Choose My Adventure: Firefalling

Well folks, it was an epic battle. The communities of Firefall and Fallen Earth rolled out in force to support their favorite game in last week's Choose My Adventure poll, and the contest came right down to the wire with thousands of votes pouring in from both sides. Most impressively, despite the efforts of a few bad-apple commenters and forum trolls, it was a war fought with courtesy and genuine respect for the passions of the competing community. Well done.

It's true that only one game can win a slot in Choose My Adventure, and this time around Firefall topped the charts. But let's take a moment to recognize the awesome turnout from both groups of fans. Your communities called you to action, and you responded with dedication and enthusiasm. Frankly, that's the type of stuff we love to see.

To Fallen Earth fans: We're not leaving you out in the cold. I'll be featuring Fallen Earth in a stream right here on Massively very, very soon. Stay tuned to the Stream Team schedule for details and I hope to see you in-game.

To Firefall fans: Your mission has only just begun. Winning the vote is more than a bragging right, it's a responsibility to me, your community, and the communities who rallied hard but fell just shy of a win. You have to make this worth everyone's while and show us why you believed your game was worth fighting for.

You're in the driver's seat and the world is watching. So let's get this party started.

The story so far

For the uninitiated: Firefall is a sci-fi, open-world, third-person shooter MMORPG. It features fast-paced action combat, a deep crafting system, and dynamic events. The story revolves around crystite, a new element discovered when a passing asteroid crashed into the moon and messed things on Earth up almost beyond repair. The discovery of the element and the pursuit of more of it led to a technology known as arcfolding, which essentially allowed spaceships to travel through tears in space.



Since humans inevitably blow themselves up with anything they invent, it wasn't long before the people of Earth (all of them, apparently) built a massive spaceship known as the Arclight. On its maiden voyage, the Arclight opened an enormous hole in the universe and dumped an equally enormous energy storm on the planet. This storm, known as The Melding, rendered much of Earth uninhabitable and came with the lovely bonus of creating the Chosen, a race of mutant things bent on destroying or enslaving humanity. As Firefall players, we are tasked with beating back the Chosen and ridding Earth of any traces of The Melding.

Whew. Firefall fans, let me know if I missed anything important. In the meantime, let's start making some decisions as to how our Firefall adventure will begin.

A character we love

Firefall is set on Earth in a somewhat-realistic universe, so humans are our only choice when it comes to race. And since a poll between "dude" or "lady" is boring, I've gone ahead and cooked up some quick character templates using Firefall's random character generator. Each character has been given a backstory, authored by me.

Here are our options:

The Charmer

Born into wealth, The Charmer had his world come crashing down (literally) when his family was killed by the accidental descent of the Arclight. Wracked with guilt over not being there to help (he was entertaining some women on a yacht in the Mediterranean), he fights the Chosen in the spirit of earning redemption.

The Bombshell

A former actress-slash-pop-singer, The Bombshell gave up stardom after learning her movies had been used as propaganda to encourage support for the Arclight project that eventually drew the world into chaos. Now she seeks to repay the people she feels she endangered by fighting alongside them in humanity's greatest war.

The Coward

This man was happy to let the war blow by while he sat comfortably on the couch. When the call came to fight, The Coward refused to volunteer, calling the war a politically motivated pageant aimed only at the acquisition of crystite. It wasn't until his sister was murdered by a Chosen that he found reason to fight, and he wears her death like a noose around his neck.

The Legacy

A courageous and powerful fighter, The Legacy comes from a long line of military heroes. Enlisting was never a question for her; even without the incursion of the Chosen, she'd be fighting some war, somewhere. She was raised by soldiers and around soldiers, and she seeks only to live up to the reputation her family has earned through years of combat prestige.

The Convict

Serving a life sentence for the murder of a man in a barroom brawl, The Convict was offered a second chance by The Melding. When the Chosen came calling, he and others like him were given a path to freedom: trade the prison jumpsuit for an allied uniform. Given the choice between possible death and certain life, he took the former.

The Seeker

Originally a member of a scientific research team dedicated to studying the effects of The Melding, The Seeker and her colleagues were abruptly removed from their studies and placed on the front lines when fighters began to run thin. She fights to honor her fellow soldiers but considers every kill a missed opportunity to learn more about the Chosen.

So whom do we choose?%Poll-82906%
Equipment we can use

There are no classes in Firefall, not in the traditional sense. Instead, our abilities are determined by the battleframes worn by our character. There are five battleframes from which to choose, and we can trade out for a different model at any time. Every battleframe also has specialized variants that further enhance its abilities; we will get to those later in this series.

This week, we need to determine our new character's starting role. Here are our options:

Assault
Assault battleframes deliver a balanced, all-in-one combat experience. They provide a strong mix of speed, firepower, maneuverability and defense.

Engineer
Engineer battleframes specialize in setting perimeters with powerful gadgets like energy barriers and automated machine guns. They are the support frames of Firefall.

Biotech
Biotech battleframes possess tools that allow for the revival of downed troops and the rejuvenation of injured allies and can also be deployed for chemical warfare.

Dreadnaught
Dreadnaught battleframes are capable of taking massive damage, but they deliver the same massive damage in return. Dreadnaughts have heavy weapons and aren't afraid to use them.

Recon
Recon battleframes are equipped for medium- to long-range combat and sport high maneuverability. They provide the ability to dispatch foes from a distance.

What role are we taking?%Poll-82914%
Once we know where we're starting, our adventure in Firefall can truly begin. Get your votes in by Saturday, June 15th, at 11:59 p.m. EDT, and stay tuned to the Stream Team schedule for the time and date of our first Massively TV broadcast. Oh, and hit me up on Twitter if you have advice or questions!

Catch you in New Eden!

Mike Foster is leaving everything up to you in Choose My Adventure, the Massively column in which you make the rules (and hopefully take the blame). Swing by every Wednesday to help guide Mike along this fantastical internet-ready series and to read up on his latest triumphs and gaffes in the game you demanded he play.