Turbine
Topic: Games
Now I remember.

I wanted to talk about Turbine Games.

They're located right here in Taxtopia (Massachusetts on the map, for some reason). They're responsible for Asheron's Call, a massive multiplayer online game (MMOG). I haven't played that one, but one of my co-workers keeps going back and forth from it to other games. He says he likes it. However, it has failed to garner the success and renown enjoyed by World of Warcraft or either incarnation of Ever Quest. They've taken a back seat to those other titles, and even if you're involved in MMOG's, you may have heard their name and thought "Who are they?"

That's going to change.

Because of this, and this.

Since anyone with any exposure to both Dungeons and Dragons and "Lord of the Rings" could tell that D&D was based on the Tolkien books, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that both would be introduced, eventually, as a MMOG. All the other MMOG's have a lot in common with the game and the books already. But that Turbine Games would get the license for both of them is kind of like if a little league football team played The Denver Broncos and managed a hat trick. It's like if the TV show "Saved By The Bell" had had better ratings and aired longer than M*A*S*H.

Okay, maybe not that extreme, but you get the idea.

The Lord of the Rings game is still in its early planning stages, but the D&D game is in public beta. Well, they call it public beta, but you apparently have to apply to get in. I have applied, but got no answer yet. You'll see some screen shots on their web site, though. The eye candy looks sweet.

It's supposed to adhere very strictly to the latest edition of the tabletop game, too (version 3.5). So if you can have a level 34 Halfling Shadow Dancer with a +5 Dagger of somethingorother blah blah blah, you can have one in the online game too. It looks like it's going to be great.

Unfortunately, Turbine won't be able to do anything about all the griefers that are attracted to MMOG's. You know, the people whose real lives are sad and pathetic, and they want to feel better by ruining someone else's good time. So it'll be kind of like a perpetual gaming convention, except that if the other players there don't shower, you won't know or care.

The platform is PC. Sorry Mac users. Although I respect you for sticking with your computing decision despite its lack of market support when compared to Windows platforms. No, really, I do. And hey... who could say anything bad about iTunes and iPods, right? And Everquest 2 has a Mac server now.*

I've been waiting for this one. I'm anxious about how they'll treat Lord of the Rings, but I'm willing to give that a fair shake too. We'll have to wait and see.

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*Yes, Joe, I'm rubbing it in. And since you introduced me to D&D by way of Welchkin, I think it's only fair.

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