Ma**hole Effect

I'm a big fan of the achievements and my latest goal is the Renegade achievement in Mass Effect. You get the renegade achievement both for evil and for being a jerk.

And it's rough. I'd write about it in detail, but if you check out John Walker's excellent BOTOR articles you'll get a good idea of what I'm going through.

I don't like being the bad guy in games. And even if I am going to be a bad guy, I don't understand why being a renegade involves treating your allies like crap. Most of the world's most famous evil people tended to be pretty agreeable in person -- which is how they got into position to be so evil.

There are a lot of other moral choices in the game that just don't seem right. At one point a side quest asks you to retrieve the fallen body of a quest giver's spouse. Only it turns out that the body is being studied, research that will save the lives of others. I thought, "Well, the needs of the living outweigh the needs of the dead, so that moral dilemma is solved." Except that it wasn't.

I was going to do an "evil" playthrough but I've decided that's too much -- I'm going to get my Renegade achievement then start over.

And oh yeah -- I finished Mass Effect, exercising on a recumbent bike the whole way. I don't know if I'll bother with a review -- if you haven't played it by now I don't think my words will sway you. But I thought it was pretty darn cool with a bit of roughness around the edges. I was going to say there was too much traveling and talking and inventory management and side quests and not enough shooting, but I guess for an RPG it already has an overabundance of shooting.

The PvP Poison

Tobold posted the other day about the problems of PvP. I have a love/hate relationship with PvP. I love PvP in first person shooters -- I rarely play single-player FPS games. I like it in MMORPG's, as long as it is done well, which rarely happens. I'm absolutely terrified of PvP in RTS games.

Regardless, PvP causes ... problems. Let's hit five of them quick.

The Attitude Problem

One of the most irritating WoW Player Archetypes is the Cocky PvPer. No matter what you accomplish in game, or choose to accomplish in game, they can gank you and that makes you worthless. At any given moment they are either bragging about their "skill" or whining about how raiders with "no skill" are getting all kinds of epic loot. Unless they are whining about how much more difficult it is to level on PvP servers.

There's just something about PvP that turns people into loud, unbearable idiots.

The Symmetry Problem

Having PvP in a game means balance is King. If balance is King then the game must be designed in such a way that it is easy to balance. And that means conflict in the game must be symmetrical. So no 10 normal players vs. one really buffed player. No 1 super-powered player plus one strong player plus four minion players in a mirror match. No lopsided sieges where the defenders just need to hold out for a short time. No archers vs. dragons (or what have you) where different sides have dramatically different units.

So this actually goes further and tends to eliminate all sorts of fun gameplay from PvE. Although such things in PvP would be fun too.

The Fun Deficit

Whenever I try to argue on forums why I dislike being killed by someone ten levels my better, my complaints tend to fall on deaf ears. It's pointed out that I'm a noob, and that's what *real PvP* is supposed to be like, and also that I should die in a fire.

Hardcore PvP, while great for forum trolling, really lacks in that whole compelling gameplay side of things. You guys thump your chest and gank your lowbies and brag about it in the forums -- I'll be playing a game that is actually fun.

It's Repetitive

One thing you always hear about playing against other people is that it's "never the same". It's true that it's never quite the same. This time you go for the flag and there are two mages and a stealthed rogue defending. Next time you go for the flag and there is a warrior and a druid, and on and on.

It tends to blur together because, to be honest, it's not all that different from match to match. You can play a thousand rounds and you'll only ever be playing against other players with roughly the same skills and power as you.

But I bet if you take people who've done a hundred rounds of Warsong Gulch in WoW, and ask them what games they remember, they'll only remember a handful. But if you ask those same players about The Deadmines, they can probably tell you almost every crazy enemy you fight in that place. So which is more repetitive?

It Exaggerates Success and Magnifies Failure

I wrote an entire blog on a similar subject in the past, but another line you often hear is that PvP gives a title longevity, because look at all the PvP-intensive games (MMOG and not) that are still successful after all these years.

But it cuts both ways. On one hand TF2 and Halo 3 and CoD4 are still huge years after their releases. On the other hand, other multiplayer games are unplayable months after launch because they don't have the momentum to retain a playerbase.

Favorite Gaming Podcasts?

I got my first iPod about a year ago, and recently have been really getting into gaming podcasts. I currently have the following on my iPod ...

1UP - Listen Up

This is probably my second favorite general gaming podcast right now, but you know what that 90's t-shirt said : second place is the first loser.

A Life Well Wasted

This one is supposed to be the gaming version of This American Life. Some people think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread but I think it's unbearable. I made it about 40 seconds into the podcast before I shut it off.

ChaosCast

The WAR podcast recorded by the venerable Syp and friends. I've only checked them out once or twice since I quit WAR, but I don't feel too bad, as it seems like they've only recorded two or three times since then.

Downloadable Content

The Penny Arcade guys recording themselves brainstorming a strip. I listened to one cast and I was a little disenchanted. The strip they were making was funny but their pitching just seemed lame.

Giant Bombcast

If I seem bitter about all the other podcasts, it's because the Giant Bombcast is so thoroughly awesome. It's funny, the guys know their stuff, they are (relatively) classy, it's great all around. Kind of funny that I would barely know about this site if it wasn't for WAR and Carrie Gouskas mentioning Giant Bomb on her blog.

Podtoid

The Destructoid podcast. Originally this was my favorite but I've grown to loathe it. Last time I tried to listen to the podcast I only made it a little way through until one of the people on the podcast announced that they loved a game and proceded to (instead of talking about why they loved the game) ridicule people who didn't like the game. I realize that's how the internet works but it makes for a boring podcast.

Joystiq Podcast

Honestly I just started listening to this one and the 1UP podcast at the same time so I always get them mixed up. I guess I'd say this one would be tied for second.

Plants vs. Zombies Music Video

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Plants vs. Zombies music video. Looks like a tower defense game. Yeeha.



Hat tip RPS.

Requesting a Natural Law for Checkpoints

It has been said that Man cannot create laws, he can merely accept or reject the laws of God. And I must say I feel the same way about checkpoints.

Imagine me, if you will, thrashing wildly on my wife's Recumbent Bicycle while enjoying some Mass Effect. I am engaged in a mission on the moon, which is now named Luna.

The mission is ordinary and perhaps a little boring. It mostly involves traveling with a little shooting thrown in. As I am roughly thirty minutes into the mission (and my workout) the shooting gets the better of me and I find myself staring at a loading screen. It was not the first loading screen I had seen in that half hour (it was the fifth or so) but it was what loaded that surprised me.

After half an hour of play, I find myself staring at the mission area from the outside. Not coincidentally, this was the same sight that greeted me when I began playing half an hour prior.

It is these sorts of things that never cease to confound me. Mass Effect is, in so many ways, a grand achievement. It is beautiful and horrible and clever. If given a million years I could not replicate the work nor equal it. And yet here I am, before this wonderful work of art, ready to cause physical violence tothe controller in my hands. Why must games have this vulgar disconnect between mechanics and design and story and art -- and execution?

Perhaps we should tell Bioware that they cannot devise a checkpoint mechanic -- they can only accept or reject the way people will play their game. And it is clear that our ways have been rejected.