BDO: Robber Team

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

A small group from the excavation team are unhappy that the King won't be paying their full fee due to the locked door remaining so (thanks to my lie), and so recruit me for a money making enterprise (I'll call us the robber team) which involves stealing from city folk, visiting ALL the pilgrimage sites in the desert while digging random sand dunes for treasure, and learning how to read texts of the ancient.

To break up the monotony I also chase down a criminal hiding with Gahaz's bandits (who turns out to be dead, but Gahaz the psycho only tells me this after I kill a hundred more of his gang), kill a lot more nagas at their temple and also an army's worth of their sworn enemies the Egyptian desert fogans, scout a dried up river which is now a monster nesting ground, do some swimming/diving jobs for Shakatu and Princess Saya (rafts are slow, fish suits are awesome), and encounter a few of the Aakman desert wanderers who are doing a poor job of protecting the ancient weapons (golems) of the desert as some are very much active, and hostile.

AOE attacks are great.

Since the robber team eventually tries to rob from me too, I rob them in return - taking the huge stash of ancient royal relics that I've been digging up for them back into my possession and handing it over to King Sahazad Nesser explaining that I had infiltrated the group to gather evidence of their crimes. As the King is super gullible he praises my actions and sends out Katar soldiers to arrest the rest of the robber team.

With this task complete I can finally get out of this god damn desert... because screw finding Illezra. That quest line was painful.

Insight: The Valencia II quest line sucks balls, mainly because of the heavy energy use. Energy regains 1 point every 3 minutes log in or 3 hours logged out. It takes 12 energy to attempt to steal and you'll be doing this a lot as there are multiple items that might require multiple attempts. Thieving past 10PM in game time seems to net more favorable results.

Dark Souls III: Physics Breaker

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Beyond the Church I arrived at the chamber of the sleeping princess, who wasn't so much sleeping and more long dead. Poking her destroyed the illusion that is the Ringed City (much like I heard that if you poke Gwynevere you reveal the true "dark" Anor Londo in the first Dark Souls) and left me standing in a massive desert of ash and ruin. Apart from one of the Princess' Knights who I put down, the only other one here is Gael... having grown to a massive size by cannibalizing the "people" here. He then turns to me with murderous intent.

The boss fight against Gael is certainly one of the "prettiest" in the series, with the physics defying knight flying in unexpected angles as he attacks. I only attempt two practice runs to read his basic set before summoning sunbro DogHow and S***A to assist. They are clearly experts at the fight and we have no problems as Gael switches to his even more beautiful phase 2 and phase 3 sequences, ultimately slaying the old slave knight with no friendly casualties. Thanks guys!

A picture cannot capture how awesome this fight is.

This just leaves one mysterious boss fog I found in an earlier secret passage which I couldn't enter. At first I thought it to be a bug, but it turns out there was a pre-requisite to open it first... defeat the dragon on the bridge.

Dark Souls: Manus and Gwyn

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

With a fully refreshed Estus Flask, I took the lift back down into the Abyss (thank you whoever built that) and made the rather trivial journey to the bottom where I faced Demon King Kong Manus, the Father of the Abyss. So... all this black stuff came out of... man, just had visions of the Red Lady in Game of Thrones. Aaanyway, Manus was the monkey that pulled me here in the first place. He was also super easy to read, and using Iron Flesh and the Silver Pendant to negate his dark kamehamehas I slew him on the first try without breaking a sweat.

Stupid monkey.

The captive Princess Dusk was here, so I set her free and we both warped out back to the shrine with Elizabeth. The thankful shroom gave me pieces of her to eat (eww), so I just politely said you're welcome and warped back to Firelink Shrine. Frampt was awake now so I got him to take me to the temple underneath where I used the lord souls to open the door to an ash blasted landscape at the center of which stood the Kiln of the First Flame. Frampt urged me on, instructing me to "link the fire" to end this age of undeath.

A handful of familiar nameless knights guarded the path to it, but couldn't stop me from reaching it. Indeed, the best defense the Kiln had was King Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder himself and with his giant flaming sword I became shishkebab really quick. Gave it a few more tries but the end result was the same. Deciding I needed to level up a bit more I left him there for the time being for some more bonfire jumping to see if I missed anything.

Damned overcompensating fire sword...

Dark Souls: Knights of the King

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Must have rabies - look at the crazy eyes!

I awake underneath a tree with only one way to go - a clearing with a not so friendly manticore. After crushing the beast I found myself at a small shrine with a talking shroom named Elizabeth. She tells me Princess Dusk has been kidnapped (that was quick) and like any good Mario I should save the princess! Well, I'm here anyway so why not. The nearby and eerily familiar forest is filled with gardener-type spriggans as well as gigantic knight statues who I opt to stay away from. There's also a black dragon.

After much running I find a quiet area that unlocks some handy elevator shortcuts. A shady guy named Chester is here too, selling some stuff and being a bit of a douche. I'm not the only one who was dragged here he says. I slightly suspect Chester's related to Ser Dick. Anyway, at a nearby Colosseum I witness a strange, beholder head hollow getting thrashed by a mighty knight. Who then sets his sights on me! Turns out this is Artorias the Abysswalker, after the abyss had corrupted him.

I just wanted to return your ring, you psycho.

He is a tough fight because learning all his moves (amazing to watch, less so if it connects) takes some time and more than a few attempts. Ultimately I end up face tanking him with the pyromancy called Iron Flesh. This stunts his DPS enough for me to outlast him and ultimately put him in the ground. After the battle a lady knight named Ciaran appears and gives him a proper burial, asking if I could give her the soul of Artorias. Since I sense a connection there I hand it over and she gives me her twin daggers in exchange - stating she wouldn't need them any more.

Turns out this was the Lord's Blade Ciaran, one of the four best knights of the King (Gwyn, I assume). I had already met (and slain) two of the others: Artorias and Ornstein.

Dark Souls: Quest Hook

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Following the narrow ledge into another cave with more skeletons I finally found the lair of Gravelord Nito - a giant, floating amalgamation of bones who summons even more skeletons. Fortunately his own area attacks take care of them, and it becomes a case of stamina management. He still gets me the first two times with surprise AoE but his soul is mine on the third go.

Breaking the bag of bones...

With all four lord souls now in my posession I return to Frampt at Firelink Shrine and ... find the sock puppet asleep!? Also seems that Ser Chubby's daughter has moved on and the girl from the pit I rescued before is Petrus' crush, a fellow cleric named Rhea. She also offers miracle magic but my low faith score makes them useless to me.

Since I have some time to kill I decide to see if I can track down Ser Chubby by bonfire hopping (teleporting). One of my first stops was that empty cave behind the hydra at Darkroot Basin where a golden crystal golem now resides, much like the one I needed to free Ser Chubby's daughter from. Indeed, killing it releases a woman - Princess Dusk of Oolacile. Who? What?

She claims to be a time traveler and before I can get more than that (well actually she's just hard to understand) a giant hand reaches through a whirling portal and drags me in! WTF just happened?

High five!?

Dark Souls: Lord Vessel

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

After that super easy fight against Smough and Ornstein (yeah right), I find myself rewarded by meeting Princess Gwynevere, daughter or King Gwyn who is huge in all the right places! She gives me the Lord Vessel and asks I serve her as a princess guard, I don't hesitate to say yes. Because I'm an idiot like that. She then tells me to return to the sock puppet, Kingseeker Frampt, and to take her father's place. "Yes, your highness!".

These player messages are great.

The Lord Vessel is pretty handy too, it lets me warp to almost any bonfire I've lit so in a flash I'm back at Firelink Shrine getting eaten by the sock puppet. Wait what? It's ok - he was just transporting me to the altar below which use unlocks four orange fog gates via cut scene, behind which are located the four lord souls I'd be needing. That's what Frampt tells me anyway, before bringing me back top side.

I notice that Ser Dick is gone, but a new merchant is now semi-hiding on the aqueduct bridge. From this fellow I purchase Ornstein's armor, which not only looks cool - it makes for very functional "scout" gear. Havel's set would still be my go to from bosses though, and since I only knew where one of those orange fog doors were, I headed there first: back to Anor Londo and up to the library known as the Duke's Archives.

A pair of armored boars guarded the passage leading to it, and there was no fire to let them run into this time. However, just like in a bed time story my dad used to tell me I ran between two trees (actually an iron fence and a pillar) where the boars got stuck and easily poked them to death with a spear.

The Uglaboogs method works again!

Skyrim: Reincarnated

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Azura imparted some really obscure information to me which I didn't fully understand, but she did say I was free to take Sunder and so I did. For a "legendary" weapon it didn't come close to any of my current equipment. Before leaving I did have to ask Azura one thing... "Is your kung fu stronger than my kung fu!?"  I'm pleased she was game enough to actually participate, unlike that cheater Sanguine.

She'll be alright.

After a decent sparring session, I said thank you by knocking her out with an uppercut and took my leave. Mellori finally came clean when I gave her the hammer, saying she was doing all of this to try forge a weapon capable of killing the person who slew her dad. Someone really bad. She refused to name drop though, and said she'd send us a note when she was ready, since all her previous attempts at forging whatever she was making didn't turn out right.

There was one really bad dude who came to mind though, so Brutus and I headed to Whiterun to see if we could learn more about him. I'm talking of Dagoth Ur of course, whose Dreamers are becoming more frequent in each town. At the tavern, a traveling dunmer named Iverelle Savidri confirms my suspicions and what the dreamers have been trying to preach: Dagoth Ur has fully revived from his defeat at Red Mountain, and is reforming the Sixth House cult here in Skyrim.

Coinciding with an eclipse eh...

It is up to the reincarnation of the Nerevarine to stop him...

And his lackeys!

Skyrim: Tomb of the Nerevarine

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Mellori was happy with all the trinkets I've been retrieving for her, and the next one was a doozy: a little hammer called Sunder. Supposedly it was buried with the Nerevarine centuries ago, the hero of Morrowind who slew Dagoth Ur in the Red Mountain. It certainly wasn't me because a) I'm still alive and b) I didn't kill Dagoth Ur with a hammer. I just pushed him into a volcano (which was awesome btw :P).

Anyway, Brutus would have to stay behind again because he had to help clean up the town after being caught littering.

"But it doesn't fit in any of the bins..."

The ship to Morrowind was really fast. Pretty much instantaneous even. If I wasn't reading carefully I'd even think the Nerevarine's tomb was IN the ship. A small Imperial party was idling in the tomb when I got there. Apparently they all tried to take the hammer and were deemed unworthy - turning into Hollows (someone certainly watches Bleach) who forever were trapped in the tomb.

While not openly aggressive immediately, I obviously had a conflicting opinion with their captain and ... well. I set them free. Finally I reached the burial chamber myself and who do I find waiting there?

Azura, the Daedric Prince(ss) of Dusk and Dawn

Thea: Not going to "Let it Go"

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Fortunately it seems the herbalist from Hermit's Lake had also moved nearby, so while Cooper Team holds down the fort at the Memorial Ground the rest of the villagers make the run there and pay in food to be cured. The plan is successful and the mostly non-combat villagers are lucky to not encounter anything during their travels. Once they are back, Cooper Team explores the Ice Tower right beside their village and find Princess Zuzanna already in there, trapped by her own lackeys.

Just leave our prisoner alone!

They are willing to spend their undeath to keep her trapped within the tower, and she proposes a counter offer of riches for Cooper Team to help free her instead. Cooper refuses, and leaves the cruel princess to rot there for eternity. They then go on patrol, poisoning spider hives, assassinating bandits, helping a wandering translucent elf with food and finding a mithril mine filled with tough dwarves (who successfully defend their territory).

It is around this time that they finally come across the trail of the Leech Lord once again.

Thea: Ice Princess

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

There are problems at the village when once again the wells are poisoned (by the effing orcs I presume) and Cooper Team is once again on the hunt for a water spirit to cure them. Hopefully Spiral Star is around? During this time of weakness the village is attacked by packs of wolves. Cateaclysmic, who was working on constructing the palisade at the time, is dragged off into the forest and eaten alive.

Meanwhile Cooper Team also suffered a loss: Missy Sparks having been slain by an aggressive mob of skeletons. Soon after they encounter Princess Zuzanna and her undead servant, most likely the source of the skeletons who killed Missy. It becomes clear the Princess is cursed due to her cruelty, that her own people don't like her much, and that she is looking for her ice tower. Due to the dilemma at the village, Cooper decides to deal with her later, saying he's never seen it before and continues on the quest to find the water spirit.

"Yup, never seen it before."

The water spirit is not as helpful this time (guess it's not Spiral Star), instead being a harpy in disguise. Cooper Team slays the creature, but the townsfolk remain poisoned taking damage over time.

MMOs: Winning Conditions

[Part of my MMO Design Folder]

You are the chosen one. The hero who saved the day. Just like everyone else.

That's the feeling I and many others get when MMO's offer a main storyline quest. In Guildwars 2 I'm the commander of the Pact, second only to a lettuce man (the true hero of the story), and I've helped slay an elder dragon. Any character that completes that main quest can say the previous line and it would be true, but by having so many of them existing in the same world at the same time really kills any importance or bearing it may have had. Indeed, there are as many winning conditions as there are people playing so why force everyone into one mold?

Unique experiences are always the best ones which is why human controlled game masters add so much to virtual worlds for me. However since they seem to be being phased out of the online scene I think that instead (or aside) from the main "plot" each character should be given their own quest, their own reason for existing - and who better to decide what that is than the player playing it. Part of the character creation would be including a goal. A few examples might be:

-Finish the main story (if there is one)
-Find the secret doo hickey in the secret dungeon that constantly changes position and ONLY YOU can find
-Get all the (non cash shop, non tradeable) hats. Possibly one from that secret dungeon above
-Kill x number of specific targets (players) randomly chosen by the game (must be people who have been active lately)
-Slay the boss of whatever dungeon on a particular difficulty
-Forge the uber sword of uberness
-Assist x number of other players achieve their final personal goal

However, they also need to choose a fail condition. The two simplest that come to mind are finish within x number of months or die x number of times. Now the catch is if you fail OR succeed, that character is then retired (complete with cutscene). Maybe you can still log in as them, but you will be limited to being in the safe zones only for RP and show-off purposes or some other limitation. If you wish to keep playing, you will need to create a new character who will have their own overarching goal. Should their predecessor(s) have been successful maybe they start off with a cumulative bonus (like the uber sword) based on how difficult the previous goal was and how harsh the fail condition was. Indeed, not all stories will have happy endings.

Guess how Xena ends.

It's still a hamster wheel. All I've done is add some stops and removed some over population (of players) in the higher end zones. I'm guessing if any game attempts this they'd still need an option just to have a "standard" character though for those who want to opt out - of course those characters cannot gain benefits from any previous ones. What do you think? Would you play a game with this setup or does having a visible finish line break the whole concept of an MMO?