Why Have MMOs Changed?!

Pat and I spend a lot of time talking about this one. What has changed about the MMO genre that the games we enjoyed playing for massive hours just 4 years ago turned into games we can't seem to get into anymore?!

One main answer we agree on (and we all know that happens so often!) is that the people we play games with now are so different from those that made the games simply unforgettable. Not that the people we play with no aren't awesome - especially since Pat plays with John regularly in WOW....

Where have all my MMO friends gone? Long time passing!

But the friends we made then, the guilds we were a part of, helped found, and the social butterflies we (me) once were are no longer. Everyone has grown up, gotten kids or more involved in the kids, become serious about their jobs, relationships, and time considerations have all had a drastic impact on our gaming.

I know a few of the old EQ crew still play EQ - but I was never into raiding in that game, and I only leveling when others helped me out. Otherwise, I'd spend 90% of my time buffing levelers at the Oasis docks. Last time I checked, North Ro and the Oasis of Marr were completely empty. Just old Cazel roaming around! Yes, I kited him a few times just out of spite!

Our Infinite Void DAoC group ROCKED! We had so much fun doing Call to Actions, dungeons, leveling, Darkness Falls, and tower defense was just simply some of the best MMO gaming I've ever had.

EVE with Zitek was AWESOME! I miss you Milton! Ice, Cres, Sammy! Everyone. These people are what gaming are all about, I miss them all! When the corp started changing, the game got a lot less fun, and during the whole Deepspace crap vs production stuff happened the drama just wasn't worth it. I still hate Dino. *grumbles*

Council of the Secret Fire in LotRO are the most amazing people (Landroval) I've played with in a long time. They made me remember what it was like to be a part of these old guilds, and I adore them!!

So....how do I find these types of people now, in games like Gods and Heroes, Rift, Mythos (MYTHOS IS BACK BABY!!!!)...honestly, if I could find these types of people - this type of guild, again. I'd move to any game to play with them.

For now, I guess I'm just stuck doing the same old, moving from game to game, looking, waiting, for that HOOK! For that feel of THIS is where I belong.

Will it ever happen again?!?

Song Memories of Nath

Do you ever have those moments in your life you'll remember forever?

One of mine, I hope I never forget:

Driving West on the 8, coming from out past SDSU into the valley's. Nathan and I are in the Prelude. I'm driving. We're passing Mission Gorge area, and Fat Boy Slim's "Right Here, Right Now" is on the radio. I'm fairly certain it was a CD I had stolen from Beth.

Nathan gets all animated and says "What do you imagine when you hear this song?!"

So he talks about how you see a camera skimming the water, maybe from a helicopter view. It's moving fast, you can see whitecaps and nothing but water, but you can *feel* the movement. As the music starts to build momentum the camera seamlessly changes to show a cliff. You're moving at the same speed, but you're now moving UP the side of a cliff.

As the song reaches the first crescendo you no longer see cliff. Suddenly, at the same speed with which you were moving both along the water, and up the cliff, you see grass. Maybe like the New Zealand or Ireland shots we see in the media here.

Just green. Maybe trees off to the side, but they're not the focus. Just the clear nothing of forever is before you. You're speeding along. You just keep moving. The world is open, available for exploration, and just speeding by.

You can feel the wind whipping past you, you see maybe, a castle! But again, it's not the focus. It's just there for a moment before you go whizzing past.

I heard this song today, on my Slacker station "Dance1". It made me think of Nathan, and how enthusiastic he was explaining his view on how he saw this song. Good memories!!!

Christmas Gaming WOO HOO!

Would it surprise anyone to know I've downloaded Hello Kitty Online to try it out? I think not.

I've not had a chance to play it yet, what with Christmas, Pogo badges, keeping up with Gods and Heroes, and Pat's re-entry into the WoW world.

There are some news notes though in general, that some of you guys might care about!

What was WoWWiki (not linking to them anymore!) is not really the same thing. WoWpedia.org is now the site you're looking for! An awesome coup for both them and Wowhead is that their information is now being incorportated onto the official World of Warcraft site! WOO!

Most of you know I worked for Allakhazam, who also runs Wowhead, and I just want to give the Wowhead guys a major shout out! These guys have worked really hard to inject pure awesome into their community, maintain their own brand and feel, and have done a superb job of it. Most of us fell in love with Wowhead over others due to pure asthetics. We stayed because it's awesome! I hope they continue with record breaking success!!!!

Enstoleburr (LONG LIVE INFINITE VOID!) let me know not that long ago that Gods and Heroes had risen from the ashes and were giving out beta keys. So I put in for my own! The game is under NDA, but the community appears to be fantastic, so I'm hooked!! Hopefully Heatwave can do what Perpetual couldn't, and create a fantastic game with an amazing following. I'm looking forward to it! Pretty much anyone gets in that wants in, according to the last two developer chats so what are you waiting for?

IGN is reporting DC Universe Online will launch on January 11th in the US and on the 14th for UK. Have to admit, not quite as excited for this one (and can't find appropriate links, so hopefully IGN.com doesn't sue me!). It's a comic book MMO....yay? Not into comics, and not really excited about the MMO stuff that's being "introduced" into this new entry into the genre. But we'll see. Not to mention a few people I used to cyberstalk like mad work on it - so best of luck to them! (Also, I no longer cyberstalk Zonk. Yay for him!)

Can you believe I've not tried Minecraft yet? I can! I've got too much going on, and not enough time! Hopefully Nathan will try it and tell me it's not my type of game so I can just let it go. Maybe I'll make Pat try it too! It seems like their type of game!

So - lots going on and lots to keep up with! Merry Christmas, and happy gaming, to all!

New Years Resolutions?

It's time to start thinking about what I want to do this year!!

I'm thinking something to do with trying fondue, having an AMAZING birthday celebration, playing through the entire Final Fantasy franchise, and of course, blogging more!

I want to actually finish Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time and start reading Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension by Michio Kaku. Let's be honest - both are a stretch, but it's good to have goals.

Then I'd like to put together my top 100 books, and start reading them. I miss reading immensely!

Otherwise, still working on the Life List. Got a few things marked off this year, and a ton more to do next year. Of course, it's a work-in-progress! If I see things on my list I think I'd rather not do, I take it off. If I think of something that, for the moment, seems a necessity, I add it! Crazy how that works!

Anyway, time to go relax and get ready for bed! Busy day tomorrow! Christmas guests coming up next week and I have a lot to do to get ready! VERY excited!!!!

Vegas WHAAAT?

People should know, I spend my life planning travel. I plan trips I will never take. I over plan trips I do take. I spend hours researching possibilities, reviews, ideas, trip reports, pre-trip reports, analyzing budgets, and thinking about better/cheaper/easier ways to accomplish the trips I want.

So it should be no shock that I haunt TripAdvisor.com! And of course, Pat and I enjoy gambling so I spend a lot of time on their Vegas area.

Recently, I've been reading their forums, and I am in total and complete shock on the different perception of Vegas people seem to have. I've almost always been within a 4-6 hour drive of Vegas. It's always been an easy 2-3 day vacation.

And I'm cheap! Pat and I tend to spend, on average, $400 gambling ($200 each), $30-40 in gas (probably closer to $60 now with his new car and the recent upshot in gas prices!), and $60ish in food. We don't eat fancy. mmmm Mcdonalds!

But the people on the TripAdvisor Vegas Boards tend to be coming in from out of country (lots of Canucks and Aussies), and spending 10-14 days in Vegas. With room rates of $200 being the norm, and gambling money of....well, enough to get almost the entire trip comped, and future comps of close to everything.

I am floored. I've always wanted to be able to walk into a casino say hello to a host and have them set me up with my room and comps. But let's face it, the day that happens is the day we win the lottery and we blow it ALL on one trip to Vegas - so we won't be able to afford going back.

For now, I think we'll stick with our Cheapo Vegas approach. Because I can't help but see $1000 a DAY in gambling money being discussed and thinking - OMG, for a 10 day trip - that's a LOT of trips to Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well. Slots O' Fun, here we come!! The Wynn will just have to wait.....for forever.

Dear Susan! I MISS YOU!

Susan,

It's been so many years since we last talked, and I've recently started thinking about you. In an attempt to not be completely creepy and still maybe talk to you I visit your site every now and then, but as it's grown you've become much more of an administrator, and I miss your posts. I've not sought you out on Facebook or MMO forums, because well, it's been a long time .

I wonder if you're working in the same place, and how your treatments went. Are you still out in Tennessee? I wonder if you're ever out in my neck of the woods. I would so get together for a girls weekend in Vegas!!

I hope you're still a part of an MMO community that excites and engages you! I hope life has brought you much peace and happiness. I hope your friends and family have welcomed you with open arms, and that your life is what you want it to be.

I hope, more than anything, that you're happy, regardless of the struggles life has brought you.

much love la ^^

ASRC/SRC LadyJade ;p