I do not give credit where credit is due sometimes, mostly because hey, I am human, I have my non-knowledge and I am fallible. Now thats a given to anyone who is a human, so it does no good to make excuses. I wanna give some credit that I do not think anyone gives.
Kingdom of Loathing- A java based game that I just absolutely fell in love with, to a point of celebrating three new years by inviting people over to drink in the new year with me while we listened to the fan boi radio they have that runs with the game. This little turn by turn MMO PvP game came out of left field and hit me with a right hook that dazed me. Stupid, brilliant, and undeniably fun, it cost the player nothing or very little, I spent 20 bucks on it in two years, and it was some of the best money I ever spent on a dumb game. Its dumb, its time consuming, and it can be downright frustratingly difficult, but it is a gem of a game, real diamond in the rough. I would spend 20 bux a month on it if it was in 3d persistent world, and not even blink, but 20 bux will get your toon to the repeating part of the game, the ... generations I think they call it, where your toon is resurrected into a new class, with only one spell from his past life as a booster.
My favorite free game ever, at least till now.
World of Warcraft - Blizzards beautiful child of an MMORPG, that almost removed instances and that feeling of going from one ROOM to another. I played the hell out of both Everquest, and its quirky sci-fi child Anarchy Online, and one thing I absolutely hated was that switching of regions, jumping from one region to another through some magic wall or shield surrounding each region, not to mention the HOURS of travelling. I know why it was done, I understand, but the thing I loved in WoW the most was that persistent world, that seemless run from one city to another, with the ability (if yah was a good monsterbaiter, as my guild called it) to bring giant high level monsters across that world to bash the hell out of a little newbie town or some such sort of hilarity, because the world was made to be truly seamless.
This world has been my favorite world for a long time, until I discovered SecondLife.
SecondLife- Loved by a very few rabidly, hated by most. SL as it is nicknamed, SL is a complex and rich world of discovery for those who wish to look. To start, if you just put a little money in it, not a lot, but a little, you can have a top notch avatar, wearing the latest skin designed to advantage of the latest technical developments of the game, the most damnable weapons and shields, and usually, the ability to join one or more MMORPG ideas that are being actively developed by different folks through out the game. I have played, at different times, at least five different genres of games, Real life (AKA like Grand Theft Auto style) gangsters MMO, Vampire/Gothic RPG's, mix of vampire/fantasy/real life, Star Wars RPG, Star Trek RPG, not to mention the whole damn game is really a great way to explore any idea of roleplaying you wish to have... And i knew all kinds of folks also, The Goreans, the furries, the cyberpunks, griefers. I found a racing game culture, with a rather vast amount of cars to choose from, a flying culture, post mod industrialist goth culture with enough rusted garbage can fire ambiance to choke a goat with. I have never in my life seen such variety under one roof, and in as many cases as not, the work was real, heart felt, and imaginative. I understand the lag, I understand the horrible electronic mall problem, I understand the absolutely awful art and building that happens, but aside from all that, there are real gems, both in folks and in design that has happened there. If the land they sold was cheap enough to afford for the average player, the lag was gone... this game would be uber awesome for us.
To date, still my favorite world.
Last but not least
Gemstone IV- Text based, and still the best damn RP in the electronic world. This game actually began as a book based table top game, put out by a little known company called Iron Crown Enterprises. I used to play the d20 book of fantasy RPG it was before it became the base for the code of the MUD (multi-user dungeon) called Gemstone. Two companies later, and still having a somewhat consistent player base of about 2000 folks, its awesome beyond compare for a RP setting. I adore and sometimes loath the game, I mean, even if outdated today by just a little, my AMD 64 bit 3000 1g RAM, 256 NVidia 6600 desktop is sorely overpowered for such a game, and to wit, the game is expensive as hell for text. But even to this day, I am astonished at the amount of depth I can get from it, even as everyone leaves it for cost reasons, even as the last few of us hold on and continue to play the hell out of the game, watching old friends just disappear, never seen or heard again, it is a game of surprising quality and complexity.
My favorite RP setting, hands down.
To finish off this little least known bits of why I respect this or that game blog, I retire saying right now... I only play Gemstone. I have given up EVE Online, AO online, WoW, SecondLife, EverQuest (one and two), Final Fantasy, DnD Online, (never played Guild Wars), LoTRo (delivering pies! r u kidding m3?)ect. ect ad nauseum. I am waiting for a new game to get involved with.
