Archive for July 19th, 2007
I got four copies of the Promotional “The Eyrie” card (P28) through the brick-and-mortar pre-order Fantasy Flight Games was offering. I put up three of them as “Haves” on Tzumainn.com and almost immediately got four offers for trade.
I’m new to all this, so I asked for advice, and two folks gave me some excellent tips on online trading, the relative values of various cards, and how to go about wheeling and dealing.
In the end, I settled on what are probably not the most optimal deals for me. I suspect that, given the current demand for these cards, I could have held out for more. But I feel genuine gratitude to the two traders who gave me advice, so I was happy to repay their time with deals that are better for them.
And here’s hoping that as I fill out my collection (and as I said before, I’m more a collector than a player, though that, too, may change), I’ll find more opportunities to trade with these great guys.
July 19th, 2007
In the 5 days I’ve been in the Tabula Rasa beta, I’ve tried the game three times. If I’m interpreting the NDA correctly, I can’t say anything about “software, software code, designs, graphics, rules, playing strategies, artwork, visual depictions, plot, theme, setting, characters, characterizations, skills, marketing and promotional plans.” That’s pretty much everything. I think it’s probably okay to talk about things mentioned in the Wikipedia article on the game, although I’m not going to repeat what’s said there just to have something to say.
Instead, I’ll just record some general reactions:
- I am excited that combat itself may demand some player skill. It does feel somewhat more like a first-person shooter or over-the-shoulder shooter. It’s still damn easy, but it’s fun.
- On some of the very early missions, when my character ran with a bunch of NPCs to defend a front from invading aliens, it really felt, for a brief moment, like I was participating in a front-line battle. The odds seemed overwhelming, and even though I didn’t come close to dying it felt like a narrow victory. This was probably the most fun I’ve had so far.
- The missions since then have basically felt the same as any MMORPG, with the normal blend of FedEx, kill-10-rats, and gather-20-widgets quests. Not unfun, but nothing new.
- The cloning system seems clever (save off a copy of your character at any time, so you don’t have to re-level), but it appears there’s no way to respec. Why not just allow players to spawn new characters from any branching in the class tree at any time, cloning retroactively?
- The UI has all the familiar elements, but the default controls are different enough to give gameplay a more action-oriented feel.
- As in other MMOs, everyone basically runs around jumping.
From other MMOs, I’m used to extensive online resources in which other players have figured out optimal specs, written up spoilers for every single mission, and optimized lists of equipment. That simply doesn’t exist yet (and what’s on the playtest boards is speculative and hard to find). This uncertainty is fun, and I should remember to embrace it in other games (that don’t penalize bad choices too harshly).
So far, I don’t think I’d call Tabula Rasa anything like a “next generation MMORPG.” It is, indeed, the same game with a different coat of paint. Whether that science-fictional coat of paint with the games innovations and tweaks is enough to make it a contender for real market share—and more importantly for my dollars—remains to be seen.
I’ll just have to keep playing to find out.
July 19th, 2007
In the Ultimate Search for Bourne game managed to catch one shot of Bourne with my randomly chosen camera placements yesterday. Whoopie!
Today’s puzzle was perhaps the easiest yet. And I will here spoil the answer for those who don’t have thirty seconds to spare. If you don’t want spoilers, skip this post.
The mission briefing tells you to find out where Nicky Parsons. It explains that Bourne is following her trail, so if you can find out where she’s going you’ll be able to track him, too.
In fact, I already knew the answer, having poked around Nicky’s profile on Dater Notes a couple of days ago. And it took my all of thirty seconds back then. Godot had mentioned that she was in North Africa, but the pictures in her photo gallery included one of Mendoubia Gardens, for which Google’s first hit is titled “Mendoubia Gardens, Tangiers.” (A couple of other photos show shots of what appear to be places in North Africa, just possibly Tangiers.)
All you have to do is transmit “Tangiers” in the Communication window and you’ve solved the puzzle.
What with the exposition in the communication and the amazing simplicity of the puzzle, I found this the most boring day so far.
With four cameras to place—still in Paris to catch a last glimpse of Bourne before he leaves the City of Lights—I basically chose the four spots I hadn’t chosen the day before. If there’s any hint to where cameras should be placed, I haven’t found it. (Well, if I recall correctly, there was some indication on the first day, but none since.)
Incidentally, my wife’s three camera places caught two shots of Bourne. I hadn’t realized that was possible. I don’t know if it means anything or gives you a better chance at a prize. Or perhaps the system just granted her an extra shot because she started the game a day late and needs to “catch up.”
If anyone has insight into camera placement, please let me know.
July 19th, 2007