Life? What life?
As those of you on the FaceBook machine may well have surmised, I got myself a new game and have been playing the fuck out of it for the better part of a month now. It's an MMORPG (like World of Warcraft) called The Secret World.
Though there is official artwork for the game cover, I like this version much better.
Though I've been a heavy PC-gamer in the recent past, the whole WoW thing pretty much flew over my head, even though I know a great many people who have and some who still toil the terrain of Azeroth. A big reason for this dearth of MMO on my part had to do with my very much dated hardware but really the whole notion of RPGing MMly simply didn't tickle my otaku gland.
So what got me into this particular MMO? The simple answer is: story. The game's creative director, Ragnar Tørnquist, made the adventure games The Longest Journey and its sequel Dreamfall, both of which are excellent games, and mostly for their stories and the method of their storytelling. In this age of whizz-bang special effects and adrenaline-fueled pacing, patient and engaging storytelling, to me, stands out even more, especially when it manages to be engrossing. If you like gaming and love being curled up comfortably with a good book, I invite you to try those two games, honestly. I know I may be hyping them a bit much, but such titles transcend gaming into narrative and character-driven experiences, much like a good book can do.
That said, even though I was disappointed that a third installment of The Longest Journey was not to be in timely development, the thought of the same author putting out an MMO was mildly intriguing, and that intrigue only deepened as details of the project came to me over the ensuing months and then years (the game started being developed in 2007, and was released last month). The game touts its "modern day setting" which is a change from the medieval-fantasy setting of many MMORPGs out there now, which to me doesn't matter greatly since a great game is so despite its cosmetics. That said, the setting allows for the injection of many pop culture references and interweaving of myths and legends that are very familiar to us, which is engaging in a way that the skewed familiar tends to be, like a dog with three legs: pedestrian yet simultaneously remarkable and interesting. And even though the overall setting is modern, that doesn't mean the game won't dabble in fantastical settings within the game's universe...
Why yes, that is a book on my back :P
Oh, and did I mention the horror-angle (from the Lovecraftian to the Stephen King-ian)? Yeah, that means I get to mow down zombies by the hundreds. I was largely indifferent to zombies (and I still honestly do not get the "zomfg, zombies" elation many of my peers seem to exhibit, but different strokes...) but dear Christ did I hate them in the first few weeks of playing TSW, and would go out of my way to kill them, they made my online life a living hell so dearly. I will admit though that my antipathy for the recently undead has been tempered a bit now that I've graduated my killing degree to include overgrown insects, crazed Egyptian cultists, evil Mayans, and Hellspawn.
Although I'm an MMO n00b, I've played enough games where I've become comfortable with the game, enough to recommend it, definitely. People have been bitching about the animations and the combat and such in numerous reviews, but I really don't have a problem with them. If I had to levy a complaint about the game, it's that you're spoiled for choice when it comes to how you want to attack things. Through 9 different weapons, you can obtain up to 525 abilities, and the catch is that you can only use 14 of them (7 active and 7 passive) at a time. So even though your screen is streamlined in that you don't have like 30 abilities you have to be clicking in combat, finding the right combination of abilities is very much a trial-and-error process, which I kinda learned the hard way, but not irreparably so. The game definitely cannot be accused of excessive hand-holding, as there is a very loose tutorial in the beginning of the game, and after that, you're more or less on your own. The game definitely rewards those who like to tinker, experiment, and above all, seek information from other people and through online resources. My favorite site to consult when I'm stuck or want to compare gameplay notes with is this one, and I've used this one to help me create a group healing build ("build"/"deck" being a set of abilities which establishes one's playing character).
Unlike the studying I ought to be doing for my upcoming RN state board exam, I've been trudging through the nuts and bolts of trying to build a good character. It's been up and down: slogging through the beginning, getting comfortable with a pretty kick-ass build, moving onto an advanced zone and getting my ass promptly stomped on with not so much as a how'd ya do, then retooling and reconfiguring, going back to the easy zone to get more points to spend on new or beefed up abilities, rinse, repeat. While this routine does sound dull and repetitive, the end goal of having a better build is a rather compelling driving force, and there are variety of mission types, from the standard kill x number of things, to more adventure-game type puzzles, and even those that have required me to look up a Bible passage, or have to look up Morse code (though admittedly in both those cases, I consulted a walkthrough... I ain't learning no damn Morse code :P). And there are the boss levels ("dungeons" as they're called in the game), which is where you really meet people and either have a wonderful or frustrating time. I suppose it's not impossible to do the dungeons solo, but they're designed to be done by 5-people parties, as they demand strategy and sheer numbers, as the enemies have quite a lot of life and fight in them! Overall, the people I've met in the game have been helpful and fun, though there was what happened to me today, but I'll save that for a separate entry...
If you watch the above vid, you can see the visual style is quite dark and disturbed, which I love. Incidentally, the game looks just like as depicted in the vid, so it's quite a good looking game, though the visuals too have been criticized for looking dated or whatever, blah blah blah, bitch bitch bitch. For myself, I like the game, it's good enough for me to have played it continuously for the past few weeks, and even devote a blog entry to it :P
Freedom is a big concept that's been thrown around in the game's PR argot. Freedom of gameplay, freedom of character development, and even freedom of appearance. In most RPGs and MMOs, your armor and clothing determines how advanced your stats are, so characters tend to dress, if not the same, then in similar garb. In TSW, all your gear is invisible, so the clothes you wear is irrelevant to your build, so if you want to kick ass wearing a green pinstripe suit...
Or maybe you just want to sit a while...
So yeah, that's what I've been doing with my free time lately :D
Though there is official artwork for the game cover, I like this version much better.
Though I've been a heavy PC-gamer in the recent past, the whole WoW thing pretty much flew over my head, even though I know a great many people who have and some who still toil the terrain of Azeroth. A big reason for this dearth of MMO on my part had to do with my very much dated hardware but really the whole notion of RPGing MMly simply didn't tickle my otaku gland.
So what got me into this particular MMO? The simple answer is: story. The game's creative director, Ragnar Tørnquist, made the adventure games The Longest Journey and its sequel Dreamfall, both of which are excellent games, and mostly for their stories and the method of their storytelling. In this age of whizz-bang special effects and adrenaline-fueled pacing, patient and engaging storytelling, to me, stands out even more, especially when it manages to be engrossing. If you like gaming and love being curled up comfortably with a good book, I invite you to try those two games, honestly. I know I may be hyping them a bit much, but such titles transcend gaming into narrative and character-driven experiences, much like a good book can do.
That said, even though I was disappointed that a third installment of The Longest Journey was not to be in timely development, the thought of the same author putting out an MMO was mildly intriguing, and that intrigue only deepened as details of the project came to me over the ensuing months and then years (the game started being developed in 2007, and was released last month). The game touts its "modern day setting" which is a change from the medieval-fantasy setting of many MMORPGs out there now, which to me doesn't matter greatly since a great game is so despite its cosmetics. That said, the setting allows for the injection of many pop culture references and interweaving of myths and legends that are very familiar to us, which is engaging in a way that the skewed familiar tends to be, like a dog with three legs: pedestrian yet simultaneously remarkable and interesting. And even though the overall setting is modern, that doesn't mean the game won't dabble in fantastical settings within the game's universe...
Why yes, that is a book on my back :P
Oh, and did I mention the horror-angle (from the Lovecraftian to the Stephen King-ian)? Yeah, that means I get to mow down zombies by the hundreds. I was largely indifferent to zombies (and I still honestly do not get the "zomfg, zombies" elation many of my peers seem to exhibit, but different strokes...) but dear Christ did I hate them in the first few weeks of playing TSW, and would go out of my way to kill them, they made my online life a living hell so dearly. I will admit though that my antipathy for the recently undead has been tempered a bit now that I've graduated my killing degree to include overgrown insects, crazed Egyptian cultists, evil Mayans, and Hellspawn.
Click to viewAlthough I'm an MMO n00b, I've played enough games where I've become comfortable with the game, enough to recommend it, definitely. People have been bitching about the animations and the combat and such in numerous reviews, but I really don't have a problem with them. If I had to levy a complaint about the game, it's that you're spoiled for choice when it comes to how you want to attack things. Through 9 different weapons, you can obtain up to 525 abilities, and the catch is that you can only use 14 of them (7 active and 7 passive) at a time. So even though your screen is streamlined in that you don't have like 30 abilities you have to be clicking in combat, finding the right combination of abilities is very much a trial-and-error process, which I kinda learned the hard way, but not irreparably so. The game definitely cannot be accused of excessive hand-holding, as there is a very loose tutorial in the beginning of the game, and after that, you're more or less on your own. The game definitely rewards those who like to tinker, experiment, and above all, seek information from other people and through online resources. My favorite site to consult when I'm stuck or want to compare gameplay notes with is this one, and I've used this one to help me create a group healing build ("build"/"deck" being a set of abilities which establishes one's playing character).
Unlike the studying I ought to be doing for my upcoming RN state board exam, I've been trudging through the nuts and bolts of trying to build a good character. It's been up and down: slogging through the beginning, getting comfortable with a pretty kick-ass build, moving onto an advanced zone and getting my ass promptly stomped on with not so much as a how'd ya do, then retooling and reconfiguring, going back to the easy zone to get more points to spend on new or beefed up abilities, rinse, repeat. While this routine does sound dull and repetitive, the end goal of having a better build is a rather compelling driving force, and there are variety of mission types, from the standard kill x number of things, to more adventure-game type puzzles, and even those that have required me to look up a Bible passage, or have to look up Morse code (though admittedly in both those cases, I consulted a walkthrough... I ain't learning no damn Morse code :P). And there are the boss levels ("dungeons" as they're called in the game), which is where you really meet people and either have a wonderful or frustrating time. I suppose it's not impossible to do the dungeons solo, but they're designed to be done by 5-people parties, as they demand strategy and sheer numbers, as the enemies have quite a lot of life and fight in them! Overall, the people I've met in the game have been helpful and fun, though there was what happened to me today, but I'll save that for a separate entry...
If you watch the above vid, you can see the visual style is quite dark and disturbed, which I love. Incidentally, the game looks just like as depicted in the vid, so it's quite a good looking game, though the visuals too have been criticized for looking dated or whatever, blah blah blah, bitch bitch bitch. For myself, I like the game, it's good enough for me to have played it continuously for the past few weeks, and even devote a blog entry to it :P
Freedom is a big concept that's been thrown around in the game's PR argot. Freedom of gameplay, freedom of character development, and even freedom of appearance. In most RPGs and MMOs, your armor and clothing determines how advanced your stats are, so characters tend to dress, if not the same, then in similar garb. In TSW, all your gear is invisible, so the clothes you wear is irrelevant to your build, so if you want to kick ass wearing a green pinstripe suit...
Or maybe you just want to sit a while...
So yeah, that's what I've been doing with my free time lately :D