Naunet

So I got a pretty ribbon last night, and though I adore Anti's adventurin' outfit, I just had to do something at least temporarily to enjoy the ribbon-ness for a bit. Thus Anti became a shepherdess.

"We relocate for survival, firedancer," K'deiki sighed out, squinting at the blurry shapes ahead of her but unable to distinguish by sight who was friend and who was new. At least her nose had not failed her in her old age, and she caught the unfamiliar, earthy scents of the stranger almost immediately. "And you should know well our reluctance to accept even K'yohko's wayward daughter. But she is daughter of the nunh. This one..." Her shoulders shook with a hacking cough, her frail body bowing forward. The reflex sent a shudder through her ribs, into her spine and down to the tip of her thinly furred tail. The spell lasted several seconds before she could recover herself and then she only said, "We have had too many visitors since you were last here, firedancer. Too many demanding change. Demanding forgiveness without regret, when they should have thought first to seek our support. My patience grows thin," and her body weary, she finished silently, bowing her head and trusting her nose to keep track of the stranger. K'zhuzu Tia's child. She wondered how many more outcasts were scattered from Azeyma's eye that they did not know of. She knew they could never replace the ones they had lost.

"Firedancer, explain this to us all!" The voice, ancient and rattly, strained to cut across the space from several yalms behind the huntresses. Its bearer, gripping a bone white walking stick that dug deep into the sand, lifted her wrinkled, drawn face to the standoff, and the wagon just beyond. The colorful wraps and bone beads swaddling her hunched body swung and clattered in a short gust of wind. Back in the tent, K'deiki had not let K'ile Tia speak more than a few words before interrupting him with a sharp slap of her hand against the ground. So many had come to their sanctuary lately, with tales and excuses and pleas, and Elder K'deiki had had just about enough of these things. "Demonstrate to us a reason we should not cast all intruders back into the sand," she had said to him before exiting the tent with a speed perhaps surprising for her old age. So now she stood, her worn ears swiveled back, straining to hear K'ile's footsteps behind her, while her pale eyes squinted through flurries of sand at the scene at the edge of their camp.

While I'm not sure you meant it this way... experiencing emotion is not immature, nor does having an emotionally deep reaction equate to melodrama.

I don't really understand this at all. What's uninteresting about playing believable characters? I mean, we can't all be sociopathic, weathered adventurers who have seen so much death and killed so many that it's as easy as pressing a couple buttons and watching things get shiny. If Antimony sees someone get killed, she's not going to just brush it off all "Ah, sentient blood! What a perfect accoutrement to my afternoon tea"-like. She's going to react like a person to whom death is a seriously frightening, grief-inducing, terrible event. And I don't really understand how that's boring. It's human emotion and gut and instinct, visceral and ugly and indifferent to the wants and needs of its bearer. I mean, I can understand someone not wanting to rp a "normal" person (I've rped my fair share of... weirdos, for a lack of a better word), but to not even want to interact with "normal" people? That's confusing as hell.

I couldn't get in to ESO when playing its betas mainly because the lore bored me to death and everyone looked identical (all species are identical human models with some texture swaps for skin). >_< The combat felt extremely clunky, too. I did like the level of class customization it had, though.

I think WildStar is shaping up to be a truly challenging MMO. I might not have said that back in September when I first started testing, but now that I've had a chance to explore a rather broad swathe of its content, and seen demonstrations of what I haven't, my tune has changed. The crafting isn't necessarily time consuming, but the "minigame" nature of crafting an item is certainly a far cry from "click craft to make" (and, though infuriating at times, it's a heck of a lot more interesting than FFXIV's >_<). The combat as you level builds in a really smooth difficulty curve, but still has a number of "spikes" where you can test your mettle - in group mobs (that are legitimately difficult even when you're not trying to solo them), world bosses, and dungeons. The dungeons... well, I don't think I had to give a single thought to a dungeon in FFXIV while leveling; they were pretty much uniformly mindless. That's certainly not the case in WildStar. Even just picking out your arrangement of skills for the LAS, skill points, and AMPs could be considered a "challenge" in that you've got a lot of very good choices that you have to whittle down to what is suitable for your current play. The path system also offers a rather unique set of challenges that you might not necessarily get in other MMOs. Many of the puzzles you have to solve on scientist are serious brain teasers, and locating all the data cubes is both an exercise in patience and at times requires cooperative play; it can be quite a task figuring out how to scale that cliff or waterfall or whatever to get to your explorer point, or solving riddles for a scavenger hunt. And then there are the very aptly named "Challenges", which are spontaneously initiated open world "minigames". I mean, I guess the game doesn't have permadeath. You don't drop your inventory when you die, or lose XP, or any of the other common "Back in the old days..." gripes. But those are just annoyances, not challenge.

((You give me the best birthday presents. <3))

I think my complaining triggered a butterfly effect somehow, because I did Amdapor for my expert roulette and... guess what dropped. She is SO FREAKIN' CUTE! Augh! I can hardly stand it. I've been running around in the pilgrim shoes for a bit and those were adorable enough but now... *flails* Also, I found this while going through my screenshots: OTP.

Clover, you lucky sonofa-- x.x I've been trying to get that robe on Anti since the patch. If I see any more cooking sherry, I'm going to murder someone.

((Copy-pasta'd from in-game rp. Several days following the events in The Seeker Comes with Questions...)) *** Amaury Carceri sat in a chair, with his legs bent as one usually had to bend them to sit on a chair. He was very good at sitting. There was tea on the table and some toast. Those did not sit on chairs. Antimony paused at the top of the ramp leading into the airstrip landing's small bar to take a breath and gingerly rub her left shoulder before squaring herself off. She located Amaury easily – he was one of the only patrons - and approached with hands clasped in front of her. “Excuse me,” she cleared her throat. “Mister An... Alm.. oh, bother.” Names had never been her forte and she only had a vague recollection of D’hein even introducing her to this elezen. Amaury smiled. “No mister "Aim Bothers" at this table, miss Antimony. Just Amaury.” He stood and gestured to the table. “Please, take a seat.” Antimony's tail flicked and she gave the elezen an apologetic look. "Thank you." She sat as suggested and then seemed to chew heavily on some thought. Or many thoughts. “Tea?” “Ah...? Oh, yes. Thank you... again. I mean, that would be appreciated.” Amaury served some tea in the tea place called "tea cup". “The sugar is on your side. We can begin discussing your investigation of the Dodo tribe whenever you feel comfortable.” Antimony sighed, winced as the gesture sparked some sort of pain, and then offered Amaury a slight smile. "I'll admit I'm glad you thought to get in touch. I wouldn't... well, things have gotten so hectic that I just didn't..." She trailed off and pulled the tea close to her. “I understand. Life is often a storm but, like sailors, we have to work lest the boat be sunk by it.” Antimony blinked at the teacup, thin fingers seeking out its warmth. "Er... yes. Like sailors." Ignoring the sugar, she took a sip. Her ears fidgeted about on her head as though searching for something in the air. When she set the cup down, it was with an agitated tap of her fingers. “I've managed to re-do the summary report I lost to... the last incident.” Amaury took a sip from his own tea like the gentleman in a blue dress that he was. “Good. What did you find?” Antimony's brow furrowed in obvious frustration. "Everything I had known prior to attempting to contact the Dodos in person." She took another sip of tea to calm herself and then continued, "I've mapped out a money trail starting from their accounts, through a number of dummy businesses, to the Pearl Lane's Blades coffers and, likely, from there into personal accounts.” It all seemed so straightforward when said like that, but in truth it had taken almost a month to suss it all out, and the calculations involved had led to a number of sleepless nights. “Do we still possess the relevant documents to prove the existence of this trail?” Antimony's lips pursed. Amaury timed his next sip of tea with Antimony's expression. “Yes... luckily. But I need access to the tribe's records to confirm. It's why I... well, what I have now is enough to warrant a.. er, a warrant. But...” Her ears flicked out to either side of her head in frustration. “Are you worried about the incident repeating itself?” Antimony looked up at Amaury, shoulders slumping. "Of course it would repeat itself!" She half-cringed at how her voice rose and added quieter, "If I approach them as I did, at least." Amaury said simply, "Then we must take measures." He calmly took some more tea before continuing. "Which high-ranking Blade officers are involved?" Antimony shifted her ears back a bit nervously. "I... believe it's isolated to the command with jurisdiction over Pearl Lane. Though... accessing the Dodo's financial records would reveal if there were more." Her tail twitched, curling against her chair. "The Captain Lamandu Tyrmandu is at the very least involved. Possibly some, ah, employees." She winced and gave Amaury a sideways look. "He was the lalafell who... well, you met him in the... jail." “So there are no doubts about his involvement?” Antimony gave a small shake of her head. "He signed off on all of the transactions with the, ah, fake businesses." Amaury hid his smile with the last sip of tea. The older woman across from him watched uncertainly, just holding her tea. “That is perfect. We need to confront the Dodo tribe about their activities, and we'll use Llamandu to show them that this investigation is not something to scoff at.” Antimony's ears flicked up in surprise, along with her brow. "What?" She looked to one side, half expecting said captain to be standing right there, overhearing everything. "But how?" “We'll gently ask for his cooperation, hinting not so gently that we know what he's been up to. The Dodos rely on the Blades to hide their wrong doings. That's why they handed you to them rather than the Sultansworn.” The elezen delivered his explanation with precise nonchalance. “If we get the captain to cooperate with us, the tribe will feel powerless. And that's all you need for men to despair enough to abide the law, sadly.” Antimony let out a slow, only somewhat uneven breath, her fingers twining about her teacup. "Intimidation." She paused, looked uncomfortable. "Well, I... suppose it... makes sense." Amaury reached again for his teacup, but noticed it was empty. "If he doesn't, we will bring our findings to the Sultansworn. I don't know if the Dodos have any influence in them, but considering they relied on the Blades...I think it is unlikely." Antimony nodded after a moment, eyes on her cup, brow wrinkled. "Alright. I suppose they can't... well, there isn't much they could do against us with a member of the Brass Blades backing our request..." “And a captain, no less. I'd like to go meet with him right after you are finished with your tea, if you do not have any other plans for the day.” Antimony continued looking at her tea for several seconds longer, wringing her fingers about the smooth cup, and then nodded a second time. "No, I do not. I'd rather..." She winced, "... get through this as soon as possible, myself." “Good,” Amaury nodded. “Do you have any of the documents with yourself? I imagine the captain will want to see some kind of proof before he accepts our offer.” Antimony drew in a breath and shifted a satchel that hung by her hip, its worn leather resting against the chair. "I brought... well, I wasn't certain what you would want to know or, er, see, so... I have the full summary report - the copy, of course." Amaury chuckled. "Of course. I will prepare and hand a preliminary report based on that for the Immortal Flames. As much as I'd like to put all of my faith in the good Blades, we should prepare in case the Dodos have some tricks we do not know about." She gave a worried look to the dark-haired elezen. "What do you mean, tricks?" He gave her a solid look. “They could have influence in other sectors of the society. Influence in the Blades is a basic of sorts for criminal organizations. Or the ones that matter, at least.” Antimony fidgeted a bit and forced herself to drink from her tea. And then drink some more. And again until it was gone. "Ah," she said as she set the cup down, ears twitching. "Well. No time like... the present." Noting Antimony finished her drink, he stood up. “Do not worry yourself. If the Dodos were as powerful as other groups they would have had their hands in the Sultansworn more fully.” The miqo’te woman stared straight ahead a moment before snapping her eyes up to Amaury. "... I suppose." Her lips pursed and she was still for another beat before standing as well. He offered a comforting smile while he gestured to leave. "Shall we go, then?” *** After a brief greeting and introduction to the two secretaries manning the front desk of the Brass Blades’ Pearl Lane office, Antimony went with Amaury down a short hall to Captain Lamandu Tyremandu’s office. She approached the lalafell’s door with visible trepidation. Stepping up alongside her, Amaury knocks on the door. Inside, the captain paused in his busy filling out of paperwork to set his quill down in its holder before speaking loudly, “Come in.” Antimony hesitated, glancing at Amaury before drawing a short breath to try and calm herself, pushing the door open. She stepped through with a nod and a greeting, "Good afternoon, Captain Tyremandu." Amaury followed his miqo’te companion in and nodded at Lamandu. "Captain." Lamandu narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of the pair, "Miss Antimony. I assume you are well after your unfortunate visit to the jails. I had hoped you had wrapped up all you needed. What brings you back?" Antimony managed a small smile. "I'm well, thank you." She paused then, smile dropping. "I'm afraid not everything is, ah, wrapped up just yet. You've been.. wonderful help so far, and I was hoping you would be so again." Lamandu gestured to the empty space in front of his desk, with chairs and the like, "Well, then. Pleas, tell me what I can do to help you be on your way. I'm sure your tired of stopping by this little office." Following the lalafell’s gesture, Antimony stepped forward to take one of the offered seats, her tail twitching uncomfortably behind her. “If you allow me, I'd like to start by giving you an incentive to provide us with your help. We know you have given the Dodo tribe in Ul'dah some ‘concessions’.” Antimony flinched at the rather abrupt segue into the discussion. The lalafellin captain frowned and folded his arms in front of him, "Certain people have different needs than others. What were you proposing, Mister... what was your name?" “Ah, well... What--what Mister Amaury means is that... I'm nearing the end of my investigation and... we would like your support when attempting to... approach the Dodos.” Pausing in her intrusion, Antimony gripped her hands together underneath the table and straightened her posture to put on as good an image as she could manage. Lamandu turned his head back towards Antimony, "And why would I wish to do that? The Dodos and the Blades have a long history. Before my time, certainly.” Amaury interjected, “Miss Antimony here will provide you with the copy of some of the documents, if you feel such a confirmation is necessary." He paused to smile. "But we both know that shouldn't be necessary. What we require of you is full cooperation. In exchange, we will mention that your involvement was unintended by you. Some sort of unwilling puppet." Antimony's ears shivered, and she closed her eyes a moment, letting out a short sigh, before opening them again to blink at Lamandu through her glasses. "The evidence is quite clear that someone... or someones have been moving money from the Dodo tribe to, ah, here. I ask for your help in approaching the Dodos regarding this." “I can't help but feel that this is meant as a threat,” the captain replied flatly. “I don't take kindly to those, you know.” To that Antimony could only manage, “It's a... necessary request.” Amaury smiled, “As you said, different people have different needs. This is our need.” Lamandu smiled back at Amaury, "And yet, given Antimony's previous issues, it would appear that you require my help, more than I require your thoughtful protection. Especially given that my assistance in this matter will forever drive a wedge in a relationship that is valued by more than I." The miqo’te woman furrowed her brow then and seemed to grow a bit bolder as she said, "The data I've gathered points rather firmly to you. I think the legal action following that would drive a wedge in any relationships, as well." “If you are unwilling to help,” Amaury began in a calm tone, “we will be forced to involve the Sultansworn. I ask you to consider the implications of having the Sultana's personal guard involved in investigating the tribe.” “The Sultansworn?” Lamandu hardly sounded impressed. “I think you may overestimate their efforts. They would remove the Dodos from the city, perhaps, but that is all.” Antimony twisted her hands in her lap and pursed her lips at Lamandu. "I doubt very much that they would ignore you and what the Brass Blades have done here." “Yes, you are thinking of the wrong implications,” Amaury advised the lalafell captain across from them. “The Dodos are civilians, so exile might be the worst punishment. But you are a man of law of not inconsiderate power.” “You're not from here Miss Antimony, so I don't blame you if are not up to date on the city politics,” Lamandu spoke with an almost patronizing tone, or perhaps that was all in Antimony’s head. “I will ask you though, what do you intend to have happen? The Dodos are an ecomonic power here in Ul'dah. For a representative of a commerce regulation agency, I understand your concerns, but you must consider the impact of their banishment.” The woman blinked. "That... is not my job, Captain Tyremandu." She sighed faintly. "It is up to the CRA and... who they turn the information over to, to deal with such things." Amaury scoffed. "Don't you hear that all the time when you catch unprotected criminals, captain? That they are 'actually helping society'?" He shook his head. "It is no excuse. And even then, it is unreal to believe that the whole tribe will fall for this. Only those actually involved in the activites we are following." At his firm words, Antimony glanced towards Amaury out of the corner of her eyes. Lamandu's frown tightened, "So you would absolve yourself of guilt then for tipping over the economic balance in this city? You may not like how it works here, but that is how it is. The Dodos buy their way into tribe leadership. If D'themia Nunh iand others are banished, the tribe will recover, but not quickly. And they would leave a hole, that other worse individuals may seek to fill." Antimony lifted her chin somewhat, forcing herself to look directly at the lalafell. "Captain Tyremandu, that is not my concern. I am here to do my job, and that is what I intend to do. I implore you to help me complete it so that you are not caught up in the consequences." “Your rethoric is tiresome, captain,” Amaury said. “The Dodo tribe has indulged in criminal activities. Do not try to manipulate us into a sense of guilt. They are an arrow in Ul'dah's side. One of many. We won't leave it there because pulling it off will cause some bleeding.” Lamandu glances over at the elezen, giving him actual consideration, "You remind me of my predecessor. And that is not a compliment. But, be that as it may... I would need assurances that this office will not be connected to this mess when it comes down. There will be enough fallout to deal with from the Dodos themselves, much less everyone else." Antimony pulled her tail to herself and looked to Amaury. The elezen’s thin features smiled weakly, showing some of his teeth. "I guess my word for it won't be enough, right, captain?" Lamandu smiled back, "No. I would prefer something more tangible." Looking between the two, Antimony furrowed her brow. "What are you suggesting?" Amaury stared at the table. "We could give you some of the original documents of the investigation if you can provide us with other links to follow into the Dodos." He raised his sight and one hand. "And if you accompany Miss Antimony and I into the Dodo commune." Antimony's ears darted up and she gave a surprised look to Amaury. "The original..? But..." Lamandu let his eyes move between the two of them. "That would do." Amaury nodded exactly once. "Good. I'm glad we reached an understanding" he said, adding a smile for effect. Antimony's tail twitched anxiously at her side. "The originals?" She repeated. "Of--which? How do you... that could jeopardize the entire investigation..!" Amaury looked at her very calmly. "Do not worry. The good captain will provide us with replacements. And if he can't, I'm sure his involvement will make sure the Dodos give them to us." She looked down at the desk, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but nodded in quiet ascent. “This is how these things work, Miss Antimony,” Lamandu was not exactly reassuring. “I need to know that the both of you will hold your deal. Or else it would be better for me on the other side." Antimony's ears lowered slightly. "... Very well. I will.. deliver to you the requested papers within a day. I would like to attend to the commune by the end of the week." Amaury interrupted, "No, the papers will be given to him once we meet in the commune. Otherwise you might misplace them and lose all motivation, right captain?” Feeling chastised by the correction, Antimony bowed her head in a sharp, brief gesture. "Of course." Lamandu shook his head, "I need them, to uphold my part of this. If you still wish for my own evidence, I need to know what you have." Antimony chose to wait for Amaury's response to that, instead of making more assumptions. “I think the summary we have will give you a pretty clear idea of what we have found.” She darted her eyes towards the elezen, then to the satchel she'd carried from the airstrip bar to the office that still rested at her hip. "Ah... I suppose.." “Then I will require all the original documentation that has been gathered concerning this office, you understand?” Antimony looked up at Lamandu. "All? Surely that's..." she shifted her eyes to Amaury, "... unreasonable? I can offer him this copy of the summary report, and... well, certain original documents incriminating him personally..." Lamandu shrugged, "If you were to hold up you're end of the bargain, what use would you have of it?" Amaury placed an elbow over the table and rested his head on his hand. He looked rather smug. “Do not push too hard, captain. These negotiations are taking our time, and I start to think the Sultansworn wouldn't be so demanding. You will receive enough papers to...prove your innocence. But only after we face the Dodos together.” “While you keep enough to connect myself and this office to Dodos? I will deliver dirt that we have overlooked on their request. It would certainly strengthen your case against them. I must protect my own little family here though. If you really wished to go to the Sultansworn, you would have already done so.” Antimony turned her frown on Lamandu once more. "I said I would give you the documents incriminating yourself, did I not?" “All of the documentation concerning that linked myself and this office, is what I require,” Lamandu insisted. “I do not see a problem with this, but you seemed to have?” “The problem, captain,” Amaury began, “is that you believe that documentation concerns only your offices' activities. But many of them are entangled with other reports and dealings. Giving you everything is simply impossible. We will minimize the involvement and nobody will bother to look into it further.” Glancing uncertainly in Amaury's direction, Antimony opened the satchel at her side and pulled out a rather hefty stack of papers - thick enough that one would wonder how she managed to find time to sleep pulling them all together. She looked at the stack a moment and then set it down on the desk with a, "This is a start. It is a copy of the summary report I've written... rewritten." Lamandu said only, "Thank you, Miss Antimony. Then I am not certain that you are able to give any assurance. And I am not certain what good it would do to unearth old cases regarding the Dodos to supply you with new leads." She blinked in confusion. “Do you know what happens to a gate during a siege?” Amaury spoke suddenly. “The enemy sends a battering ram. If there is only one gate, they will send all their strength to it. If there are many gates, though? They will divide their attention. That's the good your help would do. It will keep your office free of...battering rams.” “If I were to give you other pathways, why would you need the ones that lead to this office though?” Unable to reign in her confusion further, Antimony interjected, “I don't understand. Is that not what we've agreed to?” Lamandu gave Antimony a slight smile, "Yes, though you're friend is arguing differently." “Hm,” Amaury hummed in thought. “I suggest the following: I will bring you the copies of the documents we have so that you can review them yourself. I will also bring some of the originals involving you personally, as a token of good will.” The captain raised his brows, "And the rest later, correct? I think we may finally understand each other." Antimony waited in anxious silence. “Yes, that is correct.” Lamandu unfolded his arms, extending one to Amaury, "Let us shake on it then." The lanky elezen stood up to reach his hand. "Trust is so hard to win nowadays, isn't it?" He didn’t sit down when he was down with the formality. "It was a pleasure, captain." Antimony looked between the two a moment and then stood as well, tail twitching close to her legs. She bowed her head towards Lamandu. The lalafell nodded his head, "I am glad that we could come to an agreement." “Thank you for your time, Captain Tyremandu,” Antimony uttered as politely as she could muster. “Have a good evening.” Amaury didn’t bow, but he did open the door and waited for Antimony. “Of course. I’ll see you both soon.” Antimony hesitated a moment, glancing to the stack of papers she'd left on the lalafell's desk, and then turned to follow Amaury out.

I don't recall even Aion, in all of its slider-ific glory, taxing my computer to its limit back when I played - at least not in any way that could remotely be contributed to the number of sliders. I think you're overstating the issue, to be honest.

We're saying the same things, Ignacious... or you're ignoring the first half of my second sentence. >_>

What's nonessential to you is clearly of high importance to many. While I maintain my earlier stance that a game which over-markets its graphics might be hiding an extremely thin gameplay experience, I do think that character customization is important. These are our personas, not just some pixels but characters we play often for years. For a roleplayer, the connection is arguably even deeper, and many of us appreciate the opportunity to modify our character to get them as close as possible to what we imagine in our heads. I for one spend absurd amounts of time looking at my character and others'.

It's really up to you how you want to handle it. Some people fade to black and may or may not discuss general ideas of what happened (was it good? any soul-shattering moments? confessions? freak outs? etc). Other people like to actually roleplay it out. Others avoid the issue all together. It's all up to you and how comfortable you are with the person/your rp. Bottom line is: You don't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with.

Glitchy trees and lighting aside, Black Desert certainly looks beautiful. However, I'd be wary of a game that touts its graphics so much. All the amazing graphics in the world can't save a game from horrible mechanics. Hell, even nice combat can't save it if there's nothing to do with that combat, and/or what little there is to do is RNG-flooded and unsatisfying (hello, TERA). This is the same issue with Bless Online. Incredible graphics but by all accounts absolutely dull gameplay. Black Desert is supposedly a sandbox-based MMO, though. So who knows. The footage at the end with the sieging of the castle reminds me of TERA's Federation patch and the horrid lagfest that was. >_<

Can't a friendly netherbeast make a joke? ;p I'm a bit worried and confused by the Afghanistan comment...

I really do feel bad for all those BLMs and SMNs out there. Though at least it's itemized well... I really wanted the Daystar robe because I'm kind of tired of looking at the Allagan tunic but that crit is just dumb on a WHM so I've got gloves and hat first. >_< If only the Pilgrim robe would drop instead of Filtered Water...

No, we aren't actually obligated to try anything at all. I gave Korean MMOs plenty of chance, and I've simply chosen to take my time and money elsewhere - especially as I've found games much more appealing to me in the scope of that elsewhere. On the topic of Blade & Soul, I have also seen what happens to specifically NCSoft-run MMOs, have experienced first-hand their horrible customer service, and I want no part in it. I gave GW2 a chance and am going to be giving WildStar a chance simply because ArenaNet and Carbine are capable of working largely independently from NCSoft. If it was "WildStar, created by NCSoft"... I wouldn't even spare it a single look. F2P is another, just as frequently terrible beast. The only F2P MMO I actually enjoy is Rift, and that's mostly because I have played the game since the early betas and Trion managed to preserve the game experience almost perfectly in their transition to F2P. I have neither seen nor experienced such a good F2P model in any other MMO out there. I was extremely miffed when the transition happened, especially as it occurred very shortly after I purchased a 1 year subscription, and actually "quit" the game for some time out of anger. But I gave it another chance late last year, mostly because I needed something to assuage the anger SE has been causing me, and am glad I did. Regarding Aion - I actually found it incredibly grindy while leveling. The XP loss on death combined with the dearth of quests that forced you to just grind mobs endlessly made me quit not long after arriving in that space zone. I miss its character creation tools, but I do not regret quitting that game.

Wat. That's about as factually incorrect as one can get. Incidentally, I've never played Lineage. My own perception of Korean MMOs is based entirely around my own experiences with... Korean MMOs. Don't tell me how to think, thanks. ^^ It's my decision to avoid Korean MMOs based on these experiences, and I'm not damning anyone who enjoys them. They are simply not something I am willing to touch anymore.

I just want to be able to romance Titan. He spends hours flashing me with his flirty skirt but refuses to put out. You can only play hard to get for so long, rockman!

There's no need to take my comments regarding my thoughts on B&S personally. I simply do not trust Korean developers to maintain the integrity of a subscription MMO. Their business model is almost uniformly "milk box sales and subscriptions for a year or two and then dump it to f2p to work on the next cash cow, where we'll do the same," repeat cycle ad nauseum. It usually comes with extremely underhanded cash shop tactics that I simply cannot support. I'm glad you're enjoying Blade & Soul. No need to jump down my throat because I decided to express my own opinion in a forum thread talking about MMOs.

I swear I saw some dark blues and greens in that game!

There's also the fact that a lot of people just like the holy trinity (or quadrinity, if you throw in support). I enjoy playing the role of tank and the role of healer and don't really feel all that fulfilled in combat when I can't. GW2 lost me more on the "you have the same skills forever, the end" bit, alongside the cheating "we're tab-target but not but really we're not tab target but actually yea, we mostly are lol" thing. Too half-assed for me. WildStar's combat goes well beyond GW2 and is as close to TERA's action combat I've seen yet in western MMOs. Blade & Soul loses for the simple fact of being NCSoft and eastern and thus doomed to grind and inevitable F2P shittiness. I learned from TERA that no amount of beautiful graphics or even fun combat can counter the insidious nature of Korean f2p models.

The inn room felt unnaturally empty after D'hein left - not for lack of clutter for there was much of it, but all of the leaving, the grief, the splitting of souls the room had witnessed seemed to have drawn out any sense of energy from its walls. It was not a room but a void. Antimony turned her back to the door and dropped her head, her blood-soaked dress rising into her field of view. She should change and wash, she knew, but there was very little energy for such things. Her body drew itself towards the bed while her thoughts drew themselves towards D'aijeen, towards K'airos. She hadn't been able to stop her daughter from leaving the first time; what made her think she could manage it now? There was no firedancer to blame this time, however, for he too had gone, slipped through her fingers before she had barely begun to realize what she'd found. Dropping to the bed, Antimony curled her tail above her waist and sought in dreams some brief respite from that loneliness.