I fear that I am very quickly turning into a free to play junkie. For the last couple of weeks I've been splitting my game time between Guild Wars and Free Realms, with the odd New Super Mario Bros. mini game. Although, now there is a growing tension between myself and the issue of PC Gamer magazine that I bought last weekend.
I couldn't help myself, it was sitting there on the shelf and practically screaming "365 FREE GAMES". I guess it was them trying to be helpful in a time of recession (because $10 for the fuckin' magazine itself is really easy on the wallet). So, I brought it home and found maybe one out of every ten games interesting and worth checking out; haven't really bothered yet, they are mostly flash games. For the last couple of days though, the magazine has been lying face down with cute, pixelated faces of characters from Maple Story staring up at me. Now normally I don't bother with Asian mmos, click-to-move is not what I want in a game experience. Somehow though, I think it must be hypnotizing me because I find myself staring at those ridiculously huge anime eyes and thinking, "It's a side scroller, so maybe it's different...and it's free, you can't argue with free." I am beginning to scare myself.
So, before I go and download a bunch of crap that I more than likely won't enjoy, I have a small request. If you are reading this and have given Maple Story a shot, please in the comments leave a little mini-review with your overall opinion of the game and maybe some positives and negatives of whatever types of game systems it employs (because quite honestly, I have not bothered to look up any info on the game).
I think I need to find some new games, because if I log in to Free Realms one more time I might end up spending money in that item shop. Seeing those RMT cards at Target and Best Buy are tempting me to do evil things, like break my rule about paying for 'free' games. Argh, WoW has ruined me!
Wrapping things up: if, for some reason, you should want to get in contact with me and berate me for my truly idiotic opinions then feel free to call me on Skype at max.castillo9791. I'm rarely on, but connecting with fellow gamers is part of what this blog is all about, so there that is.
Lastly, my first love is music, so from here on out I will be ending every post with what I've recently been listening to. Today it is:
Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell" which can be found here. Enjoy!
-Max
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The Harry Potter MMO, or Lack Thereof
Originally, I was going to do a post today about new class ideas. But, after reading this article over on Massively, decided the Harry Potter mmo discussion was much more pertinent.
I understand that this property has probably been discussed endless times on blogs already. However, I feel the need to weigh in, given the fact that: THIS IS BULLSHIT.
Before I start in on my little shit storm, let me just say that, yes, I did attempt to read Twilight. But, it was apparent to me very quickly that hypersexualized tween stories about vampires were just not my thing; at least not after reading much higher quality vampire novels.
So, why is Twilight being made into a game and Harry Potter not? Nobody asked for a Twilight mmo! Most teens who read crap like Twilight don't play video games and those that do are perfectly happy playing Wii Sports and probably have no clue as to what an mmo is*. On the other hand, fans have been hoping and speculating for a while now on whether an mmo would ever be set in the realm of our favorite evil-vanquishing boy-wizard. Whoever the complete dumb ass (Mrs. Rowling excluded) is that decided to sit on this property and not develop it into what would almost certainly be a massive hit should be shot, several times.
After recently seeing this sixth movie and subsequently deciding to re-read the series from book two, a near endless stream of ideas has come into my head regarding what could be done with this mmo. A few are as follows:
So, when we're done adapting games that no one actually asked for, can someone please get to work on our beloved Harry Potter?
-Max
*I didn't have time to talk to her before writing this, but I will send a message to a friend of mine who is Twilight's target audience and get her expert opinion on this matter.
I understand that this property has probably been discussed endless times on blogs already. However, I feel the need to weigh in, given the fact that: THIS IS BULLSHIT.
Before I start in on my little shit storm, let me just say that, yes, I did attempt to read Twilight. But, it was apparent to me very quickly that hypersexualized tween stories about vampires were just not my thing; at least not after reading much higher quality vampire novels.
So, why is Twilight being made into a game and Harry Potter not? Nobody asked for a Twilight mmo! Most teens who read crap like Twilight don't play video games and those that do are perfectly happy playing Wii Sports and probably have no clue as to what an mmo is*. On the other hand, fans have been hoping and speculating for a while now on whether an mmo would ever be set in the realm of our favorite evil-vanquishing boy-wizard. Whoever the complete dumb ass (Mrs. Rowling excluded) is that decided to sit on this property and not develop it into what would almost certainly be a massive hit should be shot, several times.
After recently seeing this sixth movie and subsequently deciding to re-read the series from book two, a near endless stream of ideas has come into my head regarding what could be done with this mmo. A few are as follows:
- Set it during the first wizard war before Harry was born in order to create factions.
- If Rowling has direct input in the storyline, this setting would allow her to flesh out the back story without requiring her to write any more books, which she has more or less made clear she probably will not do.
- The inevitable expansions could be based around expanding out of England to the major battles that were hinted at all over the world.
- Start all characters at Hogwarts and by level 10 allow them to decide to become Death Eaters or part of the Order of the Phoenix.
- For all those bitching about class systems, it wouldn't even have to be class based...because everyone is a wizard! Make it skill based and allow players to specialized in different types of magic. Ex: herbology = healers, defense against the dark arts/dark arts = tank, care of magical creatures = pet style tank/dps, charms = dps, potions = support/buffs/healing?
So, when we're done adapting games that no one actually asked for, can someone please get to work on our beloved Harry Potter?
-Max
*I didn't have time to talk to her before writing this, but I will send a message to a friend of mine who is Twilight's target audience and get her expert opinion on this matter.
Wow
No, not that WoW. I could never hope to have that many subscribers...
Bad jokes aside, I would like to say one huge thank you to Darren and the folks over on the Shut Up. We're Talking. podcast for mentioning my blog along with Tranquil Abyss in their Blog of the Week section.
I usually check Virgin Worlds once or twice a day to see if any new shows have been put up and was really excited to see a new SUWT. What I was totally unprepared for was to see my blog in the show notes! So, thanks Darren and Karen, you just made a noob blogger's day!
To be honest, it was always a hope in the back of my mind that one day I might get mentioned in one of my favorite podcasts; though, surely, never a goal of this writing experiment.
I am, however, sure of one thing: I am now going to have to exercise at least SOME quality control in order to call this a respectful blog. :)
We shall see where this takes us and I am glad to have as many people as possible along for the ride.
Again, thank you!
-Max
Bad jokes aside, I would like to say one huge thank you to Darren and the folks over on the Shut Up. We're Talking. podcast for mentioning my blog along with Tranquil Abyss in their Blog of the Week section.
I usually check Virgin Worlds once or twice a day to see if any new shows have been put up and was really excited to see a new SUWT. What I was totally unprepared for was to see my blog in the show notes! So, thanks Darren and Karen, you just made a noob blogger's day!
To be honest, it was always a hope in the back of my mind that one day I might get mentioned in one of my favorite podcasts; though, surely, never a goal of this writing experiment.
I am, however, sure of one thing: I am now going to have to exercise at least SOME quality control in order to call this a respectful blog. :)
We shall see where this takes us and I am glad to have as many people as possible along for the ride.
Again, thank you!
-Max
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Caution: Devastator's Balls
For those that care, this blog is still deeply under construction.
So, tonight I just thought I would do a short post on what I'm playing/listening to.
Games:
-Max
So, tonight I just thought I would do a short post on what I'm playing/listening to.
Games:
- WoW Peggle - Only during podcast listening, don't worry.
- Guild Wars - I've been trying to get a friend of mine to play with me on odd nights, so I've just been popping in and out. Hopefully this time I can stick with it, the first time it didn't rub me so well.
- New Super Mario Bros. - After watching the Mario Marathon a couple weekends ago I got a huge itch to play some jumping plumber games.
- *I'm on the verge of giving Free Realms another shot. I think I should rotate all the unpaid professions; I got frustrated with mining pretty quickly.
- Pretty much all of Virgin Worlds
- The perennial Shut Up. We're Talking.
- The extremely entertaining Van Hemlock
- The informative Massively Speaking
- The rare but delightful How I WoW
- The apocalyptic Through the Aftermath
- The obvious WoW Insider Show
- The Star Wars hype machine The Holocron
- Finally, ever since Epic Dolls went the way of the dodo I've picked up on the Turkey's other podcast Spouse Aggro. It is very quickly becoming a new favorite, due in most part to Beau Turkey being an awesomely entertaining commentator!
- *Also, I would give both my pinky toes to have The Online Gamer's Anthology come back. Please Jonathan, come back to doing what you do best: reminiscing!
-Max
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Early Adoption and the New MMO Gamer
As I mentioned in the first post I am a gamer new to the mmo scene. Without giving my full gaming history (I am saving that for a future post), I'll just say that my first experience playing video games was on an extremely old mac at my grandparent's house playing a game in which two apes threw exploding bananas at each other. Since then I've owned several consoles and handhelds, although I continually find myself coming back to the pc to play games.
So, where am I going with all of this boring personal history?
It makes me sad and lonely to say, but I have not yet had the opportunity (privilege?) to be part of a newly launched mmo. Yes, I tried my darnedest to get into that weird two week Free Realms beta and when the game went live I gave it a shot, but eventually decided my awkward ninteen-year-oldness was at the polar opposite region from the age group they were looking to attract. Who knows though, perhaps in the coming months I will go back? That's the beauty of free to play.
To be perfectly honest I have played WoW on and off since the summer of 2006, but it was not until this past January that I truly immersed myself in the massively multiplayer online culture of games and began to think of myself as an mmo player. To be less label-y: this year the genre began to appeal to and interest me in an entirely new way. I realized that there were plenty of mmo's out there that were not Warcraft.
This brings me to my main point of the post (finally). Star Wars: The Old Republic might as well be the only game on the release calendar, for all the rest of eternity. Global Agenda, Champions, All Points Bulletin, Aion...these are not games I will probably ever play and certainly not on day one of release. SWTOR, however, is one game that I will reserve and stand in line at midnight at GameStop for.
Being part of a game in all its newly released and exceptionally buggy glory has never been appealing to me until now. I'm a moderate Star Wars fan and I'm a huge KOTOR fan so this game is right up my alley, if you will. I want to be one of those (usually annoying) people who can say, *in a crotchety old man's voice* "I remember when SWTOR (insert changed game mechanic here). It's a totally different game these days!" Of course the day when I utter those praises and complaints might be three months after release. Nevertheless, I will have been a part of, what I believe is an experience integral to the genre: The Release.
Reading about so many launch reminesces on sites like Massively and listening to podcasts in which the hosts wax romantic about the glory days of their favorite mmos has got me wanting that same type of experience, and when The Old Republic launches I mean to get that experience.
They say you always have fond memories and rose colored glasses for your first mmo. I think the same must also be true for your first mmo launch.
-Max
So, where am I going with all of this boring personal history?
It makes me sad and lonely to say, but I have not yet had the opportunity (privilege?) to be part of a newly launched mmo. Yes, I tried my darnedest to get into that weird two week Free Realms beta and when the game went live I gave it a shot, but eventually decided my awkward ninteen-year-oldness was at the polar opposite region from the age group they were looking to attract. Who knows though, perhaps in the coming months I will go back? That's the beauty of free to play.
To be perfectly honest I have played WoW on and off since the summer of 2006, but it was not until this past January that I truly immersed myself in the massively multiplayer online culture of games and began to think of myself as an mmo player. To be less label-y: this year the genre began to appeal to and interest me in an entirely new way. I realized that there were plenty of mmo's out there that were not Warcraft.
This brings me to my main point of the post (finally). Star Wars: The Old Republic might as well be the only game on the release calendar, for all the rest of eternity. Global Agenda, Champions, All Points Bulletin, Aion...these are not games I will probably ever play and certainly not on day one of release. SWTOR, however, is one game that I will reserve and stand in line at midnight at GameStop for.
Being part of a game in all its newly released and exceptionally buggy glory has never been appealing to me until now. I'm a moderate Star Wars fan and I'm a huge KOTOR fan so this game is right up my alley, if you will. I want to be one of those (usually annoying) people who can say, *in a crotchety old man's voice* "I remember when SWTOR (insert changed game mechanic here). It's a totally different game these days!" Of course the day when I utter those praises and complaints might be three months after release. Nevertheless, I will have been a part of, what I believe is an experience integral to the genre: The Release.
Reading about so many launch reminesces on sites like Massively and listening to podcasts in which the hosts wax romantic about the glory days of their favorite mmos has got me wanting that same type of experience, and when The Old Republic launches I mean to get that experience.
They say you always have fond memories and rose colored glasses for your first mmo. I think the same must also be true for your first mmo launch.
-Max
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Begin Blog: NOW!
Beginning to write is always the hardest, most awkward part. It's as though I'm waiting for Garrick Padfoot to spawn and who should turn up right beside me, but you, dear reader. Might I say you are looking lovely in that standard issue leather armor. But now the big question: Do we group, or are your intentions simply to ninja this mob I have been waiting on for nearly five minutes?
I will do the noble, nay, heroic thing and send you a group request. So, will you accept...?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope (perhaps out of that silliness above) that you will be so kind as to befriend me in this world of massively multiplayer online games that we collectively call home. My name is Max and I have for some time entertained the idea of starting a gaming blog to cover and convey my thoughts regarding video games in general, mmo games in particular, and perhaps a little random music as I see fit. Finally, I decided (out of an abundance of free time) that it was either put up or shut up, and like many current bloggers I like to hear myself talk. It inevitably had to be the former.
So, a little about myself:
I am a second year college student who, in the last several years, has developed a keen taste for online games. If the first generation entered into the massively multiplayer game space with Everquest and the second generation entered into that space with World of Warcraft then I am solidly of the second generation. However, currently I have let my WoW account slide and am beginning to dip my toes into other games, beginning with Guild Wars.
I have to admit I am somewhat of a lonely gamer. Unfortunately, very few of my friends are at all interested in my gaming hobby. This fact alone is probably the main reason why mmo's are such an appealing genre of entertainment to me. *Millions of people on this series of tubes who share my passion?! Sign me up!* (For the low, low price of $15 a month)
Also, before we get any further I should state quite plainly that I am a Noob. Most of the time I will NOT know what I'm doing. Awareness of one's own inability is always a plus, right?
Finally, my writing ability. I can promise that my grammar will not always be perfect and my perspectives not always the most well-thought-out, but I can and will guarantee that every post on this blog will be written with an honest passion for massively multiplayer online games.
So, to wrap this first post up I'd just like to say thank you, dear reader, for showing even the most meager of interest in what I have to say. Maybe we can quest again together, hopefully very soon!
-Max
I will do the noble, nay, heroic thing and send you a group request. So, will you accept...?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope (perhaps out of that silliness above) that you will be so kind as to befriend me in this world of massively multiplayer online games that we collectively call home. My name is Max and I have for some time entertained the idea of starting a gaming blog to cover and convey my thoughts regarding video games in general, mmo games in particular, and perhaps a little random music as I see fit. Finally, I decided (out of an abundance of free time) that it was either put up or shut up, and like many current bloggers I like to hear myself talk. It inevitably had to be the former.
So, a little about myself:
I am a second year college student who, in the last several years, has developed a keen taste for online games. If the first generation entered into the massively multiplayer game space with Everquest and the second generation entered into that space with World of Warcraft then I am solidly of the second generation. However, currently I have let my WoW account slide and am beginning to dip my toes into other games, beginning with Guild Wars.
I have to admit I am somewhat of a lonely gamer. Unfortunately, very few of my friends are at all interested in my gaming hobby. This fact alone is probably the main reason why mmo's are such an appealing genre of entertainment to me. *Millions of people on this series of tubes who share my passion?! Sign me up!* (For the low, low price of $15 a month)
Also, before we get any further I should state quite plainly that I am a Noob. Most of the time I will NOT know what I'm doing. Awareness of one's own inability is always a plus, right?
Finally, my writing ability. I can promise that my grammar will not always be perfect and my perspectives not always the most well-thought-out, but I can and will guarantee that every post on this blog will be written with an honest passion for massively multiplayer online games.
So, to wrap this first post up I'd just like to say thank you, dear reader, for showing even the most meager of interest in what I have to say. Maybe we can quest again together, hopefully very soon!
-Max
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
