Massive Guys on Massive Games: Episode #4
The fourth episode of “Massive Guys on Massive Games” is now on the wireways! In this episode, find out the favorite player race of Ryan “Blackguard” Shwayder and Steve “Moorgard” Danuser, as well as our favorite classes to play. Enjoy!
Show Notes:
- You can find future episodes via the podcast feed or by hitting up MMOPodcast.com.
- If you’d like to download the mp3 directly, you can download it here.
- All podcasts will appear in the podcast category on Nerfbat.com.
- Donation information can be found at http://www.nerfbat.com/donate/.
- More about why Ryan loves Bards can be found here.
Nice episode.
My favorite race depends on the setting of the world. In Norrath I was a huge fan of the Dark Elves, everything about them from the lore to their look (I actually like the bluish/purple skin better than the D&D black) just exudes “cool”. In settings where Dark Elves are not available, such as WoW and some D&D campaigns, I will generally opt for a Human. Taking things the other direction, my least favorite races have been the Drakkin (EQ), Draenei (WoW) and Fae/Arasai (EQ2). Strangely enough, those are all races that were added after release.
My favorite class is, and always has been, the Rogue. The essence of the class just appeals to me in every way, whether one is a streetwise pickpocket or a deadly assassin. Looking at mechanics, I’ve just always loved stealth and other skills such as pickpocketing and lockpicking. I’d like to see a game that made these skills more meaningful for the Rogue than they have been in the past. Wizards are a close second due to all of the fun options they usually have. I also agree with you guys that Bards and Monks are great classes and I hope to see them in the upcoming game. My least favorite class is probably Druid, though the Fury in EQ2 was a bit cooler than what I’ve seen in other games.
Just this past wednesday, I revived my DDO subscription to check out the Monk class that was recently added. Going well so far.
So yeah.. Humans. Hm. My perception (in game) of people that play humans is: You have no imagination! Probably wrong more often than right, but there it is.
As far as gender goes, a guy I worked with 5+ years ago said he ONLY played female characters. Upon asking why, he stated: Well I sure don’t want to be looking a MALE wiggling ass all day, now do I? (third person, behind your running character, in-game).
Can’t say I disagree, and he was always very up front about “Dude, I’m a dude, stop hitting on me” in game so he wasn’t milking the whole “I’m a girl, give me free stuff” thing.
My personal preference has been short and evil, whenever possible. I played a gnome rogue in eq, and a gnome brigand in eq2, and a goblin rogue in … that other game which shall not be named because I still hate Brad McQuaid for screwing up his second chance so incredibly badly.
So, while I agree gnomes are relatively unclean and generally unliked, I played one cause they were usually the shortest. I think the original EQ documentation pegged them at 3′10″, if memory serves, while dwarves were 4 foot something in comparison.
Now, I should have learned in EQ. I should have learned my lesson. You WILL get the shaft by playing on the evil team. And no, there are no super uber compensatory benefits to being evil. You will simply suffer in silence. However, I have continued to play on the evil team since then, regardless of the game, and continue to complain about it, regardless of people telling me “Dude, stop complaining”. If the evil team had a good geographical location, or some inherent ability that was truly remarkable (and of course, affected game balance) then being evil might be considered fun. As it is, it’s just cool, and I can live with that.
Why short? Mostly it’s due to being able to get places other races can’t. This happens infrequently, unfortunately, but it does happen, and it’s pretty neat when it does. I think shrink potions, shrink spells, and/or alternate paths by group makeup aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but they seem too … ‘expensive’ for developers to be able to use often. Perhaps I have a subconscious desire to look up women’s skirts? It’s possible, especially with EQ Barbarians roving around the tundra in fur bikini’s and shorty skirts. (It’s a LONG freaking way from Ak’anon to Halas)
And Rogue. This is just gluttony for punishment. I should have switched to wizard or necro three MMO’s ago, but NOOOOoooo. EQ2 didn’t do a bad job with Rogues, but Jared Sweatt pulled the biggest “screw you, class” of all time when he modified Amazing Reflexes after 13 months of being in game. That’s still a bitter pill, let me tell you. Then there’s the whole Rogues in EQ sucked for so long, why would you possibly ever play one? Again, Vanguard, Rogues, gah. meh. bah.
The smart developers avoid Rogues altogether. They’re either ‘teh suq’ or overpowered and they bounce in between much to the chagrin of all who play them. It’s not easy, I get that. The implication (outside of D&D) is that Rogues are not magic users (devices aside) and yet must perform as well as classes that you can tie magic to in an internally consistent fashion, like Bards. Bards often have a small percentage of roguely abilities, and while I personally find it an affront to all things Rogue, I get why it works.
They’ve often been described as jack-of-all-trades , master-of-none, and then when that doesn’t work out, they get shoehorned into #2 damage dealers. I know Ryan & Steve wouldn’t possibly make the same mistake a third/fourth/fifth time, so I won’t berate them about future mistakes. HOWEVER, I would like to say, if anyone is PLANNING on possibly making an MMO in the future with Rogues in it as a distinct and separate class, it would be a very good idea to take advantage of your community resources *cough-safehouse* if you’re working on a design document. I keep hoping that the rogue triumverate comes to pass. Traps, Poisons, Locks.
Some games require the rogue to pick locks for some very minor portions of the rogue only content. Sucks.
Some games give the rogue poisons which are simply unique proc buffs. Ok, fair enough, it works.
Some games give the rogues Traps… oh wait, NO THEY DON’T. The only game I’ve seen that does traps justice (in my mind/universe) is NWN. The thing is, MMO’s all have the same elements as NWN. Players can interact with any arbitrary surface or object. Check, needed for traps. Traps can be limited to either for balance. Range can be limited, targets can be limited. Check, needed for traps. There’s a bajillion good ways to limit their use so they’re not overpowered, and yet… Nope, they’re not used. For that matter, you could let anyone use traps, but only rogues make them. Oh noes! A class restricted trade skill?! The skyz it be falling! Save me Jebus! yeah, pretty sure you could come up with something for everyone.
Heck you could limit it in so many other ways. Only 1 trap per x meter sphere, trap effect limited by time, number of targets, all that. Too hard to balance? Hmmm no. A great deal of effort to balance? Yes. Guess what? If it was easy, everyone would do it. I have much more to say on the topic, but…
At any rate, there’s my rant for the podcast. My wife says I can’t rant for more than 10 minutes a day, so my quota is up.
agra: “My wife says I can’t rant for more than 10 minutes a day, so my quota is up.”
Then she should thank us.
Also, Rogue is my second favorite class next to Bard. I used to say it was my favorite when I cared what people thought about me (even though I secretly harbored unmitigated love for the Bard and other musically-inclined things).
I usually play Elves, Half-Elves or Dark Elves. I have human characters but they sort of just sit there doing nothing. Then in EQII beta, Dymus was a Ratonga with sunglasses. I really liked the way he looked. It was decided that the group I was playing with would be evil so I went with the Ratonga. This is the first time i have played a non-humanoid character for more than just a quick look around. She is very much a part of me now though I more picture her along the lines of the Rats of NiMH.
In EQ I played a Ranger and really enjoyed playing the class. I started one in EQ2 but we could never find a priest so priest I became. I dabbled in the priest classes before but usually just stuck with the Ranger. I have a Warrior in WoW that I am starting to enjoy. Matter of fact I am starting to enjoy WoW, go figure.
So… is this a hint that “Copernicus” will have humans as a playable race, bards and monks as classes, and a character creation system that can *nearly* create a character as handsome as Moorgard?
I rock whatever class race is huge. Mainly my race class will dictate my race. As for class, I have two options…fists or giant hammer. That’s about it. You give me a monk or a smashquatch, I am happy.