Saturday fun: Duels
posted at 9:15 am on August 11, 2007 by Bryan
Here’s a lifewaster that won’t also eat up your bank account: Duels. It’s a massively multiplayer online game along the lines of World of Warcraft, but unlike WoW, Duels is free. It’s still in beta so expect some snags here and there. Duels doesn’t require any downloads or installations.
Blowback
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Hmmm, no comments an hour after this was posted.
Either nobody is interested or they all got sucked into the timesink.
cool breeze on August 11, 2007 at 10:20 AM
im more a first person shooter type, these type of games dont apeal to me. games like WoW have such a large following im sure this will be played once those type of game players find out about it. i will post a link to this on one of my boards.
trailortrash on August 11, 2007 at 10:30 AM
I feel about this the way I felt about the Voltron post when I got about halfway through reading the comments posted. If you watched Voltron as a kid we are kindred spirits. If you are fascinated by World of Warcraft as an adult you creep me out.
D0WNT0WN on August 11, 2007 at 10:30 AM
Is it truly free, or is it one of those things where you play it, get into it, and find out that all of the people at the top are those who started pumping money to the developers for “premium” items and “vip” status?
MadisonConservative on August 11, 2007 at 10:35 AM
As far as I know it’s really free.
Bryan on August 11, 2007 at 10:38 AM
Yeah Warcraft r0xx0rs! I’ve been playing it almost every day since it came out. My main is a female elfen warrior, how about you?
Aylios on August 11, 2007 at 10:42 AM
Thanks Bryan, I check it out when I get some time later this weekend.
Spirit of 1776 on August 11, 2007 at 10:56 AM
yeah…lite comments, because we’re all over there deuling…ugh…thanks for keeping me inside today!
JetBoy on August 11, 2007 at 11:22 AM
Trembling eagerly yet fearfully like Ted Kennedy in a distillery, or Jack Murtha in an FBI bribe-sting setup, See-Dub backs away from the blog and runs out into the sunshine.
see-dubya on August 11, 2007 at 11:24 AM
Thanks, Bryan; I lean more toward world domination in my spare time. Ever since Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire got old, I’ve been looking for something to fill that void.
Heh.
Kralizec on August 11, 2007 at 11:27 AM
Yes, because it’s so much more productive to sit in front of the television every evening and all day on the weekends.
It’s not like people bust your chops for rocking on the porch all day, whittling and yelling at the kids to get off your lawn.
Asher on August 11, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Have you tried Civ IV? I hear it’s pretty good. You might also try Galactic Civilizations by Stardock. They’ve been working that game in various iterations and operating system for years. I don’t like online games myself, but I’ll take single player gaming over TV any day of the week.
austinnelly on August 11, 2007 at 11:49 AM
Run, see-dub…run! Don’t click the link and be glued there like I’ve been….takin’ a break….I best get out in the sun myself, while I can…
JetBoy on August 11, 2007 at 11:49 AM
I’ve played a lot of MMOs including WoW. Right now I’m playing Lord of the Rings Online and enjoying it. Most of the people I know in game are close to my age (36) and we have a blast.
I never really mess with the free MMOs as you tend to get what you pay for.
Benaiah on August 11, 2007 at 11:50 AM
Not so much fascinated. I’m 47 and I play, but I only started because my son, who is in the Navy, does too. He called one day and asked me to buy it and try it out. It’s something we can still do together even though he’s no longer home.
Kowboy on August 11, 2007 at 12:07 PM
I’m back to EQ2, they gave me a free trial. Made a lot of great changes in that game, having fun with it.
Dash on August 11, 2007 at 12:07 PM
And what is so productive about playing WoW? I know of three people–two college-aged and one 30-something whose lives were literally ruined by WoW.
At least if you’re on the porch whittling, you can sell it on eBay or something. Maybe etsy. And I agree, adult gamers in general kinda creep me out as well. Gotta run–I sense some non-gaming children outside nearing my lawn!
robblefarian on August 11, 2007 at 12:08 PM
I just went to the site, they made this post:
Update – Yesterday, 18:09
We’ve been blown away (regrettably so have our servers) by the popularity of Duels. We’re very grateful for your enthusiasm for the game and your patience with us. We are doing everything we can to get the site running smoothly (ie: up and responding quickly).
We’ve ordered more servers, so we hope we will have them up and running by the middle of next week. One of them is a very large system for the database that should dramatically improve performance. Unfortunately delivery and deployment of servers is outside of our direct control, so I can’t say exactly when they will arrive.
allrsn on August 11, 2007 at 12:14 PM
I have teenage sons that play WoW after homework and chores are done. Sometimes when we’re out, adults start talking to them in deep earnest about the game and they look to me for help to get away from these nutty grown-ups.
My gaming time is spent designing scenarios for on-line WWII flight sims (Warbirds, Aces High, IL2), and it’s been educational in terms of getting a better perspective on the history of the war.
Hening on August 11, 2007 at 12:16 PM
Hening your the one who got me addicted to Aces high huh? I’m DOOMED! DOOMED!
Bob
Bobnormal on August 11, 2007 at 1:08 PM
Yeah, thanks for this guys. I’ll definitely check it out if I ever come to the point that I have no life and would rather live in a fantasy because my life sucks so bad.
csdeven on August 11, 2007 at 1:58 PM
One of my sons has a job as a video game tester. I’ll have to ask him if he has heard of this. As far as adults playing online video games, my brother who is a biochemist plays World of Warcraft and he is in his 50′s.
Rose on August 11, 2007 at 1:59 PM
Couple points here. 1) I live in the Bronx and don’t have a lawn. But if I did have one I would have the right to decide who could and could not come on it. Its called “property rights”. Sort of a basic conservative principle. 2) Different strokes for different folks. Individual freedom is another one of those basic conservative ideas. I respect and admire those who dedicate themselves to the pursuit of knowledge like scientists and those who dedicate themselves to the defense of our country. Sometimes you gotta stir the pot but I don’t mean to suggest that my vices or peculiarities are any better than yours. We all engage in forms of escapism.
That all having been said, gamers do creep me out when they talk about gaming. Otherwise, you seem like good people.
D0WNT0WN on August 11, 2007 at 2:30 PM
Bryan, comparing this game to WoW is like comparing minesweeper to Halo 2.
Having said that, I’ve promptly created an avatar and am on my way. You sold me at “free”.
And as a recovering WoW-aholic, I’m going to pile on Downtown’s really silly jibe about being creeped out by adults who are interested in WoW.
I’m not sure of the actual demographics (no one other than Blizzard, the developer, is), but from my experience only a really small minority of WoW players are under 18. Those aged people tend to be more fascinated by shoot-the-alien type games on the Xbox. I would say the median demographic is probably the “young professional” type who, after returning from work, prefers socializing and gaming on the internet to veging out on the couch watching Seinfeld re-runs.
mjgreco on August 11, 2007 at 2:31 PM
See its statements like those that make me take two steps back and scan the room for the locations of the exits. The very fact that you respond to my admittedly “silly jibe” with arguments about demographics and that you draw distinctions between the various types of alternate reality universes, or “games” if you prefer, is amusing to me. Sort of like a coke head citing demographic data about who uses coke and who uses crack and then looking down on crack users.
D0WNT0WN on August 11, 2007 at 3:13 PM
I’ll probably check it out. It might be better than snarkily replying to three hour old posts.
Thanks Bryan.
Canadian Infidel on August 11, 2007 at 3:29 PM
Wow. People who compare game players to crack users creep me out.
Merovign on August 11, 2007 at 4:13 PM
i just wanted to say thank you , its not like i had enough things to take up my free time
Mojack420 on August 11, 2007 at 5:54 PM
I just killed two hours there. When I was supposedly “working”. Thanks, Bryan, thanks a lot.
My screen name is Habaroo if anyone wants to DUEL, BABY!!!!!!
RW Wacko on August 11, 2007 at 6:05 PM
Check out the ‘Purchase Noblestones’ option…PayPal all the way.
It’s still fun, though.
James on August 11, 2007 at 6:45 PM
James is dead on on the noblestone thing. HotAir guild once it’s up if we haven’t all burned out by then? hehe
- The Cat
MirCat on August 12, 2007 at 12:45 AM
Wow, you can RSS your mail. lol
MirCat on August 12, 2007 at 12:47 AM
Hate to break it to you Downtown, but gamers are all grown up. The generation that grew up with Atari, and Nintendo has grown up and STILL likes games. Yes, gaming, like any hobby, can be taken to extremes. But the healthy adult gamer knows when to step away and do other things.
Personally, the people that absolutely MUST watch each and every game of their favorite sports team, spend THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars each year in stadium tickets and merchandise, go tailgating and paint their faces on game day REALLY scare me. Dang sports freaks.
wearyman on August 12, 2007 at 7:40 PM
I rather suspect that the “free” will morph into “improved gameplay with subscription”, about the third time the developers have to increase server capacity because of traffic. That assumes that the game is both playable and worth playing.
Sadly this is the history of many decent games, setup it up free for a time, and if the volume of interest warrants, expand it on a pay basis. Those who are hooked will pay the fees, and those who try to avoid paying will find they can’t get all the superior “kit”, or that there are places they aren’t allowed to go, etc.
I always preferred strategy and puzzle-solving to mayhem, and never got into shooters, until America’s Army. Give it a try, and you too can be “shot by ]Accident[”
On the subthread, ANY behavior that pulls an unhealthy amount of attention from the needs and responsibilities of real life is bad, whether it is an addiction to gaming, drinking, drugs, their favorite sports team or Lindsay Lohan. And if one is meeting those more significant obligations, they needn’t be judged because they sit up late at night and play Halo2 on their 360, or WoW, or Gemstone, or Minesweeper. Balance, Grasshopper.
Freelancer on August 13, 2007 at 9:42 AM