Pot Growing Games
First I want to send out a thanks to the reddit community - my Pot Grower Tycoon post was submitted and got some great comments!
So I just wanted to use this time to post a couple links to pot-growing games some of the redditors posted. I'll be checking some of these out for fun. If any of the games are good I'll post a review later on.
First up is Highgrow. On first look, it appears to be a cheesy, but hopefully decent, gardening sim that focuses on the illegal nature of growing our favorite maligned plant. I'm going to download it and check it out, but sadly my expectations are not too terribly high (pun intended) given the lame nature of the advertising on the site. I mean, everyone know that "legal buds" are a rip-off, right? Well, if you didn't know that - don't get suckered into wasting your money.
The next link provided by the good reddit community is to a list of pot games at Concept 420. Some of these look pretty decent, and sadly it appears like there are some pretty dead links on the list also.
I noticed some of these games are also merely drug-dealer strategy games. I'm really not into the whole "gangster" GTA/Scarface genre so I can't say I will bother with these. I like pot - I like smoking it, I like pot artwork, I like reading about pot. I prefer to leave meth, cocaine, heroine or the other illegals out of the equation.
I also actually used to play Ganja Farmer several years ago and it is a pretty fun game if you are into the classic Galaxian-style arcade games. Definitely not a Sim or Tycoon game, though.
I downloaded Virtual Grow 2, which Concept 420 apparently hosts themselves. I haven't played it yet, but I wanted to mention that I scanned it and it appears to be virus/trojan-free. I think of all the games, though, this one sounds like it could be closest to being the sort of game I was describing in my original post.
I also found Dope Farmer through the reddit comments. It looks fairly promising as a pot-farming sim, but I don't know how I will react to it, as apparently one of the goals of setting up a successful grow operation is to then make your own meth lab.
Even though it seems innoccuous enough, this is one of the aspects of the failed Drug War that really gets my blood boiling. Why must drugs like meth-amphetamines always be lumped in with marijuana? Of course the ignorant drug "warriors" will tell you it is because pot is a gateway drug. But no, it is because pot has been lumped in with these dangerous substances and has to share its subculture with them.
It reminds me of stories I've heard from both friends and strangers of smart kids with problems like dyslexia getting forced into classes with the "slow" kids. They don't belong there, but because of the short-sighted and ignorant nature of the school administrators they are forced into it. Always a shame.
Anywho - apparently my Pot Grower Tycoon game doesn't exist or still has yet to be uncovered from the deep sands of the intertubes. I'm still thinking about it and I'll post more of my ideas later. Maybe I should start learning game design so I can make it myself! Settlers 7 - Rise of the Rastafarians LOL.
Pot Grower Tycoon 2: What if?
OK, picture it with me ...
Deep in the woods of Northern California you have just inherited a large plot of land from you aunt. So you do what any red-blooded American does: you immediately set out to make millions of dollars with a banned substance!
In Pot Grower Tycoon you must create the ultimate secret pot farm and build a black market distribution network to spread your green love throughout the land, all the while avoiding the government, armed thieves and international gangs. Manage your farm the way you want - focus on the growing the best bud and rely on secrecy and prayer to get you through, or build up an arsenal and gun down anyone who sets foot on your land. Buy off the local sheriff and grow acres of bud or set up entire fake houses to conceal indoor farms.
Are you a ruthless capitalist or a peace-loving hippy? Pot Grower Tycoon allows you to choose between indoor and outdoor farming with customizations like soil and hydroponics, chemical and organic fertilizers or green and dirty electricity. Leave no trace or rape the land - it's your decision.
So how does it sound? I so want to play this game - maybe I'll attempt to create it. It might work as a browser game. Maybe not. I'm not sure I would really want to play a themed Travian-like, let alone attempt to develop my own.
But I am enjoying the pvp-lite Nile Online - it just seems to me like at least the threat of violence would need to pervade the game. Lol, getting busted could send you to Prison Tycoon.
It would have to be more than just Plant Tycoon, but implementing some simplified elements similar to this game could make for an interesting minigame - crossbreeding varieties on your farm to achieve the perfect "pineapple express." And doing so, as with the original, to be able to fetch higher prices for your product.
UPDATE: Thanks reddit! I have seen a lot of comments about this post and I appreciate all of them. I just wrote a follow-up here.
City Building Madness
Lately I've been on a rather down note with MMORPGs. I'm pretty much over the constant grind of leveling, and as I have rather little time between bong hits to play any game I tend to value the pause button more than most other features.
Well, I have been playing quite a bit of LOTRO, which I find it difficult to quit since I have such a laid-back attitude toward playing it - an attitude I happily believe Turbine encourages. Now if only I had more time for DDO.
But rather than fill any extra bits of time I have to spare with another MMORPG (even an excellent game like DDO), I have decided to go back to my game-addiction roots by investigating the city-building genre.
So first up, I played the crap out of SimCity, SimCity 2000 and SimCity 3000 back when each was considered the paragon of sim gaming (i.e. before that wretched shitfest known as the Sims was released - I know, it's a lonely opinion considering it is probably still the best-selling franchise in gaming history). But other than those three titles, I missed out on the other games that share the genre - namely the historic city-builders like the classic Caesar series. (The 90s were not kind to yours truly so I missed out on a lot from that decade.)
So the past week or so I have been hunting down games in both the historic and modern subgenres. I'll state right off that I have decided to take a pass on SimCity Societies, as it doesn't appear to have the depth of strategy I want. And I would probably be perfectly happy playing SimCity 4, but I can't get it to work.
Right now I am slaking my city-building thirst from the fountain of the classic game Pharaoh. It was a slight pain getting it to run properly on what would have been practically a supercomputer when it was released (10 years ago), but not too difficult. Talk about a fun old game - I am pretty much hooked for the time being.
I am also quite enamored of the new online browser game, Nile Online. Like any of the other f2p browser games in this category it's a bit cheesy, but it draws on the solid foundation of games like Pharaoh and the newer Children of the Nile. And it is made by Tilted Mill, which was formed from the ashes of Caesar and Pharaoh creator Impressions Games. Funnily, they also developed SimCity Societies - I guess we can't win them all. And while I like this game, it does not scratch the itch of a more fully developed stand-alone game.
I'm considering getting City Life, as it's available on Steam without the horrendous Starforce DRM, and it has garnered a pretty solid following of city-builder fans. But I'm not sure I want a modern city-builder and it appears City Life developer Monte Cristo is coming out with a brand-new city game sometime in the future - perhaps I'll just wait for that.
Next up: CivCity Rome - which I bought and almost instantly regretted as soon as I loaded it up. Not because of the gameplay, which seems decent enough, but rather because of the lack of options for those of us with widescreen monitors. In other words - no options.
And because either Samsung or Nvidia or Satan (who knows?) can't get their act together and make a driver that allows for proper aspect ratio scaling no matter what I do I get ugly, stretched-out graphics. It pisses me off just thinking about it.
Oh, and why not just run it in windowed mode? Stupid prole, CivCity Rome has no use for windowed mode. I mean it came out in 2006 - why would a game released waaaay back then have the capability for widescreen display or windowed mode? Yes, I am being heavily sarcastic.
So I am now deciding between Children of the Nile and Settlers: Rise of an Empire. I've played the demo for CotN and, like it's predecessor Pharaoh, it is a solid game so I am heavily leaning toward it. Like I mentioned earlier I missed out on a lot of what gaming offered in the 1990s so I would like to get a taste for myself of the venerable Settlers series.
I'll probably end up with the Settlers as I already know I love CotN (like my logic there?) and will be buying it no matter what in the future. But money and more importanty time are concerns for me, so I need to pick and choose and can't just plunk down for both right now. So I will likely go with Settlers and see what I can get out of it before entering into what will surely be the all-night crackfests of Children of the Nile.
Finally I want to mention one last thing: where is the Caesar IV love? Well, since Caesar is probably the defacto standard of the historic city-building genre I probably would have just got that right off the bat and then decided on how I feel about it after the fact. But now that it is a few years old it is not the easiest game to find and even if I could waltz down to Gamestop and buy it, I still probably wouldn't as I really no longer like buying physical game boxes and Steam has become my download service of choice. Hopefully someday Caesar will come to Steam so I can enjoy it - perhaps a Caesar V?
MUDs, Tabula Rasa and Sony Online
OK, wow. I haven't posted an update in two weeks. But it's been a relatively slow two weeks: not much new in the MMO-sphere with the exception of a controversy, enlightenment and a marketing push.
The Controversy: It seems that articles in Wikipedia dealing with the history of MUDs, specifically Threshold, have come under attack recently. Massively did a pretty good write-up of the situation. I wonder how it will unfold?
Enlightenment: Adam Martin, a former CTO for NCSoft's European development studio offered a very insightful post about the trainwreck that was Tabula Rasa. Which I haven't been able to bring myself to play, even though it is free right now. While not leveling blame specifically, he does seem to lay it at the feet of NCSoft as an organization.
If you have ever worked in a dysfunctional corporate setting or been on a team that just can't pull it together then this angle makes a lot of sense. The most telling example he gave, in fact, was that apparently to this day NCSoft still does not officially recognize TR as a failure. And as he points out, recognizing failures is what helps prevent us from repeating them.
Lastly, the Push: You may have noticed that SOE is now offering their MMO titles on sale through Steam. While I highly doubt SOE is suffering from a lack of subscribers to their various franchises, it seems to me that those numbers could be a lot higher, especially for games like Vanguard.
Hopefully Steam can attract some new blood into games like Vanguard or Pirates of the Burning Sea which have languished in the morass that is borne of failed launches and highly negative word-of-mouth against SOE's management of other games - SWG, CU and NGE are three acronyms will probably always have baggage in many MMO players' minds. And now SOE may be committing another marketing blunder with their adoption of RMT. So Sony can probably use all the positive advertising it can get in the MMO world.
Vendetta Online Extended Trial
Hurry up and get over to MMORPG.com - they are offering a free extended trial for the space-based pvp MMO Vendetta Online. But you might be wondering what, exactly, is Vendetta Online. With an active player base numbering in the hundreds (at best), this wouldn't be too surprising.
VO is a subscription-based ($9.99/month) space MMORPG which has been live for going on five years now. On the surface, it is modelled after the space trade/combat archetype of game which has been around since forever (well, 1984 seems like forever-ago). In this way it is very similar to other MMOs like Jumpgate and EVE Online.
One of the most amazing things about VO is that it was/is developed by only four people working in their spare time. While this shows in graphics which are substandard (but really not that bad) and a seeming complete lack of marketing, this also allows for a much more intimate dialogue between the developers and their players. In fact, players are able to directly influence content added to the game - by developing it themselves! That is something you can't find with a mainstream MMO.
One of the other interesting aspects of VO is that it works natively on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. Natively means it has three separate clients compiled for each operating system. Many games that are cross-platform simply have a Windows client that has added compatibility layers to run on a different OS - often degrading performance.
From what I understand Vendetta Online is much more similar to Jumpgate than EVE, as the piloting controls for your ship are twitch-based and rely as much (if not more) on player aiming and reflexes than on skills or equipment. But, like EVE, it has a starbase-based trading system and a physically vast area of space to fly around in. It is also a sandbox-style game with no leveling or even skills (like any RPG there are some "levels" to raise, however).
Instead of levels you get experience points (my term) to apply to licenses which unlock better ships and gear to outfit them with. There are also factions in VO, and so far it is my understanding higher standings will get you vendor discounts and access to more missions.
VO is a rather small game that lacks much of the complexity that EVE offers. I do not see this as a deficit, however. The community as a whole in VO is fairly mature (for an MMO) and tight-knit. There is still a level of complexity that will appeal to people who enjoy space-based sandboxes, but will does not present the amazingly steep learning curve (seen described as a "learning cliff") of EVE.
I don't really want to just compare VO to EVE, but as EVE is the 800-lbs gorilla of this niche, I suppose it is somewhat inevitable. I just want to add one last comparison between the two: combat. And boy the differences are are profound.
As I mentioned, combat in VO is twitch-based. Combat in EVE is based on careful planning and executed by the ship being piloted. This makes VO much more like an ship-based FPS, which I understand is what Jumpgate is all about (I haven't played that though so I can't really say).
While I never disliked combat in EVE, I find myself rather enthusiastic about the combat in VO. Being able to maneouver your ship along six axes while accounting for inertia, targetting and battery-use in a vicious dogfight is super-duper fun. It requires as much quick-thinking and luck as it does fast reflexes.
In First for the New Year
First in on the New Year thread! Oh, wait ...
So I hope everyone has enjoyed their holiday celebrations, whether that be time spent with family or time spent completing Festivult quests (hopefully both!).
Personally, I have been continuing on my Team Fortress 2 compulsion, racking up more hours in that game then I have since the beginning of the year. Yet still I am only ranked in the 40's on Newbs - lol, it's no surprise as a lot of genuinely good players call Newbs their home and I still don't play that much.
The only other game I have been playing with any frequency is ... Vanguard! That's right - I am about two weeks into the free gametime for veterans and simply loving the changes Sigil-SOE has made to the game, specifically the Isle Dawn.
Honestly, I think if there were some sort of contest for most improved noob starter area in an MMORPG, DDO would win hands-down with Module 8. However, Vanguard's Isle of Dawn is a solid and well-designed starting area for such a massive and complex game. From the moment I stepped into the game, the experience flowed perfectly and before I knew it I was a level five adventurer and well on my way to the same rank in diplomacy.
Which I love. It seems like I heard a lot of people disparaging the diplomacy mini-game back when Vanguard first came out, and I can't understand why. I mean, sure, some people won't like it - that's just life. But so far I have had a tremendous blast with it. And the fact that you can use your diplomatic skills to create zone-wide buffs for yourself and other players is the icing on the cake.
I am also quite fond at this point of Vanguard's crafting system. Like diplomacy, it is a viable and fleshed-out alternative to adventuring (i.e. questing and killing). So far, I find it by far the most interesting and engaging crafting experience I have had in an MMORPG.
Of course, Vanguard being Vanguard there are still some ... issues. So far I have tried out a Raki Ranger and a Thestran Bard. I almost fell through the world with the Ranger; when I was swimming up onto land in the noob swamp and swam through and under the island. But I didn't fall through, thankfully I was righted and popped out on top. The most annoying bug I've noticed so far is that frequently I have melee weapons disappear out of both characters' hands. I think they are still equipped, but who knows?
All in all though, like a lovable alcoholic or a dim-witted but kind-hearted supervisor, Vanguard has reached the point where its strengths shine through its deficiencies. I might even subscribe if I can find a good guild to play with.
One last thing: THERE IS A HUGE SALE AT STEAM. Steam is having a new-year sale until tomorrow (Jan. 2) with some pretty massive price-cuts on certain games. Some standouts I noticed (regular price in parenthesis):
Bioshock: $4.99 ($19.99)
Portal: $4.99 ($19.99)
Warhammer 40K Dawn of War Complete Pack: $29.99 ($59.98)
Stalker: Clear Sky: $17.49 ($34.99) Note: contains TAGES DRM for limited activations
Mount and Blade: $14.99 ($29.99)
ID Software Super Pack: $34.99 ($69.99)
Silent Hill 4: $24.99 ($49.99)
Those are just a few of the titles that jumped out at me. There are more extremely good deals and numerous OK deals. So while the sale on top-tier titles that normally go for $50 like Left 4 Dead, Spore, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning and Fallout 3 are not extreme deals, you can still save yourself $12 or $13 by buying them through Steam today or tomorrow.
You probably aren't wondering what my personal favorite deal is, but I'll tell you anyway: Doom 2 for $.99 - I couldn't not get this piece of PC gaming history for less than a buck.
EA Hell Freezes Over and Other Stuff
Well, if you haven't heard by now you better get your ass over to Steam and take a look: verily Hell hath frozen over and Valve has announced that several more top-tier Electronic Arts titles will be coming to Steam. Among these games are the MMORPG Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, the much-maligned Spore and the upcoming titles Red Alert 3 and Mirror's Edge (to which I fist-stabbed the air and was like "YES!"). Some EA titles like Mass Effect and Crysis have already been available on Steam for some time now.
The real question which I think is on everyone's mind right now is will the Steam version of Spore have the infamous SecuROM included in it? So far, there is no mention of it on the sales page, however that isn't necessarily indicative of the reality.
Both the Crysis and Crysis Warhead Steam versions have SecuROM. Grand Theft Auto IV has it. There are probably more, but I can't be assed right now to look them up. In the past Bioshock had it, but now doesn't. I'm not sure if the Steam version of Mass Effect ever had it, but it doesn't now at least. And the Steam version of Fallout 3 has never had it.
So I expect that the status of SecuR(ootkit)OM on Steam's Spore will be confirmed in short order. Owing that my newish computer is already infected with the SecuROM virus (Neverwinter Nights 2 - thanks a whole lot Atari, you bastards) I am tempted to try it out and see if I can find it in the download. But probably not, I have a bunch to do and not all of it involves the following:
Vanguard is, right now as I type this, giving away a free month-and-a-half of playtime to former subscribers. That is right - from December 17 until January 31 the accounts of former subscribers have been re-activated. I was never really able to get into Vanguard, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for it owing to the sheer scope and ambition of the world. So a free month should be enough to install the 17-gigabyte behemoth on my hard drive.
Tabula Rasa has the rank stench of death hovering about it, but technically it is still alive and I have still have a couple free codes to give out. Why not join CJ McFee, Voyd and me and get yourself a free code so you too can emerge from Foreas with the aroma of a morgue clinging to you?
Can you believe I still have yet to get WotLK? I know, I thought WoW was all addictive and stuff. But here I am, barely able to fathom myself logging back into that crack-fest. But you know I will eventually. And now that Blizzard has introduced paid gender changes, I no longer have to live as a GIRL.
And finally for today, Steam's weekend special: Stalker: Shadows of Chernobyl for $4.99. Yes, you read that right, it isn't a typo - Stalker SoC for only $4.99. So if you don't already have this classic you better fire up Steam and get it!
Grate-Camper or *Great* Camper?
Deep breaths, 4:20 my lad, deep breaths.
I've been on a real Team Fortress 2 kick that past week and I just came out of a particularly grueling match on the Newbs 2Fort server. I have to say that occasionally I get ... overcompetitive. I suppose you could call it that.
Fortunately for me, I am exceedingly laconic sort of fellow except on the rare chance I've had too much Pabst Blue Ribbon. So I'm not particularly known for being the asshat in the crowd. Like some good middle-manager with two divorces, three mortgages and a four-martini lunch I bottle up all the anger and frustration. Instead of taking it out on the wife and kids, however, the very violent and bloody nature of Team Fortress 2 ensures those bad feelings find release fairly rapidly.
Tonight I snapped a bit, though. And the reason I am even bothering to mention it is because I had to step back and examine why I was bothered.
There are all kinds of little strategies for each class on the various TF2 maps. I play almost exclusively on 2Fort maps, so I've found a lot of little ways to make the environment work for me. I suppose I should write about them, but for now I just want to focus on one technique that I have discovered which is somewhat controversial.
Grate-camping.
As every 2Fort player knows, there is a small hallway between the front door to your base and the long hallway that connects it and the sewer to the sink room. And almost the entire hall consists of a see-through grate that can be used as a choke point for an invading group. I've seen Soldiers, Engineers, Snipers and even Pyros use it fairly effectively. But if you are keeping in mind I am writing about something controversial, then you know this technique must be specific to the Demoman.
Because damage can be taken through the grate, it makes a lovely little hanger to hold a full load of sticky bombs. Then you simply detonate them when someone walks underneath and ... you get the picture ... a lot of blood and entrails.
For an example of what I am talking about forward to around 1:00 in the video below:
OK - I am already aware that many people find spawn camping lame - there have been times when I agree with that sentiment. In fact, on the Newbs server the only stated bannable offense is sticky-camping a spawn point. Yes, there are a lot of sticky bomb haters out there but now they can vent by taking shots at the stickies with their pea-shooters.
When I say this was a grueling match, what I mean is the match hung at 2-2 for at least two hours. A few of the better players on the server were playing and eventually it dwindled from about 20-24 players down to nine of us near the end.
So this is where I tie this pointless story together with a dick move. By the time there are only nine of us left slogging it out, I have already had to mute one of my teammates for referring to me over voice as the "Gate-Camper." And asking to kick me from the server - my own teammate!
So basically I noticed that I am on the side with five players (nine players = 5v4) and switched sides in a huff and went on to get my former team's intelligence to the their front door. Of course I died there from wounds inflicted by a rather incensed heavy who dropped on top of me from the battlements, but my new teammates were able to successfully cap. It almost makes the ulcer worth it.
So I was all angry about this guy and his douche-baggery. In fact, I suppose I still am a bit simply because, judgmental name-calling aside, I found that particular player to be of the rather odious sort - the type who likes to order people around and critique their performance in real-time. The kind I seem to encounter en masse in WoW battlegrounds.
But it made me think - is gate-camping something to be derided or praised? I am generally not surprised if an opponent cries about it, though I was taken aback that a teammate would QQ a tactic that was successfully repelling an assault on our front door.
I can understand why some people are completely against spawn camping, though I myself have a much more open view of that topic. But seriously? Grate-camping? I'm sorry, but if you can't get around a demo-camped grate then, to put it in the patois of WoW: L2P.
In fact, I'll follow up with the exact way to completely avoid the grate without needing to weed the pesky demo from his perch: come up from the sewer and take the long hall into the courtyard. It's a sub-optimal route, but the demo won't be able to touch you with his sticky bombs. See, not so hard.
So whatever, tonight I tasted revenge ... and it was sweet! Isn't Team Fortress 2 wonderful?
Tabula Rasa = Halo
So I've never really understood what it is about TR that I find so crappy. The graphics are good, say what you want about the combat, but it is at least OK - there are of course numerous "problems" with the game that everyone has gone over a thousand times here and other forums - but there has always been some indefinable quality about the game that made me almost instantly go "bleh" when I started playing. Meaning that even if TR had none of its other problems I probably still would not have liked it that much.
But I finally figured it out: TR is a MMO clone of Halo.
I've never been a big Halo fan (though I don't dislike it either), so that is probably why I didn't make the connection until my girlfriend's son installed Halo 1 on the PC we got him this past weekend. As he was playing it, I was thinking to myself "hmmm this looks familiar to me beyond any Halo-related ads I've seen." Then it hit me - it looked just like TR.
- Halo 3 Screenshot
- Tabula Rasa Screenshot
So I'm glad I finally solved this little puzzle and it helps explain partly why TR failed and why the devs made some of the design decisions they did.
1. They probably thought this would be a WoW competitor simply because of the popularity of Halo - think about it, an MMO (the game industry's darling new genre) combined with one of the most successful FPS of all time. To them it must have seemed like a can't-miss.
But of course, if that is the case, they marketed it all wrong. I would wager that the lion's share of MMORPG players could care less about any FPS, let alone the patron saint FPS of ADHD pre-teens everywhere. They should have marketed this as a hook to get those kids into the MMO -sphere rather than simply try to get MMO players into a bastardized version of a game they wouldn't play anyway.
2. It also explains to me why the game was so shallow - MMO players - even the casuals (like myself) want deep and complex gameplay with a preponderance of minutiae to keep exploration alive (even after the world has been completely run-through) and to use as achievements to show off your mastery of the game to other players.
I would wager that for the most part Halo players don't care about those things - perhaps advertisable achievements, but I doubt they would be jazzed about any of the other typical components of an RPG let alone an MMORPG.
So does this explain why TR failed so (relatively) quickly considering it had A LOT of hype going into it's release? What I'm getting at here is that it was hyped by and marketed to MMORPG players, who once they logged in and realized it had none of what is expected in an MMORPG - namely auction houses, a mail system, (real not wannabe) crafting, etc. - subsequently left the game in droves and then (like the typical MMORPG players we all are) vocalized their disgruntlement quite loudly (guilty-as-charged here).
Perhaps if TR, like Hellgate before it, had been marketed properly to the correct audience then it would have merely been a bastard step-child to the MMORPG market, but a relatively successful one, nonetheless. Or perhaps TR (and Hellgate) only serve to illustrate that attempting to combine FPS with MMORPG is destined to failure.
Personally I don't believe that - think about how wonderful an Oblivion or Fallout 3 Online would be. One of my favorite aspects of Vanguard, in fact, was that you could play it in FPS mode. I suppose in the end it might have meant the difference between being a solid niche title and being a failure if TR had merged the UI and graphics of an FPS with the design of an RPG, instead of the other way around.
Probable epic win for Turbine
So for the past 30 minutes or so I have been looking over the LOTRO my.lotro.com social networking site beta and I am extremely impressed.
First I want to say that I am impressed with the job they did with organization and presentation. Being able to see time stamps for completing quests and achieving levels is a good way to advertise qualities about yourself that will help you find people to play with. I think the blog function is a clever addition and can foresee many of my fellow Landrovalians utilizing this feature to its fullest.
I think the thing I am most impressed about this whole my.lotro.com affair is that the site is built out of friggin WordPress! I know there are some pretty amazing WordPress hacks floating around, but I think this has to take the cake (and pie as well) of all of them.
So as basically my.lotro.com is a stripped down and heavily modded WordPress-mu installation it allows you to do many things a normal wordpress blog will let you - like potentially change the theme of your blog! The option is available though there is only the default design as a choice.
And so far I've noticed two mods: an events calendar and a character list - which is awesomely hooked to the game database to provide information automatically.
I am predicting that LOTRO players who are familiar with WordPress will no doubt be attracted to this new site like moths to a big flaming eye. It isn't readily apparent right now, but when you log in use your forum name and password.
Blogs I Read
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- Elder Game
- Fabled Lands
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- OSG1 – Online Strategy Games
- Pumping Irony
- Ralph Koster
- Stylish Corpse
- Tish Tosh Tesh
- Troll in the Corner
Browser Games I Play
Fortuente Pages
Game Sites I Like
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