When the XBox One was revealed a few weeks ago, there was quite a bit of online outrage from the gaming community. The complaint, among other things, was that Microsoft seemed to have shoved the gaming capabilities of the console as a minor footnote. Instead, they spent most of almost two hours on how TV and online connectivity works together with the hardware to provide a great living room experience.
To say the more vocal of the gaming community was pissed is an understatement. Why isn't this XBox focused on gaming? The 360 was great because Microsoft had a commitment on making a great gaming experience, why didn't they do the same here? Where is my dedicated gaming console?
To this, I bring the argument that the gaming capabilities are right there. But gamers were not the target of the announcement.
Let's face it, gamers are not as prolific as we would like to think. Sure, a lot of people play games, but a good number of those use games just to pass the time. Not every gamer would be into the Call of Duty(s) or Skyrims or World of Warcrafts. Arguably, more would just play the Angry Birds or Bejeweleds or Sodukus during the commute to/from work or waiting for a friend to show up.
We should also not be surprised about this. Just looking at what XBox Live has been offering over the past few years gives us a hint at Microsoft's direction with the platform.
Microsoft has the unenviable position of having such a diverse portfolio that they are fighting aggressive competetion on multiple fronts. Apple, Google, Sony, and Nintendo (*snicker*) are just the big players that are fighting on different markets.
To this end, Microsoft has taken the huge risk of most of their proverbial eggs into one basket. The XBox One and XBox Live is their answer to Apple TV, iTunes, Google play, the PS4, the Wii U, and television DVRs. I can't really say they are competing with Smart TVs. I have tried a Smart TV, and I find my XBox 360 works a whole lot better. Heck, I'd rather use my PS3 than struggle with the Smart TV controls.
It is the fact that the XBox One has such diverse features that they needed their announcement to hit the right notes with as many people as possible. To be rather honest, I was really impressed by it. Sure, the gaming demos were pretty generic (ooooh...better wrinkles), but the capabilities are there. They have a chance to focus on gaming at E3 in a few days and I do hope they capitalize on that opportunity to win gamers over.
Am I being apologetic for Microsoft? Not really. They do not need my help in defending themselves nor will any of my words really matter. I am not in agreement with some of their policies (always online for example). But this does not mean I should be outraged. As a consumer of other services the XBox One offers, I find the device, as a whole, very interesting.
But will I actually buy one on release? As it is, not likely. My 360 is fairly new and, frankly, does everything I need at the moment. I also have a PS3 which is older and that won't be replaced either. The only thing i'd watch out for is if it will be worth buying a Kinect.
As for us gamers and gamers at heart, lets all just calm down and see what Microsoft has in store for us at E3. While I still expect a lot of TV and XBox Live talk, they should have ample opportunity to reel us in with what we want to hear.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
DRM - Does Remove Me from games
I miss the days when all you needed to do was insert a cartridge in a console or disk in a PC and just play a video game. At worst, I had to enter a code that was somewhere in the oversized box. Consoles never had that issue.
Just to be clear, piracy is indeed a problem, but how big of a problem is something to debate about. Thing is, as soon as money was paid for software, there were already pirates. The interesting thing is that, despite all this, game developers during the time were still able to grow and make a profit. There was enough profit in the gaming industry that they have become this large bloated mess we see today - and that was when there was rampant pirating.
The different DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies over the years have pretty much failed to curb piracy, but has succeeded in making gamer's lives more inconvenient. So ... hurray? The main problem with almost every DRM tech available is that, if it fails, it only affects gamers who buy the game, not the pirates. While we fiddle around entering codes of ungodly legnths, those with pirated games are enjoying the game as soon as they insert the disk.
The latest DRM trend is "always online". The game basically sends an occassional "all is well" signal to the developer that I am not a pirate. However, if the game is unable to send the signal, then I would be unable to play the game - even if it is a single person title.
Probably the most famous of examples is Diablo 3. Yes, there are some online aspects that requires an internet connection, but the core of the game is for single player. And yet, the game requires that you are logged in to the BattleNet servers to even get a chance to play.
What if I lose internet connection because of my ISP and no fault of my own? I can't play the game. Even as something to pass the time, there is no mode to allow me to destroy my pixelated enemies.
SIM City also had this problem, and, as it appears companies love the idea, the XBOX One will have this "feature" as well.
So if I buy a game on disk and, for some reason lose internet connection, I won't be able to play the game. Or any game for that matter.
Something there just ... does not sound right.
I can understand being unable to access online offerings, fine. But I should not be prevented from playing a single player game I had bought a disk for or have a legal copy on hard disk. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of buying the disk in the first place?
Yes, it is reasonable to think many people who play video games have a stable internet connection, but it is naive to think that MOST do. Even those with stable internet relies on their ISP to be 100% reliable, which they are not. From experience, multi-day outages can happen. Sure, there are other things to do, but if I paid $60 for a game, I better be damned able to play it when I want.
I was raised in a generation where buying a console meant I could play anytime and network connectivity is just an added plus. This kind of limitation to a hobby I enjoy just does not make sense. No, I will not go out of my way to get a workaround to play a pirated game. This will just make me stop buying games completely.
I am all for protecting the rights of developers and their right to make money. But going this far in an attempt to broaden profits just makes little sense. How about this? Make quality games at accessible prices and just let people enjoy it. Provide additional fun services for those able to go online and not make it a requirement. I'm pretty sure catering to the cost conscious will help raise those profit margins than spending exhorbitant amounts to fight piracy.
Let me play the games I paid good money for and don't punish me when things happen that I have no control over - like your online servers failing. *cough*diablo*cough*simcity*cough*
Just to be clear, piracy is indeed a problem, but how big of a problem is something to debate about. Thing is, as soon as money was paid for software, there were already pirates. The interesting thing is that, despite all this, game developers during the time were still able to grow and make a profit. There was enough profit in the gaming industry that they have become this large bloated mess we see today - and that was when there was rampant pirating.
The different DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies over the years have pretty much failed to curb piracy, but has succeeded in making gamer's lives more inconvenient. So ... hurray? The main problem with almost every DRM tech available is that, if it fails, it only affects gamers who buy the game, not the pirates. While we fiddle around entering codes of ungodly legnths, those with pirated games are enjoying the game as soon as they insert the disk.
The latest DRM trend is "always online". The game basically sends an occassional "all is well" signal to the developer that I am not a pirate. However, if the game is unable to send the signal, then I would be unable to play the game - even if it is a single person title.
Probably the most famous of examples is Diablo 3. Yes, there are some online aspects that requires an internet connection, but the core of the game is for single player. And yet, the game requires that you are logged in to the BattleNet servers to even get a chance to play.
What if I lose internet connection because of my ISP and no fault of my own? I can't play the game. Even as something to pass the time, there is no mode to allow me to destroy my pixelated enemies.
SIM City also had this problem, and, as it appears companies love the idea, the XBOX One will have this "feature" as well.
So if I buy a game on disk and, for some reason lose internet connection, I won't be able to play the game. Or any game for that matter.
Something there just ... does not sound right.
I can understand being unable to access online offerings, fine. But I should not be prevented from playing a single player game I had bought a disk for or have a legal copy on hard disk. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of buying the disk in the first place?
Yes, it is reasonable to think many people who play video games have a stable internet connection, but it is naive to think that MOST do. Even those with stable internet relies on their ISP to be 100% reliable, which they are not. From experience, multi-day outages can happen. Sure, there are other things to do, but if I paid $60 for a game, I better be damned able to play it when I want.
I was raised in a generation where buying a console meant I could play anytime and network connectivity is just an added plus. This kind of limitation to a hobby I enjoy just does not make sense. No, I will not go out of my way to get a workaround to play a pirated game. This will just make me stop buying games completely.
I am all for protecting the rights of developers and their right to make money. But going this far in an attempt to broaden profits just makes little sense. How about this? Make quality games at accessible prices and just let people enjoy it. Provide additional fun services for those able to go online and not make it a requirement. I'm pretty sure catering to the cost conscious will help raise those profit margins than spending exhorbitant amounts to fight piracy.
Let me play the games I paid good money for and don't punish me when things happen that I have no control over - like your online servers failing. *cough*diablo*cough*simcity*cough*
Friday, June 7, 2013
Bravo Trion, Bravo.
No, I am not being sarcastic with the header. I am truly, truly giving Trion a nice, standing ovation.
Just to be clear, I do not believe that Trion is the Luke Skywalker to Blizzard or EA's Darth Vader as fans make them out to be. Trion themselves try to enchance the impression that they are what everyone else wants bigger developers to be.
Truth of the matter is that, while. as a relatively small company that automatically garners empathy from their customers almost as if they are an independent (or "indie") developer, they are still a big company with big goals. Not EA or Activision levels naturally, but large nonetheless. They are not immune to bad press or bad decisions, but are small enough to be able to disappear through the cracks of larger news (i.e. next gen consoles, EA gaffes, etc.).
No, if nothing else shows that Trion is just your average corporation, there is always Defiance.
So why am I applauding Trion despite them being a cold, heartless company? It is because they seem to have such an uncanny sense of timing, marketing, and making things accessible.
Flash back to late 2010. World of Warcraft's playerbase was only getting larger but big companies were getting ready to attempt to take a piece of that consumer pie. In particular, Guild Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic were getting their big guns ready to come out of the gate blazing. But they were at least one or two years away. There was just a huge gap of practically nothing noteworthy being released for the MMO genre.
Then a few months later comes lesser known Trion Worlds that suprised a lot of people with their MMO offering beta weekends. There is no shaking the fact that this was a huge marketing ploy for pre-ordering the game, but it was quite an excellent game. It was pretty much like World of Warcraft but with enough differences and improvements to be a fresh experience to experienced gamers.
Needless to say, Rift was a huge hit on release. Not only was it a great game in it's own right, it was lauched early 2011 when there were no other major competitors other than World of Warcraft. They even had monthly updates to the game, which, even now, is rather unprecidented.
It didn't take long for subscriber levels to shrink and larger competitors started showing up. Still, Trion was able to use this time to gear up and, just as they did during release, brought out their first expansion when there were no other major announcements from competitors.
Now that Rift is going free to play, they appear to be capitalizing on the one thing competitors like Neverwinter doesn't have - previous gamers. In advance of their free to play release, Rift has now become playable to anyone who has bought their game, even if you only played the free month that came with the original game 2 years ago.
Granted, the Storm Legion expansion has to be bought in order to play that content, Trion's partnership with media and the Raptr service (raptr.com) has provided a lot of free copies. In fact, Raptr still has some codes to give out should you meet their requirements. This is how I got my copy, but I certainly was willing to shell out the $40 to get the expansion when free to play started.
I know it is just circumstantial evidence, and my own experiences cannot be read as fact, but logging in to Rift duing prime gaming hours saw a bustle of activity from people coming back to the game and trying it out again. In many dungeon groups, 3 out of 5 would state that they have come back after months of hiatus. Sometimes, everyone in the group was trying to relearn the game, which proved very interesting.
In order for people to be willing to pay for virtual items in a game, they have to be able to play the game and Trion seems to understand this. Having free players access to all content is just a great decision which also been good for games like Guild Wars.
I have no doubt there will be a spike of players once the free to play update goes live. The question will be how much of that player base they can retain and, among those, how many would regularly buy from the store. Only time will tell, but for now I can say that it's good to be back to Telara.
Just to be clear, I do not believe that Trion is the Luke Skywalker to Blizzard or EA's Darth Vader as fans make them out to be. Trion themselves try to enchance the impression that they are what everyone else wants bigger developers to be.
Truth of the matter is that, while. as a relatively small company that automatically garners empathy from their customers almost as if they are an independent (or "indie") developer, they are still a big company with big goals. Not EA or Activision levels naturally, but large nonetheless. They are not immune to bad press or bad decisions, but are small enough to be able to disappear through the cracks of larger news (i.e. next gen consoles, EA gaffes, etc.).
No, if nothing else shows that Trion is just your average corporation, there is always Defiance.
So why am I applauding Trion despite them being a cold, heartless company? It is because they seem to have such an uncanny sense of timing, marketing, and making things accessible.
Flash back to late 2010. World of Warcraft's playerbase was only getting larger but big companies were getting ready to attempt to take a piece of that consumer pie. In particular, Guild Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic were getting their big guns ready to come out of the gate blazing. But they were at least one or two years away. There was just a huge gap of practically nothing noteworthy being released for the MMO genre.
Then a few months later comes lesser known Trion Worlds that suprised a lot of people with their MMO offering beta weekends. There is no shaking the fact that this was a huge marketing ploy for pre-ordering the game, but it was quite an excellent game. It was pretty much like World of Warcraft but with enough differences and improvements to be a fresh experience to experienced gamers.
Needless to say, Rift was a huge hit on release. Not only was it a great game in it's own right, it was lauched early 2011 when there were no other major competitors other than World of Warcraft. They even had monthly updates to the game, which, even now, is rather unprecidented.
It didn't take long for subscriber levels to shrink and larger competitors started showing up. Still, Trion was able to use this time to gear up and, just as they did during release, brought out their first expansion when there were no other major announcements from competitors.
Now that Rift is going free to play, they appear to be capitalizing on the one thing competitors like Neverwinter doesn't have - previous gamers. In advance of their free to play release, Rift has now become playable to anyone who has bought their game, even if you only played the free month that came with the original game 2 years ago.
Granted, the Storm Legion expansion has to be bought in order to play that content, Trion's partnership with media and the Raptr service (raptr.com) has provided a lot of free copies. In fact, Raptr still has some codes to give out should you meet their requirements. This is how I got my copy, but I certainly was willing to shell out the $40 to get the expansion when free to play started.
I know it is just circumstantial evidence, and my own experiences cannot be read as fact, but logging in to Rift duing prime gaming hours saw a bustle of activity from people coming back to the game and trying it out again. In many dungeon groups, 3 out of 5 would state that they have come back after months of hiatus. Sometimes, everyone in the group was trying to relearn the game, which proved very interesting.
In order for people to be willing to pay for virtual items in a game, they have to be able to play the game and Trion seems to understand this. Having free players access to all content is just a great decision which also been good for games like Guild Wars.
I have no doubt there will be a spike of players once the free to play update goes live. The question will be how much of that player base they can retain and, among those, how many would regularly buy from the store. Only time will tell, but for now I can say that it's good to be back to Telara.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Quick Peek: Rise of the Hutt Cartel
This has not been a good week for me when it comes to gaming. Two game releases I was watching out for and not enough time to properly review either. Ah well, at least there are these first impressions.
So Star Wars: The Old Republic finally released it's first expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. Other than the level cap increase from 50 to 55, there are quite a few nice changes. Class talents and abilities have been tuned for the additional levels, but I cannot honestly say if any balance issues were fixed or if any new ones arose. There were some interesting playstyle changes due to some change, like adding yet another ability to the Jedi Shadow tank rotation for additional threat. I also did like making the Mercenary's Kolto Missile baseline rather than a talent.
Interestingly, gear levels didn't quite jump as high as I would have thought. A gear level of 126 is recommended for level 50 hard mode flashpoints and 146 for level 55 ones. That means that anyone already in Black Hole/Campaign gear will be able to just jump right into the group finder once they hit 55. This also means that they already outgear much of the new leveling content.
Case in point, my own Jedi Guardian is mostly in Black Hole/Rakata gear and the first set of quests really did not pose much of a problem. I was even ambushed by a level 51 champion droid while AFK (lesson: never afk in hostile territory) and still beat it with my companion dead and was down to 64% health when I got back to my keyboard. The first Heroic 2+ quest did not pose any challenge at all to solo. I am pretty sure newer players or those who has new 50s would find things challenging and may want to run some level 50 flashpoints to help gear up.
As far as new content goes, Makeb has a pretty interesting story. Granted, I've only finished one set of missions, so I cannot give much of an opinion on it overall. Same with the new operation and additional hard mode flashpoints.
From what I have seen, Rise of the Hutt Cartel is pretty much just more SWTOR. Whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. I will be playing more once my time frees up, but I have yet to get really excited about it. Time will tell if Bioware manages to bring the game back up into prominence or simply maintained the status quo.
Highlights
So Star Wars: The Old Republic finally released it's first expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. Other than the level cap increase from 50 to 55, there are quite a few nice changes. Class talents and abilities have been tuned for the additional levels, but I cannot honestly say if any balance issues were fixed or if any new ones arose. There were some interesting playstyle changes due to some change, like adding yet another ability to the Jedi Shadow tank rotation for additional threat. I also did like making the Mercenary's Kolto Missile baseline rather than a talent.
Interestingly, gear levels didn't quite jump as high as I would have thought. A gear level of 126 is recommended for level 50 hard mode flashpoints and 146 for level 55 ones. That means that anyone already in Black Hole/Campaign gear will be able to just jump right into the group finder once they hit 55. This also means that they already outgear much of the new leveling content.
Case in point, my own Jedi Guardian is mostly in Black Hole/Rakata gear and the first set of quests really did not pose much of a problem. I was even ambushed by a level 51 champion droid while AFK (lesson: never afk in hostile territory) and still beat it with my companion dead and was down to 64% health when I got back to my keyboard. The first Heroic 2+ quest did not pose any challenge at all to solo. I am pretty sure newer players or those who has new 50s would find things challenging and may want to run some level 50 flashpoints to help gear up.
As far as new content goes, Makeb has a pretty interesting story. Granted, I've only finished one set of missions, so I cannot give much of an opinion on it overall. Same with the new operation and additional hard mode flashpoints.
From what I have seen, Rise of the Hutt Cartel is pretty much just more SWTOR. Whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. I will be playing more once my time frees up, but I have yet to get really excited about it. Time will tell if Bioware manages to bring the game back up into prominence or simply maintained the status quo.
Highlights
- Finally! Transferrable set bonuses on old set gear! That has been on the want list for like...over a year. Better late then never I suppose. Now my Shadow and Assassin can look like less of an idiot. This also means adaptive gear is way, way more valuable. Well, the good looking ones anyway.
- Following up with the first point is that new gear looks absolutely awful. I really, really need to know what goes on when they design the gear.
- Consolidated planetary currency. Thank goodness for that. A definite plus for those leveling characters and they can allow currency earned to be carried over to the next planet.
- Bioware made sure to get more voice acting done for new content which is always very much appreciated. Nothing irks me more than content where my character does not say anything; likely due to not being able to get the original voice actors.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Quick Peek: Defiance
So some friends convinced me to give Defiance a try last weekend, so I gave it a try. I gotta say that I hope my first impressions don't last.
The game took a very long time to download - almost 30 minutes and was later plagued by a number of connection issues. While such issues are not new in online game launches, most end up stable enough by the first weekend. This was certainly not so and the most play i've gotten in the weekend was just past the first major story mission; maybe 1-2 hours in.
Over the past week though, I was able to get a few hours of gaming in and I am happy to say that it is a fun game. Not a great game by any stretch, but fun nonetheless. Still not enough to really give a full review, but it's impressions give me enough to talk about.
One thing to note first though, is that Defiance is not a redefinition of an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), though it certainly fits the MMO category quite well. It is basically a third person shooter with a Massive Multiplayer map (seewutIdidthur?). It definitely does not fit well as an RPG. Other than a decent character creation screen, there are hardly any roleplaying aspects in the game. You play as a silent character that really just tags along with whatever the main characters are doing. So yeah, it's a typical shooter.
Speaking of the story, it is pretty lackluster. Considering that this game has a tie-in with an upcoming TV show with the same name, one would think that they will want to get people hyped up about the show through the game. I've seen the trailers for the show, and it came off as pretty bland, but I still definitely check it out. The game itself does not add anything to build anticipation nor does it even provide any good backstory for the world.
All I can gather is that aliens immigrated to earth which ended up devastated by....something. Mutants (mutated by what, I have no clue) and raiders (various factions, but all the same), form the token organized group of antagonists in addition to "hellbugs", insect-like aliens that are really rather generic non-human enemies. Some even remind me of Half-Life headcrabs.
Enemy AI is ... well, decent I suppose. There are some that dodge out of the way during combat, but I can't really tell if they dodge in response to an attack or just to move into position. There is also little variety with the AI among same types to the point that they become incredibly predictable. Much of the challenge in the game is really due to suddenly becoming overwhelmed by enemies. Many, many times, I carefully snipe 5 raiders and then find 6 others spawned right next to me.
But questions like, who these aliens are, where did they come from, what the hell happened to devastate the earth? Those things are just plan lacking in the game. Considering that it is an absolutely new franchise, backstory does allow more immersion in the world and would make us care about the TV show. Rift was a new franchise that did well to establish the world to it's players. Yes, it was rather simplistic, but it was enough to at least know what was going on and who we are fighting and why. In Defiance, we are just living to get by, with no real way to relate to it's world other than it's yet another post-apocalyptic Earth.
As for gameplay, it is a shooter. I am not exactly the best person to say whether it is a good or bad shooter, but it works out nicely. Coming from playing MMORPGs for years though, the controls were a bit odd. Not being able to mouse-move threw me for a loop at the start, but thats just me not being a shooter person to begin with.
Other shooter type gameplay elements include different weapon loadouts (although only 2 weapons per loadout can be equiped), regenerating health/shields (although healing weapons are available later in the game), and headshots...oh I love headshots. Controls are minimal compared to an RPG and really works better with a console gamepad. Still, the PC setup allows me to make some nice headshots. Did I mention that I like headshots?
The options interface was definitely harder to get used to and shows evidence that the game is a console port. It took me quite a while to figure out how to even exit from the game. Normally, the ESC button brings up the main menu, but this time it only shows the loadout screen. Hitting the spacebar for a radial menu is really not intuitive.
All in all, Defiance is a pretty decent game and, despite several gripes, is genuinely fun. Hopefully the story picks up later on and I actually do want to see the TV show become popular so we get to see how the tie-in works.
Highlights
The game took a very long time to download - almost 30 minutes and was later plagued by a number of connection issues. While such issues are not new in online game launches, most end up stable enough by the first weekend. This was certainly not so and the most play i've gotten in the weekend was just past the first major story mission; maybe 1-2 hours in.
Over the past week though, I was able to get a few hours of gaming in and I am happy to say that it is a fun game. Not a great game by any stretch, but fun nonetheless. Still not enough to really give a full review, but it's impressions give me enough to talk about.
One thing to note first though, is that Defiance is not a redefinition of an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), though it certainly fits the MMO category quite well. It is basically a third person shooter with a Massive Multiplayer map (seewutIdidthur?). It definitely does not fit well as an RPG. Other than a decent character creation screen, there are hardly any roleplaying aspects in the game. You play as a silent character that really just tags along with whatever the main characters are doing. So yeah, it's a typical shooter.
Speaking of the story, it is pretty lackluster. Considering that this game has a tie-in with an upcoming TV show with the same name, one would think that they will want to get people hyped up about the show through the game. I've seen the trailers for the show, and it came off as pretty bland, but I still definitely check it out. The game itself does not add anything to build anticipation nor does it even provide any good backstory for the world.
All I can gather is that aliens immigrated to earth which ended up devastated by....something. Mutants (mutated by what, I have no clue) and raiders (various factions, but all the same), form the token organized group of antagonists in addition to "hellbugs", insect-like aliens that are really rather generic non-human enemies. Some even remind me of Half-Life headcrabs.
Enemy AI is ... well, decent I suppose. There are some that dodge out of the way during combat, but I can't really tell if they dodge in response to an attack or just to move into position. There is also little variety with the AI among same types to the point that they become incredibly predictable. Much of the challenge in the game is really due to suddenly becoming overwhelmed by enemies. Many, many times, I carefully snipe 5 raiders and then find 6 others spawned right next to me.
But questions like, who these aliens are, where did they come from, what the hell happened to devastate the earth? Those things are just plan lacking in the game. Considering that it is an absolutely new franchise, backstory does allow more immersion in the world and would make us care about the TV show. Rift was a new franchise that did well to establish the world to it's players. Yes, it was rather simplistic, but it was enough to at least know what was going on and who we are fighting and why. In Defiance, we are just living to get by, with no real way to relate to it's world other than it's yet another post-apocalyptic Earth.
As for gameplay, it is a shooter. I am not exactly the best person to say whether it is a good or bad shooter, but it works out nicely. Coming from playing MMORPGs for years though, the controls were a bit odd. Not being able to mouse-move threw me for a loop at the start, but thats just me not being a shooter person to begin with.
Other shooter type gameplay elements include different weapon loadouts (although only 2 weapons per loadout can be equiped), regenerating health/shields (although healing weapons are available later in the game), and headshots...oh I love headshots. Controls are minimal compared to an RPG and really works better with a console gamepad. Still, the PC setup allows me to make some nice headshots. Did I mention that I like headshots?
The options interface was definitely harder to get used to and shows evidence that the game is a console port. It took me quite a while to figure out how to even exit from the game. Normally, the ESC button brings up the main menu, but this time it only shows the loadout screen. Hitting the spacebar for a radial menu is really not intuitive.
All in all, Defiance is a pretty decent game and, despite several gripes, is genuinely fun. Hopefully the story picks up later on and I actually do want to see the TV show become popular so we get to see how the tie-in works.
Highlights
- Have I mentioned Defiance is free to play? Well sorta. Updates are paid for, but the cost is still unknown. Season pass for all updates in the year is $39.95 but how many updates we will see is also unknown.
- Headshots! Most human enemies die with one well placed shot. Although I would have liked to see effects on different parts - like disarming armshots or slowing legshots.
- The EGO system is Defiance's talent system. Interesting but rather complex so I don't have much of an opinion if it yet. All I know is that I am probably doing something wrong.
- Vehicle driving is fun and has a bit of a learning curve. Being able to run over bugs was a pleasant surprise.
- I like that different weapons have different feel to them. A machine gun fire feels more weighty than a sub-machine gun. Goes the same with different weapons of the same class (i.e. different types of shotguns)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Injustice Demo Impressions (XBOX)
Even for someone who is only mildly into fighting games or DC comics, I find Injustice to be an oddly compelling package. Fighting games have always fascinated me with pretty fancy attack moves. I am not ashamed to admit that my attention to this genre completely depends on how awesome an ultramegasuperduperfinaldashpicnhmeinthecheek attack is. Challenge is low on the totem pole when choosing fighting games and my lack of skill with them only shames me ever so slightly. Granted, setting the bar very low for myself does allow me to enjoy the game even when another player is handing me my ass on a platter.
Since comics these days are all about being as flashy as possible, Injustice did make a lot of sense. I have to say that I did find the game rather fun.
The demo itself was pretty light with only 3 playable characters and one battle mode, but it should be sufficient to preview the most important aspect of the game - the fighting. I liked how playstyles differed with each character; Lex Luthor did feel like someone in a giant mech suit would be and is not as agile as Batman. Even without a change of difficulty, Doomsday felt like a more powerful and sturdy opponent than those before him. Controls were responsive and, thankfully, not too punishing to my clumsy fingers. I manage to pull off moves I wanted more so than most other fighting games.
Speaking of moves, I have to just prostrate myself in praise of this game in the fact that you can pin move lists in the fighting screen. One of the biggest difficultiesI have with this genre is the fact that I cannot memorize the more complex or more powerful moves. Being able to see specific moves without having to pause and go through multiple screens every time is something that ALL fighting games should do. No more excuses.
The superduperspecial attacks are also pretty nice and flashy as expected and easy enough to execute once the special bar is full (just press both trigger buttons on the XBOX). These attacks can be blocked however and, really, can end up being a disadvantage, even if it does succeed.
One thing I did notice was that the special power bar has more uses than charging the megabeatdown attack. Parts of it can be consumed to make character specific attacks more powerful like adding an explosion to Batman's batarang attack, and it can be used to even regenerate health via the wager system.
True to many, MANY, mainstream comics, the game allows for a head on head attack by both players trough a wager. Each player wagers parts of his/her power bar and they go charge each other. The one who wagers more power ends up the winner and can regain a certain amount of health. Not sure what happens when there's a tie as I've never actually won a wager yet. All this does introduce a level of strategy with, sadly, is way beyond me but is welcome all the same.
All in all, I had fun with the demo and I do want to see more of it. It won't be a priority purchase though and my getting it will depend on whether I am enthralled by another game or not.
Since comics these days are all about being as flashy as possible, Injustice did make a lot of sense. I have to say that I did find the game rather fun.
The demo itself was pretty light with only 3 playable characters and one battle mode, but it should be sufficient to preview the most important aspect of the game - the fighting. I liked how playstyles differed with each character; Lex Luthor did feel like someone in a giant mech suit would be and is not as agile as Batman. Even without a change of difficulty, Doomsday felt like a more powerful and sturdy opponent than those before him. Controls were responsive and, thankfully, not too punishing to my clumsy fingers. I manage to pull off moves I wanted more so than most other fighting games.
Speaking of moves, I have to just prostrate myself in praise of this game in the fact that you can pin move lists in the fighting screen. One of the biggest difficultiesI have with this genre is the fact that I cannot memorize the more complex or more powerful moves. Being able to see specific moves without having to pause and go through multiple screens every time is something that ALL fighting games should do. No more excuses.
The superduperspecial attacks are also pretty nice and flashy as expected and easy enough to execute once the special bar is full (just press both trigger buttons on the XBOX). These attacks can be blocked however and, really, can end up being a disadvantage, even if it does succeed.
One thing I did notice was that the special power bar has more uses than charging the megabeatdown attack. Parts of it can be consumed to make character specific attacks more powerful like adding an explosion to Batman's batarang attack, and it can be used to even regenerate health via the wager system.
True to many, MANY, mainstream comics, the game allows for a head on head attack by both players trough a wager. Each player wagers parts of his/her power bar and they go charge each other. The one who wagers more power ends up the winner and can regain a certain amount of health. Not sure what happens when there's a tie as I've never actually won a wager yet. All this does introduce a level of strategy with, sadly, is way beyond me but is welcome all the same.
All in all, I had fun with the demo and I do want to see more of it. It won't be a priority purchase though and my getting it will depend on whether I am enthralled by another game or not.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
XCOM: Welcome Back Commander
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.
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.
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.
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