First of all, allow me to introduce myself.
I am IcyMew. My alternative characters are named IcyJes and IcyMedic.
I am a Fallout Veteran and have played each and every single Fallout down to the end, save for tactics, and this includes 3 and NV, right down to the DLC.
Tactics I found to be much more fast paced, it reminded me of Brotherhood of Steel for the Playstation 2 in some ways, but something about the real time in Tactics put me off a bit. It was still a Fallout game and for that I cannot bring myself to hate it.
I play on a very variable ping connection and have no viable alternatives. It's this or dialup, and I'd rather not drag myself through the mud on that case!
[Stay with me people, this rambling preface will consummate into a valid set of opinions and informative nuances]
I have eyed FOnline for a reasonable amount of time. I really paid attention to it in 2010, when I read about it after checking NMA for the newest SFall, because I was immensely interested in online play. I mean, I enjoyed Tactics actually most in multiplayer, to be honest. However I was never too fond of PvP only.
As a matter of fact, my older brother, bless his heart, I got him readdicted to Fallout with 3 and New Vegas. I had just come in from my morning cardio and he pulled me aside and told me how much he wished we could play something in the Fallout world together...cooperatively.
This thought brewed deep in my mind for a long time. Months I thought to myself, "Can it be done...?"
I experimented with SFall for a long time. I had little success with it. I mean, controlling another critter in combat has it's merits...but what defines the universe is it's unique atmosphere. And what fun is it to be confined primarily to combat? To be tethered to each other and not be able to roam freely, and yet closely.
I finally took the plunge approximately 4 days ago, downloading FOnline. My first mistake was downloading an ancient torrented version of it. I quickly realized that it was not only out of date, but set up for Afterlife. After attempting patches and frowning in contempt at my own naivete, I set up another overnight download, but this time, with the proper client.
I woke up early in the morning to check it's status. Over the morning cooking of breakfast, I shuttled back and forth between the laptop and the table, initiating the install, setting up the pathing, ensuring that the random crashes from before were no longer occuring, checking my ping to ensure that it would be stable enough to connect to the servers reliably.
I finished breakfast and took my morning seat, noting my cardio in an hour.
[You all still with me?! I'm getting there, I promise!
]
I ran the updater and realized that there was still plenty left to do. Between cardio sets, I updated and reupdated, each patchfile coming closer to the long awaited and anticipated end result. It finally finished, and thus entered the troubleshooting period. Sounds failing to play, music failing to play, the whole nine yards.
After finishing my sets and freshening up, [ ^^ ] I re-established my ping tests and finally ended up with a fully functioning product!
"Excellent! I can now take the icy plunge into the abyss that is sure to enthrall me!"
[And now the part that everyone actually cares about]
3 days later, and I've seen quite a bit of FOnline. I've wandered all about the wasteland, mostly unseen.
I can honestly say I understand both sides of the story here.
For example, about an hour ago, I was in Klamath, after escaping New Reno. I was laser rifled to the face standing there talking to a few new acquaintances, bluesuit, nothing on me. Yes, the wasteland is harsh, but that is an unsaid rule. Anyways, I, in my weakened state, entered Klamath. I of course, stealthed first thing, and edged around the building that was Sulik's imprisonment in FO2. I opened the door and walked into a small throng of people. I immediately fled around the building to the nearest window to observe. I saw two people shooting each other in the head. I darted away and restealthed. A man, most likely the victor of the encounter, ran out of the building. Suddenly a man in metal armor with a minigun spawned near me. The runner fired a single blast at the metal armored man, and attempted to flee. He was gunned down in a very humorous fashion. I unstealthed at a decent distance, and was attempting to hail the man for his crusader like behavior!
I, standing next to the defeated man's corpse, watched as the man walked up to me with his minigun. I made a move away from it to show that I was not going to loot his take. He turned about face, point blank, and shredded me with the minigun.
I superfrowned at this, naturally. Replication completed, I strode back into the town. This time a man with a knife ran up to me upon spawn and insta-gutted me.
Ooohkay! So it happens right?
Wash, rinse, and repeat about 3 more times. Two of which I was merely skirting the town.
[End of the "APK" part of the narrative]
I can sympathize with those who are naturally short fused or merely want to play and have fun, not be harassed. However it has been mentioned earlier that there are no real game rules regarding this behavior.
I understand in the end, it is just a game and you are free to play it how you wish. Personally, I will never attack another player even if I'm under attack. I am one of the types that will just attempt to flee no matter what. My interest is PvE. Naturally that makes me easy prey, but I am not stupid, I bluesuit it.
Perhaps I should clarify, the only way I will attack someone is if there is a real reason for it, PvP designated beforehand, or in defending another person. I do not believe in probable cause or in being a defensive player, so to speak, killing others on sight.
Again, personal preference.
[Yes, I'm really typing this out, haha.]
However I do see the other side to the equation. I see the people who thrive on competition, the deviant side in those who choose to utilize it. I see the resources to be pillaged, the power to be gained, the fun to be had at other's expense. And I see the people who will not deny that they are doing it for the sheer thrill of it.
I do also see those who attempt to disguise the truth behind their actions. That I do have a qualm with, if you're going to murder someone for fun, at least be honest with it, ahah.
PvP is a way to play for a vast majority of people. You have two separate opposing ideologies in one game, you're naturally going to have conflicts. However I decided from day one, before I even joined my first game, after reading many forum posts here, that it is just a game, and each to his or her own.
I see a massive amount of disrespect and misplaced rage around here.
Here's how I see it. If someone kills me, yes there is that momentary spark of irritation. But hey, they're just playing the game. This is, after all, a beta. It's in constant change and I understand that as well.
I should probably also mention I'm heavily involved competitively in a few games that are in no way related to this or this discussion. The only pertinent point it brings to the table is as follows: Your losses only make you stronger and smarter in the end if you embrace the truth behind them. It's a game meant for enjoyment. I try and remember that this game is not just for me, there are other players and those players have feelings too.
[Moving on]
A lot of things have been said in this thread that I agree with. I mean, as I read on, my urge to post this declined because most of the things I have said or touched on have been discussed in full detail. I'll be honest, some people here are insanely good at this game and they take pride in it, and with pride comes a certain level of ego, and it can lead people to say some very silly things.
I respect that you enjoy this game and are great at it! I'll also admit that I have found my style of play seriously lacking in this environment. With my high latency, I'm often forced into real time combat and suffer greatly, but nevertheless I plunge on. I enjoy the encounters, and I learn from them.
To respond directly to the original post, I'm neutral as far as this list is concerned. I understand the desire to mark players who are as some would say, "Bullying players who clearly have no desire to engage in combat with another player." However, I've realized there's a ton of niches to fill in this community, and I'll be darned if I'm going to let a troll get the best of me. :] Sure they can have fun with my body, but that's okay, I'm having fun just being here, and there isn't much that can change that.
I think what resounds within me most strongly is my support for the developers and worthwhile players in this community. This free to play MMORPG has indeed made my week most assuredly excellent. I thank you all for the game that you have created, and the community that you have all come together to created, and I express my desire to be a part of it.
Anyways, I think I've languished on long enough about this.
I frequent the NCR a lot, I'm sometimes up at Vault City, and I hang around the Hub occasionally.
I'm usually in game as IcyJes.
See ya
PS: I'm an idiot, forgot to say I'll probably be on IRC soon enough, too lazy to modify my current client's settings for use with FOnline's servers and channels. Heh, probably going to do that now. So! Catch me on IRC as IcyMew! \o/
