Not to be a grammar Nazi but it's e-thear-e-al, not ether-real.

No isometric MMOs please. I find the camera distances me from my character and the action. Not such a big deal in an action RPG, where my toon has no real uniqueness to relate to anyway. But in an MMO, I want more immersion.

"I want more immersion." - Senadina

And that is exactly why a third person fixed camera should be considered. Developers are neutering themselves by trying to do what you have requested. They put so much time and effort into the world they forget to deliver an MMORPG and they most often don't deliver a quality world as it is generally littered with NPCs in every single non-pathway location. This is targeted more towards "theme-park" MMOs. The worlds of WoW, Rift, Aion, WAR and such were never very good with immersion. A sense of realism is required in an ecosystem is required and it was never really provided.

Gah, "A sense of realism is required for an ecosystem and it was never really provided."

They were all fake and rigged, totally destroys immersion if you ask me.

Finally get rid of the milk fetish... now i can drink in peace...:D

Bill, please learn how to pronounce the word "ethereal". /poke :) Seriously though, keep up the great work on these podcasts. You're owning it.

As for isometric view, I'm not sure how you can feel like you lose immersion by going first-person 3D. I started playing 2d iso games back in the days of the original Pools of Radiance, and kept going through Diablo, Ultima, Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, and many others. But for me the immersion factor *greatly* increased with the advent of EQ-style first-person MMOs.

I remember playing a caster in EQ and beginning to cast a spell and seeing the spell effects swirling around me and thinking, "Holy $h!t! So *this* is what it would look like to actually cast a spell!" To me, that's exactly the type of immersion I was looking for.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking isometric games. I still love them. I just don't understand how you can lose immersion from playing these types of games in 3d / first-person view.

Another good show!

Hopefully now that the law suit is behind TERA the staff will be more focused on providing content. I really hope they turn things around as the combat in TERA is brilliant they just need to work on other aspects like endgame and overall polish (inc. the UI).

The RiFT news is cool too although I was expecting a tank soul :(

As long as there is mass content as there was in the original fallout series, and UO, such as fishing and immersive dialog selections among npc, why not?

I liked the podcast and you have a good presence but might I suggest editing out the mistakes? There were three of them.

Otherewise great job.

Wow... excellent "Event Horizon" reference!

Man that movie was creepy.

Sam Neil seems to do well in those "weird" type flicks. He was interesting in John Carpenter's "In The Mouth of Madness" as well.

Great episode, Bill!

Oh, and I love isometric view, if it's done well :)

I loved many of those old games,but i can let go .Old tech is just old tech,no need to live in the past.2d graphics is inferior in everyway,so why would i want that?

I wouldn't want to bring back the hand crank automobile or hand cranked airplanes.I also don't want to hop into a horse and buggy to travel 100 miles.

Games like Diablo3 is just typical of blizzard,they do evderything cheap,low budget.You have a small time studio "Naughty Dog productions"[Just Cause] doing more with their console games than Blizzard can do with PC gaming.

Point is NO i do not like over the top viewing,it actually removes immersion,it does not help it in any way what so ever.

A buldars gate sequel....now thats what im talking about!My main attraction to swtor was the fun i had playing buldars gate as a youth. I look at what diablo 3 is and i think blizzard could have made a very very popular mmo with the ip. Instead they just made a train wreck in my opinion.I dont think what modern games are missing is older methods and technology.I think they are just missing character and soul.The sad part is I am seeing these HUGE companies produce games that are empty shells now when they used to be known for making the best.

Isometric should have its say in mmos. 3d view might be an oversaturated type of approach from game devs, and other options should always be considered.

A Baldur's Gate sequel is a must. Not an option, a must. And it must be carefully crafted by a fan team, a loving approach of the epic series.

Do some of you feel better about yourselves to correct people on how they pronouce.

Who cares?..

Anywho, I love the iso view! It leaves so much to the imagination to kick in. I hate mmos nowadays. Just big cash shop, grind for gear, meaningless games. Not real mmorpgs! Another reason i still play the greatest mmo Ultima Online. Another reason Ultima Online still lives and can still collect a sub after 15 years!

Sorry if i offended anyone!

Na some New mmos are great. And i am really rooting for FFXIV!