Evan Sims

My Top 10 PC Games of All Time

I know, I know; I’ll well known for my hatred of top 10 lists on blogs, but I was personally asked to do this one so I couldn’t refuse. My pal Ryan recently his list in response to a PC Gamer special. I can’t miss a web meme, so here we go.

1. Ultima Online — This should be a no brainer for anyone that knows me personally. The first true MMO I played, and it really changed my life. I met so many great friends, and it really focused me on what I wanted to do with my career.

2. Monkey Island — The classic, and the first game I ever bought myself. Grog Grog Grog!

3. Loom — Intrinsically linked with Monkey Island, I bought and played Loom at the same time as MI. It’s lesser known I think, but it used the same version of the SCUMM engine that MI did. So original, so much fun. I wish they’d do a reboot/sequel with a modern engine.

4. Myst — Another no brainer for me. I’m a huge fan of Cyan’s Myst series, but the original is still my favorite. I don’t even want to know how many hours I spent on it, let alone the sequels.

5. WorldsAway — The first online “game” I played, WorldsAway was 2D virtual world where hundreds (if not thousands) of CompuServe customers gathered using customizable avatars, talked, traded items with oen another and played games together. So far ahead of it’s time. It’s a pity what’s become of it.

6. EverQuest 2 — A relatively recent addition, I wasn’t so hot on EQ2 when it first launched. It took several years and some urging by the guys to get me to try it, but I ended up really loving it. One of the few MMOs that held my attention long enough for me to reach end game.

7. Final Fantasy XI — I played FFXI solid for a few years, and it was definitely one of the best MMO experiences I’ve had- mainly thanks to the great group of people our guild managed to put together. It’s a pity things broke down as they did, but it was a blast while it lasted. I still revisit FFXI every once and awhile, and it’s still loads of fun, but it’ll never be the same.

8. Battlefield 2142 — I’m not a huge FPS fan, and I really kind of hated Battlefield 2 (though I did love 1942.) Battlefield 2142 is a masterpiece, quite honestly; it’s one of those games just never gets old to me. Playing with close friends makes it all the better, as strategy and team work pay off in the field.

9. Uru: Ages Beyond Myst — Admittedly I think the idea of building an MMO around the Myst world was misguided, but I’ve loved every second of Uru. I managed to score an alpha account in the early days, and played on through beta and it’s retail incarnations (Ubisoft, GameTap, and in between on Cyan’s own servers.) A massively multiplayer 3D puzzle game is a difficult concept to pull off, but Cyan did a masterful job of it, and I don’t think there’s an online title out there that has a stronger community.

10. Team Fortress 2 — Like 2142, it’s one of those games that doesn’t get old. We end up playing a couple times a week, but I try to sneak an hour in everyday. Pyro, engineer and medic are my favorite classes, though I’m admittedly a pretty awful healer. :)

So, there you haven’t. Not so different from Ryan’s list I guess. No surprise there. So, what are you favorite games of all time?

Final Fantasy XI Chat & Macro Commands

Decided to throw this together for my own quick reference. It’s based in part by a guide by Amanda Dean (Nalyr). These commands can be entered into the chat window (hitting space in the usual keyboard figuration on PC.) These commands can also be used to design macros for your convenience. Commands are broken into the follow syntax: /command [optional] {required}.

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Thoughts on Returning to Final Fantasy XI

So as many of you know, either because of my Twitter stream or because you know me personally, I’ve made a return to Final Fantasy XI along with my friends Ryan, Will and Jim. I began playing FFXI when early 2002, when I was accepted into the beta for the PlayStation 2. At the time I really didn’t have much faith in the game, or interest to be honest. I was more excited about getting a free hard drive unit for my PS2 than the game itself. That’s probably why I never made it past level 8. That and the fact that I was trying to play it on my tiny, shitty television at the time.

Fast forward to November 2002, and I’m over in Arizona visiting Jim. He wasn’t very interested in the game either, but my consumer whorism got the better of me, and I talked him into trying it by buying him a copy. We headed to EB and picked up FFXI, and the rest, as they say, is history. Jim’s girlfriend Stephanie joined us, and together we started a guild. In time, the guild grew and grew, thanks almost single handedly to great efforts of Stephanie and Jim. The guild eventually grew to become one of the better known linkshells on our server, and we made a lot of friends during the time we played. But all good things must come to an end, and ultimately the guild was disbanded.

Recently the idea of returning to FFXI was brought up. I had tried to load up FFXI several times since the guild, but as I expected I couldn’t get into it. With the exception of Ultima Online - which was to thank for my meeting Ryan, Will and Jim in the first place - I’ve never played an MMO by myself. Or, I should say, I’ve never seriously played one. I load them up and then get bored. So I was very pleased to hear that the guys wanted to go back to FFXI and jumped at the opportunity.

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