There and There Again; The World Strikes Back!

New oratory today, folks! However, in addition, I will try to reduce rampant resurgences of blatantly boring banality by practicing perfect punctuation and accepting an alliterative air. Or not.

I am here to converse about a game. A free to play game, in fact, the type of which I have mentioned before. A familiar, famous, frequently-mentioned free to play game, one which brings to mind many marvelous mishaps. This game is known as Allods Online. I will attempt to describe to you the wonders of my first few levels there for you. See if you can spot my point before I've said it. It'll be like a game!

Yes, I do all my own stunts. If (stunts == screenshots).

Wellp, proto or otherwise, I logged on to a brave new world with such people in it. Not over-densely populated, but a good number, so competition - as well as companions - were always within reach. I was excited, too - this was a game that took things as we knew it and shook them up a little, improving here, sidestepping there, all with a very detailed and amazing art scheme that would assuredly last a long time. A community was slowly building up around it, with jokes about awful drop rates and overpowered classes already emerging. It was enthralling, to be a part of something so new and so large. But enough about the large-scale stuff.

It began with a densely packed tutorial with firm, regimented boundaries, designed to give a thorough knowledge of game mechanics in their entirety to the player. It was successful, too - by the time I walked out of the bounded area, I understood what I needed to know to begin in the first zone. Following a number of grindy quests involving either killing mobs, getting drops, or using items, was another camp, filled with quests that involved... well, killing getting and using. Some drops were atrocious, some places overfarmed, some zones overfilled. Creatures like the Damned Soul one shotted me without a trace. In such, I was astonished to find I loved it. Why? Because it was Vanilla WoW.

I could do a recap paragraph, but really, just go read that again if you have to. It's EXACTLY THE SAME. Now, I understand that the story is more focused in this, yes, and it has a more Cryptic-style in medias res tutorial, sure, and the levels are different and it's free to play and... fine fine fine. It's not 'exactly' the same. But to me, the player, it feels the same. Like, to the note. Levels are gained insubordinatly slowly, compared to today's WoW, and the death penalty is not devastating yet is much harsher than I'm used to. Really, it was just fun feeling like the world was tougher (read: not more difficult, just tougher) than I'm used to.

Unfortunately, I cannot draw concept art for an already released game, so this is liberally hijacked from developers. :(

I'd heartily suggest anyone that played vanilla WoW and is still playing a modern MMO to go check it out. Or, those that want too feel what vanilla was like if they missed it. If anything, it reminds you of exactly why they made the changes they did - opening up content, speeding levels and death, adding a report spammer function - but the community is different, too, and it's worth checking out. People react differently to a harsher world, with a very different mindset than what has cropped up in the 'pandering to casuals' world of today. (You can stop reading now if you don't want a sweeping game design-esque solution.)

I think what this gets at for developers is that the new-game experience, eyes wide and unblinking, is not unachievable twice. While many people say that your first MMO, first shooter, first game will be the only one ever to pull you in with that fascination, I felt it slowly gripping me again. Not firmly, just an ever-so-slight tug to enter a new world, forge a new trail, leave a path of brilliance behind me. MMOs made today do not NEED to cater to new players to impart that first-game feel. It can be done. It just requires a successful IP, a brilliant developer, superior art and level and gameplay design, and a fanbase eager to explore a brave new world.

Tips to MMO'ing on 15$ a Month

It's tricky to play two MMO's, there's no doubt about it. However, it's a a very hard time finding cheap entertainment in this economy, and some times - you just get bored with one MMO. It happens. That doesn't mean you won't want to play it from time to time, or you won't want to raid with your guild on Tuesday evening any more - it just means you want another option. Makes sense. However, getting another MMO can be downright expensive - playing CO, AoC, War, Aion, CoH, STO, LotRO, and any number of others at the same time can cost you a rather large fortune. Luckily, you have other options!

1) Free to Play is your friend!

There are a number of free, yes, free MMOs out there. And even better - there are quite a few good ones - not just flash-based browser games like AdventureQuest or NeoPets that can scarcely call themselves MMOs, or things like... *shudders*... Runescape.

The thing about these free games is that basically all of them have microtransactions. Meaning, if you have a collector's habit of wanting to get every minipet or title, it'll probably end up being more expensive for you to play this than to open up a new account in AoC or EVE.

However, if you can stand not buying the newest sparklepony on the block, there are some pretty fun, good, decent games out there.

• Chronicles of Spellborn: Free to play for the moment, didn't have an extremely solid beginning, but is working its way back. Has an interesting combat system - otherwise, haven't gotten a chance to check it out.
• Runes of Magic: Despite being very good at blatantly destroying contests, Runes of Magic is an often-toted WoW Clone. A decent one, but very very similar to it nonetheless - if you're looking for more WoW, go for it; otherwise, you might want to try something new.
• Free Realms: Targeted for a younger audience than most multi-MMOers, it still deserves note as one of the most interesting MMOs to date, simply because it removed the 'requirement' of combat-based leveling from the MMORPG genre. With kart-racing, cooking, and exploration all being ways to level, along with about 6 or 7 other options, it is an interesting and refreshing take on the genre.
• Allods Online: A pretty cool looking sci-fantasy game with hints of that over-used 'WoW Clone' branding, still in beta and said to be released at some point this year. Check back on release - the graphics are, well, stunning. Not Aion, but still very cool.
• Torchlight Online: Still in production, but promising to be a very cool game if the dungeon-crawler it is preceded by, 'Torchlight', is any indication. Not much information other than it will be free to play and micro-transaction based.
• Almost forgot! Dungeons and Dragons Online, better known as DDO, is a game turned recently from pay-to-play to free. It's been around a while, meaning it already has a decent fanbase and a bit of history - not a thouroghly innovative game, but decent and, best of all, free.

2) 1-Time Purchases

Even if you only have, say, 15$ a month to spend on your MMO, you might still have money you normally spend on those other, single player games. While I'm not going to cover those here...because this post would encompass several small terabytes... I can tell you about those 1-purchase MMO's that you pay for once - then you're done.

• Guild Wars (plus like 5 expansions): Arenanet attempted to revolutionize the gaming subscription models with this game. They thought, hey, we can sell these games - no subscription attatched - just like any other game, and it could work if we sell enough! Cool! However, when it was released, people slowly began to realize that it wasn't an MMO at all. The entire world outside of cities was instanced - making it just a couple of visual chat rooms with solo or group games that you can play out of them. Still worth noting, because it can be a fun game.
• Guild Wars 2: They came back, 5 years later, reevaluated, reassessed, and decided that it was time to make a new MMO - same subscription model of a 1-time purchase (though a number of expansions) - however, in an actual virtual world. Coming out (probably) some time this year or next, definitely keep your eyes peeled for this one. Looks to be a very, very cool game.
• Global Agenda: This one's a bit tricky, and not necessarily an MMO persay, however I'd brand it one. However, the stuff that typically brands it as an MMO - crafting, end-game leveling, open world environment - only are unlockable with a (you guessed it) 15$ a month subscription.

3) Lifetime Subscriptions

The last... and the most difficult to suggest. Whereas you can pay 15$ a month until you want to stop, some MMOs nowadays are offering limited lifetime subscriptions for a fixed rate, until the game goes under. I urge caution for a few reasons with this category:

First, most MMOs offer this as a limited offer, only allowing you to purchase it before or within a few weeks of release. You might not know what you're getting in to.

Second, the world of MMOs is just that, a world, evolving an constantly changing. you never know when your game developer might pull a NGE on you and reverse your loved game into a graveyard overnight.

Third, the 'industry standard' for the cost of these is 200$ - and rising. This is pretty expensive, and if you play for a full year and two months you'll barely break even. If you plan on playing more, great, but otherwise... meh.

• Champions Online (Over) This is one to pay very close attention to if you're thinking about getting a lifetime subscription - apparently, Cryptic has released additional, important and almost necessary content to the game - for a price. Think like a full patch, a whole zone, held only for people who pay. Even the ones that shelled out the 200$ at launch. It's a bit sketchy.
• Star Trek Online (Over) This is one I got in on, however, we'll see how it works out. First off, it's a good 40$ over the standard price, and with the same people that made Champions Online. However, I have one explanation for why I bought it, despite all of this advice - I liked it. I liked the game. It was fun. Entertaining. A cool IP, with so much potential and even more interest. I don't see it as a WoW killer (stupid term, by the way) or anything, but I can see it being a fun game. Also, I know I won't be able to afford two accounts at the same time, so it makes sense to buy it now - when the value is constant and will thin with time.
• Lord of the Rings Online This one's 300$, but only after their own limited offer of the standard 200. However, it is available still, which is pretty neat and a great giveaway. However, with it being 3 years old, it is an odd choice to buy now, with a necessary 1 yr 8 months to break even.

In recap, there are a number of ways you could, and can, play multiple MMOs - without ever subscribing to a game, or just subscribing to one.