A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: Gaming Page 15 of 28

The MMO Times: RIP Sir Christopher Lee

count-dookuIssue 118: The man we all thought was really immortal, Christopher Lee, passed away on June 7th (his wife wanted to delay the public announcement so his family could be made aware privately). Everyone mostly remembers him for his role in Lord of the Rings and, of course, Star Wars. He also played a pretty frightening Dracula (opposite fellow Star Wars legend, Peter Cushing). He lived a very full and epic life and passed away at 93. RIP my good man.

We are a week away from E3 and I wonder what will happen that will make it exciting since everyone keeps making major announcements before the opening ceremonies. First we heard about Fallout 4 and rumors of a new XBox controller which Microsoft just confirmed along with a 1TB hard drive (to be revealed at E3). My 80’s nerd-child squealed with joy when I heard about the Mega Man Legacy Collection coming soon.

Even Blizzard is unearthing several announcements (as you will read below). In fact, this post seems pretty Blizzard-heavy again but they seem to be the only ones producing MMO news. In fact I think I touched on all of their current titles, but there is other news, including the annual Steam money-sink. KCGO

The MMO Times: “Chewie, We’re Home”

han-chewie-episode-7Issue 117: Hello again! Why the Han quote from the new Star Wars trailer? Because Star Wars! The past week has been interesting in that we’ve had some surprising announcements and the launch of a new IP. Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm officially launched this week (though I haven’t played it since early beta). Bathesda announced the next iteration of a popular title and apparently there is a video game hall of fame now. All of this before E3, which is still two weeks away. I wonder if E3 is going to have some big news.

As the weather gets nicer out you should get out there and enjoy. Save the gaming for after dark. While the daystar can burnz us, it also provides our bodies with vitamin D (which keeps you from looking pale so pale!) Granted the launching of Heroes, more Overwatch game play videos, Aion expansion, and other tantalizing news found below will test your willpower. In the meantime, KCGO!

The MMO Times: Everything Is Awesome!

lego-sw-crewIssue 116: Greetings Gamers! I bet you all were starting to think that I had fallen off the wagon again and forgot to post another MMO Times. Actually the delay is primarily because there wasn’t much to talk about and, again, I didn’t want to post “Little Tommy’s Fanboi Blog Site” as legitimate and interesting MMO news.

In this issue we have some more Patch 6.2 details for Warlords of Draenor, an awesome animated clip for the LEGO fans, some Secret World news and more. So while you are waiting for Taco Tuesday and searching for the KRAGLE, perhaps these articles will help pass the time because “everything is awesome when we’re living our dream”. KCGO

The MMO Times: Pumping Up the Girlie Men!

maxresdefaultIssue 114 – Welcome back, you “girlie and weak” gamers! It has been an interesting week for all the talented writers that were kicked to the curb by AOL last week. They quickly learned that while their employers had no support for their livelihoods, the gamer community demonstrated unfathomable support. Nicely done, everyone! It’s pretty extraordinary when you have so many people that have never met each other come together like we saw this past week for Blizzard Watch and Massively OP.

I also just want to point out that there is a new boss fight in WoW that is a play on Hans & Franz and I freaking love the fact that it exists. The Hans & Franz characters bring back some old college memories! The header image is also fitting as SNL celebrates 40 years this year. The next WoW Patch (6.1) is due out on the 24th and Blizzard promises some Overwatch news at PAX East this year (which is in Boston, March 6-8). The interesting news was slow, which is why this post spans about 10+ days. All the big news is probably withheld for PAX East. Hopefully there is still something in here that you hadn’t heard about. KCGO

Save Joystiq and Massively!!!

overworked-290x290I am beyond upset with the folks at AOL (who, ironically, haven’t been relevant since the 90s). I just read devastating news on Massively.com that AOL (or some VP at AOL that performed a “Ghostcrawler nerf” to Joystiq’s budget) will be shutting down Joystiq and all its affiliate sites. This includes Massively and potentially WoW Insider (though I have not heard anything officially posted by the WoW Insider staff).

Massively and Joystiq have been my primary go-to sites for gaming news and they are my primary sources for my MMO Times posts. The gaming industry is booming and will only grow bigger as gamers have children gamers (like me). This is a mistake that will have rippling affects, but I guess AOL is use to making ignorant mistakes.

A petition has been started and you should head over there and sign it immediately. There is also hashtags for twitter that you should start using immedately: #SaveJoystiq, #SaveMassively.

Hopefully there is some organization out there that still supports gamers and the gaming industry that might be willing to pick up these sites and not only give us our community back but give the great writers at Joystiq/Massively/etc their jobs back!

Update: Unfortunately WoW Insider is also going away. It is a solemn and lonely moment; however Adam Holisky (writer for WoW Insider) just tweeted this (there is hope):

/endsoapbox

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

WoW: Garrisons [Revisited]

pax_east_garrison_580I am way behind the curve as I haven’t been able to start playing the expansion upon its release. In fact I’ve probably only been at it for a few weeks with only brief moments to play in the evenings. I have finally hit 100 (on my main toon) just prior to Christmas and so far, I have to say, I’m Addicted to My Garrison! I have already brought two other alts up just far enough to unlock their garrison just so I can check out the different profession buildings. I have been researching guides on how to acquire additional followers or unlock other special easter eggs to make my garrison more unique.

I can’t help but think that Blizzard took a few notes from the companion system in SWTOR, which doesn’t really irritate me as the companions in SWTOR is one of my favorite mechanics of SWTOR. I’m still discovering new hidden treasures of garrisons but here are a few of my favorites:

Follower Missions

Sometimes I log in just to complete missions and send my followers back out on new missions. I have followers on one alt who are almost level 100 but my toon is only a level 93. I’m excited to be able to send my followers on Highmaul missions which has the chance to reward Highmaul gear. It is a little disconcerting that my followers are starting to have a higher iLevel then my main toon but the trade off will be that I can acquire gear without the repair bill. I really don’t like the fact that you can only have 20-25 active followers because I like all my followers. How can I be expected to play favorites and “deactivate” someone??!

Another item on my “follower wish list” is to see visible changes in my follower as I upgrade their gear. A follower with a gear score of 600 should not look exactly the same when their gear score has been boosted up to 645.

The Mine and Herb Garden

This particular mechanic is kind of a double edged sword for me. Every garrison will get a Mine and an Herb Garden, regardless of whether your toon has mining and herbalism. So that means all your toons will have access to their own person stash of herbs and ore; no need to worry about those annoying ninja’s that pilfer your node or herb while you are fighting the nearby mob. You do not need the mining or herbalism skill to harvest herbs from the herb garden and ore from the mine, however you will still need those skills to harvest them outside your garrison. Obviously this marginalizes the mining and herbalism skills; especially if you have sufficient cash to be able to purchase the needed materials to level a crafting skill that would require mining or herbalism.

Stables

This building allows you to “tame mounts” and as an avid mount collector you can imagine my excitement. Granted I have not yet constructed this building as my need for raid gear supersedes my desire for more mounts, however I am currently leveling an alt that will have this building (since mounts are account bound). Based on some of my research it looks like you are limited to specific species and a specific number of mounts but I think it might be a good start to getting some cool mounts.

I’ve been sitting on this post for a while because I keep thinking there is more I want to say about garrisons. I really do enjoy this feature of the game. I almost wish they had more to customize, like the homesteads in SWTOR. I also wonder if this swell of excitement will ebb as the expansion moves on and I level more and more alts to unlock their level 3 garrisons. In the meantime I will continue to bask in the glory of my garrison.

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

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