So far I have been able to bend but not break to the “wild” reports friends and aquaintances are giving about enjoying a certain newly released MMO.  While I am willing to admit I probably would enjoy the full version myself, I still don’t know that I’d be able to give it the kind of time that would justify purchasing it in my mind.

 

Likewise I have been paying attention to reports from the ESO front.  Really, one of two things need to happen for me to even consider diving into this one.  1)  Overhaul of how grouping works,  2) going FTP.  Honestly FTP alone might not convince me, since my 250GB “games” drive holds fewer and fewer games each year.  The irony is not lost on me: due to level disparities I spend the vast majority of my time soloing MMOs anyway.  But apparently the potential of experiencing content with hypothetical group members is very important to me.

 

That does not mean I’ve been idle.  Still plugging away in WOW SWTOR and GW2.  I was also excited to finally grab the Starcraft II expansion, Heart of the Swarm.  I played this at an interesting time, with all the controversy surrounding Blizzard’s attitude toward women springing up. Personally I love Sarah Kerrigan as a character.  I think she’s much deeper and more believable than most video game characters, and I had the same opinion of her in the original Starcraft as well.  In fact, I remember being offended at Arthas’ fall in Warcraft III because it seemed like a weaksauce version of Kerrigan’s story.

 

There’s one other thing I’ve done, and that is roam around in The Secret World again.  I just love this MMO, but my laptop has real problems with it when other players are around.  During the Halloween event last year, I joined literally hundreds of players fighting a world boss.  My framerate dropped to about 1 every 30 seconds.  About half an hour after I heard guildies say the fight was over, I saw myself die and found out I would get no loot from the encounter.

 

I only forgave The Secret World for that about a week ago.  Currently the excitement is about the new Tokyo zones.  I am just starting the second zone in the game – Savage Coast.  Solo content has not resulted in 30+ minute lag… so far.  I even managed to group up with 1 or 2 strangers briefly, with no discernable trouble.  I might even bother my guildies for an instance run if they get tired of Tokyo for some reason.  Just gotta remind myself to STAY AWAY from world bosses/events for now.