Dissection of a purchase.

[xyzzysqrl]

Patient is male, 28 years old. Avid gamer, fat dude. Retracing of steps commences:

"So, this Rift MMO thing. It's basically WoW with portals, right? I should research it."

"Well, that sounds like a nice feature. So does that. So does that. So does that."

"Let's watch some videos and look at some screenshots."

"Okay, let me read the Wiki, see about the lore in this... wow, there's a lot of lore in this game."

"I have already totally picked a side and starting race."

"Let me read what every MMO blogger I can think of has to say about this game."

"You know, maybe this is the year I try something new. Maybe this is the year I start trying to be SOCIAL in MMOs."

"I'm gonna pre-order it and try the beta. I can always cancel the preorder if I choose not to play, right?"

-- Elapsed time, 5 days.

Comments

[swordianmaster.livejournal.com]

I'm beginning to think you might actually be female, Xyzzy, because that's the exact thought train that led to some of the girls on my friends list to try things like *shudder* Wizard 101.

[xyzzysqrl]

Hey, Wizard 101 wasn't too horrible.

[relee.livejournal.com]

Wizard 101 was kind of cool, but it was basically the same as Toontown Online.

[xyzzysqrl]

I'm trying to get past talking about games like that, myself. Trying to find their unique aspects and really appreciate them for what they are instead of what I can compare them to.
Also I never played Toontown Online. Which is... kind of a shock, considering it's Toontown Online.

[relee.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. I refer to it as being like Toontown Online mostly because I think it's amazing they made another game like that. I guess I can't call them "Unique" anymore but they're in a league of their own, totally incomparable to other MMOs that I'm aware of. And Wiz 101 is better. And Winston Churchill was an Ice Wizard.

I'm pretty sure Toontown Online is still around if you wanna give it a shot. Kinda old now though and I don't think it's aged well.

I dunno if you'd like it or not, but it's got a special kid-safe conversation system where you talk to people without actually talking to them. I think they had that in Wizard 101 too. The gameplay mechanics are almost identical, though I don't think that's a bad thing. You could say the same about Mario and Sonic really, for all their differences they're still both 2D platformers where you run towards the right side of the screen.

[relee.livejournal.com]

Did I start something? <3

[xyzzysqrl]

You actually kind of did. Which means when it all goes horribly wrong I can blame YOU.

(Disclaimer: I will not actually blame you. This looks really different from my personal "style" of game, but I want to try new things this year.)