An Interview with DrainingSouls.net on MMORPGs

February 21st, 2008

mmorpg interview header

Its not often that I cover PC games let alone MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) in this blog so I thought that it was about high time I did. But I have no idea where to start, I’ve never even played a MMORPG before. So to fix this I’ve enlisted the help of DrainingSouls.net’s Adrenis whom I recently interviewed to clear up some misconceptions and possibly help start me off on my own MMORPG experience.

Daniel Primed: Thanks for being part of the article Adrenis, can you introduce yourself to the readers so that we have an idea of who you are?

Adrenis: My real name is John Pickett, and I’m a 27 year old guy living in the southeastern US. I’m married and have a one and a half year old son. I was introduced to MMOs when I picked up WoW (DP: thats World of Warcraft) a little over two years ago, and basically haven’t played any other video games since then.

I’m slowly turning my entire household into WoW fanatics – I’ve already convinced my wife to play with me on occasion, and I’m sure that my son will be an avid player as soon as he can sit at a computer and not try to eat the keyboard.

DP: Now as you know I’m not into MMORPGs myself, its just a genre which has never interested me. So what do you think is the appeal of MMORPGs to so many gamers?

Adrenis: I think there are a number of things that attract people to MMOs. First is their social nature. It’s nearly always more fun to play games with other people. The last video game I was really into before WoW was Halo
2. I logged around 40 to 50 hours in the Campaign (singleplayer) mode and then got pretty tired of it. On the other hand, I spent hundreds of hours online playing multiplayer on Xbox Live before I got tired of that. Most games are more fun and engaging when you can play them with other people.

On top of that is the go anywhere, do anything factor in MMOs. If you want to quest, then go right ahead. If you want to go exploring, you can do that to. If you want to just hang out in a city and talk to people in chat, that’s an option too. I think people enjoy not being forced to do stuff like in a typical video game.
wow back
DP: Awesome, now I can think of 3 or 4 reasons why I don’t play MMORPGs but deep down I can’t help but think that they are preconceived notions or stereotypes that I’ve formed from my outsider view of the genre. So I want to run each of these past you so that I can get a better perspective on the games.

Adrenis: Ok, shoot.

DP: Firstly; it takes a lot of time and dedication to play a MMORPG and I don’t have the extensive free time to play it so therefore its not worth me playing.

Adrenis: That is a misconception that I bet a lot of people have. It is entirely possible to devote your entire life to WoW. It’s addictive enough that you can enjoy playing it for 8 to 10 hours straight and there’s enough to do that you don’t get bored easily. However, having vast quantities of time to spend in it isn’t required in any sense. It is totally possible to spend more normal amounts of time in WoW (say, an hour or two a day) and still enjoy it.

It really all depends on what you want to accomplish in the game. If you want to be a top level raider in a leading guild or a world famous PvPer (DP: PvP = Player Vs Player), then that will require a good bit of time and dedication. But if you just want to play the game to have fun, it wouldn’t require more time than any other video game you play.

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Three Recent Positives in the Gaming Industry

June 27th, 2007

Children feel really warm inside when a parent treats their child to something special. Much like children gamers feel the same way when a developer decides to treat their gamers with something special. This kind of consumer love should definitely not go unnoticed. So I have decided to talk about some of these highlights for the gamer.

Final Fantasy I + II

The great thing about these remakes are that most gamers haven’t really played the original games. There’s a lot of Final Fantasy fanboys out there that would have killed to own the original FF games but thankfully Square Enix has prevented any deaths with these two remade games. This is such a positive thing for the gaming industry as it gives gamers what they have wanted for years and honestly what we deserved.

final fantasy 1 and 2 boxart psp

Final Fantasy I has been shipped out to retailers just recently. Infact Square Enix know how badly people want this game that they had/have(damn American timezones) a launch party down at the Metreon Playstation Store in San Francisco.

Not to be forgotten a pile of media for FF II has been recently shown off which is definitely worth a look.

Final Fantasy I Release
Final Fantasy I Video(GameTrailers)
Final Fantasy II Video(GameTrailers)

Grand Theft Auto Collectors Edition

grand theft auto 4 collectors edition duffle bag art book

If there’s one thing that we love as gamers, its collectables. So promotions like this one are always very welcomed. Basically for $89.99(assumingly, that’s $AUS108) you get:

-GTAIV the game for whichever console you prefer
-an artbook, which is awesome as GTA has some superbly stylistic artwork
-the original soundtrack for the game(which is only available in this pack :( )
-a safety deposit box and Rockstar keychain
-a Rockstar duffel bag

This is an excellent package as its clever(the duffel bag and safety deposit box) and contains a pile of stuff that collectors and fans alike would be proud to have in your collection. Well done.

NB: This was announced sometime ago, but the first pictures have been released just recently.

Exclusive Characters for Soul Calibur IV

Much like with what happened with Soul Calibur II; Soul Calibur IV shall have console exclusive characters. Which is awesome news, although I’m not sure who they will cast for the Xbox 360 version of the game. Many Sony fans believe that Kratos from the God of War series would be an excellent choice. I of which agree as he fits into the SC universe quite nicely. Being mythical like and all. But as for the 360 who could they choose? Master Chief is far too modern for SC.

Article

Well there you have it folks, 3 reasons to be excited about games. I love in when developers do this kind of stuff, just for us. ^_^ This might become a regular segment, not sure yet, we’ll have to see if this sort of business keeps up.

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