I am Ninja, You are Ninja.

Song for the post: “Arch Enemy – Revolution Begins“

Ok maybe not. Finally I have found the time and energy to spit out a post.

So what have I been up to. Hmm.

Christmas was MMO filled. My brother came over from Calgary and I promptly pulled the extra TV and plopped it down in the living room so he could play FF11. Which I recently resubbed too. I have been having a blast being tortured by the grindy difficulty of that game. It is hardcore and I love it.

As usual I have been trying to get some Skate time in but a lot of that time is being killed by FF11.

So what have I been doing in Final Fantasy 11. Hmm to much. Right now I am trying to level a ton of classes through an area called Valkrum dunes. The new expansion came out recently and I jumped right into the dancer class. I love it. Prancing around in tight leather with my little Tarutaru is a blast. But then the cold hard truth hit me. YOU NEED NINJA TO LEVEL THIS JOB, AH AH AHHHHH. Ninja is killing me. I have to level this class to do anything in Final Fantasy 11. Dark Knight/Ninja, Warrior/Ninja, Samurai/Ninja, White Mage/Ninja….. NINJA NINJA NINJA. AAAAHHHHHH!!! Sorry for the Kinison moment but it had to be said.

Ninja for those not in the know are blink tanks, or evade tanks. They use shadows to confuse there enemy into attacking the shadows instead of the ninja himself. Damn that sounds cool as hell. But it truly isn’t. You spend most of your time counting shadows and praying that your off tank with provoke (Taunt) the mob off your paper tank ass so you can recast your shadows.

Anyways that is the way my gaming time has been spent.

Just wanted to throw this little bit out there. I saw two really good music documentaries this last couple of weeks.

First was American Hardcore. A documentary about punk music threw the 80’s. It is brilliant.

Second was Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. It follows Heavy Metal fan Sam Dunn as he tries to figure out what metal music is all about. There is also a nice little short about Norwegian Black Metal, sadly my favorite NBM was not in it Dimmu Borgir.

Anyways time for me to roll back to the life of a ninja. /sobs

Hailin signing out. Keep on Rolling.

PS to Kevin of TSisD and Brackish. Where you guys go. We all miss reading you blogs. Peace.

The Weekend of MMO Death (Explicit)

Song for the article= “Lady Sovereign – Love Me Or Hate Me”

Today has been a rough day for me emotionally so I need to take it out on my blog. So parental advisory should go up and stoof.

Yes one of my many whine, bitch, moan posts.

Quick real-life update. This Christmas the plan was to escape the cold and hide in Mexico, the first time in eight years we have ever done something as a couple. Tonight was the night we had to book it. Just happens that Wayne got a call from his doctor and was told that traveling was on the dangerous side because his diabetes is at a very unstable place right now. So we had to cancel out. We are upset but at the same time we know this is for the best. His health is more important to me then anything.

So like the Sovereigny one states:

Love me or hate me, its still an obsession.
Love me or hate me, that is the question.
If you love me then Thank you!
If you hate me then f%^k you!

Sometimes just turning up one of your favorite songs and singing along makes you feel better. On to the topic at hand.

This weekend I took every MMO I never plan to play again and tossed them in the trash. I have no bloody idea why I have held on to this crap so long. Eq2 went in the trash, along with WoW and Guildwars.

The reason for this is not because I they were taking up much needed shelf space. At this moment and time, this plane of existence I can not stand even looking at these games anymore. The fact that they are basically the same bullshit sub-standard fare is wearing me out. I even cleaned my hard drive of some of these games. (50 gigs+ to be exact.)

It all started with Vanguard last night. I started a new alt because I hit 21 on my Necro and I was utterly confused of what to do next. My first few quests entailed collecting stuff for the locals. I lasted a hour before I went “DAMN this is f*&king boring”. Then I thought back to the hundreds of quests over the last couple years in my MMO gaming and you know what I saw? Nasty flashbacks of my various dead sexy avatars collecting shit for villagers that we’re to lazy to do it for themselves. It was here that I had my mental breakdown and started looking at my gaming shelf and just started tossing and deleting.

Did I toss it all? Nope.

Well what survived? Well glad I asked myself that and let me explain why.

I kept CoX (City of Heroes/Villains.). CoX, to most is fun in short stints but due to it’s repetitiveness most people don’t last 3 weeks. And you know what? That is okay. Nothing evil about playing for four weeks and taking a break.

But lets get to why I kept it. It is fun. Plain and simple. Easy to level, easy to group up (WoW is missing the second part.). Up until crafting came in the only thing you looted was stat boosters and clickable buffs. No beaver pelts for some medieval knock off. No ancient “Shining Gloves of TP” with +5 to ass wiping. (Pulling out the blue humor I know) Sure you see the same instances, sure you see the same gangs over and over. So we know it is repetitive big deal. Who cares as long as it is fun. To me it is, in 4 week stints.

Another reason is the Cryptic sale to NCSoft for the license. There is a part of me that is really curious as to where they might take this game. I think all the game needs is some more interesting environments at this point. They should just start working on COH2, but are they going to do this? With Marvel Universe and SOE’s DC game is this even a good time to announce a new COH. Competition is always a good thing. Hell they have proven they can run and develop a game with the Lineage series. How many millions of people have played these games. Also makes me wonder when we will see an Asian side of the market for this game. Hell look closely at COH. It is easy to understand (WoW is killing in Asia, literally), It is grindy, (Lineage 1 and 2 both are), the character creator is one of a kind. (Send this game to Japan, that fashion centric society will kill for this.)

The next game that didn’t get entered in the Trash Can Raffle. Was Final Fantasy 11. Wait a minute now isn’t this part of the sub-standard BS MMO fare I talked about earlier? Hmm yes it is, no it isn’t, yes it is, no it isn’t.

Final Fantasy is different. It is difficult, challenging and over the top. You live FF11, you don’t play it. I have done all this FF11 banana riding in the past I am not going to do it again. One reason I have not mentioned before is the past nostalgia I have for this game. I love the Final Fantasy series, always have. I am dying to see number 13 on the PS3, looks hot. Every time I look at that blasted manual and box I start waxing a MMO hard-on for this game. Whether I ever play again we will have to see. Anyways ENOUGH about it.

That is it. That is all that survived my childish tossing tantrum.

I am looking at the horizon and it definitely looks like when the sun rises in 08 we have a lot to look forward. Those are the games that are going to hopefully suck me back in, not for a lusty quickie but a long term relationship.

We all know what is coming I don’t have to spell it out for you all that read this. If you don’t, please post and I will gladly lay it on the line.

Peace and good gaming all. Hailin

Eve Online on PS3?

The latest Eve Online news is that Eve Online is going to be pushing out a Linux / Mac client.

This got me thinking. Since PS3 can run certain Linux enviroments (Yellow Dog being the most popular) isn’t it possible to run Eve Online on the PS3?

I can think of only one thing that could possibly hold this back and that is PS3’s video processor. I do not believe there are any proper drivers out for the RSX. But at the same time EVE has never been a computer hog in CPU and GPU power.

Ok there is one other problem. The new Trinity upgrade for EVE how is this going to affect user performance across the board? How would this affect the PS3’s 512mb of ram?

A lot of these questions I really can’t answer  as I don’t have Linux on my PS3 yet, what I can say is I hope someone attempts this as I would love to see EVE on my plasma instead of my computer monitor.

ARGHHHH

Music for the Article : Slipknot – People=S**t (Something new I am trying here heh!)

I recently read the new Vanguard Producers letter to the community. Many important points were brought up. But one point has me all freaking pissed here. Maybe I am being childish or being a troll. Which I fail to see as this is my friggin blog.

The newest Vanguard producer PhAtHoM had this to say:

(Feel accomplished

Whether you log in and play for 30 minutes or for 3 hours, you should see and feel that you advanced your character. Now don’t get me wrong. We don’t want to create an “easy button” when it comes to leveling up but we definitely need to expedite the experience gain cycle to increase fun factor. We’ve made some steps already by adding Rest Experience and the ability to share experience within your Brotherhood, so we’ll keep those in mind when discussing the percentage increase that we should take it up to in the near future.”)

I am perfectly fine with this. I don’t have a problem with the actual quote. Let me get to what I do have a problem with. THE community!!

As soon as his really interesting producers letter was done people jumped on that statement like flames to a fire. (Now that is fast) People in the community went nuts over it complaining that it was already to easy to level in Vanguard. There must be 40 posts in the thread crying over this topic.

Personally I am of the frame of mind if it takes 1 hour to 50 I don’t give a crap if I had fun getting there. (Portal anyone) Who are these masochistic people that love the grind? I know in the past that I have mentioned the fact that I love group grinding in FF11. I feel that is because the combat is so fun and tactical in that game with the Renkei/Magic Burst system. In Vanguard it isn’t. It is like every other MMO whack that mole and watch your xp bar move. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

I know there is a weakness system that can be used in the combat system for more dps but for the most part they are hard as hell to follow so most groups just ignore it and go back to whack a mole. Hell I bet most people who play Vanguard don’t even know the system is there. /sigh The weakness system works the same way as EQ2 and FF11. You start with a special attack, lets call it Sparkling Strike. That starts the weakness Blindness, but to finish it off like baking soda to vinegar (Try it if you don’t understand) another class has to finish with Slash of Darkness which completes the weakness system. Next thing you know the mob is blind for a couple seconds lowering it’s accuracy.

I bet you could make the combat as difficult as hell and people would love it if every time the exploit weakness system was really easy to spot like FF11’s or even EQ2’s (which is also horribly forgotten about for the most part.) Making combat part of the game instead of having it as a barrier between you and completion of a quest, should be part of the Vision for Vanguard. It seems the devs are trying there best to cater to all the crowds and they are going to get drawn and quartered. 75% of the community even have there horses ready for the devs. In the four pages I could get through only one person made a reasonable response. That was this post by Brash Endeavors: (Who by the way is seems to be one of the resident unofficial tech gurus)

(“Apologies for copy/pasting my remark from one of the other threads, but I really really really hope they think about and discuss whether the real issue is how one gains experience and not simply how FAST one gains experience.

There is a WORLD of difference there.

Also, “Thank You” for posting this. It’s courageous to put it out on paper instead of taking the easy way of saying as little as possible in order to avoid debate and controversy.

The new proposed feedback forum is a very good thing.”)

This is the very point I am trying to make here. It isn’t how fast you gain those levels it is how much fun you had doing it. I constantly hear “It’s about the Journey to 50 not how fast you get there.”

Great so some of the MMO community gets it let’s just hope Vanguards Devs get it, and the community come up with useful posts instead of crying about the subject. PLEASE!

My idea is to raise the experience needed per level by 3%, but add a group bonus based on group members. If people knew they got a bonus for grouping you would see a lot less soloing and more grouping. And with a more visible, useful weakness system people would be more inclined to use it.

Hailin signing out, drinking gin and tonic to chill out after a stressful day. Peace!

28 Weeks Later on Planet Terror with the Living Dead MMO.

Halloween is approaching fast. Every year at this time I start getting into Horror movies. Last weekend it was Planet Terror. This weekend 28 Weeks. Both movies are a hell of a good time. But they have one thing in common. The new zombie. Gone are the days of slow lumbering zombies. Zombies in today’s movies are fast, evil, violent. They don’t want just brains they want everything. So this came to mind as I chatted with my partner Wayne. Where are the zombie mmo’s?

I know Turtle Rock/Valve are headed in that direction with Left 4 Dead. That is going to be a co-op experience with maybe up to 8 people.

The concept is so easy. If any developer at all wants the best example of how this concept works they should watch both 28’s. They are the perfect example of how this could work. Instead of being a super warrior like Hellgate:London or a cop like Resident Evil. You are a normal everyday citizen fighting for your life.

Instead of leveling up to make it to that super armor or to raid that dungeon you are trying to make it from point A to point B. Eventually trying to make it to freedom. For end game what you would do is switch roles sort of. Instead of being that ordinary citizen looking to be free. You become part of the army or rebel group trying to help other survivors to safety.

Quests could consist of fetching supplies, trying to clear tunnels and paths for safe travel. Plain out hardcore fighting for the next area. Weapons would be anything you pick up from hunks of wood and rocks to crowbars to high powered pistols.  Gameplay would have to be fast and furious supporting multiple cameras from 1st person (Halflife2) to over the shoulder (Graw, GOW) to third person.(Tomb Raider)

As you level you would become more proficient in everything from weapons to chemicals through use.  No levels, special moves could be learnt via leveling up through use. Say you have been using various objects like boards with nails and such matter.  You start at lvl1 with a common swing animation, keep using it till it falls apart and next thing you know you are 50 and using upswings and downswings, using a pistol in one hand a bat in the other. You could swing at an enemy to stun them then shoot them in head for the kill while using the bat to hit an enemy behind you. All of it flowing together to cause a room killing combo to help more survivors to get through.

I know it sounds over the top and it should be. It should look to the past as well for examples from the Night of series. While mashing with the new generation of Zombie flicks.

I know it is all a dream. It just sounds like such a wonderful glorious MMO wet dream.

What is your dream MMO? We wouldn’t be blogging if we didn’t have an imagination.

Cluster umm hrmm!

Yes that is right Square is releasing a new mmo in the states for free. Ign link here.

The game is called Concerto Gate. It uses a new terrain ….. Blah blah blah. Just read the link. Personally I am not all that excited or even care. So why in earth did I blog about it?

Easy it is Square and I saw MMO and as people that read here and in my personal life know I think FF11 is the greatest MMO ever. Even though I don’t play it anymore. (Just don’t have that kinda time to dedicate to the grind)

I think I just got excited due to the fact that I do know there is a new mmo coming from Square/Enix. Something that I just can’t wait for, and I figured this Concerto Gate was it. Imagine my surprise when I saw the first screen shot and went. WTF is this?

When the true next MMO from SE releases I will be the first on the SE MMO bandwagon to play this game. I will be on the SE MMO faster then Kevin, who’s server seems to be down a lot, will be on the Warhammer MMO.

Anyways enough of my SE banana riding.

Before I close out I want to mention a couple of things.

My blog buddy Brack wrote a wicked article about Tabla Rasa. Please read it. You can find him on the side bar.

Also I need to ask Jaye and Troy from Voyages of Vanguard to stop doing there podcast NOW. I am always aching for a new episode. It is slowly becoming one of the few podcasts I can actually stomach the whole way through. Your both awesome you make me want to play again.

While I am on the subject is anyone getting sick of the professional podcasts? I am really starting to get sick of these hype machines. I crave the crappy skype connections.  You listen to something to like MN, Hotspot or G4tv. Most of the time they seem to be on NPR or CBC (For us Canadians). They sound setup and fake, and of course sometimes they are.

Yet you have the other end of the scale in GFW. A professional podcast excellent audio quality yet they seem real and passionate about what they are talking about. This is just my opinion and if these podcasters come across this don’t freak out and scream.

OH and Jeff, Shawn and Ryan if you were just doing Legendary Thread I would ask you to stop STOP right now. Thank god you have GFW to save your asses. Oh question for you three. You are going to start talking about WoW at some point right? Hmm? Anyday now you are going chat about WoW related stuff on a WoW podcast?

We need more strong podcasts like the whole Virginworlds line up, MOG, and 1-up yours. Actually scratch that we don’t need anymore because I can’t keep now as is. Everything is just fine.

That is enough ranting for today.

Hailin /poof

Wings of the Goddess

Love it or hate it Final Fantasy 11 is coming out with another expansion. Wings of the Goddess will be the fourth expansion (Correct me if I am wrong) in the FF11 series.

You can find the trailer here and here is an interesting interview from 1Up’s Milkman.

Someone asked me last week after my massive amount of MMO whoring what was the one MMO I wished I hadn’t given up. I said without a thought Final Fantasy 11. I loved the game and for the life of me I can’t remember why I quit so many years ago but I do know that it was for the best. Looking at the content SE has provided is staggering. It still does to this day has one of the best macro systems available and was the first to go multi-platform. SE like in the early days of there RPG’s (FF and Dragon Quest.) Broke the rules and new ground and succeeded. For that alone they should be commended. They have always made expansions that rival all other MMO companies.

So why in a blogging sense or MMO sense does FF11 never get talked about. Well I can come up with a couple of opinionated ideas.

1. It was to hard. From raids to standard grouping FF11 was the most difficult game at it’s time whether you were 10 or 75 the game and mob AI pulled no punches they whipped your ass and welcomed you to come back every time. When I think of all the times I have grouped in EQ2 and the tank has round up every mob in the place I laugh and watch as my group lays waste. Hmm try this tactic in FF11 you will die, A LOT!

2. Time investment. Really the time you had to invest in FF11 was years. Not months. People when they buy a MMO in most cases and especially today they want to be at cap in a couple of months. When someone hears they have to invest two years to get to raid level they back away slowly and don’t want to take part. If you didn’t have 4 hours for a group to spare you weren’t playing FF11.

3. It was unique. Being unique can hurt games if the core audience doesn’t grasp a hold of the concept of gameplay and art.  So why does WoW excel with its goofy cartoon graphics? Well simply put it doesn’t follow idea 1 and 2. The game can look like ass (runescape) but if it is easy to get into then people will play. Most people were turned off by the graphics, the camera system, the macro system (game relies on it heavily), language barrier and the fact it was on a console.

I feel the last one is a big one. PC MMOers (UO, EQ, Ash’s Call) at the time had points one and two but putting a MMO on a console for shame. It was unheard of to anyone that hadn’t played EQOA on the PS2.

Today it is still hard to get subscriber data but I would have to guess it is still sitting comfortably around 400K to 500K. Which brings into question if Eq2 is the second most talked about MMO on the blogosphere why isn’t FF11 the number 2 or 3. I am sure SquareEnix is quite happy to sit in the back and collects it’s estimated 5 million+ per month quietly. Other then for the points that I listed I don’t really know. If you have an idea please share it with me.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard.

WWAP Hailin September 24th

Would you like a glass of Whine?

I was going to whip up a post on what we are playing on the usual Thursday but the combination of late nights gaming and work spoiled that for me. So I didn’t forget I am just getting this in late.

Skate. with me

Well let’s start with Skate. I am still playing the hell out of it and I have come to the conclusion that this game is the most fun I have had yet with an extreme sports franchise. I usually prefer snowboarding titles but the snowboarding titles with the exception of amped 1 have strayed way to far away from realism for my tastes. I would love for Black Box EA to make a boarding titles. We will see. After Skate. I no longer see Activision as the king of extreme. T2 was the last great hawk title.

Less is more

Less really is more when it comes to skate. You have less tricks which leads to less points which leads smaller combos. This is in no way a bad thing. I see this as a good thing. I am no longer striving for carpel tunnel syndrome trying to whip out D-pad combos. Your board is the right stick, your body is the left stick. The triggers represent your hands. Very very simple. The city it takes place in is San Vanelona. The city feels great when skating around it. It isn’t decorated with a city hall that has 20 quarter pipes built into it. It would feel more alive if the citizens and vehicle didn’t look so generic in design.

All the skaters in the game are not very well known in the ranks of Tony Hawk, Bam Magera or Jason Ellis. You know what I am fine with that. As soon as the skaters were announced I went to Youtube and checked out them out. A lot of them really represent street skating at it’s core. You really get a sense that the devs for Black Box just love the heart and soul of skating with there choices.

The only really over the top moments are when you compete in the X-games since Sal Masakela MC’s the competitions. I am a tad shocked by his presence as I always thought of him as a puppet to Tony. /shrug what do I know.

I only complaint would be near the end of the game as the video parts you select to star in become ridiculous and you have to start flicking the stick around like a crazy man. This become really evident when you have to do the end Thrasher video parts. 6000 points in skate is really difficult to do and the only way I have found to do them in 30 seconds is to get spastic with the stick. I really find myself not wanting to do them. But if I want to unlock everything then I have no choice.

Blue Dragon

Since I have gotten my hands on Skate. I have yet to dive back into Blue Dragon. I just find the game boring and I believe MMO’s have ruined me forever. I am hoping Lost Odyssey will bring back that spark with it’s FF10, FF7 style game play. It’s not that Blue Dragon is a bad game because it is not. I just find that the story is not holding my interest. Though I have to admit that I have had my best sleep possible playing this game.

EQ2

I have been diving even deeper into Eq2 and I have to admit now that I am in my mid fifties. (Yes WHOOT I am level 55) It is starting to feel like a chore just to level. I find myself not wanting to log in because it is such a pain in the ass to find a group and then spend the next 2 hours getting ten percent as people feign interest for ten minutes and then leave. You spend more time trying to keep a full group then actually doing something. It is frustrating as hell. I may have to go back to questing solo (/shudder) then putting in my LFG “LF serious groups only”.

When I play EQ2 I am tad hardcore, I want challenging mobs and dungeons and I want a team that has a minimum of 2 hours to kill. Non of this half an hour BS. I come from, as my closest friends know, what I call the Final Fantasy generation. The whole you stuck with a group for 2 plus hours you didn’t log in get a group and run. Now really this could be my fault for taking part in a game that I feel is becoming more one sided towards the soloer. I have always felt horrible if I said after a death that I had to leave then log off then back in. Coming up with excuses to leave crappy groups is becoming so much tougher in EQ2.

All I hope in the end is if I stick with it is that 60+ has a more dedicated grouping atmosphere. Or I will not be picking up the new expansion and I will be moving onto another game.

I think if I could find a guild (Though I love my crew don’t get me wrong.) or steady group in my level range that quested and xp’d together I would be enjoying the 50’s so much more and it wouldn’t feel like a job or grind. Those perfect opportunities only come once in a blue moon.

Well that was my week of gaming in a nutshell. I will try harder to make it a much smaller gap between posts.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard my friends.

PS My gamertag is hailin if anyone like to add me.

Fear the Group

Do you? Every time you get that quest that you know involves an epic mob or a big instance does it get deleted? Do you say to yourself I can’t be bothered or I don’t have the time.

I can proudly say that I don’t fear the group.

It seems every single mmo has some level of grouping that is needed. From WoW’s raid content to FF11’s grouping 24/7. Sure in every game there is some solo to be found and certainly some classes are more capable then others. Have we reached a stage where solo is the new king of MMO’s?

Some people have found ways to get around it. Games like WoW or Eq2 offer content from 1 to max level that is solo content. While these options are certainly viable and exciting they do not interest me in the least. (I just did solo from44 to 52 in EQ2 in DOF, zzzzzz)

Besides the people that truly do not have the time. Why play MMO’s? I have never figured this out. Now remember this is a blog and just my opinion. Why are these solo players here if they have no need to be. Are MMO’s that addictive of a force that people believe they need to have this social atmosphere in there lives.

I am thanks to Blizzard a dying breed. I don’t raid, so popular games like WoW are off my list. The days of the group friendly gaming is dying. I am a firm believer in that.

I was watching the Final Fantasy Retrospective epidsode 8 where they discuss Final Fantasy 11. Even in there they mention making the content of Chains of Promanthia easier so more people could complete it. I am not quite sure what that means except for throwing out my own conspiracy theory. (Research what is that?) Now I have heard that originally the COP content was incredibly difficult. You had to have a well oiled group. I am guessing that now you could go in with a weaker group or PuG (pick up group) and complete the COP missions. I would have to ask my brother about that as he has been a loyal subscriber to square’s masterpiece since day one.

What the future holds for the MMO world I really don’t know. I do know that PVP plays a much bigger role then it once had. Games like DOAC and WoW have definitely proven that PVP is a major focus heading into the future of the market. Which brings back in grouping. If you have never grouped I would rethink that strategy. These new games with a heavy PvP focus are going to allow two groups to excel. People that have moved from FPS clan play, and people that excelled at heavy group play. These two groups are going to catch on faster and be more focused on how there group moves and plays together not on self. Nothing worse then a healer that spends more time dpsing then healing.  That is what they understand. How to pull, dps, and heal themselves.

In the end it comes down to how you want to play the game. Not what everybody wants. So if you wish to solo WoW or EQ2, that is your choice and your money. I will choose to group. Remember though if you get bitched at by your group because you do not understand the group dynamics you have two choices either leave the group or listen, watch and learn. I would choose option two.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard.

MoG morphs into Gaxonline.com

Gary and Ryan have stepped up into a new form of the web. It now encompasses forums, news, blogs. It pretty much offers what every other blogging social network offers.

I need to spend some more time surfing around it. It’s definitely interesting and I am excited to see where this leads. I just wish I could link my blog to it instead of being signed up for a totally new blog. The site does look a tad bland but stability before purty.

Check it out at Gaxonline.