Mystic Worlds

What do you do when you can buy your gear?

In my mind I thought, "I'll never seriously play a game with RMT."  I mean, what would be the point of the game if you can buy whatever you want?  I know there are Asian games with RMT that do very well in their demographic. However, since no Asian game has ever appealed to me, I assumed RMT wouldn't either.

In comes Wizard 101 and my experiences in that game have changed my opinion.  It wasn't until I reached the second world that I realized you could by more than just vanity items.  It was there that I found full gear sets, weapons and accessories for sale via in-game gold or crowns which are purchasable with real money. 

Shortly after my discovery I purchased a set.  Good gear is always valued, even more so when you solo.  Since most MMOs have you progress by questing for, grinding for and collecting gear and other possessions over the course of time, what do you do in a game if you can just buy gear?  The answer is simpler than you think.  You just play the game.

Going into 2009 with no AAA MMO Subscription

I bowed out of my last MMO subscription which was Warhammer Online.  I'm sure it will get there someday with more players or a mechanic that scales all the barren PVE encounters.  When that day comes, I'll resubscribe.  One of my nephews who left WAR for WotLK left that too.  For the first time since I started playing MMOs, I'll be starting the new year without an AAA subscription.

All is not lost.  I found Wizard 101 and the enjoyment I experience there has made me more open to trying less notable titles, less traditional fantasy MMOs and even games with RMT.  W101 is all of these and I've enjoyed my time there.

I guess I'll bop around for the early part of the year until something strikes my fancy.  If I don't find anything that's okay too. I have other hobbies to keep me entertained.  Too bad for me that I love MMOs best. :-)

Natsume, please build it already!

For the love of all that’s MMO-sacred, will Natsumi please build a Harvest a Moon MMO for the PC.  I mean, PLEASE!  Ralph Koster posted about a gaming challenge creation that’s been commercialized and doing well.  Fishing Girl is the game's name and it was fun.  It immediately reminded me of the relaxing enjoyment of farming and fishing in Harvest Moon.  Thanks for nothing Ralph. (JK)  I’d gotten over the craving for an HM MMO until I tried Fishing Girl.

W101 Friends List: It shouldn’t be this hard.

A frantic Miss Melany Clotheshorse filed a missing persons report today at Scotland Yard.  The missing persons are her cousin, Suri Jadeshade and family friend, John Lifesinger.  The trio had arranged a meeting outside the Royal Museum to exchange Friends Lists.  “It’s such a horrible inconvenience,” complained Miss Clotheshorse.  “If there’d been an easier way to complete the exchange other than meeting in person, this never would have happened!”

The trio was set to meet outside the famed Royal Museum just before closing.  Recent thefts and vandalism by the Puppypound Gang, makes the area unsafe after dark.  When questioned about what time she was supposed to meet her friends, Miss Clotheshorse hesitated.  “Well, I might have been a touch late,” she explained.  “I mean, what lady can pass Madame Lola’s robe shop and not stop in for a few minutes.”

Although Miss Clotheshorse insists she was only late by a few minutes, her long time companion Ghoul Louie, claims they stayed in Madame Lola’s for over two hours!  He was certain that is was dark when they left the shop.  Scottland Yard has its best MP squad out looking for the missing pair.  Anyone with information is urged to contact Officer Crowley immediately.

Continue here for the real story…

ZOMG Crayon Physics Deluxe is shipping soon!

Thanks to Tipa for mentioning on her blog that Crayon Physics Deluxe is in BETA.  I had been following CPD for a while.  It was the first and best toy I installed on my Tablet PC.  The family was hooked on it until we beat all the levels and ran through the fan-generated content too.

You've never seen or played anything like this game.  Not only is it amazing fun playing it yourself, it's just as entertaining to watch others play it too.  I found it interesting to see how my children each approached solving a puzzle differently.  My youngest daughter was cautious and conservative like me.  We didn't mind taking baby steps to achieve our goal.  Where as my son took huge sweeping steps trying to accomplish the goal in as few moves as possible - used to play chess.  My oldest was completely out there as she is in real life.  She made some of the strangest choices, many of which didn't turn out as she expected but were always hilarious to watch unfold.

Completely enamored, I took Crayon Physics 900 miles to one of the monthly operational meetings at work.  On the breaks I turned it over to the resident geniuses to see how they attempted the puzzles.  It was fun and enlightening to see how their minds worked and compared that to my experiences with them.  Again, even among normally rigid and serious adults, this game brought out the laughter and smiles.

P.S.  The background music, Ghost Lullabye, is hypnotic.

M-A-R-L-E-Y-B-O-N-E, I’ve arrived!

Woot, I made it to Marleybone, the third world in, Wizard 101.   This was not an easy journey.  Kiddie game or not, you have to work to progressively access the content.  After dying to the final boss in a long chain, where he only had 17 health left to my 53, when my spell fizzled, I was very…err…uhm, unhappy!  It was late and I couldn’t believe that I was going to have to start over.  Determined and obsessed with reaching Marleybone, I set my alarm for 5 AM so that I’d have time for another attempt before work.  Yeah, that’s bad but I was so friggin’ pissed that I couldn’t stand it.  “He must die.  His minions must die.  The whole freakin’ creepy slithering croc-tailed lot of them must die!! *Takes a deep breath*

At 5AM ET, I got up for a white knuckle attempt at completing the instance.  If I couldn’t solo it this time, I’d have to put out a call for help from Tipa, Star or Capn John.  I was more prepared having done the encounters the previous night.  Even still, it was no cake-walk.  Every mistake in judgment made my heart lurch.  Every close call was a mini heart attack.  I know for a fact that I now have grey hair.   By 5:45 AM ET, I was doing the final sequence of fights before stepping in front of Krokopatra.  Here are a few pictures to commemorate the end of the journey.  I didn't get any good ones of Krokopatra who I had to battle completely alone as the card for my minion just wouldn't surface.

W101: Beware of Puzzles in Krokotopia

I’m imagining that Krokotopia (Kroko), the second world in Wizard 101, is very similar to the Puzzle Pirates experience.  As I discussed in a previous post, all of the questing for this zone takes place indoors as opposed to the predominately outdoor content of, Wizard City.  My fantasy tastes run more toward villages, meadows and shire-like scenery but I still had fun making my way through the Kroko, save one problem which took me too long to learn – beware of puzzles!

I didn’t mind the puzzle nature of Kroko.  What I did mind was not realizing a puzzle was involved until after I’d defeated the boss and left the kill zone.  As is my nature to move on to the next task, I often left the room without noticing clues or waiting long enough for them to even appear.  The pace of W101 is such that I sometimes multi-task while playing.   Without the necessity of frenzied button mashing, I don’t need to be starring at the screen the whole time.  When it’s your turn, you select a spell based on your strategy and current situation and given there's nothing you can do beyond that to affect the outcome, I'm not always watching the whole time.  Similarly, at the end of a boss encounter, I’m quick to open my quest log to see what I want to tackle next and race right out of the chamber.  I don’t necessarily turn in quests right away.  I don’t always proceed to the nearest quest location. Sometimes I delay kill quests in hopes of getting a 2-for-1 deal by receiving another quest that needs the same mobs.  Or I decide to wander off to complete a quest waaaay over there just ‘cuz.  This behavior proved to be very problematic in Kroko.

Close to Unsubscribing

I haven't played Warhammer Online in 2 to 3 weeks, except to pop on once to reset my talents after the 1.0.6 patch.  Scenarios were still fun but slugging it out solo doing the PVE content, took the wind out of my sails.  Grinding Influence by killing through the mobs for Stage I over and over got old, even for a solo player that is used to grinding.

I've done grinding in other games with no issue so why did it bother me in WAR?  Because I know that it's not supposed to work that way.  I know that there are other stages in the PQ that are more fun and challenging.  I know that there's a chest that drops at stage III and the chest has items in it hat I need, but don't have a chance of triggering.  I'm out in Pragg and the PVE zones are very empty - few players here and there but none doing the chapters I need.  There are probably a  more players in the High Elf zone, which for whatever reason is more popular, but I really REALLY wanted to do the Empire, which is my racial zone. 

So there I was grinding it out one night all the while feeling very blah about it.  Guild chat was quiet.  Ventrillo chat was quiet.  I logged off and didn't bother logging in again for a couple of weeks.  When I came back we were all settled on to the new more populated server.  Guild chat was quiet.  Ventrillo chat was quiet.  I reallocated my talent points post patch and tried it out in a couple of Scenarios.  As usual, the Scenarios were fun but when I needed a break from that and wanted to do something else, the thought of chasing down oRVR or going back to grinding INF were not appealing.  I signed off and haven't been back.

Ranked PVP Comes to Wizard 101

This sounds VERY interesting to me.  I've popped my head into the current Arena but I've never seen anyone my level to duel.  I think consensual PVP will be a nice addition to the game.  More options for spending you in-game play time is always good.  The fact that it's going to be a ranked system goes well with the achievements/title system already in place.

W101 is very much about building a good deck and using strategy.  However, I'm wondering if the addition of competitive PVP will start the usual barage of complaints about class balance.  More importantly, how will players who decide to compete in the Arena feel about the availability of RMT items?  Hmm, tacked on PVP hasn't gone down smoothly in any other game that I've played.

I haven't found the RMT gear to be especially powerful but it does provide a few additional options IF those show up in your randomly selected spell cards.  One offset to potential drama is that I think similar gear can actually be purchased for in game gold which means everyone has access to the items.  It will be entertaining to see how this all goes down.  I for one, intend on competing.

I hope that the new world some players are waiting for is also coming with the promised new content.  If they also implement the rumored player housing (interactive vs. the static rooms we have now) this would be a HUGE addition to an already very pleasing game.

W101 – It’s the Little Things

I think I’m about 1/3 the way through the content for Krokotopia (Kroko).  It’s hard to tell for sure because there are two areas that I haven’t unlocked.  Without seeing the zones, I don’t know how much questing they provide.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I upgraded a few pieces of gear with RMT items, which I was surprised to find when I first entered Kroko.  Having played in the gear for a few days, I can say that the gear is good but definitely not over powered.  Quests that I was unable to complete solo before, I still couldn’t do solo, regardless of the gear AND having gained three additional levels.  Based on what I’ve seen, I’m thinking the stuff is good but not close to being uber items.  It wasn’t until I was joined by Tipa that I completed the outstanding quests and am happy to have removed them from my log.  It’s a bit strange to be meticulously completing every quest since I’m not a fan of quests, but in Wizard 101 it feels more like achievements.  Plus completing some of the longer quest series will unlock cool titles.  People are all about the titles, pets and fashion in W101. *Smile*