Deeply Delving Dungeons

Fallen Earth is a very interesting MMO. It is one of the few experiences that has opted out of following World of Warcraft’s “casual” example. In many ways the mechanics of the game itself are just as brutal and unforgiving as the post-apocalyptic wasteland that it is set in. With a limited allocation of AP (Advancement Points, used to increase your abilities) at your disposal and an inability to master more than a few skills and attributes it is quite possible to create a character that is unable to take full advantage of its potential. Because you are denied access to many skills early on in the game (the advanced mutation skills which essentially act like magic) it is almost impossible to plan ahead if you don’t take advantage of character planners created by enthusiastic players.

This whole state of affairs is only made more complicated due to a large assortment of quests which provide Bonus AP, some of which are gated behind Faction Reputation. Each Faction has enemy factions associated with it making it almost impossible to play all sides and get all the Bonus AP quests (unless you undertake the supposedly grueling grind involved in “spinning the wheel” in an attempt to build up faction across the board). These faction gates combined with a lack of a respec means that creating the perfect character in Fallen Earth is far more difficult than most players are accustomed to.

As I learned about these details in my early stages I came to grips with the fact that my current character would be tossed to the wayside sometime in the future when I’d be prepared to create one that would be pre-planned, taking into account the many limitations I have noted above. However, I was not really prepared for just how soon that time would come. What follows is a short summation of the journey of Elandarex Mihst before he was sent to that great LifeNet station in the sky.

Continue reading ‘Sacrifices Must Be Made’

With the latest major content patch for LotRO comes a feature for which many have been clamouring for a long time now, that being the ability to solo the epic quests. The epic quest chains in LotRO contain some of the most interesting quests in the game, out of any MMO even. Obviously Turbine had to come up with something for your character to do while the Fellowship does its thing and the ensuing tale is full of interesting characters, twists, and (appropriately enough) epic engagements. Now, while getting a group together to tackle the quests in the epic books (epic quests are separated into chapters which are contained within books which often double as content updates and the books are then contained within volumes representing the overarching stories, just so we’re clear) is great fun and taking on your fearsome adversaries in the company of your fellow adventurers lends a suitably grand feel to the whole experience but most players simply aren’t interested in getting together to do the older books anymore.

Part of the problem is that with the increases in level cap the rewards simply aren’t worth it and with the accelerated level advancement the rewards are often outstripped even at lower levels. A bigger problem than that however, especially with Volume 1: the Shadow of Angmar, is that most of these quests have to be done in order and when you factor in the sheer quantity of quests that need doing, with sometimes more than 10 chapters in a single book, it can be difficult to get everyone onto the same page. This problem is only compounded by the amount of travel time that is required by many of these books (especially Vol. 1 Book 15. Dear god, my main is a class that can “teleport” and has run speed boosts and on top of that I actually enjoy travel, yet that book almost drove me ’round the bend) with the group quests strewn amongst a bevy of solo quests.

Basically, you would run into the following problem a lot: you wanted to do chapter 6 of book 10 (note, I’m not actually referencing the proper quests here) but it’s a fellowship quest so you need 5 other people. You manage to find a couple in the same boat as you but it’s still not enough so you stumble across some other people only one of them is on chapter 3 of book 10 so you need to help them do chapters 3, 4, and 5 before moving on. Another guy has already done the quest but thanks to the Reflecting Pool feature he can still help out and even get some special tokens for running the quest again. Unfortunately, he’s playing with a friend who is on the last chapter of book 9 and won’t help out until his friend is all caught up. You agree to help, somehow managing to convince the other players not to ditch you in the process and you all do the fellowship quest in book 9 that you’ve already done. Now, of course, you have to help the friend out with chapters 1-5 of the book you’re on and because you don’t have a Hunter with you the parts that require traveling halfway across Eriador can’t be completed in mere seconds because you can’t port. On top of that this player hasn’t worked on grinding up their reputation with certain factions so they don’t have the right swift travel options available, causing even more delay. Halfway through chapter 2 the guy who already did the quest says he has to go and his friend goes with him and the group subsequently disbands!

Continue reading ‘Divine Inspiration’

So it’s been a little while hasn’t it? I’m afraid I have to chalk up my lack of activity mainly to being sick of late with a head so full of mucous and fog that I wouldn’t have had much to say that would have been in the least bit intelligible. I’m still sick at the moment though I’m starting to get over it; I just felt that too much time had passed since making a post and it was making me antsy.

I would be lying if I simply blamed some virus for my absence as I also caught a bit of Olympic fever during that final stretch. As they had been taking place in my area I felt it was my duty to be a grouch about the whole affair and reject the whole notion of national pride (as much as I love Canada and British Columbia and wouldn’t really want to live anywhere else) yet thanks to my encounter with the Colbert Report I soon found myself embroiled in the quest for Olympic glory!

CANADA #1!!!

*ahem* Sorry, don’t know where that came from. In any case, we did break the world record for number gold medals won in a single Olympics and that combined with both our hockey teams taking home the gold (you fucking rock Luongo!), hockey being the most important winter sport of course, Canada totally won the 2010 Olympics as far as I’m concerned!

I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t played any Fallen Earth since my last post, though not for lack of wanting. It’s just that I have been possessed by a demon ever since a friend of mine loaned me a game on my birthday. That game? Assassin’s Creed 2 on the PS3. That demon? Getting 100% sync ratio in the game and every Trophy available, culminating in my first Platinum Trophy.

This friend who loaned me the parkour paradise had also achieved this remarkable (well, maybe not so remarkable) feat and I felt compelled to match him. I’m happy to say that last night (or I suppose I should say: this morning) I achieved perfection in AC2! With that out of the way I feel as though I can move on with my life, and as soon as I get over this cold I will be reviewing this explorer’s wonderland of a game.

For now though I shall take my leave of you and check out the new book update released for LotRO recently which introduced the third volume in the epic story!

I’m afraid I have a confession I must make. This isn’t easy for me, admitting the depths to which my addiction has sunk, but it needs to said, regardless. I… I am currently playing 4 MMOs at the same time. Surely you think to yourself, “Well, that’s not so bad. Truly avid MMO-goers often have several free to play MMOs going alongside their primary ‘premium’ MMO.” In my case, however, I currently have active subscriptions to 4 so-called “premium” MMORPGs. I know, I know… I need help. What can I say? I love the genre, or rather I love the potential the genre holds because oftentimes I find myself growing weary of an MMO in short order due to (in my mind) lackluster implementation of system, setting, and/or story.

If you look to my “What I’m Playing” sidebar it should be easy enough to see which MMOs I am currently subscribed to. Obviously Lord of the Rings Online is at the top of the list and it will continue to hold that position as I am a Lifetime subscriber. Fair enough, that makes it easy to explain away playing 2 MMOs at once, but it doesn’t explain 4.

Star Trek Online is also on that list and while I may still have an active subscription it will be dropping off my list very soon as I have already cancelled it. If you’ve been reading my posts for this month of February the reason should be clear: I hate this fucking game! I thought that giving myself a break from it for a couple weeks would give me a fresh perspective on the whole affair but I couldn’t even play for an hour before quitting out of boredom/disgust. STO has put such a bad taste in my mouth that I will never, ever, purchase anything developed by Cryptic Studios again, if only because the chances of their adopting an intelligent design philosophy are minimal at best (who knows, maybe they will shape up in the future… I seriously doubt it, though).

Which brings me to EVE Online, the panacea to my STO rage. I haven’t spent much time in-game yet, being distracted by other games and life in general (fortunately that doesn’t stop my skill training which means that the time isn’t exactly wasted, per sé), yet what little time I have enjoyed in that far-flung galaxy has served to mollify my frustrations considerably. Yet even EVE may find itself on the cancellation block soon thanks to the fourth listing on my sidebar. I haven’t cancelled my subscription as of this time but if matters continue to move forward with my latest acquisition as swimmingly as they have thus far I’m afraid I simply won’t be able justify a subscription to EVE Online.

So, Fallen Earth. “Why Fallen Earth,” you may ask yourself. Well, most of the credit for my decision is owed to Syp of BioBreak (currently my favourite blog) who spent a great deal of time and energy late last year shouting the praises of this unexpected gem. What really caught my attention were his many tales of the phenomenal crafting system as I am a big fan of any diversion from the typical humdrum of combat in MMOs. In many ways what he was describing sounded like a blending of pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies  and Ultima Online, especially with regard to the skill system. So, it being my birthday on Monday, I decided to treat myself with an impulse purchase over Steam, confident that my investment in this title wouldn’t be squandered like it was with Star Trek Online.

So far, it seems that I was right on the money.

Continue reading ‘My First Foray Into Fallen Earth’

Er… Yeah, I’ve got that right.

You see, tomorrow is my birthday so technically it’s okay if I post today. Anywho, my recent silence will continue until Tuesday, er, that is to say, my silence on anything interesting to write about. Wait, is anything I write about interesting? Oh dear, I’m really getting confused here.

Oh, and about the Colbert clips: the audio was terrible and shaky-cam was in full force so I didn’t bother uploading them. I guess I should have checked the quality of the clips before promising to put them online but I was just so excited about seeing Colbert that all logic completely escaped me. Oh well, you’ll still get to catch most of it when the Report airs on TV, you might even get to see me in the crowd considering how close I was (not that you know what I look like, heh).

Wait- Colbert is definitely something interesting to write about. So is this breaking the chain of my recent laziness? Why did I even write this post about having nothing to write about if I actually wrote about something worth writing about? Er…

I attended a live recording of the Colbert Report today, just outside Science World in Vancouver. There was just a sea of people; thousands decided to attend this historic event, and before Colbert made his first appearance (which took 2 hours of standing around in the cold morning wind) pain was the running theme of this show. Being utterly crushed by a mass of humanity on all sides, forced to stand in one spot for hours, my back and feet were killing me, a sentiment shared by all. Physical pain wasn’t the only item on the menu however as there was a fair bit of professional hurt when the organizers decided to bring out plasma TVs (for showing clips from the Report) into the direct view of the sun on a beautiful, cloudless morning. It wasn’t long before the gases in the sets were agitated to the point of uselessness with the screens being almost completely black and only a tiny morsel of Colbert Report goodness peeking through. It was, in a word: pathetic.

None of that mattered though when Stephen himself appeared on stage and the crowd exploded into a woo-ing frenzy. So taken aback by our energetic welcome, Mr. Colbert decided to take back everything bad he had said about Canada in building up to the Olympics. I for one can’t wait until us Canadian Iceholes come off the On Notice board as our time on that cursed board has been a great shame to any loyal citizen of the Colbert Nation. After asking for our forgiveness in case he should “Fuck up” he got his show off to a rousing start by… fucking up! I’m a big fan of those times when Colbert flubs a line or starts to crack up so for me this was the quintessential Colbert experience, and he recovered from his fumble as gracefully as he ever had on his show.

Continue reading ‘The Icehole Cometh’

I don’t like spam. I don’t think anyone really likes spam. In fact, if I had to choose between starving or settling for spam I would stick with the former. Well, maybe that’s not entirely true but it does apply for comments on this blog. I’d rather have no comments at all rather than a ton of meaningless spam but I have a hard time censoring them sometimes.

I’m big on freedom of speech so pretty well anything you want to say goes on this site. However, I do not consider spam to be speech so much as textual diarrhea and as such have no ethical qualms when it comes to trashing such comments. Unfortunately there is a definite possibility with regard to perfectly valid comments, generally those giving out general praise or criticism, falling prey to this systematic quelling of spam and that does bother me a great deal.

This blog is not supported in any way by advertising, nor does it avail itself of free hosting; I do this for fun, not profit (yet at a cost to myself), and part of the fun for me is reading and responding to what few comments visitors to my dungeons leave in their wake. I appreciate the effort it takes to respond to one of my posts whether you enjoyed it or found issue with it because it is far easier to simply move on without leaving your mark.

So, in the interest of better differentiation between spam and proper human comments I would ask that if you wish to make a comment on an article(s) please be sure to reference the content of the post in some way. It doesn’t have to be anything major (but try something other than the post’s title for obvious reasons), just make mention of what you liked/hated because most spam comments make use of generic blanket statements. This is just a general rule to follow to make sure your comments don’t find their way into the trash, though really any attempt to humanize your comments should suffice.

In the interest of keeping things on-topic I would also appreciate it if you could send any questions or comments regarding my site’s functionality (or lack thereof) to my email at alcasm@deeplydelvingdungeons.com as opposed to commenting on any one article. I do take these technical queries into consideration and as soon as I stop being a lazy bastard I will do my best to see to them (one of these days I’ll look into what’s buggering up my RSS feed in Google Chrome).

I hate having to lay things out like this because, as I stated earlier, I’m big on free speech. But I don’t like spam!

Seriously, I don't like it!

I love Bioware. Really, I do. They’ve been my favourite game developer for many years now, ever since I spent untold hours playing through their masterpiece Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Since that time Bioware has been one of the more consistent developers in terms of delivering quality gaming experiences, in my mind rivaled only by Valve Software. Yet, despite my great admiration for the studio and its exemplary library of RPGs I just wasn’t looking forward to Dragon Age, a brand new IP that they had been working on for many years before its release. It just looked like a colour-by-numbers, dumbed-down, completely uninspired dark fantasy epic. Boy was I ever wrong!

For the past few years the glory of the RPG has been undergoing a systematic watering down by gaming culture at large. Games like Fallout 3, Borderlands, and most recently Mass Effect 2 have been hailed as the greatest the genre has to offer. Yet whatever your opinion regarding the merits of these games may be (I personally find Mass Effect 2 to be the only one of them worthy of any real praise as a gaming experience) the simple fact remains that these games aren’t really Role-Playing Games in the truest definition of the genre. Oh sure, these games may ape certain elements considered unique to the RPG experience, but they remain at best hybrids (hybrids that are very light on the RPG aspect). A great deal of the difficulty lies in people not really wanting to settle on a proper definition (something I’ve always wanted to attempt for kicks and flame-wars), after all, the more genres you can say your game is the more demographics it will appeal to, right?

Well, I’m here to tell you (many months later than I should have) that Dragon Age: Origins is very much an RPG in the truest sense. It’s not the best RPG ever made, not by a long shot, but it is an RPG, and it makes no apology for that by integrating other genre conventions. Dragon Age is a Role-Playing Game, through and through.

Continue reading ‘Dragon Age: Origins Review’

Well, it took a little longer than I had intended but I must say it does feel good to be running a freshly formatted computer. The primary reason for it taking long was my thorough use of Windows Update which was possessed of a seemingly limitless supply of updates, with even more appearing as other applications came into being on my fresh install. Normally I ignore Windows updates outside of service packs so I’m hoping that perhaps my patience this time around is rewarded in some way. In any case, I am now back up and running again with only a few more installs of importance that need dealing with before I can just sit back, relax, and bask in my computer’s new-found glory.

There is no unifying theme to this post outside of “stuff that’s happened since my last post,” in case you were curious. Still, I suppose that is still a perfectly valid theme so let’s get on with it.

First thing’s first: Star Trek Online.

When I started the whole process of backing up my old files before beginning the wipe of my hard drive I began to question whether or not I would bother reinstalling STO considering how little I have cared for it thus far. In the end I decided to reinstall it, though it wasn’t so much to get my money’s worth (I don’t consider wasting my time not having fun to be a great cash-in on my investment) as it was because I was infected by a short-term version of that typical MMO nostalgia we are all afflicted with at one point or another. Mostly however, it was because during the process of cleaning up my computer I had started to go through all the old Original Series episodes in air date order on youtube. The enjoyment I got from following the escapades of Kirk and friends was what ultimately convinced me to give Star Trek Online another shot.

Continue reading ‘And I’m Back’

Or rather, he’s on the brink of death, and by he I mean my computer. It’s been running like crap for a while now, though strangely enough it’s been relatively well behaved when playing games, but I use it for more than that and I am frankly fed up. So, I am currently in the process of backing up important data before formatting. Unfortunately I have been rather lazy when it came to sorting my files lately so it’s taking me a bit of time to get things organized for hard back-ups.

I only mention this because it means I probably won’t be able to update this blog for at least a day or two, assuming I don’t run into any serious problems along the way. I’m sure you’ll survive.