Blogging about mmos again

leveling up a zerker in DAoC alone is no fun. Good thing I found help

I’m back. It’s been a long hiatus, but I started grad school this all and that has consumed most of my free time. I have mostly been casually dabbling with Diablo 3, but longing to get back into some serious mmo gaming.

So now that I am on break I plan to play and blog a bit more about my favorite gaming hobbies. I start off (of course) with some musings about Dark Age of Camelot.

I rolled a new toon on a new server, and what did I choose? It had to be Midgard Berzerker, because I knew I wanted to deal out some pain and damage while wielding my axes. It was tedious grinds for the first five levels until I made a friend and we leveled together till level 10. From then on it was to the b.g.s where the most fun was had, ended up combining two groups (one which started with two tanks and a healer) and taking the CK from hibs. They never knew what hit them haha!!

Ah good times! This makes me wonder how long a great game like DAoC will exist. The lure of this game is its beautiful RvR but for me, the old graphics, the mechanics that are unique, the music, the atmosphere of the three feuding realms, it has it all!

Rumor has it that Mythic EA does not give out population numbers on all the combined servers, but it seems to me that there are always a healthy amount of players while I log on, especially at peak hours. Some bitch at the $14 sub price in a day and age where you pay as much for newer shinier and more developed games, wow comes to mind, but wow is not a fair comparison as it is entirely different in game mechanics and other features.

There is so much variety out there in terms of gaming, that sometimes I really worry that DAoC being a 12 year old game by now could go the way of City of Heroes and SW Galaxies, although the shutdown for those games was due to other circumstances. For the time being, I am gonna enjoy the heck out of this great mmo, while we still have it with us and I hope that RvR lasts forever and ever. What do the rest of you think is the fate of this classic gem of a game???

Good to be back!

Wayback Wednesdays featuring good ole DAoC

Mmorpg.com has been having their Wayback Wednesday segments featuring Mythic Entertainment devs. playing along with host Grakulen.

This last segment they went mid because facebook readers requested it or something.

“Another great night was had in Thidranki.  The Albion realm was well represented and they managed to smash our faces for a few hours.  We were able to eventually whittle them away and take the central keep. If you are in the mood for a little comic relief make sure to watch the video at 14:16 for some mass sleepy time fun.”

Basically I have enjoyed watching these segments because they show how much fun RvR can be in the game during the battlegrounds. While this particular segment takes place in Thid, the level 20-24 b.g. in DAoC, I have been busy myself leveling up my hib toon in preparation for entering the b.gs. myself.

The b.g.s were as much fun as I remembered them, and I dinged 20 yesterday, going up five levels just doing b.g. questing with PUGs. in the b.g.s and doing some PvE questing in Tir Na Nog.

I had rolled an elf hib toon, but quickly re-rolled to Celt instead because I was told they were more proficient with their blades. Boy are they ever! My Blademaster uses taunting blade quite often and delivers a good wallop, despite the fact he is not even max level yet.

While experiencing the pvp pre-Frontiers content has been a good diversion, I think that I may bid DAoC adieu soon and start playing the original GW in anticipation of the sequel coming out this month. I own GW1 but never really gave the game much of a chance, primarily because I was playing wow back when I purchased it, and secondarily because it seemed way too instanced and not easy to form groups with, but I need a DAoC break and since Grakulen and the wayback Wednesday crew will be playing it this week, I may do the same just for kicks.

Cheers!

Dark Age of Camelot PvP in the Labyrinth of the Minotaur

Running with a DAoC PvE PUG

This past weekend I was once again messing around with DAoC, but I have crossed over into the ToA zones. I spent the bulk of Friday night pwning PvE mobs and I was having fun until I realized that I had not been attacked once by an enemy realm. I thought, “what gives?” Then I was informed by my PUG that ToA was strictly PvE, until you get into specific zones like the Frontiers.

I have become increasingly frustrated with ToA, in the sense that I need progression in order to enjoy these types of mmos, I need to see that xp bar filling up and in the case of DAoC, those little bubbles at the corner of my UI, in order to feel like I am making some progress in my journey. Upon reaching max level (50) one can achieve Master levels and collect powerful artifacts to get better gear and have a better showing in RvR. I find this system unappealing, having to collect scrolls, books, artifacts, and putting them together. Maybe because I have not stuck with it long, but I don’t find it as fun as running around in the b.g.s and doing quests for xp.

Then, I joined the Blackoxy guild on my server. Last night I ventured into the frontiers and ran around the labyrinth of the minotaur for some dueling. It never seizes to amaze me how these games have varying cultures and etiquette which are unique to each game. For example, I entered a zone and immediately tried to slay all the albs in the region. My guild leader shouted “Stop hitting.” I was confused. I thought it was expected of me to kill any albs or hibs on sight, but apparently it was a one on one zone where I had to get approval from the enemy before getting in a duel.

I also somehow managed to climb up to RR2. I still don’t know how realm ranks actually work. I am not sure if it was due to the fact I was with my guild that as they were racking up points by slaying enemies, I was also included in the group xp, or maybe I had to kill a number of enemies or mobs in order to achieve the rank, if any of you can explain this system to me, I would appreciate it.

I will try to get a fixed schedule with the guild, and get more familiar with the intricacies of RvR before I jump into the fray once more.

welcome to the blog players

Hello and welcome to the blog players. Why a new blog? Well, I wasn’t really happy with the theme of my last blog, it had become too restrictive. I realized that at this time, what I enjoy most about mmos is the interactivity with other people. That’s really what has brought me into diverse communities in these types of games, well that and the fact I like the fantasy setting on most, and bashing virtual monsters. I am sure that you do too or you would not be reading this at this time. I hope to have more free time in the coming months to be able to update this blog with more regularity, than I did my previous attempts at blogging. Time will tell. For the time being, I am playing through a 14-day trial on Dark Age of Camelot. It is an oldie but a goodie. But be warned: I switch games fairly regularly, when I am bored of playing one too long, or when I want to try something new. Also I don’t plan to restrict myself to mmos, I also try RPGs from time to time, single player games, but the main thrust will be  mmorpgs and mmo gaming, news and commentaries.  I hope to bring you game commentary, community news, beta discussions and much more in the days to come. Keep on reading and play on players!!