Nov
24
Four Games: How’s it Going?
As you all know I’m a the point in my MMO career where I’m now playing four MMOs at one time. That’s right?f.o.u.r. Funeral for Darren due to overstimulation will be held…ummmm….
Actually, I’m extremely satisfied with all four titles and equally satisfied with the progress I’ve made in each one so far. Scratch that. I’m more satisfied with the experiences in each of them than I am with progress in any of them. The progress for each is just coming naturally it seems. In case you’re not keeping track, I’m playing EQ2, WoW, Eve (…with two accounts…), and LOTRO.
So?let?s take a look at each one so far:
EQ2
Ding…73. With the pressure for me to get to 75 gone before the expansion came out, I finding myself going at a steady pace again in EQ2. I’m mostly still soloing in Kylong right now and having a blast doing it. Leveling up post 70 seems to be a bit slower for some reason…and I have no idea why. I’m still banging out 4-5+ quests a night with an occasional dungeon crawl thrown in for good measure. I didn’t log in much this last week…but more on that later (?preview: I blame WoW?)
I managed to take a peak in one of the new dungeons and the new outdoor zone. The dungeon was a butt-load of fun, and I thank my guildies for providing some really great gaming moments there.
WoW
Now this one took me by complete surprise…but Lich (…see!! I spelt it right! 
) is very, very well done. My gawd….is it ever well done. BC was absolute ass compared to Lich. Well, I’m exaggerating, but you get the idea. I’m playing this exclusively with the wife and we are both have a great time in Blizzard’s new expansion offering.
I was expecting to check out Lich eventually, but not this early and not to the degree that I am right now. I’m actually thinking level 80 for my Rogue right and that kind of thinking was unheard of with the release of BC. For BC, my thought process was more along the lines of, “please…please kill me now.” For Lich, my thought process is, “wheeeeeeeee….”.
The whole idea that Lich is a better expansion for me than was BC is extremely interesting and you’ll probably be reading bits and pieces of this as 2009 goes on.
Anyway, well done Blizzard and color me totally surprised that I’m playing WoW to the extent that I am.
?btw: Ding, 70.
Eve Online
Mission running and skill training is the name of the game right now. I find myself playing Eve about twice a week right now and doing 3-4 missions when I can. My alt is still leveling towards the Mammoth right now. Once I have her set up, then I think I can start the first phase of getting some kind of production line going. I’m sure there are some intermediate skills that I need to make this efficient, but like everything in Eve, I’ll figure that out as I go along.
I haven’t done any PvP in Eve yet…but that’s not my focus right now. Total care bear atm .
LOTRO
Our Monday night group has switched from DDO to LOTRO and I couldn’t be happier. LOTRO is so solid right now that I highly recommend people check it out. The music, the graphics, the lore, the world are…well…relaxing. I know, it’s weird but when I’m playing that game it feels incredibly relaxing. Except when an elite Warg comes over and bites my face off, then I have to throw down.
Here’s another thing that is adding to my LOTRO experience: The Warden. This is probably one of the best classes (…for me…) that I’ve ever played in an MMO. It can tank. It can kinda heal and it can DPS. It has a unique combat mechanic in which it unlocks gambits. These gambits are made available when the warden uses its three primary powers in a certain order. Example: if I use my spear power, followed by my shield power it unlocks a gambit that kicks the mob and has a chance to stun. Apparently, gambits can be up to five combos long…so something like “spear”, “shield”, “spear”, “shield”, “taunt” would unleash hell itself 
. I think that Turbine has brought a bit of the hybrid classes we see in WAR to LOTRO…and that’s a good thing.
After getting my Warden up to level 10, I am really looking forward to the adventures our little group will have in Middle Earth.
Well, that’s it. If I’m making you dizzy, I apologize….but know that each of these are giving out solid player experiences right now following their perspective expansion releases. If you haven’t tried any of these games yet, then please do. I’m pretty sure most, if not all, have free trials of some sort.
Good time to be an MMO gamer.
D out.
