Making Real Money in Unreal Places

Play Money, a documentary claims to reveal the darkest side of virtual economy, economy that exists in online game only. I will surely pay close attention to this nameless filming project, to see what they could possibly unearth from the underground industry. Hope I will see some fresh insight on this site soon, though there is nothing much on it right now. =)

Erotic Ads and Man's Desire to Sex

Erotic banners popping up and down during your surf, AV gals revealing their full breasts to entice your clickings, these were common tactics employed by online game advertisers, until a recent blanket ban by state department. The sweeping ban was yet another attempt by Chinese government to cleanse the internet, after erotic ad banners creeping rampantly all over the cyberspace.

If something existed for such a long time prior to a forced ban, it must have been efficient to some degree. There would be no supply at all if the market demand is zero. And, that is the point.

Sex-thirsty netizens are everywhere. In a word, sex is the nature of man. You should not really blame a man for his strong sex desire, for it is a bulit-in characteristic that exists even long before birth. Sounds inconceivable? It's a mere fact.

Star Wars MMO to be Disclosed

It seems that the long-rumored Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO game is true after all, and will be "officially" disclosed later this month.

It's about time BioWare upped and decided to "officially" unveil their "secret" game. Everyone already knows about it. In fact, Electronic Arts' John Riccitiello already let it slip earlier this year that they were working on this would-be-epic.

Last February, an interview with BioWare over the then-mystery MMO revealed that the game will be heavy on RPG element. They planned to have every player act as a primary protagonist in their own narrative, as if the game really were their story, their world.

They sound pretty ambitious. Ambitious enough to go against the likes of World of Warcraft? We'll have to wait days to see.

Escape Game

The well-known made in Japan escape game crimson room, viridian room and white chamber are all classics. But today I happened to have found another elaborate escape game named MOTAS, Mystery Of Time And Space in full.

I have to say these escape games are real mind twister. Try them out if you want to twist your mind in an unusual way. XD

Bilzzard Announced the System Requirements for WotLK

PC System Requirements

OS:

Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4) or Windows XP (Service Pack 2)

Processor:

Intel Pentium3 800MHz or AMD Athlon 800MHz

Memory:

Minimum: 512 MB RAM

Recommended: 1GB RAM

Video:

Minimum: 32MB 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting, such as an NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or above

Recommended: 64MB VRAM 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability, such as an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 class card or above

Sound:

DirectX-compatible sound card

Controls:

A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported.

Connectivity:

You must have an active broadband Internet connection to play.

Mouse:

Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended.

Splash Fighters

Splash Fighters is a free-to-play 3D MMOFTG. There are a dozen of characteristic fighters for you to choose, and you can also DIY your own character if you like. Every character is an expert in practicing different weird kungfu instruments, such as Half-Orc can transfigure to a Tauren when his mana is allowed, and the Revive Man can throw his head to attack his rivals. Splash Fighters is the North America version of GetAmped, which is in the course of Open Beta Test.

Also I would like to tell you that 热血英豪 is its Chinese version.

Miu!

Today I'm going to talk about a web-based game that I tested weeks ago, Miu!. The first glance of this game was satisfactory though I would like to refrain from using the word "impressive". The eye candy was actually the graphics, as Miu excelled at other web games in graphical field. In order to see the truth, I drilled a little bit deeper and found some playability within Miu. However, the age-old Achilles' heel existed, the game couldn't provide gamers a long-term goal. You get bored when your toon was at high level because you would have to grind the same bunch of monsters over and over again with no other things to do. One of its selling points I have to mention here is its casualness. You don't need to stare at the monitor to play this game, you can play it at a very slow pace, which is in accordance with the prime principle of a real web-based game. In general, this game is both a success and failure, it did attract players into the game, at this point, it succeeded, but it couldn't retain them for long.

Six Chinese Big Wheels in MMOG Field

Shanda (Nasdaq-listed)
Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (Nasdaq: SNDA) is a leading interactive entertainment media company in China and offers a portfolio of diversified entertainment content that is accessible via the Internet.

NetEase (Nasdaq-listed)
NetEase.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES), one of China's leading Internet and online game services providers, today announced that it will report its financial results for the third quarter 2007 on Wednesday,November 7, 2007 after the close of the U.S. markets.

The9 (Nasdaq-listed)
The9 Limited is a leading online game operator in China. The9's business is primarily focused on operating and developing MMORPGs for the Chinese online game players market.

Perfect World (Nasdaq-listed)
Perfect World is a leading online game developer and operator in China as measured by the popularity of its games in China in 2006, according to a report published by International Data Corporation, or IDC, a leading market research firm.

Kingsoft (SEHK-list)
Since having commercially launched its first office applications software, WPS 1.0 in 1989, Kingsoft Corporation Limited has now become a leading software developer, distributor and service provider in China.

ZT Network Science Technologies (NYSE-list)
ZT Network Science Techonologies will be on NYSE soon, with the help from Merrill Lynch and UBS. I'm sure it wil be a real giant in China. Don't doubt!

MMOG Reporter Dennis

The Wings of the Goddess

The Wings of the Goddess expansion is slated for release this November, a pretty good news for all our Final Fantasy XI fans. The new FFXI expansion comes after Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia and New Treasures of Aht Urhgan as a gift to mark the fifth anniversary of FFX. It will be built mainly upon the history of the previous Crystal War and gamers will sure enjoy the upcoming challenges from all the new scenes, monsters, magics and features in The Wings of the Goddess.

I have always been wondering when the FFX magic would die away as it has been a cult for many generations. Will FFX live forever? This is an answer that I can't tell at this age.

MMOG Reporter Dennis

Deep Sea City by T2 Entertainment

After two excruciating months, T2 Entertainment finally released its new breakthrough expansion Deep Sea City. Telecom Area 26 and China Netcom Area 7 will be opened simultaneously to accommodate new players who may want to dabble into the new world and find their places in it. The Deep Sea City is not a bravado judging from the huge attention it gained from gamers. With new features ranging from impressive sea views to heart-quaking adventures, NeoSteam is sure to turn over a new leaf for all the MMOG buffs. Let's see how it goes as this new expansion rolls out, GL!

MMOG Reporter Dennis

My First Taste on DNF

I've been writing a lot today, almost flooding and inundating my darling's posts. Well, that's me, when I'm in a good mood, my writing would be coming in torrents.

This post will mainly revolve around DNF, an online beat 'em up game originated by a Korean company called Neople but recently was introduced into China by Tencent. One of my friends recommended me the game right after its beta release, so actually I was among the first to have a taste on DNF.

The game was fascinating at first, we spent nights and nights to raid different instances to level up our toons and to finish various tasks. But the good days didn't hold for long, as the game had the same problem that most of the online games share -- it didn't offer players a long-term playability. You started to get bored and shouted "damn it" after raiding the same instance over and over again to gear up your avatar, and felt totally meaningless when you were stuck in such a status for a few days.

So, I'm sorry to say, DNF only held my attention for a few weeks and no more. I think it's time to dump it and move onto another one. Who will be the next? No answer yet.

What's Game Addiction?

Before playing 热血三国, a web-based online game I discovered recently, I didn't have much idea about this genre of game, which doesn't require players to download and install anything on their computer before having a fun. Ok, now let's talk about the game for a few minutes. The pace of the game is quite slow, you will grow very impatience during the boring game time. The only way, apparently, to shake off this man-made slowness and to expedite the game as a whole is to purchase virtual currency from the game runner, a sure-fire way to profit if a large customer base is formed. I have dipped myself into this game in an effort to find out more about online game, a new and profitable industry in the eyes of every entrepreneur.

But after a few days heavy gaming, I found the game bored for it had failed to provide me with a long-term entertainment, which I think is an Achilles' heel that need to be mended as soon as possible. I was addictive to this game for about a week, but I know that's the end because it doesn't offer me any freshness anymore.

See you 热血三国, I will try another game in search of an answer to the most-wanted question -- What's a successful game and how to make it?

What's virtual world anyway?

Dabbled in virtual worlds since 1997 though, I'm still pretty much unsure of how virtual worlds emerged and spread like wild fire and, for the worse, swallowed a hell lot of Earth souls in just about a decade.

Second Life is a MMOG(Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that subtly combines a virtual environment with a slew of realness. It promises the world is entirely built and owned by its "residents", don't call them "players", mind you.

In my view, "residents" make their world into their own space though, even when it's predesigned and visualized, it's the gamers that make the world a gaming environment. Second Life without its "residents" wouldn't be called a game. Then people enact in games, writing in full form of their visualizations of their own perception. This changes the gameplay and to some degree the game world. I personally admit that this system gives Second Life a notch up higher in playability.

But if you truly want to see how players enact upon their environment, you'll have to enter Second Life for a while and watch a fully user-generated content environment. Residents in there seek most of all is to create their own audiovisual Utopia. Second Life simply hands them the tools, but I think gamers in all types of cyberspace will do that to some extent already.

Shanda again a big brother

Shanda has been considered a dud in the last few years when China's online games business had literally little interest in investing the entertainment outfit, which saw its share price nose-dived from more than $40 to just $12 by mid-2006.

Chen Tianqiao, the founder and chairman of Shanda, witnessed his gloomy days when his archenemy Netease seized Shanda's long-held status as China's big brother of MMOG.

But Chen didn't shiver for his gloomy time.

Chen insisted, on various occasions, that Shanda would overtake its rivals, mainly Netease and The9, in the upcoming years.

There's no bravado indeed, we saw the giant woke up again in 2007 with a successful "come-stay-pay" model, which was originated from Korean gaming industry and later introduced by Shanda in 2005.

The Nasdaq-listed company fared pretty well in 2007 and regained its control on the MMOG market after the massive slump. All These came with no surprise. We knew that Chen had well planned his revival right before the slump, or you can say, it's a strategical slump orchestrated by himself.

The battle between these three big wheels will go on and on. It's still too early to say who would win at last, however, no one would ever deny that Shanda is going to have the upper hand in an endless virtual war, at least in the short run.

Character Building -- Monchill

Over the years, MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) has long been a major concern of mine and I've also gained a lot of knowledge from my relentless digging into game designing industry.

Frankly speaking, game design is still a young craft, but a rapidly maturing one. No longer in its infancy, computer and video games have been around for over 30 years and now they have collectively moved onto internet for a bigger impact.

I'm still a newbie in this subject. Below is one of the characters I set for an upcoming casual computer game.

Role Setting -- Monchill

Hero Backgroud
Once a guard of God of Shadow, Monchill was punished for trifling with Irena, The God's daughter. He was then exiled by The God and stripped of much of his shadowy magic. Even in his emaciated form, his shadowy power is nothing to laugh at. He has spells that trail and occupy units, making him a very specialized caster in the battleground.

Hero Abilities

Shadowy Puppet
Summon an invisible shadowy puppet without attack ability. This unit is used to spy on enemy or to look for other invisible units.

Shadow Stalking
Allows Monchill to become invisible for a set amount of time. Even Monchill attacks a unit, his invisibility remains.

Shadowy Swarm
Sends a horde of shadowy swarm to damage enemies, affecting a large area.

Occupy
Sneak into the shadow of a target unit or hero and bring him/her under control of Monchill for a set amount of time. If a hero is converted, Monchill can use his abilities to his heart content.

Wanna know more about game design? Stay tuned and more insight will be unearthed in the upcoming days right here @ my shabby blog. =)