Mass Effect

Well, I just couldn’t resist, I picked up Mass Effect for the PC the day it came out. I had told myself I would buy it and lay it aside till my subscription to TR ran out but what can I say, I am weak. I miss single-player games now that I am heavily into MMOs, I miss the pace and the isolation as well as their non-competitiveness i.e. no race to level cap, keeping up with the Joneses gear race, maintaining good PvP skillz, etc…

I am really taking my time to savour this title. I read everything, go everywhere and talk to everyone. I am letting myself get engrossed into the story with no rush to finish. I set the combat difficulty to the lowest setting so that the game flows seemlessly on with no hitches, I am not going to let the twitch based combat in this title ruin the fine storyline for me. Anyways, I’m getting my dose of adrenaline playing TR, so with Mass Effect I’m allowing myself to go back to my “Lazy gamer” ways.

CoH / CoV and free play periods

Well, sometimes a short break is just what you need to relight a flagging fire, and that’s especially the case with MMO playing. I’m sure glad I took advantage of the three free days of City of Heroes play that coincided with the launch of Issue 12. Since I was focused on leveling my tanker, I didn’t get to see any of the new content but that is no big deal seeing as I was so absorbed with getting reacquainted with the game. I managed to go from level 36 to 38 and gain the “hurl” superpower for my toon. I tell you, there’s few things as satisfying as ripping out a piece of concrete and throwing it at your foes! Now I am ready to go back to PotBS and TR.

This brings me to the subject of free play periods and other “comeback!” incentives. I think they are a great idea ! I find that short 3 day periods, particularly weekends, are, at least in my case, a very effective marketing ploy to bring back potential customers. Lotro did this recently and it rekindled my passion for Monsterplay and made me realise how much I missed the Ettenmoors, to the point where I am planning to resubscribe soon to get my PvP fix. This would not have happened, at least not in the short term, if I had not had this free re-sampling of the game, which kept this title on my future gaming plans radar. Same goes with CoH / CoV. Although I was already thinking of coming back, this weekend of play has accelerated that decision on my part.

Here’s me hoping DDO, Vanguard or EQ2 will do the same, since I am on the wall about re-subbing to them too.

City of Heroes / Villains homecoming

Well, in my last post I mentioned that I was missing CoH / CoV and what do I get next day in my email ? A weekend pas to CoH / CoV !!!

I just spent an hour getting reacquainted with my Tanker, Citadelle, and my Brute, Red Rising, and I must say it’s good to break heads again with those two big fellas!

The timing for this is just perfect, I kind of needed a break from PotBS and this superpowered title is just the diversion I need!

Yippee!

Tabula Rasa here I come!

As my sub to PotBS is winding down, I’ve decided to sample another title, namely NC Soft’s Tabula Rasa. So far I have hit level 10 and have mixed feelings about the game. In many ways, playing TR reminds me of my experience with DDO and it’s twitch based and action oriented combat system, which initially turned me off. Tabula Rasa and it’s very fps inspired combat has had the same effect on me, although I am forcing myself to keep an open mind towards this part of the game. On the positive side, I very much like the setting and story of TR as well as the look and feel of the TR universe, which is a very important factor in my appreciation of any MMO.

Playing an NC Soft title has also had the unforeseen effect of reminding me how much I miss CoH / CoV, so I just may just pop back into the superhero mix for a short stint, especially since I noticed they now have 2 week pre-paid gamecards available.