One thing I’ve always talked about and have thought is missing within most major games since my early days of MMO’s have been the ‘game within a game’ idea, or mini-games. Star Wars Galaxies had the concept in early development with some mini-games but they quickly were moved to the back burner and never made it into the final product. It’s the little things like this that make a games life longer and more playable for your average gamer.
Stargate Worlds developers have realized the value of mini-games and are taking them a step further than even I had thought of, they are making them an integral part of the game experience. In SGW, you will be able to play fast paced mini-games and actually gain experience and loot through the mini-games. Systems designer Steve Williams has just posted details in his blog about how he is working the mini-games into the overall experience and working out the balance issues that arise when giving rewards for successfully completing one of the mini-games.
In my idea of mini-games, I just thought games should have things like card games or something that is out of the norm to just play for something different to do, not necessarily for experience. I always thought it would be cool to have mini-games like golf or casinos or the like in MMO’s for players to have something that takes them away from the ordinary grind that they can still do with their characters and potentially grow even more equity in their characters through. How could would it be for a player city in a game like Star Wars Galaxies to be able to own and maintain a golf course around their city? Imagine, they could charge for playing the course, sell equipment out of their town shops, the possibilities go on. But in SGW, it seems they have worked mini-games into the missions themselves, for example you may be able to hack into a computer to complete a quest, not by doing a whole bunch of mini-quests, but just go in and clip a few wires and re-route some circuits. Pretty neat ideas they are having over there, it’s this kind of out of the box thinking that makes a game really stand out from the crowd and it looks like Steve Williams and the folks over at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment are getting it done.
My heart just about stopped today when I read my email. I got my first message from BestBuy stating that they are giving me a coupon for $10 off of my next purchase because my pre-order of Age of Conan Collector’s Edition was delayed leaving the warehouse. Guess who my next email was from? FunCom, here’s what it said:
Dear Age of Conan customer.
Thank you very much for registering with us. To ensure uninterrupted game time and to unlock any pre-order items, you will need to upgrade your account with a retail box key.
Follow these instructions to upgrade your account to the full version:
- Locate the key at the back of your manual
- Log in to your account on https://register.ageofconan.com
- Select the option “Use a Key to add a Prepaid Card, Upgrade a Subscription or Create a Subscription”
- Enter your key then follow the on screen instructions
When this process is complete you are can play continue playing normally, and also claim your pre-order item (if eligble) using the in-game command “/claim”.Thank you for purchasing Age of Conan and we look forward to seeing you in the game.
Best regards,
Funcom
As you can imagine, my heart just sank. It seems that FunCom was going to disrupt my access to the game until I registered my retail game key. And to make matters worse, it looked like my retail box was going to be late arriving. In the end, it’s all going to work out though. I checked the status of my order via my UPS order tracking and according to UPS the box is out for delivery meaning I should get it today. Worst case scenario, I won’t be able to play on my lunch break. And I have to applaud BestBuy for recognizing a problem and working to resolve it without me even asking them to by giving me the $10 off my next game.
Turned out to be a good day after all.
One game I’ve been watching lately has been Stargate Worlds, an MMO based on the popular television series, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. I’ll admit, I’m not to up-to-date on the story line in Atlantis, I’ve maybe seen 2 episodes but SG-1 was a real favorite of mine. At least it was until Richard Dean Anderson who played Colonel Jack O’Neill left the show, it was his subtle whit and humor that made the show fun to watch.
Enough about that, let’s talk about the game itself. The game is going to be based around squad size combat groups and is rumored to be not really twitch and not really turn based combat. I would imagine it will be something along the thought process of what Age of Conan is, more of a real-time based combat MMO system. You decide what to do and when to do it but it doesn’t come with the problems twitch based combat would bring to such a large environment.
One of the features of SGW I find most appealing is that it’s not all about combat. I live for combat don’t get me wrong, but I like the social aspects of games too. There will be classes in SGW that don’t need to engage in combat at all to increase levels, such as archeologists and scientists. SGW will also have a healthy and presumably very entertaining crafting and construction system. Hopefully further down the road players will be able to build and own player houses. This was one of my favorite features of Star Wars Galaxies and really brings another game within a game in the social aspects of an MMO. Players play MMO’s so long primarily because they get so attached to their characters. Acheivments, levels and property all build equity in a character and people love to show that off. I think player owned housing would be a big hit in many already existing MMO’s.
