If it does actually get made, the World of Darkness MMO is going to be amazing. EVE will look great, as well, but as someone said (I’m sorry, I don’t remember which blog or site I saw this on), after playing Star Trek Online I’m much less excited about having my EVE characters walk around in the space stations.

Enjoy…

]]> http://www.ravven.com/blog/2010/02/eve-online-intro/feed/ 0 http://www.ravven.com/blog/2010/02/kitsune-rides-again/ http://www.ravven.com/blog/2010/02/kitsune-rides-again/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:30:06 +0000 Ravven http://www.ravven.com/blog/?p=2281 As I wrote in an earlier post, although I honestly have a lot of fun in Star Trek, it’s mainly been making me homesick for EVE. I freely admit that there won’t be any nice missions – it’s not really that kind of game. And yes, there will be a lot of reading while I travel from gate to gate. But there’s a lot that I haven’t seen, and am giving it another shot.

In part, I admit, because I really want to continue Kitsune & Kawaii, as that was just getting started and I had several more episodes half-done. I want to continue her adventures, and see who she turns into.

So, into the black again…hopefully as not such a terrible noob this time. :)

I’m still playing Star Trek Online, but have been logging on less than previously. It’s still fun, but it’s less immersive than I had hoped. That may be a factor of levelling alone, I don’t know…or just the fact that the really good questlines are outweighed by the “talk to enemy signal contact” type of quests. Will I subscribe when my free time is up?  At this point, I’m not sure. The main thing it makes me feel is homesick for EVE, and that makes me think about resubscribing there…although I do remember that EVE mainly consisted of small bursts of excitement (generally as I got blown up) and long, dreary expanses of dulldom, going from gate to gate, running missions and so on. It still tempts me, though. I may already have done it if it didn’t still kind of piss me off that EU subscribers pay so much more than US ones.

I’m looking forward to Allods Online, although I’m disappointed that I couldn’t talk my sisters into playing. I think that they would love it if they could try it. The game is polished and fun, and I think that we could have some silliness once a week while we had a chance to talk.

In Warcraft, my Pally is levelling slowly, and she just got her cold weather flying (basically a 1000 gold bribe to allow you to use your old flying mount again). I’ve decided that I will dual-spec her for retribution and healing. I’d thought about tanking with her, as I did really enjoy it in Aion, but I won’t for two reasons: the main one is that I have absolutely NO sense of direction, to the point where it’s like a birth defect or a learning disability or something. I can’t remember where to go. When we raided, and were doing wipe nights (I mean progression runs), each and every time I ran back after resurrecting, I was unsure where to go. Over and over again. I just can’t do it. The second thing is that I really hate doing runs with people who want speed runs – it’s not good for a newb tank to have the “GO! GO! GO!” guy ranting at you, or worse – pulling. In Aion, I had a “you pull it, you better tank it” mentality. :)

But again, as much as I will always love Warcraft, I still have an eye out for new and shiny MMOs. I can’t help it…I’m a tart. :)

Obviously, Kit was born of my experiences playing EVE Online. The two unfinished episodes that I have waiting for me to come back to are concerned with very EVE themes: resurrecting as a clone after being podkilled (Welcome to Your New Life) and one of the standard missions that you get over and over again, which are the birthday present/doll ones (The Birthday Doll). Her nemesis, Shan V’Zhou, is the agent that sends Kit on this mission and the doll arrives…well, let’s just say it’s modified in a manner that the original maker never intended.

Since there are both avatars and interiors in STO, it would be quite easy to use screenshots as the base for the artwork, and the strips would be a lot faster to do – given my slowness at actually drawing, I’d prefer to do storylines using screenshot art. But I would have to change her backstory quite a bit if I move her to a universe with a very limiting IP, so it poses problems.

So tempting, though, to keep following Kitsune and her kawaii to see where they go. Hmmmn, must think.

The game is fun, and it will be something that I’ll enjoy – especially since pvp is supposed to be great fun. Will it be a main MMO? No, I’m pretty sure that it won’t – but it will be a nice change. In the limited time that I’ve been allowed to actually play, it hasn’t felt as much like a universe as EVE does…and that bothers me a bit. As inpenetrable as EVE can be (figuring out for yourself the right kit to train for and buy – even down to the type of ammo to use and when, it’s quite difficult to get a grasp of what choices you should be making), it still feels like a real place. As nice as the interiors and ships are in STO, at the moment it doesn’t – and that is what I play for, the total immersion in an environment.

Part of that is the multitude of loading screens. Especially when there is a lot of lag, you seem to spend a good portion of your gametime staring at loading screens. Games with high levels of instancing, that have very slow loading screens, tend to really bother me. Again, it’s an issue of immersion and feeling that you are in a real, seamless environment.

But this is very early days, and I know I haven’t been able to play much with the servers being up and down like a bride’s nightie (such lovely expressions they have here in the UK!). So I will cross my fingers and hope to be able to spend some serious time in my starship this weekend.

• 3-month sub: Beta access to The Secret World
• 6-month sub: Beta access + in-game helmet that boosts experience gain by 10%
• 12-month sub: Beta access + helmet + a free copy of Conan expansion Rise of the Godslayer

I would really, really like to be able to play in the beta of The Secret World.  But I’ve been thinking about resubbing to EVE, as well. What is a (poor) girl to do?  I’d play Dragon Age if I could wrest the game from P’s hands, but I would probably have to kill him and stick him underneath the floorboards in order to be able to have a turn.

Decisions, decisions…murder, going back to my Tempest of Set, or venturing back into New Eden.  Hmmmnnn….

EDIT:

Oh, my -  look what I just found in my spam folder:

Your level 41 , Dravven, awaits your return to Age of Conan!

Now you can play Age of Conan again for 14 days completely FREE of charge! This offer does not require any purchase as long as you act before November 27th, 2009. There are also some amazing rewards available to you if you purchase game time now!

I frickin’ love two-weeks-of-free-play offers.

I’ve been thinking about trying Fallen Earth. I’m playing Warcraft very casually, but I’ve seen all of the content so many times that I simply cannot do it again, or at least spend a lot of time doing the same quests. I’m still playing Aion, and without the pressure to level it’s much better, but I know the wall is there and quite honestly that bothers me. And other MMOs? Well…

Warhammer is a consideration. I’ve always had a ton of fun there. I just wish that I could convince friends and family to give it a try.  :(

EVE Online is another option…I may re-sub, but if I don’t do any PvP I’m kind of faced with mining and missions and ….well, meh.

If the new expansion was live for Age of Conan, I’d definitely re-sub. I think it sounds awesome.

No release date on Star Trek yet. If it’s reasonably soon, then that’s the decision made right there.  :)

LotRO calls, but each time I’ve played it I’ve been left rather cold.

Darkfall? No way…I’m too much of a weenie. Kill me and take all my toys away and I’m likely to cry like a little girl.

Hmmnn…..anyway, Fallen Earth. I like the idea of sandbox-type games, as long as you don’t find yourself wandering aimlessly for ages without being able to find anything to do – which I understand is an issue with Fallen Earth. I don’t need my hand held, but if I somehow manage to miss all the content, I’m not going to sub. But it would be nice to have a change from fantasy-based games.

Decisions, decisions.  :D

There is a lot of talk today that the gaming industry need more women. What improvements are needed to make games more attractive to women? Or are such improvements needed at all?
To be honest, the kind of game that might appeal to the majority of women out there who aren’t already gamers would not likely appeal to me. So personally, I don’t really think much change is necessary, unless the game companies simply want to exploit a market that isn’t being addressed and could produce more revenues. But that is not my concern. I have not had any trouble with finding fun games to play…or people–including women–to play them with.

Nicely put. I have an issue with games that are supposed to be attractive to females, because I think there is a (perhaps valid, I don’t know) perception that these customers are casual gamers. Because if they are already gamers? They’re playing the same games that men are. They are pirates in EVE Online, or raiders in Warcraft, or they play FPS games. I do play more MMOs than single player games, and I almost never play casual games, but in all sincerity I’ve never played a game that I thought wasn’t well-designed for women. I have never thought of myself as a female gamer, I think of myself as a gamer, and that is it. Age of Conan is probably the most male-oriented MMO that I’ve played (just due to the lore of the IP itself) but I didn’t feel slighted or shut out as a female player. I was able to make a strong female character, and that’s all that mattered – the fact that the initial quest involved saving a half-naked, bound woman didn’t bother me. My character rescued her and went on to kick a lot of ass, which was pretty much all I wanted to do in that game.

I think if you try to pigeonhole people, you make shallow games. I’m definitely a girly-girl, but I feel quite at home striding through a post-apocalyptic setting, covered in tattoos and toting a BFG. I don’t need a pink interface, or sparkles, or fairies. I don’t need a casual game that I can pop on to play while the waiting for the laundry to be done. I want games that make me think, where I can kick butt with my friends, and as long as I CAN create a female character, that’s pretty much all I need.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgvM7av1o1Q]

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