Token Female Gamer

It’s been pointed that I may have been a little overzealous in denigrating my current World of Pandacraft raiding experience. Thus I would like to clarify that I do quite enjoy raiding, really.

What I am struggling with the most, is that my character feels particularly ineffective right now and that my ability to change this is being hampered mainly by my unwillingness to run 400 daily quests a day. (Many gear upgrades no longer come from the actual raids, but are instead purchasable via valor and require faction.)

The recent 5.2 patch also managed to nerf Warlocks into the bottom ranks of dps. Though the change was to bring the very top tier of Warlocks more inline with other classes, the middling and lower level Warlocks (like me) end up bearing the brunt of the changes.

This also means that I have to go back to the drawing board and figure out a new talent and glyph spec. Mostly I rely on the internetz for this tedious task, but currently no one seems to agree on what is the best Warlock Affliction build.

I also get to dump mastery as a stat, which I have been gearing for, and am supposed to instead aim for haste. Knowing me and how slow I am to accumulate new gear, I might just be able to hit the haste cap in time for the next big Warlock nerf.

Maybe I should just level a monk. Viva la Raid!

The original Super Mario Bros was a seminal game. Not only did it spawn a legion of sequels, but it also catapulted the Mario franchise into the stratosphere in terms of popularity. It also happened to be the inception of my (and many others) life long Mario habit and still holds a very special place in my heart.

And though I’ve played many of the sequels, most of them diverged wildly from the original, expanding the world of Mario in many new and interesting directions.

All good things, but it does make me appreciate Super Mario 3D Land, as few games have evoked as much nostalgia for the original. 3D Land managed to capture the simplicity of the original Mario, with straightforward and short, yet interesting and challenging levels, simple graphics and minimalist backgrounds. But like all great sequels/remakes, Super Mario 3D Land doesn’t forget about progress and includes many of the features found in modern Mario games.

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 I swore I wouldn’t play this game. All the months that my husband and friends have been obsessively playing and urging me to hop on the bandwagon, I have held strong. No, I said, I’m already collecting battle pets in World of Warcraft, I said, I didn’t want another distraction on my phone, I said.

But curiosity has this way of creeping in and making me pliable. My husband, sensing weakness, pounced! He pushed the iPad in front of me, game installed and ready for me to register a new account. Just try it, he said, and smiled his most winsome smile, its not on your phone, he said. How could I refuse?

I’ve been playing ever since (I cant stop!!) Come play the crack with us, they said, you will really really like it, they said. Damn them for being right. (I had to take various P&D interludes while writing this blurb, for research, purely research!)

Thankfully, limiting the game to the iPad was really quite brilliant, as it certainly has managed to curtail my tendency to overindulge.

For those of you who will heed my warning, for this is certainly a cautionary tale, be strong! Puzzles and Dragons will eat your soul!

To the rest, here is my friend ID (tfgamer is the account name). Friend me up and send me a note to let me know your account name so I can be sure to add you! =D

Oh and here are some really good websites to get great information.
http://ggftw.com/forum/game-discussion/118764-iphone-android-puzzle-dragons.html#post1783761
http://zh.pad.wikia.com/wiki/Category:%E5%AE%A0%E7%89%A9 (in Chinese!)
http://www.puzzledragonx.com/
http://puzzleanddragonsforum.com/index.php
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puzzle-dragons-english/id563474464?mt=8 (official itunes page)

Come build super dungeon squashing power teams with me! =D

How to choose from the vast number of skills that exist in all the games I have played ever? Surprisingly a few do stand out. No really, there have been a few skills that I have gleefully employed and always look for in every new game I play.

The most prominent is the enchanter’s mesmerize spell line from EverQuest, which was a crowd control line of spells that would stun/sleep an opponent for a certain length of time.

An early EverQuest Guild Group with Enchanter. Look at those old UI graphics!!

I played an Enchanter (clearly!), one of the more challenging characters to play, as they were very much a support character, meaning they excelled in a group setting, but also required one to level. Their role was crowd control and I loved it! I have wonderful memories of stopping whole monster trains in their tracks. Ah those were the days.

While the class was mainly support, aka they did very little damage, it was incredibly powerful in utility. In a game like EverQuest where it was easy to die and death held a huge penalty, having an Enchanter in the group was almost essential. Being able to take a monster out of the fight for a period of time so that the rest of the party could focus on other opponents, was a powerful and necessary addition to any group.

I was also really good at being an enchanter, at ensuring my groups survival by guaranteeing that all monsters besides one were mezzed. It was a skill that allowed me to never want for a group.

But that was all early on in the game, when it was still hard to play and required the holy trinity, tank, healer, and enchanter. Though I understand that this level of difficulty is a thing of the past, I do miss the skill it required, the teamwork, and the reward of succeeding against real challenges.

Okay this wasn’t supposed to turn into EQ love fest. Blah.

Crowd control for the win!

My druid gets to be a tree again! No more Tauren hugeness blocking 90% of my screen (ok, I exaggerate a bit). Oh and there is this, the new aquatic form, Orca. Win.

Druids are officially the most fun class in World of Warcraft. =)

Now that my Warlock is getting all squared away, reached 90 and equipped her well enough to raid, I find I have time to think about the possibility of leveling other characters. But which one to pick?

Well last night my husband pointed out to me that Druids have the option to be in perma tree form again, thanks to this nifty glyph. Yes, I am sure that everyone but me has known about this forever since it was in beta, but I just dont have the bandwidth to keep up with all the news.

Anyway, that pretty much made the choice for me. The entire reason I made my druid, way back when, was so that I could play a tree! And now I can again!!!!!

Now to figure out talents and how to play. Ugh.

Oooh, a little Warlock side note, I switched her to Affliction and am loving it. Demonology was kind of a cluster-f to play, but am finding Affliction quite intuitive and easy.

In the grand tradition of all things Guild Wars 2, skills are rather complicated. There are three different skill types: weapons skills, slot skills, and traits. These are all found in the same skills and traits tab in the hero menu.

I know it seems a bit excessive, but it really helped me to think of the three categories as actively learned skills, points spending skills, and passive bonuses.

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Ugh, what the hell was I thinking when I put this category in. ~sigh~ Oh well, too late now, so onward!

I think the answer will have to be both, with a slight preference for turn based; it really depends on the game.

In party based role-playing games I find turn based preferable. Final Fantasy is a perfect example as the early versions were true turn based combat; while the later versions changed into a time based skill combat system.

Maybe its simply nostalgia, but I enjoy having the option to control each character during combat. This amount of micromanagement is really only possible in a turn based system. The newer Final Fantasy games, not turn based, have become far more automated in combat as it’s simply not possible to control all the characters effectively due to time constraints.

But in single character RPGs like Diablo 2 or Zelda, I much prefer the visceral feel of real time combat.

Strategy games on the other hand are much less stressful when they are turn based, rather then real time. Games like StarCraft, which I love, come down to the intense speed of the first ten minutes rather then enjoying the entire game. (I often continue playing long after having won. Best part of the game sometimes.)

Considering that what I enjoy most about those games is the actual building of infrastructure and armies as opposed to the tearing down of everyone else, it is apparent that a turn based model supports my play style much better.

The one point that real time has always won out on is multiplayer. Turn based multiplayer can be rather frustrating. I’ve mentioned that I’m not very patient right?

In general turn based is the less stressful option of the two, which for me is a more fun experience.

Bad guys are the best, aren’t they? They tend to be more fun and powerful, and frankly just all around more interesting. Which makes this a tough choice.

So I’m not going to pick just one, mainly because I can’t. I will at least limit my choices to one per gender.

My female choice is Sarah Kerrigan. What an evil, manipulative, devious, powerhouse she was, and fabulous looking, evil, scaly, and the prettiest Zerg there ever was. She single handily made the Zerg appealing. And yes, I favored Zerg in StarCraft – Broodwars.

Before her days of evil Zerg Queen, she was a simple Terran Ghost, one of my favorite units. During a mission she was taken and infested by the Zerg, which turned her into the Queen of Blades. She then proceeded to take over and became the sole leader of the Zerg hoard.

Not only a women with ambition and the wherewithal to get herself to the top, but also incredibly powerful. Or she simply made the best of a really crappy situation. Either way she won. But her story isn’t over yet. The StarCraft 2 expansion should be quite revealing.

I chose Kerrigan because of her character and story, but my male choice came about quite differently. Scorpion was, and still is, my all time favorite Mortal Kombat character simply because he is so darn fun to play. While his back-story is rather tragic, filled with honor lost and revenge for the dead, it’s really his ‘Get over here’ move that won me over.

Anyone can throw an ice ball, but pulling your enemy right into a combo is endlessly amusing. Hooking them, and then kicking them away only to pull them back is even better. I always loved his moves, flaming skull, fatalities and all. He is still my first choice character whenever I play MK.

Role Playing Games (RPGs) are by far my favorite genre.

What is a RPG by wiki:

Generally, the player controls a central game character, or multiple game characters, usually called a party, and achieves victory by completing a series of quests or reaching the conclusion of a central storyline. Players explore a game world, while solving puzzles and engaging in tactical combat. A key feature of the genre is that characters grow in power and abilities…

That’s a pretty decent summary and shows how open ended this genre really is. Sometimes, the genre feels more like the kitchen sink; everything ends up there, which is probably because RPGs are so darn popular.

More RPGs? Great! But the labeling has gotten a bit bloated (thus kitchen sink) and I can’t rely simply on the RPG moniker to evaluate if I will like a game. Nor should I; not all RPGs are alike and they shouldn’t be, diversity drives innovation.

So what is it that I look for? Glad you asked. Having done much research on the subject, I have found that what I enjoy most is the character development and loot collecting.

Building up a character, gaining levels and increasing their powers, equipping them with bigger and better weapons and armor, this investing in a character or party really hooks me into the game.

And then the display of power gained, by exploring new and harder areas and defeating increasingly difficult bad guys. If done well, this type of game can be incredibly fun and addictive. ~cough~ Diablo2 ~cough~

While the story can be interesting, it has never really been a big reason for my wanting to play RPGs and neither has the quest system. Often these are closely tied together and mostly end up being something I rush through, or suffer through.

Which is why I worry about the genre a bit. It seems that more developers are turning RPGs into animated movies. More and more RPGs are suffering the ‘running from cut scene to cut scene’ fate. I truly hope that this is just a phase and that the actual game side of RPGs doesn’t get buried inside movies forever.

Images in order L-R: Baldurs Gate 2, Diablo 2, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy 12, Pokemon B&W, Skyrim, Vampire: Bloodlines, World of Warcraft.