It’s been a pretty good year as far as games go, of course I say that every year. I stuck with my basics.
On the MMO front:
EQ2: I played steady throughout 2009, I attempted some TSO raiding on Oasis but the hours were just too much for me and I resigned myself to the fact that I’m just not able to be a raider any more. I closed down my second account, but kept the 12 characters on my main account. For the first time this year I managed to get myself three mythical updates, and ‘complete’ a character before the next expansion comes out in February. New events were added, and I keep on blogging about EQ2 on a fairly frequent basis. I don’t see that changing over 2010, but I am eager for some new content.
EQ: I went back a few times over the year, did some old school raids and even did some videos. My main (necromancer) is 82, and since the latest expansion did not raise the level cap, there’s a chance that in 2010 I may actually manage to get there (there being level 85). I went on an Underfoot tour for work which was a lot of fun, and was reminded once more why I love the communities in games more then anything else.
Vanguard: I didn’t play nearly as much as I wanted to, but I did play every so often, leveling up my blood mage as well as my smaller characters. The level cap went up to 55 and a lot of free content was added. Of course then that very ‘down’ post showed up on the forums and now everyone is doubting the future of Vanguard. Personally, I think it will keep on through 2010 even though players are quite disappointed by the key features that have been shelved.
Aion: Playing this game specifically for work, it’s beautiful but every single aspect is a grind, from leveling to crafting to harvesting. Thankfully having someone to play with makes these tasks far more bearable. I don’t regret playing, there’s still some fun to be found, but it reminded me about how completely different people can be with their play styles. Of course the future was revealed for Aion in a video and we’re all eagerly wondering when and if any of those features will come true. Me? Looking forward to seeing some housing, but I’m not holding my breath.
Champions Online: I was given a 3 month trial of the game for free (due to work) but barely played. Through no fault of the game, I’m just not the super hero type it appears. I did love the character creation process, it was detailed and I absolutely loved the customization options. Once I got past that there was nothing to keep pulling me in to play.
Wizard 101: I played this game off and on all of 2009 and loved it just as much as ever. It feels like I’ve been stuck in Krokotopia forever, and I’m looking forward to moving on to the next world. The problem is finding the time to actually sit down and play. I also started up a second account so that I could box my characters together, hoping to make some of the fights easier. Since I play mostly for work related articles, I tend to play during the day time when the population has decreased because everyone is at work and school. School specific houses came out, and they’re absolutely incredible. Housing has always been a big pull for me, and it’s great to see some of my favorite games still dedicating themselves towards creating content for that.
Age of Conan: I got two weeks of free play time, and I think I logged in once or twice. It just doesn’t appeal to me, too many other games I play offer the exact same things (and nudity / gore are not things that appeal to me at all).
Warhammer Online: Another one of those ‘if I only had the time’ games, I did sneak in here and there. I’ve always enjoyed WAR, and just wished more people would play. I can’t play this game constantly, because I don’t enjoy PvP constantly. I felt the PvE was lacking, but there have been some amazing revamps and things have changed a little. My account is currently open until the 25th of January, and I’m going to try to squeeze in some more time where I can. We’ll see how that goes.
The Lord of the Rings Online: My little Minstrel is climbing up the levels. This game is just so beautiful to me, and I love the gameplay – not to mention the crafting. I debated whether or not to pick up the life time membership when it dropped back down to $199, but decided to just stick with a three month plan (which also happened to get me Mirkwood for free, when I purchased the $20 adventure pack). I don’t imagine I’ll be giving this game up any time soon, I love the PvE, and I have a lot of friends currently playing, which just makes it a huge bonus.
Fallen Earth: I played the trial to this game, twice. While the genre was not something I typically am interested in (that whole post apocalyptic feeling) the game is a lot of fun. I had a huge learning curve to try to master in a short amount of time, as the game combines FPS and melee combat, crafting is some of the most involved I’ve seen. The graphics are incredible. I’ve been debating whether or not to purchase the full version, especially this holiday season because steam has it on sale for half price. My problem is whether or not I’ll actually be able to make use of the 1 month of play time before it expires, simply due to time limits. In the mean time I’ll keep thinking about it.
World of Warcraft: I didn’t play much WoW over the year, but I kept my account active simply because. It’s one of those games I play for a short while and bore of it before moving on to something else. On the plus side, I did recently manage to make it to level 56 on my main, which allowed me to promptly make a Death Knight who surpassed my four year old character in three hours, reaching level 58. Ouch.
This year is the first year I’ve actually played numerous non-mmo games, and it was great. I purchased an XBox to go along with the PS3 and Wii that are already in the house, and played some fun mario games as well as a lot of Fable II. I bought Torchlight which I love, and Dragon Age when that came out. Sims 3 came out with an expansion and I spent lots of hours lost in both.
I still keep meaning to pop into DDO more often since it’s gone free to play, but again making time is never easy. I also still have EVE sitting on my steam account unactivated because I simply don’t have the time right now to get over that huge learning curve. Then there’s also Guild Wars that I’ve got on the computer, and haven’t played in quite some time. I DO plan on playing all three a lot more in 2010, but when I can’t be certain. Speaking of steam, have you seen all of the amazing deals? It’s a wonder I have time to play anything at all when they keep putting some classics there for sale. I can’t even remember what it was I picked up but I keep telling myself I’ll get to it, eventually.
I hope everyone else had an amazing year, and I hope 2010 brings great things to all of my family and friends. Many hugs!
I did not play any MMO as the year started, got burned out by WOTLK within a month. xD. But then I tried Age of Conan and had high hopes for Aion. Beautiful game, beautiful client – but too asian in looks and in the end the grind got me always around levels 25-35 in both Beta and Release version. :(
I did not try Fallen Earth and Champions, in the case of Champions because I am not a superhero game guy, and FE sounded a bit hyped by the people who were playing it. A lot already unsubscribed by now, so I was probably right to wait a bit before jumping in, which I didn’t in the end.
I played LOTRO during the Aion Beta Weekends and did not think I would play it after the first trial. But then I tried it again, got to love it somehow… but it still was not a great love. Then, while getting more and more depressed by Aion’s grind focus later on, I finally bought a LOTRO bundle for cheap – got 90 days playtime for some 5 bucks or so, plus Moria…^^
Needless to say, I am still playing LOTRO right now. While I still think it cannot win against Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2, I just played GW already for four/five years already and just needed a change back to a “classic” MMO world. Besides that, not a MMO, but a cool world: King’s Bounty and its addon Armored Princess are a very nice single player game in Heroes of Might and Magic style, with a bit more RPG and less strategy. Plus beautiful graphics. I can only recommend it.
I regret not being in the mood nor having the time to test Allods at the moment, but it sounds like Allod of fun. ;) There will unfortunately be no GW2 in 2010, so I hope that LOTRO keeps on getting better with each expansion and that I can finally see Rohan or Dunland in the upcoming Volume III.
It is a lot of games, but the (sad?) thing is that I didn’t even list the smaller games I played for whatever reason (Alganon, Allods, Free Realms, Ether Saga, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and random others that I popped in for a short period of time but didn’t consider them as actually counting towards any real list).
I like to think I’m quite well rounded when it comes to MMOs (in specific), and that I also know what appeals to me, and what does not. I’ll give any game a try, be it my favorite genre or not, but only a few actually stick with me and create those ever lasting memories.
You play a whole lot of games! My goodness that would be an impressive MMO Career resume but in a year, even better!
You know, my list looks A LOT like yours. Like, a lot. Except maybe substitute Star Gate Online Alpha play for EQ :P Oh wait no! I logged back into EQ on my Powerbook to see an EQ that hasn’t been updated since PoP. So … awesome.
I knew you played a lot of games, but it is something else to see it all laid out on the page at once.
Wow. Thats. A. Lot. Of. Gaming.