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: 

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. 

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.

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:

• 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.