The Internets, They Know Us, Part 1

I love the internets.

Seriously, though, the internet has revolutionized gaming, both in form and availability.

Flash brought about a terrible phenomenon: the casual flash game. The vast majority of these games are buggy, frustrating, hideously colorful, and generally not fun. They come in several flavors:

-Platformers (just play Super Mario games)
-Arena-based RPGs, one enemy at a time, stat advancement (just play ANY RPG EVER)
-Point-and-click rail shooters (play ANY ARCADE GAME EVER)
-Tower defense games (play ANY RTS EVER)
-Side-scrolling beat-'em-ups (play Streets of Rage or TMNT4)
-Puzzle games that can occasionally hold my attention, but not for long
-Zombie survival games, of which half are alright
-Flash Portal. Only play this game or zombie survival games. Please. Do it for me.

Excepting a few gems here and there (which are almost all zombie survival games), they are unworthy of existence. Flash Portal is the best one in existence. Otherwise, you should ignore most of them.

Despite the fact that these games are made of fail and cancer, the concept is a good one. Make lots of free, arguably enjoyable content that is accessible. In recent years, game companies have used the internets to distribute demos of single-player games, new content for existing games, and even *GASP* multiplayer, changing the form of gaming forever. *Epic music*

And I was so tired of sharing my screen with other people, too. Screen peekers.

This use of the internets has escalated to online-only games. And that is where my interest most lies. See, I have a terrible attraction to Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). For those who lack knowledge of this type of game, allow me to give a brief rundown (and these are generalizations):

-A fantasy, medieval-esque setting is usually involved.
-Thousands of players participate in one game world.
-The game world is persistent, often having a player-run economy, auction system, and even player housing that sometimes even exists on the physical world. (Some player housing in these games is "instanced", or players all run to the same area, but each player is transported to their own room.)
-Several "classes" of characters exist. They are variations on melee fighter, ranger, mage, and healer, and generally no single class can do more than one of those things proficiently.
-Players gain experience points and levels, skills increase and new abilities are learned.
-The combat is generally based on a "roll of the dice" format, and the outcome can usually be predicted based on comparing the level of the player and enemy in solo combat.
-For the first few levels, combat is sort of "engage the enemy and go make a sandwich." Casting classes usually have a more interesting experience from the start, but are also more demanding and require more attention (especially healers). Some newer MMOs require a lot more micro management, but until later in the game, many MMOs suffer from this "set it and forget it" play style.
-A great deal of the content that players consider most enjoyable occurs at the maximum level.
-Monthly fees are required for "upkeep" for most MMOs that are worth playing. Players essentially pay to have new content, patches, and such updated monthly. The first month is free with a purchase of the game client.

<===EverQuest at launch. Notice the painstaking detail. Notice the lovely seams around every joint. Notice the Sand Giant looks a bit like Barret from Final Fantasy VII with an Asian headpiece. Notice that Kukku is such a loser that he can't hit something as freaking huge as that Sand Giant (it's in the chat log). Many of the MMO attributes I listed make this kind of game seem dull, formulaic, and expensive. And indeed, many of them are that. There exists but a few that have managed to keep my attention, though I have tried nearly all of them that offer free trials. I have downloaded trials of or otherwise played: -EverQuest (only in the past year, though, not the original) -EverQuest II -Final Fantasy XI -World of Warcraft -Star Wars Galaxies -Vanguard: Saga of Heroes -Lord of the Rings Online (I really think they should have kept Middle Earth Online) -Guild Wars (an exception, to be explained in my next post) -Lineage II -Dungeons and Dragons Online -Anarchy Online -EVE Online -RF Online -Hero Online -Mu Online -Not Very Good Online -At least 3-5 more that I'm forgetting Notable ones: -FFXI -LotRO -Guild Wars Flawed in a few ways, but still likeable (for a short time, anyway): -WoW -Vanguard -RF -Anarchy Online -Star Wars Galaxies -EverQuest I and II -D&D Online Too painful to play: -Hero -Mu -EVE -Lineage II I have an unhealthy attraction to these games. Luckily for me, it can't get too unhealthy, as almost all of those offer free trials or are free to play entirely. So not only do I not pay for the client; I don't pay for a month, either. Currently, I do have my FFXI account active and I do play it several times a month. Justifying my liking or disliking these games will be provided in part 2. For now, just remember, the internets are watching.

It's the Most Profitable Time of the Year

Merry Christmas and some happy new gear.

Man, that was terrible. Even for me.

My time at home over the break has been inanely sedentary. It is difficult to believe how little I've done anything that resembles work (other than Final Fantasy XI). Christmas Dinner (lunch) is about to begin. So stoked.

Non-game related:
16pc Dinnerware set
Pajama pants
Miscellaneous coffee flavorings
Two hats (toboggans, or whatever; I wear them all the time)
Gray military jacket
Various junk foods

Game/Tech related:
Call of Duty 4
Lost Planet (PC)
Battle for Middle Earth
Earbuds/plugs

The non-tech gifts were quite pleasing. I’ve been drinking my coffee with only cream for about a year (unless I go to Starbucks, and then I get something that I’d wager doesn’t actually have coffee in it), but I will use the various flavorings, nonetheless. I wear those hats year-round, excepting summer (mostly). The more pajama pants, the better. Especially comfy ones. The dinnerware set will be used eventually, though Dad’s wife did mention that it seemed a bit random when she bought it. While it is a bit random, I will certainly find use for it sooner than when I get my first apartment. At least I didn’t suspect that there was a PS3 inside that roughly console-shaped package. It was heavy, too. The gray jacket is quite nice, as well.

As for the game-related stuffs, I’m even more stoked. CoD4 was the highest priority item on my Amazon wish list (from which my relatives usually get their gift ideas...or the gifts themselves). Battle for Middle Earth is an RTS, and was the $10 item on the list. Lost Planet was actually from me to myself. It was at Target for $15 (half off) on Sunday. I didn’t bother resisting. It runs much better than the demo did, too. The earbuds are interesting. They have the sealing plug thingies, but the frequency response at 20-20k Hz is lower than I usually accept for earbuds. They'll do, though, I think. They do isolate the sound nicely.

Hard drive space is really low. Eight gigs to install Lost Planet and CoD4; four to install BfME. I uninstalled Doom 3, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Battlefield 1942 (which I didn’t like, anyway), and backed up and deleted several ISOs and things. I still have Vanguard: Saga of Heroes installed, though I’ve not played it in two months. 17.5GB. Just for that game. FFXI is around 8, Guild Wars is around 2, and WoW, I’m told, is around 8 or 9. Vanguard is twice any of that. Jeez. MMOs take a good bit of hard drive space, but Vanguard sets a new record. It is likely the most space consuming game in existence. It may also be the most demanding, as it runs terribly on every computer. But anyway...

If you will excuse me, my post-installation defragmentation is finished.

STOP. Patching time. (For non-gaming nerds, I’m downloading updates for my “new” games.)

Motive, Motivation, and Motion

As one can probably gather from my first post, I like games and things that flash light and make sound. Nerdy things. There is a stigma attached to one of my favorite pastimes. I am not a jock, so I don’t play the Madden Football series, MLB, NBA, or any other sports games (although I’d play NHL if I still kept up on hockey, which I love), and I don’t play Halo. So naturally, there’s something wrong with me. My gaming isn’t just a jock hobby or mild pastime. I must not live in the real world, or I must think the virtual one more important, or perhaps my childhood was troubled, or I’m a murderer-to-be, or I might be a vampire, or I’m antisocial, or something. Although I kind of like the idea of lurking around at night, sneaking into peoples’ houses to draw a bit of their blood to sustain me, I can assure you I’m not a vampire (and this would only be cool using Oblivion’s vampire rules, so one can’t transfer vampirism to others through the bite, and feeding regularly allows exposure to the sun). Even most of the other things are untrue.

Sure, I don’t go to many social gatherings. I’m not comfortable not knowing anybody around. However, I’m quite willing to hang out with people that I have only recently met, attend gatherings in which I know the attendees, and generally enjoy the accompaniment of my friends. Other than the half-truth of my antisocial behavior, the rest of the stereotypes are utter horse crap to me.

Why is any of the above social justification relevant? Other than my closest friends, I don’t usually even mention my absolute favorite pastime. At best, when I meet a new person, I tack “gaming” onto the backend of a list of favorite activities which is littered with more respectable things (music, eating, guitar, long walks on the beach, etc.). Granted, I go through phases during which playing guitar and listening to metal are my favorite pastimes, but ever since I was old enough to know how to use a Nintendo controller, the virtual world has kept my attention longer than anything else. While I often discuss gaming and technology with my closest friends, I am not always satisfied. As far as I know, no campus gaming groups exist (although given the option, I’d be a founding member, even though I’m on year 4 of projected 4.5). So where can I place my thoughts on the latest PC RTS game? Where can I discuss the infinite superiority of The Orange Box over Halo? Where can I turn to express my undying love for Castlevania?

The internets have me covered.

That’s right. Plural. For humorous purposes and/or Ron’s personal enjoyment, I shall refer to the internets in plural. Because I can. The internets will allow me to do so.

Another reason for my desire to write a gaming blog is because I can’t always have meaningful discussions with my friends about certain games. Roy, for instance, plays FPS almost exclusively. I was playing Final Fantasy XI (the online one, for those who go, “Final Fantasy what?!”) the other day, and Roy was going to dinner. I told him I was in a group (“group” for WoW and EverQuest-ers, “party” for FFXI and Guild Wars-ers), and that I’d be another twenty minutes.

He responded, “Come on, it’s an RPG. It could practically play itself if it had to.”

No more RPG discussions with Roy.

Similarly, Ron doesn’t play PC games with few exceptions, and especially doesn’t like MMOs (he acknowledges the concept as good, but the execution is poor and ends up being a level grind). Jimmy plays a variety of games similar to my tastes, but he no longer plays FFXI very often. Maybe a month here or there. Spencer plays Halo and sports games.

Motive established.

I’m on break. And somewhat bored-ish.

Motivation established.

Mattjew came back from Austria and during one of our discussions, Halo 3 was mentioned. He and Spencer (another suitemate of mine) are both getting Xbox 360s over Winter Break. I nearly crapped himself when he mentioned that he was more excited about getting The Orange Box for Team Fortress 2. Neither Matt nor Spencer play FPS games; they play Halo. It doesn’t count in quite the same way. But I’m so stoked that he’s going to get that. Roy mentioned the “extreme likelihood” (his Mom told him) that he would also be getting The Orange Box for Christmas. Jimmy played and finished Portal on my Steam account, so I hope he eventually picks up The Orange Box. I dunno if it is multiplatform, but if Spencer gets it for 360, that’d be good, too (he doesn’t have a PC capable of gaming).

Now I just have to convince Matt that his Steam account name and TF2 tag should be Mattjew.

I wrote another post.

Motion established.