This past week has been insane. Getting kids ready to go to Grandma's house and arranging the travel then getting my husband's new computer, which was an adventure. Then the shopping trip to try and get the kids out of the house for a while which turned into another adventure. This year seems like it's just going to be full of adventure. This does not bode well as my adventures tend to include missed potties and whinging teenagers and me having to build something. Somewhere in there I did get time to play video games, because if I didn't I would go insane.
As a long time World of Warcraft player, I have a pretty soft spot for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. As a longtime nerd I just like RPGs. So, after mentioning them in a prior post, I ventured out and played both the Star Trek Online MMO and the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. I have discussed my feelings about Star Trek and Star Wars, so as a hyoooge geek for both I had some really high hopes. STO was first up as it was free to play and as I was just coming off of two weeks of a full on Star Trek: TNG binge. The character creation was amazing, I had tons of fun going through the myriad options, I could spend all day just making characters. Unfortunately, as it has gone free to play there are lots of things that you have to buy Cryptic points for, having more than one character is one of those things.
I might like STO if it wasn't free to play, but somehow I doubt it. I am still contemplating going back as it was at least more fun than The Lord of The Rings Online. I may not though as I really hate it when a free to play game totally milks it and I mean milks it so hard the poor cow is chafing. The movement isn't as responsive as I've gotten used to in WoW and the ship play was slow and rather meandering (granted this probably gets better at higher levels, I didn't stick around too long). I could get over all of that though if it weren't for two things that just pissed me off so badly I logged out right then and there.
The first time I rage quit was when I had gotten to the planet Vulcan to complete a quest. I was playing a Vulcan and when I was faced with some serious allegations of wrong (or at least weird)-doing I was given NO option to try and find out what was going on without having to go through with letting the overly emotional VULCAN ambassador onto my ship and then take full responsibility for him. Every single bit of rpg and Star Trek nerdishness in me was screaming "IT'S A TRAP!" I did it anyway because I didn't have any other quests or ways to get experience other than this quest. Fine, okay, I can fudge this little storytelling thing and carry on. I get to the planet and three warbirds come out of cloak. They hail me rather than blowing my very small and insignificant ship out of space. Great! an opportunity to talk a problem out. NOPE!! I'm calmly asking questions (really, I was searching for the, I test the damn ambassador, because it's logical and turn him over, again, logical) and when there was no option but to attack, and my tiny insignificant ship blew the warbirds out of the sky. I logged out with a vengeance.
The second nerd rage incident was less story driven and more just my irritation on having to pay in game money to do a quest. I mean really, not having to pay credits for an item to complete a quest, no, I got the quest but to travel to where I would have to do the quest I had to pay energy credits, the same thing I use to buy gear. This felt like such an arbitrary way to reduce the amount of money I had so I would have to buy Cryptic Points, that I again nerd raged and logged off.
Ok, so STO is a bust. Maybe if I had more patience or wasn't as much a fan so I couldn't point out all the inconsistencies or, hell, maybe if they were just subtle. I left my illogical Vulcan and deleted the entire program. I do have thoughts that maybe if I don't play my favorite race or if I just spend a little money... nah.
On the other hand SW:TOR is a thing of beauty. The game play is responsive and I love that there is so much voice acting. Hearing my character talk is awesome, I just wish there were different voices per race as well as class. I really can't complain about much, the story is consistent, I love the social options and the conversations are incredibly immersive. I don't like some of the choices that were made for the Jedi Consular, for instance, I hate Qyzen Fess. Consulars are supposed to be diplomatic, concerned for the welfare of others and generally trying to avoid combat (their spec lines bear this out at least) unless absolutely necessary. My Trandoshen companion on the other hand, hates it when I care about others and really can't stand it when I think of an option other than let's just kill 'em all and let the scorekeeper sort them out. Gah! I really just cannot wait until I can get another companion, but I think I'm going to be waiting a while. To make up for this, all of the Sith are British and I can't help finding this utterly hilarious.
SW:TOR just came out in December and it is most definitely not free and it's specification requirements are rather high if you want to be able to run the game at anything but low. The ongoing fee is $14.99 per account, per month just the same as WoW. So far though, I made it all the way to level 13 and I'm still having a blast.
Happy Hunting,
A Big Fat Nerd
Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Sci-Fi turned upside down
It has been nearly seven years since the last Star Trek: Enterprise episode aired and the last Star Wars movie came out in theatres. In the intervening years I feel like I have fallen into some Sci-Fi fan bizarro world. Star Trek has now been rebooted as a movie franchise and what was the most popular Science Fiction movie franchise has been changed into a TV series. If you hear an earth-shattering ka-boom, no worries, it's just my brain.
Star Wars and Star Trek both have immersive MMO video games. Star Trek Online, which has just become free to play, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, which I had the privilege to beta test, look like equally fun games. In fact I'm probably going to download Star Trek Online and see what it's like to be a federation officer for a while. Star Wars: The Old Republic (SW:TOR for short) just came out and while I am chomping at the bit to play it again, money isn't falling out of my nether regions, so wait I will have to.
I'm not so sure I like this flipped over world. I am a huge, huge fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek, I have owned (or currently own) lots of memorabilia from both franchises and have even gone so far as to be a member of the official fan clubs of both. Ok, you caught me. I really wanted to be, I made it to a few meetings of a local Star Trek "ship" and I filled out the Star Wars Official Fan paperwork, but fifteen dollars (or whatever, I don't really remember) is a hell of a lot of money to an eight year old. Probably wouldn't have accepted it anyway, my handwriting was awful.
Star Wars episodes IV through VI were my movies. I memorized the lines, pretended to be Princess Leia or Han Solo and recreated the movies with my brother. Put all together I could easily spend a day watching them all and still have time to try and get my hair into cinnamon buns. I had toys, books, records (did I mention I was old) and tried to convince my Mom to let me wear the costumes. I loved them. I think Star Wars is imprinted on my brain in some fashion as my Mom totally admits that she would pop the Beta tape in (see, old) and try to get a few minutes peace while my brother and I sat entranced by the sweeping music and glittery starscapes. To this day I honestly believe that massive buns are awesome and holding a blaster makes you the coolest fucking person ever. The best thing about them was that they were movies. I didn't have to wait until next week to find out if Luke was going to blow up the Death Star and there weren't any dramatic pauses in the action to show me a toothpaste commercial. It was self contained. The story started, swept you up, carried you along and then deposited you in a (mostly) triumphant place and then the credits rolled.
Star Trek was a stranger beast. At first there was Captain Kirk and his first officer Spock, traveling around the galaxy with their Star Ship full of scientists and engineers saving people and keeping the federation safe from Klingons and Romulans bent on conquest. I wanted to be as smart as these people. I would talk over theoretical science with my Dad and talk about the different technologies and how possible it was I would ever see a replicator or a warp engine in my lifetime. It didn't really end it went on and on. I wanted to live there, I wanted to be a federation officer, brilliant and noble, making life better for all good people no matter their shape or size. But, it didn't end, at least not quickly and a Star Trek marathon could take all weekend. You had to prepare for them. I would set up a sleeping bag in the living room, prop myself up on a pile of pillows and set up the air popper next to the TV. I would fall asleep to the sounds of the engine and Mr. Spock soothingly talking about a life form and wake up to the sounds of phaser fire. Then Star Trek: The Next Generation came about and it was like it could never end. I wasn't so sure about the show at first, but the uniforms and the ship (oh, that beautiful space ship, I used to have so many models of it) convinced me to keep watching and I fell in love. It really helped that there were kids on board and that one of them was a genius and I totally imagined that I could be just like him.
Star Wars was a thrill ride, the technology completely secondary and the same story could be told in any technological time. Star Trek needed the technology, you could tell the stories but they wouldn't make as much sense or be as exciting set in the middle ages. Now Star Trek is the thrill ride and Star Wars is the continuing story. I just don't know what to think.
The worst part of all of this? The absolute most terrible thing? I don't have cable so I can't watch the new Star Wars show to make any decisions about it and waiting for a new Star Trek movie to come out is killing me slowly. The answer? Star Trek marathon through the week and saving up to go see Star Wars 3D. It'll be just like old times.
A Big Fat Nerd
Star Wars and Star Trek both have immersive MMO video games. Star Trek Online, which has just become free to play, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, which I had the privilege to beta test, look like equally fun games. In fact I'm probably going to download Star Trek Online and see what it's like to be a federation officer for a while. Star Wars: The Old Republic (SW:TOR for short) just came out and while I am chomping at the bit to play it again, money isn't falling out of my nether regions, so wait I will have to.
I'm not so sure I like this flipped over world. I am a huge, huge fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek, I have owned (or currently own) lots of memorabilia from both franchises and have even gone so far as to be a member of the official fan clubs of both. Ok, you caught me. I really wanted to be, I made it to a few meetings of a local Star Trek "ship" and I filled out the Star Wars Official Fan paperwork, but fifteen dollars (or whatever, I don't really remember) is a hell of a lot of money to an eight year old. Probably wouldn't have accepted it anyway, my handwriting was awful.
Star Wars episodes IV through VI were my movies. I memorized the lines, pretended to be Princess Leia or Han Solo and recreated the movies with my brother. Put all together I could easily spend a day watching them all and still have time to try and get my hair into cinnamon buns. I had toys, books, records (did I mention I was old) and tried to convince my Mom to let me wear the costumes. I loved them. I think Star Wars is imprinted on my brain in some fashion as my Mom totally admits that she would pop the Beta tape in (see, old) and try to get a few minutes peace while my brother and I sat entranced by the sweeping music and glittery starscapes. To this day I honestly believe that massive buns are awesome and holding a blaster makes you the coolest fucking person ever. The best thing about them was that they were movies. I didn't have to wait until next week to find out if Luke was going to blow up the Death Star and there weren't any dramatic pauses in the action to show me a toothpaste commercial. It was self contained. The story started, swept you up, carried you along and then deposited you in a (mostly) triumphant place and then the credits rolled.
Star Trek was a stranger beast. At first there was Captain Kirk and his first officer Spock, traveling around the galaxy with their Star Ship full of scientists and engineers saving people and keeping the federation safe from Klingons and Romulans bent on conquest. I wanted to be as smart as these people. I would talk over theoretical science with my Dad and talk about the different technologies and how possible it was I would ever see a replicator or a warp engine in my lifetime. It didn't really end it went on and on. I wanted to live there, I wanted to be a federation officer, brilliant and noble, making life better for all good people no matter their shape or size. But, it didn't end, at least not quickly and a Star Trek marathon could take all weekend. You had to prepare for them. I would set up a sleeping bag in the living room, prop myself up on a pile of pillows and set up the air popper next to the TV. I would fall asleep to the sounds of the engine and Mr. Spock soothingly talking about a life form and wake up to the sounds of phaser fire. Then Star Trek: The Next Generation came about and it was like it could never end. I wasn't so sure about the show at first, but the uniforms and the ship (oh, that beautiful space ship, I used to have so many models of it) convinced me to keep watching and I fell in love. It really helped that there were kids on board and that one of them was a genius and I totally imagined that I could be just like him.
Star Wars was a thrill ride, the technology completely secondary and the same story could be told in any technological time. Star Trek needed the technology, you could tell the stories but they wouldn't make as much sense or be as exciting set in the middle ages. Now Star Trek is the thrill ride and Star Wars is the continuing story. I just don't know what to think.
The worst part of all of this? The absolute most terrible thing? I don't have cable so I can't watch the new Star Wars show to make any decisions about it and waiting for a new Star Trek movie to come out is killing me slowly. The answer? Star Trek marathon through the week and saving up to go see Star Wars 3D. It'll be just like old times.
A Big Fat Nerd
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