I like to read the main forums and AionSource despite the complainers, know-it-alls and trolls mainly because despite it all, they tend to be on point about the problems. Quite a while ago, Asmodians complained that it seemed that Elyos have it easier with more world bosses and opportunities to achieve better gear. In a gear dependent game such as this, their dominating the Abyss main PvP area made it even more evident as abyss fort instances = more AP for better gear. If you are locked out from accessing it by the dominant faction…well…

A lot of people were initially turned off around launch by the slow response to goldsellers and bots, and then later by the twinking of alts (which I honestly think 2XP weekends only made easier) for full daeva geared 30 lvl rifters to make leveling a pain. As the months wore on, NA and EU servers across the board started to show a trend: the Abyss was green. I noticed that in the forums, those who commented on this were dismissed. The community started clamoring for server mergers hoping for a better balance and economy, but there were also some who said “If that happens, how will faction dominance be handled?”

As it turns out? Not well. Not well at all. After the merger, most of the servers are Elyos dominated except for one–Vaizel–which is Asmo. My original server where I started and my Asmos are, Israphel, which had been more or less balanced pre-merger, instantly became Ely-dominated. My other server where my Ely characters are–Vaizel–became Asmo-dominated. I could only sigh as I was screwed either way. But to add insult to injury in what they must’ve thought was a fun thing, NCSoft West had a “Dash of the Daevas” contest to be the first to achieve certain things ingame. On Israphel, that meant the Elyos taking Divine Fortress–one of the game’s most important–within 3 days, sending Asmos into a demoralization like no other. The same would later happen on Vaizel in reverse. And as if the stompdown wasn’t bad enough, NCSoft West offered free server transfers at the same time, causing folks to flee in droves to where their faction dominated. NCSoft West realized this and cancelled transfers, but damage has been done.

Is the game bleeding subscriptions? Probably. Is there an easy way to fix this? No, not really, short of starting new servers and begging people to go to them as they monitor faction numbers like they used to in the beginning. What about folks stuck on servers away from friends, legions and families though? Who knows. I love this game and really don’t want it to die, but it really boils down to a very simple thing: Who wants to be the loser?

Oh…here’s my theory about the NA server mergers: I could be wrong, but I think it had nothing to do with dominance/balance, but with the lore. They were grouped by the respective Lords. Ha!

Since I got a PS3 (and a XBox 360) for Xmas, I’ve been playing catch up game-wise. One I had really wanted to play was Mirror’s Edge, so I picked it up and um, well, I love it.

The first person POV as you run through the city leaping, sliding, climbing and vaulting over things is very cool and fluid. Well, it is if you do it right and when you do it right, it’s a joy to play. It kind of reminds me of a 1st person POV Prince of Persia due to its protagonist Faith’s acrobatic movements.

I’m just glad that it being 1st person didn’t have this effect on me.

Now that my new computer came in, it can handle Aion’s stunning graphics. Like Blue Mars, it uses a modified version of the CryEngine. I’ve never played a fantasy, quest-based, levelling-style MMO before and I’ll admit that I am really really enjoying it…

Aion is the story of two races of people–the Asmodians and the Elyos–who are now enemies after a cataclysmic event that split their world apart. At level 10, you ascend to Daeva status and get your wings and can fly. In the above pics, I am as my Asmodian templar self. Below, my alt Rafetna, who is an Elyos sorcerer…

And there really is something to be said about coming into a game like this and your best friends are already there. Even when I cross paths with one of them or my husband, it’s always like “HEY!” Forget the fighting, sometimes I find myself just exploring its world because this game is gorgeous…

If you ever decide to come in, I am Asmo on the Israphel server and Elyos on Fregion (as you can’t play both races on the same server). For those who like RPing, I’ve heard that Lumiel is the server to choose.

Take the stupid hamster toy already! Really!

I’ve heard it described as “retro” and coming from SL, it certainly had that kind of feel to it, but for some reason I kept returning. I enjoyed exploring all of the little worlds that folks created out of simple graphics and items pulled from Google’s 3D warehouse. Browser-based and very easy to use, but it really did have a throwback feel to it though. The fun for me was finding worlds were people were doing interesting things, like this Victorian Jack the Ripper mystery-based one called Whitechapel 1888…

And you know that I could not resist visiting “Steampunk”…

There are/were a lot of creative folks in there who pushed the boundaries of what could be done in there, such as the “Wonka” world by Xue Mei…

Whose “Happy” was also a standout to me…

My own little place evolved during the time that I was in there and I essentially rebuilt my beloved gardens that I used to have in SL. I truly enjoyed creating this and I am sorry to see it go…

I thought I’d go in and try it out. It has a user-friendly interface and is easy to play. For younger kids (under 13 like my goddaughter) who want to play, there are settings for them that their parents can set up. The parental controls have a restrictive chat function, which means that only approved persons and messages can be seen and transmitted to the player. I don’t know if they’ve implemented the scheduled gameplay function yet, but that would allow parents to set the time frame for when their kid can play.

For what it is, Free Realms is entertaining with almost cartoony, fun graphics. My avatar moved well and any fighting I did was fluid. I’ll admit that I enjoyed my visit. It is free, but an upgrade is available that opens up more content. You’ll also find that you get to a certain point with some job (crafting)-style missions that you won’t be able to go any further without it.

OK…Hmm…well…hmm…

I was in City of Eternals and in New Valencia Downtown, one of the first areas you are exposed to in-game and came across this merchant. What made its developers think that a prostitute-looking NPC in her undies was a good idea? Holiday-colored booty shorts, a miniskirted Santa elf costume or something else wouldn’t have sufficed? I mean…anything else that would have at least been a pretense towards clothing. I don’t know…it really stood out to me.

Remember, City of Eternals is based in Facebook. It recognizes you as being male or female as soon as you start playing it, so you don’t get to choose what gender your avatar is. In other words, for the most part, female players probably really are female and I’ve seen a lot of them, myself included. One thing I’m not seeing is male NPCs standing in the snow half-naked.

So really ohai…was this necessary?

Desmond Shang has announced Caledonia, Caledon’s “colony” in Blue Mars. Reactions about the upcoming 4 million sq m Caledonia have ranged from “What?!” to “Oooo” to “Whatever.” Its preview will be available in a few days. As Caledon is one of SL’s significant “showcase” regions and he is one of its most well-known land owners, this is a big deal.

I’ve been a part of this project since May and for me, it has been interesting to see the evolution of a brand new virtual world. I’ve been exploring Blue Mars in general due to the fact that checking out other virtual worlds is what I like to do. I will not sit here and tout it as the end all to be all, because as I have said in previous posts, it still has quite a long way to go until it’s truly ready for primetime. In the meantime though, it is the possibility of what it can do that is intriguing.

Will Blue Mars be a SL killer? No. I don’t think so. SL has more danger of killing themselves off due to their company’s practices and general perception than another virtual world popping up. And I seriously doubt SL is going to go anywhere for quite a while. Its draw–as it was for me and for others who are content creators–is still the ability for anyone to be able to make something using its built-in tools. I’ve always loved SL and still believe in its possibilities as well. Those who like SL will continue to be in SL, or they might be like me and check out both worlds. Right now, the two worlds are like apples and oranges and it’s still way too early to guess at an impact one way or the other. In the meantime, can’t blame a person for checking out the other options out there.

I was intrigued by City of Eternals because it is supposed to be the “first full-fledged Flash-based MMO”. So what’s the big deal about that to non-techie-type folks like me? Essentially, if you have a browser, you will be able to run it. No big downloads. No computer implosions. I’ve found that it runs just fine on my piece o’ crap computer.

You are a vampire in New Valencia–a colony comprised entirely of vampires. Sure, vamps aren’t the most original concept in the world, but you have to admit that you would already get an idea of what’s involved. In this case, you complete missions. You fight. You wander around. You level up. For someone who has been used to an open-ended world, I’ll admit that I actually enjoy mission/quest-based gaming sometimes. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that sometimes all that I just want to do is take up my sword/claws/weapon at hand and beat the crap out of something/one.

Only tradeoff is that unlike other MMOs, you lack anonymity. Which is why you don’t see my name titler in yellow above my head as it is my RL name. Remember, this is Facebook-based right now, so I think that ohai is banking on players using their built-in friend base to get involved. So if you are comfortable with that aspect of it, then by all means, jump in. It’s definitely easy enough to do so.