Gaming in 2007.

Here’s a look back at my gaming in 2007 ala the year end retrospective.


Lord of the Rings Online
The big thing in my gaming in 2007 has been joining up with LotRO. I started 8.5 months ago in open beta and here I am, three expansions, three “main” characters and 50 levels later. My Hobbit Burglar is now sitting at 50 with two pieces of Rift armor and his very own house. This past weekend I managed to complete, with the help of my kinship mates, the Burglar class quests which also got me a my third epic trait “Stick and Move” which opens up my critical event skills when I evade attacks (not just on critical hits). Probably a good thing for PvP or soloing but I’ll keep Sweep the Knee and Exposed Throat for increased conjunctions during raids. (Sweep the Knee reduces the cool down on my leg sweep opener and keeps me from breaking stealth when I do it; Exposed Throat is a critical strike chain ending with improved damage and an increased chance to start a conjunction).

I came to LotRO with a close group of friends from WoW and watched as all of them left me to return to WoW. While I miss them, I have made new friends in LotRO and became an officer in a kinship of some of the best gamers and wonderful people ever.


World of Warcraft
I ended my status as a full-time player. It was a wonderful time and a lot of fun. I met some great folks and we had many a fine adventure in Blizzard’s world of Azeroth. At 2.5 years, it is hands-down the longest time I’ve spent in any virtual world.

A group of friends and I keep a small weekly gathering going called the Noob Club. We level together in a stable group and each week set a level cap so we’ll always play together. Thus far it’s been a great success and we’re having a lot of fun with it. With the club, I get something I hadn’t had in WoW for a long time – a dedicated group to play with. Grinding solo can get old fast so it’s a nice change of pace to be able to just play the game with friends. The monthly price is a bit steep for just playing a couple of hours on weekends, but it’s worth it for all the fun we’re having.


Everquest 2
Inspired by Van Hemlock's Operation Cheapseats I decided to expand my gaming horizons a bit and travel the road not taken. EQ2 is a well-done game in many respects but failed to grab my interest the way WoW, City of Heroes or LotRO did. Just learning how the game works seems to be part of the game and it can get old quickly. I found the combat interesting and the crafting was great but overall, I decided that once my whirlwind tour was over, I would end my time there.


Looking ahead to 2008
What will 2008 bring? More LotRO to be sure. Book 12 is due out in February, I believe, and the first paid expansion is coming up. The Noob Club in WoW has been a success so we’ll keep going with that as well. There are a bunch of games I’m hoping will be awesome including Warhammer Online. I hope it can do PvP well-enough in an MMO to give lie to the belief that it can’t be done. I don’t care about gear or levels or how my toon looks, I want fun. Make PvP fun and people will do it for nothing.

Pirates of the Burning Sea seems interesting in a never-really-even-considered-it kind of way. Ship-to-ship combat seems like a really cool idea. Most of the reviews seem to be mixed at the moment but I’ll see how things pan out. One point of interest is the response Mystic Worlds got from the CEO of Flying Labs. Pretty cool that a company is paying attention to the chatter us blargh-u-sphere types are blasting out.

Regardless of what games you play or whether you play any at all, may you all have a happy and safe 2008!


~ Khan