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.