Author: Ravious

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[GW2] Season 1 Thoughts

As part of the GuildMag hosted blog carnival, I am writing about the end of Living World Season 1. The tl;dr even in my mind is… I think I had fun? It’s kind of a weird feeling. I know I am a Guild Wars 2 ”fanboi” in the best and worst senses. So we have that. But, then I think I am honestly critical of where I see flaws in my favorite MMO.

I feel with the end of Living World Season 1 like I did after each season or the finale of LOST. It was an awesome journey. There were horrible plot holes, silly episodes, and moments of TV-gold. At each “end” of LOST, it felt like the whole season was just swept away, and all that was left was a fine point. I have great memories I can dredge up about the journey, but the journey is over. Now, I just want to look ahead. I don’t know if I can write this post without trying to look behind. Continue reading [GW2] Season 1 Thoughts

[RR] Solo TTRPG

I once read a funny definition of tabletop roleplaying. It is the exchange of emails detailing calendar conflicts in the faint hopes of gathering for a few hours. There is a lot of truth to that, at least in my experience. Our GMs have to really have an idea in their campaign for easy exit when a player can’t make it for the weekend. We have backup plans of board games and card games. It takes a lot of work, contingency, and flexibility to come together for our favorite hobby.

It was even worse when I had to move a few states away.

During that dark time I found a hidden movement within RPG gamers for solo gaming. It feels contradictory in a way. Here is a hobby built on social gatherings and interactions. Why play it solo? I’ll get back to that. First I want to talk about how.

How?

There are a few systems I’ve seen to solo RPG. Some are run as adventures very similar to a Choose Your Own Adventure-style book. Others are more open ended. Continue reading [RR] Solo TTRPG

Windborne and the Soul of Games

Early access is often hit or miss on Steam, Kickstarter, and elsewhere. It’s not just about setting expectations, but about communication. I find that the best thing is to head for the forums. If the customers are clamoring for communication, it will probably be bad. That’s why I haven’t funded Godus or Castle Story even though conceptually they are a must-see. Communication is why I funded Windborne, and thus far I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

What the Wooly is Windborne?

There will never be a Tweet-length review that won’t compare Windborne to Minecraft, at least right now. Hyperbole, perhaps… in concept Windborne is going to attempt to be much more. For now though the $30 will get players a build-a-block sandbox with three biomes and a bit more.

There are already many critical differences that sets Windborne apart from Minecraft clone. The first is that blocks can be shaped. Their corners can be sheared so that there are rolling hills or rounded pillars. This small feature is a huge change for anybody used to forcing square blocks to be used as round pegs in Minecraft. It goes a lot further too with arches, windows, beds, lights, flower pots, and all sorts of architectural goodies that simply blow Minecraft’s options away. Continue reading Windborne and the Soul of Games

[GW2] Harmony and Discord in the Season 1 Finale

Lion’s Arch is now open for battle. Instead of being forced out due to miasma for a 15-20 minute break, the ruined city is now a constant battleground between the players and Scarlet’s armies. On the hour, Scarlet’s three legendary assault knights descend from the Breachmaker UFO to smash some players good. The chink in Scarlet’s armor is that if players can kill all three to attune themselves to the Breachmaker’s energy, they can warp up.

Another very intense raid-like battle occurs with Scarlet’s holograms, which seem directly tied to her, and beating those gets in to a personal instance to stomp Scarlet flat. This personal instance is also available through a purple portal on the west side of Lion’s Arch if a player doesn’t want the hassle of open-zerg gated content. The key to the purple portal is the Spinal Blade back item.

Weight of a Bug

Let’s get the bad out of the way because unfortunately there is bad. It mostly surrounds the assault knight event, but it compounds itself in a way.

First, bugs. They are just bad this time around, and it feels like they’ve been getting worse since the patches. The two biggest bugs (or design issues?) seem to be the assault knight’s attendance prize and the event scaling. After 4 hot fix bug patches, I fought and killed the red assault knight this morning for no loot. According to the attunement we had about 30 players most of the time that then ramped up to 40+ at the end. We beat her with seconds to spare (out of 15 minutes). Continue reading [GW2] Harmony and Discord in the Season 1 Finale

[RR] The 13th Age

Good start last week. Let’s move on to why I love the 13th Age RPG, which is on the edge of Dungeons and Dragons family. To be certain 13th Age is D&D, but it changes the feel of the game. 13th Age simplifies it and condenses it. On the back of the book Jeff Grubb, of much D&D fame, says 13th Age “was the type of game that OGL was supposed to create”. It’s not just a Pathfinding polish to D&D. It is its own creature.

Character History

In a more general sense, 13th Age seeks to bring a lot more narration to the tabletop. It starts with the character. Instead of an entire character history that usually nobody cares about, 13 Age has the One Unique Thing. This is a short phrase to define why your character is special. I am the only human child of a zombie mother. I have a clockwork heart made by the dwarves. I have a celestial soul trapped in a mortal body. Whatever the case it should be special, and with a good GM (gamemaster) it will drive stories. Continue reading [RR] The 13th Age

[GW2] Scarlet Letter Sendoff

It’s interesting how we want to be brief. The end of Season 1 has occurred, and it’s a time for reflection. The story of Scarlet is mostly finished, but far from complete. I have my theories, even in the face of the amazing final cut scene.

What I feel like most is at the end of a LOST season. I am not sure what to think or where we are going. I just know I want more. I think more will come tomorrow, but I am still digesting it all.

–Ravious

Welcome to RPG Ravings [RR]

While not as catchy as Zubon’s Tabletop Tuesday, I will admit it took me half a cup of coffee to forsake Tabletop [RPG] Thursday and get another mildly catchy title. I’ve noticed that a lot of MMO players, especially bloggers, at least understand the concept of pen-and-paper role-playing games (RPGs). I know a lot of us also frequent the fabled rpg.net, which is the hub for that niche of geek. So to get more posts on KTR, I’m going to branch out on Thursdays to write about pen-and-paper or tabletop RPGs.

Let’s start with the granddaddy of RPGs, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Or rather, let’s not. Tobold has been talking about D&D Next for awhile, and I’d rather talk about something we have. Let’s talk about the children of D&D 3.5. Continue reading Welcome to RPG Ravings [RR]

[GW2] NGOs and Refugees in Lion’s Arch

ArenaNet might have finally found their stride with the Living World by destroying the community jewel of Lion’s Arch. In its place is a pretty intense hour-long event that is shaping the economy. This update is forceful, and I am really enjoying the more heavy-handed approach to shaping Guild Wars 2.

Ideals about ‘Fugees

The main event is about an hour-long event to evacuate Lion’s Arch. At the start of each hour there is a short event to gate three entrances to Lion’s Arch. It’s a short blitz, and then the gates are open. Players rush in to see absolute destruction of Lion’s Arch (see Jeromai and Bhagpuss’s photoblogs). The goal is to save citizens, kind of. Another goal is stop Scarlet’s armies from salting the earth with miasma.

The score shown to the right is saved citizens. At certain levels, like 100, 300 and 600, all players on the map get a treasure bag.  Supposedly at higher levels there are better treasure bags. I don’t know, I haven’t been there yet. Continue reading [GW2] NGOs and Refugees in Lion’s Arch

Brain Dump – GW2, LOTRO, CU et al.

I hate being sick. It’s one of the worst times to be a gamer aware of “meta” because when I’m feverish my mind start throwing massive design problems at me. The unsolvable things become nightmarish in my attempt to cool down, hydrate, and overcome the disease. Instead I lie there coming up with ways that ArenaNet could create zerg breakers. I’m now on all sorts of medications so I feel up to sharing! I’ll go in order of sadness.

Mordor or Bust

Seems Turbine is shedding more employees in a layoff round. I’ve only been picking at Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) in the past few months, and I’m still on Riders of Rohan. One of my good friends still seems to obligingly log in once a week or so. I asked him about the state of the game a couple weeks ago. Continue reading Brain Dump – GW2, LOTRO, CU et al.

[GW2] Edge of the Mists Impressions

It’s been an interesting few days playing Edge of the Mists, the new overflow World vs. World (“WvW”) map in Guild Wars 2. My concentrated opinion is that WvW just became a lot more fun, but I have a lot to nitpick and discuss too.

The Map’s Mechanics

The most important thing to note about Edge of the Mists (“EotM”) is that it is the rebellious younger sibling to the core of WvW. The designers have made things a little less balanced, but a lot more interesting.

The map plays like Eternal Battlegrounds in the sense that the map is triangular-shaped with each side theoretically having an even chance of defending their objectives and attacking the enemies points. However, each corner of the triangle has heavy environmental and mechanical change. One area is filled with overgrown ruins, while another seems like deserted charr areas. Finally the kodan area is the third environment. Each environment also gives its defenders a buff based on how many objectives they control in their zone. Continue reading [GW2] Edge of the Mists Impressions