Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

SWTOR: Patch 1.2 Impressions

Greetings Force-fanatics! It has been nearly a week since Game Update 1.2 went live and, while it did spark a couple controversies, I’d say the general feeling is fairly positive. While I’m not a hard core PvP gamer, I know that many were disappointed to hear that the Ranked PvP was yanked out at the last minute from patch 1.2, but I’m sure Bioware had a very good reason for doing that. On that same note, I have not had an opportunity to try out the new Warzone so I can’t really offer a perspective on it – though I hope to give it a try in the near future.

I also won’t be able to provide any feedback on the new Operation, Explosive Conflict, as I do not have a toon that is ready for operations.

So lets talk about the things that I have actually taken the time to investigate and the two biggest components would be the UI Customization and the Legacy System changes.

Soapbox: What Is With The Whining?!?

OMG, what is with all the whining!!?? Yes, I am aware that I am whining about whining. It isn’t hypocrisy, its cognitive dissonance. So be that as it may, there seems to be a lot of people whining about everything recently. UI changes, patches; are we, as a society, so spoiled that our immediate reaction to change is to focus on the negative?? I am fully in favor of technology evolving to bring us information faster but a pitfall of instant gratification is we seem to always expect the results to be perfect and we whine about it when it isn’t perfect.

I hate to tell you this folks, but there is no such thing as perfect. There is no such thing as 100% and if you always expect perfection from someone else doing the work then you will forever exist in disappointment.

Whaaaa! Too Much White Space!!!!

Whaaaa! They Nerfed My Class!!!!

WHAAAAA! **TIMELINE!!!!

If you think you can do it better, then get to work but remember that human beings are imperfect therefore anything we create will also be imperfect. Why can’t we be grateful for the positives of change and understand that nearly everything in technology is iterative; meaning that it will constantly change and, in theory, improve with each iteration.

This is the problem with social media, the loudest people on the Internet are typically the most ungrateful! Buck Up, Sally!!!!!

/end soapbox

** For clarification, I have made some negative comments about Timeline in the past but it has been merely for propaganda purposes. Personally, I have no issue with Timeline.

The MMO Times: First Contact

Issue 30

Hey Gamers! How does another issue of The MMO Times sound? If any of you are confused by the name of this issue, April 5th was First Contact Day because April 5th, 2063 is when Zeframe Cochrane makes first contact with the Vulcans, so there is some useless nerd minutia for you.

So this issue we have more SWTOR news, including a launch date for Game Update 1.2 (WOOT!). There is also some more beta and pre-order information for Guild Wars 2 and TERA. Again, I didn’t really talk too much about Mists of Pandaria because there aren’t a lot of details that are unknown at this point. Contrary to what I have said in previous posts (and on Google+) I actually have been trying out the MoP beta, perhaps I will cover that in a blog post.

What’s Your First Contact?

I want to start off by saying Happy First Contact Day gamers, trekkies and sci-fi geeks! The second thing I want to say is that this post is not asking when you had a close encounter (sorry Fran Drescher). Instead, since this blog is predominately a gamer blog, I thought I would ask what your first gaming experience was. You can choose any platform (i.e. console, PC, MMO, etc). I just thought it would be fun to do something to commemorate this truly nerdy day.

Obviously I will start. The original Nintendo was my debut into gaming. Super Mario Brothers, FTW! I also played a lot of Blades of Steel with my dad, which was often entertaining because he didn’t like to lose. NES became Sega (which was the first gaming system I bought myself) where I played a lot of Mortal Kombat and Sonic, then Super NES and pretty much every iteration of Nintendo after that. I never bought a Playstation. I didn’t play XBox until I met my wife, she had the original XBox and we still have the XBox 360. We never got the Kinect and probably never will.

PC gaming didn’t really start until freshmen year in high school and it started off slow. It was my parents first computer and it was Windows 3.1 on an IBM Aptiva, it had a 4 MB hard drive, which was HUGE back then. I mostly played things like Descent and Sim-City. It wasn’t until college, when I got my own PC, that I really got into PC gaming. First Person Shooters were my primary gaming medium of choice. I think I played Half-Life my entire college career.

It wasn’t until a “Fuzzy” friend of mine convinced me to check out World of Warcraft that I tried out MMORPGs. The rest, as they say, is history.

Soapbox: Rioting is Irresponsible and Foolish

First, congrats to UK for beating Kansas. I was happy to see Kansas lose since they were responsible for taking Purdue out of the tournament. However, I was sad to see the fan response in Lexington. Rioting is not celebrating! I don’t understand the rationale behind burning of public or private property to symbolize joy and euphoria (unfortunately the rioting in Lexington took a step for the worse when someone was shot – though not critically).

What the hell, people?!?

I was at Purdue in 1999 when the students rioted because the men’s basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight. The students ignited a bonfire that burned so hot it literally melted the blacktop; a scar remained until the university ripped up the road and repaved it. Our tuition went up 12% the year following that riot, and yet somehow everyone was alright with that because it happened twice the two years after that. I like to see my school do well just as much as the next guy, but I didn’t want a tuition increase to pay for the damage caused by the reckless and deviate behaviors of the other students.

Here’s an intelligent thought: how about we find a less destructive way of showing our pride in our school and athletes? I cannot fathom how looting fraternities to burn couches, or tipping over dumpsters to burn garbage demonstrates even a shred of school pride (or dignity). It’s disgraceful and unsportsmanlike.

/end soapbox

Best. Quote. Ever.

“Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy
and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection.
It means never having to play it cool about how much
you like something.
It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat
childish level rather that behave like a supposed adult.
Being a geek is extremely liberating.”
Simon Pegg

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