maandag 21 februari 2011

- Tom's Life Strategies Part 3 : Choose your faction



Options...so many options! 

About every strategy game will begin with the same choice: choosing your faction. Ofcourse if you are fresh into a game this is probably just a random choice, only by playing will you know what race/faction/country will suit your gameplay the most. I always like to imagine how people decide what they will be trying first, while all they have are vague impressions and can only judge  from instinct. Maybe you just like the colours of their flag? Maybe you just go with whatever faction is displayed most prominently on the cd case?  Maybe you are a bit pervy and like to build all sexy female units?And yes I had a friend who openly admitted that he played Night-elves in Warcraft 3 exclusively because of that... I might have some pervy friends.


Would this be a reason to choose a faction to you?
Maybe you do like I do and just watch the unskippable intro video and choose whatever faction looked like it had the best tricks up its sleeve? My sister would probably just get the one that looks like it might train ponies and has the brightest colours. She is 19. (On a sidenote, she doesn't even like playing games, just watching them over my shoulder. She somehow loves it when I use a faction that has a bit of a girly side to it.) Personally I like to see some stats before I just take of and just hope that those troopers are as awesome as they appeared to be in the introductional video.

Just recently I discovered one of my new favourite games: Age of Empires 3. Why it's one of my new favourites? All the standard game bullshit aside, "it has a nice balance to it" or" I really enjoy the rpg elements" blahdieblah... The thing I like about it the most is that I can finally use my own country as an ass-kicking faction! The Netherlands is usually just cast aside as part of some greater allied union and not even mentioned in history's sidenotes. Not this time! Seeing my country as part of this world is really cool, even when I'm playing other games like Rome Total war I just like rushing to the place where the Netherlands are going to be founded ,t was apparently called Batavodorum at the time, and claiming it for my own. 
So obviously I didn't have to think long and hard about what faction I wanted to start of with this time. In time I might turn out to be playing some other faction way more than the Netherlands, but I will do my best to master their gameplay and unique advantages. 

  • The big question

But what is most common in strategy games, is totally random in real life. Obviously my choice stems from the fact that I was born and raised here. But what if you were allowed to choose what country you were born in? Let's just say for the sake of imagination that you are not allowed to live in your current country. BUT you are allowed to choose whatever time period and, optionally, be born in a country from on your games. So what would you like to see? 

As for me, I'd love to see the cities of ancient Greece in combination with the creatures of The Age of Mythology. The Greek are founders of about all major Western civilisations as we know them today. I could learn things like speaking Lating and handling a sword, perhaps even slaying some Minotaurs while I'm at it! A visit to the Ancient Spartans would be awesome, just to see if they are the ancient hardasses legends claim them to be!

Just look at dem hot zebra chicks!

And last but certainly not least, think about a party in the honour of Bacchus.. So Kratos, you still wanna worship the God of War? Fine by me but, I'll choose Bacchus, the God of Wine anyday! The god of booze, drinking, partying and promiscuous women.. now that sounds like my new Homecountry!

Tell me what you think in the comments! And if you feel like it, tell me where you would like to live if you had the option to choose as if life were a game!

TLS

39 opmerkingen:

  1. If it was me, Id choose to live in the city of Dondruma from monster hunter and be a monster hunter and hunt down everything. make my weapons and feel the rush. and get to drink whenever the hell I want.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  2. I would definitely pick a medieval era Russia, with nasty weather and unforgiving seasons. That would be so rewarding to survive in that (assuming I survived of course, this is video game logic right? haha)

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  3. I have a love/hate relation ship with creating new characters.
    I usually spent hours adjusting all starting skills, generating a nice looking avatar and thinking for an appropriate name. I always want perfection.
    I love it because it's exciting and hate it because it takes me so long.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  4. Haha, cool twist on a popular video game mechanic. I'd probably go with being born in an ancient Norse village around the height of Viking seafaring.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  5. Russia would be sick but I'd choose to be born in Scotland..You have birth rights to any island that you improve!

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  6. wow talking about gods reminded me of the game. Zeus : Master of olympus. or something like that. wish it supported newer windows.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  7. the god of wine would be my first choice too... for obvious reasons

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  8. Interesting, very interesting. I would go Caribbeans, golden age. Pirates aaaaargh!

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  9. I would go with rome because its history is so rich

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  10. I need to check this out. Looks interesting.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  11. I totally agree with what you're saying about wanting to know the stats. I know in some games it doesn't really matter in the end. But when you are going to be playing a game for hours on end, you want to be the guy that is the best of the best. Great strategies! Followed!

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  12. haha i love your approach of combining life with RPG's and fantasy settings. as for me, i've been a pretty hardcore WC3 player and then settled for DoTA. If you'd put me in a fantasy country, I would definetly want to live in Hyrule (Zelda). it's just beautifull. Nice blog man, followed.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  13. in wow I always picked alliance just because every one I knew was alliance.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  14. ah, decisions, play with the good guys.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  15. Sounds like it's a betterment to my shit life

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  16. For Total War, the choice is easy. Byzantine Empire all the way ;)
    What can I say, in my country it's perceived that we are the true heirs of Constantinople empire.

    AS for RPG, people either usually go for what they strive towards to or secretly wish they are like.

    Two different approaches ;)

    Social peer pressure seems to persist even when you are alone in front of a monitor :D

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  17. I would live in Ireland I've always wanted to travel there.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  18. The blog about food and this one may be my new fav blogs. keep it up and you have a loyal fan :)

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  19. Stalin russia.
    So much production !
    easy win

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  20. for the mmo i play eve online the only thing that faction decides is some of the characteristics of the race.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  21. I play Eve as well as Sideways, a truly great game. I enjoy factions, but dislike how they can cram you into a certain playstyle in many games. For an MMO, the real trick is getting an equal balance of variety for both factions if you're going to make them exclusive, and not (relatively) insignificant like in Eve.

    Also...Age of Empires 3! I really did love that game, played it a bit online. What name do you play under? I might have to play ya in a round. I'm pretty rusty, but I was Rank 15 I think...could have some fun. If you want, add "GodonEarth". Who knows? Maybe we could play a round or two.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  22. I still need to check this game out. Looks right up my alley.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  23. I usually choose the faction with the best race of character that I like. For WoW, I would be on Horde just because of the Undead. ;)

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  24. I play eve and the race / side you pick within the game mechanics really doesn't matter at all lol.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  25. life is a game, a bad korean grinding game tough ;_;

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  26. I used to play WoW and I was alliance for like 5 years and not once did I make a female night elf. :( I did have a female draenie, though. :>

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  27. I would live in New York in the 1920s. it would be gangster

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  28. thanks for the info... good post

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  29. England, 1800s. I don't know why, something about it really just appeals to me.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  30. woww such an awesome post. thanks! you play wow?

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  31. Ancient Rome would be cool. But then again so would the wild west. Or even The US before Europeans came. Spectacular question

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen