Category Archives: Gaming

WTF-Back Online

  By Creep | February 5, 2011 - 7:10 pm | Beta Testing, Gaming
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So after another absence I’m back to waste some game time. Though it was once said those who can’t game blog, I seem to have the reverse issue, I’ve got nothing to say unless I can pop online.

Now I’m back bitches, or I’m back to bitch, or to be one, who cares really.

Right now I’m blogging, listening to Korn via you-tube, debating on cracking a beer and waiting for a very popular beta to load.

Right now it’s the shiniest and due for pre-release soon. Since I’m too lazy to read the nda I’m not going to blab about it … yet. A lot of folks I enjoy gaming with dig it so I figured, f@#$ it, let’s do this. Granted I could already be logged into WoW right now, there’s a part of me that just can’t hang with the candy coated goodness that is WoW. Yeah, I’ll log in later to galavant about with Moms, but for now I really want to get into something more sinister.

If the unnamed beta doesn’t cut it I’ll check back into some others and see how I feel about them. I’ll write about them if I do of course.

I keep getting newsletters about Algenon, Fallen Earth and Eve. I do have to say that I am curious as to what FE is like after their recent bouts of changes, but we’ll see right. Paying for more than one sub game a month just seems a bit much, at least for me.

Bleh, who really knows slash gives a flying you know.

*Android post, these are the droids you’re looking for

Oh, evidently, there is not NDA so I can say that I’m trying to download Rift. Yeah by the time I revised this I still had almost an hour just in the download so I probably won’t have anything to say about this one for a while.

Non-WoW Relevant MMO’s

  By Creep | October 21, 2010 - 3:33 pm | Alganon, EVE, Fallen Earth, Free Realms, Gaming, MMO, MMORPG
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Openedge posed this query over twitter a few days ago and it really got me thinking. What MMO’s would you consider being unique and in some way adding an element if not two to MMO’s. That is of course aside from WoW.

Warhammer – Realm vs Realm pvp, lots of folks like that, I’ve never tried Warhammer so I couldn’t say.

Runes of Magic – showed us that the eastern free to play with an in game shop is a viable market for games that just don’t have the gusto to compete as subscription based games. Oh and that people will pay $10 for a horse.

FreeRealms & Wizard 101 – showed us that there are more people out there willing to try and play MMO’s when demographics are researched and designed for properly.

Eve Online – An oldie but a goodie, has proven that there is a place for niche MMO’s that tailor to specific gaming styles.

I mean really, any MMO put out impacts the industry and the player base some how. Even poor Alganon showed us how interesting the legal battles can get (linkie).

One game that has kind of fallen through the cracks is Fallen Earth I’d like to see where this one goes over time. Why? Because this one has a dedicated development team and player base. So in that respect it has the same niche element working for it that EvE Online has.

Though one of it’s biggest benefits is that you don’t lose time leveling if you take time off for crafting. You actually gain leveling XP as you scavenge and craft. I really like this idea because, if you’re into crafting, you don’t feel like you’re torn between leveling and crafting. Fallen Earth allows you to keep up with your crafting without sacrificing leveling xp to do so.

Granted most people just say forget it and go with collecting skills only, and honestly I get that, but it’s still pretty frikking annoying.

Any who that’s my two cents.

My MMO Mom

  By Creep | October 13, 2010 - 12:06 pm | Gaming, LotRO, MMORPG, World of Warcraft
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PortalDancing Chances are if you’ve read a bit of my blog you’ll know that I played World of Warcraft with my Mom. In fact some of the first few entries on this blog talk about just that.

Since I don’t play anything anymore, I miss getting to play online with my Mom. We had some fun times and some frustrating times.

Mom never cared if I got us into hairy situations. Mom didn’t care if I needed a night of just fishing to relax after a stupid day at work. Mom didn’t even mind spending nights gathering materials for crafting.

As long as we got to hang out, it seemed like Mom always had fun. She always offered portals to where ever we needed to go, mailed me all kinds of buff foods, and she always celebrated the in game holidays with me even if it meant taking time away from questing and leveling.

When my Mom first started, World of Warcraft was one big candy store and she was a kid again. She spent hours roaming around a new and exciting world, leaving the mundane world behind for just a few hours at a time. It really was a lot of fun watching my Mom during her first few days in WoW. As time went on I was even more proud to see how many friends she had, how far she leveled, and how much she still enjoyed the game, savoring the whole of it, even at a snail’s pace.

Sadly the first few times I started working on this post, I had a hard time maintaining it’s focus on playing WoW with my Mom. I had originally fallen into a bitter tangent on how I felt about playing games and how obsessed I always managed to get in doing so.

I guess I somehow started playing games with something to prove. I wanted to prove to the world in this space just as I have in any other, that I can do whatever I put my mind to regardless of who I am, what I am, and whatever limitations I might have.

That was stupid. Because of that blind ambition I always for got to just have fun. I fell into goal mode. I always felt like I was getting judged even if it turned out it was only me judging myself. All that pressure pushed me into spending way too much time in game and ignoring so many things. Not to mention ignoring things in game that were so much more important both in game and out.

Instead of just relaxing and having fun with my Mom, I kept thinking about how I’d make sure we had enough gold for things. I’d be obsessing over how I played my class or whether I was using the correct talent trees. I’d think about how I needed some specific gear to level faster or to just kill things more efficiently. I never pushed these thoughts on my Mom, much to the lament and confusion of friends and guild mates.

My Mom never cared about any of those things. Mom just enjoyed playing the game and getting a chance to spend time with me. Really getting to spend time with someone who cares about you is so much more valuable than any epic item. Even if she embarrasses you by telling your guild via vent that you’re table dancing in Exodar *facepalms*. Some fun things are best left unshared with a guild intent on raiding, but that’s not really something Mom ever really cared about and honestly, I think she had the right idea all along.

Today I was chatting over instant messenger with my Mom. Despite all the things we were discussing, one thing stuck out in my mind. Mom missed playing games with me too. If  nothing else, I miss getting a chance to just hang out and chat while doing some fishing.

Though now I have two jobs, I’d love to find some time, maybe once a week, just to log into a game and go fishing with my Mom. Now that Lord of the Rings Online is free to play, that doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. Roll a Hobbit and just hang my big feet off a bridge and fish like an MMO hobo while hanging out with my Mom.

Sadly though is that pull enough to get to download and log in again? I really don’t know. It’s like saying I’ll only have one potato chip, or I’ll only watch the first 5 minutes of a movie. I don’t want to get into a game just to get mired in the grind, or obsessed with stats and progression. Only to end up ignoring the people I love while pouring all of my time and energy into a 3D vacuum.

Could I log into a game just for the fun of it? Could I learn to just enjoy games at the same level my Mom does? Maybe I should just tell Mom I’ll be on instant messenger. Yeah it’s not the same, but maybe it’s for the best. I doubt that Turbine would appreciate it if Mom and I used their game as a very pretty chat window.

Random Question – Is There Room for Solo Progression in an MMO?

  By Creep | February 26, 2010 - 1:23 pm | Gaming, Random Question
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This is a question that is near and dear to my heart because well, I’m just a tad bit anti social when it comes to logging into games. OK there was that stint in Aftermath and really that whole gild had some awesome folks in it. Other than that I usually run solo or in small groups with either family or close friends.

For the most part as soon as games start to pretty much require grouping to get things done, that’s about when I totally turn off from a game. I mean sure I could go mercenary and just group up to get the job done, but for some reason grouping just exhausts me. Not to mention the fact that it usually tears the 4th wall to the ground then starts working on my last nerve.

I’ve been reading over at Cedarstreet and lately some of Scopique’s posts have got me thinking (link). MMO’s have the group thing down. All of the games have incentives for grouping up with others to get stuff done here or there. I realize that this is important when all things are said and done because most people don’t see the point of playing by yourself when there’s a bunch of other virtual kids on the playground.

Evidently these kids weren’t the ones that asked to get put out in left field during game day so that they could ignore the world and stare at the bugs. But I digress.

So what if MMO’s were able to offer solo play progression. So say some form of character progression either as a class or a function within the game that didn’t require a player to group much if at all while in that class or function?

Now I’m not saying that an entire MMO like this would work. There’s been more than enough debate on that and I can see the point.

Thing is though, what if games could add an anti-hero role? What if there was room for the lone wolf or even wolves, that just sort of do their own thing? What if in that role however, other players in the game were able to contract with that person to get specific little roles in game accomplished?

I mean think about it? Hiring mercenaries to take out a rival clan or guild. Hiring someone or a group of someones for the purposes of espinage, sabatage, theft, that sort of thing.

The problem that I see with most games is that they create worlds in black and white. You’re bad or you’re good, no questions, no deviations. Thing is though, would it add depth, interest and perhaps even playability if there could be a bit of gray added into the mix? What if there were still good and bad, but also those who didn’t fit into either good or bad, order or chaos, lawful or unlawful, etc, but were able to make things interesting by playing the one off the other?

In this role it would make sense to have single or small group gameplay available for the purposes of mobility and secrecy.

Really not sure if anyone could actually pull this off in a game or if folks would even enjoy having a third option. However I’m still curious, what do you think about adding a solo progression path or paths to a game?

Funny Off Topic – List of Some Awesome “The Guild” One Liners

  By Creep | February 26, 2010 - 1:22 pm | Gaming, Video
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Over at Mutant Reviewers from Hell, Justin reviews “The Guild” seasons 1 & 2 (link). They pretty much cracked me up to no end. Though personally I’m not sure if either Tink or Clara are my favorite gals on the show. Yes I know everyone loves Codex, but come on, I’m a gal, that doesn’t work for me. The humorous and the badass, I find those to be much more amusing.

Oh and if you play fantasy MMORPG’s and you haven’t seen “The Guild” yet, I’d recommend checking out their site (link). It’s also in it’s third season so checking it out from the beginning will help out a lot by the way.