Oh look, Rowne's created a topic! This doesn't happen all that often, does it? Sorry about the topic title too, I wasn't feeling particularly creative, perhaps a little bit controversial but not creative.
Anyway, I've seen EVE mentioned so I figured I'd post and ask what everyone's playing in the field of the online RPG.
I'm also going to ask what everyone's looking forward to on the horizon.
Until recently, I was playing City of Villains which has consumed a large part of my time but I felt like trying something different. So I'm now playing Everquest II (currently on the Lucan D'Lere RP server). I like that game lots. After all, it has some of the most genuinely funny quests I've ever seen.
Oh and it has a Gnollish Godfather who's the head of an underground criminal organization. He's named Fippy. Any Everquest I fans should recognize that name. That's just awesome, I'm sorry but it is. I wish they'd had more quests. I'd more eagerly work for said organization than the Qeynos Guard, that's for sure.
As for what I'm looking forward to, I was interested in Vanguard but I'm getting worried that it's going to be very generic and bland. I'm still following it but I don't have as much interest as I did.
What I'm really fascinated by (as a big fan of PSO), is Phantasy Star Universe. It looks to have great races, beautiful locations and most importantly, drivable vehicles that don't suck. Such a thing is rare, Half-Life II rare.
So that's my info added then, what of the rest of you?
The only MMO i have been into recently is a game called Planetside, Its an MMO-FPS (not RPG) and the only one of its kind..
{Edit: oh god i sound like I'm selling something... well i guess i am >:3 if you are intrested in an MMOFPS then look up the planetside free trial on google, or just use this link :P http://planetside.station.sony.com/reserves/
and if you want to read my rant about it continue on below:
You fight as one of 3 empires over 10 interconnected maps that are on average (i think) 8*8KM2 some are larger than this and some are smaller.. Anyway, these maps (continents) have a series of bases and towers, each with their own benefits and design. The goal of course is to capture as many of the bases and continents as possible by the end of the day..
To help you kill the opponent there is a large variety of weapons and vehicles (this is a full FPS no RP stats changing damage or anything), fighters, bombers, tanks, apc's, quad bikes, (and more) are fully available to use, each with empire specific versions and common pool' variants.. but the combat does not begin and end with tanks and aircraft, the infantry also have a wide variety of guns and armours to use.. everything from assultrifles to assult shotguns and mini-chainguns, Agile exosuits to the impressive MAX-suits, grenade launchers (with a variety of grenades) to anti-tank RPGs and plasmaguns.. All this available to a massive 366 players per Continent..
It is also all PvP, and has very good support for clans (outfits) with the ability to create onthefly 10 man squads and put them together to get 30 man platoons (great for outfit coordination)... There are also dedicated command channels for the CR1-5 players and dedicated squad platoon outfit and Continental channels to help with the over all organisation...
all this and more :3
Pretty much the only true MMORPG I've ever played is Guild Wars... (Woohoo for being to cheap to pay for anything with a monthly subscription fee!) ... Though I haven't been playing it for the last couple of months.
As for the future... Phantasy Star Universe looks good, but again, I'm too cheap/broke to pay monthly fees, so I'm probably not going to get it.
I'm hooked on Runescape ;-;
I could actually play PlanetSide, Mal. I have Station Access [in preperation for Vanguard] and PlanetSide is amongst the Access games. It's just that I don't do so well in PvP. Not because I'm bad at it, au contraire. No, it's because I have a guilty concience the size of a very large natural satellite and I tend to think too much about how my victims would feel. So what're the PvP losses like? I'd feel absolutely awful whilst running and gunning if I was dealing out setbacks.
So yes, I'm like that. Bloody carebears. My heart just wouldn't be in it. It'd be less than half-arsed I expect.
That's why I usually hang around PvE games and why I wasn't in World of Warcraft for too long.
As for Guild Wars, I have both that and Factions. Not really an MMO though, more of a multiplayer RPG with a huge lobby, much like PSO was and Phantasy Star Universe looks to be. And much like Neverwinter Nights, except in that case the lobby was outside the game but the ideal holds true. Those were all very good games though. I got as much as I could out of the PvE content and I go back every now and then to watch. I love being able to watch PvP in Guild Wars, I'm really strange like that. Some teams are really good sports and Guild Wars comes over more like ... well, a game of football than the nonsense of Warcraft. If that makes sense? It's very civilized.
So yeah, I like Guild Wars and I'll buy anything released by ArenaNET just to support their development model (not having to pay to play rocks) and to continue to watch PvP games like a good game of footy with popcorn in hand. I can't say that I actively play them, though.
As for Runescape, I've never tried it. It seems to be a serious MMO but I couldn't see whether it has crafting or not. Does it have crafting? I'm crafting obsessed, especially if there's player housing involved.
Crafting...yes..i think...
Quote from: Rowne on July 19, 2006, 07:05:22 PM
I could actually play PlanetSide, Mal. I have Station Access [in preperation for Vanguard] and PlanetSide is amongst the Access games. It's just that I don't do so well in PvP. Not because I'm bad at it, au contraire. No, it's because I have a guilty concience the size of a very large natural satellite and I tend to think too much about how my victims would feel. So what're the PvP losses like? I'd feel absolutely awful whilst running and gunning if I was dealing out setbacks.
So yes, I'm like that. Bloody carebears. My heart just wouldn't be in it. It'd be less than half-arsed I expect.
You can still play Planetside and get XP, etc. - even without getting stuck in. You could devote 100% of your Certification Points to skills like Engineering, Medical and other support options like Dropship Pilot, APC Driver and whatnot. It's a bit harder to play support, but hey, it can be done! I used to do it when I still had my old GFX card which had trouble with major combat. ;)
I play PlanetSide aaaand.. Auto Assault. Vehicular Mayhem ftw. I have a BioMek Terminator. He drives a tank. This tank has a Gatling Gun. It is fun. :mwaha
EDIT:darn you sheridan! :P that will teach me to get drinks /dehydration
Well, the most the other person can lose in planetside is about 30 seconds of their time as they respawn, and if PvPing is still not your thing, then you could even be a full support player..
There are several roles that are vital to any army in planetside, these include combatmedic (can heal and revive people)/engineer(can repair the armour of tanks and people), AMS driver (its a mobile respawn point), APC driver/dropship pilot (helps get people around :) )..
You will find in the large battles that support players are ALLWAYS needed, infact there might be too much for you to do (which is a good indicator you are losing :P )..
But as i have said, its mainly an FPS.. You die, you respawn or get revived by a medic you don't lose out on anything.. So combat is not so bad on your conscience.. Whats more is that if you get involved with a really organised outfit who do black-ops (think SAS, commando type work) type work a dedicated support player with only minor weaponry could be very very usefull.
Oh, and just because that SMG looks piddly, doesn't mean it is. It's actually quite accurate. D:
Hm, the PvP sounds interesting. In most MMOs I've seen, there's usually heavy losses for losing. With Guild Wars there isn't but I had more fun watching than I did playing because in Guild Wars, one still had to fulfil a basic combat role, even in support.
I like the idea of medics, personally, it reminds me of stuff like Team Fortress and things like that, where the primary goal was to run around and jab people with a needle, either to poison them (which I did little of) or to heal one's fellow players.
Suffice it to say, I've quite enjoyed class-based FPS games over the years. The thing with PlanetSide and the thing that kept me away is I didn't know how much FPS it was exactly and how much MMO. My first FPS foray into the land of MMOs was Neocron and early on I tossed myself into the PvP zone there to see what the losses were like, awarding someone a free kill. The losses in Neocron, at least in the beta, were nasty.
So I quit playing that.
PlanetSide sounds to be something different, as much on the side of the FPS as Neocron was on the side of the MMO. I'll definitely give it a look, poke it, try it out and see what I think.
Dont expect to kill or do anything other than die for the first few sessions, unless you were like born to play planetside :P It has a steep learning curve!
Situational awearness is one of the most important skills you will need to learn, oh and if you dont know where to look to find the opponent then run away or find cover :P
Do tell what server and team you chose :) i might just join ya if you dont mind
Quote from: Rowne on July 19, 2006, 11:11:34 PMHm, the PvP sounds interesting. In most MMOs I've seen, there's usually heavy losses for losing. With Guild Wars there isn't but I had more fun watching than I did playing because in Guild Wars, one still had to fulfil a basic combat role, even in support.
The worst you can get is an increased respawn time, and even then that caps out at about +15 seconds. (this is quite high (20-35seconds depending on facility bonuses), enough to beat sense into most. But not all. :rolleyes )
Some of those I've never even heard of. However, I'm playing Runescape for anyone that's interested. There are skills other than just fighting to help you make money. Such skills include:
Construction, Crafting, Cooking, Fishing, Herblore, Woodcutting, Smithing, Thieving, Mining, and a few other things that aren't too important. I mean, the game is fun and all, but the few flaws it has are massively exploited. Regardless, I play it and have fun killing other players (refered to as PKing).
Welp, that's the online game I play. There's another one, but I'm keeping that a secret until the time is right. Later, guys!
I might give Runescape a look too then if it has a PvE server. Especially if the crafting and gathering skills are fun. I can spend hours sitting around and doing things like fishing. It's never been as fun as those halycon days in Ultima Online I admit because people just don't sit around and fish much anymore (which is a damn shame, though it's mostly due to how nodes work as opposed to being able to harvest anywhere a la UO) but I still do it because I'm ... well, me and any game in which I don't spend ages fishing is a game that simply doesn't appeal to my personal tastes.
This is likely why I play Animal Crossing: Wild World so much. *Cough.*
----
Rowne: Nook! I bring you fish! I have many very large and smelly fish. No bugs, items or rare bones for you. No, you only get the best of my hard earned FISH!
Nook: Oh Gods, not again.
I know a couple f good MMORPG's.
Gunz Online
Conquer Online
Maplestory
Battelfield2 Ithink
Goonzu (I think that's what it is called) (It's not good but addictive)
And more MMORPG's I can't remember
Quote from: Huggable Kio on July 23, 2006, 01:55:30 AM
I know a couple f good MMORPG's.
Gunz Online
Conquer Online
Maplestory
Battelfield2 Ithink
Goonzu (I think that's what it is called) (It's not good but addictive)
And more MMORPG's I can't remember
BF2 is not technically an MMORPG I wouldn't say, apart from the rank aspects that allow you to unlock more options. But it's servers cap out at around 64ish I think whereas most MMOs have persistant worlds that only change by player interaction. I guess you could use that logic to say Gunz wasn't an MMO either, but eh. ;)
I don't mind online experiences being listed here so much though, at least if they're good ones. After all, Neverwinter Nights resulted in some of the best times spent gaming I've ever had and some of the best memories of the internet that I have. It wasn't an MMO, just a multiplayer RPG but it was good times, really good times.
I got into a session which was a piratey RPG once (X Marks the Spots) with Stephen Gagne (Gagne is a diety) heading up the helm, that was some of the most worthwhile roleplaying I've ever experienced.
I'll never forget the best moment of that, too ...
Okay, in a Discworld-like Universe, you have clockwork-golems guarding the entrance to an early fantasy mass-manufacturer. You want to get in to see their CEO. What's the best way to do it?
Rowne: We're stinking rich foreign investors, we have large bags of money which we wish to plunge into this place. We wish to buy your shares and fund your company's endeavours. We're big fans and we're foolish with our money.
Clockwork Golem: *Whurr.* You wish to *Cliktbeep.* invest in this company?
Rowne: Oh yes, we have lots of money and we'd like to sign a very beneficial agreement with your boss to become shareholders in this fine company. He'd be a fool to miss an offer like this one, we're all multi, multi-billionaires you see ...
Apparently, the end result of this is that we skipped a portion of the mod where we'd have to run through a dungeon killing things. I was proud of myself. :p
There is a new online game coming out tomorrow in beta that i am gonna be trying out
its called trickester and its bascially a scalled down verison of Raganrock online but the differance being that all the characters are animals :D (see what attracted me to it :)
http://www.tricksteronline.com/
(http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9489/3rdfd1.jpg)
yes its korean
Alrighty my turn. Heres my list of MMOs that I've played:
Anarchy Online
Dark Age of Camalot
Starwars Galaxys
Planetside
EVE Online
Matrix Online
I'm currently Playing World of Warcraft (and eagerly awaiting the exp pack The Burning Crusade).
One that is in deveolpment that I'm interested in is one called Huxley (MMOFPS) looks interesting to say the least.
Is Gaiaonline considered a MMORPG?
That looks interesting Silver, a lot of style there. I'll definitely give it a look. I wish some of the Western efforts had style like that. Some of the existing and upcoming MMOs out there look more like a Nickelodeon show than anything else. I suppose that's why I'm drawn to Phantasy Star Universe of the upcoming available MMOs.
I did spend a while in Ragnarok Online so I might enjoy this. Sometimes I find the capitalistic nature of their games (the way they're grind and item driven) a bit insufferable but aside from that, I've found both RO and the Lineage games to have quite, quite enjoyable elements to them. Same goes for FF IX actually, had a great playerbase, that one.
---- Edit
I'd say it's more of a massively multiplayer web-based collect-'em-up, actually Xze. It's not bad though, I played it for a little while, they could use more minigames but I liked their avatars.
You know, this reminds me ...
I'm absolutely stunned that nobody's mentioned Puzzle Pirates (http://www.puzzlepirates.com/), since you folks seem to gravitate towards that kind of game. I play that one on and off. Occasionally I poke the icon on my desktop to head in and do some puzzling. Besides, it gives me the oppurtunity to shamelessly yell "YARRRR!" at people and that can't be a bad thing. Can it?
(Oh and I should likely add for the amusement of all that when I first read Xze's post, I read it as "Is Gasoline an MMORPG?". Bloody worthless sight. I swear, I do more double-takes at what I thought I'd read than what I actually do read.)
---- The Edit wot Says I Need to Stop Editing Posts
I have to add that I love the Ghostbusters avatars and signatures I see around here. I still have a great deal of love for that show.
Yesterday, I searched around Google Video and Youtube and I found a whole bunch of Sam and Max episodes (honest!), today I'm tempted to poke those sites for old Ghostbusters episodes.
:O sam and max episodes?! brb!
* Rowne laughs heartily.
That was pretty much my reaction. I spent a good few hours watching every last one that I could find. There's more on Google Video though, quite a bit more. Actually, they tend to be good resources for cartoons. Youtube even has Bananaman episodes, which stunned me when I thought to look after the recent banana-obsession elsewhere.
lol banana man :3 I remember that... what a weird idea D:
when he eats a banana he turns into something like superman but smellier... :P
Weird that I remembered it or that the idea is weird? It was weird that I recalled that though in reference to the 'Pyro is a banana!' thread/comic. So, welcome to my mind.
As for the actual cartoon being weird, it really was. The first episode is up on Youtube and you should watch it to see the kinds of things that I was watching as a kid. It goes a little way to explain why I'm so eccentric these days.
---- Edit
Bananaman is so much better as a superhero than Superman! He doesn't have any Kryptonian weaknesses.
... I can't believe I just said that. Nostalgia wins the day over rationality it seems, still, I stand by wot I said.
Besides, Supes doesn't have the prerequisite amount of corn and cheese that I require to enjoy my diet of entertainment.
Also: We're totally derailing this thread.
I have Trickster, Silver and it's supposed to have opened today but I can't get it to do anything, strangely enough. On starting the game from the launcher, I just get a slightly corrupted startup screen with music playing, the cursor changes as I move it around as if there were an interface there but I can't interact with that interface (not to mention it's invisible).
If they get those problems sorted out, I'll definitely try it out.
I'm sure some of you guys have to remember "Freakazoid!" It was one of my personal favorites. It's a shame that the WB doesn't make cool cartoons like that anymore. There's a load of videos for it on YouTube as well. So dang funny.
On another note, MapleStory isn't half bad. I just wish you didn't have to pay for every last thing you want to make your character look cooler. I do like some of the customization options, though. They look sweet.
On another note, do you have[/i] to post in orange? It's hard to read on some of the other schemes.
Quote from: Sheridan on July 24, 2006, 08:48:37 PM
On another note, do you have[/i] to post in orange? It's hard to read on some of the other schemes.
Sorry, buddy. It's a necessity. It looks fine to me. The background is black, and the text is orange. It's a complete stand-out.
Ah, it seems like the Trickster issues will be resolved (http://www.tricksteronline.com/News/View.aspx?tn=1&pn=1&no=13), yay! Surprisingly, I'm eager to try this one now, since I did like RO and I love the screenshots.
MMO's I have played:
Guild Wars (Still playing)
Star Wars Galaxies
World of Warcraft
Anarchy Online
R.O.S.E. Online (Decent, but not gonna pay for it. I miss the beta. :mowsad)
Ragnarok Online
Everquest 2
I haven't heard of this Trickster game until now, I'll have to give it a shot.
If you do try it, we'll have to try and arrange some kind of DMFA get together in the beta. Since you'll be there, I'll be there, Silver will be there and another fellow that I happen to know will also be there.
Quote from: CutMan on July 24, 2006, 10:28:29 PM
Quote from: Sheridan on July 24, 2006, 08:48:37 PM
On another note, do you have[/i] to post in orange? It's hard to read on some of the other schemes.
Sorry, buddy. It's a necessity. It looks fine to me. The background is black, and the text is orange. It's a complete stand-out.
It should not be a necessity. By the default, on that theme, the font should be white. Over here, on this theme, the background is purple. Orange and purple do not mix.
Quote from: Sheridan on July 26, 2006, 02:01:10 AM
Quote from: CutMan on July 24, 2006, 10:28:29 PM
Quote from: Sheridan on July 24, 2006, 08:48:37 PM
On another note, do you have[/i] to post in orange? It's hard to read on some of the other schemes.
Sorry, buddy. It's a necessity. It looks fine to me. The background is black, and the text is orange. It's a complete stand-out.
It should not be a necessity. By the default, on that theme, the font should be white. Over here, on this theme, the background is purple. Orange and purple do not mix.
Hee hee. I really AM sorry, but I don't think I'll be changing it anytime soon. It's funny how your background is purple when the default is black. Aside from that, if we take a look at the color wheel, PURPLE and YELLOW are complete opposite colors, meaning they contrast eachother highly. Orange is kind of like yellow. The opposite of orange is blue, and purple is sort of like blue. As I said before, it's a complete standout.
If it bothers you that much, then just highlight my posts to see what I'm saying.
On another note, has anyone tried playing 'Adventure Quest?' It's ridiculously lame and irritating. And to think: its creators are making a load of money off of a crappy RPG made on Flash 8. Sad, really.
That and there's always the option of grabbing Greasemonkey for Firefox and throwing together a script for this domain that forces all text colour to be white.
If a large number of DMFAers get interested in a long-term relationship with maplestory, I might be tempted to start a guild...
I could certainly try it out, I'm willing to give anything a shot. If I remember correctly, Maple Story's free too, nay?
Maplestory is sort of dull. Even when I hacked (which is rampant), there wasn't a lot to do. Maybe on a shard it'd be fun, but who knows. I couldn't imagine DMFA starting a group in any MMO outside social type games.
I admit that I've changed gears a bit lately but the topic was originally about finding out what everyone was playing more than actually trying to form a group, after all, if X amount of people play Y game then there's already a group there. It seems though that aside from PlanetSide players, I'm about one of the only avid MMOers around these 'ere parts.
You're likely right though, most would probably hang around in Second Life more than an actual MMO. I'm tempted by Second Life but I want to shop around for visual appearances before I go there next. My last attempt was particularly horrible and I want to do better. I have this thing with appearance in online games. Bloody ill-conceived sense of fashion. *Cough.*
We recently expanded in SL, actually. I expect a post about it soon from Slavkei or Silver. It's a much bigger lot.
I've played a ton of MMOs, but I just can't imagine myself raiding in WoW with someone from here. :meh
I liked Second Life, I really did. It's just the first time in there, I went in ill-prepared. The next time I do it I want to do it better and put in a bit of research before I build a character. Building a character in that game isn't exactly an easy thing, at least if one doesn't want to look overly generic. So this might be a good time for one to look into it again and start the aforementioned research, considering that it's a time of change for Lost Lake anyway.
As for World of Warcraft, to be frank, you've picked about the worst example of any MMO that you could pick there. If it's a good playerbase that you're after, you'd be better off with Ultima Online, Everquest, Everquest II, Final Fnatasy XI or a bunch of others that I could think of. The problem with Warcraft is that it became too popular with the mainstream and there're a lot of idiots about. That's slowly happening to Everquest II sadly and I'm thinking about moving on from there when I find a new game to move on to.
Despite the lack of beast races (which I do so dearly love), I'm actually tempted by the new Lord of the Rings MMO, it sounds particularly out there and weird, at least worth a shot. I've signed up for their beta anyway. I admit though that the MMO I'm really looking forward to again is Phantasy Star Universe. I had some real good times in FF IX so I'm eager to try an Eastern MMO again.
---- Edit
Oh and to clarify the World of Warcraft point, I think most of the folks from around these parts would find Warcraft a major turn-off due to the nature of the folks found within. It'd be like having a hippie wander around a futuristic, cyberpunk, neo-fascist America. The two just would likely not be compatible.
To further clarify, I agree that the folks around here wouldn't fit in in Warcraft because Warcraft is the only MMO I've encountered that behaves like Counter Strike. I'd suspect even the PlanetSiders are more well-behaved.
(Edit: Forgot to add cyberpunk, it doesn't read as I wanted to without it.)
WoW may have a terrible community, but it has gameplay that others just don't. We tried FFXI before WoW and we hated it. A clunky login and billing system, and the grind was unlike anything I had ever experienced. There was absoloutely no replay value. CoH and CoV are drab, dreary games that you can "beat" very quickly, but their community is the best I have ever seen. Still, one can only stand around crossing one's arms while trying to look tough in RP for so long. D&D Online was just bad.
Darn, looks like Trickster's been delayed for a week. I'm gonna have to wait to play my killer bunny-boy of doom. :mowsad
Woot, Trickster's finally up. Pretty interesting so far, has plenty of bad translations. It seems the different races are gender-specific, so no bunny-boy for me. I had to settle on a raccoon, named Toric of course. If anyone else tries this game and wants to add me as a friend, go for it.
I play WoW myself, but I tend to only find it enjoyable when I have at least a small group of friends to play with. It does have good gameplay, but I do agree, there are a lot of idiots on there. Eh, I get to play with friends from back home, as well as a couple people I know in Cincinatti, so its an easy way to spend time together.
I do play UO still on occasion, but only on freeshards. I helped run a few in the past, but lately I've just been server-hopping or creating my own and seeing what all I can do (I'm used to Sphere, but now that everyone's switched to RunUO I'm a little confused.), like get a boat stuck inside a cliff. Remind me to never be a sailor. :laugh
I also play Guild Wars, and trying to get in a guild run by someone on another forum I frequent.
I used to play Dark Age of Camelot, but quit after a while because I couldn't seem to find any friends to play with. Other than that though it was pretty fun. :3 I also played Anarchy Online for a while. I can't stand Everquest or FFXI though. I also tried Gunz Online, but tired of it because there seemed to be a lot of hacking in it, at least when I was in.
Hmm...and I do agree that Phantasy Star Universe looks pretty spiffy. I played PSO quite a bit back in the Dreamcast days before everything went pay-to-play. :P
I also play Second Life quite a bit, I'm actually trying to construct a little club-type place on my little spot of land. Everything uses high-res versions of Heretic textures, I think it looks pretty cool so far. :D
Seraline: You have good taste, I approve! You also make a good point and that point is that almost any MMO can be good if one takes their own friends. Some MMOs can be scary if one works with pickup groups.
Toric: I might meet you in there, Britain is doing it's heat-wavey thing right now so that's not likely immediately but when dusk closes in and it cools down I'll likely be found scarpering around in there, like some wereMMO. Also a Raccoon, Rowne.
I have to sheepishly admit however that I was strongly tempted to roll up a female Rabbit and name it Rowne, just for kicks.
Oh and drilling? What fun! If I were to analyze it, I'd say it's cross between Ultima Online's resource gathering and Everquest II's collection quests. Those are two of my favourite things. I spent most of my time merrily drilling around and I've already found a number of nice drill-spots that it seems that almost nobody else knows about.
Netami: I agree with your assessment of FF IX and CoH / CoV. I disagree with your views on World of Warcraft though. It seems to be a game of uninventive quests that emphasize time spent playing over skill.
Final Fantasy IX was much like Warcraft in that way, too much like. Warcraft had a better interface but they were similar, unless one found a good group, it was really a horrid experience.
City of Villains I particularly enjoyed but only because I had fun playing a villain and I helped to organize a convention of misunderstood boffins, who were quite cheerily showing off their latest creations to the villainous community, that was fun.
To be completely honest with you, the only really good memories I have of MMOs are of Ultima Online and Neverwinter Nights.
In Ultima Online was fun to be the farmer or the fisherman and there was always plenty of roleplay, it was early days for MMOs then, with UO being the first big release after Meridian 59.
Neverwinter Nights was and likely still is the King of roleplay. It was grand to get a group together and to run a module. I'll never forget some of the adventures I ran through some of the modules and some of the utterly crazy characters I met.
---- Edit
I'd also note generally and in particular that Trickster Online might once again foster the Ultima Online atmosphere. The gathering of items isn't node based so it's not like Final Fantasy IX or World of Warcraft ...
OMG, look, a node!
Get it, get it!
IT'S MINE!!!
I'll kill you, I need that ore!
Instead it has this truly serene feeling to it, where the gathering is based upon the stats of the player primarily, I've noticed that there are some spots where I'm luckier than I am in others but this was true of Ultima Online too. I'm not sure whether it's intentional or not but still, there are no nodes.
It's just a matter of finding a spot and drilling away whilst having a nice conversation with another driller standing nearby.
:U I forgot about NWN...I suppose because its not just one big MMO, but a whole collection of little ones you can pick from. It's like a buffet...but with demon hordes. :3
I played on a couple of them, the only one I really stayed on was Tales of Illuvatar, but lost interest after the original admin and such left. Occasionally I'll hop on there, but I tend to have the most fun playing modules like Penultima, and the Ravenloft/Classic D&D remakes :) But if I can ever get a group together like I had back at home for D&D...I'll be addicted all over again. How can you not love a rogue that can lead dwarves off a cliff like lemmings? :laugh
Thanks though, I think you have good taste too. ^^
Hitsuzen is at work again. D:
I've been playing online at Trickster myself as well, as a Raccoon. Except I picked a different name, GamblerLux. I really should try to find you guys, if it weren't for the fact we have it only on one of the computers. That and it takes forever to get in. Stupid cloggers doing nothing for hours.
Still, I'll remember to search you guys out. Maybe we could form a party or something.
Seraline: Might I suggest the Penultima series? Specifically, Penultima Rerolled. The first Penultima series was wonderful but the second was nothing short of art.
If I had to describe it I would call it a Pratchett game done right. Even though it isn't set in the Discworld Universe. You'd have to play it to see. I still have fond memories of the mages setting up an alternate dimension to function as their internet and the playable character asking a Goblin if that's how he really looked (OMG no, this is just my avatar. LOL!).
The most praiseworthy aspect of Rerolled though is that it took upon an aspect of Pratchett that many people seem to ignore. I find that Pratchett philosophises openly in his books and he does it with charm and finesse, that's an act that Rerolled follows and with class, I might add.
Egas: I don't know if you'd find me, I'm on at weird times. The weather around here is acting as bloody erratic as it could.
I wake up one morning and it'll be cool and then suddenly the temp will jump a good 10 degrees. It's as if nature is taunting me. So I'll pull a 24-hour shift then and stay up at night, when it's cool and then I'll sleep through the next day.
If however you do manage to catch me in the game, I'd welcome to company.
Hmm...I haven't tried this Trickster thing yet...perhaps I should have a go. :D
Anyway, I have played through both Penultima campaigns, and I've tried Stefan's other mods too. Excellent modules all the way around. :D I loved Penultima Rerolled, I never see m to get tired of it. Loving Pratchett's books also helps too. :3 Whenever I want to play it though, I usually end up playing through both campaigns in one sitting because I love them so much. :laugh
One nice thing about Trickster is that the "XP per hit" and item going to the first blow to land means there's no killstealing as such. For the most part though it seems that if multiple people end up on the same monster, and aren't in a party, that the others always back off if they weren't the first to hit. A nice bit of courtesy, even if it's not strictly necessary.
Right now I've got a Cat named Swiftwind, Fox named Sharilar, and a Lion named Garren. I've enjoyed them in about that order too, though the lion got gypped a little by ending up in Paradise instead of Coral(stupid random town arrivals).
What I really like is that this game absolutely screams Ultima Online nostalgia at me.
For example, the day/night cycle is true to form. At night, a small circle of light surrounds the character, very much like in UO when a person was holding a candle. It means that anything past the 'candlelight' distance can't be seen. I have to admit that I'm genuinely eager to wander around dangerous areas at night.
The weight is true to form, with the character's speed being affected by how much they can carry. Everquest II eventually caught up with UO on this front but I think that Trickster is the first 2D MMO to implement this since UO, it's a nice touch.
The zoneless resource gathering is once again, very true to Ultima Online ideals. Instead of a group of people grasping for a node, everyone finds a spot and wanders around and merrily drills, this leads to polite conversation whilst gathering up bits and bobs.
I also like the fact that there are so many uses for items. Ores can be compounded, an interesting process. Also, there are quests where one can turn in items to complete them, however a lot of these quest items also have a dual purpose. For example, collect up a number of spoons and you have yourself a sword, collect up enough worn boots and you get a shiny new pair of boots out of the endeavour. Or you can turn them in for exp.
I've also noticed what Swiftwind was talking about and to be honest, it pleases me. I'm so tired of mannerless misanthropes mistreating the MMO milieu. In some games, I've often talked peoples ears off for trying their best to steal harvest nodes or kills from me. Apparently I'm in the wrong because I have respect and I don't conform to mindless greed, yay. Rant over, Trickster isn't like that, that pleases me.
All in all, it's a happy, mellow little experience of a like I haven't seen in years.
---- Edit
Okay, that was a bit uneven so I'll cover a few reservations I do have, just to be fair and honest.
Firstly, there seem to be player shops everywhere, I have no problem with this but it makes it hard to find NPCs sometimes. What I wish is that they'd include an option to actually turn off the player-shop sprites. That way, I could not see them until I want to see them. It could be bindable to a key toggle. This would make navigating towns much easier, at the moment it feels like commuting through a meat sandwich.
The translations are a bit iffy but they're not as bad as you might think, it's quite easy to get the gist of what the NPCs are talking about but I can't help but wish there were some way I could convince them to let me rewrite some of the dialogues. It's a minor niggle and it's nowhere near as bad as in some of the 'From the East!' games I've played but it's no Cave Story either, sadly.
The last reservation I have relates to chat entry, to be honest it might be a good thing since I haven't tried channel chatting yet. Basically, the chat bar doesn't allow sentences of more than roughly 25 characters to be inserted. This means that constructing complex sentences is nearly impossible.
On the upside, it cuts down the attrocious spam I've seen in more mainstream MMOs. There's also 'channel chatting' though. If that has a bigger space of entry then the public speaking limitation actually isn't all that bad. It does force a lot of people to use shorthand though, which is icky.
And that's really about the only bad of it I've seen. I usually have a lot more to say about the more negative underbelly of MMOs than that, so Trickster still wins.
Well, I'm still playing Trickster Online.
I got my first taste of partying today as I actually opened up a bit and joined a few. It didn't involve everyone grouping together to fight a single monster (a la Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft) but instead it simply provided bonuses for communal togetherness, which is both delightfully odd and entertaining.
By grouping the right kind of people in a weirdly class based way, certain types of parties can be formed. So when a rather cold mage decides to get to know a charming fighter better and so on, experience multipliers are dealt out. So it'll be a matter of +1.5 of the standard exp, 2.0 and 2.5 with the best being a Royal Party, where without rational explanation, everyone suddenly gains a regal heritage.
And I get to act like King Luca because I can.
All in all though, what continues to impress me as I wander around is the artsyness of the game. I don't know, it seems to me that professional games are very iffy these days. Some of the MMOs out there look awkward, like something out of Nickelodeon or a very fuzzy photograph. The art in Trickster Online though is top notch and I'm consistently amazed by the beauty of it and how well they've handled the UI.
I suppose it's a 2D thing though and it might be fuelled by nostalgia because I haven't played a good 2D MMO in so very long.
My most wonderful find today though was something new about the pets, it has wandering pets much in the same way that Everquest II has wandering pets that follow the player. However, these pets are interesting. Why? They yammer, frequently. Not anything particularly helpful but just general blather. I just feel that if someone couldn't look at a Penguin clapping and cheering on a buff Lion warrior and at least not chuckle ... well.
My lord, cheer up!
That's it master, give them what for!
Go on, I know you can do it!
Grand stuff.
So if anyone's reading this and hasn't tried it yet, you should. After all, it is free and I think rather highly of it. Especially how friendly it is. When did you last play an MMO to have mages hang around and heal you even when you weren't in their party (and not just as a rare once a day occasion but frequently)?
As for those that are playing it, we really all need to get together. Besides, I need a royal party with people that talk more.
I, King Rowne, proclaim this to be Kill Everything Day and I decree that you shall all Kill Everything!
I gave Trickster a shot, and I'm quite enjoying it. :) Right now I have a lvl 5 Librarian named Systlaine. I'm wandering randomly around Paradise at the moment.
I started off in ... er, Bright Cora or something akin to that.
I can actually get to paradise though I think, since a mermaid gave me a high tech teleportation device in exchange for sun-block (no, really!).
I play SL at random. (Mostly when I hear about someone special being online.) :mowtongue
Trickster also strikes me as a great game. The only other MMO I've played is WoW... so my basis of comparison may be less than perfect. I've got a level 7 Dragon named Slider, and I think I'm in that Paradise place.
Does it matter which of the two places you play on? Pearl or Ruby?
The only problem with Trickster I can see is that some of the commands aren't intuitive. Took me twenty tries to figure out how in the hell to use the freakin' drill! I couldn't comprehend that it wanted me to keep on tapping the mouse button once the bar was in the right area... bah, I'm stupid. :mowdizzy
I agree there are too many player shops, but I think the spacebar (when not chatting, of course) can help get rid of those sprite banners...
*alt+tabs back over to the game* Whee!
Well, more Trickster travails and tales ...
Today, I decided to try out my strange teleportation device. I went to Paradise. Then I found out that it was only one way. I'd note now that I'm only level 13 (barely) and that all of my quests are back in Coral. Instead of giving up, I decide to walk back to Coral.
Do I manage it? Hell yes.
Using the MyTrickster.net overworld map, I figure out the general direction I have to go in and slowly, checking portals, I make my way to Aquarius, the underwater city. Whilst this is happening I'm being scared witless by things five times my level chasing me around and throwing bombs in my general direction.
From Aquarius I head back into another dungeon, which involves things five times my level throwing bombs at me, much to my chagrin. After all that was over though, I finally go back to Coral. I decided to celebrate. So I went to grab a mug of tea and some nice biscuits to celebrate.
I return to find that I've died, at the hands of something that can barely even harm me, at least if I were fighting back.
So, on resurrection ... back to Aquarius I go!
When I twitch, I twitch with vigour!
From there, I once again set out into the underwater dungeon and dodged pirate Turtles that were trying to teach me the benefits of pineapples to my everyday health. Much zig-zagging between players was done until finally I got out again.
This time I didn't stop until I was all the way back to the town.
The moral of this story? If you get a strange teleportation device of an odd mermaid requesting sun-block, don't use it until you're at least level 30.
----
I actually picked up drilling pretty quickly but that's because I'd seen minigames before like it. It reminded me of Golf games, where you have to get the bar on the line andsoforth, it only took me a few tries to figure out what it wanted me to do. I suppose exposure to Japanese weirdness does help.
As for Pearl or Ruby, they're just different shards [read as: server sets]. What's really wonderful about the Trickster setup is that if you create a character on Ruby, you can play it later on Pearl or Ruby and you can switch back and forth. If you have a friend on Ruby though and you're on Pearl, you won't see your friend, the populace is separate.
I feel stupid (still): how do you interact with player shops? [The topic was never addressed in the tutorial...]
Double click the shop names.
Did anyone have problems finding bath supplies, or is it just me?
I haven't bothered much yet with the item quests in Paradise... Coral from my experiances seems more newbie-friendly than Paradise quest and map-wise. My Cat's 20 now and my Fox is 23, I think? I need to try and either run my lion's butt over to Coral though or pass one of my teleporters to him through the bank. My Cat's in Paradise now, and right now my Fox is in Aquarius.
One of the item quests in Coral if you do it enough also gives you a pet with a min level of 30 or something...
I also need to find the blasted item-crafting NPC so I can see what I need to make things(like the boots, and other nice item equipment). >.< Aquarius has the item-upgrade NPCs, but the only crafter NPC I've found there is the standard one that just makes potions.
*edit*
Just found this and thought I'd pass it along... a nice use for that teleporter:
Quote
ok if u guys been wondering where the hell people getting all those lvl 25 ring and amulet, here is the answer -
for some of the quest u can get a radio looking item used as teleporter, with that u can teleporter to a zone call gate of cabalia relic *spelling*, then from there u can teleport again with the npc to a city call azten *spelling*, THE NPC IN THAT CITY SELL THOSE RING AND AMMY FOR 2.5K EACH
so yes they are scamming for selling them 15k-25k
that part of the map is not mean to be open yet, using the teleporter radio is the only way to get into that city
*2nd edit* And when you're headed back DON'T use the portal out of town.. sue teh teleporter NPCs.. I sjut did that and now my Fox is in limbo ;.;
Well,I'd like to try this Trickster, but two MMOs are enough for me. I play and pay for Anarchy Online, and I just recently got into Ragnarok Online *though as of this typing, i'm haivng issues getting it to run*
I've tried many MMOs, but didnt' stick with any. AO was my first, so thats the one I compare all others too. Since I already have a good bunch of friends there, it has a bit of an advantage on the others. I've tried WoW, EQ, DDO, and another one or two. I'm currently keeping my eye on Warhammer Online. I'm a games Workshop freak >>
*lonely*
even thou i got you all started on trickester truth is i havnt even started playing it yet :( due to all teh problems it had l left it fora while now i looks like i can start downloading it all over again
i spent 2 weeks building the new lot at Second life Lost Lake - and its pretty much finished but now i am bored as heck >< and lonely
Sorry silv, I've been exploring the other games that were on the Game&Game site too and those they linked to. So I've been playing stuff all over the place, I tried Pangya, Silk Road Online, Flyff and currently I'm potching around with Space Cowboy.
I'll get back to Trickster soon because I miss that game, I'm really just waiting for them to setup the MyCamp stuff though, that's what I'm looking forward to the most.