I have been too busy lately to actually write a good personal log. However, I just signed up for the beta for Matrix Online and I wanted everyone to know that they are taking applications. I am a bit nervous about trying another MMORPG but I like the Matrix story a lot. I am curious to see how they carry the storyline out and also how they logistically setup a game where the universe has no rules (Like you can manipulate time and gravity and such like in the movies).

One a second note, I have been reading up on the new game coming out called Guild Wars . This game is going to be a MMORPG but it has some incredibly innovative ideas. Also this is going to be the first MMO game in quite some time that does not cost a monthly fee. First I am going to give you a little background on Guild Wars and the people developing it.

Guild Wars is being developed by a group of people who left Blizzard. Clearly they know what making best-selling games is all about. Guild Wars is very reminiscent of several Blizzard games because of the idea of free on-line play using ArenaNet. I don't know about anyone else but that sounds vaguely familiar to Blizzard's free online video game playground Battle.net. Also the story seems to have a few reminders of games like Diablo and Star Craft . But that is just the back ground info on this game; just wait till you hear about the game play.

This video game should bridge many gaps in the MMORPG industry. On the Guild Wars website it says this, “Guild Wars takes the best elements of today's massively multiplayer online games and combines them with a new mission-based design that eliminates the tedium of those games.” The really cool ideas that in my opinion are going to make this game revolutionary is the new quest setup and the innovative swap skills idea. To be more specific the quest are going to be setup differently then what you would see in most MMORPGs. The way Guild Wars is going to handle quest is that every time a player or group of players accepts a quest they create a unique quest instance. This means that there is no need for camping a quest area and there is no waiting in line to complete a quest. The skill setup of the game will remind most of card game RPGs. This is because while your character can have many skills you have to pick only eight each time you enter a battle. This is said to offset the trouble most MMORPGs face when newbies and hard-core gamers both want to compete fairly.

All in all I am looking forward to the open test that will occur during E3. For more information visit the Guild Wars site.

-Seth (05-May-2004)