Way behind the power curve

I finally made level 60 this evening on WoW.  I was able to enjoy Burning Crusade content for the first time 2 nights ago, and absolutely loved it. The artwork for Outlands is amazing, and it feels vast.  It feels like it is in another dimension, and I have definitely left Azeroth.  There are so many dungeons, raids, and quests I have not taken part in on the “Old World” content.  This is a little depressing in a way, because I am still constantly trudging along in order to reach level 80 where I have friends and co-workers waiting on me and my healing power and I may never see this content.  That is until I come back through with an Alt.

I have not been playing much on the consoles due to 2 factors.  We have so many shows to watch on our DVR if the TV is on, we are trying to catch up on all the shows that have recorded recently.  The other reason is I pay for my subscription for WoW and do not have the time that I did once for gaming.  This leads me to devote the time that I have towards WoW due to the money that I am paying.  There are so many good games out there right now that I want to play, Borderlands, Dragon Age, and the one that I know I am going to have to make time for is the re-release of God of War and II.  God of War II was the game that ALMOST made go repurchase a PS2 again, because I was slow on the PS3 train, making mine non-backwards compatible.  I will never understand why any console company would make their leading console unable to play prior games.

The game that continues to surprise and please me

As I said, I am really going to try and continue to write more frequently. I also said I was going to write about my console gaming, but with the announcement today of World of Warcraft now including in-game pets for purchase, I wanted to just write down my thoughts on the subject.  I read the announcement on Kotaku today, and was, to be honest a little shaken.  Not shaken by their decision to include these items in a game store, they have had a form of in-game items up until this point, with being able to switch races being one of the newest services offered for a fee, but by how it made me feel about the items.  I was shaken because when it was the ability to change your appearance or move your character to another shard it did not bother me. I hardly gave it a second thought actually.  The pets crossed some line I didn’t even realize I had.  Upon reflection of this, I realized that for me, the acquisition of in-game items, even if they are just pets and not the uber-sword of uberness, is what drives character progression.  That is what has been a defining characteristic of Blizzard games for me since Diablo.  Now we have items that, even though they are strictly cosmetic like changing the hair style or race of your character, you can obtain for a small price and that bugs me.  Why?  Other games that have marketed themselves as “micro-transaction” games do not bother me, but perhaps that is the crux of the situation.  There is an understanding from the beginning of what to expect.  In a way this leads back to my preference for EQ and EQ2 because the accomplishment of a trial makes the reward at the end even more worthwhile.  Who cares, it is only 2 in-game pets and it in no way breaks the game.  There are still numerous quests out there that I have yet to experience or accomplish to claim my reward.  Heck I have yet to even reach max level on one character of mine in WoW, and this is why I was shaken.  Like many others that I have read and heard about on various podcasts who cry out that any developer who after being “non-transaction” for any length of time are selling out or breaking the game, I experienced the same knee-jerk reaction. I have asked before for a game that would allow for truly unique items, truly one of a kind items, so perhaps this is intertwined with that.  Who cares if someone has the uber-sword of uberness, why do all the characters have to be all the same?  To sell something in-game is simply giving into the mentality of “he has one so I should have one too!”

So I have been playing more Fallout 3 on PS3 and absolutely loving it.  I was at a bit of a standstill on the game due to hitting max level and never completing the main storyline.  I simply leveled up off of all the side quests that existed in the world.  Upon getting my PS3 back online I downloaded Broken Steel allowing me to raise my character 10 more levels.  In some ways I feel this broke the game slightly, because I am now concentrating on the main storyline and feel very overpowered.  I will have definitely have to download the additional DLC for the game.

O.k. I really need to get better at this.

So about 2 posts ago, I stated that I was playing Eve Online.  I had wanted to play this game from the first time I had played the trial, about 2 years ago.  Aside from gorgeous the game was set in space, and dealt with technology, which was a great refreshing divergence from all the high fantasy MMO’s I play.  I mean come on, I named myself after Skywalker back when I was 8, so one of my first loves will always be Science Fiction.  The longer I played the game though, I found it easier and easier to stay OUT of the game. One of best game mechanics in my opinion, the ability to train skills even while logged off, was the reason I was finding it easier to stay away.  I only needed to log on long enough to ensure that the correct skills were going to be trained.  There was no compelling reason to go out and “rat” in a system, the games version of grinding in the likes of other MMO’s in which you fly to arbitrary systems find where the games NPC’s, Pirates or “rats” are hiding and proceed to level galactic justice by means of lasers and missiles to collect bounty or scavenge from their ships what you may.   I have read of many grand dramas that have unfolded in the Eve universe due to the openness of the game. I am sure there is a richness and fullness to the game that others cannot hope to emulate even in “end game”, I was just unable to find it.  All that I have read and listened to through podcasts have told me, it is of utmost importance to find an alliance which you could join to show you the ropes, and introduce you to the fullness and richness.   I found that it was hard to find those alliances that will bring into their fold, and give you that experience.  Just yesterday I was reading on Virgin Worlds that there was a large well established Alliance that was disbanded due to either espionage or account hacking.  I am not sure what measures will be taken if it is found that an account was compromised , but if it was espionage,  CCP the games developers will do nothing.  This is completely within the games context and rules, one of the great concepts of the game, there really are no rules.  This is what leads to the difficulty of entering into an alliance though.  Alliances screen any applicants who apply to their alliance to make sure that they are not a mole or spy.  I was turned down from entry into  3 alliances before I found one that would allow me entrance into their numbers, and the one I did find was loosely organized, mostly friends who have a routine already established, with many more skills than I did (the games levels) which did not allow me to participate in much until I upped my skills more.  The game is as I said before a game I WANT to love, I want to enjoy this game, but could not forsee paying a monthly fee for a game that I was spending much more time out of game, skilling up than a game I could be in-game skilling up.

Needless to say I am back in WoW.  My friend from work has been busy while I was on deployment leveling up 2 characters to 80 one of them a Death Knight, and bringing more co-workers into our guild.  Without a doubt this game plays upon its greatest strength, ease of play and game mechanics.  There is not a huge mountain to overcome just in trying to learn how the game operates, but this is what Blizzard is great at and has always been good at.   Give people the carrot at the end of the stick, but instead of never giving it to them where they will tire out attempting to chase the same carrot over and over again, give them the carrot after a time, then put a larger carrot on the stick.  Shinnies are awesome, and that feeling of obtaining “Gold” is what always brings one back.  I plan on staying this time to level my Shaman up to 80 this time, mostly because our guild needs healers right now, and I would love to go with them to see “end game” content.

I am going to attempt to make this more of a routine for me, so this week I am going to write more about what I have been playing on the consoles.

iPhones – the start of something great for gaming.

I own an iPhone, I was not by far any of the ones that jumped on the iPhone when it first came out, I waited almost a full year after it launched before I got mine, unwilling at first to give up Verizon just to use the iPhone.  Eventually I made the switch, and have loved my phone ever since I bought it.  I consistently tell friends it is the best phone I have ever purchased/owned.  The ease of use is wonderful, yet with the ease of use, it does not lack on functionality.  Constantly with past phones it never lived up to being everything in one, the iPhone successfully in my eyes has accomplished this.  I can listen to music, watch movies (which I did ALOT of on deployment) receive emails, surf the web, and make phone calls!

Well I am in the Bay Area this weekend visiting my mom, and the wife and I took a trip into the City for a day together.  We took the BART into the city, so we wouldnt have to battle with traffic or parking, and its a great way to just spend time together.  On our return trip home, I noticed how many iPhones were on the train with us.  I counted at least 10 that I could see, and a strong possibility of many more that were in pockets simply playing music.  (simply playing music, ha!)  Of the 10 that I could see out, almost every one of them was playing a game on it.  The Age ranges of the owners of these iPhones was all over the board as well, no one demographic holding reign over the iPhone, male, female, it did not matter.  The games that everyone was playing was as varied as the owners.  Simple logic puzzles, Sudoku, to shooters on the touch screen.  It is amazing to me how one “platform”, which never aspired to do so, could bring so many together in gaming.  This is the start to understanding of what gaming is, what gaming does for others, those who find gaming so engaging and engrossing.  This is the way to understanding that like other mediums, gaming is not evil unto itself, it is not a corruptible force let loose upon an unsuspecting world.  Today was a great day to see so many engaging in my hobby, a hobby I love so much.

I knew I wanted to love this game

So as I had mentioned in my last post, I had tried the welcome back trial to LOTRO and was pleasantly surprised by the game. In my opinion they took a page from World of Warcraft simplifying the game play mechanics giving people the ability to experience a healthy amount of game play without the sometimes inane amount of time that is required to experience a fraction of content in other games such as Everquest 2. This is what stops me from loving this game though. I have mentioned before how when I obtained my epic weapon in Everquest I felt as if I had REALLY accomplished something. It felt epic indeed, and by no means was mine one of the hardest to obtain. In that game mechanic though lay a crucial component to why that game holds such a dear place in my heart even to this day. We relied on each other to accomplish these epic quests. Yes there are many grand raids that occur in todays games, bit most of them are instanced never is there the risk of the mob falling to others or even despawning. This leads to what I refer to as plug and play groups or guilds. I would love to join Revelry and Honor in EQ2 because they sound to me much like the old guilds when members would stay I. The guild because the enjoyed who they games with more than they did the next big mob or fat lewts they were able to tackle. We all enjoyed playing online games and that is what took us forward into the higher zones of the game, not a desire to be better than others or to be the first on the server to cross a threshold. Our reliance on each other is what made us good though and gave us the ability to make those moves into higher zones.

So what has me so riveted now and drawn me away from LOTRO? Eve Online. This game has so much depth to it. As I have said before in other posts the depth of a game is what drives me back to it time and time again. I don’t want to feel that after only a few months of a games launch or expansion that I have seen all the game has to offer. I want to feel like I have accomplished something even when I reach max level. That in and of itself was a milestone in older games. Does that make me part masochistic? I sure hope not cause that would just give my wife the excuse she needs to break out the leather whip to use on me. Sometimes I feel that we have drifted away from the heart of a game. Challenge. The challenge of the game is what brings us to the game, instead of other media forms such as movies. I enjoy the aspect, the danger of loosing everything on my character. Overall I believe it will make me a better player. I want that challenge to test me and make the game interesting instead of merely being entertaining.

I am back and it feels oh so good

So I was taking a short hiatus from gaming upon my return from deployment to allow for me and the family to rebound before I ditched them once again for digital wonderlands. I’m just kidding I would never ditch them, perhaps neglect but never ditch. Actually my wife often compliments me on my gaming time or my self control over gaming time if you will.
Well I did not make it as long game free as I had originally planned to, but as I said my wife is happy I am still playing catch-up with my daughter and spending alot of time with her, but I am a gamer and gaming makes up an integral part of who I am.
I started out when I received an email from Turbine stating that there was going to be a free week of LOTRO for returning players. A few of the podcasts i listen to speak highly of LOTRO so I decided to take Turbine up on it’s offer and give the game another shot. I found myself not disappointed. I don’t know if it has been how long I have been away from online gaming and my desktop computer or if they have truly worked on the graphics of the game, but it was beautiful. Not to mention I was able to run the game with almost all the options for graphics turned up. Something I don’t remember being able to do when I originally played the game. I will admit that I am a bit of a graphics whore and love to see bright shiney graphics, but that is part of what makes this medium so great. I can remember sitting and playing FF VII with my best friend and the summons never getting old or tiresome and constantly looking forward to the next summon unlock.
So the game blew me away graphically and content wise sated a thirst I had not fully realized had been growing inside of me while playing games “unconnected” while on deployment. 75% of the reason I still play Halo 3 is because of the onlne aspect. It surely is not because I am any good or that I revel in domination in the gM’s be ause that clearly is not the case when looking at my kill to death ratio. I simply love the ability to interact with other people even while playing a game. Would FF VII have been nearly the game it was to me at the time or hold the place in my heart had my best friend and I not played that game in to the ground together. I wonder. Now I am not the type of person that has to have a group or else I am going to log off either. I will gladly go off on my own to explore exp grind and quest. The option is always there for me thought to find a group or simply to talk with others that share at least the same interest as me if not the same passion.
Now this post seems to have wandered away from me a bit, where I had meant simply to elaborate on what I was playing and what I thought of the game, it seems I sparked another subject in my own mind at least. So I will save the dislikes I have of the game for my next post, and also the reason that I haven’t subscribed to LOTRO or WOW (what I was playing before I left on deployment).

I guess im not totally game free

So I have been taking a small break from all gaming as a way to reconnect with my family after coming home from deployment. I guess I am not as game free as I had thought I would be. I found an app on facebook I believe due to some friends, Mafia Wars. This is a great little mini game. There are so many avenues to persue from simply leveling up through completing jobs, or fighting with other mafia bosses to accomplishing achievments having to do with milestones throughout the course of the game.  As of now I am lvl 41, and I am unsure if there is even a lvl cap to the game.  I know that I am not even halfway through the “Jobs” or quests for those who have played MMO’s in the past in the starting town of NYC, with moving to Cuba still to look forward to, and the ability to tackle all new “Jobs” and achievements.   From the looks of the game, the developers of the game are very active in adding new content, even if it is just new items for the week.  One of the more interesting facets of the game to be added as of late for me, has been the mini game of robbing other mafia bosses.  Right now it is still in Beta, but has been a great alternative for me to gain experience when my energy for Jobs has run out, and an awesome source of income.  That is the ultimate objective of any mob boss after all is it not.

As I said there are many avenues to persue, and alot of content to keep one hooked into this gem of a game on Facebook.  I highly recommend it to anyone.

Not alot has been going on.

I have been engrossed in Civilization IV since I picked it up last weekend.  I have been having a blast with it, actually attempting to hammer down some different strategies, yet it always seems to come down to brute military strength. “my tanks are bigger than your tanks” Which in turn leads to other stategies because in later games any war would only lead to attrition.  The only way to have a decisive advantage would be to locate and control certain resources.  Yet on a large map it would be next to impossible to locate specific resources and either take them by expansion or force.  So end games come down to how many tanks you can push out the fastest or attempting to win by culture, space race, or diplomatic victory.  I never enjoy the end game of Civ IV as much as I enjoy the beginning and middle of the game.

Other than Civ IV not too much gaming has been going on.  I have really found a great stress relief in Rock Band.  I feel so much more relaxed after thrashing on the guitar to a hard song after work.  I have let my MMO accounts lapse for the time being.  I was going to wait and decide if I wanted to play Warhammer coming out next month instead of WoW, yet now am waiting for word back from MMORPG.com on a volunteer position for a Game Correspondent.  I decided to apply for EQ2 because not matter what game I find or how long I spend away I love that game.  The depth, dedication and satisfaction that one receives in accomplishing even just leveling continue to draw me back.  Not to mention that it is a gorgeous game. I enjoy finding unexplored areas (well at least for me) and taking in the sights.  So in the MMO realm we will see what happens in the next couple weeks before I settle in again for some good ole EXP grinding.

Civilization Revolution

This was another game I rented over the weekend.  Good game.  It did not disappoint in regards to being a Civ game.  It is a solid Civ game, yet it left me wanting more.  I will call it Civ Lite, half the Civ calories leaves you not feeling guilty for gorging on all that Civ goodness.  I found the most enjoyable part, for me would have been getting more achievements through the game.  Wanting to go back and play through every culture in order to get more achievements was a big draw for me, and since you could complete a game in 3 hours it is really an incredible undertaking.  What I ended up doing though was re-loading Civ IV on the computer and playing until 4 in the morning and waking up in the morning and going right back to my glorious Zambacrombies Empire.  (Yes Zambacrombies is the name of my civilization….it comes from way back when a group of friends and I would get together and play Risk…long story). Revolution left me wanting just a little more meat to the game, especially since I had played the game before.  There were alot of tweaks and nuances that I wanted to adjust, but it just was not in the game.  For someone who has never played the game before, Im sure they will find it very appealing, because I did.  It was just a good appetizer, and I later went on to the main course.

I fell for it.

I had been trying to get friends and family to play EQ2 with me.  My lovely wife, even attempted to play with me one night, but as with everyone else the overall dedication that is required to really enjoy the game was too much for her.  About 2 months ago, I had a friend approach me at work  and ask if I had ever heard of World of Warcraft…really? No, only 11 million subscribers, yet somehow this game had gone through my game radar.  Of course I had heard of the game, and actually had played a year to a year and a half ago.  All the reasons that everyone ends up being turned off by EQ2 are all the reasons that I am turned off of WoW and interested in EQ2.  I love the dedication that is required, and the feeling of accomplishment when you complete a quest series or even make a level.

Well unfortunately, I have not been playing EQ2 for the past 2 months, but instead playing WoW, just for the associations.  Everyone can get into this game it seems, I have even heard my wife whispering that she could play WoW alot easier than she could EQ2.  This is nothing bad against EQ2, I have made some good friends inside the game, yet these are not people that I talk to on the phone or around the “water-cooler” on monday.  The scary part is I have found myself enjoying myself.  Alot more than when I had played a  year and half ago.  I even find myself looking forward to the upcoming expansion.

Who knew