PAD #12: Trailers and Controversy. Yay! ^_^

My back was really sore yesterday, so I spent most of my time taking it easy and watching Game Grumps and Zero Punctuation while laying at my bed.  Unfortunately, this meant I didn't want to sit at my desk since that would have aggravated the problem.  As much as I want to get a post per day up, it isn't worth doing more damage to my back than has already been done.  On the plus side, I got a new chair for my desk, the old one being the main reason my back went out.

There's a New Witcher 3 trailer.  Never did play the second one, but I loved the first one, so I might have to pick that one up when it comes out.  I'll have to see how the stories tie together and if I should beat The Witcher 2 first.  I suppose some people would tell me that I should just on principle.  On that note, I just learned that there was a gameplay trailer for X that was released a while back.  Looks like its combat is going to be a retread of Xenoblade's, which I have mixed feelings over.  The combat system wasn't bad per se, but it felt clunky.  It seems like it was set-up to be controlled with a keyboard first, and later jury-rigged to work for a controller set-up; which might make sense if it wasn't a console-exclusive title.  Basically, it was a fun game, it just feels like I should have been playing it on my PC instead of the Wii.

A bit of commentary about Early Access games happened on Total Biscuit's latest mailbag episode, and I have to agree with him.  The issue at hand was about the writer of the letter going into the open beta for a game, but then seeing in-game purchases all over the place.  I think TB puts it best in this video when he says "If you started charging, it's fair game," and later, "anything that claims to be in open beta with a cash shop is not a beta anymore; it's just released.  It is a release!  If it is a release that has a lot of problems, then tough shit!  You decided to release a game, and you decided to charge money for it when it wasn't done."  Agreed, 100%.  Yes, every game is going to have its bugs, but when a game is released with several (potentially game-breaking) bugs, then it's inexcusable; I don't care if it has an "Early Access" tag.  Early Access is not an excuse to have a buggy product.

Still having a blast with Wildstar (when my computer isn't bottle-necking).  I think my favorite part is just the combat.  After all the MMOs I've played, this is one of the few where just fighting is entertaining.  I'm admittedly still in early-game content, so we'll see how it holds-up for end-game, but right now the game is in a state where I actually look forward to jumping into fights, where usually in an MMO the fights are just a means to an end.  Another thing I really like is the occasional challenge I stumble into.  At random the game will declare "Challenge Begins!"  Suddenly I have to kill as many enemies as I can, or maybe gather enough of an item that's laying on the ground, or maybe some form of a platforming challenge.  At the end the game gives you a randomized reward.  It's a nice little change from the usual grind of just running quests and turning them into the quest giver.  Speaking of which, that's another thing I like, most quest givers will call you when you complete the quest, allowing you to turn-in on the spot, and then they'll give you the next quest in the chain.  Cuts-out a lot of the back-and-forth trekking that plagues most quest chains in MMOs.  All-in-all, while the game does admittedly make a number of MMO mistakes, it does enough things to fix other MMO problems that it balances-out over-all.  Throw-in the fun combat, and it's just a good game over-all.

PAD #10: 'Cuz Sundays are Blurg

Yeah, I know.  I missed a day.  It was a slow and lazy Sunday, and my cold was making me feel all bleh.  I think I'm just gonna take Sundays off in general, just a day to relax and do whatever.  Like re-watch old Grumps episodes or Futurama reruns. :3

Got into a pre-screening for Edge of Tomorrow.  It was... not bad.  Not great, but not bad.  I guess my main gripe is that they took what could potentially have been an interesting story and just kinda didn't do anything with it.  Without wishing to spoil anything, the ending didn't really do it for me, either.  I'd compare it to the same reason that the ending to The Dark Knight Rises kinda turned me off.  The action scenes are good, so we're gonna re-tread my thoughts on the latest X-Men movie with the ole "If you don't care about story you'll probably like it".  I tend to get that impression with a lot of movies, you'd almost think that movies were a terrible medium for storytelling if it weren't for that occasional gem that just blows me outta the water.  Rare moments like Nightmare Before Christmas, or Paranorman, where I just can't help but fall in love with the characters.

Absolutely loving Wildstar so far.  Unfortunately my computer doesn't agree with me on that notion.  Perhaps it's time to start saving-up for a replacement.  My current build has actually lasted quite a while for being a quick patch job to get a computer back up and running.  It's lasted long enough that I've actually forgotten what broke that I needed to replace.  Even putting Wildstar aside, though, she's been showing her age recently.  Seems with every game I get, I have to turn the settings down just a little bit more than before.  Ole girl's been having issues caching properly, too.  So it's making some games really choppy at the start until all the assets are loaded, and then gets choppy again if something new comes along (which can be easy in an MMO where you can bump into classes with different abilities, or even the same class using a different build).

Talked to an old coworker the other day, and I'm thinking I might go back to driving.  It wasn't a great job, but it paid decently and kept me on my feet pretty well.  Between my hours being cut at my current job, and my computer quickly showing her age, I'll need to find something.  Admittedly, I do kinda miss delivering pizzas, some days.  Something about being able to drive around during the nicer days that made the lousy days worth enduring, mixed with the pay being fairly good for the effort.  It's hell on the car, but at the same time pays enough to keep-up with maintenance for the most part.  I dunno, something for me to consider.

Well, I guess that's that for tonight.  I'm gonna get in another hour or two of Wildstar before turning-in for good.  C'ya tomorrow.

PAD #9: Can't Be Bothered to Come-up With a Title 'Cause I Wanna Get Back to Wildstar

And Wildstar's early access has started today.  It's a game that's had my interest ever since their first trailer a number of years ago (which I was gonna link to, but couldn't find), but I never really followed it all that closely like one of my WoW guildmates did.  Now that the game is finally out (for pre-order customers, at least), we've all jumped into it with the hopes that we'll get into it like we did with WoW.  From what I've played so far (both of beta and live), it's an interesting game.  Probably my favorite part about it is how the combat varies from other MMOs.  Nearly every attack is AoE-based, with the area of effect showing on the ground so you know where you're targeting.  Some attacks will follow you if you move, where others will continue their effect based on where you were when you launched it or where you placed it.  So far I'm having a lot of fun with a Cassian Medic (though I wanted to be an Exile Esper).

The creator of "Rust" (who I didn't know was also the same "Garry" behind "Garry's Mod") chimed-in about the massive amount of games being put on Steam's service.  Short version, he sees it as a good thing.  That's undoubtedly going to ruffle some feathers, but I don't necessarily disagree with him.  His stance is that it's a good thing because it forces developers to have to step up and make sure that their game stands above the others; do a little extra leg work, as it were.  Basically the idea that more competition is a good thing.  Why play this game and not the dozens of others that play just like it?  Because this one has that extra bit of polish that I like, or maybe it has an art style that appeals to me.  I've always been on the fence about the whole issue, mostly because I know how to look for a good game and am not afraid to do a little extra skimming to find it.  Sometimes I wonder if maybe gamers just got too accustomed to the model where only "good" games were ever released, so now they feel a little spoiled for choice now that they actually have to filter passed a few lemons.  I'll definitely say this, though:  Gamers got what they asked for.  They just didn't consider the negative side effects of what they wanted.