Generally speaking, I don't play MMOs. I didn't really play online games until the last 2 years or so a go, so it's still a very new concept to me. I'm on the fence. I like the potential that is there, but the truth is, there is so much monotony and unoriginality in online (not just MMO) gaming at the moment that only really the hardcore will prevail. But regardless, here I am.
I remember some time ago, perhaps 2-3 months, reading about ARGO and it's impending release. Perhaps it was longer. I was kinda looking forward to trying it. The whole Sci-Fi blend is a new MMO concept to me. I'm used to high fantasy or some twist on oriental history. I had been looking for something an little more futuristic. I played Megaten (Shin Megami Tensei) and I also gave Neo-Steam a very, very brief look. But I felt uninspired by it. Without going into too much detail, nothing had gripped me yet. I mulled over Phantasy Star a couple of times, but I didn't want to mess around too much with the set up. So I ditched that.
So here's ARGO. It's the tried and true Steam-Punk take on Sci-Fi. Not something I'm a huge fan of, but it's newish at least for the genre. It was enough to prompt me to play. Well download and start is closer, not much play has happened yet. But that will soon be remedied.
It didn't take too long to download, the setup.exe. claimed to be broken at first, but that ended up resolving itself. So now, it's installed and ready, downloaded the latest batch of patches - which there aren't too many of - and bam! ready to rock and roll.
The installer art is nice, nothing special but it has that hand painted style. One I quite like. Entering the game for the first time and as usual, I have forgotten my password, or at least my user name. Fuck. This always happens, it's why I usually launch in Windowed Mode so that I can recover pretty quickly and get a new one. But I didn't start in Windowed Mode, so I have to quite. Not a great start, completely human error. I can't blame the game for that.
So, I have my password. Back through to the log-in. And complete the process. Something stands out at this point, maybe minor, it could end up being a serious issue but, the response on mouse click is very slow. I mean it's sickening. I have to press like a dozen times before anything happens. I checked my connection speed, and it shouldn't be lag. I did later realize though that there seems to be a certain bull-shit method; you kinda have to click and hold. Stupid really, likely just an early bug, possibly related to performace (my laptop isn't amazing).
Here we go. I'm getting in, there's only one server and it connected pretty quickly. A short and oddly narrated cutscene starts up, it's nothing special. It looks a little like a propaganda video, and the voice over doesn't seem to fit. My next option; choose your faction...argh...I hate this. I'm the kind of person who hates to miss out on anything in a game, so this is like my Kryptonite. I'm know right now, the game is telling me "you won't see it all bro". So I don't know. I didn't research much, I didn't expect this. I have to close the game again (I didn't window it like a twat). Now this pisses me off; sure I didn't put it into Windowed Mode, but I couldn't even minimize the fucking thing. Win+D wasn't doing anything, Escape wouldn't do anything. What, kind crap is that, I can't get out? Task Manager! Yeah, that was the only way. Thank you little box. To the Website!
What a piece of shit. It's a useless Web Site that tells me nothing but an incredibly boring and uninformative story. But it has screenshots and videos, great...I can look at those -_- Maybe I just couldn't find it, but I have no greater insight into the game now as before I left. No idea on classes or races, just that there are some. It's a load of bollocks really. So as you can see, before I can play, it's already pissing me off. From crappy input, to ignoring commands' it's fantastic...I'm overreacting, I'm not that annoyed.
So thanks to the Web Site, I feel just as I did before, just now a little more pissed off. Kudos. So back into the game I go, through the log-in and the delayed actions (I didn't know about the tricks yet) and back to the faction select. I have two choices, the tech orientated side which want to develop humanity; the Noblian (a take on noble?) or the nature loving side that want to live along side, well, nature, the Floresslah (flowers, florist? whatever, it's phonetically a nightmare). The icons which are shown for each faction are pretty uninspired, so they will not influence your choice. But I choose Noblian. To be honest, it's a no brainer. I wanted to play something a little more Sci-Fi orientated, so it's the logical choice. I was just being an arsehole and being to busy panicking over what I'd miss. I wasn't happy that I couldn't see everything still, but it's not a new concept at all. I was just being dumb. Click!
Another cutscene, awkwardly narrated. It's okay though, I enjoy cutscenes awkward or not. Now loaded the class selection. A motley crew of Noblians lined up armed to the teeth and looking like they would be from a Gears of the Warzone TV movie on Sci-Fi. No that's not fair, they are decent looking models. The art direction of the gear is a little undesirable, but the character form is pretty damn good. Detailed and attractive and quite well stylized. So now, who do I choose? I'll tell you about that soon.
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