Animlboogy

Fascinating subject. You've really gotten into some obscure yet incredibly important work here. Definitely the best column in the MMO blogosphere. So you never got to play this one yourself? Did you manage to find any players as research, or just the creators?

I run with a pretty casual Magic group, and that's the kind of stuff that keeps me playing. We usually do two-headed games, so making decks like that is compounded by having a partner who can handle the standard damage dealing for you.

In general, I think MMOs are richer with classes like this that diverge from the standard trinity. With the movement away from party play in these games, it seems like their days are numbered at least until the idea of actually playing MMOs in public groups (thus meeting new players) comes back into style.

It'll be hard for this to be my main MMO if I have to wait for the PS3 launch. I can't afford to build even the $400-$500 smartly built PC it would take to run this (believe me, I'd be happy to if I could!), and my brother would be all to happy for me to jump into WoW with Cataclysm.

Hopefully I'm done mucking around with that game by the time the PS3 FFXIV rolls around!

Oh, another good permadeath example: Phantasy Star Online from version 2 on had Challenge Mode, which was a sub-mode in which players started from level 1 and had to quickly grind and solve puzzles that weren't present in the game. Death would be permanent, so teamwork was required. Unique gear was the reward.

Maybe a similar reworking of standard MMO gameplay could be worked into the current prevalent style of MMO gameplay? A mode players are encouraged to play, but doesn't affect their "persistent" characters?

I've always thought a transmigration system like what's used in the NIS strategy RPGs applied to permadeath would be a great idea. The character dies, but you can start a new character with a selection of new, more powerful skills. You're behind where you were in many ways, but you'll grind back up faster and receive the follow-up skills much faster. Throw in a heirloom item or three and design the game around this concept, and you might have something interesting to play.

I know I personally have less interest than I should in current MMOs because of the lack of drama provided by most death systems. But then, I'm entirely against the solo play mentality that seems to be increasingly common. I want a hardcore, dangerous PvE game (PvP might be too much, but if it could be balanced with permadeath somehow, I'd be in) that encourages forming friendships. Why would anyone want to pay monthly to run around in parallel with a bunch of players, when there are much more compelling story-based games for that style of play?

I'm up for this! Sounds like a good enough reason to get started in this game. I'll also tip my hat in the direction of getting a guild going.

So are you under the massively misguided impression that the staff on a failed release are somehow not supposed to get further work? Or that every single aspect of a failed releae is responsible?

This industry doesn't base itself on selling faces. You think anybody but the star and director on a failed film has their careers ruined?

Great article, by the way, although the exact same series with a broader format would be just as good.