sandbox-gaming
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Choose My Adventure: The final countdown
Your voices were heard! At least, I do hope those are your voices I've been hearing in my head... they are telling me to do things. And I listened. I am instructed to listen to the voices. The voices can't hurt me, right? Well, maybe not the voices themselves, but since they chimed in on experimenting with combat, I know I am about to get hurt some! This week concludes our foray into Xsyon for Choose My Adventure, but I dare say it does not end my time there. Although the game does not fit the standard mold of MMO fare today, it has been quite enjoyable and a great change of pace. I have kept myself entertained with my adventures in-game and I still look forward to logging in each time (minus the apprehension as the combat loomed closer). Take a (final) hike past the cut for the results of our look at combat, some final impressions on the game, and a sneak peek at your next CMA guinea pig.
Captain's Log: Will STO become a sandbox or remain a themepark?
Welcome back from the holiday, readers! I trust everyone has recovered from the excitement of a long weekend, a tasty Thanksgiving and a rabid Black Friday. By now you should have settled back into the slow, miserable slog toward more holidays. I know I have. For this week's Captain's Log, I'm going to discuss themepark and sandbox MMOs. What do those terms mean? And how does Star Trek Online fit into that dichotomy, both in its present form and in its Foundry-expanded future?
Behind the Curtain: Playing in the sandbox
I was feeling lost for a little while there. My mojo wasn't working, the Force was not strong with me, etc. I'm back in the swing of things now, however. I tried to break my habit, and move on to pastures new with Lord of the Rings Online, but it seems that I'm a one-game kind of guy, and I ended up back at World of Warcraft. Before I settled back in to routine however, I did do some exploring and thinking. Listening to my colleague's advice, I spent some time with MMOs that I otherwise wouldn't have bothered with. I even dipped my toes into the waters of Second Life. I've tooled around in Second Life more than once, trying to get a good handle on it. Try as I might though, it never seems to gel with me, never seems to click. That's probably more down to me than any identifiable fault with the game. That said, any game which, if I recall correctly, used to offer a furry as an option at character creation automatically scores low in my book. That was a joke, hold off on the flames please.
