You're not going anywhere, the game is.

I just had to post this part of a project update from the Kickstarter by Bare Mettle Entertainment about the game they are making with the help of their Kickstarter.
The game is called Sui Generis, you can read more here on Kickstarter.

"We feel that in recent years the focus of most CRPGs has shifted from creating an immersive world to providing a streamlined gameplay experience. Rarely is there room for subtlety or engaging your wits. Games have been evolving into something where anyone can play for a while and feel they've achieved something. Ultimately though, our achievements are purely virtual, and we didn't even have fun. You're not going anywhere, the game is. You're just along for the ride and nothing you do really matters. We don't exactly come out feeling like we've accomplished something, more like we've satisfied some addiction. It's easy to forget, but we know that games can be genuinely fun, worthwhile and stimulating.

The kind of roleplaying experience we dreamed of and hope to create is one that hasn't been possible without a human game master who can intelligently respond to all your actions. We want your actions to have meaningful effects, not as pre-scripted "choice and consequences" over which we have no real insight or control, but as a world that is affected realistically by everything you do. We want you to be able to make mistakes, to fail and to feel that your successes are your own. We even want you to accomplish things that we as designers have never foreseen. We want a world capable of supporting your most creative strategies, where hypothetical scenarios turn out to be real. We're talking about roleplaying, immersion, being master of your own character in a world that can make you believe it is real".

This quote exactly captures how i have been feeling about gaming and games, no matter how great they were and i thought i liked them.
No matter how much i loved games like Mass Effect or Dragon Age, i still have to finish a second playthrough, i mean i want to but i just can't, i allready know what's going to happen, what my choices are going to be, so you allready know how the game is going to end.
And to be honest games like Skyrim and Oblivion are much the same when it comes to questing, the only difference (and reason i still play them) is that you can still just roam around in the world and add lots of stuff through mods.

The same thing goes for MMO's, it's all one big scripted adventure with an outcome allready set, the developers have allready made up the story for you and you are just along for the ride, in the end you know you will be the hero of the world, the saviour of the galaxy.
The path has allready been layed out for you, the only choice you get is path A,B or C (Good, Neutral or Bad) but the end result is always the same.

 Quote: You're not going anywhere, the game is.

In the end it should be a choice i made, not a multiple choice answer given to me by the developers.

So, yeah i am kind of excited to see if Bare Mettle can pull this off with Sui Generis and i am glad i backed a game like this.
It would be awesome to blog about my game progress and know that i have a completely different story than anyone else playing the same game.

Until then i'll just keep dreaming...

Mass Effect MMO a possibility?

A really interresting article on Penny Arcade (The doctors from BioWare discuss the Old Republic launch, ending a trilogy, and a Mass Effect MMO) were they interview the doctors and of course eventually come to the "rumor" of a Mass Effect MMO and eventhough they are not saying yes, there is also not a no in there, so jumping the conclusion: yes a possibility.

Of course the biggest question, besides will it happen or not, is how they would pull this off, i mean imagine a 1000 Shepards running around going after the same mobs.

But then again if anyone could pull this off, it would definitely be BioWare.
The Mass Effect universe/lore definitely has a lot of potential for making a great MMO.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a Mass Effect MMO :)

Mass Effect 3: More FemShep

Eventhough i initially felt like i didn't wanna spoil anything by playing the demo (i allready pre-ordered), i am somewhat glad i did, i really think they are not giving much away with the demo, which is good.

You initially start at the beginning of course, which is somewhat of a tutorial on how to move and such and it sets up the story (invasion of the reapers).
After that tutorial you basicly advance to a later part in the story (you are suddenly level 14 i think) and play one level and that's it.

I did however like the fact that i could import my Mass Effect 1 & 2 character into the demo, by using the character code.
Apart from the hair color, i am pretty sure my character was a redhead, she looks pretty good.

It felt really good to see her again and can't wait for the release of the full game and see what trouble she gets into now :)

In Honor of #FemShepFriday

Just a few screenies of my FemShep as i played her through Mass Effect 1 and 2, in honor of #FemShepFriday.

Mass Effect:


Mass Effect 2:


And another cool one from Mass Effect 2:

Commander Shepard Needs Our Help!

If you are a big fan of Mass Effect you probably heard of, or seen Holly Conrad around, she is the (awesome artist) female Shepard showing up on cons and, well anywhere on the web.
Check out some of her (and Crabcat's) awesome work here.

Normally i wouldn't post stuff like this but i really felt like making a post.

I follow her on twitter (@HollyConrad) and recently she tweeted the following:


And a couple of hours after that:


Yes Shepard needs your help, you can go to her page here and if you can spare some money donate and help her get back up and running (i did).
Even if you can't spare some money, you can still help by spreading the word!

Afterall we need Shepard (FemShep) to save us from the Reapers.

No really, it's the rain.

I am not crying, i am Shepard dammit!!

Earlier this month i finished the Arrival DLC for Mass Effect 2, i had put it off because i didn't wanna finish the game, but not playing doesn't make sense either, does it?
It felt pretty short but a really cool story to link ME2 to ME3.

Still sad i finished the game, but also looking forward to ME3.

In other Mass Effect news, i have been reading the Mass Effect books, so far i have finished both Revalation and Ascension and they are really cool stories, Revelation is the prequel to ME1 and Ascension takes place between ME1 and ME2.
Next Mass Effect book on my list is Retribution, which i think, is taking place just before Mass Effect 3.

If you love Mass Effect (and it's lore) these books are definatly a must read.
I really hope BioWare will be continuing with the books long after ME3 comes out, as i am really enjoying the lore of Mass Effect.

It's also my wish for Mass Effect to be an open world RPG (like Oblivion), but yeah, not much chance of that happening is there?.. Unless.... yeah let's do it, make a Mass Effect MMO. There i said it!

The arrival will bring the end

I only finished the last Mass Effect 2 DLC (The Shadowbroker) early this month and of course like all DLC it was awesome yet way too short.
After every DLC i feel that "the end" of a game and now with the last Mass Effect 2 DLC, "Arrival" coming March 29th, the end is truly in sight.
I really enjoyed the ride and hope "Arrival" is really going to be awesome, who am i kidding, of course it will be awesome, what i really hope is that it will bring at least a lot of hours of fun and by that i mean, make it possible to keep exploring/adventuring/questing, but looking at Mass Effect that will be very unlikely.

Of course we know Mass Effect 3 is coming and i personally can't wait to see what Bioware is going to bring.