Sticking my head in to say that yes, I've reawakened Tinai and I will be playing sporadically. I'm most likely to be on during the days as it is now, actually.

So, Perun, Wheri and Tinai. Are any others hiding in the ferns or considering going back?

2

(0 replies, posted in Roleplay)

A sweltering Lakeland breeze grazed the landscape. The Tryker lying on his back in the high grass twitched. His nose wrinkled and his hand slowly, erratically waved at something in front of his face.

It was hard to tell his age. He had the weathered and grimy look of a sap wretch but not the telltale gauntness or pallor of the booster addict. As he dreamed, the writhing of neglected muscles under the thickened, olive skin of his naked torso betrayed past haleness which oddly contrasted the bloated sap-belly where he rested his hands.

He moaned, clearly plagued by his dreams. His right hand convulsively scrabbled at his side, searching for the comforting familiarity of a sap flask.

The wind swelled. Again, the hand rose to wave at the air in front of his flushed nose. Suddenly, it jerked and closed over the grimacing face. A red-rimmed eye popped open, followed blithely by its counterpart.

-- "Ow! Wha'! Who...?"

The voice trailed off, finding no target for its bile. The grass swayed innocently; the water lapped idly at the beach; bodoc and yubos grazed in the distance; fireflies hovered above.

No, someone realised -- a dim flicker of consciousness rising through the billowing fog of a binge which half-forgotten onset seemed to have been in another lifetime -- no, not fireflies; firefly... and a strange one at that. The quicker eye squinted.

-- "What're you'en?"

The words came out stumbling, as if unsure if they were a sentence or a single, droning syllable. The voice sounded painfully hoarse. The homin in the grass sat up unsteadily and frowned as if pausing to listen, face puckering comically.

-- "Yeah. Used t'be m'name. Wha's a... a... What're you doin' tossin't around?"

Again, a pause.

-- "Hah! Bad sap, bad sap! I thought I's awake but I's dreamin' still!"

For a moment a lilting, soft voice broke through the croaking drawl and the words came out like the memory of a half-lost nursery rhyme. The face briefly took on a different, lighter cast, then folded into itself as the homin again frowned.

-- "Chelnaa's dead. Long dead. Cut up by a bunch'a kitin. Wasn't'nough left'o'm to bury."

The firefly fluttered impatiently.

-- "Kami? Li'l'demons. Can'trust'em. Why'd they...?"

As if in explanation, the glowing little creature described an arc in the air and tentatively settled on the homin's shoulder.

-- "...but you're... if you're... why me? I don'd'serve..."

The homin cocked his head, a strange lucidity clearing his haggard eyes. After a little while, he mumbled something, then seemed to listen again.

Clouds gathered. A raindrop fell, then several. The grazing animals sought shelter. In the building rain, a solitary Tryker sat in a field, staring intently at the firefly he sheltered in his trembling, cupped hands.

3

(9 replies, posted in Steambaths)

Later, still... cheers, Miho -- happy belated birthday! smile

4

(16 replies, posted in Lord of the Rings Online)

I should probably say that I've bowed out again for now. At the onset of Summer, real life kind of took over, and after having been logged in for a total of six hours in three weeks, I figured it was time to reevaluate. I may very well be back this Autumn, but right now, there's too much else to do in this arguably less epic but wonderfully textured game-world of Reality(tm).

5

(0 replies, posted in Steambaths)

The 25th of May. Don't be a strag. wink
http://www.towelday.kojv.net/

6

(16 replies, posted in Lord of the Rings Online)

Yeah, I'm going to try fishing tonight or so, too. smile

Oh, I should probably warn you that we're not 100% canon-perfect, largely because, well, this is an MMOG, not a Tolkien novella contest. You have to assume that people aren't really that aware of the lore and find a cultural and social identity that works for everyone. This means that we fall back to some extent on the more general notion of dwarves (Forgotten Realms, Warhammer, et.c.) even, on occasion, when it's not strictly what Tolkien had in mind.

Basically, I'm looking at Darkhawk's position from the other side. I like Tolkien, but I also realise that LotrO is not the same world as the one in the books, and in being a role-player, my main focus is to make it work, not staying true to all the lore details.

Hence, the Mountain Guard is a little rougher, a little rowdier and rather less subtle than the dwarves in The Hobbit. I suppose you could say we're more like Gimli in the films than Gimli in the books. (This could of course also be partially ascribed to the fact that we're a military company.)


*brings up his shield to deflect incoming attacks from Darkhawk*

7

(12 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Any noteworthy news on Adellion? It still sounds like it could be one hell of a game, if it's ever finished. smile

The battle system is different. It's based on movement more than key combos, which actually makes it rather daunting for me, but I'm still interested in the game.

Feel free to keep us updated, Midragar. smile

9

(16 replies, posted in Lord of the Rings Online)

Yesterday, Book 13 was patched into the EU servers. Among other things, it includes the first step of the new "hobby system" - the first part being fishing.
(This is actually one of the reasons I really like LotRO as compared to many other MMOGs: the continued development. It's not as nice as having an actual impact on the world, *sighs longingly* but it means the game isn't half as monotonous as, say WoW.)

It's looking like fun. smile

Oh, and for those of you who haven't kept up to date and are interested, the first LotRO expansion is to be released this Summer. It includes two new classes and - look away now, Darkhawk - the Mines of Moria.

10

(16 replies, posted in Lord of the Rings Online)

Darkhawk wrote:

We don't really bit a lot you know

Oh yeah, you've all turned into saints since I left. Yeah. Believe that. wink

Darkhawk wrote:

As for LotRO, I'm following it on the sidelines after I dropped it due to disgust with the general hack, slay, run the same basic structure quests anywhere as well as the 'Hey, I killed a dragon AND a Balrog today' standard MMO fare, which goes especially badly with my feelings for LoTR.

Yeah, you basically have to separate LotRO from LotR. The one is based on the other, but the premises are different. There will be a cheapening of the story and additional, outside influences. I understand your position, though I don't share it. The variation has gotten better, even though it's still a WoW-like game. smile

dustman wrote:

Yep, I have (had) a level 47 dwarf smile I would love to play again, but I don't know if I'll have enough time in summer, if I will, LotRO os certainly the first MMO I'll head back to (EVE will have to wait until the avatars stuff)

You'd be most welcome in our ranks. smile

11

(16 replies, posted in Lord of the Rings Online)

Hey folks.

Yeah, I'm still alive. I'm really sorry for disappearing (er.. again.) The whole website thing kind of screwed me up. I wish it could've been different, but I'm not a well person and this is one of the main ways it shows. I know I've said it before but... you know... sorry.


Anyway... the reason I'm posting is that I've started playing LotRO again, and found that it's developed quite nicely since I first played it. I'm in a recently founded dwarven RP kinship called The Mountain Guard. Basically, it's a military organisation charged with finding and dealing with external threats to the dwarven kingdoms. We're still starting out and we have a lot of RP novices, but the will is there, and I think it might turn out to be a very nice kinship.

So, knowing that you're all excellent role-players, I'd like to extend an open invitation to anyone who feels like role-playing a dwarf in LotRO. I'm not expecting an onslaught of applications, but I wanted to let you know we're out here.

The URL for the kinship website is http://mountainguard.mmoguildsites.net/
My main character is called Hrain Flamebraid. At this point, I'm second in command.

Cheers. I miss you guys. I still kind of consider myself a Seed in exile. Might stick my head into the IRC channel and let you bite it off one of these days. wink

/ Ahni

12

(7 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Well, from what I heard, it's not directly based on Lovecraft's works, but heavily influenced by it. I've yet to see anything that describes actual gameplay, and the wire has been silent for a while. They're moving the production team fully over to TSW once AoC is rolling. Rumour has it there's a trailer coming later this year, but that's not really much of a thrill, in itself.

The Magician's Knob has the released concept art and screenshots up here.

I'll keep you posted if there are any notable developments. smile

13

(24 replies, posted in Steambaths)

Darkhawk wrote:

I think Mir WAS pretty serious Ahnion..

Even so, I was more serious! wink

...er... I think.

14

(24 replies, posted in Steambaths)

On a more serious note, a Transformers MMOG could be good fun, but it would be difficult to avoid extremely generic character looks. If they could give you the power to make your character unique, I would be very impressed.

I'll be returning around the 18th, when I finally can afford to buy the damned game. (They're likely to be losing potential customers with that steep box price.) After getting a bit nonplussed with playing the dwarven champion, I tried a few different races and classes and finally settled on a human captain called Hilt. She's in her early teens, somewhere, now.

16

(4 replies, posted in DVI-Net)

First of all, Nuala, great work.

Second, there are obviously issues with the template, some of which have probably arisen from Joomla! version upgrades and such, other that stem from lack of communication (and the fault there is likely mine.) If I could have site access and such, I could iron those out... as well as help with setting further sections up. smile

I'm ambivalent towards the newsflash box. It seems a bit superfluous when the news are already posted in the box beneath it, no?

Anyway, I'm going to be back on IRC from tonight on, and I'd love to discuss the further development. I've had some hardware issues (new memory that didn't behave) but I think I've fixed them. smile

It's all right, now - let's make it awesome. wink

17

(21 replies, posted in Data Fragments)

I'll toss my mini-FTP thing up and keep it running while I'm awake. I've got a pretty fast line, so I should be a good middle-man. I'll send you the login details via PM.

18

(9 replies, posted in Sava's Garden)

I'm definitely interested. I'm not entirely sure I can save enough money for the trip, but, well, I can try for next year.

I've temporarily teamed up with two role-players, so far - both dwarves. They were called Gimlik (yes, I know, but you take what you get) and... something-or-other.

My dwarf is called Kharil. He's only level nine yet, though.

20

(5 replies, posted in EVE Online)

Good idea.
I'm pretty evenly spaced, really. Fridays and Saturdays are less likely to have me around because other things tend to be happening. Otherwise... well, my sleeping hours are irregular, so it's hard to say.

I'll try to be around, whenever the time ends up, though. smile

I nabbed one of them.
I can't say I'm impressed, so far, but, well... it might grow on me, I suppose.

22

(7 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

It's a little silly to post a link to a forum thread for a game that haven't even been released, yet, but I'm really amazed at the maturity and sense of the other forum haunters over at the TSW site.

This is a thread I started about RP.

23

(12 replies, posted in Steambaths)

Hey, happy birthday!

24

(10 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

First of all, Trevenni, I'm not sure when and how you played EVE. Like a few others here, I was in the beta. Back then, yes, it really was a very pretty space mining simulator. Even after launch, it took rather a long while to improve, though. Nowadays, you can mine... or you can trade, fight, manufacture... well that's the main of it, really. The point is that unlike most other games, you aren't forced into the role of a fighter.

The speck thing, I don't really understand, because in the default view and zoom level, my ship takes up a little over a third of my screen. Not much of a speck - especially when you consider that the damned thing weighs 1,1 kilotons without any load or equipment.

The interaction is a bit of a problem. They're fixing that, but it will be a while. (See other thread.) Since EVE is a fairly small game, they're more perceptive to the needs of the player base, and the desire for character-to-character interaction is great.



I don't really think that the MMOG world differs that much from single player games. What are you really comparing with, here? If you compare WoW to a single player game, it would have to be something equally popular - that is, something like Half-Life or Diablo II. Morrowind/Oblivion compare more in game-style, but they don't have the immensely wide audience-focus that WoW has. Also, Morrowind and Oblivion aren't really much in terms of gameplay innovation. It's pretty much same old with new, shiny graphics.

I have said this before: I'm seeing a fission in the MMOG industry. No doubt, there will be more games in the megaton WoW category, but I think they are unlikely to reach the player base size of WoW. Also, with middleware popping up more and more and server hosting getting cheaper, more reliable and easier to manage, it's becoming a lot more viable to create games for smaller audiences. It's happening right before our eyes. As someone at another forum pointed out, there are dancing and soccer MMOGs, now. URU takes adventure gaming online. The market is developing.

MMOGs today are mostly primitive and uniform, yes. Honestly, so are single-player games. The nature of capitalism is to exploit until you can't exploit any more, and the way games are today makes them great cash cows. We won't see the huge games getting any more interesting any time soon, but with a more stable, diversified market and cheaper hosting, it becomes possible for the people who really do want to make great games to get them published. Seed failed. We all know how tragic that was, but Seed almost made it! Think about that for a second and then look at what is happening on the MMOG market again.

Personally, I actually have more hope for the MMOG scene than for single-player games. The latter have barely developed at all in the last eight years.

25

(34 replies, posted in Sava's Garden)

*Ahnìon falls down from the vent where he's been hiding*

Ah, sorry. There was a spaceship and... never mind... where are we? What am I doing?