Fast, dense, and out of control - November 20th, 2000 - Nich Maragos
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. This space for rent. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Sorry about the lack of a column yesterday. Had to make a six hour trip home for Thanksgiving, but I figured I could get it in after the family was done catching up; how was I supposed to guess this would take until midnight? So without further ado, get ready for an awfully FF-centric Double Agent.
| Online RPGs, part 1 |
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Hi,
Since i dabbled in a little Ultima Online this year, i figured i would
write in regards to my experiences.
In terms of finding people to adventure with it was sometimes a bit
difficult but never to the point where it affected my enjoyment of the
game. There is a reason for this-i felt the level of difficulty in
meeting new people roughly paralled the real world. As in real life,
your ability to find a companion depends a lot on what you are looking
for. Finding people to go to dungeon and kick some butt for a onetime
only partnership is analogous to finding a pick up game of
basketball-you just go to a public place and people make their
intentions known to you-sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you
are looking for a longterm buddy you can head over to bar (or tavern as
the case may be) and strike up a conversation.(assuming the people there speak your language-again just like real life you meet foreigners!) If
you are looking for a job-check the help wanted ads in the various
towns! you'd be surprised at how fast a community and economy starts up
on these things. (heck i've seen people getting married in some towns)
If there is a need for something it will probably soon be provided at a
cost of some electronic gold. :-) Of course, as in real life, there is
always the chance that you will be shafted or cheated or robbed by
people you meet but that just adds to the realism of the game and makes
it more fun in my opinion.
About the servers...that unfortuntaley i have to say did negatively
affect my gaming experience. You can chock difficulty in finding
companions up to realism but its hard to make that arguement for server
lags and crashes. Server crashes were largely rare but there is nothing
more frustrating then having tons of progress and loot wiped out in a
instant. Much less severe but far more chronic were the lag problems. Funny but the servers always started to lag right around the time I
would be attacked by a huge number of ogres or when one of the towns was
overrun by ratmen. The result was watching my avatar freeze in place or
move/attack in a jumpy HIGHLY annoying manner while he was being bashed
over the head by enemies-death is pretty common in ultima online but
still you feel like you are being cheated when that is the reason behind
it.
Overall it was an enjoyable experience and if i still had any free
time i would play it. Personally i am really looking forward to
Playonline-not only will it be a vast graphic and sound improvement but
i tend to have faith that Square will provide its own expert touch in
strengthening what has traditional been the weak point of online gaming:
overarching story lines.
-s.c.....can't wait to join the paladin's guild
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As far as the lag issue, the good news is that I'm pretty sure that when PlayOnline does get off the ground, it'll be pretty stable. Suicidal or no, Sony's decision to only support broadband access means that latency won't really be an issue for the relatively few people who'll have the equipment to play.
But it's possible that your good experience as far as achieving camraderie with other UO players might not necessarily apply in a world that's supposedly as plot-driven as FF XI's, because to get the most out of a community like that, players are practically required not to roleplay. Please note that I'll be the first to admit that I've never played an MMORPG, but I have dabbled a bit in the lower-tech MUDs--I can't really see the ubiquitous jargon and abbreviation in those sorts of games as lending itself to solid storytelling. (No, really, I'm not trying to be down on the game ... )
| Online RPGs, part 2 |
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Mr. Maragos:
EverQuest was one of my favorite games for quite some time, although it
never will compare in my mind to the earlier NES / SNES games. I consider myself experienced. I played and reached level 53 without assistance, which is something that doesn't come often in that game. I'd love to asseverate further about the game, but when I hit that point I quit because the game just wasn't that great any longer.
First off, servers can work. Not every game has servers that're down for
hours upon end. I never had problems with EQ's server, and I played for
longer than anyone could possibly spend on FF XI. Fourty hours of
gameplay is average for RPG's? In EQ, that didn't get me to level 15. Fourty days is less than what it takes for most people to achieve levels 50+.
As far as plot was concerned, there was none. No purpose aside from it
taking up time in my day. I wanted to be good, I wanted to be great, but
those aren't enough to drive a video game. I couldn't compete with the
twinking (for those non-EQ'ers, giving low level characters equipment
beyond their ability to obtain or helping them fight) or the people who had no lives past EQ. I'm skeptical about FF XI's ability to emphasize plot because EQ failed so horribly. If Square can create a game like EQ with plot, I'll never put it down. But can they? We don't know, and no one can tell.
You ask how to enjoy this game? The enjoyment came from the people
around me. I spent my time in a guild with many, many people and everything was group oriented. Friends are developed fast, almost as fast as enemies, and they stick for months. Plot is not a matter for enjoyment because there is none, it's simply overlooked and in a game like EQ, it couldn't have been implemented had they tried.
You ask how I got something out of that game? I didn't, it's just a way
to pass time. The game was a time in my life where I had a lot of spare
time (aka a severely broken leg) and I had fun with the people around me in the same situation. I never stopped for a day with the feeling of awe at the beautifully created artwork that was EQ. It just doesn't happen.
Okay, so now I've established that enjoyment comes from friends, which
were still there at the time I stopped enjoying it (to a certain extent). EQ to the point where I couldn't deal with waiting for monsters to spawn day in and day out to get the deepwater (armor) pieces I still needed. You probably thinking, "What happens when people realize what road EQ is taking (or lack thereof)?" I did the same thing I saw at least 100 other people do who were with me from the beginning.
I quit.
-Krelyk.
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You're probably right. In a game like EQ, plot could probably never be implemented. This is why tonight's column is essentially pointless, because I suspect that Final Fantasy XI will be nothing like Everquest. I think to put in place the kind of things Sakaguchi has in mind, it will be much more restricted. You won't enjoy the game for the reasons you enjoy EQ; I wouldn't be surprised if user interaction was greatly limited outside of special out-of-character zones. On the other hand, these restrictions may allow FF XI to be the kind of game that, as you put it, "I got something out of."
And that's about all anyone had to say on the matter. I got some other mail from Everquest players, as well as a few people who had bitter things to say about FF XI in general, but that wasn't really what I was looking for. I didn't intend to savage the game when hardly any details have been released, I just wanted to present a scenario and see what you'd think. Last time I try something like that, I promise.
| All we want is to play with our dolls |
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Hey,
I don't know if anyone can answer this or not, but I didn't know where else to send it. I registered for PlayOnline last night, because I wanted the Vivi doll. So, I got through everything, but when I got to the final registration screen (where you give your address and so on) and clicked submit, I got an error message ("Connection refused" or something...layman's terms: the server was busy), so I clicked back and hit submit again...got the same error. Did this a few more times, finally I got in! I got to the screen that said they'd be sending an email my way to confirm my membership (it contains username and password). It's the next day, and still no email. I'm worried that I won't get my Vivi doll. Now, I saw the messages while I was registering that said I'd get one, but...the whole submitting fiasco makes me a little worried. I still haven't gotten an email from them, but when I signed up two people from my computer (they were at my house), they got their emails right away. Thing is, when they signed up, there was no message during registration about the Vivi doll. I'm a little worried...do you think they got my information, and that I'll get the doll? I hope I didn't mess anything up.
Jon, feeling kinda stupid after writing this huge email
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You're not alone: I, too, registered as quick as I could with PlayOnline, waited desperately for a confirmation email like a lovesick teenybopper staring at the phone, and got zilch so far. It would seem that only a certain, random few got the goods. How Calvinistic of Square.
| The swindle |
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Hey Nich,
Square and Bradygames' "Playonline" thing with their strategy guide just
ain't working. This is one of the most horrible ideas ever to spew forth
from the industry. While I am on a cable modem, myself and other people
lack the time to get online every 5 minutes of play to look up stuff for
the game, and lack of time is the reason I bought the guide in the first
place. I paid 13 bucks for the guide, is it so much to ask that ALL of
the guide be included with that? I just don't have the time to sit and
explore every little thing, and I buy guides so that I can get through
the games at speedier paces but still enjoy them thoroughly. This
playonline crap is really a hindrance for me and many other people. We
should all write to Square/Bradygames or something and tell them how much
this idea sucks. Maybe next time I'll get my 13 bucks worth.
-Reijin
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This is indeed one raw, stinking, deal from all I've heard. Stories about five sidebars on a single page all cheerfully saying, in effect, "You've wasted your money!" Apparently, "Compatibility with PlayOnline" is another way of saying "crippled guide." Did they really think it was a good idea to get people to pay full price for half a guide? Though the feature's been removed from FF X, I can see online guides working with a game. But this smacks of little more than ill-planned corporate synergy, and I urge everyone to use our guide instead. Fight the power!
| Still the man *FF IX spoilers* |
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Hiyas, umm, person...
no idea if I missed it or what, what with me being busy with stuff. But
from playing through FFIX, has anyone noticed the abscence of 'The Man'?
(Gilgamesh) If this has been mentioned previously, then my apologies (and
bin this letter), otherwise, where the hell is he? (not to trying start
some lame "he not the man but The Man" debates again.)
~PenPen
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Without giving away too much ... you're just not looking hard enough. Tantalizing enough for you?
| Black Mage in the hour of chaos |
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Ya know Nich, it occurred to me that suckas have authority.
-Mar
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Picture me giving a damn.
Closing Comments:
Short column tonight, because of some arcane technical reasons. I suspect I got more good responses to the stated topic than I was able to post, because anything sent until about 12 hours until after the column went up got sucked into limbo. For tomorrow, let's talk about cute animal sidekicks! Which is the cuddliest? The cutest? The most, as we say in Louisiana, "shaaaaaaaaaa?"
-Nich Maragos, effeminate freak
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