One Shots: The hills have eyes
Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? It's because you are, fool. Everything has its eyes on you, even the mountains themselves. Case in point: this screenshot from reader Chris, who found himself amazed at the artistry of Guild Wars 2 and the slight creepiness of mountains with facial features.
"In a quest during Guild Wars 2 around level 60," Chris writes, "you are asked to go up a big hill into the face of the mountain (literally) and shutdown the machine. I took the screenshot at the start of the quest because the world is so beautiful."
If our games are going to look at us, we might as well return the favor! Hit the jump for more excellent screenshot submissions.
Following Glitch's unfortunate shutdown, we've been getting plenty of great snaps from players' favorite locations. Reader Dan sent us a bunch, although the following might be the most apt for the game's ultimate fate.
"The game was said to be in the 12th age of Ur," Dan explains. "This one just alludes to the world continuing after we're all gone, a back-to-nature sort of thing. And so begins the 13th Age."
It's kind of nice to imagine that our dead MMOs continue on without us, isn't it? I mean, kind of morbid and sad too, but nice.
Sometimes, taking a great screenshot is a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right angle. Reader Johanis took this chilling picture while running around in the dark of night.
"Here is Cimara, my level 63 Shadow Priest in World of Warcraft," Johanis shares. "While out adventuring with her newly acquired Cinder Kitten, she stopped to admire the rising moon. Sometimes it's great to just stop and enjoy the world around you."
I totally agree! There are so many terrific details that often go unnoticed because we're in a tearing hurry to get to the next quest hub.
Finally, Eucrid Eucrow sent us in this equally spooky The Secret World screenshot along with a pretty neat short story:
"'Ware the crows of the mind," she said.
Those words always come back to haunt me now, spoken on that day I was left alone in the house with Grammy. She was my grandmother and I loved her. She had lived with our family in our sturdy little house overlooking the sea for years. She was dignified and warm and would always have a smile for me and make me sugar cookies, crisp and tooth-rottingly sweet.
Then one day she just started to go crazy: slowly, inexorably, and horribly. Like some goblin grindstone was just crushing away everything I loved about her little by little. It got bad towards the end. She raved about demons, the restless dead, and the world swallowed up in darkness and cosmic filth. Her beautiful hair had become as brittle as pine straw, and a milky caul had filmed over her left eye like ice on pond in a hard freeze. Her voice had become cracked and frizzened like the burr on a raggedly cut piece of metal. I was too young back then to understand or cope so I just avoided her. It was easy to do because mom and dad never let her out of her room and would lock the door so she wouldn't wander and hurt herself. Then that one day alone in the house with her...
"'Ware the crows of the mind," she said from behind me as I sat in the kitchen. Then her hand clamped onto my forearm and spun me around to face her. My chair skittered and bounced off to the side. Her strength was terrifying. I sucked in a breath to scream but was stopped cold when I looked at her face. It was calm but there was no peace there. It was calm like how an empty grave is calm: the calm of the morgue and the stillborn. The caul on her eye was now a black so deep it seemed to radiate heat shimmers. It grew bigger and bigger until it seemed to swallow the world. Then the merciful blackness of unconsciousness rose up and clamped down over me.
Later I woke in a hospital to the troubled faces of my parents over my bed. They told me Grammy was dead and wouldn't say any more about it and I never asked. We never talked about it ever again.
I think back now, having seen the... things that I've seen. You were right Grammy, about everything. "'Ware the crows of the mind," you said and died. I sometimes think you may have been the lucky one.
With so many holiday events going on in our MMOs, I fully expect to see some seasonal screenshots land in my email come next week!
Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
