Gaming: Another MMO

I really didn't go looking for another MMO. I was already having a Love/Hate relationship with "Lord of the Rings: Online" (hereafter known as Lotro) and really didn't want to add to my gaming experience in that fashion until Star Trek Online releases next spring. But then Cryptic offered Beta access to STO for anyone who bought a 6-month or lifetime subscription to Champions Online...

I didn't take advantage of that offer, but it was enough to intrigue me.

Those of you reading this blog through its hook into my Facebook page already know I've been playing... the game has a built-in sharing feature that puts noteworthy events as updates to your Facebook status. I suppose it would be interesting if all your friends played, but unfortunately while the game shares an event (Ice Princess has reached level 20!) it doesn't really explain where the heck this info came from. Shouldn't there be a big LINK added to it, extolling the virtues of the game and asking that you join up and add PlayerX as your buddy?? Well, I'm glad it doesn't, but now people think I'm weird.

All in all, it's a fun MMO with a Superhero flavor, much like City of Heroes/Villains, but I'm really digging the mission system a lot more. All I remember about COH was that A) I got stuck doing a mission in the park that was too advanced for me, and it was the only one I could take, and I kept dying before I could even get to the entrance, and B) After being inactive for 6 months, they *release your character names* This means that my strategic swooping-up of Jayne Cobb (Firefly character... it's a thing) got taken away from me, forcing me to rename my character. I was not well pleased.

Champions Online instead ties all character names to @accountusername. So there can be 5000 Wolverines, each one with a different @ tag at the end. Someone demonstrated this quite effectively on launch day, by creating a guild swarm consisting of the exact same wolf-shaped character, all named LOBO. It was sad, but I think it got the point across.

In other gaming news, I am still looking forward to my possible participation in the Star Trek Online beta. The game is really looking good, and so far Cryptic's Champions Online lets me know that their methodology for running an MMO is acceptable. There will always be complainers, but so far I have none.