The MMORPG: A Dissection of Endgame

1972: Pong smashes its way into the hearts of the up and coming digital age. It is the first of its kind: A video game. It began as a simple single-user interface. Man on computer. A battle of reflexes. It laid the groundwork for some serious new levels of competitive gameplay.
1998: Over several years, electronic experts and dreaming young visionaries congeal to form Atari's competitors: Nintendo, Namco, Taito, Konami, and even Sony. Soon young students are crowded around frenzied Dance Dance Revolution players and shouting target priorities at each other while reloading huge plastic virtual shooter guns.

Through all of gaming history, most of us can agree that most of the instant classics and time-proven favorites are exclusively single player and, as they evolved, two player co-op. It was all about Mario Bros. and Zelda. If you look closely at the rigid history of video games, it's the people that first used them as a means of competition. While it initially began as competition against the computer-driven adversary, most players only did it to leave behind that iconic three letter signature on a high score screen. Even though words like Epeen weren't floating through the easily conquered teenage vocabulary palette, the seeds had already been planted.
Now, in the age of e-gamer society and massive annual competitions, we see titles like Starcraft and Halo reaching immortal heights in the hearts of their respective fans. These types of games focus heavily on multiplayer battles, and they've been the pioneers in a new wave of strict e-gaming societies. I personally attribute the rise of competitive gaming to two things. One is that logically, after game developers have mastered game content and mechanics, they try pitting those mechanics against themselves. Everyone wants to play their favorite single player game at parties, right? The other half is the demand generated by the insecurities of the generation. It's much the same principle of bullying. People don't just want to win games, they want their victories flaunted over those who can't produce similar results. If you're good at something, why not be worshiped for it?

So why do I bring all this competitive spirit to question? Well because I feel it blinds most of the people playing games, specifically in MMOs. Competition is literally your only option during endgame. While PvP is obvious, PvE may need to be explained to those who haven't yet pulled back the mask of what PvE entails.
Once you've hit the level cap, and you've learned your class,(note the two are very separate things), it becomes a spreadsheet. Once you establish numbers, you do nothing but relentlessly smash your number against other players' numbers. Usually you can find a guild which is interested in the numbers you can produce. PvE is basically number-crunching; you calculate gear, stats, DPS, and rotations into the absolute maximum amount of output you can possible manage. Then, you use that raw output to score new batches of numbers, which you then use to manage that output further. In WoW, reforging takes prioritizing stats and minmaxxing to a whole new level. There are those players who 'raid for the content', but they aren't immune to the spreadsheet either. You have to spreadsheet to play endgame PvE.
The worst part of the spreadsheet endgame is that the graphics, the tidy mechanics, and the acute attention to details put into the game, are all ignored, and people tunnel-vision on securing their place among the gods. This also tends to cause huge rivalries and hostilities among people fighting the same bosses. This would be a good time to use the endless gearscore flamewars as a prime example. Or maybe the thousands of judgments made aloud based on arena team ratings. Don't forget the smugness of the players who use a mod you don't. Oh and how many times have you been kicked from a group because you were doing the fights correctly? The spreadsheet separates those who should be working together, and it devastates the social lives of many a player. PvE should always be about content first, gear later. So why not play a solo game? Well adding more players makes a game more interesting. Who doesn't want to form a party and take down big bosses? Arguably, adding players to a game scenario will always encourage competition, but there is a line to be drawn to prevent optimizing a number output to qualify for endgame. Only in retrospect do many players realize that they were watching their DPS meters more intently than the boss' next incoming spell, or where they're supposed to stack up. Plus, wit mods to do the little things for them, player get to focus more on competing amongst peers.
So while MMOs can be engaging and dramatic, endgame becomes a hard knock hassle. Sometimes once you lay it out you can see a lot more than while logged in. Kind of like when you realize that big white beard on Santa has a string keeping it from falling off his face. Sorry kids.

As to why MMO subscription profits are on the decline--it's simple: Most MMOs are clones. Each one brings little if any innovation to the market. There might change the setting. The UI may vary. Even a new spotlighted feature can lure in players, but the endgame leads to the same spreadsheet formulas. Some people like chocolate ice cream. Others enjoy a crisp vanilla. Some even enjoy a classy butter pecan. In the end, Ice cream is still only one dessert choice of many. Why settle for a frozen dairy treat when cake is an easily developed alternative?

I'll discuss what I look for in an MMO, and what a Utopian MMO looks like from my perspective next time.

Open Mind

I will always believe that an open mind is far more worthy than an open heart. Love is not all you need, and if you think that, I truly despise you. Nothing can ever replace the logic, willpower, and creativity used to overcome problems and mend fences.

I am sick and fucking tired of you failures who love everything. Have some self respect and learn to fucking hate. I swear this youtube generation is a poison threatening to tolerate mediocrity on level of insanity. Fuck you. Fuck your happy go lucky lifestyle. Fuck your play-lists on your ipod, and fuck your favorite cereal. You deserve nothing but the emptiness you truly feel inside when you realize you have yet to find that which you truly must be to find fulfillment.

And no. I am not jealous. I am fed up. Every goddamn time I begin to think a like-minded individual has been cast my way to save me from this god awful loneliness you turn out to be fucking. retarded. Warped on a level that has made your surface shiny like glass and your insides the equivalent of a peeps marshmallow rabbit after three hours in the microwave. You lure others in with a perky attitude or a cold attention-seeking vibe, and when they start to finally act like them selves, you condemn for something you have no right to bitch about. So fuck you.

What good is your open heart when all the people who can truly make you happy, you cannot have because your mind is not free. Grow. The fuck. Up.

Thanks for reading! :)

America and the Drain Pt. 4.3: Freedom's Face

You (whoever fuckin' reads this) are in for a treat. Yeeaahh that's right. I'm posting not even a few days after my last post instead of months. Sweet deal. So lets get down to business. Right back to where we left off. Freedom.

Ahh, Freedom. That glorious word that when spoken, conjures an image of the western societies of L.A. and New York, over here in the U.S.A. That magical word that distracts the masses from how truly fucked their bastard country is. That simple and elegant word which is used in effort to be patriotic but ends up lobotomizing those within earshot. And this is only one a many words spelled with a capital letter and chauffeured to America like snails on a silver platter. Only rich folk in high society eat snails, and they taste like fat clown asshole. The real reason they eat the shit is because it makes them feel fancy. Much like the word Freedom (capitalized) makes Americans feel secure and in most cases, better than other countries.

As I've gone over before, the government limits the freedom of people. Whether it's choosing which drugs you need to get high, or choosing to marry a same-sex partner, government has it's fingers in your pudding. But it's not just the Man that limits your options when it comes to being free. With the power of logic we can see that almost any outside influence can limit choices, even choose for you.

Women are a large fraction of this outside influence, but to widen the perspective, we'll say 'the opposite sex'. But it's mostly women. Men go apeshit for pussy. 'Dick-whipped' is a myth, but 'pussy-whipped' is an everyday occurrence. Tail is just a carrot on a stick when it comes to relationships. Don't get me wrong, finding that life partner can be a worthy life goal, but if you're getting caught up in that pussy haze and tangled in that "I-just-wanna-get-laid" web, it makes you give up a part of yourself just to fulfill an animal instinct.
Valentines day alone, is proof that women dangle themselves on a stick to score pack mules. While there is a lot pressure involved when it comes to performing and being romantic for both sexes, women definitely have the upper hand. Not showing up with a romantic gift or activity planned is a very bad idea, as most men will tell you.

Religion, too, ties people down, but at a more gap-filling price. Most people turn to religion for comfort of death or just for a way to put their soul and heart into one thing without looking the fool. Either way, there are a few too many rules and taboos involved with religion. Everything from promise rings and sobriety to eating no pork and wearing traditional apparel. People seem to find quite a bit of assurance in ritualistic behaviors, which is why, I guess, so many people get caught up in the mundane. The point is, if you're willing to let an imaginary god figure tell you indirectly what you can and can't do, don't fucking fight for that figurehead of Freedom. It's borderline hypocritical. Again, making this kind of life decision in based on the opinion that what you're getting is worth what you're trading. This is also proof that the wondrous concept of Freedom isn't always on the top of the list of need-to-haves for quite a few people.

Ultimately, Freedom must be defined. Though many might see it differently, I see Freedom as the ability to choose, even if your options are limited and despite the fact that choice is only an illusion. Also, without a governing body, you wouldn't really have to make a lot of big choices. So it can be said that government of any form drags the whole Freedom concept around with it like rusted tin cans tied to the bumper of a marriage buggy. My father when prompted with this question pointed out that it took a whole goddamn Bill of Rights to define individual Freedoms, and a whole goddamn Constitution to define our rights as a nation individual from Britain. It just goes to show you, over hundreds of years we've tried to catalog humankind's limitations in the form of what we think we deserve from other people.
In truth Freedom can only be granted through self-realization. We all have to be open minded and allow the daily bullshit to pass through us. We must learn to identify when someone else, or yes, even your own beliefs begin to impede the progress to Freedom. Its sounds vaguely hippie, but it's true. The only way to true Freedom is self reliance, stubbornness, and a little ignorance. Groovy dudes, hug a rainbow.

America and the Drain Pt. 4.2: Freedom? It's a Relative Thing.

As I've discussed before, Freedom as defined by the U.S. government, can be proven over and over, to be false. It is simply a word the system has adopted to use as chaff against our missiles of logic. Much like an antagonized chimpanzee might fling leaves and dirt at an opponent to keep him distracted or blinded, even appear more intimidating. It is a fact, in my eyes, that the government opposes the masses, rather than actually seek out the greater good for them as a people.
Whether or not the big man is truly hostile towards the common man,(which proof can be provided to show), is not today's business. Yes today's business is in parallel to my previous post about gay rights. The big question here is: Is America a truly free country? The answer? Ehh...It's a relative thing.

Most of the yes and no bullshit we encounter during this argument can be filed under one of four categories, though most of them will overlap considerably. Misinformation, prejudice, hypocrisy, and greed. The four cornerstones of any establishment that sees itself above the common people. And now, without further ado, I present to you, a pocketful of examples.

The War On Drugs: Not only is this phrase an impossibility, but also a farce. It was and remains today a phrase coined by the presidency to make it appear more legitimate in aggressive policies. It is the brother to 'The War on Terrorism', yet another idiotic phrase used to deter assholes who bring logic into the situation. Logically, it works against the publishers. Any place you revoke the main means of recreation, namely drugs, the people will invent other ways to have fun, and in this case, get their fix. In a brilliant stroke of irony, without the drugs, people can actually USE their brains to invent better ways to get high. During prohibition, there was a man who actually invented an engine that ran on alcohol. Many will attribute this to a leading cause of the end of prohibition, but it makes sense. "Well, I have this liquor lying around and I can't drink it. Fuck, what happens if I pour it into my Jalopy?"
In all seriousness, most people who oppose drugs have either never tried them (properly), or they believe that drugs do so much harm to your body that they're not even worth trying in the first place. Simple misinformation. The prejudice lies in thinking that only certain stereotypes of people take certain drugs, and while this may actually be true, they have no right to believe it after trying to force diversity onto college brochures and fill offices with diversity requirements. The hypocrisy, and the best part of this baffling and quizzical issue in my opinion, is that plenty of higher ups have been caught red handed abusing drugs. Drugs such as Oxycontin, which you can get for the fraction of the price the yuppies addicted to them pay for them, over the counter. Studies have emerged over the past several years, showing an increase in certain drug use among the wealthy, as opposed to certain drug use among the poor. And finally, the greed in this subject lies easily spotted among legalization. Every pothead can tell you that one of the truest reasons that government cannot legalize marijuana is that they can't put a tax on it. It holds water. We all know how closely snuggled the drug companies and government are. Fuck, they even invented a cure for cancer in the 1930s, and the corrupted medical associations covered it up. They wanted to treat cancer, not cure it. Extortion through a third party.

Now, I bring drugs up in particular because I have a comparable example to America's level of freedom. Why can't any FREE citizen of this FREE country be FREE to choose which drugs they put into their body. Government is even cracking down on private farmers because they believe that the raw milk is harmful (which it isn't). Plus, you eventually get a whole lot less people to deal with if folks are overdosing left and right. It would be a wonderful way to test who has the genes to pass on to the next generation. Eventually if everyone was doing drugs, their children would become immune to getting high, and we would simply step out of the era like a pair of loafers with dog shit on them.
In several countries throughout Europe, there are drug bars. That's right; places where you can go to get your rocks off. Nearly everything is legal there. But it doesn't end with a deal, no. After purchasing drugs, you have to sit and smoke that joint or live out your heroin trip right there in the bar. They actually take responsibility for the people they deal to. Whereas we here in America let drunkards walk right out of bars, keys in hand, and then wonder why drunk driver mortality rates get higher each year.

Personally I think there would be a lot less need for drugs if government would shut the fuck up. Leaving someone alone in a room with a ton of heroin just means that they'll eventually get bored of heroin. So, bottom line. Is America, in the context of drug use and bodily choices, free? No. Is it free in the overall sense of personal choices and agendas? We'll find out in part three.

Honeysuckle

The memories that last,
Where the asphalt turns to grass.
The wafting scent of gold,
Where the recess balls were rolled.
Here are tastes forever known,
Where friendship was at once sown.
And love was first traded,
Where heartbreak soon invaded.
Unintended pain struck,
Where we exercised poor luck.
Friendships have since drifted,
Though experience was gifted.
Love will be rebounded,
Through others better grounded.
And stitches were a story,
Though at the time it was gory.
Now drifting past a bush,
I smell the golden push.
The bush of little treats,
Of honey oh so sweet.
It still evokes a chuckle,
That glowing Honeysuckle.

Struggle Pt.2: He who Struggles

In each story there is a man who struggles valiantly. Against odds that he turns to his favor. He fights for love, lost or yet to be gained; sometimes to be rejoined with. He fights for glory, namesake, or honor. He fights for allies. He fights for a people or person. Perhaps even a nation. He fights for a goal that was, at the beginning of his endeavor, impossible.

Sometimes he does battle with his obstacles. Other times, he sets his wits against them. He falls, but rarely fails to return to his feet. He learns and grows. He gains control over that which he must do. He rallies his allies with ease. He treads his path alone.

He maintains his humanity in the end, though it may flounder from his grasp. He allows the foundations of his faith to be shaken but never crumbled. He questions himself always, but find balance in rewriting his morals. He finds courage in the strangest times.

Wherever his path takes him, he stands ready to crush his adversaries, be them external or internal. He not only carries the flag in hand, but also in heart. He tastes victory and does not turn his back to it. He makes the sacrifices he must, but does not cross the lines he drew in his soul.

This man of greatness. Of pure human quality goes by one true name, though many call him by several. He is not a martyr. He is not an idol. He is not a protagonist. He is not a saint, nor star, nor god. He is a hero.

Struggle

There are legends. Tales. Epics, stories, poems. Histories. All of them share a universal theme, whether in the subject or the composition. They are about man. The struggle of man. Man fights wars. For love, for honor, for power. Man explores. He seeks both secrets and truth. He searches for treasures, for completion, for answers. Man finds himself in the least likely of places. Man finds greatness.

There are unthinkable numbers of such stories. All of them about struggle. It is irrefutable proof that man, in his infinite wisdom, while searching for whatever it is that can fill the hole in his heart, must struggle.

What is struggle? It takes many forms, all parallel to each other. Externally, a man battles with disease, and inability, or an opponent. Internally, a man is faced with any possible number of things that he can only see glimpses of in the external. Man is constantly at war with himself. He loves and hates. He desires that which he cannot or does not have. He finds himself in contempt of himself. HE finds himself in contempt of others. Often a man struggles with what he believes. An internal or external struggle often begets the other.

In its many forms a struggle can be misinterpreted as suffering. Suffering is noted as needless or unnecessary. Ironically, 'needless' suffering can harden the resolve of a man to endure much worse of a struggle. Therefore, it can be said that suffering a struggle is never without purpose.

Collision Course

Am I the only one who sees this tidal wave crashing down overhead?
How is it humanly possible that the remaining few intelligent Americans have not lead us into revolution at this point?
Life may be shit wall to wall, but this is absolute insanity. Politicians being accused left and right of sexual scandals, although their finances and questionable methods remain untouched? Children arrested over drawing guns, and yet the weapons themselves aren't outlawed? Teachers going insane under pressure, but schools still falling short of proper funding? Four hundred pound people fighting over syrup in public restaurants and not being punished? Gas prices soaring over unrest in the middle east when we not less than five years ago invaded an innocent country to push our own indulgences back to ourselves? Tolerance of overzealous shit-caked madmen and not of American citizens who demand equality?

What has become of us? What has man ever done to deserve his existence?

We are an unquenchable flame. Out of control altogether. A virus. A disease with no cure. Insatiable gluttons for every great sin committed by our forefathers and their forefathers. And the people don't stand together and put a stop to the animals in control?

Where is this oh so merciful God that millions call their savior? Where is the enlightenment built into the genetic code of every human soul? Where is the creator of this corrupt race, that he cannot save us from ourselves? Where, oh dear merciful earth, where, can we turn?

Fuck you humanity. I am both proud and ashamed to be of your number. Mostly ashamed, but proud that I have this mortal vessel from which to watch and overturn your insanity. You shall be destroyed in blood and fire and the true soul of man will reign over you in both heaven and hell, whichever he chooses to pursue in life. Perhaps if you are careless enough in your greed to overlook the few who can save you, you may yet be saved.

Hope for filling the hole in your heart is all but extinguished. Your pride is merely Arrogance masked in your own self-absorption. Any sense of progress you witness is only the world moving under you, not the other way around. So fail. Fail in your ultimate purpose humanity. I will laugh as you fall and fester. I will stand over the tops of your broken castles and raise the worthy to rebuild in God's true image.

2011

So while the past year was interesting -I guess you could say it was filled with good times-but while it was interesting, I believe that this year will be my personal ramp upward into whatever it is I'm supposed to do. This may sound cheesy, but with the risk of sounding perhaps more cheesy I will say, I can feel it.

Anyways, Christmas and Thanksgiving passed over with a few pounds added. Otherwise, the turning of the new year seemed uneventful. Now, every way I turn to find news, I see only the further deterioration of mankind...Not to say that the Chinese couldn't do any better than the good old US of A, but through art, I have seen what mankind truly is meant for, and we are definitely going in the wrong direction.
As far as this whole Obama birth certificate thing goes, its seems this generation has bitten off more than it can chew in electing him. I haven't a clue why he could have been elected with such a strong Muslim background, but just the fact that there was any issue at all with his background checks should disqualify him. This country needs to stop fucking around when it comes to leadership.

So alongside this rampant growth of 'unforeseen problems' comes a much more dire situation. Where are we as a people? I would think we could unite towards a common goal by now, but we are still bordered by the limitations of nationality. I don't believe any more that the day I need to see to be complete, will come in my lifetime. I gave that dream up a long time ago. When finally the end falls on mankind and he sees his twisted visage reflected in the great sea of death, he will wish the same thing that I am wishing now. I wish that we would get over ourselves. What we truly and utterly need to move forward as a people at this point in time, is a unity unmarred by nationality, and a common goal to strive for. As pointed out by many a great sci-fi series, the stars are a candidate for mankind's next step into immortality. But we are not ready neither in maturity or in technology to achieve this step. As it appears now, we are doomed to die in wars between ourselves.

This is a very strange perspective to write, because I see it in relation to other perspectives on life. I fully understand the completeness of the characters we see in the strangest of places. I can fully empathize the love of the underground night club life. I can fully feel the sense of peace one finds ultimately from being a busybody day and night. I can see the ultimate joy of personal sacrifice, and even the secret happiness of those who suffer. But it is not my true perspective. I must be truly great in spirit if I can understand these, but refuse them for a life of suffering at the hands of my own observations.

There is a very odd observation I recently made while writing at two in the morning. That is that mankind is obsessed with his own struggle. Every story is about struggle. Every history is about struggle. Man struggles with everything. Even in peace, man struggles to keep it. While mankind struggles to overcome the boundaries he himself has set upon the world, each individual must overcome a series of their own struggles. While China struggles to dominate world economics, a heroic addict is struggling to go three weeks straight without his fix.

But a struggle is satisfying. Sometimes in the moment of struggle, sometimes in the moment of victory, sometimes in the moment looking back on it. Any way you look at it, a person will be stronger after a struggle because it is self fulfilling to triumph. And now, in light of that same universal perspective, we must know. Mankind must struggle, or be consumed by it.

Oh WOW a whole month...

Hey fuck you, I get bored easy.

So yeah, uhhhh. cataclysm came out. Maybe I should go over that a bit, but I was also thinking about some other stuff. What Obama's been up to lately, namely. Oh and that damned third horseman of the apocalypse, Pestilence has been popping up going by his new name 'Holidays'. And what the fuck? This just in: I think I'm being a little cynical as of late. Hey, whatcha gonna do?

So. Cataclysm. Love/Hate. Same old same old. Stereotypical stable-server expansion release. All shine, no shit. Give it a go. The experience is solid. But hey, still a TON of people trying to do it all at once. Good luck leveling a crafting profession. Can drive a man to drinkin'.

Right. Obama. My good buddy El Presidente. Fuckin' nutter. Smart guy, dashing too. Complete nutter. I don't have the energy to do any research or outlining so you'll have to take this one on faith. It seems to me...that this guy, is a little too comfortable in his big chair to realize that it's being held up not by polished wooden legs, but by the masses of laborers still clinging to his 'HOPE' campaign posters. Sad when one realizes that what is likely to be the most important job position in the known world, could be run by any man from the working class with an IQ over 100. These private school bitches have got to stop running for office. Hey, woah. Hey, woah. Didn't I go to private school? Oh yeah, until I was given the choice to LEAVE. Good God, am I glad I left.

The Holidays. That delightful little Euphemism that leaves the kind-hearted gasping for air, as their heart size grows and their lung space diminishes. As for the rest of us cynical bastards,we,-again, euphemism-heart-no-oxygen,-appointed 'scrooges', have already taken a squared stance and begun our meditational breathing, ready to spout fire onto whatever religious, traditional, or new-age bullshit our closest friends and family have to toss at us in desperate attempts to convert us to their 'festivities' and 'good spirit'. What fun. The mad dash for whatever enlightenment that people find in shopping has long since begun. Even with the first delicate droppings of that feathery fine dandruff-like substance I find myself in shock that there is still milk on the grocery store shelves and that I am blessed with the electricity to tap away at the keyboard. That is, until some light-headed malnourished waterhead teenager manages to swerve a little too close to the middle of the road and upon pulling back too hard in the other direction, slams into a single pole, and wipes out half the eastern seaboard.

I think the effects of late-night sleeplessness and the giddy feeling of sobriety have had a very persuasive part in this article, and without further ado, I will head off to dream of the vague things that dance through our minds this time of year. Faceless women and featureless hundred dollar bills, as it usually is. Grab a blanket, snuggle close to that special someone, and pray things don't get awkward. Until next time.