The Black Vault

You know who you are. You play MMO's or even ARPG's like Diablo, solo. In the case of Diablo, and games like it, you don't even have to connect online but do for some reason. Why? Well if you're like me, you probably don't understand why you do it either. We like to think of it as a major achievement versus team play or at least that's what we tell ourselves. Where it gets convoluted, in my opinion, is that we take it to the game's official forum and demand equality. Somehow, we think we should be able to do solo what other gamers team up to do. This, in a game designed to be team or multi-player oriented.

Deep down we have to admit we connect to these services looking for validation among our gaming peers, even the social connection of it all. Why then, do we seek to change the game to cater to our play-style or demand changes to said game to "balance" the game in said direction? Take EVE Online, for example. I have been playing seriously since 2007, i had a few trial accounts previously. I've played solo for pretty much the entire time, despite the game being designed for team play. Sure, I've networked with other like-minded players. Big CAS salute here and here. o7

This motley crew of players get's it. You can play the game without being in a major corp or alliance but networking with other players is much more rewarding. I realized that all too late in my EVE Online career. I was making the transition to correct this mistake before real life economic hardships took place. I was beginning to move myself and my virtual possessions into Menai (Genesis low-sec) and to RF-GGF, a null-sec area of the game world. While I was alone in Menai, there was a significant group presence in RF-GGF.

That is the reason I was moving assets there, to finally learn the game from a group perspective. To belong to a group and experience more of what the game has to offer. Something you just can't get going it alone, I wanted to belong. Shedding my comfort zone, I took the plunge and it was as exciting as it was nerve racking. However the fates intervened and I had to make some drastic life changing decisions. Economic hardships intervened and we had to drop our ISP. I could've gone on playing wirelessly through a nearby connection but it was too slow and prone to disconnecting. No, I had to put on my big-boy pants and make due coupled with the fact that I have the worst luck when it comes to maintaining a PC.

Once again my PC experienced a malfunction of equipment, the PSU this time. Being unemployed and all, I can't really justify buying this equipment when that money would be better spent on bills or groceries. So as luck would have it, I'm back to my dinosaur XP PC that won't run the client in it's present incarnation since it was patched out quite a while back. What's a gamer to do? Well I've currently gotten my Steam account straightened out and am trying to reconnect with old contacts there. Like my previous employer, I realized what I missed most about this game. I miss the other people I used to interact with on a daily basis.

People, not just the breathtaking and beautiful virtual universe that is EVE Online. No, I miss the very real people that shared that virtual reality with me. Ironic now, how that fact has hit home with me as I'm isolated at home. Seeking employment, my daily routine of filling out applications, I hope to improve my family's situation and soon. When/if I ever get back to my virtual realms, I will do so from a much better understanding and seek to experience them in a more social way. The way they were intended to be experienced and shared.

By the way, in the event any of you are EVE Online players. I would advise you to check out Menai via Shokal. Going the Antem route will most likely result in your demise.

I have played a handful of times online in the four years I have had a Xbox 360. It's not for me, mostly because I am not very competitive and most multiplayer games are competitive instead of cooperative. Plus a lot of people are really foul mouthed and sore loosers. And then the biggest plus, a lot of people are really damned good, and I dont have the time like I did when I was younger to play hours on end to get good enough to stay alive longer than a minute.

So I play offline mostly. If I play cooperative like Gears of War, Resident Evil, Halo, etc, I play locally with my son. Though I play a lot less here recently as all he wants to play is Minecraft, which I have zero interest in.

I played by myself as a kid starting with the NES. I never got into PC games and always have been a console player because it is what I am use to. As a young adult when I got my Playstation, I got real heavy into RPGs, especially Final Fantasy. I haven't played the FF series on newer consoles because the elements that I enjoy in those RPGs aren't there anymore. Nintendo's Zelda series is about the closest I play to an RPG anymore.

Dark Sector on the 360 (and PC and PS3 if I remember right) is one of the best solo player, third person shooters I have ever played and recommend it to anyone that enjoys said genre of gaming. It's so much more inovative than your standard TPS or FPS. The graphics are incredible such an aged game (at least on the 360) even compared to newer released games.

I am aiming to get Fallout 3 when I have the cash. From other games I enjoy ... GoW, Dark Sector, Dead Space, DS2, Army of Two, RE4, RE5, and BulletWitch, a lot of gamer friends have told me I would like Fallout 3. But I have to get a specific edition for the 360 so that I don't have the inital bug problems that it had, and it still sells for fairly high. But someday that is going to be my next big game to take on.