tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post7467689088525503469..comments2024-03-28T10:18:05.213+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: Don't Give UpBhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-71650134906607207882017-05-25T18:49:40.001+01:002017-05-25T18:49:40.001+01:00Beautiful post Bhag, I agree completely. :)Beautiful post Bhag, I agree completely. :)Sylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04473554645340972749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-61933855800651245172017-05-22T16:15:31.835+01:002017-05-22T16:15:31.835+01:00Oh that's brilliant! I apologize for making yo...Oh that's brilliant! I apologize for making you explain but I was on completely the wrong track - I thought you knew something I didn't about what was going on in Mr Lefebvre's life that might have explained why he wrote the piece when all the time you were riffing on what I'd written myself!<br /><br />I'd feel silly for misunderstanding but I feel more pleased you enjoyed the references in the first place. Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-27285163952990200562017-05-22T14:50:26.332+01:002017-05-22T14:50:26.332+01:00All right, I'll bite.
Don't Give Up, co-s...All right, I'll bite.<br /><br />Don't Give Up, co-sung by Peter Gabriel ("Digging in the Dirt" - song) and Kate Bush ("The Whole Story" - album) to the tune of T. S. Eliot (Lefebvre)'s Wasteland (wherein fragments are shored against our ruins).<br /><br />The references made me smile a happy smile.Karinshasthahttps://lightfallsgracefully.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-7982425474465270782017-05-22T10:56:48.155+01:002017-05-22T10:56:48.155+01:00I used to enjoy his posts on FFXI/XIV. They were g...I used to enjoy his posts on FFXI/XIV. They were generally upbeat and cheerful. Not so much any more. Apart from Syp there's not really a writer left at MOP whose writing I actively look forward to reading. I do appreciate the news coverage though.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-4173821009253318712017-05-21T21:06:49.351+01:002017-05-21T21:06:49.351+01:00Honestly, Eliot just seems like Massively's Ap...Honestly, Eliot just seems like Massively's Appointed Curmudgeon most days. Bree appointed him, in case you were going to ask. I don't take any of his grumpiness too seriously. Maybe he gets tired of reading and writing about people's fear that their favorite games will go under, or already have done so. Maybe there was something unfortunate in his cereal the morning he wrote that article.Atherenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773969634802702992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-86278925970657440652017-05-21T19:23:49.417+01:002017-05-21T19:23:49.417+01:00A few commenters on the MOP post made that point b...A few commenters on the MOP post made that point but it doesn't really jibe with my own experience. On balance I tend to feel that most MMOs continually improve. Given the choice I'd certainly play the current iterations of EQ or EQ2 over the originals, for example. <br /><br />More importantly, I believe that players who do stick with an MMO even when changes happen that they don't find to their personal liking are rewarded richly over time with a deep sense of belonging, which players who choose to leave when things don't go their way never get to experience. It's like a relationship - you don't get what you want all the time but the longer it lasts the more you appreciate what it is that you are getting out of it. I guess that analogy works for the people who decide the relationship has run its course or has irretrievably broken down, too, which is why you see so many bitter exes on forums.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-27939372366001135172017-05-21T19:16:36.150+01:002017-05-21T19:16:36.150+01:00Heh! That's too cryptic for me to decode. I fe...Heh! That's too cryptic for me to decode. I feel like I missed a memo.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-4059154306388073932017-05-21T19:13:57.384+01:002017-05-21T19:13:57.384+01:00I thought it was a particularly strange post, whic...I thought it was a particularly strange post, which is why I ended up counter-posting. I realize it was a "soapbox" piece and therefore intended to generate controversy but even so...<br /><br />I didn't get into the whole "is it tough love or just lack of empathy" aspect but you are absolutely right to highlight that as well. It reminded me of that cliche reaction you sometimes hear when someone's pet dies and someone else says "It was just a cat - you can buy another one".Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-88095876208367929682017-05-21T17:52:01.885+01:002017-05-21T17:52:01.885+01:00Shutting down isn't my worry. Most MMOs evolve...Shutting down isn't my worry. Most MMOs evolve beyond my love and never regain it back. Ultima Online still remains, but it is a far cry from the game I played and loved decades ago. There is a finite nature to MMOs that we should all respect, even as they chug along into infinity.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00289459451344261371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-17297394745157962842017-05-21T17:34:56.819+01:002017-05-21T17:34:56.819+01:00Perhaps Eliot should stop digging in the dirt of t...Perhaps Eliot should stop digging in the dirt of this wasteland of MMOs so he can give us the whole story.<br /><br />*hat tip*Karinshasthahttps://lightfallsgracefully.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-20288353064052982862017-05-21T17:16:36.655+01:002017-05-21T17:16:36.655+01:00I'm generally a pretty big fan of Eliot's ...I'm generally a pretty big fan of Eliot's writing, but that whole article was bizarre, and I don't understand what he was hoping to achieve.<br /><br />The gist seems to have been you shouldn't be upset if your favourite game shuts down because it's inevitable anyway, but that's terrible logic by any measure. I don't think anyone has been labouring under the false impression MMOs are forever. Indeed, people seem all too eager to pronounce death on any game that has even the slightest stumble.<br /><br />People don't mourn MMOs because they thought they'd last forever. People mourn MMOs because they've lost something important to them. Knowing that the end is inevitable one day doesn't change that. Any mentally sound adult is aware that every person will die one day, but that doesn't stop us mourning the deaths of our loved ones.<br /><br />And that's without even factoring in the reality that, as you rightly point out, MMOs are in fact fairly hard to kill.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-14557417531781564982017-05-21T17:15:38.890+01:002017-05-21T17:15:38.890+01:00Istaria is the game the "community projects&q...Istaria is the game the "community projects" link above refers back to, or rather it goes to a post I wrote about Istaria a couple of years ago. I played Horizons in beta and bought it at launch even though I knew it was nearly unplayable. I think we lasted a couple of weeks. I've actually played it a lot more as Istaria, although still not all that often. I checked the website and it seems to be trucking along. I should log in again and see how it's going. It was fairly busy last time I visited. <br /><br />There are a handful of MMOs whose loss I would have some difficulty adjusting to - EQ, EQ2 and GW2 mostly - but the demise of Vanguard was a watershed moment for me. That was disturbingly disturbing, if you see what I mean, but I did manage to come to terms with it - and then the emu project appeared and I've been able to revisit whenever I want, which I never expected. <br /><br />What that taught me was neither to expect MMOs to go on forever or to vanish inexorably into oblivion. It taught me that you can't expect to manage the future, you just have to wait until it becomes the present and then try to manage that.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-67455534108491069882017-05-21T15:46:02.877+01:002017-05-21T15:46:02.877+01:00When I was younger, this was a much more scary thi...When I was younger, this was a much more scary thing to me. Let me tell a quick story. Back in 2003, a game called Horizons: Empire of Istaria was launched. I really loved what I found there, especially the crafting and the chance to play a flying dragon as a character! <br /><br />But then, the game started having financial problems. I'm talking bankruptcy and selling the company type trouble. I can't remember what year it was, but it was fairly early in the development cycle. When your beloved MMO is going bottom up, it's a scary thing. Suddenly you're faced with the question of: what if I wake up tomorrow and everything I worked for is gone? <br /><br />Younger me decided that the game was probably dooooomed (I'd never been through something like this before with an MMO), so rather than blow time and money and grow further attachments to a game that was going to disappear, it was better to cut ties. This made sense. There were a lot of people who did the same... but there were a lot of people who stuck by the game.<br /><br />And you know what? The game STILL exists, though under a different name: Istaria. I have gone back and put time and sub money into Horizons since then, though I don't still play now. But I sorta regret bailing out on the game, because though it did have some rocky development time, I'll never know what might have been if I, and other people who left had stuck it out to support it. <br /><br />One thing that playing various MMOs for so long has taught me... there will always be something new around the corner to experience. I've learned to treat MMOs as fun, and my tastes in entertainment can and do change as I get older. Sure, I love FFXIV and I'd be sad if it shut down. But the truth is, the memories and experiences are the most important things I take away from the game. <br /><br />There are many games I don't play anymore (UO, LOTRO, EQ2, Horizons, etc). Sometimes I revisit them if that's possible, and I still have screenshots and fond stories to tell. I've learned how to be at peace with that. Aywrenhttp://www.aywren.comnoreply@blogger.com