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zetathompson

  • PLAYING FROM: Chicago, IL
  • PLATFORMS:
    • MAC |
    • PC
I have gamed forever, we just weren't CALLED gamers back then.
Squire
Squire
(40% to KNIGHT)
ACTIVITY - posted in the Kindred forums 22 days ago
MOST RECENT GAMES PLAYED
Activity Summary
Experiences: 20
Games: 18
Characters: 12
Attitudes: 39
Images: 6
Badges: 4
Posts: 28

Achievements

Challenges Completed

  • Dotted I's

  • Crossed T's

  • Been There, Done That

  • Quiz Master

  • Ding Gratz

  • Bug Hunter

  • Picture Pager


Latest Activity

posted in the Kindred forums
22 days ago

posted in the Kindred forums
22 days ago

had the favorite: Comcast to Cap Data Transfers at 250 GB in Oct. go hot
24 days ago

posted in the Kindred forums
About 1 month ago

posted in the Kindred forums
About 1 month ago

posted in the Dark Nights of Regent forums
About 1 month ago

posted in the Dark Nights of Regent forums
About 1 month ago

Earned respect from MnGeezer
About 1 month ago

Earned respect from Marnapi
About 1 month ago

made a change to the character Heulflodyn Dialedd (Guild Wars)
About 1 month ago



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All Experiences Game Feed Stories
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Friday, September 26, 2008 | interested | Baldur's Gate (PC)
First let me state clearly, I am somewhat biased when it comes to WOTC. I miss TSR I will always miss TSR. The D&D manuals they produced had elements of fun in them. WOTC made them far too businesslike and serious. They took a lot of the Roleplay out of RPG in my opinion and made it nothing more than statistics and numbers for many. Luckily most players of the table top games ignore that and put it back in. But when it comes to the RPG genre on stand alone games that is all most can do. Rill the dice (or the randomizer) and go from there.

I loved the old Westwood studio games for TSR. So when the Baldur's Gate series began to be published, I was excited. Except the PC versions hated my machine. So I sighed an watched enviously from the sidelines as others played. When we got a Game cube a number of years back, one of the first games I got for myself was Dark Alliance.

First let me state I am an old gamer to me that means lots of saves and many versions of the same game at possible branch points so I can go back and take the other path in case I am missing something. Baldur's gate required a huge amount of space to save, around 30 blocks. so much for multiple copies on one memory card - at least not as any as I like.

So I made my first character. I took the human archer. Bad choice for me it turns out. The isometric view is a pain when targeting enemies within your range but off the viewing screen. Yes you get a trajectory line (and your arrows do NOT arc as they would IRL) But what use is a line when you cannot tell where the target is? Luckily the character is competent with a sword as well so that is a plus.

I made it through the first part of the in town game then I hit the part that has been described as 'It sucketh mightily'. A series of dropping platforms, the last set kept beating me. I spent ages trying to cross that, then gave it up for other games. But every once in a while I would return to that spot and try again. I found cheat codes that would get me past that spot, but I REALLY hate doing that so I kept trying. Finally about ready to give up and cheat I challenged my daughter.

I am almost embarrassed to write this, but it shows what lateral thinking can do. She tried it. She failed. She tried again and failed. Then she did what I should have thought of from the get go. She remapped the controller so that A was my jump. She made it across and still harasses me about it.

So on I go. The story is pretty standard, except I run into the beholder boss that anyone can figure is coming from the first scene in the tavern, much sooner than I expected. My daughter is watching as I run panicked around the room, certain I am about to die from the a spell at any moment. Then I decide, what the hell, go into berserker mode and as she says flailed to a win. I was shocked. When she asked what I was worried about I yanked out the old TSR book and had her look up the Beholder entry. She was equally incredulous that I won first time and with no deaths.

From there you go off to discover what exactly is rotten in the state of Faerun. It proceeds much like a normal crawler. But then I hit the problem. I don't know if the cube is dying or if there is a problem with the disk, but I started getting system errors. At first it was as a new area loaded. I suspected the Cube. It is old. But then it died in the middle of a level with nothing in particular happening. Then again in a boss battle, then again in the same battle. Maybe a disk problem? I researched on the NET, nothing about an issue that I could find. The error occurs in the same area but not always in exactly the same spot. I check with the local alpha geeks at the gaming store. They don't remember any issues and can;t find a copy of the game. I am not amused.

Today I walk out into the living room to see my husband playing Animal Crossing on the cube (the PS2 hated me last week as well btw and went blank in the middle of /.hack: Infection) It was running fine. A few slow downs on the gameboy advance link, but seemed fine. So with trepidation I loaded Baldur's Gate. I made it through the boss battle and 2 more. Then I got the error as I headed into the swamp to investigate the tower in part 3. I turned the machine off and will try again tomorrow.

So far my rating on this game is a solid 6. It is good, but WOTC breaks their own rules on monsters out of their own books. Characters regain hits over time, monsters do not. And who ever heard of taking out a beholder by running around a room flailing or a dragon alone? I hate the point of view for range attacks. But on the plus side. It is a great dungeon crawler, the closest I am going to get to Eye of the Beholder or the Lands of Lore series now that Westwood is gone. There are not too many side quests and the story moves along quickly.

If the GameCube and the disk allow, I will finish this game. It has bugged me for ...
Monday, June 16, 2008 | happy | Valhalla Mud | Kindred
Ok, so I stumbled across this 5 or 6 years ago. I liked it enough I have never left. But, MMO's the fickle nature of gamers and real life have taken their toll. Instead of 40 on a night we are lucky to have 10.

Yet, still those who love the game play it. We argue, we fight, - yes. But we still play it. Players still become builders and expand the game. They add skills, zones, MOBs, contests, spells, and suggest actively changes. So, I guess I am here until one of use is no more. Given its longevity. It is likely to outlast me. And who knows. Maybe MUDS will return after all they were the first MMOs
Friday, June 13, 2008 | interested | Guild Wars (PC) | Dark Nights of Regent
I started playing in March. I have a full friends list, most are not in my guild though some were for a while. Tonight I log on after not being on for a day or 3. Right off the bat I get a whisper Connan the Terrible wants to know how it's going I say cool. The guy has helped me on 3 missions. Why? Because he likes the game.

I manage to avoid getting immolated and a few minutes later a newbie I helped out 2 months ago. Whispers to me he is moving along well too, This is what MMOs, MUDS and other games are about. This is also why the game frustrates me slightly because see none of these people who are on my friends list (with the exception of a few guildies) are in the same guild. Yet we all see to always be together.

Yes there are idiots on the game but I have to say this, the ADMIN does the best the can to keep them off. They punish the sale of in game items for RWM. They equally punish the tattlers and whiners for annoying. So, as long as there are people who take time to just ask how is it going, and shoot the breeze about the game for a few moments, I will ignore the naked dancers in Ascalon and keep playing.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 | frustrated | Guild Wars (PC)
The name of the game is Guild wars, yet, it seems there is no loyalty to guilds. The guild I joined had 47 people when I did. Now it has maybe 10. People change guilds like crazy. Anyone it seems can make one and everyone it seems does. My suggestion is basic. Freeze the number of guilds. As ones die out do not replace them. Lastly try to find a way to bring the game back in line with it's title. Perhaps greater xp if 2 or more members of the same guild group to run quests. PK or just explore. Of course you could change the name too, but that would be a shame. The concept is great.
Monday, May 26, 2008 | frustrated | Kindred
Ok, so a bunch of players on Valhalla came up with some great ideas of ways to draw more players and maybe improve the MUD. I should point out that the MUD takes donations, but it is free and the money the ADMIN does take in goes back into the MUD. Knowing that the MUD needs support with work or money, I took on one of the tasks and started it. I contacted the Admin asked can I do this for you? He said sure and Off I went, I posted on one to the boards that the MUD Paper was starting up again. RIGHT under it another player posts So Have the Admin responded t any of this if so I did not see.

In other words. -= We want changes, but ya know we don;t want to help out in anyway we will just sit back and watch and when you make em then we'll let ya know if ya got it right.

Now. here is a suggestion to players before you complain that the game needs changes because it is old and outdated and yeah you loved it 10 years ago, but now.. How about showing the game owners that it is worth their while to make changes. In other words, log in and play. Do not just log in complain and leave.

Not all players who complain actively play the games they complain about. Changes be made that have not been publically announced because the owners are waiting to see if anyone even noticed. So try this if you play a game you love but see it dying. Make suggestions to the ADMIN, but offer to help. Even if you cannot code, you can test, or check text for spelling errors etc. Face it free games are getting fewer and fewer. And maybe you now make enough to afford the high speed ISP, the P2P monthly fee and all the extras.

But remember when you couldn't? Help others who are where you were and spend some time on a free site to keep it fun and to encourage others.

« Previous  1    3  4  
Games (Liked and Anticipated)
 PREV 5 | 1 - 5 / 18 | NEXT 5  | VIEW ALL
Achaea

"I was not impressed. A lot of cool code but the Roleplay left much to be desired and honestly the hack and slash aspect was useless for grouping."

Baldur's Gate (PC)

" The story keeps me coming back, the gameplay not so much"

Darkstone

"Finally started this it runs on Vista"

Descent (MAC)

"I always fly upside down"

Dungeon Keeper

"Evil Strat at it's finest"

Graycastle RPG

"Interactive writing and R&R combine plus an evil campaign What could be better?"

Characters:

Chip Graycastle, —

Desolation Jones, —

Guild Wars (PC)

Guild: Dark Nights Of Regant (DNOG)

Characters:

Aelle Llofrudd-Gix, Level 20 Assassin —

Gwymon Gwaed, Mesmer — PvE

Heulflodyn Dialedd, Level 14 Ranger — PvE

Guild Wars 2 (PC)

"waiting for it"

Legend of the Green Dragon

"Whenever I find this i hit it, don;t think I ever got too far but who can forget Seth the Bard?"

Neopets

"It started out a great game for kids, now is sadly too commercialized."

Overlord

"It is great to be evil"

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

"When my daughter saw me playing this she sat silent for a moment then said meekly "I'll stick to stealing your Sonic title. They don't come at you all at once there.""

Tabula Rasa (PC)

"Looks interesting"

Tapestries MUCK

"People just never seemed too friendly here. Too many AFK. RP is no fun without someone to RP with."

Titan Quest (PC)

"GReat game."

Trade Wars

"space strat. I loved this game way back when. It started out as a door game."

Guild: Dogs Of War

Characters & Screen Names: Zeta Thompson, Desolation Jones
Valhalla Mud

"Diku II. Ok so it's old skool. But then I am old."

Guild: Kindred Clan

Characters:

Aelle Llofrudd-Gix, — Little Star Level: 740 or so Path T/A/S

Ceian Gwaedd, — THe nice one - till you mess with her family

Celynnen Dialedd, — Daughter of thieves devoted to Gwymon and Cutter.

Gwymon Gwaed-Gix, Assassin — GTHM - Gwymon The Homicidal Mage

Heulflodyn Dialedd, — She only loves two things:money and Soulcaster. Neither keep her warm at night.

Iorwg Dialedd, — Heul's Angel.

Seren Llofrudd-Gix, — Daddy's little girl

Valhalla Mud

"Diku MUD. IT's old, very old, but then so am I."

Guild: Kindred Clan

Characters:

Aelle Llofrudd-Gix, — Little Star Level: 740 or so Path T/A/S

Ceian Gwaedd, — THe nice one - till you mess with her family

Celynnen Dialedd, — Daughter of thieves devoted to Gwymon and Cutter.

Gwymon Gwaed-Gix, Assassin — GTHM - Gwymon The Homicidal Mage

Heulflodyn Dialedd, — She only loves two things:money and Soulcaster. Neither keep her warm at night.

Iorwg Dialedd, — Heul's Angel.

Seren Llofrudd-Gix, — Daddy's little girl

Guilds
Emblem for Dark Nights of Regent
Dark Nights of Regent Team Leader: squeegee Roster: 4 members
Emblem for Kindred
Kindred Team Leader: zetathompson Roster: 7 members
Attitude Answers
 PREV 5 | 1 - 5 / 39 | NEXT 5  | VIEW ALL
Q. How do you feel about playing characters of the opposite sex? (Answer!)
A. I have no problems doing it, I am not certain how successful I am though. I have been able to maintain amle characters for quite some time without people knowing but I tend to not speak much with them.

Q. Ninjas or pirates? (Answer!)
A. Why isn't there a multiclass option?

Q. How do you feel about selling virtual items for real money? (Do NOT advertise RMT services!) (Answer!)
A. I think it is kind of dumb. I mean if a MUD is giving an item to show appreciation of donations that is fine, but for players to sell items that they have obtained for real money. Isn't that a bit like selling nothing?

Q. Do you use voice chat? (Answer!)
A. No, I have never tried it

Q. Do you feel relationships within games are meaningful? (Answer!)
A. Friendships formed can be. (I do have gaming friends) I have heard of other relationships that developed into romantic. However the majority of games and gamers do not have a true relationship in any sense as once they are outside of a specific game, there is no emotional attachment to the others.

Q. What is your first computer or video gaming memory? (Answer!)
A. Pinball - arcade game<br>Star Wars - arcade game<br>ping pong - atari console<br>backgammon - Apple \\

Q. Where did you get your gaming names from? (Answer!)
A. zeta - alpha, beta, gamma, etc.. Zeta just sort of sounded good.<br>Thompson - Was listening to warren Zevon's Roland the headless thompson gunner and since Hunter S. Thompson is one of my favorite authors - it fit.

Q. What music do you like to play games to? (Answer!)
A. bagpipes, heavy metal, industrial, opera. Just about anything I like.

Q. Are you interested in working within the game industry? (Answer!)
A. yes unit and system testing.

Q. Have you ever had a memorable real-life meeting with other gamers? (Answer!)
A. no

Q. In real life, are you male or female? (Answer!)
A. Not telling!

Q. If you could meet any game developer, who would it be? (Answer!)
A. Katja Nyboe, Tom Madsen, Hans Henrik Staerfeldt, Michael Seifert, and Sebastian Hammer.</p><p >The original DIKU team

Q. What are your favorite tabletop (RPG, board, miniatures, etc.) games? (Answer!)
A. D&amp;D, Monopoly, Dealer McDope and Machiavelli

Q. What experience do you have beta-testing games? (Answer!)
A. Have done alpha level testing for some coders. My record so far is about 30 seconds before I broke the game. I hope to beat that record one day.

Q. If you could cancel any online game, which would it be? (Answer!)
A. AdventureQuest

Q. What do your characters and avatars usually look like? (Answer!)
A. They look like the character of course. Most have some sort of imperfection. I go for exotic rather than beautiful and of course most have an attitude.

Q. Why do you join guilds or clans? (Answer!)
A. Comraderie. It is a lot more fun to be with a group against the world. Usually I am in the &quot;bad boys&quot; clans.

Q. If you made your own game, what would it be like? (Answer!)
A. Pirates, magic users and lots of fire.

Q. Beside GamerDNA, what are your favorite websites? (Answer!)
A. Graycastle, RPG Gateway and Faerun Taverns

Q. What are your thoughts on player-made mods/addons for games? (Answer!)
A. I think they are great BUT there has to be a builder admin to ensure quality

Q. What is the most overlooked or misunderstood game? (Answer!)
A. Dungeon Keeper

Q. What question would you add to the Attitudes system? (Answer!)
A. How many non gamer friends have you introduced to gaming?

Q. When you are not playing games, what do you do for fun? (Answer!)
A. Read, write, sew, and cook

Q. What sort of players annoy you the most? (Answer!)
A. Whiny players who want you to do everything for them, give everything to them then complain the game is no fun because there is nothing to do. Add to this whiny PKer's who are surprised when ability out performs equipment and money spent

Q. If you could bring any book, movie or comic to life in a game, which would you choose? (Answer!)
A. The Black Company series by Glen Cook

Q. How many hours a week do you play? (Answer!)
A. 10-20

Q. When do you play, including timezone? (Answer!)
A. CST 10-12pm usually

Q. What sort of tools (calculators, builders, spreadsheets, etc.) do you use to plan your characters? (Answer!)
A. none

Q. What mods do you play with? (Answer!)
A. none

Q. Do your quiz results on GamerDNA reflect your personality, and if not, what did it get wrong? (Answer!)
A. pretty much makes me seem a bit more hardcore than i think I am

Q. What are your thoughts on roleplaying in games? (Answer!)
A. I love roleplaying. It keeps me creative.

Q. What are the proper uses of tank guns and bubblegum? (Answer!)
A. use the bubble gum to block the tank gun

Q. What is the most memorable flamewar you can remember? (Answer!)
A. One in a forum for Cuthroats. We raided the other boards and some people from the Tomb Raider boards were rather put out by it. On the other hand the trekkies had a blast with it.

Q. Have you ever had a romantic encounter with someone you met in a game? (Answer!)
A. no

Q. What do you love or hate about PVP? (Answer!)
A. I enjoy the rush and the fun of the competition. I hate whiners when they lose and winners who gloat or tell others they shouldn't play the game because they aren't good enough.

Q. Other than your console or PC, what is the piece of hardware you can't live without? (Answer!)
A. Stereo

Q. What are the specs on your gaming rig? (Answer!)
A. IT changes

Q. What is a feature you would like added to GamerDNA? (Answer!)
A. Ability to filter out all the youtube links. If I wanted to watch you tube I would go there.

Q. What are your most memorable achievements in a game? (Answer!)
A. Killing an enemy with a Mage while he attacked the other character.

Respect Received | Given
MnGeezer said:
zetathompson is a Nice Person. Anyone who considers themselves to be an old gamer gets my respect asap!
Marnapi said:
zetathompson is a Talented Player. She's a great role player, a nice friend, fun... only good things to tell about her.
SMDoles said:
zetathompson is a Nice Person
Celticfox said:
zetathompson is a Fine Roleplayer. Awesome people to role play with. She plays great characters and doesn't take over if it's not her turn to GM like some GM's are known to do.
Nooney said:
zetathompson is a Fine Roleplayer. This woman is da shit, learned a lot about role playing from her

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Marnapi about 1 month ago said:
Hey Zeta :)