Let me start by saying that i have played many many many mmo's. My first being Everquest way back in 2000. The others i have played are Anarchy Online, City of Heroes/Villains, Guild Wars is close enough to an mmo, Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest 2, and of course World of Warcraft. I'm probably forgetting a few others but well as you can see there are still a lot of mmo's on that list. Would also like to say that for me on an mmo, if i don't care about the story or the world i'm in then the game always bores me.

Now my first MMO Everquest yes i know there are a lot of people who have strong opinions against or for everquest in its many different time periods of when people played by expansions and blah blah blah. You know what? I will say it right here and now and it will probably piss people off a lot. I have not found an mmo yet that captures what i felt when i started playing Everquest simply due to the worlds that have been created in other games and the stories in the games. I don't play Everquest anymore of course that is a very time consuming game and all that and would be unable to be in a guild because i play at odd times but anyways moving on!

This brings me to the title of this. Could this be that effect of the first mmo? Kinda like your first trip to the beach or your first time doing something very exciting? Or could it be that the story and the world created in Everquest has really not been rivaled to this day? Since EQ was the first MMO i played and fell in love with for so so many years and i love the story to that game and all the little places in it then i can't really answer that. Or could it even be because the fantasy genre in an MMO is just so overused now and just gets old? Once again not sure.

Let me explain a little more with Everquest first. That world to me has an amazing story and makes me feel like everywhere i go there are cool things you can read about what went on there and is currently going on there and it all makes sense and really feels like a real world. The game was difficult as hell so it drew people in more because of that. To me it was really a separate world not a game. I have not found that feeling again and i really want that feeling back. So many memories invovled in that game with people i have met and all and its some of the best times i have had.

Are my standards too high? Maybe i don't know at all. I just know with Everquest that there was a world i love, lore i loved, character classes/races that made sense and i liked, great strategy since you could only have so many spells up at once and quests that were hard but rewarding, leveling that was hard but rewarding, combat that was really hard but satisfying, and to this day i believe no other game has as hard of raids as the end game content in everquest. There is so much there through all the expansions as well its nuts. I have found that looking at an mmo and getting excited or hyped is pointless. I had really high hopes for Vanguard, actually a lot of oldschool eq players were, then what was released was a completely bugged out game that should still be in beta.

So thats where i'm at. I'm stuck in waiting for the next mmo that will knock my socks off. Am i too picky? possibly i'm not sure. Am i just not so excited because i have experienced my first MMO? probably i am not sure on that either. Here is what I am sure of though, once an mmo comes out, has an interesting story, interesting world, that will be the things that will first grab me. Of course everything else would have to fall in to place but a lot of people play MMO's to escape from one world to another and without that it is just another game.

Of course as i mentioned already i have played a lot of mmo's and they all seem to capture a part of what i felt in Everquest but just not the whole thing. Everquest 2 had the story/world that i already knew and loved going for it but it just lacks something i can't quite place my finger on but it just doesn't feel right. World of Warcraft captures that fun pvp, and finding items and rare drops and all that but not a world i really care about or liked the lore to. So that game feels more like a game rather than another world. City of Heroes/Villains character customization that is probably more fun than the game itself! That had the difficulty but it lacked all of the other stuff like items and all since it didn't use that so once again felt like a game. Star Wars Galaxies..... well i wont even open that can of worms seems how i thought it was a perfect fit with the Star Wars universe and an mmo to combine and form a world with dedicated fans all among us and being a great mmo but nope denied!! Too bad too because well would have been nice to have a great sci fi mmo. I mentinoed Anarchy Online and when that game was launched that was when Everquest was still going strong and everyone thought that was the next big thing. Well it wasn't and if anyone remembers the launch of that game...... OUCH what a disaster.

So whats next? Well as far as a try at the sci fi mmo there is still not 1 great one and all so maybe Tabula Rasa might have a nice shot at it? No idea i guess we will find out in just a few weeks. The Warhammer mmo? well another fantasy one it looks like and well maybe we will find out whats going on. Hellgate London? well its instanced mainly and all that and looks like fun but by no means a real full fledged mmo.

Yes another blog on this years e3. I believe the direction was a good direction but really need to have this all in one location not all spread out.

Anyways on to more important things! Now I have talked to a lot of people about the different press conferences and personally i thought Microsoft's was the best. I'm sure i will catch something here for saying that but i really do so lets take a look at the press conferences.

Nintendo: This is where people were putting their trust in Nintendo they want Nintendo to succeed i have a Wii so i want Nintendo to succeed but just having Zelda, Wii Sports, and RE4 for the wii and its been out for almost a year...... thats not good. I joked with some friends saying maybe Reggie will come out.... have that serious look on his face.... pull out a kiddie pull full of money and start swimming laughing hysterically and saying I TOLD YOU SO HAHAHAHAHAH! and you know i kind of wasn't that far off from that. The whole press conference was news that we have already known and been through.... WTF Nintendo i know you are proud of what you have done who wouldn't be but this is about what people want GAMES!!!!! Gamers wanted you to pump out the big guns and i'm sorry but Medal of Honor and that RE shooter doesn't do it for a core gamer. Oh ok there is Metroid 3 oh wait why is it talking about this stupid family get to the game ok they are out on stage..... Wait a minute why is it just showing this person all the time and not what i want to see and thats the game hey look she shot a door oh wait its practically over.... yeaaaaaaahhhh. Moving on the big focus of this press conference was the big I told you so feel to it and Wii Fit. Yah good idea i just hope more developers find out more uses for that Pad rather than just this am i the only one that would think it would be cool to have a track and field game like back in the day on the nintendo with the fold out mat? Anyways Nintendo you still have a lot of people worried about the big important thing and thats the games for the core gamer. Oh yah you showed Mario Kart but who didn't see that coming? lol

What i hoped for from Nintendo. Just games. Nintendo wants to appeal to everyone yet they aren't putting out games for everyone. They are just putting out games it seems for the casual everyone thats their focus. I'm sorry but releasing only 2 games for your "hardcore" gamer isn't enough well it is if you had 3rd parties that could make competant games. Here is the announcement i wished Reggie had made. Just look at the audience with that intense look he has and tone of voice and go "Guess what...... Our big announcement this year is we are currently working with every 3rd party developer out there to show them how to really get the wiimote to work really well and to make sure they don't put out some broken ass or dumb controls." There thats it thats what i wanted because 3rd party support doesn't matter at all if all they make is dumb broken ass games period.

Sony: Now i have a wii and an xbox 360 i'm not a fanboy i'm a gamer. I go after something i want to play games on. So in my position this wasn't me wanting Sony to fail miserable or just say it will be the best thing ever this was me watching the Sony Press Conference beforehand and looking forward to it and thinking. Ok Sony your launch lineup sucked so far you haven't delivered come out here please and give me some good reasons to buy a PS3.

Of course they showed off Home which is kind of a good idea and its something different to do but to be honest if i wanted to watch a trailer i would rather just go to videos and pull up a trailer rather than having to walk around and go to a theater or whatever and wait. So thats not going to draw me in although it is a pretty cool idea. Moving on hey they pull out a psp i have a psp maybe some good news.... Wait its just a slimmer version of it.... still just 1 analog stick what a letdown. After more research the battery wont last longer they made a more efficient battery so they could slim it down, although if you use the old psp battery it will last twice as long yet hang out the back but anyways wait a minute... Did one of the cheesiest things just happen on the Sony Stage? Yes it did a wookie trying to time opening his mouth to stuff playing over the speakers there it is!!! A special edition psp with just darth vader on it now? oh come on next.

Alright here is what i was waiting for come on Sony make me want a PS3!!! They showed heavenly sword hey that looks like a cool game and all but thats nothing that will make me buy the system alone it would be more like hey there is another good game i can get. I thought them announcing all these exclusives were quite hilarious i didn't know what they meant by exclusive seems how a bunch of games they showed are multi pltaform, unreal tournament 3 isn't exclusive its on ps3 and 360 as well and even then that franchise belongs on the pc where i would play it. Ok a MGS4 trailer...... no gameplay again now that blows yah its what the game will look like but really the meat and potatoes of that trailer was that crazy ninja fight which we all know is more of cutscene in engine stuff yah it looks cool but i would love to see actual gameplay. Oh look not coming until 08 so that wont make me buy a ps3 this year. Littlebigplanet now that game looks super cool as well just looks like fun and playing user created content will be great but thats still not a true system seller not to me at least. What its over? no wait one last trailer hey its Killzone wow nice graphics but ummmmm am i the only one who remembers the first killzone? It sucked ass i mean major ass. I can never hype a game or be excited of a game just because the graphics are pretty i mean thats flat out retarded unless there is something in there that is different or whatever its just going to be another shooter with pretty graphics and honestly if that game played nothing like the first Killzone it might actually be good.

What i hoped from Sony: I wanted Sony to show some stuff that would scream buy a PS3 just as anyone else did. Ever since 05 they showed that tech demo of the opening sequence in FFVII and ever since then i wanted them to actually make that since Final Fantasy VII in my mind and a lot of others minds is one of the best FF games out there and not just that being a perfect reason alone to make a spectacular remake of it but for the fact that the fanbase for that game is huge and that game for the PS1 marked the first FF game to come to 3d i mean so much of that game just rocks and would have loved to see that world really come to life. Thats the big announcement i wanted but all the good rpg's are on the 360 so can't get that here. Dream officially dead moving on. Gran Turismo eh never liked it so much because i would always end up crashing in to other people to take turns just because you can i like having vehicle damage of some kind otherwise i never get in to it. Thats just my own preference though i am by no means saying that game sucks or anything its just not for me is all. I really wished sony had more that would make me want to take the plunge and buy that system although the new bundle with 80gig ps3 and motorstorm is a pretty good deal but i really want the games.

Microsoft: Ok here is the press conference that told me i would be locked in my room for this holiday season getting a nice pale tan going on. They started out having a band play halo music ok and i'm a real geek here and i love the music of halo and music in video games in general i love playing like Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy music on my guitar i think its awesome. They had a lot of numbers up there but honestly it needed to be said, the 360 has been selling games and lots of them. Oh the RPG goodness coming to the 360 i can't wait, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, and the grandaddy of RPG's this year Mass Effect. Oh my god Just Mass friggin Effect. That title alone makes me excited and all. Let me go ahead and get the big one out of the way though. Halo 3. Let me say this, i play games on pc especially fps and of course consoles. Halo 3 is not like the greatest shooter of all time. What it is to me is a pretty damn good story that is interesting, the visuals have a great art style, the ai is fun to battle, and here is the big one, it is a fantastic fps for what it is, and that is a fps done right on a console. So with that out of the way so i'm not some Halo fanatic i'm looking forward to that game looks really good. Ok they showed the same video for GTA4 thats cool oh RE5!!!!! wish it would have been gameplay but i will take a trailer to get me excited as well. /drool BIOSHOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stage demo of Assassains Creed my god that game looks fantastic. Watching Peter Moore try to play rock band was pretty funny too but anyways that Conference had what i was looking for. Games. Not just one game, not just games coming to multiplatform, but a mix of games that are multi platform and a mix of first party games i mean that conference was all about hey check out this line up we have starting in August.

What i wanted to see: I wanted to see more gameply of course they showed a lot more live demos and stuff but i was kind of let down they showed just a trailer of Halo 3 rather than a stage demo but i can understand why they didn't and thats because bungie is like a giant evil cat and we are all its little mice to play with lol. Anyways the big big titles i'm looking forward to are Bioshock and Mass Effect those just look simply fantastic. My biggest complaint about the Microsoft press conference was that they showed us what they had planned for this year but didn't show anything off for next year so we will see how that goes.