Private Servers for PvP… That Totally Makes Sense… To Somebody

Guild Wars 2, one of my potential 2011 games, now *seems* slated for some time in 2012.

No big deal.

These things happen.  The same goes for TERA as I understand it.

So with that release still somewhere over the horizon for me, I haven’t been paying too much attention to news and updates about the game.

Still love this logo…

I did, however, see a ripple last week on Twitter about something somebody somewhere said about Guild Wars 2 offering private servers of some sort.

This, of course, caused a small stir, filled with both hate and warm fuzzies.  My own though was perhaps this would be something of an “our world” option for you and your buddies.  Guild Wars is mostly instanced, so maybe this might make sense in the context of Guild Wars 2.

Eventually, ArenaNet offered up  a clarification on the subject:

In the interview he mentioned that we are considering allowing players to “create” their own PvP servers, it is not for certain. And we never mentioned anything about “private PvE server” – that is something we will definitely not do.

This made my brain do a rapid left turn.  And not just because “create” is in quotes.  What does “that” mean?

Isn’t PvP the most social (or anti-social, if you look at it from the other end) aspect of a game?  Isn’t that the part that lives and dies on your getting as many players as possible involved?  Wouldn’t that be the worst aspect of the game to split off into individual servers?

Okay, yes, I do not know thing one about Guild Wars 2 PvP… or even Guild Wars PvP for that matter… so maybe it totally makes sense.  Maybe that is the completely logical position, a step in the right direction.

But when I read tidbits like this…

…Guild Wars 2 will feature “World PvP”, large scale combat taking place in a persistent world, with players able to drop in and out “on the fly”. Players will be able to join this worldwide PvP battle in a variety of roles, with rewards commensurate with their success.

it makes me go “hmmm?”

Meanwhile, the PvE aspect of the game… and my impressions are from Guild Wars, with which I am mildly familiar, owning three of the four game boxes… seems like it might be a candidate for private servers.

Or maybe not.

If it is anything like Guild Wars, the game will be heavily instanced and players will already have private instances, so who would ever need a private server.

Anyway, the depth of my ignorance on the subject is as yet unplumbed.  I am sure somebody out there can explain why ArenaNet would even bring up the topic of private servers.

Unless they are going to offer a “run your own” server kit, thus taking load off of their data center, I cannot see any real benefit in the idea.   #notwinning

How Was Star Trek Online NOT Free to Play Already?

When I think of subscription games that have switch to the free to play model, Star Trek Online pops into my head, and has for some time.

And then I have had to remind myself that no, the game is not F2P, not yet.

Now though, that appears to have changed.

Perfect World Entertainment, which is apparently my company of the day, and which acquired Cryptic Studios back in May, has announced that Star Trek Online will be going F2P this year, or so reports Massively.

F2P... it is a gold mine... like re-runs!

Now, as a lifetime subscriber facing yet another company changing business models, I do wonder how they will treat me.  Not that I have played the game in the last year.  My one year anniversary post for the game is still sitting as a draft.

Look, I logged on long enough to get a screen shot!

The Lord of the Rings Online transition from subscription to F2P treated lifetime subscribers very well I felt.  I was quite satisfied with how that turned out last summer.  I will be interested to see how this plays out with STO.

And you can just bet if they shaft the lifetime subscribers, I will complain about it despite having no real investment in the game.  It is just the way it has to be.

Rusty Hearts Wants Me to Buy a Gamepad

Another one from the mail bag I suppose.

Rusty Hearts, which I can’t recall having heard about before, a Perfect World Entertainment MMO currently in closed beta, sent me a note.  Or the people running it did.  And they want me to go buy a gamepad.

Rusty Hearts Offer

And to get me to do this, the have sent me a code that will let me buy a Logitech Dual Action Gamepad for just $4.99.

The Gamepad in Question

Granted, the gamepad is only $12.99 normally on the Logitech site (it is actually double that on Amazon), but when we’re talking five dollar game controllers, I start wondering if I ought to get one just to tinker around.

Not that Rusty Hearts seems to be my sort of game.  It is described as:

An anime-inspired, cell shaded, beat-em-up action MMORPG set in a stylized gothic world.

Sounds just like Darren‘s cup of tea… but for me… not so much.

And if I am not going to use it for Rusty Hearts, then I am not sure what use it would be.

It does seem to be one of the supported devices for Need for Speed World.  I’m not quite convinced that a gamepad is necessarily superior to the keyboard for steering control.

So what is a gamepad good for on a Windows 7 PC?  What would make it worth dropping the five dollars?

Is there a MAME front end or something that would support it?