Weekend recap

I realized it’s been a full week since my last post here at Dragonchasers. In an attempt to convince my 4 readers not to ditch this RSS feed, I figured I’d share what my gaming’s been looking like recently.

Life has been super-busy lately, leaving not too much time for gaming. While I lament that fact often, the truth is that with scarcity comes value. When I *do* get to relax and play a game, I’m really enjoying myself.

My experiment in EVE continues. I’m *still* on my trial account but plan on switching over to a paying account when it finally runs out. I’m still learning a ton of new things in every play session, as infrequent as they are. I’ve gotten sucked into that mindset that thinks it’s ok to pay $15/month to log into a game once or twice a week since my character is still learning even when I can’t play. That’s a bit of genius on the part of CCP! Yesterday I finally went through an entire tutorial mission sequence (yes, I’m very much still doing the bidding of the Civilian/Tutorial agents), culminating in a rather difficult assignment to take a particularly irksome pirate. I limped home with 15% hull integrity and my pulse racing. So now I’m hooked.

Last Tuesday I started playing FF XIII; this seems to be a divisive title. Some people love it, others hate it. My feelings toward the game have been following a sin wave. I loved it at first, then started getting down on it, but now the love is coming back. Once the spectacle of the graphics and sounds wore off I was a bit bored with gameplay, but finally I’m getting new options and have hit some challenging bits. And I’ve found this isn’t the kind of game I can sit down and play for marathon sessions. I like it the most when I play for about an hour (which means I’ll be playing it for a *long* time). Happily save points are frequent enough that I can do that. (Can you believe some folks are upset with the frequency of Save Points? Considering they function as Shops and Workbenches as well as places to save, that seems…well… dumb. If you don’t want to use one, just go past it.)

Lastly I continue to struggle with Echo Bazaar. Or rather, Echo Bazaar continues to struggle with me. This is a wonderfully written web-based grind-fest. The problem seems to be that it is a victim of its own success. The site is glacially slow most of the time, turning a delightful little diversion into an exercise in frustration. And yet I keep going back to it to see what new Opportunities have arisen. Someone needs to write a book based in Fallen London!

And that’s about all of my gaming for the past week! Sad, no?

But PAX East is coming the weekend after next and I’m taking off a few days around it. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on my gaming then. As for catching up on my blogging? I’m not sure when I’ll find time for that! Thanks for sticking around, though!

7 thoughts on “Weekend recap

  1. I love FFXIII for those exact reasons. I can’t sit and play for hours on end. 1 hour spurts are what I’m best at. I love the frequency of the save points, I don’t feel like I HAVE to sit there waiting for the next time I can get up from the couch.

    I also have to /cackle at the EVE addiction. That’s exactly what I figure, too. It doesn’t matter if I can’t actually log in to play, because I’m progressing the character just fine. Unlike Darkfall, where you also require skills but unless you’re there actively working them up, you’re behind.

    Don’t worry (as always) about lack of blog posts, I’m sure I don’t only speak for myself when I say we’ll still be here eagerly waiting for the next post with baited breath!

  2. I’ve found recently that I’ll sit at the PC and stare at it for a while, trying to decide what to play…then I’ll shut it down and head over to FFXIII. I agree that the “run — fight — cut-scene” mechanic does start to get old, I feel that the balance is somehow “right”. There’s not a huge swatch of running, nor of combat, nor of cut-scenes (Unlike Star Ocean, which has you running FOREVER). That they reveal new parts of the game to you over a longer period of time (Paradigms, Crystarium, Eidolons, etc) surprised me in a good way. Each time, I had a new mechanic to play with.

  3. One of the four RSS readers here, :). That’s the beauty of RSS by the way, I don’t have to worry about pruning it if a site’s not too active they shut don’t show up, so I wouldn’t worry too much about getting dropped.

    Glad to hear you’re planning to convert the EVE trial account to a sub, I think you’ll find it makes a nice change of pace from other MMOs and fits well in a rotation with LotRO and other games.

  4. Another RSS reader, checking in! 🙂 I bought FFXIII, but my in-laws were here all last week, so I haven’t had a chance to play. I keep thinking I need a big marathon-sized chunk of time to sit down with it, but from what you’re all saying, that’s not necessary. I do that all the time… buy games and then sit on them for weeks until I can find the right block of time to play. STO is still sitting in the box too.

  5. Yeah, I’ve all but given up on Echo Bazaar, sadly. It’s beautifully written and quite atmospheric for what is essentially a text-based game, but I don’t feel like I’m connected to anyone else (much) and I haven’t taken part in the PvP stuff, so along with how slow it’s become I think I’m about done with it.

    Which is a good thing in a way – it was quite addictive for a while!

  6. With a trip to PAX East pending, I expect you’ll have plenty to write about when you’re back!

  7. Don’t forget to train those learning skills early and often, you won’t regret it!

    Glad you are liking EVE. I finally became a paying sub after my third try with the trial, a choice I don’t regret.

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