Here's part 2 of episode 5, featuring lots of general video game/E3 talk as well as some WoW discussion.
Download it here: All Things Awesome Episode #5-2 (right click and save as)
(recorded: Sunday 7/27, hosts: Schmitty, Mike, Foz, Tim, Shawn, Judge) duration: 50 minutes, 22.8mb)
0:00 - 9:00: Ambivalence for Final Fantasy XIII on 360, is Sony getting scared yet?, why bother with Lips when you could play Rock Band?, ambivalence about Gears II and FPS games, please let Mirror's Edge be better than Assassin's Creed
9:00 - 16:00: Diablo III talk - it's got colors!, we lavish praise on Blizzard, PHYSICS!, how to break the WoW addiction
16:00 - 20:30: Back to E3 talk with Fallout 3, some Spore talk, more drooling over Left 4 Dead
20:30 - 26:00: GTA IV: The Best GTA IV yet, the no-PS2 club
26:00 - 31:30: DS games: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2, The World Ends With You
31:30 - 35:00: The Penny Arcade game is fun time (especially if you like dick jokes), Garfield is dead?
35:00 - 42:00: WoW talk, MRS' first Gruul kill/25-man experience, why people like raiding, the evolution of instances
42:00 - 49:50: Wrath of the Lich King discussion: the return of Naxx, gear changes post-70, excitement over the universal 10-man content, Blizz continues to polish class balance
Showing posts with label Video Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video Games. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Contrary to popular belief...
Killing Nazis does eventually get boring. Even ones who are empowered by occult magic and/or scientific experiments gone awry. Can you believe they're making another Wolfenstein game? I'm not usually a hater, but I'm so underwhelmed by this announcement. The whole venture just seems doomed to mediocrity. First of all, the game was already remade in the early aughts. To be fair, the remake was only 9 years after the groundbreaking original, but when the press release says things like:
Anyway, my point was that it's scarcely a franchise. The 2001 remake was overseen, but not developed by Id, and this game looks to be the same sort of operation. On the plus, I'm inclined to trust Raven, who are at the helm of the new game, more than the since-absorbed Grey Matter (who were responsible both for the actually very solid Kingpin game as well as the unfortunate Redneck Rampage games)... but Raven is not exactly known for their innovation. Heretic was just a good Doom retread, Hexen was just a good Heretic retread, and Quake 4 was just a good Quake 2 retread. With the exception of the X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance series, when's the last time you even heard of another Raven game mentioned?
I have little doubt that Wolfenstein will be at least an okay, if not altogether good game, much like Quake 4 before it (they're even based on the same engine). But even with all the fun Nazi occultism and sci-fi elements, and fuzzy memories of playing Wolf3d on high school computers, I doubt I'll be willing to shell out for anything more than a rental come release.
-- Schmitty
"From id Software’s critically-acclaimed and multi-million unit selling Wolfenstein universe"it sounds like they're trying a little to hard. First of all, Id's game was based on Castle Wolfenstein, a 1982 computer game that was arguably more innovative in the first place. Not to take anything away from Id here - they've always been ahead of the curve technology-wise, but for the most part their game design is pretty mediocre. Wolf3d had all of 5 different types of enemies, one of which is pretty much just a reskin of the basic guard. Honestly now, I think the original Super Mario Brothers had more than that in the first level.
Anyway, my point was that it's scarcely a franchise. The 2001 remake was overseen, but not developed by Id, and this game looks to be the same sort of operation. On the plus, I'm inclined to trust Raven, who are at the helm of the new game, more than the since-absorbed Grey Matter (who were responsible both for the actually very solid Kingpin game as well as the unfortunate Redneck Rampage games)... but Raven is not exactly known for their innovation. Heretic was just a good Doom retread, Hexen was just a good Heretic retread, and Quake 4 was just a good Quake 2 retread. With the exception of the X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance series, when's the last time you even heard of another Raven game mentioned?
I have little doubt that Wolfenstein will be at least an okay, if not altogether good game, much like Quake 4 before it (they're even based on the same engine). But even with all the fun Nazi occultism and sci-fi elements, and fuzzy memories of playing Wolf3d on high school computers, I doubt I'll be willing to shell out for anything more than a rental come release.
-- Schmitty
Sunday, July 20, 2008
A Look at Wrath of the Lich King Paladins, Part I
I'd like to take a moment to thank Blizzard for not sending me a Wrath of the Lich King beta key. I've already spent hours poring over new data from MMO-Champion, Deathknight.info, and Wowhead, who knows what sort of abyss I'd fall into were I actually playing the damn thing. I was frighteningly close to giving my account information up to some sketchy website scam. Fortunately for me, I can't even begin to consider something like this, seeing as how I'm dead broke.
My primary character being a Paladin, I was excited to finally get some information on what's going on with Warcraft's holy warriors. Starting with the general and moving to the specific:
- Seals and Judgments: Details seem sketchy at the moment, but it seems like this system has been reworked. Based on some Wowhead entries, it looks like we might be trading in our standard Judgement spell in for 3 seperate Judgements: of Light, of Wisdom and of Justice. If my guesswork is right, you'll be able to keep your primary damage seal up, and the new Judgements will grant the standard damage burst as well as the appropriate utility effect. Then again, the data files for the normal seals of Wisdom, Light and Justice are still in the data files for WotLK, so it's tough to say for sure.
- Blessings and Hands: Sacrifice, Freedom, Protection and most interestingly Salvation have been converted to a new type of spell called Hands. Seems the primary reason for this to allow the use of these spells without overwriting the current Blessing, which is a good start. In PvE, Hand of Sacrifice will likely see more use than it's forebear - the old blessing was rarely used outside of PvP or a few specialty fights. The new version might allow a Pally to mitigate some of the damage coming to a tank during a particularly nasty phase of a boss fight.
The change to Salvation no doubt shocked and dismayed a lot of DPSers, but from what I understand threat in WotLK is generally being reworked. This is a sensible change, since as it currently stands Salvation is almost a necessity. If a DPS class can never afford to forgo Salv, then the ability only exists to punish those without access to it. The new Salv looks more like an emergency button that hopefully will only need to used during tank transitions and the like.
These improvements are pretty minor, but they are improvements (if not necessarily buffs). I'll get into the real good stuff with and give you my take on some of the new Pally talents and revamped trees next pass.
-- Schmitty
My primary character being a Paladin, I was excited to finally get some information on what's going on with Warcraft's holy warriors. Starting with the general and moving to the specific:
- Seals and Judgments: Details seem sketchy at the moment, but it seems like this system has been reworked. Based on some Wowhead entries, it looks like we might be trading in our standard Judgement spell in for 3 seperate Judgements: of Light, of Wisdom and of Justice. If my guesswork is right, you'll be able to keep your primary damage seal up, and the new Judgements will grant the standard damage burst as well as the appropriate utility effect. Then again, the data files for the normal seals of Wisdom, Light and Justice are still in the data files for WotLK, so it's tough to say for sure.
- Blessings and Hands: Sacrifice, Freedom, Protection and most interestingly Salvation have been converted to a new type of spell called Hands. Seems the primary reason for this to allow the use of these spells without overwriting the current Blessing, which is a good start. In PvE, Hand of Sacrifice will likely see more use than it's forebear - the old blessing was rarely used outside of PvP or a few specialty fights. The new version might allow a Pally to mitigate some of the damage coming to a tank during a particularly nasty phase of a boss fight.
The change to Salvation no doubt shocked and dismayed a lot of DPSers, but from what I understand threat in WotLK is generally being reworked. This is a sensible change, since as it currently stands Salvation is almost a necessity. If a DPS class can never afford to forgo Salv, then the ability only exists to punish those without access to it. The new Salv looks more like an emergency button that hopefully will only need to used during tank transitions and the like.
These improvements are pretty minor, but they are improvements (if not necessarily buffs). I'll get into the real good stuff with and give you my take on some of the new Pally talents and revamped trees next pass.
-- Schmitty
Monday, March 10, 2008
All Things Awesome Episode #3
Episode 3 is up!
Download it here: All Things Awesome Episode #3 (right click and save as)
(recorded: Saturday 3/8, hosts: Schmitty, Foz, Tim, Shawn) duration: 1 hour 38 minutes, 45.0mb)
We had some more technical issues on this one. The quality came through better, but whenever Shawn talks, you can hear some crackling static. It's mostly just a minor nuisance in the first hour, but then gets horrendously bad. Unfortunately it was unfixable, so for some this will only be an hour show. Eventually we'll get all this crap worked out.
0:00 - 11:15: Intro, Mike and Judge are dead, more importantly, Gary Gygax is dead, our role-playing beginnings and influences: Schmitty's Raistlin, Tim's middle-school D&D, Shawn's boxes (gotta catch 'em all), the legacy of Fosberry torment, "Juvenile" vs. "Mature" D&D
11:15 - 22:00: Nerd Heroes: Jeff Hannes of Inquest, FRP vs. LARP, Joss Whedon, Monte Cook stories - he has real magic power
22:00 - 31:40: Gamer rituals, Tim's annual/semi-annual Evathon (Neon Genesis Evangelion marathon), camping out, geek hierarchy, dark side gamers, why do we hate things that people like?
31:40 - 40:00: Flavor vs. Mechanics vs. Style in games, Tim remembers to talk into his mic, Deadlands, Doomtown and HKAT, flavor in 4th Edition
40:00 - 54:45: Flavor vs. Mechanics continued: Magic vs. Legend of the Five Rings TCGs, Tim grows as a person, lack of flavor and frustrating mechanics and WoW?
54:45 - 1:00:00: Researching flavor outside of games, L5R's metaplot, Tim dishonors his family, AEG gets a thumbs up
1:00:00 - 1:05:50: Flavor vs. Mechanics: Video game and movie edition: Silent Hill, Crackdown, From Hell, The Matrix, Sin City
After our second break, Shawn's mic issues intensify significantly and he sounds like a staticy robot. You can still understand him for the most part, and everyone else comes through clearly, but it may be unlistenable in parts, as Shawn does have a lot to say about 4e. Nothing we can really do for it at this point though. We'll make sure it doesn't happen again.
1:05:50 - 1:21:00: More D&D 4th Edition talk from the D&D Experience, roll vs. role playing, Robo-Shawn attacks!, striking the balance between simple and interesting, Tim's guns, the CCG-ificiation and MMO-ification of D&D, Vancian spellcasting
1:21:00 - 1:38:30: The problems of high-level D&D, "quest rewards" and magic items in 4th, the chicken-standard economy, more complexity concerns, 4th Edition and OGL
Download it here: All Things Awesome Episode #3 (right click and save as)
(recorded: Saturday 3/8, hosts: Schmitty, Foz, Tim, Shawn) duration: 1 hour 38 minutes, 45.0mb)
We had some more technical issues on this one. The quality came through better, but whenever Shawn talks, you can hear some crackling static. It's mostly just a minor nuisance in the first hour, but then gets horrendously bad. Unfortunately it was unfixable, so for some this will only be an hour show. Eventually we'll get all this crap worked out.
0:00 - 11:15: Intro, Mike and Judge are dead, more importantly, Gary Gygax is dead, our role-playing beginnings and influences: Schmitty's Raistlin, Tim's middle-school D&D, Shawn's boxes (gotta catch 'em all), the legacy of Fosberry torment, "Juvenile" vs. "Mature" D&D
11:15 - 22:00: Nerd Heroes: Jeff Hannes of Inquest, FRP vs. LARP, Joss Whedon, Monte Cook stories - he has real magic power
22:00 - 31:40: Gamer rituals, Tim's annual/semi-annual Evathon (Neon Genesis Evangelion marathon), camping out, geek hierarchy, dark side gamers, why do we hate things that people like?
31:40 - 40:00: Flavor vs. Mechanics vs. Style in games, Tim remembers to talk into his mic, Deadlands, Doomtown and HKAT, flavor in 4th Edition
40:00 - 54:45: Flavor vs. Mechanics continued: Magic vs. Legend of the Five Rings TCGs, Tim grows as a person, lack of flavor and frustrating mechanics and WoW?
54:45 - 1:00:00: Researching flavor outside of games, L5R's metaplot, Tim dishonors his family, AEG gets a thumbs up
1:00:00 - 1:05:50: Flavor vs. Mechanics: Video game and movie edition: Silent Hill, Crackdown, From Hell, The Matrix, Sin City
After our second break, Shawn's mic issues intensify significantly and he sounds like a staticy robot. You can still understand him for the most part, and everyone else comes through clearly, but it may be unlistenable in parts, as Shawn does have a lot to say about 4e. Nothing we can really do for it at this point though. We'll make sure it doesn't happen again.
1:05:50 - 1:21:00: More D&D 4th Edition talk from the D&D Experience, roll vs. role playing, Robo-Shawn attacks!, striking the balance between simple and interesting, Tim's guns, the CCG-ificiation and MMO-ification of D&D, Vancian spellcasting
1:21:00 - 1:38:30: The problems of high-level D&D, "quest rewards" and magic items in 4th, the chicken-standard economy, more complexity concerns, 4th Edition and OGL
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