Mystic Worlds

EVE Online: Locked-n-Loaded

I’m an organization and planning freak.  Before I can really get going with anything, I must have a plan.  EVE Online (EO) is a playground for people with that kind of approach to things.  I completed my move to Arnon Sisters of EVE  (SOE) station.  I started doing missions with the local NPCs and began my first Story Arc Mission.  I like these arc missions.  They provide a cohesive story that links the activity together more like the traditional quest chains found in fantasy MMOs.

When Tipa gets her mining operation under way, I’m going to be her security / wing-man.  We’re not anticipating PVP.   I will mostly be there to deal with the rats and do salvaging.  Regardless, one of my personal concerns was that I don’t have a lot of combat experience.  When I was flying frigates, I had to pay attention during missions.  I jumped from frigate to cruiser while still doing level 1 missions.  I could do nothing but launch my drones and complete a mission.  It’s that’s simple in a Vexor.

EVE Online: Back in Space

On the heels of a horrible week at work, every week seems worst than the one before, I’m just hanging in there trying to maintain a shred of sanity and integrity.  The general effect is that I am very grouchy, distant and need considerably more alone time.  I got my writing workshop assignments done but not nearly as much as I’d hoped.  I spent some time gaming to relax.  Feeling considerably less sociable, which is a stretch, since I’m not highly social in the first place, there was no better place to be than in the darkness of deep space.

I was alone, yet not, in a way that is only achievable in multi-player virtual worlds.  As an aside, I believe the “alone but not” is one reason for players who solo MMOs.  We’re not trying to pee in your cornflakes.  We just want to be among you while doing our own thing.   EVE Online is a wonderful place to be when I’m feeling this way.  It’s dark and thematically superb at delivering on the fantasy that you’re part of a civilization making its home in the cosmos.  Popping into a brightly colored over animated environment with flashy pixilated entities bobbing everywhere would have been sensory overload and could have pushed me over the edge.  *Smile*

1,000,001 - Another Game Makes a Liar of Me

I don’t particularly like mini-games.  I’ve done them occasionally when trying to fill some restless time.  I’ve played Bookworm Adventures trying to fall asleep in a hotel room.  I’ve baked with Cake Mania wasting time in a LONG and boring meeting.  However, when it comes to game time – moments I explicitly reserve for gaming, a mini-game isn’t what I’m after.  I tried them before dismissing them.  Games like Puzzle Pirates don’t appeal to me.

Then there’s instancing which I hate.  I lump zoning into the same category.  All those things that take me out of the game and sit me in front of a “please wait and watch this static picture” while the clock is ticking on your game-play time.  I accept that they exist in all MMOs on some level.  But games that zone me in and out at every turn immediately raise my ire.  Pirates of the Burning Sea didn’t have a chance with me because of the constant zoning and instancing.  I have a hard time considering that type of game play as MMO, even if I do prefer to solo content, I don’t want to be off in a private space doing it.

Restless Night Visit to Runes of Magic

Last night – well technically this morning, I played a little Runes of Magic.  It was a little past midnight and my mind was racing so much that I couldn’t sleep.  I got up out of bed and decided to play something.  Logging into Runes of Magic reminded me of why I’ve enjoyed this game.

I haven’t played in a couple of weeks but getting started was a snap.  There are no long travels times zoning across the map to reach questing areas.  Typically, you’re operating out of a nearby character community – player-towns the size of Bree in Lord of the Rings Online or something smaller, around 2x the size of Lakeshire in World of Warcraft.  All of the primary amenities are available from within that town – access to your house, banking, auction house, crafting stations, vendors, mailboxes, etc.  Most everything you need is right there, without you having to travel several zones away from where you’re questing.  You also have quick travel options via the different methods of travel using runes and portals.

Hanging out the Shingle

Reminder...

It's official.  The frequent and lengthy posts formerly available at Mystic Worlds are on vacation.  I'm hanging out the summertime shingle - Gone Writing.  Add me to an aggregator or something so you'll know when I return.  I will be doing posts here-n-there but it will definitely be spotty.  If you're at all curious about my writing adventures visit me here. 

It feels good to be better.  I still have a head cold but the sore throat and fever have gone.  I have a busy weekend ahead.  I'm working on the lessons I missed in the writing workshop while I was sick, getting this week's assignment done AND preparing for the first critique of the screenplay I'm working during the workshop.  That's a lot to complete across a weekend.

I don't know if it will surprise you but it certainly surprised me that I could spend a total of FOUR HOURS trying to construct a one sentence plot description of my screenplay, known as the logline.  Distilling a whole plot down to so few words while delivering compelling interest was very challenging.