One of the best solo classes by far in LotRO is the hunter. While I've played the lore-master and the captain, the hunter's powerful ranged attacks and cleverly-designed skills clearly make up for the lack of a pet. As a hunter, I have been able to take down elites alone and complete quests two to three levels above me.

Playing as a hunter is definitely fun. It is great to be able to take down an enemy in just a few shots and to constantly challenge myself by defeating enemies of higher levels. Hunters in LotRO don't have to buy arrows, unlike hunters in WoW. This makes it very easy to quest far from town, as ranged attacks are always available. Ranged attacks work even when close to the enemy, so I'm never limited to the weaker melee attacks. Hunters also get a 15% run speed bonus early on, making resource mining much easier.

One of the best features for a hunter is the ability to instantly travel to key locations. While other classes often have to spend 40-100 silver to get from location to location, hunters slowly earn the ability to travel instantly to almost any central hub for about 2-6 silver in traveling rations. My hunter is ill-equipped to handle large crowds, which are a central component of many group quests. Fortunately, I can use the fast travel abilities to jump between areas to find quests that I can complete alone.

The only disadvantages to being a hunter that I have found so far are that I miss having a pet and that I get over-confident. After getting used to having a summoned pet with my primary character (lore-master), I miss the security I felt when I had a companion with me. It's nice to be able to use various pets to tank or deflect a few blows, especially when playing solo. Although my hunter deals greater damage on her own, this can be misleading and often leads me to seek out enemies that are too powerful for me. I find that I die more often than I did with the other classes, but I hope that this will improve as I find better strategies.

The hunter seems to be a solid solo class, and players seem to favor hunters. When I tried to join a random group to complete a fellowship quest, there would always be at least two hunters in the party, if not more. It's easy to see why, given their travel abilities and high damage capabilities. Hunters seem to have a lot of advantages over other classes, but they do have their limitations.  

One of the most challenging issues to deal with in our society today is a lack of productivity. People can spend eight hours at work and come home, feeling as if they got nothing done all day. Yet games such as World of Warcraft (WoW) provide a very rewarding structure. In just half an hour in WoW, a player can kill 20 vermin and complete a quest or two. In a night, a player can gain an entire level, especially at lower levels. WoW is excellent at providing rewards, but is it fun?

In the early levels, playing as a draenei paladin, I found WoW to be both fun and rewarding. In just four hours, I reached level 10. The game is cleverly tailored to beginning players; the opening area is easy and harmful creatures are clearly marked. Enemies are often not hostile until attacked.

Blizzard added a lot of very thoughtful design concepts to the opening quest flow as well, making questing quite painless. Players are given just a few quests to manage at first - no more than five or six. Breadcrumb quests are given to lead the player to the next area, and there are often additional quest-givers along the way, providing both a visual cue for the player and reinforcement that he is on the right path. Quests given out the same time are often grouped in the same area, reducing frustration for a player, as he can often get rewarded for killing the enemies on the way to a quest item. The actual numbers of items to be collected are also kept to a minimum, often between 1 and 8, reducing tedium. Another nice feature was a remote quest giver, such as a scout in an enemy area, that could give the player credit or move him forward in a nearby quest without the need for the player to return to town.

The quest flow in Ammen Vale and Azuremyst Isle was enjoyable, but still not quite satisfying enough for me. There were only a couple memorable quests out of the many that I completed. I was very impressed by the Prophecy of Akida quest chain, in which I could turn into a panther and travel through the world as if I were in a spiritual realm. The game took on a sepia tone, and the screen swirled into a haze. It was a fantastic experience, but, unfortunately, such quests are the exception. Most of the quest writing is somewhat bland and uninteresting; while WoW does have a fairly consistent writing tone, it seems to be written for those that only wish to skim the text. For this reason, I felt that, although I was generously rewarded for completing quests, the rewards themselves were hollow. The people who gave me the quests were not characters, just resources. The work I did seemed to have little impact on the world around me.

Although playing through WoW at a normal pace was more satisfying than playing with triple experience, I found that it is still not the MMO for me. The unmemorable quests encourage the player to push through the levels without much thought. It seems to promote instant gratification with minimal effort or investment in the world. I prefer a world that encourages me to be invested in the story and to reward me only when I deserve it.  

Blizzard has a recruitment promotion for World of Warcraft (WoW) that gives the recruiter and a new member triple experience while questing together. I'm interested in working in MMO development, so I thought this might be a good way to get to the endgame in WoW. While it seemed like a good idea at first, I soon found that this type of unbalanced leveling led to a host of problems.

I began as a blood elf hunter and my friend chose a blood elf warlock. The first few levels felt easy, which is typical and helps to get players hooked. There were some nice areas, such as Farstrider Square, that had a lot of quests and were well-designed.

The problems started occurring after the first few levels. I actually got to a point where I had absolutely no quests, perhaps because I had missed a breadcrumb quest or leveled too quickly for the area. There were too few quests to start, and then there were too many. My friend and I began abandoning more fun but time-consuming quests for the kill quests, as they would provide more experience points for our time. The quest flow was completely thrown off by the triple experience. We were abandoning quests that would unlock other quests, and leveling became a dull grind.

There were other problems caused by the unusually fast leveling. We had too little money, as items we would normally gather and sell in the completion of quests were no longer acquired. This led us to be too poor to buy some skills unlocked as we leveled beyond our financial means.

I may have enjoyed WoW more at a normal pace, but the triple experience seems to turn leveling into a grind. I would hope that a lot of the fun in an MMO could come from the journey, not the destination (or endgame). If I'm going to spending hundreds of hours in that virtual world, I want to enjoy as much of it as I can.  

When a classmate showed up at a study session proudly clutching the strategy guide to Warhammer Online: Age of Reconing (WAR), I rolled my eyes. For the past week, he had talked of nothing except WAR. Clearly, his obsession had only gotten worse. I initially dismissed him as a lone fanboy, but then I saw how more and more of my friends were joining this WAR. It was time for me to log on and check it out.

I was initially hesitant to play WAR given my aversion to PvP experiences. Yet I wanted to give it a fair shot, and at least take the time to explore the opening PvE gameplay.

At first, I was impressed with WAR. A fantastic opening cinematic sequence clearly established the characters of the world, from the goofy goblin squig herder to the seductive and deadly dark elf sorceress. There were massive enemies, brutal attacks and flashy effects, all of which helped create a welcome sense of chaos.

Then I was asked to create a character. After consulting some friends, I decided to play as a dark elf sorceress. While I normally like to create a little blonde girl that's a glamorized version of myself, I decided instead to make a fierce Megan Fox lookalike.

Once I got to the gameplay, I became disoriented. The UI was unnecessarily cluttered and confusing; for a game that plays a lot like World of Warcraft (WoW), the UI was rather unintuitive. I wouldn't have minded getting used to a new system, but I felt that a lot of UI decisions didn't make sense to me. For example, the colors for quest givers didn't clearly indicate to me which I had visited and which were strangers. While I did appreciate the indications of quest locations on my map, I found that a lot of the UI changes made from other MMOs (such as Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) or WoW) were essentially less user-friendly. If I were new to MMOs, my eyes surely would've glazed over.

However, the opening quests in WAR were decent. While the quests themselves weren't written with at the same level as MMOs like LotRO, the actual quests were interesting and went beyond the simple "Kill 5 Generic Enemies" quests. I don't expect WAR to be as detailed as LotRO since WAR is a PvP-focused MMO. Yet the PvE quests still had fun details like firing a special weapon at enemies and unleashing creatures resembling dinosaurs.

I must commend WAR for some great scripting, which helped to create a fantastic atmosphere. It was very rewarding to watch the dinosaur creatures I unleashed run to the nearest enemy and attack. I also liked how the elves I needed to defeat were already engaged in battle, and my allies would aid me when nearby. Then there was the quest that gave me a fantastic bird's-eye view of the war around me.

While I enjoyed playing as a lovely avatar, I have to admit that WAR seems to be more clearly geared toward a male audience than other MMOs. My Megan Fox lookalike started out in what amounted to a bra and skirt. I kept trying to buy clothes, but I couldn't at my low level. So when I finally got a new gown, I was excited to try it on. But then I saw that my new outfit was composed of even less fabric than my default bra and skirt. I wouldn't object if I could choose between the shamelessly exhibitionistic lingerie and the skintight leather catsuits, but there were no catsuits to be found. I also wouldn't have minded if there were more shirtless males running around, but, at least in my starting area, all the men seemed to be fully-clothed. Yet all the women I encountered seemed to be wearing things like Nehmora the Hag, dressed in essentially a bikini and thigh-high boots.

I must admit that WAR does seem to do well sticking to their theme. WAR stays consistent with many details. For example, as a dark elf sorceress, I could choose abilities that followed the paths of agony, calamity, or destruction. When I was continually asked to "kill the poet high elves," I began to feel slightly guilty for being so evil. Despite my feelings, I was glad to see how deeply the developers had explored the dark atmosphere.

As a single-player PvE experience, WAR didn't pull me in like LotRO. While I appreciated the quests and themes, I don't feel that WAR's PvE has the same level of polish as some other MMOs on the market. However, WAR was not made to excel as a PvE game. I tried to explore more of the PvP aspect, but I gave up after queueing for a PvP quest for half an hour. I think I will reserve judgment until I've played more of the PvP. Unfortunately, I fear that I may not be the right person to appreciate WAR, given my preference for the "care bear" experiences.  

Before I began playing an MMO seriously, I could never understand why people would want to keep up multiple characters on one account. While it seemed cool to explore different classes or races, the amount of time required to get five level seventy characters in a game like World of Warcraft seemed ridiculous. It just didn’t seem wise to spend all your time on one game. However, I soon learned that there may be a more moderate way to experience a different race and class. Alternate characters could have other uses.

I was surprised when my Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) buddy suggested that I make an alternate character. I was quite satisfied with my initial multiplayer experience as an elf lore-master, and I didn’t understand why I would need to build up a new character. However, the crafting system is quite extensive in LotRO, so it made sense to spread out crafting trades among characters to maximize resources. Also, there were times where I wanted to play but couldn’t without getting ahead of my friend, so an alternate character would provide a way for me to play when I felt like it.

I created a woman captain for my new character. I chose to play as a captain because I could summon a human companion similar to the “pet” I summoned as a lore-master. Just the idea of having another person beside me as I fought was comforting, even if I knew that he was just a simple minion.

One of my favorite aspects of LotRO is the fantastic opening instances. When I began playing as the woman, I got to see the beginning instance for human characters. It included some fun gameplay, such as setting things on fire. I loved how I was thrown into the action instantly, not babied through a tutorial. I felt that the town I was in desperately needed my help. The scripted events that I experienced alone made it feel all the more personal. This adventure was truly my own, and I had begun a new adventure.

Playing solo was a fun challenge for me. There was no waiting around for other players and I could complete quests however I wanted. I had to develop new strategies, especially in crowded areas. Unfortunately, as I progressed to higher levels, I realized that LotRO is a game that encourages fellowships. The sense of freedom I had was replaced by a sense of limitation – without a fellowship, I couldn’t complete certain quests. LotRO does have a great chat system and a strong network of people willing to help, but you can’t always find someone to help you with every quest at any given time of day.

I have enjoyed my experiences as a solo player, but it does seem that the game is much more rewarding to those who take the effort to quest in fellowships. Fellowship quests have fantastic rewards, such as great armor or weapons. With a fellowship, you can work through quests faster but experience from fighting enemies is split among your allies. Solo progress seems much slower, since experience is gained faster when completing quests than when defeating enemies. The game does have certain ways of balancing this, such as weapon and armor crafting systems and the relative ease of finding random fellowships through the “Looking for Fellowship” chat channel. I still enjoy LotRO as a single-player experience, but I feel that, as an MMO, it is truly most rewarding in the company of friends.  

I have a good friend who lives far away, and we've been trying to find a good MMO to play together. After a frustrating ordeal with WoW, we decided to try Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO). There was a free two-week trial, so we felt as if we had little to lose.

When we began LotRO, we had to choose a race and a class. LotRO has a few different races, from humans to elves to hobbits. You can play as evil races, like orcs, but that takes place in a separate "Monster" mode of play. I was a blood elf in WoW, and I wanted to be an elf in LotRO because I've always thought that elves were cool. They are often the most beautiful of the races as well, especially the females, which is what I wanted to play. I then had to choose a class. I had grown very attached to my animal companion in WoW, likely due to my fondness for animal companionship in real life. There was only one class that could have "pets," so I chose to be a Lore-Master.

The game begins with an instance, and I had to defend a town. There were enough hints so I wasn't completely lost, but I also felt like I was moving forward quickly. The beginning was exciting, and I enjoyed the instance. After that, I quickly found my friend, who was also an elf, but of the Guardian class. His class is much better at melee attacks, and mine has the pet for melee and uses ranged attacks. Our classes work well together.

What struck me most about LotRO was the beauty of the world. The character models were refined and realistic, and the elves around me were lovely. Unlike the glowing eyes of WoW's blood elves, the elves here had inviting, interesting faces. Also, the world around us was stunning. Mountainous forested areas reminded me of the mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Rolling hills looked like fields in the midwest. The fantasy world was so similar to some of the places that I've been that it felt believable. From the bird migrations in the sky to the clouds of breath in chilled mountain air, the level of realism in this game makes it a wonderfully immersive escape.

However, art alone cannot carry an MMO. Quests are also a very important, and LotRO is full of them. The writing is interesting and believable - for Tolkien's characters. Hobbits have the silly accents and phrases you would expect, and the dialogue is written with enough of a dialect to add character but not create confusion. I take the time to read all the quests because they're actually interesting, unlike in WoW.

I haven't spent a lot of time with LotRO yet, but I am definitely looking forward to playing again soon. The world is a fun place to visit, and I hope that it continues to impress me. I would really like to find an MMO that is as satisfying as my favorite single-player games. LotRO is certainly off to a great start.  

My first night diving back into World of Warcraft, I had such a frustrating experience that I canceled my subscription just hours after its creation. I have tried time and again with this game, but I just couldn't seem to get into it. I understand that there is more to the game than what I've seen getting to level 22, but I have been disappointed over and over.

I bought WoW a few months ago on the suggestion of a friend. He thought that I'd enjoy it more if we played it together. I seemed to be enjoying it more than he did, as I was leveling up a lot faster than him. I waited for a few months for him to catch up to me, and when he finally did, I thought that I would be able to get the satisfying MMO experience that had been eluding me.

When we began WoW that day, we journeyed into an undercity of the undead. It was a stark contrast to the lovely elven world. The dark elf city was grand and beautiful, but this undercity was disgusting, from the dank sewer environment to hulking obese guards stationed everywhere. It was also a maze, structured in a circular fashion, and very difficult to navigate. I hated being in there and wanted out as soon as possible.

We finally got our quests and emerged from that filthy city. I was glad to be out among virtual nature again. Everything seemed fine for about an hour as we began some quests. Then, it started getting frustrating. Characters 40 levels or more above us started chasing us down on common roads, trying to kill us. We were shocked, as we thought that we had a choice in PvP engagments. Unfortunately, we did not, and we soon found ourselves frequently running in the wrong direction to avoid fights.

Later, we were almost done with a quest, and our team of three had just two more of a certain enemy to kill. Suddenly, all three of us were brutally slaughtered by a higher-level player. My friend had valiantly tried to buy me some time, but it was hopeless. We revived and tried to move on, only to get murdered again by the same high-level player. The next time I ran back to revive, I noticed that same high-level player hanging around our corpses, just waiting to kill us again. My friend informed me that this was "corpse-camping," where some jerk just sits around and kills helpless players like us. I understand that signing up for a PvP player means dealing with the consequences, but I had no idea that people could take pleasure in something has no sportsmanship or honor.

The next time we revived, we snuck off very carefully and ran back to a nearby village. We were discussing our frustrations with the game over voice chat at an inn. And then, out of nowhere, some high-level rouge came in and wiped out the entire village. Yes, players and NPCs alike. I can understand the need to do that once to feed an ego, but this particular player kept coming back every few minutes. As soon as the entire town respawned, it would be wiped out again.

At this point, I was so frustrated that I quit out of WoW. I talked with my friend some more, and we considered transferring our characters to a PvE (player versus environment) server. There was a steep $25 fee, so we decided against it. Outside the elven city we started in, the game just seemed to have little draw for either of us. While I would love to have an MMO to connect to friends, WoW was clearly not what we wanted.

In a more general sense, my experience with WoW taught me that I hate PvP servers. I had avoided MMOs for a long time due to my fear that one person would ruin the fun for everyone else. After having that fear realized, I saw how it ruins the fun and also prevents me from appreciating the strengths of the game. I have decided that I would rather be a "care bear," or someone who plays on a PvE server. I want to enjoy the game without the distraction of cold-blooded murder. However, my inability to truly feel immersed in WoW has extended beyond my problems with the PvP realms, as I've noticed in my previous experiences. I want to be a care bear, just not in WoW.  

I wish I could say that it was just as easy to step away from World of Warcraft as it was the last time. I’ve only played WoW during that ten-day trial almost a year ago and then recently for the free 30-day trial that came with the battle chest. I’ve never been a subscriber to the game, but I did feel a stronger connection to the game after 30 days than I did after the end of my previous trial. So what made it different this time?

Time did not seem to make a huge difference in creating a bond with the game. I got to level 20 after 30 days but I was at level 14 after 10 days last time. I'd seen a much different part of the game world, but that wasn’t what made the real difference. Three factors contributed most to my newly-formed connection to WoW.

The first factor was that I really liked my character. It was fantastic to play as a lovely little blood elf, small and blonde and like a better version of myself. While I did appreciate the level advancement, I liked the fact that I felt like I was doing good for others in the virtual community, even if it was just fiction. I felt immersed and wanted to make my character do well because I liked her.

One of the best parts about being a hunter is that you can gain a pet early on in the game. Having a pet cat (mine was a ghostclaw) was fantastically comforting and instantly gave me an emotional connection to the game. I love cats in real life and miss having one as a pet while I’m away at college. In the game world, I had a pet to look after which would, in turn, help me fight and look after me. The cat made me feel much safer in fights and provided and essential support. Even if it wasn’t real, having an faithful, furry companion that followed me around and helped in tight situations was a great comfort.

The last element that gave me a greater connection to the game world was having a friend join at the same time. He got me to buy the game in the first place. While he soon had other commitments and I leveled up faster than he did, I still had a real person that I could connect with in the virtual world. This made the game feel more real and helped me to internalize how other players really are people sitting at their computers.

Given these new elements tying me to WoW, it seems unlikely that I would quit after my trial ended. However, other issues had arisen since I began playing that made me reconsider a subscription. First, there was a physical problem of my PowerBook lacking a video card. Whenever I played WoW, the fan would become incredibly noisy in its unsuccessful attempts to keep my laptop cool. For fear of overheating, I didn’t dare to play any longer than two hours a day. I'd seen what WoW could look like on more powerful computers, where the settings could be optimized. I was able to see so much more in the game, including the subtle bouncing of my elf’s ears as she ran.

My final frustration with WoW was a bigger issue. I enjoy soloing because I don’t have to schedule time in to play and I don’t have to depend on anyone. Given the great diversity of the personalities of other players in WoW, I prefer to complete quests alone. This can lead to problems, especially in the higher levels. There was one quest where I was trying to rescue people from an unpleasant area full of undead. Unfortunately, the undead were grouped into swarms so they were nearly impossible to pick off slowly. After I'd died several times, making little progress, I decided that it would be best to wait for my friend to level up so I could have some dependable help with that quest. While I enjoy playing WoW alone, there seem to be some situations where I need help and I prefer to wait for the point where I can play with people I can trust from real life.

I let my 30-day trial end, but it has not been as easy to give it up as it was before. I enjoyed playing WoW in the mornings before class and found that, while it was not a stunning game, it was somewhat mindless. This made it a fantastic way to unwind. I miss my blood elf and my pet. However, I feel that I had a good experience with the game and learned a lot. For now, I will shift my focus to other games and school, but I hope to take WoW up again when I can find trustworthy people to join my party.  

After my 10-day trial, I was left unimpressed by World of Warcraft (WoW). I decided that I had seen what I wanted to see and left the game to the hardcore fans. Recently, one of my good friends picked up WoW and encouraged me to give it another shot. Hoping that the game would take on a different meaning with a real-world connection, I bought the WoW Battle Chest to give it another chance.

One of my frustrations with my previous character, a Night Elf druid, was that I didn’t admire her. If I was going to play WoW again, I needed to have a character I was proud of and wanted to see every day. Fortunately, The Burning Crusade expansion brought the addition of Blood Elves, an attractive race from a beautiful city. I modeled a female Blood Elf to look similar to me (but better) and chose to be a hunter. I couldn’t be a druid, and the hunter class seemed like the next best.

WoW soon became a part of my daily routine. When I had extra time before class, I would play WoW in my empty classroom. It was fun because there was always something to do. In 20 minutes, I could complete most or all of a quest and feel as if I’d accomplished something. While I would tire of the format after a couple of hours, I enjoyed the process of going on quests and leveling up. WoW continually rewards the player, so it was fun for me. I really enjoyed the positive feedback I got from the quest givers and the way the game made me feel like I was helping the community.

The game mechanics were highly polished. I really appreciated the indicators on the map for people to talk to that were relevant to my quests. It made questing much more efficient. I rarely felt as if I was wasting time, except perhaps when traveling between locations on foot. Even so, it was always with purpose, and careful planning could help me to group my quests by location. Other refined mechanics included the respawn rate of enemies and the item system. The game progressed with an efficiency and polish that kept me focused on enjoying the game.

Given my limited prior experience with the game and MMOs in general, I am learning understand a few important conventions of MMOs. For example, I can lead enemies away from groups to pick them off slowly. Then there are interesting social dynamics, such as an insane number of group invites on my server from people I don’t know. Also, I found it disconcerting not to have a real pause button. If I needed to take a phone call or get some food, I had to plan ahead on how to stay safe in the virtual world or log out.

So far, I have been having a lot of fun with WoW. It lacks the cohesive, tightly-woven story of a normal single-player RPG, but WoW certainly is a nice way to unwind after a long day. It allows me to have fun and feel productive, all while escaping the mundane reality of everyday life. I hope that I can continue to enjoy this game without getting addicted.  

I wanted to like Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC) Online. It seemed like a cool concept. However, what I played was a game released well before it was ready. There was a severe lack of polish in this game that made it nearly unplayable.

I picked up the game after a co-worker had created a character and accepted a few quests. The game seemed to run slowly and the graphics were average for an MMO. I was happy to give the game some credit based on the fact that it was dealing with pirates, which is a fun premise. Unfortunately, there was little story outside the scattered quests and I soon found myself forgetting the idea of fun I had when I began.

When I went to solve a quest, there was no indication regarding when I was getting close to a quest objective. For example, if I was supposed to talk to a certain person in a town, I would have to search through the whole town. In World of Warcraft, there are indicators on the map when your character approaches NPCs relevant to completing active quests. This is immensely helpful when completing multiple quests at once, as you can run into a town and see immediately which few people matter to you. When I completed a quest in PotC, I had no idea where these people were and wasted a lot of time trying to find them.

The game was riddled with bugs. There were camera bugs, where my character was obscured by plants and buildings. The maps were incredibly poor in general and provided little direction. It was really hard to isolate enemies, so many would gang up and I would die quickly. The respawn rate was fast on the enemies, so by the time I returned to the spot, any progress I made on cutting down enemy numbers was lost.

One of the worst mechanics by far was the sailing mechanic. Sailing between two places seemed to take forever. Sometimes other ships would attack, but it was difficult to aim and retaliation was near impossible. I was dying frequently due to my enemy isolation and respawn issues, and, each time I died, I would have to spend five minutes sailing back to that island. Sometimes I didn’t make it, especially when ship was attacked.

PotC Online suffered from a severe lack of adequate development and polishing time. The core mechanics were in place, but the balance was off on much of the game, from sailing times to the enemy behavior. This game may have the potential to be fun, but in its current form, it is too unrefined to be enjoyable.  

Recently, I have discovered that there are two basic types of RPGs: the kind where you have a little group of friends to fight alongside you and the kind where you’re pretty much on your own. When I tell people I love RPGs, I mean that I love RPGs like Final Fantasy where you have those virtual friends. I do not mean that I love RPGs like Oblivion where you pretty much run around on your own and the camera follows the character around as if it’s a third-person shooter.

I had heard that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) was a great RPG. I am a fan of Star Wars and many of my nerdiest friends had basically told me that KOTOR was the best Star Wars game ever made. I had the feeling it was the no-friends type of RPG, but so many of my friends recommended it that I felt I should give it a try.

I had purchased the game just after buying my 360, counting on it to be a great experience. One hour into the game, I wondered if I had made an unfortunate mistake. While it was certainly Star Wars, it was feeling less and less like a game I wanted to play. To begin, you can customize your character. I knew very little about the game and didn’t care about character stats and intensive customization. I just wanted to try the game out, so I went with recommended stats and chose the female character that looked the least mannish.

The game began with a stuttering cutscene of a ship under attack that made the game look incredibly dated. I soon gained control of my customized character and had to run around a ship. Finding my way through the ship was easy enough, especially as there was basically only one exit in each area. The battle system felt staged and boring, as characters would attack in turns but there was one attack “mode”. Moving my character while this attack mode was engaged would cancel my actions. So, much like World of Warcraft, I got to sit back and watch my character attack automatically unless I was struck by the sudden desire to use a special attack or a healing item. There seemed to be little thought required here – a stark contrast to the many options allowed just minutes ago when customizing my character.

I continued through the game and ended up in Taris. I ran around, talking to many people. I had a companion who followed me around at this point but he said little and was pracitally useless. I got lost in a circular maze of a bar and had to consult my map (in the menu). After consulting the menu a few times, I grew increasingly frustrated by its complexity. The attempt to visually map things out such as character stats and equipping items in a grid seemed overly complex. There were so many options that I had trouble finding what I wanted. To make things more difficult, this was the first real Xbox game I had played on the 360, so I was continually confused when the game kept asking me to press the black and white buttons (now bumpers in a completely different area of the controller). This was not the game’s fault, but it wore down my patience.

After half an hour of talking to people and exploring the town, I had no idea where to go. Perhaps I am just one of those people who has to have a strategy guide in order to enjoy RPGs. I would like to think that KOTOR is more like an adventure game, so I would not need a guide. Unfortunately, I got stuck shortly after going to the one “event” to which I was invited. It was some sort of Sith party. When I went to the party, I was greeted by the man I had met earlier and then saw a short cutscene where the attendees joked about drinking too much. The cutscene ended and I heard a “clunk” noise. I looked around and everyone at the party was on the floor, unconscious, and no one in the surrounding apartments cared. The one lead I had stopped dead on the floor with the Sith party.

I was frustrated with my first experience of KOTOR. The game seemed burdened by dialogue that continued to refer to at least five people I had never seen or met. I was forced to ask stupid questions because I had so little background and constant remarks like, “You really aren’t from around here, are you?” made me feel even more like an outsider. Perhaps I take such comments too personally.

I wanted so badly for this game to take me away into the Star Wars universe. I really hoped that I could break out of my habit of playing turn-based RPGs with happy parties of friends. I may give KOTOR another shot in the future, but next time, it will probably be with a strategy guide to serve as my faithful companion.  

Today was the last day of my WoW trial. However, I had some trouble connecting to the server. I started panicking: Was my trial already over? Did I overlook the release of the new expansion? Would I lose my last chance to play for free?

I stepped away from the computer and came back 20 minutes later. There were no more connection issues, and I guess I felt a little relieved that I could finish my full 10-day trial.

I finally did reach level 14, which felt like a milestone at the time. I was hoping that it would make my life easier, but it didn’t really make a huge difference. The monsters seemed to get more difficult as I got stronger, and I didn’t have the patience to level up by picking fights. I then chose to continue on my previous quests, starting to feel the monotony set in.

After finding one buzzbox for a maniacal gnome, I was assigned the task of finding another buzzbox. I spent about 15 minutes running down the beach and getting too close to some monsters that I shouldn’t have tried to fight at level 14. I resorted to looking for advice online, but the sketchy directions told me little more than the fact that I had been heading in the wrong direction. I promptly turned around and headed up to the next beach.

The buzzbox was much more difficult to find than I expected. My sources told me that it would be right where the sand meets the grass. I ran along this edge for another 10 minutes, and then realized that I must’ve missed it. I finally found it in the middle of the beach (near the shore) but not until after I had gotten attacked by several monsters that I was too apathetic to fight.

Unfortunately, my next quest in the area involved going near another dead sea monster. I thought I’d be nice and try to gather bones for a previous quest-giver, but I was hindered by a pack of those mini-rancor creatures. This time, they packed more of a punch. These scavengers had leveled up. One of them even was some sort of shaman that could heal himself. This added up to a recipe for doom. I think I died once or twice before high-tailing it out without any bones.

The assigned quest I then tried to complete involved exploring a sunken ship. This sounded cool to me, so I swam out to it. I soon discovered that managing my air would involve some planning if I wanted to get any treasure. While musing over such circumstances, I suddenly found myself being attacked by not one, but two of those awful gremlin rancors. Yes, the mini-rancors suddenly appeared out of the depths of the sea for the sole purpose of attacking yours truly. Needless to say, I died again, and my motivation died there too.

When I play a game for 10 days and at least as many hours, I hope to be struck by it and pulled into its world. I had procrastinated in picking up World of Warcraft for this long because I feared that it would take over my life. Fortunately, I faced that fear and discovered that it had little basis. While WoW certainly has many commendable features (the exquisite GUI design and hotkey customizations, for example), I am too much of an independent gamer to thrive in such a group-oriented game.

I also prefer my stories to tie together in a cohesive, highly-structured storyline that has become a standard in many RPGs. I found that WoW's structure rewarded players for quick completion of quests – not for the immersion in the story. I felt like a gratified errand girl and I would rather be a real hero in a game with people I can depend on. After all, computer-generated comrades in the one-player RPGs I love will always be there for me, and I can accomplish something that feels vastly more important than my real life.  

After working in groups to complete a few quests, I was starting to feel frustrated with the whole idea of an MMORPG. I didn’t want to have to depend on other people to create a good gameplay experience. Regardless, I still enjoyed the many other quests that could be completed independently and continued to play.
 

I’d always known that there were many different types of players in World of Warcraft. Just like Richard Bartle’s essay on player types in MUDs, this MMORPG allows many different types of players to find satisfaction. I don’t think it really sunk in until after I met a few of those who fall into other player types such as killer and socializer.

I hadn’t played a lot of WoW since my first group experience. I played briefly during a lunch break at work on Day 5, but then I ran out of time to play later. On Day 6, I had reached level 10, so I focused on completing quests relating to the acquisition of the druid’s bear form.

I focused on individual activities like shopping and simple quests for most of the day. I was a bit careless a couple of times, such as when I got killed in an instant by a mysterious character in charge of wind mounts on disputed land. I also underestimated the power of some annoying Harpys in the Oracle Glade and got myself killed twice.

By Day 7, I felt empowered again after completing some quests by myself. Then I made one of the stupidest newbie mistakes: I assumed that I could do anything alone if I set my mind to it. I thought that I could single-handedly sneak into the Gnarlpine Hold and kill a vicious Gnarlpine leader. I thought I could follow my tested technique of picking the gnarlpines off one by one, but it just doesn’t work when the gnarlpines are close together, as they were in the Hold. I died several times and finally decided to give up and go on another quest.

I went back to the Timberling area to complete a quest for the same guy who wanted the tumors. I had to kill a big monster, and there happened to be a group there already trying to kill it. They were several male night elves that didn’t seem to care about much except killing things. I helped one of them figure out where to find the tumors he needed (which were on the Timberlings). Then I got the whole group to come to the Gnarlpine Hold with me.

Most of the people in this group were of lower levels than I was (between 4 and 7). However, they seemed to want to kill practically any creature in the forest. I led the way (burned in my memory from all my trips to revive to my corpse). I led a successful attack into the hold and they helped me kill the nasty gnarlpine boss just before most of us died. (I ended up dying about five times just trying to get out of the Gnarlpine Hold and eventually got enough time to transport out.)

Even if I died multiple times, I was so happy to have had some help. I am no longer ignorant of the fact that some quests really do require other players in order to succeed. It was fun to fight with those guys because they seemed happy just to kill. Dying didn’t even create much of an obstacle for them. In World of Warcaft, dying won’t set you back – it’s more of an annoyance. I can take a lesson from my group today and not even get annoyed. After all, there is great pleasure to be had from simply killing.  

On Day 4 of my World of Warcraft trial I decided to return to my search for the Gnarlpines. I went back to the area with the Gnarlpine camps to complete another quest, and I was lucky enough to run into a level 11 human mage who invited me to be in her group of two. She was completing one of the same quests that I was doing, and she said that we could go find those Gnarlpine Ambushers, as they were on the way. I was thrilled.

After about 10 minutes, our group reconvened in town and set off on our quest. While it was odd to share experience and money gained from fighting monsters, battles were much more efficient. I no longer had to fear death if more than one monster attacked me at the same time.

We did have to make a stop for one of our group members to complete a quest with those nasty gnarlpines (not the ambushers), but it took just a few minutes with all of us fighting. Then we ran off on a quest for relics.

The cave that contained the relics happened to be off the road and past a bunch of Gnarlpine Ambushers. They were right off the road, but very much out of sight. There were a lot of them, so I was really glad that I had two people with me so I didn’t get trapped. The cave with the relics was also filled with Gnarlpines of all kinds. They were a bit of a challenge because of the sheer number of them, not to mention a fairly rapid re-spawn rate. I really couldn't have done it alone.

It was really nice to explore a cave with a group of people who helped me and waited for each person to get what they needed to complete quests. We all finished a couple of quests in that cave. Then it came time to look for an exit.

We ran around the maze-like cave, but those nasty gnarlpines kept slowing us down. We went the wrong way twice and then we lost the highest-level person in our group (the level 11 mage). At that point, the other group member and I fought together but got separated shortly afterwards. Then we both died.

At this point, I had little experience in revival, but I knew that I did not want to revive in a cave full of tough gnarlpines without my group. I decided to revive in the graveyard and accept the durability damage and ten-minute disabilities. My group member then informed me how you could find your corpse, revive, and transport back to your inn using the Hearthstone. I felt a little stupid then, but I learned a lot from that group.

Despite the fact that my group fell apart at the end, it was a great experience. I don’t know who those people were, but they were both very helpful and didn’t make fun of me for asking questions. In a game like World of Warcraft, half the conversations I see are people asking where to go and what to do. I like the fact that you can ask others for help, but I think I prefer strategy guides. I never know if I can trust someone (even those who mean well sometimes give bad directions) and I hate bothering people with stupid questions because I’m naïve.

Today’s experiences have opened my mind. I am cautious about joining groups, but I am willing to take a chance if there are people out there like those I met today. Perhaps MMORPGs are okay after all.  

After Day 1 of my World of Warcraft trial, I wasn’t that convinced that it was an epic, addictive masterpiece that had the potential to take over some peoples’ lives. On Day 2, I kept telling myself, "It’s not that fun. I don’t see why everyone’s so excited about it." Yet when I quit, I would keep thinking about it, and I found myself logging back in a couple of times throughout the day.

I ran to a different town in Day 2 for the first time. I had to consult a map online to make sure I wasn’t running into certain doom, but I was already headed in the right direction. I found more interesting tasks there such as filling phials at moonwells and killing more advanced monsters. There is something fun about running errands for people – tasks that ordinarily don’t receive much glory in RPGs are rewarded with the appreciation of NPCs, a higher local reputation, and often money and/or an item.

One such quest involved obtaining tumors from monsters called Timberlings. It was a lot of fun because the Timberlings were very close to the quest giver and it was no trouble at all to help out a man who was trying to save the environment. The themes of environmentalism were part of the reason why I chose to be a night elf. I enjoy nature and have respect for it – another reason why I enjoyed Okami. Several Timberlings later, I had reached level 7 and quit for the day.

By Day 3, I had accepted a quest to kill Gnarlpine Ambushers, some beastly humanoids who were making the road to Darnassus unsafe (according to a pretty night elf who rode on a tiger). I searched far and wide for these beasts, but I could not find them anywhere. I asked around but no one seemed to know where they were. I went on other quests, but, by the end of the day, I still had not found those Gnarlpine Ambushers.

I asked a friend from the real world about the Gnarlplines. I was frustrated because I kept getting slowed down by other monsters when I went looking for the Gnarlpines. I found a few camps where there were many other types of Gnarlpines (Shamans, Warriors, etc.) but never any ambushers. My friend suggested that I try to group with some other players to make the fights end faster. I ruled out that possibility because I like to play games by myself without having to depend on other people or do their bidding. (This is one reason why I have avoided MMORPGs for so long – I don’t like to leave others in control of my destiny when I don’t even know who they are.)

I reached level 8 when I quit playing WoW today (Day 3), but I was extremely frustrated about my inability to locate those Gnarlpines. If this is how the game is going to be, I didn’t know how much I want to play. Perhaps it won’t be as addicting as I had feared.  

After hearing about World of Warcraft all semester, I finally decided that it was time for me to take an MMORPG for a test drive. No longer would I be in the dark the next time conversation turned to guilds and classes. I wanted to know first-hand what all this meant.

Fortunately, there is a free trial right now – likely a promotion for the new expansion (The Burning Crusade). I jumped at the opportunity to download the full game for free and try it all out for ten days.

However, knowing the achiever part of my personality and compulsion with which I like to play my RPGs, I knew I had to be careful. I vowed not to subscribe to the game after the trial. I even told all my friends, “Ten days and that’s it!” Few believed that I have the willpower to resist such a game, but I am determined that I can be done at the end of the trial and continue to lead a normal life.

With over a week left before I have to return to school, today seemed like a good day to begin my trial. I had put it off long enough, afraid of the potentially dangerous addiction that has led to the downfall of some academic lives. I downloaded the installer (around 3GB). This took a couple of hours. Then I had to actually install the game (4GB), which took a long time as well, especially considering that I had to clear off enough space for the game on my computer.

Five hours later, I was registered and ready to play. I chose to be a female night elf druid (a choice I had made carefully over a length of time before playing), and began my adventure.

Quest acquisition and completion seemed easy enough. I liked the fact that killing monsters was part of some quests, meaning you’d level up both by killing the monsters and completing the quests themselves. Movement seemed fairly intuitive – I quickly grew fond of the WASD keys beneath my left hand and the mouse beneath my right for a default position. I really enjoy the customizable hotkey bar at the bottom for abilities. This way, I could cast spells using the low numbers, only needing a fraction of a second to move from the WASD keys.

Unfortunately, I found some of the in-game tips to be more annoying than helpful. These seem to be the main form of tutorial. I had to ask other people like an idiot how to save and quit the game. It was really embarrassing, especially when the enabled tips should have revealed such vital information. I finally did figure out how quit after half an hour, and I was very relieved to find my character exactly as I left her when I logged back in. Unfortunately, the tips that appeared the second time were exactly the same as before, and, despite their promises to become more advanced, they failed to teach me more rudimentary information that I needed to know, such as how to group or ungroup, how to talk, etc.

World of Warcraft is an intriguing game. After one day, I am not completely captivated by it – especially after my frustration in trying to save and quit. I got to level 5 in an hour or two which I find quite rewarding, but I’ll see if it becomes any more addicting tomorrow.