Cameron

@Revolting You are confusing Revenue with Profit. A product can be a revenue maker but if it runs with a net loss each fiscal period is not a "Money Maker" of any sort. Atari does derive a huge chunk of their revenue from from Cryptic studios but if they aren't making any profit from it the division is dragging down the rest of the divisions.

Also, I am impressed that Cryptic made it this far and thankfully the next DnD online experience won't be with Cryptic. Time to call Turbine and let them make a game worth playing.

Random number generators over a period of time even out so they don't really change overall mean value. What they do is give a sense of randomness in a fight and hopefully if done well force the user to adapt the play to match the "luck" if you will. They are a simple means to in theory create excitement and in a larger sense a security measure against macros. Harder to do if you know 4 swings always kills X monster. I for one would not randomize damage but I would randomize the hit mechanic but most users I believe prefer it the other way around. Both systems even out the same way though.

Metrics are the only way to be sure and it is surprising to me BI (Business Intelligence) and data mining are not employed frequently and on a schedule to adjust these issues.

If they stored damage by skill and build types alone, they could easily see trends and curb those trends before they become popular exploits. One could even imagine a DPS to damage taken to damage healed governor built into the game which are already crudely coded to handle AI attack and targeting.

This is more of a business system than a game system, but there is tremendous value IMO in mining that data. Similar systems could be used to keep a games financial markets in line as well.

Poor MMO game devs, now they join the ranks of rest of the development world. Many devs spend years pouring work into projects many of which never even see the light of day and others drag on mercilessly. On top of that imagine if you work support or QA and make a fraction of what a dev does to see the game and your job end. Seriously is this article meant to sympathize with a highly paid already known transient job? The answer to this issue as always is build a better game and realize development is centered around destruction and creation.

Lets hope it is Baldurs Gate, Dragon Age or Mass Effect as an MMO. If they get that magic into an MMO, they will have a winner on their hands. I am a bit worried as time goes on they have overshot the mark though.

With Guild Wars 2 looking very impressive, nailing the PR and being a direct competitor most likely. I am looking forward to GW2 more now than SWToR which is something that has changed mainly from PR. I only have room in my life for one MMO love affair.

What I really want to know is where is my Borderlands MMO?

Hate the game... love the stories. Can't wait for part 2 as well!

Beta and pre-release before the patch on release day they actually had a really fun game. Sure leveling was fast, but characters felt super in the world and the idea of playing different builds was more appealing. Their fix to the level cap... insert grind which IMO moved the game from fun and light to grinding and boring.

CoX is a better game but dated. DCUO could be what CO was trying to be and if they are CO will be nothing more than a footnote between to superior games.

Hello Horizons 2 with some great ideas but no polish. A rare bad review. If you didn't like it, I can only imagine how bad it really is.

I ran an underground BBS in ATL as well from 90 to around 95. LoRD, TW and one of my favorites Baron Realms Elite. I ran TriBBS and a special Renegade brew.

You really have to go old school to get the REALLY annoying trials of passage. UO had the thieves outside of the major towns stealing a players best stuff as well as using bugs to have the guards kill players and then looting their corpse. AC had the mountain rat and ash gromnie including a player made video to commemorate its awesomeness... don't even get me started on the Skeleton Lord patch or trying to hang in the Olthoi Vault when the game was still young. Many newer games have dumbed down the risk which make for happier gamers but a lessor sense of peril. Nothing like knowing if a players dies in a certain part of the game they aren't going to get their stuff back to keep a player pumped up.