I had gotten this game as Christmas but was too ill to play it at the time. My brother-in-law praised it highly and being a fan of Knights of The Old Republic, I had high hopes for another storyline from BioWare that would impress just as much. I had a break in events on my MMOs and thought I'd give the game a shot, seeing as how I'd already installed it a month ago.
I am more than impressed. If you have not played this game, go get it. Everyone should play through this at least once. Now I haven't finished the game myself, but obsessed doesn't really begin to cover my sudden love and devotion. When the game intro started I felt like I was about to watch a really good movie and often throughout the game I still get that feeling like I'm watching a good movie, just one I can interact with.
The only thing I'm missing so far is a voice for my character. They could have had one default player male voice and one female player voice and all players could just have the same voice. If there were actual voice to my characters it would take that playable movie feel to a whole new level.
You have to play this. This game is awesome.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Allods: First Impression
The closed beta for Allods is ending. I got in on the tail end of that upon my sister's request. I was in the middle of the Wintersday redux on Guild Wars so I didn't jump on the Allods boat right away and almost wish I had and had gotten Toni to join me. I just wasn't sure how much I'd like the game and the thought of future air ship battles that would require several players to man the ships scared me because I don't seem to make and keep friends that easily.
Amy suggested I join the imperials because they were the uglier races and our history with MMOs has shown us the kids and annoying trolls are more likely to play the prettier races. Though I fear that stereotype ended with the players' experiences in WoW, I made an imperial anyway. After playing one for awhile I tried the other side, but I find I really like the imperials better regardless of looks. The spine sticking out on the Arisen and her tail is really niffty.
I found friendly players right off in the imperial side of things. A random other player even stopped my little newbie orc scout in the sewers and gave her a bow. Thanks to Brathid for that one.
I ran into another girl gamer and we sat our characters down to chat. There was a huge argument at the same time in zone chat about whether or not Allods was a clone of World of Warcraft. Shortly after that a group of trolls located my new friend and myself and after a few more failed attempts to rile us, they decided they'd sit and talk with us as well. So my feelings became mixed on the community and if it's friendly or not.
The next day I found to be troll free and full of friendly and helpful people so my opinion of the community is still that it's more good than bad. I haven't actually gotten on the forums yet, as I just started playing and focused on the game while the closed beta was going on. I'll patrol the forums and get an idea of the type of community it'll have before the open beta starts. I of course will let you know what I think here.
In case you are wondering, my opinion on the clone issue is that most MMOs have similar features. There are certain features players want and expect and those things have to be delivered, it's just good marketing. I don't think Allods is a clone anymore than any other game is a clone of what came before it. Though they share the same type of artistic style, Allods seems to have a lot more technology in it's lore.
My first impression of Allods has left me wishing I'd gotten in on the beta sooner and looking forward to the open beta on the 16th. So far I find the game fun and the lore and concept interesting. Regrettably I only got in on the last day and a half of the closed beta so I didn't really get to push the game and test for bugs or anything. As such my opinions on the actual game play are truly that of a newb. It seems pretty straight forward and I had no problems with the controls or the camera. Any real review I might do will have to wait until the actual release of the game, when the beta is over.
Amy suggested I join the imperials because they were the uglier races and our history with MMOs has shown us the kids and annoying trolls are more likely to play the prettier races. Though I fear that stereotype ended with the players' experiences in WoW, I made an imperial anyway. After playing one for awhile I tried the other side, but I find I really like the imperials better regardless of looks. The spine sticking out on the Arisen and her tail is really niffty.
I found friendly players right off in the imperial side of things. A random other player even stopped my little newbie orc scout in the sewers and gave her a bow. Thanks to Brathid for that one.
I ran into another girl gamer and we sat our characters down to chat. There was a huge argument at the same time in zone chat about whether or not Allods was a clone of World of Warcraft. Shortly after that a group of trolls located my new friend and myself and after a few more failed attempts to rile us, they decided they'd sit and talk with us as well. So my feelings became mixed on the community and if it's friendly or not.
The next day I found to be troll free and full of friendly and helpful people so my opinion of the community is still that it's more good than bad. I haven't actually gotten on the forums yet, as I just started playing and focused on the game while the closed beta was going on. I'll patrol the forums and get an idea of the type of community it'll have before the open beta starts. I of course will let you know what I think here.
In case you are wondering, my opinion on the clone issue is that most MMOs have similar features. There are certain features players want and expect and those things have to be delivered, it's just good marketing. I don't think Allods is a clone anymore than any other game is a clone of what came before it. Though they share the same type of artistic style, Allods seems to have a lot more technology in it's lore.
My first impression of Allods has left me wishing I'd gotten in on the beta sooner and looking forward to the open beta on the 16th. So far I find the game fun and the lore and concept interesting. Regrettably I only got in on the last day and a half of the closed beta so I didn't really get to push the game and test for bugs or anything. As such my opinions on the actual game play are truly that of a newb. It seems pretty straight forward and I had no problems with the controls or the camera. Any real review I might do will have to wait until the actual release of the game, when the beta is over.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Guild Wars: Wintersday 2009 Redux
Wrong District
It's been a long unofficial rule of Wintersday that even numbered districts are for Dywana and odd are for Grenth. All the older players know this rule and follow it. It's even written in the wiki.
So why then did almost everyone in Kamadan in every district seem to be standing in the blue rings of Dywana? I had to hunt through many districts to find one that was supporting Grenth just so I could get my hat.
Meeting Gaile
In that Grenth district I'd finally found was also Gaile Gray and her friend Frog. She was promptly jumped by fans and people with questions. The district quickly filled even faster as the news spread of her presence.
Making Friends
While in Kamadan Stormy and Faytel found a district that was supposed to be supporting Grenth, because Stormy is a necro girl and Faytel thinks dying is fun. The most people however were on Dywana's side. Stormy and Faytel tried real hard to get support for Grenth, but Dywana won anyway despite the promises of Grenth having mergoyle flavored popsicles. They then decided that they should go taunt the "Dywana lovers." Joining them was Rain Bow Pixie who seemed as random as our favorite RAGE girls. The girls taunted and laughed and said all sorts of things to the silent Dywana lovers. Faytel created a nice insult when she said they smelled like a harpy that had fallen into a bog of stench and Stormy told them they smelled of charr funk. Faytel's was better.
The girls were quite surprised when a warrior stepped out of the crowd and verbally challenged them back. They had not really been expecting a response at all. (Because everyone was AFK.) This warrior was Elthin Ilkone and was able to match them very well verbally even though he was outnumbered and you can never win a an argument with a girl, even when you're right.
The insults and taunts flew for a few minutes more then the two sides succumbed to bribery. Elthin promised sugar cookies and Stormy almost lost her resolve. Faytel promised worm cookies and then Stormy offered some of the left over mergoyle popsicles from the last finale, but Elthin oddly wanted none of that. The bribes turned to dancing as the two sides made friends, but pretended to have a dance off instead.
The avatars of the gods arrived and everyone ran back to their rings. The girls ran back to the nearly vacant red rings and Elthin joined the rest of the crowd on the blue rings of Dywana. The taunting resumed and Grenth lost the match as Dywana had more followers. Stormy blamed the region, saying that in the land of the golden sun they were in a hurry for the snow to melt and warmth to return to their lands. Rain Bow Pixie told Stormy Cloud that she spoke like and NPC. Stormy took it as a compliment and quoted Sarah from Pre just to be random. When Grenth lost however the girls decided they would not stand for it, so they all sat down. Elthin joined them after helping to secure the victory for Dywana.
They all agreed to remain friends and Elthin retired for the night. The three girls decided to seek revenge and kill the Winter Dwarf. Rain Bow Pixie disguised herself as an elf to get them past the guard.
Random Wintersday Fun With RAGE
Stormy Cloud and Faytel Cynnir did a lot of random hanging out in different places. They danced in high spots in Lion's Arch. They went to Kamadan and pretended to be part of the decorations. They also did a bit of hanging out at the Great Temple of Balthazar where Stormy changed her looks.
Trilla Vaed and Nick Corwin were heading to kill charr near Old Ascalon when snow balls kept getting thrown at them. They stopped to glare and shake their fists at the NPC throwing the snow balls.
It's been a long unofficial rule of Wintersday that even numbered districts are for Dywana and odd are for Grenth. All the older players know this rule and follow it. It's even written in the wiki.
Traditionally, by informal agreement, Dwayna is supported in even numbered districts and Grenth in odd ones – abiding by this convention helps to guarantee that players can acquire the hat of their choosing.- quoted from Wintersday 2099 Guild Wars Wiki page.
So why then did almost everyone in Kamadan in every district seem to be standing in the blue rings of Dywana? I had to hunt through many districts to find one that was supporting Grenth just so I could get my hat.
Meeting Gaile
In that Grenth district I'd finally found was also Gaile Gray and her friend Frog. She was promptly jumped by fans and people with questions. The district quickly filled even faster as the news spread of her presence.
Making Friends
While in Kamadan Stormy and Faytel found a district that was supposed to be supporting Grenth, because Stormy is a necro girl and Faytel thinks dying is fun. The most people however were on Dywana's side. Stormy and Faytel tried real hard to get support for Grenth, but Dywana won anyway despite the promises of Grenth having mergoyle flavored popsicles. They then decided that they should go taunt the "Dywana lovers." Joining them was Rain Bow Pixie who seemed as random as our favorite RAGE girls. The girls taunted and laughed and said all sorts of things to the silent Dywana lovers. Faytel created a nice insult when she said they smelled like a harpy that had fallen into a bog of stench and Stormy told them they smelled of charr funk. Faytel's was better.
The girls were quite surprised when a warrior stepped out of the crowd and verbally challenged them back. They had not really been expecting a response at all. (Because everyone was AFK.) This warrior was Elthin Ilkone and was able to match them very well verbally even though he was outnumbered and you can never win a an argument with a girl, even when you're right.
The insults and taunts flew for a few minutes more then the two sides succumbed to bribery. Elthin promised sugar cookies and Stormy almost lost her resolve. Faytel promised worm cookies and then Stormy offered some of the left over mergoyle popsicles from the last finale, but Elthin oddly wanted none of that. The bribes turned to dancing as the two sides made friends, but pretended to have a dance off instead.
The avatars of the gods arrived and everyone ran back to their rings. The girls ran back to the nearly vacant red rings and Elthin joined the rest of the crowd on the blue rings of Dywana. The taunting resumed and Grenth lost the match as Dywana had more followers. Stormy blamed the region, saying that in the land of the golden sun they were in a hurry for the snow to melt and warmth to return to their lands. Rain Bow Pixie told Stormy Cloud that she spoke like and NPC. Stormy took it as a compliment and quoted Sarah from Pre just to be random. When Grenth lost however the girls decided they would not stand for it, so they all sat down. Elthin joined them after helping to secure the victory for Dywana.
They all agreed to remain friends and Elthin retired for the night. The three girls decided to seek revenge and kill the Winter Dwarf. Rain Bow Pixie disguised herself as an elf to get them past the guard.
Random Wintersday Fun With RAGE
Stormy Cloud and Faytel Cynnir did a lot of random hanging out in different places. They danced in high spots in Lion's Arch. They went to Kamadan and pretended to be part of the decorations. They also did a bit of hanging out at the Great Temple of Balthazar where Stormy changed her looks.
Trilla Vaed and Nick Corwin were heading to kill charr near Old Ascalon when snow balls kept getting thrown at them. They stopped to glare and shake their fists at the NPC throwing the snow balls.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)