The flood gates have opened and Pandas are pouring forth in a furry tide of information. I've not had a chance to review much yet, but wanted to link over to a well-organized post at ZAM. They have links to most of the highlights. There is a lot that sounds really cool. But, then again, Cataclysm sounded really cool, too (and was at the start, to be fair... it just petered out for me). I remain, still, cautiously optimistic... though I'd really love to see Aff'locks given some love for once. Demo and Destro have gotten all the new shit (so far, from what I've read), while we're stuck in the mud. I know we're badass and in a cool place, but is it too much to ask for some breadcrumbs? Maybe I've just missed them. If so, show me the way!
Everyone seems to be doing "things to get excited about posts," so I won't bore you with more of the same. To me, the biggest "thing to get excited about" is the fact that this patch seems like serious business. There's a lot going on. It doesn't look like they're phoning this one in.
Now, if we could only get green fire... right Poneria?
Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
I Hate Tharzog
Labels: General Gaming 2 comments
If that name rings a bell for you, it's probably because you've played Lord of the Rings: War in the North. You'll recall that he's the big one, and the Dwarf is excited for the challenge. In fact, you can probably recite the entry lines to this first boss.
War in the North is a pretty run-of-the-mill button masher, set in the LOTR IP. We're playing it on PS3, though it's available on other platforms. There are some RPG elements, like a talent tree and equipment slots. The story is pretty much on rails, though you have conversation options, but they don't appear to effect anything.
It's a simple, straightforward game. Nothing groundbreaking, yet it's been pretty fun so far. It' a great game for playing co-op with your brother while he's visiting for a week over spring break. All good, until we got to the first boss.
Chieftain Tharzog was, well, awful. It took us three days to kill him. Three days of wiping as if we were raiding or something. The fight represents all that is soulless and wrong with game design.
Now, don't get me wrong, once we got through the boss, we've gone back to enjoying the game. Even with the three day frustration, I've not been spoiled on it. It's a nice little side break from my general MMO fare.
But Tharzog made me want to punch a developer. There's a big boss, and then constantly re-spawning adds. Four of them, at all times, and three of you. One person could tank the adds, but they die pretty fast. Also, you don't really hold aggro. The big guy himself isn't too bad, but his guards hit like trucks, too. And once you get in the room, you can't go back and level any more or anything like that. You just have to l2play, or perish.
I don't like such a challenging fight so early in a game. From all I've been able to look up online, there is no trick strategy we were missing out on. You just have to get lucky, time your rezzes right, and hope for the best. You don't even have a whole lot of abilities at this point (being as you've not leveled a lot yet). It's just dumb and discouraging. Save the ball-breaker fights for later, says I.
Any of the rest of you play this game? Do you have similar nightmares about Tharzog? Google tells me I'm not alone in my frustration. And we're passed it now. The game is fun. Similar, I think, to Diablo (or at least what I've heard about Diablo), so if you're looking for something to do in the mean time... maybe worth checking out. Just... don't let that first boss get to you.
War in the North is a pretty run-of-the-mill button masher, set in the LOTR IP. We're playing it on PS3, though it's available on other platforms. There are some RPG elements, like a talent tree and equipment slots. The story is pretty much on rails, though you have conversation options, but they don't appear to effect anything.
It's a simple, straightforward game. Nothing groundbreaking, yet it's been pretty fun so far. It' a great game for playing co-op with your brother while he's visiting for a week over spring break. All good, until we got to the first boss.
Chieftain Tharzog was, well, awful. It took us three days to kill him. Three days of wiping as if we were raiding or something. The fight represents all that is soulless and wrong with game design.
Now, don't get me wrong, once we got through the boss, we've gone back to enjoying the game. Even with the three day frustration, I've not been spoiled on it. It's a nice little side break from my general MMO fare.
But Tharzog made me want to punch a developer. There's a big boss, and then constantly re-spawning adds. Four of them, at all times, and three of you. One person could tank the adds, but they die pretty fast. Also, you don't really hold aggro. The big guy himself isn't too bad, but his guards hit like trucks, too. And once you get in the room, you can't go back and level any more or anything like that. You just have to l2play, or perish.
I don't like such a challenging fight so early in a game. From all I've been able to look up online, there is no trick strategy we were missing out on. You just have to get lucky, time your rezzes right, and hope for the best. You don't even have a whole lot of abilities at this point (being as you've not leveled a lot yet). It's just dumb and discouraging. Save the ball-breaker fights for later, says I.
Any of the rest of you play this game? Do you have similar nightmares about Tharzog? Google tells me I'm not alone in my frustration. And we're passed it now. The game is fun. Similar, I think, to Diablo (or at least what I've heard about Diablo), so if you're looking for something to do in the mean time... maybe worth checking out. Just... don't let that first boss get to you.
Monday, March 12, 2012
#SWTOR - Stung
Labels: Lightsabery, SW:TOR 4 comments
My brain is still trying to catch up with Daylight Savings Time. Springing ahead is always the worst of the two temporal tweaks for me. Thus, today you get a picture post. Yay, shiny.
I'd been on a vehicle hunt for a while in TOR. I've been PvP'ing my little heart out, and the nice thing about completing the stable of PvP quests is that you slowly accumulate credits. I've amassed a decent amount (~1.5 million) and wanted a new speeder. Something different than the Aratech Scythe that everyone has (because it's easy to snag on the Fleet). Torhead is pretty useful, so I simply began browsing the vehicle section, looking for a 110% mount that I like. I'm not big on the huge hovercraft, and wanted more of an old school speeder look. And by "old school," I mean futuristic look, since Return of the Jedi takes place in the galactic future.
The Lhosan speeders fit the bill pretty nicely. So I focused on what they had to offer, settling on the Stinger almost immediately. It's aptly named, as you'll see, and at under 100k creds... a complete steal. Here's a pic with me on the planet of purchase, Voss:
I'd been on a vehicle hunt for a while in TOR. I've been PvP'ing my little heart out, and the nice thing about completing the stable of PvP quests is that you slowly accumulate credits. I've amassed a decent amount (~1.5 million) and wanted a new speeder. Something different than the Aratech Scythe that everyone has (because it's easy to snag on the Fleet). Torhead is pretty useful, so I simply began browsing the vehicle section, looking for a 110% mount that I like. I'm not big on the huge hovercraft, and wanted more of an old school speeder look. And by "old school," I mean futuristic look, since Return of the Jedi takes place in the galactic future.
The Lhosan speeders fit the bill pretty nicely. So I focused on what they had to offer, settling on the Stinger almost immediately. It's aptly named, as you'll see, and at under 100k creds... a complete steal. Here's a pic with me on the planet of purchase, Voss:
 |
| A rather pretty picture, if I do say so myself. |
Thursday, March 8, 2012
About That Ressurection Scroll...
Labels: Hot Topic, Reflections 10 comments
I don't much care for it. At least the perks. Specifically the "free bump to 80" perk. I guess I can deal with the mount. I don't know. Maybe this is a fail subject to begin with. I mean, I'm not really playing WoW. The only sort of logging in I did was to update my apparently WoW-specific credit card information (even though my Battle.net preferred method is charging to a different card... the old one had expired. Stupid that I have to change it in two places, but that's another tale).
It's sad to say I'm not playing WoW. Does that make me a bad blogger? This is, theoretically, a WoW blog. I've consciously chosen to simply blog about other games here because I'm too lazy to set up a new blog. Plus, I'm not giving up on WoW. I have the Annual Pass. I will be back for MoP. I'll likely be dabbling in Diablo with the rest of you. There is no towel throwing going on here.
I'm just not raiding and BG's have lost my interest. Maybe I've just been on the treadmill too long. I know I'm not the only veteran player that wasn't completely happy with how Cataclysm turned out. But if they released more content tomorrow, I'd definitely jump back in. I don't really see my current hiatus as a hiatus as much as there simply isn't anything for me to do. Emphasis on "me." I'm not saying others can't find joy... just to be clear.
Anyway, I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm a bit predisposed to feel negative toward the Rez Scroll. Here's the thing: there had to be meetings, and thought, and work hours, and what-have-you that went into this package. There are some aspects that are great. Namely the free play time. That's a great idea. My question is: is this really the most effective way to entice lapsed players back?
It does nothing for me. Though, I'm paying anyway, so I'm not really the target. Still, what has pushed me away from the game is a distinct lack of content. It doesn't help that I'm having a blast in Star Wars, but really, in WoW, if you're not raiding or PvP'ing, there wasn't a lot of content. I think they sacrificed some of the side content that was available in previous expansions in the hopes of pushing raid content out more quickly.
Let me expand on "content" too. Obviously, we could point to solo quests and smaller dungeons. Blizz was pretty hit or miss on these additions. But I'm also talking about the improvements to individual classes, the traditional tweaking that goes on. As an Affliction Warlock, there has been absolutely nothing to talk about of note for almost a year now. You could argue that no news is good news, that we are in a good place. You could say that tweaks are only made when things are "bad."
I don't disagree. I really don't have a lot of complaints. It's just that, lack of complaints, lack of changes, makes for lack of blogging. Makes for lack of challenge. Lack of interest. Tweaks, love 'em or hate 'em, are interesting. You know what's not so interesting? Old content rehashed. Once you get passed "what's different," there's just not a whole lot to say.
My whole point here is that I question the efficacy of the Rez Scroll. Wouldn't it be better to improve the game, make it more interesting, than try to re-interest people with outside things, with cheap candies? Again, I'm not the target, having been through most of the current content (except the very end of raiding). But, if they don't get their heads on straight by the time MoP roles around, I could very well be the next target.
It's sad to say I'm not playing WoW. Does that make me a bad blogger? This is, theoretically, a WoW blog. I've consciously chosen to simply blog about other games here because I'm too lazy to set up a new blog. Plus, I'm not giving up on WoW. I have the Annual Pass. I will be back for MoP. I'll likely be dabbling in Diablo with the rest of you. There is no towel throwing going on here.
I'm just not raiding and BG's have lost my interest. Maybe I've just been on the treadmill too long. I know I'm not the only veteran player that wasn't completely happy with how Cataclysm turned out. But if they released more content tomorrow, I'd definitely jump back in. I don't really see my current hiatus as a hiatus as much as there simply isn't anything for me to do. Emphasis on "me." I'm not saying others can't find joy... just to be clear.
Anyway, I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm a bit predisposed to feel negative toward the Rez Scroll. Here's the thing: there had to be meetings, and thought, and work hours, and what-have-you that went into this package. There are some aspects that are great. Namely the free play time. That's a great idea. My question is: is this really the most effective way to entice lapsed players back?
It does nothing for me. Though, I'm paying anyway, so I'm not really the target. Still, what has pushed me away from the game is a distinct lack of content. It doesn't help that I'm having a blast in Star Wars, but really, in WoW, if you're not raiding or PvP'ing, there wasn't a lot of content. I think they sacrificed some of the side content that was available in previous expansions in the hopes of pushing raid content out more quickly.
Let me expand on "content" too. Obviously, we could point to solo quests and smaller dungeons. Blizz was pretty hit or miss on these additions. But I'm also talking about the improvements to individual classes, the traditional tweaking that goes on. As an Affliction Warlock, there has been absolutely nothing to talk about of note for almost a year now. You could argue that no news is good news, that we are in a good place. You could say that tweaks are only made when things are "bad."
I don't disagree. I really don't have a lot of complaints. It's just that, lack of complaints, lack of changes, makes for lack of blogging. Makes for lack of challenge. Lack of interest. Tweaks, love 'em or hate 'em, are interesting. You know what's not so interesting? Old content rehashed. Once you get passed "what's different," there's just not a whole lot to say.
My whole point here is that I question the efficacy of the Rez Scroll. Wouldn't it be better to improve the game, make it more interesting, than try to re-interest people with outside things, with cheap candies? Again, I'm not the target, having been through most of the current content (except the very end of raiding). But, if they don't get their heads on straight by the time MoP roles around, I could very well be the next target.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
#SWTOR - The Man In The Mirror
Labels: Lightsabery, SW:TOR 4 comments
I have a quick question for you TOR players out there: Are our mirrors more powerful? AT least with certain spells? The classes are supposed to be mirrors, but do the abilities scale exactly the same?
Here's the background. My wife and I have recently rolled toons on the Imperial side to play with a friend. Both of us ended up rolling classes we'd already played on the Rep side. I suppose we wanted something familiar amidst the unfamiliar, or maybe a chance to check out the other Advanced Class. Whatever the case, the early levels have pretty much the same progression, ability-wise. One would expect as much from a supposed mirror.
Yet, I can't help but feel like the man in the mirror is a bit better looking, a bit stronger, more muscular. His powers are just a bit more, um, electric. Perhaps it's simply the animations. Lighting beats rock any way you throw it, at least in terms of badassery. I don't think you'll find much argument if you were to claim that the Republic got the short end of the stick from the Cool Animations department at Bioware. I'm not sure how much it could be helped though, as you would expect the Dark Side to be flashier, more powerful looking. But for the sake of game balance, it should be purely cosmetic, right?
It doesn't feel cosmetic. It feels more powerful. In my case, comparing an Inquisitor to a Consular, I focus on a very specific ability. Force Lightning vs Telekinetic Throw. When I'm PvP'ing, I get Force Lightning'ed all the time. Seems like those pesky Sorcerers are constantly playing Palpatine on me. And my Telekinetic Throw is no Yoda or Mace Windu. Is it just me?
Perhaps, as a Balance Shadow, I'm just not specced into the right AC. Maybe as a Sage it would feel more powerful. That probably has something to do with. As I work through the early levels of an Inquisitor, though, I feel a lot more powerful shocking things than I ever did throwing rocks.
Well, that's not true. Project feels more powerful than Shock, though the damage/stun from Shock is instant. You have to wait for the animation with Project.
It's probably all just perception. If I were to spec Sage, I'd likely find Telekinetic Throw just as powerful. Still, I can't help but wonder if some abilities are better for my mirror than they are for me. It certainly add another layer of intrigue, wouldn't it?
Here's the background. My wife and I have recently rolled toons on the Imperial side to play with a friend. Both of us ended up rolling classes we'd already played on the Rep side. I suppose we wanted something familiar amidst the unfamiliar, or maybe a chance to check out the other Advanced Class. Whatever the case, the early levels have pretty much the same progression, ability-wise. One would expect as much from a supposed mirror.
Yet, I can't help but feel like the man in the mirror is a bit better looking, a bit stronger, more muscular. His powers are just a bit more, um, electric. Perhaps it's simply the animations. Lighting beats rock any way you throw it, at least in terms of badassery. I don't think you'll find much argument if you were to claim that the Republic got the short end of the stick from the Cool Animations department at Bioware. I'm not sure how much it could be helped though, as you would expect the Dark Side to be flashier, more powerful looking. But for the sake of game balance, it should be purely cosmetic, right?
It doesn't feel cosmetic. It feels more powerful. In my case, comparing an Inquisitor to a Consular, I focus on a very specific ability. Force Lightning vs Telekinetic Throw. When I'm PvP'ing, I get Force Lightning'ed all the time. Seems like those pesky Sorcerers are constantly playing Palpatine on me. And my Telekinetic Throw is no Yoda or Mace Windu. Is it just me?
Perhaps, as a Balance Shadow, I'm just not specced into the right AC. Maybe as a Sage it would feel more powerful. That probably has something to do with. As I work through the early levels of an Inquisitor, though, I feel a lot more powerful shocking things than I ever did throwing rocks.
Well, that's not true. Project feels more powerful than Shock, though the damage/stun from Shock is instant. You have to wait for the animation with Project.
It's probably all just perception. If I were to spec Sage, I'd likely find Telekinetic Throw just as powerful. Still, I can't help but wonder if some abilities are better for my mirror than they are for me. It certainly add another layer of intrigue, wouldn't it?
Monday, March 5, 2012
Congrats Poneria
Labels: Shout Out, warlocky 0 comments
As Ratshag might say: Is big hairy congo rats to Poneria over at Fel Concentration fer the snaggin' of the WoW Insider Column what be fer Warlocks.
I'll be honest, I just wanted to use "congo rats" in a proper sentence (apologies to Ratters for playing orc with his voice). If you spend enough time lurking around the blogosphere, you pick up things like congo rats that you desperately want to say in real life sometimes, but know that no one will understand. Thus, when one gets the opportunity to offer the hairy buggers in an appropriate manner online, one takes it.
Nothing against the other Blood Pact columnists, but I'm rather excited for Poneria. She's been a great blogger that I've followed for a while now (and has commented here often). I'm happy to see it go to "one of our own," as it were. Not that it hasn't before, just that she's really the fist person to hold the position that I've interacted with, and I know she'll do a great job.
So congo rats it is!
PS to Pone - The rats are not without tails: Now I know whose crypt to lob skulls at if you say something I disagree with...I know where you live! (At least on Twitter) ;-)
I'll be honest, I just wanted to use "congo rats" in a proper sentence (apologies to Ratters for playing orc with his voice). If you spend enough time lurking around the blogosphere, you pick up things like congo rats that you desperately want to say in real life sometimes, but know that no one will understand. Thus, when one gets the opportunity to offer the hairy buggers in an appropriate manner online, one takes it.
Nothing against the other Blood Pact columnists, but I'm rather excited for Poneria. She's been a great blogger that I've followed for a while now (and has commented here often). I'm happy to see it go to "one of our own," as it were. Not that it hasn't before, just that she's really the fist person to hold the position that I've interacted with, and I know she'll do a great job.
So congo rats it is!
PS to Pone - The rats are not without tails: Now I know whose crypt to lob skulls at if you say something I disagree with...I know where you live! (At least on Twitter) ;-)
Friday, March 2, 2012
Then and Now
Labels: Fun 3 comments
I'm going to do a meme today. Something quick that I can squeeze in before lunch. I saw the whole Then and Now thing over that The Pot. After I dodged the whole sixth meme (I was very, very quiet... hiding in the corner and all, apparently. Seriously, didn't get on the whole "web of bloggers" thingy, which I thought was very warlockerly of me, being shadowy and what-have-you.), I figured I'd step up to the plate and do one. I'll do one.
Here's the oldest screenie I could find (circa 2009, though I started playing in '07... the rest must have been lost in one upgrade or another):
And here's the most recent (circa last October, as you might be able to tell):
You may, of course, notice that I apparently got a face cut. Took a little skin off the top there...
Also, I'm really glad Gnomer is back. Even if he is still spouting magery.
Here's the oldest screenie I could find (circa 2009, though I started playing in '07... the rest must have been lost in one upgrade or another):
And here's the most recent (circa last October, as you might be able to tell):
You may, of course, notice that I apparently got a face cut. Took a little skin off the top there...
Also, I'm really glad Gnomer is back. Even if he is still spouting magery.
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