This is something don''t really understand, what is a lag kill. Is it like in a quake like where you jsut get so slow you become desynchronized ? Or is about the fact that your character just vanishes in mid air and wasn''t saved ?

In any case, I always wondered if it wouldn''t be possible to make a sort of "borg" program that would jsut take the commands whenever the player isn''t there. The program (or script, whatever), would reside on the server side, and have different behaviour for different situations, places, etc. BAsically it could run the daily routine of a character witout the player, it could decide to take appropriate actions during a fight (instead of playing punchbag).

any thoughts on this ?

youpla :-P

Well, the "borg" idea would be great for a dropped partner, but I dunno about MMOs. For Sovreign, they were thinking about either locking down the player''s city upon absence, letting the computer take over, or letting other players take over. However, in a game where back-stabbing is approved, the last option isn''t really feasible And even though it may be a good script, would you really want the computer to take over for you?

==============================
"You don''t know the power of the Dark Side..."

- Darth Vader, Episode VI
==============================

without any question, TFC is the shit...

it''s really the first multplayer game (well, HL MOD) that I really got into... i play it religiously, at least once a night, and sometimes after school. i think the reason why i like TFC so much is that it''s team-based play with a good set of classes to choose from, not to mention the varied skills the classes have.

i haven''t tried UO yet, but i assume it kicks ass too. i''m really waiting for neocron to come out. it''s a sci-fi MMORPG that''s been under development for about 2 years now, and is finally going beta. the 3D engine looks damn smooth, and i''m sure it will be a great game...

think MUDs where you don''t have to imagine what you''re reading...

just my opinion...

david

--
davidw@heehaw.com
neonstar entertainment

It''s sorta like asking "why do you have friends?" That''s what I like about online gaming, you just don''t get the same satisfaction outta delivering the killing blow to a comp as there is to beating a real person

A lot of people have said they like multiplayer for the satisfaction of laying the smackdown on a real oppenent...although I do enjoy that, the most fun to me is teamwork....think about a 4v4 starcraft game where one person comes in from the front, another dropships...etc....although most multiplayer games have not reached the ability to coordinate such big things well enough, the day is coming soon. I can''t really explain the phenommenom, i use to play starcraft against the comp....then only with 1 friend against comps over modem. Then one day I went onto bnet, started a 2v2 game with other friends and bang....never played against a comp after that. Since then I have only played on bnet. Same thing with quake2/3, I never play bots anymore...its all online. I love teamplay and strategy! Oh well i just rambled on about what I like to do...sorry I can''t explain it any better(and I still haven''t mentioned everquest and my group taking over the orc camps... )! Hopefully after you start playing multiplayer games you will be as addicted as me!

It''s funny you people should mention Starcraft so much. I never got into multiplayer Starcraft, and I got bored with the single player after beating all the Zerg missions. To be honest, I never finished the Protoss story because---well, I just got sick of it. It''s rare that I tire of a game so quickly.

Playing Diablo online was about as fun as stabbing seringes into my eyeballs. There are way too many cheaters and PK''s on Battlenet to make me ever go back. On the other hand, two of my friends and I played Hellfire for about eight hours straight. Which brings me to this point: It is infinitely more fun to play against people you can trust.

But the rules change when you talk about Quake, or Half-life, or Unreal Tournament. I''ve been a shooter fan since Doom came out so long ago, and when I first played Duke Nukem 3D across a LAN in Radio Shack with my friend who worked there the same night we went to see Independence Day when it came out on July 3rd...

Well, I was completely, utterly, fanatically hooked. Like many people, I''m a true multiplayer zealot. If someone even mentions the acronym "LAN" within earshot, you couldn''t drag me away.

For me, it''s definitely the cooperation. I love deathmatch, but coop just tosses me over the threshold of pleasure. In one of the earlier posts, ahw said he used to play CTF as a kid. Hell, I STILL play CTF, and I''m 22 years old. The strategy, the shear adrenaline, is one of the greatest sensations a man could ever experience.

Games are designed to satisfy our instinctive needs, and I''ve been supressed since childhood. I''ve got a lot of needs. Games are a great way to fulfill them, and multiplayer games are even better. I only stopped playing Asheron''s Call because the designers fucked up the rules so bad. (Turbine''s idea of "patching" a game was to add more bugs.)

Anyway, it''s nice to share this rant. I can''t really emphasize how great multiplayer is. It''s like sex: you''re just thinking, "what''s the big frigging deal?" and then when you finally have sex... god DAMN.