Still Playin’ After All These Years – LOTRO’s Sixth Anniversary

lotro

When you look at the events of J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings, Frodo and his companions set out from Bag-End on the 23rd of September in one year and returns to it on November 3rd of the next. In just a little bit more than a year, they had had their adventure, recovered from it, and returned. It’s fairly amazing to think, then, that Lord of the Rings Online, the MMORPG based on the same story, will have been running successfully for six years as of April … [Read more...]

Meet Cobalt Valkyrie: A Conversation About EVE Online

Cobalt Valkyrie Ship

EVE Online is a massive multi-player online role-playing game. There are a number of women in the RPG community who love MMOs, or who currently seek the MMO for them. Meet Cobalt Valkyrie, a long time Eve player who gets to play out a number of young women's dreams: owning spaceships, making friends, and kicking ass in space.     GDG: How did you get into playing EVE? CV: I was playing this random flash game with a steampunk airship aesthetic.  I was the leader of a … [Read more...]

WoW Raid Finder: Looking For Fun

Can't Find a PUG?

Recently a new patch came out for World of Warcraft. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal - a new raid, some new tweaks - except this one actually has a potentially game-changing addition: the new Raid Finder. With the Raid Finder, you can quickly join a 25-man “easy mode” version of the new raid, which, incidentally, is the end-game content. Suddenly, even the most casual of players can easily experience downing Deathwing. Allow me to back up: I’ve been playing World of Warcraft … [Read more...]

Iconic Gameplay – Using the Icons of a Setting to Your Advantage

3520085266_cbfc9f4c39

There’s a scene that played out in one of my Star Wars games that I love to talk about. The player characters, accompanied by the mentor of the two Jedi in the group, were returning from a successful mission. They entered the master’s sanctum, only to find a dark Jedi waiting for them. The NPC was someone they’ve met and beaten before, a failed Jedi and a former student of their master. Their master, Depa Billaba, shook her head sadly. “I’ve told you Mirak,” she sighed. “I … [Read more...]

Love on the Watchtower: GGG Plays DC Universe Online

728558420_d37b787d66

It had been a few weeks since the Lex Luthor from the future, in a desperate gamble to prevent the timeline he’d been a part of, had traveled back in time to release Brainiac’s exobytes across the U.S. Since that chaotic event, many previously ordinary citizens had gained superpowers. Two of them happened to be passing each other in the corridors of the Watchtower, the Justice League of America’s famous orbiting satellite, when they paused to regard each other. One was dressed in a … [Read more...]

The Lord of the Five Golden Rings – LOTRO’s Yule Festival

Yule

There is a surprisingly long link in my mind between the Lord of the Rings and Christmas. Although I did not receive Tolkien’s trilogy as a Christmas present, I can recall being thrilled as a child to find the mention of Yule in the Shire calendar in the appendix of the Return of the King. The three movie versions all came out in late December as well, and it became a Christmas tradition to see each one with my Dad on Christmas day (after dinner at a Chinese restaurant). Therefore, I have no … [Read more...]

Gamer vs. Gay-mer

mmorpg

Long before I was out as a gay man (I don’t recall a time when I wasn’t “out” as a gamer), I remember a conversation with my friend Jeff. We had been playing Dungeons & Dragons together regularly for some time, and the players were various friends of ours. At some point, the conversation took an odd turn. “Do you think Mike is gay?” he asked, meaning another of our friends. For a moment, I had a panic attack. Why was he asking me? Was it because he thought I was … [Read more...]

Dreamgirl Introductions: Meet M

picofm

Who am I, you ask? ... okay, maybe you're not asking, but I'm going to tell you anyway. My name is M, aka Michelle Clough, and I am the new resident anime/manga girl for Geek's Dream Girl. How I stumbled into this hallowed and worthy position is a tale of great import and substance, involving dramatic acts of applying and sample writing, but suffice to say that I'm very, VERY happy to be here. I've been a geek for as long as I can remember. While my classmates were running around on … [Read more...]

When Roleplay Love Becomes Real Love

WoWlove

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first post by new writer, Z! She's the youngest of the dreamgirls (but still legal!) and will be writing about all sorts of geeky topics every Saturday.  Welcome, Z! The line between fiction and reality is thinnest when love gets thrown into the mix. Some newbies to RP have trouble distinguishing between their characters and themselves, but even veterans can fall prey to their feelings. That flirty comment you just typed... who is on the other end reading it? The … [Read more...]

My Inner Indie Snob and Felicia Day

TheGuild

About six months ago I admitted a character flaw: that I tend to resist pop-culture phenomenons.  At the end of the post I mention that I take more suggestions nowadays. Well, I realized last week that I've done it again - I've settled right back into my knee-jerk, resist-what-people-are-fawning-over ways.  And no, I'm not talking about Avatar. I'm talking about Felicia Day. It's not her fault, really.  I didn't even really know who she was.  My snobbery started with Dr. Horrible's … [Read more...]