Lately I've been looking into newer online RPGs to play after taking a few years off this particular genre. Problem is, when I REALLY love an RPG, I will fall in so deep that it becomes more important than real world. Not good. I have to do a year or two of RPG rehab before I can even begin to look at new ones. And so the cycle begins all over again.
This time around I'm taking along some friends. Fun, right? The first of them being TheGirlNamedSteve, who has already got her favorite RPG game figured out... Minecraft.
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| The other blogger at Gammer Girlz |
I've had my fun with a lot of great games over the years: RuneScape, AdventureQuest, Maple Story, Dark Ages, and more recently, Diablo III. The idea of starting new characters on any of them makes me cringe (and in some cases, cry), so I've set out to find new games that will hold my attention but allow me to walk away from at any time. Here's hoping we can accomplish both at the same time.
I started with a massive list from MMORPG.com, rearranging it six ways from Sunday to find newbie-friendly games that I don't hate. So far I've only downloaded/signed up to a handful of carefully selected games (excluding ones I've played in the past), and veto'ed most of them immediately. Oh, did I mention I'm hard to please when it comes to games? Yeah, I'm super picky in the strangest ways.
While I continue searching for one even worthy of blogging about, let's go over some of my weird specifications...
1. Just the right amount of 'toon.
If there are so many sparkles that it looks like glitter fountains cascading down my screen, chances are I'm going to hate it. Make the game so dark and dreary I can't see anything because it's just a cloud of grey moving in front of me, I will hate it. There has to be a nice balance of vivid graphics with undertones of reality. Not something out of a Care Bear's dream, but not something straight from the depths of hell, either. Give me beauty without making me barf, that's all I'm asking.
2. Well thought out classes
If the only classes the developer could come up with are wizard, warrior, and archer, I probably won't play it. I realize there are three basic attributes in almost all RPG game - ranged, melee, and spell. But there are SO MANY combinations and unique characteristics you can add to basic characters that it's just lazy if you don't. If the creator didn't even care about the classes, why should I?
3. Smooth controls
Here's where I get a little too picky sometimes. If I don't like the way the game feels, how the character moves, or where the controls are located, I am done. Even the cheesiest of games I'll stick with if the controls are a dream. I've gotten a lot less picky that I use to be, now that I've dropped the requirement for arrow key walking only. I've found those games slipping away and it makes me sad, so I've forced myself to at least like the WASD movements a little.
That's about it! Be watching for some reviews of games I loved, hated, and may save for a rainy day. There's much more to come and we're just getting started. ;)
