Vimanda

Necryn's page

5 posts. Alias of Necryn Lichlore.


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Buzzo wrote:
I played a MUD in the mid 1990s called Gemstone. Coincidentally, it was made by Simutronics - the company that made the HeroEngine. At this point I was new to online gaming. To this day, I've never been in an online world that felt as real as that text based game did.
Being wrote:
In Dragonrealms the main town Crossing and smaller towns would periodically be invaded by various high level monsters that really could only be fought by similarly high level characters. The monsters would ride mammoths or be dismounted and the mammoths would rampage as well.

I also played Gemstone III and Dragonrealms, and I have many fond memories of those games! They're what first got me into online gaming, along with a MUD called Dragon's Gate, and I miss the role-play, the GMs being real, interactive presences in the game, the puzzles (in particular, I remember a warehouse in Crossing that I got lost in trying to find the Thieves' Guild, and to get out you had to solve a puzzle involving floor tiles), and the monster invasions. Wasn't really an event, per se, but a lot of people used to hang around the Crossing Thieves' Guild with samplings of different drinks from all over the place, and tobacco from the little shop in the city of Riverhaven and role-play.

Anyway, I digress...

It wasn't really organized, but one fond memory from WOW occurred on a PVP server I was on. I was a druid, often playing with a RL friend who was a warrior. We were doing quests around Hillsbrad Foothills when some alliance rogue started attacking us. We managed to kill her a couple of times, so she came back with a friend, and they killed us. We got a few people to come help us, and things continued to escalate, them killing us, us killing them. Finally, the Horde sent out the call and amassed a bunch of people including higher-levels. Someone had that quest to raise the NPC that attacks Southshore, so we did that, then went in en masse, wiping out the entire town. Don't know if you'd call that an "event" per se either, but it was a lot of fun.


I'm from Georgia (the state, not the country). I first got started on gaming in general at a very young age with the Atari 2600. When I was three years old, we got a Commodore 128, and I was not only allowed, but encouraged to use it, and I played a lot of games on there. We had most of the Nintendo systems growing up, and I got a PS2 when they came out. I was always a bit more of a PC gamer, though I did play some console games, particularly Nintendo and Playstation, occasionally Sega systems at the houses of friends and relatives.

As far as online gaming specifically, I got started when I was 11 with MUDs. I played text-based MUDs for several years, including Gemstone III, Dragon's Gate, and most extensively Dragonrealms, then moved on to MMOs. I've played Everquest, Star Wars Galaxies, Dark Ages of Camelot, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Horizons, Everquest II, City of Heroes after the City of Villains expansion, World of Warcraft, Allods, and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Though it's not a game per se, I also spent a good deal of time on Second Life here and there, and enjoyed the user-created content.

I got really interested in tabletops when I was around 12 years old, but didn't know anyone who played. I used to peruse the game section at Media Play, and I bought AD&D and Werewolf: The Apocalypse books for my own enjoyment. I made characters using said books, but I didn't get the chance to play until college, when a friend of a friend said she knew someone looking for additional players in his D&D 3.0 game, and I enthusiastically joined. Since then, I've played D&D 3.0 and 3.5, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Vampire: The Masquerade, mixed old World of Darkness campaigns, Ironclaw, Call of Cthulhu, GURPS, and Pathfinder.

I can't wait to see what they come up with for Pathfinder Online. I'm a fan of the tabletop, and have been itching to see an original MMO for awhile now. The setting itself is already appealing thanks to my love of the tabletop. I don't want another WoW clone. I want to see a game that emphasizes role-playing, has an innovative leveling system, and doesn't require me to grind and slave my life away with a large guild to get anywhere. I never was much of a raider. I'm a role-player, an explorer, a crafter, and I enjoy player-created content. A little pvp can be fun as well, but not that arena crap. Some of the most enjoyable pvp I experienced was open-world.

Sounds like PFO might deliver more what I'm looking for. I certainly have some high hopes based on what I've read so far, and I'm impressed by the previous work of the people involved in creating it.


I'll have to see how their alignment system works in practice, but from a role-play standpoint, I'd really like to play a LE or NE character.


I don't need specimens, but I might like to speak with one of your more discerning merchants concerning a supply of quality fresh meat for a restaurant venture. Preferably still screaming, as I'd imagine the clientele might prefer their meals rare. Alternatively, perhaps The Black Cauldron is in need of another chef.


I wouldn't say it's the most important thing, but I think they should try to get at least the seven core races in there by the time the game goes live.

That said, so long as general game content doesn't suffer, I would love to see some more unusual races. I'm tired of being offered the same very human-looking races over and over. More unusual races like tieflings, aasimar, tengu, ratfolk, catfolk, or kitsune would be very fun to play.

Even more unusual races like centaurs would be really fun, but harder to implement. It *can* be done, as I know at least one MMO that never got very popular called Horizons actually had dragons as a playable race. Being quadrupedal, they had to do a lot of things differently than the standard bipedal races, though.

That also serves as another example that "cool" races alone don't draw players to a game. The game itself has to be worth playing, then additional features like that can be an additional incentive.

If they want to keep more unusual races buy-only and/or unlocked by certain achievements, that's fine, but having the option of additional races beyond the core is a selling point for me personally.