Not much going on with me game-wise since the holidays. Still having a hell of a lot of fun with LoTRO, but merrymaking coupled with post-holiday blues has compromised my MMO time the past few weeks. I’ve never been a fan of those “year-in-review/predictions-for-the-upcoming-year” posts, so I’ll spare you all. Simply put, 2008 was a year of lukewarm games failing to hold my attention. From Mythic and Blizzard to Funcom and SOE, a good part of the year was spent bed hopping from Vanguard to Burning Crusade to Age of Conan to Warhammer.
While none of these games are terrible by any means, it took LoTRO coming waaay out of left field with the MoM expansion to rinse the bad taste out of my mouth.
2008 was not all mediocrity on the MMO front–if only because it spawned the Spouse Aggro podcast. Beau Turkey, who took over the helm at Troy’s Voyages of Vanguard podcast earlier this year, and his wife Leala (who hosts the uber-awesome Epic Dolls podcast) lend a breath of fresh air to the often all-too-whiny, eternally dissatisfied legion of MMO bloggers and podcasters out there.
For me, these guys pull off in their podcasts what Tipa over at West Karana miraculously has pulled off in her blog year after year–that perfect blend of intelligent discussion, humor, and a true affection for RPGs.
Caught two great westerns over the holidays–one old, one new.
The first is John Ford’s Fort Apache. Ford’s work stands the test of time surprisingly well, whereas many other classic Hollywood westerns can come off as a bit to hokey. Henry Fonda. John Wayne. Apaches on the warpath. What more do you need?
The second is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. This flick is not your standard western. If you like the slow, poetic style of directors like Terrence Malick and Werner Herzog, you’ll love this one–which plays more like a starstruck stalker flick than a shoot-em-up. Great performances all around.
What am I looking forward to in the first half of 2009? Watchmen.
Over the weekend, I purchased my first PS3 games–LittleBigPlanet and Fallout 3. I’ve played through the first few introductory levels of LBP and have nothing but good things to say about this game. The physics engine is really cool and learning to negotiate the controls was easier than I thought after 3+ years away from any sort of console.
I picked up LBP at Gamestop where they had some leftover preorder cards floating around, so my sock puppet was able to add some neat “God of War” Minotaur and Medusa bonus outfits to his repetoire.
I only played Fallout 3 for about an hour, and quickly became bored with the constant cut scenes. Take my initial impressions with a grain of salt. I’m not a fan of FPS-style games, and prefer my RPGs from behind a keyboard and monitor. I’ll have a more balanced perspective when I muster up the energy to play more and get into the meat of the game.
I logged into WAR a couple times over the weekend. I had a great time Saturday night taking a keep in Ostland. We had a decent warband and Destruction put up a good fight, but we ultimately prevailed. Did I mention how much I love the Swordmaster? But outside of open world group play (which is usually a weekend guarantee on my server) I haven’t been very engaged with questing or scenario grinding lately.
Last night, I also checked back into LoTRO. My brother-in-law is a Tolkien fanatic and very casual MMO gamer who just got his main to max level in preparation for Mines of Moria. He’s probably gonna roll one of the new expansion classes, so I was getting my level 12 Guardian in shape for the influx of low level players who will no doubt be looking for a tank come late November.
After all this RvR hooplah, I could use some good old-fashioned dungeon crawls. And visually, LoTRO still puts all other MMORPGs to shame. Prove me wrong. The world is so damn pretty, I actually enjoy getting lost in it. I’m hoping some cooperative group play will cure some of the existential loneliness WAR conjured up in me too.
WAR has thrown my MMO play habits completely out-of-whack. You see, spring and fall are when I tend to forsake my more hermetic pastimes (MMORPGs) for RL endeavors, only to return to fanatic button mashing during the sweltering heat of summer or that dreary, post-holiday tail end of winter.
But after a month plus of obsessively playing WAR, I’m starting to feel the fatigue of returning to an MMORPG full force. The elements of the modern MMORPG I find lacking (and bitch about constantly) are really impeding/killing my enjoyment of the genre. I feel like I’m at the end of my rope with static worlds, leveling, and generic, respawning mobs. And I just can’t solo PvE anymore. No matter how hard I try. It’s mindless. It’s not challenging. There’s zero skill involved. And all I achieve from it is another notch on the level bar that has very little significance to me anymore anyway.
This got me to thinking, “Stripped of their multiplayer/more “social” elements, would any current MMORPG be more than just a massive pile of regurgetated, recycled suck?” Though I’m playing devil’s advocate to a certain extent, there is some seriousness to the question. Sure, the breadth and depth of the actual landscapes/zones in most MMORPGs is just breathtaking.
But at the end of the day, when I’ve grown tired of looking at the pretty scenery, it’s the casual, pleasant social elements of being in an agreeable guild (or playing with RL friends) that’s kept me in every single MMORPG I’ve played long after the game’s “best before” date of fun had long expired.
I don’t think we as MMORP gamers give ourselves half as much credit as we deserve for breathing life into the often flat, monotonous confines we’re given to play in.
Pssst…PS3?
I haven’t picked up a console title since 2005. In fact, the last console I owned was a PS2 I chucked last month when I moved into a new apartment. I don’t want to jump into MMO’s I’m looking forward to (like TCoS ) with a bitter, burnt out gamer mentality when they are eventually released. So, I’m thinking of picking up a PS3 while I cool my jets and take a little mental health break from gnomes, dragons, and grinding. Why a PS3? For the Blu-Ray player.
I know the PS3 doesn’t have quite the extensive range of games as the 360, but the fact that the PS3 always comes up when NCSoft (and obviously SOE) talk about developing games for the console, I feel like it’d be the wiser choice for me down the line.
Any console advice–either wii, XBOX 360, PS3, or otherwise? Probably won’t be another month or two before I lay out the cash for a console anyway.
