I play the MMORPG Anarchy Online. The basic game is free to play, and you can level up to 200. There are 4 expansions, which require upgrade and subscription fees, and add a ton of content. It’s deeper than the usual online leveling treadmill, and has a huge crafting system that lets you make hundreds, or maybe thousands, of different items. You can jump right in and have fun, but it takes a good while to master all the subtleties of the game.
For example, over-equipping is using buffs or stat raising items to equip items you couldn’t normally wear. When the buffs wear off, the item can be 50%, 75%, or 100% effective depending on your normal stats. A lot of “twinking” consists of using buffs, items, implants, etc to squeeze your character into stuff far beyond their level, while not being OE when the buffs wear off.
There’s also implants, which can be customized and go into 13 different slots, including eye, ear, head, etc.
A lot of items come in various quality levels, and almost everything has stat requirements on it. For instance, there is a crafted armor called Carbonium Plate, which can be made from levels 1 to 200, and the higher it is, the higher stamina and agility you need to wear it (and you can use buffs or other items to over equip it).
There’s a ton of different skills and stats, and every profession has their own nano programs (the game’s version of spells). You have your caster professions, your tank/damage dealers, etc. There’s 12 or 13 different professions, so there’s a lot to explore.
I don’t really PVP, but there is a big PVP base in the game if you like that sort of thing. Both soloing and teaming are viable, although you will probably want to team up for some of the higher end stuff. Joining a player organization is recommended, most people are very friendly and helpful to new players.
There’s a lot more, but it’s kind of difficult to sum the game up neatly in a paragraph or two. AO has been around for a while, so the graphics are a bit dated (a new graphical update is due soon, but I’m not sure when). It’s not all slick like WoW, but you won’t find many games that are deeper than Anarchy. A lot of people start out as froobs (free players), and many eventually decide to upgrade. The web site is www.anarchy-online.com if you want to check it out. There’s a site I use for quest and item information, AO Universe, which you can scope out to see what the quests/items/crafting/etc is like. It’s a time sink like all MMORPG’s, and the complexity of the game makes it a bit rough on newbs, but like I said you’ll find most people to be helpful, and once you get used to it, the depth does make it very rewarding.
Other games I’ve played recently that I really liked:
Left 4 Dead - the single player is ok, multiplayer is where this game shines. 4 players fighting off hordes of undead (some of whom can be controlled by other players) is very intense.
Mass Effect - Sort of a non Star Wars sequel to Knights of the Old Republic. Ironically, I hated KOTR and if I’d have known this in the beginning I wouldn’t have bought it. I do love Mass Effect though, it’s a very cool game with a great story and lots of interesting places to explore. Sci-fi RPG at its finest!
Fallout 3 - Another RPG with shooter elements. There are things about this game I really like and things I really hate (the automap sucks, the music is good but really started to grate on me after a while). Overall I think it’s pretty good.
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 (platinum edition) - Building your own amusement park is a blast. Seems a bit on the easy side compared to previous installments in the series.
Assassin’s Creed - An action/adventure game with nice graphics, a really stupid backstory, and insanely complicated controls. This game has no subtitles or captioning, which to me is unforgivable, especially since everyone was trumpeting it as being all “next gen”. I couldn’t understand any of the dialogue, so I had a really hard time figuring out what I was supposed to do. I uninstalled it after a few days.
Half Life 2 - If you’re into first person shooters, this is an amazing game. Is it just me or does the storyline seem suspiciously similar to the X-Files? I’ll probably look into getting the expansions.
UFO: Extraterrestrials - The best X-Com game since, well, X-Com. The mod community seems to be dedicated to making this game better than X-com, and they’ve succeeded IMHO. How so? Well, with the mods, the game looks, feels, and plays pretty much exactly like X-Com, and the original X-Com aliens and squaddies even make an appearance. You can customize more options than you can shake a stun rod at, and new stuff like UFO Swarms and boss aliens will have you crapping your pants.
