Why not an entry in english?
I'm an avid computer gamer. I love RPG, strategy (especially 4X) and FPS games. Right now, I'm anxiously waiting for Spore and I'm sure it'll be the One Game to rule them all (if it's not I'll refuse to admit it sucks).
That said, I had never touched an MMORPG but last year I thought it was time to try a slice of the pie.
I had heard that PlanetSide was going to allow free play last January so I got ready for some MMOFPS fun but the month went by and no news of a release date. I got tired of waiting and went in search of a free(-ish, I don't mind making micropayments) game. As I goggled about, I saw that Neverwinter Nights (NWN) had something called Persistent Worlds that were, in essence, MMORPGs. Since I own NWN I looked for one of those to kill time until PlanetSide was opened up. I don't exactly remember where, but I saw a link to a persistent world called Layonara and that's where my adventure begun.
I expected to find a half-baked world, as persistent NWN worlds are, according to what I read, usually user-created content, but I found a full and rich world born out of Leanthar's PnP campaing world. Most of the lore, pantheon, history and places were created by Leanthar and filled in by the game's Loremaster, EdTheKet, GMs (when I played there were around ten active GMs), writing staff, developers and players, as characters influence the events of the world. I can't even begin to describe how big and rich the world is - you really have to play it or read its wiki-like reference encyclopedia called LORE, for a feel of the world's depth.
The mechanics were the ones that made NWN so great but the world was full RP - you had to role play your character all the time, no internets slang nor shorthand. The are dozens of custom game systems that really turn a the NWN into a thriving world full of fun. On top of character-run adventures (usually to search for resources), the GMs ran lots of quests that might change the world in some way - which was a wonderful incentive for the players as their actions affect the world. Graphically, the game has a lot of custom tiles - some made exclusively for the world and plenty of custom objects. Character interaction was usually fantastic as players did their best to play their characters accordingly.
I had surprisingly few criticisms, some events were stretching my suspension of disbelief to the limit (it may be a fantasy world, but some things made very little sense) and a few of the GMs had shallow imaginations but on the whole it was, and most likely is, a wonderful world.
I have always had a very short attention span so I trusted that it would keep me from getting too addicted and I launched myself into the game. I started a character, an NPC that I loved playing when I was GM, and the rest is way-to-long-to-write-here-but-I'll-admit-it-was-very-fun-while-it-lasted... err... history.
I had my ups and downs but after a year and a month I stopped playing. Obviously, my "short attention span" didn't work at all, in fact, I probably could have kept going but my stoppage had a very human reason.
I was very bored with the limited player base. Despite the large number of registered players, only a hundred or so players were actually active. It's natural that an aging game's community stagnates and then shrinks, NWN is five years old, but in Layonara's case, it seemed like new players were quickly herded into "supplier" roles for veteran craftsmen. The lack of diversity got to a point that players would create a new character just to specialize in something their other character wasn't capable of doing. Despite the rule against muling, players would get around this easily via entering guilds through flimsy roleplaying.
In the end, I was so very bored, even for a Sunday afternoon, that I ran my character around the newer maps for a sightseeing romp (being able to run around invisible was always nice), breathed a heartfelt sigh of "I'll miss this", logged off and left for a month-long break that turned into a good-bye.
I still read the forums from time to time, especially when I consider returning, and every time I do I'm reminded of why I left, it's always the same people with the same attitudes, forever gazing at themselves and their cliques in a sad little dance around a blazing bonfire.
Perhaps I'm more detached from it now than I was when I left - I've changed and moved on to other things - but I truly wish that it'll never die, it's such a wonderful world with so many dedicated folks tending to it.
Anyway, whenever Leanthar decides to release the campaign books, I'll be sure to buy them - if not to play with my friends, at least to give him the $love$ that he deserves for his wonderful creation.
PS I actually kept track of how much I was playing:
- 6 hours a week in the February 2006;
- 12 hours a week by June 2006
- 12 hours a day when I had a day off or was on vacation.
- 20 hours a week at the end;
- YouTube videos
- Another review on Bioware's NWN section, linky
- A review on D&D Adventures (a little dated, but useful)
- Layonara's RPGNow store, for your PDF manuals
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário