Before I get into what games I’m looking forward to, I wanted to mention some personal and blog related things. My wife and I are expecting our second little Kae to show up sometime in June. I’m sure that’s going to kill any time I have to play MMOs for a few months. I really dislike logging into an MMO, when I don’t know if I’m going to get pulled away at a second’s notice. When my son was born, I focused mostly on single player games, since I could pause it and go do father things without worrying about ruining anyone else’s game.
Not playing MMOs will either mean that this blog goes silent for a few months, or you’ll see tons of posts as I’ll have lots of time to read, think, and write.
Last January, I wan’t looking forward to much on the Xbox. In fact, there were just two games: Mass Effect 3 and Batman: Akham City. Unfortunately Mass Effect 3 was delayed, but Akham City more than made up for that. The game had everything I loved about the first Batman game but added improvements, and even though I’ve finished the game, I still pop it into my console occasionally to beat on some thugs.
Outside of Arkham City, my Xbox didn’t get much playtime, which I guess is why it decided to red-ring on me in December. I had hoped by waiting through the first few manufacturing runs and getting an Elite, that I had dogged all of the overheating problems with Microsoft’s console. I was wrong. The repair process was relatively painless: go online and submit a repair request, print out a label, box and ship it out. I just wish it hadn’t cost me $99.
Even though I’m not playing Rift currently, I did notice something pretty darn cool from their press releases. They announced a beta version of an iOS app that allows you to interact with the game while you can’t get in the game. This is something I’ve always looked for from other games and they seemed to have hit on a couple of the main areas I’d want:
Today Turbine posted a new Developer Diary talking about the itemization coming with the Rise of Isengard expansion. One of the big encouraging things for me was the intent to incentivize all sorts of player types including solo, crafters, raiders, and casual groupers. Of course, we still have to actually see it, but I was encouraged that they’ve identified there is a problem and are working to try to fix it. The pure fact that many still raid OD (all my characters do) with numerous pieces of the Moria sets highlights that we’ve been stuck in an item rut for a long time.
The first two points of the diary were to identify the big problems they’ve been facing:
Finally after much delay, the fourth "Contains Moderate Peril" podcast is now available. By way of a compensation it is a somewhat extended episode. Joining me on the show are Brian, formerly of "Mordor Or Bust" and Hex from "Quest Hard". In this packed instalment we look at the following:
LOTRO's 4th anniversary and Update 2
HBO's "Game Of Thrones" and Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" video blog.
It's a pleasant Saturday afternoon and I've decided to take a break from editing the latest "Contains Moderate peril" podcast, to write this blog post. I thought it may be a good idea to write about podcast per se, as they are such a common aspect of fandom these days. I've been working using "Audacity" since 08:30 this morning. Over three hours of material has been recorded over the last few weeks and it needs to be refined into a coherent format. Like many people who produce podcasts, I've had no formal training. I've simply read a few articles on the internet and then made it up as I go along.
Every podcaster approaches their final cut with their own unique set of rules. Some folk edit very little, where I fret and fuss about every pregnant pause or piece of over lapping dialogue. I hate it when I mangle my words or fluff my lines. I also worry that the respective segments are too long. It's very hard to define a common standard as so many people have different views. It's also a temptation to listen to other peoples podcasts and make comparisons to your own, despite the fact that often you are doing completely different things.
Gaming is a perfectly valid and acceptable pastime, despite all the negative stereotypes and bad press that it gets. I have met some good friends through gaming and have often enjoyed online social interactions as much as real world ones. I also think that gaming can be a useful learning experience, especially with with regard to teamwork and group dynamics. However, I do keep the entire matter in perspective and do not buy into some of the more wilder claims that are made. Gaming at the end of the day is a leisure activity and nothing more.
Net neutrality is a very straight forward concept but with extremely complex ramifications. This blog post is not about the subtleties of the ongoing debate. I simply wish ask the question, what are the implications for online gaming?
Due to positive feedback, the latest "Contains Moderate Peril" podcast is available a little earlier this month. In fact a decision has been made to move to a fortnightly schedule. When I say decision, I mean I was brow beaten by Brian, who once again joins me for a somewhat lengthy podcast. In this episode we discuss the twice weekly barter token time locks on some of the new raids in the next LOTRO patch. We also reflect on the successful launch of "Rift" and the issue of server queues. Brian explores cell phone gaming via "Pocket Legends" and we ponder the proposed changes to the combat system for "Guild Wars 2".
Unfortunately due to time restrictions the exclusive interview with screen legend Danny Dyer has had to be postponed. Hopefully this will manifest itself in the next episode. However, we do cover a plethora of your emails, tweets and comments in our "Views from the perilous realm" section of the show. Thanks to all who took the time to contribute. Please keep the feedback rolling in. It makes Brian feel wanted.
"Star Wars" is quite popular. You may have spotted this. As a franchise its fairly bullet proof. You could shave a dead donkey and then stick a "Star Wars" logo on it and it will sell. Try it. So its not unreasonable to assume that the forthcoming "Star Wars: The Old Republic" MMO will be well received. Unfortunately, the way the development of this game has been minutely analysed, means that a lot of people have become enthused, annoyed or confused before the product even becomes available. The waters got muddied even further when a senior member of "BioWare" inferred that customers should lower their expectations. Despite all that, you only have to go to any forum where the above video has been posted and you'll find pages of fan-boy comments, waxing lyrical and having a near biblical experiences.
It is difficult to focus and form an objective opinion sometimes, especially when the monolithic marketing departments kick into gear. So, let us remove ourselves from the hype and see if we can temporarily divorce ourselves from our own expectations relating to SWTOR. Based on what we know already and the above in-game video footage, will you be buying this game? Will the fact that it is the "Star Wars" franchise make it your game of choice? If like me you have a finite amount of time available, will you stop playing another product to accommodate this one? Is this title going to have a tangible impact on the other big players such as WOW, LOTRO or "Rift"? I personally have mixed feeling towards this title but nothing that sways my opinion in any direction at present. I would however, like to refer back to another extremely large franchise and sacred cow that went live with a comparable MMO approximately a year ago. Will there be parallels? Read the rest of this entry »
