Eye On MOGS Blog

Server Updates - WoW and LOTRO

2007-06-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

I've finally got around to adding the new servers that you guys have been sending me over the last few weeks. This means that today there are 9 new WoW EU servers and 3 new WoW US servers!

I've also split LOTRO into two idioms - EU and US to reflect the way the game is setup and how providers sell their wares; in doing this I've also added 11 new EU LOTRO servers.

LOTRO listings still remain bare right now, but that is something I will be looking at soon, as well as bulking out VSOH and doing a reccy on the other games Eye On MOGS lists. f you see games which are poorly listed (and you want to buy for) then get on the contact page and send me an email!

That's all for now folks. I'll be trying to send a personal thank you to all those who contributed to make this update possible!

-Mike

100K Listings!

2007-06-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's party time here at Eye On MOGS HQ! We're now consistantly listing over 100,000 MOG products!

It's a pretty cool milestone and it's about 10x the number of listings we had when we started back in late 2005. I think I can honestly say we've made good on our promise to keep expanding our listings and service based on that!

Of course these numbers wouldn't mean anything if it wasn't for the people who use Eye On MOGS. We add new providers and keep working on the site to help you guys out. The more you use, the more we can do.

Future Milestones

Our next milestone will be 200K listings, but before we can get there I will be doning my thinking cap and sweating over a hot keyboard to overhaul the Eye On MOGS system to be able to cope with the increased load. That is a work in progress and with the number of new potential stores we would like to add you can bet I'm getting through things as quickly as possible!

Quality

I'd just like to say something about the providers we list, and the reason we don't list all of them. It's simple: Quality. The sites you see on Eye On MOGS have been vetted by us for honesty, security and professionalism before being added. Now obviously sometimes orders will go arwy and we do like to hear from you when that happens so we can make sure providers are still behaving - but in general you can be sure of a problem free purchase with the stores we list.

We could add all and sundry like some similar site do, but where's the point in us pointing you to a site we're not sure we trust? What if 50% of our users got ripped off? Wouldn't be good for you, wouldn't be good for us!

Community Submissions

That said I do really appreciate all the suggestions that come in from the community regarding new providers. Keep letting me know! I do try to check all of them out and stick them on the list to contact if I think their cool. Not everyone wants to be a part of Eye On MOGS which is fair - perhaps it's because some of their prices are pretty high...

I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who submits new servers for games, points out problems with some listings, suggests new games and suggests new features/improvements for Eye On MOGS. In short a big thanks and shout out to everyone who takes the time to be in touch! I try to reply to everyone, but I know I often don't manage - sos.

Happy gaming all!

FYI: Gold Scam

2007-05-24T01:12:00.000-07:00

Via GamerWealth

"There is a scam becoming popular in the RMT market. A player in-game may see our characters standing next to each other and they will assume its a gold sale. Once we split up, they will send a tell saying that our DB crashed (or some other made up story) and we need the gold back.

GamerWealth, nor ANY website, will ever ask you to return sold gold to them. Please do not fall for this scam. If you're playing a PvP game we ask that the only thing you deliver to them is a beating they wont soon forget :P

(If you have doubts about anything a character in-game tells you, please contact our site to verify that the character belongs to us)"

Take it in and make sure no-one scams you out of your gold!

Auction House. Where for art thou?

2007-04-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last blog entry - life has been busy for me (nothing of any real interest though).

Finally today I had a chace to settle down for a short WoW session. I chose to head back to Zangarmarsh where I had a few quests left to tidy up. As I was swimming about killing countless Fenclaw Thrashers (with an awful drop rate on the quest item), I started wondering about the Auction House.

I've not been to the Auction House in, well I'm not sure I've been since the expansion came out. It suddenly dawned on me (Duh. I know) that the nearest AH was way back in Azeroth. So, I did a little looking around to find out why this was and I came across the following from Blizzard:

" As others have said we want to keep Azeroth inhabited post-60 and by leaving the Auction Houses and class trainers we can keep an entire game where everyone is interacting at some point instead of a large chunk of players just moving from new land to new land as we release expansions, never to be seen again in the old cities. Performance concerns are also obviously factored in as well."

In principle I agree, it's nice to keep the population pre- and post-expansion mixing. But then again does that really benefit the experience? Chances are level 60+ visits back to Azeroth are fleeting (probably selling loot from OL). I wonder whether it would have been better to attract back level 60+ players by adding some level 60+ content to Azeroth and Kalimdor rather than forcing them back just to train or use the AH.

There are a few spaces left in WoW which remain pretty empty (Karazhan is a god example of a level 70 dungeon which has been sneaked into Azeroth), and I'm sure you could add higher level content into these areas.

Alternatively I suppose you could include quests in Outland which send you back to Azeroth to work through a quest chain or two. The quests might be easy at 60+ (assuming you keep the mobs at around 60 in Azeroth), but could be made more challenging (and very difficult for those under 60+) by ensuring you always had to face down two mobs at a time, or even leaving it easyish to complete but giving more quests in the chain which require moving around a lot, or getting a large X of Z things.

My other thoughts drift to those 'old' and now pretty defunct dungeons. I think it's a real shame that the gear from Outland matches up to the Molten Core and it's ilk sets that doing these dungeons is now pointless (gearwise at least and thats what people mostly do them for I guess). Others like strathholme and xxxx I can live with being unused as generally people are just levelling through these or perhaps hunting for the gear to help them through MC or something.

There's been a lot of discussion about how to bring people back to the old content, I guess the main issue is that returning to old content doesn't fit with the story progression, although you might get around that by having a version of an instance for 60's and a version for 70's.

Imagine a MC where Ragnaros has been slain the dungeon left in ruin only for another lore character to take over the place, or for Ragnaros's essence to reform - or something.

Hey, there's an idea. Why not send groups of 2-3 70's on quests into the old dungeons, providing loot for quest chains that is only available in old instances?

I've strayed from my original point. I wish the AH would make an appearance in Outland. The trek back for me serves to real social purpose and is instead a bit of an unwelcome time waster. I might be on my own in that opinion, but that's how I feel :)

GamePal, ZacGame & News

2007-02-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

Normally Mondays are a bit of a so-so affair, but not today!

This Monday has seen the addition of GamePal to Eye On MOGS, bringing their great product catalog to your front door and pushing our listings so close to 100,000 I can almost taste it!

The GamePal listings are a little buggy at the moment and should be fixed over the next few days - needless to say it's something I want to clean up! BTW I do appreciate it when you guys let me know there are issues with any of the listings, sometimes it is hard to keep on top of them all!

Today also see's an integration of the Eye On MOGS Blog onto the main Eye On MOGS site in the guise of the News and Information page. Granted that results in some duplication but not everyone who uses Eye On MOGS uses the blog and vice-versa, so I wanted to make sure everyone had access to the content.

I've some changes planned for the news page (already), but we'll have to see when those spring up.

Finally I noticed a new incoming link from ZacGame and I just wanted to say thanks!

WoW - The Duracell of MMOs!

2007-02-14T02:11:00.000-08:00

... When other MMOs are about ready to quit, WoW just keeps on going, and going, and going.

Sometimes it seems that half the time I spend on Eye On MOGS is spent adding new World of Warcraft servers... Today is no exception. Once more the community has spoken and exposed a few server related chinks in the sites armor - the response? To add the servers below to the now behemoth list of WoW servers!

EU
Dun Modr, Der Mithrilorden, Nefarian, Anachronos, Nazjatar, Defias Brotherhood

US
Korialstrasz, The Scryers, Velen

That brings the total number of WoW servers (on Eye On MOGS) to US - 202, EU - 202 (weird)

Shout Out to: Elite PVPers

2007-02-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

I just noticed that Elite PvPers has stickied a thread about Eye On MOGS over here: http://www.elitepvpers.de/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=58&t=40182&s=

I just wanted to say thanks (Danke!).

I'm glad you guys have found Eye On MOGS useful. I noticed some mention of ItemGarden in the posts. I have been trying to work with them, but as of yet we have not been able to agree anything. Rest assured that new providers will continue to be added, and Item Garden will probably give in one day!

Happy gaming all!

Mike

WoW Server Updates

2007-01-31T06:09:00.000-08:00

The following servers have made it onto our lists today (in no particular order):

US

Sentinels, Garithos, Nazjatar, Arygos, Fenris, Drenden, Shandris, Blood Furnace, Bladefist, Azuremyst, Alterac Mountains, Area52, Ravencrest, Auchindoun, Coilfang, Farstriders, Quel'dorei, Rivendare, Tortheldrin, Trollbane, Zangarmarsh

EU

Anetheron, Gnomeregn, Kilrogg, Garithos, Shandris, Twisted Nether, Alterac Mountains, Area 52, Hellfire, Bronze Dragonflight, Ravencrest, Das Syndikat, Auchindoun, Echsenkessel, Festung der Sturme, Ghostlands, Todeswache

That's 35 new servers! I have to apologise for the delay in adding some of these. Thanks go out to all those who submitted missing servers to us!

As always please allow some time for these new servers to get listings, for some it will be 24-48 hours, for others it will be longer. Remember to keep bugging us if we drop the ball on any of them!

To help with the community submitted missing servers I've updated the missing server page today. A number of submissions were coming through with no idiom or game mentioned and while it's possible to check manually what these should be, it adds time and complication which isn't necessary.

So I've updated the rather lack-lustre missing server form so you can easily select the game/idiom, pop in your server name, email address and any comments you want.

Happy gaming all,
Mike

Gamer Wealth offer EXCLUSIVE 10% off coupon

2007-01-31T06:02:00.000-08:00

New to Eye On MOGS, Gamer Wealth, is generously offering our users 10% off their purchases throughout February! All you've got to do is enter "vip@eyeonmogs" in the coupon box when you make your purchase. If you're buying Lineage 2 Adena, Guild Wars Gold, Everquest 1/2 Plat, EVE ISK or DDO Plat then this is the offer for you!

You may find that the Gamer Wealth website is offline when you visit. Unfortunately, due to staffing issues (their new remember), there is a 4 hour break in delivery each day during which time the operators close down the site.

That might be a bit of a pain, but it's better than placing your order and then being left high and dry with no explanation as to the delay in delivery.

No More Gold on eBay

2007-01-28T02:46:00.000-08:00

I just came across the following posting on Slashdot which basically notes that eBay are making changes to their policies such that selling virtual items (WoW Gold, FFXI Gil etc) will no longer be possible with them. Virtual Economy.org also have their own take on the story.

"The growing popularity of Massively Multiplayer games has brought the issue of ownership rights in virtual worlds, and the appropriateness of what is called 'real money transfer' (RMT) into an increasingly public light. The success of the company IGE, as well as the launch of Sony Online Entertainment's 'Station Exchange' service would seem to indicate that RMT is now an acceptable part of Massive gaming. The well-known auction site eBay has recently made a policy decision that may throw these assumptions into a different light. Following up on a rumour that's been going around I spoke today with a media representative for the company, who confirmed that eBay is now delisting all auctions for 'virtual artifacts' from the site. This includes currency, items, and accounts/characters; not even the 'neopoints' used in the popular Neopets service is exempt from this decision. Read on below for the company's rationale for this decision, and a few words on the impact this could have on future RMT sales.

Mr. Hani Durzy, speaking for eBay, explained that the decision to pull these items was due to the 'legal complexities' surrounding virtual property. "For the overall health of the marketplace" the company felt that the proper course of action, after considerable contemplation, was to ban the sale of these items outright. While he couldn't give me a specific date when the delistings began, he estimated that they've been coming down for about a month or so. Mr. Durzy pointed out that in reality, the company is just now following through with a pre-existing policy, as opposed to creating a new one. The policy on digitally delivered goods states: "The seller must be the owner of the underlying intellectual property, or authorized to distribute it by the intellectual property owner." Given the nebulous nature of ownership in online games, eBay has decided the prudent decision is to remove the possibility for players to sell what might be the IP of other parties via their service. Mr. Durzy made it a point to say that initial listings of virtual property would not have punitive actions. Their assumption, he said, is that most users break with policies because they're unaware of them, rather than maliciously. Initial infractions will result in a delisting of items, and an attempt to educate the user on the policy. Persistent disregard for the policies, of course, will result in a removal of the seller's account.

We've spoken before on the possibility of taxation of virtual goods in the U.S. and abroad, as well as the economic impact these sales can have. With the removal of a very popular, very public source of virtual currency and goods from the market, what does this mean for the future of RMT? Will small businessmen who previously worked via eBay now turn to larger independent sites like IGE? Given that eBay is ipso facto declaring virtual goods to be the property of the game makers and not the players who 'earn' them, what does this mean for the future of virtual rights in general?"

Reaching Over 70,000 Products!

2007-01-26T05:24:00.000-08:00

The number of products Eye On MOGS lists has certainly changed since we started out in October 2005. Back then there were only a handful of providers and we were lucky to get over 15,000 products to compare.

Not quite the same today. Over the last week I've seen the number of listings peak over 70,000 on several updates! That's a lot of products.

Of course more listings are not the only change Eye On MOGS has seen over the last 15 months.

We've added Market Watch results to your search result pages you can also see whether perhaps today is a good day to buy, or whether playing the waiting game is the way to go. Prices change frequently so if you see a good deal we recommend you grab it while it lasts!

We added the 'Check Your Server' tool for all those looking to start a new twink on (or migrate to) a server where Gold (Gil, ISK etc) was affordable.

There is now an XML Feed for all search results for those of you into programming and development, allowing you to include Eye On MOGS results in your own pages or process them for your own purposes. For those of you not interested in programming, perhaps guilds who simply wanted to include results for their server on the guild site we included examples in both PHP and JavaScript.

There were many other changes, including the missing server form which I have to thank the community for using! It is your vigelence which heps keep the listings as up to date as they are. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Yes it's been a time of change, hopefully for the better, and as we move into 2007 you can bet there will be more changes on the way to help you guys get the most bang for your buck!

Welcome to Gamer Wealth

2007-01-26T05:19:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to quickly post and welcome Gamer Wealth to Eye On MOGS.

Their a new startup in the MMORPG services industry, but both the founders have worked for one of the biggest players in the past, and having spoken to them I am confident that (although new) these guys are determined to offer a profesional service.

Their prices are also nice and low! Right now you can buy Lineage 2 Adena, Guild Wars Gold, Everquest 1/2 Plat, EVE ISK or DDO Plat from Gamer Wealth, but I am assured more games and services are on the way.

Outland? Outlandish!

2007-01-23T05:40:00.000-08:00

Finally after what feels like forever the Burning Crusade is here - on my computer!

My copy arrived on Saturday morning, a few days after the official release so as to miss some of the first night queues I envisaged. Installing was quick and easy thanks to all the patches I already had and then I was in and ready to step through the Dark Portal into lands unknown.

I have to say I spent an unhealthy amount of time on Saturday and Sunday geeking out, managing to ding to 61 before collapsing on Sunday night. And good fun it was to!

I logged in again today over lunch to do a little questing and make use of the rested XP I'd accrued over Monday. I decided to head off to Gor'Gaz outpost and have a crack at the 'Fel Spirits' quest. Seemed straight forward enough, and the right level for me. After 30 minutes I had 3 spirits killed, I would have had the 10 had it not been for a pesky preist stealing all my spirits!

But thats not the point of this post. While I was killing the Shattered Hand Guards to get to the spirits I picked up an unexpected item. A Blue item (Oooo), a Tome (Ooooo), a Mage item (bah - I'm a Rogue), a Level 70 item (Oooooo) - Wait. What!?

I don't know if the rules have changed in Outland, but my recollection was that mobs drop items around 3-5 levels below their level. So, how did a level 61 drop a level 70 blue? My guess is a bug, but in any case I'm holding onto this because I figure when Mages hit 70 its going to fetch a handsome price!

Anyone else found any unexpected or just really cool items during their travels around the outlandish Outland?

Edit: I also just realised I picked up a quest reward for marking towers at Zeth'gor. A blue leather chest piece with 425 armor! Not a big fan of armor as a rogue (other stats on it are nice though), but it made me stop and stare as this is by far the most armor I've ever seen on a leather item - and at level 60?

Level 70 in 28 Hours!

2007-01-18T04:44:00.000-08:00

Following on from my post the other day about how much a level 70 character would sell for, and how long until the first level 70 arrived... Well, it turns out that the first level 70 arrived after only 28 hours!

WoWInsider have their take on the story, and there is also an interview with the player in question over at World of Raids.

With the aid of his guild, Millenium, Gullerbone has managed an incredible feat. The planning and commradary shown by his guild is quite humbling, and although their efforts have resulted in some haters proclaiming Gullerbone to have no life you do have to wonder if taking 28 hours out to do this is actually better than spending 4hrs an evening for a month (or whatever it might take the average joe).

I for one appluad his efforts. My question now is: What do you do next?

Targets. It's all about targets

2007-01-17T06:45:00.000-08:00

I don't know about everyone else, but I had a few things that I wanted to try to get done before the Burning Crusade was released. Top of my list was to get an epic mount, closely followed by a full tier 0.5 set (in my case Darkmantle) and finally to get a few PvP epics from Alterac Valley.

Now I've still got a few days until my copy of the Burning Crusade turns up, but I think that's unfortunately still going to leave me a ways off my goal :( Not that I really mind, I expect I can survive in Outland without all the above, and it will give me a reason to come back to Azeroth on occasion - at least until I get to level 65 or so when I guess tier 0.5 will be looking pretty uninteresting!

How about you guys? Did you intend to get some things done before BC? Tidy up your quest log? Grind a bit more rep? See a few new dungeons? Base jump off of Loch Modan damn?

Now the expansion is here will you be dumping those goals, or pressing on for the principal of it?

P.S I've already got 2 goals in mind for level 70 (a long way off I'm sure):- 1) Get a flying mount and, 2) triumphantly return to Azeroth and solo Molten Core! :)

MMO Combat and God of War 2

2007-01-17T03:56:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time ranting about how MMOs could improve, at least it feels that way. Its no that I don't enjoy MMOs, hell I wouldn't spend so much time and money on them if I didn't!, I just think its worthwhile making a note when an idea strikes you, or another game inspires you.

In this case the game that has inspired me is God of War 2. Not an MMO, but of a fantasyish genre. Head to YouTube and do a search, watch the official trailer, looks cool no?

The aspect of God of War 2 that caught my eye was the combat. In particular the way your character attacks opponents larger than he. I still can't get over how cool this is. Basically the character crawls all over the larger opponent in order to inflict his attacks.

I play a rogue in WoW, and perhaps that's why this trailer caught my sttention so much, but I could just imagine an MMO where when you face off against lets say an ogre (as an Elf), you would have a combat system which would mean in order to inflict your deadlier moves (lets take backstab as an example) you would need to follow a sequence of keys, rather than just get enough combo points or something. But that bit is less important (to me at least) than seeing your character crawl up onto the ogres back and bring his blade down with deadly precision.

I'm not sure how such a combat system would apply to all your normal MMO classes, that's something I will leave to the developers :) - But for me a visually appealing and potentially more skillfull form of combat such as this would be a welcome change from the existing point-and-click combat in MMOs.

Thoughts?

Discrepency-amundo!

2007-01-16T04:35:00.000-08:00

"Holy banannas Batman! Can we get ourselves over to the European WoW realms please? It's over 6 times cheaper to buy gold there than here in the good 'ol US of A!"

I had noticed some time ago a tendency for the value of EU gold to drop, while its US counterpart slowly rose. It seems that this process has in fact continued, and right now the cheapest EU server is about 6x cheaper for a given amount of gold than it is on the cheapest US!

What does it all mean? Well in short I don't know. Perhaps there is more demand for EU gold and therefore suppliers can cut the price and sell more units. Perhaps there is a lack of demand and therefore prices are lowered to increase interest. Any comments from WoW Gold suppliers?

I'm not going to attempt to carry an educated discussion on this because, well, I don't have enough information or time to right now :)

But what do you think? Moral quibbles about Gold buying aside, why would the two markets look so very different?

Strange Noises in Azeroth

2007-01-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know whether anyone else is experiencing this, but ever since the 2.0.3 patch I've been getting random noises as I make my way around Azeroth.

While taking a Griffin ride I keep hearing what sounds like Dragonkin (unless this is a new sound for the Griffin?), while queuing for Alterac Valley I consistantly get the 'Join or Hide' sound play every 30 seconds or so, I hear guards charging to battle when there are none around.. and a selection of other disembodied or misplaced audio.

Anyone else experiencing this? Perhaps my installation is corrupt, or perhaps I'm loosing my marbles :)

Selling a Level 70 Character

2007-01-16T03:42:00.000-08:00

The Burning Crusade is upon us! The Dark Portal has reopened and brave adventurers are pouring through into Hellfire Penninsula to fight the demonic menace that lays beyond. Meanwhile new faces are taking their first steps in the world of Azeroth - alliances have been forged and lines drawn as the Drenai and Blood Elves become either your new friends or sworn enemies.

In amongst all the eager adventurers there will be many with a single purpose in mind - get to level 70. Why? For some this will simply be for the kudos of being the first to get there, or to be among the most power characters in the game. For some this will be business.

Of course it is easiest to generate gold and items for sale when you hit the level cap - at this point a masive majority of the mobs in the game become soloable and farmable for the goodies they drop.

Ok, so no doubt our RMT friends will already be hacking their way through Outland and toward level 70, but here's my question: How much would a level 70 character sell for?

What's it worth to you, in real money terms, to have the most powerful character, and how important is it to have that character immediately?

The other question on my mind is: How soon?

You can grind to level 60 in 7 days /played time in the original WoW, and I'm sure I read somewhere that the progression to 70 was supposed to be a similar experience - so could we begin seeing level 70s in just a weeks time?

Personally, while I would be tempted to simply buy a level 70 as soon as one was available, I would also lament all the content that I would miss out on getting to the level myself. If I already had a level 70 then my opinion would probably be very different.

Time will tell - perhaps by the time I've grinded to 65 I'll be cracking open the piggy bank and putting down my bid :)

How Important is Character Customisation?

2007-01-09T05:14:00.000-08:00

In WoW when you start a character you get to pick how they will look, loosely. For example you can pick from a predefined range of skin colours, facial expressions, hair and facial hair styles and colours. There are a few other options, depending on your race.

Any further customisation of your character comes from the equipment you wear. Which does lead to some good variety, however once you reach end-game this variety can begin to dimish as everyone pushes for either top tier PvE or PvP gear.

Other MMOs provide further options to customise your character, for example altering height within a range, build (i.e. muscular or athletic), eye colour and a few other options.

As I was running around Stormwind this morning skilling up my leather working from 0 to 125 (which cost about 40 Gold in mats and an hour in time) I let my mind wander and take in the characters around me.

In general I suppose I don't spend a lot of time looking at the players around me, and therefore I wonder why you would want to customise your character in WoW at all. Especially true when you probably only ever see the back of their head :)

But then I also have a compulsion to show my own individuallity in the game I am playing, both in my style of play, relationships with guildmates and how my character looks.

I shant argue that putting in the time on a more robust character customistion system makes any business sense, because I don't really know what would be involved or how a community/customer base as a whole would feel. However, for my own purposes here are a few thoughts on character customisation and how you might implement it (in WoW or any other MMO):

Continuing Customisation

First and foremost allow customisation as the game progresses. I'm not aware of an MMO which allows you to change the character setup you pick at the start of the game, except for your gear of course.

There was a post about this in the offical WoW Suggestions Forum where someone had suggested a 'barber shop' where the player could restyle their hair at least. Another suggestion was to allow gear to be customised by allowing players to decorate it with motifs, the same way you pick a motif for your guild tabard.

More Options Than You Can Shake A Stick At

When you're making your WoW beating MMO include the most feature-full character creation process you can afford to. For example, include deforming bones in your models so that players can contort their characters faces as they please to form unique expressions. Include other tools such as being able to 'draw on' a scar. Include physical changes such as musculature, height, build, limb length/ratio.

Give Characters Attitude

I play a rogue in WoW, and I like to think that rogues are devilish creatures, no matter their race. However, my night elf rogue is quite a happy guy really when you look at him. How about allowing players to set a default 'attitude' for their character, from a small list for each class? This would determine the idle and emote animations for the character. Perhaps a less than trustworthy rogue would not simply stand idley watching the world, but rather polish his blades, practice a few sword swings, or lightly play with a dagger - for example.

Jeez. What Happend to You?

Ok. This isn't customisation in the hands of the player, but would lend to some different looks. Taking WoW as my example, as I always do, lets suppose that the durability of your equipment had some effect on how it looked. For example after you've hacked your way through Molten Core (or perhaps Naxxramas these days) with your guild and wiped for the 3rd time your gear is likely going to be looking pretty shabby, no?

So why not have a few 'states' for the gear in the game? Your sword might have dents in it, your shield missing a chunk from the side, tabard hanging in rags, spaulders mangled and your face covered in wounds/dirt (gotta keep away from that M rating right?!)

In Closing

I'm not saying any of the above would work, or are technically feasible. Nor am I trying to detract from WoW as a great game. This is just my own personal observation and opinion on how a great game, and genre of games, might continue to develop and immerse players that little bit more.

What do you think? Is customising your virtual self important to you? Interesting, but not really necessary? Or, at worst, a process which gets in the way of you starting the game!?

Gankers beware. There's a Bounty on Your Head!

2006-12-20T03:49:00.000-08:00

Another interesting post from the World of Warcraft Suggestion forum, this time from Arkanon on the US Black Dragonflight realm.

Arkanon suggests that WoW implements a system for allowing layers to punish those evil tykes who take far too much pleasure in camping low level areas and ganking players who really don't have a hope in hell of defending themselves.

I think it's a great idea, and something which loosely entered my mind at various points during my level up through WoW. I remember in particular getting stuck for several hours (I logged out and back in agian BTW) at Nessingways in Stranglethorn Vale while a group of level 60's tore up the place. Presumably they had their reasons, but it ruined any chance I had of trying to complete or hand in quests I had.

In his post Arkanon goes so far as to suggest some game balancing ideas which I think is a great step as abuse of any new system is bound to be top of peoples gripes with a suggestion. I like the idea of having the player put up the bounty themselves, however going back to my own experience I'm not sure I could have offered any more than 50 silver or something for the head of the ganker giving me grief - which at 60 is not really worth spending time hunting for (unless you;re doing it for kicks and not cash).

I'd probably suggest that whichever NPC you register the bounty with should make up some of the bounty to make it more interesting to the level of player who might end up hunting the offending player down.

One thing missing from the forum post is that this bounty could not remain open forever. You'd have to put a limit on this of, say, a few days. After which you're a free agent again. Oh, and also it would be only fair that the player with the bounty on their head would be notified this was the case. Perhaps receiving a mail from an anonymous tipster.

A final thought. What if the player being hunted could turn the tables and defeat those hunting him? Would that be acceptable? Or just condoning ganking? :)

Griffin Riding 101

2006-12-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

Have you ever jumped on a Griffin and selected some far off destination only to get a few moments from take off and realize that actually you should be heading somewhere else? Or perhaps a Guildie has popped up in chat pleading for you to help them in a dungeon, which as it happens you could do with visiting as well?

So what to do? You're stuck on this winged beast hurtling through the skies of Azeroth in the wrong direction! Time to ask your Guildie to please wait 15 minutes while you grab a cuppa and hop on a return ride ASAP.

Following on from Ashakeeras' thread on the offical WoW Europe forums, with suggestions Blizzard allow us to hurl ourselves from our feathery transport [ :) ] I had my own few thoughts on the matter.

As Ashakeera notes in her thread, allowing players to drop from the Griffin, although fun, would open up a potential can of exploitative worms with players ending up where they shouldn't be (one of the reasons flying mounts will be confined to Outland in the upcoming Burning Crusade expansion). That said this already happens in abundance and from what I can see does little to affect most peoples enjoyment of the game.

I would suggest slightly different approaches. For example why not have the option to turn the Griffin around and head back to your start location if that will be quicker for you? Might tax you some Gold for the priviledge - but that's reasonable for the service.

Or you could have a learnable Griffin "riding" skill of sorts, such that while in flight you could bring up the flightpath map and direct your Griffin to a new location. Perhaps a limit on the number of times per flight would be in order to keep people from being permanently airborn! You could also put a level limit on the places you could redirect to.

I guess the Griffin "riding" skill would have to be something you quest for as an extra as it's not essential to have it to play the game. Higher level players are more likely to make use of such a skill, but I can't see why it shouldn't be available at lower levels as well.

What do you think? Do you find yourself regularly cursing the Griffin masters, or simply admiring the beautiful scenery of Azeroth?

Farming and Buying WoW Gold @ Tobolds

2006-12-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

There are a couple of interesting posts about farming and buying WoW Gold over a Tobolds Blog.

Both are worth a read and Tobold does well to keep a balanced and rational view on these topics - which is refreshing :)

http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2006/11/can-gold-buying-be-outlawed.html
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2006/11/inside-gold-farm.html

New Feature - Market Watch (Preview)

2006-11-30T03:05:00.000-08:00

Hi boys and girls!

I've been busy this last few months here at Eye On MOGS working on a new feature for you all to play around with. Market Watch is that feature and allows you to take a look at a games economic history (and present) - giving you real-time access to exchange rate information over the past year or so!

When I started this project I realised that there was really only one other site trying to do this kind of thing, but their failing was that the graphs where not updated frequently and you could only look at static pictures when they decided to release them. Enter Market Watch! Market Watch puts you in control and lets you specify which graph you want, what date range, which server and even which other server to compare this to.

Right now Market Watch is a PREVIEW on the cusp of becoming BETA next week. I'm aware there are bugs lurking at the moment, but the system is usable and I wanted to give those of you who take the time to read my rantings a head start on everyone else :)

Check out Market Watch here and please, please send me feedback so I can make this (and Eye On MOGS, and the Blog) even better.

Happy gaming,

Mike

Site down time

2006-11-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Unfortunately there were unexpected server problems which took Eye On MOGS down from earlier on today. We're hoping these have now been resolved and the site should be back up and running as usual.

Apologies for the downtime.

Mike

Epic and Rare Abilities - Now there's a thing

2006-11-20T03:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday 19th November 2006, Eastern Plaguelands

Whilst continuing my now laughably protracted quest to gain the Darkmoon Amulet (I think I'm in month 6 now!), running through the fetid and torn Eastern Plaguelands; slashing my way through Plaguebats, the monotony got he better of me and my mind wandered.

As with previous ideas I have posted here I use WoW as my template, simply because this is the MOG I have most experience of. The ideas put forward are more generally aimed at all MOGs.

Obviously the intention behind my single handed attempts to erradicate Plaguebats from WoW entirely is to gather enough of their juicy eyes to turn in at the Darkmoon Faire for an Epic reward. As I cut down the 100th bat or so of the evening and my mind began to wander I couldn't help but wonder if this obsession over obtaining ever more elaborate gear in WoW was missing a trick.

Why not mix things up a little by including, much like recipie drops, talent/ability drops?

We can all, in WoW at least, customise our characters to a degree by our selections in the talent tree. However we are all able to do this in equal measure, that is we all have the same number of points to spend at the same level.

We also all have the same abilities (for a given class, and assuming you've spent the Gold on learning them). What seperates us in the biggest way (as far as I see), is the gear we wear.

So how about allowing players to stamp that bit more individuality into their characters by providing rare drops from mobs (probably bosses) which give class specific, and perhaps general, abilities. Like quests for Epic or Rare items these abilities would obviously not be easy to obtain - reserved only for those who dedicate the time and/or effort.

You could also impose a level bracket outside of which these abilities where unavailable. So if you were to decide between level 40 and 45 you didn't have the time to get the level 40 ability for your class, this would be lost to you forever. So even at 60 players of the same class would not necessarily have the same abilities.

I suppose WoW begins to implement this kind of idea by providing buffs for completing epic quests such as handing in Onyxia's head - but these are short lived.

That's just my 2 cents of course. What are your thoughts? Once again do other MOGs implement this kind of system already?

New WoW Servers

2006-11-06T04:18:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one day! Cool.

Ok I've been tardy with WoW server updates lately, sorry for this. I guess I've been busy with other things...

Anyway I've just added the following World of Warcraft servers to the lists and as always will be adding listings for these over the next 24-48 hours.

WOW EU
Alonsus, Zul'Jin, Lightbringer

WoW US
Darrowmere, Dath Remar, Blackrock Raiders

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this server update and to every else who has contributed in the past. Keep them coming, it's only your poking and prodding that gets me into gear :)

Mike

PS There were a few other submissions but these are actaully already on the list. A big culprit of confusion seems to be the Venture Co. servers. We list them as The Venture Co., so make sure you check under 'T' not 'V'! ;)

Live4Game & FFXI

2006-11-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

Hi guys and dolls,

Just a quick note about Live4Games' FFXI listings.

There seems to be a problem with the prices listed on Live4Games site for all FFXI servers (I'm not aware of it for their other games), which is being transfered to Eye On MOGS. So we've got listings for $999.99! Obviously something has gone wrong with this portion of their business and I have been in touch about this (currently awaiting a reply).

In the meantime I am going to remove Live4Games FFXI listings, just so there is no confusion. Hopefully they will be back with us soon.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused and happy gaming!

Mike

Virtual economy tax ‘would be a mistake’

2006-11-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

From Reuters:

By Adam Reuters

SECOND LIFE, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The head of a U.S. congressional committee said it “would be a mistake” if the Internal Revenue Service introduced regulations to tax virtual economies such as Second Life and World of Warcraft.

Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, confirmed an earlier Reuters report that the committee was studying the public policy and tax issues related to virtual economies.

“There is a concern that the IRS might step forward with regulations that start taxing transactions that occur within virtual economies. This, I believe, would be a mistake,” Saxton said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“Clearly, virtual economies represent an area where technology has outpaced the law. The goal of the forthcoming JEC study is to help lawmakers understand the issues involved and head off any premature attempt to impose a tax on virtual economies,” he said.

Saxton added that under current law, if a transaction takes place solely within a virtual world there is no “taxable event.”

Dan Miller, chief economist for the Joint Economic Committee, told Reuters earlier this week that the committee’s study would start “with a blank slate” and be completed by the end of the year.

Saxton is running for re-election against the similarly-named Democratic challenger Jim Sexton. The incumbent’s motto, seen on bumper stickers and lawn signs, is “Jim Saxton gets an ‘A.’”

God NPCs are Boring

2006-11-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

Don't you think?

I was contemplating this on the way back from work today. NPCs, in the World of Warcraft at least, as pretty uninteresting folk. Sure they provide you with quests for this and that, and on occasion you can build a bit of a back-story - but my gripe is this: They're always in the same place, they always give up the same quests, rewards and say the same things.

Now, Ok, you need a certain level of consitancy within a game in order to develop paths through which a player can progress which, while challenging, are none-the-less fathomable and achievable.

But I'm sure there is room for MMOGs to develop their NPCs a little further.

How about this. Devise a system whereby NPCs are given a personality of sorts, a set of rules which defines what they like and dislike, their moral persuasion and the solidity of their alligence. NPCs should be able to interact with one another and develop 'relationships' based on the rules each NPC has, so for example Jack Swashbuckler might get on well with Joe Pirate, but not so well with Johnny Copper, unless of course Johnny Copper's view on the law is prone to persuasion.

What I'm getting at is couldn't you have a system whereby NPCs are able to change over time, based on the experiences around them and their interactions with both players and other NPCs. Perhaps an NPC will give you a slightly better reward or more guideance if you 'hit it off'.

Also NPCs sit in the same place all the time. Why can't NPCs have, at least limited, mobility? Again you could tie this in with NPCs forming relationships such that when a player comes to try to find the NPC to hand in a quest he's advised by another NPC 'Well, its 8pm on a Friday so Jack will probably be with Joe in the Drown ur Sorrow tavern.' A little more interesting than the hard and fast responses you get currently.

Throw in a little NLP (natural language processing) and I'll bet you could even get some variety in the way NPCs talked to you, even if the general message was the same.

Because such a system would feed from players actions and NPCs 'random' interactions with one another you would probably also find that each server for a game would have it's own unique environment with NPCs personalities differing, locations varying etc.

While I'm sure there are questions of game design and AI restrictions that I have glossed over here I still think this would be an interesting avenue to follow. WoW is a fantastically immersive game as it is, but an MMO with a little more variety and characters to interact with rather than wooden extras, I think, would suck the player in more.

Whether that is a good thing or not is another debate!

Any thoughts? Do you know of any games/MOGs that try to do this, or why they shouldn't/don't?

Service Outage

2006-11-01T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Unfortunately our hosting provider seems to have suffered an outage today, looking at the traffic stats it seems to have hit us around 6am GMT. Sad to say it is not just Eye On MOGS that has been affected.

Apologies for the inconvenience, obviously we will be back us as soon as possible.

I am not sure how this outage will affect the spider, as it will have been interrupted about 75% through its run. We will have to wait and see on that one.

If the update is compromised I will start another update immediately.

Thanks,

Mike

New Games, New Providers!

2006-10-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Helo boys and girls.

I'm very happy to be able to tell you that we are expanding our listings to include two new providers: Live4Game and SwagVault.

SwagVault also brings with it some new games: ArchLord, Hero Online, Dofus, Dark and Light and SilkRoad. We're hunting around seeing if other providers are supplying these games as well and hopefully we'll be able to provide some useful comparisons soon.

The Missing Server mailbox has a few new entries for me to take a look at over the next day or so - expect updates to the listings in the not too distance future.

Finally we're also excited to be working with two more new providers and hope to bring their products to Eye On MOGS in the near future!

Happy gaming all.

Mike

XML Feed, Crazy Listings and so on....

2006-09-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let you guys know I'm still alive and to cover one or two other things:

I've just released a test XML Feed which you can get to at the bottom of every search results page. This feed is a test really to see if this sort of thing is useful to you guys, for example you could use it to keep your own site updated with details of WoW Gold prices. Might be useful if people in your guild buy regularly. I noted a few other possible uses, but it's really an experiment in giving some access to the Eye On MOGS search to the community.
I want to note that I'm aware of a problem with the World of Warcraft results where Gaming Treasure results are coming up many time, sometimes for the wrong server. I have added a few new servers which should have some impact on this, but I'll be investigating the matter more properly when I have some more free time. Right now I'm snowed under :) Sos.

I suppose I also want to note that the listings are going up and down a bit erratically of late and I want to get to the bottom of this as well. Don't loose faith all will be fixed soon, I just need to add a fw extra hours to each day first! Lol.

Happy Gaming,

Mike

Gamerking 20% Discount Code!

2006-09-05T01:38:00.000-07:00

When you're shopping over the next few days keep in mind that GamerKing are offer a massive 20% discount with promotion code: fallking

If you know of any other promotional codes we've failed to pick up on please let us know so everyone can benefit!

Happy Gaming,

Mike

A Few Updates

2006-08-29T03:09:00.000-07:00

Ok. Following on from my last post I've now fixed the bug which meant the last updated timer was straying over 12 hours.

I've also completed adding a few new World of Warcraft servers (EU and US) to the lists, as well as correcting a mistake where we were listing Wildhammer (EU) as Warhammer.

Keep the missing servers coming in, along with any suggestions on how Eye On MOGS can improve!

Happy gaming all.

Bug Fixes, Server Reviews et al.

2006-08-22T04:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I had a chance to update everyone on the goings on here at Eye On MOGS, so I thought I better make a little time to do so.

I've been busy in the background recently, working on a new tool which I hope the community will find of interest (keep your eyes peeled in early September), and also some less interesting bug fixing, code and database updates.

This week I'll be looking at addressing a bug in the update timer. Currently it runs up to 13 Hours since the last update. This is wrong; the site still updates every 12 hours - just for some reason the timer keeps counting for another hour...

The 'Missing Server' mailbox has a few new entries in it so I'll also be looking at adding the new servers I've received (can WoW get any bigger?!). I'm also going to try to do a review of the listings this week and address any servers which are not being represented very well (i.e. no very many listings).

I'd also like to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to vote on what should be developed next - Saved Searches v2 or Email Updates. At the moment Saved Search v2 is ahead with 50%, so I'm starting to look at that more seriously.

There is still time to cast your vote - I'll keep the Voting Booth open for another week or so at least. It will be back in future when other update condundrums present themselves!

Happy Gaming All,

Mike

RMT in the Phillipines

2006-08-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

This post carries a story on how some games developers in the Phillipines are reacting to Real Money Trade. LevelUp! is the main focus of the post and their move to embrace the secondary market.

The post also talks about how the secondary market is, in general, gaining further support but under the name of Virtual Assets.

Online Gaming Companies Joining the Virtual Asset model or RMT

Economic Activity in Virtual Worlds

2006-08-07T03:29:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting article over at the TNL Weblog today, written by Tristian Louis. This is the first of a series looking at MMORPGs or 'virtual worlds' and the potential they have.

From the TNL Blog:

Over the last few months, I've been trying to get a better understanding of what is happening with the concept of virtual worlds. Let me go into more details as to why I think this phenomenon has some real potentials. In this first entry in a series, I will explore the economic activity surrounding this phenomenon.

Size of the market

When talking about virtual worlds, I am focusing on the new space created by the gaming industry that allows to create online avatars and interact with other players in a fully immersive environment. From an economic standpoint, estimates range from around 100 millions to a high of US$1.5 billion a year. These are not insignificant numbers and they point to an emerging phenomenon and potentially the rise a new industry, with its own set of marketplaces, gathers, owners, creators, and marketers.

Marketplaces

To understand virtual worlds marketplace, one must first understand what si going on in those virtual worlds. When a player sets up an account, he's given a basic set of skills. As he or she progresses and interacts with the virtual world and its denizens, the player gains more and more skills and goods. However, this type of interaction requires time. Some people have figured that, because time is money, the amount of time spend in a virtual world could be converted into real hard currency. Thus was born the concept of Real Money Trading (aka RMT), whereas players go to specialized sites and buy virtual goods with real financial currency.

The action initially started on auction sites like Ebay, where characters or other virtual goods range in price from a few cents to several thousands of dollars. Because the trades were largely unregulated, some companies, like Sony, decided to set up their own exchange while others (Internet Game Exchange, Massive Online Gaming Sales, Tek Gaming Supplies, Swag Vault, and Gamers' Loot) have created specialized marketplaces to cater to this new phenomenon. This, in turns has led to the rise of two new classes of activities: informational ones that provide analysis on the financial going ons in those worlds and arbitration, whereas companies use people in the developing world to build up assets they resell to people in the developed world. Let's go deeper in those areas.

Information Sites

There is now a nascent information industry surrounding the costs of goods in virtual worlds. For example, Eyes on Mogs is a shopping search engine for virtual goods. All the attributes of other search engines are part of it, including comparison shopping, comparisons of the different vendors, pricing, delivery date, and buy it now info. GameUSD tracks the financial value of virtual currencies over time, providing price trends across not only the provider but also the alternative marketplaces. MMOfx claims to track "over 18,000 price quotes daily" and provide information on the fluctuation of virtual currencies.

Arbitration

Another type of economic activity to have arisen out of the marketplace phenomenon is the arbitration of virtual work. As the primary pursuit in these worlds is the acquisition of wealth, status or levels, an emerging market has arisen to give people with real money a chance to bypass the time investment required to acquire those things. For example, Chinese workers get paid between $75 and $250 a month to work in World Of Warcraft, in 12 hours shifts, "killing onscreen monsters and winning battles, harvesting artificial gold coins and other virtual goods. Affluent online gamers who lack the time and patience to work their way up to the higher levels of gamedom are willing to pay the young Chinese to play the early rounds for them." Similarly, Romanian players can make a living wage (the ABC News story I linked to says that $200 is a good wage for Romania) on the same kind of activity.

Edward Castranova, the leading economist on the subject of money in virtual worlds has been quoted as saying that "They're exploiting the wage difference between the U.S. and China for unskilled labor." What is basically happening here is that these companies have found a niche on the global marketplace to accumulate goods at a low cost and resell them at a premium. This type of arbitrage has been the way a lot of developing markets have revolutionized industries, from the export of manufacturing capabilities in the 20th century to the export of some service jobs nowadays. It's a natural phenomenon and shows that those marketplaces are starting to develop a high level of maturity, which should be noticed by a lot more people.

Virtual Goods Ownership

Beyond the buying and selling of virtual goods in virtual marketplaces, there is also an emerging trend in the real estate business, which can be broken down into three main groups: real-estate owners, creators and integrators, and marketers.

Second Life is a virtual world more focused on the social aspect of virtual environments than on the goal oriented aspect of missions and war-craft. Fortune Magazine reported last year about the interesting case of Anshe Chung, a character created by a German woman who has accumulated more than US$200,000 in virtual land holdings in Second Life. She rents the property out to other people, after having developed the property. Similarly, the BBC reports that a 23-year-old spent £13,770 in Project Entropia and recouped his investment in under a year. In fact, the land rush has been so strong that Second Life has build a model around land use fees, generating a nice chunk of income in the process.

While visiting this world, I've talked to people who had few problems paying $75 per month to Linden Labs for those fees. This is pretty incredible when you think that all they are buying is portion of disk space on a server. In a way, the real estate market presented by those virtual worlds can be seen as a hosting fee in a 3D environment and could represent a high growth market (in a future entry, I will look at the opportunities in the Virtual Spaces in more details).

The Integration Model

Another nascent portion of this new industry is the integration game. As with any new technology, developing and managing something in a virtual world is an endeavor that requires specialized skills. New companies like The electric sheep company and Space Think Dream have emerged as developers/integrators, offering their services to other companies. Their main business is to use the skills they've acquired to help existing companies experiment in these new worlds. This is, in a way, similar to the type of work that was done by early web design agencies, treating virtual worlds as a new interface either to existing systems or to create a new value proposition.

Other companies have emerged with the sole purpose of selling digital goods in those worlds. SLexchange is a virtual market where people can buy and sell such goods. Similarly, the Electric Sheep company has created SLBoutique as a competitor to SLexchange. What is interesting here is that there is a whole ecosystem building around Second Life, allowing other companies to prosper based on this new platform. This is similar to what has happened with Ebay and allows us to better understand SecondLife as a platform for e-commerce rather than just a game, a fact that Philip Rosedale, CEO of LindenLab and the power behind Second Life, likes to emphasize. This explains why the company has received investments from people like amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, Lotus founder Mitch Kapor, Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar, and Microsoft CTO Ray Ozzie. Those people understand that this a new emerging platform and could see potentially high return on their investment.

Bridging the gap

The development of virtual worlds as a new platform is starting to take shape. Companies and organizations like American Apparel, the BBC, Major League Baseball, NASA, The American Cancer Society, Amazon.com and Wells Fargo are starting to experiment in that space. Increasingly, virtual worlds are becoming not only a new way to market but also a new integration point for e-commerce.

Some of the virtual worlds (Project Entropia, for example) have even gone as far as issuing ATM cards that allow denizens of those worlds to take virtual money and trade it for real money that they can use for regular economic activity.

Conclusion

With large amounts of real currency already moving through virtual worlds, we are looking at a major new economic phenomenon that parallels the initial development of the commercial web and the rise of software as platform in the last few years.

With a new ecosystem forming around some of the virtual worlds, there is a fair amount of incentive for a lot of people to see this phenomenon succeed. SecondLife will probably be an early winner in this race, largely due to how quickly it has managed to get other companies to rely on it. A few more established companies are also early in staking ground in this new space and will probably reap rich rewards for their efforts, expanding their brand into those virtual spaces.

While it may appear that this is largely a subculture of gaming, the phenomenon is much more widespread. In my next entry, I will go through the demographic profile of denizens of those virtual spaces, showcasing a rich and varied texture to this phenomenon.

New (Beta) Tool to Check for Cheap Servers

2006-08-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

Based largely on community suggestion, and because I thought it would be cool, I've added a tool that lets you check the top cheapest and most expensive servers for each of the games Eye On MOGS lists. So next time your considering starting a new character or transferring to a new realm, check which is going to hit your wallet the least first!

This is a rough BETA release and I've noted a few developments I intend to make, however suggestions are welcomed.

This has also provided me with a chance to try out some AJAX, which I think works quite well. Anyone fancy having the Quick Search box made AJAX-Y as well? I think I do...

Mike

What Happens Next? You Decide!

2006-07-19T03:36:00.000-07:00

Ok. We're at a crossroads and we're wondering which way to go. Or whether to go both ways at once!

We've got two new enhancements waiting in the wings, but we're not sure which will be the most valuable to you guys.

So we thought we had better ask you!

We've setup a 'Voting Booth' over at the Eye On MOGS website where you can se what our new developments are about and vote for whichever you think is the better idea. Or, if you think there is something else we could be doing to improve you can send us an email and we'll take it onboard.

Unfair Goings-On

2006-07-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

I'm generally a big fan of the 1.11 Scourge Invasion patch for World of Warcraft.

However one thing does bug me.

At Lights Hope Chapel in the Eastern Plaguelands a whole lot more NPCs and guards have been added, and these guards act much as the Bruisers in Booty Bay. If you start a fight with the opposing faction they charge in and slaughter you (not hard as they are 60 Elites). That's fair enough and plays nicely with the lore that the Argent Dawn are a neutral party of sorts, favoring neither the Alliance or Horde.

Here is my problem. If you are a caster you can get outside of the guards agro range and attack other players! As a melee class (rogue) I find this really unfair and very annoying. I'm begining to loose count of the number of occasions I've been trying to repair, sell some junk or pick up a quest when all of a sudden I'm hit by several DOTs or a couple or fireballs from a mage.

That normally knocks me down to about half health so even if I was to try to retaliate I probably wouldn't make it to my enemy before they finished me off. And lest we forget if I do try to defend myself the guards will rush in and hack me to bits!

Anyway just thought I would share my gripe :) Anyone else have similar experiences? Or other comments on the new patch?

Raffle Draw Coming Sunday!

2006-07-06T02:47:00.000-07:00

It's your last chance to Enter the June-July Raffle (we started it a bit late in June...) and win up to $100 to spend at MOGS.

It's free to enter, only takes 5 minutes and you could win $10-100 off your next purchase!

Winners will be drawn at 00:01AM Monday 10th July.

Keep an eye out for next months raffle/competition coming soon in July.

Everquest & Everquest Under the Knife

2006-07-06T02:43:00.000-07:00

As part of our commitment to bringing you guys the biggest and best overview of what is available on the secondary market we've turned out attentions to tidying up the Everquest and Everquest 2 listings.

It's been a while since we looked at these and we've discovered a number of servers no longer exist, while some others are new to us and have been added.

As always this review can lead to some disruption to the listings for these games before everything settles down again. Shouldn't really be that noticable but if it does affect you then we apologise, and please try again in 24-48 hours :)

Happy Gaming

Details:

Everquest Servers Removed:

Ayonae Ro, Brell Serilis, E'ci, Firiona Vie, Innoruuk, Kael Drakkal, Kane Bayle, Karana, Lanys T'Yvl, Mithaniel Marr, Morden Rasp, Morell Thule, Rallos Zek, Rodcet Nife, Sebilis, Solusek Ro, Stormhammer, Stromm, Sullon Zek, Tallon Zek, Tarew Marr, Terris Thule, Tholuxe Paells, Torvonnilous, Vallon Zek, Vazaelle, Veeshan, Venril Sathir, Xev, Zebuxoruk

Everquest Servers Added:

Al'Kabor (Mac), Escape to Norrath

Everquest 2 Servers Removed:

Faydark, Grobb, Highkeep, Innothule, Lavastorm, Neriak, Oggok, Shadowhaven, Steamfont, Toxxulia

Everquest 2 Servers Added:

Venekor, Darathar, Gorenaire, Sebilis, Talendor, Nagafen

The Pallid Horror Says: "Grrr"

2006-07-02T04:06:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you take 1 Level 60 Elite Pallid Horror, several 55 Elite Flameshockers and a Stormwind more-or-less devoid of any level 60s (except yours truely)? Carnage.

As part of Blizzard's latest patch Stormwind (and I guess other major cities) seem to occasionally get unwelcome visits from elite, I wont hurt you unless you hurt me, Scourge. Until last night I would have imagined this wouldn't be much of an issue. I expected that a few of the elite named guards would come running around the corner and, joined by the copious normal city guards, would quickly polish off the nasties.

Well I was wrong. The Scourge did themselves proud last night and ran amuck in Stormwind for a good 15-20 minutes, killing all the NPCs (and unfortunate players) they came across. I was quite shocked that a single 60 elite mob was beating to death several elite guards!

Obviously the calibre of the Alliances defense is not as high as it should be :)

This is the sort of content I personally think Blizzard should be introducing more of. It finally feels like something is happening in Azeroth, which has been feeling somewhat stale since I hit 60.

RF Online and Auto Assault Added!

2006-06-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Ok.

Both these games have been out for a little while, but until now there weren't enough providers selling currency for them for us to think it was sensible to add them. But now there are!

As these games are still new the currency can be a little scare, so don't be too surprised if you don't find what you're looking for immediately. Keep trucking though. It will all come in time :)

Also, please note that these games have just go on the list so they wont be included until approx. 5am GMT 1st July 2006.

Happy Gaming All!

Mike

Another Day - More WoW Servers

2006-06-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the communities submissions and our new systems we've tracked down a few more errand World of Warcraft servers to add to the list. You can see them below if you're interested.

We've also started patching up a few servers on the list which seemed to be missing some results, which should mean better searches for some of you! This is an ongoing task and we have to clean things up for a few more providers until we are finished.

As always with the brand new servers please allow a few days for us to get products details.

Thanks once again for your submissions! Happy gaming.

Servers added:

EU
Nordrassil, Warhammer, Magtheridon, Neptulon

US
Drak`thul, Azshara, Agamaggan, Duskwood, Blackdragonflight, Dalvengyr

The Scourge are Nearly Upon Us!

2006-06-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

According to this Blizzplanet post we have only a matter of hours left before the Scourge begin to invade Azeroth!

World of Warcraft Patch 1.11 - Shadow of the Necropolis, is released today.

The key to this patch is the introduction of a new uber tough end-game dungeon, Naxxramas. However there are other updates which you can find in the patch notes, or if that link is now dead, by visiting the official World of Warcraft website.

To get into Naxxramas you need to be attuned, and to be attuned you need a good reputation with the Argent Dawn. Depending on your level of reputation with the Argent Dawn attunement will set you back:

1) At Honored with Argent Dawn, you have to give the following materials :

60 Gold
1 Righteous Orb
2 Nexus Crystals
5 Arcane Crystals

2) At Revered with Argent Dawn, you have to give the following materials :

30 Gold
2 Arcane Crystal
1 Nexus Crystals

3) At Exalted with Argent Dawn, the Naxxramas Attunement is FREE.

Naxxramas will feature uber rewards for those brave enough to venture inside with the introduction of Teir 3 Armor Sets, some nice new weapons and a Legendery Staff!

That's enough from me. I'm sure you know this all already anyway.

Give 'em Scourge hell lads!

More WoW Server Updates

2006-06-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

As part of our server review we've added the following servers to our list today:

EU servers

The Venture Co,Kazzak,Dalvengyr,Drek'thar,Dentarg,Khadgar

US servers

Alexstrasza,Demon Soul,Draka,Khaz'goroth,Stonemaul,Lightninghoof,Thorium Brotherhood,Khadgar

Give it a few days and you should start to see listings for these servers.

In the meantime the server review continues (for every game), so please keep your suggestions coming in!

Happy Gaming!

WoW Server Updates

2006-06-09T02:38:00.000-07:00

We've added 60 servers across both the EU and US realms today.

We'll be adding provider prices for these servers over the next 48hours or so and we're still looking at the rest of the servers you guys have submited. Some of them don't seem to be listed on provider sites, but perhaps we're just not looking hard enough!

It is something we are still working on though. We will get you your Gold! Keep your suggestions coming in, it really helps a lot :)

If you're interested I've posted below the list of servers we've added today for the Eu and US realms.

EU

Ahn'Qiraj, Boulderfist, Bronzebeard, Confrerie du Thorium, Conseil Des Ombres, Eitrigg, Eonar, Executus, Genjuros, Grim Batol, Hakkar, Haumarush, Jaedenar, Krag'jin, Kul Tiras, Kule Der Verdammten, La Croisade Ecarlate, Laughing Skull, Lightning's Blade, Moonglade, Mug'thol, Outland, Quel'Thalas, Rexxar, Scarshield Legion, Senjin, Talnivarr, Tarren Mill, Tichondrius, Trollbane, Uldaman, Vek'lor, Vek'nilash, Xavius, Ysera, Ysondre

US

Aegwynn, Akama, Andorhal, Anetheron, Balnazzar, Cho'Gall, Chromaggus, Eitrigg, Emerald Dream, Executus, Hakkar, Haomarush, Jubei'Thos, Korgath, KulTiras, Mug'Thol, Muradin, Norgannon, Rexxar, Runetotem, Senjin, Turalyon, Vek'nilash, Ysera, Ysondre

Things Did Go Funky!

2006-06-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Whoa!

Those few new additions made things go a little mad.

I've addressed the issues that came up, and hopefully thats the last of it... For now I've rolled back to the last update until we update again circa 9am GMT. Should still provide accurate searches.

Mike

Important Notice

2006-06-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

Update: Things Did Go Funky!

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know that some changes have been made to how we update Eye On MOGS today. Now, they work fine on the development machine, but you never quite know what will happen upon going live until you do so.

In short you may find that the listings are erratic at the next update (circa 9pm GMT), you may also find some other errors like links not working. This is all a maybe, it could equally go off without a hitch.

Rest assured if things do go funky I will be on the case to fix them ASAP.

There is another set of updates later in the week so things may go awry then as well, but then we should be rocking and rolling again.

Thanks for your patience and for the Missing Server details that you have been submitting over the last week or so. They have not gone unoticed and, touch wood, these will go in with the updates this week.

Happy gaming.

Mike

2 Players Clear Blackrock Depths [video]

2006-06-03T03:12:00.000-07:00

"Leif is a Warrior lvl 60 and Horadric a Paladin lvl 60 from Peg Legged Boys Guild at Arathor Realm in Europe. The human warrior and the dwaf paladin -- believe it or not -- soloed Blackrock Depths and cleared it. And they have a movie to demonstrate it. "

Just goes to show what you can do with the right tactics and patience :) I've not made it half as far as these two with a full group in Blackrock Depths!

Next video should be a 5 man Molten Core raid. Lol. I laugh, but I have heard that some groups of 7 have managed it.

Check out BlizzPlanet for the Google Video link and a 300Mb downloadable WMV version.

A Personal Encounter with a Bot

2006-06-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've been playing World of Warcraft for what I would consider a long time now. I've also been 60 for quite a while and as a casual gamer I find myself with only a few things to work towards during my time online.

The two main of these are saving for my epic mount and farming Evil Bat Eyes for Darkmoon Faire rep. in order to get the 1,200 Ticket reward - Amulet of the Darkmoon.

I usually farm up around Azshara for cash as I find it's relatively quiet and peaceful place. As a skinner there are plenty of sources of Rugged Leather and the humanoids in the area are pretty generous with their cash drops as well as Rune Cloth and Mageweave. For my money they also seem to have less hit points than MOBs of similar levels in other zones.

During my time up around Azshara I recently came across a player who is always in one of the Legashi Encampments. It happens to be my favorate grind spot, and the competition for resources was a pain. I realised quite quickly that this must be a bot due to the erratic behaviour and the apparent lack of awareness of my presence. I confirmed this some time later after actually getting to talk to the farmer behind the bot. As it turns out he works for IGE (Or makes money selling his Gold to them).

I have nothing against farming personally, and I think I would have quit WoW a long time ago if RMT services hadn't been available to keep me ticking over. However I do feel put out when I find that my grind spot is being camped by someone else, whether a farmer or just another player.

It's a pain when you have to compete with someone else for resources. But after a few days spent farming aside this bot I realised that he was a better companion than another player.

Why? Simply because of his botty nature. You see this particular bot program seems to just follow a selection of waypoints killing MOBs as the character runs into them. The order of the waypoints never changes and the bot goes to each regardless of whether there is a MOB to kill or not.

This makes it very easy for me to skip around the bot and kill the MOBs before it gets there. I was farming today for about an hour and was getting 9/10 of the available kills. Which left me happy, but with a guilty feeling.

The person behind this bot is simply trying to do a job, and forgetting any moral objections you may have, you can not argue with this. Everyone has to do something to take care of themselves and their loved ones. In many low wage economies farming games like WoW is as good a way of getting paid as working a bar job or as a janitor.

So while I was merrily farming my 10gold I was depriving this person of the money they need to survive. My 1 hour intrusion is likely to make little difference as he will be botting until the day is out, but it has made me stop and think.

That's a slight digression from my orginal point which was to simply say that although I hear a lot of negative press about botting (indeed some companies involved in RMT say that it can be bad for the games economy and don't encourage it) for my part it seems like an activity that can be easily negated in WoW at least.

Use your voice at Eye On MOGS

2006-05-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

A few months back I moved the Eye On MOGS news to this Blog. I decided this because I basically felt there was too much to say to fit in the space left on the Eye On MOGS site for news.

But the Eye On MOGS Blog is not just about me telling you stuff, it's about everyone being able to have their say.

If you look at the top right of the Blog you'll see that we want to hear your views on all things MOG. Obviously with Eye On MOGS servicing the secondary market RMT and Virtual Economies are on our hit-list of must have topics, but we want Eye On MOGS to feel like a community.

So even if you just want to share a fun, or frustrating experience you've had in-game, your review of a provider we list or ways we can improve and develop Eye On MOGS then send us an email. We'll consider everything we receive for publication in the Blog. Remember it can't be any worse than the stuff Mike currently posts ['Hey!' - Mike]

We look forward to hearing from you all and sincerely hope your thoughts will help dilute Mikes' (mostly) inane jabber.

Happy gaming.

MMORPG Subscription Research

2006-05-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

Just before I sign off tonight there's time for me to quickly note that MMORPG CHART has released another long anticipated update bringing their data to version 20.0!

For thsoe of you who do not know Bruce Woodcock has been tracking subscription levels of many, many MMORPGs for years now and releases his own analysis of these figures periodically. It's an interesting look if MMORPGs and their steady climb into public conciousness if of interest to you. You'll also find Bruce's own personal look at E3 2006 and what 2006/2007 has in store for MMORPGs.

Good work Bruce - Glad to see you're still trucking at this!

MMORPG CHART

Anyone else notice this?

2006-05-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

When you work on something, day in and day out, it kind of becomes you obsession. You get so involved that you begin to find things about it fascinating, even when you know that most of your friends will simply stare at you with blank eyes as you explain the point to them.

We're all guilty of it, but those of us with a Blog get to share our thoughts with complete strangers as well as friends :)

Let me get to the point. My work at Eye On MOGS entails spending long hours thinking about the secondary market surrounding MMORPGs, talking with people who work in the industry on various levels and staring at pricing information as it comes streaming in. I know, I know - it's a fascinating job. Hehe.

So what have I noticed that is so compelling that I felt the need to share? Well, I couldn't help but notice that there has been a fundemental shift in the real-virtual exchange rates between US and EU World of Warcraft servers.

Check out the image below, which shows more graphically what I'm painfully explaining:

You might want to click the image to get a better look! What we can see here is a graph showing the average dollar value per Gold on the US and EU Aggrammar servers from 1st Feb to 30th May 2006.

What you will notice is that come the end of April all of a sudden the two lines switch over. For whatever reason at that point it became cheaper to buy gold on an EU server - the opposite to the general trend prior to that date.

I've run through a number of EU and US servers and they all show a similar trend. It's also interesting to see in this graph that over time the exchange rates from gold to dollar fluctuate up and down.

The trend is downward, but I think it's important to note that this does not necessarilly say anything about the relationship between RMT and a games economy. My understanding of economic theory may not be great but I believe that, basically, a currency will continue to devalue (as will anything) when there is an overabundence of it. What's so great about having a Porsche if everyone has one? The only way around this is to have sinks for the money to fall into, and those sinks have to keep changing, like DVD replacing VCR - it forces you to spend your money on something new. In a game you don't spend the cash, you spend your time. Perhaps if it was the other way round the economies would be more stable?

The drop in exchange rate is due to the relative ease of getting gold in the game, probably largely due to people hitting higher levels and finding niches to sell in - the connection to RMT is... well, unresearched and speculative.

Taking Another look at Real Money Trade (RMT) Practices

2006-05-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

At Eye On MOGS we have a good working relationship with 'gold sellers' and have regular communication with companies and groups of all sizes in the RMT business.

There has been a surprising amount of mainstream press coverage on Real Money Trade, Gold Farming and MOGs in general since 2004. With this press coverage in mind and making use of my industry contacts I decided to take my own look at the world of Real Money Trade. [Download article as a PDF]

Real Money and the Virtual Economy

In the world of Azeroth, life can be cheap but saving up for that much desired epic mount can take months of labour. Welcome to the World of Warcraft, currently the world’s largest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). In the World of Warcraft, the auction house presents the avid window shopper with a cornucopia of wonders, from fabulous swords to armour guaranteed to make you the hardest elf in your neck of the woods. To purchase such wonders, the player needs gold, something that requires quite literally hours, days or weeks of in-game labour. However visit Ebay or Eye on MOGs, a price comparison engine for virtual commodities, and you have the opportunity to convert real life earnings into virtual gold, platinum, ISK or Credits, depending on the virtual world that you alter ego(s) inhabits.

The world of Real Money Trading has come a long way since its fledgling days when gamers departing from a virtual world would use websites like Ebay to convert their in-game assets into real world money. Today it is a multi-billion dollar industry, with industry insiders like Steve Sayler of IGE estimating that as much as $2.7 billion will change hands within this secondary market during the course of 2006. This lucrative industry is now catered for by companies like MMORPG SHOP, Mogmine and MOGS, which have entire infrastructures set up to ‘farm’ for in-game gold and valuable items. Not only can you purchase in-game spending power with real world money from such sites, but many are service driven, for example offering power levelling to fast-track your avatar to new heights of maturity, turn you into a master craftsman in days rather than months, or boost your reputation within the world you inhabit. Sites like Mogmine offer specialised services like fruit picking, specified item farming, or will take your character through that instance that’s been weighing so heavily on your mind.

What we are experiencing here is a whole new type of economy where the border between the real and virtual world is blurring. There are currently hundreds of companies catering to this phenomenon, with some virtual items being sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Virtual real estate is earning real world money, with people like 43-year-old Wonder Bread deliveryman John Dugger purchasing a virtual castle for $750, setting him back more than a week’s wages. According to Edward Castronova, an economics professor at Indiana University who has performed extensive research into online economies, Norrath, the world in which EverQuest takes place, would be the 77th richest nation on the planet if it existed in real space, with players enjoying an annual income better than that of the citizens of Bulgaria or India. A visit to GameUSD indicates the current state of virtual currencies against the US dollar, demonstrating that some virtual world currencies are currently performing better than real world currencies like the Iraqi Dinar.

Real Money Trading and gold farming are met with mixed feelings in the gaming world, with some gamers criticizing the fact that real world wealth can affect in-game prestige and capabilities. Critics of the secondary market believe that such activities within the virtual economies intrude on the fantasy and provide the more economically empowered with an unfair in-game advantage. However this ignores the real world fact that earning money and advancing one’s character within a virtual world takes a good deal of time, and some gamers have more money than time on their hands. The average age for gamers is 27, and approximately half of all gamers are in full time employment. For a group of friends playing together, it can thus be relatively easy for the cash rich to fall behind the time rich in terms of gameplay, as they are obliged to spend the lion’s share of their time working their real world jobs while friends are spending time levelling their characters. For such individuals, for whom time translates into money, a few dollars is a small price to pay to ensure virtual survival the next time they enter an instance with their high level friends.

Companies set up to farm virtual commodities are furthermore criticised as being little more than sweatshops, an attitude encouraged by the fact that many of these companies reside in low wage economies like China. However, pay and work conditions in such companies, where workers are paid to spend their days playing enjoyable, stimulating games, cannot compare to that of their compatriots who spend their days mindlessly producing the components that go into our computers, or the trainers that we wear while playing. Essentially the objection is a moral one, with many Westerners objecting to low wage economies catering to this type of leisure activity. Often workers are paid partly in kind, with food and accommodation included in remuneration packages, with the pay received thus presenting largely surplus. While pay may not equate to Western standards, this type of economic activity reminds us that we are living in a continually globalising economic environment where quality of life and spending power should be taken into account as much if not more so than say a straight dollar for yen exchange rate. Companies like Mogmine provide their staff with health benefits, holiday pay and share options, along with the chance for advancement within the organisation. Brian Lim, CEO of Mogmine, comments that ‘many mid- and high-level management started out as gamers and now they have equal or more pay than respectable managers in more conventional businesses.’ Within these lower wage economies, these thus represent desirable jobs.

Other complaints centre around the negative effect of such farming activities on in-game economies. At Mogmine, Brian Lim’s gamers play the game as it is meant to be played, but hone good techniques for gold generation along the way, thus ensuring that the work remains interesting to staff. Jonathan Driscoll comments that competition for resources has always been a feature of gameplay, and points out that his World of Warcraft farmers do their work within instances, and thus do not impact on others’ gaming experiences in the least. Complaints that farmers are responsible for in-game inflation smack of sour grapes when compared to common factors like players with high level characters acting as benefactors for their low-level alts, and thus facilitating the unrealistic in-game spending power of such low level characters. While some developers do not condone real money trade on their servers, others like MindArk, with their game Project Entropia, have included the secondary market as a part of their services. Even Sony Online Entertainment, who until recently stood staunchly against real money trade, have jumped on the band-wagon with the release of their Station Exchange service, actively facilitating Real Money Trading in Everquest 2. Other games, like the upcoming Roma Victor, embed the secondary market as part of their financial model rather than relying on the common subscription model, with players purchasing Sesterces to play and advance in the game.

Such trading of virtual goods for real world money is potentially just the tip of the iceberg for the development of virtual economies where people come together within virtual worlds to promote and trade real world products. Games like The Matrix Online already sell advertising space to real world companies to promote their products to gamers who spend their leisure time within the world.

We are thus embarking on an entirely new type of economic activity, where real and virtual worlds are meeting within an economic sphere. As a fledgling economy, it is difficult to chart where this phenomenon may take us, but the sheer weight of currency being spent and earned within these economies and the development of services to monitor real to virtual exchange rates and market prices indicates that they are here to stay.

Resources referenced

Castranova, Edward. ‘Virtual Worlds: A first-hand account of market and society on the cyberian frontier’ [December 2001]

C NET – Real money in a virtual world [http://news.com.com/Real+money+in+a+virtual+world/2030-1069_3-5905390.html]

The Daedalus Project, revealing the psychology of MMORPGS [http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/]

GameUSD, a virtual world versus USD currency tracker [http://gameusd.com/]

WIRED – The Unreal Estate Boom [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/gaming.html]

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jonathan Driscoll from MMORPG SHOP, Brian Lim from Mogmine and Hayden from MOGS for their insider’s view of the secondary market, which proved invaluable in writing this article.

Co-authored by Rachelle Benson of Benson Cairns

Technorati Tags: real money trade, virtual economies, rmt

June is a Month of Change

2006-05-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

June is going to be a month of change at Eye On MOGS. But don't worry all these changes are good!

I guess the two changes you guys are going to notice most will be these two:

a) A FREE Raffle every month, and
b) A review of all the games we list, their servers, factions and idioms

Sound good? We certainly hope so. We're very concious of providing the best service we can to you guys and hope that the steps we take in June will help us keep Eye On MOGS even more fresh and accurate, as well as give you the chance to win some prizes along the way!

Keep your eyes peeled for these, and more, changes over the course of June 2006!

Burning Crusade Alliance Race Revealed!

2006-05-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

The new Alliance race in the Burning Crusade will be the Draenai.

A New York Times article and Q&A with head game designer Jeff Kaplan haved confirmed this today after E3 2006 opened.

Well, at least now we know. I'm a little disappointed neither Blood Elves nor Draenai will have a rogue class (I like rogues), but there you go :)

Listings Return

2006-05-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

There we go. The listings are back to a healthier 24,000 odd.

Was probably just a lack of stock last update. Has everyone been filling their money bags?

Big Drop in Eye On MOGS Listings

2006-05-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

The listings on Eye On MOGS have taken a dive after the last update (circa 9pm GMT). It's still a healthy 16,000+, but this may mean that searches offer fewer comparisons.

Sometimes the availability of goods just drops off, sometimes a providers site goes down and sometimes a our spider gets confused and drops loads of listings. I'm not sure which is the culprit right now.

Hopefully when the next update comes around things will return to normal. If not rest assured I will get on the case!

Happy gaming all.
Mike

The Burning Crusade: October 2006

2006-05-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

If Amazon.com and EBGames are correct then the long wait for World of Warcrafts first expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, will be over in October this year.

Amazon has the release date as the 15th October 2006, EBGames sooner on the 2nd.

Looks like you can pre-order now!

Interesting to have a release date before Blizzard have told us what the new Alliance race is going to be.

WoW Diary: 2rue Blue

2006-05-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming but finally today I found something worth buying on the auction house for my level 60 rogue.

Luckily for me I've been grinding cash in Azshara for the last month so I had a few hundered Gold on me when a Scarlet Kris popped up. Not something you see everyday, so I waded in there and accepted the 'buyout' price. It's much nicer than the 30 odd DPS dagger I had before and comes with +10 Sta and +10 Agi, which is great on a weapon for a rogue.

I was quite chuffed with that. But today seems to have been a good day...

After I had put a whole load of items on the auction house I headed back to Azshara (I like farming the Legashi Satyrs there) and started hacking my way through them, with a certain sense of satisfaction with my now much improved DPS.

There's a few chests that spawn around the Legashi Encampment, and usually I'm lucky to find a decent amount of silver in them, let alone an item of any value. Today seems to have been my lucky day then as I popped open a chest to find a shiny blue Hanzo Sword inside.

For a casual gamer like me two blues on the same day is great. The Hanzo sword and the few greens/fel cloth I got during my rounds today will have covered the price of my shiny new Scarlet Kris.

All in all I'm pleased.

PS Forgive the attempted 'play on words' (of sorts) in the title. It's supposed to read 'True Blue'.

Real Money Trade (RMT) that Pleases Everyone?

2006-05-07T03:02:00.000-07:00

From the post I made just a few days ago, Epics for the Casual Gamer, it seems clear to me that Blizzards World of Warcraft could do with a few extra options for those of us at the end game. The really good gear seems to be reserved not for those hardcore gamers who are willing to work for it, but for a subset of these gamers who have large chunks of free time. Currently then, those of us at 60 who still play the game regularly but in only small blocks, or at odd times, are being left out in the cold. Just what are we paying $15 a month for?

My minds been racing over the last few days, and I finally woke up at 5am this morning with an idea that I had to get down on paper (or disc as the case may be). I figured there must be an RMT model that could work as part of a MMORPG.

Now, we all know that MMORPGs and RMT work together, if they didn’t World of Warcraft wouldn’t be so popular, Project Entropia wouldn’t work at all (related post: Your Project Entropia Withdrawl Limit is...) and Sony wouldn’t have relented on their strict ‘no RMT’ policy to bring out Station Exchange in 2005.

Essentially the whole thing centers around a moral argument between players. There are those who feel that RMT in MMORPGs is:

a) cheating and
b) detracts from the fantasy of the game.

These are not unfair points, however they does miss the point that we don’t all have large enough chunks of time to invest in high level dungeon runs, but we are willing to work hard for better gear. It also misses the point that any number of people you play with in World of Warcraft (or many other games) could have had their characters power levelled, rankings levelled, instance runs completed by a service provider or just be jacked full of bought cash.

And unless they told you, you would never know.

Lets put aside the fact that you can earn gear by doing battlegrounds in World of Warcraft. Why? Because this gear is predominately geared up to PvP combat. I want to address the issue of getting PvE gear (as I’m not a big PvPer).

As I mentioned in my previous post it seems to me developers could introduce more quests like that for getting the Darkmoon Faire Amulet, and introduce complete articles as faction rewards rather than patterns for them. But that’s another posting, lets look at how I think RMT could be squeezed into World of Warcraft without pissing off people too much and unbalancing the game.

RMT in WoW

I think a good starting point would be to take a tip from Sony and start up RMT enabled servers. Within this environment at least you would know what you were getting and could stay away if you chose to. Of course normal trading would still be possible in this realm, but RMT would also be an option.

Auctioning for Real Cash

I think you could also introduce RMT as an option in normal realms. As an extra option when putting up items on the auction house why not add a ‘Make Purchase’ button available which would allow players to buy the item with real cash (the price of which would be a reflection of the Gold price, converetd into real dollars at present exchange rates). You could, and probably should, restrict this action to higher level items which have reached a certain threshold in terms of their in-game price. For those with pots of gold buying power remains unaffected, just buy it with your gold. For those with pots of cash but no gold this gives you the chance to buy something nice!

Let’s not forget those of you with lots of free time and items to auction would also be able to make real money off us lowly time short people. Surely no-one would object to that?

Buying High End - End Game Gear

Now let’s look at epics and other gear that you should really only be able to get from instances like Molten Core, Blackwing Lair and Zul Gurub. In my model these items would be purchasable with real cash from certain vendors, the prices reflecting the amount of gold similar items are fetching on the auction house. To make certain that this opportunity was not just taken advantage of, detracting from the pull of high level instance runs (I doubt this would be the case given the split among players on RMT), there should be a penalty for making this purchase. One which comes to mind would be a time penalty.

If you had gone into Molten Core looking for Bloodfang Pants (or something) then you would have had to invest quite a bit of time to get this. If you buy the gear then your account should get a time penalty on it of say 8 hours in which you can not play. That won’t match the amount of time you might otherwise have to put in to get Bloodfang Pants, but let’s not forget by buying this item you’re already effectively monetarily fined.

You could also slap a durability fine on bought gear as this would be heavily damaged during a raid.

RMT Class of Gear

Another possibility would be to introduce RMT gear, World of Warcraft already has PvP and PvE gear. Rather than being able to buy the best gear in the game you would be able to buy something comparable, but with some sort of limitation.

Conclusion

Personally I think that if people are willing to pay their real hard earned cash for better items then they should be allowed to do so. One way or another we all pay for the virtual assets we own (ownership of virtual assests is a whole other kettle of fish!), whether you pay in virtual cash, real cash or your time.

Your thoughts?

I’m always interested to hear what other people think on these kinds of matters (and my rambling posts). How do you see things developing, is there a middle ground? Is RMT here to stay? Why do we feeel the need to twink our virtual alter egos?

Your Project Entropia Withdrawl Limit is...

2006-05-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

From TerraNova - I think this is fascinating!

By now, everyone has probably read the gushing news stories: Project Entropia’s developer, MindArk, has introduced a bank card that allows cardholders to treat their “virtual currency” from Project Entropia “just like real money” and withdraw it from a cash machine. The BBC, the New York Times, ABC News, and any number of other mainstream media sources have run stories on this. They boggle at this miracle and explain how,

[t]he new cash card blurs the boundary between the virtual and physical world even
further.

This is the kind of story that we love here at Terra Nova, since it involves nifty issues about virtual worlds, the social fiction of money, and all sorts of other interesting questions. But I don’t love this story. I think it’s basically bogus. In fact it’s worse than that. This story has finally convinced me that MindArk is fantastic at generating public relations stories that credulous media sources pick up without questioning, but which, if investigated for even a moment, make you shake your head in wonder.

Continue reading "Project Entropia"

Epics for the Casual Gamer

2006-05-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Forgive my pre-occupation with World of Warcraft in this Blog. It just happens to be the MOG I play at the moment.

Something else which crossed my mind today while idling away a little time in WoW, check my auctions, was that I have been level 60 for some months now and I still don't have a single Epic peice of equipment. In fact most of my gear is green.

The problem is simple - I'm a casual gamer. Not through choice, but through the demands on my time through work and home life. I simply don't have the time to spend eight hours crawling through Molten Core to kill a single boss, or spend several hours each evening to explore the wonders of Blackwing Lair. For that matter I don't really have the time to play for more than an hour or so at a time.

One thing I do often do when I do play is farm Plague Bats in the Eastern Plaguelands. Why? Because I know that if I get enough of their juciy eyes (400 in total I think), that I can trade them in at the Darkmoon Faire. My reward? A nice shiny Epic Necklace: Amulet of the Darkmoon

Now to get all these eyes is going to take me a long time, but at least I can get a few each time I login for an hour, and I know that I am slowly making my way to my goal.

What I thought was that World of Warcraft could do with more of these kinds of opportunity to get epics. As I said above I'm never personally going to get one from one of the high-level instances as I don't have big enough blocks of free time. But I can farm creatures for months on end.

How many epics to you guys have? How long have you been 60? And how did you get your epics?

Update:

This post got picked up at WoW Break and I felt compelled to post a comment in my defense. I'm still left with the same question as above: How do you get Epics in WoW? Especially if you don't have the time to do Molten Core and the like?

Well I do know one way. Using a service like that provided by MOGMine, who will run your character through a high level instance for you. That $30 is beginning to sound a pretty reasonable deal.

Finally some signs of weather in Azeroth

2006-05-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

After Blizzard released the 1.10 patch for World of Warcraft I was looking forward, amongst other things, to the introduction of Weather Effects to certain regions of the game world.

I'll grant that this addition doesn't really affect gameplay, but I thought it was another factor that would add to the level of immersion the game offered. I imagined wandering through Elwynn Forest as the rain lashed down unable to see through the fog that I had wandered into a Defias camp until they were on top of me.

Of course at level 60 I wouldnt have been in trouble :) But I still liked the idea.

Imagine my dismay then when I spent the following weeks trying to track down this weather that had been added! I went to every zone that had weather 'switched on', different times of the day, different days. Nothing.

Until, finally, today on a ride back to Stormwind through Elwynn Forest I was engulfed in rain!

My only qualm, having finally seen these effects in acton, was that once I passed into Stormwind it was all of a sudden a gloriously sunny day again. I can appreciate Elwynn Forest and Stormwind must be different map, but personally I think it would make sense that the weather in Elwynn and Stormwind would be the same.

What are your thoughts on WoWs Weather? Was I just hopelessly unlucky not to come across any for so long?

On a wider topic, what developments do you think would bring more immersion to MOGs?

China Predicting 61 Million MMO Gamers by 2010

2006-05-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

And you thought Blizzard had population problems? According to this report at Playfuls.com, citing reports from Instat, China, already one of the largest bastions of online gaming in the world, will see more than 60 million of its citizens hop on board the MMO train by 2010, with a market value estimated at 2.1 billion dollars. That's a lot of microwave burritos & Mountain Dew...

Then again, they probably won't have the same problems that Blizzard has with their customer base; those communists tend to keep things running pretty smoothly....as long as you don't petition a GM; that could be considered treason.

TEKGaming - 5% Off Coupon

2006-04-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

Phew. It's been a while since I updated the Blog, sorry about that. I seem to have been far too busy to do everything I want of late. However, at least now I have the time to write a little something it is something I know you will all like :)

TEKGaming may have been absent from the Eye On MOGS listings for a little while but they certainly haven't been absent from our hearts and minds.

Now I'm pleased to be able to give you a coupon, good for 5% off any order you make at TEKGaming until May 7th.

To use the 5% off coupon simply copy and paste: tek22bon05rdk in the promo code space while making your purchase.

Keep an eye on Eye On MOGS BTW, there are changes afoot and TEKGaming will soon be back with us :)

Happy gaming,

Mike

5% Off At MOGS

2006-04-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

I already mentioned that MOGS was running a promotion giving you 5% off any order last month, but I wanted to be sure everyone knew the promotion is still going on.

Just enter the promotional code "save5p" (without quotes) when you place an order on MOGS and you'll get a 5% discount!

Happy gaming all.

World of Warcraft Goes 1.10! Latest Patch

2006-03-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

The latest World of Warcraft patch is now out!

Patches the game from version 1.9.4 to 1.10

Go get it at GamersHell:

WoW US
WoW EU

I'm getting it now! Also check out the official patch notes to see what you're getting. Personally I'm looking forward to the XP to Gold conversion at level 60 :) Perhaps I'll finally be able to afford my epic mount!

Happy gaming.

Mike

Chinese Farmers in the GameDom

2006-03-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

I found an interesting little video clip on another Blog today. Its a short documentary, a work in progress, showing actual footage of some 'Chinese Gold Farmers' at work. I think it featured three workshops and had interviews with a number of the staff who actually farm.

What I found interesting is that they all seemed positive about what they were doing, far from being exploited as many articles have contended in the past. I shant deny that my first impression of the first workshop shown was that it was a little shabby, but then again I don't know what the living conditions for most Chinese are like and to be fair its not that disimilar to the dorms I shared at University here in the UK.

Anyway, check it out yourselves and let me know what you think in the comments here.

Chinese Farmers in the GameDom

Also check out this Blog for a little from Ge Jin, the author of the video, and some interesting comments from Bloggers: http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/008211.php

Eye On MOGS News

2006-03-21T01:19:00.000-08:00

Thought it was worth a quick mention that the Eye On MOGS listings have reached a new high - 25,108! But we're not stopping there... Expect the listings to keep creeping up, and up, and up until our server will take no more.

Why have the listings made such a jump (4,000)? - This is in part due to the addition of Dungeons and Dragons Online yesterday and also getting MMORPG-SHOP's World of Warcraft details into the system.

IGE Promotion

2006-03-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

IGE are offering a 10% discount on any purchase until March 24th. All you need to do is enter the promotional code "IGENEAT" (without quotes) when you checkout.

Note: Eye On MOGS prices don't take into account special promotions like this (although they happen quite often so we're looking into making sure we do).

Phew. I never thought I'd be Blogging quite so much in just one afternoon.

Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach Platinum and more

2006-03-20T11:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, a little tardy I'll admit but Dungeons and Dragons Platinum is now going on the Eye On MOGS list. Expect to see this start to appear in the next 24 hours.

To Start with IGE, IGXE, GamerKing and MMORPG-SHOP have got online but expect to see Guy4Game, MOGS and more coming to the listing over the next few days.

It looks like you guys are going to be spolit for choice with amounts of Platinum available ranging from a very affordable 100 PP to a much more impressive 20,000!

The 'more' bit...

RF Online also started showing up on our radar recently and you can expect to start seeing listings for that on Eye On MOGS over the next week. If you don't then hassle me!

MOGS Promotional Offer

2006-03-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

MOGS is running a promotional offer to give you 5% off any order.

"Save With MOGS! Use coupon code 'save5p' for a 5% discount on any order!"

MOGS offer a very reliable and affordable service and are one of the biggest MOG secondary marekt suppliers out there next to IGE and Yantis's ventures such as GamerKing.

But are you wondering if you could do better? If you are check out Eye On MOGS first and make sure you're getting the deal that suits you!

From TerraNova - New Magazine Devoted to MMOGs!

2006-03-20T04:28:00.000-08:00

TerraNova has a post reporting that Computer Games Magazine will be launching a new print magazine later this year devoted entirely to MMOGs! Good news. From TerraNova:

"Computer Games Magazine, published by the media division of theglobe.com, today announced it will publish MASSIVE Magazine, the first print publication dedicated solely to massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. It will provide avid online gamers a new source for the latest news, features, and previews. The premiere issue will hit newsstands for a three-month run on September 19, 2006, and will start as a stand-alone quarterly publication by January 2007. It will also include a free DVD packed with MMO demos and games."

You can read the rest of the post at: Computer Games Magazine to Launch New MMO Publication

I was personally surprised to find that I couldn't find any print magzines devoted to MMOs when I started playing World of Warcraft mid-2005. It's been a long time coming if you ask me and perhaps this tells us a little more about how MMOs are creeping ever more into the mainstream.

Edit - Also check out The MMO Gamer which may actually make it to print first

My First Post

2006-03-19T05:07:00.000-08:00

Hey and welcome to my new Blog!

I'm not sure what I'll be covering exactly, but it will probably centre around MMORPGs, Real Money Trade and Eye On MOGS.

Mike