The Weekend Warrior and Videogame Shows

A lot of my fellow developers in my shop are also avid gamers themselves, and we often will have daily chats about what we've been playing. Aside from the mega-releases, we're rarely playing the same thing at the same time, but have often played the same games, regardless.

In talking to one of my buddies here, who is finally in the process of busting his Mass Effect cherry, it's been interesting to a) keep track of his experience in the game, and what he thinks of it, as well as b) to understand how he games.

Like a lot of us here, he has young children, so his gaming time is usually 4AM-5AM, and then maybe a little at night. He finds that if he plays the same game for more than two hours, he starts to fatigue of that game.

I found this very interesting. I have a very difficult time gaming during the week now, so I might squeeze in an hour each day, if I really try to make it happen, but I'll binge like mad on the weekends. I have a hard time really getting into a game unless I play it for a couple hours or more at a time. It takes a while for me to 'immerse.'

I think this spreads out more once summer hits, since I like to be outside on the weekends, and my wife and I watch fewer shows in the evenings during the summer, so I'll get in some game time instead.

Also, there are some games she likes to watch me play, ie Uncharted. I think I may try that with the Walking Dead show. We'll see.

The Videogame Show
I miss the old X-Play and I miss the 1UP Show. I've written about this before, but I finally found something that comes somewhat close (closer to X-Play, not the excellent 1UP Show.)

GameSpot now has a show every Tuesday called The Lobby.

I watched the première episode this week, and really liked it. It reminded me of a blend of X-Play and GameSpot's E3 coverage. It's usually two editors talking, and then they'll bring in other editors to talk about new releases or other topics. It's good stuff. This past week, they talked about GDC 2014, Thief, and a range of other topics. I like the direction that GameSpot is going with their video content.

That being said, I still miss the 1UP Show, and would love to find something that approximates that format. Does anyone out there have a game-centric show that they absolutely love?

Weekend Gaming ... Almost Here
Tomorrow at noon start both the latest ESO beta, AND, more importantly, the first Cardinals Spring Training game of the preseason. It's gonna be some good times tomorrow.

I'd also like to spend some quality time with Thief and find out if I just suck at the game, or if its controls are as wonky as I think they might be.

I also still have some story content I want to wrap up in SWTOR before I cancel it in August, so I may jump in on that if I get fatigued at all in ESO. We'll see.

And of course, there's always Morrowind, which I'm loving in more now that I've got the MGSO mod in there. One thing I'm going to do in ESO this weekend is see if I can get to Morrowind, and do some comparison. Otherwise, I'll just tromp around Skyrim and Cyrodil, and do some comparisons there. Yeah, I'm a nerd, but I'm a happy nerd.

Oh, and this is interesting. An explanation on ESO's 'M' rating.

So. What are you playing this weekend?

Either way, enjoy yourself, and thanks for reading!

-Blaine

Thief, Video Game Shows, ESO, Failbetter Games, and Other Obviously Connected Topics

I fucking love buffets. It's like a human feeding trough, but with better-tasting preservatives and a total disregard for respect of one's body. But it's all (one hopes) great-tasting, and it's a great chance to actually try something new.

And while buffets are great for food, it's also my favorite way to approach blogging. I don't have much of an attention span, and collies make great pets.

More Premature Reactions to Thief
I think the implementation of Thief's mechanics and the level design, in regards to these mechanics, are all under-baked. They don't quite mesh together in a totally silky-smooth way. People keep citing Dishonored as the game that this should've been, but I don't think that's right. I think the game works fine, once you reach the level of control refinement that Titanfall hit. In Titanfall, I can traverse the environment with great ease and it all feels smooth and natural. There's something that's not right about the 'oh shit' moments in this game, in which fleeing doesn't feel right. I kept running smack into things that I should've been able to traverse, but I couldn't.

Granted, this could all be from a lack of familiarity with this game, and it could be that I'm just bitching about it being hard, and maybe I'm a 'newb,' and I'm 'doing it wrong,' but it just doesn't feel right.

I'll keep plugging away at it, but I've already deemphasized the game, especially since ...

Mo Beta, Mo ESO
I'm back in the ESO beta this weekend! And Cardinals spring training games start!

AND WE'RE GETTING MORE FUCKING SNOW this weekend?!?! As a side note, fuck this winter in its stupid fucking ass.

In any case, I'm back in ESO this weekend, which is awesome. As I've said before, I'm super-hyped for the game, and I'm curious to see what changes have been made. Yeah, I could look at the changelog, but why do so when I can find a bunch of condescending pricks to do it for me, and then yell at me for daring to ask what's new.

Actually, I will look at the changelog, now that I think about it.

What's cool is that I'll have some buddies in there with me this weekend, so I'll finally get to, once again, combine cyberspace and meatspace. I hate grouping in most games, since most people, when online, slip into their 'Captain Fuckface' persona, but when I got a real buddy or two in there with me, it's a much improved experience. So long as Joel isn't rushing through like he left his car running by the quest giver.

I don't expect any huge changes in the game, mostly bug fixes, since we're probably pretty close to 'gold,' or whatever the MMO equivalent is, but I haven't really needed much in the game besides some bug fixes, anyway.

I do wish I could lose the subtitles in conversations, though. I can't stand subtitles unless the spoken language is one I don't speak.

Failbetter + BioWare = ?!
So, this came completely out of left field for me.

To put this into clearer context, Failbetter makes some amazing interactive fiction, such as Fallen London, which if you haven't played, I urge you to correct this mistake NOW.

In any case, I'm not sure what the project is, but I know David Gaider, he of the Dragon Age, is a big fan of interactive fiction, so one has to wonder if this is a Dragon Age project ... I would love love love love love love that. I'm a big IF fan myself, so this could be fantastic.

Risen 3: This Time It'll Be Good, We Mean It
Piranha Bytes is a studio that has produced a lot of games I should love, but have not. Games from the Gothic and Risen series are specifically to what I am referring.

Much like I used to say about the Bethesda RPGs, on paper, I should love these games, but I don't. At the same time, Piranha Bytes has a fierce and loyal following, so I'll probably give this series another look this summer, before Risen 3 hits this August.

Wasteland 2
By the way, I failed to mention it before, but I did get some time with the game this past weekend, and I enjoyed it, even if I was taken aback by how old school it really is. That's not a bad thing at all, but it really has been a while for me. I'm really excited to play more and not suck ass at the game. Here's a new trailer!



 

 

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Obsidian's new game, South Park: The Stick of Truth, hits next week, and I'm pretty excited. Obsidian is among my favorite developers, even if their games often require some additional *ahem* refinement after release.

 

Even with some decent gaming sneaking out right now during the 'dumping' release window for publishers, I'm still chomping at the bit for the big RPGs later this year. Ya know, The Witcher 3, Dragon Age Inquisition, Pillars of Eternity, etc.

 

I guess ESO will be here before we know it. Methinks that will do most of the tiding over until my big boy games.

 

As always, thanks for reading!

 

-Blaine



Premature Thief Impressions

I was wrong. Thief unlocked some time this morning. Yesterday, the countdown on Steam indicated a 1PM central unlock time.

I've been able to squeeze in almost a couple hours today, and here's what we got so far. Bear in mind, these impressions are drawn from the best version available, the PC version.

First things first, this is a fairly good-looking game. I've maxed all the settings, but turned the anti-aliasing off, and performance is good. Thief is one of the few games out there that actually relies on crisp visuals, since much of the game is contingent on concealment, and things like line of sight, as well as light, dark, and shadows inform that. This game does a very good job of making you aware of the environment, even with the first-person perspective, which, absent peripheral vision, makes it much harder.

The movement through the game is a lot of fun, but I'm trying to decide if I'm still getting used to it, or if it could use just a tiny bit of improvement. It's almost silky smooth, but not quite there, especially where the context-sensitive jump/climb is used. Like I said, I could accept either one as the case.

Part of the problem there is that I've also just recently completed the Titanfall beta, which had AMAZING control. I almost want to merge the two.

Aaahhh. Parkour wall-running in Thief. Sooo wonderful to think about.

Anywho, I'm still early in the game, so it's impossible to say what skills I haven't discovered yet, and how much I settle into the rhythm of the movement.

As for the story, I like it thus far. We start out with Garrett and a protégé of his, and then shit goes sideways. I'm a little confused about the transition from the prologue to the first chapter, but I believe that's intentional. Overall, Garrett, thus far, is a solid sympathetic protagonist, and while I think I may have most of the rest of the plot figured out, if it's told well, then this could be a fun tale.

The best thing about the game so far is the problem-solving. Nearly every situation is Portal-like, in terms of applying your knowledge of the game's mechanics. I love that kinda shit. Even better, everywhere I've gone so far has had tantalizing optional areas that have beckoned to me, and I've been unable to resist the siren call of impossible-to-pull-off thefts. Thanks to the generous auto-save in the game, I've been able to combine reason with trial-and-error (heavy on the 'error,' thus far.) That aspect of the game, which is the bulk of the game so far, is a blast.

Tonight, I'm looking forward to some more Thief, as well as 3D Thor: The Dark World on Blu-Ray. Good times.

How are you enjoying Thief thus far? If you're not playing it, why not?

-Blaine

Morrowind Your Skyrim into Oblivion

I think anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 of my 'gaming' time is actually spent NOT gaming, but experimenting with gaming technologies. Yes, it's a mad party up in my rig. Or some such thing.

Lately, it's been perfecting my stream-to-TV setup using the Steam Streaming beta, and modding some older Bethesda titles.

On the streaming front, things are going very well. I was pleased to discover that it streams non-Steam games, as well, which is a HUGE win for my newer BioWare titles. Also, I've been having a lot of fun impressing my son with how good I can get some of these games to look on PC. Skyrim, for example, despite being almost three years old, can still achieve an insane level of graphical fidelity, once the right mods are introduced.

Right now, I'm just sliding the Alienware laptop under the TV, jacking into the secondary HDMI, then connecting an old wireless mouse and keyboard I had the foresight to hold onto.

Problems: power and wireless keyboard and mouse. My power situation behind my TV is a bit ... unstable, and I have no desire to introduce anything else into it. This means I'm running my power cable across the room, into a 3-2 converter, then into an extension cord. Also, the range on the wireless keyboard and mouse kinda sucks, so I have to run the access point halfway to the recliner, which means that people and dogs are free to accidentally knock it down right and left.

Both of these are easily resolved via minor expenditures. What's great is that the proof-of-concept is increasingly successful. I'm now curious to see how low I can go in terms of specs for the streaming machine. I'd guess proc is the key component there, as well as having an HDMI out. I plan to rummage around the house soon, and see what I can throw together.

As stated before, I'd like to just set up a dock at each TV for a super-powerful gaming laptop, and have that act as my streaming machine, that I can also take on the road, much like my existing Alienware.

Modding Mods
On the modding side, I've been looking a lot at Morrowind and Fallout 3.

The number of mods for Morrowind is staggering. On one hand, you have the official add-ons, about which I knew nothing, and then you have super-mega-huge overhaul mods, like MGSO, which transform the game entirely, into something almost modern.

 

I'd installed MGSO a while ago, started tweaking some shit under the hood, broke it, and then also got frustrated, because I tend to game on three different PCs, depending on what's going on, and keeping the install and tweaks across three different devices was a huge headache.

This time around, I knocked it down to two devices, and did the install one after another, keeping the settings very simple. The game still came out absolutely beautiful, especially once you hit the wilderness. It's not just visuals, mind you, it's also the ambience of the environment. Everything from insects to little splashes of water to rustles of leaves makes the world, finally, feel totally alive.

I wish I'd reinstalled this mod from the beginning of this journey, but now I'm glad I did it at all.

Speaking of Elder Scrolls, it was fascinating turning my older boy loose on Skyrim, and observing a) how he reacted to various scripted events (for example, he just wanted to watch the sky for the dragon, rather than act on its impending arrival), and b) how he approached the actual 'game.' He decided he was fine with letting his NPC handle most of the combat, since he was busy picking locks and looting corpses. Then, he wanted to move in straight lines across terrain to an end point, rather than sticking to the roads. Watching it, I was marveling at how many of those tendencies are tendencies that we share. We also share a tendency to be a backseat player, and drive each other crazy in the process.

The next Elder Scrolls Online beta can't get here soon enough.

I've almost been making some minor tweaks to Fallout 3. Mainly, the game struggles a bit with multi-core procs and can even crash sometimes because of that. A few minor edits to the game's config file nipped that right in the bud, and it runs rather nicely now. I'm also looking at a handful of graphical mods. The game looks a bit long-in-the-tooth now, and it'd be nice to up the textures on some of the faces and environments.

Oh, and randomly, I grabbed a total conversion mod for Oblivion called Nehrim. I'm curious to try this one out at some point. It's a whole new world, totally separate from the Elder Scrolls, and I love shit like that. I'd love to something like that someday.

Yes, but you will be talking about actual games at some point in this gaming blog, yes?
Morrowind. Yup. Been playing more Morrowind.

As I've talked about before in here, I find that with Morrowind, more so than any other game I've ever played, I have to be very conscientious about keeping myself in the right frame of mind when I play it, otherwise I'll never come back. I fight, sometimes, to keep myself from being obsessive about making progress. Morrowind is antithetical to this concept, in both its structure and its themes. Morrowind asks, or rather insists, that you chill the fuck out and just immerse yourself in the world. I'm now trying to bust a green librarian out of a floating sky prison above Vivec. This shit is just awesome.

Meanwhile, I'm also all set for Thief tomorrow. I've got my preloads done, one on the main desktop, the other on the laptop.

Interesting. I just noted that Thief is unlocking tomorrow at 1PM central. Looks like it'll be a late lunch tomorrow, and I'll be lugging the Alienware to work. Which is fine.

I anticipate that I'll play quite a bit on Tuesday, barring any technical launch issues, and have some impressions on Wednesday. I may even get all crazy and put up a Tuesday night post, as well.

Here's some Thief reviews, by the way.
EGM
Game Informer
GameSpot
PC Gamer
Polygon
Rock Paper Shotgun

Take from those reviews what you will. In there is some sort of aggregate, but I always wonder how much things like predisposition based on rumors, wanting to fit in with other reviewers, and consideration of being able to make a living because ad revenues are still flowing in inform some of these guys. Historically, I find that there are some reviewers that I tend to match up with, while others seem to be existing in a world that is in total dissonance from my own. And that's okay. I tend to find more use for reviews after I've played the game to completion, as I often enjoy engaging some of these guys afterward to compare notes.

Anyway, if you had a mad Thief boner, don't get upset by other people not loving something you've already decided was the game to ever come out tomorrow. Unless you love it and want them to make another one ever again, it doesn't matter what other people think.

I still plan on seeing what's what, and I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for reading, and lemme know what you think of Thief!

-Blaine

And Thus Begins a Whole Buncha Side Quests

Sorry for the no-post yesterday. Between meetings, a busy development schedule, a lunch date, and then some bizarre health issues, it just didn't happen. But, I'm back today!

Words can't describe how much I despise winter. I don't like cold, I hate driving in snow, I hate driving on ice even more, and the shortened sunlight hours slowly make me crazy. I'm no fun to be around, and my mind slowly caves in on itself as the outlook becomes bleaker and bleaker.

I think it's fair to say that this winter has been the worst I've experienced in my adult life. The lower-than-average temperatures, the incessant snow fall, and the never-ending clouds have made the usually mild and not-that-bad St. Louis winter an absolute daily horror.

Even now, we're experiencing a brief respite, with temperatures in the 60s, only to plunge back into the near-arctic 20s next week.

I hate this shit.

There are, however, two things that help staunch the emotional bleeding. 1) the big one, the beginning of Cardinals Spring Training, and 2) the resumption of decent releases in the gaming scene.

My Cardinals are looking good, as they usually do, and I'm beyond thrilled to see the pictures from Jupiter, Florida of my boys in action.

And, next week signals the kick-off of the spring releases, which usually runs March to May.

Of immediate notice is that next week, we get Thief, the following week, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and the week after that, Titanfall (it's not an RPG, but I'm still very excited for it after playing quite a bit of the beta.)

Thief has gone through an interesting obstacle course since its announcement. It's from Eidos Montreal, they of the fantastic Deus Ex revival that yielded Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Those that have played through it, including myself, generally thought that, overall, it was lovely and worth missing a few meals and sexual opportunities.

So, when Thief was announced, most of us said, 'yay.' Eidos Montreal was the right studio to handle this.

Then, things started to get a little murky.

The game faced multiple delays after being announced in 2009.

Last July, studio GM Stephane D'Astous resigned, citing differences with the parent company, the increasingly notorious Squenix.

After that, over the winter, various press outlets started expressing concern over preview builds of the game.

Lately, though, more positive impressions have been trickling in, and we've gotten to see the entire first mission, in handy web video form.

 

I had a lot of internal back and forth on Thief, but ultimately, I decided to pull the trigger on the Steam preorder. The game certainly looks like a Thief game, and I love that there seems to be a lot of choice in terms of how to approach missions.

Thief hits Steam on Tuesday, 2/25.

Now, when games hit in this window, I'm typically of two minds about them. One thing about which I'm certain is that market analysis told the publisher this is when the game needs to release.

Bear in mind, release dates dictate development schedules, not vice versa. Yes, development problems can cause release dates to shift, but there is still going to be a ton of analysis done to determine what date maximizes the number of units shipped, and then sold.

So, knowing that, publishers position certain games in this early spring window for a reason. In the summer, games tend to sell poorly. In the fall, everyone pushes out their mega-huge releases. Late November is the grand-high HUGE release (Call of Duty), and then December and right after is typically the 'we fucked up, but if you still wanna buy it, here it is' window.

That early-spring window is what yields two possibilities, at least to me. 1) this is a solid title in which the publisher believes, but it just couldn't get out the door in time for Black Friday, for whatever reason, and this positions it far enough from Christmas for marketing to have breathing room to do its thing, plus it gives our Q1 financials a nice little boost. 2) this game kind of sucks, but it has a popular branding attached to it, and not much competition on that date, so we're just gonna hunker down, squeeze it out, and it is what it is. YAY PREORDERS!

Sometimes, you can use the review embargo as a metric. If it's heavily embargoed, that's usually not a good sign. That generally means the publisher has asked, 'how's the review? Oh, that bad? Okay, it stays embargoed until release day.' Typically, they'll lift the embargo for good reviews, so if you don't see any early reviews, that typically shows a lack of faith on the part of the publisher of the title in question.

As far as Thief goes, I'm feeling a lot better about it now than I was. I imagine I'll play quite a bit next Tuesday, then have some impressions to share on Wednesday.

Side Quests
 - looks like you get a free copy of Wolfenstein with the preorder of a Doom beta key. I'm actually very excited for that.
 - looks like we're on the homestretch for Wasteland 2's development.
 - here's the Thief launch trailer:

 

So, are you picking up Thief next week? Why or why not?

Thanks for reading, as always!

-Blaine

Here Are the Games That Should Be Made

Dear Game Developers and Publishers,

First, let me thank you for all the great releases. Sure, it's been a bit of a dry spell for the last year or so, but leading up to that, you were doing great, and then the console refresh caused some fundamental changes to your approach, so you needed some time to figure out what's what before the big releases start up again over the next few weeks. We've got Thief, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Titanfall, all hitting in successive weeks, so I should be good for a bit.

Second, though some of you are doing some great things, like Pillars of Eternity, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and the sequels for Witcher and Dragon Age, I feel like there are some easy sequel opportunities that are being missed. I'd like to bring these to your attention, explain what needs to happen, and then you're free to make the right decision, and act on my precise instructions.

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way first.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic III
I mean, COME ON. Yeah, I enjoyed SWTOR quite a bit, and for a couple years, but my interest has wained, and I'm flashing back more and more to the great times I had in KotOR. What a spectacularly wonderful game. Even Obsidian's rushed KotOR II, once it's had the restored content mod installed, is really great.

EA, which owns BioWare, has the Star Wars license. BioWare made KotOR. It's a slam dunk, right?

Well, sort of.

A lot's changed since those halcyon KotOR days. BioWare has become a bigger presence in the gaming space, and has thus worked to make their games more accessible to the masses. Having the Star Wars license attached only increases the need to make it appeal to a broader audience. Those of us that have loved a niche property, then seen it explode in popularity, know the pain of what happens when something is 'broadened in appeal.' You end up with things like 'Star Trek: Into Darkness,' the lack of under-the-hood options in Mass Effect 2, PC games receiving console ports instead of vice versa (why is the scroll wheel so fucking hard to implement, anyway?), and Final Fantasy being stripped of its turn-based mechanics. No bueno, my friends.

 

Really, I'm not that worried, though. This would not be BioWare's first rodeo, and if there is any developer out there that can make the greatest Star Wars game since the greatest Star Wars game, it's these fine folks.

Most of the underpinnings of KotOR could stay intact. I loved the lightsaber customization, so keep that. I loved being able to stack actions in combat, so keep that. Go ahead and throw in the dialogue wheel from every release since Mass Effect, and I'm good with that. Let's make it big, and amazing, and set it some time after SWTOR. Let's get back into Revan's story, post-SWTOR, which means there will need to be a 'canon' ending for Revan in SWTOR, and we're off to the races. Then, let's wrap up Revan's story in this game, as well as set things up for a new protagonist for the next several games.

Maybe even use something akin to Dragon Age Keep for people to enter their choices from KotOR 1&2, as well as SWTOR? Maybe have it access a SWTOR toon, as well? Maybe allow for some interplay between KotOR 3 and SWTOR?

Could be great.

Also, I kinda think this might be BioWare's secret project, but it doesn't jive with 'unannounced new IP,' does it? It's not a new IP, but I can't believe EA/BioWare would pass this up.

Final Fantasy VII-2 and/or Final Fantasy XVI
Squenix, this is an intervention. It's time to make a Nomura-free Final Fantasy. Don't fire the guy, don't send any hate his way, but his style-over-substance approach has slowly driven this once-proud franchise into the ground. Final Fantasy XV is looking like an especially low point.

Here's the deal. For nine games, Final Fantasy 1-9, you did it right. Roughly around the time you showed Sakaguchi the door was about the time things started to come off the rails. Final Fantasy X was mildly embarrassing, and the only core entry in the series since then that's really been great has been the Matsuno-driven XII. And then you let him get away, too.

Here's how to fix it. Stick with all the slick visuals, but please, for the love of god, make it a Final Fantasy game again. Turn-based. ATB. A great story. A world map. Stop making it twitchy. Make it thoughtful.

If you want practice, make Final Fantasy VII-2. Don't get cute with it. Bring in most of the mechanics of FFVII, make it pretty, but make it a core Final Fantasy title, with all the basics of FF1-9 intact.

After that, get back to bringing the franchise out of the twitchy, flashy mess it's become. It's just dumb now, and I'm embarrassed for you. Hell, I'm embarrassed for me.

I love Final Fantasy, and I want to love the new games.

Lost Odyssey 2
I'd almost prefer this to the above, but only if Sakaguchi is running things. You don't need to change much. Just more of the last game. I'm easy. Do it.

Fallout 4
This is another one I'm pretty sure is already in early development, because Zenimax likes money. And the guy that plays Three-Dog said it is. And Todd Howard didn't deny it. E3 2014? PLEASE?

Take your lessons learned from Skyrim, and apply them to the Fallout universe. Bethesda hit a massive homerun with Skyrim, and I think there's a lot in there that would be great in Fallout.

Personally, I'd love to see this set in a different setting. Maybe international? Maybe Midwest? Florida? Mutant gators would be interesting.

Refine VATS. I came to appreciate the system a little more over time, but I think there's some refinement there that could make it great. Or, maybe, just ditch it altogether.

This is a really wide-open universe that I feel like both Bethesda and Obsidian, with their respective releases, just nailed.

Please, just give us something this year. You have nothing else announced, and Skyrim DLC has ceased.

Fallout Online
This one is ripe for the game-changer in the MMO space. ESO is doing some interesting stuff, and I'm eager to get into the full release for that, but ESO still does the same thing that bugs the shit out of me in all MMOs.

YOU are the MOST important man/woman in the land ... just like all these other people running around.

What Fallout could do, and it would work beautifully in this setting, is that you're just some dude/dudette in this crazy wasteland, trying to get by. Strip out the insane tentpole mega-moments, and make it a sandbox MMO. Yeah, you'll still have big moments, but make them all about cooperative play, which would very accurately reflect what life would be like in that situation.

For example, we've got Intel that our guild fort is going to be hit by raiders in a couple days. Have a phone app that shoots that out to all the guildies, so that they know to be logged in and ready to rock that night.

Or maybe they are low on supplies, and might want to raid another guild fort. Have a system in which there's some declaration about that, so that the other guild is notified, and is ready for a knock-down drag-out fight. Or maybe add a siege aspect to it.

Obviously, there would be some kind of single-player 'story' running through the game, but keep it light, and make the game focused on a blended PvP/PvE system.

Add in a fort-construction aspect, wrap some customization and maintenance to it, and you could have the greatest MMO ever.

You're welcome.

Mass Effect: SPECTRE
A Mass Effect game in which you play as a SPECTRE, alone. No companions, play any race, and missions can be completed in numerous ways, whether they be violent, sneaky, peaceful, or technology-based.

Maybe I'm describing what Alpha Protocol was supposed to be, except based in the Mass Effect universe.

Keep it RPG-based, so you have customizable stats, armor, weapons, etc, and you'll still have NPCs you'll talk with quite a bit, and lots of decisions, but make the game more about being a bad-ass SPECTRE, rather than saving the universe from 'thing x.' Maybe you're just saving the Council, or the Citadel, or some planet or something.

The First Taste is Free
So there ya go. That's just a smattering of the games I've been wanting.

What say you? Would any of these appeal to you? What would you add/remove to these ideas? What game sequel ideas do you wanna see?

Side Quests
 - here is the latest on Fallout 4. Or not.
 - 1 week til Thief!

As always, thanks for reading!

-Blaine

Prepping For Dragon Age: Inquisition

I'm a HUGE BioWare geek. HUGE. Ginormous, even.

Quick note - this piece is written from the perspective of someone that has gloriously bathed in the awesomeness that is the PC versions of Dragon Age, not whatever the console versions turned out to be. Why one would subject themselves to such a vile taint is beyond me.

Dragon Age: Origins Origins
Dragon Age: Origins was the first game since the original KotOR to have me totally seduced, and I easily sunk 60-70 hours into my first play-through of it. I loved the origin stories for each type of character, and I loved the NPC party members, and I loved the world, and I loved the art style, and I loved the music, and on and on and on.

Since that game, we've seen two further releases that were still great, even if they featured design aspects that had me scratching my head. In Awakening, I was disappointed that even if my Warden sacrificed himself in DAO, he was still inexplicably the main character in Awakening. I wished for a save import that accounted for this, in which my world was imported, but a new character was at the forefront in Awakening, as would befit a save that a featured a man that was dead. As I understand it, the development for Awakening was done by a team other than the main DAO team, and was in development prior to the release of DAO. I don't know why this issue was either overlooked or ignored, but it always bugged me, and very much broke the point of having a save import feature.

This same issue stands for all subsequent DAO DLC.

Still, I was able to grit my teeth, and somehow find a way to enjoy the hell out of the expansion and DLC (unlike the many motherless trolls that would have us believe that this issue caused them to fall on their mage staffs [ouch.])

DA2 had no such overt save import issues, even if there were some minor details that bugged out.

Still, I have two saves that feature every game, expansion, and DLC from DAO-DA2. I have my original warrior human dude (DAO) & whatever I chose for DA2, as well as a female city elf (DAO) & whatever I chose for DA2 (I think it was a mage.) My DA2 characters are one male and one female.

But I still don't have saves that account for some choices, such as letting Angry Dad (Tim Curry's character in DAO) live, so I'm wanting to prep some new saves, as well as see what that content looks like.

The Mass Effect Effect
As I stated above, I'm a geek. Because Mass Effect tends to operate off of a more binary approach to its choices, I actually have a spreadsheet I maintain that tracks these choices, so that I can track my saves and see what I chose where, and in what combination. Make fun of me, if it pleases you, but know that my ME shit is ORGANIZED.

I think I may want to crack open my Dragon Age saves, and do something similar.

Dragon Age Keep
I received some potentially terrible news a few months back.

The way that reads, it sounds like we have to manually enter the choices we made in the previous DA entries, rather than directly importing. I greatly dislike this for a number of reasons, but I'll distill it to two reasons.

1) I can't remember shit. I can't tell you how many times I've run into someone in either Kirkwall or the Citadel, have them start talking at me, and I'm like, 'oh, yeah, I do remember you now. Did we sleep together?' These are great moments, and I like the surprise of it.

2) I'm assuming that the number of choices I made in Dragon Age exceeds the number that BioWare is going to ask for. In the FAQ for Keep, it does point out that we can get as detailed as we want, so it may be alright, but if it does give me a metric fuckton of choices, I'll just point you back at #1.

However, rather than be your run of the mill BioWare Hater, I have a potential solution.

What about a means to extract our choices from our save into a file that can be fed into Keep? That would be perfect for me, and a decent compromise.

Of course, this could also be a chance to undo my accidental sex with Zevran, as well. I really didn't mean to do that. I really didn't. I just hope Leliana never finds out ...

Prepping For Dragon Age: Inquisition
When I play a roleplaying game, whether it be a classic single-player experience, or an MMO, I really roleplay the game. I create a character in my head, and really try to make choices as they would.

I have a current play-through of Dragon Age: Origins in which I'm roleplaying a very pro-Chantry mage, and that's been really interesting. I'm also planning on trying to kill Alistair at the end, or if I have to, that other Warden, but I've told Morrigan to fuck off, so I might be doomed.

I also installed Angry Daughter on the throne, which I've never done before, so I'm curious to see what ripples that creates.

I have some ideas about what I want to do in Awakening, but in DA2, I plan to continue my pro-Chantry crusade with a massacre of mages, since I've never done that before.

After that, I'll have three complete saves to import, so I plan to spend quite a bit of time with DAI later this year.

Side Quests
 - I finally spent some time with the Steam streaming beta, and I'll probably post a walk-through and some thoughts up here
 - the Lightning Returns reviews are coming in; about what I expected; yes, I picked it up and I don't want to talk about it
 - here's a couple cool videos for Thief and Kingdom Come: Deliverance:

I leave you with some questions, as always ...

How do you feel about Dragon Age Keep?

Did you pick up Lightning Returns? Either way, what are your thoughts on it, and the general health of the Final Fantasy series?

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya tomorrow!

-Blaine

Yesterday's Title Made No Sense, So Potatoes

I meant to talk about my 'gaming space' yesterday, but got completely derailed by ... oh wow, there's a trailer for Murdered: Soul Suspect. I think I remember hearing about that game somewhere, at some time, but damn ... and it says there's an Xbox One 'version,' which implies another platform. Maybe PC? Was that one of those that was gonna have a TV show attached to it? Can't remember. No, that was something from those guys that did Alan Wake. Yeah. Wasn't there a DS game kinda like this?

Oh. Sorry.

Anyway, when the baby was discovered as being a gestating fetus in my wife's body, it became apparent that I was going to need to surrender my home office for the purpose of storing the infant after it was extracted from my wife.

I did so, happily, as I was and am thrilled to have another son. I love being a baby-daddy.

I moved our home office to what we call the 'Sun Room,' since it's glass on three sides, provides a thrilling view of our huge, green, and stress-inducing backyard (it requires more maintenance than a General Motors product.) At the time, it seemed like a good spot for it. Nice view, big space, and I could spread out my setup a little more.

Since then, glare is a constant issue, as is people talking at me. I am not exactly an easy person to hide, but beyond that, there must be something about my back, or perhaps, backside, that beckons to people to start running their mouths. At my back.

If my back had a third ear, and a separate brain to process the information being verbally spewed at it, this would not be a problem. However, I frequently work from home, and the nature of my work (programmer) can, at times, require some fierce concentration.

The same can also be said of a 32-man raid in SWTOR.

There are no doors to this room, since it's part of an 'open floor plan' and that means everyone has to be able to be up in each other's grills at all times. Most of the day, I like this. I married an attractive, intelligent woman, and she is an nice to look at as she is nice with which to converse. She stimulates blood flow at opposing ends of my body, and often at the same time.

And my children are fantastic.

I have a near-perfect home life, but my gaming/home office setup is atrocious. Part of the issue here is that I'm not a very good person, and thus like being able to wall myself off at certain times. If I'm working, I need the ability to drop a cone of silence on myself at will. But I still want to be able to raise my voice slightly and call to a family member, or to be able to hear signs of life elsewhere in the house.

And most of the games I play are games that nearly require total immersion. From the Elder Scrolls to raids in SWTOR to Dragon Age to the Witcher, my games are each a plunge into a distinct ocean of fiction (that doesn't have any sharks because fuck that), and without intense focus, you stand to miss a crucial detail, and then you're on the game's wiki, and then you accidentally read that you're Revan or the Nereveerevereareaareeerrine, and then the whole game is ruined, and then Germany has won the war.

I may finally cave and move my setup to the workshop in the basement. I've only ever used it for storing baseball cards and Star Wars memorabilia up to this point. It's dark, it's dank. It looks like the kind of place where you'd both work on the Frankenstein monster AND cook meth. I may be able to spruce it up. We'll see. I still don't like how cut off I'll be from the rest of the family, but I'm pretty creative, and may be able to find a way around that.

Side Quests

 - remember how I was bitching that Star Wars: The Old Republic needs more story content? Looks like that's in the works. I'm not judging either way yet, since it's early, BUT they have two so-called 'digital expansions' coming, ONE of which is like Makeb, the other is like Galactic Starfighter. Eesh. I'd rather have two Makebs. Just sayin'.

 - Thief has gone gold and has a trailer that talks at you about all its features. Looks nice. I hope it's legit.

 - looks like 'Steam Music' is going to be a thing. You can stream your music library whilst playing a game. The UI looks nice. I'm already having visions of rocking some Billy Idol while dancing with Rinoa in Final Fantasy VIII. Check out the announced features here.

 - any time one of your generic console-only so-called 'gamer' friends starts teasing you about being a PC gamer, point at this shit right here.

Word. Thanks for reading.

-Blaine

Pre-Orders and the Gaming Space

Because I'm a sad little man that is constantly trying to fill a void where once my soul resided, I finally caved and spent some cash on Steam. I bought 'early access' Wasteland 2 and Age of Decadence, bought The Banner Saga, then preordered Thief, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall. Dragonfall hadn't even been on my radar. I had completely forgotten that was coming, but luckily, I follow Harebrained Schemes on RSS, and caught a glimpse of it on my Windows Phone RSS Live Tile (yes, folks, sorry, but Live Tiles really are fantastic and useful.)

I poked around a bit at Age of Decadence, and came away from it with the certainty that I do not have any idea how to play it. This is one that will require a few hours, 2-3 monitors (game, research, video), and some patience from my wife. It's all good, though. I like complex games, and I really enjoyed the bits I understood. I'm really looking forward to trying more.

I also popped in to SWTOR briefly, and ... I mean, I still like the game, but every time I'm in there now, I just ... I dunno, I always get the itch like I should be doing ANYTHING else. I don't hate the game, I actually quite love it, but close to 2.5 years in, I feel like there should've been a proper expansion by now. Instead, it's just outfits and a space battle bit about which I give no fucks. Not even one.

Hurry up, ESO.

My play-through of Morrowind has slowed somewhat. I'll be honest. I'm losing motivation. I'm at the point in which Caius has told me that I might be the Nerevearereveeaerrine, and I'm to go talk at some Ashlander dudes about it. I decided to start blowing through some side quests, since this seems like a good time to grind some stats. I'm wondering if some of my fatigue relates to how dated Morrowind is, and the illusion of a living world just isn't holding up. I'm not sure. I'm gonna stick with it, but I'm itching to move onto Oblivion.

Meanwhile, Fallout 3 has been my fallback for when I'm just not feeling Morrowind. I've been enjoying the hell out of it, and recently had an episode with it that completely reinforced the fact that I love being a PC gamer. Fallout 3 is, by now, a bit of an older game, and is not properly configured to know how to handle multiple cores in a proc. This was causing repeated crashing when it was time to flee Vault 101. I poked around a bit, found the issue, added a couple lines to an .INI file, and I was good to go. I was playing a 'last-gen' game with no problems, moving between my desktop and laptop all weekend, with minimal effort. Were we talking about a console release, it would've been a whole other story. First, your locked to playing on that aged box, through a TV. Second, if you're experiencing a known bug, you're at the mercy of the developers, publisher, and platform holder to ever get it fixed. No thanks. Because I'm a PC gamer, I was able to find the known issue, see the fix, then implement it myself. Easy.

In any case, I'm now in Megaton, talking at folks, and I'm having a great time saving, trying something crazy, then reloading. For reference, I have played a fair amount of Fallout 3 in the past, but never all the way to completion. I aim to do so before the GFWL servers die July 1st.

I think part of what's constantly nagging at me about Morrowind and Fallout 3 is that the Bethesda approach to RPGs veers sharply into the uncanny valley (not literally, but thematically), and thus, because so many things seem 'alive' and 'true to life,' the things that aren't really fucking jump up and flick you in a single gonads (did that once to a buddy in high school, and he was almost squealing. Hilarious). People in Morrowind aren't on a schedule. They're wandering aimlessly in the streets for DAYS. The animal population is pitifully low. Guards can know I killed someone via the Force (I guess. Not sure how they know it otherwise.)

Also, for as real as some of these characters feel, they don't feel real at all. It's hard to explain, but it's that 'uncanny valley' thing.

I have a feeling that this is incrementally improved in each Bethesda release.

And don't get me wrong. I really like aspects of Morrowind. I'm eager to see where all of this leads. I just wish it had a stronger central narrative, and I wish it wasn't 13 or so years old.

All this should continue to make this my Year of Bethesda (and Witcher, and Dragon Age).

In closing, I have a question for all the 'Bethesda Veterans' out there. How do you all stay motivated in these games, as opposed to games that have a more linear approach, and more insistent main story thread? I'm doing it, but I'm finding that my motivation to keep playing is starting to diminish. I don't like that it's diminishing, but it is what it is.

I'm also thinking about starting to stream some random shit via Twitch. My Twitch channel is here. I can promise it won't be exciting, but it might be interesting. I'll probably stream some of the early access stuff, for those that wanna check it out.

Word. Thanks for reading!

-Blaine

2014: The 'Maybe' Games

When it comes to unreleased games, I tend to veer sharply in one of two directions.

On one hand, I'm stupidly loyal to series that are long past their expiration date. I've been that guy that's chugging down a gallon of curdled Final Fantasy releases for quite a while now, to the point where it's easier to beg them to stop that it is me.

On the other, I'm also pretty good at reading the tea leaves, and knowing when a game is going to be shit. See: Aliens - Colonial Marines. I've been at this long enough now that I can typically get a good feel based on not only what the publisher let's us see in advance, but also what they won't let us see in advance.

Sadly, though, #2 never overrides #1. Maybe we can change that this year.

Fable: Anniversary (Xbox 360)
I really enjoyed the first two Fable games, even if they fell well short of Molyneux's promises that they were going to be full life-simulators and that real children were going to literally burst forth from the original Xbox (it was about big enough to gestate a human embryo.)

I enjoyed them, and then finished them, and never envisioned a world in which I would ever go back and play them. Yes, this looks neat, and it has ACHIEVEMENTS, and yes, as I said, I really did enjoy the original game.

However, it has two strikes right out of the gate. One, I've already played this. Two, I can't play it on my Xbox One. Yes, my 360 is still hooked up in another room, but I don't like playing consoles, especially retired consoles, and while this looks kinda interesting, between my backlog and the crush of new releases this year, I'm leaning toward 'no.'

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy: XIII: 3: Lightning Again (Xbox 360)
This whole Final Fantasy XIII franchising thing has always had me scratching my head. My two least-favorite non-MMO numerical Final Fantasy games (X and XIII) both got the sequel treatment, and I've never understood this.

I don't think either is outright offensive, nor a bad game, per se, but there are much better Final Fantasy titles out there with which to build franchises.

Rather, there are better Final Fantasy titles out there with which to make true JRPG sequels, and not horrible third-person shooters that make children and cute animals cry tears of anguished blood.

Either way, Lightning is apparently Returning, and it looks like they've revamped the combat to be more action-oriented after 25 years of success with a more menu-heavy system. Why, you ask, would they do this? Well, it's obviously, uh, hmm, I, uh, well, it's obviously the next step in further alienating a once-tremendous fanbase. And we'll all still buy this shit, so there ya go.

But, it might be great. After the horrid story & characters (but awesome combat) that was Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 was a pleasant surprise.

Honestly, I'll probably end up being a sucker bitch and buying it, but my logical Vulcan mind says that's a potentially stupid decision.

South Park: The Stick of Truth (PC)
This is one that should be on the 'Curious,' or even 'MUST HAVE' list, given it's blend of pedigrees.

Here's why it's not. Too many delays + change in publisher. Sometimes, when something's allowed to have too many hands changing core concepts over a period of time, the game can end up having a ton of cool features, none of which is particularly polished. This isn't to say it's doomed. It might be great, but I have to wait and see.

Also, it's Ubisoft, so the PC version might get delayed until god knows when.

BUT, it is being developed by Obsidian, which is usually a great thing, and a lot of the marketing has suggested that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are heavily involved.

I actually have a better feeling about this than I do my next game ...

THIEF (PC)
Yeah, it's not really an RPG, but DXHR came close, so I'm counting it.

This game is supposed to be great. It's the same studio, Eidos Montreal, that made Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and you'd think this game would be right up their alley. But ... the tea leaves have me worried. Between the lukewarm previews citing very specific issues with the game, and the studio GM bailing last year because of irreconcilable differences with Squenix ... ya gotta wonder ... it's too bad, because I wanna buy this game and love it. I loved DXHR. I like the Thief series quite a bit, too.

At the same time, some of the issues presented in the previews sounds pretty fucking nitpicky, so it may be alright. We'll find out in less than a month.

Final Fantasy XIV - new content (PC)
My paid time is running out in Eorzea, and as much as I didn't hate my experience there, I'm not sure my subscription to this game is going to survive my summer purge of MMOs, in which only sub will be left standing.

I don't like the lack of voice acting, and while the game itself is actually pretty decent, I'm guessing that its lack of narrative hook will end up dooming it for me.

We'll see, though. A substantial story-based release for the game could keep me in. Anything they can do to make it more a true 'Final Fantasy' game, but online, will make it very hard for me to dump. I'd love nothing more than to immerse myself in a real Final Fantasy world, and this game already comes pretty close, but ESO and SWTOR already have made stronger cases for my $15/month.

In closing ...
I don't want to be a negative Nancy, but these are games I want to want, and something about them makes me cautious, or has diminished my interest.

It is worth noting, too, that these games are all coming out soon, away from the releases in which publishers typically have more confidence. If something hits about this time of year, it indicates either a just-missed holiday release, or it's being dumped, to avoid competing with better games. Bigger releases typically crank up from April to June and then September to November. Games released outside of those windows, due to observed publisher habits, typically bear a little more scrutiny.

These could all be fine games, but have all, for various reasons, incurred a 'wait and see' attitude from me.

What say you? What are your thoughts on these games? You gonna take a chance on them, wait and see, or just avoid them altogether? Let me know!

Tomorrow, I'll be back with my 'Curious' games, the games that I'm very curious about, and am somewhat inclined on which to take a chance.

Thanks for reading!

-Blaine

Those Other 2014 RPGs and the Time I Don't Have to Play Them

I've been avoiding doing individual posts about the remaining RPGs of 2014 about which I'm excited because, frankly, I hate writing previews, especially when there are so many skilled and paid writers out there already doing exactly that.

Instead, I think I'll just dump them all here, tell ya a bit about why I'm excited for it, and let you take it from there. It's not a matter of sheer laziness. Rather, I already won't have time to play all these games, especially with the backlog I have.

Consider this. I got no time with Morrowind this weekend because I was attending a wedding this weekend in my wife's hometown, and the setup there, from a gamer perspective, is much like camping, but indoors. The internet is something that is referenced in everyday conversation, but in a longing and 'someday' manner. My cell phones search frantically for signal when I attempt to tether either the Alienware or Surface, and on occasion, I can find that one perfect spot in my in-laws' house, as if the Maker himself is beaming down a beautiful one-bar LTE signal, just for me.

This is also assuming that I can resolve some of the power issues I run into up there, but enough of this.

The point is, I've lost a weekend of Morrowind play time, one weekend out of 52 this year, and that is a staggering loss, when considering that I'd like to play the following this year:

• Fable: Anniversary Xbox 360 2/4
• Bravely Default 3DS 2/7
• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 2/11
• Thief PC 2/25
• South Park: The Stick of Truth PC 3/4
• Elder Scrolls Online PC 4/4
• Pillars of Eternity PC spring/summer 2014?
• Wasteland 2 PC spring/summer 2014?
• Divinity: Original Sin PC late summer 2014?
• Age of Decadence PC fall/winter 2014?
• Dragon Age: Inquisition PC fall/winter 2014?
• The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt PC fall/winter 2014?

That's a lotta big-ass RPGs. Oh, and as I've mentioned before, I'm employed full-time, married, and have children. Yeah.

I've not had a list like this in years. Not even close. If anything, my list of annual game purchases has been diminishing year after year, and then bam, 2014 hits, and I feel like I'm back to being a fresh college grad with a bachelor pad, old Final Fantasy preorder posters, and furniture that's been acquired via dumpster-diving. All I need now is a case of Icehouse and some Doritos, and I'd be 'back in the day.' I don't see my wife or employer going for that any time soon.

So, what's a grown-up RPG fan to do?

Maybe we can break these down into three categories, 'Maybe,' 'Curious,' and 'MUST HAVE.'

I'd like to be able to play new games this year, but intersperse my continued play-through of Elder Scrolls 3-5. I know. I know. One could fill a year with just those three Elder Scrolls games, but I'm an ambitious fellow.

So, this week, I think I'll break them down into each category. Tuesday, we'll talk the 'maybe' games, Wednesday, the 'curious' games, and then, Thursday, we'll talk the 'MUST HAVE' games.

What about you? What am I leaving off that should be on here? What games are in those three groups for you? How would you break these games down into those groups? Leave your comments below!

No matter what I do, it's going to be a great year for RPGs, maybe the best we've ever seen. Lots of variety, and a strong blend of both quality AND quantity.

Thanks for reading.

-Blaine