Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

SWTOR: The Home Stretch

Well the SWTOR beta testing has ended and now all of us have to sit and wait for the live release of the game. I really enjoyed my time in the beta, although I stopped logging in when Bioware did the big beta weekends. I decided that since I had been in the beta since April that I would give up my spot on the server for someone else who hasn’t had as much time as I did. I’m sure it helped a little bit considering all of the queuing issues they had.

I’m thinking about putting together a tips and tricks post about the gameplay for some people, maybe it will help improve their gaming and leveling experience. If I come up with enough content I think I will do that.

The soothsayers are predicting the fall of WoW because of this game. I hardly think that will happen. Blizzard has enough money by now that even if they lost half the accounts they could still keep the game going for many years. The predictions, at this time, are still under 2 million. As far as my plans are concerned, I will be playing both games. I know many of my friends are insisting that I won’t be able to keep up with two games. While I appreciate their advice, I grew up on console games; splitting allegiances is second nature to me.

So for now we are playing the waiting game. Only a week now before the first day of the preorder early access and the question still remains … will I be “sick” on the 15th? šŸ™‚

Cheers!

Gamers Are Adults Too

There is an old fashioned perception that seems to still exist that video games are the pastime of children. The demographic today has changed. Yes kids still play video games, but adults are playing too. In fact according to an article posted on CNET, the average gamer is 37. The thing I find most interesting, from the article, is the reason most adult gamers are still playing is because they are playing the games with their kids.

I remember a big movement that was circling, and maybe it still is, that was trying to bring back family game night. I remember when I was growing up it was common for my family to play games together at least one night a week. I can appreciate the concept but with the technology we possess today, board games are almost too old fashioned. I think it’s important to maybe keep one or two board games around for nostalgia purposes, but if you really want to engage your children I think getting involved in a game they enjoy as well will have more success.

This is why I think so many gamers are so much older now. I know my kids will be just into video games as my wife and I are. If they are not then they can’t be my children because they obviously don’t have my genes. I think a lot of software companies are starting to recognize this as well which is why some have been tailoring the games toward the more casual gamer. Gamers with families are not going to be able to commit to the hours that they use to 5-10 years ago.

My last statement leads me to my final point. I have noticed lately that many gamers, especially those still playing WoW, constantly whine about how simplified the game has become from its earlier years. Sorry folks, but most of us have families and lives now. You are now the minority so buck up, Sally! If you don’t like it then play something else and stay off the forums. You have zero control over the content of the game so whining about it only gets your ignored.

So while some adult gamers don’t act like it, the rest of us appreciate the effort by the software companies to design games that better meet our lifestyle.

Cheers!

The Chuck Norris ..er MMO Times

Issue 22

Hello Gamers! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. Here are some of the postings I found during my various opportunities to peruse the internet during my holiday. I hope you enjoy.

F2P DCUO Pays Off

I find the shift to Free-2-Play paradigm fascinating. Some of the games that have converted to F2P were met with failure, recently Lego Universe suffered this fate. Recently Sony decided to take DC Universe Online Free-2-Play and it looks like it paid off. I’m glad to hear that this worked out well for them. I found an interesting read at Venture Beat.
Venture Beat article

Chuck Norris Commercial

Blizzard aired a new WoW Commercial during the football games the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Yes, the newest celebrity to don a World of Warcraft character is the iconic Chuck Norris. Below is the video but for the e-mail I have a link to the WoW Insider post that contains the video for you to watch. Iconic, yet a bit corny. Enjoy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKpdxjHamI[/youtube]
WoW Insider post

Mists of Pandaria Talent Calculators

Blizzard unveiled the Mists of Pandaria talent calculators. I suspect WoW Head will have theirs updated to match the official talent calculators. I haven’t been able to look at them too much yet but its exciting to get to play around with them early.
WoW Insider post

TORHead Beta

One of my favorite websites for World of Warcraft is WoW Head. I love the information about all the loot and the talent calculator. Last week the beta of TORHead went live. It also has talent calculators, item details, crew skills, all the stuff you would expect it to have based on WoW Head. I’m very excited.
TOR Head website

WoW Patch 4.3 Live

The final patch for the Cataclysm expansion hit the live servers this week. The final raid, Dragon Soul, is now available to raiders. This is the final showdown with Deathwing. Players will also receive Transmog, Void Storage, three new instances as well as a few other goodies. The post from MMO-Champion has an excellent summation. WoW Insider has the official announcement from Bashiok.
WoW Insider article
MMO-Champion post

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Giving Thanks

So I’m sitting here with my in-laws on the eve of Thanksgiving. We’re just chatting, watching random stuff on TV and it does occur to me to think about what I am thankful for, so here is a post about that very thing.

Foremost, I am thankful for my wife. She makes me a better person everyday.

Obviously I am thankful for my family. The ones I’ve always had and the new family I have had going on four years now. All of my family is amazing and I’m very fortunate to have them and I’m also very fortunate that we all get along. I know there are some families out there where that isn’t the case. Therefore I’m thankful for even the small things.

After family I’m very thankful for my friends. Although in quite a few cases its hard to distinguish between family and friends but I feel friends still deserve to be singled out. I wouldn’t be who I am today or where I am today without my friends. They have been there through hardest of times and the joyous of times. I couldn’t have survived high school, college and life without them.

There are many other blessings I am thankful for and the Lord knows what those are but I don’t feel like going into much more then family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Very Sparkly

I am probably going to have my man can revoked but I watched the first Twilight movie on Monday. My wife wanted to watch them because of all the hype so I told her that I would watch them with her.

I am somewhat of a fan of vampire lore. I love the True Blood series. So I do have a few expectations when it comes to vampire lore. I think the first movie was alright, not quite as bad as I expected but there are two things that do bother me about the “alternative interpretation” to some of the vampire lore.

I know everyone has already mocked the Twilight movies about vampires sparkling. I’m sure Stephanie Meyer was justĀ romanticizingĀ the vampire lore to tell her love story but nearly every other vampire story will depict a vampire bursting into flames when they come in contact with sunlight. Vampires also do not have a reflection, and the climatic scene in Twilight takes place in a ballet studio and all the vampires have reflections in the mirrors. I think these two are some pretty core vampire lore, much like pointed ears on elves. While I can let the reflection thing slide, I’m having a hard time letting go of the sparkles.

So, while I’m definitely not a fan of sparkling vampires, so far I don’t think its a terrible movie. I told her I would watch the remainder the movies with her so I am interested to see how things transpire. The reviews I have been hearing about the one currently in theaters is that its much darker. Perhaps we will see the true brutality of vampires.

The MMO Times: Let’s Make Everything An MMO!

Issue 21

Hello gamers! This issue is full of more announcements of things that are, and some that never should be, MMOs in the making. Enjoy.

Ignited Games Vampire MMO

We have come full circle. Last time I found details about a Zombie MMO and now Ignited Games has a closed beta for their Vampire MMO called DarkEden. You can sign up for the beta at the official website which I have also provided.
Massively article
Ignited Games website

A Total Recall MMO in Production (Unfortunately)

There are just some days when you read something like this and all you can do is /facepalm. Why in the world of Azeroth would someone want to make an MMO based on Total Recall?!? Its not like that was the best movie ever made, its just popular because of “tri-boob chick” (WARNING: NSFW!!!). Anyway, I found this post on a website called Gamasutra that Sony Pictures is behind this atrocity.
Gamasutra article

Game of Thrones MMO Announced

I haven’t read this series yet, but its on my ToDo list. I’m not surprised, based on the success of the novels and theĀ TVĀ mini-series, that the possibility of an MMO would emerge. Bigpoint has announced that they are working on making an GoT MMO.
Massively article

Lineage Eternal Announced

NCSoft announced that there will be a third installment of the Lineage universe called Lineage Eternal. It was announced at the Korean equivalent of E3 and the author of the article feels that there will be no doubt Lineage Eternal will be release overseas.I found theĀ announcementĀ at a website called The Sixth Axis but Massively also had a trailer.
The Sixth Axis post
Massively article

STO Will Be F2P 01-17-2012

Finally something to talk about that doesn’t refer to a new MMO. A few months ago I found an announcement that Cryptic would be making Star Trek Online Free-2-Play. I found an article from a website called Ology that gives the date STO will be F2P, January 17, 2012. I think I saw somewhere that Tom’s Hardware also had the announcement.
Ology article

Aion Double XP Weekends

In an attempt to bring players back, every weekend from now until December 6th NCSoft is offering Double XP weekend from gathering, crafting and killing mobs in Aion. Massively has more details and a trailer called the Shugo Event Showcase.
Massively article

4.3 Valor and Conquest Point Changes

WoW Insider has an article about what to expect in regards to acquiring valor points when 4.3 drops. It looks like Firelands will still drop Valor Points, just fewer valor points and Dragon Soul will drop twice that. Check out the article for more details.
WoW Insider post

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since the next MMO Times won’t be until the week following Thanksgiving I want to take a moment and wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version pleaseĀ subscribe

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