Gaming and Asheron's Call

I have a gaming habit, when a new game comes out I instinctivly want to rush
out and buy it (and then ask Herri's forgivness later). But I have a worst
habit of not finishing the game, I don't think I have ever finished a game.
I love games and there are some that I can't stop playing, but after a
couple of weeks, I stop for awhile, then I feel guilty and restart from the
begining, then stop again just about where I left off before. I've restarted
Freespace 2 four times now. I so,so,so badly want to get Baulders Gate II,
but I won't because I never finished Baulders Gate, restarted three times
but never finished. I'm pathetic.

Asheron's Call has kept my interest the longest of any game, but I still
reroll every so often, I've been playing this game since the day it was
released, and Ravenwood is the highest level character I have. Sure I had a
2 month break for EQ, but I came back, but I still think about my monk that
I left behind on EQ, and wonder "He would be pretty badass if I was still
playing him", but I fight the urge to reactivate my account.

I have to be honest with ya'all, Asheron's Call will step aside to Anarchy
Online, AO game gives me goose bumps I can't wait for it to be released.
Every morning I check my email, crossing my fingers, hoping for a "Congrats
you are in the next phase of Beta" message to appear. I know some of you
(Druss) have no desire to play, but I hope some will join be thier and start
up an Anarchy Online The Source. I don't plan on giving up on Asheron's
Call, only cut back a bit, but given my history with games who can tell.

The Source

NEWS FLASH: I'm a social idiot.

I dig The Source, you people are good people, and I want to get to know each
and every one of you, but I don't know how. Rachelle's a social flower, she
blooms when she is around a bunch of people in a familiar setting. One of
the biggest differences between us is I can go to a club, sit in a corner,
and people watch all night and have the time of my life. Rachelle goes to a
club and doesn't have fun unless she is socializing with all her friends.
When we started going together the problem was I would sit, she would
socialize, we both would feel guilty. She would think I wasn't having any
fun, I would think I wasn't any fun for her. So I'm trying to break out of
my shell and get my ass out there open myself up.

So, If anyone is willing to take this poor sap on an adventure with them, I
would appreciate it. I need to stop soloing the Dires and become part of The
Source.

Also is anyone against the idea of having The Source on Anarchy Online? If
it seems to be a problem, I won't bring it up again.

The Source on Darktide

Darktide has it's good and bad points, I like the politics and the fear, I
hate the assholes. I think PvP may have been an afterthought in Asheron's
Call, it seems like they decided to add a PvP server just to appease a
minority of people. Don't get me wrong I like DT, but I think things can be
better. Die hard fans of PvP combat will move to Shadowbane, the game is
desinged for PvP and guilds (See another game that has my curiosity). But
some fans will stick with AC because of the freindships they have in game.

The main reason I don't want to stop playing AC when Anarchy Online comes
out, is I want to see what happens with The Source on Darktide. I don't
think there is another allegiance out there that will have only a tight-knit
group of high level characters that all have been fighting together for
months. We started with some solid ground rules that has and will earn us
the respect of most people, and I'm hoping that we can become the allegiance
that maybe the visionaries of this game saw as the perfect group. It will
take alot of work, we have 20-23 people now, is anyone under level 20? That
itself is quite an accomplishment, and I have to give TSS a hearty slap on
the back for doing such a good job so far. By the way has anyone giving any
thought to the political side of The Source, the stronger we become some
guilds will want to be our allies, and some guilds will declare us as
enemies. I don't think we can avoid these sort of political issues and they
have the potential of causing unneeded stress if ignored. And it will help
to know who is activly out to hunt us down.

Turbine, Character Balance, and other "Hot Issues"

There are a lot of upset people who play this game. Why?

The thought of complaining to a developer or game company about a feature
that is missing from a game is new to me. Maybe its because I've never loved
a game. I always followed the philosophy of "if I didn't like it I played
something else", I guess when you form friendships in a game, you don't want
to loose those friends so you get upset and yell and scream, untill
something changes. I guess that makes since, ask me again in 6 months.

I like Asheron's Call, but I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with
Archers, Meele, or Mages unless someone told me (I've really got to stop
reading the message boards). That is part of the fun to me, to learn the
limitations of Ravenwood, and work around them. I always assumed most of the
problems I have with all my characters is because I didn't train something,
or I did something stupid. For example, I suck against Meelee, because I
won't use a dagger and I won't hold a shield. Now I can cry about how a
"true" archer doesn't have a chance against meeleers, or I can accept it and
play. I choose to play.

Should I care more about this game? Probally, but I'm not going to. There
are more things in this world to worry about, other then if my beloved
Ravenwood will be nerfed in the next patch. I choose to play.

I apologize for the long post, and my rambling. I'm still sitting at my desk
watching a performance monitor, and waiting for the call from Rachelle to
tell me "Blah, Blah, Blah... what in the hell did you just post"

Ravenwood