Too Long; Didn’t Listen episode 15 — Blaaaaaaaaaarg!

31 minutes and 2 seconds. Close, but no cigar.

Well, since my payment is to comment, I think I’ll pay that way. I really enjoy the podcast, guys. I’m a big podcast listener, but sometimes I can’t sit for (sometimes) 3+ hours of rambling without much being discussed, and have given up those podcasts. So well done guys. I’ve been listening since you started and plan on listening till you’re off the air. 

Anyway, aside from the thanks, I noticed something on the last podcast. In the first part of the episode, it was brought up that one of the big things all games should have is LUA addons (and I agree, I think they’re awesome and a way for the devs to mine great ideas for their own game to give everyone), but then later in the podcast you guys (and mostly by guys I mean Merrick) mention that the big downside of LUA is damage tracking and other parsers that players create. If LUA was fully implemented in other MMOs as it is in WoW, it would inevitably lead to having these parsers around. Could this be the primary reason as to why they don’t include a full LUA? By its presence WoW created a system where other players could numerically gate other players into doing content. If your Gearscore wasn’t perfect, you wouldn’t even be considered into a group because the group wouldn’t be optimal to completing a long run. It shows two issues: dungeons being TOO long, and a community of douches (which is my primary reason for leaving WoW… even if I did get my GS up, I’d have to play with these jerks). 

So how about this for a topic for next week: Is having a community filled with these elitists good for a game or bad for it? Games without an elitist caste are seen as generally being too kiddy and easy, but can you really argue with 10 million+ subs? 

Here’s my comment. If you want skittles, you need to join up with me in a fellowship in LOTRO and I’ll be happy to contribute to a skittles fellowship maneuver!