The History Behind Myriam, The Gamer

Art fanatic, music lover, food aficionado, and maybe a little crazy, but I’m ok with that. I suppose my slight obsession with video games stems partially to the fact that I’m an only child. When you find yourself in such a state, it’s natural that you find things to occupy your time with. For me, one of those things became video games. I remember the first time I played one at my cousin’s house when I was young -  Duck Hunt on the NES along with the bright orange gun you had to shoot at the screen. From there I got my first system – the Super NES, along with Super Mario. Unlocked ALL the levels. Yup. Endless gaming with only breaks for food and bathroom breaks. It helped that my father was a bit of a game fanatic himself at the time. I probably got my love of shiny gadgets and technology from him.

Since I was an only child, became very close to my older cousins – Uziel, David, & Josue. These boys had about 10 years on me so I remember sitting down in the living room watching them play RPGs and thinking to myself “Wow, look how cool that looks. Look at those fights! Look at that artwork! I LOVE this music! This is so complicated I need more!”. It was only a matter of time before I graduated to the Sony Playstation and got myself involved in those worlds myself. Ah…Sony. My great love. We were united at last. 

First game I owned on the Sony Playstation? Tomb Raider. There was just something about a strong female character (albeit with a very pixilated bosom and awkward movements), guns blazing into danger, and puzzling levels that really captivated me. I couldn’t get enough. This would spawn my following of the series and led me to play every single Tomb Raider game out there – including all the remakes. Yes. It’s consuming. Do I regret it? Never. 

I was probably around 12 or 13 when I picked up my first RPG title. Military base yard sale = big savings on expensive games and an awesome gift from a ever-spoiling uncle. I thus became engrossed in Xenogears. A massive world with magic, giant fighting mechs, and anime-styled animated cut scenes. I was in Heaven! The storyline might have been a little complicated for someone of my age, but I put enough hours into that puppy to absorb it all. That final boss couldn’t hold his own against my mighty level 99 characters. All of them. 

From there I decided that I wanted more of this RPG genre. So I started picking up those games that I grew up watching my cousins play and that I was finally old enough to play and understand myself. Many of the titles that followed included Chrono Cross and an extensive coverage of the Final Fantasy  Franchise (FF7, FF8, FF9, FFX, FFX-2, FF12, & FF13). 

As I got a bit older and found myself lacking 150 hours + to invest in gameplay I discovered the joys of Prince of Persia, the Uncharted Franchise (which is amazing), and even ventured into the realm of XBOX 360 for some good “shoot-em-ups” like Gears of War. 

So what do I think about where games are now and where they’re heading? I think the future holds great things. So many advancements can be seen in game tech in just the last two decades that there is really nothing holding us back but ourselves. The main things that should always remain a constant? Great stories, believable characters, fantastic worlds, and captivating gameplay. 

This is Myriam, signing off.

History, Strategy, & Hope for the future

Most of the Dev Blogs posted here will be project related, especially as we start revealing new information. Getting to show off our first character concept is really exciting for us, and especially me. Being able to weave this story and watch it grow, develop, and come to life has been truly inspiring. Until we start releasing more and more information however, I'd like to share some of my own experiences and background in gaming and try to be as transparent with our audience as possible. (Ya know, as much as I can get away with without getting evil stares.)

Please feel free to respond to posts, ask questions, and start some discussion if something comes up. While I may not always be able to answer project related topics as openly as I'd like this early on I'll be happy to answer most anything else.

I've been fairly obsessed with strategy titles since I was a kid. I loved playing Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, Xenogears, etc. I am also a fairly huge turn-based fan as well. Disgaea is probably my favorite series while I have played the occasional Fire Emblem and the like. While I truly do love RPG's my largest love comes from MMO's. Technically the first I ever played was Everquest on the PS2 and was pretty amazed at the possibilities. Yet, it was FFXI that turned my world upside down. Having access to every class on the same character was amazing, the endgame was varied and deep, the world was massive, danger truly was at every turn, and it became increasingly rare to see casual players and really anyone without a fairly deep amount of patience even past level 20. Every 10 levels it seemed to weed out more and more players who didn't have the time / patience and the Limit Breaks were extremely daunting for a lot of players. If you could not perform your role in the party properly toward the end it would directly affect your ability to group with others at all.

The most recent MMO that truly captivated me and really stole my heart was FFX|V. I played from Beta all the way through 2.1. Yes, Beta and release were rough and the latency was almost always a hinderance especially through 1.2. I stayed out of loyalty to the transparency that Yoshida brought to the Development team and in 1.23 I felt truly rewarded for my faith. Cutters Cry, Aurum Vale, Garuda (hard), Rivenroad normal and especially hard, Ifrit EX, and legendaries. 1.23b ~ the end of 1.0 as a whole was a truly awesome endgame experience in strategy requirements, execution, and story. These few months before the game closed were some of the most intense MMO experiences I've had in the last 5~6 years. ARR is a fairly interesting experience. I continued to lead my FC into the fray, and we were among the server first 5 and world first 10 to take down the mighty Twintania in turn 5 / Binding Coil of Bahamut. We were at the top, but the challenge was just not the same. The Crystal Tower came as a joke compared to FF's history of large-scale raids as well.

Recent MMO's and dungeon finders have given way to more of the 'elitist' mentalities who drop out of instances in the first couple of minutes if everything isn't perfectly prepared / executed. It sucks, and is not courteous at all yet a large part of the problem is many of these players are seeking high-intensity content but the games themselves have tried so hard to cater to 'everyone' that players are not as prepared upon reaching the group content. Being able to choose your leveling path where at least 1 or 2 of those are done entirely solo is nice for some, but if you are not prepared to deal with party roles you end up with unfavorable chaos. The situation is then perpetuated because these 'Hardcore' players are aiming to push their limits and more casual players feel entitled to be able to participate and try. There's nothing wrong with just playing the game and trying to overcome the content despite the challenge, but when a lower skilled player insists on being able to beat all content and the company is willing to cater to this only a few things can happen: 1) The difficulty is reduced which in turn frustrates the players seeking more challenging content and directly causes rifts between the player-base. 2) The company reduces the difficulty after a time has passed which cheapens the experience for those who have overcome the obstacle and really only renders the value of the win as who did it first. That content then no longer stands as a trial for new players that engage the content later on.

The end result is simply frustration sadly but it comes packaged with a realization that things need to change. When designing a game, especially a strategy game, you have to decide early on 'who' your audience will be and you have to stick to it. You lose faith in your fans by changing paths in ways that are contradictory to your mission / purpose. If you want to make a simpler game that is accessible to 'everyone' then anyone who plays it has to understand what that means for them and the content. When a Developer decides they want to create a daunting and challenging experience, less skilled players need to understand that they have to make friends, and try their best - but not all content will be possible to overcome without an increase in dedication, time, and patience.

You may fall short in an attempt to do something great, but if you never try you will always fail.

Stay tuned with us. We're just getting started.

Building a Legacy

Strategy, challenge, depth, emotion, execution. Outside of the basic joy and that comes from a healthy blend of them, these are the building blocks of a solid game for me. We could argue for days and list many other things that a good game doth make, but for the sake of time and avoiding a novel lets stick with these for now.

My first love of games started with Zelda, it grew and expanded through Romance of the Three Kingdoms and before long Diablo 1 & 2 came and took several years of my life away. My very first true love for RPG’s however really started with Final Fantasy IX. This is the game that really brought it all home and ignited my passion for the genre. The playfulness of the characters, the depth of the story, the plot twists and engaging combat – they all added up to a very beautiful equation. I went a little retro and played previous entries in the series, but the single most captivating title of my life has been Final Fantasy XI. 6 long years of traversing that incredible world, taking on the challenges of leveling, grinding, exploration and eventually the quite daunting endgame. Dynamis truly opened my eyes to the vast possibilities of community gaming. The danger of your environment was always present and traveling to a new area came with high risk and a true investment of time that really and truly connected you with your character.

New is not always better, and this is a bright shining star for us as a development team. New idea’s and elements can be great, but you do not always have to intentionally deviate so far from the path to be unique that you end up with a flaming bag of crap. Sure, it is in fact unique – but it is still crap.

We have journeyed and played through the years of Role-Playing Games, we have the same heartaches that thousands have cried out for a change, and we have risen to the challenge to actually do something about it. We will make the games we want to make and we will answer the call for making deep characters and stories, vast worlds, intense customization, and proven game-play techniques that will add up to journeys like you have never experienced. We will wake the seemingly dead elements that many have declared lost and we will tirelessly pursue our goals until they have come to fruition. There is a reason ROM sites still exist, there is a reason that private servers are undertaken by very small teams for MMO’s during their golden age.

RPG fans, we know your cries and have felt your pain over the years..
Fantasy MMO fans, there is still hope..
World, we’re comin for ya!