Today's writing prompts are courtesy of the Belghast himself. I'll just be cherry picking topics that go well together: mainly describing my first online gaming experience, how I got involved with my first guild, gaming friend transcendence and times when real life clashes with gaming life.
My first game experience was in June 2000 in a game called Ultima Online. Despite my first interaction with others being ganked by a wandering mob of PKs, my brothers and I were instantly hooked into this addictive sandbox and within a week saved up the gold to start up our own small guild ("Dragonarm") and this is the same guild I am still in today.
I was still in school at the time and boy did my grades suffer due to this new addiction. It would be years before I could get a handle on "real life is more important", and even today sometimes that struggle still occurs.
The guild has moved games a few times now, losing members in the process (around 142 losses to date according to the records) but there are always some who just stick with us no matter what. Canadian Wrothak is a great example, he was with us early on Ultima Online and now 18 years later is still with us on Neverwinter Online. His twin sister and ex-guildmember has also visited and stayed with us while visiting Australia.
It helps that my guild leader brother screens people that seek membership but loyalty like that is rare to find these days.
Showing posts with label PK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PK. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 August 2018
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
NBI: Do PVP and PVE Mix?
This is actually a topic I suggested for this year's NBI, and a number of other NBI bloggers have posted recently about it:
Arcadian has a good write up on the topic of how these two can co-exist. Mainly if the PVP aspect isn't mandatory and doesn't block the PVE guys from any content.
Doctor Hannah doesn't mind "Responsible" PvP which is difficult given the douche-baggery that comes with the territory.
Doone has a piece on open PVP and fairness which has a great line: " Players will always find ways to avoid it if they really hate it, which might include not playing their game."
Looking for Playtime actually grew to like PvP, as the PvE element gets boring having done the same quests in different games.
My answer, after having experienced both consensual and non-consensual PvP (oh so dirty), is never.
Having open PvP all the time in PvE zones like in the old days of Ultima Online or in Wizardry Online (open PvP with chance of permadeath) really added to one's adrenaline as random encounters against Player Killers (PKs) were just that, very random. Unlike in say, a First Person Shooter deathmatch where you -know- you will be fighting other people, in MMOs it's a matter of some decision making and a lot of luck. Some days you might not run into anyone, let alone PKs. Other days you may have the misfortune of being hunted by a whole slew of them - usually for no reason other than "they were bored".
Doone's piece on fairness also rings true here: often a newbie in a FPS is still capable of serious trouble against a veteran, and usually the teams auto balance each side to keep the numbers even. In MMO's a low level and low geared character has almost no chance against multiple max levelled and epic tiered opponents. Not all PvPers are douchebags though (and not all PvEers are not). I've had highly wanted criminal characters and soldiers of an enemy faction be very civil and helpful to me (or at the very least ignored me seeing my low level) but they were few and far between the more common, PK thug type.
I agree with Arcadian that when developers mix PvE and PvP it's because they are lazy and hoping to get free content by feeding PvEers to PvPers who serve as a luck-gate to whatever PvE objective they were after. However this doesn't change the fact that it is still up to the individual player on how to behave. Do you really leave your morals and decision making when you log into your MMORPG? Do you get joy from ruining someone else's day? If you grief someone enough in game (because you were bored or just because the game wanted you to kill x people this week) that they commit suicide in real life, do you think that's on you? Of course it is. That there are people who think otherwise is part of the reason why these two game styles should never be found together.
Let the killers go kill each other in their own little room(s) while everyone else enjoys the actual game. Otherwise, just advertise your whole game as PvP focused so the rest of us know not to bother playing it.
Arcadian has a good write up on the topic of how these two can co-exist. Mainly if the PVP aspect isn't mandatory and doesn't block the PVE guys from any content.
Doctor Hannah doesn't mind "Responsible" PvP which is difficult given the douche-baggery that comes with the territory.
Doone has a piece on open PVP and fairness which has a great line: " Players will always find ways to avoid it if they really hate it, which might include not playing their game."
Looking for Playtime actually grew to like PvP, as the PvE element gets boring having done the same quests in different games.
My answer, after having experienced both consensual and non-consensual PvP (oh so dirty), is never.
Having open PvP all the time in PvE zones like in the old days of Ultima Online or in Wizardry Online (open PvP with chance of permadeath) really added to one's adrenaline as random encounters against Player Killers (PKs) were just that, very random. Unlike in say, a First Person Shooter deathmatch where you -know- you will be fighting other people, in MMOs it's a matter of some decision making and a lot of luck. Some days you might not run into anyone, let alone PKs. Other days you may have the misfortune of being hunted by a whole slew of them - usually for no reason other than "they were bored".
Doone's piece on fairness also rings true here: often a newbie in a FPS is still capable of serious trouble against a veteran, and usually the teams auto balance each side to keep the numbers even. In MMO's a low level and low geared character has almost no chance against multiple max levelled and epic tiered opponents. Not all PvPers are douchebags though (and not all PvEers are not). I've had highly wanted criminal characters and soldiers of an enemy faction be very civil and helpful to me (or at the very least ignored me seeing my low level) but they were few and far between the more common, PK thug type.
I agree with Arcadian that when developers mix PvE and PvP it's because they are lazy and hoping to get free content by feeding PvEers to PvPers who serve as a luck-gate to whatever PvE objective they were after. However this doesn't change the fact that it is still up to the individual player on how to behave. Do you really leave your morals and decision making when you log into your MMORPG? Do you get joy from ruining someone else's day? If you grief someone enough in game (because you were bored or just because the game wanted you to kill x people this week) that they commit suicide in real life, do you think that's on you? Of course it is. That there are people who think otherwise is part of the reason why these two game styles should never be found together.
Let the killers go kill each other in their own little room(s) while everyone else enjoys the actual game. Otherwise, just advertise your whole game as PvP focused so the rest of us know not to bother playing it.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Dangerous Assistance
Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!
Good news - I finally got past the watchman last night and retrieved the soul gem from the Temple of Oblivion, but I must admit it wasn't through my doing at all. I finally gave in to Thanam's suggestion of using a magic ring I received for free from a girl (Aika Lakuza) handing them out in town a few weeks back. When worn the ring lets you communicate with everyone else wearing one, and the amount of chatter I was hearing at the start was enough to go crazy. Still, I asked for help while in the depths of the temple with Quark and his human mage friend Westy and to my surprise someone offered to help - a dangerous (ooc: level 30 O.O) female criminal thief called Winter2 Silence. I was a bit wary of her arrival since I heard from the chatter that she liked to kill people after she helped them.
Fortunately this was not the case as she had a personal rule about not murdering in the temple. I don't exactly know how she handled the watchman, but basically she told us to stay out of her way. A few minutes later she called us in, standing over death's corpse.
With the barrier down it was easy to take the soul gem we came in here for. Winter2 was amiable enough as she sat and recovered in preparation to face some forsaken priest elsewhere in the temple. Probably don't want to run into her again outside this place though. Selenka on the other hand did meet a super friendly criminal porkul lass called Cheeky Loli a few days ago at Chikor Castle. She's the first criminal status adventurer I don't think we'd mind meeting up with again.
Speaking of Selenka she's also had a crazy (and dangerous) idea of mapping out each dungeon in detail for new adventurers. Given the 37 deaths last month and the lower number of adventurers in town lately this is probably a good idea. I ran it by Quark and he agreed it had some merit so we'll get that cartography project started shortly and let you know how it goes.
-Caanon
Good news - I finally got past the watchman last night and retrieved the soul gem from the Temple of Oblivion, but I must admit it wasn't through my doing at all. I finally gave in to Thanam's suggestion of using a magic ring I received for free from a girl (Aika Lakuza) handing them out in town a few weeks back. When worn the ring lets you communicate with everyone else wearing one, and the amount of chatter I was hearing at the start was enough to go crazy. Still, I asked for help while in the depths of the temple with Quark and his human mage friend Westy and to my surprise someone offered to help - a dangerous (ooc: level 30 O.O) female criminal thief called Winter2 Silence. I was a bit wary of her arrival since I heard from the chatter that she liked to kill people after she helped them.
Fortunately this was not the case as she had a personal rule about not murdering in the temple. I don't exactly know how she handled the watchman, but basically she told us to stay out of her way. A few minutes later she called us in, standing over death's corpse.
He didn't look happy at all.
With the barrier down it was easy to take the soul gem we came in here for. Winter2 was amiable enough as she sat and recovered in preparation to face some forsaken priest elsewhere in the temple. Probably don't want to run into her again outside this place though. Selenka on the other hand did meet a super friendly criminal porkul lass called Cheeky Loli a few days ago at Chikor Castle. She's the first criminal status adventurer I don't think we'd mind meeting up with again.
Speaking of Selenka she's also had a crazy (and dangerous) idea of mapping out each dungeon in detail for new adventurers. Given the 37 deaths last month and the lower number of adventurers in town lately this is probably a good idea. I ran it by Quark and he agreed it had some merit so we'll get that cartography project started shortly and let you know how it goes.
-Caanon
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Trials at the Golden Dragon Ruins
Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!
Sel was contacted by a masked aristocrat calling himself Arahawi today and we were tasked with retrieving the Fir Elin jewel for him from the Golden Dragon Ruins, an outdoor trap-filled labyrinth of teleporters inhabited by goblin-like gargoyles, troll-like zules, foul smelling ogre things and worst of all large earth elementals that have remarkable range with their fists. Furthermore, both floors are stacked with riddles pertaining to the rather gruesome fate of Lin Lian. The answers are littered within stone tablets in the ruins themselves but most were a pain to remember, let alone get to (good thing we have a sneaky elf). Also Sel remembered a song sung by the bard back in town which helped in some parts.
Most of the barricades were held by denizens of the ruins, and some by groups of stone knight statues. Using the many broken pillars I could fight them a few at a time but one barricade, held by five earth elementals was almost unpassable. Fortunately with enough training they too broke before me and deeper within the mapless zone I met a porkul priest named Quark, Jaina a thief, and Vladut an elven warrior. We decided to team up to reach the end of the place, defeating a powerful purple hued zombie on the way.
Due to the arrival of another murderous mage (pk) called Smackman our group was broken not long after and I had to proceed to the final section with Vladut. Fortunately the giant frog that was guarding the jewel itself was not so dangerous, despite being very tough. After it fell to our blades we returned to Illfalo Port and Sel gave Arahawi what he wanted, completing the contract. On a side note I am getting concerned for her. Something is wrong with the mana in this region, despite the supposed mana drain, as evidenced by the blood thirsty mages we've seen. Will keep an eye on her and will get Thanam to do the same.
-Caanon
Sel was contacted by a masked aristocrat calling himself Arahawi today and we were tasked with retrieving the Fir Elin jewel for him from the Golden Dragon Ruins, an outdoor trap-filled labyrinth of teleporters inhabited by goblin-like gargoyles, troll-like zules, foul smelling ogre things and worst of all large earth elementals that have remarkable range with their fists. Furthermore, both floors are stacked with riddles pertaining to the rather gruesome fate of Lin Lian. The answers are littered within stone tablets in the ruins themselves but most were a pain to remember, let alone get to (good thing we have a sneaky elf). Also Sel remembered a song sung by the bard back in town which helped in some parts.
Most of the barricades were held by denizens of the ruins, and some by groups of stone knight statues. Using the many broken pillars I could fight them a few at a time but one barricade, held by five earth elementals was almost unpassable. Fortunately with enough training they too broke before me and deeper within the mapless zone I met a porkul priest named Quark, Jaina a thief, and Vladut an elven warrior. We decided to team up to reach the end of the place, defeating a powerful purple hued zombie on the way.
Giant Frogs like eating Porkuls.
Due to the arrival of another murderous mage (pk) called Smackman our group was broken not long after and I had to proceed to the final section with Vladut. Fortunately the giant frog that was guarding the jewel itself was not so dangerous, despite being very tough. After it fell to our blades we returned to Illfalo Port and Sel gave Arahawi what he wanted, completing the contract. On a side note I am getting concerned for her. Something is wrong with the mana in this region, despite the supposed mana drain, as evidenced by the blood thirsty mages we've seen. Will keep an eye on her and will get Thanam to do the same.
-Caanon
Monday, 11 March 2013
Wizards of Deltis Keep
Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!
We were summoned to the Ministry of Arcanum today by Prime Minister Zermu Terlu, a large dwarf with an equally large beard. Apparently they had been sending survey teams out, finding that some of the waterways in the nearby ruins are connected to "Dragoon Ruins", which may have a link to the mana drain being experienced in this land. To this end he has sent us to Deltis Keep to locate and assist the survey team trapped within. The keep itself is best described in three wings.
West Wing: Firecracker's Entrance
Home to more beetles and firecracker bandits and fighters, these people are rarely found alone making them challenging to deal with. "Mighty Dog", a porkul thief that Thanam befriended near the entrance actually tasked us to find their stash of salt for him. Eventually we did, using a key from one of their warriors to unlock the store room. Inside were horribly strong zombies but Mr. Caanon's long spear kept them at bay. Also in this area is a large executioner called Death Carrier who is a very tough fight if you are not fast with your evades. Last but not least, nearby is a "walker" (reaper) who I could detect with my magic. It's definitely a scary place!
SouthEast Wing: King Plumper's Territory
Protected by a barrier from two blue feather wizards (and their body guards), the area beyond isn't so bad. Mostly beetles and possibly a wallet frog, unless you go looking for trouble (which we did) and located another wizard and a purple air elemental who we just left alone. The main inhabitants here are the Junk Metals Highwaymen and their leader King Plumper, with whom Mighty Dog wants to initiate trade with. While Mr. Plumper is quite personable his men are not and will still attack on sight!
North Wing: Execution Chamber
The most dangerous place in the keep is right after a passage with many beetles. It is a large hall with roaming wizards, guards and another Death Carrier. Worse still is that there are at least two reapers present here. Thanam managed to find a route past and located the survey team in the following room and they needed someone to defeat "Scapegoat" who was blocking their research. Caanon dealt with him and his zombies but reported seeing a strange sorceress appear right after. He claims she took the soul of his fallen enemy before vanishing again.
Once the path was cleared the survey team activated a nearby beacon so that we could escape back to town, which we did in a hurry. We weren't yet out of danger though because once we returned there was a mad elven wizard named Solfus (pk) waiting at the gates attacking everyone. I and a few locals helped the guards fight him off before he vanished into the back streets. With the evil spreading even to here I can only hope Mighty Dog is ok back in that keep.
-Selenka
We were summoned to the Ministry of Arcanum today by Prime Minister Zermu Terlu, a large dwarf with an equally large beard. Apparently they had been sending survey teams out, finding that some of the waterways in the nearby ruins are connected to "Dragoon Ruins", which may have a link to the mana drain being experienced in this land. To this end he has sent us to Deltis Keep to locate and assist the survey team trapped within. The keep itself is best described in three wings.
West Wing: Firecracker's Entrance
Home to more beetles and firecracker bandits and fighters, these people are rarely found alone making them challenging to deal with. "Mighty Dog", a porkul thief that Thanam befriended near the entrance actually tasked us to find their stash of salt for him. Eventually we did, using a key from one of their warriors to unlock the store room. Inside were horribly strong zombies but Mr. Caanon's long spear kept them at bay. Also in this area is a large executioner called Death Carrier who is a very tough fight if you are not fast with your evades. Last but not least, nearby is a "walker" (reaper) who I could detect with my magic. It's definitely a scary place!
SouthEast Wing: King Plumper's Territory
Protected by a barrier from two blue feather wizards (and their body guards), the area beyond isn't so bad. Mostly beetles and possibly a wallet frog, unless you go looking for trouble (which we did) and located another wizard and a purple air elemental who we just left alone. The main inhabitants here are the Junk Metals Highwaymen and their leader King Plumper, with whom Mighty Dog wants to initiate trade with. While Mr. Plumper is quite personable his men are not and will still attack on sight!
North Wing: Execution Chamber
The most dangerous place in the keep is right after a passage with many beetles. It is a large hall with roaming wizards, guards and another Death Carrier. Worse still is that there are at least two reapers present here. Thanam managed to find a route past and located the survey team in the following room and they needed someone to defeat "Scapegoat" who was blocking their research. Caanon dealt with him and his zombies but reported seeing a strange sorceress appear right after. He claims she took the soul of his fallen enemy before vanishing again.
Something like this!
Once the path was cleared the survey team activated a nearby beacon so that we could escape back to town, which we did in a hurry. We weren't yet out of danger though because once we returned there was a mad elven wizard named Solfus (pk) waiting at the gates attacking everyone. I and a few locals helped the guards fight him off before he vanished into the back streets. With the evil spreading even to here I can only hope Mighty Dog is ok back in that keep.
-Selenka
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Deadly Streets: Kaoka Parrej Ruins
Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!
With Selenka still practicing her magic at the Caligrase Sewers, Caanon and I headed on to check out the Kaoka Parrej Ruins located atop a sunny hill. The good visibility helps in avoiding the many fire and arrow traps that litter this place too. Far less people here that at the sewers, and not all of them good. This area is best divided by its roads.
Main Street:
The main road has slow moving plants and even more beetles, all of whom are very slow but could catch you if you spend too long talking to the pair of friendly ghosts near the entrance (yes I'm talking about Caanon). Further in are ugly giant flies who are still outrunnable, but to get an item from a nearby carnivorous plant we had to ally with a porkul magician who was hunting them. Once we had enough fly bits, the plant puked out an orb. I let Caanon pick it up since he made me sleep in the stable yesterday.
High Street:
Blocked by an oversized dragonfly and two of its friends, the high street is not that dangerous for the cautious and the quick. One part led to a plaza with a friendly kobold who wanted a toy and the other was an alleyway with more beetles and plants with a chest. There -was- a giant spider that showed up when I unlocked the box though. Ran like hell back to high ground where it did not pursue thankfully.
Also below the plaza was a spellbound/cursed warrior who when we visited was being defeated by the mage aicu. After helping her jump back to the main road proper we setup camp and chatted a little before an evil female knight with a spear (pk) appeared and killed the poor girl. Caanon led the enemy all the way back through the traps to the entrance before luckily escaping.
Low Street:
Right at the tail end of the Main Street, this one is blocked by a group of Visitor Plants. They may be stronger but they're still slow. The true danger is that low street is full of kobolds, ones not afraid of giving chase. In numbers they can easily overwhelm the unprepared.
Side Street:
The last path, only openable after completing the high and low streets, ended with a Kobold Chieftain and his cohorts. Caanon managed to deal with them easily, finding behind them a strange black orb and a beacon to return to Illfalo Port.
Managed to get a lot of coin for some of the artifacts we returned with this time. I think getting a bed at the inn shouldn't be a problem any more.
-Thanam
With Selenka still practicing her magic at the Caligrase Sewers, Caanon and I headed on to check out the Kaoka Parrej Ruins located atop a sunny hill. The good visibility helps in avoiding the many fire and arrow traps that litter this place too. Far less people here that at the sewers, and not all of them good. This area is best divided by its roads.
Main Street:
The main road has slow moving plants and even more beetles, all of whom are very slow but could catch you if you spend too long talking to the pair of friendly ghosts near the entrance (yes I'm talking about Caanon). Further in are ugly giant flies who are still outrunnable, but to get an item from a nearby carnivorous plant we had to ally with a porkul magician who was hunting them. Once we had enough fly bits, the plant puked out an orb. I let Caanon pick it up since he made me sleep in the stable yesterday.
High Street:
Blocked by an oversized dragonfly and two of its friends, the high street is not that dangerous for the cautious and the quick. One part led to a plaza with a friendly kobold who wanted a toy and the other was an alleyway with more beetles and plants with a chest. There -was- a giant spider that showed up when I unlocked the box though. Ran like hell back to high ground where it did not pursue thankfully.
Also below the plaza was a spellbound/cursed warrior who when we visited was being defeated by the mage aicu. After helping her jump back to the main road proper we setup camp and chatted a little before an evil female knight with a spear (pk) appeared and killed the poor girl. Caanon led the enemy all the way back through the traps to the entrance before luckily escaping.
Rough sketch of the villain?
Low Street:
Right at the tail end of the Main Street, this one is blocked by a group of Visitor Plants. They may be stronger but they're still slow. The true danger is that low street is full of kobolds, ones not afraid of giving chase. In numbers they can easily overwhelm the unprepared.
Side Street:
The last path, only openable after completing the high and low streets, ended with a Kobold Chieftain and his cohorts. Caanon managed to deal with them easily, finding behind them a strange black orb and a beacon to return to Illfalo Port.
Managed to get a lot of coin for some of the artifacts we returned with this time. I think getting a bed at the inn shouldn't be a problem any more.
-Thanam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)