Tastes Gamey

This blog is about stuff. Sometimes that stuff has to do with MMORPGs.

Author: neschria

I logged into this site this evening to see a news bit here linking to an article on video game addiction in a New Jersey paper, which in part described "the most severe case" that psychologist Edward Merski had ever seen. The game involved in that case was EverQuest, and the article said Merski helped the boy and his family get a grip earlier this year.

I wonder if it was EQ1 or EQ2. "EverQuest" means the first game to me, but I have run into many people for whom it means the newer game. If it was EQ1, that seems really odd to me; I could see it happening maybe 5 years ago, but now? That would be weird. And why use "the most severe" case as an illustration instead of a "typical" case? Oh, yeah... Some guy with social issues and low grade depression isn't as sensational as a violent kid.

Anyway, the point I am trying to get to is why does it always seem to be EverQuest, when you read these stories? I've seen a couple of things citing the addiction potential of World of Warcraft, but this particular article didn't mention even one other game by name, even when referencing MMORPGs more generally. ("The AMA report said excessive video gaming was most common among massive, multiple online role-playing games such as EverQuest, an ongoing fantasy game.") One would have thought World of Warcraft would have at least gotten an "or" mention in that reference. While readers of the Star-Ledger may not have heard of EQ before, there is a good chance at least some of them know someone who plays World of Warcraft.

In an earlier blog entry, I had wondered why it seems that EQ and WoW get a lot of negative press while Second Life seems to get a pass... when it isn't mentioned in connection with kiddie porn and "virtual terrorism"... If I suddenly have time to do research, I think I might go out and look for news bits across the web and see if there's evidence for that, or if everything gets bad press all around. I'd be interested to see how many of these articles I can turn up from local papers and radio stations across the US and maybe across the world.

Go, go, gadget Google!

If you haven't been following my saga (and, really, why would you?), I'll bring you up to speed: We're getting ready to move. First we have to sell our house, and to that end, we've been cleaning and packing and trying to make it look bigger. My desktop PC got packed. I am on an old, slow laptop until the move is complete. I don't have a lot of spare time right now, so it hardly seems worth it to pay for a game anyway, so I thought I just wouldn't play anything. That's when the late night boredom started creeping up on me and I started looking for free games I could play on this laptop.

My husband had previously installed VCO on this computer. That's Voyage Century, for those of you that are snagged on the tangled underbrush of MMORPG abbreviations. It runs ok, except for the part where it crashes if I zone more than twice. That is, I can go to the high sea and float around, and then return to a city's local port, but entering the city at the dock = crash. Or I can go into a suburb and harvest, then come out to the city, but when I try to go out on the sea or back to the suburbs... Dumped to desktop!  This is frustrating. It has kept me from playing VCO since I switched to the laptop.

I could, in theory, anticipate the crashes and maximize my time in each playing area, planning ahead to make some kind of progress with minimal restarting. The problem is obnoxious in its regularity. This is, by the way, a quirk of running it on this crappy laptop. None of this happens when I play on my PC, which makes it all the more infuriating because I know it doesn't HAVE to be this way.

I briefly installed Trickster Online, thinking that something that looked so primitive should run well. I was totally wrong about that, and I couldn't seem to do anything to make it run better, so it went to the great recycling bin in the sky pretty quickly. It didn't crash, at least. It went for the lag-and-freeze method of pissing me off. It had run ok on my PC when I had tried it there, but it didn't really capture my attention then either, so it was no big loss that the laptop refused to go on running it after a few minutes. (Maybe the laptop is smarter than I give it credit for.)

So, yesterday, in  a fit of insanity, I decided to download and install Shadowbane. Now, I know it is a game with issues. I've messed around with it a little when it went free. Last time I played, on my desktop PC, it crashed randomly. Sometimes I had 5 minutes, sometimes it ran like a champ for hours. But how irritated can I be at random crashes when I know they are likely? I guess it aggravates me less because it isn't the laptop's fault. I'd be at the mercy of whatever twisted gods control the stability of the Shadowbane client, no matter what I was playing it on.

What am I going to do in Shadowbane? I don't know anyone. I don't really have a good grip... or any grip... on the details of the game or how it is played. I remain a complete newb, despite browsing newbie guides. I figure I am going to bumble around the newbie areas, trying different classes/templates, for a while. I might try to talk to people. I am notoriously slow at leveling, even in games where it is easy and quick, so I imagine that will keep me occupied until I get my real PC back. It may not REALLY be playing Shadowbane, but it is enough to fill in a few moments of boredom here and there.

I might actually check out Shadowbane a little more seriously if the cyclical server thing goes in. (http://mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/135940 for redirection to threads elsewhere) The idea of a winner being declared and starting over sounds like fun to me. I think it would be a constant refresh on a game that could otherwise get stale. It also takes the focus away from building a character to controlling territory, which would be an interesting change from the mainstream. I might actually try to play for real on such a server.

I am hoping that we have a little money left over from this move to allow me to purchase a new desktop PC. Call me a masochist, but part of me is dying to try Vanguard. It's morbid curiosity. I do hold out a little hope for it in the longterm. SOE may be an evil, money-grubbing corporation that doesn't care about games or players, as some people around here like to say, but they do care about money, and they didn't buy VG just to flush it down the toilet.

Anyway, when EQ2 was released, I went with WoW, and when they first released a trial for EQ2 (about the same time I upgraded my computer so I could play it!), I hated it. They turned that game around. It's actually fun now. Sure, they may have lost a few people who couldn't stand to see it changed, but I am sure they've made it up in new and returning players. Let's give them a chance to take VG into the shop and see if they can put a little polish on it.

Maybe it will even be good by the time I can actually try it out. Maybe the demo will be out by then so I won't have to buy it to find out.

It's going to be a lot harder for Vanguard to come back from launch than it was for Anarchy Online (a game I purchased on release day, so I know how baaaad it was), because there are new releases on a regular basis these days. Back then, games came along one at a time instead of in hunting (for customers) in packs. Vanguard may have blown its chance to be top dog, but it still stands a chance of running in the middle of the pack if they can pull it together and at least get it stable.

(There's a one-liner about Shadowbane and stability somewhere, waiting to come in at this point and tie this entry together, but it hasn't quite come together for me. Feel free to supply your own.)

My daughter brought in quite a cash haul for her birthday, so she decided to take me to the movies. We went to see Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End (hereafter called Pirates 3, like it was on the ticket stubs). As we watched the movie, she giggled and looked strangely embarrassed. The reason is that her name is Calypso.

 Yes. For real.

She was more than a little irritated last weekend when someone on Gaia asked her name and then said,  "No, it isn't. That's not a real name. You got that from that movie." There was just no explaining that it really was her real name.

Calypso has seen her name on washing machines and juice boxes, but this is her first experience with having a movie character that has her first name. I guess if your name is Mike or Jessica, you get used to seeing your name used for TV and movie characters, as well as other people in real life. When your name is more unusual, you don't have a chance to get used to it, so I suspect it always feels a little strange.

For what it's worth, she loves her name. She gets compliments on it frequently and feels like it something different and special. It's a lot easier for girls to have unusual names than boys, I think.

I knew an enchanter in EQ1 named Kalypso. That didn't strike anyone as unusual because people give their characters all sorts of names in games. Some people get very irritated by the names that other people choose.  Some people enjoy the smarter, funnier non-RP names that people come up with, and roll their eyes at the really bad ones.  There are those who feel it ruins their immersion to be grouped with a gnome mage named "Gnommage"  or a warrior named something like "Hoozyadaddi", and they may be quick on the /petition of any of those names that may violate the naming policy of whatever game they are playing.

And then there are those games that have no naming policy or policing at all. I am sure you know what I am talking about if you've found yourself in the  company of illustrious heroes that are named things like  "killu4fun" and  "xXStarstrike87Xx". I am not one of those hardcore immersion fanatics, but even I find those a little jarring.

 I roll my eyes just a little when I see a "NounVerber"  or "VerbingNoun" name. You know, names like "Moonsinger" or  "Flowingfire". They don't really bug or bother me. It's just a little formulaic. I really do enjoy a clever, funny, or goofy name, though, even if it is a Nounverber or a VerbingNoun sort.

Ya gotta love the bard (or related music-based class) names. How many variations on and combinations with "Singer", "Melody", "Harmony", and "Music" can you imagine? I am sure they've all been used. They are almost as predictable as the healer names: "Heelen", "Healinu", "Rezzez", etc.

I had a character named Kensha, which people seemed to associate with Kenshin, a name I was unaware of when I randomly generated and accepted that name. I had another named Mirin, which apparently was used for some sort of race of elves in some RPG or book or something, as well as being a Japanese wine used in cooking. I didn't know any of that either. I was just chopping another randomly generated name down to something pronounceable. And it worked-- people always pronounced it correctly (Meer-in) right off in Vent and/or TS... It was apparently perceived as a male name, though. I got a lot of "he" and "him" references in chat channels when people hadn't seen my (female) character or heard my voice.  Unaeni was another name that I got from the random name generator, as was Teadanu, which was the basis of all the other names on that account (Teadan, Teadana, Teadani, Teadanae, etc.)

I don't think anyone knows how to pronounce "Unaeni" correctly. Not even me.

I had some names that were not randomly generated too. My druid was named Gwenna and my bard was Lisabet. My hunter in WoW was Janna... which, I have to admit, isn't a particularly Orcish name. Zeysha was my undead mage, which was not out of the generator, but I don't remember what I was thinking when I created that one. Much earlier in my EQ career, I had (or still have, really, on AB, where I /movelogged her) a dark elf shadow knight named Jeezlueez Beegtrouble. My husband had an erudite mage (same server, same era) named Yirrin Beegtrouble-- but you can blame the random name generator for that first name.

 I had an EQ wizard named Keldfyre, too, a name that has been blocked by the filter on all servers since for no apparent reason. All I can figure is that I made up a name that some fantasy author also made up (because neither of us is as original or clever as we think) or there's something offensive in there that I am just not seeing. I asked for it to be unblocked so I could reuse it when the Progression servers came about and they were reviewing names and taking requests on the official forums,  but I never got a response.

And now, back to the topic of my daughter, Calypso, for the promised animated GIFs. Her father bought her some clay and she's been busy making her own little claymations. Being the proud mom, I am going to show them off:

She posted them on myspace, so I am going to assume she doesn't mind people seeing them.

My kids are obsessed with Gaia Online. I have actually had an account there longer than any of them except my daughter's boyfriend, but I have never really done anything with it because it just really isn't my thing. What would I do there? Post on the forums? That's what MMORPG.com is for!  Play games? Ummm... No matter what they have, it's not EQ. It's not even WoW.

Nonetheless, I do have a really cute avatar there. My daughter sent me her extra eggs from the Easter event, so I am not just represented by an unbearably cute anime doll anymore. Now I have a chick-infested unbearably cute anime doll.  The cute is almost too much to bear. Thankfully, I am a woman, and we are experts on handling excessive adorability. It's our superpower.

It is late again tonight. Last night's late posting was certainly not my best. It got cut a little short, too, when my husband sort of shoved me and the laptop over so he could get in bed and then turned out the light. Darn him and his regular work schedule!

So... What was I  going to post about? (See, this is why I should post when I am awake. I'm less loopy at 3:00 in the afternoon than I am at 1:00 in the morning...) Oh, yes. Sci-fi MMORPGs. That was it.

I liked Anarchy Online very much when I played it. I loved the environments and the concepts. I thought there was a little too much that approached magic in it. I know, nanos, blah blah blah. Yeah, and I know what Arthur C. Clarke said about "any sufficiently advanced technology". I'm not buying it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I really did like the game. I just didn't like it leaning so far over the fantasy fence.

I also played Star Wars Galaxies. I know some people complained that it wasn't "Star Warsy" enough for them, but I didn't feel that way when I was dancing in a cantina on Tatooine. It was good enough for me. Still, by virtue of being based on Star Wars, it couldn't help being science fantasy to some degree. (I played before the NGE thing... please... let's not beat that horse any longer. It's dead, Jim.) 

What else did I play? EVE. Ah, yes. I only did the free trial of EVE, but it was enough for me to know it wasn't the game I was looking for. I am just one of those people that really can't relate to being a ship. I want to get out of my ship and collect samples of strange flora, or maybe bash some alien skulls so that we can build a base where their village used to be. Being stuck in my ship isn't for me.

I did a trial run of RFOnline. Again with the magic mixed with technology, this time in an Asian-style MMO format. Um. No.

I am not a huge sci-fi fan, but even I get tired of pointy-eared freaks who live in the forest and guys who can throw fireballs with their bare hands.  I think I'd like to hop into a Mech-type thing and stomp around a little. That would be fun. As I mentioned in a previous entry, chicks dig giant robots. I'd like to be on a mission to explore, or to conquer, or to defend, but I want it thoroughly grounded in a sci-fi setting, not just fantasy wrapped in tin foil and called science fiction.

I'd like to see technology more advanced but at least related to where we are now. Consider, if you will, the difference between the bridge of the Enterprise when Kirk was captain compared to what the newer Enterprise looked like when Picard was captain. There is a possible vision of the future that looks like it evolved from the past. Each of the shows I mentioned had a set that reflected the times. So what if technology became something else between one and the other? It is a little more grounded than imagining technology so far advanced that you might as well have magic and call it something else. Lightning from fingertips is lightning from fingertips, no matter what your explanation, and in our world, that's called "magic". Enough already! 

 Maybe one of the new titles coming up will be all that I am wishing for. I dunno. What I said about Spore applies-- I won't hold my breath based on hype alone.

I really do wish I could play a game where player action had enough impact that we really could destroy an alien culture and build a base where their village used to be. That's probably the Holy Grail even in fantasy games: a dynamic world where player actions have an impact. It's probably also a long way off, if it ever happens. I actually have a lot more to say on that particular topic, but not tonight. Time for bed. Tomorrow....er... later today... I'll just have to try to remember what I wanted to say when I am stumbling around like a zombie who didn't get enough sleep.

Rather than writing a whole bunch of blog entries, I thought I would just write one combined one. I hope someone, somewhere, gets a laugh out of this.

So, I logged into mmorpg.com tonight and I saw that I had a message in my inbox. A message for ME. Hurrah! I was very disappointed when I actually saw it, though. It's the 4th message I've gotten lately from "ladies" who think I am the man for them. Please, allow me to share some of the comedy that I keep getting. And in case it has slipped past anyone, I am a woman. 

I am taking the URLs out because I really don't want to advertise the sites of the irritating idiots. I've never actually clicked on the links for fear of catching something nasty.

Who is Kurt and why does he have bimbos writing to him through my inbox? Don't worry, Jaroslavna. I'll deliver the message when and if I ever meet a desperate guy named Kurt.

I am also very curious, but not THAT curious.

 I can't even think of any comment that could make this funnier than it is on its own.

Neither complicated nor simple? How about scammerrific and annoying? Yes. I think that fits.

My husband was watching America's Got Talent, and I was in and out of the room quite a bit while it was on. I did get to see some fellow named Alex who had a talent for breaking miscellaneous objects with his butt. He broke two pencils and a ruler, and then bent a fork. Now, he had to know that he wasn't going to go on with that... But who cares! He got to break stuff with his butt on national television. I can almost see him sitting around with his buddies, brainstorming something outrageously stupid to do in front of TV cameras.

-"Hey, how about if I break stuff with my butt cheeks?"

-" Dude... You can do that?!"

I loved it. I thought it was hilarious.

I started to write an entry this afternoon about whether or not Spore could possibly live up to people's expectations, but then all hell broke loose here, so I didn't get that posted. Let me see if I can summarize my thoughts quickly.

I played SimCity in its various versions over the years. It was a bit of an addiction. I played SimEarth and SimAnt, and a bunch of other Sim- titles. I adored The Sims and I am still playing The Sims 2. (Not going to get into The Sims Online. I'll just say it wasn't my cup of tea.) I am all set to love Spore. I watched an hour long video of Will Wright showing it off (Google Videos, search for Spore... it's the one that's an hour long. =P ) and thought to myself that it looked like a game I would completely adore, even if they never finished adding textures and so on.

Now, I know that games get delayed. My problem isn't the delay. The announcement of the delay gave me a chance to think a little bit, though. Can the game possibly be all that I hope? What features are going to get chopped? What happens if it is regeared too much in the direction of appealing to fans of The Sims? So many questions.

I've learned from my MMORPG experience that you can't believe the hype. Having expectations way too high can lead to disappointment, even if the game isn't really too bad. Can this game possibly be as good as I hope it is? Maybe I should apply what I've learned and temper my enthusiasm a little.

I was sitting in my car with my windows down recently, listening to a brother and sister in the next car over arguing over whether or not he could rap. "Don't talk about it, be about it!" said his sister. I hope Will Wright and Maxis aren't just talking about it.

I am about to pack up my desktop, and as my laptop won't play EQ2, I thought it would be best to unsubscribe before I get charged for July. In order to unsubscribe, I had to answer a security question, and then I was asked why I was quitting (check boxes) and what they could do to keep me from unsubscribing (radio buttons-- I picked "the ability to hire NPC group members" this time. Last time I picked "broader range of avatar customization" or something to that effect). Finally, I was taken to the confirmation page, but rather than a simple yes and no, it asked me if I realized that they'd made many changes since launch, and I picked the "Yes, and I want to cancel anyway" button.

They really, really, really didn't want to let me go. I half expected the doorbell to ring when I pushed the button, with a CSR from SOE kneeling on the doorstep, begging me not to cancel.

So, my eldest child showed up the other day with the PS2 version of Harvest Moon for me. He said, "Only you and I are nerdy enough to really enjoy a game about farming." He might be right about that.

And I do enjoy it. I <3 it. I <3 it very much. It took me a couple of days to get around to playing it, but yesterday I booted kids off the PS2 and sat down to play. I have a couple of small gripes about the controls, particularly when it comes to picking squares out to water crops, but for the most part, I just love it. I played for a long time. That's saying something, as I am vaguely frightened by consoles and their weird controllers.

In a fit of unoriginality, I named my little farmer "Farmboy" and the farm is "Farmy Farm".  I have a cow named Boo, and another named Eeek. I have a rooster named Foghorn and hens named Chika and Jenny. I have a horse named George. I think I've just about convinced Celia, who lives down the road, to marry Farmboy. It's a wonderful life.

And this is my secret shame. Here I am on this site, posting in these forums, writing this blog, and I am not at all what any self-respecting gamer would recognise as one of his (or her) own. Outside of MMORPGs, the only games I have installed are The Sims 2 and Age of Empires 2, and I only play the latter in family LAN games. And, of course, Solitaire, etc.

I can play me some Solitaire, let me tell you! I like Spider Solitaire especially.

The hour counts from Xfire are telling. The EQ2 count is way off because Xfire doesn't seem to recognise it if you are playing in windowed mode, and I always play in windowed mode because I am always chatting in IMs if I am actually at the keyboard. But the pattern of numbers, putting The Sims 2 way out in front, looks right. I had stopped using Xfire but started up a couple of months ago, and I run it pretty much all the time now.

I don't think The Sims 2 is a game that those who call themselves "gamers" would admit to playing so much. And I am not sure that Harvest Moon would be a big hit with the gamer crowd either.

So, I am not a gamer. If I post things that seem really outlandish to the gamers out there, I apologize. I am just a fool running around where I don't belong.

Ok, I feel better after my little rant and getting some caffeine into my system. This is one of those marginally-game-related-at-the-end posts. Just a warning.

I've lately been saying "I heart it. I heart it very much", just for the sake of the weird looks I get from close friends and family. I don't know why, but that particular phrase just makes me giggle. It's so stupid and yet so... I dunno... cute, maybe. And I am all about the cute.

Who is it? Seabass...something or other... who has the sig line about making women happy by giving them money and telling them to go buy shoes? Something like that. Anyway, I have always been baffled by why other women love shoes so much. My own mother has an impressive collection, while I am pretty much satisfied to have 2 pairs of shoes I can wear, and I wear them out before buy new ones. I recently realized why it is that I hate buying- and wearing, if I am being totally honest- any kind of shoes. I have freaky feet that are hard to fit.

I went into a shoe place because the flats I'd been wearing were hurting my feet, and I spent over an hour looking and trying on shoes before I gave up and bought a pair of flip-flops that were a size larger than what I usually wear. I have have short, very wide feet with a high arch that makes the top of my foot high and arched too.  Finding a shoe that's wide enough without being too long and fits over the top of my foot is impossible. I hate it. I've hardly ever had any shoes that fit me properly, so I don't wear shoes at all if there is any way I can avoid it. I wear sandals a lot in the summer.

No wonder I don't understand the shoe thing. Buying shoes is torture.

I am not very apparel oriented either, so I never even see other people's shoes. I tend to look at faces and not clothes, so if I meet you, I will likely remember your face, but if someone asked me in 5 minutes what you were wearing when I met you, I'd draw a blank.

What makes this all so funny is that I am extremely gear-oriented in games.  This is what I loved about Lineage 2, at least at the low end where I was-- every new set of armor was a whole new look to go with the upgrades. And this is one of the things that I don't like about EQ2-- there might be different "looks", but in the end, it is all too realistic-- too buttoned up, covering everything. I am just not into metal mittens. Sorry.  Nonetheless, I will happily look like I got dressed in the dark out of a rag bag if I can squeeze just a couple more HP or AC out of it. I wore a lot of mismatched sets in EQ1 just for that little bit more that put it over the top. ( I like my armor to go to 11. )

     Hey, I just don't want someone's parents bitching at me when they walk by and see repeated use of the F-word  and references to genital anatomy in one chat box of guild text. It's not a maturity issue.

     (EDIT: Perhaps I should have specified "adult only (DUE TO  EXTREMELY CRASS, VULGAR LANGUAGE AND HUMOR IN GUILDCHAT)" but I didn't really expect anyone to go leaping to conclusions and freak out. Sheesh. I've been reprimanded more than once for inappropriate humor, along with some of my favorite guildies-- in once case,  just for suggesting that Innoruuk (EQ1 evil god) might be gay-- so I am dead set against censoring guild chat.  I know as a parent that I would want my kids in a clean chat guild... But I don't want to be in a guild with my kids either. I am grouped with them CONSTANTLY in real life. )

     (EDIT: Post script to the post script:  "I would certainly not want to join the guild of a narrow-minded creator".  That was so very mature, right there. I know I like to go directly to the ad hominem arguement right away when I have a point to make. I definitely increases credibility. You should stick with that tactic.... Or maybe save the personal attacks for the PS to the PS.  ((Hey... If I can't laugh at myself... Well, I think I am hilarious, so that wouldn't happen.)))

I am insanely busy. I've been thinking that I wanted to write a blog entry about the difficulties of finding time to play and what that means for me, but it hasn't even been easy for me to find time to write. At least I can write and go AFK and come back two hours later and start again. I've noticed that you tend to get kicked out of groups if you do that while playing MMORPGs.

Now, there are some MMORPGs that you can play while AFK. It is easy to make some kind of progress while AFK in Voyage Century or Granado Espada. I just don't think that constitutes playing at all. Why not just  run Progress Quest instead and remove the illusion that you're actually playing? If the game is such a grind that you don't even want to be there for it, shouldn't that tell you something? Perhaps they should just lop off the grind and start you out at... well, whatever there is after all the grinding. I've never quite gotten that far in one of those games. But maybe that's because I insist on actually sitting at the keyboard when I play.

(Oh, take a deep breath if I have insulted your sensibility as a VCO or GE fan. I have both games installed and I don't hate either of them. Sheesh. If you are insulted by anything I say, I can't imagine what you'd do if I were someone important talking about something that mattered.)

My current "main" game is EQ2. I am somewhat satisfied with my ability to make progress solo in short bursts. I tried to come back to an inquisitor I had been playing before when I was part of a duo, but I found it kind of frustrating solo, so I've been messing with a wizard, conjuror, and bruiser, trying to settle on one. I don't get to play for 3 or 4 hours straight, ever. Right now, I might play for 3 or 4 hours, but it is in 20 minute sessions spread out over the whole day. I'd like to get on to the endgame someday, but it won't be any time soon. I can only hope things are less crazy after we move.

I realize that people don't play MMORPGs to solo and that I should just go play a single player RPG if I am not going to socialize. I've read that response a gazillion times in the forums. The thing is that I do like to group and socialize, but when life gets like it is for me right now, I am not someone you want in your group. Like the kid who gets called away for dinner and to take out the trash, I am not the most reliable at being behind the controls at all times. My kids need help, my phone rings, the cat gets out, I have to go drive someone or something from one place to another, and all this normal stuff on top of trying to paint and clean to sell our house.

Why do I try to play at all? Well, I need some downtime, too. That's what we all play for, right?

Topic #1: EQ1 Yesterday and Today

I think EQ1 lost some of its soul when NPC factions largely became meaningless. PoK and Guild Hall have made it easy to travel without faction work. Even in places where it might still matter, there are relatively painless fixes. After killing enough caimans for the gnome in Ro, even my dark elf SK can walk up to the paladin patrols in Freeport and give them a big ol' /hug. That didn't take weeks of killing like the old days-- a few hours, and I've been forgiven for my dastardly deeds. And the kicker is that there's no downside; it is all positive faction across all the factions in Freeport.

I think that there could have been a better implementation so that changing factions wouldn't be a matter of slaughtering the right mobs til you hit the magic number or rinse-and-repeat questing, but that's forgiveable for the time when the game was released.  At least there was some sort of small scale dynamic play for each individual character as they worked on faction or tried to sneak around or outrun guards who would kill them. It wasn't a cookie cutter experience from one character to another. Often, you had to make a decision about whether doing something was worth the faction hit. Now, through much of the game, the decisions are either made for you, or they are a complete no-brainer. I think it might be possible to do something more now, but that seems an idea that's mostly abandoned.

These days, on regular servers, nearly everyone starts in Gloomingdeep and then goes on to Crescent Reach, so everyone from high elf paladins to troll shadow knights are sharing the same space from level 1. This is necessary, in this day of low population, so that people are consolidated into the same zones in order to occasionally see someone else in the game at the lower levels. This doesn't mean I can't lament the loss of part of the soul of Norrath, however.

Topic #2: Odd Hobbies

It is much easier to explain to people who invent languages as a hobby that you play MMORPGs than it is to explain to your guildies that you invent languages when you're not playing whatever game you play.

Topic #3: My dark secrets (personal stuff)

I recently posted a picture in The Pub on (yet another) thread about males playing females. The fat guy in the inset part of that picture is my husband. No, he doesn't always look that manic, and he's let his hair grow back in... what there is of it, anyway. We're about as different as two people can be, though, so we're looking into buying a duplex so that our children can live with both of us without us actually living together. (Go ahead and laugh. I do. LOL.)

I am taking photos of my daughter's carebears. You know they are going to show up here with captions sooner or later.

The mouth hanging open seemed to suggest that my poor ratonga was shocked by something. (Pawla on Najena, if you want to look me up. Level 23 inquisitor... )

Once upon a time, I played a male necromancer in EQ1, a follower of Bertoxxulous. I did this little sketch of him at the time. He was bald and had a goatee in the game, but he didn't look quite so wasted. I figure worshipping the Plaguebringer isn't good for your health. Yes, I can point out a thousand things wrong with this picture, and it was never finished... but it made me happy anyway:

I am allergic to certain brands of shampoo, so I know just what this feels like... Anyway, SS from EQ1,  Relic, PoR expansion, Circle Champions thing... IIRC.

I am a little baffled that Second Life seems to get so much positive press in the mainstream media, aside from the recent child porn reports, while EverQuest (a few years ago) and now World of Warcraft are demonized as these addictive games that are turning kids into suicidal, flesh-eating zombies. Ok, that's not EXACTLY how it is reported, but the negative spin is so bad most of the time that they might as well say that. This is how I have perceived the coverage I have seen-- there's a chance that I've missed all the anti-Second Life, Pro-WoW coverage, so maybe I am totally wrong.

It seems to come down to two things: the perception of productivity-- in Second Life, as they often report, you can build things and sell them for real money without going "under the table" with the goldseller equivalent in WoW and other games.  Therefore, Second Life isn't a waste of time; it's a brand new sort of business opportunity. Also, Second Life isn't really a game, and seems to come off as this wonderful virtual world where anyone can be anything they want (even if they really want to be a puppy), while WoW and EQ are games, and so not worthy of the time of normal, serious adults.  

I am not against virtual worlds that aren't really games,  or even things that really are nothing but graphical chat rooms. I am just surprised that they generally get better press. It simply doesn't make sense to me. I am sure there are people out there wasting their lives and losing everything because they like their Second Life better than their first, just as I know for a fact that many people play World of Warcraft or EverQuest and still manage to pay their bills or make good grades. They are all time-wasting amusements if you feel like every moment of your day has to be filled with something worthy and meaningful. You only get the illusion that you're doing something "real" when you don't have to say that you're "playing a game".

Any MMORPG that doesn't already have advertising in it is a refuge from the constant bombardment of commercial and propaganda messages that saturate our lives otherwise, from TV and radio commercials to highway billboards to the branding splashed on the T-shirts of people walking past us at the mall. Second Life, on the other hand, is sort of the opposite kind of environment. Sure, there are free things to see and do, but there are also people there with an agenda and an eye on your wallet. Noone is going to set up a campaign headquarters, embassy, or online boutique in Azeroth. It's a whole different animal.

I had actually intended to hit several different topics, but I seem to be stuck on just this one. No offense is intended against people who use and enjoy Second Life. My beef is with people on the outside who are giving legitimacy to one format and sensationalizing the dangers of another. That's all.

I've also posted these on my myspace pics and on my yahoo 360 before. I know, they are ugly and straight out of MSPaint (for real), but I didn't put more than 10 minutes into both, combined, including the time it took to upload them... I was actually looking for screenshots to edit and post, but I kind of thought the nerd:boring_people ratio here was high enough that maybe someone out there would look and giggle if I reposted them here.

Anyway, blame Megas XLR if you want, but chicks really do dig giant robots. At least I do. Perhaps I can make this MMORPG related after all: More giant robots! Fewer elves!

The beauty of many MMORPGs is the open-ended gameplay of the virtual world, beyond the standard linear progression that may be built into the game. When the game starts to get stale, there is always the possibility to find a creative way to change the gameplay experience.

You can go to the EverQuest forums here or at the official site to read comments, criticisms and complaints people have about the game, from the top-heavy and shrinking population of this older game to whether the game has changed too much or not enough over the years. I don't want to rehash all that. Instead, I am going to suggest some things that you might do if you have some like-minded, lunatic friends who want to approach the game from a new angle. Most of this could be adapted to other games as well, but I am going to stick to EQ1-based ideas for this entry. My suggestions aren't really solo-player friendly, but my suggestions are mainly to get people thinking about the possibilities open to them within the game, whatever that game is.

1. Play TSS as a new game. Start new characters in Crescent Reach and stay in TSS zones exclusively, without twinking and powerleveling. Do the zillions of quests in that expansion, and think of it as a game in itself. I did this when the expansion was released, and it was fun. I think you'd have to bring your own group/friends at this point, though.

1a. A variation on the restriction theme: Classic EQ without the Classic server. Some guilds have tried this already. It is simple enough-- go old school and only play in old world zones, cutting off at whatever expansion you and your comrades can agree on. I realize some of those zones have been changed and re-vamped, but one might try to take a positive attitude about the changes and use it as an opportunity to have a new experience of the old world, even if they don't really LIKE the changes.

2. Gnomercy! Start an all gnome guild called "The Unpuntables" or a guild full of perpetually intoxicated bards and paladins, or emo dark elves-- the possibilities are endless. Theme and humorous roleplay guilds can provide a fun change of pace. Light roleplay has given me a lot of fun across the spectrum of games I have played, from EQ to AO to WoW. Consider it something fun on the side, but be open to letting it become more.

3. Go Red Team! This is another specialty guild suggestion: form a "red" guild on a "blue" server. ' Red'  (PvP flagged) characters can't be healed or buffed by 'blue' (regular) characters, so this one requires a degree of commitment to one another to make it work. The point isn't the PvP, unless you want to spar with each other or form two guilds to play out a war between raids. The idea is to create a guild that does everything "in house". You are excluding yourself from other players, on one hand, but that makes it an exclusive club, on the other, and everything you accomplish as a guild, you know that you did it on your own. This is probably a little more "hardcore" and a little more commitment than most players are willing to make, but perhaps you have some slightly insane friends willing to at least try it on the side with alts.

4. Tuesday Night Brawl. This idea isn't strictly mine-- lots of people arrange to get together to do something other than grind and raid. "Tuesday Night Brawl"  was what it was called in the last guild I was in. It could range from events in the Arena to runs through older zones to triggered events. It doesn't even have to be a guild thing. Some of the people I play EQ2 with still play EQ1 together on Wednesday nights, just doing one group stuff, for instance.

5. Set new goals for a different kind of progression. Ok, so you're not really into chasing after the latest raid content, or maybe you don't have anything to do on your guild's off nights. Set yourself some new goals-- collect old zone keys that you might have skipped with the character you are playing now, or try to do as many monster missions as you can (regardless of the reward) for the sake of being able to say you've done them. There's so much content out there, you could keep yourself busy for a long time trying to accomplish whatever you set your sights on, even if it isn't strictly "progress" in the mainstream sense.

These are just a few ideas. I am sure other people can come up with better, more creative ideas. I realize that this isn't the sort of thing that will appeal to people who are very game achievement oriented, but if you aren't afraid of being told that "you're doing it wrong," and you'd like to play in and with the virtual world as much as you like playing the game, all you need to do is be a little creative.

Hurrah! Now I can funnel all my vanity screenshots, adventure stories, and game-related musing to this blog instead of my other blogs or, worse, my forum posts. I'll reserve this space for my random randomness, so people who enjoy that sort of thing can find it, and all the people who have me blocked on the boards can unblock me, just in case I decide to say something interesting and insightful.

Cha! Like that's going to happen!

I think I ought to start out with a little background information before I launch into any further entries. I suppose this would be a good time to post my whole MMOResumé, but I'm just going to list titles and be done with it: I bought and played UO, EQ, AC, AO, DAoC, WoW, FFXI, SWG, EQ2 and L2. (I won't swear to that order in a court of law, but that's pretty close to the right order.) I played a lot of games in beta, including AC2, SWG, Planetside, The Sims Online, and Seed. I've played a lot of free games, good and bad. My currently installed games are EverQuest 2, Voyage Century Online, and Granado Espada (the IAH version).

In real life, I am a 36 year old mother of 6. You wouldn't think that would leave a lot of time for gaming, but it isn't as bad as it sounds. I didn't have 6 kids back-to-back, so I don't have a million little kids running underfoot. My oldest is 18 and my youngest is 2. (Yes, that means I had a kid when I was 18. I wouldn't recommend it for most people, but I don't have any regrets about it.)

I am playing EverQuest 2 now. I am really enjoying the Neriak-related content. SOE may have a bad reputation as an evil and sadistic, money-grubbing corporation from the firey bowels of Hell, but they sure did put out a really nice free update to EQ2 there. I don't really consider the Arasai a different race from the Fae, but they do have some cool wings and it is good to see some evil fairies. (Go, go Unseelie Court!)

I had been playing Lineage 2 and really enjoying that too, but I decided to switch to EQ2 for a couple of reasons. For one, I need to get my house fixed up and sold. That doesn't leave a lot of time for grinding or for guild/clan participation. The grind in Lineage 2 is pretty mild these days to start with, but it does start to feel really grindy after a while as you level up. Also, despite my resolve to ignore it, the bots started to get me down. It wasn't that bad on Hindemith as a dark elf-- they were there, but I could ignore them. Then I decided to go start an orc on another server, and the newbie village was wall-to-wall dwarfbots. I think that was the last time I played. I don't feel outraged by it. It was just depressing that it could reach that level of abuse. 

So, I guess that's about it for this introductory post. Time for me to get out of here. Things to see, people to do.