The Games of my Life

[redhedlvr2]

Heh, never was much of a soap fan, anyway.

Eldest Daughter was up for a two week visit last month.  It was great except I had the head cold from hell the first week, so we didn't do much except watch dvds and knit.  My "knitting" consisted mostly me holding the work in my lap and nodding off, then waking up with a stiff neck, but, to each their own.




During that time, a little game called Diablo III came out.  Now, I had told everyone I know that I would not be playing that game.  Not, not, not.  I just couldn't understand the concept of a single player, mmo, dungeon crawler that you used your two mouse buttons and very few keyboard buttons to play.  This just was not computing for me at all.  Then, the night the game came out, I was doped up on cold meds but still couldn't sleep, and found myself in front of the computer.  This is why I need a keeper folks.  When I get out of bed in the middle of the night, bad things happen.  Anyway, yes indeed, I downloaded Diablo III, started a Barbarian, and proceeded to smash/hack my way to level 10 before the drugs wore off and I had a chance to reflect upon what just happened.

Now, this is from the perspective of playing a Barbarian, keep in mind.  There was no finesse needed.  If it was near me, I slashed at it.  If it was running away from me, I chased it down and stomped it into submission.  And that damn follower was always in my way or pulling more mobs than could reasonably be handled.  But it also was a very cathartic type of game and I had a hard time limiting my playing time to just when Eldest Daughter was out with her friends, but I AM an adult...most of the time.


So, I finished the play-through in two weeks on normal mode.  And here's the rub for me no matter what the game is.  Once I get to max level or finish the game, that's it.  I'm done.  I realize there are several more play-throughs available, but I won't be doing them.  I have other games that need my attention.  Such as Mass Effect 2.





I bought Mass Effect 2 when I was waiting for SWTOR to come out.  But I couldn't get the hang of the controls.  I'm strictly a computer gamer and when presented with game controllers or anything other than hotkeys and using the mouse for movement only, I have a hard time adapting.  So I put it away for a bit.  SWTOR came out and I played my operative almost exclusively (for me, only a few other alts to break up the routine) until he hit max level and then I hit the wall.  And started looking for other amusements.  There has been a brief flirtation with Skyrim, but for some reason I bought the PS3 version.  Probably because I decided I needed to work on my console gaming techniques, but as expected, I haven't done very well.  Then the Diablo III thing which has brought me back around to Mass Effect.

Before you ask, no I didn't play the first game.  (Thus proving I really am as deranged as I come across, I know.)  However, I did some research and felt like jumping in on the second game would be ok.  Yeah, yeah, the controls issue might not have been so big if I'd played the first game.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Anyway, and finally to the point, I think my forays into Diablo III and Skyrim has helped me with Mass Effect 2.  I've gotten over the "hotkeys and macros only!" that have seen me through with the MMOs I play.  I'm also getting to be a fairly good shot with that sniper rifle too.  Garrus was impressed on our last mission, so I must be doing something right.  And as expected, the story sucked me right in from the very begining, once I figured out how to move Sheppard around and do basic things like open doors and talk to people.



In the meantime, my WoW and SWTOR toons are getting an extended rest.  My guild from WoW (Daughter-Type's friends) haven't been playing any of the games we started together, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.  I know things will change once all the new patches and expansions hit and that gives me something to look forward to when they do.

Comments

[mutive.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about the cold. Diablo sounds fun, though. I still need to try it out....(But, yeah, between more play throughs and trying out ME2, I'd definitely do ME2. It's a fun game.)

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

The cold was nasty. I think my allergies made it worse as well. We had so many things we had planned like zoo trip with my grandson. We did go see The Avengers, which was good. Grrr...

Diablo is a strange little game. It was really good for taking out aggressions after a long day at work, especially with the Barbarian. My poor mouse. But I get frustrated with the other classes when the mobs mob me. Friends here at work point out the virtues of crowd control. Smarty pants!

ME2 really is fun. My Sheppard just hit lvl 14 and recruited Thane, so I don't think I'm very far into the game yet. For some reason, he's decided to romance Jack instead of Miranda. I just didn't like Miranda from the start, though. Nothin' like living on the edge, hee he.

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Colds and allergies always suck. :( And it's annoying when they happen to coincide with stuff you *want*. (Like seeing family.)

Hmmm...I may have to try a barbarian, then. Killing lots of people does sound like a lot of f un...

I really enjoyed ME2 as well. I wasn't a huge fan of the Jack romance, but might as well live a bit on the edge with your character. (I always thought Jack felt a bit squicky. But if you see your Shepard as borderline crazy, I think it works out okay.)

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

In this reincarnation, he's a total boyscout. He does have his moments when he's had enough BS and talking just isn't getting it done, though. As for Jack, underneath she's really very vulnerable and that holds more appeal for this Sheppard than Miranda. If any of that makes any sense.

Server transfers for SWTOR next week!! Woo hoo! Very exciting. I hope I don't have to change any of my toon's names. That's always a pain in the neck. I'm gonna have to get the lead out and finish up ME2. Like that isn't all I've been doing for the last week, right?

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Jack is very vulnerable. It's always why I've hated her with the boyscout version. It feels so much like, "Let me heal you, while you cry on my shoulder!" (Which, IDK. It always rubs me a the wrong way for some reason.) But it's an interesting romance for all that.

Oooh, I need to read up on server transfers. That is rather exciting. I'm hoping I don't have to change names, too. I don't mind not getting the name I want, but at this point, I'm convinced that they're all quite attached to "their" names. Silliness.

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

Woah! Deep thinky thoughts about our games, here. Perhaps I need a shoulder and that's being transferred to Jack. Yikes!

My main concern for my Republic toons is I want to be able to keep the Legacy name Jade. Yeppers, my smuggler is Ma'ra Jade. Mara with no special characters was not available. I guess having them on such a low population server worked in my favor there.

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. ;) I think part of my complaint with Jack too is that (at least from Youtube videos) it goes from, "Go away, go away, go away" to "Let's have wonderful healing sex!" in like...two seconds. Oh well. I suppose in my mind I can pretend that a bunch of other stuff was going on that my poor female Shepards were never privy to.

Wow, you got the Legacy name Jade? Yeah, that's one that's going to be painful to lose. (As you *know* that's taken.) Oh well. I'd probably still transfer, as I miss playing with other people. But can't blame you for *really* wanting to keep that one. (I'm "Ceti" on both servers, so hoping no one else thinks it's all that great. Also hoping that Mutive and Quixotic get to keep their names. Iuli and Mahkara can lose theirs, but not my agents! No, no, no!!!!)

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

I did! I was shocked that the name was available. Like I said, it's a ghost-town of a server though. Even that first few weeks there was only a light population. Very disheartening.

My Mara is stuck. Corso, and all my companions really, need better gear. With the lack of population, buying from the AH isn't an option. She's my weapon-smith (I think that's what they're called) so from that aspect things are ok. She just needs better armor.

As for romancing Jack, she's taking her sweet bippy time about even discussing a relationship. Maybe I'm not as far along as I thought. I just love these games, as if you couldn't tell, right?

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Maybe everyone else on the server also thought it was taken? IDK. That is rather strange. But, yeah, she may be stuck. Poor dear.

Gear is really tough without much of a population. I know that Quixotic is mostly getting stuff that Mutive makes for him...but she only got the good schematics, etc. through raiding so IDK how you'd manage without that. (And I feel sorry for my Force users...)

HAh hah hah. I love how everyone is so slow in that game. But they are great fun. ;) (As is talking about them.) Although to be honest, I never got all that into any of the characters from Mass Effect for whatever reason. (Except Mordin! OMG, Mordin!!! I will love him forever and ever and ever.) Unsure why. It's a fun game (technically better than most). But...IDK. Then again, I haven't been all that into almost any romance options in any game, so maybe that's it.

(Well, other than Watcher Two. And I still don't get why I like her at all. (I know that I shouldn't...but I do. Actually, I guess I was very into Anora and Hunter and for all that, who you can also sort of but not really romance. And Kaliyo and Vector are pretty awesome, too. Someday Bioware will make the character I love a real romance option - or just not utterly screw up the romance like they did with Vector - give me Mordin or Lokin or just someone who isn't utterly bland.))

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

Mordin is the scientist alien with the hysterical lines, right? Did he sing for you? I was howling laughing so hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj0iJtgHOCI

Yeah, Ma'ra is totally screwed. If she had gone the healer rout, things would have been much better. I may have to hold out until they give us dual talents or let us totally choose a new tree. Ugh. But, this is what happens with your first born. Mistakes happen and everyone has to learn to adapt.

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Yes. Mordin is the scientist salarian with the silly lines who loves Gilbert and Sullivan. I loved him so much. Why could I not romance him? Why? Why? *cries* Someday the game will give me this. Or Lokin. (I'm not sure why I want Lokin. I highly suspect in this case that it is 100% because the game won't let me have him. Well, and because the game did everything it could to bork the Vector romance, which feels cruel. As I like Vector just...OMG, flirting with him is cringe worthy.)

Mistakes do happen with a first born. I actually really like the DPS route with my main, but honestly...none of them are really doing much right now as it's just too hard to find a group when there are only 20 people or so on the imperial fleet at a given time. (Okay, at peak it goes up to around 50.)

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

What spec did you use for your main? Part of the reason I stopped playing my gunslinger is because I was dieing all the time. I did much better as a healer with my Operative. I've looked around on the internet, but information is scarce. Sith Warrior, or whatever they're called now, has some info, but I can't make heads or tails of it.

And while we're on the subject, it really burns me that people are so critical of the game. Maybe I'm just looking at it through rose colored glasses, but I think too many just rushed through and then declared it a dud. This kind of game needs to be savored and explored at length. Then again, Bioware should have had a few things in the game at launch, such as the group finder, that might have helped ease the WoW generation a bit. I just hope they never go cross server with that thing. Gives me the woolies just thinking about it.

[mutive.livejournal.com]

I used marksman. I'm a DPS machine. Seriously, I point at things and they die. It is glorious. The main is really squishy, though, and it was brutal after she dinged 50. (As Lokin couldn't heal fast enough to keep her up through most anything.) With T3 gear, though, she's able to chew through most stuff before it can get her. (And with T1 gear, Lokin is able to keep her up through anything short of a heroic.)

I do find operative more survivable, though. Not so good for farming, but I seem to die a lot less on Quix.

I'm really irritated by the uber-criticism, too. I do agree that there are flaws (the group finder is an obvious one) but yeah...it feels like a lot of people expected it to be something that it can't be (a game with as much content as WoW from the beginning, a game that gives endless content to one character/class, a game that is exactly like a single player game) or that it could be, just isn't due to the way people are playing it (i.e. I think a lot of people expected to instantly have a thriving guild and PVP scene - which is silly, as that kind of thing takes a lot of time to develop as players test out who they like hanging out with, which areas they want to off each other in, etc. And the person who whined about whimsy...really? There are all kinds of crazy things you can collect or play around with, if you want. Armor modding is the best idea ever. You may not like it as well as WoW whimsy, but that's a personal preference, not an absolute.)

I get esp. annoyed at those who spaced through it, then declare that the story "sucks" or those who are endlessly pissed off that it's not "grind-y" enough. (WTF? It already takes 100 hours or something to level a toon, even if you go fast. Why would you want this to take *longer*? Although my favorite is still the lady who was okay with Vette being shocked but decided it was impossibly sexist that her Sith Warrior "couldn't have a happy ending with Quinn". Seriously WTF there.) MMO players are whiny little brats, I think.