Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

It's not. We've kind of morphed it into a "So what's good out there now?"

I can be ferociously addicted to pretty much anything I take up, too.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Anyone gonna try City of Villians? I thought about it. I haven't been addicted to an MMORPG in 4 or 5 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

MMORPGs are the devil.

/former DAoC addict

[/ QUOTE ]


I myself am a recovering UO-a-holic. I still miss pwning n00bs though.

No game will ever match UO's PvP system. This game http://www.darkfallonline.com/ looks like it could be close. I am definitely trying it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I cried when they ruined PvP in UO. What a sad sad time. What was it like 5 years ago now that you could run around PKing everything. Oh those were the days. I RoXXoR j00!

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

[ QUOTE ]
It's not. We've kind of morphed it into a "So what's good out there now?"

I can be ferociously addicted to pretty much anything I take up, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was told Resident Evil 4 was the greatest game ever by a friend of mine who I would trust in this subject area (big-time game player).

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

MMORPGs are the devil.

/former DAoC addict

[/ QUOTE ]

What server?

<---former rr8 mentalist on merlin

[/ QUOTE ]

bezerker on nimue...left right before all of the realm ranks got all heated up.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

The reviews of Rise of Nations on Gamespot.com are really starting to turn my head around on this game. There's an excellent video tour of it that gives a long look at it, and it looks pretty darn good.

Civ 4 does sound good, but I don't know if I have it in me to play more 40 and 70 hour games. Apparently it's quite possible to play Rise of Nations for just an hour.

EverCrack
 

Sony sent out emails a couple months ago offering free 3 weeks' worth of EQ play to people with closed accounts. I've logged in my two lvl 65 toons, and it's kind of good, and kind of awful. Awful, because it's depressing to see how much the user base has passed me by via mudflation, and how impossible it would be for me to catch up on all that content, all those spells to farm, those AA to earn. I didn't intend to really get back into the game, because MMORPGs require such a ridiculous amount of time investment, and I don't have that kind of time now that I have kids. But nevertheless I compulsively purchased $40 worth of new expansions and $20 worth of EQ-related website premium subscritions, and spending all day at work trying to figure out what trinket to camp instead of reading OOT. I'm wondering why I do this. In fact, I'm wondering why play computer games at all. What's the point point of developing skills in 'New RTS 3.0', or of completeing the storyline of 'New RPG 4.0'? I haven't played [censored] in a couple weeks, but really, it seems stupid to play anything else, because [censored] is the only game where you can make a non-trivial amount of money doing so.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

I've played Rise of Nations and I enjoyed it for awhile. Went the same as with other RTS for me though--become addicted and play a ton after I first buy it, learn the game, have a ton of fun. Then as I progress I start to recognize the point in the game where the build up and strategizing transitions into the rather tedious endgame where you must simply play out all the combat and hope your earlier estimations were on. After a few full games I start to break off at this transition point once I become pretty certain that I will either definitely win or definitely not win (occasionally you get a gray area game, those are more interesting). And from that point I tire of the entire game fairly quickly as the work/reward ratio gets thrown off and I'm no longer hooked.

This is probably more of an issue that I have with the genre though, not RoN specifically.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

Sounds like. I love rubbing someone's face in the mud as I win.

I usually play RTS's by far the most online, rather than stand-alone, though. Playing a computer in general is such a huge step down from playing devious, thinking people that you might as well just be playing an entirely different game.

Re: EverCrack
 

That's a very sensible way to look at it, but more importantly as far as I'm concerned, I agree with it. I'm not willing to invest tremendous amounts of time in a game anymore.

But I wouldn't mind knocking out the occasional half hour, hour, or even two hour session. That leaves MMORPG's pretty much out, and even limits what I can do with my favorite genre, RTS's. The ability to play a whole Rise of Nations game in an hour, though, kind of piqued my interest. That's about the kind of time investment I'm interested in. After playing a session of [cardgame], even if it's late, I usually take a good while to wind down, but don't necessarily want to stay up another hour and a half or two hours for a movie, and have already blown out my concentration from playing [cardgame], so I don't really want to read. And I'm going to sleep soon so I don't want to work out or do anything energetic.

Just something short, sweet, and upbeat is what I'm looking for now.

Re: EverCrack
 

Yeah... I have never been a "powergamer" in any games. When I quit EQ I had one 59, one 52, and a couple other twinks, and I played for like 2 years. I wasn't in any serious guilds. Mostly just had a lot of fun doing dungeon crawls and exploring zones that had fallen by the wayside with groups of 1-5 RL friends who also played.

Something I've always realized, though, is how important it is in these types of games to have "elite" and high level areas and items that require immense amounts of time and effort to access. Because even though it was impossible for me to ever get to any of those things, they acted as a carrot on the stick for my imagination, allowing me to dream that that might be me someday (even though there's no way I'd ever commit that sort of time). It gave a direction to my in-game achievements. I think the main thing that killed EQ was ruining the distinction of "elite" players, zones, and items by dumbing down the game and making it way too easy to reach the top. Once it became no big deal to level to 65 or whatever the cap was in a month and get all the best stuff, it trivialized all my earlier progress and made me think, "why am I playing towards a meaningless goal?" As if it wasn't enough of a time waster already.

Re: EverCrack
 

I found all the flagging and bottlenecking annoying. The game was better as it was originally designed, when bottlenecks didn't substitute for content. In the original and thoughout almost all of Kunark, if you were strong enough to go someplace, go ahead. The restrictions were there because of your level of skill, not because of your guild connections or artificial time sinks. You could go to pretty much anyplace you wanted at any time you wanted, if you could handle it. The rare keys needed were all doable with a friend or two, maybe even solo if you were good. The game started going belly up when you couldn't even see most of it anymore unless you were in the right guild.

My major regret is that I didn't sell off the million or so plat I had before I quit.

Re: EverCrack
 

Wow, yeah.. that would have to go for at least a grand wouldn't it?

Re: EverCrack
 

I think the plat alone was worth 700 to 800-ish at the time I quit. And I had a ton of items and rare ingredients. I was max on most trades, too. I wouldn't be surprised if I left a grand on the table there, or more.

Re: EverCrack
 

I sold a million spare plat before I quit for $600, but now I wish I had sold everything so that I wouldn't have been tempted to come back and play again. I got nothing done this week. And no one is going to want to buy EP/semi-Time geared level 65 toon nowadays.

Re: EverCrack
 

i would never want to play a game like that again. it was awesome at the time though. sometimes i miss certain things in life, like zoning. or a 3 hour boat ride. or killing a cactus, or staying up 36 hours straight waiting for the ancient cyclops. i also miss being a professional mod rod dropper, they were always lined up so nicely! is there anything better in life than a good AE group ? seriously.

Re: EverCrack
 

Heh. I quit right before my guild got to Time. Just wasn't worth it to me anymore. I can't imagine what incredible stuff people have who stayed, if Time goodies have become junk. Ia 70 the top level now? I wonder how many people still play and if they're still putting out expansions.

Re: EverCrack
 

I miss slapping DOTs in Plane of Fire in that big rectangular courtyard with a good group. And I really had a lot of fun playing my SK at the same time I played my shaman. They both could DOT, and the SK provided the snare that the shaman didn't have. I loved soloing a snared, slowed mob that sometimes other whole groups were too frightened to try. It was a beautiful thing. If I hadn't been able to play two at once, I would have quit the game years earlier.

I don't really miss EQ, but I do miss how competent everyone was. The standards of play in WoW are so low it's insane. I actually start to get angry sometimes, and the noobs have no idea why. That's one of the reasons quitting WoW was pretty easy. I probably shouldn't have bothered paying for another month again in WoW. No harm done, I'll just cancel the recurring chare.

Re: EverCrack
 

You were a shaman? I think I remember you from the shaman website. I read there sometimes. You posted good stuff!

Re: EverCrack
 

Thanks. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I was Blarg there too. Then my name got messed up so I was BlargX. That was a very good board. There were a lot of really good discussions there.

Re: EverCrack
 

ah memories. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]
the SK provided the snare that the shaman didn't have

[/ QUOTE ]
Should have played a troll [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]
You posted good stuff!

[/ QUOTE ]
Why am I not surprised?

Re: EverCrack
 

Yeah I remember you. I used to play a ranger mainly so read those boards primarily. But always played with a friend who was a shaman, and he was lazy, so I had to read the shaman boards myself and teach him how to play. I read all the boards a bit. I've always been much more interested in game development and philosophy issues than the specifics of any game. It's been interesting to examine some of the recent train wrecks that have been produced to see where they went wrong. Strangely enough the answer seems to always have a lot to do with selling out for short term $$, in some form or another. The best is when the devs give into letting gamers have imediate gratification so that they themselves can have immediate financial gratification instead of a solid and longstanding title. Ah, America..sigh.

Re: EverCrack
 

Yup. Whatever class has the most members is the most likely to be heard and rewarded.

MMORPG's sometimes seem like little more than a race to convince the devs to overpower your class/race first so you can whomp over everybody else. And maybe cause design issues so serious that they won't be able to fix them and bring you down to earth for years. The communities can be pretty ridiculous.

They're bad in RTS's too sometimes, but not to the same extent. MMORPG players often seem like they'd be happy to completely destroy everyone else's experience, even if it winds up screwing them over in the long run, too. The politics that can build up in these games is absurd.

Re: EverCrack
 

Hehe, I play on and off for 5 years and only got to like 62. Started hardcore then really slow down and became a casual player who only wanted to do tradeskills because of that damn Shawl quest. Never even got the shawl. I had everything ready to do the walk. Just couldnt find people at the times I played to do it.

Re: EverCrack
 

The shawl was a cruel beast. Some tradeskills were a gigantic pain. I remember back in the day when the ingredients were purposedly spread out over the world and the containers and components were unstackable so you'd have to spend the maximum possible time to advance a trade. (shudder)

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

Check out some of the screenshots for Earth 2160.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...;mode=previews

Click on the picks to blow 'em up bigger. This is some beautiful looking stuff. I'm intrigued. Unfortunately, I doubtless don't have the system to run it.

No idea what the gameplay is like, but damn, those machines look great.

Re: EverCrack
 

i really enjoyed the shawl quest.
i'm weird and ended up doing like 90% of it for a friend too (including the tradeskill leveling).

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]
i really enjoyed the shawl quest.
i'm weird and ended up doing like 90% of it for a friend too (including the tradeskill leveling).

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow I love you.

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i really enjoyed the shawl quest.
i'm weird and ended up doing like 90% of it for a friend too (including the tradeskill leveling).

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow I love you.

[/ QUOTE ]
lol why because i clearly have no life ? [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
basically i just like clicking buttons. that's whyi play online poker.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

Thought you destroyed the CD [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Thought you destroyed the CD [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I did. The addiction was so strong that I redownloaded it on warez and cracked it. I've recently again deleted it though because it was taking up too much homework time.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Starcraft is the only RTS you'll need. None of that BGH crap too.

[/ QUOTE ]Amen to that.

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think the plat alone was worth 700 to 800-ish at the time I quit. And I had a ton of items and rare ingredients. I was max on most trades, too. I wouldn't be surprised if I left a grand on the table there, or more.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did the same thing with my UO account. I had a clothing bless deed that worth some cash. Plus my characters were probably worth 500-600 alone, not counting my houses and cash.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

EQ2 is really good... I can't wait for Civ4 either...

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

I put in an advance order for Earth 2160 with EB Games. Even if I can't play it at uber resolutions to see the full eye candy, it still looks like it could be pretty fun. Comes out in the first week of November in the U.S., but I saw a review or two from people who have gotten it in Europe, where it has already been released, and they like it. It seems to have a limited number of maps, so I ordered it early to get the bonus maps.

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]
Yup. Whatever class has the most members is the most likely to be heard and rewarded.

MMORPG's sometimes seem like little more than a race to convince the devs to overpower your class/race first so you can whomp over everybody else. And maybe cause design issues so serious that they won't be able to fix them and bring you down to earth for years. The communities can be pretty ridiculous.

They're bad in RTS's too sometimes, but not to the same extent. MMORPG players often seem like they'd be happy to completely destroy everyone else's experience, even if it winds up screwing them over in the long run, too. The politics that can build up in these games is absurd.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Paper is fine, nerf Rock" - Scissors

Re: EverCrack
 

Heh, that's a very good way of putting it!

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]
"Paper is fine, nerf Rock" - Scissors

[/ QUOTE ]

that's a good quote

Re: EverCrack
 

[ QUOTE ]


"Paper is fine, nerf Rock" - Scissors

[/ QUOTE ]

This reminds me of a good video that shows how RPS applies to WoW.

clip - 1 minute long, 4MB download, requires XViD or VLC player.