EvE Online

I've officially subscribed to EvE Online; this is the only MMO I'm playing. I could play WoW on the free private server, but even free the game doesn't interest me anymore. I miss the Ultima Online days of MMORPG's where the the game was complex enough to give meaning to the acronym RPG.

I had started a Caldari, but after some online research I found Gallente make better solo PvP'ers. I don't plan to go solo through the entire game as joining and participating in a Corporation (guild) is where all the fun is, but I'd still like to solo gank from time to time.

I'm going to post my character sheet in a subsequent post, and hopefully redesign the blog to fit my new gaming addiction.

P.S. I'm looking for a good Pirate / Warfare Corp to show me the ropes and take me in; leave me a comment if you know of any...

Until then...
~Keystone

LAN Preparation!

It's been awhile since I've posted, and I apologize for that! I could be cliché and talk about how college and work are ruling my life and how the mob is out to get me and break my legs for past gambling debts, but I digress.

So, there is an awesome LAN party that I attend once or twice a year that is coming up in May. This is not your normal bring-your-computer-not-know-anyone-warehouse-entry-fee-LAN. This is a LAN at a friend's house and he only invites friends of friends, and it's invite only. He covers most of the expenses, and since it's in his house he doesn't want random people there.

We have always played Counter Strike and one other shooter- usually whatever just come out and is hot. This time we'll be doing our normal Counter Strike plus Crysis. The problem I'm having is my machine barely meets the Crysis minimum system requirements, and upgrading right now is not a monetary option. I really wish our second game had been TF2 since it seems like the perfect LAN game, but the guy who runs the LAN is in love with Crysis.

I'm going to pop in another stick of RAM and end up with a P4 3.0 processor, 2g RAM, and a 9800 pro video card. I read a PC Gamer article where they played Crysis on low settings with those same hardware components, and while it didn't look snazzy, it still played.

I'm going to buy Crysis next paycheck and start playing it and Counter Strike (again) so I can be ready for the LAN. The last one we had I hadn't played in a awhile and it showed in my skills. This time I plan to be ready to frag some fools in a drunken stooper!

If anyone has Crysis and wants to show me the ropes or knows a good server to play on, please drop me a line. Thanks!

Ding! LvL 50

I dinged 50 on my Orc Shaman. I was about to play around with my new talent, "Shamanistic Rage" when I was asked to heal an instance with some buddies, so I respec'd Resto and played with Earth Shield instead.

They are both interesting top talents, but they don't have the "ooo-ahh" affect that my water elemental did =(

I might retire the Shaman for now and go back to playing a Mage; I feel the class was made to my specs. I've played all the classes up to about level 50, and the Mage is by far my class.

I love the Mage's mobility; they can portal around the world in a matter of minutes, and what is this thing you call "walking"? I'm an Azerothian version of Nightcrawler my friend, I just blink and *poof*, I'm there!

I'm curious what makes certain classes appeal to certain people more than others...?

What is your favorite class, and why?

Ahh, Crack is Good, but WoW is Better!

It's true, I'm playing WoW again.

I decided to go Horde this time around as I've seen the entire game from the eyes of a Human Mage already.

This time I rolled an Orc Shaman by the name of "Ocid". Those who know me will recognize that name as my Night Elf Druid, but anyone who plays these games for a long time starts using the same names over again- especially ones they like!

I'm still trying to get use to the tribal architecture of the Horde. I really miss my brick & mortar building from the Alliance cities, but it's a small price to pay for a new experience!

I'm only level 26, so nothing crazy has happened yet, but once the PvP stories start flowing, I'll have more to post. Until then...

~Keystone

Darkfall Online

Darkfall is expected to have several features that set it apart from the majority of MMORPGs:

Unrestricted PvP, with no safe zones, only protection by npc guards in racially controlled cities.

Game mechanics will punish killing of racial allies. (see alignment section below)[19]

Complete looting. All items will be dropped on death, and can be looted by anyone who opens the corpse. Armor and weapons will be somewhat easy to replace.[20]

Inter-character and projectile-character collision detection. Projectiles (spells, arrows, cannonballs etc.) can be dodged. Players can be pushed or blocked by other players or by explosions.[21]

Manual aiming & blocking.[22]

Naval warfare, with the ability to sink player controlled ships.[23]

Dynamic, physical weather.

No radar or floating names, it is not known if there is a radar, in Asp's review it was said there was a radar but this has not been confirmed by the developers (Player made clan banners worn for identification.)[24]

Ranged combat will be viewed from first person perspective. Melee combat will be viewed from third person perspective.

Friendly fire. If you miss with spells or arrows you may hit someone other than the character you were targeting. Area of effect offensive spells and healing spells can affect your friends and your enemies.[25]

Cities can be built by players[26].

Player built cities can be destroyed. Each player built city will contain a clanstone, which protects the buildings and defensive structures in the vicinity from attack. The clanstone is invulnerable, except when it has been weakened by a Gloomer.

Gloomers can be built by players after they have built a siege fort next to the target city. The siege fort can be attacked and destroyed at any time, during or after construction. If a city is destroyed, a new clanstone constructed on the site is temporarily vulnerable to attack. [27]

There will be a limit on the number of players and NPC's that can bind to a clanstone

Gaming Limbo

I've canceled all (4) of my WoW accounts, but if you've read my blog before, you already knew that. I was playing TF2 for awhile, but the game gets a little stale, and most of the servers lack team-play, which kills a game in which the word "Team" is in the title.

I had started playing EvE for a little bit, but I just don't have the umph to get into such a deep game anymore, but if I did, it would be in EvE.

The majority of my gaming as-of-late has been Guitar Hero + Whiskey (with the occasional lamp shade on my head). I just haven't found any stand out games, but there is hope...

A good friend of mine that host a LAN party once or twice a year emailed me the other day boasting about a game that just came out. It's an FPS, and apparently raises the bar for First Person Shooters. PC Gamer gave Crysis a 98%, which is an insane rating. I've heard nothing but good things about the game, so I'm looking forward to checking it out. The next LAN is going to be May 22nd - 26th, and Crysis will be a featured game, so I have to get it soon and start practicing!

That's about it, not much else to report. As soon as I get Crysis I'll post some thoughts!

Guitar Hero + World of Warcraft, huh?

I just read an article on Fool.com (link below) which speaks of the acquisition of Activision by Vivendi. This is exciting news to me since one of my favorite games of all time was put out by Activision, Soldier of Fortune II, which by-the-way, the 3rd installment of the SOF series just came out and I'm hoping to check it out soon.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/12/03/blizzard-has-activisions-investors-singing-let-it-.aspx

Team Fortress 2 - The Sniper!

The Sniper is one of my favorite classes. They come equipped with three weapons that include...

1. Sniper Rifle (Primary)

2. Sub Machine Gun (Secondary)

3. Machete Blade (Melee)

Your main goal as a Sniper is obviously to snipe people from behind the back, but it's the targets you choose that make the difference. Your number one target, as in all PvP games, is the Medic (healer). After a couple of minutes of healing a Medic will get a 10 second invulnerability (think Paladin bubble), this means you want to take them out before their invulnerability is charged and ready to be used.

With your sniper rifle equipped, right click to zoom in. You will notice a meter in the middle of your screen charging up. This meter determines how strong the shot will be, but you don't have to wait for it to be full to take a shot (although it is advised).

The best method is to take a vantage cover point and zoom in from behind that cover. Your cross hairs will be zoomed in on the box you're crouching behind, but that is ok, you are only charging to full capacity. Once you are charged, side strafe out from behind your cover, but don't take the shot, just notice where everyone is and go back to cover. Now that you have a mental picture of everyone's location, pop back out and take a shot at someone you noticed before, and always aim for the head, always! Whether you miss or get the shot, immediately side strafe back into your cover and let the gun charge again. Rinse and repeat this method.

On some of the larger maps it is possible to snipe engineer gun turrets, and these are just as important as Medics when choosing targets. They will take a few shots to take out, but most engineers are only concerned with Spies and are oblivious to snipe attacks against their turrets. The same applies to all engineer items, but turrets are more important.

Listen for the Spy calls and take note. If you hear your team call out that their Spy is disguised as a Soldier, then start taking pop shots at every Soldier from your team since you usually have a better view then the people in the fray of things. I've taken out a ton of Spies like this.

Lastly, If you get charged you always have your secondary sub machine gun, and your melee machete knife. These are both substantial backup weapons, but as with any class if you aren't using your main weapons you aren't playing to your strengths. If you find yourself just using the sub machine gun over the rifle, then just switch to the Heavy class, as that is automatic weaponry at it's best.

Now get out there and pretend you're Mark Walberg in the movie Shooter, or Gallagher with some watermelons if Marky Mark isn't your thing.

Warhammer Online Newsletter - October 2007 Issue

"In addition, we’ll be making changes to the RvR (open field RvR FTW!) and Server Rule Set Systems. These changes bring WAR a step closer to fulfilling the promise that “War is Everywhere” while ensuring a great play experience for those that do not choose to engage in RvR 24x7. This is another example of how EA Mythic talks to the community, listens to what they have to say, and takes action. We will continue this process over the next three quarters as we continue to develop, expand and improve WAR."

This is excellent news!!! My major concern with WAR is with the battlegrounds that resemble the BGs from WoW. I would hate to see RvR turned into an instanced scenario with even numbers on both sides on a small map! I don't mind if a battleground feature is implemented, but the problem is, and this was stated by the developers, that the BGs will contribute the most points towards capturing a territory. If we've learned anything from WoW, it's that players will always take the easiest route to more substantial rewards. This means WAR PvP, at it's current state, will end up like WoW PvP with the battleground system.

At least this excerpt from the previous month's news letter shows that they are addressing this concern, let's hope it turns out well!

Team Fortress 2 - The Spy!

I thought I'd give a few pointers to all those aspiring Spies out there in FPS land. The Spy in Team Fortress can be a deadly class and has a ton of versatility. The first and foremost goal of a Spy is to remove enemy gun turrets. I'll explain how to do this in a second.

The Spy is equipped with four items...
1. Revolver Gun
2. Sapper Charges (2)
3. Butterfly Knife
4. Disguise Kit

The Revolver is nice for show, but shouldn't be used much if you're playing a Spy correctly. The Sapper Charges are placed upon enemy Engineer items such as gun turrets. The Butterfly Knife can be used to get a one-shot kill if you're standing directly behind the player when you are attacking. The Disguise Kit is used to change your appearance into any of the enemy classes.

The first goal of a spy is to get into the enemy base to place Sapper Charges on the enemy gun turrets so your team can progress past the defenses. If you right-click as a Spy you will activate your 10-second cloaking device and can use this to pass through the front lines into the enemy area. You can activate a disguise while you're cloaked, so do this during the 10 seconds are you are cloaked and running through the front lines - you don't want to come uncloaked and not be disguised. Also, try to come uncloaked in a corner where you're out of the enemy sight.

Once you're in their area, try to act like the class you are disguised as. If you disguised as a Scout, then run around in circles and don't stop moving, since Scouts are very mobile. I usually disguise as a Sniper and pretend to be sniping - no one ever attacks me while I disguise as a Sniper, works great.

Once you've established yourself as one of them, and you're cloak timer has reset, start your progress towards the enemy gun turrets. It's best to approach cloaked since Engineers usually shoot at anyone that approaches their turrets. Switch to your Sapper Charges and place them as you come uncloaked. Immediately re-cloak and switch to your knife. The engineer will try and shoot you once and then move to save his turret. When the Engineer turns his focus from you to his turrets, it's time to move in and back-stab him with your knife.

Another thing to remember is to always walk backwards as you descend into their base. By walking backwards you look like a team member just retreating instead of a Spy running into the base in a disguise.

Besides taking out the gun turrets, you're also responsible for taking out enemy Medics. The Heavy-Medic combo is deadly and should be dealt with fast. Just cloak past the deadly-duo and come up behind the medic for the one-shot knife kill. If you're quick you can take both out, but even if you only take out the Medic, your team can now finish off the previously healed Heavy.

One last tip to playing a Spy - avoid all Pyros! The Pyro class is the Spy's worst enemy and should be avoided at all cost. The flame keeps the Spy from re-cloaking and will kill the Spy in a short time if not removed.

Now get out there and back-stab some Medics and destroy some gun turrets!

The Orange Box

I purchased "The Orange Box" from Frys for 36.99 last Friday and I've played it for the last week. If you haven't heard already, The Orange Box comes with supposedly five games, but two of the five are just expansions, so-to-speak.

The package comes with...

Half Life 2

--Episode 1 (Half Life Expansion)

--Episode 2 (Half Life Expansion)

Portal

Team Fortress 2

I haven't had time to explore Half Life 2 or the accompanied episodes, but I plan to jump head first into the story this weekend. Another portion of the package is called "Portal"; this is a game that encompasses FPS + Puzzle Solving. You are given a portal gun that can shoot two rounds of ammunition. The first round is an entry portal that you can enter, and the second round is an exit portal where you come out of after entering the entrance.

One puzzle you might use the portal to solve, for example, is how to get up to a high ledge; well you could shoot an entrance portal at your feet, and an exit up to the ledge you need to get to, you'd then simply walk through the entrance on the ground and appear up on the ledge where you shot the exit. This adds a ton of options to the puzzle solving genre, and I'm glad to see innovation like this. I haven't explored the game too deeply yet, but this is another title I hope to dive more into soon.

Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer game that allows for extreme replayability. There's plenty of servers out there to join at the moment, and the built in voice chat is flawless. The team that usually sports the best teamwork wins. In TF2 it's not who you are, but who you have on your team, hence the name Team Fortress. I like this as it allows even the crappy aim'ers an important role in the match. There's 9 classes you can be during a map, in which there's 6 maps that shipped with the game, more to follow later.

The 9 classes are as follows...

OFFENSE
Scout
Soldier
Heavy

DEFENCE
Demolition
Pyro
Engineer

SUPPORT
Medic
Sniper
Spy

There's obviously plenty of game time and replayability to be had with the package, so it's a definite recommended buy. If any of you already have the game, or are a general Steam user, then feel free to add me to your friends list; my name on Steam is Keystone

Personal Accountability

So you just ran a PUG and some jackass ninja-looted the item you wanted, what then? Well you could spam his name in general chat for a week straight like Winston from Sargeras in WoW, but that just lowers you to the ninja-looters level and doesn't accomplish much.

The feature I love the most about EvE Online would have to be the single server for all the players. If you know someone playing EvE then you can find them in the game, you don't have to worry about them being on your server because everyone is on a single, large server. This is a great feature for creating community amongst players.

Since EvE is an open PvP game, and everyone is on the same server, you'll notice less players acting the fool. This is because if you act a fool in EvE, then your name gets out there and people will either ignore you, or blow up your hard-earned ship and pod you (kill you).

I love this kind of personal accountability in EvE online, and it reminds me of Siege Perilous from Ultima Online which was a strictly PvP server (Felluca only, no Trammel) and you could only have one character. The fact you only had one character, and it was open PvP meant you better act nice if you don't want to be camped the rest of your days in the game.

I would like this personal accountability extended to other games, but without open PvP I can't see it happening much, but a single character alone would be a nice feature. I've also read in the upcoming DarkFall Online that you can have multiple characters, but they must share the same last name on a single account. This means if Bob Smith kills you, and an hour later you are grouped with a Jane Smith, then you know that's the same person from their last name. I thought this was a genius idea and really adds to personal accountability in the game.

People usually hate open PvP games because they think - notice I said "think", because they usually haven't played on one - the server would be full of asshats and idiots. However, anyone who has played an open PvP game / server will tell you people usually act more pleasant (unless they're enemies, in which there's no expectation for them to act friendly).

The bottom line is open PvP games / servers will have your friends act nicer, and your enemies act meaner. Since there's not much hope of any open PvP games coming out in the near future, I would like to see a single character, or mandatory last name within the game so there is at least SOME form of personal accountability.

Would you be apposed to a shared last name for all your WoW characters, or do you enjoy the anonymity of alts?