Anticipation

Props to those old enough to remember what this image has to do with the title.

Aion Online is getting ready to start another of their Beta Events today. This event is scheduled to run through the weekend and anticipation is pretty high judging by the state of the Beta forums. I have access to this and all upcoming Beta events due to my pre-order and I have to admit I'm starting to feel a little excited about the event myself.

Despite having participated in numerous MMO Betas by now, I still feel the same excitement over a AAA title every time. There will be those that will say participation in Betas will only accelerate the feeling of burnout by the time the game releases. I counter that some of my most lengthy stays in MMO's were titles in which I also participated in their Betas as well. I would even go so far as to say that content in games is not the determining factor for me anymore as to whether it's time to move on or not. I'd say it's the people you meet and play with on a regular basis in MMO's that determines this. A good guild can go a long way towards hiding any perceived deficiencies in a game. For a while, anyways.

I'm still unsure which class to start out with in Aion. I usually go with a Paladin class type; being a heavily-armored melee fighter that can heal covers up a lot of typical newbie mistakes. Initially I thought this would be the Templar class but some research on the forums suggests Cleric might be the class I'm looking for. Hopefully the Betas will provide ample opportunity to mess with various alts and find the perfect fit for me.

And the Winner is...

So it seems like the next big thing gaming-wise for me is going to be Aion Online. It's got everything I want in an MMO plus it runs like a champ on my system. For those who might scoff at the choice, I offer a paraphrasing of an old adage about art:

I might not know much, but I know what I like.

The only problem is Aion isn't going to be released until sometime in September which leaves a few months between now and then. I could use that time with a filler MMO but the trouble is deciding on which one. I could go back to AoC or WAR and see if my time away has improved the game any. There's also the freemium choices like Atlantica Online or Wizard 101 if I feel like eschewing the monthly subs. I could even use the time to explore more of Guild Wars or a new title like DDO.

I actually went through the trouble of installing the trials and poking around all the above games before I made my mind up. AoC and WAR still ran like slugs in molasses on my system and there was no way I was going back to those games after experiencing what Aion had to offer. Not even the hype surrounding Land of the Dead was enough to entice me back. The other games were definite contenders when suddenly a dark horse appeared in the form of a Steam sale last Friday.

Everquest II - so now I have a level 22 Paladin on the Antonia Bayle server.

Who would've thought I'd finally get around to giving EQ2 a serious try after all these years. Certainly not me yet even I could not resist the siren call of the Steam sale for $9.95. Even more amazingly, I'm having fun in this game despite my preconceived notions about it. EQ2 always seemed like a game with features I would enjoy but there was something about the art direction that just turned me off. Even with the graphic options turned all the way up, it still couldn't hide character models that all looked like they were beaten severely with ugly sticks. But I've been able to get over that initial distaste to give the game the chance it deserves. So far so good.

Can't see the Forest for the Trees

There's an event currently running in Atlantica Online that celebrates the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival. From April 21 to June 16, guilds can build and plant their own cherry blossom trees in their towns for possible added revenue and aesthetics. Unfortunately, after the initial "neato" impression the particle graphics of the cherry blossoms that greet you upon visiting a town soon wears on you. I'm sure June 16 can't come soon enough for some of the regular AO players. I can't even imagine what a newbie's impression would be of these blossoms if he has no idea why every town he visits has these stupid pink blossoms flying around everywhere.

But I'd like to examine the actual mechanics of the cherry tree and appreciate the thought that went into its design. From the wiki entry:

Spring has sprung, so let’s have some fun, like they do in the land of the rising sun! The Sakura Matsuri, or Cherry Blossom Festival, is a highly anticipated time in Japan to get together and view the beautiful scenery of the Cherry Blossom Trees. If you can’t make it to Japan, don’t fret! The Cherry Blossom Trees are now available to view in Atlantica!

From April 21 to June 16, town owners will have the opportunity to build a Cherry Tree. Visitors of towns that have a Cherry Tree will enjoy some very pleasant scenery along with the chance to grab a Cherry Tree Fruit once a day at the cost of 100% will and 200,000 gold (half the gold will go directly to the guild fund). Eating the Cherry Tree Fruit will grant the player an additional 10% increase of experience for two hours. The Cherry Tree can only be guild-crafted and requires building craft to be at level 5 or higher.

Some new items that are required to build the Cherry Tree, such as the Cherry Tree Leaf, Cherry Tree Stem and Cherry Tree Root can be purchased on the market. All new items relating to the Cherry Blossom Festival event will be removed after the event is over.

Guild crafting, town customization, guild revenue, and XP booster all in one tree! That's some impressive multi-tasking.

Lack of Content

It's not only MMO's that can be accused of lacking in content. Sometimes, player blogs can run through dry times as well. But I've always been a quality over quantity kind of guy so you won't ever see me posting if I don't feel like I have anything worth posting about. Which is what I've been feeling lately.

I've been running around in Free Realms indulging my inner child. I opined a few weeks back that I didn't feel like a release was likely anytime soon considering the unfinished state of the Beta I was currently in. Then SOE announced it was going to release shortly afterwards which goes to show my knowledge of such things. The fact that they got 1 million registered users so quickly shows that there was an audience salivating over the chance to play this game for real. I'm afraid the unfinished parts I saw in Beta are still gumming up the works of an otherwise polished product.

But even still, it's hard not to have fun with this game if only because there is just a multitude of activities available. Don't feel like questing? Try some minigames or the virtual Trading Card game. Go complete some collections or explore the entirety of the Realms. Speaking of which, this game really caters to Explorer types as there are hidden delights waiting to be discovered beyond every bend.

So I've been pretty casual about my playing time which is definitely the way to go in Free Realms, I think. If I start feeling the grind especially when I'm leveling up a combat job, I'll switch to a different activity. Sometimes, I'll exit the game and go do something else. This would be a huge mark of failure for a typical MMORPG but not so for FR in my opinion. I don't really see myself playing this game long-term. But, for right now, it's a breath of fresh air as I replenish my stores of hardcore in preparation for the Next Big Thing™. Whatever that may be.

You Say It's Your Birthday?

April 28 seems to be a good day to launch a MMO. Both City of Heroes and Guild Wars launched on this date and now SOE's Free Realms hopes to join those two titles sometime today.

I celebrated Guild War's impending birthday by buying the Guild Wars Trilogy a few days ago. When this title first came out, it was competing with the then-hot World of Warcraft for my attention. WoW won that first skirmish but I'd kept my eye on this game and its development over the years as something I would really like to try. A Trilogy trial a few months back confirmed this and I was set to buy it then. The lack of a digital distribution option made me change my mind though. I was interested, but apparently not interested enough to go out to a store and buy a copy.

The recent move to Steam for the NCSoft titles renewed my interest and, this time, the Trilogy was available. When I found out they were offering free storage as part of the birthday celebration, that was enough for me. Nothing gets me to impulse buy quicker than if I think I'm getting a good deal. So far so good and am enjoying making my way through another MMO as a clueless newbie.

First Time For Everything

Even being a new father hasn't stopped Syp from rolling out some interesting memes.

First MMO Played?
Planetside - before this game came out I was heavily into First Person Shooters and never really gave regular MMORPG's a second thought.

First Character Class/Role Played?
My Planetside character was a Vanguard-driving, Phoenix-shooting, mine-laying son of a gun.

First MMO Subscribed For More Than A Consecutive Year?
World of Warcraft. I think I missed the one year mark in PS by about a month and I don't remember playing CoH that long before WoW came out and I jumped ship.

First MMO You Fell In Love With?
Planetside, natch.

First Guild You Really Felt Attached To?
Sturmgrenadier in Planetside.

First Character/Game You Leveled To End Cap?
WingedNazgul in Planetside.

First “Wow” Moment In A MMO?
Coordinated outfit ops in Planetside. Nothing like hotdropping from a Galaxy into a tower full of hostiles.

First MMO You Burned Out On?
World of Warcraft.

First MMO You Followed Avidly Prior To Launch?
City of Heroes

First Time You Felt Truly Noobish In A MMO?
Playing the Free Trial of Eve Online.

First MMO You Went Alt-Crazy In?
City of Heroes.

Job Security

I've never been a chef, brawler, race car driver, miner, or ninja in real life. So when I got the chance to try out the Free Realms Beta and dive in, guess which job was the most appealing to me?

Trading Card Game Duelist.

Pretty ironic as it's one I have had plenty of experience with in real life. It's not as if the other jobs don't have their fun moments (well except for race car driving which I apparently stink at) but that the questline and the TCG itself is probably the most polished content currently available in Free Realms. Which is not a knock on the game. It's still pretty early in the Beta process and, despite the lifting of the NDA, I don't see release as being anytime soon. At least, I hope not as there is quite a bit more work that needs to be done before they open this up to the general public.

But I highly recommend any veteran card-floppers out there to check out the TCG in both virtual and real-life versions.