The Pixel Killing Goodness
Recently I decided to try a game that I saw advertised called SkyForge. SkyForge blends both sci-fi and fantasy in an interesting mix that works really well. It’s a free-to-play game, but with a premium subscription option. If you have a subscription then you gain some resources a bit faster or easier than the non-paying option, but it is NOT a pay-to-win game. It’s better to look at it as a pay-to-improve-a-bit-faster. They have done pretty good to stay away from pay-to-win, putting caps in place to keep even the paid account members from accruing resources too fast to imbalance the game.
What I like about it:
- It’s a fun premise. You play as a mortal turned immortal who is working to become a full-on-god.
- Quests are based on percentage complete. It’s not kill 5 of X, 3 of Y, and 2 of Z. But each kind of creature of the type you need to kill gives a certain percentage so that you can kill what you want and it will still apply.
- More than just “kill this quests” there’s a lot of fun stuff to do as your PC.
- While you can only play one class at a time, you can unlock any of the classes you want so you can really build the kind of PC you want to play. As you unlock classes you can freely switch between them.
Cons:
- While there’s a lot of zones in the world, it’s not a fully open world like WoW, Rift, GW, ESO, etc. You have a hub city and then links out to the world areas that you can access. Also, not all locations you can access are open when you start (ie. I can’t decide to do a deathrun through a high level zone). Areas open over time as you gain access to them.
- It crashes more often than other games I’ve played, however it’s so easy to restart and get back into that it’s an annoyance, but not a huge deal breaker.
- Some may see this as a con, but the pay-to-improve-a-bit-faster option.
If any of you care to check it out feel free to look my PC up, Talisha Insfel.
Guild Seeker’s Questions
One of the things I’ve noticed (and this is really true for any game that has guilds or clans) is that there’s more than plenty that advertise over the main chat channels. As I’ve been looking for a guild (called pantheon in SkyForge) I chat with those who are advertising for new members. It was as I was chatting with one recruiter that I got the idea that it would be good to share my Guild Seeker’s Questions.
Let me start by addressing guild recruiters: When you are openly recruiting for your guild on the in-game channels understand that you are most often desperate for members. This means that you need to put your best foot forward to prove to free agents (non-guilded people) why your guild is a good choice, particularly since you’ve had to resort to open recruitment over the chat channels. Please be prepared to answer prospective member’s questions and do so without an excess of rambling, getting too opinionated, and ignoring or not answering parts of a free agent’s questions. Take your time to answer clearly, honestly, and completely and you’ll more often or not make a really good impression and that’s what you want. Also don’t use shorthand (ur for you are, 2b for to be, etc.), particularly if the individual you’re chatting with isn’t using it. I see that as being sloppy an possibly unintelligent (didn’t you learn proper spelling and grammar in school?).
When I’m looking into a guild that’s actively recruiting on the open chat channels there’s a series of questions I ask. I pay attention to how they questions are answered just as much as the answers to those questions. In essence I’m interviewing the guild to see if they’re a good fit for me based on the answers to my questions.
So, what do I ask? Below are my guild seeker’s questions:
- What are your member expectations and guild rules?
- what goals does your guild have? What are the members looking to achieve together?
- What is your guild membership structure? What criteria is in place to determine when a member moves up or down in that structure ranking (ie. a member “graduates” from one rank and moves to another)?
- When is your guild the most active? When are most members on doing things?
- And what makes your guild different than the rest? What are you doing to not be a run-of-the-mill guild?
Those questions along with any other questions that come up during the course of the conversation comprise what I ask guild recruiters. Feel free to borrow them if you want.