We Fly Spitfires – MMORPG Blog

Smed Draper

I’m starting to read some reports of folks trying out Everquest 2 Extended and, pretty much unanimously, everyone is really enjoying it. I’m not surprised at all by this because (as I’ve often said), EQ2 is a rather awesome game and certainly one of the top MMORPGs out there. The curious thing though is that given the reaction to EQ2X, one is led to imagine that a completely new and shiny game has somehow suddenly and miraculously appeared out of thin air. It’s as if the “old” Everquest 2 never existed, funny to me as EQ2X is exactly the same as EQ2 Live except with a few minor tweaks. It’s amazing what a little market and PR can do, isn’t it?

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Star Trek Tip #1: Standing with your hands behind your back makes you look very captainy

I never got the Star Trek universe. The entire thing just seems so illogical, unrealistic and silly to me. Giant space ships manned by altruistic species, filled to the brim with innocent civilians and recklessly flying into danger all in the name of the greater good? It makes no sense. If Star Trek was “real”, the Federation would be run by an army of a thousand obedient Datas, the original having been cloned in a transporter “accident” not long after being discovered, whilst every human spends their entire life within the confines of the holodeck, acting out the dirtiest and most deprived fantasies they could possibly imagine. They wouldn’t need to eat or drink or even leave to use the bathroom because some clever Starfleet scientist would’ve no doubt discovered how to beam food directly into their stomachs and excrement directly out of their bowels. That is the world of Stark Trek. And let me tell you now, the MMORPG is nothing like it.

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There is nothing on this Earth more geeky than a World of Warcraft headset. I must have one.

Not long after I first starting playing Everquest 2 I began afresh on the European PvP server Darathar and met a lovely bunch of blood thirsty bastards. We formed a guild together (all of my buddies from Splitpaw and their’s from whatever game they were last banned from) called The Mutineers and embarked on a hand-holding, tune-whistling, flower skipping journey of scandalous PvP havoc and hell raising. It was also the first time I ever used voice chat.

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Expect to see this box on the shelves of game stores as soon as 2011

I’ve been getting frustrated with Cataclysm lately. Not with the actual gameplay (because I’m not in the beta and haven’t even tried the darn thing yet) but because I’m being constantly teased with information about it and having it’s pixelated bosom waved in front of my face at every opportunity. It feels like the game is wearing some sort of virtual chastity belt, inviting us to look but not touch. Highly infuriating.

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Shoulder pads FTW

We kinda guessed it when we saw the first trailers but now more rumours are springing up suggesting that the Warhammer 40K MMO is going to be a twitch based shooter just like the beloved, and now quite thoroughly dead and dusted, Tabula Rasa. Some of you kids probably don’t even remember that game (I heard the Interwebs like totally destroys attention spans) which is fair enough cause it was kinda forgettable anyway. OK, I suppose that’s a little harsh considering it was the brainchild of the guy who’s other brainchild was the grandfather of the whole MMO industry and it did try to do something new and break away from the traditional MMORPG formula even though that still wasn’t enough to save it from low subscription doom. I guess the world just wasn’t ready for MMOFPS hybrids back in 2007.

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"Gee willikers mister, this motorbike sure is fast! I can't wait to reach your love lair!"

So. 8 months after first experiencing World of Warcraft my brother has quit the game. He sent round a rather ranty email to myself and another mutual WoW friend on Saturday detailing his gripes about all of the other inhabitants of Azeroth. Apparently he was fed up of being insulted by random strangers, PUGers who constantly threw “hissy fits”, and people who call you a chicken if you don’t accept their invitation to a dual. After checking that his character wouldn’t be wiped when he unsubscribed (he’s still a noob at heart, bless ‘im), he cancelled his monthly subscription citing the reason as “other players are immature assholes’”. Smooth.

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We've only got one Earth so make the most of it - stay in and play video games.

One of the things that always attracts me to the MMORPG genre is the concept of the virtual world. To log on and exist as a digital representation of oneself in a completely fictitious yet vibrant and functioning world is probably as close a thing as we’re going to come to virtual reality any time soon. The first time you wander around a city and encounter a group of players dancing for absolutely no reason, bump into someone wearing awesome gear you’ve never seen before or accidentally overhear a couple cybering in a quiet alleyway make you really appreciate the hidden gems of the eccentric world you now inhabit. These small encounters create a sense of randomness, a sense of freedom and, probably most importantly, a sense of virtual community.

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