See, it’s been quite a while since I last wrote, but it does help to illustrate at least one element on the importance of The Ding – timeliness. If the ding takes too long, it is worthless or at the very best vague and confusing. Previously I tried to explain where the phrase came from, but this time I’d like to try explaining why it is important, and why we as gamers need the ding to keep us playing.
Continue reading Why we DING! – Part 2: Explaining the need
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.[GW2] Alpha Predators
Tyria. The dragons have always been here. Sleeping deep beneath the earth, beneath the sea. Waiting for the time to rise.
In this lore-saturated post, I will be looking at the Elder Dragons of Guild Wars 2. Note well, that even with ArenaNet so particular about capitalizing, the Elder Dragons retain their big letters. It’s an interesting tell, in a way, because it’s not really a classification of a fantasy species. It’s a title, similar to how we name hurricanes and earthquakes. Only in this case multiple [un]natural disasters are happening simultaneously in the Guild Wars 2 fantasy world.
Pre-Order Incentives
The Rise of Isengard will be available for Turbine Points sometime, so as a lifetimer, I can just wait and get it for free. They are encouraging you not to do that with pre-order incentives including a pocket item that gives +25% xp on monster kills. They are also heaping on variations on a small set of cosmetics. If you are not a subscriber, the “Legendary Edition” is a pretty nice deal, coming with quest packs for the Trollshaws, Eregion, Moria, Lothlorien, and Mirkwood. That is just short of getting all three expansions for $50, plus $10 worth of Turbine points and all the cosmetic candy. Player-compiled Q&A here.
A +25% item seems pretty big to me. It works up to level 65, so for every character you make until they reach expansion pack levels.
: Zubon
Spiral Situation: KingsIsle outdoes itself in May 2011
Before I start my high-octane squee, I’d like to beg forgiveness for being away from KTR for so long after starting relatively recently. My parents, who live in another state, are in their late seventies and had a crisis that required me to be with them and give them my full attention. Immediately upon my return home, I had to prep and fly to participate in an out-of-state industry convention. I’m very happy to be back among the rat killers.
I’ve stated more than once that I’m not the president of the KingsIsle (KI) fan club. But you might not believe it after reading this entry. Wizard101 truly reached new heights of excellence in May, and it’s an unabashed pleasure to feature the highlights. I hope that after reading this, you’ll visit The Spiral.
First up, Wintertusk was released. I reviewed this briefly while it was in test realm, and when it went live it exceeded all expectations. The single most remarked-upon feature is the music. Nick Jonas, who got his start as a performer on The Disney Channel, contributed to the music for Wintertusk.
Continue reading Spiral Situation: KingsIsle outdoes itself in May 2011
E3 and Trailer Investments
A “dev” speaks on Star Wars: The Old Republic’s cinematic trailers. The trailers are beautiful, expensive creatures, especially the newest one Return. There is a point though in the accompanying satire. Those creatures are an extravagance especially when the actual gameplay is so lackluster. I do appreciate the entertainment the trailers provide in the compressed amount of time.
On the other hand, we have the Trackmania 2: Canyon trailer, which was done by alpha testers. Of course Nadeo (Trackmania developer) is about 15 times smaller than BioWare, and being French there is little fat to trim. PCGamer was so impressed by it that they gave it a whole dedicated paragraph in a press conference filled with giants like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry 3, and another Tom Clancy game. More on this game later.
Oh, and if you love or hate Desktop Dungeons, they have an updated version coming out and the demo of this version is up for only three days!
–Ravious
What Sells
Spinks, the 8th-best blogger on the internet, was kind enough to link to Destructoid’s list of games announced for E3 2011. As I type this (there may be updates), there are 14 games that are not sequels, remakes, or tie-ins to previously exploited intellectual properties. That is from a list of 80 games. This is followed by a list of rumored but unconfirmed games, weighing in at 9 new properties of 32 games.
I would list the new games after the break, but it feels rude to re-print part of their list. Instead, I will link to a non-sequel tie-in, Gotham City Impostors, a Batman-themed FPS with the unusual premise of playing folks dressed up as Batman or the Joker. I hereby rate this as sufficiently amusing. As far as I know, the Walking Dead game on the “rumored” list is the first video game exploitation of that property, although I am not sure how much is left to be said in zombie survival gameplay.
The fact that I commented on two tie-ins rather than talking about the new games probably demonstrates why there are so many tie-ins and sequels rather than new properties.
: Zubon
[GW] Wall-Felling Update
Still plowing ahead on the original Guild Wars, ArenaNet launched a new update yesterday called the June 2011 PvP Update. It definitely has more than just PvP. Also, like many of the previous updates before it, it’s primary focus is change. Small changes can have big impacts. I feel this update is really aimed at making that impacting change that refines the experience. I am really glad that the Live Team takes initiative to change the status quo. Read on to see how it was un-quo’d.
Share Account, Go to Jail
The governor of Tennessee is such a brilliant man. According to the Associated Press “Republican Gov. Bill Haslam told reporters earlier this week that he wasn’t familiar with the details of the legislation, but given the large recording industry presence in Nashville, he favors “anything we can do to cut back” on music piracy.” One step closer to Idiocracy.
This Tennessee law makes it illegal to share account information with others so that they can piggyback on your account. It’s actually an expansion of a law covering such things as stealing cable and leaving a restaurant without paying, and now it covers “entertainment subscription services.” As the case may be, it would likely cover subscription MMOs (and possibly any MMO depending on the wile of the shysters).
The most interesting part about this law is it makes criminal (illegal) what was already covered by all the license agreements and contracts users have to agree to as customers. In other words, the recording industry is basically asking the government, with this law, to do their contract policing (and lawyering) for them. This will, of course, protect Nashville.
I hope that Tennessee prosecutors have better things to do, like you know, prosecute actual criminals instead of economy-destroying, job-killing password hussies… like the ones going to college right now. I would bet dollars to donuts that each month prosecutors are going to get a list from their friendly recording industry lawyers of potential password sharers anyway. Using taxpayer money to defend private contract terms is a nice way to save Nashville some attorney fees. God save the recording industry.
–Ravious
Full Stop
I re-installed TrackMania this past holiday weekend. I needed something a little fresher and more action oriented than what my current MMO, Rift, was providing, and to be honest, I am more than a little excited about TrackMania 2: Canyon. My buddy found a decent United server (all game modes instead of just the freeware Nations with only Stadium races). It was great fun, especially one butterfly-shaped ultra-high speed Island race. About the time my mind was shutting down the map changed, and my fun went full stop.
Issue 20.5
City of Heroes has added an update between updates. They are really building up that endgame, adding more trials and toys to the Incarnate system. If you are an Achiever, there is an increasing amount there for you, including Incarnate-only cosmetic armor with huge, glowing shoulderpads to provoke WoW-player envy.
But I would instead like to highlight one of the best quality of life improvements ever: AE buffing. CoX has four support sets with two castable shields (Cold Domination, Force Fields, Sonic Resonance, and Thermal Radiation) and then the pair of Kinetics buffs. You could spend a LOT of your time buffing and re-buffing, and I did in my day. Now you can hit two buttons and buff the team (plus any innocent bystanders). Note that this gives Kinetics an AE CC-breaker with Increase Density, moving that power from “marginal in many builds” to “omg!”
: Zubon