An Adventurer is Me!
A couple of weeks ago, a friend introduced me to the web-based MMORPG known as Kingdom of Loathing. Since the first day, I’ve been hooked.
KoL is full of finely wrought stick-figure artwork, puzzles and quests loaded with pop culture and geek culture references, and circumstances that require you to find/buy/make and use items such as Asshats and 1337 7r0uZ0RZ (I had to look up how they spell that). You can buy or earn familiars, little creatures with abilities that help you gain stats, meat (currency), or loot, or give you a combat bonus. There are also costume/outfit sets you can collect, either for the heck of it or to gain access to certain areas. There is even a Player vs. Player component.
There are three basic class types in KoL - casters, rogues, and fighters. Each basic class has two specific classes, for a total of 6 classes you can choose from. And these aren’t your typical class names or descriptions. Instead of a thief, you’re a Disco Bandit. Instead of a fighter, you’re a Seal Clubber.
Each class has unique abilities. Saucerors can conjure the highly-sought-after Scrumptious Reagents. Accordian Thieves can cast polkas on players that increase their chances of getting meat or loot. Seal Clubbers and Turtle Tamers can meatsmith (make weapons from meat). Hell Ramen, a prized food item, requires the skills of a Sauceror and a Pastamancer to create.
KoL is turn-based. Each day you start out with a set number of Adventures (80 the day you create your character, a base of 40 after that). Some actions, like combat, require the use of Adventures. Other things, like shopping, don’t. Cooking and Cocktailmaking require Adventures, unless you can get ahold of some items that will let you do them freely. This limiting of adventures means you can’t get sucked into the game all day. It also helps keep down on bandwidth usage/lag. It can also be frustrating though, when you’re close to finishing a quest but find yourself out of adventures.
It is possible to gain extra adventures each day. By joining a clan with a Calendar or by eating and drinking food and booze. However, you do get drunk and full, so you will ultimately run out of adventures in a day. Or be too drunk to use the ones you have.
At any rate, the overall silliness of the game is refreshing and fun. And for being web-based, the depth and complexity of the game is astonishing. It seems every day, I unlock a new area or quest, and I still haven’t gotten all the way through the ones from the day before.
If you’re interested in giving it a try, send an in-game message to MonkeyJunkie and I’ll see what I can do to help you out, either with advice or some meat or gear.
