Its been...three or four months since I last had a game night? I might be exaggerating a bit, but if I am it's not by much. And my dissatisfaction at having no game night is carrying over into the other games I do play. World of Tanks has lost a lot of its luster. League of Legends is no substitute for Warcraft 3: Defense of the Ancients. Even with Star Trek Online going "free to play" hasn't done anything to alleviate my gaming melancholy.
Speaking of Star Trek Online, Cryptic has screwed up in a major way with how they are rolling out the "free to play" for STO. Apparently you can download the game without a problem, but the game is still asking you to subscribe in order to play. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of going "f2p"?
As far as World of Tanks goes, Wargames.net recently (perhaps a few months ago) had a large patch wherein the developers added a few extra tiers to the light tank track. These tanks now max out at tier five...and somehow they end up in games against tier ten tanks. This is not a problem if you are in any tank other than artillery. There are several issues with the game that all come together at this juncture that have considerably diminished the playability of the game in my opinion. These new light tanks are the catalyst. The other parts of the equation come from the driving/turning speed. the reload rate, and the aiming time that higher tier artillery suffer. Against similarly ranked tanks, these SPGs are balanced quite well. Against these new light tanks, SPGs stand no chance. Not only that, but rumors indicate that with the next big patch the developers will change the matchmaker to only allow two SPGs per side per match. I, for one, love playing in SPGs and these rumored changes along with the new light tanks are seriously reducing my desire to continue playing the game.
On a side note, the folks at Blizzard are prepping to launch their next expansion in time for the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season of 2012 with Pandera. Finally we'll get to see the homeland of Chen Stormstout. I do like that if you play as a Panderan, you'll be able to play for either faction. I still don't know if it's enough to make me want to reactivate my account when it launches. I'm still itching to get my hands on Diablo 3 and The Secret World.
-Bonzo out.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
I Am Going Stark Raving Mad
Three consecutive weeks without any gaming. I beat my head into a wall in frustration. Refrigerator.
Alright, so it's not a haiku, nor is it anywhere close; but my point stands.
In the mean time, I've been amusing myself with Portal 2 all over again, and I've been working through Dead Space and Dead Space 2. I actually think that Dead Space was harder and scarier than the sequel. I have to say though that these games only make me think of Traveller the RPG and how awesome a short campaign the Dead Space games could make. The first one anyway.
Hopefully we'll have some form of gaming this week. I'll keep you posted. You'll know if we don't when you hear me scream 'KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!' ala William Shatner from the Wrath of Khan style.
Alright, so it's not a haiku, nor is it anywhere close; but my point stands.
In the mean time, I've been amusing myself with Portal 2 all over again, and I've been working through Dead Space and Dead Space 2. I actually think that Dead Space was harder and scarier than the sequel. I have to say though that these games only make me think of Traveller the RPG and how awesome a short campaign the Dead Space games could make. The first one anyway.
Hopefully we'll have some form of gaming this week. I'll keep you posted. You'll know if we don't when you hear me scream 'KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!' ala William Shatner from the Wrath of Khan style.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Vader's Got Cookies
I was cleaning up in the kitchen a moment ago, and was remembering some rather entertaining webcomics I've read. And one particular strip from PvP Online came to mind where the main characters are all sitting around a table getting ready to play Star Wars the tabletop game. And Francis, the youngest character, was GMing. He had borrowed his boss' Darth Vader helmet for the purposes of being GM (which I love the thought of) and as the storyline panned out, the helmet got to him; he started to wield the power of a GM as a Jedi turned to the Dark Side would wield his own Jedi powers.
And I suddenly recalled that one of my friends, Fred, has asked me if I were interested in playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. Well, of course I'm interested in playing SW:TOR. Hello!?! He mentioned that he and his son have been thinking about asking several of the people they know who play MMOs regualrly if we all want to form a rather sizable guild. Sounds good so far. So I asked him, "'Fred', what faction are you planning on playing?" To which he replied...Republic...
Alas.
Now don't get me wrong, I've been following SWTOR for a while now, and it looks shiny. Really, really shiny.
So after some very careful consideration, I started to exercise my own Dark Side powers on Fred's son. You're damn right I'm working on convincing that kid to join the Dark Side. Sadly, I didn't have to do much in the way of convincing him, he was most of the way there to begin with.
It's yet another game I've signed up for the beta and am waiting; but since the official launch date was announced for December 22, I think trying to get into the beta at this point would be kinda pointless. So there you are.
I saw it best on a t-shirt:
And I suddenly recalled that one of my friends, Fred, has asked me if I were interested in playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. Well, of course I'm interested in playing SW:TOR. Hello!?! He mentioned that he and his son have been thinking about asking several of the people they know who play MMOs regualrly if we all want to form a rather sizable guild. Sounds good so far. So I asked him, "'Fred', what faction are you planning on playing?" To which he replied...Republic...
Alas.
Now don't get me wrong, I've been following SWTOR for a while now, and it looks shiny. Really, really shiny.
| Captain Mal is ALWAYS shiny. |
And I like the look of both factions (and as they are MIRROR IMAGES of each other, how could you not?) but if I'm honest with myself; really, really honest...I just wanna be a Sith Lord. I've been told before, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Who wouldn't want to be Darth Freaking Vader?!?! I mean, come on!!!
 |
| This Sith Lord |
| Not this pansy. |
So after some very careful consideration, I started to exercise my own Dark Side powers on Fred's son. You're damn right I'm working on convincing that kid to join the Dark Side. Sadly, I didn't have to do much in the way of convincing him, he was most of the way there to begin with.
It's yet another game I've signed up for the beta and am waiting; but since the official launch date was announced for December 22, I think trying to get into the beta at this point would be kinda pointless. So there you are.
I saw it best on a t-shirt:
Saturday, September 24, 2011
More In the Way of Good News
So Blizzard, bless their money grubbing souls, have finally, Finally, FINALLY started phasing in players for the closed beta for Diablo 3.
I cannot begin to describe the joy that this gives me. And a little disappointment as well, since most likely my system is not near good enough for the developers' standards for running a beta...But I remain hopeful that they will do rolling phase-ins for the closed beta before they do an open beta. So if I miss the closed beta I'll be working extra hard to get in on the open beta.
I encourage you to go to the Diablo 3 website to look at/drool over the screen shots as well as the gameplay videos. I should add here that Diablo 3 will require an internet connection to play. From all the most recent information, D3 will work just like SC2 - meaning that you will need to log in to the game via battle.net. That being said, I have heard rumors that SC2 will soon allow a form of LAN play. If I can find any concrete information about that I'll be sure to post it.
In the meantime, here's a kitten.
I cannot begin to describe the joy that this gives me. And a little disappointment as well, since most likely my system is not near good enough for the developers' standards for running a beta...But I remain hopeful that they will do rolling phase-ins for the closed beta before they do an open beta. So if I miss the closed beta I'll be working extra hard to get in on the open beta.
I encourage you to go to the Diablo 3 website to look at/drool over the screen shots as well as the gameplay videos. I should add here that Diablo 3 will require an internet connection to play. From all the most recent information, D3 will work just like SC2 - meaning that you will need to log in to the game via battle.net. That being said, I have heard rumors that SC2 will soon allow a form of LAN play. If I can find any concrete information about that I'll be sure to post it.
In the meantime, here's a kitten.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Oh Hello. Are You Still There?
Alright, alright. Don't beat me about the head and face. I've been absent for quite a while.
In the time between we last spoke and now I've played several card/board games, and a few table-tops games. And there are a few updates on computer games as well.
Lets start with the more "normal" games. You know, games that "normal" people are more apt to play.
There was this card game I played called Seven Dragons. At least I think it was called Seven Dragons. It's a game for 2-5 players (I think). Each player has a dragon assigned to him/her that is a particular color. The object of the game is to take the cards dealt to you and play a color matching game to get a total of seven matchings of your dragon's color - blue, gold, red, green, and black. And that is pretty much the game. There are cards that are dealt out to screw with play of game, by changing the color of your goal, making you switch hands with another player, etc. Very fun, easy game to play.
Then there is 7 Wonders. This is a fantastic game, whose praises cannot be sung enough. My friends, Fred(s), maintain that this is a "gateway" game - meaning that despite it's apparent complexity, the game play is quick enough, easy enough, and fun enough to prompt a "noob board gamer" (you know those kind - the ones that when asked if they want to play a game bust out some crap like Sorry or Life) to becoming a more sophisticated gamer. They might even try their had at Settlers of Catan or Dominion after playing 7 Wonders a time or two. As for the game itself, you are building a civilization in one of the ancient wonders of the world. And there are several paths to glory in this game: economic, militaristic, governmental/artistic, science. Even your military losses can score victory points for you in this game depending on how/what you play. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic.
Also, we played a more beer n' pretzels game called Crappy Birthday. In this game, you are dealt a hand of cards from the "Gift Deck" that you then spend once per round (unless you are the "Birthday Boy/Girl") by handing off the crappiest gift you can think of for the "Birthday Boy/Girl". It's kinda fun except that in the group of friends I played this with most of the gifts weren't really that crappy. They should have had things like "Become a Tour Guide for a Water Treatment Plant for a Month" or some such. That's pretty crappy. Oh yeah I went there! What did you expect?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright, now on to some nitty gritty. I finally got my feet wet with Shadowrun. This is one hell of a system/world to play in. If you have no idea what I'm talking about...pause in reading this for a moment after grabbing a No.2 pencil. Place it between the middle knuckles of your middle and ring fingers of one of your hands - either one, it make no difference. Now, with your free hand, pinch your fingers together. That intense pain you've just experienced is because you have no idea what Shadowrun is. Now go Google it and come back to me. It's like playing in Blade Runner as...anything... It's dark, and gritty, and very futuristic noir. I ran a large group of folks on a one shot of this and good God, it makes me want to play/run another scenario again really really soon.
Also, I am about to start running my game again - pick your jaw up off the floor - and we're running Dark Sun baby! Oh...you don't know what Dark Sun is? Alright, go get a No.2 pencil...you get the picture. However, we're going to be running 4E as opposed to the old 2E version. Mostly because I have no concrete idea on how to play 2E. I have the theory down, but practical application always shows where book knowledge falls short. No Wizards, no Sorcerers, no Clerics, no Paladins, no Invokers. Lots of psionic classes. Lots of wood and bone and leather weapons/armor. Little to no metal. Any magic users in the game either despoil the land around them by leeching vitality out of the world and people around him, or they take a little bit of vitality from everything and cast underpowered magics while leaving behind the world to power future magics. It's a brutal, loveless world - as short on water as it is short on mercy.
You are not prepared.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
And now we come to our final section for the catch up post. Computer games. For a while, I had stopped playing World of Tanks altogether in lieu of playing Lord of the Rings Online. As far as Free to Play (or F2P) MMOs go, this is one of the better ones. As you play you are able to complete achievements that award you with the in game currency (Turbine Points) needed to buy things from the online store; meaning you don't necessarily need to use real money to purchase things from the online store, but if you want to you can. It's certainly faster than grinding out achievements for Turbine Points. You can even subscribe to the game as it was when it initially launched, and Turbine will gift you with several different rewards for subscribing. But it's nothing that you wouldn't be able to get over time as a free player.
However the endless grind was getting to me, and I felt I was getting nowhere fast. So I went back to WoT. But, I was recently sent an email from the excellent folks at Funcom - the group that brought us the Age of Conan MMORPG (as MMOs go, I felt it lacked (re)playability but it was visually stunning. Now I admit I only played the game for a few months and I admit that my issues with the game were a direct result of Funcom's decision to make radical changes to the "standard" user interface - WASD, 1234, etc as far as functionality went) are releasing a new MMO called The Secret World. This just looks amazing - the graphics look stunning, the play looks great, and the storyline is fantastic. It breaks down like this: layered atop our world is another; a world full of peril, old gods awakening, true conspiracies, monsters, magic, things that go bump in the night, etc. And there are three factions that stand between the normals and the monsters - the Dragon, who are based primarily in Asia and focus primarily on using chaos and magic to fight back the tide; the Templars, based in Europe and they focus on exerting order and justice against the darkness; and the Illuminati, based in North America they use whatever means are necessary to keep the darkness at bay, be it through main strength or through blackmail.
Just based on the several gameplay movies on the website, I can say that the game has a definite "Lovecraftian" feel to it. Which I love. I cannot wait to find out if I'll be in the beta. If so, I won't be making any posts about it until it reaches full release. Kinda standard there I think. The only other beta test I was involved in was for Tabula Rasa and that game just fizzled because no one cared enough by the time the beta rolled around. /shrug
Random postings to follow.
In the time between we last spoke and now I've played several card/board games, and a few table-tops games. And there are a few updates on computer games as well.
Lets start with the more "normal" games. You know, games that "normal" people are more apt to play.
There was this card game I played called Seven Dragons. At least I think it was called Seven Dragons. It's a game for 2-5 players (I think). Each player has a dragon assigned to him/her that is a particular color. The object of the game is to take the cards dealt to you and play a color matching game to get a total of seven matchings of your dragon's color - blue, gold, red, green, and black. And that is pretty much the game. There are cards that are dealt out to screw with play of game, by changing the color of your goal, making you switch hands with another player, etc. Very fun, easy game to play.
Then there is 7 Wonders. This is a fantastic game, whose praises cannot be sung enough. My friends, Fred(s), maintain that this is a "gateway" game - meaning that despite it's apparent complexity, the game play is quick enough, easy enough, and fun enough to prompt a "noob board gamer" (you know those kind - the ones that when asked if they want to play a game bust out some crap like Sorry or Life) to becoming a more sophisticated gamer. They might even try their had at Settlers of Catan or Dominion after playing 7 Wonders a time or two. As for the game itself, you are building a civilization in one of the ancient wonders of the world. And there are several paths to glory in this game: economic, militaristic, governmental/artistic, science. Even your military losses can score victory points for you in this game depending on how/what you play. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic.
Also, we played a more beer n' pretzels game called Crappy Birthday. In this game, you are dealt a hand of cards from the "Gift Deck" that you then spend once per round (unless you are the "Birthday Boy/Girl") by handing off the crappiest gift you can think of for the "Birthday Boy/Girl". It's kinda fun except that in the group of friends I played this with most of the gifts weren't really that crappy. They should have had things like "Become a Tour Guide for a Water Treatment Plant for a Month" or some such. That's pretty crappy. Oh yeah I went there! What did you expect?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright, now on to some nitty gritty. I finally got my feet wet with Shadowrun. This is one hell of a system/world to play in. If you have no idea what I'm talking about...pause in reading this for a moment after grabbing a No.2 pencil. Place it between the middle knuckles of your middle and ring fingers of one of your hands - either one, it make no difference. Now, with your free hand, pinch your fingers together. That intense pain you've just experienced is because you have no idea what Shadowrun is. Now go Google it and come back to me. It's like playing in Blade Runner as...anything... It's dark, and gritty, and very futuristic noir. I ran a large group of folks on a one shot of this and good God, it makes me want to play/run another scenario again really really soon.
Also, I am about to start running my game again - pick your jaw up off the floor - and we're running Dark Sun baby! Oh...you don't know what Dark Sun is? Alright, go get a No.2 pencil...you get the picture. However, we're going to be running 4E as opposed to the old 2E version. Mostly because I have no concrete idea on how to play 2E. I have the theory down, but practical application always shows where book knowledge falls short. No Wizards, no Sorcerers, no Clerics, no Paladins, no Invokers. Lots of psionic classes. Lots of wood and bone and leather weapons/armor. Little to no metal. Any magic users in the game either despoil the land around them by leeching vitality out of the world and people around him, or they take a little bit of vitality from everything and cast underpowered magics while leaving behind the world to power future magics. It's a brutal, loveless world - as short on water as it is short on mercy.
You are not prepared.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
And now we come to our final section for the catch up post. Computer games. For a while, I had stopped playing World of Tanks altogether in lieu of playing Lord of the Rings Online. As far as Free to Play (or F2P) MMOs go, this is one of the better ones. As you play you are able to complete achievements that award you with the in game currency (Turbine Points) needed to buy things from the online store; meaning you don't necessarily need to use real money to purchase things from the online store, but if you want to you can. It's certainly faster than grinding out achievements for Turbine Points. You can even subscribe to the game as it was when it initially launched, and Turbine will gift you with several different rewards for subscribing. But it's nothing that you wouldn't be able to get over time as a free player.
However the endless grind was getting to me, and I felt I was getting nowhere fast. So I went back to WoT. But, I was recently sent an email from the excellent folks at Funcom - the group that brought us the Age of Conan MMORPG (as MMOs go, I felt it lacked (re)playability but it was visually stunning. Now I admit I only played the game for a few months and I admit that my issues with the game were a direct result of Funcom's decision to make radical changes to the "standard" user interface - WASD, 1234, etc as far as functionality went) are releasing a new MMO called The Secret World. This just looks amazing - the graphics look stunning, the play looks great, and the storyline is fantastic. It breaks down like this: layered atop our world is another; a world full of peril, old gods awakening, true conspiracies, monsters, magic, things that go bump in the night, etc. And there are three factions that stand between the normals and the monsters - the Dragon, who are based primarily in Asia and focus primarily on using chaos and magic to fight back the tide; the Templars, based in Europe and they focus on exerting order and justice against the darkness; and the Illuminati, based in North America they use whatever means are necessary to keep the darkness at bay, be it through main strength or through blackmail.
Just based on the several gameplay movies on the website, I can say that the game has a definite "Lovecraftian" feel to it. Which I love. I cannot wait to find out if I'll be in the beta. If so, I won't be making any posts about it until it reaches full release. Kinda standard there I think. The only other beta test I was involved in was for Tabula Rasa and that game just fizzled because no one cared enough by the time the beta rolled around. /shrug
Random postings to follow.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
World of Tanks
OK. World of Tanks is pretty fun. It's only pvp play; just like the Battlefield series of games, there are several maps to choose from, several styles of tank to choose from, and you can form 'guilds'. I think they call them 'tank brigades' in this game. So it's fast paced, WW2 style tank action. As you play, you earn cash, that you spend on upgrades and research for your tanks. You can make them faster, more heavily armored, bigger/faster guns. You can train/recruit your computer controlled tank crew. You can purchase consumables, different types of ammo, and repair your tank (when you get blowed up - and you will). You can buy bigger/different types of tank. And the whole time, you get to learn about the benefits of cover, and trying to get the best angle on your target.
And I'm enjoying it. After spending years playing slower paced MMOs, the quick action is a nice change.
I'm still pretty certain that I'm going to be phasing over to RPGs, like Mass Effect (and ME2), and phasing out MMOs. I guess things just change over time.
And I'm enjoying it. After spending years playing slower paced MMOs, the quick action is a nice change.
I'm still pretty certain that I'm going to be phasing over to RPGs, like Mass Effect (and ME2), and phasing out MMOs. I guess things just change over time.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
It's March!!
And the first post I have for the month of March comes more than half way through the month! Yay progress...
Anyway, today's post is brought by an interesting new game that I found just this morning. It's apparently a free-to-play MMO called World of Tanks. It appears to be set in WW2 (gauging from the style of tanks) and is essentially a full on melee brawl of mayhem and destruction. I admit the notion tickles my fancy. So I went ahead and registered for the beta and am currently (at the time of this posting) downloading the client.
While on the subject of MMOs, It's been about 2 months now since I quite playing WoW cold turkey. And I have felt no urgings to go back. I know, I know: "But Bonzo, you've said this before. World of Warcraft is like the bad girlfriend that you can ever rid yourself of..." Perhaps you're right. Perhaps not. I'm still having quite a lot of fun playing DCUO, but lately I've been feeling the urge to play more RPGs and even...First Person Shooters...
It's been close to a decade since I've played an FPS. Mostly because I suck at them. But I've had the desire to blow some sprites to smithereens lately, and a FPS game will let me do that. So will some RPGs. And there are some games that crossover between them, like Fallout and Mass Effect, and Portal. All of which have been recommended to me. So I'll probably end up downloading Steam in the next few weeks and try them out.
Now, back to the WoT (World of Tanks). No grinding for XP, check. No endless questing, check. Lots of explosions, check. It sounds pretty fun. I'll check back with you all in a few days
________________________________
________________________________
On another note, we finally (FINALLY) started playing our 4e game again. Three months with no table-top gaming was really, really, REALLY starting to make me twitchy. You don;t notice how much you miss something until its gone and you start to get the notion that you can't get it back. But now that we're playing again I can start to relax and get back into the swing of things. So to speak.
Also, in table-top news - today I start the actual campaign for my CthulhuTech game. We've had two sessions so far on character creation, and everyone has done a bang up job on coming up with characters. Some of my players have even gone so far as to come up with background information that has been censored by the NEG Intelligence Corps. Lots of black censor bars of lines of text. It brings a tear to the eyes. Of course, this is still a Cthulhu universe at the end of the day...their characters will all go mad and die. Those are the breaks.
-Bonzo out.
Anyway, today's post is brought by an interesting new game that I found just this morning. It's apparently a free-to-play MMO called World of Tanks. It appears to be set in WW2 (gauging from the style of tanks) and is essentially a full on melee brawl of mayhem and destruction. I admit the notion tickles my fancy. So I went ahead and registered for the beta and am currently (at the time of this posting) downloading the client.
While on the subject of MMOs, It's been about 2 months now since I quite playing WoW cold turkey. And I have felt no urgings to go back. I know, I know: "But Bonzo, you've said this before. World of Warcraft is like the bad girlfriend that you can ever rid yourself of..." Perhaps you're right. Perhaps not. I'm still having quite a lot of fun playing DCUO, but lately I've been feeling the urge to play more RPGs and even...First Person Shooters...
It's been close to a decade since I've played an FPS. Mostly because I suck at them. But I've had the desire to blow some sprites to smithereens lately, and a FPS game will let me do that. So will some RPGs. And there are some games that crossover between them, like Fallout and Mass Effect, and Portal. All of which have been recommended to me. So I'll probably end up downloading Steam in the next few weeks and try them out.
Now, back to the WoT (World of Tanks). No grinding for XP, check. No endless questing, check. Lots of explosions, check. It sounds pretty fun. I'll check back with you all in a few days
________________________________
________________________________
On another note, we finally (FINALLY) started playing our 4e game again. Three months with no table-top gaming was really, really, REALLY starting to make me twitchy. You don;t notice how much you miss something until its gone and you start to get the notion that you can't get it back. But now that we're playing again I can start to relax and get back into the swing of things. So to speak.
Also, in table-top news - today I start the actual campaign for my CthulhuTech game. We've had two sessions so far on character creation, and everyone has done a bang up job on coming up with characters. Some of my players have even gone so far as to come up with background information that has been censored by the NEG Intelligence Corps. Lots of black censor bars of lines of text. It brings a tear to the eyes. Of course, this is still a Cthulhu universe at the end of the day...their characters will all go mad and die. Those are the breaks.
-Bonzo out.
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