WoW Finally Starts

I get myself to level 10 and there are finally some decent things to keep me entertained. The second tier of my Rogue skills were available to me for a few silvers. Wielded with daggers I trot around the lands looking for quests to earn some quick exp while slaying random creatures.

There was about 2 levels before I stumbled upon a first-aid trainer that I was a little bored. They could do better in World of Warcraft in the beginning. To me, Lord of the Rings Online was more immersive and started out much better than WoW did. Also the graphics seem a little cartoonish to me and took getting used to. I was able to create some bandages from my first-aid skill with materials that I already had from killing creatures. To my disappointment, the bandages healing didn't work in combat.

We'll see if this game can hold my attention for more than a month. Guild Wars is getting a little monotonous and is losing its appeal. I'm certainly glad there are no monthly fees because I don't think they would make the subscription cut if I had to choose.

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.

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.

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.