AM I A CLOSET SADIST?

I have played alot of games, I have seen games evolve from simple text based adventures to the graphically beautiful MMORPG's that we play now. I have played every major Massivly Multiplayer Online game, with the exception of Ultima Online and have seen a widespread methodology in regards to content and gameplay. Some games have been ridiculously easy while some have been mind numbingly hard. But the games that were super easy do not have the same place in my memory as the ones that were hard in which I overcame a huge obstacle.

EQ2 is becoming too easy.

Now a little while back I tried the 10 day free trial of World of Warcraft, and I found it to be very easy. No debt penalty for dying, you turn into a little ghost thing and run back and get your body. Armor might be dinged up a little but what the heck, money is cheap and so are the women. (Rimshot) But overall I thought the game to be awesome for super casual players.

I am not a super casual player.

I used to be hardcore, I played too much for my own good I might add. In EQ1 I binged several nights, too late, up for work too early, all in the quest for the almighty gold dollar, the thrill of the kill, and the hunt. As a ranger in EQ1 I ran my buttocks all over Norrath, slinging arrows and training mobs. And the death penalty in EQ1 was a doozy. Die too close to your level, DING, delevel. I was level 50 about 6 times. Not only did you risk losing your new level, you also left all of your equipment on your corpse. So if you wanted to ever see that shiny bow and arrow set again you had to go get your body, regardless where it was. Some nights after a particularly bloody dragon raid gone awry, we spent hours trying to get everyones body back. It was fricking gruesome, and something I dreaded.

Cleanup on Ailse 6 of Nagafens Lair.

But there was a real sense of accomplishment at the end of the adventure. It all translated into virtual Risk vs. Reward.

Today I would call myself a hardcore casual player, I know its confusing, but I say this because I can play for 5 days in a row, take 7 days off and still be happy playing. Now I have been playing EQ2 for one year this month and I have seen it evolve, mostly in a good way. But the last patch is making me wonder. Patch 17 has completely trivialized death, its a step away from WOW as it stands right now. To tell you the truth, I miss the shard recovery. Even though it was not as bad as EQ1, there was still a sense of danger involved in trying to recover your shard. if you died in the wrong place, you could spend alot of time trying to get your shard, and make you rethink about what the hell were you doing there in the first place. (Lavastorm anyone, Rivervale...Bueller....Bueller?)

Now I die, and boom Im playing Doom, Repop, no body to get, everything is coming up rainbows. I do get a minor xp debt, but its trivial really. Wheres the challenge? Where is the risk vs. reward? Where are my pants? Doh!

Now I realize that I am one voice and some people who will like this new added casualness to fit thier super casual gameplaying lifestyle (Cough Cough Jfrag Cough Cough) But I want my digital pain back. I want yell and stomp and bang my head on the table when we wipe on a dragon. I want Corpse recovery missions.


But I dont want to be a Ranger in EQ1 anymore. Im not that big of a sadist.


Safe Hunting