arislyn played Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach [DVD-ROM]

I tried the free tiral of the EU version the other day and have to say I was really impressed by the game. Thought it'd be a worthy replacement for tabletop sessions me and my friends started up a few months ago before I moved away, but alas they've not picked it up.

Has a great action RPG feel to it for an MMO. I take it you're playing the free US version then. Are you based in Europe? And if so, how's the latency?

Yes, I play the US version and I am in the US. So, I'm afraid I can't really help you with your latency question. Sorry!

I know how it goes with trying to get friends to join you. A lot of my college buddies that I used to play tabletop with have scattered to the four winds. I suggested playing this together as a way to sort of get that same experience we used to have (and to spend time together, even if only through virtual space.) They haven't joined, either.

Here's to hoping I guess. Have you been partying with people much then or have you just been playing solo with the aid of henchmen?

I found that kind of set up 'alright' in Guild Wars from time to time, but never as fun as playing with a good group of people.

I had been playing with another friend of mine, duoing mostly. However, he and his wife recently had a baby so...back to soloing. (My husband doesn't like the combat in DDO, so I can't talk him into playing with me. The big poot!)

You know, I don't party with strangers much. I've been burned by that so many times in other games that I tend to shy away from it. I mean, if someone will stop and talk with me for five minutes or so before asking to group, sure. I'll give them a chance. However, that almost never seems to happen.

By the way, if you decide to try the US version, feel free to look me up. I'm on the Sarlona server, Oliandra Aaronthorne. I'd love to have some company, again!

I've had the same experience partying with strangers, it's just one of those things I guess. Was one of the things that really ruined Aion for me.

Last year (before it launched for the Western World) I was living in China and was ecstatic to get the chance to play Aion early. I played in the net bars duoing with my fiance (Isn't it great having a partner you can game with?), and at home duoing alongside my brother with static characters, and I absolutely LOVED the game.

Once it came over here though and I tried playing it with mates it all seemed to fall apart and lose it's flavour with the queues/lag/community and the fact that my little group started peeling away (fiance didn't want to fork the cash for it, brother got snowed under uni workload and close mate was too buay with work).

From then I just couldn't get into it and partying with strangers didn't really fill the void.

If I do ever give DDO a go on the US servers I'll be sure to track you down though :) Thanks.

It is great having a partner who plays! While my husband doesn't play DDO, he is more than happy to play Borderlands with me, so that makes up for him abandoning me in this game. :D

I never could even get a feel for the Aion community in-game. The gold sellers were so bad, that I ended up turning off channels left and right. It was nicer, to me, to feel alone than it was to watch that tripe scroll across my screen over and over again. I know that I could block them, but more and more kept popping up to the point where it was easier to just ignore everybody than to be selective about it.

My fiance isn't too hot/interested in shooters, so wouldn't be able to convince her to play Borderlands with me. But we get a lot of play out of co-op RPGs (FFCC and Soma Bringer are fantastic co-op RPGs, and eagerly awaiting Phantasy Star Zero).

The Aion community was terrible from my experience. Most of the people I ran into were greedy elitist excuses for people and had no interest in really exploring or enjoying the game, which is usually an my biggest draw from an MMO. They just made it feel like it was a job, and that I was the employee next ready to be dropped.

Just my personal experience, but not one I intend to go back to any time soon.

Ugh. I hate running across folk like that. Sadly, there seem to be a lot of them out there, too.

Heh! I keep reassuring myself that the people I run into who are like that are probably, in reality, the minority. For every person I see in chat who is being a complete butt ferret, there are hundreds more who aren't even speaking and are, most likely, shaking their heads in disgust, just like I am. It's a shame that the vocal minority can make a game miserable, but they can and often do.

Great use of the term butt ferret by the way :)

After Aion i've become really disheartened to step back into the MMO world, at least until I can round up a decent group of people to play with regularly and have a good time.

Which may be a while. Hoping that some of the potential upcoming stomping grounds (Star Trek Online, Final Fantasy XIV and Stargate Worlds if it's ever released) will be alluring enough to get some of my close friends back on the scene.

@arislyn Hey! I tried adding you but it says you don't exist.

@Carrick Maybe I have to be online for you to add me. I'm pretty positive that I spelled my character's name correctly. But, I'll log in tomorrow and double check. What's your name, by the way? I'll try to add you, too.

@arislyn That could be. My char's name is Tiernyn Shadowsigh.

Okay, I tried adding you with both your first and last name, but was told you don't exist. So, I just used your first name and I added someone named Tiernyn. I take it you are playing a second level, elven ranger?

Heh! I never bothered adding my other friend to my friends list since we always just contacted each other via IM and said, "I'm logging in. Come vanquish thingies with me."

Yup.. that's me.. Hopefully it's not another level 2 eleven ranger w/ the same name *grin*. I'll try the first name route to see if that works.

One of these days we'll log on at the same time. ;)

Heh! I'm a second level paladin. I may not be able to play one to save my life in tabletop, but I can play 'em in video games.

Yeah, I tend to log in and play during lunch. At night, I'm usually mucking about with Chip either playing other games, watching movies or whatnot.