Learning the Ropes

I would meet a wide variety of players in my time under the influence. It was quite the frustrating informative journey. Ive taken the opportunity to include some vocabulary I learned along the way.

Group composition - Your basic group consists of a healer(cleric, friar), tank(armsman), damage dealer(Wizard,Cabalast,friar can do this as well, mercenary, scout, theurgist, Necromancer, infiltrator) crowd control(Sorcerer), regen(paladin, minstrel)

The power gamer/ min maxer - This specimen is concerned with the most powerful un-nerfed* class of the day. Sometimes the flavor of the month seeker. These guys hop from class to class depending who is the most powerful at the time.

The noob - I fell into this category upon my start. Not really aware of game mechanics somewhat green to the whole game in general. Though this term had a heavy negative sometimes insulting connotation it aptly described one new to the game. Many groups tend to avoid these players like the plague as if their utter ineptness would rub off and slowly degrade the skill of those within proximity.

The cowardly Healer - Ok so I've played a healer in other games yet this generalization though somewhat unfair rings generally true. "OMG get this thing off me!" You'll hear this followed by running around in circles chased by what ever monster you were fighting closely followed by a bewildered tank hoping to salvage the group from a horrible death. Once again they aren't all like that but I encountered my fair share of them. The good ones will stand their ground use any detaunts available, and heal themselves until the tank reestablishes aggro.

The no off-switch DPS* sociopath - I am also guilty of the title... not quite to the severity of the extreme however digital bloodlust can and will happen. This player will refuse to tone down his level of damage output blaming any deaths on a incompetent tank. When asked to let the tank gain aggro* they often refuse.

The loot whore - the annoying specimen will grab every item they can even when it does not pertain to their class.

The "I'm allergic to well functioning group I must leave at the most inconvenient time thus killing the group" - I suppose this needs no explanation.

The non roleplayer - a decent amount of the appeal of daoc was feeling as if you were authentically escaping to another time... a time of clever word play and meaningful conversations. I happened to be on a role-playing server when some yahoo showed up spouting what is more commonly seen in games like World of Warcraft it was often looked down upon. These player also often had ridiculous names (yes even more so than a japanese highlander) like Papa Smurf for an Inconnu.

The AFKer - This guy manages to go away from keyboard everytime there is a battle. He often asks to auto-follow a group member and that he will be back soon. He is little more than leech riding the shirt tails of his group.

The competent gamer - These are a bona-fide rarity in the early game. These individuals completely understand the games mechanics of their class and the classes they have to cooperate with. From a leveling perspective these are the individuals you add to your friends list and seek to group with if you enjoy gaining quite a few levels in a short amount of time. It took some doing though I would attribute quite a bit of it to obsessive research on my class when not in game.

*Nerf - Really a mechanism in which game developers used to balance unfair advantages that arose during game play and to counter game breaking exploits. For instance a healing class that could output the same damage pure damage classes produce while maintaining full healing potential, point in case the smite-cleric. Though to those in game a nerf is more described as prying the the swords from your adept warriors hands and replacing them with foam nerf bats. Roughly the ultimate insult to your common player.

Grinding - Trudging through level after level in one set location with your group. This usually entails many hours in which one neglects all but the most urgent of bodily needs affectionately known as taking a bio* or bio break* however not before typing afk* to your group. However the other pesky things like eating or drinking are usually left to the wayside. Unless per chance you fall into the grazing prone practice of having some form of unhealthy snack by yout side.

*AFK - Away from keyboard

*Aggro - Refers to the amount of hate generate between each player and a mob*

*Mob - Monster, enemy npc*

*NPC - Non Player Character

*BIO - Bathroom break

*DPS - Damage per second

I suppose I may missed a few of the personalities I encountered however when they might come to mind I'll update this post.

And so it begins...

Alas my journey had begun. After reading up on the games' lore and watching one of my favorite genres fantasy/historical action to psych me up for the game-play. I decided I wanted an offensive character with two blades. Said class just happened to exist the Mercenary.

My friends had chose Avalon as their home realm. Which was in direct conflict with Hibernia(hibbys/tree-huggers/pole dancers(we'll get into that later...)) and Midgard(um overpowered bastards... strong in-game hate there). Character creation took a bit of time. There were a few races to pick from, Avalonians (tall elves, much to Emer's annoyance in PvP), Britons (said to have descended from King Arthur himself), Saracens (short desert folk), Inconnu (short weird-ass looking blue folk. Naturally a first choice for Zernax due to his penchant for strange races in mmos I would find), and Highlander (Braveheart comes to mind, that and Xandryll's fake Scottish accent).

I went with the Highlander... why I named a warrior of Scottish decent after a Japanese video-game ninja I will never know. However I would later come up with a decently, though once again origin inappropriate sir name of Matsufabusu.

Within my first evening of playing I had reached level 6. Only 44 levels to go... Along my trek I would grow from the ranks of noob to competent player (as if it took a ton of neurons to accomplish).

Welcome to the digital Parade

This is my first shot at blogging introduced to me by the one woman who I can truly call my soul mate. Alas before I wax poetic with the sappiness my private writings often ooze with from time to time to the purpose of these particular ramblings.

Well as the title suggest I am a recovering game-aholic. I suppose I should qualify that with specifically a recovering mmo-aholic due to the fact that from time to time I still indulge my carnal digital pleasure with a few mind numbing hours of game play, though not to the severity I let mmos consume me. Not to say the mmo bug doesn't manage to creep in and become my latest fantasy based escape, just not quite as severe as it used to be.

Through the course of this venture I plan to explore slash visit my experiences with mmos.

Living in Reverse

I suppose I should start at the beginning. It all began the summer after my first year of college. My computer gaming had ramped considerably however I was still dealing with mild gaming genres first person shooters, fighting games, and the like... nothing heavy gateway drugs at most.

That would all change... little did I know my predisposition for romance stemming from an all access pass to movies from working at blockbuster my high school years which spilled over into romantic comedies once all of the fantasy and action flicks were depleted. Said disposition left me yearning for a relationship of my very own that would end in a happily ever after fashion,

Left forlorn from my first semi-serious relationship I sought the solace of friends. I'll refer to them with their in-game names. Emerical fearless leader, his brother Zernax short attention span game wizard, and Xandryll uh liked Brave heart? I suppose his game-play was less than awe inspiring I would later find.

After weeks of being completely despondent they suggested I try the mmo they were currently playing Dark Ages of Camelot(which I'll refer to as DAOC(day-oc)). Suffice to say they all had a considerable number of mmos under their respective belts by this time. UO, Evercrack... I mean quest and its many expansions, Underlight, Meridian 59, etc.

From that point I drowned my sorrows in advancing my avatar through a world of magic and swords. They called him Shinobhi... ok so I named him that... I know original right?