You're playin too much Monster Hunter when...

-you sleep for 8 hrs total in 3 nights.
-you wanna carve your co-worker for being a dumbass
-you get shocked when you see your boss in the hallway cuz you don't want him to see that you are facebooking or VFDCing.
-you are rodney aka konjou akira
-you just wanna go home and farm shit

 

you forgot when you fall asleep 3 nights in a row at 5am with the Wii controller in your hand

Man I can't wait till Friday... off for 3 days so the hunt for Deviljho will be on. Who's with me?

 

Get a life!!!

 

NIGGA YOU HELPING ME RANK UP THIS WEEKEND FOE DAMN SHO!!!

 

Get a Wii!!!

 

You're playin too much Monster Hunter when...

You own the game.




BWAHAHAHAHAHHAH! Joking. Enjoy.

 

oh i will be ready for devil this weekend. i tried to look u up flash, but ur either not on or questing

devil devil devil, you goin down!!!!!!! ...hopefully

 

WTF! let's try to link up this weekend cuz i really needa rank up to yous mug's HRs.

 

what rank u on chief? and i really think the only way this is going to happen is if we all decide and plan on a specific time to get together. I ALMOST (only almost though) wish they had just went with friend codes, it's ridiculous trying to track someone down. It's like if it says ur on a quest i just have to try and resend the message every 3 minutes and hope ur back, ridiculous.

Oh well, maybe we can finally hook up on some Friend Hunter 3

 

LOLZ

im HR23 rockin my maxed out rathalos set and upgraded ancient sword!

ill catch up with you guys eventually ahahah

 

Ok I'll let you guys know right now. I'll be on today starting at like 6PM EST. I may jump off for a little at some point to get some dinner, but the plan is to play until I get to HR51 (currently 48 or 49) and then start up a room to hunt Deviljho.

If you guys want to play then just email me (konjousan at gmail dot com) or hit me up on AIM (xrodnutzx). I'm willing to put Devil aside until tomorrow if you guys want to get together and help Flash rank up.

 

I'm at 37 right now. Can't rank up quick because I'm only on a couple hours at a time.

That and I keep randomly playing with guys who aren't that great at it.

 

I WILL BE ON TONITE FROM 5PM EST to about 9PM!!! @ MEEEE!!!!

EDIT

BATTLE VS JEHN MOHRAN IS L33T!!!! EPIC MUSIC!!!

 

...when you write articles like the following (from some of my blogs)...

http://www.bitmob.com/articles/hunters-notes-stalking-the-beasts-of-monster-hunter-tri

I thought this was a nice discussion on Monster Hunter that puts to text the constant argument/agree-to-disagree feelings people have with playing Monster Hunter.

HERE IS MY TAKE ON THE NARRATIVE:

I would say that Rob represents the person who has played Monster Hunter enough to get a feel for the game and what hardcore tendencies it taps into in those that love it. I wouldn't call him an expert, but he understands the game.

On the flipside, Alejandro represents the gamer that is usually put off by Monster Hunter's initial impression. Pointing out the things Monster Hunter is not (by comparing it to what he would prefer it be from other games). He's not necessarily wrong, but at the same time he's pointing out a perspective shaped by the game's more bland single player mode (which has always been a setup for multiplayer and is more or less a super long tutorial and a teaser) and lack of instant gratification.

Western developers, I feel, tend to focus (appropriately) on instant gratification but still have depth. On the East, I feel Miyamoto is one of the masters of this.

But Monster Hunter isn't really built on this mindset. I feel that Monster Hunter is built on wanting to emulate a feel. Not necessarily realism, but a feel. And in this case, it's the feel of the hunt. And that the feel of the hunt is something to be learned and mastered.

Feel of Combat
Combat is hard, and it's easy to be clumsy, but it can be mastered and it can look graceful when you learn the do's and especially the don'ts of the weapon you are using.

I would (lightly) compare Monster Hunter combat design to my favorite game series--Virtua Fighter. In VF, the beginner is easy to spot because he looks clumsy as hell in the game. He cannot find the dial/mash-a-combos of many other fighters. His attacks have slower recovery when his opponents block them and his opponents suddenly have an advantage--he feels jammed if he attacks recklessly and does not defend right away. He can't force his opponent into a blockstun and maintain advantage for long--the initiative will flow to his opponent whenever he fails to defend or attack. This is true in most fighting games, but in VF it is very strict and you look clumsy if you try to wail your way out of a situation or force your offense. You have to learn many "dont's" to successfully apply the "do's."

In Monster Hunter, this combat design is carried over and it leaves a bad taste for some people. But it leaves a very rewarding sense of mastery and skill for those who figure out the don'ts and get good at the do's. This combat system wants you to be as defensive as you are offensive, sometimes much more defensive.

Feeling without Locking On
Regarding lock-on: Demon's Souls shows you can put lock-on into this type of combat system but I find a problem with lock-on in Monster Hunter. The problem is that Monster Hunter wants you to explore the monsters as well as the areas. What I mean is, it wants you to feel out where you can attack the beast, and where you cannot. It wants you to really be tested and to be patient with this. I don't think it wants you to even approximate it with a lock-on. Furthermore, it wants you to target parts of the body for the materials you will get from carving them. It wants you to cut off the tail, it wants you to cut the horns off, it wants you to impale the fleshy parts, it wants you to deal with exo-skeletons and natural modes of armor.

And when you master your weapon, hitting your mark is not a problem. Dealing with the environment and the movement of the beast will be your problem, but you will get a feel for your weapon of choice and it will be up to you to wield it or compromise.

The Feel of Panic (and Digging Through Your Bag)
I believe Monster Hunter's item-use system is built around the notion that the act of digging through your inventory bag is a hands on experience that does not allow you to attack. So the developers want you to feel you have your hands full by holding one button while pressing others to scroll through it. You can run and even roll while going through your inventory but you cannot attack.

And this will either put you in a panic, or when you are experienced, you will handle it with ease. Furthermore, you will get to know the order of the items in your bag, and you will get comfortable knowing "where in the bag this or that item is."

Rewards of a Hunter/Gatherer
Monster Hunter's incentive is Hunting and Gathering and hoarding too. I don't think it needs much explanation but... Instead of rewarding you by leveling you up overall, the game relies on gear and tools made from objects you have gathered by hunting and gathering. And it feels good when you finish your set pieces or fine weapons.

Furthermore, the game's inventory system has so much space it encourages you to keep what you have and polish it up to make it better.

And if you didn't max out older armor, that older armor is a nice set to dumb-down your skill level so you can play with beginner friends and still deal with the challenge and realities all over again. The hunts are no longer obsolete and it's not all an endgame or nothing problem--you can replay old quests like you had before--set constraints for yourself and enjoy the hunt. You can voluntarily level down. All from the rewards you built and kept for yourself.

When you hunt with beginner friends, those parts aren't as much obsolete but as opportunities to build new sets and weapons to be further customized to your liking.

And in Tri, you can automate the farming process to become a manufacturing line to avoid the mundane low-level gathering so you can focus on high-level gathering.

Final Thoughts
Monster Hunter is a very "Japanese" game built on some sense of artisanship or challenged mastery. At least that's how I feel about the game. I don't think it's the most complicated for any aspect of the game. But it is at least challenging and it does demand patience and a desire to master it in some way.

It is not a "realistic hunting game" but I think it is a game built on a fantasy of "the feeling of hunting something truly wild."

But in the end, I can't make any person like the game--that's up to them. And they are not wrong for disliking this game. But in the context of other games in the West, Monster Hunter's design philosophies are challenged by gamer expectations and the status quo.

But there is a good reason why some serious gamers helplessly fall prey to its trap.

 

MH is the VF of MMOs IMO. oh snap i just rapped about monster hunter!

 

woohoo, just got my post spotlighted on Capcom-Unity ^_^

 

link please

 

You can still see it at Capcom-Unity's Frontpage

or on the Moderator's blog

 

woot! good session this weekend with some randoms. HR27!

 

Congratulations, Flash!

HR27 is good ^_^ I'm currently capped at 30, I need to do one key quest and then it's more Jhen for the urgent.

Fortunately, I've now had good experience with Jhen so I'm no longer completely lost as to what the hell is going on in that fight.

Oh yeah, finally finished the single player campaign.

Hope we get to play together sometime!