Playing With Myself- Or... Altaholics Anonymous

Raise your hand if you have voices in your head ALL the time.

Ok good (I am assuming a few of you did... I can tell these things you know).

Now raise your hand if those voices often manifest themselves by certain names! Yeah, I know, we are treading into the realm of multiple personalities here. I think at least on a subconscious level most of us have it. Think about how many of us have had "imaginary friends" as kids. Possibly the only difference between "us" and those of us whom society deems as having "a disorder", is that fine line between making the connection between ourselves in different aspects, and compartmentalizing said different aspects into their own entities. Do not get me wrong, I am not here to debate the whys and wherefores of schizophrenia, mind you... Merely pointing out my opinion as it relates to today's blog.

So let's get right down to brass tacks here:

My name is Drew, and I am an ALTAHOLIC.


For those of you who game like I do, this term is very familiar. For those of you reading who are not avid video gamers, I shall define:

An "altaholic" is a player who enjoys their game so much, that they create multiple characters in the world to explore all different avenues of gameplay. The reasons of course are varied. Perhaps some folks are just not happy with their first character, perhaps the game has different races and stories to choose from, or perhaps they like to roleplay and have created multiple characters to do so with. I generally fall into the latter category. As you are no doubt aware, I love to tell stories, and being in game with multiple characters (especially if some are related) gives me the impetus to do so.

Since Star Wars Galaxies (my first MMORPG back in 2003), I have always had one character that has definitively been my "main character"; the one I spend the most of my gaming time on, and several characters that are considered "alts"; or alternate characters that I log into when I feel for a change of pace, or have a specific story in mind I want to tell. Throughout the years, some of the names may have changed, but the underlying theme has always been the same. I have to have many characters to get the full experience of the game I am playing. I believe in my last blog I related the reader's digest version of the Druu Scandana story, and you can see in the accompanying picture (in that blog) that my alts in that instance were brothers to him. Since the Scandana brothers, I am afraid my altaholism has amped up a notch... or two... or four.

The staff of Stardust Enterprises INC- (L-R)

Alexia Ogleby, Anataliya Innovia, Belenos Stardust, Allyanis Breen

Second Life in particular has been instrumental in not only pushing me over the edge in altaholism, but virtual genderbending as well. I am proud enough, and secure enough in my masculinity to admit that YES... I do have female alts. Without you needing to go to my other blog on Stardust Enterprises, I will tell you that the virtual company was started to sell... well... virtual helicopters, hovercraft, and airplanes to the SL public. On my main character- Belenos Stardust (a name i use often on the internet and in games) I do the actual building of the vehicles, as well as the packaging and marketing. I created Alexia Ogleby to be the "pretty face that sells", since we all know that sex sells. Till recently I was headquartered on an island by the name of Yolo Island (YOLO is an acronym for You Only Live Once), and Alexia also doubled as the bartender and greeter to my customers, and other visitors. Anataliya was added to the lineup to be the "tech guru", and is often the go to person if a customer has a technical issue about the vehicle that they cannot figure out from reading the manuals I ship with each. (Believe me this happens from time to time) I felt it was appropriate to dress her as a mechanic hailing from Russia. Hey, don't knock it... it works. However, the crown jewel in my alt lineup is Allyanis: my pursestrings and vice president. I am going to touch on her for a moment here.

Allyanis- The closest thing I have visualized to MY perfect woman.

Allyanis was created at a time when I was interested in selling plus sized female shapes to residents in Second Life. While that business never truly "got big", as evidenced by the plethora of skinny waifs in the game, as I kept tweaking her shape, she became more to me than simply a selling tool. Allyanis as she is now, represents all the things that I find absolutely attractive in real life women: the flowing red hair, green eyes, large bust, bubble butt, and of course her BBW body type. I cannot stress that last one enough. I have had her weight fluctuating over the years, and the picture above is in her "lighter" days, but the overall visual is the same. Imagine my surprise when my daughter had me watch the video below, of a very popular singer named Adele. As I checked the internet for more pictures of her, it became apparent that this real life woman bears more than a passing resemblance to my Allyanis.

I am pretty sure if Allyanis were flesh and blood, she would look like this.

Needless to say, I am now naturally infatuated with this singer. Of course she far surpasses anything my altaholic mind could dream up, but I am still amazed that such a person even exists. I suppose the odds were good that there would be someone who favors Allyanis, with several billion humans on the planet. I just never expected someone famous to match. I'll post her music video at the end of this blog by the way.

In any event, back on topic. I do love my alts. Now please bear in mind, that the kind of roleplaying I do with them is not the same as you might expect. I will not engage in any sort of cyber shenanigans with anyone, as I do not play video games to find dates. I can do that well enough without them. In a lot of the cases, the alts I make end up taking one aspect of myself and magnifying it. For example, in the case of Druu Scandana's brother Korenn, it was my cynicism. In Guild Wars, my alt Ghita is known for being stubborn. In fact, probably the only game I play where my alts literally have a life of their own is Sims 3, where instead of the trio of Druu, Korenn, and Danton, there are the triplet sisters Ghita, Allyanis, and Tannia, who are counterpoints to Belenos. Oddly enough, Allyanis always seems to end up marrying Belenos. It should not surprise you then that Belenos or Bel Geode (depending on the game) ALWAYS looks like yours truly... right down to the goatee.

Who knew playing foosball could be so much fun!

(L-R) Tannia Shrike, Allyanis Stardust, Ghita Shrike, Belenos Stardust

It is probably safe to say that in just about every MMORPG I play, there will always be the trio of sisters, as well as a Korenn, and of course a Bel. It goes without saying that there are other minor characters that seem to migrate from game to game with me, but they are usually less played than any of the aforementioned names. If all of this has your head spinning, consider this: I have multiple computers, and have in the past logged in multiple characters at the same time for the express purpose of playing them all. Thank Gawd for multitasking! This is where I am finding a real joy in Guild Wars. There is an in-game store item you can buy that allows you to actually use your level 20 alts as party members in whatever adventure you decide to partake in. Imagine that... an altaholic's dream. Instead of having to log in multiple accounts, I can now log in my characters on my one account, sign them up as "mercenary heroes", then recruit them to MY OWN PARTY for the purpose of questing and dungeon running! How cool is that?! Instead of having Koss, Cynn, Dunkoro, et al, I can actually play with Allyanis, Ghita, Tannia, and Korenn!

Sadly, for the successor to Guild Wars- Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet has decided NOT to go with the heroes mechanic for the game, instead preferring to foster a true community feel, as well as a desire to WANT to group up with other real people (and I use the term group loosely, as there is no real need most of the time... There is no danger of kill stealing, and everyone who attacks a monster gets full xp and loot). More than likely once GW2 goes live, I will be back to buying multiple accounts so that  I can "double box" (play multiple characters at once). Altaholism is alive and well in the gaming world, and I do not plan on quitting my addiction anytime soon! So what about you? How much of an altaholic are YOU?

In closing, for your listening and viewing pleasure... I present to you,  Adele, with her smash hit- "Someone Like You".

Now if only I could get her to legally change her name to Allyanis, and marry me...

So I Hear You Boys Love A Good Story...

Some may think it kind of odd when I tell you where that title came from... It is a quote from Hermann Goering... Yes the dude who was in charge of the Luftwaffe in WWII. Now don't let this fact scare you, it is only being used as a tie-in to today's blog. (Besides which, it is kind of odd anyway for a black dude to be quoting Nazis.)

In any event, Goering did get one thing right, if by proxy... a good amount of us MMORPG players LOVE a good story! Since the days of sitting in a basement or otherwise designated gaming room- poring over photocopied character sheets, and marking down our stats, as well as whether we are lawful good, or chaotic evil, we gamers have reveled in the story itself. Making the characters was only half of the fun, and ultimately we were rewarded when our GM (gamesmaster) found new and interesting ways to tell our tale, and sometimes KILL US. A lot of time has passed mind you, since those auspicious days when RPG meant four or more folks sitting at a table speaking in a bastardization of "olde english", but in today's enlightened, digital world, not much has really changed. We still relish a good story.

Now for those who live for pvp, or min maxing, you will probably want to browse away from this blog right now, because it could get long winded, and could have quite a great deal to do with how stories have progressed over the years. Admittedly, not every gamer will fall into the category of the "lore hound", as the demographic has changed in only the last ten years alone. It is however refreshing for me to meet younger folks who have the same desire to see a well thought out story with us at the center of it. For me it goes even deeper than that.

Gloria Bolton- My grandmother, my inspiration

When I was a wee lad, my grandmother used to write stories for me. Often they were about a young boy exploring his world, and she would change the setting. One story may find the protagonist in ancient China, one may find him in old Europe, and so on. The key thing that she tried to get across to me was that the imagination is set loose when you are engaged in a really immersive story. You BECOME the protagonist, you feel what they would feel, and react the way they would react, provided the story is told well. My grandmother never disappointed, and it was a lesson that would remain with me to this day. In fact, my love of the arts (music, literature, visual arts) is a direct result of her influence in my life, and though she has been gone now about 10 years, she remains the pinnacle of my experiences with the spoken, and written word. Unfortunately for her, she was not around to have ever played an MMORPG.

So fast forward to about say..... 2003. Along comes a little game some of you all might know, called Star Wars Galaxies. We already knew the stories of Luke, Han, Leia, et al, but now here comes this game professing to tell the greatest story of all.... OURS. Words cannot express the nerdgasm I had about the time I saw those words flash on my screen as I installed the collector's edition version of the game. For all its headache and heartache, as SWG now lays on its deathbed, waiting for December 15th, and the pulling of the life support plug... SWG left one great impression on me. It gave me a chance to tell my story... and tell it I did. The stories of Druu Scandana became legendary, if only to a niche audience.

Left to Right: D'Anton Scandana- Smuggler, Druu Scandana- Combat Medic, Korenn Alya-Scandana- Droid Engineer

Druu Scandana was one of three brothers orphaned and sent to live with their grandmother on Naboo, near Theed. When SWG began for me, Druu (yours truly) had received word that his grandmother had just died, and she put him in touch with an old friend of hers named Maximillian Veers. (You can see where this is going right?) Before Druu knew it, he was in the Empire as a stormtrooper commander, then an Imperial fighter ace. Before long he got involved with Sanctuary Guild; one of the Emperor's beloved on Naboo, and next thing you know, he ended up being elected President of said guild. When Restuss was destroyed, Druu was there, leading a veritable garrison of Imperial troops to fend off the rebel incursion for about a week, before the city was razed to rubble. The accolades were impressive, the legend grew. Druu eventually married; first to a twi'lek girl he rescued from certain doom, and had his share of tragedy when said wife ended up dying (ie- unsubbed after NGE), as well as a dubious relationship with a childhood sweetheart after, ending in divorce and a long lost daughter in his care... and more drama than he could shake a stick at. In the end, Druu finally remarried to a combat medic named Ademia, retired from service with the Empire, having never fired a shot on Endor, and essentially faded off into the sunset with his family on Corellia. He would go on to survive the Rebel victory at Endor, and live his life peacefully in the mountains of Doaba Guerfel with his wife, his daughter, and his two brothers.

Nothing like a little dad - daughter bonding time...

I thank SWG for the opportunity to tell my story, even if it was riddled with events I would rather forget, not all of which player caused. My story was indeed an epic one, and somewhere on the internet there are still those pre-CU stories floating around, as well as some of the ones I made post NGE, when things got a BIT more dramatic... to say the least. Sadly that story does indeed have an end... but as my life continues, so do the stories.

Now we look at the future. Two games in particular appear to offer story in the quantity I am looking for. No disrespect to games such as Tera, but you did not make the cut this time. I think more folks are focused on the video below, than what stories Arborea could have to tell.

I just know there is a story here somewhere... but I cannot seem to find it.

The two games I am referring to, in order; are Star Wars- The Old Republic, and Guild Wars 2. Without a doubt those two games are THE most anticipated games of the year! Neither have release dates, though fan speculation has SWTOR around November of this year (which is great, would be a birthday gift to me provided it is out by the 18th), and GW2 going into beta before this year is out, with wild speculations of as long a wait as June of next year. Bear in mind this is all just hearsay and should be treated as such. Until their respective companies say, HEY we are coming out THIS DATE... treat everything you hear with an entire case of sea salt.

SW-TOR:

Ok I am going to be THAT guy... SWG will be a tough act to follow. While Bioware is well known for its ability to tell a damn good story, there are a lot of things that cannot match up to the pure sandbox feel that SWG had in its heyday. Before the introduction of the legacy quests, SWG was as open as you could get, and it felt at once really good as well as overwhelming. So many stories to be made, no clear definition by the devs as to which way to go, other than the occasional story arcs that were thrown in for a brief period, and of course the holiday celebratory quests (something stolen from EQ btw). SWTOR plans on immersing you in the story from level one, and this is indeed a good thing. You are now 3000 years before the age of Druu Scandana and his more famous compatriots; Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine. The galaxy is different then, and in a way Bioware had carte blanche to tell a raucus story that would have little bearing on what we know as "canon" in the Star Wars mythos. In a sense, the route Bioware has gone is very "theme park"; a phrase bandied around often to mean your hand is being held as you are led through where you SHOULD be, rather than encouraging you to go where you WANT. Where Bioware shines however is that they have in the past, made where you should be,and the subsequent stories to be told there, more compelling than the desire to wander off and end up being "Uncle Owen", as one John Smedley was afraid of SWG players doing. From my reckoning, with 8 professions to choose from, Bioware is essentially offering us 8 stories to play out. Not too shabby if I should say so myself. How long it will take to get through them to endgame remains to be seen, but it would certainly keep me busy for a while.

Then we come to Guild Wars 2.

Ok, I am going to level with you all here. I am very much NOW on the bandwagon for GW2. I have yet to see anything major that has turned me off from this game, and story being one of my key drawing points, GW2 has delivered, even if only secondhand.

The above video is of the human experience in the beginning of GW2. Bear in mind this is subject to change as the game reiterates to final publish, but already you can see the kernels of story being formulated, just in the opening cinematic. Now here is the fun part... Out of that one human story, you can have it portrayed in different ways depending on what YOU choose as your answers to what I call the "background creator". I have been around the MMO block many years now and I have yet to see a single game incorporate as part of its character creation a background creator. This is groundbreaking as far as I am concerned. (If there are minor titles who have done this, I doubt they count, as this game is definitely aiming for the mainstream) So already there are at the very least three ways you can start out your story (per race, of which there are 5 total). Now your personality plays a part in how your story plays out. Ok so now we are looking at three more possibilities here; charming, dignified, and ferocious personalities... That will affect how you react or act towards NPCs you encounter. This is not to mention that you also have the dynamic stories going on throughout the world, whether you are there or not... event arcs that replace traditional "quests", and make you feel like you are an active part of the world, and not just killing the proverbial 10 rats, for the sake of doing so. Of course there is the piece de resistance... the personal story, which a lot of this ties into. THIS is where I sink my teeth.

I want to know what happens to me in Tyria, or Shiverpeaks, or the Charr Lands, etc. I was one of those kids who used to read the "choose your own adventure" books, and the feeling of where will this world, or road take me, is still very much a strong feeling for me. For me the story is so important that I actively went out and bought the original Guild Wars Trilogy this week (while on vacation in Florida), just so I could play through the campaigns and learn the lore. As an aside, ArenaNet, if you are reading, I AM COMMITTED NOW! I am sure the books will be purchased before I head back home to Pittsburgh as well.

To make matters worse, this week, we all got treated to this video; showcasing the story in the dungeons we will encounter on Tyria. With the story pervading all, there is no doubt in my mind I will be as engaged as when I read those stories my grandmother wrote, or the choose your adventure books, or even the stories made up by my gm at that gaming table with a few other gamer geeks, and a bunch of dice.

...But I digress, bottom line here. Guild Wars 2 is thus far offering me the MOST opportunities to tell stories of my "life". This is even more so than with SWTOR. While I still intend to try TOR, and if accepted into beta will gladly play it, I cannot help but think there is something compelling about the Guild Wars story that has me salivating like a pavlovian experiment here.

Could it be that Guild Wars 2 has actually tapped into that same spirit that my grandmother would exude so long ago for me? It is hard to even write this without coming off sounding like a fan boy at this stage, but you know what... I am not even sure anymore that I care what anyone thinks of me LOL. I want, nay demand a good story. I want to be in the center of it... I want to be able to post my stories here on blogger... I want to be able to inspire others to do the same.

I did it before in Microsoft Flight Simulator (yeah lots of stories there eh?). Though the pictures may not show up, I have many stories about my "life" as a virtual US Airways pilot that were a joy to read by those into aviation, whether virtually or otherwise. Story goes to my core.

Stick around folks... There are many more stories to tell, and some of them will be YOURS.

Guild Wars 2- The NEXT Big Thing?

I am a lousy blogger. There, I have said it.

It has taken me this long to relate what has been going on in my gaming (and otherwise) life, from the time I was in Rift beta, until now. I apologize for this, and promise that it will not happen again... I hope. I find it odd that someone who LOVES writing and blogging, should be so lazy as to not even update his own blogs (of which there are three currently). I have no excuses... I offer no reasons but to say, I am a lazy so and so.

Please accept my humble apology, and let us move on. What I want to talk about today is BIG... Could revolutionize the whole MMORPG industry as we know it. So, are we cool now? Yes? Ok... good. Let's move on.

Rift is now in the rear view mirror. Do not get me wrong, it is a spectacular game. It is functionally beautiful, masterfully created, and aesthetically eyecatching. Rift was a lot of fun! I really do admire Trion's commitment to excellence, and desire to set the MMORPG world aflame with something better. They have succeeded in many ways, and deserve all the praise and accolades they have garnered thus far. I cannot recommend the game enough to people. So where did I go wrong in Rift?

Well... I got bored.

YEAH REALLY! I got to level 50. I explored all zones, and got the badges for them. Did all the missions in all the zones, till I could not find a single NPC with a (!) over their heads... Went through the instances dutifully, some a bit more than others mind you, and came out the other end of the leveling grind with the title "Level 50", and the feeling that instead of gearing up for the "real start of the game", that I just wanted to lay down right here and take a long nap. That is just what I did... I laid Belenos down... and took a long nap. Subscription quietly lapsed... and never looked back.

Suffice to say, I have NEVER had this happen before in any game. I am not one who simply bounces around from pillar to post on a whim. I do not have ADHD, no offense to anyone who does, but I am capable of focusing sharply and intently on something I desire. I stick to things for the LONG term... Not as a passing fancy. So what went wrong with Rift? It felt like more of the same.

I went through seven years of grinding in SWG (and EQ2), and while in those games I did feel a sense of accomplishment for eventually reaching the top level, when I was able to reach 50 in Rift within a month, what I thought would be opening the floodgates to the rest of the game, resonated differently with me. Instead of WANTING to experience all that lvl 50 had to offer, it had just the opposite effect to me. I realized once I hit 50 there was no real goal for me at that point. I  did not fancy running tier 1 or tier 2 instances. I am not a huge pvper, so the prospect of doing that ad infinitum is a turn off for me. The world was explored.... so now what? Even the guild had gotten so big that I really did not fit in the scheme of things anymore. Granted I did say I wanted no part in the actual running of it. It lessened the shock when I told them I was not going to be in Rift for an extended period of time.

Just like that, Belenos the legend of the Trion Forums... man with over 5000 posts... disappears silently in the night.

So what have I been doing? Well... EVE Online for starters. Most folks cannot get into that game because its steep learning cliff appears insurmountable.

For the most part they are right. CCP (the company behind EVE Online) is known for taking the high road, and doing things that most gaming companies would consider shooting themselves in the foot. Yet somehow EVE still retains a cult following. They still manage to grow in leaps and bounds, despite the love it or hate it attitude that seems to pervade the community at large... and let me tell you, the EVE community is at once visceral, and vicious! I have to admit, I like EVE Online, and especially with the coming introduction of the Incarna update (where for the first time in the 8 year life of the game, characters will get to walk around OUTSIDE their ships), I can see this continuing to gain my meager monies each month... If only to log in and see just what is going on in the galaxy. I have plans of opening my own Gallente Nightclub... We'll see how well that works. Granted I will never be a huge megacorp with tracts of galactic "land" many systems wide... But I have my own plans to eke out my little slice of EVE Pie. Let's just say EVE appeals to the back room capitalist in me.

A couple weeks ago, something caught my eye...

Back in Rift beta the question was asked a lot about which games were most anticipated, and repeatedly the acronym GW2 kept rising to the forefront. I did not give it a second thought. I was there for Rift. Like a mosquito, determined to get past my ears and into my bloodstream, i kept hearing it... GW2... GW2. Ok what the hell is GW2?!?!

Guild Wars 2. Ok... big deal... it's another freaking MMORPG. Probably another "WoW Clone" (I am so sick of those two words by the way. I have never even played WoW!). Then I started watching the little profession videos they have up on their website... and reading some of the lore they have going on in this little game of theirs. Hmm...

Then I run across this.

Whoa. Are they for real? Are you kidding me? Let me summarize the points going on in this video, and how it seems way too good to be true!

So let me get this straight. Here are a bunch of gamers who just HAPPEN to also know game code (due to working at Blizzard), and they decide to question everything that has for over a decade been considered the holy grail of gaming? They want to take out the holy trinity of Tank / Healer / DPS, giving every single class the opportunity to have a bit of all three embedded within. They want to give ME my own personalized story to follow that is intertwined with the grand story arc of the game itself? They want to remove the old "kill 10 rats" paradigm and replace it with TRULY dynamic content that not only has an impact on the world around me, but scales in relation to the parties involved?!?! They want to create a community that cares about itself and its world???

Ok what kind of drugs are you on Arenanet?!?! How is this possible? How can you be espousing ALL the things that have frustrated us as gamers with games even as recent as Rift itself, claiming to have the solutions. How can you build a world based on concept art and have it look even remotely gorgeous as I see this one is. It looks as if I would be walking through a masterpiece.

More importantly, why is it that someone like Ree Soesbee does NOT have her own dedicated temple and shrine yet??? WTS- ME!

Needless to say, I have begun in earnest to learn everything I can about Guild Wars 2. I want to know it all... the professions, the languages, the backstory, the maps, everything. So far I have discovered 10 things about Guild Wars 2 that not only turn me on to the game, but has me riveted, thinking this JUST MIGHT be the one I have been searching for. In no particular order, here they are:

1- There are children. Yeah, you read that right... there are CHILDREN! I made the mistake of asking on the Trion forums why there were no kids on Telara... and basically got ridiculed and all but accused of being a pedophile. I am a parent, as those who are familiar with me already know. As a gamer, and a fan of fantasy and lore, one thing that to me determines a healthy world over a doomed one, is the presence of children. Children denote the future, and denote hope! Telara has none. The many worlds of SWG had none. There are quite a few games that have no children at all. Guess what... Guild Wars 2... has children. They do not even need to explain why they are there, merely their presence indicates to me that this is a company that has thought about the future of their product and their fantasy world in general. A world with children is a world worth saving.

2- I see black people. OH LAWD HERE HE GOES! Drew is playing the race card again!!! For all the forum controversy of "why are there black Norn", merely the fact that there are indicates to me that Arenanet is looking at the big picture. Not every gamer has porcelain skin, and teutonic features, and some of us MIGHT want to have our avatars look just a little like our real world selves. Perfect example of this is my avatar in Eve Online. (see below) If you recall my blogs on Rift, I basically went through two whole beta sessions before concessions were made to allow me to create a character as dark as I wanted him to be. When it was introduced, it was done with zero fanfare, and was not even listed in the patch notes as being possible. It was a "pleasant surprise". It should have been there from the get go.

Handsome devil, isn't he?

3- Epic city is EPIC! One of the major complaints about Rift was in the size (or lack thereof) of the major cities. Both Sanctum and Meridian could be explored completely in less than five minutes, and a large number of players were left thinking that perhaps Trion may have left out the remainder of the cities in favor of the little villages that made the final cut. I make no bones about loving architecture. It was my first major in college, and although I eventually switched to art, I have had a love of buildings to this day. It stands to reason then that in my gaming, I love to explore cities. I want to be floored by something larger than myself. I want to get lost in dark alleys, or stand atop citadels looking out as far as I can see. I want to get to know the personality of a city, and feel like I am in the midst of something bustling, something alive, something BIG. Guild Wars 2 appears to be delivering on this. The scale of the cities is nothing short of massive. While other new games such as Tera also boast huge cities, there is something aesthetically pleasing about what Arenanet is offering us to call home. Even the gateway town of Lion's Arch is nothing short of jawdropping. (see vid below)

4- Care about your world. This one is vastly overlooked by many MANY companies and games. When was the last time you actually cared what happened to an NPC, let alone a vendor? Well NPC... no not really Drew, he could drop dead for all I care... As for vendor... depends, is he selling anything I need? That is the kind of attitude I see a lot in games. No one cares what happens to the game assets unless there is something in it for them. As part of the Guild Wars story, there is such a thing as KARMA! Brilliant... who would have thought. The vendor you help today, may just give you a deep discount, or better yet goods for free, because he REMEMBERS the time you saved his ass from the horde of marauding centaurs. He remembers how you revived him from near certain death! He's gonna tell others and they are gonna like you too! Pretty soon the whole damn town is erecting a statue in your honor... all because you actually took the time to care about your world and the people in it. Who thinks of this stuff? Why has it not been done before in games to this level?

** Note- Karma is a currency that is earned and can be used in some cases exclusively to purchase goods at vendors.**

5- Less UI = Happy screen. Ok Eve Online, I am talking to you... how you take so much screen? If there is one thing I hate, it is when my UI and chatboxes take up soooo much room that I can barely see myself or the mob I am supposed to be fighting. I can multitask like the best of them, but seriously, does everything need to be on a HUD for me? Can't I just enjoy the world, and keep the key elements that I need visible? GW2 shows me 10 icons on my hotbar. Yes, 10. 5 of them change depending on what weapon I have equipped. Yes.. they CHANGE! If I pick up a bucket of water... I now have a hotbar skill to use said bucket. I do not need 10 hotbars (thanks though Rift)... just one. Not to mention that one button is ALWAYS a heal!

6- Sick of being "the Healer/the Tank". The straw that broke the camel's back for me in Rift was when I did Abyssal Precipice twice. The first time with all guildies, and we managed to get about halfway through before our inexperience with the instance caused us to epic fail. The second time we completed it with a PUG (pick up group), but it was hardly exciting for me. Both times I went in as "the tank". I have never claimed to be sterling as a tank, and I am totally lost if it is my first time in somewhere, as I have not had the chance to learn what to do and where to go. I could not be the healer because there is always a dedicated healer, and let's face it, being DPS, you may as well just say you are along for the ride. You have no real purpose. In the second run I was replaced halfway as tank because, well... I could not tank satisfactorily. Ok I get that, I sucked as a tank in that instance. Now I have no purpose.  So here we have Guild Wars 2 saying, the holy trinity of tank- healer - dps has been rebuked! You have all the skills you need, are responsible for your own healing, can coordinate with anyone around you to achieve common goals and do NOT need to sit around spamming LFG TANK! This means I can learn my class to MY liking, not to yours. I can play my class with the expectation that I will help in any situation, and not feel beholden to anyone for being there "taking up space". I like this. Did I mention anyone can rez anyone?

7- Not my node, my loot, my mob, but OURS. What kinda hippie lovefest, carebear crap is this? Are you telling me that I can tag the nearest mob, burn it with fire, and you burn it with lightning, we BOTH kill it, we BOTH get full xp for it, AND BOTH get full loot? Do you seriously want me to believe Arenanet, that I can mine this here rock with the copper stripes, and have joe and bob over there also mine the same rock, and we ALL get the full amount of resources contained within, without detracting from the others' experiences? That is literally unheard of in MMORPGs today. That alone is a win.

8- Wait... Races get starting areas? Number one complaint in Rift was that you could play one of three races per faction. Each race started in the same exact area... making replayability akin to Groundhog Day. While I totally understood WHY this was done, there was no real attempt to make you understand why you are a part of said race that you chose. There was no connection to your culture, nothing other than the fact that you look different from the next guy, and are on the same side because you started in Terminus over Mathosia. Well you know what? It is NOT alright for me to not know the ramifications of my choosing a race. I want to know that race's history. If I decide to be the aforementioned black Norn, I want to know more about why the Norn are the way they are. I want to experience life AS a Norn. I want to understand where they fit in the big picture, and  most importantly, I want to see the world and my home through Norn eyes. Wait... what? You can do this in Guild Wars 2?  SOLD!

Notice the black Norn... That'll be me.

9- Giant polar bears with swords. I want to see them. I find myself more and more intrigued by the NPC races in the game, as much as the playable races. The fact that this company is going to great lengths to tell us more about the species and races we will encounter in our travels, not only impresses me, but makes me feel like this will in fact be a living, breathing world. If I can be that dude who functions as ambassador to the giant polar bears (the Kodan), I will seek them out. Anyone who has ever read the children's book Snowland (I think that was the name of it), can attest to this... giant, talking polar bears are cool.

10- Big freakin dragons. Have you seen most of the dragons in other games? What should be epic seems... well... lacking. When I saw the above video, with the visions of "The Shatterer", the big purple and metal dragon coming down, I was impressed. Now I hear, oh that is just a lieutenant. The Elder Dragons are way bigger than him. SAY WHAT?!?!??!

I just fell out of my seat.

Watch this and you tell me... are they confounding us with "bovine excrement", or are they for real? By the way Arenanet... if you are for real... how bout you hire me please. At this point I do not care if I am the janitor, or quality assurance, or customer service. Just hire me! I am so not even kidding either. I have no college degree to speak of, but I know video games like a first language. Let me do for you what I know I can... that is help make this THE next big thing! It just might be worth moving from Pittsburgh to Seattle, if this game is as real as I think it is. This could revolutionize the entire gaming community.

At the very least, can you tell Ree that I'd like to worship her?
------------------------

Guild Wars 2 is slated to go into beta testing some time in the second half of this year, 2011. I can hardly wait.



Did I mention this sucker is going to be FREE TO PLAY????

(Addendum, thanks to comments below. You DO need to actually BUY the game, but you will NOT pay monthly fees for access to it. That is free to play I can live with!)

Rift Beta 3... Or "Greetings fellow Air-Breather" PART TWO

Act III- Freemarch Under Siege

I awoke the next day, and met up with Swiftsure to do some more missions, and make our way to Meridian. Unfortunately she had left before me and ended up someplace else, so I did not physically get to fight alongside her till a bit later on. In the interim, I amused myself with the destruction of more water rifts, and a few death rifts.

One thing I will say about Telara, there is no shortage of people to help you. Just when you think you are up the creek without a paddle, on a rift that will KILL you... again... along come a few brave souls to help you seal that particular rift. The up side is that with everyone contributing, the enemy that spawns is even stronger, but the rewards are greater. There is a downside though, especially for a healer.

Oftentimes it gets a bit confusing when you have multiple groups of people repelling an invasion or a rift, and you may get the call from someone to "HEAL ME!!!!". Currently there is no real way of identifying who is who in a mass of ungrouped people so finding the person in time and healing them is a tricky proposition at best. Hopefully someone creative will think of a plausible solution to this dilemma, till then, we Clerics may get a bad rap for not healing people in time.

Aww so close to Meridian, yet so far.

I found a little farm overrun with boars not unlike the domesticated one Swiftsure always ran around with, and in this farm there were actually some settlers who needed some things done. Granted, this would not be epic uber missions where the fate of Telara is in the balance, but the little things... the feel good missions that make you proud to be a Defiant, and happy to be of service to a fellow citizen. Not to mention it was a great way to meet other Ascended, and see some rather interesting hairdos...

Oh I see how it is.. the Bahmi chick gets a banging 'Fro, and I gotta go bald eh....

It's ok Trion, you can keep your Afro, I like being bald thank you. :-p

I digress again...

During my daytime travels I actually found Telarans resting... taking a break as it were from the constant sieges of the planar enemies. Believe me, any chance you can get to rack up some Zzz's on Telara... TAKE IT! All too soon your sleep can be rudely interrupted.

I did encounter all sorts of odd occurrences on my way to Meridian to wait for Swiftie... including this phenomenon that only happens once in a blue moon... lightning striking twice!

By nightfall I had made it to Meridian, and I opted to spend a good deal of time there exploring.

I met Orphiel Farwind in his observatory, and carried on a brief conversation with him. I dunno about Orphiel though, something about him does not seem right... I cannot quite put a finger on it.

His Tower is incredible though, as these next couple of pictures show.... Quite an impressive feat of technomagical wizardry!

I was indeed impressed, but not nearly so much so as when I met HER...

Pleased to meet you, again... for the first time... Whatever it is... I made a pledge to you, and I intend to honor it. My mace and my conviction are at your disposal General Catari. You don't know it yet, but you are going to save my life.... errr... well maybe I am here to save yours.

We'll figure it out later. For now, it was time to learn all I could about being a cleric. Including the highlight of this beta test... getting ALL the cleric souls (8 of them) so that I can mix and match.

Yeah... Trion's idea of a joke LOL. The technical reason is that the quests you have to do to get all 8 souls are not ready yet, so this is just the filler text you see for the time being. Makes for a funny read. Personally I think they should just leave it like this, but I suppose they HAVE to change it.

Eventually I found the bar, and an NPC with a chest twice the size of any player's. I had to sit down and hang out with her for a while.

 Of course during my distraction with her, a Water rift spawned outside that  I had to take care of... I will tell you I was none too pleased about this. Not to be deterred, I took out the water rift with a quickness.

After all was done, I promptly went back to my NPC hostess.

At some point in time, I do not remember how long, Swiftie showed up, and I ran her through some of the things I have seen in Meridian thus far so she could catch up, including telling her how to get all 8 rogue souls. May as well take advantage of the free souls while they are there. With that done, we opted to get some more missions done.

Our next major one took us to a place called Lakeside.... an ODD little town.

First thing I noticed was a scout kneeling by the roadside.

Ziara informed me that there was something suspicious about this town that she could not quite figure. For some reason, she wanted me to investigate by talking to the townsfolk.

Seems easy enough... Here were my findings.

Umm... ok?

Uhhhh... Yeah, whatever you say there...

OK THAT'S IT! You are SOOOO NOT fooling me here!

The whole town was a front for the Abyssal cult! Somehow they got their hands on some kinda polymorph potions and were pretending to be humans. They took the entire town over and were gaining a foothold in Freemarch. I knew just what to do... I called upon my inquisitor's fanaticism, and SMOTE them down with all my fervor!

When that was done, I had to take the fight underwater to their hideout. At this point in time Swiftie was not present but another lovely lady came to my aid. For the life of me I do not remember her name though, so though she was lovely, she apparently was not memorable. :-(

A note about underwater... I have not really shown it in my tales thus far but just like RL, you have only so much breath before you begin to drown... and I do not have the magic spell to make me breathe underwater... I am only a silly air breather afterall. By the way, to swim up or down either press the right mouse button and move your mouse, or press both mouse buttons and move your mouse. You'll thank me later.

Several levels later I finally ran into Swiftie! Yay! I must say I like her wardrobe upgrade. We made our way to Smith's Haven, another town under siege, this time by the cult of Death- The Endless Court.

The missions in here were noticeably a bit more challenging, but doable, and we were able to make some serious headway rescuing the town, some of the priceless artifacts that random citizens wanted is to retrieve, and even saving the lives of a few trapped citizens in a cave.

After we got out, and got over the smoke inhalation from the town on fire, we could see in the distance an Air rift in a far off area of Telara... a promise that we have only just begun to walk this road, and that more was yet to come.

We did not have time to mourn our inability to get to the rift as the best was yet to come. Once more the developers spawned an epic rift event that damn near caused the end of the world.... again...

With Regulos one step away from taking over, we did everything we could to beat him back. It took us the better part of a couple hours, but we did it. When we were done we celebrated by entering the Iron Tomb and slaughtering the undead in there too.

 Truly an epic experience, this continued over the next day as we not only ran Iron Tomb but also I was privileged to go back to the Realm Of The Fae in Silverwood, and show the Satyrs that I was back. I have to admit that was the best part for me was being able to teleport to Silverwood, in Guardian held territory and slaughter those Satyrs, with no remorse.

When it was all said and done, I rested on the mountain in Silverwood, to look at the world I once knew through guardian eyes, but now see through my ascended Ethian eyes.

When Swiftsure made her way to Silverwood, we fought side by side once more, and joined a Raid on their way to take Sanctum by force.

The raid mind you was a partial success. We were able to take a few strongholds, and pvp with a few guardians, but we learned in short time that against the NPC guards of Sanctum, we stood no chance, even as an amassed force of players. It was sooo much fun to do however, and we got to see their mascot....

WTF? A giant Squirrel? Leave it to the Guardians...

When it was all said and done, we had an amazing time and I explored so much of the world. I did not want to leave when the time came. I enjoyed my life as a Defiant and am committed to the cause.

I can only hope the next phase of beta takes us to uncharted places, to experience more unique vistas, meet exotic people, and kill them.

Till then, I await inside the halls of Meridian... right next to my Leige- Asha Catari.

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Next beta is January 7, 2011 at 10AM Pacific Standard Time. It lasts all weekend till the 10th which is that Monday following. Join the Rift game site HERE. I am sure they are still giving away beta keys if you would like to see Telara as I have been, and keep your eyes out for the elusive VIP keys which allow ALL access to all betas from here on out!

See you on Telara, thanks for reading.

Rift Beta 3... Or "Greetings fellow Air-Breather" PART ONE

This past week, from December 28 - December 31, was the latest closed beta session for RIFT... Beta 3. Now during this beta we were asked to play EITHER Guardian OR Defiant from level 1-20 and evaluate both the leveling system, all the soul class options available, and perhaps engage in a little pvp and major world events.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun this entire experience was. Added to my enjoyment was the fact that one of my dear friends from Second Life, decided to join me on this endeavor. She was lucky to have gotten a VIP beta key, so she too was in like Flynn. This short tale will recount our story as we leveled to 20 and had a blast in the Defiant side of things...

First thing I did was kill off the old, guardian Belenos. No offense to anyone but I am not white... the toon looks nothing like me, so it had to go. Besides, I wanted to be a defiant anyway, so this gave me the perfect opportunity. If only we had such redos in life...

Behold the NEW Belenos-

Still a cleric, still decided to go with Inquisitor as my main soul... partly for RP purposes, partly because the skill tree actually looked pretty offensive (as opposed to defensive).

Now I might segue to add that even though the Eth race are a bit darker than the Mathosians from the last beta, I am still not quite seeing "African" colors yet... I still hope the devs can add that in. Black players may be a minority in the gaming community, but it says a lot to us that we can at least have something that looks like us... regardless if some of us are "white boys trapped in black boys' bodies".

I digress...

Ok so... new cinematic aside, and with Swiftsure (my SL partner) on her newly created toon, we both awake inside the appropriately named Life Factory.

Act I- The Uncertain Future

Map of Starting area- Terminus

For the Defiant side, our game starts in the future. (Guardian is in the past). When we are brought back to life we are brought smack dab into the apocalypse, armageddon, ragnarok if you will.... Or to put it bluntly... the world is FUBAR! The Guardians are all but dead, the cities destroyed, the world torn apart and only a small group of Defiant remain steadfast in this grim scene. We are immediately told that the last great hope for civilization lies in our hands. As engineered Ascendants we are tasked to getting to a time machine they have created for the sole purpose of putting us back in time to a point where it is believed that future, that present could be CHANGED. Yes it is the classic paradox, except I do not meet my own grandfather and kill him.

With our mission clear, Swiftsure and I walked out to greet the dawn of the last day on Telara.

First thing we did was group up. As two of the last survivors on Telara, we may as well stick together. We made our way through a perilous course of insane Telaran husks, and other citizens who have gone mad in the apocalypse, eventually reaching the place where Asha Catari had rounded up the remnants of her guard. Our first task it would seem was to get the time machine working again. All the efforts of the Defiant technicians, including whacking on the machines they were attempting to fix, did naught to get everything fully functional again...

During the chaos it looks like something happened to cause the power supply to go out. Perhaps an attack, all I know is it was burning and we had to put it out. Along the way we had to rescue a few trapped people, and try our damnedest to retain some semblance of order and sanity amongst this withering civilization.

Eventually we reached the machine, and I doused it with water as Swiftsure turned it on.

Ok great!

We got that working... now what. Well now we had to report to some dude named the faceless man. Apparently he used to be an Abyssal (water plane cultist) who saw the error of his ways and sided with the Defiant. Nice guy, even if he is a bit touched. I should say that I know how he feels too, since I am feeling a bit touched myself. One cannot stare death in the face and witness the end of the world without being a little off kilter after that.

In any event, one of our next tasks was to take down a rogue Guardian... Not just any Guardian mind you, but none other than Shyla the Pentarch of the Vigil.... now turned Shyla the Fallen. For those who do not know, Shyla was the High Elf matriarch on the Guardian side... Well apparently (and it has been a while since I saw her) she has gone mad. She very nearly killed us all, and it pained me to do so, but she had to die. After my grim deed was complete... I have to admit... it touched me. How such a good elf could go bad... beyond me.

I had to rest for a while. It was probably just as well as Swiftsure needed some downtime also. I would not see her again until after I had completed our objectives ahead of her. As it was, fighting without her was going to be difficult. Many times over I had to back off and try again, as even though I had gained a second soul (Justicar, to add to my Inquisitor), I was still not quite powerful enough to defeat the many hordes of death.

When I got back up I was given the task of heading up to the camp halfway up the hill... Just shy of the time machine. There I met Isach, who told me how dire the situation was, but thanked me for my assistance on the way up in getting his reinforcements through the battle unscathed.

Almost there... I could feel the hands of death closing around Telara... the closer I got to the top of the mountain, the worse the feeling became. I was consumed with many thoughts... Why did the Guardians betray Telara by destroying the Defiant devices? Where were the Gods that at one time demanded my worship? They made the world, why were they absent at its near destruction? How could they let an entire world just simply DIE?

My faith was shaken to the bone as I mounted the crest of the hill and met Stavel Rosso, operator of the time machine.

We were just about to get started when I met for the first time the woman who would become a constant thorn in my side this entire beta event.... Alsbeth the Discordant. Better known as Regulos' personal witch concubine... Words cannot express how much hatred I have developed for this "woman".

After much monologuing, she decided to give me some undead creatures to keep me busy. No problem, I took them out with relative ease. A couple more spawned... again, no issue. Done in no time. Then like most villains, she decided she wanted to simply do the job herself.... uhh problem.

Enter my savior! Asha Catari and her personal guards!

I knew Swiftsure was on the way, but this could not wait, I had to work with Asha to get this witch bitch back to the hellhole she spawned from. WE did just that. By the time Swiftie made it up the hill, Alsbeth was a memory and we were facing the progenitor of doom himself... REGULOS, the Destroyer of worlds.

Asha Catari bought us all the time she could muster, and one by one Defiant ascended plunged into the time machine. I thanked her and made her a vow that when I saw her in the past I would pledge my maul, my conviction, and my life to her.

Then my world turned black. Asha Catari gave her life (again) so that we might live.



Act II- The Present Day

I don't think we are in Kansas anymore Toto...

All things considered, it was better than being at the end of the world! I waited several minutes till I finally got my bearings and saw Swiftsure materialize from the time machine, no worse for wear. In short time... pun intended, the other ascended survivors also appeared. Our presence there startled many, who were unsure if the machine would even work, but seemed like a blessing to others seeking justification and confirmation that the technology was sound.

We made our way to a built up cavern that housed some key people we needed to see, and informed them of who we were. They appeared satisfied with our identities and bade us well on our quest to get to Meridian to report to Asha Catari.

Like any good mission, it involves a LOT of side trips, whether helping other citizens, taking the time to learn how to craft, or even defeating opening water or death rifts! The Water Rifts brought me flashbacks of my time as a Guardian Inquisitor, in another life... and the many crusades to crush the cult of the Abyssal, followers of the dragon of water, Akylios the depraived. Fighting his minions brought my religious fervor back somewhat, and steeled me in the coming battles, even if I still resorted to drink after the battle was done to soothe my frazzled nerves.

The Water rifts in particular were to play a major part in my life as an ascendant this past week... as I was soon to  find. I took every opportunity to destroy every single water rift, invasion, or random npc I saw in Freemarch.

EVERY opportunity...

We found our way to King's Retreat, where we made some new friends, and we were able to learn some needed crafting skills. I will segue to say that crafting in RIFT is ridiculously easy. This can be good or bad to the average player. DO NOT come to Telara looking for a challenging crafting system that will have you solving puzzles or putting your life at risk to make 10 items... But do expect to be able to craft with great ease, so much so that you could in theory put yourself on autopilot to craft and "soul walk" around your rl house while your avatar does all the work. For the record, I do not recommend the latter as the chances are great that when you return, a planar invasion may have come through, and killed you!

As time went on, we found that doubleteaming rifts, and enemies, as well as doing missions together was in fact the BEST way to level up in Telara. Since Swiftie is a rogue, and I a cleric, we make a great combination that could handle MOST things that popped up to try and kill us. Just as it was going oh so well for us, we ran into an old friend again....

This witch.

OMG! I want to kill her... AGAIN! Perhaps if I could kill her that would have saved us all the problems in the future we just came from. Sadly... she disappeared before I could put my maul in her head. Her demise would have to wait...

By evening time we had made it to Kelari Refuge, a startling little shantytown on the beach, encased within a natural U shaped bay, and definitely off the beaten path enough so as to not be TOTALLY overrun by rifts.

It was here I decided to call it a night, as did Swiftsure. We agreed to meet up the next day for more fun adventures.

As I sat watching the glorious sunset at Kelari Refuge... I was reminded that at times... yes, Telara can be absolutely beautiful.

PART TWO COMING UP!