Before I go any further, I wouldn't have written this but I woke up this morning to three PM's telling me to do something awesome for my 2010th post. I know it's a few days late, but anyone who knows me will know that "on time" isn't something I can do... On with the show!
EscapistMagazine (known to fans simply as "The Escapist") is a text-based MMO, first released in July of 2005 by Themis Media. You play as a user (a "poster"), and attempt to gain notoriety within the community, with the eventual intent of either becoming "Internet Famous" or "Banned". As a browser-based game, it is available on practically anything with an internet connection, but the vast majority play via their PC.
(making a new mission instead of adding to an already existing mission), and so most users enter thread-creation with trepidation. A large percentage of the gameplay is in the side-quests, such as the "Watch funneh videos" storyline, made infamous by a man named after a dicegame.
Other side-quests include Spamming Friend Invites (a quick-time minigame where the player finds people whom they have never spoken to before and declares that they are "friends"), sparking flamewars and asking philosophical questions.
The player levels up by posting, with the intent of eventually "Going Gonzo" (the level at which the player "evolves" into a fountain of wisdom, and everyone instantly believes what they say). Past this level there are only two more levels of advancement, Master Archivist and Wordsmith Extraordinaire. Although The Escapist is a non-linear game, so it is impossible to "win", a Wordsmith Extraordinaire is about as close to an end-game boss as you're going to get.
[sub]An artists rendition of the Banhammer-
no-one has ever seen one it real
life and lived to tell the tale[/sub] Overall, the community on The Escapist is above average for a free-to-play MMO. Although the game is occasionally plagued by griefers (known in-game as "trolls"), there is usually an Admin (easily picked out from the crowd by the ceremonial warhammer "The Banhammer" that they carry. The hammer is ceremonial because all damage is actually done mentally, as using the hammer tends to leave a dreadful mess on the floor) on hand to slay the troll. Although these denizens of the realm specialise in DPS and Crowd Control, many low-level users still attempt to tank aggression from them, which is a generally bad idea.
Although it has been proven that everyone pays attention to you once you've Gone Gonzo, power leveling ("Spamming") is frowned upon. Players who join quests for the EXP boost and then leave without contributing anything run the risk of Admin attention, which can result in Mod Wrath, eventually leading to account suspension.
Since the last major patch, players have been encouraged to create "groups" (a bizarre attempt to get gamers to be social) within the community, such as the Escapist TF2 Clan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Escapist-Team-Fortress-2-Group-PC], the Achievement Whores Anonymous [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Achievement-Helpers-Society] and even the I <3 Pony [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Pretty-Pink-Ponies] club, the diverse community is really given a reason to interact with others on the site.
debuffs (such as the "Big Red Button of Reporting Yo' Ass") on characters with perceived lower INT stats (as can be evidenced by the hostility to those who use base languages such as "txt tlk" and "1337 5P3@|<", or even worse, French)
Easy to learn, difficult to master, but definitely a Buy. Without a shadow of a doubt.
[sub]Wordsmith would like to thank the academy, his parents and the TF2 group for making him an admin. Remember kids, stay in school!
Also, how unfitting is it that I, the Extraordinary Wordsmith, will probably never reach Wordsmith Extraordinaire... Oh well, that's life I guess[/sub]
[HEADING=1]Wordsmith Reviews: The Escapist[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Gameplay[/HEADING]
The gameplay revolves mainly around the user "posting" on "forums", and much of the main quest line is spent posting in response to topics. Although players can start their own threads regardless of their level, low-level users often create "repeat threads"
The player levels up by posting, with the intent of eventually "Going Gonzo" (the level at which the player "evolves" into a fountain of wisdom, and everyone instantly believes what they say). Past this level there are only two more levels of advancement, Master Archivist and Wordsmith Extraordinaire. Although The Escapist is a non-linear game, so it is impossible to "win", a Wordsmith Extraordinaire is about as close to an end-game boss as you're going to get.
Anonymous Source: 0-25 posts.
Paperboy: 25-50 posts.
Copy Clerk: 50-100 posts.
Beat Writer: 100-200 posts.
Muckraker: 200-300 posts.
Press Junketeer: 300-500 posts.
Infamous Scribbler: 500-750 posts.
Pulitzer Laureate: 750-1000 posts.
Gone Gonzo: 1000+ posts.
Master Archivest: 5000+ posts.
Wordsmith Extraordinaire: 10,000+ posts
Paperboy: 25-50 posts.
Copy Clerk: 50-100 posts.
Beat Writer: 100-200 posts.
Muckraker: 200-300 posts.
Press Junketeer: 300-500 posts.
Infamous Scribbler: 500-750 posts.
Pulitzer Laureate: 750-1000 posts.
Gone Gonzo: 1000+ posts.
Master Archivest: 5000+ posts.
Wordsmith Extraordinaire: 10,000+ posts
[HEADING=3]Community[/HEADING]
[sub]An artists rendition of the Banhammer-
no-one has ever seen one it real
life and lived to tell the tale[/sub]
Although it has been proven that everyone pays attention to you once you've Gone Gonzo, power leveling ("Spamming") is frowned upon. Players who join quests for the EXP boost and then leave without contributing anything run the risk of Admin attention, which can result in Mod Wrath, eventually leading to account suspension.
Since the last major patch, players have been encouraged to create "groups" (a bizarre attempt to get gamers to be social) within the community, such as the Escapist TF2 Clan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Escapist-Team-Fortress-2-Group-PC], the Achievement Whores Anonymous [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Achievement-Helpers-Society] and even the I <3 Pony [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Pretty-Pink-Ponies] club, the diverse community is really given a reason to interact with others on the site.
[HEADING=3]Controls[/HEADING]
As with all text-based games, control is based mainly on what you write. As a result, several of the players I have observed in-game tend to career straight into no-go areas, where they are skillfully torn to pieces by players tagged for PvP [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/index/528]. Due to this, I recommend having at least a working knowledge of the English language before rolling your character, as some of the higher-level players may cast
[HEADING=3]Achievements[/HEADING]
As with (seemingly) every game released lately, The Escapist comes complete with an extensive set of achievements (displayable in game as "badges"- icons which combine with your post count to dictate the size of your "e-peen", a digital scale of how generally awesome you are.) Achievements seem to be on anything from choosing an avatar to winning the internet, a full list of them can be found on here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.84454?page=1]. Don't worry about not having them all, not even leet haxxors [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Neonbob] have all of them.[HEADING=3]The Bottom Line[/HEADING]
In all, I would recommend this game to anyone. Unlike most games of this genre, griefers are dealt with quickly and firmly, the community as a whole is friendly, and the in-game help is constantly being updated to provide even veteran players with elements which were unknown to them. [HEADING=3]Buy Rent or Dumpster?[/HEADING]
Easy to learn, difficult to master, but definitely a Buy. Without a shadow of a doubt.
[sub]Wordsmith would like to thank the academy, his parents and the TF2 group for making him an admin. Remember kids, stay in school!
Also, how unfitting is it that I, the Extraordinary Wordsmith, will probably never reach Wordsmith Extraordinaire... Oh well, that's life I guess[/sub]
[HEADING=1]Happy 2010 guys![/HEADING]
[sub]User hopes not to be suspended for: This thread. It's all said in jest, nothing serious (Permanent)[/sub]
