The State of MMOs from a Developer's Perspective

I've got a wonderful article for you tonight in which a developer looks at MMOs and the problems they face from the perspective of a game maker, not a game player. Andrew is Karthias (a terrific writer and former Feral Druid blogger) and DDO is Dungeons and Dragons Online.  DCUO is DC Universe Online.  Read the comments here for more interesting discussion.
http://psychochild.org/?p=1012

Here's the article that the writer is reacting to.
http://biobreak.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/consoles-rule-pcs-drool/

Here is what Karthias says about the current state of MMOs.
http://systemicbabble.com/videogames/mmo-doldrums/

And here is Screaming Monkey's take on it all.
http://screammonkey.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/action-apples-and-rpg-oranges/

Interesting reads especially since I think Blizzard has console envy.   I can see PCs and consoles becoming more and more alike in the Gold Rush that is the melding of television and Internet and gaming and downloaded content like movies.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Hardward and Connection Tips for PvP

A few hardware and Internet connection tips for PvP players.  Basic, commonsense information but I think the tips for turning your video settings low might be useful for some players and there are good ideas for minimizing latency problems in PvP.
http://www.wow.com/2010/09/02/the-art-of-war-craft-a-handy-guide-to-winning-at-everything/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Battle.net Problems

WOW Head pointed this morning to an article at Zam about the upcoming changes to Battle.net that will add the Real ID system.  The problems aren't what you expect--they relate to Starcraft II beta players who discovered they can't play with friends in another region without buying and registering a second game and the fact that there are no chat rooms.  Whether this will impact WOW players or not is another issue, but I suspect at least a few folks won't like this among the WOW player base.
http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=22533

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

The Spamalyzer (Addons) and Other Lag Addons

Spamalyzer wins my vote for Best Addon Name.  It helps you identify addons like Carbonite or GearScore that cause lag by spamming chat during raiding.  The writer says this happens even if folks don't have the addon themselves.  If this is a problem for you, it is worth checking out.
http://pwnwear.com/2010/03/09/spamalyzer-addon-can-help-lag/

UPDATE:  Another lag fighter called Leatrix
http://www.twistednether.net/2010/03/08/resource-site-spotlight-leatrix/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Frost Mages Use Spell Queuing, Increase DPS

How frost mages use spell queuing to increase DPS, including a macro to help.  Works for warlocks, too.
http://frostisthenewblack.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/spell-queuing-waterbolt-macros-and-you/

More on the same topic.
http://criticalqq.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/talking-about-forst-fro-a-bit/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Review: Lowerping.com

This service (not open to U.S. players) lowers latency.  Pwnwear says it works very well for him/her so far and gives tips about setting it up.  Apparently the documentation is a bit skimpy.
http://pwnwear.com/2009/11/03/review-lowerping-com/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Latency Help From Pwnwear and Lowerping

Pwnwear has posted about a service that is supposed to help with latency issues. Note that he does not say he's used this, so be careful.

http://pwnwear.com/2009/08/17/improving-latency-lowerping/

Here are Pwnwear's tips for reducing lag. Again, I don't know how helpful or accurate these tricks are but if you have terrible trouble, I'm sure you will want to consider some of this.

http://pwnwear.com/2009/06/11/improving-fps-and-latency/

Lowerping does have a free trial offer. Here's their website.

http://www.lowerping.com/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Latency Effects (and Strategies to Minimize) UPDATED

The Hunting Lodge's Wertez tries to chart how latency effects hunter shot rotation. Surprise! DPS is effected by lag....
http://www.brigwyn.com/2009/06/24/1261/

UPDATE: Wertez has added a second posting about lag/latency with strategies to minimize any latency you might get in-game with hardware and software and addon tweeks. Note that his tips are for Windows machines mostly.
http://www.brigwyn.com/2009/06/25/where-does-lag-come-from/

UPDATE #2: Wertez demonstrates the use of Traceroute to check your realm latency and to look at latency of various realms if you plan a transfer.
http://www.brigwyn.com/2009/06/28/how-many-hops-does-it-take-to-get-to-the-tootsie-roll-center/

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