MMOving on

Recently, I got a new online game called Rift.
I was hoping for a nice break from World of Warcraft but just a couple of weeks in and already its starting to bore me. The quests are too grindy and although you can make a class pretty much yourself (in the rough template of Warrior, Cleric, Mage or Rogue), the fun doesn't seem to be coming for me. Everything they do has been done before and Rift doesn't excell particularly in any area for me. I might have been able to see it differently had I not played WoW before, but everything i seem to do in Rift makes me nostalgic for WoW and to make matters worse, the friends that I started playing it with have gotten bored and moved back to an old game we used to play, City of Heroes, which I no longer have a subscription for.

Extract From My Novel

Here is an extract from my novel. Its cheesier than a wine and cheese party without the wine (The working title is "Champion of Time". THE CHEESE!), but here goes. The group of adventurers have reached the Capital City of the Genian League (An Oligarchy run by a council of Elves, Humans and Dwarfs in a region called Genia). There have been a series of assassinations in the City (prompting a tightening of security) and Harken, the titular Champion of time, is trying to persuade the Captain of the guard to let them into the City. Harken's position as Champion of time is significant; he is immortal while he holds the title thanks to a trinket around his neck and he has emergency powers to take command of the army and even (with consent) the council.

'A guard armed with a crossbow appeared at a narrow window above the gate itself. “Hail,” he called “have your identity papers ready, the captain of the guard will meet you shortly.”

“Papers?” Teutorian and Joanne both looked to Harken.

Harken’s expression didn’t change “Let me handle this, the weight that I and Clarrisa carry in the City should be enough to get everyone inside.” He added quickly “I had not accounted for a raise in security; the gates are usually open so that people may travel freely.”

“A dozen republic officials have been murdered – assassinated – in the last month and many other important figures have gone missing.” Clarrisa explained “when I was last in the City, the guard was in uproar. No one knows for sure who is behind these killings, but the Council has put the blame on Gothan assassins, ‘sent to sow chaos in our midst’.”

The gate began to open. A grizzled, haggard man with a stubbly grey beard and an eye patch over his left eye followed by a troop of nine city guards strode through the gate and assembled in front of the group. The grizzled man – evidently the captain – leered at them through his good eye “Your papers please” he said coolly, extending a hand.

Harken handed over his papers and Clarrisa did the same. The captain scanned them and handed them back. “Welcome back to the City, Lady Clarrisa and Lord Harken.”

He turned to Joanne and Teutorian, who stood sheepishly next to each other.

“They have no papers, but they are with me.”

“M’lord” the guard captain protested “I must see their identification, I can make no exceptions.”

“You know who I am. Any friend of mine is a friend of the Republic. These people are not outlaws, nor are they spies.” Harken said calmly. “I venture to think they have saved my life on at least one occasion.”

“I don’t make the laws, M’lord” The Captain argued. “No papers, no entry, or the commander will have my hide.”

“You Craven fool!” Harken fumed, anger beginning to break through his calm façade. He took a step forward. The captain’s men all reached for their swords. The watchman in the window raised his crossbow.

A brief flash of battle lust flickered through Harken’s eyes. “Have your men stay their blades” he warned. “if I see an inch of steel, I will cut them down before their swords are drawn. You know who I am; an attack against me is an attack against the very Council itself.”

The captain leered through his good eye and nodded reluctantly “Very well, we will do things your way this time” he added coldly “M’lord.”

His guards parted and allowed the party through into the city.'

And there is the first extract. I hope it made sense; this is the first time i've done something like this.

A War Between Brothers

  Had a Clan War in Black Ops today. My Clan, Virtual Brothers Vs The enemy, No Named Brothers.

The setup was less than simple: First would be two maps of Capture the Flag, each map had two halves. The score limit for each half was three. Then there would be three maps of Search and Destroy, each with 12 rounds. NNB went first, opting for Array as their CTF map. VB got off to a flying start, winning each half three nil and ending the game quickly. Our clan leader, Sidesh0w, chose another Snowy map, Grid, for us. NNB were suddenly awake, capturing two flags in quick succession and making a mockery of our defence. We clawwed back two with Wardy, one of our flag runners, who landed both of them. Sadly, this was not enough and we lost the first half 2-3. Over the next half, we struggled on with grim determination. Dousy, one of the defence team, mowwed down all who came to try and grab our flag, while wardy brought another two home. As the game drew to its close, we were neck and neck. Sidesh0w sprinted with their flag to land it, but was caught by a grenade, which brought down both him and his escort. The Flag was taken by Wardy, who was gunned down inches from glory. In the kerfuffle that ensued, we managed to claim victory over that half, bringing the game into overtime. One more "half" where the first capture would win. NNB were relentless in their assault but so were we. Maverick managed to snatch their flag and ran through an office building, where he confronted and crucially defeated the enemy carrier and his escort single handedly. He ran triumphantly to victory overall in the capture the flag section.

The search and destroy section was just as hotly contested. The first map, cracked, proved a moderate challenge. VB won 8-4. However, the second map (Radiation), showed two equal teams. We drew 6-6 on both occassions, giving us an overall victory in the Clan War, however.

Sadly, i was unable to record the match, so instead I'm posting a video of the best and brightest in Virtual Brothers in action! sorry for the quality.

A Novel Idea

I haven't mentioned it in any of my previous posts, but I am currently in the process of writing a book. There's nothing quite like writing a full blown novel. If you enjoy reading, you'll know what I mean. There is an unrivalled ammount of satisfaction to be gained from dictating every aspect of the plot and every character. While my story has become somewhat formulaic, it still has an infinite possibility of plot directions (I do have a plan by the way, but plans were made to be broken, right?). Even if it never gets published, its something I can look back on in a few years time and say "I did that."

In other news, I've been invited by my gaming clan, Virtual Brothers, to take part in a Clan Friendly this week in Black Ops. This will be the first time I've played in a Clan War with these guys in a good two to three years and it should be a blast. Things seem to be working out for me in my gaming life for now, but things could indeed change.

Making a Mockery of Things

I haven't had much time to game recently. It's because I have been studying for my AS level Mock Examinations. I got through the ordeal on Monday and Tuesday and am now eagerly awaiting results. I'm not expecting the world, even though i put in quite a bit of work for these ones. All I can do for now is wait and see what results I get.

On Wednesday, I visited Cambridge university. I was relieved to learn that grades weren't the be all and end all of their admission system, and I still hold out some hope for a place there, although on the trip, which was run by my school, I had the lowest GCSE results.