Ask Kayhynn: Week 1

So after considering this idea for a few years on a couple different game sites I have worked for, I have finally decided to sit down and actually do this thing.  This is the first of what I hope will be a weekly feature called "Ask Kayhynn."

Once a week I will answer up to five questions that have been submitted, either through e-mail or through various forums I visit and have a topic talking about this article on it.  All questions will be gaming related and can be about my personal gaming history, my take on games, why I play the games I do, WoW related questions, Ultima Online related questions, questions regarding any games I play or have played,  gaming trivia...whatever.  If I don't have an answer to it, I'll try to find one, or make up a really creative (and funny) answer despite not having a clue what you're taking about in the question.

If you would like to submit a question for the following weeks, please feel free to reply to the thread found here, on EOGamer forums, or send me an email kayhynn (at) eogamer (dot) com.  I cannot guarantee your question will make it to these articles, but I will do my best to do so.  Questions will be screened for appropriateness.  So asking me A/S/L will just be ignored.

Even though I have enough questions to answer 5, I only went with 4 this week due to how long some of the answers are.

Question 1 from I3lind: What's your favorite gaming platform of all time, top 2 games on it and why?

Answer:  That’s really not a fair question for me to attempt to answer.  The only platforms, outside of a computer, I have owned have been Nintendo platforms.  I started out with the classic NES when Santa brought it in 1989 and was stuck with that till I had my own kid.  I had purchased my own Gameboy (the original).  Then my son got a Gameboy Advance, Gamecube, Gameboy DS and a Wii most recently.

Admittedly, I have played a bit on the PS2 and Xbox when I’m at friend’s or family that have them, but it was rare moments and I hadn’t really understood all the controls.  Can you imagine going from the standard NES control to picking up an XBox controller and asking “What the hell are all these buttons for?”  Hell, I can safely say playing the Wii can still be confusing.  I must be getting old.

But, I have to say in my experience in playing games, for the NES systems, Tetris is still among my favorite games.  It was one of those games that made you think, plan and react and as levels went up, you had to react faster and faster.  Next favorite would have to be the Lego Star Wars games.  I can’t really explain why I like the game so much, other than it’s stupidly simple, but insanely fun.  Besides, it’s Star Wars AND Legos.  That just makes it epic.  

Question 2 from Nilly: What's your least favorite game that you can't help but keep playing over and over, and why?  

Answer:  Up until my NES died, Faxanadu  would have topped the list?  Why?  Because I bought it used, it had no game guide, no game guide I could find in any game book and I couldn’t make it past level 1.  The game blew my mind and I’m pretty good at those type of fantasy games and I couldn’t figure it out.

The game that probably ties with it is Combat Arms, a Free2Play game by Nexon.  The game itself isn’t horrible, but the players are, especially the ones that abuse cheats.  I keep playing it over and over though, because I get to blow shit up and relieve stress.

Question 3 from Zhon: In games that give a variety of playing styles (range, melee, stealth, magic, etc.), which style is your favorite and why?

Answer:  I am definitely a magic user, above everything else.  Every game I’ve played, I have a majority of magic casters.  Ultima Online, my first MMO, my first character was a stealther mage.  Which was followed by a mage-tank, followed by a magic casting bard and then a magic casting tamer?  See the theme?  I’m a chicken shit and like to stay far away from most things that want me dead. :)

In World of Warcraft, I started out as a Hunter, because I really liked my tamer in UO.  In WoW, I found I abhorred the hunter class.  The class itself turned me off of the game and I stopped playing for six months after I picked it up.  Then I was convinced to try again and make a magic wielding class.  The warlock appealed to me most and I fell in love.  Then I decided to try a druid.  I loved the mix of spell casting and melee, plus shape shifting was fun.  I found I did really well in support roles, especially as a healer and am more focused on healing than on much else with the druid, though I have done DPS and tanking (not much tanking) with her.

Then I made a Death Knight.  Much like a mage tank in UO, the combination of fighting and spells turned into something I found I loved.  

But if there’s a caster class in a game, you can bet I’m gonna try it out first and see if I can play with it.

Question 4 from Saraph: What are your favorite game genres?

Answer:  Fantasy RPGs would be top of the list, followed closely by Sci-Fi RPGs.  

I’m still looking for a good Sci-Fi RPG.  Star Wars Galaxies was amazing till Sony screwed the pooch with it.  Piece of advice for game developers: don’t release your expansion then screw us over by massively changing the game a few weeks later with no real notice.  It sucks.  It pisses players off.  Learn from SOE’s mistakes.  Don’t do something stupid.  Star Trek Online was okay, at best.  As a fan girl of the game, it didn’t meet real expectations.  The game runs on rails, as most games do, but it was just too repetitive, especially for those of us who like stories to follow for quests.  Though I have heard Cryptic is improving on these items, so it’s just time to wait and see.  I think that Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO will end up sating my need for a Sci-Fi MMO.  Here’s hoping it lives up to expectations.

That's it for week one.  I look forward to more questions!

Cheers,
Kayhynn