I’m continuing to play/test SOE’s zombie survival sandbox MMO. Yep, I’m calling it an MMO. It walks like and quacks like one to me.
The absence of loot has been fixed but probably a bit too much. While some areas are sparse, many are brimming over with duplicate loot. I’ve still had to search for the more important items such as back packs and finding the right ammo for the right gun. But other than that, I’m seeing what I expected to see. Trash cans with food. Every house has something or other left behind in it.
Hrm lots of water bottles and double axes
I’m still working toward my goal of crafting a basic shack with a door. At the moment, player created structures are not secure enough to hold extra equipment. They’re easily destroyed or accessed via indirect and nefarious means – unintended exploits. If you’re trying to protect items, it’s better to mule them on a second character until that’s nerfed or hide them in the woods. You can use a shovel to store items in a container buried in the ground.
I’m not trying to store items. I just want somewhere safe that I can AFK for a few minutes or experiment with crafting without having to look over my shoulder. Also where I place where I can put down my own rabbit traps and a campfire.
I have a location in Cranberry in mind. I tend to prefer that area compared to its higher traffic cousin, Pleasant Valley. Not much pleasant going on in PV. More players brings more zombies. More players attracts idiots too. Just to be sure however, I was about to set out for PV to do some recon when I teamed up with a random group of players to make the trip.
I was stopped just outside of Cranberry using someone else’s campfire and stealing their rabbit meat. Three other players were nearby sterilizing water and collecting berries. We started chatting with each other and realized we were all headed in the same direction so might as well join forces. Everyone filled up on necessities, bringing our stats to 100% and we headed out.
Temporary posse about to head out for Pleasant Valley
Before leaving I was able to craft the largest player made backpack and upgrade to the faster Wooden Bow. I have a hand gun but not many bullets. So for now, I’m sticking with the bow and arrows, saving the gun for up close ZOMG something is suddenly in my face.
It’s all Fun-n-Games til Someone Gits Blow’d Up
We were rolling along and make good progress. I feel like hydration and hunger drain MUCH TOO QUICKLY. I have The Sims flashbacks trying to keep those two stats topped off. In between whacking zombies and hacking wolves, we collected berries and water along the way. We stopped to do quick sweeps of structures we passed by. At one of the rest areas there are containers of explosives outside on the decks. I hadn’t noticed them before. I was minding my business sorting through inventory while the others searched the cabins.
I looked up when I heard gun fire nearby. It was one of our posse shooting at nothing. At least that’s what I thought when suddenly there was HUGE EXPLOSION! I saw red splatter the sides of my screen and was like WTF!?! I backed up to look around.
Someone in our group was shooting at the containers with explosives in them. Uh, okay. Have fun. Except he was shooting the ones right outside the doors of the cabins and a few seconds later someone else from our party walked out that cabin door and WHAM!! Bye-bye guy who had nice stuff, had organized our little party and was leading the way. Suffice it to say that he wasn’t very happy. The player who’d done it disappeared into the night. Great. Me and the other guy volunteered to camp the guys backpack until he could find his way back. Unfortunately, neither of us had enough space to take his items for him. And he died in one of the zombie spawn locations.
We crouched over his backpack to hide it from other players. We killed zombies that kept coming by and had it out with a couple of wolves. Thank goodness an OP bear didn’t happen along. I might have had to decide between his shit or saving myself and my own stuff. In the end, the effort was a waste. His gear de-spawned a couple of minutes before he made it back to us.
Guarding player's backpack after he died to friendly mischief
Oh well, on to PV. We helped him loot a few things along the way, giving him first choice of items found. Meh the whole ordeal took more time than if I’d just made the trip alone. While it was nice to chat along the way and searching buildings was faster, I’d have been fine doing in solo. You don’t get first pick of loot when you’re in a group but no one was greedy. If we already had one of an item we offered it up to the others first. I gave away a battery even though I know they’re sought after. It’s wasn’t on my agenda and bag space is still at a premium.
We parted company at PV. I wanted to scout the area to see if I wanted to craft my shack there or stick with Cranberry. A few too many players, noise and pointless gun-play convinced me to stick with my original plan. PV is often the griefing mecca. Back to Cranberry it is.
Police Station, good location for weapons has its doors blocked off
Players building jumping puzzle to get to the on the roof.
That really reminds me of early EQ when you could consent other players not only to drag your corpse but also to loot it. People used to trust strangers to loot their corpse and hold the items until they could make it back. Those were different times for sure.
I have no real interest in zombie survival games but H1Z1 does sound interesting. I wonder if it will improve over time or if, as so often happens, those who played while it was at its roughest will come to feel they were the lucky few to enjoy the game's golden age.
Posted by: bhagpuss | February 06, 2015 at 06:56 PM
The ability to drag his corpse would have been a great option. We could have hide it or his loot in a trailer. I like that Star Citizen will have features let you aide fallen players.
Yeah, I feel that way about ArcheAge actually. It's golden age was before the damn thing went live. I'm not into this genre either. The setting isn't my thing. I don't even watch these kinds of shows. But in game, it does feel like trying to survive in an unfamiliar place while trying to figure things out similar to other MMOs I've played. I'm not sure if it has staying power if you're not mad about PVP guerrilla style PVP.
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | February 06, 2015 at 07:58 PM