You mad bro?

 So, the recent news of the CEO of Electronic Arts stepping down has created some....contreversy. He steps down due to EA's short falls on the stock markets and in general money avenues. You can see or read his departure speech by simplying googling John Riccitielio, or CEO of EA. Im not going to go through it all just to paraphrase it, either to feed the trolls, or defend him.

 Over at CTRL-ALT-DEL comic, a strip has gone up, lampooning the whole thing. Pretty funny I think. Going into the forums to see what people are saying is even funnier. One person makes a point about gamers being part of the problem, and getting flamed for it. I can only imagine that the thread will be full of butt-hurt gamers in a matter of no time.

 Let me spare you the details, as most of them are idiots. Poster PixelOrange hits the nail on the head, by pointing out that EA is there to make money. After that....nothing but mounting idiocy.

 I think the point I am coming too is; EA is a publicly traded company, and is in the business of making the shareholders money. They are too far removed from the fact that they should be making the gamers happy to see what is happening. I shake my head at the fact that vivendi universal (they own blizzrd) does the same thing, but no one goes after them for it.
 People cry over day one DLC for games- but still buy it. WE are the solution to the problem.

 /shakes head.

 Sitting in Deagens channel on twitch.tv, reading all the butt hurt little gamers cry about EA and Origin.


 Idiots. 

Ramblings and such....

The other day it was brought to my attention that the sub numbers for SWTOR have dipped 24.5% to 1.3 million players, with retention of longer term players (since launch) being somewhat higher. This of course has made many people ring the bells, claiming this is the end of SWTOR.

 Forgive me if I am wrong, but I am sure this sounds somewhat familiar......OH YEAH! They said the same thing about World of Warcraft. In fact, the same thing did happen shortly after that games launch. Subs dipped somewhat, and then rebounded some time later, and then continued to climb.....and climb....to 12.3million or so at its peak. I will point out that last year or 2010, WoW lost a close to 2million subs in about an 8month period, and yet, they screamed its the end of the game.

 I just have to wonder who some of these people are, and why they think that others take them seriously....or even at all? Some people do....hell, some people will cancel their own subs at the merest mention of "Its getting shut down" or. "Its dying". People need to slow down, or in most cases.....shut up.

 Yeah, Im talking to you, you basement-dwelling troll.


 Shut up. Take a breath. No one is listening to you. No one cares about your opinion.

Time will tell.

 For me, SWTOR launched with more in store for the players than most other MMOs up to this point. Flashpoints- quick instances that allow for people to gather a party together and have some fun, lots of them in there.
 Operations - Your Raids for SWTOR. 8man to 16man runs that test the players, and allow some of the best loot drops in game. (WoW did not launch with Raids, they were patched in upto 6 months later, this tidbit puts SWTOR ahead in my books)

 Story - yeah, Bioware has hammered us over the head story. Each class (8 in all) has their own story line that drags you into the game, and makes you identify with the characters, and get right into the game. (Missing for me was an over-arcing story line, that draws all the classes together, and pushes their own lines along with it (BIOWARE - nudge, nudge, wink wink).

 Questing - Sure, you have to use the usual quest hubs, and return to said hub. The thing I enjoy is popping into an area, and getting more quests (bonus quests), allowing me to while away more time. And getting more exp, and loots.

 I could go on, and on about why I enjoy SWTOR, but I am getting tired of hearing the trolls, and honestly, I dont want to hang out in areas where they congregate.

 Until later folks,


 Happy Gaming!

SWTOR Vs WoW

 ...And here we go,


   So, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been out since Dec 20/11, (and I havent been here since Sept...jeebus!) and I think it has come time to drop my thoughts on this so far. Keep in mind, that I have not been in WoW since jan 2011, when I decided it was time to pack it in and move on. I decided to do this after reading on the SWTOR Facebook page (mostly for the giggles at the trolls) and seeing how many people still think that WoW is better and refuse to even try something else.

 To those the still play WoW and think that it is the best game for them out there, more power to you. People will play what they want to play. No arguing that point at all. Myself, I think WoW is done. Stick a fork in it, Blizzard has made millions on it, and from all appearances, is ready to move onto the Project Titan. Whatever that turns out to be.

 Moving on, 


 Lets start at the beginning, and the one thing that Bioware never lets drop, Story. Yup, the story behind SWTOR is there, and in your face. Your character's Class Story is big......huge......FRICKEN HUGE!! It spans the full 50 levels in the game, compelling you onward, because you HAVE to see the next segment. I have dabbled in all the classes so far, and I have to say, I have yet to be disappointed in a class story. So far, so good. Very good. I would like to see an over arching story line for the game a little more forward, but hey, I will take this and enjoy it.

  Now, with World of Warcraft, there is story there. You do have to be aware of it, and it would help to play Warcraft1, 2, 3 and all expansions and add ons for those games. Playing those will give someone a pretty good sense of the game, when things happened, who the main players are, how they affected the game world and what they are doing now. Starting things up, now, after Cataclysm, things are a little sketchy. Some one starting up after WoW-Fu Panda fires up, might have some questions.

 Next voice acting -

 SWTOR - Has a World Record for this. Look it up. The acting is amazing, with some of the most talented people providing voices for this game. Really, nothing more can be said.

 WoW - "Stop poking me!"  I still get a giggle at that

Graphics -

   To each their own on this one. I actually enjoy both art styles. SWTOR has a level of Mass Effect "realism" while WoW has their 'cartoony' style. Yeah, I cannot complain about either myself, I am sure that someone out there can and will.

There are many reasons out there to enjoy or hate a game. Just make sure you play it before you pass judgement. Who knows, you might actually find something new out there to enjoy!

 For me, for now, The Force is strong with this, and WoW, we had fun together, but it was time to move on.

 What are you playing now, and why.


 Please do me the favour of retweeting and passing this on, I am here to start discussions, and hear people out....

Happy gaming!!

/SIGH!!

Yeah, I know, I have not been around, even though I promised myself I would show up and rant and rave about all sorts of idiots and morons, and bad games, good games, lousy products and all sorts of shit. Hard to pick one when its ALL crawling OUT OF THE WOODWORK!!!

 Honestly, the last few weeks have been, special, to say the least. I have no idea where to start. Really! I know, pretty hard to understand. I usually I have something to talk about.

 So, lets pick something and go from there.

 The big EA Origin digital sales / delivery service VS Valves Steam.

  I think people need to give their heads a shake, and quit standing up for one company over another. There are things at work behind the big bad CEO / president of a company, and they are called share-holders! These are the people you really need to vent at, if you could ever find them. EA is the big bad evil corp now is it? Has anyone really taken a look at what Apple is up to lately? No? Might it interest you to know that they are gearing up to take companies like Samsung, HP, and others over their Tablets? No, didnt know that? Its over alleged copyright infringement and other misguided accusations Apple has decided has taken place.

 iShit! This is prob the really reason Steve Jobs stepped down, and he didnt want to the iMoron running to the courts because Apple now faces some competition over their iPad.

 Maybe Apple should go iFuck themselves!

 whats next on the list.......Oh..
Woody Hearns of gucomics.com fame....and....uuh....fortune?

 Now, I am all in favour of people using their chosen medium to rant, or rave about things. Now, there comes a point when a person should perhaps....just leave off. Now Hearn's disdain for George Lucas is pretty well known if you follow his comic with any regularity. Even though he has only brought it up a few times, I feel he is kicking a dead horse. Calling Lucas a "hack" though is, well.....based on his own opinion. He uses the term hack to define Lucas as "a writer producing dull and routine work".

huh?

 Dull and routine? So GL produces 6 movies (3 really good, and 3.....mediocre), creates a Universe that has several (hundred?) novels, spin-offs, video games, cos-play organizations, (Both of which do lots of Charity work, and I suggest that you check them out, 501st.com, and rebellegion.com) and countless fan fiction, fan pic, fan art, fan song...fan whatever sites.

 And you draw comics....and are begging for money via your website at least once a year.

 Hows that sit with you now? George Lucas = $billions, Woody Hearns =$0
 Perhaps you might want to pull your head out of your ass, and get the Anti-Dipshit Avenger to punch you in the head. Oh wait.....thats yourself in your comic....oh...thats so funny.

 I would bother posting any thing on his forums, he routinely shuts down threads and bans users that call him out. I should know, he did it to. I called him out sometime ago about something he stated as fact, and got it all wrong. I called him on it, and had the post deleted, and was handed a 3 day ban for Rude Behaviour.
 GoiFuck yourself too.

 Ok, pretty sure I got it out of my system for now. I think I will take a page from Extra Credits book, and discuss something sensible.
 Got a hankering to go over "Intellectual Property" and EULA and stuff like that.
 Meaning, just because you bought the game, doesnt mean you get to do what you want with it.

Out!

Dropped the ball

Yeah, the aforementioned post is still coming, however I am going to take some time with it. Valve can suck it, and so can all your fan boys!

 fan Girls can suck something else, and that line starts right here!
 *unzzzziip*

drop

Morning,

 New post to come soon, it seems that some idiots within the gamer community need their heads slapped and a wake up call. Im going to discuss EA's Origin, Vs Valves Steam.

 Most of you vavle fan bois can suck a giant corporate dick!

uuhh.....what?

Sorry for walking away from this again, but for me, I just cannot sit down and punch this one out lately. There is either nothing going on, or too much going on, and I cannot nail down a subject. I could take shots at Blizzard and Activision again, but whats the point in that? They seem quite content to be Public Enemy #1 with gamers and the gaming community lately. The latest having much to do with Diablo 3. Really should have seen some of this coming, but it caught me off guard, and apparently a lot of people as well. Let's take a quick look here, number one, Online play....ONLY. Yeah, you read that right, you can only play Diablo 3 with an active internet connection, not on a plane, or a train, or even in the car or minivan (as long as you aren't driving). Number two, they appear to have an in game auction house, allowing you to sell anything, for in game currency, or real-world money. Add to this the fact that Blizz has not one, nor two, but three surcharges that they will nail you with. First is a listing fee, second is a winners fee, and third, is a fee they charge when you attempt to cash out your account. Sounds shady eh? I thought so. Wonder how much money they are going to make? I am betting it will be in the millions of dollars.
 You know people are going to play, and you know they are going to utilize the Auction House. Blizz gives them another license to print money.

 It us up to you, either bitch, whine, and cry about it, or do not buy the game.

 I am sure there are other issues, but I honestly cannot go on right now. Think my droopy eyes are telling me something.

 Could be sleep now.....or fire Borderlands, and give us some eye candy.

Legal Interruption

So, apparently back in June (26th or 27th) of this year, the Supreme Court of the USofA gave violent video games First Amendment protection, thus ending the ban on the sale of said games to minors. Being a Canuck, the only thing I know about the 1st Amendment, is the Freedom of Speech and the protection of spoken, written and works otherwise. This ruling have caused quite the stir, if not moral outcry from certain sectors in the US.
 "Who will protect the children?" has been the cry so far.

 Guess?

 Their fugging parents, that's who!!

 Maybe it's time for mommy and daddy to take an active interest in little Johnny and little Susie and their well being. Time for the TV and video games to stop being  a baby sitter and return to being entertainment! Should a retailer face legal action if they sell a violent video game to a kid, or should they face the wrath of their parents? Should it even go that far? Why are the parents out there not aware of what the kids are playing, or watching, reading, listening to for music? This goes way back to the PMRC (Parent Music Resource Center) from the mid to late 80s. Formed by Tipper Gore and her fellow uptight anal retentive debutantes after the music their kids listened to featured words like "death", "kill" or "masturbation"
  The PMRC headed spearheaded several Sub-Senate Committee Hearings and Court cases against several musicians and musical groups. This lead to ratings on the music we buy today, and in a roundabout way, lead tothe ESRB ratings on the games today as well.

 Truth be told, its about time that something like this happened, and forced the parents to become parents, and take control for once.

Story Time, Pt 2!!

I love a good story, such as George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Absolutely fantastic! That is ok if you disagree, story and subject matter is entirely personal. Even if you enjoyed "Twilight". It doesn't matter the source, Television, movies, books, games, a good story if going to make me play a game. Most times.

  Anyways, story in a game is the backbone of it, the reason to play. Usually, a game will have story in them, even the FPS. Although, I usually find the story is a reason to run around and shoot people, with nothing really to edge it forward, or even link stages together. Adventure games used to draw more on story than even most Role Playing Games. Even some puzzle games drew heavily on story in order to make the game progress, take Myst for instance.
  Given the fact that Adventure games has pretty much fallen off the map in recent years, with games like Lara Croft, and even the Monkey Island series drawing up the end of it, this puts RPGs to become the story tellers of the game industry. Not sure how true that is actually, but that is how it appears to me. Given that FPS do not really rely on a story to progress the game, and racing and sports games.....no story there. Don't even try to convince me otherwise. Action games can draw upon story....are there any action games out there still? Someone, anyone? Let me know.

 Lets take a quick peek at a few games, and compare the story and how they drive the game, making you want to progress. You have to remember, that the games I am going to discuss may not be games you want to play., so keep an open mind for this.

 Lets take a quick look at a game that is trying to revitalize a nearly dead genre, LA Noire. I have yet to get a chance to play this game, but I have heard good things about it. Brought to us by Rockstar games, the same folks behind Grand Theft Auto, LAn draws very heavily upon story to progress the game along, drawing you deeper and deeper into it. Lets not forget that the developers had a depth of interesting news and history to draw from for the era of the game, including the infamous Black Dahlia Murder.

 Moving on, a quick peek into the RPG area, and lets take a look at Bioware's critically acclaimed Mass Effect 2. Now lets hold off a minute, as I have to say, that Bioware has really made the story the focal point of their games. Action is secondary. Not also have they really brought story to the front of the game, they have made it so that the players choices within the story, can alter the ending.
 
 First Person Shooter games really do not rely on story to push the player through the game, relying instead on objectives to move the game along, and centering on guns and the like for action. While Mass Effect does have a shooting element (more along the lines of 3rd person), that game relies more on story than say, Call of Duty does. While Call of Duty, or BattleField may contain a back story, it is merely a shell to draw a player into the action, and then relies solely on the action to keep the player moving through the game, offering missions with objectives to achieve in order to move onto the next stage of the same story.

 Other games out there use story as an initial draw into the game, however, there is usually nothing of note beyond start and end. Mario Brothers is on of those games, a platform jumper that starts off with the "Save the Princess" story, and then falls off from there. Once you reach that goal, and the game begins again, with a harder difficulty. Puzzle games usually have no story to draw you into it, but other things that draw you into it. Look at all the time played on Tetris, lord knows I have spent hours upon hours playing it.

  Next up, going to look at the Story in RPGs, in a West Vs East story style showdown.

 Until next time, happy gaming.

Story Time!!

 You know, I happen to spend time thinking about what I am going to talk about, and rarely how to start this whole thing off. My pup would rather have scratches over letting me devote some attention to my blog. Cannot blame him really, spent all day at work, and could take him for a walk, as it was raining today. He doesn't like walking in the rain. No walks for him.
 
   Anyways, away from that story, and on to another one. I decided to bring up a topic that I like to have in my games....story. Story is one of, if not, the most important thing in a game. It brings you the setting, the history, and even fleshes out your characters more. It gives the game life. For me, it is the most engaging part of the game. If there is no story worth following, then there better be some damned good game play in there.

   The story behind a game is pretty much what the game is about. In retrospect, I think I will have to tackle this subject over the long term, with a few parts to it, looking at RPG and other games, and how story drives the games of different genres, perhaps a view on story in RPG Vs JRPG. (Japanese Role Playing Game, for the uninitiated). Then looking at the Protagonist and Antagonist, their own stories, and how they impact the games own story.

  So it shall be!! I will begin tomorrow.

 I hope, all things considered.

 Until then, happy gaming.

In Requiem

As time moves on, another passing in the MMO world to talk about. The curtain falls on Sony Online Entertainment space mess, "Star Wars Galaxies", as they announced last week that the servers would be shutting down in December of this year. Some people are crying 'foul' while others think...about time. One girl has gone as far as to make a youtube video. decrying this fact, going so far as to tell SOE, SWG, Bioware, and SWTOR to go and fuck themselves (sorry kiddies). I guess i can sympathize with her, to a degree. Nothing sucks (or hurts) more than spending years, building a community and relationships within that community within a game, only to have it cut off. Everything you have strived for mean nothing. Gone....poof....vapourized with the flip of a switch.
  I say, good riddance. That being said, I never played the game. In fact, it was the SOE tag that made me turn around and walk away. I think Lucas Arts made the right choice in not renewing the contract with SOE. In my mind, while SOE is one of the biggest companies out there, they have without a doubt, pretty much destroyed anything they have put to market. I think that EQ and EQ2 are the two game that they have not completely screwed up. I am sure they have done some work that leaves a foul, foul taste in their players mouths, but nothing that they havent fixed. One does not totally screw up their flagship game(s). Like Blizzard.....oops.
  Lets take a walk down SOE memory lane, starting with EQ, when they started down a story path that left many, and I mean many players wondering "WTF?", with their expac 'Gates of Discord". This content was so unpopular, that people kept playing the "Planes of Power" content with alts. Moving beyond that, some people kept wondering why there were more aliens within their fantasy genre. Plausible, but very silly in my eyes. Moving on, with Planetside, a game I truly enjoyed. Three factions, all player based, total PVP. Fast, frantic, action packed, FUN! Of course, that was beta, as once the game went live, many changes happened. Changes that made the game frustrating, lopsided, and not worth playing. Such is the SOE way.  Lets take a look at one of their more recent offerings with DCUniverse Online. This game launched with tremendous amounts of potential. There is the issue, launched with potential. The game was released with a max level of 30, and not much of an end game in sight. People hit that cap, and raided enough to get their top tier armor sets well within the first month, if not few weeks. The replay content of the game is there, with different power sets, abilities and mentor characters. However, I found it hard to bring a 3rd character to max level. The combat was fun, intuitive, and different enough from other games. The story was good, not great, but good.
 Another driving factor for me stopping was SOE itself, as an entity. All the forum threads asking for updates, content, complaints were locked down faster than.......I dont know. I cannot think of a joke to insert here.
 The apparent disdain SOE hold for their player and fan base blows me away. This is something that has not changed from the days of Everquest, and I mean the early days, before kunark. SOE seems to hold the mantra of "this is our game, and you will play it our way" very near and dear.
 Looking back at SWG, their first update, the Combat Upgrade ( I think, dont recall) drove players away en masse. In fact, it took divine intervention from Lucas Arts in order to bring about the New Game Experience, which sadly to say, caused yet another mass exodus of players from the game. Sometime after (2007 or so) LucasArts withdrew their creative contract from SOE, no longer allowing them to create new content for the game. It was revealed shortly there after that Bioware was awarded the contract, and was creating a new Star Wars MMO,

  Perhaps, this will herald changes coming to SOE, perhaps they will take their products and fan base more seriously. After all, they have been losing players to other companies and games for years now. They have a chance now to take a look at things, and perhaps change their model, and start backing up their games.

 Time will tell, as it is shown, the Force is not with SOE.


 As always, Happy gaming.

Best in show....part duexin' it again

 Now that I have had a chance to clear the old noggin out, I can carry on with this article.

 I think the point I am trying to make is that the credibility of a site or journalist that goes ahead and makes a 'trailer' a nomination for best of (insert your fave expo here), is shot all to hell..... in fact, it was eaten by a cat and crapped out, into mud. And stepped on. And dragged through more crap. And dropped into a sewer.
 I think both gametrailers.com and G4TV have some issues. Taking money for a nomination or a best in show award, or taking 'first hands on' or anything like a favour, to me, just......sigh.

 /anger off

 To me, a person who is making a living on reporting, or being a journalist, should maintain a level of integrity and remain impartial. Unbiased. Non-partisan. Just give me the facts. Dont bother with your opinion, its tainted.

 gametrailers.com - up yours, seriously....you people, are a bunch of asses,.

 G4TV - Adam Sessler....drop the gushing fanboi act! Someone replace him....maybe bring back Olivia Munn  to the show....Sara Underwood full time host?
               Moragn Webb -...........umm....spanking?

 Happy Morganing....er..spank.....er...gaming...

 PS - I know that this article didnt make a whole deal of sense. For some reason, I had a hard time putting this one down into words. Its nothing to do with anger, its just having to decide what is worse, the fact they did it, and have done, and will continue to do it, or the fact that they have been caught doing it, and will flaunt it in front of people who are fans, and will continue to do so.... there by destroying any credibility they might have had.

Best in Show?

 Two and a half weeks after E3, and the accolades keep coming out. Recently gametrailer.com announced their award for Best First Person Shooter in E3. Amongst the nominees, was a small title called "Halo 4". Yes, this game, the fourth game in the series, and the first in the next trilogy, was a nominee for top FPS in E3! Thrills and spills, rejoice and cheer!
 
 /sarcasm off

  Halo 4 was a reveal trailer. One minute long or so long, cinematic. No hands on game play.

 This, was enough, to garner the game a Best in E3 nomination. Something wrong with this, something, very wrong. One would think to garner one of these awards, a game should have, oh I don't know, actual hands on game play? I am guessing that there are no guide lines for judging and nominating a title for those?  G4TV also added a game as their Best @ E3 (overall) as Bioshock : Infinite. This game had a 'gameplay trailer' on hand, but again, no actual hands on. (This is running on second hand info, and I am working to confirm this, so hang tight, and I will correct myself, but I will hold onto my opinions). For those that do not know what a 'gameplay' trailer is, it is a short video showcasing the game, using in game graphics and game play engine.

 That is not the same as giving people the actual game play in order to judge what it is that they going to gush over.
 So, I know that Game Journalism is still relatively new to the scene. However, it is no longer in its infancy, it has been around long enough. Game Journalists should no longer be influenced by jingling keys and shiny things. These people should be smart enough, and have a little bit of integrity. With the current batch of gaming sites and reviews, and even TV stations and shows, one can see that there is obvious, or less obvious pandering. Did Microsoft go to gametrailers.com and say "Give us a nomination, and get some exclusives!"? Same thing with Bioshock Infinite, did the publisher / developer head over to the cronies from X-Play and say the same thing? This is something that should make gamers somewhat mad.
  It won't though, as everyone has their favourite game / dev / site that can do no wrong.

 Time to move on and grow up journalists. Time to move beyond the childish behavior and grow some integrity.
 I am going to call it here, and continue later on.

 Happy selling out!

The Cata Kill Count Climbs

Hows that for alliteration?

  I had previously stated I would like to do a highlights and wrap up of E3 2011, however, I appear to have dropped the ball on that one. Pity, there was a fair bit at E3 that bears mentioning. Like the fact that I may actually buy a Nintendo console. YEAH, I know! The Wii U. No more kiddie games for nintendo! How about that shit? Killer piece of hardware they displayed there, kudos to you, Nintendo, you have become...relevant once again. I look forward to this unit. Also, Sony, and the PSVita, their new handheld, with...get this, a reasonable launch price. Wi-Fi unit...$249.99 (I think) and 3G and Wi-Fi....$299.99. Looks like I am spending some money in the coming year or so. Giggity!

 Now, onto my oh so clever titular material. Most of you know, that up until Feb 2011, I was an avid WoW fan and player. However, since December 7, 2010, my...favourite(?) past time was becoming....lets just say....no longer a fun place or fun thing to do. To me, there just seemed to be a lack of....new. Shiny. Something that would make me want to keep going in the game. Enough of me complaining about a game and company that no longer cares about content, and cares only about cash, and how to pad their already fat wallets and bank accounts. This is after they pay their bills. The situation hit home to me over the last couple of days, as it appears that the guild I was in, has pretty much ceased to be, in game for the most part. The guild tag is still there, and so is the website. But the people are not logging in. From what I am gathering, the new content to come, The Firelands, in patch 4.2, Blizzards "yay more raids" patch, is geared and focused pretty much at the high-end, top-tier raiding guilds. So, a full content patch, aimed solely at the top 1% - 2% of the WoW gaming community. Hardly seems worth it for a casual raiding guild to hang around.
 To top that off, there was a report that Blizzard is working on End Game Content aimed at the solo players and low end raiding guilds.When this content is due out is not known at this point, but I think it is too late for that. This is only one thing in a long list of things that Blizzard has done to anger or alienate players and fans.Being there for the solo and low end raiders is something that they should have considered a long time ago, even after acknowledging the disparity in end game activities a looong time ago. I would not be surprised to see them losing more active accounts in this last quarter as well, perhaps the same number, or more than the reported 600,000 in the last quarter.
  With games like Rift out, with more going for it right now than WoW has to offer, I would not be shocked to see their subs rise. Also with games like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2 on the horizon, I think Blizzard and their aging World of WarCraft are in for a rough ride. Perhaps this is just a sign, a harbinger if you will, that points to a reveal of Blizzards next game, "Project Titan" more than likely will be....shown in some form at Blizz-fan-faire-con-thingy.

 Time will only tell in this matter. Do I want to see Blizz fail, and fall flat on their asses for not dealing with the player base as a whole, and for treating them as self-entitled whining snot-nosed brats. Do I think that they should be working on real content instead of "OOh...shiny new mount" in the pet store? At some point, they will have to start treating the players as paying customers, and not idiots. On the flip side, players will have to stop acting like idiots, and...and.....nope, just stop acting like idiots. I could say the players need to take a look at what they are doing, how much money is going into BLizzard for these pets, AND their monthly subs as well. Start demanding better content from Blizzard, stop buying into their stupid pets (unless its a charity thing, in which case, I support it), and in the end, cancel your sub if you feel strongly about it.

 I did!


 Anyways, to the folks of the guild Reverence, of the Greymane Server,  /salute. You were a fun group to run with, and I wish you all find happiness and enjoyment in what ever game, hobby or pastime you find next. God Bless!
(if for some reason you wind up in SWTOR, look us up at the Ebonchain) Shameless plug, get over it

 As always, happy gaming!!

E3

Well, so far, ......

   I think Microsoft has had the worst Press Conference out of the lot. And I happen to think it was decent. Too much of a focus on the Kinect, but meh. Too much info to go into now. What I am going to do, is perhaps wait until it is all over, and then recap the highlights.

 Until then....
 
  Happy gaming.

E3

 E3 begins today @1200pm Pacific. While I am working during E3, I will do my best to highlights every day.

Oh, your opinion is just silly!

 Ahhh...another week, and another blog / rant! Over the last week, Blizzard released a new 'super special sparkly fun-time' mount for the brainless masses with a credit card, or parents the give their little johnnies and jills everything they desire. On top of 'That Retarded Horse", other wise known as the "Sparkle Pony", Blizz is selling a flying kitty. Frankly, I dont fugging care what it is actually called. It is just another attempt to bilk money from the masses. Of course, it is Blizzard, and it probably worked. I have not gone to see how many people waited in the server queue to purchase one of these mounts, but I am guessing it was plenty enough.

 The worst part of this is, I made my opinion known, on a WoW based website. www.daily-quests.com. They recently featured a strip based on the new purchasable mount. Usually, the art is done by Kelly, and I am guessing the writing is done by...."supervas" . Whatever. Normally, I check it out routinely, as it is a good strip. I will right now, without hesitation, recommend it. It is worth it.
  Just don't speak out against Blizzard or WoW, or that is how it seems. I spoke out against the mount, and was told my opinion was 'silly'?!?!?!
 copy and paste of posts inc.

 starting with Vas response to my opinion. mine was "mount dumb...no new content....wtf?
 

Vas

June 5, 2011 at 12:32 pm | Permalink | Reply

I see this kind of statement a lot when Blizzard releases new pets or mounts, and I think it’s a silly one. First and foremost, the amount of work that goes into creating a new dungeon or even a new quest line is atmospherically more complicated and intensive than designing and animating a mount or pet that they probably already have a base skeleton for.
And besides that, Blizzard is a for-profit company, and Blizzard will always be a for-profit company. If you don’t like their business practices, then don’t buy the mount, but please don’t be mad that it wasn’t a new dungeon or cut scene or scripted quest line–you’re talking about hundreds of hours of production more–and the team that would design them isn’t even the same team that would have designed this mount.

Spoken like a true Fan-boi! Im going to start in the middle of this, with the profit statement.
 "cough-ahem. NO SHIT YOU MORON!"
 Here I thought Blizz was around to give me all I wanted for free! I think I get that, I had to BUY the game in the first place, and had to pay a monthly Sub fee of $15 per month! believe me, that fact that they are in it to make money has not eluded me over the last 6 yrs! Bloody idiot! Did you work that out yourself, or did you need help. The fact that they are all in it to make money isnt news to me! EA....Mythic, Activision, Trion, Bioware, No, no, they are there to make games and make money.
 Im going to go on by recapping my response to him..(it was cleaner there than it is here, this is MY DOMAIN, and I will do what I want!)

 My own opinion is that Blizz has become too focused on making a profit at the expense of taking their time to come up with new and compelling, challenging content. Instead, they rehashed old content with a layer of 'oooh...pretty' and shoved that out the door for the masses. That, coupled with the recent announcements of nerfing the normal mode raiding content in Cataclysm, to me, does not bode well. No, this mount is a distraction. From all the wrong that Blizz has done in the last few months.

 As for development and creation teams and time? Im gonna have to say BS to that too. They probably are not the same teams, that I can agree on. However, there is still no excuse for this versus new content for the players who are ready for it.
  If Blizz feels so strongly about the micro-transaction market, then they should either A) abandon the P2P sub fees, and move into a F2P with premium content and item market-place, or B) lower the monthly sub and supplement their income with an Item marketplace. Bringing out something like this, to me, just stinks.

 I'm done with this now.....no point in going on, Blizz can suck an egg.
 
 After they get their hands out of 11.5 million subscribers and give them a game worth playing for once. In a looooong time.

  ...and as always, happy gaming, and go buy your retarded flying cat....../sigh

Bleh

Nothing really new and interesting to go on about. With the E3 (Electronic and Entertainment Expo) happening in about one weeks time, I am sure I will have more to talk about down the road.
 Current speculation is the Bioware will give us a release date for Star Wars : The Old Republic, and something that Blizzard is working on. Honestly, I couldnt care less what Blizz does, other than a release for Diablo 3. SOE will more than likely bring out Planetside 2, and maybe something on Everquest 3.  Yes, EQ3. Two more titles for SOE to bring out, then forget about. Why do they bother?
 
 I'm pretty sure that there will be more going on at E3 than that, but in all seriousness, I can't be bothered. Hop on over to e3expo.com and have a look for yourself. A good number of exhibitors will be on hand. Might be something else there that you will like. Hoping to be able to go to E3 some year, and be able to report on the goings on, would be very interesting.

  In the mean time, I am going to look at setting up a blog based on SWTOR. Not sure what my content is going to be on, or if I will go ahead and do it. Time will tell.

 Oh, cynicalbrit posted his latest podcast, very good stuff. He goes more into in rage on Blizzard in a little more detail. Head over to cynicalbrit.com and give a listen. I personally enjoy his work.

 ..and I'm out for now


 Happy Gaming!!

Salute!

Well, well, well. If you are not aware of the Cynical Brit, the Totalbiscuit, the Totalhalibut, has called an end to his daily show, Azeroth Daily, and his own WoW account. This stems from the recent announcement that Blizzard was going ahead and nerfing current Normal Mode Raiding content and bosses. This is something rather significant, as the next patch for World of Warcraft 4.2, brings only one raid dungeon, and 7 bosses. Now, one would argue that this nothing major for a content update. I would agree with that person, and continue my own hiatus from the game.

  Mr. Biscuit, I salute you, and your choice. I have enjoyed your shows, even though I no longer play the game, is nice to keep in touch, and remember why I no longer play. For more on why he has stopped, please head on over to his Facebook page, where you should be able to find a link to his shows, and view the Azeroth Daily for May 24, 2011. he will go into more detail on his decision, and the game at hand.

  Bad Blizzard, bad, *grabs Blizzards head and rubs their collective noses in their mess*

  And as always, Happy gaming folks.

  Please, I urge you to make you own choices regarding the games you play. Do not go with other peoples words and their own choices, if you still enjoy World of Warcraft despite Blizzards lack of imagination and actual problem solving, then keep playing. Do not stop on someone else s account.

ME, ME, ME ME!!!

So, I made the mistake of going over the Official Community forums over at swtor.com, and actually thinking I would not be taken off guard by anything. How wrong was I? VERY!! It all started with the first thread title I saw at the top of the page "Why Player Housing, Sandbox Worlds, and Player Generated Content is Important". Now, I found this interesting, could this be a rather rousing discussion in which people intelligently, and (more importantly, ADULTLY (yeah yeah, thats not a word, shut it!)) talk about features that could be added in game? Or, more than likely, is it a juvenile flame-fest in which self-entitled snot-bag whiners bitch and whine about what they want. (Guess, go on, guess which one it was!) (Hint: look at the title)

 The Original Poster starts off to state features from another game that he would like to see, because, to him they were interesting and fun. The usual smart ass responses come up from the community at large, which, in cases like these, is to expected, most of those are tame, and kind of funny. OP comes back to indicate that only Sandbox MMOs are successful, and this theme park MMO is doomed to failure without said features. (Ok, he didn't, Im paraphrasing from MANY, MANY people from the thread)
 Perhaps I should go into things a little more such as Sandbox and Theme Park Games. Lets see, to start off, defining a Sandbox game - The developers create the world, and some base rules that govern said world. The players then come along, and create the content of the game. Pretty sure the best example of this is kind of game is EVE Online. Its pretty good, and has a devout following. Given the overall 'theme' of the game, I am sure this is why it made a good sandbox game (eveonline.com)
  While a Theme Park MMO is more along the lines of, World of Warcraft, where the world, the rules, and the content are already there for the players. They just go from ride to ride, taking it all in. Both styles of games have their merits and their downfalls. They have their fans and their detractors. Frankly, I just don't see the point of going and telling someone "Game A sucks, and Game B rules". 
 (I didn't link WoW, because, well, I am sure everyone can find it)

 Now, back to the main point, and with the OP's outlandish statement, and lack of proof with which to back himself up, he never returned to the thread. Funny how that happens. About a page in or so, Georg Zoeller (One of the developers) comments on the style of the game (Theme Park) and how they have not hidden that fact over the last 3 or 4 years. Please notice, this game has been in development since 2008, or earlier, and it is now 2011, and the game is slated for release sometime this year. The first post about the Original subject was brought up May 22, 2011. Kind of late for this line of thought now isn't it? Now, the OP was not the part that made me /facepalm several times, it is posts from people who go out of their way to not only insult the development team, but tells them how to do their jobs!! I just have to wonder which games these people have worked on and put into the market?

  The overall sense of self-entitlement has to stem from somewhere. Im guessing that mommy and daddy didn't use some form of discipline, or, maybe, just maybe, they picked it up somewhere else. Given the current track record of Blizzard rolling over and playing dead with the whiny-assed-snot-nosed 'children' that play their game, I am taking aim at them. Bad Blizzard, BAD!! If I could, I would run your nose in this stinking mess you created! For those that do not know, Blizzard came under fire by the 'community' for making their content too hard. Now, community in this case, is in quotes, because, well, any sense or anything resembling a community DOES NOT EXIST in WoW. EverQuest, had (and still does) a community. Why did this happen? I do not know. Pretty sure it had someone thinking, "hey, if no one knows my real name, I can be a complete and total jackass, with out any repercussions. So far, that train of thought has caught on, and seems to be the mainstream thinking now. And i see the community of SWTOR heading the same way.
 Anyways, with this alleged 'backlash' aimed at Blizzard for challenging content, they turned around, and in the "Wrath of The Lich King" expansion, the end game content was.....dumbed down.

 SERVERELY!

 Instead of having to raid and wait for your turn at Epic lewts, now people can get tokens to get their gear. Not a bad thing, but considering that the tokens (points, badges, whatever) dropped or flowed rather freely, grabbing your gear was pretty easy.

  For me, right now, I am done. Look, if you want people to take your seriously, don't act like a whiny piece of crap.

 Thats it from me right now,  and as always,

 Happy Gaming.


EDIT - Adding a link to what I have just alluded to. Thank you Mr. TotalBiscuit, The Cynical Brit!
http://www.cynicalbrit.com/wp-content/uploads/audio/totalbiscuit-cynical-brit-site-blog-5.mp3
 I would like to point out really quickly, that again, Blizzard has rolled over, and played dead for the whining masses of self entitled players, by nerfing content again, instead of making players try a little harder to achieve something, and make the game worthwhile.