console that has amazing online functionality, and that is super important to gamers currently. I think this will be hurting Nintendo's sales numbers significantly, and it's a reason why I can wait until the price of the console goes down, or just wait for the next Microsoft console.






WiiU Basic 8GB- going for 299.99 dollars (listed Nintendo price)
WiiU Deluxe 32 GB going for 349.99 (listed Nintendo price)