The Man, the Myth, the Game

Sadly, I did not manage to get a lot of writing done last night. Just as I was about to settle in, I made one last pass at my inbox and, lo and behold, there was an invite for the Mythos beta waiting for me.

I sign up for a lot of betas and I very seldom get in. At this point, I half suspect there's some kind of global CR association where the chilling tales of my behavior in the GW test have spread. Still, I signed up for Mythos months ago. When a flurry of Mythos posts went through the gaming blogosphere, I put my e-mail in again on the off chance they'd lost it - I guess that turned out to be a good thing since the message on the official site does, in fact, say they lost all the e-mail applications they gathered over the summer. I must have been high on the list because I resubmitted right after that right after that.

When I got the invite, I had to think a bit to remember which game Mythos was, exactly. Then it hit me, "Oh yeah, that's the Diablo clone that's free." There's no part of that sentence I don't like, by the way. So I spent a bit of time familiarizing myself with it. Hunting down the reviews and previews and forums and other resources I'll be drawing on to become informed about it. Because, I can't help but compare it to Guild Wars which also carried, somewhat, the Diablo mantle. And, you know, that's one of the big things that drew me to that game in the first place. A nice hack and slash that's not going to cost me anything in which I can occasionally bump into or make some new friends? I'm kinda surprised I haven't been camping out at a fansite and trying to weasel my way into the test already. Because that sounds like exactly what I'm in the market for.

Yeah, it's free. Completely. They're planning to basically give the game away. Free to download, free to play, low system requirements, there's really no reason not to give this game a try when it comes out. Likely going to be supported through the sale of special uber items at some kind of online store. Microtransactions get a deservedly bad rap because most game companies see them as ways to gouge their customers but I think they have a lot of potential. And a game like this just might be the one that proves it. But even if it doesn't it's looking pretty solid so far.

The art is wonderful but a little too cutesy for my tastes. They're not exactly cutting edge, either, which accounts for the game's low system requirements. Really, I don't care about that so much as I do about the gameplay. And since the gameplay here is lifted straight out of the Diablo playbook, I'm going to be happy.

My main concern, though, is pretty much the same as Brinstar's complaint about HG:L. I play Guild Wars and I'm used to the way that game works. When my skills aren't working, when I run into an encounter I can't handle, it's easy to switch my build to something different. I've become accustomed to being able to respecc painlessly. Now, I don't necessarily need a GW style skill bar and drop down menu but being permanently wedded to choices I made back when I had no idea what I was doing bothers me - I know they're planned to add respeccs, somehow, to HG:L but from what I've read and seen of Mythos it's not in yet and the only way to alter your skill choices is to reroll. Not such a big deal now, in beta, where wipes and changes will be so common that it won't really matter but it's something I hope gets easier by release. As I said, it doesn't have to be easy or automatic but some way of making up for novice mistakes is going to have to be there or I won't be playing for long.

Another thing that gives me pause it that this game is being touted as an MMO. Guild Wars fought that battle long and hard and, if you ask me, it never really should have. This kind of game needs to be casual, needs to be the kind you'll log on for an hour or two with the option of sinking a whole day into whatever it is that draws you to the game. Marking it out as an MMO is just going to attract the kind of crowd that expects a free game to compete with WoW or WAR or whatever. And I could really do without another promising game that turns into a grindfest.

I'd like to tell you how the game actually is rather than the fleeting impressions I've gotten reading up on it. But, as I said earlier, I haven't been able to get in yet. I tried to get in last night, roll up a new character, get a quick look at the skill trees and the mechanics, and just have it sitting there tempting me to up my word count and earn a reward. But, instead, I spent an hour or two figuring out why the game wasn't working. Still at it again today but, for now, I'm calling it a day. I've got word wars to wage and plots holes to sew, after all.

Oooh! Oooh! I just thought of a totally awesome name for my new book. By the Flickering Candle's Light. No, By Flickering Candlelight. Awesome. Must go write now while the inspiration is hot.