After a long disappearance, Witty Ranter is back, and under new

management! Riknas and Andras have appeared. Adam and Brent do them the

honor to crack the bottle before the next ship sets sail though. There

they have a discussion, that with the birth of something new, whats it

like to lose something old; and whats up with MMO Closure, the games that are

never supposed to end.

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Also, if you're interested more in MMOs, go check out Project: EndGrind, or MMO Voices!

If you want to join Project: EndGrind send an email to Riknassarn (at) gmail (dot) com, entitled PEG. If you have a topic idea for the Witty Ranter, send an email to the same address, only entitled WR.

... the ridiculous ramblings of the Monday night LotRO crew. Brace thyself.

In this episode, we bring Michael Zenke from Massively.com, Syncaine from Hardcore Casual, Darren from Common Sense Gamer and Remy, back from the podcasting dead, for one night only! (PS: Remy has a new blog at warsbox.wordpress.com so go check it out!)

On the docket this evening:
1) How is the current recession going to affect games and gamers? Are we going to cut back on our blessed addictions?  Will we cut from 2 games down to 1? 1 to none? will F2P get a boost?
2) How will the current economic times affect game development?  Will funding dry up?  Will any games get delayed due to it?  What about some of the smaller studios who will need that funding to keep going?

A lot of interesting discussion all around.
I'd love to hear your feedback, and thanks for listening!
PS: A huge thanks to Coldheat for supporting this podcast!  You are da man!

In WiFi #1 (Wait, what?!)  Adam begins a new mini-series that brings the basics of finance and investing to the gaming world.  Using examples that any gamer will recognize, complex topics are made more understandable.

This episode focuses on: Stocks.

The following podcast is for informational purposes only.  Any mention of any specific investment or security is for informational purposes; financial investments carry inherent risks which should always be discussed with a financial advisor before any investment should be made.  In other words… this isn’t “Mad Money”!

In this episode, Adam apologizes up front for apparently eating his mic during recording.  But past that, he brings Scott Hartsman, formerly of SOE and now working on a project at www.ohai.com, Philip & Steven from The Warpath podcast, and last but not least we have Riknas from the Free Play podcast.  The discussion points today were about EULA's, TOS's and DRM.  EULA's came back into the news when Mark Jacobs at EA/Mythic said we had to read through it or accept it every time we logged in.  This is an important topic because EULA's are just as important to us players as they are to the companies.  Topics covered include:

-When you pay $50.00 for that CD Key & Client, do you own it? (You might be surprised at the answer)
-What protections do players get from the EULA vs the protections game companies have?  Is it a fair balance?
- We go into the history of EULA's, thanks to Scott and Stephen, who just happens to be getting into the field of contract law!  We also learn the exact percentage that attorneys lose their soul (apologies to all those attorneys who somehow managed to escape this process)
- And finally we go into some discussion on DRM, brought up from the little issue that showed up with Spore.
- Oh yeah, ohai's hiring!  Listen to the end of the show for details :)

Thanks for listening!  We're always looking for more iTunes reviews :)

Thanks again to Coldheat for supporting the show!  You sir, are most Witty :)

Sorry for the late release... but Adam's been a bit busy with the whole financial mess :/

Episode 13 is all about the Items... kinda.  We're talking Itemization in this episode; specifically why there's so much junk in these games that ultimately is worthless, and yet we still need to lug it around, bring it back to town to sell it, just so we can have the gold to progress in the game.  Joining me is Syncaine from Hardcore Casual, Jonathan from The Online Gamer's Anthology, and Beau Turkey from Voyages of Vanguard.  We also try and come up with some viable alternatives to an eternity of soiled loincloths, bloody rabbit ears, and wolf toenails.  Enjoy!

Put on the Asbestos suit and gloves, cuz here come the flames...

Adam brings Brent, Darren, John the Ancient Gaming Noob and Michael Zenke for a look at Warhammer in "WAR: What's All the Ruckus?".

We're taking a closer look at the game compared to the unprecedented hype that went into this game, both from the playerbase as well as EA/Mythic's very effective advertising/brand marketing group.  Ultimately we looked at 3 areas:
1) Will the "zomg new improvements/features" such as the RVR and Public Quests leave a feeling of "whoa! this is new" or "meh... hasn't this been done before?"
2) PVP.  There's just a little bit of discussion on this.  People say PVP sucks during the discussion.  You have been warned.  (Tinfoil Hats are encouraged but not required during this segment)
3) How will this game ultimately affect both the MMO community as well as the individual game communities already out there?

This is gonna be a fun one.  Feel free to comment... I'm sure there will be many!

PS: iTunes reviews please :)

Adam's back with another show!  In this episode, Adam, Luper from Voyages of Vanguard, John from TAGN (who had a contribution to the show, but was unable to discuss it as he was silly and gave away his mic so someone could do work! Work over gaming?!?!?!  WHERE are your priorities, John????) and Michal, aka Syncaine from the Hardcore/Casual blog tackle the 5 "N's" of MMO's for 2008:

New features in MMO for 2008 and the 5 N's: "NICE! Neat. Nuwhut? Nonimportant, or NASTY!"  The concept was each contributor came up with at least one feature from a 2008 MMO release, and what they thought of it, within the context of one of those N's.  MMO's involved in this discussion were Tabula Rasa, WAR, AoC and PotBS.... it ranges from there, but as always a good discussion.  Looking forward to people's thoughts.  Enjoy!

PS: iTunes reviews make for a happy Podcaster :)

Yes, Witty Ranter is back!  Adam apologizes for being such a freaking slacker and letting real life take over from podcasting, (Since when does Real Life come before Podcasting????) and comes back with a new show.

Today's topic: "MMO's & Government Policy:  How much is too much?"  We will be looking at how changes in the current policy by governments may detract or possibly even radically alter the MMO landscape. 

Joining the conversation is Jonathan from The Online Gamer's Anthology, Luper from the Voyages of Vanguard Podcast, and new to the show are Brian and Patrick, 2 of the lead developers of the upcoming MMO Force of Arms.  Enjoy!

"The RP vs XP Discussion continues, with most of the same old faces (Brenden, you in trouble, ese!) and a new face, Luper from the Voyages of Vanguard podcast!  We continue the discussion of last week, branching off to discuss getting players involved into creating RP situations via in-game tools like the devs have, along with much hilarity.  Enjoy!"

PS: iTunes reviews are always appreciated! if you do send a review, please email me at trollonfire@gmail.com and let me know, as there will be a drawing in the near future!