Ah, the warm and sunny days of July are finally here! It's time to get outside, meet friends in the yard, and enjoy some barbecue. Good times! But then, summer isn't all about blue skies and hot weather. It's also about dark and rainy afternoons. Ha! You just knew I was coming to that, right?
So, here's my gaming update for the season. I finally finished Guild Wars (the Prophecies campaign) last April, and I've been rejoining Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Legend these past few days. I've very tempted by Tomb Raider: Anniversary now, if only because there's something to be said about the way I usually feel during summer and doing a globe-spanning quest with a kickass babe as my alter ego.
Keep the rainstorms comi... erm, I mean... keep the sunny days coming! 
Whoa! We're nearing the end of March already! This is nuts! 
Well, to those wondering how my Guild Wars gaming spree is doing lately, I'll just say... it's been... lackluster. I did spend a lot of time in Tyria in February, but now BioShock really keeps me busy (in a good way!). I'll get back to Guild Wars soon, but you see that's another great thing about it's functionality. It doesn't cost me anything now, whether I play it or not. Take that, World of Warcraft! So anyway, I wanted to explore Rapture a second time, since I felt my first playthrough was a bit rushed. Every little detail in BioShock's world is amazing and immersive. This game is actually my first experience with the magnificent Unreal Engine 3, and I find it to be so pretty and smooth, which in turn will probably make me want to play Unreal Tournament 3 now.
And guess what? It's just been released on Steam! Hurray!! 
Over the years, PC games have offered me a lot of great things: graphical and audio pleasure, creative thinking, visceral and intense action, and of course, pure fun. I've probably been spending too much time gaming already, I've seen a lot of entertaining and innovative ideas across different genres, but I've never felt how I feel right now. I'll call that feeling "allegiance". Allegiance to other players. Allegiance to my friends. Allegiance to my Guild. Yes, being part of a bigger whole is the most striking thing I've yet seen in gaming. And I'm hooked!
It all started last week. I had just completed a quest with a random party when one of its members invited me to his Guild, namely, The Illini Tribe. Being a complete newbie in this MMO business, I wasn't sure what being in a Guild implied. Right off the bat, let me state that The Illini Tribe is a "friends" oriented group. These guys are nice and they play Guild Wars to have fun, in a truly social way. Members are quite talkative (like me, if that blog is any indication), and each do his/her best to help others in time of need. After all, Guild Wars does offer its share of challenging missions and quests, which quickly become overboard for a lone wolf. So now I log in not just to play the game anymore, but to play the game with my Guild. And to me, this is what renders an RPG like, say, Dungeon Siege or Neverwinter Nights, completely obsolete. Period.
Let me also point out that had I been invited into a less friendly group might just have killed my interest for the game altogether. Now, on the contrary, this Guild gave me great new reasons to play the game. The Illini Tribe is part of an even bigger whole, called EveR, which is an Alliance of Guilds. All of that combine to give you, the lone player, so much more options for joining people than simply browsing a town or outpost. If you're into Guild Wars and would like to join us, then look up Almighty Wolf, The Illini Tribe Guild Master.
And you'll definitely see me there also. From the look of things, I'll be hanging around for quite some time. Goodie! 
