Found this and just had to share:
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Friday, January 25, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Anarchy Online - Updated Graphics
Just caught a glimpse of this video showing AO's new graphics currently in the works and I was very surprised. I had heard awhile back they were planning a minor upgrade, but this appears to be much more than minor.
We had played the free version for a month and enjoyed ourselves well enough to pick up the expansions and subscribe. There are some really nice aspects to the game and definitely different from current offerings. But after a few months we hit some walls of frustration and moved on.
I still have a free account and it still has a place on my desktop. Will definitely be revisiting after the update.
We had played the free version for a month and enjoyed ourselves well enough to pick up the expansions and subscribe. There are some really nice aspects to the game and definitely different from current offerings. But after a few months we hit some walls of frustration and moved on.
I still have a free account and it still has a place on my desktop. Will definitely be revisiting after the update.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Illusion of Power
Years ago in the early expansions of EQ1, when you upgraded your armor, it was noticeable. When you acquired alternate advancement points, it made a huge difference. Just leveling and gaining spells you didn't have before made you different. My main had become a beastlord, while my husband was a warrior. We could not duo these two in dungeons in our 20's, 30's or 40's. But we could do so at level 60. We had access to abilities at 60 that made us more powerful so that fights were much easier than they had been previously. And because of this playing at level 60 was a heck of a lot more fun than it had been at 20.
In the early days of SWG, we'd wait in line for our doctor buff and charge into lairs with a dozen mobs pounding on us and survive. But of course this was removed when devs realized we weren't paying $15 a month to have fun, but really to have balanced game play. /sarcasm off
Fast forward to current MMO's. In the latest EQ2 expansion, armor rewards are unlike any I have ever been able to obtain previously. Beyond the usual stat increases, there are also effects such as + to power and health regeneration, spell damage, and healing abilities. At first glance it was a bit exciting. My mediocre mystic might actually be more powerful! But alas, it was not to be. In order to compensate for the better armor, mobs have been tweaked up in difficulty so that if you don't have this armor on, you will be worse off than before. I'm finding as I level, that my characters become weaker.
In LotRO, while I didn't feel weaker as I leveled, my characters were stagnant. It didn't matter that I equipped purple armor much better than what I had. My survivability was the same. Stats were very soft and just didn't make a tremendous difference to game play.
The current trend is to offer just the illusion of power so we think there actually might be something to look forward to as we level. So while the dungeons of Norrath sit empty, we can rejoice in fact that all is fair and balanced. I miss being the hero.
In the early days of SWG, we'd wait in line for our doctor buff and charge into lairs with a dozen mobs pounding on us and survive. But of course this was removed when devs realized we weren't paying $15 a month to have fun, but really to have balanced game play. /sarcasm off
Fast forward to current MMO's. In the latest EQ2 expansion, armor rewards are unlike any I have ever been able to obtain previously. Beyond the usual stat increases, there are also effects such as + to power and health regeneration, spell damage, and healing abilities. At first glance it was a bit exciting. My mediocre mystic might actually be more powerful! But alas, it was not to be. In order to compensate for the better armor, mobs have been tweaked up in difficulty so that if you don't have this armor on, you will be worse off than before. I'm finding as I level, that my characters become weaker.
In LotRO, while I didn't feel weaker as I leveled, my characters were stagnant. It didn't matter that I equipped purple armor much better than what I had. My survivability was the same. Stats were very soft and just didn't make a tremendous difference to game play.
The current trend is to offer just the illusion of power so we think there actually might be something to look forward to as we level. So while the dungeons of Norrath sit empty, we can rejoice in fact that all is fair and balanced. I miss being the hero.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Disgruntled Guild Member
With all the nice people to be found in EQ2, you'd think finding a guild I like wouldn't be that difficult. There really were just a couple things that were important to me. First, there needed to be no pressure to group since with my son, frequent afk's are in order. And second, and this is a biggie for me, the guild leader and officers are regular Joe's, not bosses expecting to be treated better than other members. Nor are the regular members there just to serve the leadership and provide them and their alts with all the loot they desire. These are the people who greet you warmly when you log in and cheer you on when you level so that you feel a part of the guild community and not some peon. At least that's how I always viewed it should be.
Unfortunately, it just hasn't seemed to work out this way. The egos I witness never cease to amaze me. So there I was, sitting in Kelethin with my husband at work and my son with his dad for a few days. And I thought oh what the heck, I'll just make my own darn guild. Even if it's just the two of us in it, our status points will be working towards building something.
But I needed to find a few kind souls to group with me to get it started. Being the holidays, a lot of folks were off and Kelethin had quite a few people. Checking the zone I singled out some "nice" sounding names. I ruled out the ones like "Fuzzybutt". I sent some very polite tells asking for assistance with no obligation to remain and every single person said "Sure." Woohoo!
While waiting to fill up the group, I chatted a bit regarding my reasons for starting a guild and my future intentions, and much to my surprise everyone asked if they could remain guilded. Everyone is lower level and many brand new to EQ2. The way the guild recruitment works is based partially on the levels of the guild members, so our guild was showing up to mostly low level players, which turned out to be a boon. I received several tells from others who also just started playing so after the first week, we're now up to 12 members.
When my husband came home from work that first day I said, "Guess what I was up to while you were gone?" And he just replied "Uh oh". But he's been enjoying it as much as I have. He's making spells and I'm providing backpacks and other crafted items to help. And fortunately, they all have been the type of people who don't ever ask for anything, which makes giving even more enjoyable.
I'm sure there will be some bumps along the way. I've already received a complaint from another guild about a player taking their mob, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people looking to be offended so they have something to complain about. But we'll deal with that as it comes.
There's no guarantees on how this will all turn out. But it's added a lot of enjoyment to my gaming. Happy New Year everyone!
Unfortunately, it just hasn't seemed to work out this way. The egos I witness never cease to amaze me. So there I was, sitting in Kelethin with my husband at work and my son with his dad for a few days. And I thought oh what the heck, I'll just make my own darn guild. Even if it's just the two of us in it, our status points will be working towards building something.
But I needed to find a few kind souls to group with me to get it started. Being the holidays, a lot of folks were off and Kelethin had quite a few people. Checking the zone I singled out some "nice" sounding names. I ruled out the ones like "Fuzzybutt". I sent some very polite tells asking for assistance with no obligation to remain and every single person said "Sure." Woohoo!
While waiting to fill up the group, I chatted a bit regarding my reasons for starting a guild and my future intentions, and much to my surprise everyone asked if they could remain guilded. Everyone is lower level and many brand new to EQ2. The way the guild recruitment works is based partially on the levels of the guild members, so our guild was showing up to mostly low level players, which turned out to be a boon. I received several tells from others who also just started playing so after the first week, we're now up to 12 members.
When my husband came home from work that first day I said, "Guess what I was up to while you were gone?" And he just replied "Uh oh". But he's been enjoying it as much as I have. He's making spells and I'm providing backpacks and other crafted items to help. And fortunately, they all have been the type of people who don't ever ask for anything, which makes giving even more enjoyable.
I'm sure there will be some bumps along the way. I've already received a complaint from another guild about a player taking their mob, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people looking to be offended so they have something to complain about. But we'll deal with that as it comes.
There's no guarantees on how this will all turn out. But it's added a lot of enjoyment to my gaming. Happy New Year everyone!
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