Welcome Guest
[Log In]
[Register]
Feb 17
MMORPG Raiding for Beginners
While my blog mostly focuses on tech tips for gamers I thought I would do something a little different. So here it goes...
The Beginner's Guide to MMORPG Raiding
What is a raid?
In most MMORPG's an instance (or "dungeon") is a special area where you and up to 5 - 8 friends can go to get more powerful weapons and items that you wouldn't get anywhere else in the game. An instance usually contains elite or higher level creatures that require your entire "party" to take down.
A raid is similar to this except can allow 10 - 40 people to join together into many smaller "parties" (or "groups") that all play as a whole unit. So let's say that your game allows for a maximum party size of 5 players. A raid would consist of 4 parties joined together to form a larger group. All the players in these smaller groups can see all the other players in the raid and can chat back and forth, and fight along-side each other. Each group will consist of a healer, melee dps, and caster dps. Often in a 20-man raid there may be up to 3 - 4 tanks all in their own "group" with one or two healers with them, or one or two off-tanks. Raids can take hours or days to complete and are extremely difficult as even a regular (non-boss) creature in a raid area may be as much as 20 - 50 levels higher than you.
So let's break this down and look at what each class does and how they work together to form a successful raid.
Tank
A tank does very little or no damage, but is focused on threat (also called "hate" in some games) building skills/talents that allow him/her to keep a group of creatures or boss focused on them, so that the rest of the group can pound the boss down without taking much/any damage. A tank will have *VERY* high armor and health, a shield, a sword/mace/axe, and talents/skills that provide evasion and threat building abilities. A tank must keep his threat level above everyone else in the raid so the boss/mob/creature stays focused on him. The downside to the tank, is that if a tank dies (depending on the game) he may incur an armor penalty, causes his armor to weaken over time. Since armor for tanks is the most expensive, it can sometimes be very very expensive to repair. Tank repair costs are covered by the guild or raid to keep things fair.
Off-Tank
Off-tanks are not very common in raids. However, if you do see them in a raid, they are basically tanks (as defined above) that have less armor/health/resistance/mitigation (mitigation = physical damage avoidance). It is their job to keep threat directly underneath the main tanks. This way if a main tank (MT) dies for any reason, they can continue to work with the other tanks to keep the mob/boss/creature at bay until the MT is resurrected and healed, and is ready to begin tanking again.
Melee DPS
Melee dps is any up close fighter who uses swords/maces/axes/daggers/hammers. Melee dps characters are not tanks but instead deal high amounts of damage standing behind the creature/boss/mob the tanks are holding, or standing to the side of the tanks (never on top of the tanks, as this makes it difficult for the healers to heal the tanks). Melee classes are: warriors, rogues, dervish (this class varies from caster to melee in some games), duel-wielding hunters, and assassins.
Caster DPS
Caster dps is defined as "clothies" (so called due to their armor being made of cloth), who stand behind the tanks at a considerable distance to hammer away insane amounts of damage on the mob/boss/creature using magical skills. Casters deal more damage than any other class and will generally perform 70 - 90% of the entire raid's damage output. Classes that fall under the caster dps category are: warlocks/necromancers and mages/sorcerers/wizards (name depending on the game you're playing).
Healers
This one is pretty self explanatory. Healers heal the whole raid. Generally in a 20-man raid you need at least 5 - 8 healers. Healers should be focuses entirely on the tanks, as no one else should be taking damage (except on non-stationary bosses). There are some cases in which a boss fight may require healing to the whole party. These fights however should be short as healers run out of mana very quickly. Healers generally stand with or behind the caster dpsers.
So now that you know how each class operates in a raid, let's look at a few raid do's and dont's. This is a list of general rules that apply to almost all MMORPG games:
1) Stay BEHIND the tanks. If you are fighting your way to a boss, never get ahead of the tanks. You might think you're cool doing all that damage and that you think you could solo the whole place because the raid is going so quick and smooth, but if you do this you will be kicked from the raid, or (at minimum) you may aggro another group that might wipe the raid. If you wipe the raid, and you don't know the other members in the raid that well, count on being kicked out and replaced with someone else. You are not a special and unique snowflake.... STAY BEHIND THE TANK(S)!!!
2) If you are on ventrilo/teamspeak do not shout, curse, argue, or yell if you are amongst strangers. This will get you banned from vent and kicked from the raid.
3) Don't ever scream at a healer to heal you nor claim someone is a crappy tank if you have never tanked before. Healers and tanks are the heart and soul of the raid, if you insult them you might find yourself getting killed by a tank bringing a boss to you, or a healer not healing you, and once dead, kicked from the raid. Healing and tanking are very difficult in large raids, so do yourself a favor and don't yell at them. However, it is ok to yell at caster or melee DPS who do something stupid (like running ahead of a tank, and aggro'ing an entire mob that wipes the party).
4) If you are a healer be sure to bring plenty of mana pots. If you go oom (out of mana) you will be yelled at, considered a noob, and may be kicked from the raid.
5) If you are a tank, be sure to bring plenty of potions, stamina food, avoidance scrolls, etc to make the job easier for the healers. This may sound optional, but trust me, if you're tanking and you don't have your own "buffs" with you, you may end up getting kicked from the raid and called a noob, if you are unable to take the damage the creatures/bosses are dealing to you.
6) Be respectful of the RL (raid leader). Raid leaders have short tempers and have no problem at all either calling the raid (ending the raid) or kicking people for being stupid. It's difficult for a RL to create and manage a raid. Give them the respect they deserve. Listen to what they're saying and do it. If you don't understand something, then ask, but only when they are finished explaining the strategy and while no fighting is going on.
7) Go to the bathroom, eat, have drinks ready before the raid begins. You WILL be kicked from the raid if you go afk in the middle of a boss fight. The appropriate time to announce going AFK, is when no fighting is going on. Be sure to request permission to go AFK over vent and in raid chat. If permission is granted to you, don't take more than 5 minutes. You will get kicked from the raid, and replaced quickly if you take too long.
8) Protect the healers at all costs. If the tanks have died and a boss/creature/mob is running throughout the raid killing everyone, there's not much you can do. But, sacrifice yourself by joining with the other DPS classes to hold off the creature(s) long enough for the healers to break aggro. This way the healers avoid any kind of death penalty and allows them to come back to resurrect the everyone who died. Note: A death penalty a healer (depending on game) might mean a decrease in healing power which is essential to keep the raid alive.
9) KNOW YOUR CLASS!! If you don't fully understand every aspect of your class, then your build sucks. Simple as that. And if your build sucks, then no one is going to let you raid with them (they can check your build without your permission in most games). Be sure to ask the requirements of the raid before joining, to make sure that your class is capable. If you have never raided before, you may find yourself in the wonderful position of having RL's telling you to do more instances/dungeons to get better gear. If you can't take a hit from a boss, or deal less damage than the tanks, then you will not be allowed to raid. You need to have several raid builds at your disposal that are proven to work (not just something you found on the internet). If your RL tells you to respec yourself, then do it, or don't raid.
10) Consider this list your beginner's bible on MMORPG raiding. If you break the rules of this list, do so at your own peril.
I hope this has helped to cover the basics of raiding. There's alot more to raiding that I've left out. This is because raiding is something that you have to experience. Start off by doing some raids with experienced players or friends, who can teach you the ropes. I have been raiding now for 4 years in games such as: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Lineage II, and Knight Online. World of Warcraft is the primary focus of this guide, but it will help with raiding in other games as well, as the information in this blog, is general raid knowledge.
If you have any questions about raiding, send me an email or contact me on the forums, and I'll do my best to help you out.
Note: If you think entering the last area of Diablo II with your friends is raiding, you have seriously misunderstood or did not read this article. Scroll back up and read it again.
Feb 03
Gamer's Explained
Is someone you know an avid gamer? Do they spend hours upon hours playing such games as Halo, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Source, Battlefield 2, or any other major game title? Before you criticize that person, let me explain “the gamer” and their way of life.
I have been what’s considered a “hardcore gamer” for the past 15 years. It all started years ago with a little game called Duke Nukem 3D. Today I continue to be an avid gamer playing such games as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Battlefield 2, Guild Wars, and Half Life 2. Most people (my family included) would tell you that I have wasted away the best years of my life. But these people aren’t always around to see what’s going on. My life as a gamer has brought me many valuable assets that many people go their entire lives without having. Let me explain.
When gamers go online to play their games, they are socializing with other people. They use voice chat programs such as Ventrilo or Teamspeak to literally talk with each other to discuss gaming strategies, real life events, etc. Most of these people end up becoming very good friends. Now I know you’re thinking “that’s pointless. They can make friends that live closer who will take them out away from the computer.” That’s true, and I’m not saying that RL (real life) friends aren’t bad to have. But let me tell you a very quick story about one incident that happened to me.
I was playing a game called “Call of Duty” and was in a gaming clan (group of people who play games under a particular name). The leader of the clan was on playing one day and met someone he was trying to get to join the clan. The more he talked to this individual the more he started to realize how much this person and I had in common. When I signed online later that day he introduced me to this person. This individual ended up being “Lestat”, a great guy who would end up being a very good friend. A short time after meeting Lestat, he introduced me to a friend of his who owned an environmental laboratory. This friend of his had been looking for someone to write an application that would help him and his employees be able to get their lab results quicker. After explaining the details to me, I went to work creating his application (still taking time to play my games). This project continued for just under a year and I profited well from it. Not just financially, but I also had someone who could vouche for me as a programmer, who would refer others to me.
There have been many of these scenarios happen in my life, all of which I have received from being a gamer. Where has this led me over the past 15 years? Well, today I own and operate 5 websites, have written applications used by more than 3,000,000 gamers world-wide, have started my own business writing custom software, and write for an online gaming magazine in my spare time. And as for my good friend Lestat, he turned out to be the owner of a web hosting company, who to this day hosts all of my websites for free. He has also been working right along side me in all my business endeavors.
Now let me ask you again… do you still think it’s a waste of time for someone to spend their time gaming? Remember, my results are nothing special. There are many many others out there who have made far more success than me from playing games online. The simple truth is, things are different today than when we were kids. When we were kids there was no internet, computers ran with a monochrome screen, cassette players and 8-tracks were all the hype, and if you mentioned games, people usually thought of the atari 2600. Today, everyone and everything is online. I tried to establish myself in “the real world” and I found it very difficult. Making a living, and a life online is beyond simple, and can be very profitable.
So now that you have heard my arguments for why being a gamer is ok, let me explain the psychological side (according to my own experience). When I started gaming, it wasn’t just because games were fun. It was because my family had moved to a new town and I didn’t know anyone. It was summer time and school hadn’t started yet. To make things worse, I have never been good at making friends, as I always felt I was being judged before people began to really know me. So I sat in the house day after day playing games, only going outside to ride my skateboard, or go to a family member’s house.
Like most of you, my parents worried about my “seclusion”. What they didn’t know is that by this time I had already picked up a programming language, and learned how to build websites (which I learned in the time between playing games). Was I sad? No. Was I depressed? No. Was there anything mentally wrong with me? Not at all. I had simply found something that I was passionate about and wanted to pursue.
So what all can a person learn while sitting a computer day after day playing games? ANYTHING!! The sky is the limit, knowledge is power, and in this digital age we live in, having a good grasp on technology is essential.
I hope this helped to explain a little about what it means to be a gamer, and why you shouldn’t worry about your child spending so much time on the computer. And please remember, I am not saying that a child SHOULD spend all their free time in front of a game without real life social interaction, but merely not to criticize them about their passions. If your child is sitting in front of a computer all day and night and has had no real life friends in more than 6 months, then I suggest speaking to their teachers, and with the child to make sure that they are happy, and find out why they have no real life friends.
So now that you know my arguments for why gaming isn’t a waste of time, let me explain a few ways that you can make money gaming.
If you have a very popular clan that hosts LAN (local area network) parties which contain more than 100 attendees, then you can become sponsored by a major computer hardware manufacturor to play. They will offer you free hardware, software, etc and in exchange you put up their banners and logos at your LAN party and on your website. These companies will actually pay you to be an advertiser for them. They make money off of you while you make money off of them and get free hardware. These companies don’t sponsor just anyone, so when you apply be sure to include as much information as you can about your clan, the games you play, how often you hold LAN parties, and how many people attend.
Another way to make money as a gamer is to write article about the latest gaming technology, hardware, games, software, ideas, websites, etc. There are actually 2 ways to earn an income doing this. One way is have your own gaming website which you write these articles on every day, and implement advertising on the website (pay per click ads). If your ads blend perfectly with your website then you will earn a good amount of revenue from the clicks. On top of this, you can also flare a “donate” link on your site (paypal does this) which will allow people to donate money to you to keep your site going.
The other option is write your articles and submit them (for a price) to gaming magazines. They will actually pay you for your work, and if it’s good enough and you write often enough for them, they may even take you on as a full time writer. Just go to your favorite gaming magazine’s website and look around (usually near the bottom) for a link that resembles “affiliates”, “job openings”, “writers wanted”, etc.
Yet another way to make money from gaming, is to get some startup capital and rent some dedicated servers, and offer game server hosting. If you’re good with websites and scripting, you can completely automate the signup, billing, and account creation process. This way you simply login to your servers once or twice per day to perform security checks, handle troubleshooting emails, check your revenue stream, etc and the rest of the day is yours to do with what you want. This will require a significant amount of money to start and maintain and isn’t recommended for most people.
So just how much can gamers make by doing the work mentioned? ALOT! Writers can get paid per article, and sometimes those articles are worth $500.00 or more (each). Game server hosting companies bring in quite a bit of money, though this is a risky endeavor. However, at $1.00 per player slot, on a 40-man server, you are making $40.00 per server, hosting 10 servers = $400.00. This could be enough to pay your monthly server fees, and then some. As for advertisements on websites, this will depend on a number of factors such as: how popular the site is, how well the articles are written, the blending of the advertisements, and the position of the ads throughout the site. However, there are some websites out there that are making tens of thousands of dollars per month just from ads on their sites.
Making money from being a sponsored LAN party host / player, won’t pay as well as you think it might, but if you have multiple sponsors then it can pay the bills and leave you with a little extra. You just have to play your cards right, and be willing to sit and game for hours and hours at a time.
I hope this has shed some light on the life of a gamer and how they can achieve something from what they do. But remember, it’s up to the individual to make these things happen. But the first thing you have to keep in mind, is that in their hearts, they play games because it’s what they enjoy doing, and is their passion. If you are uncertain if your friend, child, family member, etc, is a hardcore gamer then here is a checklist that you can use to determine if it’s truly a passion or if it’s merely a hobby.
If you answer ‘yes’ to more than half of the items on this list, then you may have a passionate gamer on your hands.
1. Does he/she spend more than 10 hours per day gaming? (if they are in school, apply to summer break)
2. Does he/she talk about new games that will be released soon and the wonderful new features they will have?
3. Has this person written an article / website about gaming (that you know of) ? Is it popular?
4. Does he/she upgrade their computer at least once per year to keep with the new games coming out?
5. Have you ever heard him/her say “For The Win!” more than twice in one day?
6. Does he/she belong to a guild/clan ?
7. Has he/she ever been to or held a LAN party (or game party) ?
8. Have you ever heard the mention of the words “Quake-Con”, “Blizzard”, or “Steam” ?
9. Does he/she build their own computers?
10. Does he/she complain about “noobs” that “stole their kill” or must have been “botting” ?
Feb 03
Making your game server popular
So you have your game server set up and running. Good for you! Now it's time to make it popular....
Making a popular game server will require some time and patience. But if you stick to your guns you can make it happen. The first thing you'll want to do is establish a gaming clan (this method will also work if you are already in a clan).
So first things first. You will need to make sure that your server is reporting to all the master servers. You can do this via your server config file by inserting a few extra lines of code. For this example I'll use Call of Duty 4.
set sv_master1 "cod4master.activision.com"
set sv_master2 "cod4authorize.activision.com"
set sv_master3 "cod4master.infinityward.com"
set sv_master3 "cod4update.activision.com"
set sv_master4 "master.gamespy.com:28960"
set sv_master5 "master0.gamespy.com"
set sv_master6 "master1.gamespy.com"
set sv_master7 "clanservers.net"
set sv_gamespy "1"
Once you have that information entered into your configuration file you are ready to continue on to the next step. If you are running the server yourself and are behind a firewall or a router you will need to open port 28960 so that your game server will "talk" with the master server (the master server is the server used by players in-game to find game servers to play on). Verify that port 28960 is open and continue on...
Many people debate that punkbuster will decrease your rating. This simply isn't true. Punkbuster will not affect your game server position on the master server list at all. In fact, some of the most popular servers use punkbuster. Punkbuster simply requires a little know-how and alot of maintenance, but if you want to keep those cheaters off of your server, then it's absolutely worth it to have punkbuster running.
If you are not a member of a gaming clan then I suggest at this point that you start playing on other more popular servers and begin making friends. These friends will certainly join your clan if you are polite and kind to them over a period of time. You don't have to have 50 people in your clan to start boosting your server popularity. In fact, I recommend about 5 people to start. Invite them to start playing on your game server and have them provide feedback as to what they like and don't like about it. Change settings until everyone is comfortable and enjoying themselves. You may find yourself wanting to put mods up on your server, which is fine. Just be careful which mods you choose, some mods may sound cool to you but may deter people from playing on your server. Generally, any mods that require huge downloads (anything over 5mb), or serveral small sized downloads or off limits. Try to stay away from mods that simply add blood or weapon skins to the game. Instead, try mods that will be fun for everyone to play. I remember the days of Call of Duty 2 when PAM and Xtreme mods were very popular. These days though, they seem to have dropped off the map in popularity due to their bugs and large downloads. But don't take my word for it, play around and see what works best for you. In the end, it all comes down to fun.
Once you're clan has grown to about 20 members it's time to get yourself a website and upgrade your game server (allow for more players). So why do you need a website? Many people will argue with me on this one, but a website can help to keep your servers running via donations, and also allow for recruiting and player stats tracking. Not to mention forums for everyone to share ideas and converse on. Websites have a hidden agenda though. A website can increase your clan's popularity which will in turn bring more players to your server. Let me elaborate a little bit here...
Your website will have content which search engines will be looking at. As the search engine bots scan your website they will be looking at keywords to help other people online find your website. As people find your website and look through your site's content they may find your clan to be a bunch of fun guys that share similar interests and personality traits. This person will now find your game server ip address on your website and connect to your server to begin playing with you and your clan. Eventually more and more people will begin to find you through the in game browser (because your game server is becoming more popular) and through your website. Do you see a pattern here? What's happening is that for the majority of the day (and well into the night) you have players on your server. The longer players are on your server the more "popular" your server becomes to the master server.
Keep these ideas in mind and keep working at it and eventually your server will be sitting at or near the top of the game server list. It's also good to remember that your server will only be as popular as it's ping. So make sure you're on a good location in a good geographical location that will provide a good ping to all who connect and you'll go far.
Feb 03
Managing your game server
Managing your game server may seem like a difficult task. People often visit my website (rconfiles.com) asking "is there an easy way to manage my server?" And the answer is yes. There are many tools out there that will help you manage your server with pro efficiency. It all comes down to preference....
For example, if you are running a Counter-Strike: Source server then you may go with a tool like HLSW to manage your servers. HLSW is a web based rcon utility that allows you to manage your game server settings directly from your website.
Using rcon tools you can change server information, execute server scripts, kick/ban players, etc. Some tools (such as CoD4 RCON Commander Pro) allow you to do more than manage your server. We (Me, Lestat, and AtlasStone) have been working on new ways to manage not just your game server, but the computer it is installed on. Since most people rent servers from game server hosting companies they have more options available to them than just allowing whether they want a certain weapon enabled or players to be kicked. Since these hosting companies provide FTP for the users to upload their mods, scripts, and maps to, we have taken advantage of that and provided more features in our rcon utility than any other rcon maker. CoD4 RCON Commander Pro is a great way to stay on top of your servers, manage screen shots, ban lists, and even edit your scripts and configuration files, all from one utility.
We are working hard to provide support for other games as well, as we know the need for a great rcon tool is high. So what do you do if there is no tool to use for your game server? The simple truth is, there isn't much you can do. If no tool exists for your chosen game then you can try to make one yourself (provided you have the programming experience), or you will just have to continue using the in-game console window to manage things. Some games, such as Counter-Strike: Source allow you to control various aspects of your game server right from your desktop. However, even using the dedicated server tool provided by Steam, may end up giving you some trouble, as you will still interface with your game through a text console, which will require you to know all of the rcon commands for the game.
If you have had no luck finding an rcon tool for your selected game, then send me an email or contact me over at http://www.rconfiles.com and I'll do my best to help you out. It's not unheard of for me to create rcon utilities for people who need them. I have built many tools, under the table, for gamers and web designers to aid in managing their servers. So if you need help managing your server, don't be afraid to ask
Feb 03
Dedicated vs Rented vs Self Hosted Servers
Should you pay for a dedicated server, pay for a hosted server, or host the game server yourself? All first timers face this question when getting started. So let me break it down for you...
Dedicated servers are wonderful for the fact that you have your own "computer" sitting on a super high speed connection (faster than anything you can get at home). With a dedicated server, you can do more than just run a game server. It's a whole computer to do with as you please. You can run a website, mail server, ftp server, game server, file server, etc. The possibilities are endless. If you are planning on having a website with alot of files or high traffic volumes then dedicated servers are a good way to go. I have personally always chosen a dedicated box over anything else. But that is my own preference. The only downside to choosing a dedicated server is the price you pay. Plus, make sure that when choosing a dedicated server that they are not using a "cogentco" line. To determine whether or not your selected dedicated server company is using cogentco, perform a traceroute to their network and look for it to show up in the list. Cogentco is bad because it's a publicly accessible line, it has lots of breaks and bugs in it and has alot of downtime. Avoid cogentco companies and you'll be good to go.
Game hosting companies are good for simple hosting. They can provide you with a game server, and a voice server for much cheaper than a dedicated box. The only downside is that if you want a website you'll have to host it with a different company about 95% of the time. Some game server hosting companies will provide you with web space, however, it is limited and usually not worth the time. Probably one of the best game hosting companies out there is gameservers.com. They can provide you with outstanding service and more game choices than most companies. And they're prices are quite decent.
If you decide to host the game server yourself, then that's fine too. The only suggestion I'm going to make is that you build a special box to run it on, and put it on the network. The reason for this is that if you are running a game server on your computer, and you're doing something like say, designing an image or surfing the internet, you're players are going to get mad and leave because the computer/connection will cause them lag. Choosing to run your own server from home can be achieved, and can be a good option, as you will basically have a dedicated server. It just won't have the same connection speed as a dedicated server.
Feb 03
Building a game server computer
Building a computer for running game servers on can be alot more affordable than you think. I have a linux box that I built which is running...
an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+. It has 2GB of ram and an 80gb hard drive. And just for fun I threw in a Thermaltake Max Orb processor fan (recommended if you have the space!). This little linux box only cost me $250.00 to build (including shipping!). So how did I do it?
I bought everything from tiger direct. I didn't buy the absolute best hardware out there, or even the newest. The trick is to buy only barely better than what you suspect will do the job. I built my system to handle running game servers. With this setup I am running 5 game servers (CoD, CoD4, CoD2, Quake 3 Arena, UT2004), a ventrilo server, website, file sharing for my network, email server, ftp server, and a lot of security services. So how can I run all this from home? Put simply, because I have a good computer running all by itself on my lan for the purpose of running game servers (it doesn't even have a monitor attached to it), and I'm running it all on linux (Fedora 9 x86_64). Linux does a much better job at handling processes and services than windows does. Because of this, I can do alot more with much lower end hardware.
So how about my connection? I'm running a 16mbit cable connection, and that's all. I don't even have fiber services yet where I live. So what kind of connection do you need to run a game server from home? Any! You can run your game servers on any connection out there (even dialup). It's just a matter of limiting players. So let's say you do have dialup. You can host maybe a 3 - 5 man quake3 or cod-coduo server. Dialup is so slow that you can't really do much with it. The truth is, the faster your connection the more players you can afford to have. To give you an idea (based off of my analysis), with a 3mbit connection you can host up to 10 players on almost any FPS game server (figure in about a 3 - 5 player increase per 1mbit beyond that). It's all in the computer and the connection. So as you can see, it can be done fairly cheap, and works well. Just be sure to restart your server (the actual box) at least once per month and you should be good to go.
| Theme: RPGX Forums |
 10:09 AM Jul 29
|
