Ken - The Sunset of a fond MMO memory

Well, I can think of no other thought than to thank Sony Online Entertainment. Not for their Original incarnation , but for their PS2 one, of Ever Quest. As it stands, Ever Quest Online Adventures last night was pulled from its 9 year run for ...semi obvious reasons... but doesn't make me any less sad about being taken down. I mean, sure, there were probably only roughly 100 people still playing the game at the time of the end but that surely wont take anything away from what I remember of when I played.

I honestly remember it like it was yesterday. I had gone over to a friends for normal BSing and banter when apparently that day he had received a copy of a peculiar game. Being that I didn't get into computers till relatively late in my mid teens this game and its concepts seemed a bit odd to me, a game that was only played online with thousands of people in a fantasy setting seemed intriguing. This is ignoring at the time that it was $10 to play the game, which looking back it was rather cheap even compared to its PC counter part at the time, but that just happens to be an addendum.

I recall a lot of the first things that happened, even if it was just watching the game being played. This game was the epitome of "adventure", with there not even being a map to use to precisely venture to where you wanted to go. Some people now a days with the need to get loot might call it severely inefficient use of time (..in a matter of speaking. Not the literal) but I honestly think that was half the fun of the game and it's a feeling that has never been reproduced in a game since EQOA , at least for me. I mean, the adventure felt real deep as you might wonder off to some fire planes where bats made of pure hate could kill you just by staring at you, In a desert where undead could ambush you at any given point and even Crock island where some moderately level experienced players got bamboozled. This whole atmospheric feeling was especially interesting considering the graphical limitations of the game , the mood usually actually felt pretty right.

For never hitting end game, which has and most likely (for the lamest reasons) haunt me for the rest of my gaming life, I can honestly say that I have about as many cherished experiences as I've had in FFXI or WoW. Okay, maybe not AS many, but the emotions provoked from the mention of the game give the strength of many. I fully remember talking with my guild at the time and doing the level 17ish Dark Elf racial quest which required escorting a small group of mercenary ogres to the aforementioned Crock Island and taking down a con artist. What nothing in the quest ever told you was that the Ogres could attack anyone not aligned with them if they got in the way. So...imagine being an Elf Paladin tanking for a group when all of a sudden "RAWRZOMGIHATEYEU" comes echoing from the coast line and you get camped by what you think is just a max level secret NPC. The entire island was over run even after I....failed the quest through all the confusion =3=.... and people were even calling in to report "whoever was responsible" for the mess. Hell, I logged on to an alt character who was in Freeport at the time and was hearing the chatter about it all there for a good 10 minutes. No one though found out it was me and I did the quest later that evening when the populations would be either out or sleeping.

I even remember on a few occasions , while there was no PKing in EQOA , you could still kill guards at specific locations. During server down time on other servers, people would come flooding to Marrs' Fist to troll kill guards, and I would head up to Telethin (Kelethin in the PC versions) to help kill Elves. This didn't happen often but I remember people being "da fuck, how'd you get here so fast" (I was a Dark Elf Cleric).

Can even recall about 4-5 levels off of supposing to be able to, doing the minotaur camps with some associates from another guild and generally being payed constant compliments to being able to heal extremely well which....was a rare time, because frankly, ever since EQOA I've never had much of a taste for healing.

I could probably keep this post going on and on about tons of things I've experienced in EQOA. I've probably had one of my best friendships that goes on today stem from it, had a ton of fun watching and playing with another friend and seeing what chapter of each others adventures would happen next. Even as far as remembering sending journal entries to Chi when my questing for the day had expired, which somehow I think was something that was also lost among the years with the advent of maps in games and the feeling of immersion.

It seems awfully silly to honestly be upset that the plans they had for a PS3 equivalent game has seemingly died with the memories of its Ps2 predecessor , but with EQOA gone I can't help but feel a big part of the happy days when I grew up are slowly slipping away like any other place that might have changed drastically in time. I think that is an under rated thought about mmos in particular that it isn't like other games where you can just pop in and restart or pick them back up where you left off...when the games time is over, its generally over. Though it seems cheesy , this game has meant alot to me as a gamer. It's built friendships and it helped to open my eyes to other genres of games, and I will seriously never forget those times. Thank you Ever Quest Online Adventures , from one former grateful Dark Elf Diviner.

Overview: Assassys Creed

Crysis
An action packed game that has been hailed as one of the best FPS's ever. and for me it didn't dissapoint, at least in singleplayer. For those wanting the feel of being in an action movie and having the freedom to do almost whatever you want, this definitely delivered. While I've heard some complain about the main character being to bland and not fully fleshed out, however, I feel this was done intentionally to put you into the game rather than living through someone else's experience.

Most FPS focus on Multiplayer deathmatch centered gameplay, however the Multiplayer on the first crysis was very bland and not very extensive. with only a few mods and limited weapons it did not do to satisfy some which is understandable for those use to the Unreal or COD series. However even if you didn't feel it lived up to the hype it was definitely an amazing achievement for pushing the hardware and storytelling.

Assassin's Creed
This was one of those games that just simply did what it was suppose too. Very similar to Crysis in that it's sandbox, it pushed story telling and hardware, but it had it's flaws. I'm not even getting into the multiplayer because I feel it wasn't even needed. Yes i know brotherhood is out and it looks amazing, but for the first act the game is still fun and versatile.

The port to the PC was difficult to get use to at first as the control scheme was definitely focused towards console players, though you can use the controller I actually eventually preferred the heightened speed of the mouse after a while. While there were some features I would have liked to see, such as unlockable rewards for collecting items or doing side quests, the main quest line was very enjoyable and worth the now lowered price, especially if you can snag it off steam.

My Life as a Fallout 3 character

So I had an interesting Idea I've been gearing up for. Being the immersion player that I am, I love to delve completely into a game. Sandbox style and Realistic games are among my favorite types of games to play, Fallout 3 being one of them. While searching for mods I stumbled upon the Iron sights mod for fallout which effectively gives it more of a COD4 feel for the shooting. a couple hours and one conversation later I had the idea to play out Fallout 3 as if it were real life, or in other words I would mod the shit out of the game then play through as far as I can on one life with the record button on the entire time.

To make things interesting i'm going to release videos on youtube of the playthrough with comementary on possible back stories for the randomly generated characters. The first time i think i'll play through the vault then after that start from exiting the vault. I'm still in the process of collecting realistic mods and testing them, but I'll have a full list soon. Also hopefully a podcast soon and some other playthroughs of Crysis warhead etc.

Mafia II

Let me start off by noting that I started off on this series from the beginning, which for those who've played the first, may agree with me that the mafia games were off to a rocky start. The original displayed overambitious goals that fell short of what it seemed to hope to achieve which was a realistic and compelling period story in the fashion of the Godfather series. Despite this Mafia II does not disappoint and sets to right these goals and do the family name right. From the second you begin the opening sequence grips you and doesn't let go.

The story centers around two gangsters and their rise to power during the late 40's to early 50's. Each character is exquisitely voice acted and does well to make you believe these characters could exist and at many points feel for them in spite of their often dubious nature.

The game play itself is in the nature of the Grand Theft Auto sandbox style mechanics wherein whatever you see you can get too (without extensive loading screens) and you can interact with a variety of characters and objects in the world at any moment. My one gripe with the city was that the game is broken up by chapter which means in order to complete certain side missions you must reload that chapter and it can break up and take away from some of the freedom and exploration of side missions. I would have liked to see an epilogue chapter where you can run amok after completing the game without having to reload individual chapters, though this is a minor gripe and probably my only one with the game at all aside from lack of multi-player/coop.

I mention the lack of multi-player only in passing given the already enormous scale of the game. It may have been possible to add a coop given the 2 main characters often sharing missions, though alternate missions seem like they may have been a bit tough to handle for a game like this.

The soundtrack is somewhat split between a main score and a host of period tracks from the era which help to further draw the character into the setting. One of my favorite aspects of the game was that at high points in the story the main score would trump the radio music which was an excellent move as the score in the game is beautiful. At times I actually found myself not wanting to leave the options menu as the simple piano tune being played was so ambient I wanted to listen to more.

While the game doesn't have multi-player, I still found myself wanting to go back into the game for more after the first run through. At first I was worried that the side quests would get lost to the main story line, however, it seemed to setup for a way to add replay. Missed a job here or there, or collectible, just reload your favorite chapter and have at. Plus there is plenty of DLC to keep you busy while you're trying to collect achievements.

So for the run down.

-Mafia II outshines it's predecessor with much improved mechanics and story

-It doesn't have any multi-player, but the variety of achievements and DLC offer plenty to come back to.

-Soundtrack is excellent and anyone who is a fan of art and extras I would definitely recommend getting the deluxe edition.

-I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story and sandbox style gaming.

Later

Chi

Ken: Addendum

Yes, I know why any of the past few posts have been confusing to you. When you read the intro it's basically said that myself and Chi wanted to review games, and really that IS the meant intent of why we're here...Although a grand total of 1 post has even remotely game related. Which wasn't even a review, but a walk through to get the game to work if you could'nt.

I do plan on doing more than just idiotic banter and ranting about anything and everything, because if I kept that up I'd just make a new blog for that. I can't help myself sometimes...I will however come out and say that aside from working, I'm working on writing reviews out before I post them.

Most of these reviews are mostly dated games as is, and the movies been out for months, but I will get to them. I obviously can't speak for Chi at all for when he has content ready, or when we'll have any form of video (or the podcast that was supposed to be out over a month ago ::twitch::), but we'll do what we can to actually get to it. Sorry for all the idiotic ranting guys, GG!

Ken: Magic the Gathering, breaking the planes of just "fad"

I'll start this out by simply saying that , no, I am not nor was NOR ever will be a hardcore Magic the Gathering player. I will however say that MtG has managed to surprise me in about every way without really shocking me!

How? Quite easy really, I want to play it again. See, the story here being I haven't actually played Magic in around 4 - 5 years... whether that's due to friends leaving, work, school ... the group I'd played with just stopped hanging out outside of like 2 - 3 of us and we never really played again. Besides...I can't ask Chi to play since he probably wouldn't give a shit if I offered to show him how to play by letting him borrow a deck of mine. Anyways, the other day I was going through stuff to get rid of...trying to make some room, maybe sell something...I dunno, and I spotted my Magic cards laying dormant on my dresser. The minute I opened up that box, a flood of awesome memories opened up about how my group of friends would play after school, Friday nights, hell even lunch time AT school. Sure, it was dorky, but why the fuck should I give a shit if I'm having fun?

Normally with an old fad , you'd look at it, remember the good times then just get ready to rid yourself of it. I, however, did not do that. I stopped any form of progress and looked through my old decks and my random assorted cards. Ok , I lied...I DID finish piling up the worthless shit, and the fad stuff...then immediately started looking through my collection.

I didn't understand it , but in no time I really started to get into it. I actually spotted inconsistencies in my favorite deck , even after organizing my collection I made a new deck! Exclamation point indeed! I normally wouldn't be so ecstatic about doing something normal players could do on an average basis, but that was just it. I was doing it and kinda having fun coming up with theories...and then it hit me why I enjoyed the game so much. Aside from hanging out with friends and such, it was the level of customization, the luck of the draw, and the rare moments of nuking the fuck out of someone to win that one time I won my first match xD..and almost more than that, it was the analytical skills in seeing what to do in the situation. Y'know, like a good Dungeons and Dragons sessions and so on and so forth.

I realized then thats why Magic hadn't really gone away, although I know why I was burned out on it for the 4 years I haven't touched it. It's like the minute you're a casual player in an mmo and going straight to hardcore raid content. The game starts being more of a 2nd job than just to go in to have a good time, which is such a shame that sometimes I even considered being a hardcore raider. The ladder half of playing Magic with my group we started to try and step up our game, even at one point talking about entering a tournament....which I know none of us would have won, even if we weren't all that bad of players. The fucking second we decided to take it to the next level, it stopped being any form of fun and we never really played together again.

Well this story does get slightly more intriguing when this morning I got on, and I got a message from my one friend from that group of pals who had JUST got a new deck of magic cards (He'd sold his cards before had left to go cross the country the year before hand). We talked about the good times, even talked about playing again over a webcam for lulz. The joy of playing the game hadn't really gone away at all and I just find it funny. The Pokemon card game was easily a fad...and the countless other fads (because I can't really off the top of my head remember most of the fads that came and went ) that have been and just then forgotten. I know that Magic has a stupid reputation for nerds, which I'd agree with because theyre some of the douchiest people I've ever heard talk. For whatever reason they feed people reasons to hate them....but the game itself I absolutely have a blast with, regardless of age.

Ken: Trolls-- even when you can ignore them, they still hurt.

It's a well known fact that as soon as the first forums were formed on the internet, that the first person who decided to post their view of something on a blog...there was the birth of trolling. Whether this being just for complete lulz or for far weirder reasons, trolling on the internet has been as common as other forms of hate and rage in the world (I PROMISE I'm not a pacifist -_-;;).

Well, just this past evening I went to a complete community in a wiki site dedicated to the hate of others on the internet. It WAS a spicific page but, just for the sake of avoiding any form of being involved in it, wont name the page ( a wiki page..of course). This ENTIRE sites premise was a horribly but yet "official" looking put together page and ensued for several SEVERAL long paragraphs talking about how -x- people sold out, are unfunny, "fags" and even dropping several fat jokes and racial slurs to sound "cool" (even in one of the posts saying that one of the people affiliated with said post was 'trying to sound cool by making fun of something else'...oh the irony).

Normally, this is where any one of us on the internet that's been around the block would go "Hey Ken just forget about that page, Trolls will be trolls...cant change it dude!". Well...this somehow got to me. I know this is EXACTLY what trolling is supposed to do--get you worked up about something that should be clearly shrugged off and just an anecdote of your day-- but...it seemed more than just random trolls.

No, really. I actually felt like they were internet terrorists, which is a quite BOLD statement ...I know.... but this site had 2 thousand or so followers in its community, and basically night and day watch -x- site that they target for hatred 24/7 and ANY personal information they can get on to post, they post. That's downright near a level of ignorance and stalking that makes me feel iffy about just thinking about it, and it feels like a somehow more threatening version of the tabloids.

What happened to the old days or casual trolls who would tell you "you have a tiny wiener and you live in your parents basement WoWfag!" ? Or comments on youtube that say "fuck -x- band, they sold out theyre pussies!" just to get that fan base worked up. No, it had to get to a point where it'd down right feel illegal. I realize this was most likely around and I wasnt seeing it before, doesn't stop me from getting bothered by it.

I kinda realize that this entire post is most likely useless, but I can't help but think that other people who might have interests that they'd want to post on the web would be marauded by these up and coming next gen trolls who will do absolutely anything to make themselves feel good, even if it means telling someone their idea's are worthless and that they're so un wanted that they'll do anything short of camping by your site just to keep track of what a "failure" you are.

I suppose about the only remedy is to act like this is your every day life, and ignore the people that tell you differently, cause in the end I suppose...no matter how many people tell you that you're worthless, what really do they know? I didn't really mean to go all after school special on you, but really....what is this world really coming to? I hardly see how any hate of that level is even worth it , especially when its over something so petty (just trust me on this one..). Welp, I'm about done on this one.

I have more blogs on the way being written, until then...don't be a douche bag and keep trolling to the bare minimum, and GG.