Well, this sucks.
This edition of Fight or Kite was originally intended to be the last entry in my Eldegarde introduction and travel log, but only because I was moving on to other things. Instead, it will be the last entry because the game is sunsetting at the end of March, as apparently the game’s revenues weren’t enough to sustain development for Notorious Studios.
It’s extra frustrating because I actually liked this game. I’ve been having such a great time with the mini-MMO-that-could that I’ve surprised myself every step of the way. Truly anyone that’s kept even a modest tab on my MMO activities over the last couple of years (or several years, if I’m being totally honest) would know that I’ve struggled to find a game that I really wanted to come back to over and over again. Yet, when Eldegarde made the jump and released, it also jumped right into the MMO hole I’ve been nursing. Now, I’m back to that empty hole.
I’d like to finish the travel log here anyway, and hey, maybe it’ll come in handy for someone in the future, either developing a new game or playing the offline version of this one that the devs have hinted at.
So last round I took you through many of my experiences in trying out the new Paladin class and even the Wizard. Both of these classes hit such sweet spots for me that I couldn’t recommend them enough. But rather than just sampling through all the beginner classes I wanted to get into the game a little further first. And I have to say I was really under the impression that I had this PvE mode under control until I finally joined the Greenwood Night zone. Let’s just say a lesson was learned! After that, we’ll get to the true core of my gaming appetite: the Arenas.
As I mentioned last week, my Paladin was finally leveling up enough to join the Arenas at level 10, so I felt like I had a good handle on the game’s combat and flow. However, I was so focused on just grinding away until I reached level 10 that I hadn’t even realized that there was another PvE zone I could check out: Greenwood at night! “Interesting,” I thought. I basically couldn’t find any more good drops in the first zone I’d been playing and just tunnel-visioned myself. Oops!
When I decided to join, I didn’t expect it to be much different from the first PvE zone, but boy was I wrong. I had about 10 minutes free to run through, so I geared up and logged in. At first, I was just taking in the aesthetics and scenery of the zone. The entire vibe of Greenwood at night is dark and moody. Then, since I zoned in near some crypts, I was immediately beset by a skeleton. It took a few more hits to take down than the gobbies in the first zone, but no big deal, right?
In Goldbrook, you can take careful steps throughout the zone, ensuring you don’t over-aggro or get yourself in too much trouble. Whether you’re dealing with spiders in the basement or a pack of bandits hanging around a campfire, you can take your time and plan out your attack. Sure there’s a few tougher goblins around the pumpkin fields or down near the extraction point, but overall it’s easy. No doubt with more knowledge of this map, I’d find it a similar experience in Greenwood, but a lot of creatures just crawl up out of the ground to spook you.
As I began to run around this crypt to see if I could find some new loot, I could hear a skeleton moaning somewhere nearby. So I stopped and carefully scanned my surroundings until I eventually saw a wizard skeleton pulling himself out of the dirt Night of the Living Dead style. Preparing myself, I launched in to some attacks, dodging a spell or two along the way. What I was not prepared for was this baddie to summon more skelly bois to support. OK, Dorothy, this isn’t Goldbrook anymore! So I tried to kite them until – BOOM! – more skeletons started crawling up from the earth from where I had kited the first batch.
I was in full on survival mode at this point, trying to find a moment’s respite to drink a potion and wrap a bandage or two until I could get the hell outta there. Remember how I said I had about 10 minutes to knock out this run real fast? Well, that time had come and gone, and I needed to log out too. The fam’s get-your-butt-off-the-computer-already energy was gaining strength. So I’m running from these skeletons, running from the mobs I’m spawning, racing against the clock to log out, and trying to find a clean path to the extraction zone.
For a brief moment, I really thought I was going to make it, too. I was within about 300 (feet? meters? whatever the compass measurement is) away from the extraction zone when I encountered my doom: spiders. So many spiders! I figured I could bob and weave my way through a few of them. But they got that icky sticky! They webbed me, and I could see that no amount of potion-chugging was going to get me out of this one. And then I went down like the overconfident Paladin I had become.
That was how I learned that PvE in Eldegarde was no joke after all. If this was the beat-down I suffered in the higher-tiered zone, then I was no where near ready for that boss dungeon the developers added in the last update.
But the arenas. Surely, I was at least competent enough to compete in the arenas, right? Right?
Well, if you can’t see that screenshot, it shows a matchmaking queue time of 13 minutes. That’s when I snapped it. It actually climbed up to about 20 minutes before I pulled the plug on arenas and went back to the normal zones. This was during the prime time evenings too, so the outlook was grim, and unfortunately, that’s probably a large part of why Notorious is pulling the plug. Sigh.
So I guess I won’t ever be able to find out the story on the arenas. Maybe I’ll try to play again before the sunset; maybe the threat of loss will bring enough players back for a while. But I doubt it.
Sadly, I really enjoyed my evenings in Eldegarde. It’s been a fun experience whether you’re in it for the PvE purely or the standard PvPvE extraction mode. I wouldn’t say Eldegarde was without issues, though; the questing layout and system needed a serious overhaul. But that aside, the carrot of upgrading the Lodge and doing dailies gave me just enough small and compelling goals to keep me joining servers and leveling up.
Unfortunately, that’s coming to an end now. RIP.
