Choose My Adventure: Project Gorgon’s launch has absolutely subsumed my time

I cannot begin to put into strong enough words how happy I am that I’m excited for a new MMORPG launch, but that the launch in question has met my expectations. Of course I’m talking about Project Gorgon, which as we’ve been reporting over the past few days has been having quite a big moment following its exit from early access into a full release.

I’ve been so eager for this game that I was hopping into it semi-regularly even as I was wrapping up my time for last week’s Choose My Adventure. So, what have I been up to over these past few hours? Lots. Too much to really recount in full, if I’m honest. And that obviously means that I’ve been having an absolute blast along the way.

I was there shortly after the start of the game’s release, making an all-new character purely because it had been a very long time since I last played and I wanted to be in the absolute throng of people tearing around Anagoge Island. Not just to say that I was there, but to also be among that launch day mass, with all of its problems and confusion and energy.

Not much had changed here from what I could remember, of course. The tutorial portions were enough to acclimate to controls, after which the training wheels got torn off and I was kicked down a hill to ride the bike. That might sound punishing, but in this case, the hill was not very steep, and the game was respecting my intelligence. Or at least the intelligence of an MMORPG fan.

I’m glad that I was around for that opening few days of new character onrush, particularly as I was immediately able to share my first story. While waiting for a boss to spawn in the dungeon at tutorial island, I started chatting up a random player. He invited me to a party, handed over a ring for my budding Archery skill, and then recruited a few more players to his cause, which was nothing more than to see how far his challenge mode character could run. He would get to push the envelope with more help; we would get some skilling done. It was a fair trade.

After the boss was slain, we moved through the spider caves and into Serbule Hills, where we decided to slowly move through the threats, eventually managing to take down several goblins without too much trouble. Emboldened, we headed into an underwater murky tunnel, which led to an underground dungeon with more goblins.

“I haven’t been here before,” our party leader said.

It didn’t take long for us to realize we were out of our depth, as a bad arrow shot pull from me ended up drawing a whole room of gobbos, all of whom swept over us like a tsunami. The newbs got murdered, and the challenge run for our leader was over. And it all ended in laughs, goodbyes, and well-wishes. For all of the cawing and crowing that some gankboxes make about “emergent gameplay,” here I was reminded of just what that actually means.

After the respawn, I elected to go back to Anagoge to clean my plate, getting all of the skills and clearing all of the quests I could. Shortly after doing so, I started talking to my best friend Britarnya and my husband about the game. I don’t think my husband is particularly into it, but Brit has absolutely dug herself in since. I have secured a battle buddy.

The past few times I dipped in and out of the game was when my schedule and Brit’s aligned, where all we did was mostly roam Serbule to explore, fight, level our chosen skill lines, and see what we could see. One of our first excursions saw us once more run afoul of a wave of more mobs rushing over as a result of the call for help that monsters give out, while the most recent sojourn we shared ended up being more successful, as we returned to Serbule Hills to take on favors and eliminate goblins.

All I have basically done is just roam the wilds in a hunting duo to slaughter monsters, even as we’ve tried to maybe continue the main quest line as instructed. But even if our primary objective never really shook out, it’s been so much fun as we do so. We head to landmarks and note POIs. We sort out the kinds of skills we like; I’m angling for tanking, but I hope I find a skill line that’s more distinct, while she’s been leaning into fire magic and having a rat pet. We just roam and play in the sandbox.

It’s been perfect. Old school without feeling like it forgot some niceties. Challenging but not punishing. Distinct yet familiar. I really cannot put into strong enough words how happy I am.

Now this being a sandbox, you’d be forgiven for thinking I would have a lot of poll choices lined up, but, well, I admit that I’ve had some trouble. But I think I have a couple of ideas.

I hope I’ve impressed upon you fine folks reading this that, while I have my best friend to play with, I also have found enjoyment in the random people encounters as well. That inspired me to come up with our first poll: to stay with my best friend or to roam the world and maybe find others to roam with.

I should clarify that this isn’t as binary a choice as it might seem on paper. If my friend and I are approached by a friendly sort to party up with, then of course we’ll let it happen, and if I happen to find good folk on my solo adventures, then I’ll see if Brit could be invited in to join. Also I should point out that the depth of what I write could be affected by this choice. Going solo to find randoms could mean I have more to write about in terms of the community impression I may get, but also could end up mostly about my solo play time, while being with my friend means I’ve got a ready-made duo but not much time to play owing to schedules, and therefore not many things to document.

Anyway, these are the considerations I’m (over)thinking here, and so I seek help.

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The next poll is about zones. My choices are a tiny bit limited owing to my low skill levels here, but at the same time there are still some options open to me, particularly since Elder Game elected to make a new zone for characters like mine. So where to?

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Polling once more wraps at 1:00 p.m. EST on Friday, February 13th. I expect my friend and I will reconvene another time together before the polls close up, but we’ll definitely be watching how things shake down regardless. This game is eating me alive and all I want to do is make sure I’ve got the kinds of dipping sauces it likes as I let it happen.

Welcome to Choose My Adventure, the column in which you join Chris each week as he journeys through mystical lands on fantastic adventures – and you get to decide his fate. Which is good because he can often be a pretty indecisive person unless he’s ordering a burger.