I was apprehensive about this game - I love Garriott's previous work (see previous, re: UO) but he hasn't shipped a game since I graduated high school, and I was afraid he might have lost his touch. Or his mind - a sci-fi mock-shooter? I mean, really.
But I sucked it up, bought the (shiny, gorgeous) collector's edition, and... haven't been able to put it down. Let me make no bones about it - all marketing spin aside, it's an MMO. Quests, stats, skills, titles, instances - nothing has leapt out at me so far as being completely revolutionary. But there are a couple of things that make it worth a try, in my opinion:
- It's a different theme. Military sci-fi, rather than fantasy. Aliens rather than monsters. Guns rather than swords. As much as I dig fantasy, I am heartily tired of it, and this is a nice change. I played Auto Assault some (may it rest in peace!) and other than squishing pedestrians, the sci-fi theme was the good bit. TR's is even better done, plus it's prettier and runs better. The storyline itself is solid and fully-realized, from the dogtags and orders sheet in the CE, to the NPCs engaging the enemy and shouting orders, warnings, and "Oh shit!" just like real soldiers, to the interesting Supreme Hippie benevolent aliens that gave all the player characters spiffy powers.
- Combat is fast-paced and highly interactive - and fun! The only other MMO that felt as exciting as this was City of Heroes, which had extensive knockback mechanics that made combat feel much more real than the "hit button-watch particle effect-see floaty number" combat system that most other MMOs offer. TR's combat is mostly ranged at the low levels, but positioning and cover are really important, and I end up moving, retargeting, crouching, charging in for a critical kill (your opponent stands there, dazed, and if you run in you can kick its head off for double XP!) backing up, and whipping out the shotty for a couple of hits of click-BOOM, sometimes all in the same fight. I like interactive combat - it's why I prefer a backstab rogue, because I like having to think about positioning, and work at it to maximize my effectiveness. But WoW has NOTHING on TR for dynamic, fast-paced combat.
- The Cloning system. It's sort of a gimmick, but it's perfect for me. I like alts - a lot - but I don't love re-running the first ten levels half a dozen times to find out what the gameplay differences are at the high levels. The cloning system allows you to copy your character at all the class-branching decision points, and not backtrack nearly as much. I also like not having to pick a class straight off - I am pretty sure my main is going Spy, because hey, backstabbing! But if I change my mind, I can - at any point - and not lose ground.
- Garriott's signature "ethical parables." Branching quest chains, where the choices you make affect how different people and groups see you. I've only hit one so far, but it worked. They usually do, for me. I went with my gut on the actual decision, and then found myself feeling nervous as I went back to the original quest giver to tell him what I'd decided. It's a level of engagement that WoW has never managed (which I've bitched about before) and it does a great job of getting me invested in my character and the world.
- Exploration and badgewhoring: I'm a classic "Explorer"-type MMO player. I like to see things, collect things, and check things off a list. TR's "Targets of Opportunity" system is tailor-made for players like me. (Think CoH-style badges, but better organized.)
I haven't really played with the dynamic Control Point battles yet (self-scaling constant fighting around a base) but I've heard good things about them. I've also heard that the instances are lots of fun. I can't see myself getting sucked backed into WoW with patch 2.3, even though it buffs my rogue stupid high, so I'll probably be reporting on my adventures in TR for a while.
(Edited to add, thanks for the link, TR team! :) )
Friday, November 9, 2007
Betrayal
So I got a shiny new computer, and installed a whole bunch of games I had lying around. As a result, I haven't touched WoW in at least a week. Since my alternative activities have been a) untagged and b) generally rogue-like, I'll blog about them here until such time as I find it necessary to change the blog tag line or I go back to playing WoW.
Guild Wars:
I'd played Guild Wars obsessively for a month when it came out, then got distracted and haven't really come back to it. I never got past level 15 or so. When I heard about Eye of the North, I decided to give it another spin.
My ranger-mesmer is still pretty cool, and I got the hang of playing her in just a few minutes. I still love the AI minions that actually do what they're supposed to. I finished one quest, felt satisfied, and... got distracted. Again. So far I haven't come back to it. But hey, no monthly fee, so it'll wait.
Civilization III:
I actually wanted to play Civ 4 (which performed like a dog on my old box) but I could only find disk 2. Civ III was handy, so I popped that in instead, and promptly lost track of... about a week. God, these games are horribly addictive. It took me a couple frustrating games to remember my l33t Chieftain-level skills, but I've been playing for half an hour or so every morning, taking over the world. It's fun, and I'm going to try to pace myself.
Ultima Online:
The Invasion of Magincia has totally sucked me back in - my love for UO was cemented years and years ago during the invasion of Trinsic, and this one brings back fond memories. My heretofore-neglected paladin is getting a workout, and I've even gotten around to sorting out some template issues on my crafters. I haven't been logging a ton of hours, but I pop in every other day at least.
Tabula Rasa:
I've been playing TR every night this week, so I'm going to pull a review of that into its own post. Short version: it rocks.
Guild Wars:
I'd played Guild Wars obsessively for a month when it came out, then got distracted and haven't really come back to it. I never got past level 15 or so. When I heard about Eye of the North, I decided to give it another spin.
My ranger-mesmer is still pretty cool, and I got the hang of playing her in just a few minutes. I still love the AI minions that actually do what they're supposed to. I finished one quest, felt satisfied, and... got distracted. Again. So far I haven't come back to it. But hey, no monthly fee, so it'll wait.
Civilization III:
I actually wanted to play Civ 4 (which performed like a dog on my old box) but I could only find disk 2. Civ III was handy, so I popped that in instead, and promptly lost track of... about a week. God, these games are horribly addictive. It took me a couple frustrating games to remember my l33t Chieftain-level skills, but I've been playing for half an hour or so every morning, taking over the world. It's fun, and I'm going to try to pace myself.
Ultima Online:
The Invasion of Magincia has totally sucked me back in - my love for UO was cemented years and years ago during the invasion of Trinsic, and this one brings back fond memories. My heretofore-neglected paladin is getting a workout, and I've even gotten around to sorting out some template issues on my crafters. I haven't been logging a ton of hours, but I pop in every other day at least.
Tabula Rasa:
I've been playing TR every night this week, so I'm going to pull a review of that into its own post. Short version: it rocks.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Scholo, Sort Of
Didn't play at all last week, due to massive work-related drama. Ran AV a few times on Saturday, and today hit up Shattered Halls again, finished some BEM quests, and ran Scholo just far enough to get the last of the deeds I needed. No AD rep for that one, though - most disappointing.
Also got my Riding training and flew around a bit on my broom - look forward to doing some more of that. Otherwise, an unexciting week all around.
Also got my Riding training and flew around a bit on my broom - look forward to doing some more of that. Otherwise, an unexciting week all around.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Baby Steps
I'm clearly getting to the point with my rogue that progress is going to be in fairly small increments, but I'm still having fun. A few things I got to this weekend:
- Ran Shattered Halls, finishing two of the three quests and upgrading my shoulders with one of the rewards. (Incidentally, "kill x" quests where the number of available mobs in the zone exactly equals x? Effing annoying.)
- Began questing in the CE hub in Blade's Edge, and dinged Revered with CE. (Apparently, all for naught, as 2.3 will make the Heroic keys available at Honored. *shrug*)
- Spent far too much money clearing the the Tier 0.5 set upgrade quest I was on - I wanted to get it out of my queue, and the items were on sale, and I had the cash... so I got it done. Got the next two steps done too, but balked at spending ANOTHER 40 gold. I'll pick that back up after I have my flying mount.
- The above quest line took me to Silithus, so I ran several quests there. I don't like the desert zones much, but it is an interesting part of the storyline, so I did enjoy it, and will come back next time I'm in the mood for some low-challenge content. Went from halfway to Friendly to two-thirds to Honored, too.
- Cleared the three elite quests I had waiting in Nagrand - just one left, now, and it looks like that one will give me an upgrade for my ranged slot, too.
- Ran the Headless Horseman five times, picked up the welfare-epic ring (which was only a fraction better than my blue ring, so it's not that big a deal, anyway) and picked up a couple of different brooms. I should soon be able to buy the flying-mount training, and now I'll have something to tool around on while I save up the extra hundred gold for the mount :) This was a pretty easy boss, but it was fun!
- I also ran the lowbie Halloween content on my Blood Elf Pally, who is sitting at 19 waiting for patch 2.3. I run WSG on him from time to time, but see no point in running through content right before all the rewards are boosted. I am looking forward to playing him, though, because I want to see all the Horde content!
- Ran Shattered Halls, finishing two of the three quests and upgrading my shoulders with one of the rewards. (Incidentally, "kill x" quests where the number of available mobs in the zone exactly equals x? Effing annoying.)
- Began questing in the CE hub in Blade's Edge, and dinged Revered with CE. (Apparently, all for naught, as 2.3 will make the Heroic keys available at Honored. *shrug*)
- Spent far too much money clearing the the Tier 0.5 set upgrade quest I was on - I wanted to get it out of my queue, and the items were on sale, and I had the cash... so I got it done. Got the next two steps done too, but balked at spending ANOTHER 40 gold. I'll pick that back up after I have my flying mount.
- The above quest line took me to Silithus, so I ran several quests there. I don't like the desert zones much, but it is an interesting part of the storyline, so I did enjoy it, and will come back next time I'm in the mood for some low-challenge content. Went from halfway to Friendly to two-thirds to Honored, too.
- Cleared the three elite quests I had waiting in Nagrand - just one left, now, and it looks like that one will give me an upgrade for my ranged slot, too.
- Ran the Headless Horseman five times, picked up the welfare-epic ring (which was only a fraction better than my blue ring, so it's not that big a deal, anyway) and picked up a couple of different brooms. I should soon be able to buy the flying-mount training, and now I'll have something to tool around on while I save up the extra hundred gold for the mount :) This was a pretty easy boss, but it was fun!
- I also ran the lowbie Halloween content on my Blood Elf Pally, who is sitting at 19 waiting for patch 2.3. I run WSG on him from time to time, but see no point in running through content right before all the rewards are boosted. I am looking forward to playing him, though, because I want to see all the Horde content!
Monday, October 15, 2007
First Voice Chat
I hardly played over the weekend, instead getting some actual RL chores done. But Sunday night I decided to pop in for just a few, and I'm glad I did.
First, I jumped into an AB, and won it handily, which is usually an astonishingly rare occurrence. Perhaps the skew isn't so bad at 70... will have to experiment further.
Just as that was ending, a Shadow Labs group was looking for one more DPS - they were already past the first two bosses. Perfect. We had some issues with trash pulls, mostly due to bad luck and people not paying attention, but the first boss gave us no trouble - perhaps because our leader turned on her voice chat and... led. Explained the strat, called out when we needed to move, etc. It was a piece of cake.
We wiped on Murmur, and just before we were going to start again the tank bailed, but the group got me my Karazhan key fragment, which was kind of them - and I got to finish one of the quests I had. So I was able to upgrade my bracers, plus I won a mace that dropped off of the one boss we fought, and it turned out to be, according to shadowpanther, one of the best blue offhand weapons available. So a good short run, overall.
First, I jumped into an AB, and won it handily, which is usually an astonishingly rare occurrence. Perhaps the skew isn't so bad at 70... will have to experiment further.
Just as that was ending, a Shadow Labs group was looking for one more DPS - they were already past the first two bosses. Perfect. We had some issues with trash pulls, mostly due to bad luck and people not paying attention, but the first boss gave us no trouble - perhaps because our leader turned on her voice chat and... led. Explained the strat, called out when we needed to move, etc. It was a piece of cake.
We wiped on Murmur, and just before we were going to start again the tank bailed, but the group got me my Karazhan key fragment, which was kind of them - and I got to finish one of the quests I had. So I was able to upgrade my bracers, plus I won a mace that dropped off of the one boss we fought, and it turned out to be, according to shadowpanther, one of the best blue offhand weapons available. So a good short run, overall.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Play Much, Drink Much, Post Little
Brewfest was much more entertaining with the hourly invasions, but it's still entertaining. I will have enough tickets to get a ram, although I'm not sure I want one. I also added several items to my collection of alcohol-related trinkets and quest rewards, which I count as a win. My Blood Elf alt got a spiffy hat - even better!
I have not had a successful instance run since I posted last, although I've had a number of unsuccessful ones. (First boss in Shadow Labs; wiped three times, gave up. Different group beat him, then the tank bailed. We found another tank, reset because he asked us to, beat him again, then... the tank bailed. Asshole.) (Oh, and if the group wipes three times in the first four pulls in Steamvaults? GIVE UP.)
I have had any number of successful elite quest runs, though, so I can't complain too much - gotten more gear out of that than the last ten instances. I'm now entirely wearing blues except one ring, one trinket, and my bracers, plus I upgraded a couple of my existing blues. I also have tons of money and am revered with the Kurenai. So, not actually complaining all that much.
I did a bit of grinding since the patch and hit Revered with Argent Dawn, and finally turned in all the stuff I'd been hoarding. Other than all the extra bankspace, I got about a fifth of what I'll need to hit exalted. I'm going to wait to run Scholo and finish those quests and Strat for the last quest or two there before I do any more grinding. It's not a horrific rate - about 1k an hour - but it's not awesome either, and I have other things to do.
I really, really like Nagrand. Some site (Wowwiki, maybe?) compared it to Westfall or the Barrens - I completely disagree. It's gorgeous and peaceful without feeling sere and barren. The quests aren't terribly interesting, and the amount of grinding that'd be required to hit Exalted with the Kurenai makes my toes curl, but I spent a solid weekend there are really enjoyed it. It's a pleasant change from the otherwise dark and grim zones in Outland.
Other than the last three elite quests in Nagrand (I hate you, Hemet Nesingwary!) my plan is to move on to the Blade's Edge Mountains, where I will certainly hit Revered with Cenarion Expedition and open up my first set of heroics. I'll also keep attempting the Auchenai instances, Steamvaults, and Shattered Halls, as opportunities arise. Chipping away at the Azerothian instances is a perpetual task, as well. I also plan to spend some time flying around Outland as soon as I pick up another couple hundred gold. Exploration is really my thing, so I'm looking forward to that more than anything.
I have not had a successful instance run since I posted last, although I've had a number of unsuccessful ones. (First boss in Shadow Labs; wiped three times, gave up. Different group beat him, then the tank bailed. We found another tank, reset because he asked us to, beat him again, then... the tank bailed. Asshole.) (Oh, and if the group wipes three times in the first four pulls in Steamvaults? GIVE UP.)
I have had any number of successful elite quest runs, though, so I can't complain too much - gotten more gear out of that than the last ten instances. I'm now entirely wearing blues except one ring, one trinket, and my bracers, plus I upgraded a couple of my existing blues. I also have tons of money and am revered with the Kurenai. So, not actually complaining all that much.
I did a bit of grinding since the patch and hit Revered with Argent Dawn, and finally turned in all the stuff I'd been hoarding. Other than all the extra bankspace, I got about a fifth of what I'll need to hit exalted. I'm going to wait to run Scholo and finish those quests and Strat for the last quest or two there before I do any more grinding. It's not a horrific rate - about 1k an hour - but it's not awesome either, and I have other things to do.
I really, really like Nagrand. Some site (Wowwiki, maybe?) compared it to Westfall or the Barrens - I completely disagree. It's gorgeous and peaceful without feeling sere and barren. The quests aren't terribly interesting, and the amount of grinding that'd be required to hit Exalted with the Kurenai makes my toes curl, but I spent a solid weekend there are really enjoyed it. It's a pleasant change from the otherwise dark and grim zones in Outland.
Other than the last three elite quests in Nagrand (I hate you, Hemet Nesingwary!) my plan is to move on to the Blade's Edge Mountains, where I will certainly hit Revered with Cenarion Expedition and open up my first set of heroics. I'll also keep attempting the Auchenai instances, Steamvaults, and Shattered Halls, as opportunities arise. Chipping away at the Azerothian instances is a perpetual task, as well. I also plan to spend some time flying around Outland as soon as I pick up another couple hundred gold. Exploration is really my thing, so I'm looking forward to that more than anything.
Monday, October 1, 2007
70 At Last
So I finally dinged 70, and actually didn't even see it happen - I was distracted by a series of text messages. So anticlimactic.
It wasn't the only thing I did this weekend, by a long shot. Let's see how much I can remember:
- Ran Mana Tombs; ran Auchenai Crypts. No gear, good XP though.
- Ran Durnholde again for the heck of it, tried BM once before I realized that it kinda sucks and I'd rather wait until I'm ready to get the key from it. No gear.
- Dinged, fixed my build (hemo and cold blood ftw!) and started the Kara attunement quest line.
- Realized that elderly dragons should be left in peace. (No, seriously - Emberstrife ate my lunch. Twice.)
- Cleared the remaining non-elite quests in Terokkar.
- Ran Strat undead, FINALLY. Bunch of 60s and a 70 mage - everything's easier with enough AOE DPS, isn't it? No gear (I'd love to pick up my class set pieces, but no dice) but a toooon of rep, since all the rep rewards are doubled since the patch. The Baron's head turnin got me around 2400 rep alone. Doing the couple of Scholo quests and the one Strat quest I have left should push me over to Revered, or close enough to grind it, anyway.
- Jumped in to a Sethekk Halls group for just the last boss, which means I got my Shadow Labs key, but couldn't get either of the quests done, so I'll have to run that one again.
Next up: Shadow Labs for the Kara key fragment, Scholo and UBRS when I can, Shattered Halls, Sethekk, Mana Tombs, and Auchenai Crypts as I feel like it, and Steamvaults as soon as I get past Shadow Labs. And questing in Nagrand, when I'm not 5-manning.
Man, this game has a ton of content. I'm not NEARLY done. (Also, the quest reward xp-to-gold conversion? Very nice. I made 150 gold, easy, for turning in maybe 8 or 10 quests.)
It wasn't the only thing I did this weekend, by a long shot. Let's see how much I can remember:
- Ran Mana Tombs; ran Auchenai Crypts. No gear, good XP though.
- Ran Durnholde again for the heck of it, tried BM once before I realized that it kinda sucks and I'd rather wait until I'm ready to get the key from it. No gear.
- Dinged, fixed my build (hemo and cold blood ftw!) and started the Kara attunement quest line.
- Realized that elderly dragons should be left in peace. (No, seriously - Emberstrife ate my lunch. Twice.)
- Cleared the remaining non-elite quests in Terokkar.
- Ran Strat undead, FINALLY. Bunch of 60s and a 70 mage - everything's easier with enough AOE DPS, isn't it? No gear (I'd love to pick up my class set pieces, but no dice) but a toooon of rep, since all the rep rewards are doubled since the patch. The Baron's head turnin got me around 2400 rep alone. Doing the couple of Scholo quests and the one Strat quest I have left should push me over to Revered, or close enough to grind it, anyway.
- Jumped in to a Sethekk Halls group for just the last boss, which means I got my Shadow Labs key, but couldn't get either of the quests done, so I'll have to run that one again.
Next up: Shadow Labs for the Kara key fragment, Scholo and UBRS when I can, Shattered Halls, Sethekk, Mana Tombs, and Auchenai Crypts as I feel like it, and Steamvaults as soon as I get past Shadow Labs. And questing in Nagrand, when I'm not 5-manning.
Man, this game has a ton of content. I'm not NEARLY done. (Also, the quest reward xp-to-gold conversion? Very nice. I made 150 gold, easy, for turning in maybe 8 or 10 quests.)
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