Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: Gaming Page 26 of 29

Biggs On: Diablo III

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On May 16, 2012

In Biggs On, Gaming

This post is probably a bit premature and perhaps I will be writing a retraction in the near future but I thought I would express my impressions and concerns about Diablo III. I’m sure any of my gaming friends reading that first statement are probably surprised by the subtext it creates about my impression of Diablo III.

Generally I feel like Diablo III is the bored man’s game. Granted I have never played any of the previous iterations of Diablo, and I have spent the past 6+ years playing MMO’s exclusively. Perhaps the pace of WoW and The Old Republic have created an expectation that is counter to the pace of Diablo. I am so accustomed to using both hands to play a game that I find myself trying to find something else to do while I am frantically clicking the left and right mouse buttons.

I think the mouse is part of the problem. I’m actually not a big fan of the mouse. In WoW and TOR I only really use the mouse to adjust the camera angle, beyond that I try to do everything with the keyboard. Click to move is pretty annoying and one of the reasons why I couldn’t get into other MMOs that used that mechanism for movement; then again that probably just stems from my preference of the keyboard over the mouse.

I do think it’s visually stunning. The graphics are really slick and the carnage from killing a mob (or mobs) makes Diablo III a great way to relieve stress … in a sadistic, masochistic way. There have been a few times when the slaughter that resulted from a new ability had me laughing maniacally, and I’m sure the gore only gets better as the levels get higher.

Perhaps as I level more my impression will change, but at this point I feel like I can read a book and just blindly click my way to level 60. I am pretty far behind in the Game of Thrones series …

SWTOR: End-Game Criticisms

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On April 30, 2012

In Gaming, MMORPG, SWTOR

The latest news about SWTOR has been depressing lately. Despite all the great things that the latest patch provided, other MMO news sites are still reporting a decline in subscriptions, and some are projecting a 500,000 drop in subscriptions by 2013. I guess I’m a little confused as to why people are suddenly turning away from this game because I thought the story and the lore are extremely compelling. Apparently, based on some of the articles I have been reading, the major contributor to the declining subscription is end-game content.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know what people find wrong with the end-game. After you hit level 50 you can either PvP or you can start doing Hard Mode Flashpoints (and then ultimately Operations). I guess I am confused as to how this is any different then what you do when you hit level cap in other MMOs, like World of Warcraft. Granted SWTOR doesn’t have LFG tools like the Dungeon or Raid Finder (for now, this will change with patch 1.3), but those tools are still brand new to WoW. Prior to their implementation you still had to find your own groups (either from your guild or using public channels).

I will admit, some of the end game dailies are a little “grindy”. You do have to get quite a few daily commendations if you want to buy any decent gear. Granted a much more entertaining method of obtaining gear would be to do Hard Mode Flashpoints. So, really, a group finder tool may be just the thing to help improve the end game, however, I hope its not too late. The population on the servers is already pretty meager and Bioware is already starting to talk about offering server transfer services. I hope to see things improving in the future because in my opinion, I enjoy SWTOR just as much as WoW (if not more) so I want to see it succeed and I’m doing what I can to help it succeed.

SWTOR: Patch 1.2 Impressions

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On April 16, 2012

In Gaming, SWTOR

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.

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Soapbox: What Is With The Whining?!?

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On April 13, 2012

In General Cogitation, Soapbox

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

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On April 10, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

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.

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What’s Your First Contact?

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On April 5, 2012

In Gaming

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.

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