Realisation - eFriends Are Key

Frwends!

At this moment in time I have not one, not two, but three MMO accounts currently open. These are Warhammer Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Dark Age of Camelot.

The predicament I find myself in is that my Warhammer guild up-rooted and moved to SW:ToR when it released as it was quite obvious that BioWare had decided to cut WAR loose and let it fester in the abyss until it either dies or the electric bill for the server room becomes more than the active subs. Seeing as my guild moved on I followed , however I have realised that blasters and Jedi aren't really my cup-o-tea and I much prefer the sword, shield and sorcery MMORPG.

This has fueled my re-enlistment in my second favourite MMO (DAoC) and the once-hoped successor Warhammer Online, to try and re-ignite the enjoyment I used to have in those games before they became hindered by either lack of players and/or lack of developer direction. I have found however, that it's one thing to jump back into a game and find PUGs to run with or go it solo, but the fundamental requirement to having a good experience in an MMO in my opinion has to be friends, be them e-friends or otherwise.

My experience after jumping back into DAoC was OK, notably as I did not venture out into the level 50 open RvR lakes, instead I stuck to the lower level Thidranki Battleground. I found it relatively easy to find a group and when that group included half-savvy players we tended to kill more than we were killed.

Warhammer was more of a mixed bag. In tier 4 I spend a good 30 minutes each night asking in regional chat if any groups required a RR80 Choppa, but it seems that I was either too low for the elitist swines, or no-one understood my English on a European server.... I'm not sure, /meh. On the flip side when I dropped down a few tiers to T2 I managed to jump into an already open warband or could put together a group in no time at all and there were plenty of fights to be had, which makes me want to log into the lower tiers much more often.

In all of these games if I have my e-friends with me I have had no issues forming groups, getting help with quests or running premade groups, all of which takes the hassle out of LFG'ing and adds a huge amount to the enjoyment of PvP as you can stomp more people if you know who you're grouped with, their ability and are on comms ;).

What I'm trying to say is don't bother retuning to an MMO's unless you have pals that will come with you or if you're certain to be able to easily find a group/set of new friends.

Ish

The Dragonborn Comes!

Cover of the Skyrim bard song, with a female voice:

I found myself just sitting next to the fire and listening to the Bard, I swear I nodded off too!

Ish

Steam Workshopness

The thing I plan to do with Skyrim is, at some point, throw many a mod at it to either make it look even better or to improve my playing experience. That being the case I've looked at current PC mods and far too many have complex installations, which involve editing .ini files amongst other things.

Ho, Dragonborn, Ho!

Whilst reading the Bethesda Blog I was pleasantly surprised to see that there are plans to allow user developed mods to be searchable within the Steam Workshop and easily installed. Now that sounds superb, as it's not only allowing gamers to search and install mods easily, but it sounds like a brilliant platform for developers who want to have their creations easily searchable.

Roll on next year I say :)

Ish

Skyrim - Wow!

I had a little left over birthday money from August so I thought I'd pick up a copy of Skyrim as I'd read the hype & love the whole sword, shield and magery setting. My verdict .... WOW, what a game!

It's an RPG and follows on from the previous Elder Scroll games, Oblivion being the last but it's a big step forward from that. It seems Bethesda wanted to improve every aspect and make a truly engrossing, enthralling time sink of a game. I mean the world is so vast and so full you just don't know what to do with yourself, there are the main quest lines to follow but on route to an objectives you can stumble across caves, mines, camps, other quests that send you off on tangents, which can be annoying ... but in a good way!

I'm only level 9 at present but I feel like I've been running around for bloody ages. Early on I decided to go sword and board spec, however I'm now thinking I should have perhaps gone for a little more of a mixture of magic and melee (you can do that you know!) and be wielding a sword in one hand and a staff in the other! I'm sure I'll find out as I continue to level and spend my points/perks if I've made a good or bad decision though.

If I did have one complaint however, it would be that the melee combat isn't as engrossing and energetic as I'd have hoped for and I have found myself using my bow a little more that I probably should do. I mean melee is there and it has it's moments (with the finisher 'esk moves) but it does seem a little disjointed at times and not as polished as it could have been.

I'd say the biggest seller for the game is the sheer size of the world and just how beautiful it is. If you don't find yourself panning the camera around for a good perv of the scenery when you're up a mountain or atop a keep then there's something wrong with you! If it's not the snow covered mountain peaks, the detailed trees or the sculpted architecture of the towns (starter ones at least) that get you something will, I assure you.

I'm working my way through the main quest lines, but I haven't decided yet if I will stick with them, as like I say there are so many side quests and other things to do (join a thieves guild, or become a thief) that you could spend many an hour each night happily going down another road completely.

I'd say this is by far the best game on any platform I have ever bought.

Ish