Time for Thanks

I’m in an introspective mood today. Must be the stormclouds outside. Or the economy. Or maybe the articles like these and sites like these that I’ve been reading lately. Maybe it’s the leftover Thanksgiving turkey I ate for lunch.

I’ve resisted the siren call of World of Warcraft for at least three years now. (Giving in a few times to the ten day trial, of course, and plenty of reading.) It’s not because I think it’s a bad game. It’s because I don’t have time for it. (Which drives my extreme distaste for the subscription model.) I’ve all but quit Atlantica Online, an excellent free game. I almost never play Puzzle Pirates any more, despite being a huge fan. I’m playing Guild Wars lately, and hopefully soon with my wife and friend and brother in law… but I can’t see that lasting for terribly long. I just don’t have the time. Oh, it’ll be great fun while it lasts, and I doubt I’ll ever get burned out to the point of disliking the game, but there’s just so much else that I would like to do.

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MMORPG Tycoon

Via a circuitous route that started with Tobold, I found this interesting little gem:

MMORPG Tycoon

It reminds me of the little marketing simulator program I played with in my Marketing class at BYU. It’s a sort of “metatool” that allows for experimentation with the MMO market. It’s not a complete model of all the possibilities that are out there, but it’s fun to tinker with.

Of course, I’d rather actually be designing a game or playing a game, but this sits in an interesting space between the two that I’ll probably spend some time in.

I’m still enjoying Guild Wars, and thanks to Amazon.com, I purchased three more copies for $5 each that I’ll be sending to friends and family, so I may wind up doing some multiplayer GW with people I trust. Still, I’m starting to burn out again on MMOs. I’ve all but dropped Atlantica Online (it’s still a fantastic game, I just don’t have time), and I rarely play Puzzle Pirates any more (it’s still fantastic too, I just don’t have the time). Oh, for the heady days of my youth, where I had time to burn and dreams to believe in.

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