"Let it be known that all good things come in shady packages." (Read: Fie's Shadowrun 4th Ed Preview! and Darkfall Online)

Hey all,

A Happy Chinese "Niu"(New) Year to you! (This crap pun was taken from a crap commercial I saw on local TV.)

I mentioned in my earlier post that I will be touching on the new exciting stuff happening in my local gaming circle.

First off, there is the latest MMO hope- Darkfall Online, or DFO for short. This MMO is a bit like the Obama inauguration speech. The game is new, but its intrinsic values are old. No levels, player-run economy, freedom to do "whatever" you wish to. In fact, it is a UO/SwG/EvE inspired clone w/ a full-pvp ruleset twist. aka, "sandbox" full of bloodied sand.

In 2002, Adventurine S.A., a Greek-based independent gaming company, bought the game engine/concept over from another like-minded company who was going bankrupt. The years passed and nothing much was heard.

The interested public and fans thought that the game had gone into vaporware-mode. The signs were there. No publicity, no news, no new trailers, no developer's post, etc etc. But by an apparent act of God, snippets of the game resurfaced again a year ago, along with the announcement that it would be launched in the beginning of 2009.

Fast forward to now. A few days to the much-anticipated beta where players can actually try out this game without just reading/dreaming/jizzing about it. The beta will be paramount to soothe the many naysayers harping that this game is in fact an elaborate hoax, that it is too big, ambitious and with a concept far too dated for the WoW world of today.
(Update: 27/1/09: The 25th have passed and the beta is going along fine, albeit invites were only given to players in big guilds and only in the next few phases would a normal player like me get a chance (16%) to experience the beta.)

I have to admit I did have my reservations, as there is too little information out for a game that is supposedly coming out on the 25th Feb 2009. But then I realized that this is actually a small company with a limited budget. Being able to garner such publicity through sheer "word-of-internet-mouth" in fact saved them much in advertising costs. I have to add that being mysterious never fails to whet the appetites of gamers, especially those wanting to go back to 0ld-school roots.

But a major part of me wants this to game to work, so as Obama recited at the Washington Mall, (loosely translated by me) -


"In this icy winter of new-fangled MMOs without the RPG part, I urge all old-time gamers, to stick by the timeless values of relative integrity, player-run economy/quests, and above all, time. Give something time, and hope is born. And when hope is born, umm... Faith follows.
DnD loosely mirrors these values, even though it has been tainted by the ugly claws of commercialism, Wall Street (WoTC), whatever."



Okay. Obama did not exactly utter those words, at least not in public yet. So let us pray for a smooth delivery, and God bless us all.


Part 2 (Of this otherwise already amazing double-header post!)

Let us imagine if Darkfall turns out to be a complete hogwash and is actually a Pokemon Online rip, and we fail to see the light of it. Do not fret, gamers.

There is still, Shadowrun 4th Edition. I know I have been talking about SR4 for a couple of posts already and that all that I wanted to gush about it has already been gushed.

This time, I am going to show you something concrete.

Without further ado, I now present to you the gist of Fie the DM's first SR4 campaign set in the summer of 2070, Singapore Island-City.

Your eyes are glued on what is happening on Holo-Hub Channel 14, and so are the hundreds with you in the local pub. Nervous chattering is heard everywhere, and the stink of sweat permeates in the overcrowded space.
There had to be a reason why the taps ran dry and the electricity shut down two days ago. Shortages like these were frequent ever since the Workers Party came into power in 2068, but never had this been island-wide.
Yes, this is the real thing, only worse. The whole f'kin island is in blackout/full-loot mode.
Images of massive riots near City Hall protesting the virtual stoppage of the economy, crazed Sporeans smashing windows, fences and grabbing whatever foodstuff/furniture/items of value in the affluent residential districts of B.T. 9 (formerly known as Bukit Timah) and the Tri-Zonal East Towns (Tampines-1, Pasir Ris, Little Simei) are being shown. Suddenly, the images stopped and a familiar image appears on the holo-screen, fidgeting on his podium.

"Hail all Sporeans, I am your Prime Administrator, Robert See. I do not have much time to speak, as this emergency power source, kindly sponsered by AdmerEALty Industries, *crackle* will *crackle* last us only a few minutes.
In this time of darkness, (ahem) I have to say that we will have to be patient as we ourselves do not know the source of this *crackle* madness. Rest assured that we are not not the only ones. I have received reliable sources that this phenomenon is in fact- worldwide.

For now, I say, and I repeat, that all existing electronic data island-wide have been wiped out, and past government records erased.

We have set up an Emergency Identification Process (EiP) whereby all Sporeans will have a week's grace to walk or cycle to City Hall during daylight, to re-register *crackle* yourself with our government as a citizen and show us proof of your assets in paper. Failure to do so will deem you as an illegal *crackle* immigrant and subject to law.

I promise to conclude this announcement with my assurance that *crackle* ..."
This is the starting story-plot of my campaign and I will be fleshing out the country and its various zones in subsequent handouts etc. The starting characters will be thrown into the scenario and enjoy the advancement of both their personal goals and the overhanging storyline.

SINner? Former contacts? A handy stash of equipment? Or just an alert mind? These can come in handy as you come to grasp with the new reality of life in ---

"SINgapore 2070 -- The Sun, the Sins and the Sea."

For now, enjoy the lunar festivities and I will talk to you again in a few RL days.