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The Biggest MMORPG – LIFE

Depending on your school of thought, LIFETM was either developed from scratch by Great Old Deity (GOD) for short, or it evolved from random bits of code that somehow evolved to form larger, more complex bits of code. It is the most widely played MMORPG in existence, and everyone has dabbled in LIFE at some point or other. There is no demo available for download, but it is free to try for your initial years of playing. Subscription fees kick in later depending on various factors.

You start off as a completely randomly generated character. It is very much like starting a game of Nethack and choosing “random” for everything. You are very weak at the start of the game, but growth of your character is capped for all newbies, so nobody pulls ahead too fast. Your stats are low, and you have about the equivalent of half a hitpoint. You are entirely dependent on your randomly chosen guild, often called a FAMILY, who will take you through your newbie and lowbie stages. Some players choose to remain with their FAMILY till late in their game, while others often strike out at around Level 18. There are also unfortunate players who, due to a glitch in the program, start out without a FAMILY. Most of these players are often taken under the wing of high-level characters and looked after.

The game is fairly standard at the newbie stage. It mostly consists of eating and sleeping a lot. Around level 5 to 6, characters often start going to Standard Communal Houses Of Onerous Learning (SCHOOL). From there on, SCHOOL is the most standard way of leveling up and picking up useful skills. SCHOOL is compulsory in most domains, although certain regions of the game world have no such requirement. In those places, SCHOOL is optional and players may opt to go straight to the meat of the game, albeit with slightly more disadvantages.

For most players, the game truly takes off at Level 18. Depending on your region, you will normally be issued with special “badges” that permit you to drive, imbibe alcohol, or vote, for example. The first thing most players do would be to get a JOB. The JOB-system allows players to earn gold, with which they can buy better equipment, or furniture for their homes, if they have one. As one levels up, the amount of gold earned increases accordingly. Certain JOBs pay more gold than others, but those often have heavy skill requirements. Enterprising players sometimes find start new JOBs, and become pioneers. Depending on your preference you can take on JOBs as healers, mercenaries, traders, and even beggars!

Levelling up in this game happens in several ways. Over time, all characters will slowly increase in level. This eliminates the need for camping spawns. Skills are learnt and acquired in various levels of SCHOOL, and repeated use often results in greater proficiency. Your Intelligence stat is most required here. Skills can be self-taught, but would probably take a longer time to level up.

Customization has reached new heights since Beta 0.4. Because your starting appearance is also randomized, many players complained about their horrendously low Charisma scores. Some players petitioned, and eventually Healers were given the “Modify Appearance” skill. Depending on proficiency, they can alter facial features, body features, and to a certain extent, even height and weight. Tattoos are fully available, as are piercings, ensuring that almost no 2 players ever look the same.

The game encourages friendly and law-abiding behaviour. GMs have set in place a policing system in most areas of the game, and have set down rules to abide by. Breaking rules often comes with severe penalties. Beware, there is no save game function, so once you make a mistake, you can’t restore from a previous save point. Minor rules may mean a fine of several thousand gold pieces, while more serious crimes can lead to a forced stay in the dungeons for a set period of time. Certain transgressions are so serious that the GMs may have to order that your character be taken offline.

Which leads me to my next point. Unlike other traditional MMORPGs, your character has a finite amount of gaming time. Once your game time runs out, it’s game over. There is no reboot option, and there is certainly no reset button. Some players believe that terminated player code lives on in the game, while others subscribe to the thought that player code often gets recycled into new characters. At any rate, no one, not even GMs, are immune to this. GOD could not be contacted for comment. If you have played well, you would normally be survived by your offspring, who usually carry part of your code and game title. Often, that is the aim of many players.

“What is life, if not just one big game? Our game time is always ticking away. Better that we concentrate on improving our characters, than wasting it away.”

Posted 2 April 2004 by Lucifer Morningstar ·

My grandfather can whoop your grandfather at Q2DM1*

(* For the uninitiated, Q2DM1 was one of the most popular Quake 2 Deathmatch maps, featuring nice wide open space for some Railgun love)

As i approach my 27th birthday, I inevitably start to wonder, how old is too old before gaming becomes nothing more than a faded memory in the annals of my life? Whenever I let slip that I really, really enjoy gaming, I often get less-than-complimentary glances from other people. It’s as if they’re all thinking “So old and still playing computer games? Get a life!”

However, what these people don’t understand, is that the target demographic for most games out there, is no longer the preschool and kiddy group, but the adult group. Several examples come to mind immediately. When I first played Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father, I felt that the story was way too “adult” in nature for the younger crowd to understand it. If anything, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within only served to reinforce that notion.

Even in MMORPGs, the age divide becomes painfully apparent why trying to group with other players. You can always recognise the student because he’ll be the one running around naked in the East Commons shouting “LAMMYS/SSOY/PH4T L3WT5 FOR SALE SEND TELLZ PLZ”, while it’s not as easy to spot the nice mature gamer who bothers to actually talk while grouping and knows his stuff well. This has not changed in my MMORPG experience, from UO, to EQ, to SWG, and to FFXI.

I guess from an outsider’s point of view, gaming is probably viewed as a frivolous pasttime, something that can be and should be foregone in favour of more “exciting” things, like clubbing, or wakeboarding, or whatever it is that you “cool dudes” and “cool dudettes” do these days. But gaming opens up a whole new world of imagination that was previously only available in novels, and nobody ever slammed anyone for reading too much. Where else can you trek to the farthest reachests of Syberia, or travel in parallel worlds with April, or drive around in a stolen car running people down willy nilly? Where else can you command an army of orcs, or win 5 consecutive Champions League titles with Manchester United, or beat Michael Schumacher at his own game?

Gaming gives us a chance to be someone else who leads an infinitely more exciting life than that of a 9-5 worker drone. Gaming transcends reality, and offers an experience like none other. And most of all, gaming, in its very essence, is pure, unadulterated, harmless fun (Please ignore any stupid references to Columbine). Because when that computer is switched off, the real world is still the real world, and life still goes on.

I don’t think I’ll ever give up gaming. Not a chance. I want to be gaming with my kids. I want to be gaming with my grandkids. I want to be gaming till I die. And most of all, I want my grandkids to be able to brag that their grandad was once a pretty kickass Quake 2 player.

Posted 29 March 2004 by Lucifer Morningstar ·

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