Four Ways ARC Raiders Could Level Up: My Wishlist After the Tech Test

 

 As my last post indicates, I’m excited for ARC Raiders after having a fabulous time in the recent tech test. And as often happens when I get excited about games I wasn’t previously following, my head fills with ideas about how the game could improve even further. And when that happens—my blogging activity picks up pace!

Idea 1: Add a Gadget Slot

 ARC Raiders includes gadget-like items such as binoculars, which have useful but relatively low-value functions. However, since they take up a full inventory slot, they're often among the first things discarded—or not even considered in the first place.

 If the game added a dedicated gadget slot for items like binoculars, it would increase their value and usability. These items would no longer compete for valuable loot slots, allowing players to enjoy their benefits without sacrifice. Ideally, this slot would remain limited to simple gadgets like binoculars, and not include rare or powerful gear.

Idea 2: Let Us Upgrade Our Crowbar

 One of the signature items every Raider carries is their crowbar. Doors, probes, fallen ARC robots, lockers, chests, electrical cabinets—you name it, and Raiders are busting it open with their crowbar (other Raiders' skulls included). The crowbar is so important that you always have it on you by default, without needing to equip it. You also don’t lose it when you die—a rare design decision in an extraction shooter.

 There are even skills in the trees that affect how fast you can loot and break into things. It feels like a missed opportunity that these effects weren’t moved into an upgrade system for the crowbar instead. If crowbars could be upgraded, and those upgrades dropped on death like other gear, it would add an extra layer of risk and reward.

Idea 3: Let Us Bring Scrappy With Us

 I love the concept of Scrappy—the lovable, loot-gathering chicken who’s become the de facto mascot of ARC Raiders. He passively collects materials and lets players retrieve them through the workshop menu. This system ensures players always have a cache of basic materials (and rarer ones as Scrappy levels up).

 But wouldn’t it be awesome if you could switch Scrappy to an active mode where he follows you around on raids and gathers items at a faster rate? Imagine walking into a room and seeing another raider’s Scrappy picking through scraps. Upon spotting you, he squawks a loud BAWK and scrambles off, alerting you to where his owner might be but also having alerted everyone else to your arrival.

 Once he’s loaded up, you could send Scrappy off to extract, even as you continue exploring. But if another Raider catches him before extraction, they could pop him like a loot pinata. Or maybe that Scrappy is just bait. Part alarm system, part loot chicken, and maybe even a clever trap—it’s honestly a brilliant concept.

Idea 4: A Shared Social Hub

 Currently, everything in Speranza—the underground home of the Raiders—is accessed through menus. Visiting your workshop? Menu. Visiting traders? Menu. Forming a group? Menu. Meanwhile, in the background of the main menu, there's a beautiful, animated scene of a bar or shop with characters walking around, announcements playing, and life happening. It hints at a real depth of character in Speranza.

 So why not let us explore it? Turn Speranza into a shared social hub and housing area!

 I get that some players just want to jump from one raid to the next, and might get bored walking from one crafting station to another. But for those of us who enjoy social connections and showing off our accomplishments, a shared space would be fantastic.

 In fact, I’d argue that adding housing or a social hub could take ARC Raiders to the next level—which would be impressive, considering the buzz it's already generating. Plus, this is an extraction game. What’s better than extracting with an amazing reward you can permanently display to other players?

 And seriously—who looks at the stunning background of the main menu and doesn’t want to walk into that world and interact with the characters? Who watches the pre-raid “walking” loading screen and doesn’t wish they could walk there themselves?

 Maybe it’s just the MMORPG player in me wanting more from the game than just the raids—but I truly believe ARC Raiders would be even more awesome if Speranza were a place we could explore.

 

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI (ChatGPT). The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI. Curious what edits were made? See ChatGPT's explanation below.

---

Explanation of Edits from ChatGPT

Here are the main types of edits I made:

1. Punctuation and Sentence Structure

   • Replaced semicolons and misplaced commas with proper punctuation to clarify sentence flow.

   • Broke up run-on sentences for easier readability.

   • Used em dashes (—) to emphasize interruptions or thoughts for a conversational tone.

2. Grammar and Word Choice

   • Corrected small grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement and verb tense.

   • Refined wordiness in places (e.g., “the higher level you upgrade Scrappy” → “as Scrappy levels up”).

3. Clarity and Consistency

   • Clarified ambiguous phrasing like “they are getting the benefits from them” to something cleaner like “allowing players to enjoy their benefits.”

   • Made style consistent (e.g., italicizing game titles like ARC Raiders).

4. Tone Preservation

   • Maintained your enthusiastic, personal voice. You use rhetorical questions and humor effectively, so I left those intact while improving grammar around them.

 

 

ARC Raiders is something different

 I recently participated in the Tech Test 2 for ARC Raiders, and I walked away wanting more. I haven’t had a game ignite a desire to keep playing like this since I picked up New World years ago. ARC Raiders is something different!

 ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter where you play as a raider entering a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by ARC—robots hellbent on killing you—with the goal of scavenging items and returning (i.e., extracting) to your underground home. Of course, ARC robots aren’t your only concern; other players are also hunting for loot, and what better source than your dead body? If you die, you lose your stuff—both equipped gear and any loot. Thus goes the loop of an extraction shooter: loot and extract, or die.

 ARC Raiders makes some changes to the formula to soften the sting of death. In standard play, you have a number of safe pockets in your pack. Anything stored in those safe pockets will be retained, regardless of whether you extract successfully. This ensures you can walk away with something, even if the run goes sideways.

 Secondly, ARC Raiders offers the concept of “free loadouts.” When you opt for a freebie, you load into the world with a random set of basic gear: a gun, some bullets, and a few consumables like bandages. This lets you jump in and play even if you’re out of resources—or if you just want a quick run without risking valuable gear. I found this mode especially helpful after a bad string of deaths. It let me rebuild my supplies so I could gear back up for more serious raids. It’s also a great option if you only have a few minutes to play and want a shot at some loot. Worst case, you lose a little time—but at zero resource cost.

 The resources you extract from a raid can be used in crafting stations or traded with vendors. Items can also be recycled into other materials or sold for coin. Crafting stations are upgradeable, which of course requires increasingly better materials at each level. Vendors sell a variety of items for coin. Whether you craft your way there or trade your way there, resources let you gear up for your next raid. Sadly, there is no player-to-player trading.

 You might think other players are your biggest concern, but the ARC robots are no joke. Every ARC enemy needs to be approached thoughtfully. For example, the Snitch may seem harmless—until you miss your shot and it has time to call in backup. Now you’re fighting multiple ARCs. Ignored that skittering noise in the next room? Now you’ve got a face-hugging Tick to deal with!

 The ARC robots also get big. The Queen was the ultimate boss of the tech test—a giant, spider-like machine that required coordination and often multiple groups of raiders to bring down (that is, assuming players could resist killing each other long enough to cooperate). There are even rumors of a bigger threat—the King—awaiting players in the launch version. If you paid attention on the Buried City map, you could see massive walker ARCs off in the distance just outside the map's boundary.

 As should be obvious, care must be taken every step of the way during a raid. Make too much noise, and you’ll attract ARCs—or worse, alert other players. Got a quest to collect parts from a fallen ARC? You’ll need a plan for how to take one down and loot the components safely. Then you’ll need an extraction plan.

 Extracting in ARC Raiders is a tense sequence of events. First, you press a button to call an elevator or train. Next comes an excruciating wait for it to arrive. Then you have to board and activate it. To ratchet up the intensity, alarms and announcements blare across the area, alerting other players and ARCs to the extraction attempt. Escaping by the skin of your teeth is an amazing feeling! Just watch this video where my teammate escapes with 0:00 left on the clock among a very chaotic extraction point! It was in that moment I knew ARC Raiders was a game worth waiting for.

 Fortunately, just like the free loadouts and safe pockets, there’s another mechanic that reduces some of the pressure typical in extraction phase: raider hatches. These are scattered across the map and can be accessed if you have a raider hatch key. Since they’re less frequented and require a key, there’s a better chance of using one without attracting attention. Only once did I run into another player trying to use the same raider hatch as my team—while nearly every normal extraction via elevator or train was contested.

 Extractions aren’t the only source of tension during a raid. Every sound is a clue. Cracking open a locker? The metallic crunch will echo down the hallway. Jump on a zipline? That ziiiipppp will travel far. If it’s raining, footsteps are muffled and harder to hear. The scream of a probe crash-landing will get your attention—and that of nearby players. Most ARCs announce their presence with distinctive sounds. There’s no mistaking when certain ARCs are nearby. The brrrrtttt of the Bastion’s chain guns is as unforgettable as it is terrifying.

 Visuals add to the tension, too. Flocks of birds will scatter when you walk by, revealing your location. Puffs of dust rise from the sand near corners. When a raider goes down, a flare shoots skyward—or ricochets around indoors. ARC robots often wear armor that visually flies off as you damage them, exposing weak points. Shoot one of the Wasp’s four rotors and it will careen wildly, trying to regain balance on the remaining three.

 Visuals also serve as escape tools. You can literally vanish into brush or shadows. The game looks amazing at every step, and every visual plays a role in the immersion. The look and feel of this game are stunning.  To go with that performance was buttery smooth for me the entire test (consistent 100+ FPS with no issues).

 Amazing visuals and sound design set the table, and the combat and gunplay serve the main course. The game is a third-person, over-the-shoulder shooter similar to Battlefront 2 or Once Human. I personally prefer this to first-person shooters. This perspective lets you peek around corners and spot threats like those annoying Tick ARCs sneaking up on you. When you loot something, you aren’t locked into staring at a wall—you can stay aware of your surroundings. All of this helps soften the sting of ARC Raiders being an extraction shooter where you could lose everything at any moment.

 A lot of attention to detail has gone into ARC Raiders, and it all comes together in an incredible experience. For a tech test, I was blown away. It felt more like a complete, functional game—one I’d argue is ready for release. I’d play the heck out of it with just the maps, modes, and gear available in the test.

 

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI (ChatGPT). The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

We need to talk about Camelot Unchained

Folks, we need to talk about Camelot Unchained.  Many moons ago I was a Dark Ages of Camelot (DAoC) fanboy. Mythic Entertainment (later gobbled up by EA) could do no wrong.  Mark Jacobs leading Mythic Entertainment at the time was the voice of reason in MMO developers at the time.  Micro transitions? No.  Free to play? No. Real money trading? He hunted it down.  Mark could do no wrong in a younger heartlessgamer's eyes 

Then Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) happened.  I donned the fanboy suit again.  I battled in the online trenches for WAR.  For Mark.  But it went sideways when EA gobbled up Mythic and WAR struggled to find an audience.  Mark Jacobs exited and in 2011 showed up on Kickstarter with the spiritual successor to DAoC called Camelot Unchained.  He collected my money and I waited. And waited.  I am still waiting.

In that time waiting a lot of things happened.  I am not here to dredge them all up but needless to say Mark Jacobs lost a lot of trust with the community.  He lost me.  I stopped caring about the game I had funded.  Then there are refund controversies, misleading updates, and the debacle with the studio launching an entirely different game while we are all still waiting on the game we funded over ten years ago!   But through all of the turbulence Unchained Entertainment pressed on with Camelot Unchained.

And finally we have a video with some of the results. The closest we've gotten to a real look at the game that has been in development for over a decade!  Watch it below. 

What do you think?  Looks dated for a game in 2025 right? Not only do visuals look dated but animations seem stiff.  Combat seems pretty static.  Nothing in the video screams "new video game in the year 2025".

Yet I can't help but admit a tiny thread of optimism in seeing an actual game.  I never expected Camelot Unchained to be a World of Warcraft killer.  I knew it was never destined to be a AAA game.  It was going to be a boutique experience; just as Stars Reach is Raph Koster's spiritual successor to Star Wars Galaxies so was Camelot Unchained going to be Mark Jacobs successor to DAoC.  Give me decent combat, an open world, and Realm vs Realm and I'll have some fun.

I'm glad we're at the stage where its realistic to think there is a release coming for Camelot Unchained.  It may be too little too late and Mark may have buried the hatchet too deep in the communities backs, but hey at least I may get a chance to say I gave the game a try. 

Note: I've given up paying close attention to the game so if there is other info about release or testing; feel free to drop the info in the comments.

50 word /r/fantasywriters challenge: Honey and Lies

 Something I've gotten into recently is completing some writing prompts.  On the /r/fantasywriters subreddit there is an ongoing weekly challenge to write a 50 word (or less) blurb featuring a specific word.  I just chimed in on the "honey" thread with this entry:

The man before Fritz was gaunt; hungry. Fritz worked through his pockets and pulled out a small honey fruit. He held his hand out to the stranger. "Take it."

Timid, the stranger reached out.

Fritz's motion was quick. The strike painless as the stranger collapsed in front of him.

 Another prompt I participated in was "Lie"; my entry:

Lie? Lie! I didn't lie. You lied.

Anger swelled as I fell to my knees before the ghastly visage. A dust cloud rose as my hands braced against the sandy cave floor. Cold air pressed against my skin, and the dampness of the cave settled.

The voice echoed:

"Liar..."

 If this interests you feel free to drop by and leave your own.  New prompts drop on Fridays.

Waiting for ARC Raiders

 I have more thoughts I want to share on my experience in the recent ARC Raiders tech test, but now that the test is over it has me waiting... waiting bad.  I am going to love the heck out of this game at it's launch.

 

Last second extraction miracle in ARC Raiders

 I've been playing the ARC Raiders tech test for the last day and loving every moment of it (well almost every moment).  In a this-memory-will-stay-with-me moment I witnessed a teammate who barely missed our first extraction hit the afterburner and hustle his way to the final extraction point and make it, literally, with zero seconds left.  And since the game is kind enough to let teammates spectate I was able to capture the event in this video.

April 2025 in Review

  April has come and gone and we are rapidly approaching this blog's 20 year anniversary later in May!  But before we look forward let's check back in on April.

The Blog

Blogger stats for April: 33,990 (note: below graph includes May dates and is missing Apr dates)

 

In other metrics:

• Posts:
  
• Target: 0
• Posted: 4
• Difference: +4 (Have been doing other stuff than gaming or blogging so 4 is a win)
•  Search Trends
• "Discord Install Failed: Can't find PresentationCore 4.0.0.0" and my post in regards to my trials and tribulations with this Discord install bug gained traction in April so I assume there was some sort of Discord issue (I also noticed my Reddit post on the bug gained some new comments).  Read more about it: Discord Install Failed
  
• "new world PvP server" overtook searches for my frigid inferno build even though I only have my one post about the PvP servers before they launched.
• "new world frigid dawn" and related searches continued for my heavy armor flamethrower build for New World: Frigid Inferno build page
• "best battlefield game", "best battlefield", "best battlefield games","what is the best battlefield game" continues to stay strong driving traffic to my post Best Battlefield!?
• "once human end game" was also a top click getter this month even though I've not posted or played Once Human anytime recently (nor do I have any plans to return) 
  

What I Played

I didn't play New World at all in April.  Actually I didn't play any game in April until the ARC Raiders tech test came out on April 30th.  So really I didn't play anything in April.

With that said; I freaking loved my time in the ARC Raiders tech test so expect more blog content on it in the near future!

Years Ago

1 Year Ago

In April of 2024 I was testing Pax Dei in it's Wilderness Alpha phase.  I enjoyed my time in the test but the game was a long, long ways away from being a game worth considering.  Unfortunately it still launched into a form of early access and it has all but died off as a game of interest for me.

The Fallout TV show was also causing a ton of buzz and all of the Fallout games saw spikes in player numbers. 

We also got to enjoy a partial eclipse in our area.

And last but not least; one of my most trafficked and searched for posts of all time was posted in April of 2024: Best Battlefield!?

5 Years Ago

April 2020 featured no blog posts.

10 Years Ago

In April 2015 one of my favorite Battlefield games, Battlefield Heroes, announced it was ending service.  I still miss that game.

We also got a gem of a post from Raph Koster going into the depths of Star Wars Galaxies development.  If you have any interest in the history of MMORPGs this is 100% worth the read.

15 Years Ago

In April of 2010 I was getting used to the idea of playing video games on a tablet device.  Amazing to look back all of these years later and find it funny now to question playing video games on a tablet or mobile device.  Ironically I still do not own a tablet of any sort. 

April of 2010 also marked the start of info drops for Guild Wars 2 (post 1, post 2).  Guild Wars 2 is still trucking along!

And while 10 years ago in April we learned that Battlefield Heroes was shutting down, 15 years ago in April we were excited about Heroes getting new maps and game modes!

 20 Years Ago

I started blogging in 2005 but not until May so come back in May for the big 2 0 extravaganza.  Oh wait; it's MAY 20 FREAKING 25!  OMG! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

The what is available!?

 Here's a headline that I didn't expect to see today: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is available now.

“The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered modernises the 2006 Game of the Year with all-new stunning visuals and refined gameplay,” reads the game’s description.

“Every single asset in the game was recreated from scratch,” claims developer Virtuos.

 I played a bit of Oblivion back in the day and enjoyed it for a moment, but it didn't catch me for any length of time.  The game is available on Steam so maybe I'll have to give it a peak but I am going to wait for the early reviews to come in.

"This is so 1990s cringe and I love every second of it."

 As stolen from the top comment on the Reddit thread: "This is so 1990s cringe and I love every second of it."

 

Digging New Ground

I'm now officially a Groundbreaker for the resurrection of Digg.

https://groundbreakers.digg.com/u/9446b171

https://groundbreakers.digg.com/u/9446b171

 

March 2025 in Review

 Yes it is April 18th and I am just getting to recapping March here on the blog (note: the publish date will reflect 4/1 as to avoid upsetting my OCD).  Motivation has been scarce lately so you get what you get when I give it!

The Blog

Blogger stats for March: 28,632 (note: below graph includes Apr dates)

 In other metrics:

• Posts:
  
• Target: 0
• Posted: 6
• Difference: +6 (Have been doing other stuff than gaming or blogging so 6 is a win)
•  Search Trends
• "new world PvP server" continues from Feb to drive traffic to the blog.  I am playing on the PvP server but haven't shared any thoughts yet.  Still my post about the servers before they launched is where many folks land from the ole' Google.
•  Searches around my flamethrower build for New World continue to drive traffic to the Frigid Inferno build page
• "best battlefield game", "best battlefield", "best battlefield games" continues to stay strong driving traffic to my post Best Battlefield!?
  

What I Played

For March I had very little in the "played" category.  I did play some New World but nothing serious.  Sort of just checking the trading post and doing weekly objectives.  By end of month I was not playing any games including New World.

I did play a few games of Magic the Gathering with my oldest son using precon decks we have sitting around.  That was enjoyable.

Years Ago

1 Year Ago

March 2024 saw my short lived attempt to figure out what the deal with Path of Exile was.  It didn't catch me and the experiment was short lived.

Also in March, the New World developers let us know there would not be an expansion in 2024 but there would be a "big announcement" in June.  We all know how that went...

 Ashes of Creation was previewing their Commissions system.

5 Years Ago

March 2020 featured no blog posts.

10 Years Ago

March 2015 featured no blog posts.

15 Years Ago

In March of 2010 Bioware's boss was flat-out lying about the success of Warhammer Online; "Right now it's [a] really profitable business unit within my group.".  That was followed with rumors that Bioware proper was going to be more involved with Mythic (both part of EA at the time).  Years later we know how that turned out...

My gmail was hacked...

And last but not least I was playing a lot of Battlefield Bad Company 2 in March 2010.  It remains one of my favorite Battlefield games to this day!  Scroll through the full month of posts to see my various BFBC2 posts.

 20 Years Ago

I started blogging in 2005 but not until May so come back in May for the big 2 0 extravaganza.

 

Working to catalog all of my past characters

 Just dropping a post to reference my page: "The Many Characters of Heartlessgamer"

 I am going to attempt to catalog all of my characters in any game I put significant time into.  Goal is to "remember" characters from the past 25+ years of gaming and include server and class/race information as I am able to recollect.

Monday Screenshots: No-UI New World Aeternum

 I finished the new main story quest for New World Aeternum on my alt character on the seasonal PvP server.  Along the way I took some no-UI screenshots.  Enjoy!

Riding past a shattered obelisk

Shattered Mountain in the distance

Not part of the MSQ, but a shot from the Glacial Tarn expedition

This ghostly tree was part of the original MSQ and I was happy to see it still there.  One of the iconic moments from the original MSQ.

Finishing a soul trial (solo boss fight)

I always enjoyed the visuals of the corruption areas and while the MSQ no longer goes through the Tempest Heart expedition there is still a visual replacement in one of the new MSQ's solo trials.

More corruption.

This floating island is new and I was disappointed that so little time was spent here.  I need to go back and see if I can get back to it now that I am done with the MSQ.

One underappreciated part of New World is that many of the props, such as this bench in a camp site, can be interacted with.  Here I am catching a break sitting around the campfire.

Isabella still sits at the end of the MSQ.

Inside the new solo trial boss fight with Isabella.

When I saw this view I needed to stop and take a shot.

Riding off into Brimstone Sands after defeating Isabella and finishing the first leg of the MSQ.

I didn't remember this hidden chamber hiding in Brimstone Sands so grabbed a shot for the scrapbook as I mined away on a stone scarab I defeated.

 

Gameplay from the new Battlefield 6

 Some gameplay videos have appeared online for the new Battlefield game!

 In the first video we get a healthy look at a building being destroyed (grabbed a screenshot above).  It will be good to have heavy destruction back in the genre!  While there is some destruction in 2042 it pales in comparison to past games like Bad Company 2.

 In the second video we get some infantry game play.  The theme appears to be modern times which will be a return to the trend of BF2, BF3, and BF4. I am looking forward to a return to the modern battlefield for the series!

 

Digg

 Hell yes; Digg is coming back.

 

Deadlock makes big changes; still a MOBA

 A lot has been going on with Deadlock lately.  It recently became the most wishlisted game on Steam.  There were also a sweeping set of changes to how the game plays along with a revamped map.  Because while players are wishlisting the game players are also able to play the invite-only early access alpha beta testing version of the game.  Honestly, who a I kidding here?  The game is effectively a live game and its a MOBA.  And it's still a MOBA even after all of the changes that were made recently.  And to me that is a damn shame.

 First lets look at Deadlock's popularity since its invite-only test launched.  It rocketed up to 170,000+ peak concurrent players but has steadily dropped since and now enjoys about 17,000 peak concurrent players.  Considering it is a new game from Valve those are not huge numbers.  For comparison Valve's other MOBA, DOTA2, sees 600,000+ peak concurrent players and while not its absolute peak it is not far off.  DOTA2 also saw a steady climb from it's earliest test periods (i.e. there was no drop off as we are seeing with Deadlock).

Chart from SteamDB

 

 So Deadlock is on a downward trend in it's early access phase which makes you wonder if that downward player trend is resulting in the team reconsidering the design of the game.  With the most recent changes many of the gameplay aspects that set Deadlock apart from other MOBAs are being replaced with standard MOBA fair.  The map went from 4 lanes to 3 lanes.  Last hitting became more static.  Mobility and map traversal is reduced.  Basically Deadlock is more like any other MOBA that has come before than it has been at any point in it's early life.

 For me personally the biggest disappointment of Deadlock is that it still remains a MOBA.  Why is Valve making another MOBA?  The theme of Deadlock is fresh and new.  There are so many more interesting things Valve could be doing with that theme.  And so far it seems players are saying the same thing by voting with their playtime.  16,000+ peak concurrent players is nothing to sneeze at but its tiny for a Valve game.

 Maybe I have too high of expectations for Valve and bringing a new game to market that doesn't fit into their stable of existing genres.  Even so it still seems like a waste that the creativity behind Deadlock, it's world, and it's characters is just for another MOBA.  Maybe I'm just not like other gamers with my expectations.

February 25 In Review

February 2025 is already done!?

The Blog

Blogger stats for Feb: 40,187 (note: below graph includes March dates)

In other metrics:

• Posts:
  
• Target: 0
• Posted: 3
• Difference: +3 (I was really demotivated in Feb so the fact I got 3 posts out is a win)
•  Search Trends
• "once human end game" (and its variations) along with "once human lea research lab" popped up this month and there was increased traffic to my August 2024 post: End Game Thoughts On Once Human: Finished LEA Research Labs
  
• "new world inferno build", "inferno build new world", "new world flamethrower build" keep on trucking as folks continue looking for builds for the Inferno artifact.  My out of date but mostly still relevant Frigid Inferno Build is where they often land.
• "new world PvP server" also caught some traffic directing 
• "best battlefield game", "best battlefield", "best battlefield games" continues with my post Best Battlefield!?
  

What I Played

For Feb it was ... wait for it... New World.  Shocker! I still love this game and still play almost daily.  The big change for this month was that a long lost acquaintance and a chance encounter in 3v3 arenas convinced me to try out the Season 7 PvP servers.  The selling point to get me to jump is that he could get me leveled up to 65 "in 5 minutes".  True to his word I was basically leveled to 65 in a few minutes thanks to being able to turn logs into ethereal dust which crafts into animus that you get 2,500 XP for opening.  So a few minutes at the crafting station and hundreds of clicks opening animus and I was 65.

There is also drop on death PvP gear that is easy to obtain (easy to lose as well) so I was geared up in no time (and then promptly ungeared with my first open world death).  And while I was max level with gear there were still some annoyances I had to deal with such as leveling my faction up to max level which requires me to finish the main story quest to access a specific zone. I am still working my way through that and enjoy the frequent open world PvP skirmishes since everyone is flagged and there is always the chance they are loaded with PvP drop-on-death gear! 

I also jumped into the Anvil Empires early access test and that game simply isn't ready for much serious testing consideration.

Years Ago

1 Year Ago

Feb of 2024 brought us Enshrouded and I enjoyed my time digging around that world.

My beloved Green Bay Packers once again exited the NFL Playoffs with a loss to the dreaded San Francisco 49ers.  Boo!

I was also in my very early stages of playing around with AI image generators.  Its a bit crazy to look back over the last year and see how much AI has changed.  I really need to take some time to share more of my AI dabbling.  There is some cool stuff out there.

5 Years Ago

Feb 2020 featured no blog posts.

10 Years Ago

Feb 2015 I felt obligated to post and so I did.

15 Years Ago

In Feb of 2010 I was playing Allods Online open beta and then had my launch reaction and then promptly started arguing about its plans for a cash shop.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was a hot game heading our way in Feb 2010 and still ranks as one of my favorite Battlefield games.  I spent time comparing it to Battlefield 2, talking about SecuROM DRM, and 

Some of us bloggers also challenged ourselves to try and make believe that Warhammer Online wasn't shutting down or going into maintenance mode.  Oops.

 Oh and I started the idea of posting regular monthly look back posts with my first "What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying" post that looked at the month prior of Jan 2010.  I must have had more free time back then; I played a lot more games.

 20 Years Ago

I started blogging in 2005 but not until May so come back in May for the big 2 0 extravaganza.

 

Playing 3v3 Arenas with PvP Server Gear and WINNING 1vX

 I made another New World Aeternum video; this time showcasing my new character "heartlessgamer2" from the PvP server Scalvia.  I just finished leveling to 65 and grabbed a set of the 725 "Swarm's Mighty" gear which is unique to the PvP server.  This is a great way to jump right to 725 gear score and jump into arenas.  I ended up winning against the odds 1v3 in the first round and we brought it home at the end for a great arena win!

 

New World's New OPR Map: Coral Divide

 New World's new outpost rush (OPR) map is available to preview this weekend so I gave it a spin and boy did I have some fun!  So much fun in fact I had to clip one of the matches where our team came back from 300+ points down to steal a win in the final moments!  Not only that but I scored first place! This new map is a ton of fun!

 First the video:

 I am playing my heavy sworld and shield/firestaff build with a key change to using Burnanator as my firestaff.  This thing BURNS; even after a slight nerf this patch.  It fits my playstyle perfectly!

 A screenshot of the scoreboard as well; 1000 to 986 is about as close as you can get in OPR!  I went 31 kills / 6 deaths / 61 assists.  Over 2.3 million damage!

January 2025 In Review

The first month of 2025 has come and gone; lets take a look back.

The Blog

Blogger stats for Jan: 21,700

 In other metrics:

• Posts:
  
• Target: 22 (weekdays minus holiday)
  
• Posted: 9
• Difference: -13 (motivation, lack there of)
  
•  Search Trends
• "new world inferno build", "inferno build new world", "new world flamethrower build" have been gaining momentum since New World Aeternum (NWA) launched thanks to my build post: Frigid Inferno Build.
• "best battlefield game", "best battlefield", "best battlefield games" continues with my post Best Battlefield!?
  

What I Played

For Jan it was more New World.  I just can't stop playing.  I enjoy the game and play almost daily.  I cycle through the same activities: play the in-game market, queue up for 3v3 arenas, and then queue for Outpost Rush.  Once a week I venture off into the FFA PvP zone for my golden coconut.  Some call it boring and repetitive; I call it just plain fun.

Years Ago

1 Year Ago

January of 2024 brought us Enshrouded and I enjoyed my time digging around that world.

My beloved Green Bay Packers once again exited the NFL Playoffs with a loss to the dreaded San Francisco 49ers.  Boo!

I was also in my very early stages of playing around with AI image generators.  Its a bit crazy to look back over the last year and see how much AI has changed.  I really need to take some time to share more of my AI dabbling.  There is some cool stuff out there.

5 Years Ago

In January of 2020 I was putzing around with a mono black devotion deck in Magic the Gathering: Arena.  If memory serves me it wasn't exactly competitive but it caught some folks off guard every once and a while as its a nonstandard way to win a game.

10 Years Ago

In January 2015 we received the announcement about Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns expansion which was the first expansion for the game and piqued my interest.

15 Years Ago

In January of 2010 we were beta testing Allods Online.  I am sure my younger self thought it surely would be the World of Warcraft killer (narrator: it wasn't).

Star Trek Online was entering open beta as well. 

And we were all enjoying Avatar in movie theaters.  I really didn't want to like the movie but had to admit it was a fun movie.

 20 Years Ago

I started blogging in 2005 but not until May so come back in May for the big 2 0 extravaganza.

 

New World PvE

 I made a lengthy reply on Reddit about PvE opportunities in New World Aeternum.  It gained some traction and has been shared a few times on different subreddits.  I wanted to capture a version of it for the blog and long term keeping.

The question asked: "Just bought it! How is the PVE? Is the loot drop rewarding as well?"

My answer:

PvE during leveling is a good experience; you will get a lot of enjoyment out of that.  The game has some of the best "cinematic experiences" for expeditions (aka dungeons) and personally my first trip through some of them such as Tempest Heart were a visual treat (though "story mode" expeditions are very easy challenge wise).

The "rewarding loot drop" depends on who you ask.  New World has a classless system where your build is determined by your gear.  Gear is variable with 3 perks, a gem slot (except on some special items), and which attribute bonus (INT, STR, CON, etc) it has.  What is "best" for a piece of armor, a weapon, or a jewelery thus has variability.  It is not like other games where that one raid drops that one tank sword that every tank has to get.

The game also drops a lot of gear and I mean A LOT; more in the line of a Diablo type game than a normal MMO.  Most of that gear is randomly generated and is basically garbage that you will just salvage.  That goes all the way through end game where a lot of gear drops are just underwhelming.

The game does have a system called "loot biasing" where gear from many end game chests (elite, expedition, etc) will match close to the gear you are currently wearing. So if you are heavy armor with INT as your highest attribute you will likely see heavy armor with INT as the highest attribute.  Unforutnately this comes up short because it doesn't consider weapons and armor drops with weapon perks for other weapons. I personally feel like this is a miss that they should fix with the system.  A heavy armor piece with INT is great if thats my build but if it drops with a flail weapon perk and I don't use a flail its just one more piece of gear I need to salvage down.

But that is just the gemeral loot drop system.  There is lots of "named" items in the game that drop with locked in perks and many end game named items let you upgrade the item to 700 gear score and set the 3rd perk to your choice (there are "perk buckets" with rules so its not any perk, but lots of options to choose what the 3rd perk is).

Then there are artifacts tied to specific content.  Often it drops after a few tries and has pity mechanics so you do get it to drop. Artifacts are end game armor, weapons, and jewelery that you will build entire builds around.  It feels good to get an artifact to drop after working towards it!  And there is a ton of artifacts in the game now and are in every lane of gameplay from solo PvE to group PvE.

Expedtions are a main PvE end game activity; specifically the mutated version.  Each week new expeditions get mutated and have levels 1-3.  "M3" aka mutation level 3 is the hardest.  Mutated expeditions are where many artifacts are obtained and they drop a ton of other rewards, but as mentioned its hit or miss on how great those drops are (most not so much).  Mutated expeditions are also a good way to get dark matter drops for end game loot upgrades which is a necessary part of the end game.

More recently they added the first raid to the game.  It is 10 person and is the hardest end game PvE content.  Many players complain about it being too hard for casual groups if that gives you a sense.  Personally I think its spot on; hard for a pick up group to complete but not impossible; while still being challenging for organized groups.

The raid offers gear up to gear score 725, the new max, and drops rare schematics for crafting which is where a lot of the true best end game gear comes from outside of artifacts.  The artifacts that drop from the raid are also sought after; some pick up groups solely focus on just getting past the first boss just to get folks the artifact that boss drops.  The issue though is the raid drops rewards only once per week; once done with your weekly run there is no reward for repeating.

There is also a 20 person sand wurm "raid" that is a single boss fight with good end game drops as well.

With that said there is tons of ways as a solo PvE player to get 700 gear score gear and it's not hard.  While 725 is the new max; 700 is more than capable in PvE and PvP.  Artifacts can all be upgraded to 725 so many folks end up with 3x artifacts (max you can have in a build is 1 weapon, 1 armor, and 1 jewelery artifact) and 700 on the rest.

While not your traditional "rewarding loot drops" of other MMOs you can set your sights on the gear you want and work in PvE towards it.  Crafting is also a source for tons of end game gear and plenty of PvE activity can be done to earn gold to fund your own crafting or buy from crafters/trading post.

I personally really like that as a mostly solo player I can play this game and match the hardest of the hardcore in builds and capabilities on my character.  Having a group makes it easier to get stuff like the raid or mutated expeditions done, but not a requirement at all in this game.  That is the biggest selling point for me.  As I said I am 4,000+ hours in, have maxed everything, have a maxed build I love playing, and dabble in PvE and PvP.

Season 7: New World PvP Servers

 By the time you are reading this the New World season 7, Season of the Conqueror, will have launched and with it a new set of seasonal PvP servers.  These limited time seasonal servers feature accelerated leveling and a special ruleset that will change each season.  This season will focus on PvP with forced PvP flagging after level 15 and with new gear that drops on death.  Will the PvP crowd finally show up for a PvP focused update in New World?

 The New World team has a long post detailing the PvP servers, but for context here are the main points:

• PvP flagging is forced on at level 15
• Leveling speed is increased
• Special equipment can be crafted for reduced material costs that is stronger than normal equipment but the equipment drops on death and has durability so can break.

 This is basically as close as New World will have gotten to it's original intention to be a PvP focused sandbox with gear dropping on death.  The question is will this be enjoyable and worth the time?

 A big issue I have with the approach here is that these are seasonal servers where I need to start a new character from scratch.  I have 4,000 hours in this game, almost all of it on a single character, so my immediate interest in a new character is limited.  Throw in that the PvP server goes away at the end of the season in a couple months and the draw is even weaker.  Why get invested in something that is repeating what I've already done and that is going away?

 Also the more I looked at the details the more I wondered about the changes made to support PvP.  The main change is the introduction of the ethereal crafting and conqueror's gear.  I like that the gear will drop on death and can change hands, but the bonuses mentioned in the post seem questionable on whether its worth the hassle to obtain/keep.  Why deal with gear you can lose when all of the other gear in the game is going to be available?

 The main issue with the PvP-drop-on-death gear is that there are only a couple weapons and only heavy armor pieces at the end game.  So if you want to play a build that doesn't fit that criteria then you will use gear that doesn't come with the associated risk of being lost.  Add in the skill ceiling in New World's action combat I suspect we will see a lot of players taking zero risk with "no-drop builds" and letting their skill overcome the gap in gear.

 I do like that they are unlocking mounts and heartrunes without players needing to complete the quests, but it seems well short of the number of changes I'd of expected to foster PvP.  One of the big issues I've seen discussed is that instanced content such as expeditions, 3v3 arena, and outpost rush will all be available and be available as cross server to those on the PvP servers.  There will be players on PvP servers that sit in town doing instanced content on repeat, gaining gold and experience (PvE and PvP), and then maybe roll out to PvP when the itch strikes.  That seems like a huge miss on a PvP server where you want players out in the world.

 As a seasonal server it seems like a big miss to keep cross server activity and instanced content.  The focus would have been better on getting players into the open world and hitting points of interest to drive conflict.  Why not take the ethereal crafting concept and extend it to provide access to all the gear that drops in expeditions or other instanced content?  Why, why, why keep instanced content on the seasonal PvP server!?

 If New World gave me a PvP server that was just the normal game with always on PvP and let me transfer my character to that server I'd be all over it.  I think being PvP flagged adds a ton to the game.  But all of the adjustments to make these seasonal worlds "different" don't seem to drive much in the way of PvP and thus I question whether it's worth the effort.  I am on the fence and not sure I'll partake.

The Angler No More

 Unfortunate news for fishing game fans.  Call of the Wild: the Angler has announced an end to development on the game.

 Anglers,

It’s with a heavy heart that we announce the end of development for Call of the Wild: The Angler. The Angler will remain playable both online and offline in its current state, and you’ll still be able to purchase and access the base game and all DLC content across all platforms. The big difference is that there won’t be any new content or updates moving forward.

Our vision with The Angler was to create a fresh take on the fishing sim genre, inspired by our love and passion for fishing and open-world games. It’s given us so much joy seeing your appreciation for the worlds we created and excitement in catching something new with each big update. We wouldn’t have made it these two-and-a-half years if we hadn’t listened very closely to our passionate community, and for that passion, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. However, maintaining the audience size necessary to support the continued development of this ambitious game proved more challenging than expected, so it’s time for the team to move on to other projects.

We understand that this may come as a surprise, and want you to know it was not an easy decision to make. Although the excitement of new content and updates has come to an end, we hope you’ll still enjoy reruns of in-game events and playing online with friends old and new. There’s much to explore in the five reserves as well.

It’s difficult to leave a project that was driven by so much passion, and we’ll always hold it dear, but we’re bringing our experience and expertise to new horizons within Avalanche Studios Group, so please cheer us on! We’re proud to say that our hard work and dedication brought the beauty of fishing (and boatloads of bad fishing puns) to players around the world.

A special shoutout to our moderators, who endured the aftermath of the Gold Green Sunfish and the Carpsucker Hunt of ‘24 (iykyk). And of course, the members of our Player Council, who put countless hours into feedback on updates and making them as good as possible for the rest of the Angler world.

Once again, we want to thank you all for the hours you’ve spent fishing so far, for all the feedback you’ve left us and all the fantastic memories and memes created so far!

Here’s to the great catches we’ve shared and to those that are still to come!

// Team Angler

 I had an on again / off again relationship with the game as you can see in my posting history for the game.  I enjoyed playing but felt the game came up short on being a great fishing experience.  At the end of the day it under delivered on the fishing experience so many of us fishing gamers wanted.  I will remember the times I got to digitally fish with my son but beyond that it was a forgettable arcade-like fishing game.  The good news is it sounds like it will still be available to play offline and will support mulitplayer for the foreseeable future.