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Промоакции для игроков не только в шутерах — воспользуйся промокодом Vavada от наших партнеров и получи бонусы, которые подарят азарт и атмосферу, сравнимую с игровыми победами.

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Sneaky Rocks

You fight several rocks in Runespell, ones that you can see from a long ways away and at least one that you challenge to a duel. (While I have never seen Yu-Gi-Oh!, I am led to believe that challenging magic rocks to duels via card games makes much more sense for that audience.) If the rock gets the first turn, the game announces, “You have been ambushed!”

And I’ll be honest, I did not see that one coming.

: Zubon

Your TV Tropes link of the day.

Gaming Goals

I usually post after I’m done playing something, rather than the “Wot I’m Playin'” that some game bloggers do. Trying that out:

  • Guild Wars 2 is coasting. I tend to play every other day for less than an hour. My Engineer is approaching level 80, after which only my Necromancer needs levels. I still get all the Living World meta-achievements, but I have no real goals other than “cleaning up” characters. I have missed guild missions for about the last month, so I think I’ll catch some of those and maybe try to get back into WvW.
  • I have a few other games with daily login bonuses that I log in for, but once a game is on that low of coast status, I tend to quit soon. Marvel Puzzle Quest has teetered on the edge of that precipice since I stopped posting about it, but that game keeps putting out low-hanging fruit, and most days I can enjoy a few minutes’ worth of match-3 gameplay.
  • I will usually get the badge of the day at Kongregate unless it looks like no fun. I also play a few new games there each week, which often leads to having the badge of the day before it becomes the badge of the day.
  • I still play Game of Thrones Ascent daily. Some days I pay close attention and binge, some days I just log in a couple of times to reset timers. I am gradually working through reincarnations there to collect skills. I am most of the way through my “reincarnie army” of gold sworn swords, with a goal of 18 (two of each). The hardcore folks in my alliance can reincarnate twice in a week; I reincarnate every two weeks when I am actively playing, every two months when I am coasting. My alliance is in active competition for first place in the current round of Alliance vs. Alliance, and helping with that is slowing down personal goals. I am part of what I describe as our Friendship Squad: we focus on sending support to our allies, rather than attacks to our enemies.
  • I also play Dawn of the Dragons, although there is not a huge difference between active play and coasting in a game with an energy mechanic. Log in, empty bars, reset timers, all set. Our guild is working on gearing folks for campaigns.
  • My Guild Wars guild has spawned a Steam group, and I am managing that for us. I am starting to get events going there. It is harder to find common ground for many people in a multi-game format, unlike the single-game guild where everyone has the one in common, and I expect to be playing around with more games there.
  • Also on Steam, I have been collecting all the trading cards I can by leaving games logged in. I am about done with that. As a result, I have another small set of games to try since I already have them downloaded.
  • Runespell: Overture.
  • About once a week, I play a round of TF2 MvM with friends who are very into that, like 50 tours into that. I am the lesser partner there, but I am known to be non-horrible.
  • I’m enjoying Plants vs. Zombies 2 much more on the endless levels, where you know you’re eventually supposed to hit something unbeatable

: Zubon

[GW2] Transitory Content

Saylah inspires me:

I’m baffled by what they’ve done and not done with GW2. Am I really in the minority in wanting them to add more persistent content and new zones similar to the campaigns in GW1??? Can’t they do both?

As much as we love having frequent updates, building churn into the content has not been healthy for quality, community, or game-building.
Continue reading [GW2] Transitory Content

[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

[TT] Dominion: The End

Dominion ends when three stacks are empty or the last Province is bought. Whoever has the most victory points when that happens wins.

At some point, you are suddenly in the late game. In my Dominion games, the first purchase of a Province is often heralded with a cry of “first blood!” Throughout the game, victory point cards are worthless clutter in your deck, making your average hand worse. When the game ends, victory points are all that matters. All at once, it does not matter how many Gold you have, how awesome your combo is, or how you were going to buy four Provinces next turn. There is not a next turn anymore. Add up your victory points and see who won.
Continue reading [TT] Dominion: The End