tHeartless_ Gamer: an opinionated blog about gaming

tWildstar More Interesting Than Star Wars: The Old Republic, both still have boring videos

2011-08-19T10:47:00.001-07:00

Wildstar was announced at Gamescom this week. Today an eight minute gameplay video was released and IT WAS BORING. But don't let me make that decision for you, watch the video below.

I was brought this video by this post on Rock, Paper, Shotgun (RPS). The first comment fits directly in with my thoughts and even though Wildstar's footage was boring, it was not nearly as boring as the SW:ToR footage we saw from Gamescom.

RF says: 08/19/2011 at 17:20

Looks like a pretty traditional MMO with some next gen elements.
Like dodging.
And making bear men explode.

Yeah, I think I’ll be getting this. This game is what SW:TOR wants to be but is not.

To back up my thoughts, the one and only RPS regular, Jim Rossignol, chimed in the same idea.

Jim Rossignol says: 08/19/2011 at 17:28

I am more interested in this than SW:TOR.

Screenshot for context/posterity.

Guild Wars 2 Will Fail Test

2010-07-22T06:23:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of examples that sequels do not work in the MMO market. Ultima Online 2 was the original victim of what I like to call the terrible 2s. Asheron's Call 2 shutdown on December 30, 2005 while the original Asheron's Call still thrives to this day. AC2 never matched the original and in my opinion was actually a pretty good game. The list continues with Everquest 2 which never matched the original Everquest and was thoroughly trumped by the monster that is World of Warcraft.

Everquest 2, out of all the 2s, should have been a right to print money. Everquest was the undisupted champion of the early graphical MMOGs and Everquest 2 was the expected front runner of the "next generation". How terribly wrong that general consensus was. World of Warcraft taught everyone that the Everquest "idea" was wrong and that Everquest never was "right".

This all sets a stage where upon the new 2 in the neighberhood, Guild Wars 2 (GW2), is set to fail.

If being a 2 wasn't bad enough for GW2, it is also "a high fantasy world with multiple races" (like my new tagline?). GW2 will have to compete with the Everquest 2 slaying World of Warcraft and it's record-breaking expansions. Star Wars: The Old Republic will also be major competition for GW2 as they are the top two upcoming AAA titles in the MMO market. Not to mention the plethora of free 2 play offerings that are quickly eating into the AAA marketplace.

There are other concerns as well. GW2 is doing away with the holy trinity by removing the dedicated healer from group play, softening the blow of death by allowing second chances after a characters health is depleted, and moving towards a more action inspired combat system. All of these may be equally positive things, but they are all "different" enough to cause concern in a genre that is averse to change.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to doom and gloom all of the upcoming MMOGs. Specific to Guild Wars 2, come back tomorrow for the reasons why Guild Wars 2 will succeed. Honestly, Guild Wars 2 is looking to be the only AAA competition coming any time soon.

Steam Sale Success for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

2010-06-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

The game of the year edition of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion went on sale this weekend via Steam for $8.50. It's a steal of a deal and I couldn't resist picking up a copy for myself.

There is always a question of how successful these fire sales on Steam are. To provide some anecdotal evidence to their success, I present the previous 7-days of game-play tracking via Raptr for Oblivion.

As can be seen, there is a pretty good spike following the start of the sale this weekend.

While hours played are not easily equated to sales, and factoring in the sales price, it is tough to determine what revenue this generates for the game developer. However, a cursory glance tells us there are plenty of players playing the game and that has to warm the heart of any developer!

May 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

2010-06-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

And we're caught back up. May 2010, the month I lived out of a hotel, but still only managed to put in 15 hours of gaming.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for May below. The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.

Game of the Month

Torchlight
Cost: $9.99
Played: 14 hrs
3-words: Hack, slash, win!

Torchlight is a shining example of how to make a game. Developed on budget, by a small and dedicated team, it delivers everything one would want in a Diablo-clone. There are monsters, loot, and random dungeons galore.

I spent 14 hours hacking away at the game. I came to close to beating it while seated in my hotel room, but the end boss did not fall until I returned home in June. Even with the end boss downed, there is so much more to accomplish. There is a never ending dungeon in the game, so a character can level forever (I assume). Or if it fancies a player, they can retire a veteran character and start a powered-up new character with the retired's equipment.

The combat is smooth and clean. The various classes and abilities are simple to use and graphically brilliant. The monsters can get repetitive, but when players are killing hundreds of them per level, its an acceptable mark against the game.

I highly recommend Torchlight and it can often be found on sale for anywhere between $4.99 and $9.99.

/Played

Civilization 4

I originally planned to put some time into a new Civ4 game during May, but Torchlight quickly won out. I'm not sure, but I think I may have burned myself out on Civ4 after only ~30 hours.

/Paid

Total spent this Month: $0.00
My Value Rating: n/a

I made no gaming purchases in May.

April 2010: What I Played/What I Paid

2010-06-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

As promised over a month ago, I am finally catching up on my What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying post (subbing d's for ing's, past tense and all that).

April, as a month in gaming for Heartless_, was as exciting as watching the Detroit Lions play a random High School football team.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for April below. The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.

Game of the Month

Cost: $13.39 (Steam Holiday Sale)
Played: 2 hours
3-words: Better price = $13.37

Don't let the total playtime fool you. I liked Bioshock, but between a bugged out Big Daddy and failed game save backup forcing me to restart twice, I just didn't make any progress. By the time I turned around, April was over and I was scheduled to be out of town most of May. My poor laptop just couldn't manage Bioshock reliably enough to provide a good play experience. I've shelved the game for completion and commentary at a later date.

Upcoming Game of the Month for May: Torchlight (because it runs like a dream on my laptop!)

/Played

Allods Online

I stuck in an hour playtime with my Melee Healer in Allods Online in April. I still enjoy the game and wish I could dedicate more time to it.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

I continued my enjoyment of BFBC2 in April playing a few games.

/Paid

Total spent this Month: $0.00
My Value Rating: n/a

I made no gaming purchases during April.

Heartless Blender, so cute

2010-06-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

Duels of the Planeswalkers to release on PC via Steam June 15th

2010-06-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note. Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers appears to be hitting Steam on June 15th according to this tweet from Elaine Chase.

It can be pre-ordered here.

SOE + Star Wars + MMO = Star Wars in Free Realms?

2010-06-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

After the NGE debacle, no one could have imagined that SOE would be allowed to create another Star Wars MMOG. We were wrong; we were very, very wrong. SOE has announced a new game, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, coming fall 2010.

However, SOE seems to have learned a lesson with the success of Free Realms: casual and micro-transaction supported games can work. Visit their website or watch the video below and it is immediately noticeable that the game is not aimed at the hardcore or even core MMO gamers.

It will be interesting to see how this is received and whether the MMO blog'o'sphere will start writing the obituary for SOE's core franchises like Everquest.

P.S. Unlike many others, I liked the Clone Wars animated movie.

Thank You Posts On Developer Boards Are Rare and to be Commended

2010-05-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

While sifting through dozens of complaints and suggestion threads at the official forums for Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers I came across a rare find on any game developers forums: a thank you post. Not only was the poster saying thanks, but also providing valuable feedback. For this, I commend the poster. Below is a sample of what was posted:

First of all, thank you for making M:TG Duels of the Planeswalkers. This game really brought back the joy of M:TG for me and my friends.

What we love about it:
(Xbox specific) The friend chatter while playing the game (even being 1800 miles apart)
Being able to play again, without investing a lot of money and time rebuilding digital collections
Ease of logging in, picking a deck and getting playing
The smoothness of the game; in my opinion overall it runs very well
The decks being relatively balanced against each other
Every player, for the most part, has access to the exact same pool of cards

5 Years of Blogging

2010-05-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Five wonderful and insightful years ago I started this blog. I had planned a larger post talking about the "future", but like this five year milestone time has gone by faster than I could ever had imagined. Five years ago I was single and without a care in the world outside of whether my Internet connection worked at home. Today, I'm married, a father, a belated college graduate, and newly promoted at a company I would never have imagined working for. Change, as they say, comes whether we wish it or not.

Yet, one thing has remained constant over the past five years: this blog and my gaming. In retrospect there are a lot of things I would have done differently, but looking back there isn't a single thing I would want changed.

Without rambling any further (the kid has gotta be put to bed at some point), I present to you a repost of my first post.

The date: 29 May, 2005. The time: 20:24 or 8:24 PM EST for those of you in the civilian world.

This blog has officially started. It has been a process of thought pulling at my mind for a while. I play these games we call MMORPGs, but I don't even know if "play" is the correct word to describe it anymore. I live and breath these games. They are more than an escape from my mediocre life. Fun is no longer the driving factor. Social interaction with like minded nerds and geeks; people whom live through their in game characters as though it was version 2.0 of themselves.

I don't want to hear these gamers speak in foreign Orcish or Elvish tongues. I want them to speak English and call me newb, l33t, or dude. I want role playing that is a real person, embodying a real in-game character. I don't want to know how much you can pretend. I want to see who, what, and how you can do things in game with the class, race, or skills you have chosen in our game of choice.

Ah, the game of choice! Room for debate among the flooded market of MMORPGs and the denizens that inhabit them. From baseless flame fests on the far reaches of the most bizarre gaming message boards; to developer's beloved Customer Feedback Forms. Well known to players that have ever hit cancel on a B-rate MMORPG subscription.

That is what brings us here. The game of choice, or should I say games of choice! After all, it is entirely possible to enjoy the splendor of more than a single MMO at a time. While you risk the chance of losing that significant other, the admiration of your pet, and standing in your real life social circle, you obtain the chance to be the darling of your online world of choice.

Whether its a heroic conquest, a diabolic scheme, or simply a comical battle cry; overnight stardom is possible!

So friends, let us journey down this road. Unafraid of the naysayers! Fearful of the sun that will burn our skin! And most of all, damn proud of what we choose to do with our free time. We are the many, the proud, the MMO gamer!

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers coming to PC via Steam

2010-05-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

From Tobold's blog:

... Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers will be released via Steam to the PC. While DOTP is in a way a "Magic light" game, I am nevertheless highly interested in this.

Like Tobold, I am a long time MtG fan and former hardcore player. However, the days where I have the time to build and maintain competitive decks are gone. What I've needed to spark my interest in MtG again is a more casual approach that is PC based. That is exactly what DotP delivers. I plan on giving it a try in June.

Frozen Synapse is Fucking Brilliant

2010-05-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Since my son was born I've tried to cut back on my cussing. Generally, I reserve using the F bomb in post titles for only momentous occasions (like Spore's DRM debacle). Today however, I will gladly drop it in praise of Frozen Synapse, a game you need to see to understand.

Frozen Synapse fell into my email box as part of their "buy 1, get 1 free for a friend" campaign. I had originally became interested in the game in part because of this Rock, Paper, Shotgun post. Now that I've had some time with the game I have only one thing to say: this game is bloody brilliant.

The basic premise is that players take turns moving soldiers around a battlefield. The catch is that its simultaneous turn-based: both players make their moves and then let the actions play out at the same time. This allows the game to be played over long periods of time or quickly in succession. Player A can make their move and submit it to the server whether Player B is online or not. Player B is free to return and make their move whenever they are free.

Once both players set their action (known as the planning stage) the outcome is played out. Various game modes determine the win conditions. Some are to destroy the enemy; while other modes focus on rescuing hostages or defending/attacking zones on the map.

As can be seen in the video above, the game is simplistic in it's graphical approach. This allows it to run on almost any set of hardware. My aging laptop that can barely play Torchlight in netbook mode can steam right through a match of Synapse.

My only gripe currently is the poor performance of the central server. However, that is due to over-popularity of the beta. Sometime this week a new server should be in place to help the issue.

This game is brilliant and I recommend it to anyone interested in the video. Oh, and just search Youtube for gameplay videos as beta testers can instantly upload games after they've been completed from the in-game menu. Pretty snazzy stuff.

Lifehacker has impeccable timing

2010-05-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Lifehacker is one of my favorite websites. Not because of the great writers, but because of their timing. Everytime I need something, Lifehacker finds out and posts something useful. I swear they are spying on me. First it was a detailed Thunderbird tweak guide, then Dropbox hacks, both published within days of my installs of both. The list goes on.

The newest example is a post today about GameSave Manager, a tool that backs up saved game files for over 400+ games. It was not a month ago that I gave up playing Bioshock after losing my save files during a reformat of Windows 7. This was after already restarting the game one time because of poor planning. Oh, and I was making backups the old fashioned way, but the one day the backup failed is the day I decided to reformat!

Also, recently I lost several hours of progress in my save game for Mass Effect. After that incident, I implemented my backup scheme for saved games by syncing the folders to Dropbox. That way I have saved files on all the computers I connect to Dropbox with. It works wonders for Civilization 4 games since I am usually manually saving them.

However, it is annoying to have to add other games by hand to my backup scheme. Even more so when it takes five minutes on Bing to find out where the actual saved game is stored in Windows 7. GameSave Manager takes care of all the prep work and then makes it easy to restore from the backups it makes.

Lifehacker, again, saves the day. <3

Linux Gamer's Rejoice! Steam coming to Linux!

2010-05-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

With Valve's recent release of Steam for Mac, hints were found that an underlying Linux client was also in the works. Phoronix has the news that an announcement is imminent from Valve about a native Linux version of Steam.

... Valve is preparing to officially release the Steam Linux client from where they will start to offer Linux native games available for sale. For all those doubting our reports that Source/Steam would be coming to Linux, you can find confirmation in the UK's Telegraph and other news sites. An announcement from Valve itself is imminent.

While this doesn't mean every game available on Steam will work with Linux, it does mean native Linux clients can easily be used for games such as Unreal Tournament 2004 and World of Goo. Also, this lays the groundwork for popular Valve titles such as Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2 to head over to native Linux.

I've always been a proponent of gaming on Linux. I still feel Linux is by far the best operating system available for anyone that wishes to learn how to use a computer. Gamer's naturally fit the learner description, but far too often Linux gaming was over the head of even the most tech savvy gamers. Steam on Linux eliminates A LOT of the hassle and brings some great AAA games along with it. I am excited to see where this goes.

I may even be bothered enough to put Linux back on my main desktop with a dual boot with Windows 7.

Civilization 5 to use Steamworks

2010-05-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

Quick post to note Civilization 5 is going to take advantage of Valve's Steamworks. Slashdot has the article:

"2K Games today announced that Civilization V will be using Steamworks for online matchmaking, automated updates, downloadable content and DRM for the game. Steam's Civ V store page is also available now, revealing some new information about the game. There will be an 'In-Game Community Hub' for online matchmaking, communication and for sharing scenarios between players. While including Steamworks might put some people off, it might also indicate better online gameplay than in the previous Civilization games, where it was almost impossible to have a good game without playing with just friends."

Personally, I am more likely to buy a game that features Steamworks than those that try to use something like Gamespy. Steamworks, ironically, works and that is an important feature of any game for me.

Lack of updates

2010-05-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Real life is alive and kicking for me, so I apologize for the lack of updates. I'll try to get my monthly "What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying" post up sometime soon. Otherwise, expect a quiet May around here.

I hate the iPad, but this is pretty cool

2010-04-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

For the record: I hate the iPad. It is the epitome of everything that is WRONG with Apple. With that said, Small World has been converted from boardgame and has been released as an iPad app by Days of Wonder. This is the same boardgame developer known for Ticket to Ride, Battlelore, etc.

Small World for iPad is the first digital adaptation of this award-winning fantasy board game. It enables two players to face off against each other and vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate all of the zany fantasy characters that inhabit Small World. Sitting across from each other around the iPad, players use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other players' races off the face of the earth.

While this isn't the first boardgame to make it to iPad, it's the first one that caught my attention. Small World is a great game and the graphical styling is perfect for a touch tablet.

While I don't want to give up my real board games for virtual ones, I realize my shrinking group of board game friends can not keep the fire alive. Virtualization of board games allows me to enjoy them across the Internet in an official capacity (yes, I realize the above app is not Internet based, but other board games are). I am excited about the future of touch tablets filling a niche in the board gaming market.

Guild Wars 2: Elementalist

2010-04-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Guild Wars 2 news keeps on rolling. Today we get our first look at the Elementalist class.

The Elementalist channels natural forces of destruction, making fire, air, earth, and water do her bidding. What the Elementalist lacks in physical toughness, she makes up for in her ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack, dropping foes from a distance before they can become a threat. Yet, despite her incredible offensive potential, versatility is what makes the Elementalist truly formidable.

This game sounds better with each post.

Guild Wars 2 Manifesto

2010-04-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to note that Arena Net has a MASSIVE blog post up about Guild Wars 2. You literally need 30 minutes to read over and savor this thing. Here's a sneak peak:

It’s time to make MMORPGs more social

MMOs are social games. So why do they sometimes seem to work so hard to punish you for playing with other players? If I’m out hunting and another player walks by, shouldn’t I welcome his help, rather than worrying that he’s going to steal my kills or consume all the mobs I wanted to kill? Or if I want to play with someone, shouldn’t we naturally have the same goals and objectives, rather than discovering that we’re in the same area but working on a different set of quests?

Go. Read. Now!

UPDATE: Arena.net has offered up another screenshot for getting the word out about the GW2 blog!

Old is New Again: Nolan Bushnell rejoins Atari

2010-04-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently we've entered a timewarp: Nolan Bushnell rejoins Atari.

A little more than two years after Phil Harrison left Sony to join Atari in a surprising move, it has been announced that he has left the company. His replacement: Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell.

"I am very excited to be reacquainted with Atari at a time when it is poised to make interesting strides in key growth areas of the games industry," Bushnell said in a statement. The company and its iconic brands have always been important to me, and I look forward to further guiding them at the board level."

Bushnell was one of two cofounders of Atari back in 1972, but was forced out in 1978 after a management dispute. He went on to architect what parents have come to know as one of Dante's nine circles of hell, the Chuck E. Cheese chain of restaurants. Joining Bushnell on the board of directors is Tom Virden, who Atari describes as "a seasoned executive in the online leisure, technology and travel businesses."

I'm not really sure how to take this news as it comes with no other announcements about any games or upcoming projects. It will be interesting to see if Bushnell has any measurable effect on the once proud company he helped build that has been down on it's luck as of late.

Battlefield Updates: Bad Company 2, Heroes

2010-04-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Free 2 play Battlefield Heroes has announced a new map, new game mode, and new jet pack widgets. Rock, Paper, Shotgun even has a post about it:

In this fast paced game mode you and your allies must capture and hold the rocket and keep it from enemy hands. Jump in with gusto or rocket fuel and make sure your enemies do not get the upper hand and claim the rocket for themselves.

For the non-readers, here is a video:

Meanwhile Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is gearing up for a patch tomorrow. The PCGamer Blog has posted the entire set of patch notes here and I've coped it below for posterity.

* MP - New Server browser
* MP - Added 15 second spawn timer for Conquest/Rush gamemodes at the start of round to prevent high end machines getting the upper hand before other machines load in.
* MP - Crash fixes relating to ALT+TAB at different times throughout the game
* MP - Hang fix when trying to connect to a full server multiple times
* MP - Deletion of soldiers now possible through the account pages in game
* MP - Removed screen flash during loading
* MP - Added support for colour blind players
* MP - Fixed crashes relating to faulty server banners
* MP - Servers closing during connection no longer cause the client to hang
* MP - Auto team swap reflects correctly in the scoreboard
* MP - Fixed scoreboards when switching teams before spawning
* MP - Rush scoreboards fixed
* MP - Veteran ranks no longer display as "12"
* MP - Isla Innocentes MCOM building fixed where knifing the fence would destroy the building
* MP - Logout/Login button correctly reflects the player status
* MP - Added minimum number of players needed to start a round (you can play and take objectives but you will get no score until 4 or more players join the server)
* MP - Isla Inocentes welcome message on the loading screen now fits the text box area
* MP - Reduced the brightness in Russian vehicles
* MP - Medic gadgets now display correctly if the defib is not unlocked
* MP - Server filter options are remembered
* MP - Punkbuster filter now works as intended
* MP - Scroll bar no longer overlays the Join Server button in the friends list panel
* MP - CANCEL server refresh is implemented
* MP - Zooming in on a friendly using the SAIGA no longer causes the crosshair to disappear
* MP - The chat no longer displays the incorrect player name when appearing
* MP - FoV switches to the default value of 55 when entering vehicles to prevent graphical glitches caused by wider FoV settings. The custom FoV returns when exiting vehicles.
* MP - FoV no longer causes the UAV station to rotate
* MP - Fix to correctly display the unlock progression at the end of round
* MP - Chat functionality will no longer freeze after writing a partial message at the end of round
* MP - One account can no longer connect to the same server multiple times
* MP - Squad Death Match is correctly named during loading
* MP - Server browser no longer gets a bad FPS when filtering Conquest
* MP - Server info banners correctly clear between displays
* MP - Setting display settings which the system hardware can not handle no longer makes the game unusable
* MP - Correct camera collision for vehicles' heavy machine gun
* MP - Game no longer crashes if the player sends a message in the loading screen
* MP - Trying to join a full server no longer causes the game to hang on Please Wait message
* MP - Most server filter options are remembered it doesn't remember the setting in dropdowns
* MP - Kit/gadget loadout saved between sessions
* SP - Fixed crashes when patching and trying to resume a campaign (there is now a message that you need to re-play the latest mission from the beginning)
* SP - Fixed a crash after the "Upriver" mission end cinematic
* SP - Supply create at "Resupply at Flynn's create" objective now supplies weapon ammo
* SP - Hang fix when reaching the objective "Destroy Enemy Zu23"
* SP - Fixed hang after "Storm Cockpit" objective
* SP - Changed melee attack raycast to be detailed
* SP - Game no longer crashes when transitioning between SP_03B to SP_04A when installed in Polish
* SP - Game no longer crashes when killed by the first two enemies in the trenches on SP_01 when installed in Italian
* SP - Updating to R7 will invalidate your single player save game. If you update you will need to play your last mission from the start. If you do not update you will not be able to play multiplayer.

Server changelist

o Punkbuster is required ON for ranked servers
o Ranked servers cannot be started with a password
o Autobalance message goes to text-chat instead of in the middle of the screen
o Added weapon balance tweaks to a number of weapons - we are eagerly awaiting feedback!

Diablo III Development To Start Over From Scratch?

2010-04-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Disregard this entire post, it was based off a posting from 2005, back when Blizzard originally scrapped Diablo 3's development to reboot it the first time. Nothing new to see here.

Yes, I made a mistake.

The Exodus of Infinity Ward

2010-04-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Infinity Ward creates blockbuster game. Activision fires IW executives to avoid paying them. The ex-IW executives formed Respawn Entertainment and then signed with EA. Now, more of IW's staff leaves, likely heading to Respawn. Caught up? Good, because now its time for a history lesson with Uncle Heartless_.

Blizzard North was originally an independent company. It was established in 1993 under the name Condor, founded by Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik. The company was purchased and renamed by Blizzard about six months before the release of their hit PC game, Diablo, in 1996. Diablo proved to be incredibly successful, and their 2000 sequel, Diablo II, was even more successful.

On June 30, 2003, several key employees left Blizzard North to form the new companies Flagship Studios (8 moved here) and Castaway Entertainment (9 moved here). The Blizzard North exodus continued on with around 30 employees leaving the company in total.

Flagship Studios was founded by Bill Roper along with Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik, the original developers of Diablo and former high level Blizzard North executives.

Castaway Entertainment is based in Redwood City, California. The company signed a publishing agreement with Electronic Arts in March 2004, but has yet to produce any products.

For everyone thinking Infinity Ward is doomed and Respawn Ent. is the next coming of game development Jesus, I ask what company you would put money into today: Blizzard or Flagship Studios or Castaway Entertainment? It takes more than a few developers to make a game and good corporate culture doesn't disappear over night. We're not talking about Shigeru Miyamoto or Will Wright here.

Warhammer's Billing Debacle

2010-04-10T05:35:00.000-07:00

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) recently had a little 'oops' moment with their billing system that caused many players to be billed several times for their monthly subscription. Some players were charged for over $500 dollars. Normally this is an isolated issue, but the most recent update on the Warhammer Herald confirms it was widespread:

As you may be aware, recently some customer accounts were billed multiple times unintentionally. We regret any difficulty this event may have caused you, and we remain dedicated to resolving the issue with our vendors and customers.

This is about as bad as it could get for WAR, a game still considered down and out in the MMO industry. WAR has enjoyed some success thanks to their endless free trial and I suspect that is where the majority of their new players come from. This faux pas won't inspire anyone interested in subscribing to trust Mythic with their credit cards and not everyone is willing to enter game time cards every month to keep on playing.

However, I really don't want to talk about WAR right now. More interesting to me is how rarely we see such a problem as this. Off the top of my head I thought about the things I have on "set and forget" payment methods online:

1. eBay fees
2. Phone bill
3. Cable and Internet bill
4. Netflix
5. Donations to favorite websites

None of these has ever had a billing issue with multiple charges. And if one did, I doubt it'd be to the magnitude that was seen with the WAR charges.

Also, I wonder how long it would take me to notice. I certainly wouldn't see it right away as I use credit cards mainly and my credit limit is high. At the end of the month, I would notice on my credit card statements, but if it wasn't several identical charges I may glance over it.

This is a wake up call I guess to online payment methods and keeping an eye on charges. It's easy to say "its your own fault for not paying attention", but how many of these services make it an inconvenience to customers who do NOT use automated online payments? To me, its half customer ignorance and half trends towards automated systems in favor of human powered systems.

With automation comes consistency and speed, which reduces some errors. With reduction in error, comes reduction in support requirements. This really puts everyone in a bad place, because when it comes to money its not acceptable to hear "it'll take 3 days to fix" which leads to lost customers. Yet, the costs to have better support isn't justified for the 99% of error-free time.

I'm wandering now. I'll forget all of this once the WAR billing fiasco is over and done with. But just maybe I will pay more attention to the next credit card bill or when my wife is reviewing it, I won't just go "sounds right to me honey!" before staring back at the computer screen.

@Massively Math Fail

2010-04-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

197,000,000 million users have signed up for Dungeon Fighter Online according to this article over at Massively.

No -- that's not a typo in the title. We didn't get attacked by a swarm of ninjas who knocked us out on the "0" button or anything like that. Nexon has announced that Dungeon Fighter Online has hit a worldwide total of 197 million registered players since launching in South Korea in 2005.

Too bad the rest of the stats provided don't pass the common sense check:

Nexon had a few other impressive numbers to sling about as well. Up to this point, players have killed more than 1.6 billion monsters, invaded over 25 million dungeons and engaged in PvP arena combat over 28 million times.

For those of you breaking out your calculator watches, let me do the math for you.

With 197 million players and 1.6 billion monsters killed, that means each player has killed an average of only 8 monsters, over almost 4.5 years.

Every time a player logs in, they spawn their own unique dungeon, meaning that 173 million players are registered that have never played the game.

Lastly, every person that registers for a Nexon account is registered for all of Nexon's games, inlcuding Dungeon Figher Online, whether they actually play or not.

It is horribly apparent the numbers don't match up and Nexon either

a) screwed up the numbers
b) stooped to a new low of public relations misinformation in the MMO numbers game

I'll let my educated readers figure out which.

March 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

2010-04-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

My March gaming was a battle.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for March below. The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.

Game of the Month

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Cost: $49.99 (Limited Edition)
Played: 30 hrs
3-words: Full of destruction!

My game of the month was Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

I am a fan of the entire Battlefield series, more so than any other shooter series, and Bad Company 2 fits right into my playstyle. It's a first person shooter first and foremost, but it offers class-based team play that allows weaker FPS players to enjoy success.

I spent the majority of my time on hardcore servers where bullet damage is increased and some of the UI elements (map, target marking, ammo count, weapon info) is hidden. The "normal mode" works fine, but it can be frustrating sometimes when it takes a dozen bullets to take down a target. Also, normal mode encourages the use of only the high damage weapons and abilities; making a lot of the weapons completely worthless. In hardcore, all weapon types play a role as speed and accuracy, but lower powered weapons are still lethal.

As with Battlefield 2, I find myself playing medic in BFBC2 a lot. I am not a horrible FPS gamer, but I'm not that great either. The medic class in the Battlefield games has always been a balanced option between killing and support. This hold true in BFBC2 and with a focus on squad play, I am able to rack up the points keeping my squad going.

I've really enjoyed my 30 hours in the release version of BFBC2. Sure there has been some server and punkbuster issues, but most of them existed for less than a week. It has been smooth sailing for the latter half of the month.

Game of the Month for April: Bioshock

/Played

My /Played section is a bit short this month. I put most of my time into BFBC2 and had a mid-month lull when I took over a week off from gaming. I hadn't intended to take the week off, but between watching Lost (in the middle of Season 2 via Netflix) and a non-sleeping 6 month old, it just happened.

For the record, I did play some LEGO Universe, but I am not allowed to talk about it due to the NDA on the closed beta. Also, I am still engaged with Allods Online, but just didn't find any time to log in this month, which is fine as I do not have to pay a monthly subscription to keep my Allods account active.

Civilization 4

I put another hour into Civ4 this month. I was sort of inspired by reading up on Elemental, a 4x game that will be launching later this year.

/Paid

Total spent this Month: $0.00
My Value Rating: n/a

I made no gaming purchases this month.

Elemental: 4X

2010-04-01T04:12:00.000-07:00

A 4X game is described by Wikipedia as:

The four Xs were an abbreviation for explore, expand, exploit, exterminate.
Explore means players send scouts across a map to reveal surrounding territories.
Expand means players claim new territory by creating new settlements, or sometimes by extending the influence of existing settlements.
Exploit means players gather and use resources in areas they control, and improve the efficiency of that usage.
Exterminate means attacking and eliminating rival players. Since all territory is eventually claimed, eliminating a rival's presence can be the only way to achieve further expansion.

Elemental, from Stardock, will be a 4X game as well. Lets break down each X for Elemental.

Explore

Elemental is planning to take exploration farther than other 4X games. The traditional "fog of war" will exist and players will have to scout the map to reveal far away lands. However, a lot of that exploration will be accomplished with the player's "sovereign" instead of scouting units. Sovereigns are ageless heroes controlled by the player that are used to move around the map and do everything from build to fight. In MMO terms, a sovereign is a player's avatar.

Along the way, player's will be encouraged to explore the corners of the map in search of quests and dungeons along with traditional 4X activities such as resource procurement and settlement placement. Walking past an out of the way cave may lead the player's sovereign on a journey into the dark to save a damsel in distress. As described by Stardock; "Yes, it’s a 4X strategy game with a little Baldur’s Gate in it." Explorer's should expect plenty to do outside of building their empire.

Expand

The main concept of the game is that the player is rebuilding the world after a cataclysmic event. Players will build cities and expand their empires. Along with Exterminate, this will be the most familiar X to players when starting Elemental.

Exploit

Standard resource management will be part of Elemental. Player empire's will need to track down and control mines, forests, etc. On top of that, a couple of unique resources will be included. At first glance, these items may not be viewed as resources by players. First is magic and the second is family (or dynasty in the long term).

The magic system of Elemental evolves over the course of a game. As players choose their path of either life or death magic, they will unlock and learn new spells. These magical traits can then be passed down the family tree to children and great grand children. Powerful magical children will become key pawns in a player's resource arsenal. By the end of a game, players will be using the fantasy-equivalent of nuclear weapons on their enemies.

Family will also play a huge part in Elemental as player's build their dynasties. While the player's sovereign lives "forever", their children are mere mortals. It will take careful management to ensure children are exploited to their full potential. Sons are future kings and need to be properly groomed for the job. Daughters are key bargaining chips across family ties and can be a foothold into an enemy's family tree.

Exterminate

Elemental will allow players to raise fantasy armies and destroy their enemies. Along with that, players can use their units to complete quests and dungeons. Remember, Elemental is trying to blend in some RPG with this 4X game. Battles can be played out in real time or set to automatically resolve.

Elemental: Phrases

2010-03-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

Elemental, a 4X game in development by Stardock, has a lot of promise. While reading up on the game, I've come across several key phrases that have sold me on the game.

Phrases

Yes, it’s a 4X strategy game with a little Baldur’s Gate in it. (Source)

George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones is obviously a big influence on the designers (Source)

Stardock's aiming at a very low-system requirement (Source)

By the end of the game, they’re [players] a Sauron or Morgoth level of power (Source)

Stardock is also pushing harder for more transparency and more straightforward statistics that are easier to understand (Source)

The in-game tools of Elemental are designed to let players create their own items, their own worlds, their own graphical elements to the world, their own creatures, their own races and pretty much anything else they might want to expand the game. (Source)

The Random House Group will also publish ELEMENTAL: DESTINY’S EMBERS (August 2010), a novel set in the world of Elemental, written by the game’s creator and executive producer, Brad Wardell. (Source)

The game is currently scheduled for a summer release (Source)

My Phrase

If anything bad can be said about Elemental at this point, it is that the game may be too ambitious. From the lowest common denominator graphics, user generated content, multi-player for every play style, and complex simplicity; Elemental is attempting to deliver a lot. I am hopeful they can pull it off.

Stardock's Elemental Looks Interesting

2010-03-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

I don't get interested in games very often by a single preview. However, Elemental and the concepts behind it pulled me in hook, line, and sinker after reading this post over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

RPS: So essentially a 4X game with more of an RPG heritage?

Wardell: Yes, it’s a 4X strategy game with a little Baldur’s Gate in it. The closest game I can think of is Master Of Magic, that’s been a bit of an inspiration for us. What we wanted to do with Elemental is to make it more of a personal experience. We really want you to be a presence within the game world, with your dynasty, with the way you design your units. When you go and zoom in and look at a unit you can see them all in the world, and they’ll all be a little different. And we want to move away from it being abstract. If I have a village with fifty people I can’t just click on it and ask for a legion of people. Those people have to come from somewhere. If spear-men come from a particular village, then there are less people left living there. It’s more personal in terms of you not just being this over-arching power, than other games in this genre.

There is a lot I want to say about this, but don't have the time currently. Check out and come back later when I have some more time to opine.

Warhammer Online and Bioware K I SS I N G

2010-03-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Warhammer Online and Bioware in a tree, K I SS I N G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the expansion from Bioware.

"BioWare talks Warhammer Online's forthcoming expansions" is the title of an article over at Massively.

In a recent GDC 2010 interview with UGO, BioWare's Dr. Ray Muzyka said of Warhammer Online, "Right now it's [a] really profitable business unit within my group." Muzyka went on to say they've actually seen more people come into the game since enacting the free-to-play model on the game's earlier levels, and that he personally felt they were working.

In fact, by the sounds of it, Warhammer Online is due for some interesting announcements in the future. Another of Muzyka's comments on the title was, "We have new content planned and all kinds of cool expansions for it." We don't know how much more clear cut a message can be than that. And hey, it's good news! We're looking forward to our playable Skaven and Lizardmen, Mythic and BioWare.

I know Mythic and Bioware merged to create an "MMO group" within EA, but up until this point it was portrayed as though Mythic was responsible for Warhammer. It is very strange to see Warhammer Online and Bioware mentioned in the same breath and have Bioware's talking head dictating where WAR is headed.

If Bioware is becoming more involved with the game, this may be the breath of fresh air that WAR needs. Any expansion will have to rely on work from some of Bioware's development teams as the layoff train hit Mythic pretty hard. With new developers, new ideas. But, new ideas need restraint. We don't want another of the infamous "New Game Experience (NGE)" from Star Wars Galaxies all over again.

Another question is whether the money-handlers behind the game will approve sweeping changes that may affect the bottom line in the slim hope of increasing it over the long term. There aren't many success stories of MMOGs coming back from underwhelming launches. Change is always met with resistance.

Now, in the past I've had my own ideas for changing WAR:

I would start the year by pulling a Chronicles of Spellborn and announce that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is 100% free to play. However, development has been frozen as the game is prepared to be launched as a Free 2 Play game supported by micro-transactions.

From the original quotes in the Massively article, the success of the free trial is touted. Could this be a signal that more free 2 play is in WAR's future? I would welcome the idea. Even with Allods Online's cash shop debacle recently, I still like the fact that I can log in whenever I want and play for a few minutes. I've thought several times about return to WAR, but have only been able to do so during a recent 10-day freebie.

I am interested to see where Bioware/Mythic/EA can take WAR. At a minimum, it will serve as a case study of how Bioware's development practices can influence other projects.

Bad Company 2 Patch Problems?

2010-03-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 patch has hit Steam. With it, so have the complaints. Many players are reporting a multitude of issues. PC Gamer Blog has the run down:

After the patch:

* Several complaints each about hit detection getting worse, being unable to exit the game and having to close it with task manager, and significantly worse performance.

* "It was crappy before, now it's even worse. Cannot connect EA is a standard msg, server browser inoperative, cant even do the old trick when you pressed "Cancel" after refreshing servers list to get the result faster with more low-ping servers."
khartlian

* "Since installing the patch I'm now getting "Lost connection from server" at the end of the every round I play. Sometimes losing the stats, sometimes not."
GrandTheftAli

* "Now my Bad Company will not work, it drops back to Windows every time I go resume game, was working perfectly before patch. Please help I can't be with out it!!!"
alienandy

* "When I updated the game, I had like 20 crashes to desktop within 1 hour (sometimes without doing anything). Was experiencing lag on ANY server I went in, and all these servers had ping below 40 on the list and I had ~100ping in the server. Was absolutely lag free for me before this patch. :<" Dawnsta

I have not had the chance to update myself, but don't plan on trying to avoid the patch. I've had crash to desktop and connection issues prior to the patch, but for the most part have been able to put plenty of time into the game and I've completed far more matches than I've crashed on.

Normally, I would be throwing a fit about these issues at this point, but I am letting DICE/EA slide so far for the Bad Company 2 issues since launch. The Battlefield series holds a warm spot in my heart and I know when the game works its a wonderful experience. I'm willing to be a bit more patience as they race to catch up with the popularity of the game.

In the meantime, watch a promotional video:

Bad Company 2 Steam Patch

2010-03-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is preparing for its first patch. The Bad Company 2 (BFBC2) patch is already out on the console and standalone-PC versions of the game and is slated for a release shortly on the PC-Steam version.

Shacknews has the details that SecuROM DRM is being removed from the Steam version. Also, multiplayer will be unaffected by the patch vs. non-patched players:

Thankfully, multiplayer servers have not been patched so Steam users will be able to play with non-Steam users despite not having the latest client version. SecuROM CD/DVD copy protection will also be removed from the Steam version, which has no disc.

The removal of SecuROM from the Steam version is another bonus for buying the game through Steam. Steam itself is DRM and the reason why developers feel the need to package their own DRM on top of Steam has always alluded me. Fortunately, in this case, it can be laid to rest.

The rest of the patch note/fixes are quoted below:

Single Player -
Fixed: Graphical issues on some systems on SP_03 (at start and when displaying background mountains at “Up river”)
Fixed: Character voice issue during cut scenes in SP_03b (only affected Spanish)
Fixed: Hang when killed using TOW Launchers in SP_05
Fixed: Graphical issue on some systems on SP_05 (displaying background mountains)
Fixed: Voice volume in cut scenes on SP_06
Fixed: Unexpected dialog at start of SP_08 (only affected Italian)
Fixed: Random crash in SP_09 cut scenes

Multi Player -
Fixed: Server Browser - Joining a password protected server results in a connection timeout
Fixed: Server Browser auto updating server list when reopened causing a timeout issue
Fixed: Password issue during Friend invites
Fixed: Password text field issue on joining a password protected server
Fixed: “Flickering” ship on Arica Harbor
Fixed: Clan tags that use numbers in them displaying a “0” on the Select Spawn Point screen
Fixed: Display issue on long server names
Fixed: Mortar Strike icon not updating (Beta issue)
Fixed: No “Exit Game” menu option appearing at the end of some rounds.
Fixed: Flickering user rank icon (appeared as an animated gif) when user reaches rank 10.
Fixed: Flickering trees and “Red Box” on Laguna Presa
Fixed: User is logged out when failing to create a new soldier
Fixed: Zeus stationary weapon not appearing in stats
Fixed: Zu23 not appearing in stats
Fixed: BMD3 AA not appearing in stats
Fixed: Friend request displaying incorrect Veteran stats
Fixed: End of Round screen displayed incorrect “UAV_Station” – now displays correct localized text.
Fixed: K/D ratio displays in the Front End
Fixed: K/D ratio displays correctly when “comparing”
Change: Server browser now defaults to list via Ping first
Change: News Ticker font support for Spanish, Polish, Russian and Japanese
Change: New message for server full (reported as “I get no message when I try and join a server, it does nothing”)
Change: New message displayed for attempting to join a password protected server without providing a password (reported as “I get no message when I try and join a server, it does nothing”)
Change: Displays version number on Front End Legal Screen
Change: Display of weapon icon during loading screen

Initial Impressions: Lord of Ultima

2010-03-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Lord of Ultima up and bit me in the ass. I didn't even know it existed until a friendly beta invite hit my mailbox. In the spirit of free gaming, I said "what the heck, it's got Ultima in the name so it can't be that bad". Plus, I long for my golden days of Ultima Online. Forgive me, I'm terrible at these sort of things.

Lord of Ultima, by anyone's visit to their home page, is a browser-based strategy game. Players are given a plot of land, which conveniently includes all needed resources, on which to build a city. Anyone that has played any number of RTS games or browser-based strategy games will feel right at home.

Build a lumber mill by the woods, a quarry by the rocks, and a warehouse to store all the materials. Build some more. Upgrade your buildings. Recruit troops. Fight. Rinse and repeat. It is all fairly obvious. The equation is solid and works.

As a browser and casual game, Lord of Ultima looks to prolong what was once an hour-long game of Warcraft (or insert your RTS de jure) into weeks of clicking on lunch breaks and hell, lets admit it, a few clicks during the work hours. Bars move, slowly. Resources pile up, slowly. Everything slowly plods along.

Sort of like this post just plods along. There is nothing to see in Lord of Ultima. It does the same job every other game of its type does. Its Travian with better graphics. Its dumbed down Command and Conquer. It's isn't unique and that's my problem. However, that just means it isn't for me. With god-awful millions playing Farmville, I am realizing some of this social/casual/browser gaming is passing me by.

Who cares, I'm going back to owning noobs in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Epic Integrates Steamworks into Unreal Engine 3

2010-03-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

Steamworks is Valve Software's cloud computing solution for games. For a big fat price of free, it allows game developers to integrate with Steam and it's many tools: anti-piracy, cloud, matchmaking/lobbies, and DLC. Epic, developers of the Unreal games and graphical engine, have announced they will be integrating the Unreal Tournament 3 engine with Steamworks:

Epic Games and Valve Software have announced a mutually beneficial partnership to bring Steamworks to Unreal Engine 3. Valve's full suite of tools will now be offered to Unreal Engine licensees completely free of charge.

Steamworks allows developers to utilize any of the features of Valve's digital distribution platform in their own products, including Steam Cloud save importing, Achievements, user stat tracking, and DRM authentication. It's normally available for free, but its integration into the latest version of the Unreal Engine should encourage even more developers to utilize Steamworks.

"Valve has created a world-wide phenomenon with Steam and we're excited to be able to have the Steamworks suite of services available to Unreal Engine 3 licensees so they can take full advantage of all that Steam has to offer," explained Epic's Mark Rein, adding, "With Valve offering these services free of charge, the idea of providing the Steamworks SDK to all Unreal Engine licensees was a no-brainer."

I'm very curious to see where this leads.

The number one annoying aspect of Steam is that so many games don't use its core functionality. This forces gamers to track a dozen different game IDs and logins. For example: Games for Windows Live games sold through Steam or games that come packaged with Gamespy for multiplayer. Steamworks gets rid of all that and plugs a gamer's Steam right into the game, no extra managment required. It is nice to finally see some bigger developers come on board with Steamworks.

IGNORE ANY EMAIL FROM ME - GMAIL WAS HACKED

2010-03-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note, DO NOT open any emails that you may have recieved today from a heartlessgamer AT gmail DOT com. My account was hacked and used to send World of Warcraft phishing emails.

Lord of Ultima, browser MMO?

2010-03-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

I received an interesting email from EA this morning. It was a closed beta invite for a new browser game titled Lord of Ultima. I received the email as a newsletter from Battlefield: Heroes.

Has anyone else received an invite or even know what this game is all about?

Bad Company 2 Signature Maker

2010-03-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Neat little tool for making Battlefield: Bad Company 2 signatures/widgets.

Now, if only Punkbuster would stop kicking me!

PB INIT FAILURE Bad Company 2

2010-03-07T06:06:00.000-08:00

Update: 9 Mar, 2010 - EA has a fix for this error:

BFBC2 PC server R6 is going to server providers now. This server version should stop all the PB INIT errors that have been happening.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is having a lot of problems with PunkBuster. The first problem resulted from Punkbuster installing in the old BFBC2 Beta folder. I covered the steps for fixing this in this post.

However, now players are seeing the following message:

You have been kicked from the game. The reason is: Punkbuster kicked player 'NAME' (for 0 minutes) ... PB INIT FAILURE. (If this persists, visit evenbalance.com and click support to manually update PunkBuster).

I'll admit that I am being kicked with this error message on 50% of the BFBC2 servers I join. So far, I do NOT believe it is related to a player's individual PunkBuster install as I am able to play just fine on my friend's servers that have Punkbuster enabled.

My best guess is that this is server related and some servers are out of date or broken. So far, the way to "fix" the PB INIT FAILURE error is to find a set of servers that are working and bookmark them as favorites.

However, to make sure players have updated their PunkBuster correctly, I have outlined the steps below.

NOTE: When dealing with any sticky program issues where uninstalling and reinstalling is a valid fix, I highly recommend using a program such as Revo Uninstaller to completely eradicate PunkBuster from the PC. Revo Uninstaller will remove all traces of Punkbuster.

Steps to manually update Punkbuster

1. Uninstall Punkbuster using an uninstall program, removing all folders, registry, and other entries of PB from the PC.
2. Download pbsetup.exe.
3. Launch pbsetup.exe
4. Once launched, click "Add Game"
5. Select BFBC2
6. Browse to your install folder for BFBC2 (just the install folder, not any existing PB folders)
7. Click OK
8 Once back on the main screen, click "Check for Updates" and it will initiate a new install for BFBC2's Punkbuster.

Again, this may NOT fix the PB INIT FAILURE, which I strongly believe is server related! This is simply to confirm you've uninstalled and reinstalled PB correctly.

I play on the following server without issue:

Bad Company 2 PC beating consoles

2010-03-06T06:43:00.000-08:00

The Battlefield series has always been sold as a PC game. A couple years ago that could have been said about the Call of Duty franchise. Then Modern Warfare 2 hit and the console versions destroyed the sales numbers and hours played of the PC version. The debate raged whether Infinity Ward had given up on the PC because there wasn't any money there. PC gaming is dead right?

Wrong. In an amazing turn of events, PC gamers do exist! Today we get word that Battlefield: Bad Company 2's PC version is beating the numbers on the consoles.

btw: PC currently has more people playing and are in game servers than both the consoles.

Noticed on Kotaku that this post was taken the wrong way. The PC had more players than either console not more than both consoles combined. You'll need to work to beat both consoles combined effort

This can be taken two ways: BFBC2 didn't sell well on the consoles or there are a MORE PC gamers willing to buy a game that gives them what they want.

I never agreed that Infinity Ward was screwing PC gamers with Modern Warfare 2. I was intrigued by the peer to peer play and the Steamworks integration. I believed MW2's downfall on the PC was that it just wasn't that great of a game for PC gamers. Compare it to Halo, one of the consoles biggest game series which did poorly on PCs as well. It could be said the Call of Duty franchise has been "consoled" and therefore that makes it poor for PCs.

The Battlefield series has always taken advantage of the power of the PC: dedicated servers, customization, big battles, and tight controls. I suspect BFBC2 is a much different experience on the consoles. Console games always have to provide auto-aim to allow the majority of gamers to hit their targets. Mouse and keyboard control is superior and requires no meddling from the developers.

We could say that Battlefield games have been "PCed" and therefore make poor console games. I doubt that, simply because in the PC version no sacrifices have to be made :)

Speed up Battlefield: Bad Company 2's Server Browser

2010-03-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

EA has posted some tips for speeding up Battlefield: Bad Company 2's (BFBC2) server browser.

To help speed up your server browsing these tips can help you get results quicker.
Use Favourites/History when possible
If you use the server browser then

Use the server browser
When it starts to search click CANCEL

Select the options:
Ranked
Not Full
Not Empty
No Password
Leave Punkbuster checked
Hit Refresh
You can use your friends list in game to connect on them without accessing the server browser.

Hope this helps!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Join In The Fun

2010-03-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

Come join me in Battlefield: Bad Company 2! I am playing on Keen and Graev's co-mutiny server.

Initial Impressions: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Singleplayer

2010-03-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 released on the 2nd and I was able to fight the long download queues on Steam and install my copy. The EA servers are having a tough time keeping up with multiplayer matches, so instead of fighting constant disconnects I loaded up the singleplayer campaign. For those familiar with the Battlefield series, that will be a weird statement. The Battlefield games have never featured good singleplayer aspects, but BFBC2 is fixing to change that.

WARNING: Minor spoilers ahead.

The first mission transports the player back to a clandestine World War II raid on mainland Japan to secure a defecting Japanese scientist. The mission goes all kinds of wrong and our heroes are forced to re-route their escape attempt via submarine. However, before safety can be reached a "secret weapon" is unleashed on the Japanese mainland causing a tidal wave that washes the escaping team into watery graves.

The next mission fast forwards to current times and the player is put into play as part of Bad Company. Somehow this "secret weapon" from WWII Japan has found its way into modern times and its up to Bad Company to unravel the mystery and thats the story as far as I understand it currently.

I know, its weird. I just typed STORY and Battlefield in the same stroke, but EA Dice has pulled off an amazing feat here. They've added a well-scripted, quasi-on-rails solo campaign to one of the greatest multi-player franchise ever AND IT WORKS BEAUTIFULLY! This completes the Battlefield series' move towards the Call of Duty model: great singleplayer with great multiplayer.

The missions are laid out based on objectives. Generally, the goal is to travel from point A to point B. There is a set limit of enemies to fight, unlike the endless spawning waves of Battlefield's past. After that, everything is pretty much open. If the player wants to take it slow or fast, with vehicles or not, it's their choice.

Unlike multiplayer, players are not locked into a single class. They can carry two of any of the primary weapons, along with a gadget and knife. Weapons are unlocked by collecting them off dead enemies. Throughout the levels there are supply crates where weapon load-out can be changed. The system works well in singleplayer and I like the fact it doesn't lock me into a single class.

Early reports show that the campaign is short (8-10 hours), but thats a far improvement from previous Battlefield games. Overall, I am impressed by the singleplayer and with the current server disconnect issues, I anticipate I will be finishing the campaign well before I get heavily involved in any online play.

How To Fix Punkbuster kicks for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (BFBC2) on Steam

2010-03-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

If you are playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 on PC through Steam, you may be getting kicked by Punkbuster after a few seconds anytime you join an online game. This is most likely due to a conflict with Punkbuster and the BFBC2 Beta installation on your PC.

To fix this:

1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common
2. Delete the Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta folder, which includes Punkbuster
3. Go to Punkbuster's website and get www.punkbuster.com/index.php?page=pbsetup.php
4. Launch the program
5. Once launched, click add game
6. Select BFBC2
7. Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\battlefield
8. Click OK and then click Check for Updates.

Punkbuster will now initiate a download for the BC2 Punkbuster client.

UPDATE: You may also need to remove the BFBC2 Beta folder from "My Documents" as well before this will work properly.

NOTE: Do not let Punkbuster run in it's default destination. It is set up to go to the BFBC2 Beta folder instead of the correct BFBC2 release version folder.

I will try to keep this updated as we get more info.

HBO greenlights 'A Game of Thrones'

2010-03-03T04:05:00.000-08:00

Great news for George RR Martin fans, HBO has greenlighted the highly anticipated fantasy series "Game of Thrones."

The premium network has picked up the project for a first-season debut next spring. Nine episodes plus the pilot have been ordered. Production will begin in Belfast this June.

The pickup comes on the heels of another HBO big ticket series order, for Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese's drama "Boardwalk Empire."

From the moment "Thrones" was first announced in development, the series based on the George R.R. Martin novels has generated enormous, perhaps unprecedented, online interest for a series at such an early stage.

The sprawling tale set in the mythical land of Westeros tells the story of the noble Stark family who become caught up in high court intrigue when patriarch Eddard (played by Sean Bean) becomes the king's new right-hand man. The four-and-counting books in the series would each be used as one season of the series.

Unlike many fantasy novels, the "Thrones" series largely avoids relying on magical elements and instead goes for brutal realism -- think "Sopranos" with swords. Martin, a former TV writer ("Beauty and the Beast"), writes each chapter as a cliffhanger, which should lend itself well to series translation. David Benioff and Dan Weiss are the series creators. (Source)

Woot!

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!

2010-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Official propaganda for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

And let's not forget to blow some shit up.

Feb 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

2010-02-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

My February gaming was a letdown.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for January below. The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.

Game of the Month

Mass Effect
Cost: $4.99 (Steam Holiday Sale)
Played: 5 hrs
3-words: Sucked, gets better.

My game of the month was Mass Effect; in honor of the release of Mass Effect 2 this month.

Mass Effect is growing on me. At first I despised the combat and drawn out conversations. Mass Effect has one of the worst introductions to an RPG that I've ever played. There was nothing in the first four hours of the game that made me jump for joy.

However, I now have a feel for the game and have let the cards fall where they may. I'm picking up steam, rock hopping across the galaxy and sticking to the main storyline. I find the side quests easily and best avoided. I didn't log as many hours I had hoped this month, but I do still plan to finish Mass Effect.

March's GotM: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

/Played

In the /Played section, I cover other games I played during the month.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Beta

I love the Battlefield games. Bad Company 2 is the next great title in the series and I spent most of my gaming time with it this month. From my initial impressions post:

The first thing that struck me about Bad Company 2 (BC2) was it's destructive nature. As can be seen in the video, almost every wall and obstacle can be destroyed. This was something promised back in the days of Battlefield 2 and only partially realized in BC1. BC2 takes it to another level. No wall, box, barrel, or cement slab seems safe. Annoying sniper on the third floor three buildings down? Level the first two buildings and smoke that fucker out.

The full version goes live March 2nd and I am dedicating most of March to this great game!

Allods Online Open Beta

Its been an up and down month for Allods Online and its open beta. I put a few hours in and have Healer and Scout leveling slowly, but surely. Regardless of how the cash shop debacle turns out, I have to admit that Allods is a fun game to play in its free version. That's why its so disheartening that the upcoming game changes could kill the fun.

Also, my Allods Online guide is coming along nicely.

Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2, like most of Valve's games never gets old. I hooked up and rocked out for some great VS. matches on The Parish campaign. The finale, bridge map for The Parish is one of my favorites.

/Paid

Total spent this Month: $49.99
My Value Rating: Average

Bad Company 2 was expensive at $49.99. I would have felt more comfortable at a $35 price point. However, I was fortunate enough to receive a $75 "points" card as a bonus from work. One of the few things it can be used on is a prepaid card usable on Steam games. That is the only reason I shelled out $49.99 for this game.

I have now used up $105.16 of my $180 gaming budget for 2010. Stay tuned each month to see if I can stay on track!

Calm Down! SecuROM DRM in Battlefield: Bad Company 2

2010-02-28T06:25:00.000-08:00

I hate DRM as much as the next person, SecuROM being one of the worst offending DRM schemes out there. However, the heat that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is taking for including this DRM is out of proportion to the facts of the DRM works. Fortunately, we have level-headed redditor, SnakeDiver, to steer us through the fog. He posted a great response to a comment in /r/gaming over on Reddit.com.

I've capture the comment in its entirety:

If you have been following BF:BC2's blog then you would have read How BC2 Uses Copy Protection .

Of course it's going to be disabled by pirates. It's inevitable. All it is is a deterrent. But SecuROM doesn't run like it has in the past in BC2.
It runs only when the game runs, and really only does anything on first launch.
It's a wrapper contained within the EXE. Launch the EXE and SecuROM does it's check and game goes
It doesn't install anything into the Kernel

In reality PB is more invasive then this SecuROM. The only thing annoying is the download limits. I wish they'd have a smart activation server, not just a "limit to 5 installs" server. With the smarts being, unlimited installs but if you install X times within X geographically dispersed locations within X amount of time, we're going to block your key.

Complain about real piss-poor DRM such as UbiSoft's "always-on DRM". BC2's DRM is, for the most part, non-invasive as DRM should be. I don't care if they want to protect their code as long as it doesn't get in the way of my use of the product (or of other products).

Again, I don't like DRM. Pirates are already playing BFBC2 on pirated servers, days before the official launch. However, DRM is a fact of life for PC gaming and voting with my wallet is the only way I can let game companies know what I think of their DRM schemes.

I vote for Valve's games on Steam, because Steam offers more than just DRM protection for the games. I didn't vote for EA's last DRM disaster, Spore, and its originally planned "phone home every 10 minutes" DRM. I will NOT vote for any of Ubisoft's new "always-on DRM". I will and have voted for the new SecuROM bundled with BFBC2. its not perfect, but its not as terrible as it once was.

A Self-Serving PC Gaming Wish-List

2010-02-27T05:20:00.000-08:00

It's not my birthday, but I was inspired by Alec Meer's birthday post over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

I want these things.

A Free 2 Play Warhammer Online.
A fantasy-based EVE Online (where is World of Darkness anyways?).
A Shadowbane that doesn't make me want to vomit on my keyboard.
Battlefield 1942 recreated in Battlefield: Bad Company 2's engine, destructible environments and all.
An announcement from 38 studios on what their MMOG will be.
To figure out what ever happened to Project Offset.
Some sort of hypno-therapy that makes me incredible at FPS games overnight.
To never see or hear the phrase “dumbed-down” again
A loaf of bread.
My kid's two front teeth (teething sucks btw)

NOTE: Yes, I stole a couple of Alec's ideas and changed or did not change the words slightly.

Sunshine for Allods Online?

2010-02-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

Keen has a post up: A Ray of Hope for Allods Fans

Today’s communication from gPotato shed some light on a few things we’ve been having to deal with over the past week. First off they debunked the rumor that the original dev team was no longer working on the game. Second, they addressed the cash shop prices stating, “we are actively working on new pricing options to accommodate the masses.”

While we don't know what the final verdict is yet; Keen stated something a lot of Allods players feel.

What gPotato needs to realize coming out of all of this is that the people who enjoy the game are willing to spend money.

Allods players, for the most part, are willing to pay to play the game at a reasonable price. However, I disagree with Keen's next statement:

Yeah, it’s a cash shop microtransaction model game. We know that we’re going to be forced into the cash shop because that is an intrinsic property. That doesn’t bother us anymore.

I don't want to play a game that forces me into its cash shop. It is NOT intrinsic to the business model and does more damage to the game than good. A cash shop should be about convenience, not necessity. The game should make me want to spend money, not punish me for not spending.

I think I am the minority in this. All along I didn't feel the discussion should have been about the cash shop. It should have been about how poorly thought out the game changes were. Removing mana/health regeneration skills, changing the Fear of Death debuff, and increasing the leveling curve are dumb changes for the game. I could care less that I can "buy" my way past these changes, at any price.

Over at Serial Ganker, sid67 lays out his view in response to my original thoughts.

Heartless_ is making the argument that we would hate this type of penalty in any game. He argues that if this change were made in a subscription game, players would still be up in arms about it. Very true. But with one critical difference, in Allods, you can PAY to avoid the penalty.

sid67 is one of the more balanced writers I've found in the MMOG blogosphere. This shows just how much of a minority my line of thinking is. I'm pushing against the conversation about the cash shop, because I want to discuss Allods Online as a game, business model agnostic. The reality is that Allods Online is a poor example, at this point barring any changes, of the microtransaction model.

I have the problem of having a happy-go-lucky vision of Free 2 Play games and the micro transaction model. One whereby players pay for microtransactions that enrich their gameplay experience, while the base game is playable and satisfying within itself. Developers have the right to make money with the game, but at some point, forcing players into a cash shop tells me the game would have been better off in a subscription model.

I must accept my minority view and move on. I'm still playing Allods and depending on where the game changes go, will determine if I continue playing. I don't want to feel like I'm forced into paying for cash shop items; at any price.

Steam Update Incoming

2010-02-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

Valve has released a beta version of the new Steam client:

As of today, a new version of Steam is available through a public opt-in beta, open to all Steam users. This Steam update provides several major upgrades to the platform's core functionality. We've overhauled the Steam user interface to enhance the way you already buy and play games, adding more info about the things that matter — getting games, playing them with friends, and staying current in the gaming world.

If you already have Steam installed on your computer, you can take part in the beta by clicking this link and then selecting "2010 UI Update" under Beta Participation. If you don't have Steam installed, download it today.

I'll update this post to leave my impressions tonight when I am back at home.

UPDATE:

I've installed the update. It looks very clean. The major difference can be noticed on the My Games screen, where the ugly old list of games has been replaced by a fancy new list of games. When a game's name is clicked on the new list, a basic description, screenshot, handy list of links, and your total playtime for that game is displayed. For example, Left 4 Dead 2 from my Steam install:

Unfortunately, not all areas were given the once over for a new visual look. The Steam community page is still its same old self. Hopefully Valve will look into giving a bit of new spin to that page at some point (it needs it).

Overall I like the new look.

gPotato and Astrum Nivel respond to Allods Online debate

2010-02-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

gPotato and Astrum Nival have responded to the community outrage over the recent Allods Online changes.

Over the last several days, the Allods team has been spending a lot of time listening to player feedback. We’ve noticed that two of the biggest topics this weekend have been regarding rumors of Astrum Nival remaining as the developers for Allods and what our future plans are for the item shop. We wanted to take a moment to address these topics and clear up some of the general questions many of you may have.

The original Astrum Nival developers are no longer involved in Allods!

False!

The original development team for Allods Online is still 100% involved in developing Allods.

To provide everyone insight on the situation let’s take a trip down memory lane. The developers for Allods Online were originally known as Nival Online. On July 6th, 2009 Nival Online merged with Astrum Online Entertainment and became what most people know them as, Astrum Nival. Then on December 1st, 2009, Mail.ru merged with Astrum Online Entertainment. Astrum Online Entertainment operates Astrum Nival, the development studio which developed our beloved game, Allods Online.

In any case, the original developers are intact – they just have a new company name. The original vision of Allods Online is still being followed by the developers. Allods Online is in great hands and is being actively developed!

Item shop prices are overpriced, what is gPotato doing about this?

As we mentioned in our official statement last week, the Allods team is well aware of the situation. We can’t apologize enough for the stir and shock it’s caused within the community and the lack of communication we had beforehand with not evolving you, the players, in our decision making process.

We want to make clear that this is something we are not taking lightly. We are not sitting and waiting just to see how many dollars we’re going to make over the next four weeks. It is very clear to us that players are already disgruntled with the situation and we are actively working on new pricing options to accommodate the masses. However, we ask the Allods community to please be patient with the situation! Adjustments like this cannot happen overnight. That’s why we continually encourage everyone to submit constructive feedback to us regarding your opinion about both the game and the item shop. In fact, we started a forum thread that we will be checking on an hourly basis here.

The Allods team works hard on this game and loves it just as much as many of you do. When we see a problem we want to address it and take the most appropriate actions that make sense for both the players and the game. With that said, we encourage everyone to voice your opinion, even if it’s about something you absolutely hate, just please do so in a constructive manner.

Thank you everyone for your continued support! As we’ve said many times, the Allods fans are some of the best gamers in the world – we really appreciate that!

First, they dispelled the conspiracy theory that the original developers were gone. Still, that is a lot of merging and there are reports out of Russia that mail.ru is a less than reputable online-games operator.

The price hike in the cash shop does not appear to have been a mistake as first assumed (they literally multiplied the prices by 10 for everything which made it seem like an obvious mistake).

The changes to Fear of Death, mana/health regen, and leveling speed are not addressed in the post directly, but are the catalyst of the problem. I sincerely hope that Astrum Nival and gPotato realize the prices aren't the problem, its them crippling the game to force players into the cash shop. The cash shop should be about convenience, not necessity.

They have brought up a forum thread to collect feedback.

Forget about the Allods Online cash shop, this is dumb for any business model

2010-02-22T04:16:00.000-08:00

It never fails that a game implodes while I am away for the weekend. This time around it was Allods Online.

In the beginning of the early closed betas, I was not worried about the Allods Online cash shop. The game in closed beta proved to me and many other players to be playable without any cash shop items. The cash shop was going to about convenience. The only thing that was going to change that was a game breaking patch. Barring that single situation, Allods Online was shaping up to be a delightful game.

Unfortunately, game breaking changes just so happen to have been slated for patch 1.0.07.07, which contains changes best summed up by Keen:

Guess what was in these notes? Game breaking changes to the cash shop. Being resurrected by other players now gives you Fear of Death (the death debuff). In Heroic instances, which you can not leave, this essentially means you must have perfume to remove the debuff. Clearly promises are broken here. Given that the NA version must pay $13.50 for a stack of 20 perfume, the math was done and we’re looking at over $50 / month in order to participate in end-game PvE. Top it all off? Fear of Death now lasts 2 hours at level 40.

Lets forget about the cash shop for a minute; these changes don't make sense for any business model. Unavoidable, hours long death penalties? In a game designed to have players die repeatedly? This is a classic case of the punishment (fear of death) not fitting the crime (death). I would have as much of a problem with these changes in a subscription game where I would have to grind away my time for perfume, something more valuable to me than my cash.

Bringing the cash shop back into the conversation highlights how dumb these changes are. Either change was bad by itself, but combined they are a nightmare. Its not a question of players wanting to be free riders. Many players were more than willing to pay for Allods Online (me included).

The power of the micro-transaction model is it's ability to attract players in at all buy-in levels. Those willing to spend $5 are given options while those willing to spend $50 can do so as well. Pricing every single thing in the cash shop out of that lower bracket, while simultaneously forcing players into the cash shop goes against the grain of the business model. At that point, the game is better off in a subscription model.

Stay tuned for more commentary on this subject. I think people, again, are losing focus because this involves micro transactions. Hopefully, we can steer this conversation back to just how stupid the planned game changes are.

It’s not Battle.net, it’s me

2010-02-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

I was less than thrilled to hear about the new Battle.net. I commented on other blogs that this new Battle.net was five years too late. I don’t want every new game to launch with its own developer tie-in service. I want simplicity; consolidation. For me that was Steam. Sadly, Blizzard has shown no move towards Valve’s digital distribution platform and as Blizzard has always been a heavy box sales driven company, it’s a pipe dream. I don’t like the idea of Blizzard’s new toy, but it’s me that’s at fault, not the new Battle.net.

I can’t accept that I have to maintain an EA, Steam, Games for Windows Live, NCSoft, SOE Station, Galanet, Gamespy, Rockstar, Battle.net, and God knows what else account. Whatever happened to launching a game.exe, typing in a display name, and hitting play? Where the hell is the OpenID or Facebook Connect of PC games? Even my cherished Steam platform is becoming a hindrance as the majority of games I play do not integrate with my Steam login for multiplayer or friends tracking, meaning for the majority of games I own via Steam I am logging in twice to play (thank God for the invention of the auto login features).

Battle.net will be successful and heralded as an industry standard. It is a Blizzard product after all. However, I don’t like the trend of every publisher/developer having their own separate platform trying to lock me into or out of their games. Hopefully my complaint has been noted and quickly dismissed somewhere within this crazy landscape of what we call PC gaming.

The New Battle.net

With the "eye in the sky" opinion out the way, lets get to the new Battle.net. Ars Technica has a preview. It appears to have the usual Blizzard polish and is probably ready to go live now, but I suspect we won't see it until Starcraft 2 hits the shelves.

Nothing from the article is groundbreaking. The new Battle.net features streamlined matchmaking for Blizzard games with integrated social networking. It is what most expected and the Blizzard polish will seal the deal.

Conclude

I almost kind of wish it was opened to more than just Blizzard games, but as a long time Steam (and Steamworks) observer, I understand that even giving access away to a digital platform for free doesn't mean any of the larger developers will pay it any attention. After all, that would be crazy. They can just make their own flavor!

Initial Impressions: Allods Online Open Beta

2010-02-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Allods Online launched into open beta this week and I've had a few hours to spend with it. I'm playing with the League faction as Heartless the Priest or Favre the Ranger on the Tensess server. The open beta has been great so far and in classic Heartless_ style, here is a pro/cons list:

Pros

- Runs like a dream with little to no video or net lag.
- The visual style and game play is directly comparable to World of Warcraft. This works to the benefit of Allods Online.
- Leveling is well-paced. Not too fast, not too slow. There are enough quests to go around at each level.
- Combat is smooth and enjoyable.
- Class mechanics are unique to each class.

Cons

- Runs like a dream, but at the price of a view distance that can be measured in inches.
- Quest objectives and areas are camped into extinction.
- The general chat is a never ending debate about World of Warcraft.
- Questions about the Cash Shop are unanswered currently. The details seem to change every week.
- No auto attack.
- Chat interface needs improvement.

Overall I am really enjoying my time in Allods Online's open beta. As characters won't be wiped for launch, Feb 16th is the true Allods launch date. The greatest thing it has going is the free 2 play business model. This allows me to enjoy the game casually without the worry of maintaining a subscription. I can come back and play whenever I want and when I have more time to dedicate to the game, I can spend a few dollars in the Cash Shop to improve that dedicated time. Allods Online is going to be a popular game and I will be very interested to see how financially successful it can be.

Tips & Tricks: How Not to be a Noob at Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Video)

2010-02-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

Best. Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Video. So. Far.

Allods Online Characters and Upcoming Guide

2010-02-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post about my two characters from Allods Online, which just launched open beta (patch 1.0.05.41) today.

Server: Tensess
Faction: League

Heartless the Priest

Favre the Ranger

Also, I am begining work on an Allods Online Guide blog.

Love Release Set for March 25th

2010-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

Via a tweet, we have been given a release date for Love:

Love has a release date: 25th of march.

Since Love is impossible to explain in words, here are some videos:

Video 1:

Video 2:

Preparing for the Allods Online Launch Tommorow

2010-02-15T20:40:00.000-08:00

gPotato has released some information to help everyone prepare for Allods Online open beta launch tomorrow (2/16):

If you downloaded the Allods client before midnight (12am Pacific Standard Time) on Monday, February 15th, you will need to go through the following steps to make your client open beta ready. Also, if you participated in any of the closed betas, this most likely affects your client. You will not be able to update your client through the normal launcher patching process.

1. Download the Allods open beta update here: http://allods-ftp.gpotato.com/OBupdate.exe
2. Run the open beta update from any directory (be sure to close the launcher before running the update!)
3. Re-open the Allods Online launcher
4. Download the latest updates and enjoy the game!

Players can verify their version against this:

Also, the version number to participate in the Allods Online open beta will be 1.0.05.41.

I'm updated and ready to go and just so happen to have the day off from work (not that my kid will let me play that much). Hopefully, I'll be able to grab my favorite names for once!

A Challenge, a Free idea, and Warhammer Online

2010-02-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

Bootae has issued a challenge:

A challenge for my fellow bloggers!

First take the assumption that the game isn’t in the alleged maintenance mode and there’s not only money for new content, but you have access to new content that’s been in development over the last year. So we’re writing this in a happy place. Now then, if you had control of Mythic what would be your plan for WAR in 2010?

Broken down into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, what would be your strategy for changes, improvements and expansions to the game?

Follow on past the jump for what I would do if I were Mythic in 2010.
Spring

I would start the year by pulling a Chronicles of Spellborn and announce that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is 100% free to play. However, development has been frozen as the game is prepared to be launched as a Free 2 Play game supported by micro-transactions.

The lead up to summer will be full of hard work and long hours as the rebirth of WAR is put into place.

Summer

Tentatively known as the "Relaunch", Summer would feature the Free 2 Play version of WAR hitting the market. Major changes would be:

1. Consolidation to a single server. Zones are instanced into multiple copies as they are filled up.
2. Tiers 1-3 are completely Free 2 Play (similar to the current endless free trial).
3. Access to Tier 4 content and capital cities is subject to a Tax System (see notes below) for level 31+ characters.
4. Capital cities will be centers for live events that start on a bi-weekly basis.
5. Capital cities will become the center for almost all end game activity and content.
6. Scenarios will be restructured to coincide with the new live events.
7. Capital city sieges will be moved to live events on a bi-weekly basis, Fortresses would be included as stage 1 of the sieges.
8. The end game would be re-focused to the new live events system.

Tax System

It was tough to think of a micro-transaction system that is unique, yet simple. What I came up with was a Tax System. To access certain tier 4 zones or cities, players are required to pay a Tax or carry a Debt. The Tax can be paid by a pool of funds purchased for real money, called WARCOINS. WARCOINS are tradeable in game to other players. After paying the Tax, access is granted for 24 hours to the content.

If a player is unable/unwilling to pay the Tax, they can opt to carry a Debt. That debt decreases the effectiveness of the player's character and gets worse the longer the Debt is incurred. The Debt can be cleared in one of two ways: paying the Tax for the area or electing to purge the Debt (instant death, sent back to a tax-free zone. Or its purged after leaving a Tax zone for a non-Tax zone.).

Example: Joebob wants to join a Tier 4 scenario. For a Tax of 1 WARCOIN he can enter without a penalty or he can join with a Debt and be subject to decreased effectiveness. After leaving the Scenario, he can rejoin and start a new debt or if he paid the Tax, he is paid up for 24 hours of access.

Fall (seriously, who calls it autumn?)

Two additional capital cities will be introduced: Greenskins and Dwarves.
New dungeons and new live events in each.

Winter

Two additional capital cities will be introduced: Dark Elves and High Elves.
New dungeons and new live events in each.

Misc. details

Along with the Tax system, traditional micro-transactions and account services would be available: bag space, bank space, mounts, name changes, class changes, etc.

All transactions would be completed in-game if a linked payment method is available.

WARCOINS would be given out via contests, live events, and possibly for in-game achievements. Again, they would also be tradeable between players in game.

Tax Debt is only active for the current zone. Changing zones starts a new Tax Debt and does NOT add to the previous Debt.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 vs. Battlefield 2

2010-02-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

In my initial impressions post for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (BFBC2), Esoteric Articles left a comment asking me what I thought of BC2 vs BF2:

Do you think it [BFBC2] is better or worse than Battlefield 2?

I left my initial thoughts in a reply, but I wanted to note and add to those thoughts here.

As compared to BF2, BFBC2 Pros:

BC2 is better about vehicles. Aircraft aren't overpowered (so far) and ground vehicles aren't invincible.
Destructible environments.
The leveling and upgrade system is superior in BC2.
In-game friends system.
Squads are limited to four players in BC2 and any member can be used as a spawn point.
Vehicle-based upgrades.
Rush game-type (a game mode that doesn't stray too far from the traditional BF "capture the flag", but provides a focused objective-based progression map).
Collecting dog tags for melee kills
A move away from kills counting for the most points, allowing support players to be in the hunt for top honors each round.

As compared to BF2, BFBC2 Cons:

The gun play feels sloppy in the BC2 beta.
Players can not go prone in BC2.
Ground vehicles feel overpowered until players unlock laser tags. This is mainly because C4 in BC2 is a pain in the rear to use.
Some graphic effects in BC2 are annoying (scope blur, bloom, fog/smoke, explosion bounce). BF2 always felt very clean visually, allowing players to make sense of the madness.

Good in BOTH

Squads
Large, open maps
More to do than just kill enemies, but its still really all about killing enemies.

Sucks in BOTH

The server browser.
Close quarters sound effects are non-existent. I've never heard another player approaching or running around near me in BF2 or BC2.

Hmmmmm... it has been a year

2010-02-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

Just realized that it has been a year since I posted this bit of news. Amazing how time flies.

And to prove he's mine, here's a pic:

Does the Green Bay Packers outfit give it away?

1205 Pages Complete: A Dance With Dragons Update

2010-02-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

Not Done Yet is the title of George RR Martin's latest blog posting. In it he reveals that he has reached 1205 manuscript pages for A Dance With Dragons. Suvudu makes the comparison, in manuscript pages, of the series:

As a reference, A Game of Thrones is 1088 manuscript pages, A Clash of Kings is 1184 manuscript pages, and A Storm of Swords is 1521 manuscript pages.

Its been a productive period for Martin and it appears that the story that is A Dance with Dragons may finally be winding to a conclusion. Then its onto the waiting for the next book!

Superbowl or Super Snore Forty-Four?

2010-02-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

Saints win! What, not that excited? Well, the Superbowl has come and gone again. The Saints ain't no longer the Aints, so the city of New Orleans can finally put the brown paper bags away.

It was a competitive game, but outside of the last few seconds of the first half, the onside kick to start the second, and the late-game interception the game was a bore. For two of the "best" offenses in the NFL, they managed to have a very unspectacular game. Also, its quite ironic the Saints were the benefactors of two late-game interceptions thrown by two of the greatest quarterbacks in the league (Favre in the championship game and Manning in the Superbowl).

Other than the Snickers commercial with Betty White, the commercials were a huge letdown. The halftime show was as unmemorable as they come.

The worst part, of course, is that Football has ended for another year. The 2010 regular season can not come fast enough, but I'm chanting Go, Packers, Go! already!

Jan 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

2010-02-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first What I'm Playing and What I'm Paying post for 2010. In the future I will attempt to have these posts ready for the first of each month, but Heartless_ Jr is teething and when I finally had free time this past week all I wanted to do was own face in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for January below. The overall spreadsheet can be found here.

Game of the Month

Mirror's Edge
Cost: $4.99 (Steam Holiday Sale)
Played: 7 hours
3-words: Fun action puzzler.

My game of the month was Mirror's Edge. Unfortunately, the fun for Mirror's Edge ended after 7 hours when I completed the game. I tried to move onto the time trials, but became bored trying to shave another second off my runs.

Early in January, I compared the game to Portal in a post and it really sums up my thoughts:

Mirror's Edge is a racing puzzle game, not an action FPS. The sooner that is understood, the sooner the game can be enjoyed. Forget that there is gun-play, this game is all about getting from point A to B in the fastest time and most efficient manner.

The only game I can compare Mirror's Edge to is Portal.

At 7 hours played, I feel the price tag of $4.99 was worth it. I enjoyed the game.

February's Game of the Month: Mass Effect

/Played

In the /Played section, I will cover the other games I've played during the month.

Civilization 4 (Civ4)
Civ4 caught me off guard. I didn't anticipate liking it as much as I have. While it is a simple game to pick up and play, there is a wide variety of things to understand and master in the game. Even after 22 hours of play, I feel like a fish out of water. I agonize over every little decision, wondering if it was the right one. As it is with most involved strategy games, its impossible to tell in most cases whether you made the right decision or not (outside of military conflict that is, its pretty easy when your army is eating dirt and the enemy's is not). However, I am learning how my decisions will affect each game and therefore making better decisions because of it.

Trine

Trine is a great platform puzzle game. Also, its a gorgeous quasi-3D game. It took me about 6 hours to finish and was another $4.99 winner from the Steam Holiday Sale.

Mass Effect

Sure, Mass Effect 2 just launched, but I'm old school and am just catching up on Mass Effect 1. I've warmed my hands up with a couple hours of play this month and will dive into it hardcore in February.

Defense Grid: The Awakening
A great tower-defense game which I purchased solely to play on my underpowered laptop when I'm away from home. Two hours of mindless fun enjoyed so far.

Braid
This is a puzzle game caught between crazyland and Super Mario World. All I can say is that I'm lazy and routinely have to look at cheats... for level 1! However, that is due to some basic things not being explained in-game (like moving the puzzles around to create platforms to jump on). Even knowing how to do something does not make it any easier to pull off. Also, watching the cheats gives a good overview of some of the "basics" that any Braid player will need to survive. I feel a lot less frustrated after having watched some cheat videos and am confident I can tackle the rest of the game cheat-free (or not).

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl
A lot of people love this game, but after roughly an hour with the game I have mixed feelings. I'm not sure if I have the time or motivation to keep playing. There are a lot of nuances and "omg its like real life" things I need to figure out about the game. And I keep forgetting to save my progress.

Allods Online
I enjoyed a few hours of Allods Online and look forward to the launch. This will be my main MMOG for 2010.

Rome: Total War

Sorry, Civ4 won my strategy side over and not sure I will play Rome: Total War past the one hour I invested.

/Paid

Total spent this Month: $55.17
My Value Rating: Excellent

It is rare for me to spend money on a game that I am not going to play immediately, but the Steam Holiday Sale was insane. I had to stock up! Plus, it will only take a few hours of play to get my money's worth out of each game.

NOTE: This report includes data from a short period of time from Dec 2009 as well as all of January 2010.

Please let me know if there are any issues viewing this post via RSS or any web browser/mobile phone.

Initial Impressions: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Beta

2010-02-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

My gaming budget of $180 for all of 2010 does not have much room for new games. However, I saw this video for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and remembered how much I miss the traditional Battlefield gameplay. (Found the video via ITG)

I've always been at odds with the Battlefield series. I've been a fan since Battlefield 1942, but have skipped every other title in the series. I played 1942, skipped Vietnam, played 2, skipped 2142. I skipped Bad Company 1, but now I'm going to be playing Bad Company 2. (NOTE: I left out BF:Heroes as it is outside of the traditional BF series).

The first thing that struck me about Bad Company 2 (BC2) was it's destructive nature. As can be seen in the video, almost every wall and obstacle can be destroyed. This was something promised back in the days of Battlefield 2 and only partially realized in BC1. BC2 takes it to another level. No wall, box, barrel, or cement slab seems safe. Annoying sniper on the third floor three buildings down? Level the first two buildings and smoke that fucker out.

Oh, did I mention the foul mouthed soldiers fighting on the field? Every other word seems to be fuck and I have no doubt the enemy (Russian?) one-liners are just as abrasive. It takes a bit away from the game and with a kid in the house now, I have to pay more attention to things like this.

The next touted feature for BC2 is the reworking of the Squad mechanic (first introduced in Battlefield 2). BC2's flavor allows up to four players per squad. Any squad member can become a roving spawn point instead of just the squad leader. Even in random pick up group play there is a reason to be in a squad. Lone wolfing it will mean a lot of running.

Fortunately, I was able to spend the first three hours or so of the Beta with Alex Taldren. The squad mechanic shines when playing with a friend or group of coordinated players. The game has built-in, squad-based voice communication which works well. Teamwork goes a long way; Alex and I were able to remain on the top of the scoreboard running as an Assault and Medic combo.

The combat took a bit to get used to, but I've been playing so much Civilization 4 lately that my FPS skills were rusty. A couple hours in and I was somewhat back to old form. My only quibble was with weapon damage being all over the place. Sometimes a good burst would take down a target, while other times an entire clip could be laid into a hard charging foe only to have them cover the gap and collect my dog tags (via a knife kill).

There is a level and enhancement system built into the game. As I'm only level 4, I don't have much of a comment on the system. It seems straightforward and most of it does not seem as though it will create overpowered have vs have not situations.

On a side note, in BC2 there doesn't seem to be much of the insanity that the Battlefiled series is known for. No crazy jumping, vehicle riding, or parachuting tricks. It has a more realistic feeling, from environments to combat to vehicles.

I recommend this game to anyone that's enjoyed the Battlefield series over the years, but make sure to buy the PC version (its cheaper @ $49.95 via Amazon.com). The Limited Edition will grant beta access prior to launch. The game launches on March 2nd. I can be found in game as [BLOG] Heartlessgamer

My wishlist for further improvement to Borderlands multiplayer

2010-02-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

With the recent update to Borderlands, the multiplayer connectivity and stability has been fixed. Now that I can actually enjoy online games, I have a wish list for some other changes I would like to see:

1. The ability to roll for loot, instead of the current Free For All system. In a game that is all about the loot, nothing sucks more than watching an hour of hard work go down the drain as a ninja looter joins and steals the prize during the last five minutes. (Yes, I should play with friends, but I have none)

2. Teleport to nearest player. While no areas are that far away in Borderlands, it is annoying to join a game and have to spend the first several minutes finding the other players.

And thats it for now.

Borderlands improves PC multiplayer

2010-02-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

Back in my review of Borderlands, I had a huge complaint against the state of multiplayer on the PC. It just didn't work and for a game I purchased with multiplayer in mind, it was disappointing. News came down today that its fixed:

Multiplayer connectivity has been improved; users should no longer be required to forward ports to host or join multiplayer games. (source)

After reading this, I immediately jumped into my Linksys router's settings and dumped all of my port forwards. I jumped in the game and I was able to join the first game I tried without a problem. Its amazing what a simple change can do. I am feeling a little Borderlands action in my future (I haven't completed playthru 2 yet).

Steam can learn from Netflix

2010-01-31T05:46:00.000-08:00

I love Steam, but I hate misleading press releases. Valve, Steam's overlord, announced that they now have 25+ million users. Unfortunately the details are sparse. There is no indication of what "active account" means or how many are purchasing games on a regular basis. It's difficult to believe these numbers don't include accounts that have long gone dormant. The only vague number given is that ~10 million people have a profile, indicating some sort of buy-in into the Steam platform.

During the last calendar year the platform surpassed 25 million active accounts, up 25% from the prior year. Of the 25 million accounts, over 10 million of those have profiles in the Steam Community.

In addition to the millions of new accounts created during the year, the peak number of concurrent users eclipsed the 2.5 million mark during the month of December, pushing Steam's average monthly player minutes to more than 13 billion.

Contrast this information with the recent Netflix end of year report:

Subscribers. Netflix ended the fourth quarter of 2009 with approximately 12,268,000 total subscribers, representing 31 percent year-over-year growth from 9,390,000 total subscribers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008 and 10 percent sequential growth from 11,109,000 subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2009.

Net subscriber change in the quarter was an increase of 1,159,000 compared to an increase of 718,000 for the same period of 2008 and an increase of 510,000 for the third quarter of 2009.

Gross subscriber additions for the quarter totaled 2,803,000, representing 34 percent year-over-year growth from 2,085,000 gross subscriber additions in the fourth quarter of 2008 and 29 percent quarter-over-quarter growth from 2,180,000 gross subscriber additions in the third quarter of 2009.

Of the 12,268,000 total subscribers at quarter end, 97 percent, or 11,892,000, were paid subscribers. The other 3 percent, or 376,000, were free subscribers. Paid subscribers represented 98 percent of total subscribers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008 and at the end of the third quarter of 2009.

At a glance the reports look similar, but Netflix has two subtle differences.

First, Netflix breaks down year over year and quarterly growth in hard numbers, not percents. This is an important distinction as it gives a clear picture of where the platform is heading. Steam on the other hand only provides a current number and percent growth.

Secondly, Netflix identifies the number of accounts that are riding on their various free offerings and trials. The Steam report has no indication of how many accounts were brought on board through free game offers or "required by game" installs.

Other than labeling all 25 million Steam accounts as "active", there is no real sense of the power of the platform. With the Netflix report, we get a much better feel for how subscribers are using the platform and how Netflix is growing.

Valve is more than generous with data collected from Steam (hardware surveys, heat maps, etc.), but its starting to feel like marketing overdrive when they are talking about the status of the platform. Hopefully, Valve can take a queue from Netflix and realize that granular subscriber data is not the end of the world.

Dancing with George RR Martin: Update on A Dance With Dragons

2010-01-30T04:13:00.000-08:00

Its ironic that I found this post from George RR Martin this morning as I sit snowed in as well:

Snowing like hell in Santa Fe today. I feel like Jon Snow on the Wall. White everywhere I look, and still coming down.

Of course, I'm writing about Meereen, where the weather is hot and muggy, oppressive. If the snow keeps falling, I better take it as an omen, switch to a Jon chapter tomorrow.

The good news: finished a chapter today.

The bad news: it's one I've finished at least four times before.

This time, though, I think I finally got it right. We'll see. Still whacking at the Meereenese knot.

I took an especially vigorous hack two days ago, by switching to a new POV. It seems to have helped. Helps to have a pair of eyes on the inside rather than the outside here. And back story works better in recollections than in dialogue.

Let's hope that when next week comes, I still like what I did this week.

Writing, writing...

This is not an earth shattering update, but its an update none the less. And for George RR Martin to talk about finishing something, anything with A Dance With Dragons is good news.

Return to the Galaxy for FREE

2010-01-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

Any player that has previously subscribed to Star Wars Galaxies will be able to play the game free of charge between February 1st and March 1st.

No, this is not out of the kindness of SOE's heart. Its an offer to promote their upcoming Galactic Civil War expansion: Forces Under Siege. This would be the expansion where SOE finally realizes that there is a galactic civil war occurring during the Star Wars classic time line.

Any old-school player (that means pre-NGE) will probably remember little to nothing about the galactic civil war from the original game, because there wasn't one. Sure, Rebels and Imperial scum could chase each other around and spam knockdowns, but it was for no gain to either faction. It was nothing more than a constant gankfest at each of the spaceports. It sucked. No, it really, really sucked.

However, the new expansion approach to the GCW isn't going to tempt me back into the game. I only mention it because its a free month of play for a MMOG, a Star Wars MMOG no less.

LCD vs Plasma: HDTV buying guide and other stuff I learned in the process of buying my first HDTV

2010-01-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

What HDTV should I buy? Its a question heard around the Internet every two seconds. Quickly followed by LCD or Plasma? Followed by more questions: screen size, refresh rate, resolution, etc. Normally, a quick search on Google or Bing will quiet my concerns about any tech purchase. In the case of buying an HDTV, Google was worthless, sending me repeatedly to adver-spam sites that do nothing more than duplicate Amazon.com's review listings. Bing proved a little bit more fruitful, directing me to the helpful CNET Reviews.

What I learned was that I could not rely on a review or single source to direct me to the HDTV that was right for me. The only way I was going to get a quality television was if I made the effort to research the options and understand from top to bottom everything there was to know before I walked into a store (and know that once I left that store, I was going home to order my HDTV online to save money).

Plasma vs LCD

The first step in any HDTV journey is to make a decision: Plasma or LCD. I falsely assumed that LCD being the newest and most prominent HDTV technology on the market was the path I was destined to follow. It was fairly late in the game when I discovered that the older technology of Plasma was more than capable of standing up to LCDs. In hind sight, I should have started looking at Plasmas from day one, right alongside the newest LCDs.

Plasma

Plasma's get a bad reputation from their early years and the fact they are slowly being phased off the market. Big name Plasma makers such as Pioneer have already left the market, and others are following. Any initial search for a list of top 10 HDTVs is unlikely to feature more than a single Plasma.

The main benefit, that I found, for Plasma HDTVs was the price. The manufacturing process for making Plasma televisions is streamlined, reducing the price. Comparable sized Plasmas are often hundreds less than equivalent LCDs and with better specs.

Secondly, Plasmas offer a better picture quality out of the box, with deeper blacks and better control over motion blur. Unlike LCDs, Plasmas do not need to advertise 120hz or 240hz refresh rates, as they handle screen refresh without the need for gimmicky processing tricks.

Also, the off-angle viewing for Plasma TVs is better, so those looking at the TV from one side will see the same vibrant picture as those in front of it. LCDs are best viewed from the front with noticeable degradation of the colors and sharpness as the viewer moves off-center.

The major downside of Plasmas is power consumption, upwards of two to three times greater than that of LCDs. However, most new Plasmas are Energy Star rated, which greatly quiets my fear of an energy vampire. Otherwise, many of the downsides attributed to Plasmas are things of the past.

Newer Plasmas have the same life expectancy of tube LCDs (60,000 - 100,000 hours, or about 27 years of average use). There is plenty of technology built-in to prevent screen burn in (where an image seems permanently stuck on screen, such as a stations logo) and combat image retention (images staying on screen during periods of transition, such as when changing channels).

The only true detractor that sticks to Plasmas is that they don't do well in a bright room due to the fact they require a shinier glass surface which can pick up annoying reflections. For my situation, our great room is big and dim, so a Plasma was a good fit.

NOTE: Plasmas only come in 42" + screen sizes. For HDTVs below 42", LCD is the only choice.
NOTE: Plasmas do not do well at higher elevations and should be avoided in those areas.

LCD

While it may be obvious from my Plasma section that I became a fan of Plasma over LCD, but it would be a disservice not to talk about LCDs in this post. LCDs are the prevalent technology on the market. They are far more energy efficient and tackle some of Plasma's greatest skeletons: no threat of burn in or burn out, matte finish to reduce glare, smaller screen sizes available, and no issues at higher elevations.

With newer technologies, such as LED back/edge-lighting and 120-240hz refresh rates, LCDs achieve equal picture quality to Plasmas. However, LCDs are just now catching up in these categories and there is no set standard and plenty of debate over the benefits of each new feature being added to LCDs. This leads me into one of LCDs biggest issues: price.

This is not to say all LCDs are over-priced, but the good LCDs that offer comparable specs to a good Plasma are always more expensive. Not to mention as new features are added (120hz, 240hz, LED, dejudder, etc.) the price keeps going up. To accomplish the same things that a Plasma does out of the box, expect to be paying more for an LCD. Plus, more time will be spent researching each of these new features and the affect on viewing.

Why I chose Plasma

At the end of the day, I went with Plasma. The ultimate test for me was walking into several large retailers (Best Buy, Jeff Lynch, etc) and looking at TVs. Online research can only accomplish so much and at some point, the TVs need to be seen in person to understand the differences.

The first thing I noticed when walking into Jeff Lynch were the three screens on the far wall. The picture looked crisper and more vivid than the rest. Sure enough, they were all Plasma screens (and only displaying 720p content). All of them were hundreds less than the other TVs. In comparison, there were well over 50 LCD models on display. Not a single LCD on the floor looked great until I was standing right in front of it. The lonely three Plasmas looked good from everywhere. Granted, once in front of the LCDs, most were great and in the theater room at Jeff Lynch with the 65" Sony Bravia LED-LCD, the picture was amazing, but I would hope so at the $4,000+ price tag!

The off-angle viewing was a huge factor in my decision as our great room features 3/4 of the seating off to the side. Plasmas won this fight hands down and with the price being about $500 less than an equal LCD, I was sold. Anyways, I am NEVER directly in front of our TV, the dog is! And I'm not buying this TV for the dog!

Details, Details

While LCD vs Plasma is a tough decision, there are plenty of other things to confuse an HDTV buyer: resolution, brand name, model number, screen size, etc. LCDs in particular require due diligence on their growing set of options. What I'm about to break down is what I found to be the important factors: 1080p, screen size, and brand name with a touch of model number.

1080p

1080p is the defacto HD resolution these days and while most cable/satellite is sent in only 720p, I found no reason not to go with 1080p. The price difference, while there, was not enough to convince me to skip out. Also, I would have had to search pretty far and wide to find a newer 720p set. Every newer TV was 1080p.

Screen Size

Bigger is better right? Yes, but size matters based on viewing distance. I found a handy chart that makes quick work of this:

At ~9ft from my couch to the wall, a 50" fell right in the sweet spot. Too far away with a screen under 50" and I would lose detail and diminish the bonus of having an HD screen.

Brand Name with a Touch of Model Number

There are a lot of HDTV manufactyrers out there and a million models from each (or it seems). I strongly recommend sticking with a trusted name for a large purchase such as this: Sony and Samsung being the two top names I saw repeatedly. Often times enthusiasts will refer to the brand names in tiers.

Tier 1 consists of the big names: Sony, Samsung, etc.
Tier 2 consists of the lesser knowns: Vizio, etc.
Tier 3 consists of the budget and store brands: Sceptre, Infinity, etc.

While tier 3 TVs may offer dirt cheap prices, they are plagued with lesser quality parts and shorter life spans. Another factor is the repair network for each. The bigger brand names are going to have nationwide (read: United States) repair networks and in-home service, while the tier 3 suppliers are going to have limited repair networks that will most likely require shipping a TV somewhere for repairs.

Just to throw a wrench into my smooth sailing, the HDTV manufacturers toss around all kinds of model numbers. For example there is the similarly named Samsung PN50B550, PN50B450, and PN50B650. All only one number off, but the differences and prices between each are huge. The 550 and 650 offer 1080P, while the 650 trumps the 550 with Internet connectivity. The 450 really shouldn't be included because it features only 720p and is only a budget line.

My advice is to look at the model numbers and determine what differs between each. Often times, the higher end models will have an extra bell or whistle (such as Internet on the TV). Without a little research the buyer would never know there is a technically equal TV, minus the bell or whistle, for a few hundred dollars less. It pays to figure out what the "vanilla" sets are in each line (the 550 being the vanilla 1080p-level set in the example above).

Buying Online vs in-store

Just a quick note on buying online vs in-store. In both situations, it is unlikely the store selling the TV will accept returns on damaged/non-working TVs. They will usually require the manufacturer to be contacted for repairs. Online or off, most places will accept returns on working, but un-wanted TVs.

Most local stores will not have many HDTVs in stock at the store, requiring payment for home delivery from a warehouse. Also, local stores have to charge sales tax. Online purchases usually don't have sales tax and shipping is often free. I found very (and I mean very) little reason to buy locally. I saved over $200 buying my TV online. If there isn't a super deal locally, head online (I like to use Bing Shopping to compare prices and nab Bing cashback when possible).

What I bought

Lets get to what I bought: Samsung's PN50B550. From the details:

The PN50B550 plasma HDTV is perfect for action-packed sports and movies. It uses new e-panel technology which reduces blurring and produces crisp, clear images. And 1080p high definition brings out the brilliance and clarity in everything you see. Plus its unique Touch of Color design turns it into a beautiful work of art. Enjoy a more realistic, thrilling movie night at home with this Samsung plasma HDTV.

It arrives Feb 2nd, so check back to see if my research lives up to the hype.

I'd Hate to be Brett Favre Right Now

2010-01-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

Ouch, Brett Favre just ended another season after throwing a big-time interception. This has to hurt.

And of course everyone is going to blame Favre, not the six fumbles, poor pass protection, or poor officiating.

I don't see him smiling like this tomorrow.

Left 4 Dead 2 Needs a Karma System

2010-01-21T04:14:00.000-08:00

I was playing Left 4 Dead 2 last night and as I was getting settled back into some VS. gameplay, I was reminded of one of my few complaints against the L4D series: poor multiplayer matchmaking.

The Left 4 Dead series has given rise to a new virus on the multiplayer scene: rage quitters. All it takes is one rage quitter at the end of a bad match to trigger a nasty cycle. Others will follow, usually leaving an empty team that is filled with random new players two minutes into the start of the next round which is often far too late for the team to recover. The round goes badly, another rage quitter pops, and we're back at square one.

In a traditional FPS, a stronger skilled player can make up for a missing player. Unfortunately, the problem for Left 4 Dead 2 is that the loss of a single player greatly reduces the effectiveness of the team. The game is built for 4 vs 4, with the goal being 3 out of 4 players on the survivors team being disabled at any given time by the infected team. That 4th player is everything! Without a reliable 4th player, the survivors risk easily being caught and the infected have no one to harass the last survivor after a proper ambush. When that 3rd or 4th player doesn't appear until halfway into the match, the game is all but lost (if the players even stuck it out that far).

Less bitching, more ideas on how to fix it

What L4D2 needs is a karma system that rates players.

Players would be rewarded for finishing games, win or lose, and penalized for leaving games early. However, only when voted on by the players that actually finish the round. At the end of the match, a quick vote system pops up and players mark a + or - next to each name. A negative would only be allowed on a player that left the match early and the earlier they left, the more that - hurts their karma. A + would add karma obviously. A blank vote is counted as a neutral, no change. This serves as a self-policing mechanic for the community.

Those players maintaining a positive karma need to be rewarded with better match making tools that allow them to filter out low-karma bad apples. With dedicated servers hosting the L4D2 games and Steam tracking the players, this could be implemented.

Karma stats would also need to be public, without an option for hiding them.

The beauty of this? Anyone, at any time, could just set up a non-karma game or set the karma level to 0. But those of us looking for a better experience, without the benefit of a steady play group, could filter to our hearts content for the caliber of player we want to play with.

Another satisifed customer...

2010-01-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

the: hey
heartlessgamer: no
the: ?
heartlessgamer: not to be rude, but I have plans for it at some point
the: really?
the: you haven't touched it for ages..
heartlessgamer: yes, I know. I get sidetracked.
the: did i remind you of it
heartlessgamer: actually no, I had posted on twitter before you contacted me about getting it up and running. I've been a games blogger since 05, and originally when steam communities launched I was going to connect my list of contacts together from the gaming blogosphere

the: hmm
the: So ,you haven't touched since 07, but you've talked about it?
heartlessgamer: yes, and first come first serve. again, not being rude, just squatting on something I might want to use.
the: ok , if you want to use i can give back to you :D
heartlessgamer: nope
the: why?
heartlessgamer: because it would make me feel bad to tell you to stop using it
heartlessgamer: so I avoid the inevitable conundrum
heartlessgamer: by saying no now
the: haha
the: i'd be the one feeling guilty, if you told me you want it
heartlessgamer: see, saving us both the trouble now
the: haha , i don't realy mind tbh
the: i might only use it for a week
the: i set-up a clan , called [BLOG] and :S
heartlessgamer: also your profile was private, so I knew nothing about you. you wouldnt be the first that has asked for it.
the: come on man :S?
heartlessgamer: 1 billion dollars, final offer
the: i really , like it because it's an old group
the: if you want , i can make oyu agroup called BLOG gamer :)
heartlessgamer: http://twitter.com/heartless_gamer/status/8012403854
the: i want it because of it's anem and its date :s
the: nothing else :(

Allods Online Beta 4 Starts Today

2010-01-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

Today marks the start of something very special for fans and players of Allods Online: Closed Beta Test 4. This stage of beta brings a raised level cap to 40, seven new contested zones, new instances, raids, Goblinball and Astral Ships. This all begins today (Jan 19th) at 11am PDT and runs until February 3, 2010. (Source)

Game Developers Should Play Games :The Lesson Learned From Reading George RR Martin

2010-01-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

There's a great post over at Suvudu: The Lesson I Learned From George R. R. Martin. The author explains how they've taken lessons from exploring some of Martin's smaller works:

The lessons I learned from reading three straight George R. R. Martin novellas played into my own short story writing process, George a silent mentor whether he likes it or not.

continued...

The lesson to be learned from this: Most authors, when giving craft advice, tell hopeful writers to read almost as much as they write.

This circles back around to a debate often had among MMOG bloggers. Should game developers play other games? Often times, gamers feel developers should not as it will just lead to clones of other games. However, I don't feel that is the case. If it works for a craft such as writing, it can work for game development.

It's not whether they play, it's the games that developers choose to play that matters. As in the linked article, the author did not go for Martin's big titles. Instead they focused on his short stories, which are condensed examples of what makes his bigger works successful.

This has to be extrapolated a bit for game development as games often comprise teams of developers compared to the general rule of one author per story. We can take the comparison of World of Warcraft and Darkfall Online. If a game developer really wants to improve their craft and input to their team, what game should they play?

World of Warcraft will show them a great game, but how much knowledge will be gained? How much will a budding author learn trying to dissect the entire Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin? Unless they are the next George RR Martin or Blizzard, not much. They'll have a great experience that they want to duplicate or improve. Yet, they will be trying to duplicate or improve components which are above their immediate understanding. It will not work.

On the other hand, if they take some time to explore Darkfall Online they are going to have a different experience. Darkfall is rough around the edges, but has dug out it's niche in the market. Playing Darkfall should allow a game developer to see how staying focused and delivering on community expectations can create a successful game. At the same time, they will find core components which can be improved.

This sort of knowledge often feels missing from bigger developers. I wonder, often, how many of the bigger developers have many core designers that have even played any games outside of the few big titles that hit every year. In interviews, few developers ever mention games outside of World of Warcraft or Modern Warfare 2.

I date back to Paul Barnett of Mythic. Leading up to Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), he spoke up in an interview about having to actively discourage team members from playing WoW. Not because WoW was a bad game, but that it gave them poor perspective. Paul Barnett understood that playing WoW lead to an experience that many designers wanted to, but could NOT duplicate.

This is not the post to debate WAR's short comings, but the game misfired somewhere and in retrospect, maybe the developers spent a little too much time playing WoW (I'm generalizing here). I've posted before where it seemed that the internal Mythic propaganda favored blaming Wrath of the Lich King instead of themselves.

There is not an exact science for being good at something. Some great game developers and book authors have come with little to no experience. However, I suspect the majority of good developers/authors spent a lot more time with The Hedge Knight than they did playing Aion.

Being a newb in Civilization 4 is hard work

2010-01-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

I'm hopelessly addicted to Civilization 4 (Civ4). The breadth of game play and possibilities is astounding. However, being a newb means I have a lot of hard work to become a better player.

For example, reading over the Civ4 "War Academy" at CivFanatics.com is not something done over a 15-minute break at work. It requires an entire day worth of note taking and a fundamental re-working of the idea of micro-management.

However, none of the knowledge from the War Academy is needed. A player can kick back on a lower difficulty setting and enjoy the game just as much as someone going for a Space Race victory on a hard mode. I've spent my entire first two games on the default difficulty mode, but it doesn't take long to realize that I'm dominating the field.

I've had fun in Easyville, but I want a challenge, so I'm kicking it up a notch. That means a lot of reading and learning. It feels good to have a game that makes me think again without needlessly throwing barriers at me.

My Allods Online Status

2010-01-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

After a very busy beta 2, I have taken some time off from Allods Online during beta 3. After beta 2 my mind was set: I am going to play Allods Online at launch. Therefore I am taking a break during beta 3 to enjoy some of my other games and prepare for the launch. I've logged in only a couple of times. Also, I did not have any characters even close to the new level 20+ content that beta 3 was testing.

However, Keen over at Keen and Graev's has been rolling through beta 3 and has posted an amazing level 30 PvP video.

My character is very versatile and I enjoy the role that I play in PvP.

I've embedded the video below:

Other PvP MMO developers should take note:

1. Smooth as butter combat
2. Excellent performance
3. Visible spell effects
4. No over-zealous crowd control
5. Players lasted more than two seconds in combat

Now Playing: Civilization 4 and Mass Effect

2010-01-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

My journey through the pile of games I picked up from the Steam Holiday Sale continues.

Civilization 4
It has been years since I played a proper strategy game. For $13.60, I grabbed the complete Civilization 4 (Civ4) collection. I also picked up Rome: Total War, another strategy game for $2.49. I set zero expectations for either game, knowing that one of the two would win over my strategy sessions.

I was able to complete the tutorial and start the official campaign in Rome: Total War. After starting the campaign I became confused and defeated. I didn't know what I should be doing and every decision I made felt like the wrong one on the next turn.

It took me about an hour to complete the tutorial in Civ4. That was around midnight. I didn't go to sleep until 2 AM. Civ4 is one of those games that makes players lose track of time. While Civ4 is not an easy game by any means, its a game that allows room for mistakes and misjudgments. Instead of making my decisions seem worthless, Civ4 presents me with another one. Before long, I was so far into my decision making tree that the mistakes I was making weren't anything more than learning experiences. Its a tough thing to describe, but it feels right.

I am loving Civ4.

Mass Effect
I've ignored single-player RPGs for the past few years and Mass Effect is one of the highly-rated games I missed. At $4.99 through the Steam sale, it was a must buy.

After an hour of play, I am on the fence about the game. It doesn't feel like the great game that the reviews and general praise make it out to be. The main feature, the dialogue system, feels monotone and lengthy. The bland main character, Shepard, isn't helping.

However, there were a few areas that caught my attention. The character progression and combat is solid. The backstory and expanded universe is intriguing. There is enough to keep me going forward and hopefully the story will pull me in at some point.

If not, I have Bioware's other RPG: Jade Empire.

Given er all she's got captain!

2010-01-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

One tweet says it all:

The STO server's can't take the load. They don't have the power!

Star Trek Online Open Beta Jan 12th

2010-01-11T19:45:00.000-08:00

From Rock, Paper, Shotgun:

The big news is: Star Trek Online Open Beta opens today (12th Jan) at 10am PST (2am proper time), letting all sorts of riff-raff into the universe.

However, open beta keys are only available to those that have pre-ordered until the "partners" for Star Trek Online are announced tomorrow and start handing out massive piles of keys to everyone else.

So, if you want a guaranteed in, Amazon.com has STO for $46.99. Live long and prosper.

Packers vs. Cardinals "wild"card

2010-01-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

My heart, if there is one, has been trampled once again. As a Green Bay Packers fan, its been downhill since the 4th and 26 miracle of 2004. It doesn't matter who the coach or quarterback is, the Packers continue to fall apart in big games.

The Packers just lost to the Arizona Cardinals in a wild game. The final tally was 51-45, ending in overtime on an unfortunate fumblerception. Aaron Rodgers, the Packers QB starts his postseason career 0-1. He started with a first play turnover and ended on a last play turnover. The guy can not catch a break and has yet to prove he can win big games.

The Arizona Cardinals played a good game, but I'm pulling the bullshit card on anyone that says they played better. They were handed 20 points (+14 more if you consider the non-calls on Fitzgerald tackling defensive backs).

The Packers roared back from the hole they dug and proved they were the better team 3/4 of the game. Take away the odd first quarter and the Packers win hands down, but thats dishonest to what really happened. The Packers have no one to blame but themselves. Turnovers and giving up field position makes winning tough.

This is a tough one to swallow. I don't blame any single player or coach for this loss. The Packers did everything to win this game, but made the rookie mistakes that have plagued them all year. They failed as a team, which is the best sign for next year that I can pull from this disastrous loss.

Borderlands Configuration Editor

2010-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

I found the Borderlands Configuration Editor, which is a great tool that easily allows PC players to do everything from disabling the opening movies to adjusting the field of view (FOV).

One of the "TO DO" additions to the tool is a "Check my ports" feature, which is dearly needed for the port forwarding mess that is multiplayer on the PC version of Borderlands. So, if you have a moment drop into the forum and place a vote to get this feature added ASAP!

Blizzard taking account security seriously with mandatory authenticators?

2010-01-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

WoW.com is reporting that Blizzard may ratchet up account security by requiring the use of authenticators on ALL accounts.

WoW.com has learned through trusted sources close to the situation that Blizzard is giving serious consideration to making authenticators mandatory on all accounts. According to our sources, while this policy has not been implemented yet and the details are not finalized, it is a virtually forgone conclusion that it will happen.

I think this is a great move for World of Warcraft. The negatives are limited, while the positives gained are far reaching. After the initial implementation spike in support requests die down, this will dramatically reduce support costs in the long run as hacked account support stops clogging the support queues. Players will gain peace of mind that their accounts are secure and that should something go wrong, Blizzard's support will be able to resolve it in a timely manner.

However, there is one giant hurdle that needs careful planning: getting players on board.

The first part of this is "cost to the player". As I stated above, the support costs are going to rise after initial implementation as players get acquainted with their new dongles, but the long term savings in support should be measurable for Blizzard. That savings forecast should be used to subsidize the cost of the dongle for players.

The second part is more complicated. With mandatory authenticators, it will be a lot harder for players to maintain their accounts. As Cataclysm approaches, this could put many returning players off. Current active players could face days of potential lockout if an authenticator is lost. These concerns need to be taken seriously or this could bottleneck WoW.

In WoW's case, I think this is a good move. However, its a limited case in the MMOG market. Other subscription MMOGs would not be able to pull this off unless it was included at launch and I'm fairly certain it is well outside the reach for Free-2-Play games. Regardless of what Blizzard decides, it will be an interesting case study to see how the blogosphere and WoW community react to the idea.

Avatar: I should hate this movie.

2010-01-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

Avatar: I should hate this movie. It depicts a resource-hungry, western-style civilization destroying the native inhabitants of a planet through technological and military might.

The story is predictable and the characters one-sided. The marine kills, the natives are misunderstood savages. Everything fits into the expected cliches of a cultural clash on a clandestine planet.

On top of the stereotypes, the hype should have killed this movie, but it didn't. Avatar is a masterpiece.

Avatar not only lives up to the hype, it smashes expectations. It is not about the story, the characters, or the cynical prognostication of our modern-day world. Its about escapism. Avatar is the first movie that made me feel like I was transported to another time and planet.

There weren't special effects, there was a living and breathing world in the theater unlike anything I've ever experienced. I could blather on about how stunning Avatar was to watch, but words can not do it justice.

My only complaint with the movie is the macguffin of unobtainium. That aside, its a hardly noticeable subtraction from an otherwise perfect movie.

Top Board Games of the Decade

2010-01-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

The Thinking Gamer has a great post up covering the last ten years of board games with yearly favorites and his top 3 of the decade.

Here's my take on the best board games of the last decade, broken down year by year:

2000 - Carcasonne
A really good game, and a truly innovative design space to explore as well. It's no longer in regular rotation for me, but Santa brought "The Kids of Carcasonne" for Kira this year and I highly recommend that variant for anyone with a budding gamer who's 4-7 years old. It's easy to learn and no reading is required, but it's got a surprising amount of depth of strategy — enough to keep things interesting for parents too.

While there are a lot of games on his list that I've never played (I've been out of board gaming for two years now), there are a few I played and quite enjoyed. One of my personal favorites is the one quoted above: Carcassonne.

If I was going to be voting for my top game of the decade, Carcassonne would be it. The gameplay is simple, yet a logistical treat. It's also dead simple to setup and get playing, a key to any board game being considered for game of the decade.

Another great game I enjoyed this decade was Battle Lore. However, Battle Lore is a hardcore, fantasy-inspired version of Memoir 44, so I understand why it doesn't make Thinking Gamers list.

Board games offer a great escape from today's crazy world of video games. Even after ten years, Carcassonne delivers greatness without the need for patches or new hardware. I recommend everyone give one of the games on Thinking Gamers' list a try or break one out at their next get together with friends.

Trine is fantastical eye-candy

2010-01-03T05:48:00.000-08:00

I picked up Trine last night for $4.99 on Steam as part of the Holiday Sale. I watched the videos prior to my purchase, but I didn't realize how stunning the visuals were until I started playing. For a side-scrolling platformer, Trine delivers amazing 3D backgrounds. Also, the character models and enemies are well done.

On top of this, the game features top-notch physics game play as all manner of items can be moved and tossed around. So far, this has given some great variety to the levels. I often found multiple ways to complete a challenge. However, with such open gameplay, I found myself often wondering if what I just did was what I was supposed to do or did I get lucky? Or did I miss something? The game has kept me guessing, but thats a good thing.

I've embedded a video below of the game. Sit back and enjoy the visuals!

The Steam Holiday Sale for Trine ends in a couple hours, so go get it! Or for the non-Steam users, pick it up at Amazon.com.

Mirror's Edge is like Portal

2010-01-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

Mirror's Edge is a racing puzzle game, not an action FPS. The sooner that is understood, the sooner the game can be enjoyed. Forget that there is gun-play, this game is all about getting from point A to B in the fastest time and most efficient manner.

The only game I can compare Mirror's Edge to is Portal. Both games are frustratingly hard and require copious amounts of trial and error. The levels are NOT meant to be beaten the first time through. At some points, both games almost demand the player goes to YouTube to find a walkthrough video.

Both games seem to make the complex simple and the simple complex. Many times while playing Mirror's Edge I would easily complete a complex running jump only to miss the next basic jump across a two foot gap. My guess is that so much trial and error goes into the tricky parts, that players unknowingly let up on the easy stuff. Still, sometimes I think the game just wanted to punish me for figuring something out.

After mastering a level, there is almost no challenge the second time through. Re-playability is limited to those looking to beat their previous best.

Neither game features a UI. And with so many near misses and vertigo-inducing leaps in Mirror's Edge, a UI would have ruined the experience.

Like Portal, the story for Mirror's Edge serves little purpose other than giving a backdrop to the game and motivation for completing the levels. The story in Mirror's Edge isn't that bad and the world is fairly interesting (and beautifully rendered).

For characters, just as Portal features GLaDOS, Mirror's Edge features Merc (short for Mercury) as the overseeing director of activities. Fortunately, the leading lady, Faith, tends to speak up for herself in Mirror's Edge, where as Chell remained silent in Portal.

As a final nail in the comparison coffin, both games are far too short, ending promptly after a few hours of play. Mirror's Edge, well worth the $4.99 spent.

Dec 2009: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

2010-01-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

Previous months: Nov 2009, Oct 2009, Sept 2009

I'm not embedding the spreadsheet this month because with the birth of a new year, I am planning a new approach to these posts. The "What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying" Google Spreadsheet is still there for the previous months.

With 2010, I am pledging to move this blog towards PC gaming as a whole instead of just MMOGs. I've dedicated a lot of time over the past ten years to MMOGs, but I have played a lot other games as well. I have ignored talking about many of those games and I want to correct that.

Changes for my What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying posts

First, I am putting myself on a stricter gaming budget. Subscription MMOG diehards will argue until they are blue in the face at how "cheap" it is to pay $15 a month for dozens of hours of entertainment. $15 x 12 months = $180 is my budget for gaming in 2010, starting as of Christmas 2009. My goal is to have a varied PC gaming experience, including MMOGs, FPS, RTS, and web games. This is NOT meant as a way to prove anyone wrong! It is a way to show that $180 can buy a wide variety of gaming on the PC if a gamer is willing to be conservative and play some games they have missed over the years.

Secondly, I have loaded up on games via the Steam Holiday Sale. I have purchased everything from BioShock to Mirror's Edge to S.T.A.L.K.E.R:Shadow of Chernobyl. Most of these games are on sale from $2 - $5. At approximately $35 total spent, I feel like I have an entire year's worth of games saved up (and there are three days left for the sale!).

Anyone can buy a bunch of cheap games, but it takes some dedication to actually play them. A two dollar game is a waste of money if it never gets played. To alleviate this problem, I am going to have a game(s) of the month as part of each post. For example: January 2010 will feature Mirror's Edge.

After each month, I will give a mini-review of the game(s) of the month as well as discuss the others games I may have played.

I will also calculate the amount of time I spent playing each game every month and figure it into a total money vs. total time spent playing equation to determine the value I am getting from each game. To help track this, I have a decision to make:

Raptr vs. Xfire

Raptr is a newer tool meant to combine multiple IM platforms as well as track how long each game is played.

Xfire is the old standby gameplay tracker.

Having used both together for a month now, I am leaning towards Raptr. It tracks more data, has better reporting, and a better website. Xfire will be going bye-bye (again).

Not laws

These are general ideas, not laws that cannot be broken. The budget isn't set in stone and I am more than willing to break it for a good game (WoW:Cataclysm being a possible budget breaker this year). It is quite possible this splurge in spending on older games via Steam will be a wash and I will never play some of the games. Also, its possible a change from MMOG blogging to general PC gaming blogging will kill my readership.

Regardless, 2010 looks interesting!

Looking Back on 2009, Heartless' Predictions Reviewed

2010-01-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

Its that magical time of year where I get to review my predictions for the previous year. Read my original predictions post here. My commentary is after the jump:

1. The economy will not "collapse", but it isn't going to get better until the governments of the world leave it to the free market to correct itself.

The economy didn't collapse and the government's inability to leave the free market to itself has made the situation shittier than it has to be.

2. The weak economy will encourage smaller, fiscally responsible game development projects. This will lead to a bunch of interesting stuff coming out in the MMO space, whether technically massively multiplayer or not is yet to be seen.

I was correct on this one. We saw smaller projects like Free Realms become a success.

3. Even with number 2, subscription based MMOs will still be king of the revenue stream at the end of 2009. Thank World of Warcraft for giving MMO developers false hope everywhere.

I'm going to call 50/50 on this one. World of Warcraft still promotes the wearing of Money Hats and had another solid year,but many other subscription MMOGs are struggling. Micro-transactions are becoming popular, but they are tough to monetize properly even with a good game such as Free Realms or Battlefield Heroes. Both titles have struggled to find the money-generating balance with micro-transactions and F2P.

4. World of Warcraft will not get a new expansion, but something will be announced. It will focus more on new hero classes, the Alliance vs Horde conflict, and high end raiding.

WoW did not get a new expansion in 2009, but WoW: Cataclysm was announced. I was way off on the details of what Blizzard had planned. However, I like the concepts of Cataclysm!

5. WAR will still be around by the end of 2009, but who remains around to develop it may be drastically different.

I was dead on for this one: Mark Jacobs gone and most of the development staff laid off.

6. More MMOs will close their doors. The true sign of doom will be when SOE starts closing down some of its B-team living painfully on Station Pass.

Matrix Online (a Station Pass B-team member) and Tabula Rasa are the two major shutdowns this year.

7. Speaking of SOE. The doom and gloom continues as SOE continues to push RMT practices on its non-RMT games.

Wrong.

8. An MMO project will come out of left field this year and surprise us all. Scott Jennings may or may not be involved, but he’ll blog about it regardless.

See this post: Scott Jennings in Left Field, Finds Dust

9. The world will end if Diablo III and Starcraft II are both launched in 2009.

Well, I'm still here and that must mean these games didn't launch together. Leaves a slot open for 2010 world-ending predictions.

In The Year 2010, Heartless' Predictions

2009-12-30T21:44:00.000-08:00

Its nearly 2010 and without further hesitation, here are my predictions:

1. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will be sold or shut down by EA.

2. Star Wars: The Old Republic will NOT launch this year.

3. Already launched MMOGs, not named World of Warcraft, will have a rough year.

4. Newer, quality F2P games will storm the market and one will challenge WoW for the mainstream playerbase.

5. WoW will remain the king cash cow as the subscription model continues its dominance.

6. Digital distribution will start being taken seriously by market analysts as Steam proves the platform's power on the PC market.

7. Digital distribution will quietly replace boxed sales completely for PC games.

BONUS REAL LIFE PREDICTION: A political uprising will shock the world and the mainstream media will only find out about it after checking their Twitter accounts. Three days later, they will realize it was simply a mis-spelled #hashtag and re-purposed Youtube videos.

Heartless_ Game Review: Borderlands

2009-12-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

Borderlands, from Gearbox software, blends FPS with RPG and tickles the loot center in every gamer’s brain. Borderlands is a good game, but misses greatness in every single category. Fortunately, there is a shitload of guns to make up for it.

Borderlands the RPG

Borderlands has all the makings for a great RPG: interesting characters, progression, and a story. Unfortunately, Borderlands is the king of “almost”.

The characters, like Dr Zed, come with great introduction scenes, but are quickly limited to dialogue boxes only. Other NPCs stand still, not moving, and often blend so well into the scenery that players walk by without noticing them. The only characters that stand out are the R2-D2 inspired robots nicknamed "claptraps" and some random chick that appears on screen to provide dribbles of information throughout the player's journey.

The story is fun to think about, but is not a draw for the game. It ends abruptly and does not make use of the characters or game world very well. The world itself will often make a better story than what is being sold by the random chick that pops up on the screen. The pieces are there, but the story is never put together firmly.

Character progression is handled via talent trees where players can specialize their skills in various weapons and skills. It's a well rounded, but average system. Each character recieves their unique class skill at level 5. After that, there were not any milestones that made me feel like I was achieving an important step in my characters life. Weapon skills are raised by using various weapon types

The loot is really the only RPG staple that stands out in Borderlands. It randomizes the look, stats, and effects of each weapon. With any randomized system, there is a lot of junk that is worthless, but getting a rare weapon is a treat. Getting to use that weapon to take down a giant mammoth-like Rakk Hive is icing on the cake.

Borderlands the FPS

The FPS portion of Borderlands is solid and there is no RPG trickery to spoil the action. It delineates from the standard FPS-fare in a few areas. All weapons have a cone of fire, whether looking down the sights or firing from the hip. This creates the illusion of being able to aim with pinpoint accuracy, when in fact there is a set of numbers in the background determining a shot’s accuracy. This is most noticeable on sniper rifles, which often fail to hit what they are aimed at. I gave up on using sniper rifles midway through the game as my non-scope pistols were often more accurate.

The weapons offer great variety. There is no single super weapon in the game that dominate all others (unless a save file is hacked). Characters aren't restricted from using any weapon type, even if their class skills don't benefit from a certain type. This allows every character to enjoy the awesome loot they acquire.

Borderlands the Online Game

I’ve avoided discussing the multiplayer aspects of Borderlands up to this point. To be brief, the PC version of Borderlands is impossible to play online. The peer-to-peer technical stability is lackluster. In order for games to be properly hosted, the host needs to have more port forwards than most residential-class routers will allow. Secondly, the game browser is nothing more than a list of player-generated room names that do little to help a player find a game they can participate in. Next, once in a multiplayer match, there is nothing to stop hacked save files from entering your game and ruining the fun. Lastly, for a loot-centered game, there are no controls to stop ninja looters from looting the map clean while the other players are beat down by the end-map bosses. But does this even matter when the game is so easily hacked via the saved game files?

I strongly urge anyone playing Borderlands on the PC to play with friends only.

A couple months after release and one of 2009’s biggest games often has ZERO online games available for the PC.

Borderlands DLC

I have not tried any of the Borderlands DLC and have no plans to. It comes with restrictive DRM and that's a no-buy in my book (especially when I am buying it through the DRM known as Steam).

Borderlands in General

The action is consistent and there is never a lack of something to do. With multiple playthroughs, the game scales the difficulty to keep it fresh. By the 3rd playthrough, some encounters become amazingly tough and beating the game becomes a reward by itself. I would recommend anyone who is interested in an FPS/RPG hybrid to give the game a try, but don't expect great multiplayer on the PC without a little technical wizardry first. Overall, Borderlands is fun to play and is almost a great game.

10 Days of WAR: Day Ten

2009-12-27T06:12:00.000-08:00

The final day of my return to Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning ended with a resounding thud as my bright wizard ate dirt for the thousandth time at the hands of a Choppa. To some, the last ten days may seem like an excuse for me to bitch about a game I once supported wholeheartedly. I want to say up front that I wanted to give WAR a fair shake, even if I didn't have plans on returning to a subscription. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, WAR is still the same sub-par game I left months ago, even if it has a new zone and better technical performance.

The new positives begin with the endless trial. This has brought new blood into the game and the newbie zones were hopping. Whether this is translating into subscriptions is unknown. My fear is that the experience in a well populated tier 1 zone leaves an impression that can not be held up by tier's 2 and 3. Players that come off the free endless trial may become bored quickly as the population hits rock bottom once outside of the trial zones. My suggestion would be to extend the free trial all the way to the end of tier 3. Yes, that's a lot of game for free, but tier 2 and 3 are a general waste of resources as it is. Allowing trial players into these tiers will spice life up a bit and give them a glimpse of what the end game of WAR offers in tier 4.

The new positives end with the Land of the Dead. As I stated, LotD is the model which all tier 4 zones should follow in WAR. The concept of separate RvR lakes does not work and actively hurts WAR's community as players do not mingle across play styles. If the principals of LotD (minus the gating mechanic) were to be applied across all tier 4 zones, WAR would be a better game.

I'm not going to retread over my gripes about WAR. There are pockets of greatness within the game, but they are so disconnected that the game feels choppy and unfinished. Its a snuggie that doesn't cover your toes. It accomplishes the job, but is it really worth the cold toes?

Sorry, Mythic.

10 Days of WAR: Day Nine (Set pieces)

2009-12-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

My ninth day and disapointment in my return to WAR can be summed up by this picture:

That is a tank sitting in the Empire starting zone of Nordland. It hasn't moved in almost two years (and not a spot of rust anywhere!).
This tank could single-handedly change the tide of battle, but it just sits there as Empire players are slaughtered ten paces away. My disappointment at this fact can not be denied. It's a disappointment set up in two ways:

First, the opening cinematic features a massive city siege set upon by all manner of siege vehicles and flying machines. This is classic Warhammer, armies marching on armies, siege engines included.

Secondly, Mythic's prior game, Dark Ages of Camelot featured fully intractable and movable siege engines. WAR features static pads that siege engines can be placed upon (if they haven't been destroyed). WAR received a very gimped version of a tremendously popular feature of DAoC.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is a good looking game. The world and environments are amazing. The set pieces within are saddening to see, relegated to on lookers remorse. With that said, WAR does do better than a lot of games that feature a world full of blocks and hills. Still, I believe this is another missed opportunity in the development of WAR.

Come back for the final day and my conclusions tomorrow.

After-Christmas Sales For Gamers

2009-12-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

Update: 14 Jan, 2010 - Removed post and links as the sales are over.

10 Days of WAR: Day 8 (Live Events)

2009-12-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! For my eighth day of WAR I'm going to talk about Live Events.

Live events in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning can be summed up by the following:

1. A quest in the RvR lakes
2. Incentives to kill other players
3. A "limited time only" scenario
4. More quests

This somewhat satisfies my gripe that the RvR lakes in WAR are empty of content, but the limited nature of Live Events still doesn't promote players to spread out.

The current live event is Kegs End. There are pub crawls, beer drinking, ogre killing, and general mischief to be had. Unfortunately, there isn't much guidance to the player outside a list of tasks in the Tome of Knowledge. The world does not feel like it is alive with the spirit of the Kegs End holiday. If there wasn't floating icons and Kegs End names above the Live Event NPCs, players would probably never know the difference.

Participating in the Live Event is easy enough, players do what they normally do: queue up for scenarios and zerg the RvR lakes for kills. The more interesting aspect, to me, was the pub crawls, where players scour their capital city in search of different types of beer!

The capital cities of WAR, Altdorf and The Inevitable City, are still awe-inspiring to me. The artwork and amount of stuff to discover is stunning. However, there is little incentive to doing so outside of Tome unlocks and exploration experience. The pub crawls are a perfect way to send players to destinations they may have otherwise missed. There may even be a surprise around a corner or two!

Live Events, another OK, but not great part of WAR. Come back for day nine, working title: The Hangover.

10 Days of WAR: Day Seven (PvE)

2009-12-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

For my seventh day of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning I did some PvE.

One of my first posts about WAR on this blog was about the importance of PvE:

WAR, without PvE, is just a mess waiting to happen.

I took a lot of flack for suggesting that WAR needed PvE. WAR was going to be the ultimate RvR game, pitting throngs of players against each other in epic battles. PvE was only a momentary distraction! How wrong those people were. It is suicide to attempt to push out a triple-A game that focuses solely on PvP-oriented conflict. The player base is NOT there to support a game of WAR's budget size with only PvP. Plus, with only PvP minded players, the battlefield becomes very stale, very quickly.

Ranting aside, WAR does have a good amount of cooperative PvE (I'm not talking about solo content today). The end game features dungeons and loot progression. The early game features a few dungeons and plenty of public quests. Both ends of the spectrum benefit from an open grouping system that allows players to find groups on the fly in their current area.

With my time limited, I was not able to get into any dungeon groups on my rank 40 Ironbreaker. I logged into my level 8 White Lion and journeyed to Nordland and Norsca to enjoy some public quests.

Public quests is WAR's best feature!

I can't emphasize enough what a great feature public quests are, both for community building and sheer fun. Unfortunately, the number of PQs in WAR far outpaces its player population, limiting the success of the system. In a more popular game, with more players per zone, a public quest system is absolutely golden.

WAR, at launch, did have the player populations to support most public quests. One problem that hurt the PQs though, was the fact players were using instanced scenarios to grind out their levels. Since scenarios could be joined from anywhere within the world, players often went *poof* in the middle of a PQ. This problem still exists today, and is very evident in tier 1.

However, PQs have been readjusted accross the zones. Instead of most of them requiring full groups and perfect setups, several out of the way PQs are geared for small 2-3 person groups. A quick look at the open groups screen in Nordland lead my directly to a 3 man group (slayer, archmage, white lion). An hour later we had burned through several PQs and joined up with a larger group farming PQs in Norsca (the next zone up).

I lost track of time quickly. Many of these PQs I had never seen and I have leveled a dozen alts through these zones. Mythic made the right changes to PQ difficulty and with the new endless trial, the player density in tier 1 fully supports the system. What this means in the middle tiers is unknown as I really only have characters of level <12 and level=40. My suspicion is the player density hits rock bottom in tier 2 and 3, making PQs sort of pointless. Tier 4 picks up, but most PQs are unrewarding for a rank 40 character, so most PQs go unused except by those leveling.

Also, as my first rant against WAR during these 10 days, there are no PQs in the RvR lakes. This is an absolute tragedy at this point and my biggest misunderstanding of WAR prior to launch.

Next: day eight, keep it straight!

TIP: How to move Steam games to another drive in Windows 7/Vista/XP

2009-12-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

With the Steam holiday sale blitzing everyone's wallets, there are plenty of people trying to find hard drive space to store all of their new games (seriously, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for only $1.99, Mirror's Edge for $4.99).

One of the quirks with Steam is that it only allows users to install games to the same drive that Steam resides on. For many, that is their main C: drive, which often fills up quickly. I will detail the process used to move 3rd party games to another drive. This will be for Windows 7 and Vista (Windows XP users click here).

NOTE: Click here for details on moving Valve's games (Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2, etc.).
NOTE: Both drives must be formatted with the NTFS file system.
NOTE: This moves the actual game files, not saved files that may be in different folders.

Steps

Step 1:

Create a folder named Steam2 on your additional storage drive (remember, the drive must be formatted NTFS). Putting the folder in the root of the drive will make it easier to run the commands later. Example: D:\Steam2

Step 2:

Locate your Steam install folder.

Examples:
Windows 7/Vista 64-bit - C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\
Windows 7/Vista 32-bit - C:\Program Files\Steam\

Step 3:

Next, locate \steamapps\common\ in your Steam install folder. This is where 3rd party game installs are neatly kept in their own folders.

Step 4:

Select the game folders you wish to move and then select CUT.

Step 5:

Go to the Steam2 folder created in step 1 and click PASTE. This will move the folders and files for each game over to your spare storage and remove them from the original drive. The next step will link these moved folders back to their old locations so that Steam can find and use them.

Step 6:

Open a command prompt.

With the prompt open, use the mklink /J command for each game that you moved. The mklink command creates a link to the moved folder. The syntax is as follows:

mklink /J link target

mklink = the 'make link' command
/J = the junction prefix, which creates the link between folders
link = the file path to the folder that needs to be linked to
target = the file path to the folder that has the data in it

Example using BioShock on Windows 7 64-bit:

mklink /J "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\bioshock" "F:\Steam2\bioshock"

*It is important to note the quotations used around the file paths, as the command line does not like spaces or special characters

When this completes correctly, you should see:

Junction created for C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\bioshock <<===>> F:\Steam2\bioshock

Any questions? Comment below or send an email to heartlessgamer _at_ gmail _dot_ com.

10 Days of WAR: Day Six (Crafting)

2009-12-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by the furious pace of Santa's elves to meet the Christmas demand and for my sixth day of WAR I crafted. The crafting in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has always intrigued me. The concepts are solid, but the execution was lacking at launch. The basic premise is that most monsters and player kills would result in crafting components. Crafted items are mostly consumable items. There wasn't traditional blacksmithing or weapon making: there was apothecary for potions, talisman making, and cultivation (which is a gathering skill, but I consider it a craft).

Often times crafting far outpaced a character's progression in WAR due to the mismatch of ingredient levels to a player's level. The result was often piles and piles of crafted items that were unusable for several levels. This was not only frustrating, but also impossible to avoid unless a player ignored crafting until they were max level. To highlight this issue, I created this screenshot a long time ago:

As can be seen, level 30-32 ingredients resulted in level 38 potions for a character that was level 30.

Since that time, there have been general improvements to WAR crafting. While I do not have the time to list everything, let alone test everything, I will give my general thoughts after an hour of dabbling.

The first noticeable change is the addition a separate inventory bag for crafting supplies. No longer does a player need two alts with entire banks dedicated to holding crafting supplies. Everything can now be maintained under one character. Organization wise, there is no more searching through a backpack full of quest rewards, currency items, and random junk to find single crafting components! No longer does a player need a half dozen crafting UI addons to survive!

The second improvement actually occurred while I was still playing originally. The gathering professions were re-balanced. Butchering and scavenging were changed to focus on a specific craft: butchering for apothecary, scavenging for talisman making. Previously, scavenging was by far the best gathering skill for both.

Then there is cultivation hanging out to the side. Its considered a gathering skill, but it requires components to be combined to gather an item produced. To me, that is crafting. As a big-time gardener in real life, I've always loved cultivation in WAR. It was changed to produce more apothecary related ingredients, which was a very welcome change after the butchering/scavenging reworks. However, I didn't care enough to buy seeds and didn't touch my cultivator.

I have every crafting skill up to 200. The only gathering skill I am lacking on my characters is butchering. This adds up to a self sufficient account.

Apothecary Impressions

The basics of Apothecary felt the same. However, the most common ingredients were changed with the scavenging/butchering changes. With scavenging changed to result in talisman making ingredients, I was forced to use the auction house. Without knowing the names of the items I needed, I headed to the web for a WAR crafting wiki. Minor gripe here, the WAR auction house search is horrible (anyone have any addons for this?).

An addition to Apothecary is hybrid potions that boost two stats at once. From my research, these were the best to make for individual use. As always, healing potions appear to be the most sought after potions by other players and where apothecaries can make some money.

Another welcome change, which I did not realize at first, is that potion effects persist through death. Originally, potion effects were canceled by death, which is a dumb idea in a game that actively promotes dieing, a lot! Great change in my book.

Talisman Making Impressions

Talisman making also features some tweaks that make it more enjoyable. End-product talismans are more predictable and I don't believe they have timers associated with them any longer (anyone confirm?). Also, they FINALLY have level restrictions on talismans, preventing low level twinks from using talismans meant for rank 40s. This diminishes the consumable market for talismans some, but its not detrimental as my next point will demonstrate.

There is a glaring problem: the raw materials for talisman making are STILL worth far more than the talismans. Why? Because rare components can lead to extraordinary results. Unfortunately, the majority of the time a low end component will produce the same result as an ultra-rare component. This makes scavenging, where the rare components come from, a more profitable venture than the crafting. So, talisman making is best done for a player's own characters and not as a for-profit trade.

Come back for day seven!

PS. It took me six days to notice returning players get a quest for a neat 7 day buff:

Unlimited Free Trials are the New MMO Hotness (Age of Conan, Champions Online, Warhammer Online, and more!)

2009-12-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

Apparently I missed the memo. Free trials with unlimited playtime, but level and gameplay restrictions, are popping up everywhere.

Age of Conan - LINK
Details: Unlimited playtime. Players can play up to level 20, but only if registered for the trial before Jan 1st, 2010. Trading and player chat limited.

Champions Online - LINK
Details: Unlimited playtime. New players can create an account and play the beginning zone of Champions Online for as long as they want.

Warhammer Online - LINK
Details: Unlimited playtime. Players are restricted to the Tier 1 Empire vs Chaos zones, but can access all scenarios. Trading and player chat limited.

Alganon - LINK
Details: Unlimited playtime. No leveling or zone restrictions, but trial characters are deleted after 30 days and must be re-rolled. Limited skill progression and limited chat options.