Fantasy Earth Zero

For a while now I've been getting extremely dissatisfied with the online games I'd been playing. Mabinogi just doesn't hold my attention at all, anymore. I'm tired of spamming instrument playing to try and master rank 1, and I swear my guild only does dungeon runs when I'm away from the keyboard. Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) is occasionally diverting, but for some reason (and I'm not even certain I can pin it down) it just isn't holding my interest either.

I was just about ready to try going back to City of Heroes, since they had a Free Play weekend coming up, when a friend of mine told me about a game that someone else had mentioned to them. It was made by Square Enix, he'd said, and had the feel of Final Fantasy Tactics. He wasn't able to play, or even look at much of it (he's having some computer issues involving Port 80, which I'm heading out to help with in a couple days), and wanted me to check it out.

So I do a search for this game, called Fantasy Earth Zero, and the first thing I find is a Wikipedia entry saying that it's not even released in the US. Well that can't be right, I'm thinking, and continue on until I find the download page. Turns out that I downloaded the client on the day that the first Open Beta was due to release. I'd never beta-tested an online game before, so this was pretty cool for me.

When the server for Open Beta finally went up (several hours past the original launch time), I went in and started playing with the character creation stuff while my wife was finishing up installing it on her computer. We made characters, tried to enter the game with them, and hit the first major roadbump: Gamepot or whoever was in charge of FEZ's Open Beta release wasn't expecting the flood of players it got. They'd only opened up 2 of the 5 kingdoms for people to join and play in, just to get a feel for how things worked in the US version, had only one server, and only 800 slots for characters in each of those kingdoms. They quickly set up a second world/server, but they still only had a capacity of 800 for each of the kingdoms. It was very, very late in the day before they got the population limit raised (my wife had already gone to bed).

Day 2, we went in and started going through the tutorial quests. The controls were very foreign to me at first. The only way to turn around is to change your camera angle, since your directional buttons only allow for forward, back, and strafing. The mouse, by default, changes your camera angle as you move it, which was very disorienting at first. Over time, however, I got used to it (and by the time Open Beta was over, I had trouble going back to other games!).

The Party system seemed a bit glitchy - it would kick my wife and I out of a party when transitioning, so we would need to reform the party when going to a different area. Aside from that, it didn't really feel like we could do much to help each other, aside from just whack at the same monster. The game lacks any sort of ability to heal other people, with your own toon's healing dependent solely upon potions or food items, or sitting at one of the mana crystals when in a war (which will get you yelled at, since healing your character by camping the crystal takes HP away from the crystal).

Overall, it seemed cute and mildly distracting, but seemed to lack any real substance. I had already told my wife that the female character model was complete with "bounce effect", something which was lacking from most other games (even Mabinogi, whose signature character Nao is notorious for it). A closer look, however, revealed something even more revealing: the outfit female characters start with, an exceedingly low-cut peasant-style blouse, actually seems to show the top curve of the areolae. Looking around at other outfits available, it seemed like the newbie outfit was the only one which did this, despite the fact that other tops seemed to cover even less. When it came to clothing below the waistline, the starting outfit was tame, with a knee-length skirt (despite the slit up the back). Other female armors had skirts ranging from mini-length to practically non-existent, with various styles of undergarment. But it was the peasant-blouse starting gear that really disturbed us, and we were just about ready to uninstall.

Then we tried our first war. The game's major selling point, in most of what I'd read, seemed to be the massive combat capability: 50vs50 PvP. I have never been a fan of player-vs.-player gaming, whether in the MUD, on MMOs, or even on Facebook apps. So I was exceedingly surprised to find myself enjoying this. After talking about it with my wife, we think it's because of the scale of it. Most PvP is one-on-one, or maybe a small group. It ends up feeling very personal. But on this scale, it doesn't feel that way. It's like Capture the Flag with more rules.

The system isn't perfect. Of the three classes available to us in the Beta (Warrior, Scout, and Sorcerer) it seemed like the side with the most Warriors would consistently win, despite the game's internal balancing that said otherwise. I'd started off making a Sorcerer, focusing on the lightning spells, only to find out that was one of the worst choices to make. In theory, lightning spells are faster to cast than fire or ice, whereas fire does Damage over Time and ice slows or halts the enemy. Due to lag issues, the lack of auto-targeting, and the differences between fighting AI-run monsters and actual people, it seemed I could never get a spell to hit another PC. Occasionally, if I targeted ahead of them (so they would run into it) I could manage a hit. Even that seemed to work better with the bow-based scout abilities, though.

Warriors, however, have at least 2 high-damage Area of Effect abilities that are centered on the warrior character itself, which is a much safer bet for a PC than trying to aim an AoE (spell or arrow-based) at a distance. For one, since it surrounds the PC, the warrior is going to hit anything close-by, preventing attacks on the warrior. And two, the warrior is built to go wading into battle like that.

I did enjoy playing a Bow-Scout, though, for the ability to stand at the top of a cliff and rain arrows down at enemies at the bottom. If you did it right, you could even stand at the bottom and hit enemies at the top. I also enjoyed playing a Dagger-Scout, to a lesser degree. Being able to potentially one-shot sneak-attack was nice, and the ability to disarm was a wonderful piece of chaos, but most of the time it seemed I was little more than a suicide bomber. Warriors can do about as much damage with one of their abilities, and they don't have to be hidden to do it. I guess the one class I didn't enjoy as much was Sorcerer, but I also didn't try out the fire or ice magic as much. I'd also like to have tried out some of the sword-and-shield warrior abilities, but I was having too much fun smashing everyone to bits with a two-handed weapon.

One of the biggest concerns about the game, though, ended up being saboteurs: people loyal to the other kingdom making characters in ours, and intentionally wasting resources in battle to give the other side an advantage. There was no way to prevent it from happening, and the only countermeasure would be to do the same thing to them. If there was a way to report possible saboteurs, that would at least help the issue.

First Open Beta ended on the 10th, with 2nd Open Beta scheduled to start on the 17th (2 days!). We're told there will not be a character wipe after 2nd Open Beta, and anyone who was involved in a GM-run war during the first OB will get a code in their email to receive a nifty weapon once OB2 opens up. Despite the issues, I'm looking forward to it, as is my wife. I've actually been having trouble playing other games since it went down.

Magic Systems

I've recently been considering a possibility which would basically nullify a lot of work I'd already done. I spent a good amount of time compiling a list of all the 3rd Edition spells and cleric domains, to have a "Master List" of all the available magic in the game. It is a huge list, yet for all that's available it still seems very restrictive in some ways, and there are still only a handful of spells that are regarded as being essential.

So, I've been thinking about pulling out the entire magic system currently in place, and replacing it with a modified version of the (Revised Second Edition) BESM system. I very much like and appreciate the potential for customization in the BESM magic system, which gives every caster the ability to be unique, even if the technical aspects of the spell are the same. It means, in my case, figuring out how to interpret the rules of the Tri-Stat system for a modified d20 system with 10 stats using mana-based casting.

It makes magic potentially much more powerful. This is especially noticeable with direct-damage spells, since the minimum amount (other than 0) that an ability can deal is 15 points. Even using the damage reduction rules for armor found in the 3rd Ed. Unearthed, that leaves a lot of damage for a low-cost spell. The only way to effectively block magic, then, is with magic. This makes a certain amount of poetic sense, following the whole "fire with fire" mentality.

However, magic is also effective against physical attacks, which means that unless the NPCs/monsters have magic, the party will quickly be unassailable if they have a mid-level caster in the party with a Force Field effect. There are ways around this, but not by swarming the party with low-level critters.

On further consideration, this apparent boost to magical power might be what is needed to balance out the static energy level idea that I was considering.

Using the BESM system for magic means that each caster is going to be more unique, but it will also take more time to create a magic-using character. In this regard, I think the positive benefits outweigh that aspect, at least so long as there are only a limited number of people rolling casters at the same time.

I also like the aspect of being able to improve existing abilities and spells as you progress. The idea of a Mage gaining a level, and choosing to improve, for example, a Fireball-esque spell in order to deal higher damage or have a bigger blast radius sounds really nifty.

Chances are I'll end up trying it.

Namaste

If, a year ago, someone brought up 3D movies in conversation, the first image to pop into my head would have been the cliche 1950's crowd with the two-tone red and blue cardboard glasses. 3D was a gimmick, used to hype sub-standard movies in order to bring in audiences.

No more.

James Cameron has taken 3D technology and used it for what it should always have been: to provide a fully immersive experience within a fully detailed environment. He took a film that was fully capable of standing on its own, and enhanced it, rather than making 3D the sole selling point. 3D technology, while it may not become the standard viewing method for some time, now has a benchmark. All 3D films, probably for at least the next decade, will be compared to Avatar to gauge their opulence and detail.

Now to the film itself. Spoilers will likely abound. You have been warned.

Where to begin?

The flora and fauna of Pandora is perfectly balanced between alien and familiar. You may not know what something is called, but it looks (and acts) familiar enough that you know what it's Earth-based counterpart is, or could be, with some few exceptions.

Just by looking at the ocular anatomy, you can tell that this world is much more dangerous than Earth. Practically every creature on the planet has two sets of eyes, one facing forward and one more to the sides. If you remember your Biology, forward facing eyes are the mark of a predator, whereas side-facing eyes are a typical prey's defensive mechanism. Everything on that planet, then, is both a predator and prey. Even the Na'vi, though they lack the second set of eyes, because that lack is made up for by their unusually large, sensitive, swiveling ears.

The wildlife isn't all that's familiar. Plot elements are similar to things seen elsewhere, and although this has been used as a criticism to harp on the plotline's predictability, I believe Mr. Cameron did it right. He gave us familiar elements to associate with, first off so that we wouldn't be overwhelmed by what was unfamiliar, and second so that we would not miss too much if our eyes were overwhelmed with the details put into this fantastic world.

Still, here's what I was reminded of: Linking to the animals? Matrix, jacking in, which was further reinforced by the explanation of how everything was linked in an electric network. The flying creatures, who only bond to one rider? Dragonriders of Pern. The term "I see you" is very closely related to the one-word title up above. And the general storyline and message in general? Fern Gully for grown-ups.

This doesn't belittle the film, in my eyes. Yes, I've seen elements of it elsewhere, but not blended in this manner. And quite frankly it's about time we adults were reminded of the direction our world is going. I don't even necessarily mean what we're doing to destroy the planet. I'll leave that sermon to Al Gore. What I'm talking about is our direction as a society: our might-makes-right attitude, using violence as a default means to the end we desire. We can't even get along with other humans, so what possible hope do we have of peaceful relations with non-human sentient life?

Fern Gully started from the position that the Earth, that Nature, was salvageable, if we humans could do right by it. Mr. Cameron doesn't even give us that much credit, and I can't say I disagree. Avatar starts with Earth being devoid of Nature, perhaps completely sapped of all life, and only gives us the message that, despite our overwhelming majority of asshats, humanity can still be redeemed by the actions of those few who are willing to do right by Life in general, rather than being sheep led to the slaughter by those who had enough greed and ambition to gain apparent leadership.

I saw an article, the day before I saw the movie, that told of a trend among those who saw Avatar. Apparently, there are a number of people who have, since viewing it, become depressed or even suicidal: depressed because they could not live on Pandora, suicidal in the hope that they might be reborn as a Na'vi. It's nothing new that people who come to associate with and love a world they experience through fiction have a desire to live there, or be the people they've read about or seen in the movie. I know I spent a good amount of time in my teen years wishing I actually had a Pernese dragon to ride, so I understand the wish that Pandora were real.

And maybe it is, or a place much like it. We can't, at this point, prove its lack of existence any more than we can prove it does exist. But for the sake of that place, should it be real, I hope we never find it.