Reinventing the Wheel

It seems that with every game that comes out (in context of MMO's) it appears to be nothing more then a snippet of one game added to another snippet of another game to reinvent the [everquest] wheel. Every online game has had their sights on repeating the success that EQ managed to attain, and that is all good. But what i am tired of is that with every review of every new game in beta or post release - reviewers (both players and paid) go on and on about this new revolutionary feature that this game has.

With the chatter brewing between EQ2 and Worlds of Warcraft (WoW) both in Beta stages - the reviews go on and on with features such as low level task and quest adventuring (reminiscent of Dark Ages of Camelot - DaoC) and death options (insta-release w/death penalty [ seen in many older games] or ghosting to the corpse for retrieval w/o death penalty [a la SWG]) Not losing exp but death points (a la Horizons) or not losing your armor or skills (DaoC) i wonder why when i read the reviews of EQ2 and WoW that these features are made to seem revolutionary/unique. To be fair, these two games might do it better .. with better aesthetics, but seamless worlds (except for dungeons) and umpteen career paths have been done before .. and in games that are still active (daoc, horizons, L2 etc.).

So, when reviewing a game, i ask the reviewers (like they would ever read this!!) PLEASE: dont tell me the same old features that are coming into the game that have been done before - tell me how different [or even better] it is to the older games with the same features!

Intermittent Postings

The last few weeks have been intermittent at best with my content - and for that i am sorry. Been taking summer classes which are condensed and doesnt leave me with much time to actually contemplate the information i was learning. Last exam is this afternoon, and then i get to dive into all the work i've been putting off for gameCODE, let alone the paper i am trying to get done for the Other conference.

Other interesting news, for those who know me, and my interests, the next Digra conference is being held in Vancouver in June 2005. Official press release.

By then i SHOULD be heading into my MA - what better chance to kickstart my research =)

Hopefully, now that my classes are done, ill be able to post more - as always - any feedback is more then welcome!

Off Topic

Usually, I use this space to jabber with myself and the few people that read this space, but i want to take a minute to plug a very great company that i have had the pleasure of dealing with. Tribalectic is a great body piercing / jewelry site. I ordered from them recently and paid only $4.50 shipping and i had my jewelry within a week. Also the personel are incredibly responsive. Great customer service is a rare thing these days.

So, if ever you find yourself in the market for some body jewelry, they carry alot of stuff you cant buy here in Montreal.

Redefining the Written Word

Today on Sashay's blog, she posted about a project called Ineradicable Stain which proposes to tattoo one word of a complete text on the body of volunteers - for a total of 2095 people. [Of which i sent my official request to participate this afternoon]

The project is aptly timed with my reading of Espen Aarseth's Cybertext. The project states that the text in its entirety will only be offered to those who participate in it, and as each person passes away, the text will alter. It interests me in the face of Aarseth's work on traditional views and definitions of textual narrative as we looks to define Cybertext and Ergodic literature in the digital age. The project answers nicely to a point he raises [chapter 4] about intent of the text versus the perception and actions of the reader and how the format of the text plays into the reader's idea of what the narrative is. (among much more theory that i haven't processed yet)

The project also interests me as a creative expression that marries my love for words, tattoos and supports something that pushes the boundaries of predetermined norms in art and literature.