Archive for November, 2006

Support classes and Bikini Wax

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

Kill Ten Rats has a great post up comparing support classes to Bikini wax: suffering you subject yourself to so you can bring enjoyment to others.  Analogies like that keep that site high on my must-read list.

There’s some truth to what he says- choosing a class that’s great for teams but lousy by itself can be a painful experience- subject to the whims of others in whether you’ll have a productive night teaming or a rather dull night searching for a team (or in a team that’s overburdened by support classes.)  I, like KTR, also love the City of Heroes’ corruptor class’s good balance of the two.

That said, as more couples go online together (a trend that’s been on the rise) the pain may not be as bad anymore.  My wife’s a ready companion for my support characters, so I’ve never experience much pain playing Chase Arcanum, and she while playing Forsaken Pyra. 

That ready-made duo might be where support classes really shine.

Survived Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

Just a word that I’m still here.  Thanksgiving left me was an allergic reaction to something.  Typing is tough with your hands wrapped like a mummy’s.  Gotta take it easy for a few.

I’ve even put off experimenting with Turkey n Gravy soda until my immune system recovers a little…

A Thanks to New Friends

Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006

As Thanksgiving approached, I started looking back over the past year on what I’m thankful for and who I’m thankful to.  I’ll get to thank my family and in-town friends in person, but there are plenty I’ll likely never see again.  Many of them probably don’t even realize they made any impact whatsoever.  Since much of this is related to gaming, this seems to be the best way to just say ‘thanks.”

I hope to spend some time leading up to and through the holiday recognizing as many of them as I can. 

I hope. Free time ISN’T something I can claim thanks for.

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Stalkers Are Useless… And Need Nerfed

Friday, November 17th, 2006

Way back in September, Positron posted this tidbit on the CoH boards:

I had 2 PM’s in my box, back to back. The first was “Stalkers are useless in PvP” and the next was “Stalkers are overpowered in PvP”. The grass is always greener they say…

Now, I had some thoughts back then regarding the topic, but I wanted test out my assumptions first from a number of different angles. I’ll explain some of the Stalker basics after the break for you non CoH’ers, but for now, after a few months of analysis, Positron’s conclusion was wrong.

Both statements are correct.

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Sjöberg’s Taxonomy

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

The day after I discover Overmoderated, a blog by MMO community managers (and worth a read) Lore Sjöberg so accurately sums up online community members.

It might not be taken seriously at the moment, but just as Bartle’s Taxonomy has become the textbook classification of player motivations, Sjöberg’s Taxonomy will go on to classify forum dwellers.  Or not.