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A mere 873. As you can see from the graph below, a majority of the players are still clustered in the first 20 levels. At level 7 there's a massive drop off in players from 50 down to 23. Interestingly enough, this also corresponds to the first "freedom of choice" occurance in the game where players have to leave the area they started in, and venture outside of the starting zone. It's also approximately the level that players reach the captial cities (where the banks and auction house are), so either these players are being used to evaluate the class by exploring the first 7 levels of gameplay, or they are being used to evaluate the state of the server in terms of maturity in items, or they could be set up as mules to hold inventory.
The highest level at this point is 56, it's likely that today or tomorrow will see the first Alliance level 60 on the server, a mere week and a day after the server came up (taking into account the 18 hours downtime we had yesterday).
According to the project website:
The first technology release under this project, the Sun(tm) Game Server, is a game agnostic, platform agnostic server technology that provides online game developers the ability to create a wide variety of games that can be provisioned through a single server platform.
I trust engineers more than financial managers when it comes to scaling network architecture, and I believe it to be to the benefit of game companies to have network programmers to keep unrealistic server expectations in check. While I have no doubt that Project Darkstar will be fabulous for Java-based casual games, I have my doubts as to whether it will be a viable platform for desktop based games.
In a game like WoW, time is money. A lot of players want to play the high level game and have the great equipment, but they don't have the time to get there. Enter the capitalist belief that time is money, and suddenly you have players who are willing to pay money for having someone else play the game. A game that they've already paid money for, and they continue to pay money for in order to play. They'll pay for characters, they'll pay for items, they'll pay for gold, and some will even pay for levels. Psychologically, this is because people like to say that they've beaten the game, and World of Warcraft, unlike the games that you purchase in the stores is a server-based game. Cheats and trainers won't work, much to the chagrin of people who want to get to level 60 and see the high level content but don't want to spend the months (or years, depending on your lifestyle) to get there.
The following is a list of some of the side businesses that have sprung up from World of Warcraft (and other massively multiplayer games):
Housewives, a dialogue-heavy mystery with an emphasis on social interaction and character customization, is geared toward female players. "There aren't a lot of games for women today, but this is one where women will really have a good time," Schuyler says.
Buena Vista Games hasn't had a good track record with games that aren't Disney based children games, and a big part of that is a problem within the games industry that living people are hard to do. Part of it is due to the graphics hardware, but I think the motion capture is weird, and the 3d imaging data when reduced down for texture maps gives either a freaky look to the recognizable characters (play any EA sports title and you'll see what I mean) or a generic look to all the characters.
The chart below is a graph of what the server was like at approximately 9:30pm EST today, with around 4 days of server uptime. You can see two distinct humps in the graph. The first massive hump peaks at about level 5. These are likely East Coast characters that were started this evening, or West Coast casual players who started yesterday and just logged on today. The second hump is in the level range of 14 - 20. As the level of players increase, the number of players at that level decreases, as there simply aren't that many players who are able to spend that much time online. I should do some more data collection on the different zones within the game, but from a quick survey of the starting areas reveals that the most impacted zones at present are the human and night elf areas. The dwarf/gnome area is the least popular, but surprisingly mych of the dwarf/gnome population migrate to the human lands instead of transitioning to the teen zone of the dwarf/gnome area -- however, even more surprising is the sheer number of night elf migrants who cross an ocean as well as a level 20+ zone to make it to the human area.
Those massive humps are also designate where you don't want to be.
The new server went up on Monday afternoon. I started my characters on Tuesday night. My characters are level 17 now. The highest levels are twice that, level 33/36 etc. I find that it's important to get past the curve in the initial week or so is vital for being able to speed level, that being said, I've smack in the middle of the curve right now, being 12 hours behind, and actually doing things other than playing 24/7 (There's at least 4 or 5 who have done that -- their characters are in the 30s). I was tempted to grind straight through to at least 20, since I know I can do it in a day. The game is harder earlier on without high levels running around, it's almost like a natural ecology, where the zones are so packed, n00bs starve themselves out of experience because the monsters don't spawn fast enough, and the equipment most are using is little better than the quest rewards and the occassional random drop. Some are still running around in tattered clothing.
The zones that I've been fighting in are definitely on the edge of the curve -- the players are still poorly equipped, but there's plenty of resources to plunder and monsters to kill. Every moment away from the game is knowing that the masses will soon catch up behind me (and may starve me out of experience as well). I can always just wait for the masses to move on, also -- in a week, they've all gotten past my point, and I can return to the low populated zones to grind for xp.
The World of Warcraft manages to sustain itself by miracle of server automated repopulation, but I'd love to see what the death rates are in a zone that the newbies are moving through in the form of a realtime map. The newbies would just be a wave that washes over the zones.
I've also been using Final Cut Express to try and edit together a video for the Freeculture contest -- this has not gone well, as FCE is practically unusable with 1GB RAM running under Rosetta -- the performance was so atrocious, I've given up trying to create an entry in time for the contest.
The newest and latest problem I've discovered is a random shutdown of the system for no apparent problem. One minute I'll be surfing the web, the next moment the system is powered off. Needless to say, the Mac is going back to be repaired. For those keeping track, this is repair #3. If it goes in one more time, they'll likely replace it (and I can start this process all over again)
There is hope for Katamari fans, however, as the page does mention that 'Professor Katamari' (likely Keita Takahashi, the creator of Katamari Damacy) is currently working on a new game design, though not with the core Katamari Damacy team. "You don't roll things up, or get bigger, but you might find it interesting anyway."
Me and My Katamari, the PSP version of Katamari Damacy releases next week, and is the last announced game in the series. The PSP game was done without the direct supervision of Takahashi, which shows that Namco is not above franchising an IP out to death without the help of its original creator.
Now, they've signed with EA to help them facelift the interface (using the Sims). It's a big change, and it's nice to see the industry working with academics, but a tool like this isn't what most game companies use to construct their games.
The following is one of the more amusing missed connections that was sent to me (because it's a WoW related story).
It's posted on craigslist, and I'm sure the post will go away someday, I've copied the text into the extended entry.
It's a tale of a World of Warcraft playe as he enters the zone that's really not meant for soloing types: the local bar.
You - Gorgeous... Me - A Gamer... - m4w - 25
Reply to: anon-134426482@craigslist.org
Date: Thu Feb 16 10:27:01 2006
It was last Friday. I had just gotten up from a SWEET game of Warcraft on my PC.
Anyway, I realized I was dangerously low on Mountain Dew, so I threw on my lucky green sweat pants and my trenchcoat to walk 3 blocks to the convenience store. I figured if I had enough change, I might even pick up some Slim Jims, but I digress...
On my way back to my apartment, Dew and Slim Jims in hand, I saw you and your friends walking into the Jazz club across the street. You seemed so comfortable and cool dressed to the nines for an evening of drinks and dancing with those closest to you.
It was then that I knew I had to meet you. Although I had never been in that particular establishment, I followed you in. You probably would have seen me, but I was slowed by an argument with the doorman over my attire. After a few minutes, I think I had him convinced I looked ok, but then he proceeded to ask me for $10 just to walk into the bar. I couldn't believe they wanted to charge me just to get in. I, of course had no money, having spent every spare cent on caffeine and sticks of processed beef. I walked back to the convenience store and failed in my effort to return the goods I had so recently purchased. Luckily, the store had an ATM, so I pleaded with the checker to hold my purchases behind the counter for a short time, and I withdrew $20 from the cash machine. Armed with my fresh $20 bill, I marched to the Jazz Club, paid the $10 cover, and went looking for the woman of my dreams.
I saw you immediately, near the bar with your friends. You were at the end of the group with some space next to you, so I settled in close. You noticed me once or twice as I cleared my throat nervously trying to think of what to say. It sounded like you may have commented on my trenchcoat to one of your friends, but I couldn’t be sure.
I finally bumped you to get your attention. I may have bumped to hard as I noticed you spilled some of your drink on your shirt. Sorry about that.
ME: So... Do you come here often?
YOU: No. (you turn back to your friends)
ME: Me neither. I hate bars. I can't come to terms with why anyone would want to pay such high margins on watered down drinks they could make at home for a fraction of the cost... (I trail off noticing you aren't listening)
I regroup and lean in close to your ear...
ME: What are you drinking there?
YOU: (barely looking over your should back to me) A gin and tonic.
ME: Can I buy you one?
YOU: I already have one, see... (you hold up your drink sarcastically)
ME: Well then, can I reimburse you for the one you are drinking?
YOU: What? (looking at me now)
ME: Let me pay you back for that one.
YOU: Whatever. (looking puzzled and annoyed)
ME: How much was it?
YOU: What?
ME: How much is a gin and tonic?
YOU: Five dollars
ME: Jesus Christ! What fool pays $5 for a freakin’ drink? That's robbery!!!
YOU: Get away from me.
ME: (embarrassed by my outburst) No, no, no. I said I'd pay you for it, so I will. (reaching in my pocket) Do you have change for a $10?
You: What?
ME: I only have a ten dollar bill? Do you have five dollars change?
YOU: (turning to face me completely and folding your arms as your friends quiet down to watch our interaction) Actually, this drink was $6 with tip.
ME: What?
YOU: My drink. It was $5 plus $1 for tip!
ME: Damn, this is getting expensive. Ok, do you have $4 change for my $10.
YOU: No.
ME: Well, then I'll have to get change from the bartender.
YOU: Don't bother. Leave me alone. (you turn back to your friends as they erupt in laughter)
I spend 10 mintues trying to get the bartender's attention. I can't blame him much because he was very busy serving so many other morons begging to be robbed of their hard earned dollars. When he finally gets to me, he tells me he won't give me change, but I can buy a drink and will get change from that. I tell him I wouldn't dream of paying such inflated prices for frozen water and a few drops of our country’s last legal poison… He goes on to the next patron.
Frustrated, I go to the bathroom to pee and think about my next move. I’m pretty sure if I can just pay you for that drink that we will soon be making hot monkey love back at my apartment. However, I am disappointed at how much dating is already costing me, and how many obstacles one must overcome to simply buy a girl a drink. I start to plan my speech to you about how I may have jumped into this relationship too quickly, and that maybe we should just be friends.
While washing my hands in the sink, I notice there’s a bathroom attendant. He is smiling and waiting with fresh paper towels for me. Next to him is his tray of tips stacked with dollar bills. I drop my ten dollar bill on the tray, as the attendants smile widens. Then, I pick up a pile of ones and begin counting them. The bathroom attendant gets very hostile and grabs the cash from my hand. I wrestle with him over the wad of cash. One of the bouncers must have been just outside the bathroom. I was sure that he would understand my story, and we could get everything sorted out. Boy was I wrong. He didn’t want to hear anything. He just grabbed me by my trench coat and ripped me out the bathroom door and toward the exit. I yelled “I LOVE YOU” to you as he dragged me past your group. You replied loudly for all to hear FUCK OFF CREEP!!!
I know we’re meant for each other. Give me another chance.
Games industry veteran Warren Spector (System Shock, Deus Ex, Ultima VI, TSR, Steve Jackson Games) recently spoke at SXSW about his recent experience with game publishers and IP:
"So what happened was, there was a publisher...I call them 'third world publishers'. There was a little publisher that really wanted... the little publisher that could, you know? ‘I think I can, I think I can.’ They really wanted to get over that mountain and become a big deal. But they didn’t have the war chest to finance five twenty million dollar games. They were stuck making five million dollar bets. And you can’t compete in the AAA space for that kind of money. You’ll get destroyed."
And so, unfortunately, after this publisher said, ‘We’re in, we’ll publish this stuff’, all the money guys, after a while, looked at that publisher and said ‘We don’t believe they can actually distribute this stuff.’ and the money guys pulled out. And guess what? I’m back looking for a publishing deal."
A sneak peak at Nvidia's GeForce 7900 GX2 Quad-SLI graphics cards, which will retail for around $1000. Okay, just stop for a moment and read that last sentence again. Quad-SLI? $1000? Gaming may be a lifestyle, but I don't know many gamers who could afford to drop that much bank on a graphics card. It's simply ridiculous.
Instructables: Do it yourself tutorials, including how to build a lightsaber for $33 in plumbing supplies from the Home Despot and the Pac-Man LED bike lights
Top 10 vehicles owned by billionaires
At Pizza Hut, you can get the salad, but can only go up to the salad bar once. I may have posted it before, but there's some photos of Taiwanese students piling it on at the Salad Bar in Pizza Hut.
smart Cars coming to the U.S.
Eight graders build a 24ft. roller coaster at school.
A Source of Asthma uncovered
SXSW vs. MPAA
One of the most interesting panels at SXSW Interactive 2006 was The Future of Darknets, moderated by JD Lasica. And while the concept of Darknets - communities using private subnetworks to communicate and collaborate out of view of the larger internet - is indeed fascinating, the panel was not interesting because of the intended topic. In fact, we never actually got to hear much about DarkNets, much to my disappointment, because the panel was hijacked the moment one panelist said, "Hello, my name is Kori Bernards, and I'm from the Motion Picture Association of America."
It's filled with great stories of an industry gone mad, and has a podcast of the whole thing.
100 hours of Star Wars on TV, coming soon.
Bookcrossing, an interesting idea where you read a book, and set it free in the wild (coffee shops, park benches, etc) for other people to read and release.
mibi (the artist) says: Most people are unaware of how much of their taxes fund our military, and those aware are often misinformed. I hope this makes people think and ask questions. Why do we spend more on jets than we do on public housing? Why is the Endowment for the Arts so small? Whats with all this foreign military financing? Im sure you can come up with numerous questions of your own. Unfortunately i dont have any answers. Our leaders do. Your president, his cabinet and your congress person have these answers. Ask them for the answers or better yet, demand them.
I think that this new development is cool, and great for those who need to run applications on Windows now and then without needing a program such as VirtualPC, but I can't help feeling that there is a tremendous amount of space wasted on installing Windows on a Mac.
Now, I will admit that the way I use a computer is likely very different from most people. In my lifetime, I've owned more than a dozen different computers with a good half dozen or so being laptops. But since purchasing my Mac in 2002, I've found less and less of a need for having Windows around. (My PC functions solely for games).
The manhwa even pokes fun at itself later when the girl asks Geon-Woo what he thinks of Jun Ji Hyun (who plays the girl in the movie).
US console sales continue their nose dive since September; according to the research from Michael Pachter, "total U.S. console software sales for February were $340 million, down 13% compared to last year and lower than our $350 million estimate (down 11%)."
Meanwhile, EA announces a change in the game plan, choosing to:
The last game company that tried to break themselves away from doing licensed games and focusing on original IPs was Akklaim. Well, that was what they claimed, right before they released the Simpson's Crazy Taxi clone, amongst other licensed games. Akklaim then went back to doing licensed games, dropping their original game titles, and subsequently ending up bankrupt. Of course, take what EA says with a grain of salt -- EA is definitely not opposed to acquiring indie studios for the purposes of increasing their franchise portfolio. They acquired Origin for Wing Commander and Ultima, and they acquired Maxis for the Sim City franchise. They acquired Westwood for Command and Conquer. EA has always snapped up marquee talent (but usually by purchasing the talented indie studio), and starting up a new studio in Montreal is smart, given that the corporate conditions in Canada are even more favorable to the business than in the United States.
One more thing, as a note to all game publishers -- Hollywood isn't the answer. Hollywood has their own problems in creativity they've got to work out. I'll give any publishers a good hint to finding new original titles -- start up a bunch of new projects, give them a little money and see what sprouts up.
Game Retail Sales Now in their sixth month of decline.
Your basic Spock-like personality here, seeking a woman with a personality somewhere in the Deanna Troi to Subcommander T'Pol range. will consider B'Elana Torres to Kira Nerys types depending on extenuating circumstances. No tribbles, please.
Maya 7 PLE on Intel 2.0 Ghz using Rosetta: 187.14 MB Real Memory, 1.66GB Virtual Memory, 4 Threads
Maya 7 PLE on PowerPC G4 800Mhz native: 140.32 MB Real Memory, 480 MB Virtual Memory, 3 Threads
33% more Real Memory used.
iTunes on Intel 2.0 Ghz native: 43 MB Real Memory, 373MB Virtual Memory, 4 Threads (can't turn on Rosetta for iTunes)
iTunes on PowerPC G4 800Mhz native: 12.35 MB Real Memory, 188 MB Virtual Memory, 3 Threads
348% more Real Memory used.
Quicktime
MacBookPro (native): 25.23 MB Real Memory 371.60MB Virtual Memory, 6 threads
MacBookPro (Rosetta): 36.24 MB Real Memory, 507.71 MB Virtual Memory, 7 threads
PowerBook G4: 19.62 MB Real Memory, 172.01 MB Virtual Memory, 6 threads
29% more memory used natively, 84% more used via Rosetta.
Safari
MacBookPro (native): 10.36 MB Real Memory 350.46MB Virtual Memory, 5 threads
MacBookPro (Rosetta): 23.39 MB Real Memory 453.64MB Virtual Memory, 6 threads
PowerBook G4: 11.18 MB Real Memory 122.47MB Virtual Memory, 5 threads
Universal Binary uses 8% less real memory, while Rosetta uses 109% of real memory.
