Back to Ultima Online for a little old-school PK fun...
Ultima Online - Age of Shadows
After a long wait where we messed around on Siege for a bit then started building up on Lake Superior again, Age of Shadows should finally start shipping tomorrow. Roughly a couple dozen TC members will be playing UO on LS for this expansion, which brings back the rules of no stat loss and full looting in dungeons. With new Necromancy and Chivalry skills, along with a completely different rule set of spell resists, weapon damage, and special hits, UO Age of Shadows promises to provide a very different PvP experience.
Several Cabal members are still stealthing around on Andred cutting throats, while still others are testing the waters of the SB beta. And finally, the IC has re-added Spart to its ranks as our UO toons prepare to glow red.
Piracy, Murder, and Other Crimes...
Every Christmas, members of The Cabal will try to add a little something extra to the MMORPG experience that our fellow players can remember us by. This year, TC has added high seas piracy to our growing list of unplanned, unprovoked criminal activities.
Casimir of UDL invited us out to spoil a remote island champ-spawn being worked by some SP bluebie guilds. The way it turned out, first we rolled them and looted ourselves fat, dumped the loot in Papua and sailed back to finish the spawn. As the champ finally appeared, a bluebie rescue force some 15-strong showed up looking for revenge. Wrath led the champ away and we finished it off before they could stop us. Then we rolled the blues again, and looted ourselves even fatter.
But wait, it gets better. Not only did Belg and Zwe loot a key and steal a boat, but we sailed after some of the blues that had escaped on a 2nd boat. Wrath, Zwe and Spart pursued the ship and blocked it until it couldn't move. They even lost their white wyrm to the choppy seas. TC pirates then killed all of the crew and boarded the 2nd ship. As we tried to land and get away with our pilfered goods, we were met on the beaches by even more blues who provided us with, yes, even more loot.
So now, TC is guilty of murder, piracy and just having too much fun. Good job to every TC member and ally that was there. You've certainly earned your lump of coal this year.
Don't Adjust Your Graphics Card . . .
The pixilated images you are receiving are correct. TC will be leading an armed rebellion against all of the graphics-happy multi-player worlds that have recently come out or will be coming out in the next year. And what better way to do that then firing up a copy of Ultima Online -- one of the best looking MMORPGs ever? Hmm?
Yes, the holidays just aren't the holidays without a bag full of loot and a bunch of poorly-named toons running around killing each other. Ahh, memories.
Many Cabal members will be revisiting their old stompin' grounds on the bleak shard of Siege Perilous. Sure we'll be rusty. Oh and of course, we've got 7xGMs instead of 6x120's but aren't MMORPGs made more fun by such challenges? At least there are no levels or XP to make, thank the Guardian. How many TC will be there and how long will we stay? Mmmph. Never know. All I can say is that when we finally leave UO the next time, we'll be writing down all of our account information in a nice safe place and saving our macro files for when we come back -- in 2004 -- for the 5th time. Good lord.
Old Worlds & New Worlds
Just an official note that The Cabal no longer has a real presence on DAOC: Andred any longer. There will still be a few that play on Andred until the next big thing, but hardly enough to warrant notice. Rarely will you see more than three to five TC players online at any time, and we certainly don't create many PK groups. The TC on Andred managed to remain in the top 5 guilds from the very start to our final departure from that world.
As for what new MMORPGs are coming, here is a list of some of the major ones with release dates that are not too far off. I hope that you read about them and beta them if possible. Please post your opinions about these MMORPGs on our forums, since I'm sure many of us are still wondering what major release is worth playing next.
- Asheron's Call 2 - Winter 2002 (possibly November 7th, 2002) - "Players will have the opportunity to fight against other players both on an individual basis, as well as in Kingdom versus Kingdom conflict. Players will need to locate specific areas where PvP combat is allowed. There will likely be a server dedicated to an all-PK experience, much like Darktide in Asheron's Call." I think the all-PK server might be interesting, but the normal servers sound like a three-letter word.
- Star Wars Galaxies - Q1 of 2003 - "We're including a system that allows for Player-versus-Player combat, for those who wish to participate. You can try out Player Versus Player combat in several ways. The simplest is challenging another player to a duel. The most common way to engage in PVP is to join a faction as a declared member or a covert member. A third way is to temporarily join a faction is special combat areas called Battlefields. Our Player Association system allows for wars between PAs." You gotta love the Star Wars universe, but for the PvPrs you have to wonder how fun it will be to fight in a PvP system that has so many conditions.
- Planetside - Q1 of 2003 - "A massively multiplayer, first-person shooter involving thousands of players fulfilling all the roles needed to wage war across the face of ten gigantic continents involving infantry, ground vehicles, and air battles in a science-fiction setting. Play as any of the three global empires, each group struggling against one another to dominate each base, continent, and ultimately, the planet, for their Empire." One big limitation is that there are only three empires, which you have to be a part of. You can have 4 characters, but they must all be from the same empire. Sounds like the 3 sides on Sullon Zek or the 3 realms from normal DAOC servers. No switching sides, ever.
- Neocron - Final Beta ended 10/25/2002 - "Play with (and against) thousands of players online in the post apocalyptic world of the 28th century". Neocron is a MMPOG that plays like a FPS. Unlike Planetside, which is just fight, fight, fight, Neocron seems to also have many non-combat elements, such as crafting skills and economics. Its web site does not give much information on the rules and conditions for PvP, but since it is based on the Unreal Engine, you can be sure that PvP will be there.
- Shadowbane - Case file started September 1997; estimated project completion date June 2005; for further information, see all ICQs, PMs, emails, message board posts, and other communications from Punisher for the past 5 years. Actually, SB seems to project a release date for "sometime after the holiday season". It is one of the few MMPOGs which promises to allow unrestricted PvP. It is still in the closed beta that began in January of 2002.
- World of Warcraft - No release date - "We will incorporate Player vs. Player conflict (PVP) in (WOW). The PVP system will be incorporated in a way that will be fun for those who wish to take part in this form of combat; however, we will not force players to participate in PVP." Hmmm, PvP with a "but", conflict with an "if, than", fun with a "yes, however". Still, this one is being developed by Blizzard, and they have a reputation for quality work.
If you know of another MMPOG that has PvP in it, please let us know.
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