I'm trying not to get my hopes up lest cruel reality crushes my dreams, but early September could be the best opening to a month EVER lol. Here's the scoop: In mid-June, I'm going to hit my 1-year anniversary with Walmart, and have my first week of paid vacation. If no other assistant has already claimed the week of September 4-10 off (Walmart weeks run Saturday to Friday) or I can convince them to switch, that will be my week of vacation.
Should this almost-perfect scenario come to pass, I work Friday, drive straight to Minneapolis after work, and catch a late night flight to Seattle. Check in, crash for a few hours, then hit the ground running for Saturday and Sunday of the Penny Arcade Expo.
Now, if my partner Chris (who works when I have my days off) agrees to work that Friday shift for me in exchange for me working one of his shifts sometime, I would essentially have an 11-day vacation (Aug.31 through Sept. 10). In this ultimate scenario, I crash at my parent's house on Wednesday night, and catch a Thursday morning flight to Seattle. This would give me some time in the afternoon to get my bearings before meeting up with people for the Pre-PAX festivities, and I'd be on hand for all three days of the expo.
If I can do this, it would rock on so many levels (in no order):
1. The chance to meet in person some of the site staff I've been working with so long.
2. Rumor has it Bishop is going, so I'd have the opportunity to meet another member of the Hand of Thrawn... and FINALLY meet someone (in-person) with a higher gamerscore than mine.
3. Assuming I can go, I can get in as press, and I'll be writing as many articles as I possibly can for x360a (none of you have any idea what I'm capable of when I go into one of my Super Saiyan manic writing sprees). Plus, I'll have at least a week's worth of blog and podcast material out of it all.
4. Writing those articles would allow me to continue honing the skills I need to find paying work in the gaming industry, and covering PAX is as directly related a work experience as I could ask for.
5. The chance to meet and network with people in the industry, learn from them, and maybe even pass out a few resumes if opportunity knocks.
6. Memories that would last forever.
After the expo ends, I'd still have five days of vacation left work on churning out articles, and possibly spend some extra time in Seattle if I can afford to and found things I wanted to do there.
As you can see, being able to go to PAX would be an incredible experience for me. So, I'm fully read to beg, plead, bribe, and trade days so I work on holidays if I had to to make going to PAX a reality. Since I am slated to work September 3-5 (all three days of the Expo), getting vacation that week is my only shot.
Here's to hoping I can make the stars align when I go into work next. If not, I'll try not to be too crushed, and set my sights instead on E3 2011 or some other gaming conference, where I have enough lead time to make sure I can get that week off. Plus, I'll actually have a hell of a lot easier time getting off for PAX 2011, so all is not lost if I can't do it this time acround. I will let you all know when things are official one way or the other.
Showing posts with label game industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game industry. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, February 2, 2009
Gamerscore Inflation: How More Points May Be Bad For Us All
Before writing this post, I did a Google search on "Gamerscore Inflation" to see what turned up. I wasn't too surprised to see that there wasn't much, and existing sources use the term differently than I'm about to.
"Gamerscore Inflation" has been discussed in two different ways that I found. The first usage refers to people who hack/gamesave/profile glitch their way to more points, thus artificially inflating their scores without really playing. People offering to boost other people's score for them, sometimes for money (and possibly using one of the methods earlier mentioned) fall into the second usage of the term. Both involve a single player's account, and what happens to that score.
My definition of Gamerscore Inflation has ramifications on the entire gaming industry, and every Xbox owner. I'm talking about Microsoft-sponsored Gamerscore Inflation, in the form of raising point caps on games, and rising uncertainty on where they'll draw the line on how many points a game can or should have. As gamers and consumers, we need to keep a critical eye on this trend, as its development over 2009 will define the future of the achievements system. More points isn't always a good thing.
Microsoft has changed is policy on achievements more than once. I believe the initial rules were that a game must have a minimum of 5 achievements, a maximum of 50, and could have up to 1000 points. Most games took all 1000 they could, but there were a few weird exceptions. To polish things up, and make for easier comparison, Microsoft changed the rules so every game must have 1000 points available on the disc. The Shivering Isles expansion of Oblivion marked the first time DLC was given achievements, and a new cap of 1250 was given to games, where developers could add up to 250 points through DLC, and could make that content free or for purchase, as they wished.
Now comparisons start to get sloppy again, though it isn't Microsoft's fault. Developers don't have to add all 250, so now that nice line of 1000s on your card has been replaced with 1050 for Mass Effect, 1100 in Bioshock and Lost Odyssey, 1220 in The Force Unleashed, and 1250 in Oblivion, as an example. At this point, perhaps you're thinking I'm a neat-freak of sorts who wants all games to look the same in points, that's not the issue here. I love getting points in DLC like most other achievement junkies (though I'm not part of the "No points = No purchase" crowd). While it's nice that every game now has 1000 original points, this DLC policy has undone the "ease of comparison" idea that was part of the original intent of the first policy revision.
So far, the system has worked well enough, as most of the DLC content that comes with new achievements is substantial content that deserves to have points attached to it. At this point, developers don't seem to be abusing achievements as a way to get people to purchase DLC, though I know some whine about Gears of War 2 or Fallout's 800msp cost for 100 points in Operation Anchorage. If you're only playing Fallout 3 for the points though, you really have issues. Certainly, some developers aren't as good as others about providing good DLC, but if asked the question, "Are developers ripping us off on DLC or exploiting achievement whores?" my answer for now would be, not YET, for the most part. 2009 will be a telling year for DLC though, and things could shift in that direction.
The change in the system that truly has me concerned is the rise of new "super games," or games that are allowed to ascend beyond the 1250 cap. First, Halo 3 got the obscene raise to 1750 points. Obscene is the only word to describe Halo being worth almost any 2 other games, especially since its DLC is only a series of map packs, but since Halo is one of Microsoft's biggest cash ponies, it's not too surprising. Next up is Fallout 3, which is reported to have 100 points in The Pitt, and 150 in Broken Steel, making for a total of 1350, with the possibility of more points if they make more content. Fallout raises an important question; how should episodic content be treated? Should all such releases of content get points? What will the standard be? Right now, there doesn't seem to be one, but Bethesda doesn't appear to be abusing their exception status.
You're not worth 1750 points, sorry.
Halo and Fallout will not be the last games cracking the 1250 cap. With Microsoft shelling out millions for the exclusive rights to GTA4 DLC, I promise you they'll push that title by offering up more points, so count on GTA4 getting to at least 1500 total. I'm also expecting Gears of War 2 to push beyond 1250 before Epic releases Gears 3. So far, it looks like things are being handled on a case-by-case basis, which is good, but this trend is only beginning. How far will it go? What happens if more and more developers want to break the 1250 cap?
GTA4: The next achievement super-game
If the number of games granted exceptions remains rather small, it's not too big a problem, but there are several possible outcomes to the system as a whole if more and more games were to be allowed to go beyond 1250. Enter the dark potential futures:
1. Gamerscore Inflation:
As games continue to have more and more points, the games released before the cap raise would mean less and less, compared to new games offering up hundreds of points in DLC. Suddenly, everyone has higher scores, and hitting milestones like 100k aren't nearly as hard or impressive as they once were.
2. Developer exploitation:
Some could argue we're already being over-charged for DLC, but further point allowances could make things worse. What's stopping developers from making "Get X kills with Y DLC-only weapon" achievements? We already have "On X map, do Y" achievements in Halo and Gears, among others. If you think developers are using achievements to push some people into purchasing content now, imagine how much more they could do it if they're given more points to work with. Remember Microsoft gets a cut on DLC sales, so if it helps their bottom line, they could be more generous in allowing games to have more points. And of course, the more points attached to a piece of DLC, the likely you are to buy it, if you care about points.
3. Stringing along gamers:
While Bethesda's releases for Fallout should all be quality, odds are not everyone will be so good. Episodic content doesn't really exist on the 360 yet, but the idea of monthly content packs, each with a fee and a few more points, is certainly possible, if Fallout 3 turns out to be an example of the future. Could developers keep using points to sell strings of mediocre DLC? Add an achievement or two to a bunch of DLC pieces, so people have to purchase all of them if they want all the points? What about games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero? Would they take advantage of higher point allowances, and the 99 achievement limit introduced by the Orange Box, to keep attaching an achievement to whatever track pack they want? I'm a little surprised they haven't tried that already...
Ultimately, who has control over how points for DLC are utilized going into the future? Microsoft, for starters. They'll be the ones to decide just how many points a game is allowed to have, and whether games with more than 1250 become common or not remains their decision. However, it's up to us, who buy that DLC, to decide how far we'll let developers go. If we live up to the moniker of 'whores' and buy anything for points, could you blame developers for wanting to exploit that? If we're smart, and don't succumb to the temptation to buy any crap for a few more points, perhaps developers will be responsible in their usage. We can only hope.
In the February issue of OXM, Achievement Whores are listed as #35 in a "Top 100 for 2009" article. They write, "They're Microsoft's most valuable resource: The gamers who will do, buy, or play anything for another 1000 points of Gamerscore. Mediocre budget software of 2009, you have found your new target audience. Please milk it with care." We'll have to decide on our own how badly we let them milk us...
Images:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/screenshots/274/med_014Halo3new14.jpg
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/screenshots/324/med_Street_sweeper_2_tif_jpgcopy.jpg
Achievement Generator: http://achievements.schrankmonster.de/Achievement.aspx
"Gamerscore Inflation" has been discussed in two different ways that I found. The first usage refers to people who hack/gamesave/profile glitch their way to more points, thus artificially inflating their scores without really playing. People offering to boost other people's score for them, sometimes for money (and possibly using one of the methods earlier mentioned) fall into the second usage of the term. Both involve a single player's account, and what happens to that score.
My definition of Gamerscore Inflation has ramifications on the entire gaming industry, and every Xbox owner. I'm talking about Microsoft-sponsored Gamerscore Inflation, in the form of raising point caps on games, and rising uncertainty on where they'll draw the line on how many points a game can or should have. As gamers and consumers, we need to keep a critical eye on this trend, as its development over 2009 will define the future of the achievements system. More points isn't always a good thing.
Microsoft has changed is policy on achievements more than once. I believe the initial rules were that a game must have a minimum of 5 achievements, a maximum of 50, and could have up to 1000 points. Most games took all 1000 they could, but there were a few weird exceptions. To polish things up, and make for easier comparison, Microsoft changed the rules so every game must have 1000 points available on the disc. The Shivering Isles expansion of Oblivion marked the first time DLC was given achievements, and a new cap of 1250 was given to games, where developers could add up to 250 points through DLC, and could make that content free or for purchase, as they wished.
Now comparisons start to get sloppy again, though it isn't Microsoft's fault. Developers don't have to add all 250, so now that nice line of 1000s on your card has been replaced with 1050 for Mass Effect, 1100 in Bioshock and Lost Odyssey, 1220 in The Force Unleashed, and 1250 in Oblivion, as an example. At this point, perhaps you're thinking I'm a neat-freak of sorts who wants all games to look the same in points, that's not the issue here. I love getting points in DLC like most other achievement junkies (though I'm not part of the "No points = No purchase" crowd). While it's nice that every game now has 1000 original points, this DLC policy has undone the "ease of comparison" idea that was part of the original intent of the first policy revision.
So far, the system has worked well enough, as most of the DLC content that comes with new achievements is substantial content that deserves to have points attached to it. At this point, developers don't seem to be abusing achievements as a way to get people to purchase DLC, though I know some whine about Gears of War 2 or Fallout's 800msp cost for 100 points in Operation Anchorage. If you're only playing Fallout 3 for the points though, you really have issues. Certainly, some developers aren't as good as others about providing good DLC, but if asked the question, "Are developers ripping us off on DLC or exploiting achievement whores?" my answer for now would be, not YET, for the most part. 2009 will be a telling year for DLC though, and things could shift in that direction.
The change in the system that truly has me concerned is the rise of new "super games," or games that are allowed to ascend beyond the 1250 cap. First, Halo 3 got the obscene raise to 1750 points. Obscene is the only word to describe Halo being worth almost any 2 other games, especially since its DLC is only a series of map packs, but since Halo is one of Microsoft's biggest cash ponies, it's not too surprising. Next up is Fallout 3, which is reported to have 100 points in The Pitt, and 150 in Broken Steel, making for a total of 1350, with the possibility of more points if they make more content. Fallout raises an important question; how should episodic content be treated? Should all such releases of content get points? What will the standard be? Right now, there doesn't seem to be one, but Bethesda doesn't appear to be abusing their exception status.
You're not worth 1750 points, sorry.Halo and Fallout will not be the last games cracking the 1250 cap. With Microsoft shelling out millions for the exclusive rights to GTA4 DLC, I promise you they'll push that title by offering up more points, so count on GTA4 getting to at least 1500 total. I'm also expecting Gears of War 2 to push beyond 1250 before Epic releases Gears 3. So far, it looks like things are being handled on a case-by-case basis, which is good, but this trend is only beginning. How far will it go? What happens if more and more developers want to break the 1250 cap?
GTA4: The next achievement super-gameIf the number of games granted exceptions remains rather small, it's not too big a problem, but there are several possible outcomes to the system as a whole if more and more games were to be allowed to go beyond 1250. Enter the dark potential futures:
1. Gamerscore Inflation:
2. Developer exploitation:
3. Stringing along gamers:
Ultimately, who has control over how points for DLC are utilized going into the future? Microsoft, for starters. They'll be the ones to decide just how many points a game is allowed to have, and whether games with more than 1250 become common or not remains their decision. However, it's up to us, who buy that DLC, to decide how far we'll let developers go. If we live up to the moniker of 'whores' and buy anything for points, could you blame developers for wanting to exploit that? If we're smart, and don't succumb to the temptation to buy any crap for a few more points, perhaps developers will be responsible in their usage. We can only hope.
In the February issue of OXM, Achievement Whores are listed as #35 in a "Top 100 for 2009" article. They write, "They're Microsoft's most valuable resource: The gamers who will do, buy, or play anything for another 1000 points of Gamerscore. Mediocre budget software of 2009, you have found your new target audience. Please milk it with care." We'll have to decide on our own how badly we let them milk us...
Images:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/screenshots/274/med_014Halo3new14.jpg
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/screenshots/324/med_Street_sweeper_2_tif_jpgcopy.jpg
Achievement Generator: http://achievements.schrankmonster.de/Achievement.aspx
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
ThrawnOmega Predicts the Future: Episode 2
Today (or should I say tonight?) I decided to bring out my crystal ball for another round of gazing into the future, to make a couple more predictions. Remember, my crystal ball has the habit of distorting reality, but I managed to tune it a bit, so today's predictions fall into the realm of the plausible.
2009 will be known as the Year of DLC
This probably doesn't come as too much of a surprise. With DLC coming for Fallout 3 and GTA4, DLC will get a lot of attention early in the year, but we should see content for L4D, Tomb Raider Underworld, and who knows what else. DLC will take major steps forward in 2009, and more content released and purchased than ever before. The crystal ball also predicts that x360a will be making one slight new advancement to embrace this change in the industry. What could that advancement be? The crystal ball says you should be able to see for yourself within the next month.
While we're on the subject of DLC, the crystal ball tells me it knows what the first two DLC campaigns for L4D will be:
Deaducation (working title)
In this potentially controversial expansion, the survivors find themselves at the top floor of an academic building on a college campus. To survive, they must make their way through several linked academic buildings and the library before finally making it outside. From there, they must shoot their way to the college's football stadium, and make a harrowing last stand at midfield with ramshackle defenses, while they wait for a rescue chopper to arrive. Fighting the infected swarms of college students won't be pretty...
Mighty Mall
The other campaign takes place in a parody of the Mall of America. The survivors must fight through food courts, an indoor amusement park, a movie theater, a restroom, two department stores, and countless long halls of stores. Play starts in the East Parking lot, which the survivors can't escape from. Their evac is an APC that will pick them up in West Parking lot, clear across the mall, after they've made their last stand in the parking garage. Can the 4 humans make it out alive? Valve will announce this campaign is the longest, running an average 20 minutes longer than the others (on normal... God help you on expert).
Kingdom Hearts on 360
Moving away from DLC, sometime this year it will be announced that all future Kingdom Hearts titles will be on the 360 and PS3. Don't act surprised. I predicted well over a year before FFXIII was announced for the 360 that it would happen (I have friends who will verify this!). The signs were all there. When Infinite Undiscovery came to 360, and Last Remnant was known to be multi-platform, along with Square-Enix's announcement that they wished to go multi-platform in the future, why would they keep their signature franchise stuck on one system? (I'm referring more to announcements here than release dates, because I know the above chronology is a bit fuzzy) Now, the new Star Ocean game is 360 exclusive (if I'm remembering right), so it is possible Kingdom Hearts could stay on Sony systems, but I highly doubt it. They'll want to milk that franchise for every penny they can.
That concludes my predictions for today. Tomorrow I roll out a major achievement progress update.
Image links:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/screenshots/261/med_gauss.jpg
http://www.campusexplorer.com/media/376x262/University-of-Wisconsin-Eau-Claire-2C57281B.jpg
http://gallery.vanguardist.org/d/36859-2/DSC01002.JPG
http://www.doupe.cz/vaulty/finalfantasy/pictures/kingdom_hearts_2_wallpaper.jpg
2009 will be known as the Year of DLC
This probably doesn't come as too much of a surprise. With DLC coming for Fallout 3 and GTA4, DLC will get a lot of attention early in the year, but we should see content for L4D, Tomb Raider Underworld, and who knows what else. DLC will take major steps forward in 2009, and more content released and purchased than ever before. The crystal ball also predicts that x360a will be making one slight new advancement to embrace this change in the industry. What could that advancement be? The crystal ball says you should be able to see for yourself within the next month.
While we're on the subject of DLC, the crystal ball tells me it knows what the first two DLC campaigns for L4D will be:Deaducation (working title)
In this potentially controversial expansion, the survivors find themselves at the top floor of an academic building on a college campus. To survive, they must make their way through several linked academic buildings and the library before finally making it outside. From there, they must shoot their way to the college's football stadium, and make a harrowing last stand at midfield with ramshackle defenses, while they wait for a rescue chopper to arrive. Fighting the infected swarms of college students won't be pretty...Mighty Mall
The other campaign takes place in a parody of the Mall of America. The survivors must fight through food courts, an indoor amusement park, a movie theater, a restroom, two department stores, and countless long halls of stores. Play starts in the East Parking lot, which the survivors can't escape from. Their evac is an APC that will pick them up in West Parking lot, clear across the mall, after they've made their last stand in the parking garage. Can the 4 humans make it out alive? Valve will announce this campaign is the longest, running an average 20 minutes longer than the others (on normal... God help you on expert).Kingdom Hearts on 360
Moving away from DLC, sometime this year it will be announced that all future Kingdom Hearts titles will be on the 360 and PS3. Don't act surprised. I predicted well over a year before FFXIII was announced for the 360 that it would happen (I have friends who will verify this!). The signs were all there. When Infinite Undiscovery came to 360, and Last Remnant was known to be multi-platform, along with Square-Enix's announcement that they wished to go multi-platform in the future, why would they keep their signature franchise stuck on one system? (I'm referring more to announcements here than release dates, because I know the above chronology is a bit fuzzy) Now, the new Star Ocean game is 360 exclusive (if I'm remembering right), so it is possible Kingdom Hearts could stay on Sony systems, but I highly doubt it. They'll want to milk that franchise for every penny they can.That concludes my predictions for today. Tomorrow I roll out a major achievement progress update.
Image links:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/screenshots/261/med_gauss.jpg
http://www.campusexplorer.com/media/376x262/University-of-Wisconsin-Eau-Claire-2C57281B.jpg
http://gallery.vanguardist.org/d/36859-2/DSC01002.JPG
http://www.doupe.cz/vaulty/finalfantasy/pictures/kingdom_hearts_2_wallpaper.jpg
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