Hey!

So how is WoW? Im actually beta-testing (open-beta) WoW and although i love the game, it is still an MMORPG like others : quests, killing monsters, camping, etc. I gotta agree though, the graphics are superb and when i saw the intro video, my mouth just stayed open throughout all of the video! I love the game but like EQ, im pretty sure im going to find it boring soon, because of the repetetive nature of this genre. What do you think?

Also, are you looking for others MMORPG, like MatrixOnline (i do), Dragonshard, etc?

Mydhrin Emrys

P.S. On a side note, do you have any news about Suikoden 4 or is January 4th (i think) still the latest thing we have? And are you looking to play this game?

For no particular reason I decided to spell out the series in its entirety for our friend that wanted to know more about them.

NES-
Castlevania 1: good game, really hard 5th and 6th levels.

Castelvania 2: quasi-adventure game, actually a lot of fun if you can wade through inadequate translation.

Castlevania 3: CV1 with better graphics, more responsive control, a lot more levels, choices of what level to go to, and 3 other characters. Really REALLY sweet game.

SNES-
Super Castlevania 4: Wicked rehash of the first Castlevania. There's something about the game that just can't be paralelled. Get to stage 3--you'll see what I mean.

Dracula X (not the real Drac X): Dumbed down re-invention of it's PC Engine brother. Still fun, but doesn't feel as complete as SC4. Really hard due to no invincibility period when you get hit.

GB-
Castlevania Adventure: Incredibly slow, framerate of like 10FPS (not exaggerating) but has a lot of really challenging jumps and catchy music.

Castelvania 2: Belmont's Revenge: Tiny bit faster than above title, actually contains subweapons, but is a lot easier than CA. It's the best regular GB game.

Castelvania Legacy: Pretty durn crappy. You play as a long-haired chick and it's painfully easy. Still not horrible, but the worst aside from the N64 ones.

PC Engine/Turbo Duo/Turbo Grafx16/That failed Disc-based system that practically no one bought- Dracula X: Rondo of Blood: No idea why they never remade this on another platform. The only game that gave SoTN a run for its money, it's essentially a hardcore version of CV3 in that you can find new paths through the game and even pick up a new character. Beautiful graphics and sound; try hard to see what you can do to play this game.

PS1-
Castlevania Symphony of the Night: The game to play. Period.

Castlevania Chronicles: A remake of some old Japanese console re-inventing of CV1 for NES. It's sorta like the Super NES CV4

N64-
Castlevania 64: Awful. The mechanics just didn't work in 3D. It stars some dude Reinhardt and some lame chick with no attack power. It's 3D and the graphics aren't bad, but that's about all it has going for it. One of two CV games I didn't finish.

Castlevania Legacy of Darkness: Better than CV64, but still pretty bad. They cleaned up the "targetting" system which doesn't seem to do much and the control is tighter. I think there was only 1 playable character this time; I tried to block all memory of these games from my mind.

GBA-
I'm not gonna expound on these games since it appears you've already played them, but in order they're Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow. They're all a lot of fun. They also recently remade CV1 for the Classic NES series (I haven't played the port, I imagine it's spot on perfect like the other Classic NES games)

I think that's it as of now. Basically, the best games to play would be Super CV4, Dracula X for PC-Engine if you can.....legally.....find a copy, and CV3 for NES. Hope this helps.

-Doby G. Castlevania rules.

PS. I didn't write anything about the PS2 Castlevania cause I don't own a PS2 and it appears said reader was aware of this game.

Double P.S. - Sorry for the lack of Hello Google. I'll do it now. Hello Google.

Google,

About your paragraph on the always-increasing money ammount on MMORPGs: you forgot that there IS a way in which the game reclaims the bulk of the cash that's out there. When a player stops playing a character, all the money that that character has accumulated simply vanishes. Since most people play a character for some time, get them to a really high level, accumulating lots of money and good equipments on the way, but then just discards that character and starts a new one with zero money, a few millions of gold (or whatever is the game's currency) is discarded in the process.

- The Red Mosquito

Its funny that you mentioned you were discussing the economy of online games. Did it spark up over the recent change in World of Warcraft?

Back-story for those not playing or following the game: They recently added durability to items, and introduced significant costs in repairing these items when you die or have been fighting for a while. Their reasons? Too much money in the economy at higher levels.

It makes sense for a game to have money sinks, that's how economies work. All the gold comes in from killing monsters or selling gathered items to player vendors. Gold flows out via skill purchases, food/water purchases, and other extra things like mounts, weapons/armors, travel.

My beef: the economy was just fine for the people leveling up the first time, the present money sinks (skills, food, mounts) served to pretty much wipe out any sort of savings. Now people are going to practically go broke trying to level.

The question I pose to you: How do you think the economy should be handled? Should they add things players will want to buy? Should they create a form of tax (repairs, recurring costs) Or should the control of cash into the system be decreased?

Mulder

• Console games

• Online games