MMORPG

This one's for Longasc This post is just about my two Star Trek Online characters, the Andorian science captain Tipa D’zoph, and my old-style Klingon tactical captain, Krontar. Hot on the heels of fellow Federation News Service editor Blue Kae, Tipa D’zoph was appointed Ambassador-at-Large to the scattered races that rim the Alpha Quadrant, and speaks with the voice of the Federation in these matters. I have not been working seriously on the ambassadorship for several months, even though I’ve gotten close, mostly because grinds BORE me. The occasional first contact mission, worth double the normal diplomacy XP, are fun, BUT… the exploration missions that require you to go scan flowers that look like Greek columns or to run through abandoned bases piecing together log entries from computer consoles just don’t do it for me. ...

Fippy Darkpaw isn’t quite live yet, but he’s in the server list. And as I scrolled – yes, this list is so long that it scrolls – through the list, it struck me how a near-twelve year old MMORPG has fifteen servers, one opening this very day, while far newer games like Vanguard and Warhammer Online are down to one or two far fewer. The game designers for every new MMO can probably recite page after page of EverQuest’s flaws. And yet EQ is still going strong while new games come and go. ...

Busybusybusy mandatory overtime, working at home each night, crunch time blahblahblah but you know what, I have a good job and I like what I do. It cuts into the game playing and into the game writing, though. But I couldn’t pass up today’s excitement! EverQuest today opens its new progression server, Fippy Darkpaw, and Trion sends their MMO, Rift, into Open Beta! I haven’t been playing in any of the recent Rift betas and I have been studiously ignoring any news about the game to preserve at least a little of the sense of wonder of experiencing a new game fresh. ...

Mine enemy? Mine enemy is Cryptic, who, for the second feature episode in a row, couldn’t handle the press of people wanting to do the episode the moment it went live. I guess they should make some sort of queue system, somewhere… The swarm of starships outside mission systems is just amazing. This is your money, Cryptic; this is why we play. PLEASE make the servers work on FE day! ...

My Lucent Heart warrior, Tipa Thanks to the heroic efforts of Drew and her boyfriend, and an entire day of downloading, patching and trying to navigate what must be the absolute MOST COMPLICATED installation method EVER, I have managed to create a character and am a warrior in the kingdom of Thereall. One hour review: It’s an Asian MMO. All the elements you expect are there: timer rewards for staying logged in; a magic bag that gives you items when you level, to a certain point; click to move; a character creator that seems unusually interested in your blood type; anime/manga inspired character designs. ...

Partially Borg-ified I talk a great talk about the importance of grouping and becoming part of a game’s community, but I don’t walk the walk as much as I should. When you open yourself up to grouping with strangers, you don’t know WHAT they’re going to do. Abusive chat, just plain abuse, people who think the group is there purely for their own benefit, could be anything. Most missions in Star Trek Online, because they scale with the number and level of participants, can be done solo or in a group, and at three difficulty levels. As in any MMO where soloing is a viable option, it becomes the normal way players consume content. ...

Don't you love villains who monologue? Still crunch time at work – ugh! Was working at home until 10PM last night. Gaming has taken a severe hit, as has writing, and most of the time when I DO game, it turns out to be something like a Facebook game. Right now I’m hooked on the EQ2-themed Fortune League. Fortune League fills my need for a game I can play with a spreadsheet, as I no longer have an EVE Online sub. There’s probably another article about FL in our future, now that I know more about how the game is played (with a spreadsheet). ...

One lowly shuttle stands between the broken Romulan Star Empire and the rebellion of their ex-slaves, the goblinoid Remans, as their private war threatens to draw the Alpha Quadrant into a conflict that could destroy worlds. More worlds. The Romulans are still feeling a little sore that Spock didn’t save Romulus, even though he PINKY PROMISED! Before I get into the interrupted adventures of the Federation News Service, Cryptic made a teaser for the arc, “Cloaked Intentions”. You will believe Star Trek is still on the air! ...

Yeah, I’ve been MIA for a couple weeks now. Work time is creeping into home time. It’s so cold when I get home that I find myself cuddling up with blankets and a cat on the couch, watching Netflix (tonight: the Canadian comedy “Slings & Arrows”, season 1). I’m not wild about this “winter” thing in general. I haven’t been able to get on the bicycle for a few weeks now, and it’s really making me antsy. ...

After the couple of weeks at Master Gardener, I didn’t expect to get to Grandmaster Gardener quite so soon. It was those Silver Trumpet Vines that did it; 300 xp per harvest, 3000 xp when they went elder, and I had four of the plants, the only remainders of my once-flourishing garden. I had a whole new plot picked out that has never seen a single seedling. Now that leveling isn’t a concern any more, I’ll have to pick out plants for what they harvest. With all the pet snacks they’ve given, maybe I could finally level up one of my pets :)