Coming back … again and again
Well, I've taken another couple month break from the old blog. In fact, I've taken a couple-month break from life.
I wish I could say I spent the bulk of January and February in a sensory deprivation tank a-la William Hurt in Altered States, but alas I'm much more boring than that. I spent a few weeks visiting Los Angeles and that was fun. I wasted a solid month-and-a-half being way too old to couch surf but fucking doing it anyway; I wanted to get in touch with my inner hippie.
I have also been having some familial issues, and now they are in the process of sorting themselves out. Of course I will not go into all the gory details here, but lets just say I could have a pretty good treatment for a TV drama if I cared to write it. Everybody is learning, growing, sharing and whatnot.
I do have no compunction relating my gaming experiences herein, as that is the purpose for which this blog exists. Sadly, those experiences are also rather dull.
Sucker for a sale
I spent more money than was prudent during the weeks-long gang bang that was the Steam Holiday Sale. However, I got loads of sweet games for hella cheap (to use the patois of my northwestern American home), mostly comprising games I already wanted but was too stingy to buy at full price.
The winners in the "waiting-for-a-sale-and-already-knew-I'd-like-it" category are Children of the Nile, Company of Heroes and Day of Defeat. I scored on these and I am thrilled about it. Sadly I haven't been able to play Children of the Nile as much as I want and no matter how hard I try I just suck (big-time) at Company of Heroes (though I still love it), but I went on a Day of Defeat bender for a couple weeks and loved every minute. Avalanche is my favorite map so far, though I have developed a bit of a Donner fetish.
The winners of the "impulse-buy-and-didn't-care-for-it" category are Zombie Shooter 2, Evil Genius and Killing Floor. I can't say I cared for any of these, and my reasons are various. I may still enjoy playing Evil Genius someday, but I couldn't get past the tutorial which made me want to punch things -- I believe I had issues with its rather glacial pace. I just can't get into Killing Floor for no particularly good reason (which could change in the future, however) and I outright dislike Zombie Shooter 2. If I would have spent more than $2.50 on ZS2 I would have felt completely cheated. While I don't really dislike Killing Floor or Evil Genius, if I had a second chance I probably would not bother to buy either.
Fly Safe, Capsuleer
The surprise hit of the sale was a brand new $5 EVE online account. I am happy and nerdy to say I have been glued tight to the Verge Vendor region of New Eden since around Christmas, learning the many vagaries of asteroid mining. While technically not a "new" account -- I activated a trial account I originally made in 2007 -- I have been enjoying EVE nearly every day for the past two months and feel as though I have finally "found" an MMORPG I can truly enjoy.
I put "found" in quotes, of course, because I have actually played EVE Online off-again-and-on-again since 2006; I find it a bit strange I only now have actually taken to the game. In my previous attempts to grok the game I always knew there was something about it that I like and enjoy, but I suppose until I tried being a full-time miner I didn't actually know what that something actually is. So right now that something is mining and mineral trading, which I am utterly cracking-out on. Dangling preposition FTW.
And now with the recent announcement of the SimCity-like aspects of the upcoming Tyrannis update, I will probably be hooked for at least another several months, if not longer. If you want to look me up in-game I'm Dank Fortuente and the asteroid belts of the Aidart solar system is currently my main stomping grounds.
The only other MMORPG I am dabbling in at all is Dungeons and Dragons Online, which continues to be a treat now that I can play sporadically without worrying over paying a regular subscription. I don't get to play terribly often but I have been working on a Drow Exploiter Ranger which I named Emmil Cioran. His bio reads only "ennui is the echo in us of time tearing itself apart;" perhaps "reality is a creation of our excesses" would be more a-propos to the venue, LOL.
Moving On
Well, it is nearly time for me to wrap up this post. So I will leave by saying that I am still here, still building cities and RPing like a nerdy dork, even still working on my PBBG, despite various hurdles and setbacks. I suppose I could go on for longer about my love affair with MySQL InnoDB and foreign keys, but I will bore you with that in another post. Until then blaze high -- you know I will.
Vendetta Online Extended Trial
Hurry up and get over to MMORPG.com - they are offering a free extended trial for the space-based pvp MMO Vendetta Online. But you might be wondering what, exactly, is Vendetta Online. With an active player base numbering in the hundreds (at best), this wouldn't be too surprising.
VO is a subscription-based ($9.99/month) space MMORPG which has been live for going on five years now. On the surface, it is modelled after the space trade/combat archetype of game which has been around since forever (well, 1984 seems like forever-ago). In this way it is very similar to other MMOs like Jumpgate and EVE Online.
One of the most amazing things about VO is that it was/is developed by only four people working in their spare time. While this shows in graphics which are substandard (but really not that bad) and a seeming complete lack of marketing, this also allows for a much more intimate dialogue between the developers and their players. In fact, players are able to directly influence content added to the game - by developing it themselves! That is something you can't find with a mainstream MMO.
One of the other interesting aspects of VO is that it works natively on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. Natively means it has three separate clients compiled for each operating system. Many games that are cross-platform simply have a Windows client that has added compatibility layers to run on a different OS - often degrading performance.
From what I understand Vendetta Online is much more similar to Jumpgate than EVE, as the piloting controls for your ship are twitch-based and rely as much (if not more) on player aiming and reflexes than on skills or equipment. But, like EVE, it has a starbase-based trading system and a physically vast area of space to fly around in. It is also a sandbox-style game with no leveling or even skills (like any RPG there are some "levels" to raise, however).
Instead of levels you get experience points (my term) to apply to licenses which unlock better ships and gear to outfit them with. There are also factions in VO, and so far it is my understanding higher standings will get you vendor discounts and access to more missions.
VO is a rather small game that lacks much of the complexity that EVE offers. I do not see this as a deficit, however. The community as a whole in VO is fairly mature (for an MMO) and tight-knit. There is still a level of complexity that will appeal to people who enjoy space-based sandboxes, but will does not present the amazingly steep learning curve (seen described as a "learning cliff") of EVE.
I don't really want to just compare VO to EVE, but as EVE is the 800-lbs gorilla of this niche, I suppose it is somewhat inevitable. I just want to add one last comparison between the two: combat. And boy the differences are are profound.
As I mentioned, combat in VO is twitch-based. Combat in EVE is based on careful planning and executed by the ship being piloted. This makes VO much more like an ship-based FPS, which I understand is what Jumpgate is all about (I haven't played that though so I can't really say).
While I never disliked combat in EVE, I find myself rather enthusiastic about the combat in VO. Being able to maneouver your ship along six axes while accounting for inertia, targetting and battery-use in a vicious dogfight is super-duper fun. It requires as much quick-thinking and luck as it does fast reflexes.
Why EVE is the Coolest MMORPG
I just got done reading EVE Online: Spy Game by Nick Breckon at Shack News and must say that this story completely reaffirms why I play EVE. That you play not within the confines of a "game" but in an alternate reality. And you can do anything within that reality you wish.
That players of large corporations and alliances such as Goonswarm use proven espionage tactics IRL to gain an advantage within EVE should come as no surprise. Given the most realistic aspect of the game is its cut-throat competition (piracy is not only allowed - it's encouraged) it seems only natural.
And as this article attests, sometimes the boundaries between EVE and IRL can blur to the point where you do not even require a game client to play the game. I find it interesting that The Mittani did not even need to log into Tranquility to "play."
OK, so you're not encased in a capsule full of amniotic fluid and coated with thousands of tons of death-dealing and mineral-extracting machinery; in fact you're in your mom's basement, and you are not actually floating in goo but that nickel bag you just bought has you feeling like it. Almost the same thing? Perhaps. I wonder if space pirates get carpel tunnel too?
Also, I find the ability to not just power-game, but to play above the game in the form of evolving meta-games to be the most intriguing aspect of any MMORPG. So far I've found EVE presents far more opportunities to do that than any other game out there perhaps with the exception of Second Life. And though it is far more limited, World of Warcraft presents it's own opportunities for meta-gaming, mainly in the form auction house speculation and running cons on unsuspecting players.
"Though The Mittani may miss out on the fun of participating in a fleet action, quietly shuffling pieces across the starlit board brings its own reward. "If you're even mildly sadistic, or at least enjoy seeing the lamentations of people you dislike, this job is amazing fun," he explains while showing me a copy of [rival alliance] Lotka Volterra's private forums, pointing out a few particularly amusing deceptions. He refers to his "job" as a "meta-game," a game-within-a-game. Like the Men in Black, he is above the system--beyond the system. "
Ah, IRL hacking and social engineering - the stakes of the game have been raised. I wonder if there will be IRL wars in 20 years fought completely through the Internet?
Blogs I Read
- Brian Psychochild Green
- Combat Archaeology
- Elder Game
- Hardcore Casual
- Kill Ten Rats
- Killed In A Smiling Accident
- LOTRO Combo Blog
- Open Bracket
- OSG1 – Online Strategy Games
- Pumping Irony
- Ralph Koster
- Stylish Corpse
- The Core Mechanic
- Tish Tosh Tesh
- Troll in the Corner
Browser Games I Play
Fortuente Pages
Game Sites I Like
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