M.I.A no more

Baltar here folks, just a quick update to say that I’ve been in a bit of a transitional period with moving to University, and with all my clan related antics, I’ve just been too busy to dump my Fallen Earth related brain food into Fallen Earth Bloggers.

All credit to Bekka for her superb efforts so far, hoping to be catching up and posting several things over the coming days as I get back online and in game after a week without interwebs.

A general look at crafting

I wanted to get this post up several days ago, but I’ve found myself tied up doing two things, other than my usual ‘RL’ commitments. One, posting on the Fallen Earth forums, and two, playing Fallen Earth and posting on the forums.

At a very early stage I decided that I did not want to progress much further with the mission content in Midway, my chosen starter town, until I had understood the the trade skills and crafting fully. Therefore I very patiently spent as much time as possible (several hours in the end) visiting trainers, merchants, gathering resources and actually trying my own hand at crafting.

First session in game, part two

Hello again!

I’m going to make part two of the first session recap a lot shorter than I originally intended, as I want to write a separate post covering my thorough investigation into crafting before I get too lost in the actual game for this evenings play session.

So, at the end of part one I’d left the cloning chamber in the crafting orientated starter town of Midway, one of most south/south westerly towns in ‘Sector 1′.

The main chat channel ‘New Player Chat’ was busy, and after having a full 360 degree look at my surroundings, I took a walk into town which was a hundred or so yards ahead of me.

First session in game, part one

Well I’ve been in game for the majority of the evening, finally got the download completed and installed, logging in at around 6pm GMT. With breaks and other real life chores to attend to, I’ve had a solid four hours in Fallen Earth and I’m happier for it.

First of all, the client is nicely put together and there is no unnecessary ‘fluff’ to get in your way. You launch, patch and get in game; simple. You’re then taken to the character creation screen, where your new life in Fallen Earth begins.

An apocalypse never looked this good

Well Open Beta is here, at last.

I’ve been following Fallen Earth for some considerable period of time. Never got close enough to be drawn right into the community and develop a ‘this is MY game now’ syndrome until now, as I’ve been disappointed so many times as of late.

Played a lot of big and small MMORPG’s in the past, some I’ve been with from the start to the finish, some I’ve abandoned not long after retail and some I keep either a) going back to or b) wanting to go back to. Darkfall has been tempting me, and the forthcoming Mortal Online is another temptation, but a post-apocalyptic world without elves and goblins? Umm…where do I pay you the money?

I suppose Baltar (yes, I’m a huge Battlestar Galactica nut) was an appropriate name for a survivor of an apocalypse, didn’t really take a long time to whittle the options down in all honesty; didn’t want to drag my old online identities out of the past and felt a clean start was needed.

The reliance upon crafting in Fallen Earth really does appeal to me, as I’m one of those players who thoroughly enjoys being completely self sufficient. Of course, in a guild (I’ve ran a few) I’m a helpful chappy, and never one to sell my wares to the vendor when a comrade is in need of something I have. However, roaming the lands in search of supplies, treasures and of course targets is something I prefer to do safe in the knowledge that I”m solely responsible for keeping myself equipped to stay alive and not at the mercy of some other supplier of goods/materials.

I’ve read that Fallen Earth has a centralised marketplace/auction system, which does disappoint me greatly as I was hoping developers would start to drop this quite ridiculous concept in favour of a more regional system that I would happily pay for! Saying that, the tales of long travel times and a decent sized world to explore offset my disappointment somewhat.

In game later today for the majority of the evening, will post a first impressions series most likely over the coming week.

Baltar.