Long time, no blog post. More on that some other time.
2012 is gone, the world is still here (as predicted by yours truly) and 2013 is rolling on through the neighborhood. It's about damn time I take a look at my oh so bold predictions for the year that was.
First, head on back in the way-back machine and read "2012, the first post".
First prediction: The world will not end.
Verdict: You are reading this right?
Second prediction: I will post more than I did in 2011.
Verdict: Horribly inaccurate. I posted only 36 times in 2012, less than once per week. I posted 100 times in 2011, about twice a week.
Third prediction: "the game that shall not be named" will have a tough year, but will survive. The argument to take the game Free 2 Play will begin around July.
Verdict: 100% accurate, down to the month. It was July when Star Wars: The Old Republic announced its Free 2 Play future.
Fourth prediction: Warhammer Online will be shut down this year
Verdict: I had to Google whether this game was still even running, so to me that is as good as being shutdown. However, it pulled at my heart strings to look back on WAR again as I still see the glimmer of promise that is still housed in the game.
Fifth prediction: DOTA2 will launch, but fail to make much more than a drip into the MOBA scene.
Verdict: Horribly inaccurate. DOTA2 didn't "launch" technically, but Valve is pulling a GMail beta with DOTA2 currently. Secondly, DOTA2 is immensely popular, easily reaching the most played game on Steam in it's beta form. I'm still not sold on DOTA2 long term as I feel the game still shows too many hold overs from a game restricted by a game engine that wasn't built to support the game.
Sixth prediction: League of Legends will hit 50 million players and still be flying under the radar in the online gaming market
Verdict: Close call. League of Legends hit 32 million players in 2012. LoL is the biggest game on the planet between all consoles and PC games, but you would be hard pressed to know that visiting any gaming website or reading through any gaming magazines.
Seventh prediction: A major game will "surprise launch" this year with little to no notice and possibly be Free 2 Play
Verdict: All in the eye of the beholder. Some would consider DOTA2 as having surprised launched in 2012 with its beta-thats-not-really-a-beta-because-they-are-cashing-in-on-it.
Eight prediction: Indie games will continue to creep into the spotlight and we will see another Minecraft-level indie break out this year
Verdict: Day Z
Ninth and final prediction: At least 4 of these predictions will be right
Verdict: Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
2012 Black Friday Gaming Deals
Black Friday is here! Gaming deals are as follows:
The autumn Steam sale has been in progress since Wednesday.
There are some hidden gems outside of the daily and flash sales, use the awesome Steam Game Sales website to find them.
Amazon has had pre-Black Friday deals all week long, but today they are really ramping it up:
Xbox 360 + Kinect bundle for $199
Playstation 3 bundle for $199
Bioware Pack (Mass Effect 1&2, Dragon Age 1&2) for $12.49 total
Borderlands 2 for $29.99 (activates on Steam)
View all of Amazon.com's gaming deals here.
The autumn Steam sale has been in progress since Wednesday.
There are some hidden gems outside of the daily and flash sales, use the awesome Steam Game Sales website to find them.
Amazon has had pre-Black Friday deals all week long, but today they are really ramping it up:
Xbox 360 + Kinect bundle for $199
Playstation 3 bundle for $199
Bioware Pack (Mass Effect 1&2, Dragon Age 1&2) for $12.49 total
Borderlands 2 for $29.99 (activates on Steam)
View all of Amazon.com's gaming deals here.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Guild Wars 2 going no where (and some pics)
Guild Wars 2 is not perfect (actually quite far from it), but it does enough things right to keep me entertained. I am level 26 on my Norn thief, Heartless Foe. The average level of players according to most polls of MMO veterans is in the 50 to 60 range. I'm behind; way behind. And I don't care. Guild Wars 2 leveling is fast and I've found that I have no reason to rush it because Guild Wars 2 is not going anywhere nor is its content.
As an MMO vet, I should be embarrassed at what happened last night and this morning. I played for almost three hours between the two and only gained a couple levels. The entire time I was out and about doing things and having fun. Before I knew it I had moved onto a new zone, Plains of Ashford, and started in on the "hearts" and various points of interest. I was cruising along having participated in a few events when it struck me. This zone was a level 1-15 zone meant for new players. I was level 25 at the time.
Guild Wars 2 doesn't punish players for being in lower level zones and it levels-down your avatar seamlessly to make the zone still a challenge. Experience gains from killing monsters is not a large portion in any leveling and the experience gained from the events is generous. The leveling curve is flat, so whether I level in a lower level zone or a higher one doesn't really matter. In fact, as the newbie zones start to wind down in activity, there is a fat and happy bonus for killing some of the monsters that haven't been knocked off in a while (I was seeing 40 bonus experience in some cases, 2x what an equal level kill would net in a zone my level).
Even with the game design in mind, I am still a bit shocked how long it took me to even register the fact that the creatures I was slaying were in the single digits for levels. The loot as well was working out; scaling to somewhat meet my level (albeit about 5 levels low, but still that was 15 levels higher than what I was killing).
Funnier yet is that I came into the zone through a gate from Diessa Plateau and immediately walked into a dynamic event that had spawned veteran (aka hard mode) units that quickly did me in. A quick re-spawn and I was able to join the fray and see the event to conclusion. In past MMOs entering a lower level zone meant enabling EZ mode. Not so in Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars 2 is refreshing and with no subscription to pay there is no impetus for me to put metal to the grind stone. I can do what I want, when I want and most of the time feel rewarded for it. There is more to it than the meager little bit I passed along here. Tons of tiny little things is really what makes Guild Wars 2 and without these nuances, the game could easily fall flat. Again, I highly recommend Guild Wars 2 to any MMO veteran.
And picture time:
As an MMO vet, I should be embarrassed at what happened last night and this morning. I played for almost three hours between the two and only gained a couple levels. The entire time I was out and about doing things and having fun. Before I knew it I had moved onto a new zone, Plains of Ashford, and started in on the "hearts" and various points of interest. I was cruising along having participated in a few events when it struck me. This zone was a level 1-15 zone meant for new players. I was level 25 at the time.
Guild Wars 2 doesn't punish players for being in lower level zones and it levels-down your avatar seamlessly to make the zone still a challenge. Experience gains from killing monsters is not a large portion in any leveling and the experience gained from the events is generous. The leveling curve is flat, so whether I level in a lower level zone or a higher one doesn't really matter. In fact, as the newbie zones start to wind down in activity, there is a fat and happy bonus for killing some of the monsters that haven't been knocked off in a while (I was seeing 40 bonus experience in some cases, 2x what an equal level kill would net in a zone my level).
Even with the game design in mind, I am still a bit shocked how long it took me to even register the fact that the creatures I was slaying were in the single digits for levels. The loot as well was working out; scaling to somewhat meet my level (albeit about 5 levels low, but still that was 15 levels higher than what I was killing).
Funnier yet is that I came into the zone through a gate from Diessa Plateau and immediately walked into a dynamic event that had spawned veteran (aka hard mode) units that quickly did me in. A quick re-spawn and I was able to join the fray and see the event to conclusion. In past MMOs entering a lower level zone meant enabling EZ mode. Not so in Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars 2 is refreshing and with no subscription to pay there is no impetus for me to put metal to the grind stone. I can do what I want, when I want and most of the time feel rewarded for it. There is more to it than the meager little bit I passed along here. Tons of tiny little things is really what makes Guild Wars 2 and without these nuances, the game could easily fall flat. Again, I highly recommend Guild Wars 2 to any MMO veteran.
And picture time:
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