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30 Days: Favorite Character Class

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
Follow the link for the full list.

Oh I’ve been waiting for this one.  Like a fine wine, I want to savor this, because there are so many enjoyable choices that stand out in my mind.  The whole concept of RPG class is amazing to me – an archetype refined via thematic flavor, limited by the constraints of the system, game balance and said thematics that produces, hopefully, a unique team role that inspires the imagination while providing a rewarding game experience through unique efficiencies and weakness.  Of course, the key word in that previous sentence is “hopefully” – in many RPGs there have been classes that just have not fit the bill: D&D 3.5’s Fighter is a prime example – generic, uninspired, and ultimately passed over by every other class in the game.  But we’re not here to dwell on the failures.  No, we want the classes par excellence – at least those in the opinion of this particular author.

Which are those?  Well they are…

BARD (EverQuest)

EQ’s ‘jack of all trades’ class, the Bard specialized in not having a specialty. EQ Bards could replicate nearly every spell effect in the game, though often to a lesser degree and always for a shortened duration.  Bards could weave any combination of 4-5 “songs” together to create a constant set of buffs tailored to the situation, or, create a completely different effect at a moment’s notice in response to a changing situation.  Unlike other spell casters in EQ, Bards did not have a resource to manage for most of their songs, only time.  The limit on a Bard’s power is that their effects would only last a few seconds, creating the need to ‘twist’ several effects to achieve constant effect.  A good bard had to know which effects to drop in order to provide a new ability to a changing fight.

 

 

SHAMAN (World of Warcraft)

WOW’s original utility hybrid, the Shaman was a unique unit to the Horde until The Burning Crusade introduced Draenai shaman to the Alliance.  The Shaman has undergone several design changes throughout WOW’s life, but the underpinnings of the class have remained the same; the Shaman is an offensive hybrid with area-affecting buffs in the form of ‘totems’.  Totems could also heal others, deal damage, or provide utility such as snaring enemies or curing allies.  While the Shaman ultimately had to specialize in either hand-to-hand combat, ranged combat or healing, specialization did not lock out other functions,unlike the Druid, whose specialization came with a form change that would lock out other abilities.  The Shaman had unbridled freedom in ability but was limited by specialization, making their unspecialized functions ineffective.  A good Shaman was always situationally aware, and ready to drop the right totem for the right situation.

 

DEFENDER (City of Heroes)

Mislabeled the “healer” for all of its career, the Defender is one of the most misunderstood classes in any MMO.  The Defender was never just a “healer”, the Defender was a force multiplier.   The Defender was an archetype that offered a variety of playstyles based on the powersets you chose for your character.  Only a few powersets offered direct healing ability, but all of the powersets offered differing ways to tilt the odds in favor of their allies, and against their enemies.  For example, the Empathy defender, considered the game’s only “healer” focused on providing superior buffs, and yes, direct restoration.  The Kinetics defender did much the same, providing buffs and heals, but did so by draining enemies, and focused on speed.  Darkness defenders would debilitate enemies much like Kinetics, but focused on making their enemies less accurate and do less damage.  A good defender didn’t try to shoehorn themselves into the ‘whack-a-mole’ healer role, but rather always looked for ways to tilt the board.

 

One might notice a common theme in my favorite classes: versatility.  This is a no-brainer for me when picking a class in a new game – can I tailor my gameplay to the situation on the fly?  Can I adapt?  And most importantly, can I be rewarded for quick thinking, for being forced to use all the tools in my box?  My least favorite classes are the single-minded classes, aka, the 3.5 Fighter.  You might also notice that all three are in some measure, support classes – this is also a major gameplay draw for me, can I make my friends the best they can be?

So which of these three are the best?  Well you know how we do around here, we’re just going to have to break this down…. Dr. Jack style.

 

Versatility

Jumping right into it, then, let’s see what tickles the versatile bone the most.  The defender jumps to an early lead here, by virtue that it was like, 8 different classes (much more when you consider the combinations of primary/secondary, which did make a difference).  On its own, though, COH had a pretty limited number of abilities available for each powerset, so your very first choice was definitely limiting.  Some powersets had a bit more utility than others – Darkness and Radiation both had some pretty nifty tricks but nothing on the aptly named Trick Arrow.

Still, at the end of the day, the Bard is the clear winner here.  Being able to replicate nearly every spell effect in the game made the Bard nearly overpowered in some senses, and certainly the group member everyone wanted for that final slot.  While everyone could do something better than the Bard, nobody did as much and nobody did it with as much style.

Winner: BARD

 

Ease of Play

Let’s throw the scent off here – playing a bard was TOUGH!  Before the introduction of the /melody command (kids these days…) a Bard had to “twist” 4-5 songs by starting one up, letting it pulse once, stopping it and immediately starting another, and repeat.  This led to the joke that Bard was the “carpal-tunnel” class, and it wasn’t too inaccurate.  However, you could tell a good bard when they’re twisting three songs and keeping two mobs mezzed, and being able to take a few pokes at the current target.  It took timing, almost musically, which just felt right.  Still, not easy.

Now Shaman, there’s a winner right there.  Early Shaman just had to hit Frost Shock every 4 seconds and instantl… okay, okay.  Frost Shock was an over-abused and over-powered ability that would do considerable damage and prevent something from running away.  Further redesigns to the class would introduce more complex rotations and choices to the class for offense and make it a much more interesting class to play.

Defenders, again, had a limited powerset but the complexity and nuances of COH’s system of ‘gear’ (enhancements) made the base game somewhat daunting to pick up.  Not to mention, to an early player of the game, the lack of ability to solo early on as a Defender is rough.

Winner: SHAMAN

 

Support

Where the Defender did shine was in the area of support, which is a good thing since that was the primary focus of the class.  However, support in other MMOs traditionally means some “boring ass buffs and reduced dps”.  But the COH Defender made supporting a team a rewarding and interesting task, more so than any other class that I’ve ever played.   What was more enjoyable were the different ways each powerset could deliver this goal.  For example;

Empathy: The traditional “healer” was more of an uber buffer, making their teammates better versions of themselves.  Enhanced regen of stamina & health led to less downtime, more in-combat longevity, more damage and more control.

Radiation: Buffed teammates to be able to use their powers faster (the insanely wonderful Accelerate Metabolism) and weakened enemies to be slower and take more damage.

Darkness: Radiation’s cousin, blinded enemies, snared them in inky blackness and increased the damage done to enemies.  Darkness could actually ‘tank’ by reducing enemies and keeping them afraid and snared.

Storm: Introduced “controlled chaos” to the battlefield by herding enemies around with a personal hurricane & gusts of wind, not letting enemies get many attacks off.

And that’s just four subsets.

Winner: DEFENDER

 

Defensive Longevity

Wait, what’s going on here?  What’s that music?  Who’s that heavily armored red haired woman coming down the walkway with the oversized weapon?  Why is everyone naked?  THIS IS PANDEMONIUM …

“Oooooh, I’m the greatest.  I’m the greatest of all time.  I’m bad, I’m the baddest Paladin ever.  I’m a baaaaaaaad ma… wooooman.  Oh yeah.  I bubble like a butterfly, hearth like a bee.  Better watch out for Jest Lightbring… er, ee.”

Okay, okay, I get it already, Jest.  I left one class out of the favorites discussion, World of Warcraft’s Paladin, AND EVERY DEFENSIVE SELF-HEALING CLASS EVER.  It’s my go-to class option when the hybrid option isn’t to my liking (read: shapeshifting druid where you can’t see your fancy new loot.)  And I played a lot of WOW’s Paladin, far more than I did my Shaman (but don’t tell Jest, I liked the Shaman better.)  Still, when it came to outlasting the competition, nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, outlasted WOW’s Paladin.  The early version with two bubbles (aka, total immunity) and an instant full heal, and built-in full powered healing ability, the Paladin was the king (or Queen, yesssth) of being able to soak up oodles of damage while not really being able to do much herself.  Basically, the Paladin is the turn-off-your-brain, alt-tab in the middle of the fight and watch porn class.  Jest liked that, the pervert she was.

Winner: god, okay, fine.  PALADIN (“Woot!”)

 

Style/Thematics

Let’s not pretend that it’s all X’s and O’s here, kids.  A huge part of a class is the aesthetics, the theme, the lore-based definition that transforms the stale “force multiplying buffer/de-buffer” into “the Kinetics Defender is a master of physics, bending Newton’s rules to his whims.  Foes of Paragon City aren’t wrong or right when they stop a step short of engaging a team with a Kinetics Defender, the Defender just took that step from them.”  And maybe it’s three years of addiction rising here, but no class did it better than EQ’s Bard.  The Bard was a rockstar, a diva, the Bard was capable of heroics that the other classes really couldn’t muster.  Oh sure, the rogue just got an insane crit backstab, and the cleric can full heal the warrior with clock-like precision, but the Bard was the class that stepped up with just a flute in hand said, “Don’t worry, I got this.”

The music-based focus of the Bard was ever-present, too, and none better than in the class-specific epic weapon, the Singing Short Sword.  The particle effect of music notes coming off the blade made for a great aesthetic, not to mention EQ’s limited animation meant that the Bard would strum his or her sword like a guitar.  (Okay, that sentence seems really naughty.)

Perhaps what really tied into the rockstar theme of Bards were their particle effects for their songs, most specifically the song that made them and their party invisible.  There were a few, but the best of them all also made the entire party levitate and run really fast.  Selo’s Song of Travel, it was by far the best way to travel overland.  While the game would make you completely invisible, it would not hide the spell effect, which would happen every three seconds.  So instead of being invisible, you would be a bunch of sparkles popping up out of nowhere.  Turning off the song and cancelling the effect right as you would glow was the best entrance ever.  David Bowie couldn’t be more sparkly.

What’s more rockstar than that?

ULTIMATE WINNER: BARD

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30 Days: Game Played Over 100 Hours

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
Follow the link for the full list.

Uh… only one?

Well, I’ve already talked to death Civilization.  I just got done with rehashing the first step of my recovery from EverQuest addiction.  However, neither of those compare to what’s taken up most of my time.  Civilization is just tourism.  EverQuest?  A gateway drug.

No, we must battle the beast that should need not be named.  Let’s talk about World of Warcraft.

WOW, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, is the spiritual successor to EverQuest, but has surpassed the earlier game so much so that it has transcended it’s predecessor.  The same is true of my play time for the game, though, to the everlasting relief of my soul (not to mention my wife,) the game never took me like EverQuest did.  World of Warcraft was always a game I played a lot of, not a lifestyle like EQ was.  A good part of that comes from the gameplay elements that WOW improved upon from EQ; the much relaxed death penalty, the quest/objective driven structure of leveling, and most of all – INSTANCES.  Instanced dungeons, while not first introduced in WOW (I think Anarchy Online was the first MMO to do instances, but I could be wrong.  AO was certainly my first exposure to them) were certainly perfected in WOW and became a fixture (for better or worse) once the Dungeon Finder match-making service came around.  WOW was a much more casual game, a game where you could be rewarded for logging in an hour at a time – EverQuest, an hour was barely enough time to get a group & a camp.  That reward system made WOW much more enjoyable to play, and of course, I spend much more time playing it.

When I was playing EQ, though, I was at a point in my life where, well, maybe I needed drama.  And the Fourth Wall never failed to provide it.  (Our unofficial guild motto: “Fourth Wall: We Know Drama”.)  The drama, perhaps, was more addicting than the game.  But by the time WOW had come around, I had shaken myself out of the funk that lay on top of my EQ years – I was in a better head space and no longer needed that drama.  While I was embroiled early on with a guild that seemed to enjoy it, it didn’t take long to shed that and play with TFG and our circle of real-life friends.  My wife eventually got into the game, and by the time Wrath of the Lich King came around, we had a solid group of friends that spend our Saturday nights together on Ventrillo, some of us separated by hundreds of miles, playing the game together; having fun.

It was, easily, the best time I’ve ever had playing video games.

We’ve mostly all moved on, and the game has since lost a lot of luster for me, having fallen into the “been there, done that” category.  I look back on WOW with no regrets and no ill-will, unlike EQ which mars my life with the ugly stain of addiction.  I’m happy to have spent that time playing WOW – I don’t consider it a loss in any sense of the word – it was ever entertaining, and almost always fun.

Isn’t that what games are supposed to be about?

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30 Days: Gaming System of Choice

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
Follow the link for the full list.

While I’ve had platforms of all shapes and sizes, I gladly go back to the PC – or, to put it in the parlance of our times, PC Gaming 4 Lyfe.

There’s not much to add.  The flexibility to mod games (Skyrim, I’m looking at YOU), the more familiar controls of a keyboard and mouse, and the wealth of titles and their bug fixes tip the scales in favor of a desktop computer.  I say PC, but I mean it in the most generic sense.  My home computer is a Mac Book Pro, running both OS X and Windows, and has been doing so admirably.  Let’s face it, with all my talk about RPGs, MMOs and Civilization, how could I go any other route?

 

mad-link

Oh, uh, hey, sorry Link.  Nintendo’s pretty boss too.

 

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30 Days: Favorite Gameplay Mechanic

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
Follow the link for the full list.

Hrm this is a pretty confusing topic to write about.  What is a gameplay mechanic?  Are we talking systemic concepts like “first-person shooting” or “resource building & management”, or more detailed components of a gameplay, like “rules of physics” (think platformers like Sonic or Mario) and “talent trees”?

I guess I’ll aim for somewhere in between then and talk about building.  In video games, building can take on many different forms – in simulation games, building is rather literal, such is the case of SimCity or Roller Coaster Tycoon.  You start with a limited resource (usually money), build small but that small thing you’ve started becomes the means for faster resource income, and you can begin to build bigger things – eventually reaching this critical mass when you’ve unlocked “the sandbox” when your resource quantities become meaningless and your only constraints are time, limits of the platform and your own imagination.  In other games, such as RPGs, building usually refers to a character, or characters, but the concept is similar.  Start small, with a few hit points and limited damage, and through time, experience, gameplay and maybe some repetition, your character begins to be able to take on exponentially harder challenges with even better rewards.  Not so different than strategy games where you may start off with a small number of units, or a single city, and grow your empire to be more productive.

All these three broad genres often include the concept of balancing long-term planning vs. short term need.  Your city might need power now and only have the money to place a stinky coal plant right down the street from your first industrial zones, but you have a vision of incredibly wealthy waterfront property.  Toughness might be best feat to keep you alive for the next four levels, but taking Spell Focus: Evocation allows you to stay competitive later on matching your enemies’ increasing saving throws, and allows for better, more powerful feats later on.  Saving skill points now might hurt as your character is less powerful than others at its level, but allows you to have more points handy for what will be your character’s signature ability 10 levels down the road, saving you from having wasted points in a superseded ability.

This concept lends itself towards opportunity costs and the economics of building with finite resources, as much as it introduces the concept of ‘mistakes’ that can limit long-term growth.  Most games, especially now, have some sort of (possibly costly) means of undoing previous decisions, whether via the bulldozer tool, respec potions or going through periods of anarchy.  To me, the implementation of those measures is what makes or breaks the game.  Diablo II did not allow for respecs making early choices (and the early levels) a daunting task.   I’ve always liked the simulation method of being able to bulldoze some of your mistakes.

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30 Days: Favorite Sound Effect

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
Follow the link for the full list.

(Note:  I changed this topic from favorite hand-held game, a topic which I do not have much write on as I haven’t played a lot of hand-held games.)

The level up sound for World Of Warcraft.  The ding of collecting coins in Mario Bros – the ding of collecting a ring in Sonic the Hedgehog.  The “DING” from Everquest.  Iconic sounds and sound effects have a massive effect in video games, they are our reward and notification of success, as much as they are the indication of failure, danger or mistakes.  It’s hard to pick just one – sound effects have become so integrated within video game culture.  Log into almost any MMO guild chat and you’ll see people clammering out, “DING!” when they level up, regardless of what game (and what sound it makes.)  That comes from this;

Perhaps no game did sound effects better than Starcraft.  The real-time (and sometimes more-than-often hyperactive) strategy game required those audio cues as you juggled several armies scattered across a map.  The setting for the game allowed for imaginative and flavorful warnings such as this one.  And while the unit selection easter eggs of Blizzard games weren’t vital to gameplay, they certainly were fun.  I still find myself wanting to find ways to slip “En taro Tassadar” into my everyday speech.

Some sounds were sounds of dread – the “horns of war” coming between turns in Civilization 4 followed by Shaka’s screaming face declaring war on you and everything you stand for is always an unpleasant experience.

It’s too hard, I can’t pick a favorite!  Wait… is that Johnny Cage’s music?

MOOOOOOORRRRRRTAAAAAAALLLLL KOOOOOMMMMMMBAAAAAATT!!

 

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30 Days: Best Soundtrack

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
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Da, comrade.  There is only one logical choice.  Tetris for the Nintendo GameBoy.

Featuring perhaps one of the most famous and iconic video game scores, the GameBoy version of Tetris’ 8-bit arrangement of “Korobeiniki” is known the world over simply as the “Tetris Song”;

Much lesser known but just as awesome, the game came with two more arrangements;

With Tetris becoming such a sensation during the glasnost period of the USSR, the game was a natural fit to highlight the indomitable cultural legacy of Russia.  Versions of the game often include images of Russian & Soviet culture, images such as St. Basil’s Cathedral, Yuri Gagarin, and scenes from the Nutcracker ballet, just to name a few.  Music was also a way that the various Tetris games presented and shared Russian culture, and in the GameBoy version, they nailed it.

Plus, it was a very pleasant surprise to go a Timbers game for the first time and see the Timbers Army serenading our beloved club on with this;

With all this being said about Tetris, I have to give two honorable mentions, Diablo & Civilization 4.

Let me know your favorites!

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30 Days: Favorite Couple

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
Follow the link for the full list.

Here’s where I diverge from the script.

You’ll no doubt be expecting Link & Zelda here.  I would be expecting Link & Zelda here.  There’s hardly a more timeless, classic video game couple than Link & Zelda.   While the two non-Power facets of the Triforce started as a rote, damsel-in-distress story with Link playing the part of the Knight-Errant, the Zelda series has done a wonderful job highlighting Zelda as an appropriate and equally capable adventurer as her long-time legendary beau.  Zelda has been a master of disguise, a sage, a pirate (and a ninja!) and most importantly, the personification & holder of the Triforce of Wisdom.

In short, the girl’s moved up in the world.

I love the evolution of Princess Zelda, and what that’s meant to the series named after her.  Zelda was such a minor character in the first several entries in the series, which always was odd to me considering that she’s the title character.

But they’re not a couple.  They’re a threesome.  Link & Zelda would simply not be Link & Zelda without Ganon.

I know, it’s trite.  Every tired old adventure story is a triangle – the knight-errant, the damsel and the villain.  But the concept of triangles are so prevalent within the Legend of Zelda, it’s impossible to ignore – the Triforce needs all three parts, not just Courage & Wisdom.  In fact, you could argue that Link & Ganon are more of a couple than Link & Zelda, but if you really want to get into it, the real couple is Ganon & Zelda, who represent the two extremes of the power of Triforce.  Anyway, the point being is that Ganon has the Triforce of Power, Zelda Wisdom, and Link eventually gets his tiny little hands on Courage, and the three of them are trapped together forever.

No, my favorite couple comes from Bioware’s excellent Mass Effect series – Commander Sheppard & Garrus Vakarian.  Renegade buddy cops, bounty hunter bros, soldiers of virtue and honor, or just bumping uglies (or incredibly supple wrists), Shep & Garrus are my favorite couple.  Male or Femshep, it doesn’t really matter, though I prefer to bring the scruffy battleworn Turian into Jenna Sheppard’s renegade bed.  To me, Garrus fits the renegade FemShep the best – two incredibly tough badasses that have hearts of gold buried under three feet of steel plating, ready to save the universe, no matter what it takes.

Just… beware of chafing.

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30 Days: Most Annoying Character

This is one of a series called “30 Days of Video Games“, an exercise on daily writing.
Follow the link for the full list.

THE FUCKING DOG FROM DUCK HUNT.

Hey, I love dogs.  I really do.  I am most decidedly a “dog person.”  Nothing is better than the companionship of a good dog, a solid buddy that is truly your best friend.  My dog, Mini, a terrier mix of some sort, her attention is the best pick-me-up ever.  If I’ve had a crappy day at work, it melts away as soon as I get home and see a 30 pound bundle of fur and wagging tail holding her ball in her mouth begging for fetch.  If the Blazers are on TV, she’s always snuggled up with me on the couch, content with a few scratches behind her ears after Lillard drains another 3.

But that… thing in Duck Hunt is not a dog.  It’s an asshole.  A brazen, vile shit-hole of a canine, more content to be an obnoxious, self-righteous little fucker every time you miss a duck.  The worst thing is, when you first turn on the game, you’re excited for the fun loving smile your dog has when it sniffs out ducks.   The carefree joy the dog has as it jumps into the bushes to go flush out the poor ducks that are soon to become dinner, the joy it has when it retrieves a duck… and then… you miss.

 

And then this:

 

turns into… this:
Duck_hunt_nes_dog

Seriously, fuck that stupid fucking smug piece of shit dog.