Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Happy 4th of July, America!

By

On July 4, 2012

In General Cogitation

Its been a tumultuous time for all of us here in the United States of America. I wish that all political sides could get along better because its difficult watching everyone belittle and berate each other because of our opposing views. If I had to find a silver lining among our bickering I would say that we do have a common goal in mind when we do debate so vehemently, we all want a better America. There is no denying that the passion we hold for our beliefs is so we can create a better country for ourselves, our children and all future generations.

I ask that on this day we put aside the healthcare discussions, the political propaganda and the mudslinging and celebrate why we have the freedom and the right to be able to do it. Say the Pledge of Allegiance (as its meant to be said), sing the National Anthem, attend a fireworks ceremony and celebrate, peacefully, the great country we live in.

Happy Independence Day America!
And God Bless!

SWTOR: Patch 1.3 Impressions

By

On July 3, 2012

In Gaming, SWTOR

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!

Social Celebrities

By

On June 29, 2012

In General Cogitation

I use most of the popular social media websites (Facebook, Google+ and Twitter) and I primarily use them to stay connected with old friends and co-workers. I also use them to shamefully promote my blog posts. Lately I’ve enjoyed another aspect of social media, something that I wasn’t expecting. There are a number of celebrities that are pretty active on the same social media networks and I think its extraordinary.

I already knew they were amazing people just from all the movies and television shows that I have watched over the years, but to see them posting on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ makes them all even more amazing. We were all always separated by the movie screens which created a popularity gap. Celebrities were put up on this high pedestal that we all wished we could be apart of but social media has changed all that. It has broken down the barriers that kept us all from connecting. It has created a way for all of us to vicariously experience their fascinating lives, and perhaps it has provided a similar experience for them though I know our lives are not quite as interesting.

It has been enlightening to realize how much I have in common with the people I have admired from the other side of the silver screen, its a fascinating cardinality. Though they will never know my name and though we may never meet in person, I hope its a comfort to them to know that we enjoy them just as much when they are simply being themselves.

So thank you Mila Kunis, Nathan Fillion, George Takei, Wil Wheaton, Dulé Hill, Simon Pegg, Kaley Cuoco, Eliza Dushku and all the other celebrities active on social media for all the extraordinary entertainment you have provided; and thank you for letting us in on just a tiny part of your lives.

/cheers!

The MMO Times: Good Neewwws Everybody!

By

On June 28, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

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!

Read More

Biggs On: The Secret World

By

On June 25, 2012

In Biggs On, Gaming, MMORPG

I was fortunate enough to participate in the past two beta weekends for The Secret World so I thought I would offer my review/general impressions. The release date for this game is July 3rd, early access starts this Friday. If anyone is not familiar with this game, its that latest MMO developed by Electronic Arts and takes place in a modern world but in a fictitious location. There are no races (in the orc/elf/dwarf sense) – everyone is human. There are three factions: Illuminati, Templar, and Dragon.

Character creation is a bit reminiscent of Aion or SWTOR where you can modify the physical appearance of your head, nose, chin, eyes, etc (but not quite as granular as Aion). You will also choose your outfit and choose wisely because your outfit will not change. You will be able to set a first name, last name and nickname. Your nickname must be what is unique and finding a nickname that wasn’t taken and/or allowed can be quite challenging almost to the point of aggravating. I’m not going to describe the story because I would rather you experience it for yourself but basically you are part of a secret society (which is associated with your faction) and you fight your way through strange activities occurring in the world (almost like something out of a Stephen King novel coupled with a Dan Brown novel).

Probably the most interesting concept in this game is how you level. It isn’t a traditional leveling mechanic in that there isn’t a numeric value to your level. What gear you are wearing and how deep you have gone into your skill/ability tree dictates how far you have leveled. Your weapons consist of magic, guns, swords or clubs … all of which seem pretty cool. Your weapons are the only noticeable changes to your character as you swap gear in and out. You don’t receive chest, legs, feet or gloves. Your gear primarily consists of a weapon (or focus for magic users), a couple talisman, rings, neck, etc.

Ok, so what did I think. Its not a bad game. It’s different. I like the modern world aspect of the game. The artwork and graphics are pretty amazing but you will probably want a pretty decent video card and processor to properly experience the game. It’s not a game I would pay a subscription to play. Something that I didn’t like is that sometimes what you are suppose to do and where you are suppose to go for quests wasn’t very clear. I found myself just running around without a clue as to where to go until I stumbled onto the right path. Sometimes you have to “pause” current quests in order to pick up new quests so you can’t pick up everything and do them all at the same time.

The game definitely has potential but its not going to be the next WoW, in fact I doubt there will ever be a game that will generate the same player base and have the same impact as World of Warcraft. I’d say that if you get a chance to check it out for free, give it a shot, I think its going to be a game, like Aion, for the A.D.D Gamer who briefly needs something different.

Click here to go to The Secret World website.

Cheers!

Biggs On: Why I Still Play SWTOR

By

On June 22, 2012

In Biggs On, Gaming, SWTOR

It has been a tumultuous time for Bioware and EA lately. The layoffs, server mergers, and plummet in stock price has been a pretty grim omen for the game manufacturer. SWTOR and Bioware have been receiving some tough criticisms from the gaming community and its sad to see such negativity because honestly I really enjoy playing SWTOR. I would say I enjoy it more then WoW and a lot more then Diablo III (I just couldn’t get into Diablo III – I like DC Universe Online more then D3, but I digress).

All the things people complain are wrong with the game I don’t see as negatives. I enjoy the story, the quests, the gameplay, the feel of the game. I love how crafting works, combat, instances, raids, pvp and traveling between planets is an appropriate concept for the game because its freaking Star Wars! In fact there is very little that annoys me about the game; the harsh feedback and whining from the gaming community is more annoying then anything in the game.

Yes, it plays like WoW so I would agree that one could loosely suggest its a WoW clone, but when did that become a negative? It seems to me that creating a clone of a previously successful game was the formula for success. Case in point: WoW was labeled as a clone of EverQuest and some may even argue that EverQuest was a clone of something older then it (perhaps Lineage or Ultima Online). The point is, games are made to parallel their predecessors or competitors to entice players to try their game. The more alike the game is to something they have played before, the easier it is to keep them playing it.

I have no control over the destiny of SWTOR. If Bioware has to shut it down then I am going to try to keep playing it until that day. I do think that if they were successful in going to a Free-2-Play model they may see people come back in droves because it really is a fun game. The risk though is now that they are consolidating servers, if they get a sudden influx of returning (or new) players, it may cause over-population and performance issues. It’s a difficult line to walk especially since gamers these days are so fickle and the market is saturated with so many games.

In the end, these games are a business and therefore they must make money. I trust that Bioware and EA will do what is necessary to keep producing great games. Who knows, perhaps those people that are constantly whining and complaining are the minority because the people that are content with the state of the games are too busy playing them instead of crying to complete strangers (who don’t give a rip) on the Internet.

Cheers!

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