My Beginnings! (Pt 3. cont)

One of the things that had me confused were the sheer number of skills to choose from. Having skills belonging to another profession was fun, but confusing and most of the time I'd end up using the same ones........and I always believed it was quite hard to shoot a moving target, so why wasn't I able to move while shooting my arrows! I had realized that in LOTRO and it appeared to be happening in GW1. I wanted to fire my arrows and move, standing around got me nicely clobbered! 

Yet when all is said and done, GW1 had and still has charm. I bought all the campaigns and the expansion pack. I read about the different races and the lore and it just drew me in and the wonderful thing was that I could play it when ever I wanted to. I didn't feel pressured into playing.......no subscription.....no having to play my money's worth.

Having said that, it's not like I didn't try any other MMOs.

The next one on the list was SWTOR.

Now that got me hooked because it was, well sci-fi and because I grew up watching the old Star Wars movies, not to mention that I had fallen in love with Han Solo and I always wanted to be a Jedi......and, come on, who wouldn't want to wield a lightsaber! The graphics of the game were amazing. The characters just look......how shall I put this.....rounded. No, actually, they remind me a bit of clay models. Exploring the planets was fun, combat wasn't too bad and I loved having a speeder, but having to wait on other people to be able to do the Flashpoints and Heroics to get better gear and xp, wasn't too great. It got old having to wait around hoping somebody would pick up the same Flashpoint, so I ended up skipping them and did the personal story and side quests instead.

The personal story was good, be it Jedi or Syth, though I have to be honest here.......I preferred Syth Inquisitor, the story was more interesting. I didn't try PvP much......I guess I just came across the unfair players. Though I do wonder.....what satisfaction is there in a high level player competing against a low level player? I doubt there's much of a challenge, but then again I guess there are those players who get a kick out of spoiling the fun for others. Needless to say, I stuck to PvE........and then again the questing seemed to be the same as every other MMOs I tired - pick it up from A, travel to B, take out C and travel back to A again. So what I would end up doing was pick up as many quests as I could that more-or-less took me to the same area and then just have to travel back once, but still that was a bugger because I'd be half way across some planet and then have to return again down the same path having to slaughter again all the mobs that I had just slaughter only a short while before. The most annoying one for me was having to go through the camp of the SandPeople on Tattoonie. I had to really watch myself and not get owned before getting to the end of it, otherwise I would have to do it all again and it was quite a job to get through their entire camp.......and this is, incidentally, what happened to me, but then I was corpse camped right at the very end.......the last quest on my bonus list......what I needed at that point was a bazooka!!

I made a number of alts on SWTOR to try out all the personal stories, but at one point it got tiring having to go through the same side quests over again. So, I guess, when a game starts feeling like a long grind and more of a chore rather than fun, it's time to move on!

My Beginnings! (Pt.3)

Now that I knew what MMOs were I decided to scout around for more. One of the things I had really come to enjoy about them was seeing the other people running around and I enjoyed watching tournaments. It was just so much fun watching skilled players having a go at it. Sometimes the fights seemed to go on forever. Combat took on a whole new meaning watching players who really knew what they were doing.

Anyway off I journeyed, riding my virtual surfboard until I finally spotted shore.

Guild Wars loomed on the horizon. No subscription. What? Are you serious?!

So, a game with no monthly subscription. Well, you can imagine what kind of game that would be!!

I loved it!

I was never one to group up with people. Most of the time when I did, I would always end up doing what others wanted to do or rather they would expect you to join their group and they wouldn't even ask whether you wanted to or not. I mean I thought MMOs were a form of getting to know people, you know that sense of community, but, honestly, it wasn't much fun when others would harvest the node you were just about to get or loot the kill you just made not forgetting half of the xps they would receive. So jumping into GW1 and being in your own personal instance was quite a novelty.

To me everything about GW1 was a novelty. I chose to be a ranger. Why? Well, obviously I have this thing about arrows, but then again I enjoyed the idea of having a pet. Though it wasn't much fun when Tigger would die on me and most of the time I would forget to revive him and move off. That was a bit of a bugger because then I would have to trudge back to get him.

Ranger of Tyria

I didn't know anything about the lore of Tyria. I had no idea of the geography so it was exciting reaching new areas and uncovering the map. Though, I have to be honest, it did get lonely. I was in a guild, but as is often the case people go about doing their own thing. I didn't really mind the instances, but, let's face it, it's fun watching other people running around, it makes the world feel alive, but the only time I would see people was in the cities or outposts.

Lion's Arch

My Beginnings (Pt.2)

Galloping through Middle Earth

It was definitely an exciting adventure and I so loved exploring, looking for those landmarks that I knew existed. Reliving Tolkien and having the saga unfold before me.

The Golden Wood 

After a while I found out you could actually fight for the bad guys. So I dived into Monster play or PvMP thinking that it was going to be a breeze. I created my Reaver, picked up a quest, ventured forth and BAM! I was down. Dead! I didn't even have time to sneeze......and that was my first introduction to PvP. I have to admit, I wasn't much of a reaver, but, hey, I couldn't really compete with all those skilled players out there and most guilds were seriously into raids, so I don't blame them for not taking on a noob. I suppose they wanted people who knew what they were doing. So, as it wasn't much fun dying because it cost quite a bit to repair your armour, I dived back into PvE.

The going was good, but the only drawback is that you have to pay-to-play. I was ok at first, but eventually that subscription just begins to take it's toll. So I decided to try and earn my way by doing deeds to earn points which I would then spend on the store to buy the rest of the expansions, but the grind! Oh the grind! It was tough, very tough.....you needed loads of hours to achieve those deeds and I wasn't prepared to do that. I wanted to have fun and grinding was turning the game into a bore. Such a shame! I had even managed to get my lovely elf to level 65, but by the time I reached Mirkwood I decided I needed a break. So, I hung up my bow and packed my arrows in tissue paper and ventured forth again to see what other MMOs I could discover.

A favourite! I got to kill a Drake!

My Beginnings! (Pt.1)

I think I'm in love!  I don't think I've said that about any MMO really, but with Guild Wars 2 or GW2, as it is popularly referred to, I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say, "Yes, you are the one for me!"

How can I say that, you might ask. Well, compared to the few that I've played this is just.......different and makes me feel like a kid at Christmas again!

I've only been playing MMOs for about two years now. You could say I got into MMOs quite late, well yeah! I was more into single-player pc games really; Tomb Raider - have all the editions and, yes, I want to be Lara Croft! - and The Sims 2 and 3. So? I love building and playing god! So sue me! Anyway, I digress. Then one day in 2007 I was surfing the web for downloads for my little sims when I came across the social interactive universe of Second Life. Perfect! From playing god I actually became one of my sims.......or, to use the more elaborate title.....I "became" an avatar. That was certainly a mind opener. I found I didn't need MSN to communicate with others and I could actually watch other people run around the same virtual world I was in. You could go to clubs, go shopping and sit on a park bench. You could build and create things to sell in your own store in-world or have a "shop" out on the web, something I actually dabbled in, which, incidentally was quite alot of fun. I also discovered you could be anything you ever imagined you could be. So I took advantage. I became tiger, neko, dragon, mermaid, basically anything weird I could think of......and it was a blast! Stay long enough and you actually "became" your avatar! Crazy! Yes, I know. Weird actually. At one point I did really begin to identify with my avatar. There were times when I would swing between emotions. It was honestly like riding an emotional roller-coaster. Three years later and I was like, ok, that's it, time to move on!

Me as mermaid. Oh I love the sea!

So the virtual wheel turned and I drifted on virtual seas, until I finally struck shore with The Lord of the Rings Online. My very first MMO and I was hooked. I waited for the game to download and then opened up the launcher. Oh yes! I finally got to be an elf and a ranger at that! Well, being a fan of Tolkien and just adoring Legolas, shooting arrows was the way to go!

Lord of the Rings Online (Lotro) is definately a beautiful game. The lore runs deep, as you can image. The graphics are wonderful and the world is so big you actually need a mount to travel. I felt I was actually in the books, living with the people of Middle Earth. Mounting my magnificent steed - I mean who could have told me that I could actually ride a horse with no worries of falling off! There I was riding through the Shire, delving beneath the mountains exploring Moria, trying to prove my worth as a ranger, having to defeat wolves, wild boars, goblins and other evil creatures......and yes, combat was a challenge. How on earth was I supposed to remember all those skills! I did feel bad shooting bears, but, hey, it was either it or me and to my surprise, eventhough I was new to combat, I actually got to level 20 without dying and achieved the coveted title of The Undying! Oh, I felt so proud! I lifted my coffee mug in the air, declaring my success. Gus, my cat, just yawned in response. Ok! So I didn't get a standing ovation, but I felt good and I held my head up high as I rode through Middle Earth following the footsteps of the nine!