MMORPGs

[Roland Deschain]

For those of you who don't know what they are, MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or MMO for short. I've played a few over the years, but it all started back in 2005, when I picked up a copy of Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). I played pretty much alone for the first couple of weeks, and discovered grinding (the repetitive killing of NPCs/Animals) for myself, building up my levels slowly but surely.

One day, I had gone to a player city on Tattooine (I hadn't yet left the planet) to buy some items from a guild hall, and was standing in the city square wondering what to do, when a woman came up and spoke to me. I didn't know who she was at the time, but after chatting for a few minutes, she invited me out on a hunt. I had decided that i'd better start interacting with people more, as this is the whole point of MMOs, and readily agreed.

It was good fun, and I was invited back the next day for more, and then I was invited into the guild (Eutopia). The woman i'd spoken to was the guild leader's real life partner (now husband), and unbeknown to me, I was being vetted by the other guild members in the group (I passed, for the trolls here ). They are a great group of people, and several of us have met up in various places, such as Coventry, London, and Nottingham. They're mostly Europeans (English, Scottish, and Germans mostly), and we've become good friends.

The guild itself spans several MMOs, from WoW to ST:KOR, and members play an eclectic mix of games within the genre. We even have our own forum (and the obligatory Facebook group). MMOs I have played are:-

Star Wars Galaxies - I played this for just over 3 years, with a small hiatus after 2 years (around a month or so), and it was pretty continuous for most of the time. In the end, I just lost interest as the game's subscriber base dwindled, and left just before the server merges occurred (I was on Europe-Infinity). It's such a shame, as the game was really good, but they changed it far too much. So much content was lost, then they added more, but it was too late. It has now officially died.

Everquest 2 - I played this for a few months, but it never gripped me like SWG did. It was a fantasy-based game, and has been going for years. I don't know why I didn't take to it; I just couldn't get as excited over it as I did with SWG. I was spoilt.

Vanguard - I pre-ordered it, buying the deluxe box with the extras in, but again it didn't really grip me, as I never made it out of the training area. I really should have given it a proper go, as the intense lag that was ever present in the beginning was sorted out, and it wasn't that bad a game. I had a SONY Station Pass at the time, which gave me access to all its MMOs for one price, so it wasn't as if it was expensive, either.

Aion - I've just started playing this after a gap of 3 years not playing any MMOs, so i'm going to give it a really thorough looking at. In fact, i'm about to dive back in later on, and seeing as it is FREE, there's no money going to be wasted. It's another fantasy-based MMO, with you living in a world ruled by two factions: Elyos and Asmodians. They're not typically good and evil, as they each have their major faults, the Elyos being arrogant, and the Asmodians being insular, but there appears to be some good stuff in it. Plus did I say it was FREE?

Does anyone else play MMOs, or have you played any? I'd like to hear your experiences with them, and what you thought.

[Swatopluk]

I am more of a loner as far as RPGs go. My net connections would not have been able to cope anyway.

[Roland Deschain]

I am more of a loner as far as RPGs go. My net connections would not have been able to cope anyway.

I started on a 1Mbit connection, moved up to 2Mbit, which then was upped to 8Mbit, and now i'm on a 40Mbit connection. If that doesn't handle it, nothing will, even at peak times.