runescape vs. diablo, alone in the dark

At the recommendation of my cousin, I recently fired up the game "Runescape".

I didn't care for it.

For one thing - too crowded. As I logged in, people were "fountaining" into existance in the same spot. The game was also kinda clunky and hard to control - which is a little typical of a java-based platform.

And it was... mundane. One of the first quests once I got off of tutorial island was to pick some wheat to grind at the mill to make flour so that the baker could bake a cake.

Wait, what? Where are the orcs? Or rock trolls? Or demon zombie wizards?

So, I logged off and headed back to the solo adventure of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. I've played countless hours with all the characters and I still enjoy the game - but why?

For one thing, in the real world, if I was to bake a cake - I'd go to the store and buy some damn flour. If I'm playing a game, I want to get in there and play, not do a half-assed life simulation in the guise of a dungeron crawler.

Two, other people annoy me. I hate to say it and I'm really trying to work on it, but unless the doses are small, people get on my nerves. And strangers are worse. I was only in Runescape for a few minutes when someone started following me around. They finally got my attention in the endlessly scrolling chat window and asked if I was new. I said I was and they asked if I knew about the "wild lands" - which I'm pretty sure is a player-vs-player area. I said yes, but that I was still just checking things out and get the feel of the game.

They then said "wome!" and wandered off.

Were they trying to lure me to the PVP area so they could kill me? Did they want me to join them in a quest? Hello? I'm at the lowest level and no good to anyone in any kind of non-baking quest.

A solo game of diablo is heart pounding. Me vs. evil. I might have a minion or two backing me up, but it's essentially one guy against the forces of darkness. No baking or farming - just big swords and chain lightning. As nature intended it.

In other news... I watched "alone in the dark" last night - a movie based off of a video game. Umm... it was pretty lame. The fire fight against the monsters was kinda cool, and the song in the ending credits was good - but the rest was a mess.

that's it for now... later....