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[GW2] Forebode the February Update

ArenaNet comes out to say a couple days ago that the February update will not be the WvW update we all hoped. It’s disappointing, but like the January update, they are making the core game right for the long, long run. It sucks; I kick the dirt. But, wait. ArenaNet releases the product page for the February update shortly thereafter. Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm.

in Flame and Frost: Prelude I railed on ArenaNet for correcting people’s expectations after the January update had dropped. I think this is setting up a much better information pattern. The fans have weeks of narrowed speculation. We know not to expect anything big for WvW. We do expect selectable Daily Achievements. There are still a lot of questions, but there are many weeks to fill in with blog posts on the smaller subjects. Continue reading [GW2] Forebode the February Update

[GW2] Signed CE Contest Winner

After much deliberation, loss of sleep, and role-playing various personalities to obtain differing points of view, I’ve come upon the winner of the Kill Ten Rats Guild Wars 2 Signed Collector’s Edition Contest. Congratulations to Jo!

There were lots of great entries, and all the different styles made it really hard to choose. Thank you all for participating, and thanks to ArenaNet for making this happen here and at many other great blogs. Continue reading [GW2] Signed CE Contest Winner

Concurrent Comments

You may have achieved the right balance in your bullet hell game when the comment:

this [beating every level without getting hit] is probably the easiest impossible achievement on Kongregate

appears within five minutes of:

this is, quite literally, the bare-bones minimum of shooting games with nary a crap given if it was even playable or not

: Zubon

I must admit it is some BS to have a boss (5-3, stage 3) that can shoot from (not just at) any point on the screen, including exactly where your ship is, so you need to already have seen its entire attack pattern to not be sitting where a bullet is about to materialize. Although, if my military had the ability to shoot from inside our enemies’ ships and bodies, I would totally exploit that.

Quick Review: Costume Quest

I’m almost caught up on Double Fine PC games! I would totally play a game called “Middle Manager of Justice” if I had an i-whatever, although Ben Kuchera recommends against.

It’s Halloween, monsters took your sibling because s/he was dressed as a candy corn, and it’s up to you to save him/her as well as all that luscious candy. Collect candy, costumes, battle stamps, and trading cards. Also stop an otherworldly invasion.

When you battle the monsters, you take on the form of whatever costume you are wearing such as a robot, unicorn, or Statue of Liberty. Combat is set up with that JRPG feel but with quicktime events. They feel more forgivable as a means of attack than as the random crap they usually are, but they are still not fun. Per RPG standard, monsters level as quickly as you do, so almost all the fights in the game are the same fight apart from a couple of boss fights. It has long animations and not much strategy, so combat mostly feels like padding.

The interesting part is exploring the areas, talking to characters, and seeing what stuff there is. The puzzles are minimal, basically find the right spot (which will be pointed out) and use the right skill (which will be hinted). Exploration works similarly, with only a few optional items not explicitly pointed out by your characters.

Like Stacking, there is no voice acting. Lots of word bubbles. If your child is old enough to read, s/he is old enough to play; very family friendly, few buttons, low difficulty. The Steam version comes with the DLC, which is effectively Act IV. Total playtime of about nine hours for 100% completion.

: Zubon

Goblins Lack Object Permanence

We all know that MMO mobs have poor eyesight and hearing, or perhaps they simply don’t care when you kill their friends ten meters away. I realized the second part of the aggro radius question: a lack of object permanence.

Like small children, mobs lack the brain structure to know that something out of sight still exists. And they’re extremely nearsighted. If you can outrun them for five seconds, you are out of sight and out of mind.

Platformers frequently have enemies with perfect vision and absolutely no object permanence awareness. If they can see you, they will follow you endless and inerrantly. If you duck behind a waist-high block, they will go back to their standard patrol patterns. I also used to wonder about enemies who would shoot at your character with inerrant precision, only to have their shots blocked by walls or giant pipes. How did they even know you were there to shoot at you? Obviously they can see through objects, perhaps only able to see living creatures. And being able to see nothing except naked Marios and goombas is what fuels their rage to spit fireballs.

: Zubon

Wild Thoughts Unchained

Camelot Unchained

A Mark Jacobs appears! I have plenty of mixed emotions. He’s been a role model for me for reasons I’d rather keep to myself. He also got me and every other blogger riled up for an MMO that ended up not really working in the end. There are a lot of other reasons I want him to make more waves in the MMO business and just as many reasons to see him go away. My hope is that he is now humbled and right-minded…. And hungry to make a damn good MMO.

I want this Chipotle MMO. This mirror world Dark Age of Camelot. With Darkfall floundering around, there is plenty of room for a strong, fantasy-based RvR game to make its mark. Yet that room is beginning to fill. The biggest competitors are going to be Guild Wars 2, which is currently having some WvW growing pains, Pathfinder Online, which seems more EVE corp. v. corp. and could vaporize at any time, and The Elder Scrolls Online, which has another Dark Age of Camelot dev at the helm. In 1-2 years, who is to say what will happen?

I do want a successful MMO to have tiered subscription options. I do want crafting to be a huge fuel for PvP. And, I want one crown jewel to rule. ‘Everything owes allegiance to RvR’ is exactly the right way to make this game. That’s how Camelot Unchained is going to differentiate itself from the pack.

Pathfinder Online kickstarted the process with nearly 110% funding, and I hope Camelot Unchained can turn memories of Dark Age of Camelot in to cash for its own Kickstarter coming next month. Theoretically, many Dark Age fans have grown up and make some decent money now. Of course that also means less time for MMOs, or they are still applying salve to the Warhammer Online burn.

WildStar’d

Carbine Studios tells people they are ready to rumble in 2013. Syp is excited too. I get the feeling that WildStar is MMO soda-pop in the best possible way. Since my thoughts are unchained here too, I think it will be lots of fun in a light way. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are deep, deep things… like a competitive 40-man raid that evolves or player housing with PvP. Just the feeling I get is that this is going to be a great game for jumping in, experiencing something fun, and jumping out.

Its primetime competitor, The Elder Scrolls Online, seems more-of-the-same in conventional MMO ways. WildStar feels fresher. Their information release so far feels like Star Wars The Old Republic vs. Guild Wars 2 all over again. Star Wars was cinematics and pretty scenes. Guild Wars 2 was gameplay, gameplay, gameplay. It’s the same thing here. The Elder Scrolls Online is talking about lore and history, and WildStar is showing off paths, telegraphing, and UI. Maybe it’s a small thing, but I feel like I know more about how WildStar is going to play than The Elder Scrolls Online, even though both have been in development at least 5 years…. And both want to be the MMO of 2013.

And, Kill Ten Rats will know more. Zubon and I are heading for Arkship 2013! We’re going to have a lot to tell you, and unfortunately some things that will be bound by NDA. Either way I’m sure between the two of us, you, valiant reader, will get a well-rounded opinion on WildStar. If you have questions you’d like us to ask, feel free to put them below. Either Zubon or I will likely do another question gathering post after all the dust has settled from press demo and interviews have come about this week (and early next?).

–Ravious