• Published 13th Sep 2013
  • 4,637 Views, 880 Comments

Let's Play: Equestria Online! - Jakinbandw



A look at the new MLP MMO where we find out if Friendship is Optimal

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First Steps

Replies To Notable Comments From The Comment Section

FanOfMostEverything asked about my Pony Pad and how it looked. Turns out that I actually got one of the second generation ones. Apparently the first gen ones had a stand and a controller, but the new ones are just tablets, and we can buy the rest separately. I dunno, I just grabbed this version because it was a bit cheaper at the store. I don't think I'll bother with the controller anyway, I'm finding that it controls perfectly fine as it is.

Also, yes, I do have a pic of Twilight Sparkle on the back (and she is cute)!

Silvadel, meanwhile, let me know that I can actually change things when I get my name from Celestia, and suggested that I change my character into a pegasus. I'm not sure I want to play a pegasus though. Honestly, I find flight in most games to be pretty boring. Useful, yes, but I find that if I have an option that lets me stay on the ground, I tend to use that instead. In Minecraft, for instance, flying is as fast as sprinting. It feels slower, though, if that makes any sense.

I don't know. If it turns out I can't move fast as an earth pony I might switch up when I meet Celestia.

Finally, if I didn't reply to you here, I probably already replied in the comment section. I suggest everyone take a quick look down there and join in whatever we are discussing at any given time.

And Now, For Some Actual Gameplay!

So the comments from yesterday were heavily in favor of going exploring up the mountains. We had one dissenter who wanted to go down into the forest, so we might do that eventually, but for now we are headed uphill.

So first things first: Movement in this game is fun. There is a wonderful sense of speed you get when going at a full gallop. Grass flies up from behind your pony, and the wind audibly whistles past. A few flower petals might even get caught in your slip stream, and get carried along behind you.

So there I was, heading up the mountain when I came to this ledge. I figured I'd just jump up, because I'm used to platformers (Sonic and SSX). I actually didn't realize how to set up a high jump though, so I sailed gracefully though the air, face first into the rock. Turns out the basic jumping height isn't that great.

So there my pony is, picking itself up off the ground (and I can't believe they animated that. It looks gorgeous), when a beige mare with a brown mane walks up to him and asks if I'm okay. And I wait for the conversation menu to pop up. And it doesn't. And I poke random spots on the screen, and that doesn't do anything either.

So finally, I am at my wits end, with this earth pony looking at my like I'm insane (again, amazing facial expressions), and I finally break down as say, “How does this stupid thing work?!”

“How does what work?” She replies.

“Conversations,” I say.

“Well, usually one pony speaks, and the other replies,” she says sardonically.

At this point I realized something was up so I turned over the Pony Pad and poked at it to see if I could find a light that would tell me the mic was on, “Sorry,” I replied, “I didn't know this game had voice chat.”

At least, that's what I thought I said. What I actually heard was, “Sorry, I didn't know that I was speaking out loud.” We'll come back to this later, because I want to talk about it. For now, I'll continue on.

“Oh,” she said, “Maybe you should go see Celestia. You seem a little off after becoming friends with that cliff.”

“Ah, I'm fine.” I replied, “Do you know if there is any way to jump higher?”

“Yes, would you like me to show you? It's not too hard,” she said.

“Yes please, er... what's your name?” Finally getting used to just talking like normal.

“Forest Trails” She said, as she showed me on the screen how to jump properly, “What's yours?” I should note here that while she was showing me how to jump high, there was an onscreen tutorial that showed me the actual commands. I'll also get back to this later.

“Susland,” I said jokingly. “Though not really. I haven't gotten a proper name yet.”

“Then why are you going this way?” she asked, “Canterlot is back the way you came.”

“I know, I just want to explore before all that. I mean, this is a nice place to learn things. Really, I don't think a name is that important is it? I can explore just fine without one, and that's half the fun!” I shrugged, “I'm sure there will be some big quest she will send me on when I go meet her, but for now I'm having fun as it is.”

“Are you sure that's wise? She might wonder why you're avoiding her.” Forest Trails frowned at me.

I shrug, and my pony follows suit, “I'm sure she couldn't care less.” Then I had an idea, “Hey, would you like to come with me? I'm not used to Equestria (this game), and I could use a hoof (hand) learning how things work. Err, if you're not busy that is.”

“Well, I guess I might as well. No sense letting you get lost and having to have the guard sent out to find you.” Forest Trails grinned. “Where are you headed?”

“Just up the mountain, maybe to get to the top... find some caves... whatever.” I laughed, "I doubt I'll get lost. I'm pretty good with directions.”

Forest Trails smirked. ”Well then, lead on brave explorer!”

So we headed up the mountain. It really was rather big, and ascending it took most of the rest of the session. Forest Trails taught me a bit about how the parkour part of the game works, and I'm getting the hang of it. It is actually pretty deep and I think it will take me quite a while to master. I actually appreciate that. I was expecting the game to just have me click where I wanted to go and for that to be that. I think that when I'm done the main quest line I'll still wander around just enjoying running. Who knows? With a movement system this deep, maybe the developers put in a few races that I can spend time on. I mean, there was the Running of the Leaves in canon, so there is a chance that they got inspiration from it.

Anyway, Forest Trails and I ended up near the top of the mountain, and we found the entrance to a cave system. I looked inside, and it seems to be rather large. Another cool thing is that, from where we are, we can see Canterlot in the distance. It looks almost exactly like in the show, which is pretty cool. We are past the tree line and the view is spectacular. I can see for what feels like a hundred miles. It's further than I could in Just Cause 2, even, and that view distance impressed me.

I stopped here, because I am not sure if I want to keep moving away from Canterlot. It looks like it's already going to take me a session or two to get back to it, but on the other hand; cave! I wonder how deep it goes. So, I'm putting this as our second vote. Head back to Canterlot through the Forest, or Explore Cave? I should note that Forest Trails has been hinting rather strongly that I should go get my name so that she has something official to call me.

Did I mention that her cutie mark is a path winding through some trees? I wonder if my cutie mark will be linked to my name as well. Hmm...

Where I Discuss Random Thoughts After My Play Session And Go Bwah?!!!

So, the Pony Pad has a mic, and that's how I communicate with other players. Functional, I guess, but I suppose I will feel a disconnect when I actually meet an NPC. However, two big things got me about this:

First of all, the fact that the game changed what I said so that it fit the game world. I find this astounding. The game read what I was going to say from the camera, and altered what I was saying in real time. This is as good as the universal translator in Star Trek. Why hasn't this been put to use commercially? Goodness, being able to read what someone is going to say that well is itself astounding! It means that the game has better facial recognition than anything I have ever heard of before.

Secondly, the game suffered no compression in the audio and streamed it in real time. While handling the animations and having them synch up. This is the first program that I have ever seen manage to do this. Even VoIP chats have delays, and the conversation feels kinda stilted. How are they managing this? I'm not complaining, mind, but they obviously have some awesome compression going on with the data stream that they could make massive amounts of money on by just being a phone service. Seriously, with this tech, why are they just making video games? They should be leading the world in the communication industry!

In other news, I really like their movement system. If this is how all skills are handled, rather than from a tool bar, then I think I will really enjoy learning new skills in the game. Hey guys, what do you think we should try to learn next? How to mine? Earth Pony magic? Fighting? I'm going to keep honing my parkour skills, but I'm looking forward finding new skills to master.

Achievements That I Got From This Session

Off the beaten path – Ignore the starting quest and go exploring

New Friend! - Make a new friend

Long way down – Climb passed the treeline on one mountain