Zoso's Week in the Life of an MMO addict

For an entertaining read head over to Killed in a Smiling Accident and read Zoso's fictionalised account of a week in the life of an MMO addict. At least I think it is fictionalised but his timing does coincide rather well with the beta of Age of Conan so you never know..

Zoso's main protagonist starts a new free for all PVP game. He gets his kicks from "pwning noobs" (most of whom are called Arragwwwn) and posting vitriolic comments to the forums about carebears.

I guess I fall into the carebear category because I have neither the stomach nor the talent for serious pvp. Yet one of the things I really like about EVE is the free for all PVP aspect of the game. It adds a whiff of danger to everything you do. I have yet to make it into the lawless 0.0 zones but even in more secure zones people get ganked.

I have no doubt that EVE has players just like Zoso's protagonist - certainly they make it as far as the rookie help channel. I have to chuckle at questions like "How soon can I fly a Titan and kick some ass?". Titans are undoubtedly the most expensive and most powerful ships in the game but they are not epeen toys for to fly around pwning nwbs. I have never even seen one but even I know that they are an enormous infrastructural investment to be used strategically in massive fleet battles.

The really great thing about EVE is that it is not an uneven contest between Pirate and Prey. There are counter tactics to every strategy and often it boils down to economics. How much is it worth to you to kill me and how much are you prepared to risk to attempt it? It is a battle of wits with information being the greatest weapon on either side.

By the way Zoso, having played Lotro I can definitely say that Legwowlas is more popular than Arragwwn.

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