Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Microsoft Edge is Egregious

microsoft_releases_windows_10I thought about making this a Tech Talk topic but I want those posts to be more informational and less opinionated. I’m also going to preface this post by saying that I did give Edge an honest try so I feel I’m being unbiased but I will admit, I probably wasn’t as open minded as I could have been when I was using Edge. I’m not going to berate Microsoft either for trying to “force” you to use Edge by making it your default browser upon upgrading. Despite Mozilla’s attempt at a flame war, if you paid attention to the install you could easily prevent that from happening and I’m not going to fault Microsoft for trying to change your default browser. They want people to try Edge and setting it as the default makes good business sense but they were wise to give you the option to switch it off.

minion_whatOk, enough giving Edge the benefit of the doubt because, as the title of this post suggests, I don’t have many nice things to say about Edge. In fact I straight up don’t like it. It doesn’t feel like a modern browser (which I’ve mentioned before). It’s so plain and boring. It has terrible space utilization (like all the blank space when you click/tap on the settings menu). Initially it does feel like it performs as well as Chrome but once you toggle all the suggested privacy settings it definitely feels slower (and its recommended that you turn off those privacy settings).

I think the most cognitive dissonant thing about this browser is that Microsoft is trying so hard to distant it from Internet Explorer but the icons look almost identical. Also, Edge still struggles with a lot of web sites (which is common for debutante browsers) but its suggestion is then to view the site in Internet Explorer. Doh! Also, as a developer, I’m really, really not looking forward to having to code for yet another browser’s idiosyncrasies.

Now, so I don’t go out on a completely sour note I do think that considering the performance of a browser fresh out of the gate, Edge does have a slight “edge” (see what I did there 🙂 ). Since its performance is pretty close to that of Chrome, it has room to improve and could become stiff competition in the browser wars, as long as Microsoft doesn’t screw it up.

I say might as well give it a try if you are on the fence about it, you might like it better than I did, which is fair. Everyone knows I’m pretty critical and not easily pleased by Microsoft. As improvements are released I might give it another test run but in the mean time I will stick with Chrome.

/cheers

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

The MMO Times: The Calm After the Legion

sw-tfa-teaserIssue 126: Holy Cow, that was a crazy Gamescom! I think Blizzard definitely stole the show but everyone knew it was going to happen, which is why I think so many other companies had a lot of their own products to talk about. The increase in interest gave them the perfect arena to market their games too. There will be some residual posts below from the final couple of days of Gamescom, but for the most part I tried to keep it to news more immediately published.

I will try to limit the Legion talk as I’m sure there will be plenty of it in the coming weeks (especially as Blizzcon draws near). In fact I actually threw in some Rise of the Tombraider because it has some new footage really worth checking out. There is also Diablo III patch news, WildStar beta news, Heroes of the Storm latest PTR status and more. So take a break from trying to find that perfect Demon Hunter name and check out these great headlines. KCGO

1 Year Later …

rip-robin-williams

We still miss you Robin.

Did Hollywood Ruin Comic Heroes?

I have talked in the past about how much I’m enjoying the continuity of the Marvel movies and TV series, its been an unprecedented achievement in live-action content. A good friend of mine recently went on a mini-tirade about how Fox has ruined the X-Men franchise (too bad Marvel Studios can’t get the rights). He grew up a long time, hard core, comic book fan. The monetization of live-action content has a tendency to do that and Twentieth Century Fox is most notorious for taking certain liberties in their film adaptations. Granted I haven’t read a comic book in about 20 years but X-Men is a series I grew up on.

cap_minionI know I’m in the minority when I say that I have actually enjoyed all the X-Men and Wolverine movies. I felt everyone was cast really well. I liked the first Fantastic Four movies (while the latest one is deplorable).  I’m going to boldly state that I also enjoyed Ryan Reynolds in the Green Lantern movie (I know it wasn’t the greatest telling of Hal Jordan but I personally felt it was acceptable). I haven’t seen Ant-Man yet but I’ve heard the overall ratings are generally pretty good.

I think the most difficult conundrum producers and directors face when they are adapting a film that has a huge fan base is making a movie that appeals not only to the fans but to the general public as well. They have to draw in enough of a crowd to meet the ROI of making the film and, statistically, the number of fans in the subculture is not going to bring in enough money at the box office. Remember, in the end making movies is a business and to succeed in business you must be profitable. Now, with that said, you have to do better than the recent iteration of Fantastic Four which will cost Fox money instead. Although Fox could be on the road to redemption if the Deadpool movie is as good as it looks in the trailer.

I think we might be nearing the end of the super hero paradigm. The success of X-Men, Avengers, Iron Man, etc has gone to the head of every movie studio executive and we are now a bit overwhelmed with super hero movies. Just like bad film adaptations, the monetization of a subculture can go too far and will ultimately burn everyone out.

/cheers

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

Gaming: What’s In A Name?

illidan-legionIf you are a gamer, especially an MMO gamer, you are all too familiar with the ultimate conundrum, what to name a new character. The recent announcement of the new World of Warcraft expansion and the new demon hunter hero class has placed me in that conundrum once again. Personally, the name is very important and vital to how much I enjoy playing the character. I have deleted max level characters before because I just didn’t like the name (this was before we had the paid rename service). The name has to sound cool in my head, on paper, and match not only the look of the character but the class of that character.

When I am coming up with a name I have a variety of techniques and philosophies that I adhere to. In fact, while I am not a role play gamer, I still follow the basic role playing rules of character names. In other words, I refuse to give a character a name that consists of words strung together (ex: Facemelter, Imatank, Healsalot, etc). I hate that. If other people want to do it, that’s fine, but I find that kind of naming unimaginative. The only time I have ever created a character with a name like that was a character I never intended to keep (such as creating a Recruit-A-Friend character when I’m my own friend).

I do like to reference other geek canon, novels or literature when I choose a name. I have numerous characters across a couple of games where I will reuse some obscure Star Wars character (unless I’m playing a Star Wars game, then I try to pick something that fits that universe). Although some of my favorite names are ones that I have come up with that are not “lovingly ripped off” from some other fantasy universe. Sometimes I will pick a name from a recent book series I read or currently reading (such as Game of Thrones) if they contain names that seem unique enough. In the past I rarely had any problems getting the name I wanted but when I transferred to a higher population server, I’m finding it more difficult to find a name that isn’t already taken and thus I have to get more creative.

I have literally spent hours scouring the Internet looking up Star Wars characters, elvish language translations, Japanese translations trying to find that perfect name or inspiration to create the perfect name. Legion has put me back into the search as I try to find a name reserve for the demon hunter I intend to make.

Yes, yes, first world [gamer] problems …

How do you pick your character names?

/cheers

minions_icon

I could accomplish so much more if I only had minions!

 

WoW: Legion First Impressions

warcraft-legionWell I think Blizzard definitely made it a very epic Gamescom; it probably hasn’t been this epic in years! I’ll be honest, I was nervous waiting for the announcement because Blizzard has been going so many different directions with new games while trying to continue developing interesting content for their flagship product. I know that WoW has lost its luster for many gamers who have played since Vanilla. In fact the last couple of expansions have even had me waning because I struggled with the story.

I feel like Legion has changed that for me. Initially I am feeling just as excited for the expansion as I was for Lich King (which was my favorite expansion). I have been waiting for the Demon Hunter since the Death Knight and its the first time ever that I am actually thinking about changing my main. ashbringer-8lhH9GArtifact weapons might be the reason that I don’t change my main. Playing a paladin (that is currently Retribution) means that Ashbringer would be my artifact weapon, and for someone that has been playing a paladin for years, that makes me very happy. A demon hunter tank sounds so awesome though and we all know that the demon hunter artifact weapon will probably be warglaives! What to do. What to do.

The Emerald Nightmare as a raid is also really exciting and means that I will be working hard to make sure I am ready to hit raiding again (and hopefully not just LFR *wink wink*).

demon_hunter_by_anni_lee-d3h0u59I am going to miss my garrison but Champions and Class Halls are the next logical step from followers and garrisons – sort of (though I am still a little disappointed that we don’t have player housing yet). I like the concept of champions playing a more integral role in your adventures, instead of just your pawns to do bitch work.

I don’t think the press event had been over for 5 minutes when I already saw people tweeting that Blizzard is “rehashing content” again but I disagree. Yes we will be using Dalaran again (which I think is great because I love that city) and we will see Violet Hold again but beyond that its all new. The Broken Isle is from Warcraft 3 and has never been in any of WoW so I don’t understand how that is “rehashing” when we have never been there (unless you played Warcraft 3).

I think Blizzard has stopped creating MMO content for the MMO gamer (a long time ago) and has been working on creating content for the people that enjoy the lore. They want people to be immersed into the content because of the story and the characters, not because its challenging. I agree that for certain games challenging is fun, but that’s not the point of this game anymore. It’s a community now. It’s a continuous story. Those are the new ingredients for a fun World of Warcraft experience.

doomhammer_by_wolfgan-d5dzgc7One person commented that they were hoping that Blizzard would have come up with a different mechanic for leveling, other than just increasing it another 10 levels. I think they make an interesting point. Will each expansion just continue increasing the level cap ad nauseam? It will eventually feel too daunting to start a new character.

Granted I am still coming off the high of the unveiling and perhaps after I have digested everything and read up a little more, maybe my impressions will change. They may not necessarily become more negative. In fact they could become more positive. I just wanted to get my thoughts out there early, while everyone else is still digesting everything too.

I want to know what your impressions are (if you watched the press event).

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