Your very first impressions of Battlemaster

[songqu88@gmail.com]

The question might be a bit vague, but I only have so much space, so I'll explain here.

When you first signed up for BM, you might have had an idea about what you thought your experience would be like. For me, I thought I would play a game that would be more similar to the current BMWI, where I would be a tactician leading out troops to different regions, trying to win lands, while progressively rising in ranks to command larger areas until I became Supreme Commander! I had an image of Zhuge Liang in Romance of Three Kingdoms as I considered my first character.

I was, of course, incorrect. But that is my point. I thought I was getting into a primarily strategy-based game where players were supposed to think about how to take more regions than their opponents. I had no idea there would be so much reliance on roleplay, or other in-character interactions.

So be honest in this poll, because it might be interesting what players thought they were getting into. Not everyone (like me) has the right idea at first.

[Adriddae]

I first joined when I was about 12, my friend introduced it to me. I didn't really know what to expect. But I was sorta irritated that when I picked "travel" I didn't seem to get anywhere.

Thankfully, after much loss and stupidity( like calling my characters silly names similar to "superman" or something), I managed to understand how to play and interact better.

Heh, I remember joining the Darka Homeguard for bureaucrats after I turned into a hero. It was really boring after that. Oops.

[Revan]

I found BattleMaster through a friend who knew other friends on another text based game we played. A real turn junkies place. BattleMaster offered a persistent world without resets, hardly any turns and these other players I knew had been building up 'their' kingdom for months (i.e. as an OOC clan, they'd taken over Giblot). Thus it was I expected strategy more than roleplay. Yet when I signed up I found something greatly different to the game I came from and the roleplay was a lovely novelty and surprise. Truthfully, I found BattleMaster to be unlike anything else I've ever played. Before or since.

[songqu88@gmail.com]

Yeah, my first class change was to hero (this was during the old class system). I thought that would mean I could fight entire enemy units on my own using my swordfighting skill and be a great legendary lone hero. Funny how the imagination works.

[Telrunya]

I looked for unique games that aren't 'built 999 buildings in town, built 999 units and attack' and that don't require you to spend hours and hours on it to play the game. I hoped BattleMaster was not that and I ended up being quite right there

I started in CE a long time back. What I never forget is that the Ruler sent me a letter the day I signed up / the day after, welcoming me to the Realm and apologizing for being late with that welcome. I wasn't aware how important 'being a Ruler' was at that time, but I figured he to be skyhigh above me, to be a very experienced old player having garnished great respect from other players. I was amazed that he of all people apologized to me, a random new unimportant player that just joined. It left quite a impression of friendliness in this game. Now that I write this down looking back at that, I realize I still have something to learn from that.

Also, I won't forget my second character got his unit smashed at the following turn due rogue forces....

[Hyral]

One of my brothers got me (and the other brother) into the game, he went back to university after summer break and whined via email until I signed up. He didn't explain much about BM other than it was an RP/strategy and awesome. I'd never played an MMORPG before, and I chose my first realm because I liked the banner, of course it ended up being the realm my nag of a sibling was playing in. For some reason they thought I was a multi 

In any case, I didn't really get into the game or understand the point of it until joining ASI, and good old Moses took Keiichi under his wing . It may sound silly, but that was when I realized that BM was world with places and cultural things and lots of people with goals. The shenanigans in Sartania when Vellos joined got me fully addicted (and banned...), and I haven't left the building since. Other stuff...my first class change was to bureaucrat, I nearly stroked out when I realized that the ruler of Lasanar that I'd been writing was TOM, and I used to be *terrified* of players who had more than 500 days in realm, as though they'd squish me like a bug if I spoke to them.

[Bedwyr]

I joined rather randomly...My friend Kyle showed it to me once during a break from finals studying, and a couple of weeks later after finals were done (senior year of high school) I had a lot of time on my hands, and figured I'd try it out.

Sad to say, it took me over a week to figure out the travel system, and I picked Abington as my first realm because game recommended Atamara for new players and it had the best defensive position on the continent.  Armitage D'Anglos was my Mentor, and despite her English issues she was amazing for the strategic parts of the game.  I got hooked pretty quickly on the strategic aspects, and Gauihu Olik was my unofficial mentor for the RP side of the game.  I miss him...

[songqu88@gmail.com]

Ah, mentors...Elberan Carnes, then the Count of An Najaf, welcomed me to Fontan, where my family first originated in Commonyr. We talked about some unit settings, but not much else. For my first real year in BM (September 2007 to about October 2008) I was pretty quiet and didn't say much or ask many questions. I just followed what the general said, and when the hierarchy was changed, what the marshal said.

Then it suddenly hit me that to get anywhere in this game I had to actually talk. Yeah, real epiphany there... So I guess my mentor would be pretty much the #battlemaster IRC channel.

[Ender]

My friend who introduced me to the game explained both aspects to me, but going in I was very much expecting more of a roleplay environment. So, most of my early playing was all roleplaying and following orders for the strategic stuff. Honestly, it hasnt changed much and I still have a pretty weak understanding of all the tactical stuff past the Troop Leader level as a result.

I dont mind playing the other half of the game that doesnt focus on military conquest or just following orders though, so I suppose its all good.

[Zakilevo]

I thought I was playing something like an online risk game. lol

[Adriddae]

My first experiences I remember was a joining a rebellion in Kalmar Islands. We were in the process of gathering members when some ratted on us. Afterward I got banned and joined Perdan. It was during that time Perdan started invading Kalmar Islands. And then my RL friend wrote a fake letter about how I was going to rebel there and got me banned from Perdan. >.<

[Tom]

I thought I was playing something like an online risk game. lol

I guess you must be in love with BM:WI then. :-)

[Zakilevo]

Not really. I only wanted to play some risk games because I've been losing my buddy's beer risk. Sick of losing and drinking !@#$ty beer of his.

[Vellos]

I started an account when a friend described it to me.

Unfortunately, I started in Rancagua... right as Sirion, Fontan, and OR attacked it. That was not cool. I deleted my account and restarted in Norland and Sartania. Norland was stupid. Sartania, as Hyral has mentioned, was very, very fun. Hireshmont started there and fled to East Island. There, Paul Keithson de facto mentored him, and kind of raised him up in the hectic politics of Oligarch. That is why I am still in BM: Marc J.

[Telrunya]

Ah, Marc J. I learned about him from his Journals on the Beluaterra Invasion. They are a great read and they got me excited about Invasions in the first place. After reading that, I immediately moved my character to Beluaterra.