Digital Crack

Thanks to my good friend Mike, as listed in yesterday’s post, I am now addicted to what is usually referred to as an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game). This one in particular, City Of Heroes, attempts to simulate the worlds of comic book superheroes we all knew and loved growing up.

Among the many things to do, it features a very complex system for designing your character’s costume, which includes settings for controlling the size of all parts of the body, clothing types, textures, etc. There are so many options that no two characters will look alike. Remember a superhero’s costume is as unique and important as a Jedi’s lightsaber. I hope I can have sex again in the future…sigh….

When you enter the city you are introduced to the various gangs and bad guys you will fight and will meet a large number of other heroes. One of the coolest things about these kinds of games is the emphasis on grouping and meeting people. While you can play solo and do missions and hunting by yourself, it will take you far longer to build your characters than if you join or start a team.

The city itself is a living breathing entity, as the zones are changing and being populated by bad guys and new quests and items frequently. It’s got a definite Metropolis feel to it and features a large number of huge statues of former heroes from the game’s backstory which resumes the designs from Gotham City in Batman and Batman Returns.

I guess the main question posed is why is this game so addictive? I couldn’t tell you. It’s not the social contact (at least for me) because I have plenty of that everyday. Maybe it’s the idea of createing an unique character and putting him in a world that is changing and designed to be like what all the comic fans have always dreamed of. I dunno. Still I can play for two weeks on my free trial, and then after I’ll switch over to World of Warcraft. And let’s not even talk about City of Villains…

Oh yeah, and don’t expect that site update for another two weeks or so, thanks Mike!

Wisdom of the Day: Your mother should have warned you about it.