Two assault soldiers slowly creeped their way towards a crashed alien scout ship. Not an hour earlier, their interceptor took this ship down with three well placed missile hits, but not without being almost destroyed in the process. The alien ship itself was still mostly intact, but holes in it's hull showed where it had been punctured and damaged structures inside can be made out from their position. As the soldiers approached one of the breaches, they saw it - a being of pure energy coalescing into a solid, humanoid body. It spotted the approaching troops and hid next to the opening in the hull. With a clear view of the breach and the main door, the alien was in perfect position to ambush any who come in sight. Needing this fight to be over as swift as possible, one of the soldiers took a run towards the enemy, deftly outmaneuvering it's weapon fire, and dropped the alien with a shotgun shell to the chest. However, three more aliens appeared from nearby wreckage, one of which moved behind the soldier, ready to make the fatal shot, but was promptly taken out by the sniper that was laying in wait from afar.
That terrible bit of prose is one of many examples of why the turn-based strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and most of it's predecesors, great. As with the original games, the new XCOM is far from perfect, but what defines the franchise is atmosphere. There is a sense of urgency in the game and a final confrontation that you know is coming, and coming really soon. The combination of combat strategy, base and resource management, and troop deployment all adds to the immersion of running an organization that is the first and only defense against the alien invaders. The fact that you can also customize each of your soldiers' names and abilities tacks on an RPG element to the game as well. Renaming troops with your own name and those of good friends makes for great conversation in get-togethers.
XCOM is not a game for twitchy or impatient gamers. It is also not a game for those looking to just pop in for a bit and exit; unless "a bit" means "at least an hour". Rushing into a mission with poorly geared troops mid-game will likely lead to a disaster and that goes the same with rushing into a blind spot like our gung-ho soldier in the story above.
The learning curve is also a bit steep, especially if you skip the tutorial missions. The tutorial itself is quite lengthy and it is really designed to be played through once just to get the basics down (i.e. never leave your soldier outside cover). For those newer to strategy games, the many layers of gameplay can be a bit daunting, and can take a few playthroughs to get used to the important mechanics. Being a total noob myself, my first playthrough had me pitted against armoured shock troops while still using starter assault rifles. Fortunately, there are lower difficulty modes for those of us who needs the extra confidence that we are not total losers so that we can try at a more difficult setting.
Speaking of difficulty, there is also an ironman setting where you cannot save the game at all. Making every decision you make count, and every loss more painful.
The tactical mission is pretty straightforward, and much more intuitive than the original game. With only 2 actions you can take (move + shoot/item/move), and limited soldiers (4-6), you will need to make sure you don't do anything foolish. Cover is incredibly important as an unprotected soldier will almost certainly be lost if she ends her turn flanked by a newly revealed alien. At no point will your troops be invincible, and even weak aliens can pose a threat. What I miss from the old games are collapsable buildings. While the environment is mostly destructable in the new game, you can't bring down a building on the enemy; then again, they can't do it to you either.
There is a heavy reliance on randomness in the game. As frustrating as it can be, like missing a 100% chance shot, it is also what makes the game so exciting. It also adds to the game's replayability. Not every new game will play out as you expect and not every mission will turn out the way it was before, even when the map is the same or if it is the same mission from a previous saved game. Terror missions, UFO sightings, abduction missions are also randomly generated and it keeps you on your toes. Sure, you can plan out your progress as best you can, but chances are also just as good that only difficult missions appear but your best soldiers are recovering from being wounded.
The new game's graphical upgrade over the original from almost 20 years ago is very much welcome, but introduces a lot of odd glitches that range from laughable (shooting something behind a wall) to frustrating (the top of an enemy ship hinders sight for movement). Fortunately, the glitches do not occur often enough to detract from the game itself and I have yet to encounter graphical problems anywhere else in the game.
The game also forces you to make tough decisions. Do you blow all your money and resources to build the alien containment this month or use the money to make more laser rifles and armour for the troops? Do you send troops to a high panic location or one that will give you more engineers to allow you to make upgrades? Even troop deployment can be a challenge. Having 6-8 highly trained and experienced soldiers can be great, but unless they have decent replacements, any of them being lost will make later missions all that much harder.
Story cutscenes are well done and do add to the immersion of the game. As generic as characters are, they are well characterized generic characters. I do enjoy some of the dialogue they offer that looks into your support cast's personality. While praising the effectiveness of the head of the research team, I would keep a good distance from her as she has been labeled to be an "effective" interrogator. I'd probably make sure I keep my sidearm handy as well.
The story goes at your pace, but the difficulty ramp up is not dependent on that. Neither is it dependent on how advanced your XCOM team is. It is refreshing to know that aliens will not wait for you to develop laser weapons before deploying troops that will take 3 of your soldiers to take down.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is very much a worthy successor to the classic games from two decades ago. It is certainly a huge feat for a game to bring back the immersiveness and atmostphere of the original games without actually WANTING those games to be back. It is also a great statement to make - who'd have thought turn based strategy still had a place in gaming for this generation?
The rest of the team has fanned out and covered the area around the store. Two of the alien "mutons" - heavy assault units - lay dead behind the cash counter but they know there are more. An eye up top is needed to provide cover for the rest of the block. The sniper deploys the grappling hook to the roof and lands deftly up on top; only to find 3 more mutons waiting. They fan out with two dropping to ground level while the remaining muton takes aim and fires. The squad takes defensive positions as the signal from the sniper turns to static after a brief yell of pain.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Guild Wars 2: Good Game, No Substance
Yeah, it's been more than a month since Guild Wars 2 released, but as it is with any MMO, the true test of quality is longevity. I am sad to say that I can't even remember the last time I logged into the game itself. Maybe last week to check something quickly, but definitely not any significant amount of time to get anything done. I clocked more hours playing Diablo 3 than Guild Wars 2 and it has taken me a very long time to find out why.
Guild Wars 2 is a good game. A great game, in fact. Combat is fluid, environments are amazing, and I have had some good fun dealing with the dynamic events. I thoroughly enjoyed the leveling process as I moved from zone to zone, story to story and, before I knew it, I was at max level doing the hardest content in the game. I loved the fact that I could help friends who were lower level and there would still be a challenge. I was less impressed with World vs World PvP and didn't really care much for structured PvP, which is arguably the best content the game has to offer, and this is most likely why I am no longer putting time into the game.
I'm really a PvE player. In terms of player vs game, there really isn't much of it in Guild Wars 2. Like every MMO, there is a grind to obtain more currency for buying items, and like every MMO, there is a carrot on the stick. However, the carrot on the stick in Guild Wars 2 is cosmetic items - to make your character look good. But what happens if I already like how my character looks? That's right, there's no more incentive to do the grind.
I have checked every other piece of gear available, and they don't look as nice as what I just crafted for myself. Sure, there are a few pieces here and there like weapons, but that's really it. In some cases, I just use a low level item model because I just happen to like how that looks. Nothing so far has compelled me to run the same dungeon 60+ times to get enough currency to buy an entire set of armour. It doesn't help that there's no group finder in the game. I loved the leveling so much in the game that I didn't bother doing dungeons at level and, frankly, I completely forgot they even existed at one point.
Dynamic events are better overall to rerun, but the options for the karma currency are quite limited - and some are also quite ugly. There is also little variety to dynamic events. They do happen frequently enough, but that has been detrimental to the overall experience. It no longer really is dynamic when you can wait for the event to just happen and when everything in the event is expected and by-the-numbers.
Sure there are still things to do, like finish off quests and world completion, but I've never been a completionist. In addition, since the game has a monthly subscription fee of $0, I can take my time to do all that and not feel like any money is wasted. At this point in time, there is just no reason for me to log back into the game.
In terms of the PvP aspect, yes, I do not live in the World vs World maps. Perhaps I am missing out by not doing structured or tournament PvP, but that is just not the kind of player I am. I do enjoy sprinklings of PvP as I move around the world. Moments when fights erupt between factions and escalate to a full blown war are some of my fondest memories in MMOs. Yes, I suck at them, but it is fun in it's own merit because it feels like it matters; it makes a game world feel more organic and I will punish the other side for whatever atrocity they have commited to ignite this war - no matter how petty or if it is my side that started it. Sadly, this can never happen in Guild Wars 2. All PvP is limited to the designated instances and, ultimately, it leaves the main game world quite stale and sterile. Dynamic events cannot really make up for spontaneous player activity.
I will not argue that PvP is where Guild Wars 2 is strongest at. World vs World standings exist and tournament PvP appeals to all those who just loves competetion for the sake of competetion - and winning. But, as an MMO, that just can't be where this game can stand on.
Probably my biggest issue is that, with all the posturing ArenaNet has been doing by saying it has eliminated the grind, that all there is in the game. There is no better definition of irony than this. Yes, you do not need this gear to do any content, but grinding for the gear is all that is left to do. And since I have already achieved the gear-related goal of finding armour I liked, then my character's progress is done. Level 80 and looking good.
Do I regret buying Guild Wars 2? Not at all. At the very least, it is what I would have paid for a single player game and I certainly have put quite a number of hours into it. I have not uninstalled the game, as I would like to revisit the world of Tyria again...but right now, there is just no reason to do so. Despite my pre-launch misgivings, I really wanted to love the game, but it didn't help that all my criticisms were realized in the end.
Guild Wars 2 is a good game. A great game, in fact. Combat is fluid, environments are amazing, and I have had some good fun dealing with the dynamic events. I thoroughly enjoyed the leveling process as I moved from zone to zone, story to story and, before I knew it, I was at max level doing the hardest content in the game. I loved the fact that I could help friends who were lower level and there would still be a challenge. I was less impressed with World vs World PvP and didn't really care much for structured PvP, which is arguably the best content the game has to offer, and this is most likely why I am no longer putting time into the game.
I'm really a PvE player. In terms of player vs game, there really isn't much of it in Guild Wars 2. Like every MMO, there is a grind to obtain more currency for buying items, and like every MMO, there is a carrot on the stick. However, the carrot on the stick in Guild Wars 2 is cosmetic items - to make your character look good. But what happens if I already like how my character looks? That's right, there's no more incentive to do the grind.
I have checked every other piece of gear available, and they don't look as nice as what I just crafted for myself. Sure, there are a few pieces here and there like weapons, but that's really it. In some cases, I just use a low level item model because I just happen to like how that looks. Nothing so far has compelled me to run the same dungeon 60+ times to get enough currency to buy an entire set of armour. It doesn't help that there's no group finder in the game. I loved the leveling so much in the game that I didn't bother doing dungeons at level and, frankly, I completely forgot they even existed at one point.
Dynamic events are better overall to rerun, but the options for the karma currency are quite limited - and some are also quite ugly. There is also little variety to dynamic events. They do happen frequently enough, but that has been detrimental to the overall experience. It no longer really is dynamic when you can wait for the event to just happen and when everything in the event is expected and by-the-numbers.
Sure there are still things to do, like finish off quests and world completion, but I've never been a completionist. In addition, since the game has a monthly subscription fee of $0, I can take my time to do all that and not feel like any money is wasted. At this point in time, there is just no reason for me to log back into the game.
In terms of the PvP aspect, yes, I do not live in the World vs World maps. Perhaps I am missing out by not doing structured or tournament PvP, but that is just not the kind of player I am. I do enjoy sprinklings of PvP as I move around the world. Moments when fights erupt between factions and escalate to a full blown war are some of my fondest memories in MMOs. Yes, I suck at them, but it is fun in it's own merit because it feels like it matters; it makes a game world feel more organic and I will punish the other side for whatever atrocity they have commited to ignite this war - no matter how petty or if it is my side that started it. Sadly, this can never happen in Guild Wars 2. All PvP is limited to the designated instances and, ultimately, it leaves the main game world quite stale and sterile. Dynamic events cannot really make up for spontaneous player activity.
I will not argue that PvP is where Guild Wars 2 is strongest at. World vs World standings exist and tournament PvP appeals to all those who just loves competetion for the sake of competetion - and winning. But, as an MMO, that just can't be where this game can stand on.
Probably my biggest issue is that, with all the posturing ArenaNet has been doing by saying it has eliminated the grind, that all there is in the game. There is no better definition of irony than this. Yes, you do not need this gear to do any content, but grinding for the gear is all that is left to do. And since I have already achieved the gear-related goal of finding armour I liked, then my character's progress is done. Level 80 and looking good.
Do I regret buying Guild Wars 2? Not at all. At the very least, it is what I would have paid for a single player game and I certainly have put quite a number of hours into it. I have not uninstalled the game, as I would like to revisit the world of Tyria again...but right now, there is just no reason to do so. Despite my pre-launch misgivings, I really wanted to love the game, but it didn't help that all my criticisms were realized in the end.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Guild Wars 2: Arah - WTF!?! (SPOILERS!)
TLDR Version: WTF!?!
OK. This is a rant, plain and simple. Probably with my tone, it's clear how I feel about this dungeon/story and there will be massive spoilers (SPOILERS!). Proceed at your own risk or just stop now and call me a whiner.
The city of Arah is Guild War 2's level 80 storymode dungeon. Yes, others have exploration modes that require level 80, but I'll steer clear of those for now .... because that's another rant altogether.
The dungeon is also the culmination of both your character's personal story as well as the story of Destiny's Edge, this world's team of legendary heroes. My own personal gripes regarding the story's presentation aside, this dungeon story is supposed to be the epic climax to what was building up for 80 levels of gameplay. To fight Zaitan - one of the Elder Dragons - beings of ridiculous power that merely waking up caused massive damage to the world.
As flat as the story has been presented so far, I can't help but get somewhat excited. I was prepared for a flat presentation of sacrifice, friendship, and victory over an unbeatable foe - and the knowledge that there are 3-4 others we will need to deal with eventually. I braced myself for a fight that will require utmost group coordination and cooperation to beat.
I got none of that.
Instead, the dungeon was on par with all others - trash monsters and bosses were actually quite easy to deal with. There is a lot of friendship in the story, but the sacrifice I thought was done ended in a cop out last minute (and off-screen) save. My own character was relegated to chump in the story. In fact, considering it was through your character's efforts (albiet as a backup role) that managed to get this far, not spearheading the assault on Zaitan just felt a bit off.
And the fight with Zaitan?
Rarely in any game have I gotten so upset about a boss fight, but this one barely even qualifies as a fight. The most you get to do is kill trash that attempts to board the ship. Then you shoot Zaitan with cannons. For ~4 minutes. Maybe more, I wasn't counting. There also really isn't much to the cannons as Zaitan and the ship are stationary. You just aim it at his general direction and press the fire button. For several minutes. Then it's over.
When what should be an epic boss battle can be won by subbing in a drinking bird novelty toy, then something is just seriously wrong. Yes, I understand that epic doesn't necessarily mean we have to beat bosses ourselves, but it needs to be challenging and, most importantly, fun. The Zaitan encounter was neither.
I have played World of Warcraft for several years. I have played other MMOs like RIFT, SWTOR, Age of Conan, DCUO, etc. and I have never seen such a badly designed encounter. I've seen bugged encounters, fights that take long to beat simply because of very small margins for error, but never one so deliberately bad. It is very unambiguous that this fight was meant to be the way it is. And it isn't even the slightest bit difficult.
It certainly didn't help that the story was also very bland and played it safe. There was some effort to make Logan's reappearance meaningful. But that's the thing, the new airship would have been there no matter what and Logan's appearace wasn't even necessary. I don't know, but perhaps Logan's legacy would have been helped by being part of the cost of beating Zaitan.
Maybe this was ArenaNet's idea of an epic encounter? I can't really see how. Perhaps they were running out of time when developing this dungeon? Now that's just cynical. Whatever the reason, this encounter has really soured my gaming experience. It's a shame because, despite several gripes, I have had a lot of fun with the game itself.
Now excuse me, since I have friends that have yet to kill Zaitan, I have to invest in a drinking bird so I can help them out.
Highlights
OK. This is a rant, plain and simple. Probably with my tone, it's clear how I feel about this dungeon/story and there will be massive spoilers (SPOILERS!). Proceed at your own risk or just stop now and call me a whiner.
The city of Arah is Guild War 2's level 80 storymode dungeon. Yes, others have exploration modes that require level 80, but I'll steer clear of those for now .... because that's another rant altogether.
The dungeon is also the culmination of both your character's personal story as well as the story of Destiny's Edge, this world's team of legendary heroes. My own personal gripes regarding the story's presentation aside, this dungeon story is supposed to be the epic climax to what was building up for 80 levels of gameplay. To fight Zaitan - one of the Elder Dragons - beings of ridiculous power that merely waking up caused massive damage to the world.
As flat as the story has been presented so far, I can't help but get somewhat excited. I was prepared for a flat presentation of sacrifice, friendship, and victory over an unbeatable foe - and the knowledge that there are 3-4 others we will need to deal with eventually. I braced myself for a fight that will require utmost group coordination and cooperation to beat.
I got none of that.
Instead, the dungeon was on par with all others - trash monsters and bosses were actually quite easy to deal with. There is a lot of friendship in the story, but the sacrifice I thought was done ended in a cop out last minute (and off-screen) save. My own character was relegated to chump in the story. In fact, considering it was through your character's efforts (albiet as a backup role) that managed to get this far, not spearheading the assault on Zaitan just felt a bit off.
And the fight with Zaitan?
Rarely in any game have I gotten so upset about a boss fight, but this one barely even qualifies as a fight. The most you get to do is kill trash that attempts to board the ship. Then you shoot Zaitan with cannons. For ~4 minutes. Maybe more, I wasn't counting. There also really isn't much to the cannons as Zaitan and the ship are stationary. You just aim it at his general direction and press the fire button. For several minutes. Then it's over.
When what should be an epic boss battle can be won by subbing in a drinking bird novelty toy, then something is just seriously wrong. Yes, I understand that epic doesn't necessarily mean we have to beat bosses ourselves, but it needs to be challenging and, most importantly, fun. The Zaitan encounter was neither.
I have played World of Warcraft for several years. I have played other MMOs like RIFT, SWTOR, Age of Conan, DCUO, etc. and I have never seen such a badly designed encounter. I've seen bugged encounters, fights that take long to beat simply because of very small margins for error, but never one so deliberately bad. It is very unambiguous that this fight was meant to be the way it is. And it isn't even the slightest bit difficult.
It certainly didn't help that the story was also very bland and played it safe. There was some effort to make Logan's reappearance meaningful. But that's the thing, the new airship would have been there no matter what and Logan's appearace wasn't even necessary. I don't know, but perhaps Logan's legacy would have been helped by being part of the cost of beating Zaitan.
Maybe this was ArenaNet's idea of an epic encounter? I can't really see how. Perhaps they were running out of time when developing this dungeon? Now that's just cynical. Whatever the reason, this encounter has really soured my gaming experience. It's a shame because, despite several gripes, I have had a lot of fun with the game itself.
Now excuse me, since I have friends that have yet to kill Zaitan, I have to invest in a drinking bird so I can help them out.
Highlights
- Ever the optimist. Zaitan does have a very unique model. ArenaNet's artists have really gotten down the whole "primeval dragon of death" thing. Though I thought he would have been bigger.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
On Disliking the MMO "Holy Trinity"
To make sure proper context is provided, the "holy trinity" of MMOs means having the core roles of tank, healer, and damage dealing in a group to deal with player vs. environment (PvE) encounters. A good majority of MMOs make use of this group setup and the responsibilities of each member of the group are pretty straight-forward - most of the time.
ArenaNet has been using the lack of this group setup as a major part of their hype machine for Guild Wars 2. While this certainly ramped up talk about how people are discontented about the "traditional" MMO group design, this discussion has been around for a very long time.
Group cooperation is never really an issue. No matter how a game is designed, having proper communication and planning will always be superior to just getting 4-5 random people together and just hope everyone knows what to do.
No, a lot of the talk revolves around damage dealers having trouble finding groups - because few people decide to take on the tank and healer roles.
Being a tank or healer in a group is about taking on a lot of responsibility. The tank usually ends up controlling the flow of the encounters while the healer ensures the right people stay alive long enough to finish the fight. Both roles have to make decisions on the fly and mistakes by either are the most visible and so blame easily falls on one of the two...or even both. I have personally seen the extra responsibility take it's toll on players and it often leads to tanks and healers to play a different role, refuse to run random groups, or just stop playing altogether.
So damage dealers can't find groups because of few tanks and healers. Tanks and healers get burned out easily and stop playing their characters. It's a vicious cycle, and it won't stop until people just wake up and realize they need something that is sadly lacking with the human race in general:
Personal Responsibility.
So my little gaming article now has become a social commentary piece? Online gaming has always been a social hub, whether one likes it or not. There is no doubt the worst of people can show up in an online game, but also can the best of people. You can tout all you want on how good or terrible an MMO is; terrible graphics, great game mechanics, balanced classes, etc, but the social aspect are online gaming's true heart.
The lack of personal resposibility means that the dislike of the "holy trinity" boils down to a social problem rather than a game design issue. In the past few years, games like World of Warcraft and RIFT have been putting more emphasis on personal resposibility. Concepts such as avoidable damage in encounters puts part of the resposibility of staying alive on each individual. The encounter Ultraxion in World of Warcraft is a good example as it becomes very obvious who failed to activate the ability to avoid the instant death attack. Encounters such as these are always the hardest in the game, not because the fight is designed to be hard, but because individual failures can cause the whole group to fail.
And that, in my most humble opinion, is exactly how it should always be.
Removing the "holy trinity", such as in Guild Wars 2, does the exact same thing other MMOs have been working towards for a while now. Granted, not having a dedicated tank or healer, it becomes even more important for individuals in GW2 to make sure they do their part in controlling the encounter and staying alive. It has to be clear though, that repeated failure to do so is not about being stuck in the "holy trinity" mindset, but about not able to, or not willing to, go the extra steps to ensure the group is a success.
I suppose the question is whether I dislike the "holy trinity" myself. No. Neither will it's absence bother me. No matter how a game is designed, it will always be the player that makes a group a success of failure. Always.
ArenaNet has been using the lack of this group setup as a major part of their hype machine for Guild Wars 2. While this certainly ramped up talk about how people are discontented about the "traditional" MMO group design, this discussion has been around for a very long time.
Group cooperation is never really an issue. No matter how a game is designed, having proper communication and planning will always be superior to just getting 4-5 random people together and just hope everyone knows what to do.
No, a lot of the talk revolves around damage dealers having trouble finding groups - because few people decide to take on the tank and healer roles.
Being a tank or healer in a group is about taking on a lot of responsibility. The tank usually ends up controlling the flow of the encounters while the healer ensures the right people stay alive long enough to finish the fight. Both roles have to make decisions on the fly and mistakes by either are the most visible and so blame easily falls on one of the two...or even both. I have personally seen the extra responsibility take it's toll on players and it often leads to tanks and healers to play a different role, refuse to run random groups, or just stop playing altogether.
So damage dealers can't find groups because of few tanks and healers. Tanks and healers get burned out easily and stop playing their characters. It's a vicious cycle, and it won't stop until people just wake up and realize they need something that is sadly lacking with the human race in general:
Personal Responsibility.
So my little gaming article now has become a social commentary piece? Online gaming has always been a social hub, whether one likes it or not. There is no doubt the worst of people can show up in an online game, but also can the best of people. You can tout all you want on how good or terrible an MMO is; terrible graphics, great game mechanics, balanced classes, etc, but the social aspect are online gaming's true heart.
The lack of personal resposibility means that the dislike of the "holy trinity" boils down to a social problem rather than a game design issue. In the past few years, games like World of Warcraft and RIFT have been putting more emphasis on personal resposibility. Concepts such as avoidable damage in encounters puts part of the resposibility of staying alive on each individual. The encounter Ultraxion in World of Warcraft is a good example as it becomes very obvious who failed to activate the ability to avoid the instant death attack. Encounters such as these are always the hardest in the game, not because the fight is designed to be hard, but because individual failures can cause the whole group to fail.
And that, in my most humble opinion, is exactly how it should always be.
Removing the "holy trinity", such as in Guild Wars 2, does the exact same thing other MMOs have been working towards for a while now. Granted, not having a dedicated tank or healer, it becomes even more important for individuals in GW2 to make sure they do their part in controlling the encounter and staying alive. It has to be clear though, that repeated failure to do so is not about being stuck in the "holy trinity" mindset, but about not able to, or not willing to, go the extra steps to ensure the group is a success.
I suppose the question is whether I dislike the "holy trinity" myself. No. Neither will it's absence bother me. No matter how a game is designed, it will always be the player that makes a group a success of failure. Always.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
WoW: Pandaria Cinematic
So Blizzard released the Mists of Pandaria cinematic on Thursday and, frankly, after watching it a few times, I really cannot bring myself to say anything bad about it.
The first thought that came to my mind was that it was a fun cinematic to watch, and that's pretty much it. There really wasn't too much that can be read into a cinematic like this. Sure, there are overtones of factional conflict at the start, but it became overshadowed by, ironically, the bright and campy feel of Pandaria itself.
I personally did want more emphasis on the war between the Alliance and Horde, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that fun is what was supposed to be conveyed. Given the super theme park nature of Mists of Pandaria, giving as many people as many things for them to do, it just makes sense to tell people that, maybe there really is more to the game than what we have been used to.
Of course, I submit the premise that the cinematic did not, in itself, cancel out the war between factions. It was simply muted to give more attention to the new land. Everything that we expected from World of Warcraft is still there, but there are new things to discover and explore as well.
Take, for example, the arguably best scene in the cinematic:
The first thought that came to my mind was that it was a fun cinematic to watch, and that's pretty much it. There really wasn't too much that can be read into a cinematic like this. Sure, there are overtones of factional conflict at the start, but it became overshadowed by, ironically, the bright and campy feel of Pandaria itself.
I personally did want more emphasis on the war between the Alliance and Horde, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that fun is what was supposed to be conveyed. Given the super theme park nature of Mists of Pandaria, giving as many people as many things for them to do, it just makes sense to tell people that, maybe there really is more to the game than what we have been used to.
Of course, I submit the premise that the cinematic did not, in itself, cancel out the war between factions. It was simply muted to give more attention to the new land. Everything that we expected from World of Warcraft is still there, but there are new things to discover and explore as well.
Take, for example, the arguably best scene in the cinematic:
This was not a scene where both sides suddenly became friends. Their cooperation is token at best. They were just simply overwhelmed with the big bear kicking their butts. There were no apologetic looks when the human almost decapitated the orc. Likewise when the human got walloped by the makeshift mace.
Perhaps the cinematic was a tad campy at times and it certainly did not fit everything that WE, as players, expected from Blizzard and the new expansion, we cannot deny that the video gives us a snapshot of great things to come.
Personally, if the game becomes as fun as this cinematic, then other games will have difficulty fighting for my time.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Guild Wars 2 Novel: Ghosts of Ascalon
TLDR Version: A fairly entertaining by-the-numbers fantasy that is very effective in introducing the world of Guild Wars 2.
As a firm believer of "exposition through experience" when it comes to video games, I have been largly avoiding reading any video game novels. I would rather have that important lore is in the game rather than needing to go out and find the information elsewhere. Granted, it gives writers, publishers, and artists work, I still find it less than ideal.
Ghosts of Ascalon was recommended to me by a friend and seeing that I am jumping into Guild Wars 2 without having any knowledge whatsoever of the franchise, I decided to give it a go. At the very least, it will help me understand the world I will be playing in, and hopefully a better understanding of the different races.
I am happy to say that the book did meet my expectations and provided me with good entertainment for most of it.
I like how the authors didn't take a particular racial trait of one character and beat the reader's head with it. Characters are nicely defined and, more importantly, relatable. Sylvari are probably the race that is most different than what humans are, but Forbeck and Grubb bring's out the character of Killeen nicely and comes out as alien in a way we can understand and appreciate. In fact, all the characters in the book behave in ways that real people in our world can relate to. The band of characters do bond and grow as they march toward impossible odds. In the end, we get to care about the characters and what happens to them and that is what makes a novel good.
Lore exposition has been also nicely handled in the book. From the timeline provided at the beginning to the fireside conversations, the flow of the narrative is very natural and it is very effective in understanding the characters, what they are after, and what their world is like. And everything stays on track with no diverging tales of other heroes. Yes, Logan Thackaray's legend and importance were mentioned, but his character never overshadowed the book's protagonist.
The tone of the book was also mostly excellent. Despite the grim quest the characters are taking, as well as what the main character has gone through, the book never bludgeons the reader with it. The grim tones are nicely balanced with light hearted moments by characters that move forward rather than dwelling in their angst.
My biggest problem with the book is actually in the last few. Everything near the end feels rather rushed. It's actually a good thing to want to book to go on for several more chapters, but the ending just felt too abrupt. Perhaps it was meant to be that way, but it was certainly out of place with the even pacing found in the rest of the book.
All in all, Ghosts of Ascalon is a remarkable book, even if it doesn't compare to the likes of the original Dragonlance series (though it probably wasn't meant to be). I would recommend it to those who like good fantasy tales. For those who play Guild Wars 2 and have yet to buy it, it is a nice way to ease into the game. I have no idea when the story happens in relation to the game though, but it would be cool to encounter these characters while questing in Tyria.
As a firm believer of "exposition through experience" when it comes to video games, I have been largly avoiding reading any video game novels. I would rather have that important lore is in the game rather than needing to go out and find the information elsewhere. Granted, it gives writers, publishers, and artists work, I still find it less than ideal.
Ghosts of Ascalon was recommended to me by a friend and seeing that I am jumping into Guild Wars 2 without having any knowledge whatsoever of the franchise, I decided to give it a go. At the very least, it will help me understand the world I will be playing in, and hopefully a better understanding of the different races.
I am happy to say that the book did meet my expectations and provided me with good entertainment for most of it.
I like how the authors didn't take a particular racial trait of one character and beat the reader's head with it. Characters are nicely defined and, more importantly, relatable. Sylvari are probably the race that is most different than what humans are, but Forbeck and Grubb bring's out the character of Killeen nicely and comes out as alien in a way we can understand and appreciate. In fact, all the characters in the book behave in ways that real people in our world can relate to. The band of characters do bond and grow as they march toward impossible odds. In the end, we get to care about the characters and what happens to them and that is what makes a novel good.
Lore exposition has been also nicely handled in the book. From the timeline provided at the beginning to the fireside conversations, the flow of the narrative is very natural and it is very effective in understanding the characters, what they are after, and what their world is like. And everything stays on track with no diverging tales of other heroes. Yes, Logan Thackaray's legend and importance were mentioned, but his character never overshadowed the book's protagonist.
The tone of the book was also mostly excellent. Despite the grim quest the characters are taking, as well as what the main character has gone through, the book never bludgeons the reader with it. The grim tones are nicely balanced with light hearted moments by characters that move forward rather than dwelling in their angst.
My biggest problem with the book is actually in the last few. Everything near the end feels rather rushed. It's actually a good thing to want to book to go on for several more chapters, but the ending just felt too abrupt. Perhaps it was meant to be that way, but it was certainly out of place with the even pacing found in the rest of the book.
All in all, Ghosts of Ascalon is a remarkable book, even if it doesn't compare to the likes of the original Dragonlance series (though it probably wasn't meant to be). I would recommend it to those who like good fantasy tales. For those who play Guild Wars 2 and have yet to buy it, it is a nice way to ease into the game. I have no idea when the story happens in relation to the game though, but it would be cool to encounter these characters while questing in Tyria.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Guild Wars 2: The Last Beta Weekend
TLDR Version: A great game but certainly not revolutionary. Has some really fun moments, but quite a number of boring ones as well. Still, hard to tell if it will keep my attention long enough that I will want to spend money in their Gem Store.
So with a month left before release, Arenanet came out with the last Guild Wars 2 beta weekend for everyone with keys or who have pre-purchased the game. This time, it came with all races available as well as additional world content and a PvP battleground.
It's no secret I do not have any real love for Guild Wars 2 but I don't really have any hate for it, or their developers, either. The biggest turnoff I have with GW2 is not the game itself, but with it's fanbase. Ironically, the extreme hype does dull my own excitement for the game and, in turn, lowers my own expectations.
But I digress, the reason for my pre-purchase was to see everything for myself in the beta weekends, and I am pleased to say that, overall, I did enjoy myself. And besides, you cannot go wrong with a free to play MMO, even if the box is being sold at standard market prices.
A lot of the fun came in the form of group activities, particularly PvP. Unfortunately, because there really wasn't much time to get to a high enough level (for me, at least), my PvE testing was fairly limited. Whether it is me being slow or there just isn't that many opportunities for leveling through questing, I'm not sure. As it stands, sometimes I end up being way underpowered to continue my character's story while other times, I end up outleveling content in the starter area after a bout of wanderlust.
There is something fairly monotonous about the PvE areas of Tyria and people really looking for things to do will need to mix things up between area quests, personal story, and events even if the game itself does not overtly encourage it.
Dynamic events in the last beta do effectively break up the monotony, however. I am not sure if they changed the event frequency or whether I was better at being at the right place at the right time this time around. I am glad that, with the early level zones, enough of the dynamic events would help push leveling enough to be able to do the next area. Granted, with friends, you can probably skip a lot of early level content anyway, and it is my preferable mode of playing. A small band taking on a challenge that a single player cannot is pretty much the heart of any multiplayer game.
I appreciate ArenaNet's efforts in making leveling an organic experience. At times when I get stumped, I have to go over whats available to me and figure out what is missing. While nothing is wrong with directed leveling, it is refreshing to just be able to challenge yourself and find your own way rather than have 100 different signs pointing you to where you should go.
I suppose this is the time I talk about PvP and really, Guild Wars 2 no longer deserves points for this. To say the game offers great PvP is like saying water is wet. The last beta test, however, showed just how lopsided World vs. World PvP can be. In my server's battle group, one server in particular just simply dominated all 4 WvW maps. It is no surprise that it was also one of the first servers that became full on day 1. With sufficient manpower and time, they were able to fortify locations to be near impregnable and, as with the nature of random groups, opponents would just die repeatedly trying to get a few kills or close enough to lob some shots at the wall.
Its like hobos with knives trying to storm a military outpost through the front door in broad daylight.
There were some moments where getting to the wall was possible, but no resources were available to build the required siege weapons. As we learned, hacking at keep walls don't really do much. This is where having organized groups really matter the most. With proper direction and planning, WvW battles can get pretty exciting. Outside that, the only hope of getting any kind of win is through sheer numbers.
This is also where it pays to be on a server where the population stays relatively high at all times of the day. The servers that fill up early would definitely have a clear advantage at the start but, as the game matures, things would very likely even out.
Guild Wars 2 has every right to be called a AAA MMO and, despite my cynicism, I can easily imagine this game as one of the best in the current market. Sadly, even after 3 beta weekends and participating in stress tests, I cannot fully give the game two thumbs up. An MMO relies purely on longevity and some replay factor, and I cannot vouch for either. I have barely scratched the surface of PvE content and, while I have tried a lot of PvP, I cannot play that for too long before I really tire of it.
Highlights:
So with a month left before release, Arenanet came out with the last Guild Wars 2 beta weekend for everyone with keys or who have pre-purchased the game. This time, it came with all races available as well as additional world content and a PvP battleground.
It's no secret I do not have any real love for Guild Wars 2 but I don't really have any hate for it, or their developers, either. The biggest turnoff I have with GW2 is not the game itself, but with it's fanbase. Ironically, the extreme hype does dull my own excitement for the game and, in turn, lowers my own expectations.
But I digress, the reason for my pre-purchase was to see everything for myself in the beta weekends, and I am pleased to say that, overall, I did enjoy myself. And besides, you cannot go wrong with a free to play MMO, even if the box is being sold at standard market prices.
A lot of the fun came in the form of group activities, particularly PvP. Unfortunately, because there really wasn't much time to get to a high enough level (for me, at least), my PvE testing was fairly limited. Whether it is me being slow or there just isn't that many opportunities for leveling through questing, I'm not sure. As it stands, sometimes I end up being way underpowered to continue my character's story while other times, I end up outleveling content in the starter area after a bout of wanderlust.
There is something fairly monotonous about the PvE areas of Tyria and people really looking for things to do will need to mix things up between area quests, personal story, and events even if the game itself does not overtly encourage it.
Dynamic events in the last beta do effectively break up the monotony, however. I am not sure if they changed the event frequency or whether I was better at being at the right place at the right time this time around. I am glad that, with the early level zones, enough of the dynamic events would help push leveling enough to be able to do the next area. Granted, with friends, you can probably skip a lot of early level content anyway, and it is my preferable mode of playing. A small band taking on a challenge that a single player cannot is pretty much the heart of any multiplayer game.
I appreciate ArenaNet's efforts in making leveling an organic experience. At times when I get stumped, I have to go over whats available to me and figure out what is missing. While nothing is wrong with directed leveling, it is refreshing to just be able to challenge yourself and find your own way rather than have 100 different signs pointing you to where you should go.
I suppose this is the time I talk about PvP and really, Guild Wars 2 no longer deserves points for this. To say the game offers great PvP is like saying water is wet. The last beta test, however, showed just how lopsided World vs. World PvP can be. In my server's battle group, one server in particular just simply dominated all 4 WvW maps. It is no surprise that it was also one of the first servers that became full on day 1. With sufficient manpower and time, they were able to fortify locations to be near impregnable and, as with the nature of random groups, opponents would just die repeatedly trying to get a few kills or close enough to lob some shots at the wall.
Its like hobos with knives trying to storm a military outpost through the front door in broad daylight.
There were some moments where getting to the wall was possible, but no resources were available to build the required siege weapons. As we learned, hacking at keep walls don't really do much. This is where having organized groups really matter the most. With proper direction and planning, WvW battles can get pretty exciting. Outside that, the only hope of getting any kind of win is through sheer numbers.
This is also where it pays to be on a server where the population stays relatively high at all times of the day. The servers that fill up early would definitely have a clear advantage at the start but, as the game matures, things would very likely even out.
Guild Wars 2 has every right to be called a AAA MMO and, despite my cynicism, I can easily imagine this game as one of the best in the current market. Sadly, even after 3 beta weekends and participating in stress tests, I cannot fully give the game two thumbs up. An MMO relies purely on longevity and some replay factor, and I cannot vouch for either. I have barely scratched the surface of PvE content and, while I have tried a lot of PvP, I cannot play that for too long before I really tire of it.
Highlights:
- Points of Interest. A very nice way of handling puzzle content. I have already delayed, and have been delayed, by just taking a detour and trying to find how to reach the glowing map. Some are easy, while others are just one step close to death.
- Set main skills. I like unlocking abilities based on weapon type, but I found myself wishing that were not the case after unlocking all weapons at an early level. Outside learning the secondary skills, the sense of progression is somewhat lacking.
- Nerfed siege weapons. Definitely not a bad thing. It makes placement so much more important than previous builds and allows attacking players a chance to take them out.
- Playing as a group. Nothing really beats taking out level 10 content at a group average level of 5. Now that's what MMOs are all about.
- Crafting. I'm on the fence about this one. I like how involved it is, but it is also quite expensive to be a full time crafter. Perhaps if there is a good market for items, this will not be a problem at all. Definitely something to consider doing at launch.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
SWTOR: Patch 1.3 and the Week After
There are days when I am glad I don't play games at any relatively hardcore level anymore, and the release of patch 1.3 for Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of them.
Why do I say that? Well, there is no new content in this patch, so if I'm already tired with the current operations, that feeling would not be alleviated. Even if I were just farming the same hardmode flashpoints over and over again, I would have gotten quite disgruntled a long time ago, and stay that way even with this patch release.
No, this patch is not about making the game fresh again with new content, its about making it fresh again by enhancing current content. A week after the patch, I am actually having a lot of fun again.
I can't go too far without mentioning the recent server mer...I mean....transfers and how the effect of a larger population in-game just makes the game world/galaxy feel alive again. With over 300 people in the respective fleets at peak hours, and many more on other planets or flashpoints/operations, there is just a sense that the game has gotten it's second wind, even if it was at the expense other servers. Even trolls in general chat was a welcome relief to almost nothing happening just a month ago. The server transfers were, in a way, an early extention of Patch 1.3 itself, especially when you consider the Looking For Group tool.
Bioware did get some flak by not making the LFG cross-server, but really, it doesn't really need to be. At least, not yet. It's current incarnation does what it needs to do, and that is all that matters in the end. I get into flashpoints when I normally would not be able to, such as when on other planets. That, in itself, is already a huge benefit for someone like me who doesn't like staying on the fleet and it gets better when I level an alt. Queue times as DPS becomes tolerable when you decide to do other things while waiting.
Rewards for random hardmode flashpoints and normal operations are quite interesting. Daily commendations can drop in the instance and completing it yields 5 black hole commendations. And it appears to be repeatable. It is clear that Bioware wants people to gear up faster, so it is possible that new content is just around the corner. Or maybe they just want more people to get into Denova. Whatever the case, it is a welcome change for those unable to commit to a regular operations group.
Rated warzones have also been implemented with patch 1.3. Unfortunately, having just moved to the server and having a weird schedule for my day job, I was unable to participate in this yet. Hopefully I would be able to get a group for this pretty soon.
Character legacy perks were also opened up with the patch and there are finally things I would be willing to spend credits on. I immediately bought the respec perk and so far, it has served me well. As good as it is, I really wish they would just go full out and give dual specs. Some of the perks are relatively trivial, but thankfully are not costly. Although, since the perks are character-specific, the costs will add up if you want them on all characters.
Patch 1.3 does not have anything completely groundbreaking, but at least it had fewer disappointments than patch 1.2 and that in itself is a huge plus. Still, Bioware has quite a ways to recover from half a year of .... unflattering press, but their latest update is a good start to a positive trend.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Why do I say that? Well, there is no new content in this patch, so if I'm already tired with the current operations, that feeling would not be alleviated. Even if I were just farming the same hardmode flashpoints over and over again, I would have gotten quite disgruntled a long time ago, and stay that way even with this patch release.
No, this patch is not about making the game fresh again with new content, its about making it fresh again by enhancing current content. A week after the patch, I am actually having a lot of fun again.
I can't go too far without mentioning the recent server mer...I mean....transfers and how the effect of a larger population in-game just makes the game world/galaxy feel alive again. With over 300 people in the respective fleets at peak hours, and many more on other planets or flashpoints/operations, there is just a sense that the game has gotten it's second wind, even if it was at the expense other servers. Even trolls in general chat was a welcome relief to almost nothing happening just a month ago. The server transfers were, in a way, an early extention of Patch 1.3 itself, especially when you consider the Looking For Group tool.
Bioware did get some flak by not making the LFG cross-server, but really, it doesn't really need to be. At least, not yet. It's current incarnation does what it needs to do, and that is all that matters in the end. I get into flashpoints when I normally would not be able to, such as when on other planets. That, in itself, is already a huge benefit for someone like me who doesn't like staying on the fleet and it gets better when I level an alt. Queue times as DPS becomes tolerable when you decide to do other things while waiting.
Rewards for random hardmode flashpoints and normal operations are quite interesting. Daily commendations can drop in the instance and completing it yields 5 black hole commendations. And it appears to be repeatable. It is clear that Bioware wants people to gear up faster, so it is possible that new content is just around the corner. Or maybe they just want more people to get into Denova. Whatever the case, it is a welcome change for those unable to commit to a regular operations group.
Rated warzones have also been implemented with patch 1.3. Unfortunately, having just moved to the server and having a weird schedule for my day job, I was unable to participate in this yet. Hopefully I would be able to get a group for this pretty soon.
Character legacy perks were also opened up with the patch and there are finally things I would be willing to spend credits on. I immediately bought the respec perk and so far, it has served me well. As good as it is, I really wish they would just go full out and give dual specs. Some of the perks are relatively trivial, but thankfully are not costly. Although, since the perks are character-specific, the costs will add up if you want them on all characters.
Patch 1.3 does not have anything completely groundbreaking, but at least it had fewer disappointments than patch 1.2 and that in itself is a huge plus. Still, Bioware has quite a ways to recover from half a year of .... unflattering press, but their latest update is a good start to a positive trend.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Selling junk items in only 5s. Really, really worth the credits if you got them.
- Leveling has always been amazing in SWTOR and that hasn't changed. Having a LOT of fun with my Jedi Shadow right now.
- Adaptive gear is only good if end game set bonuses can be transferred with armouring. Until that happens, adaptive gear is not appealing unless you don't care about the bonuses.
- Augment kits. Totally love them. Saves me the frustration of getting 40 non-crit crafted items in a row.
- Remembering how much fun this game is. Even with relatively archaic mechanics, it is a good game.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
SWTOR: Farewell Keller's Void
Today Star Wars: The Old Republic starts handing out free server transfers to and from selected servers. It is not an unexpected move and, frankly, it's taken far too long in coming.
Keller's Void has sadly slowly been going downhill when it comes to population. Most nights, it's hard enough to find same faction PvP. There are some guilds that strive to keep going, but things get harder when newer games start releasing *cough*DIABLO*cough*.
While transfers aren't necessarily a bad thing, the service coming at the heels of complaints about low population, or "dead" servers just helps underscore the fact that the game isn't retaining as many players as they thought they would. Is SWTOR still doing well? I personally think they are, but they have made way too many rookie mistakes that gave totally bad impressions of the game and the company. And then there's EA being EA, they figured no one would unsubscribe to their Star Wars game.
Targetted servers were also a good idea. Given a choice, everyone would just flock to whatever server appears to be the most populated i.e. The Fatman. And then there will be complaints about queues. There are more people than one server can hold, and really, only Bioware has any idea about the number of active players so they can strategically funnel people into selected servers in order to help even out the population.
I have to say, I look forward to the prospect of playing on a server that has a healthy population again. If nothing else, the resulting infusion of trolls in general chat will be amusing.
Ready or not, here we come Jedi Covenant!
 |
| Can't say 'It's been nice knowing you' KV. Didn't really know you |
Keller's Void has sadly slowly been going downhill when it comes to population. Most nights, it's hard enough to find same faction PvP. There are some guilds that strive to keep going, but things get harder when newer games start releasing *cough*DIABLO*cough*.
While transfers aren't necessarily a bad thing, the service coming at the heels of complaints about low population, or "dead" servers just helps underscore the fact that the game isn't retaining as many players as they thought they would. Is SWTOR still doing well? I personally think they are, but they have made way too many rookie mistakes that gave totally bad impressions of the game and the company. And then there's EA being EA, they figured no one would unsubscribe to their Star Wars game.
Targetted servers were also a good idea. Given a choice, everyone would just flock to whatever server appears to be the most populated i.e. The Fatman. And then there will be complaints about queues. There are more people than one server can hold, and really, only Bioware has any idea about the number of active players so they can strategically funnel people into selected servers in order to help even out the population.
I have to say, I look forward to the prospect of playing on a server that has a healthy population again. If nothing else, the resulting infusion of trolls in general chat will be amusing.
Ready or not, here we come Jedi Covenant!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Diablo 3 Review: Pure. Mindless. Fun
Basically, I can end this review right there at the title. As a TLDR statement, that's as concise as it can get. But then again, that might just be an excuse to stop typing and play more. To be completely honest, this review is weeks overdue simply because I've been playing. It's that much fun.
At a glance though, it's hard to see what makes the game fun. It's a point and click hack and slasher game with really not that much complexity to gameplay and only one point of view and two zoom modes. You point the mouse and left click an area, your character moves there. If a monster happens to be where you clicked, you bash it on the head. Or zap/shoot it. There are also so few abilities - seven including the health potion - that it is entirely possible to just play with just the mouse, leaving your other hand free to do other things...like....eating chips.
The Diablo franchise has also always been a game of grinds. You are encouraged to keep fighting through the same areas over and over to improve your character. Can't beat the next boss in the next area? Kill the one you just beat over and over and hope for some better gear to drop. The process will get you enough gear or levels so that the next stage will be easier and you can move on. Yes, many games tend to fail because of how grindy it is, but Diablo seems to be a game that thrives on it. I really hate grinds in games, but I just ended my most recent farming run so I can type up this post.
What makes the Diablo grind so tolerable is a combination of small things. For starters, there are monsters to fight almost everywhere. In a given map, you can count on a group of them waiting just around the next corner. There will always be the threat of your character dying if you are not careful as long as you play through an appropriately challenging area.
The randomness in the game also keeps everything fresh. Maps have some parts that are randomly generated and monsters are also randomly placed in there. That room of that dungeon you just farmed may no longer be there and may suddenly contain elite monsters hell bent to farm you for loot. Yes, this is also probably one of the more frustrating things in the game. The random monster generator can give you four that each shoots lasers, leaves fire trails, spits fire, and shields itself and there's nothing you can do but scream and whine while you reload your game.
But with the randomness comes the desire to try to beat whatever the game throws at you and the ability system of Diablo 3 allows you to costumize how you play. As I mentioned earlier, there are only 7 ability buttons in the game, one of which is reserved for the health potion, but there are a LOT of abilities for each character. And each ability comes with several runes that will add some effect or change how that ability works. By the time you hit level 60, you will have several options on how to play the game. Experimenting with builds and gear sets is also part of what makes the grind fun because now you are benchmarking yourself. Does the build work or feel better than the last one? No? Then switch up a few things to see if you can make it work.
Co-op games also make the grind bearable by being able to share the misery with others. People in your friends list can join your games at any time and it makes the encounters have they difficulty increased appropriately. Yes, this means that people will need to work together to beat some fights. As expected, joining a public game with strangers is far less satisfying than working with friends that have access to voice communications like Ventrilo or Skype or cans tied with really long string.
The last thing that makes the grind fun is the game's simplicity. Every action you do has some reaction. Be it moving from one place to another or hitting a monster so hard, pieces start flying off screen. There is that instant gratification factor in the game of just signing on and beating on monsters or finishing quests that, ironically, may make you forget the time of day. Even more ironically, Diablo may not be a game for you if you only have an hour or so of play time.
The auction house adds yet another level of instant gratification where you can help alleviate the game's random loot system. With gold relatively easy to make, and millions of people in the game, its not too difficult to find some bargains. Whether that will be true when the Real Money Auction House hits, that will be left to be seen.
One of the biggest flaws of the game is partly one of it's strengths in that Diablo 3 is a purely online game. If you do not have a BattleNet account, you cannot play. If the BattleNet servers go down, you cannot play. There's no offline mode for those who don't really care too much about the online aspects of the game. This could not have been more apparent than launch day where literally millions of people were trying to log on at the same time. And no, I waited it out and everything has been working well since then. But I would have love to have some kind of way I can play offline even if it means that gear and characters don't carry over.
With all that said, Diablo 3 is still not a game for everybody. As enjoyable as it is, the game is still a grind and not many really care for that. The difficulty levels can also discourage some players. Normal and Nightmare modes can be done through some brute force, but Hell and Inferno mode are deadly. I've personally hit a wall with Inferno mode and my time has been spent trying to find a way I can beat encounters. It is a wall that has had me thinking that perhaps the game has beaten me. Maybe I just need a few more hours to work out my build. Or a few days.
Time for more Diablo 3 to find out then.
Highlights
At a glance though, it's hard to see what makes the game fun. It's a point and click hack and slasher game with really not that much complexity to gameplay and only one point of view and two zoom modes. You point the mouse and left click an area, your character moves there. If a monster happens to be where you clicked, you bash it on the head. Or zap/shoot it. There are also so few abilities - seven including the health potion - that it is entirely possible to just play with just the mouse, leaving your other hand free to do other things...like....eating chips.
The Diablo franchise has also always been a game of grinds. You are encouraged to keep fighting through the same areas over and over to improve your character. Can't beat the next boss in the next area? Kill the one you just beat over and over and hope for some better gear to drop. The process will get you enough gear or levels so that the next stage will be easier and you can move on. Yes, many games tend to fail because of how grindy it is, but Diablo seems to be a game that thrives on it. I really hate grinds in games, but I just ended my most recent farming run so I can type up this post.
What makes the Diablo grind so tolerable is a combination of small things. For starters, there are monsters to fight almost everywhere. In a given map, you can count on a group of them waiting just around the next corner. There will always be the threat of your character dying if you are not careful as long as you play through an appropriately challenging area.
The randomness in the game also keeps everything fresh. Maps have some parts that are randomly generated and monsters are also randomly placed in there. That room of that dungeon you just farmed may no longer be there and may suddenly contain elite monsters hell bent to farm you for loot. Yes, this is also probably one of the more frustrating things in the game. The random monster generator can give you four that each shoots lasers, leaves fire trails, spits fire, and shields itself and there's nothing you can do but scream and whine while you reload your game.
But with the randomness comes the desire to try to beat whatever the game throws at you and the ability system of Diablo 3 allows you to costumize how you play. As I mentioned earlier, there are only 7 ability buttons in the game, one of which is reserved for the health potion, but there are a LOT of abilities for each character. And each ability comes with several runes that will add some effect or change how that ability works. By the time you hit level 60, you will have several options on how to play the game. Experimenting with builds and gear sets is also part of what makes the grind fun because now you are benchmarking yourself. Does the build work or feel better than the last one? No? Then switch up a few things to see if you can make it work.
Co-op games also make the grind bearable by being able to share the misery with others. People in your friends list can join your games at any time and it makes the encounters have they difficulty increased appropriately. Yes, this means that people will need to work together to beat some fights. As expected, joining a public game with strangers is far less satisfying than working with friends that have access to voice communications like Ventrilo or Skype or cans tied with really long string.
The last thing that makes the grind fun is the game's simplicity. Every action you do has some reaction. Be it moving from one place to another or hitting a monster so hard, pieces start flying off screen. There is that instant gratification factor in the game of just signing on and beating on monsters or finishing quests that, ironically, may make you forget the time of day. Even more ironically, Diablo may not be a game for you if you only have an hour or so of play time.
The auction house adds yet another level of instant gratification where you can help alleviate the game's random loot system. With gold relatively easy to make, and millions of people in the game, its not too difficult to find some bargains. Whether that will be true when the Real Money Auction House hits, that will be left to be seen.
One of the biggest flaws of the game is partly one of it's strengths in that Diablo 3 is a purely online game. If you do not have a BattleNet account, you cannot play. If the BattleNet servers go down, you cannot play. There's no offline mode for those who don't really care too much about the online aspects of the game. This could not have been more apparent than launch day where literally millions of people were trying to log on at the same time. And no, I waited it out and everything has been working well since then. But I would have love to have some kind of way I can play offline even if it means that gear and characters don't carry over.
With all that said, Diablo 3 is still not a game for everybody. As enjoyable as it is, the game is still a grind and not many really care for that. The difficulty levels can also discourage some players. Normal and Nightmare modes can be done through some brute force, but Hell and Inferno mode are deadly. I've personally hit a wall with Inferno mode and my time has been spent trying to find a way I can beat encounters. It is a wall that has had me thinking that perhaps the game has beaten me. Maybe I just need a few more hours to work out my build. Or a few days.
Time for more Diablo 3 to find out then.
Highlights
- The graphics are simply amazing! There is quite a lot of detail in the game world and it's a shame that the isometric view zoom level does not do it too much justice.
- Whimsyville. Google or Bing it. I suppose Yahoo works too.
- Co-op. It really is the best way to play.
- Auction house has revealed me to be a closet bargain shopper. Nothing like digging through the dollar box to find a good deal on an armour set.
- Inferno mode makes me want to kick a kitten. But it is very, VERY satisfying when progress is being made. I meant Inferno mode and not kicking kittens.
Guild Wars 2 : Second Beta Weekend
I have the unfortunate situation of needing to be at work during the second Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event. Granted, the first event didn't quite get me anxious to play again, I did want to try as hard as I can to really like the game. I wanted to see what all those who are hyping up the game are seeing.
But for the hour or so I was playing, only one thing came to mind: I wanted to go back and do something else. Specifically, I wanted to play more Diablo 3.
Guild Wars 2 has yet to show itself as THE game to play. While I do not have any buyers remorse for pre-purchasing the game, I do want to try to find out why I am not raving about the game. ArenaNet seems to just have everything done right. Graphics and visuals are just amazing. The cities feel alive and vibrant and are large enough to actually be cities. Motion and combat is fluid and the ability system is pretty interesting.
But something just feels....generic....about the whole thing. Not a whole lot of the game feels new and refreshing. Certainly not how RIFT was at launch. SWTOR's game universe also had a freshness to it despite relatively archaic game design. The world of Guild Wars 2 feels like the run of the mill medieval fantasy world that I've seen many times over.
I guess a huge part of the letdown is the story. Particularly the dialogue cutscenes. If they just removed those and replaced it all with quest text, it may actually feel more immersive than it is now. The awkward animations really, really detract from any attempt to lose myself in the story. There is also something creepy about how characters barely move and stare in just that one way in all those cutscenes. It has been rather painful to watch.
There are also some disconnects with the story. In the human lands, there does not seem to be much connection between the prologue and the story after it. An invasion of centaurs leads to some huge bone hands....and they are never mentioned again. At least the centaurs re-appear, but the bone hands and elementals; their involvement is not touched upon. Perhaps it will later in the game, but by then, the event would probably have been forgotten. You would think that something able to summon such a montrosity would be looked into by authorities and would require a hero to help figure deal with a larger, overarching threat.
Dynamic events have been a huge part of driving the hype of the game, but it too is not quite as good as I was led to believe. The problem is that the dynamic event feels less dynamic if you can wait for it to happen. Granted, there does not appear to be set times for events to happen, but they do happen fairly often. Unlike RIFT's titular rifts, GW2's events are strictly local to just a small area and so they are far more predictable. Some of the events are also very boring.
As alive and as dynamic as ArenaNet wants the world to feel, ironically there isn't really all that much to do. Yes, exploration is supposed to be a major activity, but exploration can only go so far. I go into a new area and see wheat fields. Yay. But also nothing happening at the time so it's several minutes of nothing really happening except for me walking across large farmland. After dealing with an area's quest, you don't really get an option to do it again.
All this said, everything is in beta. Even if some complaints are about things that will likely not change, there's still time for ArenaNet to put some more meat into the game. As it is, I don't look forward to the game as I normally do for big releases. Its come to the point where I won't mind only being able to play a week after release if timing does not line up right with my schedule.
Highlights:
But for the hour or so I was playing, only one thing came to mind: I wanted to go back and do something else. Specifically, I wanted to play more Diablo 3.
Guild Wars 2 has yet to show itself as THE game to play. While I do not have any buyers remorse for pre-purchasing the game, I do want to try to find out why I am not raving about the game. ArenaNet seems to just have everything done right. Graphics and visuals are just amazing. The cities feel alive and vibrant and are large enough to actually be cities. Motion and combat is fluid and the ability system is pretty interesting.
But something just feels....generic....about the whole thing. Not a whole lot of the game feels new and refreshing. Certainly not how RIFT was at launch. SWTOR's game universe also had a freshness to it despite relatively archaic game design. The world of Guild Wars 2 feels like the run of the mill medieval fantasy world that I've seen many times over.
I guess a huge part of the letdown is the story. Particularly the dialogue cutscenes. If they just removed those and replaced it all with quest text, it may actually feel more immersive than it is now. The awkward animations really, really detract from any attempt to lose myself in the story. There is also something creepy about how characters barely move and stare in just that one way in all those cutscenes. It has been rather painful to watch.
There are also some disconnects with the story. In the human lands, there does not seem to be much connection between the prologue and the story after it. An invasion of centaurs leads to some huge bone hands....and they are never mentioned again. At least the centaurs re-appear, but the bone hands and elementals; their involvement is not touched upon. Perhaps it will later in the game, but by then, the event would probably have been forgotten. You would think that something able to summon such a montrosity would be looked into by authorities and would require a hero to help figure deal with a larger, overarching threat.
Dynamic events have been a huge part of driving the hype of the game, but it too is not quite as good as I was led to believe. The problem is that the dynamic event feels less dynamic if you can wait for it to happen. Granted, there does not appear to be set times for events to happen, but they do happen fairly often. Unlike RIFT's titular rifts, GW2's events are strictly local to just a small area and so they are far more predictable. Some of the events are also very boring.
As alive and as dynamic as ArenaNet wants the world to feel, ironically there isn't really all that much to do. Yes, exploration is supposed to be a major activity, but exploration can only go so far. I go into a new area and see wheat fields. Yay. But also nothing happening at the time so it's several minutes of nothing really happening except for me walking across large farmland. After dealing with an area's quest, you don't really get an option to do it again.
All this said, everything is in beta. Even if some complaints are about things that will likely not change, there's still time for ArenaNet to put some more meat into the game. As it is, I don't look forward to the game as I normally do for big releases. Its come to the point where I won't mind only being able to play a week after release if timing does not line up right with my schedule.
Highlights:
- Yes, even after an entire article saying how I dislike the game, there are still highlights. Lets not say I'm not an impartial reviewer
- They have Asura models in the world now and one gives an activated event. I haven't tried repeating it though. The novelty of herding little Moas into a pen really wears out quickly.
- Yes, the Asura are really cute. I am now 100% sure I won't be playing one.
- Abilities seem to have been buffed. I don't remember dealing quite as much damage as I do now with some guardian abilities.
- Speaking of which, purchasable abilities have been streamlined to weed out the weird or weak ones. Skill point costs are also lower.
- Skills are now tiered. No more getting some more advanced skills until you get enough of the lower tier skills.
- Some UI enhancements. Mostly minor, but definitely makes sense.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
SWTOR: Patch 1.2 Test Impressions
TLDR: Patch 1.2 felt like the second release date of Star Wars The Old Republic. While the core mechanics of the game haven't changed, it's the many small things that did makes the game feel new again.
While 1.7 million subscribers would indicate the game is far from a failure, Star Wars The Old Republic has not been without it's major problems. A good chunk of these problems were in the end game and Bioware seemed surprised that so many people would hit 50 in such a short time, much less be finished with end game content. While the debate can go on that it's the player's fault for rushing through the game, it doesn't excuse released content that really isn't all there.
The complete changes for patch 1.2 is just very massive. Without a level 50 on the test server, I could not reliably say anything about the end game changes and really, there is just too much content to cover. But with pretty much every change, you cannot shake the thinking that they should have been available at launch.
Interface Editor
Probably one of the biggest criticisms about the game is the lack of movable user interface elements. Or even more interface options for that matter. At launch, the game only has 4 action bars, only 2 of which are on the center and easily seen. With all the abilities that I have keybindings for, I had to use the side bars and looking over at them is just not ideal in a PvP situation.
Patch 1.2 makes up for it by not giving you more action bars, but by making almost every UI element modifiable. Each individual item can be re-sized, enabled, and have it's opacity changed. Settings are also saved into an XML file so they can be easily shared. A bit of a crafty method of not needing any third party mods.
Bioware also moved the raid frame editor to the interface editor, which is a good move. This allows some better control for the window without cluttering the already cluttered preferences screen.
I easily spent almost an hour just messing around with the UI and I am not even at the point of being really content with my choices. I found something usable for now and will see how it all works later on.
Somewhat Improved Galactic Trade Network
No, it doesn't quite look like much has changed, but it does have one very important tweak. You can search by name without selecting a category. Yes, they finally made the trade network work as it should have, and it only took 4 months. No, I'm not bitter. Well, maybe a little. Modable gear now has its own category too so it will make it much easier to find them. Sadly, there was nothing for me to find at the time I was typing this up.
New Gear...Which Still Looks Like Crap
Behold the new tier of Sith Assassin PvE gear!
Now I'm not the most artistic person in the world. Heck, I have trouble drawing a box, let alone designing my own clothes, but I've never been happy with how most gear looks in this game. I mean, yes, the skirt is gone, but what is the deal with those....hook....thingies?
Luckily, all mods can be removed from the gear pieces and added on to other modable gear. This includes the armoring, which transfers the set bonus. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a level 50 transferred so I could not test it out and get more details.
Still, the additional tier of gear will help out end game raiders by keeping progression in the game. Having all three end game tiers in 2 really easy operations allowed the upper echelon to get their gear too quickly. Its like having the carrot on so short a stick that the horse was able to reach it by sticking out it's tongue.
These were just a couple of major changes to the game and this made me decide to play on the test server to find everything else.
Highlights and Small Changes
While 1.7 million subscribers would indicate the game is far from a failure, Star Wars The Old Republic has not been without it's major problems. A good chunk of these problems were in the end game and Bioware seemed surprised that so many people would hit 50 in such a short time, much less be finished with end game content. While the debate can go on that it's the player's fault for rushing through the game, it doesn't excuse released content that really isn't all there.
The complete changes for patch 1.2 is just very massive. Without a level 50 on the test server, I could not reliably say anything about the end game changes and really, there is just too much content to cover. But with pretty much every change, you cannot shake the thinking that they should have been available at launch.
Interface Editor
 |
| So many boxes..... |
Patch 1.2 makes up for it by not giving you more action bars, but by making almost every UI element modifiable. Each individual item can be re-sized, enabled, and have it's opacity changed. Settings are also saved into an XML file so they can be easily shared. A bit of a crafty method of not needing any third party mods.
Bioware also moved the raid frame editor to the interface editor, which is a good move. This allows some better control for the window without cluttering the already cluttered preferences screen.
I easily spent almost an hour just messing around with the UI and I am not even at the point of being really content with my choices. I found something usable for now and will see how it all works later on.
Somewhat Improved Galactic Trade Network
No, it doesn't quite look like much has changed, but it does have one very important tweak. You can search by name without selecting a category. Yes, they finally made the trade network work as it should have, and it only took 4 months. No, I'm not bitter. Well, maybe a little. Modable gear now has its own category too so it will make it much easier to find them. Sadly, there was nothing for me to find at the time I was typing this up.
New Gear...Which Still Looks Like Crap
Behold the new tier of Sith Assassin PvE gear!
 |
| Well, at least the skirt is gone... |
Luckily, all mods can be removed from the gear pieces and added on to other modable gear. This includes the armoring, which transfers the set bonus. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a level 50 transferred so I could not test it out and get more details.
Still, the additional tier of gear will help out end game raiders by keeping progression in the game. Having all three end game tiers in 2 really easy operations allowed the upper echelon to get their gear too quickly. Its like having the carrot on so short a stick that the horse was able to reach it by sticking out it's tongue.
These were just a couple of major changes to the game and this made me decide to play on the test server to find everything else.
Highlights and Small Changes
- Sprint at level 1! Some may wonder why bother having Sprint at all. There are some puzzles/datacrons that are not possible to reach when Sprint is on, so this makes sense as an ability for now.
- When I started playing, there were 149 people on Korriban, and that number did not go down appreciably as I left for the fleet. At the time of typing this up, there are over a hundred people on Drommund Kaas. It's like beta all over again.
- Winning PvP is more important now and the disparity of rewards between winning and losing is much larger. Winning a match gives additional medals so you can get 80-100 commendations winning a game vs just 20-40 by losing.
- Pre-50 PvP weapons cost 900 warzone commendations. Ouch.
- 40 Minute Hutbball match! No, that wasn't pleasant. It seemed that the game would not end until one side got 6 points. Was crazy though.
- The new Warzone was nice and intuitive. A more involving version of the Alderaan map.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Mass Effect: On Stories and Endings
No, I have not played any Mass Effect game. No, I don't care about spoilers. I'm the kind of person who enjoys the experience even if the ending is known. To that end, I plan to get and play all three Mass Effect games in one continuous story. And no, there won't be any spoilers of any sort on this post. Perhaps this invalidates me from making an opinion on the matter, but there are more things than Mass Effect when it comes to storytelling.
For the past week since Mass Effect 3 released, I've been seeing tons of discontent over the ending. But I've also been seeing a lot of posts about people who really liked the ending. Then again, those that hate it are very vocal about it so they are the most heard. Of course, it doesn't bother me, but I am perplexed about the reactions.
I am familiar with the emotional investment in a story whether it is from a movie, book, or video game series. But I also realize that, no matter the medium, it really isn't OUR story. This becomes harder in video games, especially those with multiple endings, because the expectation is that we are playing through our own story. We are forging our character's path, whether it is to die a gruesome death or live a happy life with bunnies and rainbows.
But once again, it isn't our story. As much as we feel we are the writers of our character's destiny, that really isn't the case. Take the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Yes, there are some with good endings and some bad, but those are endings that are pre-chosen by the book's writers. They are what the authors thought would make sense based on your choices, and they may not make sense to you.
I know there are people who will try to get the "best possible ending" and it usually means a "happily ever after" situation and I suppose that is what people have learned to expect. From what i've been gathering from the internet, this was not the case for Mass Effect 3 and hence the uproar. Of course, this makes it very obvious that this matter is extremely subjective. What one thinks as the "best" may not be the "best" for others.
As an example, one of my favourite games is Dragon Age: Origins. From what I gathered, the "best ending" happens to be the "happily ever after" situation. Sure, there are some kinks, but people strived to get the ending where everyone is content and happy. No war, no disgruntled nations, peace throughout the land. But that never was the best ending for me. The best ending was one that made sense for the character.
I played a good guy, a city elf who fought knowing that he needed to do the right thing. He feels compassion, but it is not what drives him. His moral compass was set and decisions were made from that direction and nothing else. In the end, chaos still existed and his story ended the way it should have ended. Was it perfect? Not at all. But the ending brought closure to a character that I invested a good bit of emotion on and that was enough. Yes, there were parts of the ending I got that surprised me and made me feel a bit sorry for my choice, but I realized I would have made the choice no matter what with that character. I did play the Awakening DLC, but I didn't enjoy it as much because it wasn't about my character.
Perhaps that's the whole point of the rage. People did not get the closure they expected or wanted for their Shepard. They wanted the REAL ending. But what about those that were happy or satisfied with their endings? Won't a "real" ending just mess it up for them? For those people, there had been closure and, while maybe not 100% agreeable, it was proper. A "real" ending patch would mean their experiences are invalidated, closure suddenly removed.
Yes, it feels that those that really liked the endings are a minority, but is that really the case? one thing about the internet is that, usually, only the angry make their voices heard. There really aren't that many people who go online to just say "yeah, it was alright".
So if you felt wronged somehow by Mass Effect 3's ending, there is no need to feel that way because it is quite certain Bioware will release a DLC to help bring your proper closure. Perhaps the same way Fallout 3 did with it's Broken Steel DLC. This way, those who liked the current ending can opt not to get it while the rest can download it and (hopefully) get the best ending they wanted.
Still, I think it's high time we just accept that not everything will be tailored to our liking. Not everything will have what we want and not everyone can be happy at the same time. Take value in what the game has provided you the whole time you were playing it...and then move on.
For the past week since Mass Effect 3 released, I've been seeing tons of discontent over the ending. But I've also been seeing a lot of posts about people who really liked the ending. Then again, those that hate it are very vocal about it so they are the most heard. Of course, it doesn't bother me, but I am perplexed about the reactions.
I am familiar with the emotional investment in a story whether it is from a movie, book, or video game series. But I also realize that, no matter the medium, it really isn't OUR story. This becomes harder in video games, especially those with multiple endings, because the expectation is that we are playing through our own story. We are forging our character's path, whether it is to die a gruesome death or live a happy life with bunnies and rainbows.
But once again, it isn't our story. As much as we feel we are the writers of our character's destiny, that really isn't the case. Take the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Yes, there are some with good endings and some bad, but those are endings that are pre-chosen by the book's writers. They are what the authors thought would make sense based on your choices, and they may not make sense to you.
I know there are people who will try to get the "best possible ending" and it usually means a "happily ever after" situation and I suppose that is what people have learned to expect. From what i've been gathering from the internet, this was not the case for Mass Effect 3 and hence the uproar. Of course, this makes it very obvious that this matter is extremely subjective. What one thinks as the "best" may not be the "best" for others.
As an example, one of my favourite games is Dragon Age: Origins. From what I gathered, the "best ending" happens to be the "happily ever after" situation. Sure, there are some kinks, but people strived to get the ending where everyone is content and happy. No war, no disgruntled nations, peace throughout the land. But that never was the best ending for me. The best ending was one that made sense for the character.
I played a good guy, a city elf who fought knowing that he needed to do the right thing. He feels compassion, but it is not what drives him. His moral compass was set and decisions were made from that direction and nothing else. In the end, chaos still existed and his story ended the way it should have ended. Was it perfect? Not at all. But the ending brought closure to a character that I invested a good bit of emotion on and that was enough. Yes, there were parts of the ending I got that surprised me and made me feel a bit sorry for my choice, but I realized I would have made the choice no matter what with that character. I did play the Awakening DLC, but I didn't enjoy it as much because it wasn't about my character.
Perhaps that's the whole point of the rage. People did not get the closure they expected or wanted for their Shepard. They wanted the REAL ending. But what about those that were happy or satisfied with their endings? Won't a "real" ending just mess it up for them? For those people, there had been closure and, while maybe not 100% agreeable, it was proper. A "real" ending patch would mean their experiences are invalidated, closure suddenly removed.
Yes, it feels that those that really liked the endings are a minority, but is that really the case? one thing about the internet is that, usually, only the angry make their voices heard. There really aren't that many people who go online to just say "yeah, it was alright".
So if you felt wronged somehow by Mass Effect 3's ending, there is no need to feel that way because it is quite certain Bioware will release a DLC to help bring your proper closure. Perhaps the same way Fallout 3 did with it's Broken Steel DLC. This way, those who liked the current ending can opt not to get it while the rest can download it and (hopefully) get the best ending they wanted.
Still, I think it's high time we just accept that not everything will be tailored to our liking. Not everything will have what we want and not everyone can be happy at the same time. Take value in what the game has provided you the whole time you were playing it...and then move on.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
SWTOR: Patch 1.1.5 Now Ilum Free
So there are quite a few changes in the most recent patch and most of them relate to PvP. After a night of trying it out, it left an overall positive impression on my increasingly cynical mind.
Ilum Dailies/Weeklies can be completed in Warzones.
I don't think anyone can see this as more than a stop-gap solution to the atrocity that is Ilum. As much as I've raged about Ilum, I always thought it had potential. I'm pretty sure Bioware thought the same way but it appears that the actual fix to the zone will take a long time.
Until then, both sides can get their daily and weekly rewards with ease. Each warzone game played counts as 3 Ilum objectives obtained, no matter if you end up winning or losing the game. That means 10 games a night and that gives a good chance of getting the daily warzone daily done as well...or at least getting something toward the warzone daily. Yes, I am being optimistic that people would get at least 1 win out of 10 games.
Champion and Battlemaster Gear from Warzone Commendations
Its not really that simple, but rather you are allowed to trade up your warzone commendations for the Battlemaster and Champion versions. Conversion is
Ilum Dailies/Weeklies can be completed in Warzones.
I don't think anyone can see this as more than a stop-gap solution to the atrocity that is Ilum. As much as I've raged about Ilum, I always thought it had potential. I'm pretty sure Bioware thought the same way but it appears that the actual fix to the zone will take a long time.
Until then, both sides can get their daily and weekly rewards with ease. Each warzone game played counts as 3 Ilum objectives obtained, no matter if you end up winning or losing the game. That means 10 games a night and that gives a good chance of getting the daily warzone daily done as well...or at least getting something toward the warzone daily. Yes, I am being optimistic that people would get at least 1 win out of 10 games.
Champion and Battlemaster Gear from Warzone Commendations
Its not really that simple, but rather you are allowed to trade up your warzone commendations for the Battlemaster and Champion versions. Conversion is
1 Champion Commendation = 120 Warzone Commendations1 Battlemaster Commendation = 1000 Warzone and 1000 Mercenary Commendations
This may seem a like a lot and I certainly balked at the rates when I first saw it. But then, Warzone Commendations wouldn't be the main source of Champion and Battlemaster gear. You'd still be relying on the bags from the weekly and daily quests. Puchasing the bags will also be more cost effective (7 Champion commendations = 840 Warzone Commendations while the bags are at an effective 7:800 ratio and adds in Centurion Commendations as well).
What this does is allow you to get that last commendation or two for that piece of gear if the weekly/daily bags fall short and you really want to get it now. It also softens the blow on bad losing streaks. While the numbers seem very unfavourable in such a case, it helps when the patch also has ....
Increased Commendation/Valor Rewards
Patch 1.1.5 introduced added rewards by earning medals, as well as new medals. Each medal (up to 4) gives 500 valor and 10 warzone commendations in addition to regular valor/commendation rewards for game due to overall medal count and if the game is a win or loss.
To put that into perspective, before the patch, a loss with 6 or so medals would net me just 700 or so valor and 30-40 commendations. Last night, I had a lot of losses, but never got less than 1800 valor and 60 commendations per match. Winning a game typically nets me 2500 valor and between 90-100 commendations. In just 10 games, I went from middle of rank 51 to hitting rank 53.
Another thing I noticed in my games is that, win or lose, more people seem to be trying harder. Now, I can't say for certain if it is just that small subset of people are actually trying or if the rewards are causing this, but it definitely made the games more fun. I didn't mind the losses as there were not that many certain loss situations. Even losing 4-0 in Huttball, our team tried to make a comeback, and that is where the fun is in a game.
Purchasable High End Crystals
I consider this a minor thing because it was stated that this will not last. The crystals are indeed powerful, with the highest level, beyond what artificers can currently make, going for 250k credits. not cheap, but certainly accessible for those who really want the stats. But the colour....oh the colour. The same hideous black/yellow from the first pre-order bonus gem. I'm glad I'm not at the point where I need to min/max anything so I plan to pass on this one.
Bioware has definitely been increasing confidence with the SWTOR gamers with their patches. While it can be argued that SWTOR should not have been in that rut so soon, the damage was done and its time to see what they do to get that excitement back into the game. News about patch 1.2 is indeed promising and potentially changes the game. If nothing else, it's something to keep us talking for a few more weeks.
Highlights
- Not related to changes, but an Alderaan win stolen right under the opponents. down over 100 points, with only a side turret, we managed to capture center and eak out a 5-0 win. The changes to the side speeders did make it more challenging to defend the side turret, but luckily, we were not easy to kill and kept them off the objective long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
- One of the more fun nights of PvP in a while. Sure, there were frustrating moments, but that's always been part of the fun.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Free Play: DC Universe Online
I've always been a fan of comics and I grew up reading the adventures of my favourite Marvel and DC heroes and I would be lying if I said I didn't make up my own superhero that could chum it up with Batman and Superman. I lost track of the stories at the time when I could not justify the spending on comic books, but I've never really lost love for the characters as I knew them. So when the superhero MMOs arrived, I, of all people, would have thought it would be easy to jump right in and start the adventures of my very own superhero. That didn't quite happen, but I realized it was the same reason I stopped buying comics - cost.
By the time I really heard of the superhero games, I was well into my adventures in World of Warcraft and quite satisfied. I could not justify the costs involved to try out another game, nor could I justify the time. But now a good number of games have gone free to play so half of that equation is no longer valid. While time is still tight, I would be able to try things out and thus the Free Play column is born.
For the record, I played DCUO primarily on the PS3 but I did get the PC version just to check out some of the differences. The game itself is not totally different across both platforms, but it is obvious that the game was made for the PS3 and ported over.
What's Free?
The base game is free to download and play and there are no level caps for free accounts. So you can theoretically play much of the game without paying a penny. Take note that this is a ~16GB game so watch your bandwidth if you have one of those limited cap internet plans.
With the free account, you also get only 2 character slots, which would not be a huge problem unless you are dedicated alt-aholic. DLCs are also paid for, typically around $10 each. I also did not find a way to respec for free, so if you are dead set in paying nothing for the game, you better be really sure about how you spend your skill points. You are also capped with how much money you can have, I'm not certain how much though.
The store purchases do not have any major impact to game play or balance, but things like respecs, name changes, etc., are things that you need to pay for. Again, nothing that will really make the scrooges feel they need to pay anything for.
Is it Fun?
In short, yes. My play sessions take around 30min to a couple of hours and I certainly did not feel I've been wasting time. With only 2 character slots, I did have to think really carefully about what I would like to have as a main character and use the other slot for experimenting.
Flying was also a lot of fun especially after hitting level 9 and getting a power that allows me to charge opponents from the air. I have yet to try the other movement modes (acrobatics/wallwalking and speed running).
While the game does appear to have some sandbox elements, there is not much variation from beating up a random thug. Then again, there is usually something every couple blocks - Metropolis appears to have an invasion at every corner - so you can just go around and do punchups when you feel like it.
You also don't die, well, not in the normal MMO sense. Once defeated, you can run away - meaning you spawn at certain spots. Friendlies can also revive you and it works well in groups. Yes, it is just a change of semantics, but it blends well with the genre. I mean, you don't see superheroes die all the time, and those that do stay dead...or wait a few years to be resurrected.
Anything Not So Good?
It does take a bit of getting used to for first time players. You can't click on anything and interactions are done through the generic "use" key. Context of they key will depend on what you are looking at so it ranges from picking up objects to talking to quest givers or random NPCs. No, you cannot pick up a random NPC and throw him.
The game is made for a console and it shows. Graphics appear outdated, but still blends nicely with the whole comic book feel. As mentioned earlier, the controls are clunky and ported over from the PS3 gamepad. You can remap keys on the PC, but being comfortable with the game specific keys will take time.
There is also the matter of the game making your background for you - particularly about how your character got powers. You can certainly fill in the backstory before then, but it takes away from the RP aspect of the game. Its not a major thing, but the part of my brain that likes roleplaying just died a little bit. There is that disconnect that the Exobytes giving Batman-like powers when Batman actually has no powers. Even for comic books, that little part just makes me scratch my head in confusion.
Overall....
Enjoyment of the game will be highly dependent on how much you like the genre. As a quick dash and play game, it certainly has a lot of fun elements. As far as free to play games are concerned, a mark of a good game is one where you feel it's actually worth spending money on it and DCUO fits very well there. I am actually considering getting the Green Lantern DLC, and that says a lot seeing that I planned to not spend any money at all when I first started playing.
Highlights
By the time I really heard of the superhero games, I was well into my adventures in World of Warcraft and quite satisfied. I could not justify the costs involved to try out another game, nor could I justify the time. But now a good number of games have gone free to play so half of that equation is no longer valid. While time is still tight, I would be able to try things out and thus the Free Play column is born.
For the record, I played DCUO primarily on the PS3 but I did get the PC version just to check out some of the differences. The game itself is not totally different across both platforms, but it is obvious that the game was made for the PS3 and ported over.
What's Free?
The base game is free to download and play and there are no level caps for free accounts. So you can theoretically play much of the game without paying a penny. Take note that this is a ~16GB game so watch your bandwidth if you have one of those limited cap internet plans.
With the free account, you also get only 2 character slots, which would not be a huge problem unless you are dedicated alt-aholic. DLCs are also paid for, typically around $10 each. I also did not find a way to respec for free, so if you are dead set in paying nothing for the game, you better be really sure about how you spend your skill points. You are also capped with how much money you can have, I'm not certain how much though.
The store purchases do not have any major impact to game play or balance, but things like respecs, name changes, etc., are things that you need to pay for. Again, nothing that will really make the scrooges feel they need to pay anything for.
Is it Fun?
In short, yes. My play sessions take around 30min to a couple of hours and I certainly did not feel I've been wasting time. With only 2 character slots, I did have to think really carefully about what I would like to have as a main character and use the other slot for experimenting.
Flying was also a lot of fun especially after hitting level 9 and getting a power that allows me to charge opponents from the air. I have yet to try the other movement modes (acrobatics/wallwalking and speed running).
While the game does appear to have some sandbox elements, there is not much variation from beating up a random thug. Then again, there is usually something every couple blocks - Metropolis appears to have an invasion at every corner - so you can just go around and do punchups when you feel like it.
You also don't die, well, not in the normal MMO sense. Once defeated, you can run away - meaning you spawn at certain spots. Friendlies can also revive you and it works well in groups. Yes, it is just a change of semantics, but it blends well with the genre. I mean, you don't see superheroes die all the time, and those that do stay dead...or wait a few years to be resurrected.
Anything Not So Good?
It does take a bit of getting used to for first time players. You can't click on anything and interactions are done through the generic "use" key. Context of they key will depend on what you are looking at so it ranges from picking up objects to talking to quest givers or random NPCs. No, you cannot pick up a random NPC and throw him.
The game is made for a console and it shows. Graphics appear outdated, but still blends nicely with the whole comic book feel. As mentioned earlier, the controls are clunky and ported over from the PS3 gamepad. You can remap keys on the PC, but being comfortable with the game specific keys will take time.
There is also the matter of the game making your background for you - particularly about how your character got powers. You can certainly fill in the backstory before then, but it takes away from the RP aspect of the game. Its not a major thing, but the part of my brain that likes roleplaying just died a little bit. There is that disconnect that the Exobytes giving Batman-like powers when Batman actually has no powers. Even for comic books, that little part just makes me scratch my head in confusion.
Overall....
Enjoyment of the game will be highly dependent on how much you like the genre. As a quick dash and play game, it certainly has a lot of fun elements. As far as free to play games are concerned, a mark of a good game is one where you feel it's actually worth spending money on it and DCUO fits very well there. I am actually considering getting the Green Lantern DLC, and that says a lot seeing that I planned to not spend any money at all when I first started playing.
Highlights
- Breakable objects! Yes, not everything is breakable, but fights actually having some effect on the environment just makes it feel more....super.
- No need to actually target something. Anything in the path of the attack gets hit. This means being able to hit more than one thing at a time if they are grouped up. Again, more comic book style gaming!
- Being knocked off the air. A weird thing to be a highlight, but some attacks can take you off your movement mode, and therefore, if flying, fall down several stories. Hitting the ground doesn't kill you and it does have a great effect.
- Actually beating Bane! My first "boss" encounter was with Grodd and he ran away after stunning myself and The Flash. I thought Bane would do the same thing, but I was glad to be able to capture him.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Guild Wars 2: Signed Up But Sighing
I admit it, this article's title is probably one of the dumbest I've ever come up with, but I'm leaving it there. Besides, it is fairly accurate about my attitute towards Guild Wars 2. It's a sigh of indifference.
I've seen nothing but praise for the game after the media's beta event, which really is more like a demo - something I will touch upon at a later date. And from the publicly available videos, the game does look absolutely fantastic. Everything does appear very fluid and the level of polish makes it appear that the game is ready for launch. So after all this great hype, why am I indifferent about the game?
I have to remember another great game I really liked but was indifferent before I tried it - RIFT. I knew nothing about the game or the developers and the screenshots, as high-res as they were, looked like they were from an asian or free to play game. Turns out I was wrong and enjoyed my beta experience enough to sub for a few months.
That is the exact same feeling with Guild Wars 2. I never played Guild Wars so I don't know anything about the game or the developers. I listen to or watch videos of podcasts and I cannot deny the enthusiasm of those that have played the first Guild Wars but I could not understand it. This will probably all change once I get my hands on the game, whether it be the beta of getting a copy at launch.
I've seen nothing but praise for the game after the media's beta event, which really is more like a demo - something I will touch upon at a later date. And from the publicly available videos, the game does look absolutely fantastic. Everything does appear very fluid and the level of polish makes it appear that the game is ready for launch. So after all this great hype, why am I indifferent about the game?
I have to remember another great game I really liked but was indifferent before I tried it - RIFT. I knew nothing about the game or the developers and the screenshots, as high-res as they were, looked like they were from an asian or free to play game. Turns out I was wrong and enjoyed my beta experience enough to sub for a few months.
That is the exact same feeling with Guild Wars 2. I never played Guild Wars so I don't know anything about the game or the developers. I listen to or watch videos of podcasts and I cannot deny the enthusiasm of those that have played the first Guild Wars but I could not understand it. This will probably all change once I get my hands on the game, whether it be the beta of getting a copy at launch.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
SWTOR: What Would Make Ilum Better?
I'm pretty sure that everyone is so tired of talking about Ilum. But for all the complaints and problems encountered, the zone has a lot of potential. As the game gets more level 50s willing to slug it out, improvements to Ilum will be needed sooner than later.
Tangible Rewards
Better known as "Why are we fighting for this place again?".
No, not talking about pets or gear, but anything that will make a visible impact to the players or gameplay. It doesn't even have to be overpowered either. The valor buff from taking control points is actually a good start and can benefit even small groups against a larger, less organized, horde. Having it also give bonuses to warzones was also a good idea.
There had been talk before of being able to access the rarest of rare materials from the zone based on who controls Ilum and that will be a huge bonus as well. As it stands though, full control cannot be maintained long enough for such a reward to be even useful.
Fleet Announcements/Monitors
One of my biggest frustrations with Ilum is that, when I get there, either nothing is happening or something interesting happened and it is already over. Timing is everything and with good timing/luck, you can get into exciting battles. Conversely, going to Ilum when nothing is happening can be mind-snappingly dull as you play arament carousel with 30 other people.
Being able to see if any action is happening on Ilum will definitely help bring in people. A quick check of a map or pvp monitor can indicate how many of each faction are in Ilum and if there is a fight going on. A fleet-wide chat can also allow players to send out a "call to arms" and notify people that a major battle is happening. But of course, that leads to the next improvement suggestion....
Instant or Faster Travel to Ilum
As it stands, getting to Ilum from the fleet requires the following steps:
A direct shuttle to the Ilum PvP area would do wonders to open up the zone and make PvP there more accessible. Having a system like this will allow fights to escalate quickly and last longer as more people start pouring in.
Granted, there can't always be battles in the zone as there definitely are other things to do, but having these improvements can make those that do happen truly epic...or at least, something positive to talk about.
Tangible Rewards
Better known as "Why are we fighting for this place again?".
No, not talking about pets or gear, but anything that will make a visible impact to the players or gameplay. It doesn't even have to be overpowered either. The valor buff from taking control points is actually a good start and can benefit even small groups against a larger, less organized, horde. Having it also give bonuses to warzones was also a good idea.
There had been talk before of being able to access the rarest of rare materials from the zone based on who controls Ilum and that will be a huge bonus as well. As it stands though, full control cannot be maintained long enough for such a reward to be even useful.
Fleet Announcements/Monitors
One of my biggest frustrations with Ilum is that, when I get there, either nothing is happening or something interesting happened and it is already over. Timing is everything and with good timing/luck, you can get into exciting battles. Conversely, going to Ilum when nothing is happening can be mind-snappingly dull as you play arament carousel with 30 other people.
Being able to see if any action is happening on Ilum will definitely help bring in people. A quick check of a map or pvp monitor can indicate how many of each faction are in Ilum and if there is a fight going on. A fleet-wide chat can also allow players to send out a "call to arms" and notify people that a major battle is happening. But of course, that leads to the next improvement suggestion....
Instant or Faster Travel to Ilum
As it stands, getting to Ilum from the fleet requires the following steps:
- Enter elevator to hangar
- Enter ship
- Fly to Ilum
- Enter orbital station
- Enter elevator in orbital station
- Take shuttle down to Ilum
- Take speeder to PvP zone
A direct shuttle to the Ilum PvP area would do wonders to open up the zone and make PvP there more accessible. Having a system like this will allow fights to escalate quickly and last longer as more people start pouring in.
Granted, there can't always be battles in the zone as there definitely are other things to do, but having these improvements can make those that do happen truly epic...or at least, something positive to talk about.
Monday, January 30, 2012
RIFT: Not Quite the Return to Telara
Out of curiousity, I logged on to my RIFT account to check if it had been compramised. Luckily, all is good and I was also prompted to change the password to be more secure. Interestingly, I found that I had 3 days of play time left on my account even if there hadn't been any subscription info on there nor was there any email notice of that fact.
Of course, I had to make sure it was legitimate so a quick search brought up info that Trion gave 3 days for former subscribers. Certainly a good way to get people back in the game and I applaud Trion for the initiative, though I did wish I had some info about it sooner. Just as well since I had been wondering about the changes since I last played. I was not there for the 1.5 and 1.6 patches. Come to think of it, I think I missed the 1.4 patch as well. I was always impressed by the game's graphics and soul system. I was less impressed with how obvious the grind was presented. Some gripes aside, it is a great game and at times, I forgot why I even quit.
Over the weekend, I remembered. It still is the great game from a few months back, but that's also the biggest problem. There simply was nothing for me to do. I tried out the Chronicles and got my behind handed to me on a platter in Greenscale's Blight. Hammerknell, on the other hand, was a very easy and quick Chronicle. I queued for a T2 dungeon and I got Abyssal Precipice and that has not changed either. I tried an Instant Adventure and got...well...something. The AA system was interesting, but also looked overwhelming considering I had only 3 days to play around with the game.
There simply was no incentive for me to advance any further. Perhaps if I had only lower levels or a new 50, I may have wanted to see more of the game. Granted, I haven't tried Ember Isle yet, but that's my point - I had no reason to do so.
MMORPGs rely completely on the carrot on the stick method of keeping their gamers' attention. But perception plays a key role here too and that carrot may not look quite as appealing to some than it does others.
In my case with RIFT, I do not raid. I don't have any intention to raid, and neither do I have any intention to PvP a lot. This leaves me with no reason to gear up or improve my character in any way. For most of the couple of hours I was online, I checked my bags and mail, as well as checked the auction house - which had fewer things in it than months ago.
RIFT is still a great looking game, but without friends, or a guild, or a good idea of what I want to do in the world of Telara, there is simply no reason to stay logged on. Perhaps one day I may return, but this free gameday weekend was just not it.
Highlights of the weekend:
- T2 dungeon queue popped for me as a DPS role - at 8am on a Saturday morning. Surprising but the run itself was pretty by-the-numbers.
- Instant Adventures brought me to Shimmersand with a chain of quests, but did not send me back when I left it. Leaving an instant adventure apparently just means leave raid and abandon quest.
- Accessibility of raid gear has improved. Still slow unless you run dungeons a lot. And like I said, there was no incentive to do so anyway.
- I realized I haven't tried the game since my graphics card upgrade. Everything looked GREAT!
- Mashing up to 3 macro buttons was not fun then, it certainly isn't fun now. But hey, it worked and the results were good.
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