Allods Online: Playing on ISA Server

Just a quick update for those that meddle with Allods: I'm still casually playing Allods Online on the ISA server (EU). My warrior Thulf is around level 16 now. If you read this and play there as well, feel free to poke me ingame. Since i did not decide yet how long I'll continue to play AO - I'll wait until i experience PvP around 23+ and how the pricing for the cash shop turns out - I did not work further on any plans to create a new blog for the game, made some notes tho, just in case. Maybe I'll write some kind of beginners guide, since the game does not explain a few things properly, which can be really hard on new players if they eg. skill their char wrong.

Canceled my Aion subscription

Just fyi i did cancel my Aion subscription recently. I did not really miss the game during my short break and that - at least for me - is always a bad sign. Despite what NCsoft says, the grind and the missing incentive (eg. finding new useful & fun stuff on mobs etc.) plus many people leaving i was playing with did the rest. In addition there are some core problem with class balance for melee & ranged classes at the higher levels IMO. I don't want to rant too much here or go further into detail. I got a bunch of unfinished maps and instance stuff, but don't think I'll publish them since i dislike posting unfinished stuff. Maybe if i get bored i might finish some and add them here some day.

I'm not sure what the next MMO will be i play or if I'll start a new blog about it, but you can be sure I'll keep you posted about it. From the looks of it i might play Allods Online (EU) casually for a while and see how that moves along. If you'll play on the EU server and want to team up, poke me about it.

So to all readers, some of you followed me since WAR, thanks for reading and all those nice eMails and ingame chats.

Cooperative Gameplay

Quite a few weeks since my last blog update. During the holidays and the new year I've been rather busy with friends & family. At the start of this year i took a new job, therefore my time to play was rather limited, but tbh i did not miss Aion that much. *sadface* My subscription is still active and I'll decide over the upcoming weeks what I'll do about it. There are a few people that contacted me for various reasons per email and i still did not get back to all of them, my appologies but you have not been forgotten.

There were also some, after my last blog post, that suggested new MMOs to me or offered me beta keys to upcoming titles. Very cool of you guys, thanks. I'm always open to try out new MMOs, so just keep poking me... I might consider it.

During the holidays i had a friend over and we wanted to hang out and play some computer games together. Since he did not bring a Laptop with him, that only left us with my desktop computer. If you own a console there are plenty of games that offer cooperative gameplay - at the same time, on the same screen - but with a normal PC things look different. If you do not include any shooters or racing games, what co-op games are you left with? To be honest i had to do quite some research to find a few titles that are fun to play. I'll share the best with you here:

Bombermaaan (free)
Bombermaaan is a classic bomberman clone with all kinds of different power-ups and such. You can use gamepads and play with up to 5 players on the same computer. *lol* I suggest you disable the "hurry up" feature of making the playground smaller tho. Tip: Backspace will take you back a step during the sub-menus.

Bionic Commando Rearmed
A 2D platform game featuring a guy with a large gun and a bionic arm that can shoot a grappling hook. In co-op game play two players can play together at the same time. Utilizes an intelligent split-screen system if the players move too far apart from each other. Classic platform jumping and shooting, you can use gamepads. fun!

Blobby Volley (free)
Two alien blobs play volleyball against each other. Not really co-op i know.

Ballerburg (free)
Do you remember the really old Ballerburg from Atari ST? Two players shoot cannonballs from their castles over a mountain. You have to take wind strength/direction into account and use gunpowder and cannon angle to hit parts of the other players castle. The free game i link to is only in German afaik, but should be easy enough to figure out. Not really co-op either.

LEGO Star Wars / LEGO Indiana Jones / LEGO Batman
WTF? You think... LEGO? Hell yeah! ;) Until i searched for good co-op games I've never even bothered nor tried the LEGO video games. They are developed by Traveller's Tales and despite being games you could even play with your kids (rated 10+) they offer enough cartoon violence and small puzzles to keep you entertained. Get some booze and smash stuff in LEGOland. You can play with gamepads and two players can adventure at the same time, the newer titles offer an intelligent split-screen feature should the players move to far away. It's more fun then you think it would be...

Do you kow any other good PC games with cooperative gameplay? Share with me...