FLASHBACK (PBBGs)

First and foremost comes Solve Unamusements opinion about PBBGs on a very general level. Like everything else they have their pros and cons but after an extended period of time, one of each should be added.

Con: Because they are so simple, a lot of PBBGs can easily be forgotten or bailed on for one reason or another.
Pro: Because they are so simple, it is rare that much is missed if you bail and come back later.

Syrnia was like that, personally, for this writer. Had forgotten the game for a good one hundred and twenty days (exactly) and was then reminded by email that my account may be removed. This was my ticket back to playing (though not as often/much as before) and because of how most PBBGs work nothing was missed from the time off.

So in memory of PBBGs that have been suggested and are either mostly not played or not played at all anymore, a list of all the PBBGs that have been posted via Solve Unamusement. Out of this list, only two are being played (one is because it is yet in closed Alpha.)

Would You Like To Know More?

Another Flash Based PBBG (Elements)

First off, let me note that Elements isn't technically a flash game in the manner that MyBrute was. This game is actually played, instead of watched. I think the reason for that is the game, Elements, is more java based but I'm not certain. Regardless, the game plays well but requires more of your PC then the average PBBG which is usually text.

The game is a card game similar to that of Magic The Gathering, however there are very notable differences. One of the main being how the cards are played. Each requires "quanta" (mana, don't let them fool you) but it is stocked piled over turns and does not require you to have mean. Another is that you pick a "elemental mark". This allows for free "quanta" without needing "pillers" (lands). The last difference would be that pillers/lands can all be played in one go. There is no limit to the amount which can be played in one turn. These features make the game faster then that of a typical Magic The Gathering, game. After those three things, you are basically playing a "speed mana" version of Magic.

Black and red still burn while green and white heal. Balance between land/pillers and other cards is still the main struggle. And multi color decks are the best to have if you wish to be able to handle all that is thrown at you. In Magic you obtain this usually by picking a couple colors you fully enjoy (one of them being either green or white) and putting in a lot of artifacts. In Elements you create something that is honestly dependent on every bit of qunta that is given.

After you play for some time you will come to realize that only one type of deck is being used by a majority of the community, with small alterations. This isn't bad as you can choose to not duel against human created decks but at the same time makes such duels rather boring and predictable. Funnily, you would think that makes the decks easy to beat but, sadly, I've not come up with much that can stop a few combination without subduing them early or adopting similar behavior.

Overall its a great game that has distracted me from a couple of other things. I suggest giving it a try. Registration for account takes almost zero time and once you get the feel of things you can start making some rather odd deck combinations. However, I'd suggest actually playing Magic The Gathering as your choices are better, the game is less limiting and you actually play with real people. The only real "up site" to this PBBG compared to Magic is that one doesn't cost any money.

Elements
Link also in sidebar.

To Top

Redirecting (Looking, again, at Cantr)

Those of you that were here from "the beginning" know of, and probably play, Cantr. If you don't then look at this later.

Basically, my view of the subject has not changed. It is still a very fun game that anyone who considers themselves an armature writer with an open mind will enjoy. It also appeals to a few of the more "gamer" aspect but that behavior is generally frowned on within the active community. From my point of view, neither "way to play" is wrong or bad but be warned if you pick the latter you will not be anyone's favorite player.

What I really wish to bring light on from my previous post was the small bit of one small sentence. It was the interjection: "If only a little" and I've come to realize how big that interjection is. After playing for a bit more time this "only a little" seems a lot drastic then it used to. Generally, that is the extent to which you can affect the game or, if you look at it in terms of percentage, you can't affect it at all.

There is a reason why the game offers fifteen character slots for you to participate in the world and that's because if you wish to leave a dent its generally based on the number of characters you have now or have had in the past. This is not particularly bad but it does discourage people from playing beyond the games basic micromanaging points (get food, cook food, eat food, use shield, eat).

What things come down to are character specific marks on other specific characters. Don't try and leave your mark on the Cantr world by being the best, whatever. Instead just try and enhance the characters directly involved with your own. If you're lucky you might change the world via third party but the only real way to change it first hand is to get extremely lucky. Most characters are dead characters forgotten in one real life day by live ones, so enjoy that small moment cause its the only one you'll really get as a player. The sad thing about it is that you'll not get to witness it as events after character death are not privy.

To Top

MyBrute

A mostly flash PBBG that runs almost entirely by word of mouth. The game plays like two "common" internet games. One being the dragons, which we here at Solve Unamusement do not get, and the second being the simple flash game.

It requires no email or sign up. The only thing you might wanna do as a new player is find a master. Master's get exp for every level that pupils rise and pupils get bonuses based on their master's stats. The game "chain links" with accounts running in odd circles of pupil and master, but only at higher levels.

How to play is very simple. You simply click a Brute for your Brute to fight and then watch. The battles are not graphic but do have a "punch" to them. The fights/battles, within the game, are completely random and based on states and perks. This is only bad if you have no master and/or poor perks.

With basic gameplay being so easy, leveling is difficult. No matter what level a Brute your Brute fights he/she can not earn more then two experience points, one for losing and fighting lower levels and two for winning against anyone your level or above. At first leveling is really quick and the game is fun but once level ten is hit, give or take, the game stops. What makes up for this is having pupils. The problem being that you need pupils to level faster then once every few weeks. This means you must whore your Brute account and get people to sign up for either more Brutes or to the game for the first time.

All-in-all this game shouldn't really be played as a PBBG and instead more like a normal flash game. However as it is actually a PBBG that makes the game hard to recommended. If you wish to give this game a try there is a link to the main site in the sidebar but I would suggest looking for a master on any forums you frequent first.

Monday Arday Submission: Cute Object

Next Blog has a new post as well.

To Top

Fallen Sword

Today there will be talks of two things. One is an amusement and the other a note on possible amusement that is still being worked on.

The first is a PBBG that goes by the title Fallen Sword. Fallen Sword is a PBBG that is based on the most common of types. The name for its type currently escapes me and I am in no direct mood for "research". Fallen Sword is a simple 2d almost non graphical hardly difficult and almost not amusing PBBG. The idea behind Fallen Sword is annoyingly simple. It consists of two parts for a good majority of the game.

One is to grind on monsters you that are auto hit based on stats of the character. These stats are mostly based on equipment and have no actual value on character stats at all. That is unless you pump ONE and ONLY ONE stat. The skills/magic and other things of that nature help to the point where they are, at times, needed in order to actually advance. Anyone can learn any skill and equip any type of weapon and/or armor as there are no "classes".

Fallen Swords only real amusement is its PvP. This coming from someone who generally finds PvP as not what a game should be "fun for", this means a lot or little if you hate PvP more then even myself. Actually the game portion other then PvP is really boring and "the rest of the game" is only saved if you have a "good clan". Otherwise its just tedious and stupid.

A lot of players quit before reaching level five and I do not blame them any. My character is currently at 96 or 97 depending on whether or not people have placed bounties on my head. That is a small annoying feature. PvP is not only unrestricted but the "bounty system" actually encourages it. There is a reward for killing PvPers by PvPing. Also, you may bounty anyone trying to claim a bounty on you so sometimes it becomes a circle jerk of who has more gold.

Another "light note" is the game is basically closed to you without "Fallen Sword Points" (FPS). These can, of course, be normally bought but are not worth it. It would be better to pay for a "real game" or find a "more free" game if on insisted. TPS is hard to obtain otherwise and all of the "good equipment" along with any additional "player skills" cost FPS.

There is a link in my side bar available for anyone to sign up if they so wish. I honestly do not suggest it and I am not sure why I even still play, at times. The game has its fun but it does not really "open" until you have reached level 30 and found a good clan/guild.

To Top

eRepublic (Honorable Mention)

Not a lot of games tell you up front what you are actually getting into but eRepublic is one of them. Its a nice, simple game, that replicates the world we live in. Each nation, town, city, state, province... it is all there.

Upon signing up for the game you are greeted by Plato and he will be your Microsoft Helper Paper Clip through the entire time you play the game. Each time something new is opened up to you he decides to chime in and tell you what it is and how it works. This is great if you are lost or confused but if you intentionally choose not to follow his instructions for your characters first two weeks of life, he'll not stop annoying you.

Plato, while playing the game, has very basic but good ideas. He wants you to remember to keep your character fed while having them train and work each day, then he reminds you to check the in game forums for updates on events and other goings on. The latter is slightly the problem I had with the game. The game, in itself, was not gripping enough to fully take me into it. It rests on you becoming an eCitizen of the eUSA or one of the other countries. I, however, could not "get into" that thought.

The newspaper idea sounded to be something I would have enjoyed fully with the game but with a blog, a few active PBP games going and FTO with Cantr, my writing is "tapped out". I saw no need to run a virtual newspaper through a game when I had my own blog. There is also the fact that the game is in constant war. Each country is always striving to take each others land, while at the same time their terms of "peace" seem to be the looser paying the winner to still stay in their country and control all the business etc.

While the game did not fully take me, I do see what is there for the rest. It has a nice feel and movement to the game while not over powering you with "do it this way" as there are several ways to accomplish "success" in their eWorld Remaster. There is the typical "combat" line of thought, being the best commander or simply the strongest soldier, are very good ways to play eRepublic. There is the "politician" which is the same in both eUSA as it is in the real world, a horrible popularity contest with vague, if any, points for election/re-election. Like I said though, the fact that one could own their own newsstand which many others would read and form opinions on is a great add-on to the typical nation type of PBBG.

Personally, I am letting my character starve due to having so many other things I am involved in. I did not see a true point to investing so much time in early character development to almost utterly abandon it just to randomly write in game articles. However that would require being up to date, constantly, on in game current events if you were not doing anything "silly". Thoughts of creating an eOnoin Newsletter popped into my head a few times but such effort was minimal with no reward.

eRepublic is a good solid game with a great idea behind it. If you are willing to invest a moderate amount of time to become "one" with your other eCitizens then you will enjoy the game. If you are like me and did not want to or could not be bothered to, then eRepublic will be lost on you.

Fairy Tales!?

A game that I have been personally fighting tooth and nail is slowly gripping my attention and pulling me deeply into its game environment. It is something similar to Cantr and while only Cantr needs the hype, I shall give the other game its small dues.

Currently I have chastised the game on its forums for not fitting a few simple needs for its players while forcing other things that are based on the developer, as there is only one, views of what constitutes a reasonable world right. This would not be a problem for the games selling point not its open and free form world. A world that is free to be created by its players while still being horribly limited by its developer is not a free world. It is only the illusion of free.

You may, or may not, have realized that the name of the game has yet to be actually said. This is mainly because I still am withholding a final thought on the game. Currently it is in open Beta but due to several very bad game mechanics it would be almost impossible to actually recomened anyone this game. Especially with a delayed ability to play, currently one must wait aproximitly six to nine months before the ability to play is opened up for them.

That "feature" alone, by itself, cripples the game from being a recommendation. If this, and a couple other flaws such as its cluttered interface, are worked on or even overhauled entirely then we shall see about a full honest review.

There is, however, the shinnning hope I see with this game. I am actually enjoying some of its quirks. A few of said quirks I had originally written off as broken in one manner or another. The quriks I refer to still need work but are in no manner broken beyond the ability to play the game.

Once more time with this game is had by myself and a few things cleared with the community and/or its devolper I shall fork over a biased review, as all reviews are indeed very biased.

Faery Tale Online

To Top

OOC Opportunists (Cantr Thieves)

Thieves are a common thing in Cantr and a sight for amusement when handled "correctly" while avoing a break in the Capital Rule of Cantr. The CR (Capital Rule) being the only rule of Cantr is simple to know but some fail to understand its simplicity.

There are several types of Cantr thief. They range from the most common and easiest to handle of the "Suicidal Newspawn Thief" to the more difficult and ruthless "Cantr Pirate". As stated previously the most common and easiest to handle is the "Suicidal Newspawn Thief". These are those that appear into the world of Cantr with an odd chip on their shoulder and think everything that is not bolted to the ground theirs. Worthless parchment and town laws, along with simple and/or broken tools up and removed by a naked man in his twenties. Soon after he drops all that he has taken as the guard strikes him down dead.

Being on the other side of a thief strike is not always fun for the character but as a player it provides needed in game excitement. Simple thieves are nothing, though, compared to the constant fear of pirates and other threats nearby.

Pirates do more then steal notes and run. Cantr Pirates lay waste to towns, killing all they can and taking real resources that the town has to offer. Of course, Pirates are more of a coastal problem then the "Suicidal Newspawn Thief' but the causality as most cities and towns thrive on the coast compared to inland is substantial.

The minor problem with either of these "thieves" is their actions are done in an out of character (OOC) manner. Taking things when they see "characters sleeping" (Players not playing). Taking advantage of such an event could be RPed as late at night but the fact that players are using the info to organize attacks is the "gripe". Especially with attacks and kills being quicker then most can respond to, there are many reasons for this.

Small issue of OOC behavior aside; in my opinion of Cantr Thieves they provided excellent, if not random, role playing opportunities. Each unique in its own manner as the one before and after. Sometimes the thief gets away, other times he steals something powerful and is difficult to catch. Other times, still, he is gone unnoticed for years and may even return to a town he has "pillaged".

Note: The "Suicidal Nespawn Thief" is looked down on by most players despite its random interjection of RP on an otherwise quiet and boring town.

A World of Many Islands

As the title states, Syrnia is a world of many islands. From Remer to Elven and Kanzo, the world is spread far. Many players do not even dare to leave the main island of Remer for fear of pirates and strong monsters but those who do, have grand rewards waiting for them. Every island brings with it a certain level of difficulty be it the level of your fishing skill or your ability to fend off attacks. There are also benefits to each island, the most common being the limit in player density for more difficult or "higher level" islands.



Fifteen skills to master, four of which are combat related, in the game. Fishing, cooking, mining, woodcutting, farming and much more are involved in the lands of Syrnia. Ships to build for fishing for large and many fish, pickaxes to build for mining for ore and gems and hatchets for chopping trees for wood and sees. Syrnia has many things to do, all that reveal a small surprise, in its own right.


Buildings to build, shops and houses, at many locations; some locations safer then others. Each house with its own storing capability, the smallest being only two hundred and fifty units while the largest is over two hundred thousand. Shops built to allow other players to purchase goods you have collected but beware of thieves. Items left inside shops are always open to those with sticky fingers and gold is safe no where but your house(s).

The guild of thieves recruits players for their misdeeds, targeting marks at random. Each treasure chest and lock tool box grants you experience but the thrill is from taking what you do not own. Be wary, soon to be thieves, jail times are long and require you to wait in game for them to end.

Gameplay is simple, not requiring you to baby sit while you earn. Bot checks are implemented to prevent people from abusing this system but can annoy if you are trying to accomplish something. There is Google adds and limits to forum avatars and signatures, to prevent the game costing money. Donating can take these restrictions from you, provided you've given enough, and perks can also be given.

Srynia's interface is basic point and click, with minor typing for chat window and bot checks. You select an action with the mouse then get a count down timer based on how many players are at your location, equipment and other details. Once the action is complete it will repeat itself, unless you are traveling or have opted out of hunting all creatures at a location.

A great game for those at work or school who would like to accomplish more then their tedious work day without taking from their job or education. Besides the timer and chat box, Syrnia does not really look like a game and is work safe.

To Top

Cantr II (A Society)

An open world of vast possibilities waits those who have the stomach to tolerate such grandeur as the ability to influence a culture with the wave of a hand or a single word. Society as you know it, evolving and evolved in manners few could expect.

Picture a man spawning on his twentieth year with no memory of those before it, this is how each of the beings in Cantr II have started. Many took this lack of memory as an excuse to harm, kill and even maim their fellows, sometimes only out of fear. Others took arms against these and created the guards of towns. Thieves try to prosper but pick the wrong town and are met with being locked up or even killed. A guard chases a man out into the woods only to be ambushed by many more and have the favor returned. Holy men and women preaching of their gods, goddesses and other beings of power. Some are ignored, some gain followers and others may be met with harsh punishment.

Simple Farmers try and protect potatoes from pirates as both need the starch in order to survive. Neither side giving any head way but the simple farmers seem out classed. Perhaps they run for a neighboring town, perhaps they lock themselves inside and pray to any higher powers they may believe. Crowbars in hand the pirates try stealing from the simple farmers but help comes from a local queen. She has her army lay waste to many of the pirates but one some how escapes with his life in tact.

Queens and kings rules lands, as well as councilors, presidents and priests. Some leaders are more peaceful and well mannered then their people and others are cruel and ruthless in their actions. No one town the same as another as each character brings new life to a different location. Life is good, in some areas, food is plentiful and each town member is well cared for. Other places are harsh and only the rough usually last long. Those that do survive long in the hot and violent deserts or cold and barren mountains are praised for their strength or mocked for their stupidity.

The world of Cantr II lives and YOU, the player, bring it to life with each character you spawn. Each character a small extension of yourself, your personality or perhaps just a little quirky thing you found to amuse. Village idiot, master thief, simple farm hand, quirky lover boy; All these and many more will be found, only a mater of time before you see the Cantr world evolve, if only a little.

To Top

PBBGs (An Opinion)

Image via Wikipedia

I play them, I like them and I wanna talk about them!

Now, what IS a pbbg, you ask? Well it is a "persistent browser-based game". These are the MMOs of the cheap encounter! They require NO download, unless you don't have an internet browser in which case you can't REALLY be seeing this unless someone gave you the offline save file, which would be odd.

Nestled in your browser lay a simple game, I play several at the moment they are not so similar as most think but pbbgs still have their positives and negatives.

Positives

Minimal System Requirements: Because a pbbg rests in your browser you do not need more than that and an internet connection. If you are viewing this post, unless you have the offline version (which would be odd), you can play a pbbg. Some may require java or flash but most do not.

Price: 90% of pbbgs are 100% free to play and/or rely on a donation system to survive. This means that unless you WANT TO you do not need to part with your hard earned cash to play these games. It is usually the "hard-core" overly devoted type that pays for some "bells and whistles".

Access: Location is a key feature with pbbgs. Many players have jobs where they are "stuck" in front of a PC all day and in order to amuse themselves they play a game. Now your boss would clearly see a full 3-D game moving about on your screen but would HARDLY notice some links and text. There are even games with "work mode" that actually look like a word document or the like.

Negatives

Get What You Pay For: Not paying has its disadvantages as well as advantages. A free game strickly focues on the donations of others either in time or money. That being said, you are on another human beings time schedule. If the creator of your game goes "on holiday" and the thing crashes you either have to wait for a miracle of god OR him/her to return. Not paying means that, sometimes, you get bad service.

Breaking In: This is common of ALL mmos but it seems the "free kind" are more particular, especially pbbgs. A few games are well known for their "disgruntled" player base and others games are not known at all. This is because there are so many games that a few can "get lost" while others attract EVERY Tom, Dick, and Harry who knows what the mouse button does. Sometimes a community game can be a scary to new comers.

Poor (if any) Graphics: This works on both sides as it was stated in system reqs. The lack of graphics is what makes pbbgs both a BIG TURN ON and TURN OFF. Some players WANT that smearing effect on the ocean and others don't even want pictures on their games. Flash pbbgs and java pbbgs, like RuneScape, are both rather popular because they fix "this problem".