Any WoWers out there?

[kerosene]

Kingdom of Loathing was great. You ought to check out glitch. It's free. Kind of reminds me of KoL.

[BigV]

now that looks like fun!

[kerosene]

Its great fun!

[DanaC]

For those of you who enjoy Skyrim: here's a review of Mortal Online (the game I play) which compares it to Skyrim.

Is Mortal Online the closest thing to a Skyrim MMO? I think so, and here’s why.

I think it’s safe to assume everyone who reads this blog knows what Skyrim is. It’s a vast single player role playing game with many sandbox features and an exciting open story line that lets you complete quests (or not complete quests) in whatever fashion you want. You see a mountain in this distance and you want to check it out. Than just do your quests later and walk or ride a mount to that mountain. There’s really very little artificial walls keeping you out of different content. For the most part the same is true with Mortal Online.

Both games have a fairly advanced thievery system. It’s rare these days to see an MMO were players can steal from another players inventory. This create a sense of excitement when your in cities that you just don’t get in other games.

While in Skyrim you don’t have to worry about other people killing you because it’s a single player game you do have to worry about NPC’s and there’s really no true safezones. In Mortal Online anyone can try to kill you at anytime. There are guarded cities but if you don’t call the NPC guard in time your going to die, and there are plans on making Mortal’s guards even more like Skyrims guards in later patches.



All in all I would say Mortal Online is the closest thing we got to a Skyrim MMO until Bethesda decides to create one. Mortal Online is not without it’s flaws, but were not going to get another MMO like it for years to come.

There's a side by side feature comparison, which is pretty good too. Points out the flaws as well.

http://sandboxer.org/?p=264

[sullage]

I was going to try Mortal Online but then I took a lightsaber to the knee. Now i play Star Wars: TOR.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by BigV

Dear HM

Please do tell more about Skyrim, perhaps in a new thread. Also, what platform do you use?

I don't always use the user-generated mods, but I like to keep my options open, so I always play Bethesda games on the PC.

I like Skyrim a lot, but sometimes I feel that if I describe all the cool things that in my view make the game world incredibly detailed and impressive end up sounding tedious and mundane (mining, cooking, potions, crafting, etc.). If you like that stuff, (as I do) you can do it all. But you don't have to. You can play this game any way you want. It's amazing.

Different subject, what was the game you afflicted me with, it was online, not exactly text based but with stick figures and loads of language puns? I am ... I am having something of an extended senior moment, I would appreciate a little boost here. A clue is the meat helmet in the Bacon WTF? thread.

Thanks ever so,

Originally Posted by wolf

Was that Kingdom of Loathing, v? I played that for a little while.

That took so much of my time that I now only play a bit during Crimbo (currently in progress).

[kerosene]

Originally Posted by sullage

I was going to try Mortal Online but then I took a lightsaber to the knee. Now i play Star Wars: TOR.

What do you think of it? I saw your post and remembered "Oh yeah, that finally came out." So I bought it with some Christmas bonus money and started playing...so far I am not getting the hype. I am still only at level 9 and am really wishing I didn't have to go through all the missions right now...I would much rather have a more free choice of how I want to play...maybe I am still wanting it to be SWG. (Get over it, kero, it's been 8 years already!)

I really do miss that game though...before all SOE's stupid changes.

Happy Monkey, perhaps skyrim has the elements I liked so much about SWG? Crafting, cooking, mining....what is the player economy like? Do crafted items decay at all?

[Happy Monkey]

It's a single player game. The economy is you sell what you make (or find) to the shopkeepers, and you buy what you need from them. Unlike previous Elder Scrolls games, items do not decay.

It's a single player game, with the scope of a massively multiplayer game.

[kerosene]

Ah, I had not realized it was single player, so I assumed it had a player based economy. Anyway, sounds like fun.

[sullage]

Originally Posted by kerosene

What do you think of it? I saw your post and remembered "Oh yeah, that finally came out." So I bought it with some Christmas bonus money and started playing...so far I am not getting the hype. I am still only at level 9 and am really wishing I didn't have to go through all the missions right now...I would much rather have a more free choice of how I want to play...maybe I am still wanting it to be SWG. (Get over it, kero, it's been 8 years already!)

I really do miss that game though...before all SOE's stupid changes.

Happy Monkey, perhaps skyrim has the elements I liked so much about SWG? Crafting, cooking, mining....what is the player economy like? Do crafted items decay at all?

crafted items don't decay in TOR, but they bind upon use, somehting i'm not sure swg had. if the missions suck, come to fleet and do flashpoints, or find a buddy and do heroic missions or switch planets and go somewhere new, if all of those get old you can also pvp. at lvl 19 or so you get your spaceship and can do space missions. once you get to max level a number of new progression paths open up: ops, organized pvp, dailies. you should start to find it to be pretty open as you level.
personally, i mostly do flashpoints with guildies and space missions. both really fun.
i would recommend you keep up to date on your class missions, that's where you'll get new companions, titles, legacy surname, your spaceship...
likely the game is not fun to some extent because you're playing alone. make friends, find a guild. the game is more mmo than rpg; its no fun if you play it like its final fantasy.

[sullage]

i forgot to mention you can send your companions out on missions or have them craft for you. helps you keep busy while you're waiting for your group to get ready, or a pvp queue, or just travelling.

[kerosene]

Originally Posted by sullage

crafted items don't decay in TOR, but they bind upon use, somehting i'm not sure swg had. if the missions suck, come to fleet and do flashpoints, or find a buddy and do heroic missions or switch planets and go somewhere new, if all of those get old you can also pvp. at lvl 19 or so you get your spaceship and can do space missions. once you get to max level a number of new progression paths open up: ops, organized pvp, dailies. you should start to find it to be pretty open as you level.
personally, i mostly do flashpoints with guildies and space missions. both really fun.
i would recommend you keep up to date on your class missions, that's where you'll get new companions, titles, legacy surname, your spaceship...
likely the game is not fun to some extent because you're playing alone. make friends, find a guild. the game is more mmo than rpg; its no fun if you play it like its final fantasy.

Yes, I think you nailed it when you said I am not having much fun because I am playing alone. That is mostly because I am a little embarrassed that I don't know what I am doing...I have never played a game like this before. I have been reading on the TOR forums in the newbie section. Not sure a guild will want me, since I am so noob. I am afraid I will be out trying to shoot stuff and talk to people at the same time and not be able to manage the logistics of it well enough. And I haven't found any guilds on my server (Elysium) yet. Maybe I should start over on another server and find a good guild first.

No they didn't really have binding in SWG...does that mean it is unusable by anyone other than me? In Galaxies, they had decay, which was one of the things that kept the user based economy working right. Crafting was very complex and vital to the game, so there were people who focused just on that and enjoyed it. And there were people who did a lot of battle stuff, too. I liked a little of both. We also had our own houses and furniture and such. Not everyone enjoys playing house, but I thought it added a lot to the experience...sort of engaging, in a way. I realize TOR is a completely different kind of game, so I am not complaining, just contrasting/comparing.

I haven't even figured out how to get better weapons/armor, yet. And I haven't figured out what a flashpoint is, yet...I keep hearing the term, but not sure what it means.

Also, class missions...are those like the ones I have been going through...I am a smuggler and have been doing this continuing mission with this companion where I am trying to hunt down the guy who stole my ship. I am stuck, right now because on the particular part of the mission I am on now, I keep getting killed by npcs. I can't seem to beat them.

Is there any way to get more fighting skills than the basic ones I began with? Is there a trainer for my class? Are there waypoints and if so, how do I use them?

Sorry for all the questions. Maybe I need to do more forum reading. Unfortunately, the TOR forums are not searchable.

[sullage]

the answer to most of your questions is yes.
yes you won't be much help to a guild, and yes you should find one (don't look for a good one, there are a lot of guilds that focus on leveling, that is they're more interested in hanging out and grouping together than anything else). if you didn't start out playing with friends, you need to make some; when you get to missions that are noticeably harder than what you're ready for, ask if anyone is looking for a group for that mission. something like "/1 anyone doing finding nemo?" (where "finding nemo" would be the name of the mission). conversely, if you see someone in chat say "lfm finding nemo" send them a whisper and see if they could use you. they'll let you know if they don't need your class or role. don't be shy in groups once you're in one; ask questions, mention you are looking for a guild, add people to your friends list. the only thing NOT to do while in a group is to pull accidentally.
yes reroll if you want. its by no means required, but playing with people you know is what makes the game fun. starting from scratch in an mmo with mechanics that are new to you and no support is really not fun. it sucks. if you decide to reroll, play empire on The Fatman. i'll get you a ginvite and we're constantly hanging out in mumble. makes asking questions really easy.
yes. binding means that, for most items, once you equip them only you can use them. i think your companions can use your bound stuff too. its similar to decay in that every time a new char gets rolled it needs new gear, so there's always a market for crafting
yes you can do a lot of crafting, but it can be expensive and you don't level from it
no you don't get a house like second life or swg. the closest you'll get is your ship
you can buy better weapons/armor from vendors or the auction-house, but at low levels it would be better to just do quests/flashpoints and equip any rewards that are upgrades
if the class missions you're doing are getting too hard, lvl up a bit. its like playing the main plotline in a console rpg game too much; you have to do some of the side quests to lvl up. or you can just grind. Its also possible the missions you have are "heroic" missions; meaning they take more than one person.
yes there are more fighting skills. there is a camp with trainers for each class on each planet. look for "class trainer" on the filter on your map.
there are waypoints you can quick travel to once every half hour. you have to unlock them when you first find them. generally one in each camp/town/quest-hub/village. there is also a taxi system. thirdly, death is not too painful in this game, you can kill yourself and res back in town if you need to get back fast.

resources:
questions like, "what kind of gifts does my companion like" or "where is the guy i need to talk to for this mission" or "what weapon does the most damage at my level" can be answered by TORhead.com
i'll pm you our guild's mumble info; we're pretty friendly.

glossary:

• grind: to do the same thing over and over in order to reap profit/exp/whatever. if you find some mobs that are easy to kill and give you lots of exp, you should grind them for a while.
• flashpoint: a private area with difficults mobs (will generally take four people the same level as the mobs to kill them). no one can come into your flashpoint unless they're in your group, if they try they'll just get their own flashpoint. a "flashpoint" is aka an "instance"
• mob or mobs: monsters, enemies, anything you kill in game. comes from "mobile" in mudding slang. may also be known as creeps
• Pull: to engage new enemies. don't wander too close to a pack of mobs when your team isn't ready for the additional pack. shooting a mob in a nearby pack by accident during a fight is just as bad. the general rule is to attack mobs that are already being attacked if you're not sure what to do. btw, pull is a verb "i'm gonna pull. is everyone ready?" and a noun "this is a bad pull; those extra mobs come too, sometimes." you'll also hear pull as short for "pulling threat" but that's unimportant atm.
• LFG looking for group. if you wanted to find a group for the Athiss flashpoint you'd say "lfg athiss"
• LFM looking for members. "lf1m athiss. tank" means you have a group but are short a tank
• tank someone forces the mobs to beat on them so everyone else can dps or heal or whatever
• dps: damage per second. as a verb: "i'm gonna dps the little guys while you tank the boss" or a noun describing a role: "do we have any dps free atm" (something you might ask in guild chat if you need someone to come do damage for you)

sorry this post got so huge

[kerosene]

No worries about the post being huge...it is very helpful for me. I appreciate you taking the time to post it all.

I think I will reroll. By good guild I meant one where people are friendly and willing to put up with my ignorance for the moment. I will get it, eventually and would probably really enjoy it. Also, I can't commit to being on at certain times for things like scheduled raids and guild meetings. But, once I am more experienced I am always happy to help others when I am online and I don't believe in cheating or exploiting. I am not big on pvp, but I like pve in groups. My views on pvp could change, though as I learn more about this game and depending on the group.

All of the information you gave me was vastly helpful! I will give it another shot and see if I can have more fun with this.

It doesn't have to be about crafting for me. I will probably do some of it eventually, but right now, just leveling and learning will be more important. Having a house is not that big a deal. It doesn't seem like that is something that would really fit into this style of game, anyway. I am anxious to get a ship, though.

Now I will go figure out how mumble works. Do I need to get a headset or something with a microphone?

[sullage]

if you want to speak in mumble you'll need a mic of some sort, if you just want to listen you'll just need speakers. you can also chat in text if you have neither.