A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: Gaming Page 24 of 29

Biggs On: Trolls

If you are not a gamer, then you probably won’t relate to this post. I am not going to talk about the kind that live under bridges (more like the kind that live in their parents basement). I am going to talk about how there are some terrible trolls out there and good trolls (both in-game and on the web).

I know what you are thinking: “Is there such a thing as a good troll??”

I say there is. Have you ever read a comment on an article or in Trade chat and it just got you all flustered and riled? You start developing an involuntary compulsion to make personal assaults using profanity and caps. In my opinion, that is a good troll and only good in the sense that they probably don’t believe a word of what they said, but they know you do. They have a talent for pressing the right button to make your blood pressure spike. I am just as guilty for falling victim to this ploy as anyone else, especially when it came to defending SWTOR.

There are days where I swear I will never read another comment or enter Trade chat again. Unfortunately, by doing so, you might miss out on some pretty excellent comments and comedy. I admit I’m not perfect so despite the fact that most of the time I know that people are only saying things that make me nerd rage, sometimes I still cave in and flip out. You may have noticed the times when I have done that from some of my past posts (i.e. most Soapbox posts).

So you are probably thoroughly confused. If the people that I just described are the “good” trolls, then what are the bad trolls? The bad trolls are the dorks that try too hard. The kind that you would swear are 12 years old because they clearly have no idea what people are discussing. You ignore them because they are annoying, not because they irked you right off.

The anonymity of the Internet gives the trolls courage so the best that we can do is remain civil and maintain our composure, which is easier said then done.

Wait, did someone say [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker]??

The MMO Times – And We’re Back

Issue 43

Sorry for the AFK, Gamers. I became pretty swamped at work and I just didn’t have the time to read up on the latest MMO rumblings. I hope all of you found the time to perhaps read up on a few of stories on your own. Of course the biggest news to come out over the past two weeks is that in November SWTOR will adopt a Free-2-Play model. More on that in this issue.

Guild Wars 2 and the next WoW expansion are on the horizon and there is more details about MoP in this issue. If you are a DCUO fan, there is more DLC coming in September and more for the RIFT expansion and new Secret World content as well. Gamescom was this week so that probably explains the flood of new announcements coming out this week. Read on and game on, friends!

Biggs On: SWTOR Going F2P

I have to admit, while I knew that Bioware would eventually go F2P with SWTOR, I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon. I know this game has been under very heavy scrutiny by players and gaming pundits since its release, and now they are all screaming “First” upon the Free-2-Play announcement. It does sadden me that this game has become such a flop because I honestly really enjoy this game, though I am beginning to understand the end-game criticisms.

What does Free-2-Play mean for me? Well I think I am going to try to maintain my subscription until it becomes Free-2-Play and then make the switch, especially since I will be playing Mists of Pandaria. I hope to have earned enough Cartel Coins to unlock some of the F2P restrictions so I don’t notice the changes so much. There are many that are saying that this will save the game, and in a way I hope it does. I know that the servers will likely become flooded with players and trolls.

Honestly its the trolls that have me most concerned.I know there will be trolls that will make it their purpose in life to grief players by trying to belittle Bioware and the game as much as possible. I hope that people will take advantage of the ignore list and other methods to diffuse the trolls instead of abandoning the game. Unfortunately all the trolls will also contribute to any login queues.

I hope the decision to go Free-2-Play is a success. I hope to see Bioware receive the same returns as SOE did with DCUO. I am excited that it seems several of my friends will be returning to the game when it does go Free-2-Play and the ability to use my Cartel Coins to unlock some of the restrictions is pretty cool.

The MMO Times: Mechs, Pandas and More!

Issue 42

Greetings Gamers. I want to start this issue off by offering my thoughts and prayers to the families of the Aurora movie massacre. It’s awful that such a thing could happen but don’t let that discourage you from seeing the movie. Its a great film and a great finale to The Dark Knight Trilogy (you can read my review here). I’ve only managed to see it once but I would see it multiple times (if it weren’t so expensive to see a movie in the theater).

So if you have the Guild Wars 2 beta test out of your system (unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to participate in the beta) and you are on a break between your viewings of TDKR, check out the following headlines. It has been a pretty interesting week this week. Of course some big announcements from Blizzard (which I’m sure most of you have already heard) as well as some more MechWarrior Online videos. Read on and enjoy!

SWTOR: Patch 1.3 Impressions

Game Update 1.3 has been out for a week now so perhaps I should talk about my impressions of the changes to the game before I get too lost in the new content. I think its important to note that had Bioware not offered the server transfers it would have adversely affected the quality of this patch. I can actually complete the Black Hole heroic daily now, and oftentimes before I have finished the other quests.

I still think that the best feature in this patch is the addition of the Group Finder. I have now used it a couple of times and the only misfortune I have experienced (so far) is a tank that disconnected. Its great to be able to get Tionese crystals, Daily Commendations and Black Hole Commendations more consistently now. Gearing up for Lost Island Hard Modes and Operations should be much easier and create a better end-game experience for the casual player. Generally the queue times have been roughly about 10 minutes for my DPS toon, I haven’t tried it on my tank yet.The biggest concern that some people have voiced have been that since its not a feature that was available at release that nobody will use it but I think that isn’t entirely accurate. I do, occasionally, still see people advertising for a group in the fleet channels, but most of the time its followed up by other people suggesting that they use the group finder tool. I think its great that other players are helping to encourage the new tool.

I don’t pvp much so I can’t comment on the new ranked warzones but based on the activity of those in my guild I’d say its pretty popular. My guild has already assembled a couple of ranked warzone teams and there seems to be less complaining on the fleet channels about the lack of challenge in pvp and warzone queue times. I can imagine this is a very popular feature, and probably the most popular, among pvper’s. If anyone has some feedback they would like to offer about this feature, please feel free to post a comment.

I really like some of the new legacy perks, and not all of them are just for leveling alts. You can increase your companion affection gains from all sources by paying an increasing amount of credits (the bigger the increase, the more it will cost you). If you are an altoholic (like me) then purchasing increased experience gains is going to be worth the credits. There is a new legacy perk that unlocks speeder piloting at earlier levels which might make early Tatooine less cumbersome.

The new augment system is great. If you were struggling on a boss in an operation and you needed just a tiny bit of a DPS boost from your teammates, well this may just be the inch you need. All items can be equipped with an augment slot by using an augment kit appropriate for your level. I haven’t fully explored this feature yet but I think I may do a separate post once I get it all figured out. It seems like there are some that don’t quite understand how it works so perhaps I can provide some help.

As you can see this patch actually has a lot to offer and it didn’t even have new content (in the form of new flashpoints, warzones or operations). I really suggest getting back in there and checking out the new features and experiencing a much more populated universe.

Cheers!

The MMO Times: Good Neewwws Everybody!

Issue 38

Greetings Fellow Gamers! It has been a very exciting week, culminating with the early access launch of The Secret World. There have been new updates and major announcements that will have many gamers giddy like a little school girl. Obviously the biggest news this week was the release of SWTOR’s Game Update 1.3 and the announcement of the Guild Wars 2 release date.

I hope to provide a post soon of my impressions of the 1.3 patch (similar to what I did for 1.2) so look or check back for that. There is also more information about account-wide mounts for MoP, more MechWarrior Online news and a very interesting article about the Jet Li sponsored MMO, Age of Wushu. Enjoy!

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