that’s what she said

Like the HIV I have avoided WoW through careful precautions and selective gaming. That was until my friends started having a huge WoW orgy and I folded to peer pressure and dove in elbow deep unprotected. Now I have an MMOSTD that must run its course, making my body weaker by the day.

I reached level 42 yesterday, which is normally my personal level cap for MMO’s. Around this time is when I get sick of leveling and remember that great console game that I never finished. This time will be different though. I think it is because I transferred my little level 30 character over and picked him back up instead of starting all the way back at level 1.

So, if we do some quick calculations, I’ll be sick of WoW in 30 more levels. That will put my quit time at around levels 65-68. (If I factor in the increased time per level.)

The real question is: Why can’t I ever make it to the “end game” of a MMO? I have a couple theories, the first is that I either pass my friends, like I did in EQ1, or my friends quit, like in EQII, or I get a girlfriend who demands 100% of my attention, like my first go ’round with WoW, or a Bioware game comes out, like my second go ’round with EQII. Those are all valid excuses, but I think mostly it’s because I have no personal investment in my character and I don’t feel like there is anything really waiting for me out there in the “end game” — there is no feeling of “I can’t wait to beat the game!”

In the original EverQuest my only real excitement in reaching the high levels came from knowing I can farm a bunch of plat to twink out a new character and then start the grind all over again. I won’t count EQII, since I’m far more prone to getting burned out on it then your average person.

The first time I played WoW consistently I had no idea what the end game held for me. I knew I could raid if I wanted, but I didn’t know of anything else to be excited for… And now that I think about it, the same was true for EverQuest.

This time in WoW, I am looking forward to the end game so I can do arenas with my girlfriend and twink out a new character. I’m also looking forward to doing Daily quests, mostly for the gold to twink out a new character (I see a reoccurring theme here), but they sound interesting from what I’ve heard. I’m looking forward to getting a flying mount. I suppose I am also looking forward to being able to do the upcoming expansion’s content.

All this rambling brings me to my point, why isn’t the end game hyped in-game? Why aren’t there any NPC’s telling me about all the cool stuff I can do when I’m a “big kid” — or better than telling me, showing me. Why are my friends left to sell me on why I should bother to get to 70?

I want to feel excited by the “end game” by the game itself, not the hearsay of my friends. I want them to contextually show me how awesome I’m going to be if I stick to it without taking away from the tasks I’m currently doing.

Sure, seeing my buddies all decked out in their level 70 gear looking awesome and being special kinda motivates me, but it also kinda doesn’t. I’m just not competitive in that way. Plus I don’t always believe them when they say the “end game” is fun. The game should tell me why I should be looking forward to “beating the game”.

It seems to me for retention purposes MMO’s should try hyping themselves a bit. Give me a little taste of the power I will have at 70, so I really want it, especially if getting to your end game is as relatively easy to get to as it is in WoW.

The guy from G4 slightly redeemed himself for me after I watched this little vid. I guess I’ll forgive them for their lame lolcat video.

I started on a new game team at work the end of last week. I’m really excited about it. I’ve been working on the same game for a really long time and found my creativity becoming a bit stifled, meaning I just couldn’t think of anything new to do. Hopefully, everything will get up and running on my computer soon, so I can get to work.

Tami is in Minnesota right now, which is lamesauce on a lameburger. I’m all co-dependent and stuff and not sure what to do with my free time. She keeps giving me an update on the amount of snow that has fallen today, so now I’m all worried that she will get snowed in and not be able to come home on time, which would suck ass.

On a positive note, I have been driving her car all weekend since she has been gone, which is awesome. I don’t ever want to drive my truck again.

In gaming news I have been sucked back into WoW, since everyone I know is now playing it instead of being social. Super.

This video has made me no longer love lolcats.

I moved again. Tami blogged about it, so I don’t feel that I need to… So, read her blog about our move and please note that the pirate flag is not temporary!

The Game of Thrones CCG is no longer a CCG… It is just a CG. This means no more avid collecting, no more rares, no more surprises and no more booster packs. Some people think this is a good thing. I suppose it is good for the wallet, but not for the fun. My favorite part of CCG’s in general is opening booster packs and collecting rares. I’ll give the new format a try, but I doubt it will hold my attention.

The removal of the first C in the aGoT CCG has led me into the arms of a new, collectable card game. I have finally given in and started playing UFS, which incidentally was recently purchased by Fantasy Flight Games, who makes the aGoT FCG (F for Fixed).

UFS stands for Universal Fighting System. The game setting is various fighting games, like Street Fighter, Soul Caliber, SNK, Samurai Showdown and some other game. The format is 1 on 1 matches to the death or decking.

UFS has several pros and cons for me. I’ll start with the cons, so that I can end this blog post on a positive note.

Cons:

Decks that stall – Some decks just don’t play well together. For example, Tami and I had a less than epic game with two defensive healing decks. Mostly, we sat there and stared at each other waiting for something to happen. It was like a circle jerk with a bunch of people who just aren’t interested in giving or receiving.

Game Setting – I’ve never been a huge fan of fighting games and I’m finding it hard to really get into the game on a story/attachment to my character level. I don’t really give a crap about M. Bison or even recognize any of the SNK fighters… And who is that chick with the frog hands? I also can’t even pronounce some of the attacks. What the hell is a “Tatsumakisenpukyaku”? I can only guess it is some kind of really, really hard kick, because it has the kick keyword on it.

Demographic – UFS is probably one of the more popular CCG’s I’ve played. This means tournaments will be full of pubescent boys. Think what you will of me, but I really don’t want to get beat at a card game by some pimple faced 16 year old, who shit talks and has never gotten laid.

UFS Pro’s:

Girlfriend approved – My special lady, aka. my boo, is playing with us. She digs the game and has decided to make a deck for every chick in the game. She already has a Mai (I don’t know who the fuck that character is) deck that beat me a couple times. She has fun with the game and loves buying boosters! She says opening boosters is like opening presents Christmas morning. (I agree.)

SHINIES!! – The rares in this game are shiny! Enough said.

Combo-tastic – This game has more multi card combos than any other CCG I’ve ever played. You can build whole decks that do nothing but perform a set of combos. Deck building for this game is awesome. It is deep and you really have to give it a lot of thought.

1 on 1 – After playing V:tES for so long, which isn’t fun unless you have 5 people I’ve really grown to love 1 on 1 games. I can play with one of my friends at any time.

Balanced – So far the game seems pretty balanced. There doesn’t seem to be 1 end all, win every time strategy. Granted there are some strategies that are easier to pull of and easier to win with, but there doesn’t seem to ever really be a guarantee.

So far I really dig UFS. I don’t think that I will invest as much in it as I have in other games, mostly because of my lack of love for the setting. I think it has definitely stuck though and the fact that my girlfriend plays with me is awesome. There is nothing like post-coital deck strategy discussion.

My girlfriend’s post about the Bella Sara CCG got me thinking about what a racket collectable/tradable card games are. If the mafia were to enter the gaming industry I have no doubt they would start with CCG’s and I would be the first to join up with them.

The most obvious example of racketeering is the ebay’ing of single cards. I’ve provided screenshots of the most disgusting/amazing thing I’ve ever seen…

This is the list for Magic the Gathering cards sorted by price:

As you can see the all elusive card “Black Lotus” in its earliest release in mint condition runs for a grand… That is $1,000… ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS! Granted, none of those have bids yet, but it’s really the “Buy it Now” auction for $900 that kills me.

The person that developed CCG’s was a genius. He must have been on the crap-er one day thinking to himself, “If I develop a card game with a system of rarity where you can only win tournaments with the really awesome rare cards, then I can wipe my ass with money instead of this soft, soft toilet paper.”

Then some guy at Blizzard came along and raised the ante and said, “I’m already wiping my ass with wads of cash, let’s make a CCG with super rare loot cards so I can have a robot made of money wipe my ass with money peeled delicately from his robot money arm.”

I haven’t played Magic much, just because I don’t ever want to spend that kind of money. I’m sure a Magic player’s response to that is, “Well, you don’t have to buy singles.” To which I reply, “Uh, yeah I do, because I want to have the biggest stack of rares possible to prove that I am better, smarter, faster than you.”

You may be saying to yourself, “These ebay auctions are players profiting from the game.” True, on occasion… But I have no doubt that these people bought thousands upon thousands of cards to get the rares they are selling. I’m not saying these ebaying bastards aren’t greedy, because the baby Ghandi knows they are, but the companies making CCG’s created this economy.

This leads to why my friends and I play dead/unpopular CCG’s like Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (formerly Jyhad) and A Game of Thrones CCG. Just take a look at these prices:

Despite the racketeering and unending circle of having to collect them all, I love CCG’s, I love them more than pretty much any other form of gaming out there. I love the card art, I love the mechanics, I love the IRL social aspects (even if the game store I play at smells terrible) and most of all I love the feeling of ownership over my cards and my decks. Having cards in my hands and boxes of cards all over my living room makes me attached to the game more than any avatar ever has.

I guess I just wish I was the dude that came up with such an amazing racket. Hats off to you, Mr. CCG Rare Designer Guy.

I managed to drag my birthday out all the way through Saturday. Here are some pics of my birthday at the bar:

This is possibly the raddest face I’ve ever made in a picture:

And of course the shocker was thrown:

I had the best birthday to date.

On Sunday my boo and I took her pup Bella to the dog park. Which, if you read her blog, you already know. It was a good time. I always think it is funny to watch the dogs try to hump each other and the reactions of their owners. My favorite owner reaction to humping is the cheer. “Get you some, Rex! Ahh Yeah!”

This pic of Bella came out really well:

I have the best co-workers in the world. Emily and Morgan had a little cake-off for my birthday. While it is not a real contest because both cakes are awesome it is the raddest thing ever. My office smells like chocolate cake and I’m happy.