Time to play some MMO! Mortal Online, anyone?

[Trelin]

Hey guys, long time no see! We had kiddie # 2 come along in January (a boy this time!) and needless to say, my time just has not been my own lately. Things are finally getting quite a bit more settled now and the evenings are fairly quiet; which is amazing because I remember this age being the most demanding with our first child and feeling pretty damn sorry for myself.; I'm not complaining though!I'm starting to get a bit tired of sitting in front of the TV in the evening, and since the kids seem to be going to bed at at decent hour and staying there, I figure it may be a good time to get back into an MMO.

I had a lot of fun in Mortal my last time around last fall. This was my third go at Mortal, and it some how kept me coming back for more even though my earlier stints were simply too hectic due to parent duties. What I did right this time around was join a guild almost immediately which was smart because a lot had changed (content "expansion") including the combat system which was now amongst the best I have seen in an MMO. Instead of just circle strafing and trading blows like most "real time" combat systems, in Mortal you do more damage if you hold back your attack for a few seconds.  And if you block the attack just right then you can return a very powerful and fast counter-attack. Of course, the longer you charge your attack, the easier it for the other player to parry it and counter you, and of course there is always the option of sprinting out of the way at the last moment, so it really never comes down to simply slugging it out blow for blow.  Although the combat synchronization had some often significant issues across continents (don't they always) it truly was fun and I eventually got quite good at it.  I'm not really into FPS so most people would pick it up faster than I.


You can get armour and weapons and pwn! Its way more exciting when you know that dieing means you likely lose all your gear.



Needless to say, delivering that final killing blow knowing that you get to loot every piece of gear a player is wearing is simply an excellent feeling.



The player base in this game is very focused on "community" which of course ensues tonnnes of drama.  Alas, my guild didn't seem to be progressing anywhere and with another child coming in just a few months I decided to call it quits.  There was also a a big "territory control" patch coming out shortly and I didn't see the point of getting to caught up with the game right then.; There is currently another content patch coming up soon, which is free as always, as it should be.I really feel this game was over-looked.  There is a lot of depth to this game and infinite possibilities. The map is relatively small but well designed and layed out which makes it extremely difficult to navigate since there are no maps what-so-ever. It was several months before they even added a compass to the UI, although this did make navigating 100x easier!  I hadn't got so lost in an MMO since EQ. FFA PvP (criminal flagging system), full loot, extremely detailed crafting system, 100% player driven economy, localized banks, sieges, buildings ... this game is truly a recipe for drama! The one thing it was missing was "indoor zones", i.e. large cities and dungeons. The game has a very "outdoors" feel to it, and the NPC's are entirely animals. The new content expansion is supposedly bring dungeons which is going to be INSANE.  Non-instanced dungeon PvP, anyone?



There is currently a 14 day free trial, so you really have nothing to lose.The graphics aren't up to par with non-MMO's but are pretty good for a game of this scale and complexity.  Sometimes, just the view alone is worth it.http://www.mortalonline.com/



Also, Gusy has played this game and gives it two thumbs up!  I really wish I had a chance to actually play the game with Gusy as we only had the occasional meetings. I was always on and off for short intervals due to WAAAAAA!!! WAAAA!!! WAAA!!! at the time. Its never too late!


So why not try something different from a small company?  It could be a lot of fun

[Thelemonsong]

Why doesn't everyone present posts about games in such detail? I think we should all try the game on Trelin's effort alone.

Congrats on the new baby.

[Geandily]

Yeah OK, I'll try it later this week at some point.

[Trelin]

I'm trying my best to peak interest! You've really got nothing to lose with a 14 day free trial, right? This game really is a total change-up from most MMO's. Its even significantly different than Darkfall. The game it reminds me of the most is actually EQ, because the game does not guide you or hold your hand at all, it just sets you loose! This game is a sort of EQ/UO/Shadowbane/FPS combo.

There is a bit of a learning curve because the game mechanics are unique in a lot of ways, and in my opinion your best resource for getting your head into this game is talking to other players. I would suggest starting out in a town like Meduli, Vadda, or Moh Ki since it is beginner level, fairly large, and always well populated (especially Meduli). It sounds like since the territory control system came out (i.e. structured PvP as opposed to just constant PK gank-fest), there is now a significant presence of ANTI-PK guilds controling much of the map but I cannot confirm since I haven't logged in yet. I planned to start playing tonight but got busy. Tomorrow though =). In fact if I recall correctly my main fighter toon ("Trelin") is camped in Meduli!

I am more than willing to help people get a good start with both tips and a bit of cash if necessary. I have a butcher/horse tamer toon which can do wonders top build up a new toons resources. When I say he is a butcher I mean he can turn your kills into gold. One of the most unique features in Mortal Online is that mobs do not drop loot, they drop heavy carcasses that you put in your inventory. A few kills worth of small animals will have you walking slow, as would a single kill from a large animal. So even better, you can put the carcasses in a pack animals inventory. A butcher will then turn the carcass into parts (bones, fur, teeth, meet, etc.) that you can sell to a NPC vendor or even a player crafter.

Hope to see you in game!

[Geandily]

I propose that this be official FoH game for the next two weeks! Get on teamspeak3 at notacult.com and I promise to play with you. If you get on and I'm not there, tell Kaga that he's not supposed to rage anybody. Start posting in-game names and stuff you gusy!

I will be Geandily unless it's taken, is there a specific server that we need to make our characters on? Is there a specific class that would be hilarious to make in droves? Is it fun to do tradeskills? We need to all start in this Meduli place.

[Chairman Kaga]

ok downloadin

[Trelin]

There isn't exactly "classes" in this game, but there are some presets you can choose from that start you off with the basic skills you need to get going (e.g. warrior, tamer, butcher, etc.). You have 1100 primary skill points to spend (100 max for each primary skill) as you like which will give your character the ability to perform certain tasks well, and then there are secondary skills that branch off from their primary parent skills. This is a relatively small number of skills and for any character (max three per account) you really need to focus on one particular role if you want to be effective. The secondary skills don't cost points but they are more expensive and time consuming to build up. You also have physical "stats" that can only be increased by using them.

The game is very heavy on trade skills since nearly all equipment is crafted by players, and nearly all the ingredients for these crafts are gathered by players either by harvesting the land or looting mob carcasses. If you are going to be a crafter, you need to decide what type of crafter you are going to be since there are way more craft skills than anyone crafter can take. I believe their intent was to make players rely on each other and interect via trade since being totally self sufficient would require at least two accounts.

The game may seem intimidating at first but it is possible to get a functioning character going in only a few days if you power game. Odds are you will reach the trial 60 max skill cap long before your trial runs out.

Right now I have my warrior in Meduli and my butcher in Moh Ki. Most of my "stuff" is in Moh Ki though. At the early stage of the game I highly suggest traveling from town to town to get oriented as well as your physical stats will increase simply by running around. I believe they even added some "quests" where you can earn some cash by transporting goods from NPC to another in a nearby town.

[Chairman Kaga]

How to exploit and make nerds cry

Gonna be playing this tonight so appreciate any new player tips! What are the other skills that are useful?

[Geandily]

I wanna be a tailor! Making character now

[Chairman Kaga]

how to tlak to npc

[Geandily]

how to tlak to npc

R. I've gathered a shitload of wood and mushrooms and now have like 40 silver or something, should I learn how to be a butcher?!

Edit: Dis game pretty fun, would be cool with somebody else to play with.

[Chairman Kaga]

Will poopsock 2nite with anyone who plays this and gets on team speak. My body is ready

[Geandily]

kk I'm trying to become a butcher ASAP so we can process piggies into clothes. "IT PUTS THE LOTION ON ITS SKIN"

WDH it takes 6 offline hours for my retarded character to learn how to read a book on butchery? WHAT A NEWBIE. (I like the offline/AFK progression stuff that this game has, It's cool not to have to be CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICKING if I dont want to.)

[Chairman Kaga]

game is kinda lame hohoho i need twink + pl to retain interest

[Trelin]

Initially it is pretty slow to learn new skills because your actual Reading skill is so low. Your reading skill will of course increase as you read books which will not only make you read books faster but you will get ahigher skill from the book itself.

[Chairman Kaga]

[Geandily]

Not sure I like game especially because nobody besides Kaga got on teamspeak and all we could do was kill boars.

[Trelin]

I've logged on to teamspeak on and off but I have gotten less chance to play the last few days than normal. It can bit a dull at the start when you can't get kill too much but the same thing over and over ... very humble beginnings much like EQ. EVentually as you skill up you can move on to mobs that will require armour and proper weapons to kill, and these will yield much more gold.

There is an expansion expected to be released in the next few months so the game is pretty quiet with a lot of people stocking up resources or just taking a break.

The PvE in this game is pretty dull in my opinion and it can seem like the combat system is just spammng left click; the only thing exciting about the PvE is imminent risk of PKs. Once you get into PvP though, the comabt is quite a bit more complicated and really quite intense. Also playing this game by yourself is not a lto of fun. I'm in the process of looking for a decent guild to join so there is always that on the horizon for anyone once they have a toon with decent progress.

[Hobbit]

Downloading right stat now...

[Trelin]

Sweet, more people should give it a try too! I may be 0 for 2 right, not sure! Just be warned that the game can be a bit of a slow start and the population is quite low at the moment as people are waiting for the expansion to come out. Its actually a pretty good time to be building new characters, the only downside is maybe feeling a bit lonely. If you haven't got into any group PvP in this game then you really haven't experienced it, so don't give up!

I joined an a quite large anti-(R)PK guild that protects Meduli. Yes, this game does have anti's and lots of some, but only sort of ... A term I keep hearing in Mortal Online almost exclusively instead of PK is "RPK": random player killer. i.e. killing a blue player that your guild is not at war with.

Anyhoo, it sounds like hybrid (melee/mage) is the OP "class" right now, so I might roll one of them with my remaining empty character slot.