My take on...MMORPG's

MASSIVELY-MULTIPLAYER: Just look at the number of stalls here!

Here's my brains and brawn on the ups and downs, as well as every other visible side, of MMORPG's.

First off, it stands for Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Remember Diablo? That's an RPG. Blizzard had (and still has) battle.net, which made Diablo up to an 8-player game on the Internet. Now, with the increasing availability of broadband Internet connectivity (bye-bye 56k dial-ups...we're now getting like 1 to 2 MBps), Internet RPG is becoming even more popular. I even know of a married couple who play and level-up together! Plus, the servers are able to cater for more players. 6000 to 8000 players in a single server is no surprise (Iris server just before MRO required payment, back in 2004).

SELECTABLE CHARACTERS

FREAKIN' DMG!

The question that strikes most non-players is probably "Why? Why MMORPG's?" I ask myself the same question, too. As far as I recall, I spent 2.5 weeks of school (wait, it's actually pre-U level schooling) holidays on an RO (Ragnarok Online) private server. And I left aside the 500kg assignment which was due right after school reopens! It was a dreadful experience. I played more than an addict probably could (on second thought, how is that possible??). Waking up around 9-10 am, playing the whole day, except for 15-minute meals, then ending at least at 1 am. The latest was around 5am I guess. And remember the half-tonne academic burden. I could've screwed my IB anytime. Any time.


I think the magic phrase for MMORPG's is "virtual glory". Referring to my previous post, I mentioned how some films spark an "urge" to play games, or in other words, to put myself in a hero's shoes. There's the fame for being of a high level, possessing the rarest of equipment, winning PvP's, doing insane damage on PvM hunts, leading the greatest guild, etc. The list of manifestation of "glory" is, ironically, usually confined to these only. And they usually go hand-in-hand. The highest-leveled players are also usually the richest and most influential in the game. I'll talk about RO. Since I won't pay (neither the recharge cards nor the PayPal financial support), the only way for me to gain status was to do things on my own. It means hunting on my own, farming for cash (zeny), and play however long it takes to hit the level cap. In one of those private servers (emphasis: I won't pay), I leveled a Novice to 255, which was the level cap. I even went to the extent of reading up guides on the new items to "tweak" my Novice to be a real killer. I had a +10 Meteoric Scythe-like Extending Blade of Berserk (Bloody Knight + Baphomet + Injustice + Doppelganger) on it. In a spare one I inserted a Stormy Knight Card instead. My Novice could even take out MVP monsters!


Hey, what's glory without celebration? After all, I'm not forever going to be an Illidan-like Demon Hunter who lives and dies alone. It of course has its legendary characteristics (solo heroes are sometimes regarded as one-men armies, taking every challenge down single-handedly, right?), but I do not deny the pleasure of partying (not the 'berpesta' kind of party!) and joining hands in a common guild. Friendship, that's what it's called. Sometimes, with less experienced players, it involves sharing bits of information on the game. At other times it's simply about trying out a new quest against a new Boss monster. So I guess the "Add friend" feature does in fact serve some real networking purpose.


The most obvious "down" (as opposed to up, as in ups and downs) of such games is probably the addiction factor. It can eat up to 18 hours a day (for several days, possibly for up to a week) for uber-extremists, and probably more for those who don't mind being groggy and lifeless for the whole of the next week...Time is truly eaten in this sense. If the clock were a pie (or a pizza for that matter), then I might get like 1 slice. Out of 24. Five slices for sleep, and the remaining goes into the game, if I dearly want to be recognized. Otherwise I stay as just another gamer who doesn't get as much notice as I would like to get... But hey, why not play like that? Adopt a "take-it-easy" approach, and not so much on the extremity scale. Then Mom won't scold me that much for "doing nothing other than computer". Heheh... but I guess, gamers like me have a natural competitive instinct. An instinct to vie against others. And win. And be glorious. And remembered.


You know when it ends? When there is a server wipe! Or - in my case - when they charge me for playing... Sheesh, that's why I've never touched WoW.

The meaning of Pirates 3

I realize that I'm not that much of a "movie person". That's why I remember very well the movies that I _do_ watch. And oh, I left out "to me" in the title above.

I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End some 2 weeks ago. To start with, the title itself was a powerful one, prompting me about the real end of the world. The beginning of the show was a melancholic (and emotional) one, with the multitudes singing a sorrowful song.


But some of the themes raised by the movie - well, to be honest - touched me. It's a movie where there's no Maximus the Gladiator, or Achilles the nearly-invincible (they are all movies involving swords and melee combat though). 9 Pirate Lords, they say. No dictator. And Calypso wasn't a devastating storm in human form. The conflict, too, wasn't as straightforward as the Tristram Hero against Diablo. It's more...realistic, so to speak. In real life, it's basically (fundamentally) Good against Evil, but so many subsidiary (unnecessary?) conflicts arise. And the medieval setting is taken a step further with the guns (and wet powder), cannons and ships. I mean, all the other "swords war" movies prior to this were limited to the arsenal of a swordsman and an archer. Maybe next would be wizards and witches (if Harry Potter/LotR didn't depict it enough).


So much for the wonder of modern special effects. Back to the issue raised in the movie, I think one more significant theme is the separation between lovers. 1 day in 10 years! Man, I can almost relate to this movie (considering my romantic life)! Only different thing is that I'm not married yet, haha! Hey, even the marriage in the maelstrom was impressive to me. My friends say it was stale, so maybe it's just me being underexposed. Hmmm, and talking about "moral of the story", perhaps the scene suggests us not to be hesitant. Certain opportunities might come only once in a lifetime, and perfect timing might be essential.


Movies urge me to play RPG's. This one in particular made me thought of PKO/ToP (Pirate King Online/Tales of Pirates). I think it's the desire to "put" myself into a virtual character, making myself believe that I'm in a quest for fame. Take a look at it for a while. Jack wanted immortality so that he will never be wiped off from the face of the world. People attain high level in online games to have a certain degree of "immortality" (LoL, reminds me of the Immortal King set in Diablo 2). But is there immortality? I believe there is, but not in - and not of - this world. Because, well, the world will come to pass eventually.


It was overall a good movie. During the intense moments, with dramatic music in the background, my tear drops were crying to get out. I held them back, not wanting my buddies to see my eyes wet. I haven't watched the first two movies though, so - again - it could just be me lacking a standard to compare this movie with.

Blast off!

Greetings.

(You get it. Simply saying something like "Hey, this is my first blog/post ever!" is perhaps too common.)

Well, after several weeks of post-IB freedom, I finally decided to fulfill what I actually planned months before my final exam. This blog would be a place where I reflect on some past memories and voice out opinions which I can't sort out in my head alone. And yes, a place to practice writing (or typing for that matter) and to just let out rants.

For those readers who actually take the time to read, think, comment, or in some other way interact with this blog, I wish you a happy time in doing so.

Oh, as for self-introduction:

I
-was an IB student, now waiting for medical school intake
-like cars, MMORPG's, singers, psychometric tests, martial arts
-am a theist (there's a blank space there)

I think that's enough for now. More to be revealed in my subsequent posts.

Perhaps you'd have guessed that 31.5 million seconds' duration is approximately one year (365 days). To me, it emphasizes how much we humans are bound to time (at least for this side of eternity).

I welcome your comments.


Creski


(Picture credit: www.southdowns.org.uk)