Yes, and I think you're right. We have made this the great thing it is, for certain. But it's this world filled with so much depth and substance that allows us to flourish. It keeps the tendency for people to be vampire ninja dagger twirlers in check. It has so much tangible sadness, built on mountains of story, so it does not feel contrived. And it has light and music -- all of that is from Tolkien. Those who have the background for it, or the time/inclination to learn a little, have much to draw from and weave into their expression in game, which then colors the experience for the rest of us even more.

The stage we act on is set by a great work of literature. It really makes all the difference and attracts a crowd that respects other people's creative efforts. I don't feel limited much at all, by the lore. On the contrary, the framework it creates is the perfect facillitator for character development, when combined with real people to interact with. Most of the characters I've known over the past 4 years have changed a good deal if they are still around, including the two I inhabit (not including my couple alts that never change). One has changed almost entirely, with only inklings left of his former self. Lyonardo went from a happy, lovable, friendly Hobbit, straddling his bumpkin upbringing with a big city post-tween life, craving history and a pursuit of knowledge -- to a cautious, wary of ice burds, but still happy hobbit who dutifully patrolled the bounds and embarked on grand fishing trips with many lasses, all while desperately trying to keep everyone from leaving for the beyonds -- to an embittered, spiteful of strangers, hurt fellow, who has lost too many friends and seen too many grim, lonely, no good days.

That's all entirely from real interaction with real people over the years, to your point.  But I say none of that would be possible without this framework, and this kind of well thought out world (and someplace like the Shire). All people wanted to do in DDO (just as one example) was roll a Mage, grab the first vixen with a dragon tattoo on her shoulder, climb to the highest building where the balloon ships are docked, cast featherfall, and float down playing patty cake into the pool below where they took off their clothes and drown themselves together, goth romantically, so they could respawn as shades and run around booing! people.*
Idiots, doomed by the environment that was handed to them.




That's what I'm saying, exactly. You and I also make the exact same chicken dumpling soup, which I've been meaning to comment on for a few months. We seem to diverge only in that, I need the role playing to play the game in the first place. Otherwise I would just get bored, and log off to shoot people with a bolt action rifle in an epic online WWII game -- which is what I do on thursday nights.




*That was me.

Will be doing likewise. Guild Wars 2 will definitely be worth a good look. From what I've read/heard it 'rewards' exploration, and personally that's a huge draw-card.

Ah, the lure of other games... something new to learn, somewhere new to explore, some new people to meet and befriend.

This weekend was the last beta for GW2, which will be released on August 25 (with pre-purchase). There are many things to like about it. I *really* like the look of it, the places are beautiful and striking. Exploring is fun! And there are these "vistas", high places up on top of buildings, where you get a little cinematic of the view, breathtaking. (Sometimes it's not immediately apparent how one gets up to a vista, it's a bit of a puzzle-game to find out.) Viewing these vistas grants xp.

The races are interesting, well interesting enough for a game, anyways. The classes, or professions as they're called, include the standard heavy armour types (guardian and warrior), light armour magic users (mesmer, necromancer, elementalist), medium armour adventurers (thief and ranger), and one really oddball profession, the engineer. I think this last is my favourite, it has kind of a steampunk vibe, with pistols and puffy shirts. (Yes, it's very incoherent, lore-wise, lol.) Oh, one big difference, there is no healing profession, every profession has healing skills, both self-heals and ally heals.

So I made so many alts that I never reached the PvP, but the PvE game is fun. The quests are varied (although still falling into the categories of gather/escort/slay), and the dynamic events are really exciting. Since there's no xp penalty for helping others, everyone helps. Everyone runs to where the trouble is and helps to "win" the event. I've never seen so much cooperative game-play, it's just easy and refreshing.

There is crafting, but I didn't pay attention to it, because all our toons will be wiped.

The community was courteous and helpful, at least in the asura (gnome) home area. There was a guy trolling the sylvari area for a while, so that race may be where the WoW fans go...

Olallie the asura guardian:



In battle (which is VERY noisy and flashbangy):



Naerrin the cross-eyed sylvari mesmer:



This was kind of weird, she lost her clothes:



And then we were all naked together (the little movie reels mean that the player is inside a cinematic interaction):



A couple of random sketches:





So, ultimate verdict for me, it'll be fun to play for a while, but I don't know how much I'll invest in it. At least it doesn't have a subscription!

So new and shiny! I guess. I can't see the pics here at work, bummer.

From the PVP FAQ:

Downed mode works a bit differently in PvP—or rather, interacting with a downed player is different in PvP. While you can still kill a downed player just by attacking them, when you are near a downed enemy, you will also see a prompt: "F - Finish Them!" Hitting F at this point starts the animation for a finishing move that sends your opponent straight to their defeated state.

IMO, there should be an audio prompt too, voiced by the guy who does the "M-m-m-monster Truck!" commercials. Very Street-Fighter-esque (not that I ever played SF; I'm not much of a console gamer).

That screenshot sorta reminds me of Age of Patty Cake...  er..  Age of Conan right after the intro...

What did they rate this one?
*eeeps and hides from nekkid folks*



GW2 has Felicia Day doing voice over fo them Asura too.