Fiesta: N. Spanish word for party.

Fiesta: N. Online MMORPG by www.outspark.com that has all of the basic pieces of a good MMO and plenty of options for players.

I've been playing Fiesta on and off for quite some time, namely when at school, and thoroughly enjoy it. My main character is not exactly very high level - 43 - but i've been around most of the world of Isya and theres plenty to do that makes leveling not horribly boring, at least not yet. Sure, there are a few places that go pretty slowly, but a little focus pulls you right through. All in all, this game is great.

And then theres the downsides, which we seem to always be compelled to bring out. Throughout its life, Fiesta has gone through numerous patching, which is perfectly normal, but many of them, to put it simply, failed. Surely theres a way to test said patches and updates before releasing something as unstable. Of course, theres always improvements being made that alter boundaries and add new lands. One of these is called dark passageway (or something like that [ i wouldn't really know because i never go there because its pointless and waste of time.]) They went from 2 great places back to back into seperating them by this big, empty forest space. Thats one improvement i'd like to see gone. otherwise, they pretty much got the updates right.

My only real general problem with Fiesta is that its too kid friendly. Granted, i could migrate to a different MMO, but that requires starting all over again, and worse, abandoning my friends and guildmates. I believe loyalty in your cyber realm is as important as in the real world (builds character?) But yeah, drop the hilarious censors and throw down that good olde note about how they can't control what people say. Because my experienc thus far has been that if someone asks me my class, it reads ***** or cl***; yet i've joked with the censor by typing (i'm censoring this here, but there it wasn't) F*** this censorship s*** in its classy a** - and guess what... class came up as cl***, but nothing else was blocked. So why not just cancel the thing, after all, kids these days tend to behave as badly as adults (if not worse.)

I like fiesta, and will keep playing it as long as i can, but i will always keep my hopes up that one day, they'll fix it up nice for us. maybe then i'll sink some "real people money" into my character.

random sidenote: if you play fiesta, ever tried enhancing? good lord! talk about an addiction that you just can't win at (without spending real people money.) I've spent a good 3 gold (3000 silver or 3000000 copper) on enhancing, with not too much to show (other than the epic title "item spoiler".) i eventually got a +7 and +8 bow (for lvl 15, so big whoop) andonce got a +7 lvl 40 hammer. that made my day, but i did the unthinkable: i wondered what would happen if you walked far enough away from the smith while enhancing. answer: your weapon vanishes mysteriously, never to return. boy was i upset. so yeah, never walk away. better yet, if you want enhanced stuff, shop around, or ask. people who are "good" at it would probably help you out and save you a lot of heartache in the long run.

random sidenote 2: AAHHH!!!! spend real people money for in game currency?! really? why not spend real people money for being invulnerable or being uber-shiny or whatever? oh, because its cheating, right. the line between hardcore and stupid is quite clear. a true hardcore has the skills to get all that he needs from the game without outside help. not to mention all those whispers and shouts about "buy this gold!" are infernally annoying- which leads to

random sidenote 3:people say stupid stuff all the time, and in game is no exception. from "looking for girlfriend, any class or lvl, whisper me" to "eeny meenie miney mo, guess who's momma... " you get the idea. you can block these people in each area, so you don't hear them, but who wants to spend five minutes blocking annoying people? not i. there are some titles to gain by shouting enough lines, such as "talk show host" and "announcer" but please, do it in the mines if you wanna do so, and if you earn those, then it's your duty to earn "silent" as well... no talking for 24 hours! :) and as for the advertiers, no one likes telemarketers, even if they understand that everybodies gotta work. so in the spirit of being human, knock it off. in fact, why not go to the mines and advertise. cuz when we go there, we actually read the random chats (theres nothing better to do when power-mining ore anyway.) and whispering advertisements, thats just wrong. whispers are for close friends and sexy ladies only, and not if they're selling something (no joke intended.) and as for the people buying and selling stuff in game with game money, thats actually great. when you need something, chances are theres about ten people who have a spare, so ask away, just not in excess. once every few minutes should do the trick, not "anybody got a lvl 50 high END morgenstern?" ... "anybody... morgenstern?" ... "anybody..." yeah.

Fiesta Rocks.

Ever played Novalogic's Delta Force? How about Call of Duty 4? These two titles are separated by many years yet their gameplay is comparable. Both are intense, yet with parts of purely fun shoot-em-up. Granted, the graphics in COD4 add to the experience, but were DF to achieve such graphics, i'm confident the same could be said. I've found myself playing DF for hours on end, even with plenty of "better looking" alternatives. The ability to free roam and take your time gives real power to strategize if the preset waypoints aren't satisfactory. Another good example is the Age of Empires series. The first one is equally as fun as the second and third. Each game in the series offers a slight shift in gameplay elements, yet the same strong base which has shaped the modern Strategy genre. AoE3 is a great game because it has that same simplicity which allows the player(s) to choose whether they want to play hardcore or lazily, and meet with success either way. Note: that is not referring to general easiness, but to the player's specific desired outcome.

Some games today put such a heavy focus on graphics that they're great to look at, but pick up a controller and you are forced to ask yourself "why?" As gaming consoles get more advanced, games get the player more involved, by means such as motion sensing. The Wii is the obvious example of this, as its graphics are cartoony, but the involvment draws you in. This is great, but realistically the Wiimote just can't offer as much variability as say, the PS3 controller. Obviously, there are some limitations with it, but if a game could harness this to maximum capability, results would be impressive. Imagine with me, if you will, a Military Shooter, first person, of course or possibly the choice of first or third. All the core elements of the modern console shooter: Next- generation graphics, all the bells and whistles, and then, top it off by adding motion based actions. Peeking or possibly even aiming weapons with the motion sensor capabilities would make the game a first in class.

In closure, the modern way is graphics. They will always keep pushing the limits until pure VR is available to all gamers. But until that day arrives, lets not allow ourselves to sell-out to that which is "shiniest."

Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed Deadspace quite a bit. As someone who appreciates gratuitous amounts of gore in their games, it was at the top of my list. The gameplay was commendable as well, which leaves only one things to say: Survival Horror? I experienced about 3 moments of surprise, but the overall experience didn't read Survival Horror. Generally speaking, FPS games involve death. The survival aspect in Survival Horror must really go above and beyond death by the standard enemies. Traps, explosions, even things that don't make any sense - those make the Survival aspect. And Horror these days must also be complex. Gore is great, but can be used as easily for comedy as it can for horror. Elements of surprise, possibly supplemented by gore, but not necessarily, along with a strong sense of having no control over your characters fate really define true Horror. Deadspace has the gore, and a decent overall environment, minus some aspects. You feel like you're really in too deep until you discover the store. All of a sudden, the game becomes an Economic Shooter. Buy, Sell, and Save your way to the final boss, and you're set.

Take away the stores, redistribute some enemies to burst out in groups, make the environment much less predictable, and toss in some weird surprises - Deadspace 1.5: True Horror :D