Return to Vanguard for free!
Check your emails, if you qualify you get a free month to return back to Vanguard.
I didn’t, but then again I am already playing. Trippy.
Beau
Archive | May, 2009
MxO’s closing and it’s possible effects on Vanguard.
I hate conspiracy theories, but we all have to admit that they are fun.
I hate conspiracy theories concerning video game companies even more, though, being that any evil corporate giant video game developer can simply be resisted by not buying their products. But SOE is my favorite MMO developer, so we’ll go ahead and have some fun discussing what the closing of the Matrix Online might mean for my fav Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.
Let’s just get right into the lists:
a) More resources freed up for Vanguard: Nah. They have their dev team, and while everyone would admit that ANY dev team could use more help, I think the dev team at VG is not only doing a good job (especially considering their resources) but until VG gets more players, there will not be more team members. And, I would point out, that if dev team size equaled incredible gaming, then the hard-core lovers at VG should go play WoW, their favorite whipping boy.
Please, no more Free Realms “analyzing.”
It will do none of us any good to read another blog about how you don’t get if Free Realms should be considered a success or not, being that they hit 2 million users recently. It will not serve any purpose to over-analyze the quests or mini-games.
And for all that is good, saying that it’s “not for you” has nothing to do with the thousands and thousands that might be playing it.
Stop thinking so hard. It’s a game, and a fun one. It might be deeper to some, sillier to others and amazing to who knows who. Is the gaming world so boring to you now that you want to poke and prod a game designed for PRE-TEENS?
Let it be, just take your blog and your podcasts and just let it be played. Jesus.
Talking like it’s Quantum Physics or something. For shit’s sake, it’s got “robgoblins” in it.
Beau
Players need to innovate as well.
One of the buzz words I get sick of seeing is “innovation.”
Many players spread across forums and blogs seem to think that MMO’s are not so innovative these days, some going so far as to declare innovation dead. Some seem to think that nothing is new, and everything has been done. While I agree that some things HAVE been done over and over, there are hundreds of examples of games and game systems that not only shine as examples of innovation, but are fun to play as well.
Players need to remember that just as with music, innovation sometimes only comes along when the crowds demand it. The longer they buy the same-old-same-old copies of poppy disposable artists, the longer that type of cloned music will be around. Look at the prime example of the music industries answer to innovation: American Idol. There was a time when music was something cherished, artists HAD to write their own music, or at least perform the music with real guts, in order to stand out in a crowd of actual performers.
Spouse Aggro #77: “Isle of Dawn, Filthy Pigs and YOU”
Spouse Aggro #77
Tue, 26 May 2009 23:11:00 GMT [download/play]
“Isle of Dawn, Filthy Pigs and YOU“
So yeh, I lost the pic of our food. It looked delicious, trust me.
Me and Leala decided to talk a bit about Vanguards’ trial and if we prefer quests in which you do crap or just really challenging stuff that makes you like die 200 times. (Good times?)
Essentially, I like to “do things” in game. I am kind of always role-playing, in the way that I take little breaks for my character, read everything and still use UI Immersion Project rules. But, quests that are just “doing stuff” don’t last as long as quests in which you have to kill 4000 mobs, so how does a developer stop players from burning through thier much cooler, yet shorter, content?
Who knows. I ain’t a dev.. Not yet.
Vanguards Trial: A helluva’ lotta’ fun.
I never did go all the way through Vanguards trial, instead starting all my main characters in their homelands. I did start a Rikoo Rakoo after the real one died, mainly to just hold his name in case I ever felt like rezzing him.
Well, I’m so glad I did.
The isle of Dawn is such a blast…it’s compact but feels epic. A small download that only takes up 2 gigs, it is a great leaping off point for new players, and feels refreshing to old players like myself. The quests are organized to take you around the island, although pretty much on a railroad track. But I don’t mind how linear they are, because they were so fun. Also, you “leave” the island and never see it again, so it feels ok to do a series of quests that end in such a spectacular way.
Thanks to Re-Birth(tm) I lost 50 pounds and 10 years off my face!
One of the many cool abilities in Mabinogi is the ability to become a rotund pack of uselessness. And, after eating too much food and not using enough muscle, my lil character gained plenty of weight. I didn’t even notice until my actual shoes started to deform under my bulk. Strangely enough, it was mainly my lower body that gained the weight, and supposedly you can gain weight in different areas of your body.
I went on a strict fruit-only diet, and did plenty of exercise in the form of hitting trees with my bare fists and mining.
That ole’ Vanguard magic is back!
When I am not spending time in Mabinogi (making millions from simple mining), I sometimes re-visit games that I had not played in a while. I took about a month and a half break from Vanguard shortly after Rikoo died, played around with my Goblin Monk (she is a BLAST to play) and then ventured off into other game-worlds.
I have become addicted to many, many games, one of my favorites being Mabinogi (best skill based system ever…seriously!) but I kept thinking about my time in Telon. Also, I kept thinking about Rikoo and how fun it was to play him. Also, I never went all the way through the newbie trial, the Isle of the Dawn. I re-subbed quickly, a month and a half was too long!
This lil Blackberry will rule on the road!
This might work pretty well, being able to blog from my phone. If I make it to any gaming conventions, it’ll be handy as hell. Too bad I can’t add pics….
My top 10 MMO terms!
1) Clocking in: “Clocking In” refers to players that play their favorite game as though it is a second job. For many, it is exactly like a second job, without the benefit of actually getting paid. In fact, most clocker-inners go to work and survive the day half-heartily, barely scraping by without getting fired. It’s only until they come home and log in that they feel fulfilled. Many of these gamers even hate playing like they hate working a real job. (Real life example: A friend of mine raids with a raiding guild that he says is “racist and sexist”. They use hate speech, curse up a storm, the whole nine yards. Yet he still raids with them, for whatever reason.) If you come home and “grind” for 7 hours just so you can possibly do better in a raid, and during the grinding you wish you were not having to “grind” (as though you are being forced) then you are one that “clocks in.”
Spouse Aggro #76 “Brisket, MMO’s, avatars and YOU”
Spouse Aggro #76
Wed, 20 May 2009 13:45:00 GMT [download/play]
“Brisket, MMO’s, avatars and YOU“
MMmmmmMMmm, here’s what we ordered, and here’s the BOOB CRAB!
So, we decided to go have some BBQ for dinner. Beau is seriously considering becoming a vegetarian. Seriously…but AFTER this meal. Some beef, some beers, and some good MMO chatter. We are discussing avatars and how that might give a clue to who is behind the avatar. We use Shut Up We’re Talking (a great VW podcast) as a jumping point.
Then, this crazy young girl comes up and makes us a crab. A boob crab. She was very nice, and I felt bad that I had no cash for a tip. Then I felt bad because I indicated that her crab looked like it had boobs. Then one of his legs popped. I liked it. The part where we go “yayyyy” reminds me of A Christmas Story, the scene in the Chinese restaurant at the end. You know the part…the guy chops off the ducks head and the family goes “YAYYYY!”
The sound of the crickets and stuff was from Beau playing Vanguard. I love background sounds…ambience. Send in your games’ sounds and we’ll pop it in a break!
Who likes music? DUH…me. This weeks song is by one of my current sad song fav’s: A Fine Frenzy. The song is called “Near to You.”
Send emails to spouseaggro at yahoo dot com.
Website found at spouseaggro dot com.
Twitter name: spouseaggro
Skype name: beauturkey
Now GO LOG IN!
The Turkeys
Stuck in a box.
The woman stood at least 7 foot tall, and she was all legs and arms. She had on a grey, tattered plain shirt and grey pants. Her eyes were huge and rimmed with black, no pupils, softly glowing. Her hair fell down the middle of her back, grey as well. She was devoid of color.
Grup was standing, Lealah clenched her fists.
“Who are you?” asked Grup.
“Here he is.” Is the only thing she said, and from behind her shuffled Rikoo Rakoo, thought to be long dead and rotting in the grave.
Lealah gasped, her chest tightened and she felt faint. Grup immediately rushed over, as healers do, and grabbed Rikoo by the shoulders. He stared at the Raki’s face, took it in. Something was off but it WAS him, it WAS Rikoo. Grup looked at the woman and wondered who she was. He squinted his eyes but knew that he had never even seen a creature like her, much less one that he might recognize from a bar or a visit to Khal.
You cannot tell me what I value, and how much.
The beauty of MMOs is that, nowadays, they leave open so many choices for players to make. How to play, when to play, what activities to participate in. So it’s always so surprising to meet players, ADULT individuals that seem to think that one area of activities has more value than another.
A simple, to the point example: Raiding is more valuable than Exploring.
In a recent discussion (meaning me taking on 7 other people) on the Vanguard forums, players debated if receiving a free flying mount (for attending Fan Faire) was good or bad. I argued that it was only good or bad depending on the individual. Some players can think it is bad but that does not mean other players will. In other words, value is set by an individual, not by a group or by section of players.
I just woke up from this INCREDIBLE dream.
You know, the usual story…aliens are coming or something and it is scary and all that. But, as dreams do, it morphed quickly into supposedly friendly aliens coming soon, and bringing with them technology that we could use. The world was thrilled!
But soon, me and my wife were faced with joining a “revolution” to counter the recent announcement that the aliens wanted to register all humans, kind of like a social secuirity type thing, ‘cept with aliens.
So the dream kicks into high gear with me and my wife grouping with some of our real life friends, going to a weapons shop (gun shop) and picking out a sword for each of us. They only had one between me and my wife, so I let her take it. It was small and very sharp, but it might save her life.
She learned to fire a gun really well, and when the action started all I felt like (I was dreaming, so it seemed real enough) was looking out for her and making sure me and her survived. Everyone else, average Americans, had to worry about themselves. At one point the aliens were converging on a bunker type building we were in, and I felt so sharp-minded as I went over what we needed, making sure me and the wife were set with weapons, armor..all that. Even my dogs had appeared at this point, and in that magical dream way I knew that I had taught them to get down low, when not to bark, and how to hunt (we ate squirrels.)
It was thrilling, absolutely. I felt total fear for my wife, but it was thrilling. Usually, if dreams get to be too much for me (I rarely have scary ones, but can have dreams of realistic accidents or something) I will wake up with a start. The body and mind seem to be in agreement that neither of them should be harmed at all during the process.
I even went back to sleep and continued the dream, and when we finally found a group of actual soldiers, I felt such relief and told my wife “Let them take over.”
Now, the cheesy part.
Perhaps the nerves that were tickled during that dream are a smaller version of the ones that fire when real life soldiers are doing their job. Perhaps that’s why we play these games and go after exciting moments, some players doing it every night and every week. Maybe that excitement has a cleansing effect, the same as a good massage or a exciting movie? Our imaginations are that powerful, to give us a small glimpse into the real lives of heroes or monsters.
Either way, I admire those real life soldiers. Because I just had a dream. There had to be some part of my brain on guard duty, making sure that if things got too real or too scary that I would be startled awake. A soldier does not have that choice.
So, in the meanwhile, I will play my games and find excitement when I can. From the safety of bed or office chair. But wow, what a freakin’ DREAM that was.
Beau Turkey
DarkFall scenery video…BEAUTIFUL!
Thanks to my Brit B.F.F. Jay-Jay the Wonder Biscuit, I have for your viewing pleasure a video showing off some scenery in Darkfall!
He somehow managed to stumble across the Golden Ticket that allowed him to enter the secret code on the top-secret area of the password protected sub-section of the FTP area that allowed him to download an access key that gave him a .pdf file containing the coded letters of the DF alphabet that then allowed him to be graced by the ability to actually purchase the game, and I have not.
Some may say it’s “crowd control” to not allow people to buy your game, I say that it’s silly. But, whatev.
Thanks Jay Jay, WonderBiscuit!
Paying for Immersion.
You know, we all play lot’s of games. No secret there. I, on the other hand, play EVERYTHING. If I have room to download it, I will try it, buy it and spend money on it. We all have our Home Games ™, those games that have always had a grip on our imaginations, no matter how far we stray from them.
One of mine is Vanguard.
The epic feel of the world, the huge land-mass…all add up to a very Immersive game. There’s that word again: Immersion. To be honest, I am getting sick of saying it, but it’s a very good word to describe what I like to feel while I play my games. To define it (for me) a little better, Immersion is when I feel connected to my characters, not as much a feeling of actually being in a fantasy world. That connection comes from playing a character like I would if I were that character, not playing a character as though they are something more than me. I like my characters to be “Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.”
The F2P games have their own type of Immersion. Mabinogi, with it’s bustling, youthful community, feels kind of like what the game and game lore are going for: youthful, vibrant, and kids going out on an adventure. With it’s INCREDIBLE skill-based system, Mabinogi is all about choices, and that feels like real life to me.
DOMO, even in it’s extremely cartoony way, feels very Immersive because of it’s great long quests and it’s occasional cut-scenes. The lore is strong in this one.
I could name game after game, but it’s safe to say that some games need a little bit more help to feel Immersive than others. Vanguard is one of those games that needs almost no help, if you forgive it’s occasional strange bugs, stiff NPC’s, and small population. If you give it a chance, it feels like you ARE a lone adventurer, in real danger. Granted, in no MMO (no, not even Darkfall or other PvP-centric games) is there any real danger, being that none of our characters really die instead of endlessly re-spawning. But VG’s landscapes, music and lighting really help to make you feel threatened. It’s the type of stuff that makes you feel as though you are going through what your character is.
Many of the F2P games don’t have that same feeling, and instead go for a more chaotic, fast-paced feeling. In many of them, you cannot ignore teleporting or other forms of “easy travel.” You just have to use them, being that the game might not give you a choice. That’s fine, being that those type of games trade off much of that more realistic type of Immersion for a different kind. They aren’t pretending to be a VG type game (although many are coming close) and VG isn’t pretending to be like them.
So, instead of paying 15 dollars for a mount or a pink bow in my hair (don’t ask) I am paying 15 dollars for access to a more realistic world. A fair exchange, if you ask me.
That’s not saying that I wouldn’t LOVE to be able to buy a mount or a pink bow in VG, as well.
Beau Turkey
Mabinogi Heroes motion capture!
Ahh, Mabinogi Heroes…Mabinogi generation 2?? I can’t wait for this, but to be honest the motion capture stuff feels a little weird to me. When you go for reality instead of a more stylized look, you tend to notice the flaws in the artificial.
Anyway, the game is shaping up awesomely, and maybe Nexon will give me some BETA love?? 
A return to Vanguard.
I haven’t been playing Vanguard for quite a while. It wasn’t the game…the game has always been fun. There were two main reasons:
1) I had to distance myself from the community, namely arguments with other players. I just can’t sit by and let dumb comments fly by, but I need to learn how to. Trying to convince someone that has gone so far as to come up with conspiracy theories about a video game developer that they are wrong is just a massive waste. Also, just not fun anymore.
2) I had to get away from the sub. 33 bucks a month became less justified when I wasn’t playing as much. I like all the Station Access games, but I had 457 games on my plate, most of them freebies.
Also, I missed my main, Rikoo.
Don’t forget your beta cap and your flowers!
Don’t forget guys, if you were in beta for Free Realms…go claim your cap! You should have recieved an email with the code in it. If not, contact support. It’s a sweet military style hat:
And make sure to go grab your Mothers’ Day flowers, in case you didn’t already:
Now GO LOG IN!
Beau
Musical tastes can reflect gaming tastes.
Look at your music library, and consider all the songs from your past. Do they say something about your personality? Mine seem to. As someone that has been in bands since his early teens, I have listened to everything in the book. As I grow older, my musical favorites morph and adapt to new music styles, and I love discovering new artists.
I think my choices for this recent top 5 show how varied I am in my listening, and thta’s how I am with my gaming. I like variety, I’ll give anything a shot as long as it follows a certain rule: the artist (or developer) must be giving it their all. I don’t want canned music like Disney clones and I don’t want something parroted like Joss Stone. I want original, or at least heart-felt…and usually a little on the “serious” side. I’m not really big on super-poppy stuff, but if the mood strikes, it’s great.
Let’s get to the music.
First, we have Slayer with their wonderfully hooky and powerful song “Raining Blood.” This song literally makes me smile. That intro and the first wave of drums is INCREDIBLE. Simple, but so cool. Then, when it kicks back into the “funky” part, it just SHINES.
