MMOverwhelming

As I was battling in the streets of the famed Paragon City, home to the heroes of "City of Heroes", I started to think about all the MMOs out there right now, and holy crap there are alot of them.
Here is a list of the currently active MMOs on store shelves or coming soon: City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, Horizons, Asheron's Call 2, Everquest 2, Star Wars Galaxies, Anarchy Online, The Matrix Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Final Fantasy Online, Planetside, Tabula Rasa, Shadowbane, Eve Online, The Saga of Ryzom, Auto Assault, Etc. This of course does not include the countless MMOs found online. For a complete list go to www.mmorpg.com.
The very nature of these games makes it impossible for any single person to possibly play each with in their own lifetime so we are stuck with picking only 1 or a few. My path has lead me to try Guild Wars, Planetside, Asheron's Call2, Horizons, Eve Online, WoW, and City of Heroes. Guild Wars, Eve Online, Horizons, and Asheron's Call 2 were both only trials lasting about 2 weeks. The rest I have actually purchased and played for an extended amount of time.
So lets see how someone should look at the MMO gameplay world.
1: Ask yourself how much free time do I have?
If the answer is little you should probably ignore MMOs altogether and just stick to the fun, quick, and readily accessible offline experience of other games like FPS or Action-Adventure games.
2: Do I like playing with others?
If no, then why are you even reading this? MMOs are for the cooperative experience, a sort of Instant Messenger with action and killing.
3: Do I have the patience for downloading?
if no, then stop reading. To be a smart buyer with MMOs always look for a free trial for the MMo you are interested in. Free Trials will usually require you to download the entire game which can be more than 1 G. Avoid buying the physical game instore because $49.95 is much more then $0 for the 14-day trial. If you can not find a trial on the games web site search the net you can usually find one.
4: Do you like to do the same thing over and over again with changing environments, enemies, and teammates?
If yes, then MMOs were built for you. MMOs have many quests but they will fit in a range of 3 to 4 types, usually: Kill, Rescue, Collection, and Travel. The one thing that can be counted on to change is whom you are killing or rescuing, what you have to collect, and where you have to go. If you can't say "I could spend hours just wandering around in that world helping people and doing random stuff" then don't get the MMO. The MMOs game world is one that you will spend hours upon hours in and you have to be interested in the world or things will get boring fast.
5: Do I understand what I am doing within the first day?
If no, drop the game. If you don't even understand more than movement and attacking within the first hour or two drop it. If the game isn't simple enough to come to you within at lest a few hours of game play it's ballacks. It's the "If you don't get it you won't get it" Philosophy.

Other then these few questions its basicallyt just feel. You have to ultimately decide whether you like it or not. Personally, I could sit on my ass for hours just flying around in City of Heroes.
Until Next.

Psychonauts. Killzone, and Alcohol

Well recently I bought Killzone and Psychonauts and man is there one hell of a staunch difference. Yes, they are different genres and types of gameplay but the quality of the game is the focus here. Killzone had the label of "Halo Killer" and it really does not earn its name. A variety of weapons is lacking, it has an F-ed up weapon balance, the enemies are idiots sometimes, and the gameplay is slow. Finally the game has the biggest lack of story I have seen in a while, half the time I don't know what the fuck I am trying to accomplish. The game allows you to select a character before each set of levels and every single one sucks ass. The only one of any use is one tank like dude. One character is stealth based, which is interesting because there is no fucking option to be stealthy. Idiots, god.
Now for the staunch difference. Psychonauts is one of the most innovative, creative, fun, interesting, intriguing, and funny platformers I have played in a while. The characters are so funny and the story is interesting with dialogue that follows through. The game is difficult without being daunting, but there are moments where you will go "duh! Why didn't i think of that?" This game is truly awesome and I now realize why I haven't been able to catch a copy for a while.
Finally, alcohol. This stuff has passed through the ages in pretty much the same role as morphine. Used often to relax and unwind, it has been adopted by all cultures and everyone has produced their own twist. I started my drinking career this past friday and boy did that career end fast. The alcohol of choice was Crown Royale and Malibu. Unfortunately the malibu ran out early. So I was left with the awful cologne, shit that is Crown. I became drunk and it was kinda cool. the only difference I found was that I was obviously relaxed, but also I had the inebriated affect to any movement. The night was fun, but it did not last. At about 4:30 am I came out of the drunk haze and so began the hangover. I retched over and over again, it did not truly subside until 7:00 am. I have never felt so bad. And like that my drinking career ended. I have vow to never touch anything beyond a beer again. And even at that I will not have to many beers. IF you want some advice, I would advise to not drink that hard shit.