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"Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib’d In one self place; for where we are is hell, And where hell is there must we ever be" - C. Marlowe
Warcraft Destroys Marriages
A 28 year-old woman known as Jocelyn (who briefly worked for Blizzard) has divorced her husband of six years after he became so obsessed with World of Warcraft that he ignored her and caused her marriage to crumble.
MUD In Your Eye
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a breed of online text-based game called a Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD. The MUDs thrived for a time, and then along came a beast called EverQuest, followed by its larger cousin, WOW. Together they killed the MUD forever. Or did they?
Play By Post: An Introduction
For the past five years, I've been involved in a little thing known as Play By Post gaming (hereafter known as PBP), and now it is my great honor to introduce you to this new, wonderful, and amazingly-inexpensive way to play.
Ninja Burger Play-By-Post Game
Gamegrene would like to experiment with a forum-based play-by-post game here on the website. Although we are open to having multiple games running if interest is there, for starters we would like to do a trial run to see how it all goes. Gamegrener Lorthyne and myself are interested in running a game using the new Ninja Burger 2nd Edition RPG rules.
To Play or Not to Play: Electronic RPGs
I hate electronic RPGs. I know that I’m somewhat old fashioned, but I grew up on roleplaying games that used pen, paper, books and dice. Games where people could use fake accents and props, tell jokes and say and do stupid things during the game. Games where the story was tailored to the players and their characters, where the dialog was spontaneous and no one, not even the GM, knew what would happen next. So what would it take to make an electronic RPG that's worth playing?
Gamegrene: Ghyll Round 2 Starting Soon
Eight months ago, Gamegrene launched an interactive worldbuilding and roleplaying exercise called Ghyll. Constrained to a small set of rules and the intent of building an integrated encyclopedia where Truth is further refined with each entry, Round 1 is nearly finished, and Round 2 is set to begin in the middle of May. If you're interested in playing, start reading.
+5 is Player, Not Character, Skill?
Gamestop has an interview with one of the guys behind the forthcoming D&D MMORPG: "As another example, Troop explained that according to the standard pen-and-paper rules, high-level characters gain "base attack bonuses" that increase their chances to strike true in combat. This ability will be represented by special attacks that can be pulled off with good timing. So a fighter character with a +5 attack bonus might have a five-part sword attack that can be pulled off by clicking the mouse button in a correctly timed fashion."
Gamegrene Multiplayer Game: Ghyll
This is a very special announcement here on Gamegrene. Would the owner of the car with registration plate T15 RQX please come immediately to the parking lot? Oh, and we're also starting up a new multiplayer wiki-based world-creation game for everyone to play. It's called Ghyll. Ghyll is only defined by entries in an encyclopedia, and it's the players' responsibilities to write that encyclopedia. There are four rules.
Online Role-Playing with NWN - A DM's Perspective
Recently I've been considering different ways of refreshing my gaming experience. After all, I've played for 15 years now, and although different games and different players have brought me varied experiences, eventually one settles into a rut and it can be a rough trend to buck. Gamegrene has a stable of writers who form a strong community to support the hobby, luckily. And for my part, I would like to add an experience with a (sort of) new and long-awaited aspect of our favorite pastime.
Disillusioned with MMORPGs
Square Enix's FINAL FANTASY XI (FFXI) is the first massively multiplayer online role playing game I actually sat down to "play" as opposed to merely "dabble in". After spending 120+ hours of playing since the release of the PS2 version, I'm seriously weighing whether to cancel my account, for a number of factors described herein. The biggest issue seems to be the "massively multiplayer role playing" part.
Why I Blame MMORPGS
What is the last great CRPG? Three names come to mind for this gamer: Fallout 1&2, Planescape Torment, and Baldur's Gate 2; the latest of these three being BG2. After thinking long and hard, I cannot think of a single CRPG to top those 3 (Or 4, if you're counting.) Why is that?
Money Maps
Ahhh yes, another rant about Blizzard. Don't you love it? I start this off with one statement; Money Maps bite the big'un. How can you in all honesty say you're a melee-player, but have NEVER played something as simple as Lost Temple? This map is fairly much the Ladder world as it stands. . .and I've known people with 1000-25-0 records, all Easy Money. Of course, I challenge them to any map that doesn't have four hundred THOUSAND minerals per patch, and wipe the floor with them. Now I've played with great players, Random being one of them, if you know what I'm talking about, and I still don't understand how this works.
LAN Parties: The Basics
So there you are, battle hardened LAN warrior, armed with master-forged mouse and stout keyboard, your ATI Raedeon 9700 Pro strapped across your back as you cross the Rubicon of your friend's threshold and into the Local Access Network Arena. You've got your gear. . . but are you really ready? It's not enough to only whet the edge of your own processor, a LAN party is a team game, and everyone needs to pull together to make it run smoothly.
The Infestation
Lately, I've gotten back into gaming. After my drought of playing video games, I decided why not give it another try? So of course I throw myself in headfirst, without thinking of the consequences. My first game was Starcraft, which is an extremely enjoyable battle-sim. . . when played properly. I began to go to a few games, and things work out fine. About my fifth game, I got a short, albeit quick, reminder of why I quit in the first place. Just as I'm wiping out a colony of the enemy, they (for reasons still unknown to me) reveal they were hacking. Enraged, I decided to just give up that day.
