Mystic Worlds

Allods – Going Euro and Useful Sites

Over the holiday I switched over to playing the European BETA for Allods Online.  After showing my nephew the game, he really wanted to play over the holiday while school is out.  I had the same desire – wanting to play while I actually have the time to play.

On the final day of the NA BETA, I realized that the EU BETA wasn’t closing and would be up and running the whole time was going to be on holiday.  It took a couple of hours scouring the internet to secure three EU BETA keys, download the client and join the EU players.  My nephew was elated that I was able to get us all setup during his stay with me.  My youngest daughter also joined us on the EU side.  We’ve had a great time together.  I’ve played every caster for several levels.  They’ve hopped around trying to find their preferred class and race.  We’ve helped each other with tricky quests and joined raids to kill world bosses. 

It’s looking certain that the three of us will play the live game.  I’m not sure if we’ll be able to play together.  My nephew got hooked on the Gibberlings which is a League race, while I really want to play Arisen on the Empire side.  My daughter can go either way.  As long as it’s mage she’s good.  If I ever roll an alt it would be Mage.  I had a blast playing one in the low levels, much more than I ever enjoyed playing a WOW Mage.  Whose play style I never found enjoyable and recently decided to remove from my multi-boxing line-up.  Love the food, drinks and portals but not the play style.  Oops – tangent.

Here are some useful links I came across in my recent searches for information:

• English Skills and Talents calculator
• Great Allods Wiki site
• Russian Allods Forum
• EU Allods site

The kids and I have discussed sticking with the EU BETA.  We haven’t had any latency problems and some of the wonky combat that was plaguing me before, hasn’t happened in the EU BETA.  Dunno – could be coincidence or luck.  Another aspect is that the EU BETA level cap and content are higher / further along than the NA version.  I “think” they already have the content slated for NA CBT3 which begins on December 29th.

How I switched to the EU BETA:

1. EU BETA Key Give-Away
2. Created EU gPotato Account
3. Downloaded EU Allods Client

NOTE: you can’t have the NA and EU clients simultaneously installed.  If we decide to go back to the NA BETA we’ll have to reinstall it.

Allods Ambiance – Tale of Two Factions

League Faction Setting

My fascination with magic and Tolkien-like settings is what attracts me to fantasy MMOs.  I can’t get engrossed in a game without compelling imagery and ambiance.  The virtual world’s visualization – that universe come to life, is why I’m there.  Until recently, that level of importance has left me always playing the “good” faction, even when I was more compelled by the other side of the story and classes.  I’ve found that in-game realization of evil is often portrayed by filth and poverty, as if to say, evil never prospers.  Ha!

I was pleased to find that both factions had beautiful zones in Aion.  If I wanted to play the “bad” side of that story, I could do so without dwelling in darkness.  So far, Allods has done the same.  Both sides have a large and prosperous capital city.  You will quest in and around that city for several levels, before branching out to other zones.  The difference in setting between good and evil in Allods is not about dark vs. light, clean vs. dirty or poverty vs. wealth.  It's  more like urban vs. rural or industrial vs. agricultural.  The Empire zones, read bad guys, are industrial in tone.  The League areas, folks with the white hats, are more organic.  Think forests, shires and the alike. 

I’d already made up my mind to play Empire and RP a space opera pirate when Allods releases.  The zones so far aren’t what I long for when I think fantasy but they are enjoyable enough and will let me play the race I have my eye on, the Arisen.  But that might all be in jeopardy now that I’ve taken a tour on the League side of things.

Allods Online: Early League Zones

Allods Online: Classes by Role

A few of my friends got into the CBT2 and had trouble figuring out which class they wanted to play based on group role.  I also found it challenging to identify the primary role based on the archetype descriptions.  We went through rounds of, “Wait… what – is that also a healer?  Are you sure?  No, isn’t that DPS?”   To help others who may have role preferences, I created the table below.

Allods Classes by Role/Archetype/Faction/Race

Allods Online Early Impressions – CBT2

For the past few days I’ve been making my way through the Empire side of Allods Online as an Arisen (undead) Summoner.  The Summoner is one of 8 classes available in the game.  For me, being in a beta is about trying all of the classes I have even the remotest inclination to play.  I prefer starting a game with the class I’m going to play for the long haul.  Of the classes I tried, I liked the Summoner best.

Classes are the best part of the game so far
While the archetypes are the same MMO-fare, I found interesting twists and abilities in several of the Allods Online classes.  I tried all of the classes except Warrior and Scout while primarily focusing on the caster classes.  Summoner and Psionicist stood out as the more unique.  From what I experienced, Psionicists are in the debuff/crowd control classification of mages.  They might be called Enchanter in other games, except in Allods they must establish a mental link with an offensive target if they want to unleash their more potent abilities.  I think you need to be good at and enjoy kiting to play this class well.

Allods Online: Player Hosted PVP Event

Last night I ran into a player managed event in Allods Online.  While turning in quests I saw announcements for a PVP Tournament being hosted by The Silent Warriors guild.  Entrance fees were required and prizes would be handed out to the winners in each bracket.  I stopped questing, asked for directions and took the long slog over to where the event was being held.

Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves

Within the capital city, just south of Victoria Park, there’s an arena where players can engage in consensual PVP.  I groaned after checking the map.  I had a long walk ahead of me so I connected to the event's LiveStream while in route.

New MMOs – The Mount Everest between your game and my money

This post came about in an odd fashion.  I was going to write my short impressions about Allods and why I may or may not, play it at launch.  Much of that conversation was predicated on understanding what “makes” a game an enjoyable investment of my time.  As such, I thought I’d discuss those criteria first then circle back to Allods in a later post.

I’ve played many MMOs since I first ventured into this hobby.  Two were home for a solid block of time.  When I made the jump from EQ1 and AC1 to AC2, I played AC2 until they closed the doors.  When our guild left AC2 and reformed in WOW, I played WOW for 3.5 years solid.  During that final year, when I was already experiencing WOW-fatigue, I tried other games that I hoped would be my new home.  VG, EQ2, EVE, AOC, LOTRO and WAR, were all contenders.  One failed miserably to meet my expectations.  The others missed the mark enough that I didn’t stay as long as I’d hope.  EQ2 and EVE are in a different sort of place, where I come and go at least a couple of times a year.  Beyond these games, I’ve played just about every AAA fantasy title that has come along, including F2P Runes of Magic and most recent P2P entrant, Aion.

Having sampled so many fantasy MMOs – some of them stellar in particular areas, new games have a very high bar they must reach before they can wrangle a subscription out of me.  I call those criteria Mount Everest times five (MEx5) - polish, content accessibility, fluid combat, ambiance and uniqueness.  If you want my money, you must at least reach MEx3 or it’s a lost cause.

Hello from the void

I’ve been dabbling in MMOs again as time allows.  When last we chatted, I was playing Aion. I’m still subscribed but I haven’t played in a few weeks.  Strange thing about Aion is that I rarely have an urge to play but once I actually do log in and play, I always have a good time.  And while you can’t fly most places once you master gliding, which I did, it is the bomb!  Jumping off a cliff to get to another zone instead of running all the way around is a sweet deal.  Jumping off small hills, rock formations and alike is also very convenient for coasting down LONG stretches of road.  I swear I don’t know why I saw so many players walking while I was floating above their heads.  *shrug*

A couple of weeks ago I had an urge to revisit my multi-boxing experiment in World of Warcraft.  I re-subscribed just the trio I had been leveling.  Within a few days of casual play they reached level 51.  Just seven levels and they can cross the Dark Portal into Outlands.  I haven’t liked playing a Mage this time around anymore than I had before.  It’s obviously not my style and would be the reason why I’ve abandoned them in the past. 

On a dark and brooding day in November, I re-subscribed to EVE Online.  I played for all of three days before calling it quits – again.  I think I’d mentioned this before but now I know it for sure.  I enjoy EVE best when I’m stressed or depressed about work and need more alone time.  It’s during those periods that I find the darkness of the deep space comforting.  When I’m resolved once again to my life on the rock – under the rock, in between the rock, rock on my head,  rock in my face, rock shoved up my #1& or wherever it is they’re thrusting it that week,  I simply can’t resist sunshine and fantasy.