Posts tagged nerfbat 
The Guild Counsel: Nerfed to heck - now what?
You can run the best guild, have the smoothest guild atmosphere, and progress like a champion but still end up losing members through no fault of your own. Why? Nerfed classes. Classes are a double-edged sword because on one hand, they allow people to feel needed and unique. I tank, you heal, ...
Ryan Shwayder revives MMO lessons series
Former 38 Studios designer Ryan Shwayder is using his time off to work on his personal blog and share his perspective as a developer. He's revived a series from years ago called MMO Lessons, adding the 37th and 38th entries over the past two days. His 37th lesson is to create memorable ...
Major nerf of ECM ships coming to EVE Online
While this can hardly be considered flavor of the month (as it would've been a *really* long month), ECM (jamming) ships in EVE Online are considered to be overpowered by many players. Ships with bonuses to ECM modules are able to prevent target lock by other ships, drastically reducing the combat ...
Fallen Earth dev journal focuses on weapon balance
The upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth has the potential to bring a very different kind of setting to the fantasy-dominated landscape in massively multiplayer titles. One of the interesting aspects of Fallen Earth is the variety of weaponry players can obtain. In true Mad Max fashion, the ...
Three things official/unofficial forums can and can't do
Ryan Shwayder, a game designer for 38 Studios, recently put in his two cents on the official vs. unofficial forums argument. He originally called official forums a necessary evil but when prompted by Warhammer Alliance forum administrator, Garthilk, to name three things official forums could do that ...
PvP servers are an unstoppable force
If you happen to run into him, don't tell him we said this, but we keep very close e-tabs Ryan "Blackguard" Shwayder, following him around forums and checking his blog rather frequently. It's not that we have some unnatural affection for the man (although we do), it's more of a professional ...
April Fools' on Nerfbat: Shwayder forming 10-man studio
Ryan Shwayder has apparently decided that typical development studios are simply too cumbersome, so he's looking to start his own studio and, taking a cue from Blizzard, reduce the business model from raid-sized to the much friendlier 10-man format. Evidently, this will help keep development costs ...
38 Studios using BigWorld to make its big world
What do you get when you get when you combine a major league baseball player (Curt Schilling), a famed fantasy author (R.A. Salvatore), and a great comic book guru (Todd McFarlane)? You get 38 Studios, and 38 Studios is working on a new MMO codenamed "Copernicus." Now the studio has licensed the ...
The Digital Continuum: Statistical Anxiety Separation
One thing I've taken to recently is lurking over at the Nerfbat forums, where many great minds discuss a lot of different things concerning massively games. One idea in particular has given me a spark of -- probable -- insanity in regards to something I've been giving plenty of thought to lately. ...
Time, time, time is on the designer's side
Taking a break from his recent infatuation with updating the back-end of his website and rattling his plastic saber at Moorgard, Ryan Shwayder has posted a new rant that gives his perspective on the pervasive, though oft-bemoaned, time-sink quest. You know the one -- that fed ex quest where you're ...
