Game Design – Nerdy Bookahs

Why I stopped loving Rift

3 Oct 20203 Oct 2020

Justin from Massively came up with a really good question about why Rift didn't do better. Quite obviously, I cannot answer this question in general or even for the majority…

Screenshot Saturday: Spot the World Boss

ArenaNet currently has a World Boss Event running where you get an extra chest for each world boss. I decided to jump into the game and kill a few world…

Blogging Months…

Please give me Rift Wars 2 (Blaugust Post 6)

25 Aug 201826 Aug 2018

If Rift and Guild Wars 2 had a baby, I would probably end up with my perfect MMO. Both games have features that I really love while also missing the…

Paeroka’s Ponderings: Defiance 2050

4 May 20183 Aug 2019

I had originally planned to write about my impressions of the Defiance 2050 beta, but for several reasons, I have not been playing it enough to warrant a whole and…

Cities in MMOs

One thing that's been bothering me about Rift since its release is the lack of "proper" towns and cities. The "main city" of the Guardian faction, Sanctum, is a building…

Do you ever go back to earlier game versions?

I started "Tropico 5" several times lately only to realize that something isn't right with it. I miss Tropico 4 - and I can't even say exactly what it is.…

Paeroka’s Ponderings: When is a game worth your money?

17 Sep 201617 Sep 2016

I know there are a lot of gamers with a huge backlog of games and a bad conscience whenever they get yet another game even though there is this long…

Paeroka’s Ponderings: Gear and level-advantages in PvP

28 Aug 201628 Aug 2016

Some time ago, I read a topic in the German section of the Black Desert Online forum where a player suggested that the game's PvP may be better if there…

Gaming disappointments of 2015

20 Dec 201520 Dec 2015

In general, 2015 has been a really good year for me gaming-wise (or in general even!), but there are also a few negative points that stick out for me. Not…

Diversity in regional design: Spring

8 Nov 20148 Nov 2014

I really love spring in "real life". When the sun starts to feel warm on your skin again. The snow is melting (if there had been some). The first birds…

Class names and expectations

I was just baking some bread while listening to a Trove stream (this one, to be precise) when the streamer was asked if Trove was going to add a healing…

Then & Now: Reliving the newbie experience (1-5)

With the recent feature patch, ArenaNet released the new player experience. There has been quite a lot of controversy around the related changes. For example, your skills unlock one by…

What about Guild Wars 2’s endgame*?

Two years ago, in July 2012 - and thus, before Guild Wars 2 was released - there was the usual pre-launch discussion that happens with every MMO: What will the…

Rebuilding Lion’s Arch…?

When the latest patch got released, I headed over to the forum to read the patch notes as I always do, but when I read the part about Lion's Arch,…

The excitement of getting an expansion

If you're following Rift, you may have noticed that they're handling their second expansion, Plane of Water, differently than they did the previous one or than what other MMO developers…

Housing in MMOs: Lord of the Rings Online

There are many things I want and expect from MMOs and one thing is housing. I love feeling as if I was in a virtual world and for me, having…

Ask Nerdy Bookahs…

Ask Nerdy Bookahs (November 21, 2013)

It's time for another "Ask Nerdy Bookahs". We have looked at the questions in the search terms that led people to our blog for which we know we do not…

Jumping Puzzles: Challenging or frustrating?

11 Nov 201311 Nov 2013

Yesterday, I spent some time with a guildie trying to get through the jumping puzzle "Scavenger's Chasm" in Malchor's Leap. I had never done it before, but all in all,…

GW2: Customize with dyes

One thing that I'm really disappointed with is the limited visual customization of your characters. For example, I bought Flummi a Tiger Charr Backpack. The problem was that I still…

Guilds – not as unlimited as we thought

13 Sep 201226 Sep 2015

Edit: People questioned Elixabeth's ability to quote what was said in the PAX panel, so bookahnerk looked and finally found a video of it: I have finally received a reply…

The Glorious Rata Sum in Pictures

24 Jul 201226 Sep 2015

Guild Wars 2 really is coming. This is the last piece of my screenshot collection showing off the different races' cities - and Lion's Arch. Rata Sum was exactly like…

GW2: Picture Impressions of The Grove

23 Jul 201226 Sep 2015

I have to admit that The Grove surprised me. I had imagined a huge greenish brown tree that has lots and lots of sylvari living on its leaves. While I…

Guild Wars 2: A FAQ for new players

1 Jun 201217 Apr 2013

You may already know the first version of this FAQ. I decided to rewrite it, update it and put newer screenshots in. So here is the new version. A very…

Characters/Classes…

Criticizing Guild Wars 2

28 May 20128 Apr 2015

DISCLAIMER: If you want to criticize my post, feel free to do so (constructively, of course). However, if you want to do so, please READ it. Especially point 4 and…

Will ArenaNet kill international guilds with Guild Wars 2?

25 Apr 201227 Oct 2012

That's a question that came up today on Twitter. As you all probably know, Twitter isn't the best place to talk about or muse such things because of its limited…

Being at the EUFanDay – or: Musings about ArenaNet’s game philosophy

7 Apr 201226 Feb 2013

As you, my dear readers, may have noticed already, I was invited to the EUFanday in Brighton. Yeah, okay, there's no way you can have missed that. ;) When we…

Guild Wars 2: Power shift and server pride with the new guild system

17 Sep 201125 Sep 2011

(This entry is part of Guild Mag's Blog Carnival! Check it out if you want to read more opinions about GW2's upcoming guild system.) It's been a while since we've…