Looking at WoW and AoC Trials

After giving both World of Warcraft and Age of Conan about 7 levels each of my time; I haven't been particularly excited about either of them. Age of Conan does take a step into the MMORPG evolution and introduces a hack-n-slash style combat system. It takes you out of the normal select, auto attack, and press skill buttons between your automatic attacks.

AoC's combat system is unique and might be what you are looking for if you are bored with MMORPG's in general. It is known by many as an adult game; one of blood, gore, and nudity. That's right, they let you strip your character down to bare skin. This is a downfall and upside in my opinion. While some people might play a female character to have something to look at while they play, you are going to get the perverted people taking it too far. If you are there for porn, go somewhere else, 8 gigs of hard drive space isn't needed for all that.

I'll keep giving WoW and Age of Conan a chance but with a little effort behind that. My current gaming comfort zone is learning Guild Wars still. It's so interesting, fun, and competitive. However, something about Guild Wars has built a less than stellar community. I can't quite put my finger on it, maybe the competitiveness and lack of noob friendliness?

The New Game Hunt

Lord of the Rings Online is on the back burner for now. Guild Wars is fun but I'm not bound to it with the no monthly fees it has. Tibia is only fun for an hour at most out of the day. I utilize my resources and find people with similar game tastes as me. I thought about going back to Dark Age of Camelot even. I might actually have the boxes with serial keys stashed away in some boxes.

It's inevitable that I have to try WoW to consider myself an expert in MMORPGs. So yes, WoW haters, I did download the trial version and probably have to buy it unless some other game jumps in front of me. I'm about 4 or 5 levels into it and like everyone says, it's taken pieces from other MMOs and made it really user friendly. I was only on it for about 2 hours but it was a quick start like LOTRO was.

Also into the trial list is Age of Conan, after seeing a trailer review of AoC I decided to download its hefty 8 GB trial game. I haven't started it yet but it looks like a good ol' bloody, gory, hack-n-slash adult game. We'll see if they get me. I'll get some other opinions on it as well.

LOTRO Billed Me 2 Months Too Early

This is exactly why I keep my recurring game subscriptions on prepaid debit cards. I don't get hit with a $35 bank overdraft fee, it's just a buck. Today I tried to log into Lord of the Rings Online and my account was suspended due to non payment. There wasn't enough money on my prepaid card for their mistake to effect me. I sent a support ticket in and hope to hear this mistake is fixed. I ordered 3 months in advance for a discount rate at 30 dollars and they billed me 1 month after that. Get it together Turbine, Inc. You aren't getting a renewal as good as the game is. I'm getting my 2 months worth though, in between my other gaming journeys. There are a couple unfinished goals to accomplish.

A Taste of Everything

Some days aren't all about being a single game die-hard. There are the days you hang out, chill, and play the casual gamer role. Yesterday, I started with Guild Wars, got my level 207 back in Tibia, and even went out to Timber's and played some Golden Tee with my brother.

Golden Tee, one of the most popular bar games in the United States, right up there with pool. For those of you not familiar with GT, it's a video golf game in bars that takes skill and therefore I love. Calculating winds and slopes, determining shot placements, and club selection are all things involved in making a great golfer. Even cooler, you earn clothing every 5 games, every 30 birdies, 10 eagles, and each hole-in-one. You can see my set of gear I had at the time of my hole-in-one months ago in this video.

Addicted to Guild Wars PvP

I haven't played LOTRO in about a week. Guild Wars immediately captured my attention as soon as I got the hang of it. They are completely missing the boat, they have their staple as PvP, why make money solely on PvE expansion packs? Most of the veteran players, however, do get into the PvE more than I expected.

I had one multi-year veteran named Dylan show me the ropes to using my Ranger in PvP. The concept was simple yet difficult to pull off. The first part is easy, spreading poison throughout the enemy team. The second part not so easy, using special skills to interrupt "rupt" caster/healers/mages so those power houses have less effect. Dylan and I went to a 1 on 1 area where we could test out my rupting skills. All I needed after that lesson was testing out my fast-twitch reflexes in real combat over and over.

Different PvP Types

Random Arena (RA) - This is where a wiiiiiiide variety of skilled players meet up and are randomly given teams of 4. If the team wins their match, they can stay together until next match. You can stay with your team as long as you keep winning. If one leaves, a random player will replace them next match. Most of the time it's fight to the death until one team is eliminated. Other times it is to see who gets the most kills and you just keep respawning a few seconds after you die.

Codex Arena - This is the basic arena style match 4 on 4. You get to pick your team in the waiting area before the match. There are a lot of pickup teams looking for people. This is a competitive zone and is where I happened to start, bad idea. Go to this arena when you have plenty of RA matches under your belt.

Guild Vs. Guild (GvG) - I haven't had enough experience nor am I good enough to do real guild on guild action. These battles consist of 8 vs. 8, much different than your 4 on 4 matches. There is an observe option where you can see the current GvG battles that are going on in Guild Wars. This shows you what it takes to start really competing, it looks fun.

Alliance Vs. Alliance (AvA) - Interesting setup here, there is 3 teams of 4 vs. 3 teams of 4. Each guild has the option of joining 1 of 2 factions. Depending on your faction you can travel to a certain place looking for a team of 4 which didn't appear to be difficult, it was quite crowded. The objective in this mission is to get 500 points before the other faction. You gain points by killing opposing faction members but more importantly is capturing bases. There are supply stations to capture as well as this sort of castle base that I think gives more points if your faction is holding it. I've only done 2 of these matches so far.

Reuniting With Old Friends

If you play a MMO long enough you probably have had a lot of interaction with other people. When you move on from a game you've just worn out, you might get the feeling to stop in to see your friends. That is just what I did the other night with one of my best friends on Tibia. I played the game religiously for an entire year and after playing other MMORPGs I have no idea how I did that. The no level cap was pretty awesome though. With my dedication I raced to level 200 within a year which is pretty unheard of.

Meritshoota (me)
level - 207
vocation - paladin

Tarlo Darkhalf
level - 243
vocation - paladin

We wanted an exciting place to hunt since it was my first time in over a month to go out hunting. There is 1 place I haven't been yet that would be perfect for a duo such as ourselves. Zao, the most recent addition to Tibia, ruled by a race of ancient lizards. We were at the heart of it. Me and my guild leader and great friend. Fighting our way into Zao Palace was difficult even with 2 of the highest levels on the server.

We fought our way through these hard hitting lizards to the bottom floor of Zao Palace where the mighty Ghastly Dragons dwell. Equipped with assassin stars, over 500 potions each, and nerves of steel, we destroyed all 15 Ghastly Dragons that were down there. No good loot dropped for us and we were tired and ready to head back. We didn't feel like scrapping the lizards to get back out so we booked it. Tarlo headed up first and the lizards were swarming, he ran a loop around the room to keep them off me. I ran ahead of him, going up floors through masses of lizards and healing a lot. I hit a spot of a bunch of lizards, maybe 6 around me, low on mana I had to resorting to spirit potions. I was a little trapped and had to move diagonal, low on health and mana out of the trap now I drop dead. A mage lizard hit me with a wave from behind.

Alas! Brave adventurer, you have met a sad fate. But do not despair, for the gods will bring you back into the world in exchange for a small sacrifice. Simply click 'ok' and you will be returned back to Tibia.

Small sacrifice my ass, it's more than 1% of all the experience I have ever gained and demoted down to level 206. Still, it was good hunting with a good friend. Worth the journey.

Guild Wars - Review After 4 Days

Guild Wars is a tough game to get into for the average gamer. Their combat system is a little weird, I definitely like LOTRO's combat system better. These 4 on 4 PvP matches are addicting. As soon as I bought the game I created a "PvP Only" character. I still had no clue what I was doing, my roleplaying character I started the free trial with was only level 6. The max level in GW is 20... a little low. I'm just here to master the game like usual and fuel my competitive side at the same time.

Sometimes you just need a good mentor. Having a lack of one resulted in losing a ton of my first few matches.

There were 2 initial arenas that I was able to hit from the start of creating my PvP only character. I tried half of the classes they had to offer but was just simply way underpowered from my lack of knowledge of the PvE system tying into the PvP system. Going down fast and hitting weak wasn't going to stop me from enjoying this though. However, I'm on the fast track now trying to get some of these PvE campaigns done so I can keep up on the PvP side.

Overall, It has a lot of downfalls and weaknesses but an awesomely competitive PvP system that reminds me of my xbox 360 gears of war days, 4 vs. 4. Keep in mind Guild Wars 2 is announced to come out in 2011. I hope they step up their game big time and compete with the big boys. First on my watch list is GW 2.

Just a Wandering Noob

It turns out I already had my primary class set to ranger. What I was searching for was a secondary class, the same set of choices I had for my primary one. I chose to be a monk as a secondary class so I can heal and resurrect my allies. It should make me a good group tool. I'm at level 6 so far and haven't really had any group interactions, not unusual but I'm ready to at least make a new friend or 2. I think I'm about to buy the whole set of Guild Wars for 50 bucks. I'm interested in the competitive PvP and no monthly fee, who can beat that? I'm going to gain a few more levels and meet up with old friends in GW from different games. If anyone has a character there that can help a simple ranger/monk newbie let me know, I'm Merit Arrowslinger.

Back at Guild Wars at 6 AM

I reached level 3 in Guild Wars before I ended my night at 2 AM. They already game me a self-healing spell at level 2, heals for about 80 hitpoints (of a 120 max). LOTRO has a better navigation system, better quest guidance system, better graphics, but something in me wants to keep continuing. I know the end game isn't going to consist of just 6 and 12 person raids resulting in a graphical clusterf$%k. It might actually end up in some old DAoC style PvP. The more I hear about WoW, the more I avoid it like the Ebola virus.

I can't find the freaking Ranger trainer. It's 8 o'clock, I'm level 5, I'm ready to pick my class, and I can't find the npc. There was one other npc that told me he was on the east side of "this very forest" but I can't find him anywhere. I might start liking this game more when I figure out how to get the damn class I want. That's a major game flaw if I, a veteran gamer, can't figure out how to pick the class I like.

I'm Downloading Guild Wars

It's midnight, I'm bored of all the questing in LOTRO and it's time for something new. I crave some PvP action, it's been a while since I've had my heart beating from "the hunt". That is what I seek, excitement! A good story is nice but I can only be interesting in just graphics and a storlyline for so long. I have a good friend from Tibia, Iain, that I owe credit for recommending Guild Wars. It was a tough decision in picking a new game but the no monthly fees was intriguing. I knew there would be a nice mass of players without the fee. We'll see if my gut is right and I end up liking GW.

What Game Will I Play Next?

Having reached Level 53 in Lord of the Rings Online, Level 65 being the maximum, the question of my next game is inevitable. I still have some good game play left in LOTRO but I don't see myself making a 2nd character. It was fun, nice storyline, good crafting system, easy to level, but I see a lack of a good PvP system. Most people I have asked in the game aren't interested busting some heads in, they want to quest. The other players in their PvP system aren't even on their real characters, it's some monster you get that already starts at level 65. I want some solid rewards for killing someone but don't get me wrong I'm not a fanatic and agree it should only be in certain areas not all hunting grounds.

Right now it's between WoW and Guild Wars. The Guild Wars 2 trailer looks nice and we might see if the first one hooks me. I've heard good and bad things about World of Warcraft's PvP system is. I don't like the idea of a bunch of kids coming and rolling me while I'm just trying to get some levels or doing a quest. I like to be able to solo for a while and usually choose a class that lets me do that. I'm going to look at Guild Wars a little closer and keep at LOTRO for another 13 levels and see if it has any "end-game" entertainment for me.

New Funny Videos Section

I saw the hilarious viral video today of the kid flipping out from his mom canceling his WoW account Part 1. It was pretty good especially the 2nd half of it. Even better was Part 2 which earned the special honors to be my first funny video link.

Then of course I had to add one of my favorites to the new section, Fight Lost, Car Wrecked.

Send me your favorite funny videos at MooreCreations at gmail.com. Only the top ones will make it. They don't have to be MMORPG related but will definitely improve your chances.

Legendary Weapons, Level 48, and Moria

I must say after about a month of playing Lord of the Rings Online that I’m quite impressed. Now, about a month into the game and have 48 levels to show for it. I was introduced to a book of the epic storyline quests a couple nights ago. Apparently, this was to get my first legendary weapon (I had no clue what it was but sure sounded cool). These quests took place just outside of the infamous Moria and boy were some of the graphic detail awesome! There was the eerie Black Pool, a scene with Balrog, and the creepy Watcher in the water with nasty tentacles.

These legendary weapons are pieces of equipment that gain experience from killing creatures. You get your standard experience from the slaughtering but your item also gains experience. My first legendary bow has a maximum level of 30. Along with the stats and stat boosts that get better with leveling the weapon, it also gains points to apply, increasing stats even further.

It was like I was leveling my character all over again (in a good way). I found my will to get back out there quest a little and grinding due to my new level gaining, evil shredding bow.

Personally, I didn’t read the LOTR books, I saw the movies. I regret not reading the books. Every Tolkien fan or just people who read the books love this game even more. Seeing the descriptive words in the books recreated into an awesome MMORPG is something you must do if you’ve read the books but haven’t played this game yet. I’ve asked around and some of the parts of the game are really accurate. If you like a great storyline, play LOTRO, I think it’s better than the movies.

LOTRO, Crafting, and New Friends

It was an all day event yesterday, grinding for that level and showing some determination to advance my tailor profession. My microphone wasn't working last night so I could only type to my new friends. I got it working now though, so we should have some good times in the near future.

Death Penalties

No, this isn’t a controversial topic; it’s the topic in MMORPG’s. How are you penalized when you die? Do you lose experience, your items, or something more feared? In my opinion, it’s important to have a balance. If there is nothing to lose when you die, you lose something vital to every game and life itself. This thing I speak of is of course, excitement. If you aren’t getting close to death every now and again, things might get a little mundane. On the flip side, if you lose a ton of experience or some rare items you are carrying after a death then it won’t take many deaths to lose motivation to continue.

6-man Quest, Levels 40-65

Luckily I recorded some voice notes from last night. I went back and listened to them and you can tell it was 4 AM, I sounded beat. Then I go on rambling about some crafting. Here is the somewhat refined video version.

Update on LOTRO Adventures

My First Guild in LOTRO

Upon meeting a couple random questers yesterday, I noticed a semi-common guild name (or kinship as they call it in Lord of the Rings Online) below one of the two guys’ names. After we got the job done and were back in town, I asked if they were recruiting and stated I was looking for a Kinship. I figured I knew enough about the game by now and it’s time to spread my roots. He told me no officers were online at the moment but he would pass my name along. This is what I see in my mailbox when I logged on the next day.

Subject: Western lights kinship

Hello!

I've been passed your name from a kinmate of mine (savingrace) who said you might be interested in joining our kinship. (If you're getting this by mistake I apologize) He said you were a good person and would be a fine addition to the kin.
If you are interested feel free to contact me on any of my characters (meowstien, noamchomsky, kikiayon). Similarly, you can send me a reply mail with times (and your time zone) in which you are most likely to be logged on so we can meet up to add you in or answer any questions you might have.

Take care!

~Meow / Noam / Kikiayon

What a nice fellow, I think this guild is for me.

"Misadventure"

“You have been incapacitated by misadventure”. This is the message I see after jumping from a cliff. Is that what they call my legs folding under me, fragmented bones, and bruised organs? This really made my day. I’ve fallen off edges many times, pretty high up too. It’s usually faster to jump from a ledge than to follow the path down. The most that has happened to me up until shortly after getting level 36 was being slowed down for 60 seconds. My character was an organ donor but I don’t think they can salvage much now.