Random Thoughts

Warhammer Online is a pretty fun game after you manage to get past the legal disclaimer grind. Yeah, they make you scroll down and accept TWO screens EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU TRY TO PLAY. How annoying.

I'm still playing EverQuest II. My guild broke up, after the guild leaders all decided to bail at once and join a raiding guild. This turns out to be a good thing as I've since joined the guild Via Solara, also on the Najena server, which is far more close knit and friendly than Explorers of Legend ever were. So, its nice how bad things can just work out for the best sometimes.

While I am enjoying Warhammer Online, I simply can't pull myself entirely away from EQ2. Even though the game was absolutely terrible upon launch, its really great now, and they just keep making it better. Heck, they even announced it will now have multi-core support in GU49 which means it might actually run well on my 3.2GHz Quad-Core QX9770 based rig!

I didn't like Spore at first, but it picks up later in the game. It still involves a little too many repetitive gameplay elements (I'm not sure how I can say that with a straight face given that I normally play MMORPGs, which are nothing but repetitive, but I am.) I guess the problem I have with it is that it plays like a bunch of isolated mini-games in sequence with little cohesiveness...

Anyway, I'm now in the space stage and my Flying Monkeys are trekking about the galaxy, and having fun exploring in their bright orange Space Trekker.



I actually got my wife to play a video game for once. She enjoyed the cell phase of Spore and she even played the entire stage. The last time I got her to play a video game, she ran my EverQuest II characters off the cliff in Butcherblock Mountains and then got them stuck on a wall because she couldn't figure out how to maneuver them back up the mountain, then got bored and left. That was about a year ago. Maybe this game can help me convert her into a gamer? Doubtful, but I'm gonna try. :)

Sporing...

Like most people, I bought into the Spore hype. Considering that I had a "just...one...more...turn" addiction to previous Civilization style games, I was greatly looking forward to one that took you from the beginning of life to a galactic civilization.

But, quite frankly, so far, I'm rather bored. I have only played the first two levels, so we'll see how it picks up, but the first zone is basically the game flOw with more powerups. Its an entertaining toy but death is meaningless (you just respawn) and ultimately whatever powerups you choose don't matter once you move on to the next stage.

The second stage involves going around and either befriending or fighting other creatures. Befriending them involves doing a dance-off of sorts and fighting involves defeating your enemies. The one main carry-over from the previous stage is whether you are a herbivore or carnivore which impacts what you need to eat (fruit, or other creatures) and your special ability. Carnivores can roar to intimidate the enemy, for instance. But ultimately, there isn't much depth in the strategy, and the get missions to build up your creature ultimately amount to "charm X creatures" or "kill X creatures" over and over again. And over and over again. And its not very difficult to do it, so it doesn't stay interesting for long.

I'll try out the world domination phase next, which hopefully is more fun, but at the start of it, it again feels like my decisions in the previous stage don't matter. While the second stage determined the look of my guy (though at the last minute you can undo everything and rebuild your creature as something completely different!), aside from the cosmetic aspect, all that time playing amounted to setting one variable: how warlike my species is.

Anyway, this is by no means a complete assessment of the entire game, as I've only played a very short way through. But so far the game is spOREing..... [yawn].