Monday, May 16, 2011

From a first-person perspective

It's no secret that I've been getting back into FPS games, but this weekend was special in that regard for a couple reasons. First, I started a new account in Quake Live because my first one's player name was too goofy, mixing a past Q3 clan I was in and my EVE heritage. I scrapped that and started CozmikR5 fresh with all the stats at zero, unaffiliated with any clan (yet), and obviously a name that's easier to manage. If you have an account on Quake Live, feel free to add me to your buddy list; just remember that there is no space between "Cozmik" and "R5" :)

In a different gaming universe, I played a little bit of multiplayer Mech4Mercs this weekend, as requested by my boys who wanted to see dad play with "the robots"! Usually I just load up a few mechs and proceed to go nuts, but this time one of my boys asked me if I was going to have some friends to play with. "Friends as in real people?" I replied. The answer was a resounding "YES!" from both guys. So off to find a server I went. I needed to find one that had actual people as opposed to only bot opponents, but that wasn't too hard because there was plenty of people playing. I first tried a free-for-all server, but unfortunately I didn't have the map the match was being played on. Note to self, get the MGL and NBT map packs ASAP! The second attempt was successful. It was a team battle server with unlimited ammo and no heat, which just meant more mayhem. The server had 2 humans and one bot on one side, and myself and two bots on the other. Despite being a tad lopsided, it was still a very fun match. My Deimos with its six AC5's proved how nasty it could get; I killed all three opposing mechs before my first mech went down. But the enemy was no slouch either; the human players were piloting a PPC/laser fit Executioner and a stock Mauler (maybe upgraded to Clan tech... I can't say). I don't remember the bots' mechs as they were some of the numerous assault mechs available, but for assault mechs they were litterally push-overs. But yeah, fun was had and I can't wait to do it again!

My boys also have a game that I can safely say they're addicted to. Or rather, they're addicted to watching dad play it. I've always been a Star Wars fanboi, and it looks like the Force runs strong in the family! So a few times per dad duty weekend I have to load up Jedi Academy and slice up some stormtroopers, dark Jedi, and disciples of Ragnos. The weird thing is that they're more into the movements of the game than the fragging of bad guys; take them to the park and they run around and jump, making the in-game sound effects :)) Because no, my parental weekends are not purely based on gaming... my ex would incinerate me. But lately the weather has been extremely sucky in Montreal, and when we don't have anywhere special to go of course they're attracted to my twin screen, FCS equipped gaming rig. On the plus side, the boys are getting tech-savvy; heck, my eldest can search for "Hot Wheels Battle Force 5" videos on his own... yes I will have to think about a NetNanny or something to that effect. Damn I'm getting old !!!

As you can see, I've always been able to get some gaming done when I have my boys, and lately too much of it because Mother Nature is being a complete bitch. But notice how nowhere in these three paragraphs is any mention of EVE. It's simple: EVE and kids don't mix. Period. Even the few times they've asked me to "play with the spaceships", they get bored within minutes because admit it, watching someone play EVE is like watching grass grow or paint dry. And doing PvP? That would be litterally irresponsible because ALL your attention has to be on the game. This is reason #346 for the lengthy break.

So if you play any of these three games, feel free to look me up. I will also surely re-install Xfire in the near future so I'll post my contact information. In the meantime, here are my respective callsigns for Quake and Mech4:
  • Quake Live: CozmikR5 (Clan Kill 'Em All {KEA})
  • Mech4Mercs (Mektek edition): CozmikR5

Frag 'em all

o7

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