Checking In

I wanted to write a post on some of the older games I have checked into recently, as well as some I haven't checked into for quite awhile. Some of them are pretty obscure and just things I downloaded on a whim. Going to try to keep the post from droning on but at the same time just making some notations on what I've peeked into. Shall we start?

I'll start off with the more obscure games, first off is Voyage Century. I don't know why exactly why I felt like playing this game. It is a pretty old game, the graphics are pretty dated and it has open PvP in some areas, which I never encountered. There are still people around playing, especially in the main hub where your character starts. It is a neat game, with sailing around the world. You go into a sort of different game mode where you control the ship while going on missions on the open sea. There is also melee combat which is simple and easy for the most part. The tutorial will get you quite a few levels. I think I ended up 30 something. An older title but refreshing in many ways. Don't know if I will play often but it is still nice seeing games offering different types of play than what the norm is. In a word- charming.

I also popped back into Soul Order Online. I have not played this since maybe 2013 or so. I do not know what is going on with the game. It looks older but still one that I like the looks of. The game was popular for awhile but now it is a ghost town. The game is still running, but there has not been any news updates or any word about what is going on for, literally, years. I popped in and ran into an older player who was quite upset about the whole situation. It was nice to talk to someone who had a long run with the game and knew quite a bit about the history. The game stopped getting updates and all contact with the players dried up. This player was wanting to find out what the future of the game holds. How is it even still running? I'd like to know as well. Still a mystery to me as to what exactly happened to the game.

In the line of more well known titles, I fired up LoTRO. Which is always great to go back to. I leveled my cappy some, getting her into the 20's. It's been fun, the questing is relaxing, the community is decent. I wonder what the future holds for this game as well. Will the title be renewed in 2017? I hope so, because there will never be another LoTRO MMO that I can foresee. Honestly. It's dated looking in many ways but still quite beautiful in its own way. A solid game with great classic feeling combat.

I managed to log in around the anniversary event which means rewards, heh. My account, even though I haven't played it consistently, is nine years old. So I gained all the anniversary rewards, which is awesome! Years and years ago I played some in beta with one of my brothers, foggy memories there but it was cool. Truly a joy to play this game, I also managed to play the new class, which is interesting. It is a melee shape shifter, in combat which shifts into a bear. It is well rounded feeling so far, with heals and decent damage. The starting area for them is quite lovely but does not last nearly long enough. I wanted to see more. But-- I did have fun and got her to around level ten so far. In returning I have had an enjoyable time overall. I hope to see it go another few years at least!

Last but not least in this list of games, Wildstar. It has been quite awhile. I have always slogged and hopped around on characters, with many sitting in the teens and twenty's. I wanted to back to my engineer but I wasn't feeling it at all, so I made a medic. That was fun, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. So, I settled on picking up my first character I ever created, my esper, sitting at level 11.

I think a big part of sticking to Wildstar is finding a class you really enjoy. Having said that I should hit 50 today, once the servers come back up. I really like the esper class which offers decent damage, healing abilities, and even some life-steal! I will be so glad to finally have a 50 in Wildstar, I can't wait to just explore everything and take it all in. I don't have huge expectations from end game but I do expect to have fun collecting stuff and exploring while trying to slowly gear up.

There has been a lot of chatter over the web about how bad Wildstar is doing financially. I hope to see the game go strong, I hope the Steam release will strengthen numbers. Wildstar, while still having a lot of bugs, is such a charming game. We'll get back to the topic of bugs in a moment. The game has humor, adorable pets, great housing, interesting lore. There was so much detail put into this game. It really is a diamond in the rough. There are rough spots, falling through the world while standing afk, or hitting a bad spot on the ground. Other things such as quests not working correctly. But all of it is easy to overlook in many ways when you look at the game as a whole. It does have a lot of polish in many areas but I still think the questing and leveling experience, as well as the UI/quest log, are in need of a slight overhaul. Which I do not see happening anytime soon.

Overall I have had a lot of fun. Leveling up, looking forward to hearing the announcer each time I do! I have also had great fun with housing and can't wait to do more with it. There is a lot to collect and do. There are so many neat things about this game. I love mount flair (pictured at the bottom, yes that is a squid on my mount's head, and yes that is a record player/mic on his rear)! This game is unique in many, many ways and I really hope to see it do well or start to soon anyways. I won't be backing off due to rumors, I hope to keep supporting the game. My son is even playing it with me too, I want to help him catch up to me soon. He's had a hard time picking a main character he likes, ending up loving my esper so having to make one of his own.

Last thoughts on Wildstar. I think it is one of the most generous F2P games I have encountered. I think they need to beef up the cash shop with more fluff as well. Get some revenue going in that aspect. Sometimes my son and I think that Carbine is too generous with the ease of getting stuff without paying a dime. A sub is definitely worth it though, lots of nice bonuses and keys as well. That about sums it up for today. More on my thoughts at 50 in the next post.

It wouldn't be me without leaving a ton of shots in this post ;)


LoTRO

Wildstar