Post-Expedition Thoughts ARC Raiders

Signed up and ready to depart.

 ARC Raiders’ second expedition window closed this past weekend, and with it I chose to have my first character depart. Goodbye, buddy! With that departure comes a full restart. No levels, no skills, no workbenches—nothing except my best friend Scrappy and me starting fresh from the underground town of Speranza.

 Expeditions are ARC Raiders’ optional form of character wipes that open every few months. The idea of optional wipes was a contentious point before the game launched, but judging by the game’s success, the concept hasn’t scared anyone away. Other games in the extraction shooter genre tend to rely on forced wipes where everyone restarts at the same time.

 The fact that the wipe is optional meant I didn’t have to worry about how quickly I was progressing. I could take my time, and when the first expedition window opened, I felt no guilt about not grinding more. I simply declined the first expedition departure and kept playing. By the time the second expedition opened, I had hit max level, built up a massive stash, and exhausted most of the progression systems, so I was ready for a change.

A slightly new look for a new "me"; still the same ole' heartlessgamer

 

 Looking back now that I’ve reset my character, I’m glad I made the decision. Starting over has been a breath of fresh air this week. Items, loot, and tasks that had become mundane suddenly feel meaningful again on a fresh character. Every time I hit the extract this week, the excitement was back because I knew I was returning to Speranza with a bag full of materials to upgrade workbenches, complete quests, and rebuild my stash.

 I was worried I’d be irritated by not having access to my favorite weapons and augments since I didn’t have the blueprints anymore, but I’ve found myself making do with what’s available. Instead of a Venator IV, I’ve been relying on Il Toro shotguns, Rattler IIIs, and a number of weapons and upgrade levels I hadn’t spent much time with before.

 It also helps that the core gameplay loop of ARC Raiders is so good. I love fighting the various ARC robots, and the recent addition of the Comet and Firefly has really spiced up encounters. Add in the fact that my buddies and I no longer have access to our old arsenal, and we’re having to find new ways to take down larger ARC enemies so we can grab upgrade materials. We spent multiple hours last night using Renegade rifles to take potshots at Bastions and Bombardiers. Before the wipe, we had so many Wolfpack grenades and Deadline explosives that hunting big ARC enemies had become almost trivial.

 The PvP is also great. I’ll admit I lose more fights than I win, but I still keep coming back for more. I love the tension in those moments where you know the enemy is there, and they know you know they’re there, and it’s just a question of who makes the first move. Even better is the aggression-based matchmaking system: the less you shoot other players, the friendlier your matches tend to be. But there’s always that chance—always that chance—that someone betrays the friendly “Don’t Shoot” moment by putting a shotgun in the back of your head. And when I inevitably die and lose all my gear, it doesn’t sting nearly as much as I expected compared to similar modes in other games.

The RNG blessed me with a Tempest blueprint!  A blueprint that I never found with my first character!

 ARC Raiders is a special game with an addictive quality and social gaming structure that keeps pulling me back in. Choosing to reset with the expedition—knowing it was entirely my decision—has breathed new life into the experience. I can definitely see myself continuing to play this game for a while.

 Eventually the MMORPG itch will become impossible to ignore again. But for now, I’m a happy extraction shooter fan—as long as it’s ARC Raiders.

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

Thoughts on Marathon

Aww yeah... here we go again. The tutorial stars with a knife in hand.

 I had the opportunity to put a couple of hours into Marathon’s Server Slam that wrapped up over the weekend. The game is a first-person extraction shooter that mixes in hero shooter elements—you select a “hero” to play each round. I equipped some weapons, dropped in, killed some players and robots, grabbed some loot, and came away with a few thoughts.

 The first thing that jumped out at me was the theme: a colorful sci-fi extravaganza. I’d be lying if I said I paid much attention to the story elements (limited time + limited-duration server slam = get to the shootin’), so I can’t speak to why things look the way they do. But I can say they are very colorful—futuristic shipping-container buildings in neon hues, vibrant alien plants scattered throughout the map. It’s visually interesting, but some of the color combinations felt off-putting. So while it’s bold and distinct, it also felt odd to me at times.

Not a big fan of the UI

 I was not a fan of the UI. It was confusing out of the gate. The health and shield bars morph colors, blink, and show shaded areas that look depleted—but aren’t. I adjusted after a couple of matches, but something that core to a game like Marathon should feel intuitive from the start.

 The menus were mechanically fine (at least on PC), but the 8-bit graphic style and font made things harder to interpret than they needed to be. Whether I was trying to sort inventory items or understand the faction system—which feels like a skill tree—the pixel-art approach made everything blur together. The longer I played, the more irritating it became.

 I would have much preferred a clean UI without the artistic flair. There are smaller annoyances too—like the plus signs in the inventory screen that initially look like empty or unlockable slots. Nope. They’re just decorative placeholders blocking unused screen space. Like the health bar, you get used to it. But taken together, it shows a pattern of UI friction that dampened my first impressions.

 To sum up the UI, I’ll steal this quote I saw on Reddit (sadly the comments were deleted):

“The game is already blocky with an eyesore color scheme. The UI should be clean with easy navigation to balance the aesthetic.”

 Performance, on the other hand, was stellar. Running, gunplay, loading—everything was smooth. No frame rate dips, no hitches. I spent my time focused on playing instead of troubleshooting. Between ARC Raiders recently and now Marathon, I could get used to games launching in optimized states.

 As for gameplay, the movement felt slower—at least early on before upgrades—which was honestly refreshing. I know some players prefer faster pacing, but I liked the weightier feel. Sprinting helps in open areas, but it doesn’t dominate moment-to-moment combat. Vaulting, climbing ladders, and general traversal all felt smooth. My one minor gripe: you have to press a button to grab a ladder. I’d prefer auto-grab if I’m clearly in position.

 Gunplay felt good—but not great. I’ll admit I’m past my prime in FPS skills, so take that with a grain of salt. The weapons I used had clear distinctions: a high-damage pistol, a heavy machine gun, and an energy weapon with lock-on targeting (at least for NPCs—I’m not sure if it works in PvP). Shooting, aiming down sights, and swapping weapons all felt solid, just not exceptional.

 NPC combat surprised me. In fact, I only died to NPCs—and I died more than I successfully extracted. There are far more NPCs than I expected, and many areas are swarmed. Some enemies appear “hidden,” like turrets that pop up unexpectedly. What frustrated me most was the lack of visual clarity around enemy strength. One enemy would drop in a couple of shots, while a nearly identical one would steamroll me—apparently because it was a boss. I’m fine with challenge in PvE, but the game needs to communicate enemy tiers better. Bosses should stand out at a glance.

 PvP combat was what you’d expect in an FPS: see someone, shoot, and hope you win the exchange. Without third-person corner peeking, surprises go both ways—which I enjoyed. The slower movement adds weight to engagements. Positioning feels intentional rather than chaotic. Because of the hero system, there are abilities and modifiers in play, but in my limited time, those differences didn’t stand out much. Everyone felt fairly similar. On the bright side, I didn’t lose a single PvP fight, even though I got into several.

Running across the world, gun ready

 

 Audio was a mixed bag. Some moments were great, but others left me confused. In one instance, my team was fighting NPCs when two other teams rolled in and a full PvPvE brawl broke out. Yet from my position, it sounded oddly subdued. Positional audio works well in terms of direction, but the intensity didn’t match the chaos. It created a strange sense of calm during what should have felt overwhelming.

 Looting is standard extraction-shooter fare: open container, wait for reveal, take what you want. On the early maps, loot was plentiful—I was nearly full after clearing a building or two. However, the pixelated inventory design made identifying items at a glance frustrating. The font, in particular, was harder to read than expected.

 One thing I liked about the loot system is that it doesn’t revolve around sprinting to a single high-value room at match start. Loot value scales as the round progresses and ties into map events. The longer you stay, the harder the events—but the better the rewards. That’s a refreshing alternative to the “spawn and dead sprint” meta common in other extraction shooters.

 I didn’t engage much with the story, but it never felt intrusive. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, given how much emphasis seems to be placed on it. From what I’ve seen in story clips, it may not be my style. I play extraction shooters for the “get in, get out” loop—not seasonal narratives or long quest chains.

 Finally, the extraction mechanic itself didn’t land for me. Extraction beacons are placed out in the open and require you to stand still while your screen distorts in a drug-trip visual effect. It makes extraction fights feel awkward and frustrating. I don’t understand the design choice here. Extractions should feel tense and tactical—not like you’re stuck in the open, progressively blinded by graphical chaos.

 Overall, my feelings on Marathon are tepid. I liked elements like round progression, map events, and scaling loot value. But moment-to-moment gameplay didn’t wow me, and the UI feels cluttered in a game that desperately needs clarity. There’s potential here—but it needs refinement.

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

ARC Raiders has an Item Value Problem

 ARC Raiders is nearing its second departure window for the expedition system, which allows players to voluntarily opt to “depart” and wipe their character for a fresh start. In order to maximize their departure, players are required to amass a large amount of stash value (3 million this time around), which creates some problems.

 The biggest problem is that players often have to make choices between keeping or selling items. Players could keep that fancy Bobcat IV gun, or they could sell it for a nice payday. Knowing that millions of coins are needed to depart on an expedition, most players opt to sell that Bobcat IV—and that is the heart of the problem as I see it.

 The secondary problem is that while the game features various trinkets that only serve the purpose of being sold for coins (i.e., they can’t be salvaged into crafting supplies), the values of most trinkets are not higher than many other types of items that can be picked up. For example, I can find a coffee pot trinket worth 1,000 coins and I’ll likely only find one of them, or I can get a stack of 50 basic materials (fabric, plastic parts, etc.) that will sell for 2,500+ coins per stack—and most raids I am walking away with two to four stacks of materials. With limited storage space, I am often dropping trinkets in favor of other items.

 My recommendation would be that trinkets should be more valuable at every level, and items like weapons or crafting materials should be less valuable. Players should be encouraged to bring their best weapons into raids! Players should be crafting with supplies, not always defaulting to selling them! Yes, weapons cost a lot to craft and upgrade, but that doesn’t mean they also need to be valuable to resell.  Keep the high cost to craft/upgrade but reduce their resale value.

 This would also create a different—and I’d argue improved—gameplay loop around trinkets and areas that house lots of them. These would become more targeted locations to visit when looking to build up a stash of coins. My personal feeling with ARC Raiders is that anytime I have more direction and purpose going into a raid, the more interested I am as a player.

 As the first expedition window has aged and I’ve completed more and more content, I’ve become less interested in heading topside, as I’m not a player who is interested in going in just to hunt other players. Reducing the value of guns and crafting supplies would drive me to bring them topside. Increasing the value of trinkets would give me a reason to target my runs when I need coins. This approach feels like a win-win to me.

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

Super Bowl Thoughts

 My Super Bowl thoughts? Who cares.

 

Ashes of Creation Ends... now?

 It’s rare that MMO news makes the front page of Reddit, so when I saw Ashes of Creation trending, I figured it wasn’t going to be for any sort of good news. Sure enough, as the doomers have prophesied for several years, the scam that was Steven Sharif’s Ashes of Creation has come to an end—and a very abrupt one at that.

 I’ll spare regurgitating the details here, as Kira has that covered (and apparently also had the inside scoop days ahead of time, based on his first video). Feel free to watch through his video before reading on to my thoughts.

 I’ve had a mixed history with Ashes of Creation. I have no shortage of gaming projects I backed in the early Kickstarter days, but for some reason I missed Ashes. By the time I was fully attuned to it, there was already a dedicated fanbase full of podcasts, websites, and a bustling subreddit. Still, I kept myself from becoming a funder. My younger self’s experience as an overzealous Warhammer Online fanboy—combined with other Kickstarter implosions—had hardened my wallet.

 I kept up with the game in passing and at one point told myself I’d start blogging about it more. I figured it might be worth sharing my thoughts on updates and the direction the game was heading. Regardless of how all of this worked out, or what people think now, one thing was certain: Ashes was important to the future of MMOs. To what degree it was important can be debated, but there is pent-up demand for an MMO that doesn’t pull its punches.

 One person who is likely breathing easier through all of this is Narc. He went from Ashes’ most public fanboy to its biggest critic in a heartbeat. The drama surrounding Narc’s departure really emphasized the split in the MMO community: those who believed in Ashes, and the doomers screaming, “Narc is right—it’s a scam!” The believers rushed in to defend Steven and Ashes, while the doomers trumpeted Narc’s departure. At the end of the day, as Narc stated in his final comment on the situation, the real reason he left was that he couldn’t trust Steven Sharif.

 Narc wasn’t wrong about Steven, and that’s what stands out to me most from that entire saga. Steven defended Ashes against Narc’s claims vociferously, with one of his most poignant arguments being that those claims were damaging and putting the livelihoods of Intrepid’s employees at risk.

 Fast forward to what we know so far, and it’s clear that the only real danger to Intrepid was Steven himself—and the business practices he used to finance the studio. Any of the day-one doomers will tell you this should have been obvious, given Steven’s history with MLM scams that were the source of his wealth to begin with. I can overlook Steven’s arguments about the game, but I won’t be able to look past his comments about protecting a company he ultimately ended up swindling.

 So what’s next for Ashes? The original intent sounds like it was to continue with a smaller staff and without Steven involved. Unfortunately, multiple senior leaders also resigned alongside him, and it now sounds like the plug is going to be pulled entirely. Ashes of Creation is effectively just ashes. While those ashes may be shipped off to an offshore developer to try to sift something usable out of them, the Ashes of Creation everyone was hoping for is no more.

 Let this be yet another cautionary tale for the MMO community. Whether it’s a trillion-dollar company like Amazon or a wannabe developer like Intrepid, there is no safety in being a loyal fan of any of these games. Nothing can keep our beloved genre safe any longer.

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

New World Ends January 31, 2027

 

 New World ended development in 2025 and will exit existence in 2027.  Amazon announced today that the final day the game will be live is 1/31/2027.  

New World: Aeternum will officially be taken offline from all platforms on January 31, 2027. On January 15, 2026, the title will be delisted and no longer available for purchase. Players will still be able to play New World: Aeternum on their purchased platform, and we are extending the Nighthaven season until the servers are taken offline on January 31, 2027. 

 I am honestly surprised they are keeping it running that long.  The player count has plummeted to only a thousand players during peak times which is rapidly closing into a state where the game is not viable as a massive multiplayer game.  Did they really need to drag it out another year?

 My only outside hope here is maybe they are still trying to offload the game and it's assets to another company.  New World was more popular than many MMOs that are still out there running.  I'd really still like to see the game survive in some official form. 

Sunday 1/4/2026 Post: Packers lose to the Vikings

 The Packers lost a fourth straight game but that's OK because they are still going to the playoffs.  The Packers loss to the Vikings was easily the worst game of football I've ever witnessed in my 4+ decades on this planet.  The Packers, in a week where they placed 6 more players (6!!!!) on injured reserve, chose to sit every player possible while the back ups and practice squad players took on the vikings.  I would say a valiant effort was given but I am not sure an effort was given at all... and even then we may have lost yet another player, Bo Melton, to injury.  But hey we are off to the playoffs against the Bears next week.

 

Saturday 12/27/2025 Post: Packers get run over by Derrick Henry

 The Green Bay Packers were run over, literally, by Derrick Henry and the Ravens handing the Packers their third straight loss.  While the Packers defense looked helpless the Packers offense showed some life, even with starting QB Jordan Love sitting the game out.  Backup QB Malik Willis, aka Malik the Freak, put on a show before having to leave late in the game due to injury.  Unfortunately Malik's magic wasn't enough when the defense let the Ravens not only score repeated touchdowns but also take all the time off the clock to do it.  Fortunately other NFC teams keep losing as well putting the Packers in a good spot to still make the playoffs.

 

Saturday 12/20/2025 Post: Packers lose to the Bears

 2014 flashbacks danced through the heads of Packers fans everywhere as yet another onside kick was botched leading to a loss.  At least this time it wasn't for a shot at the Super Bowl.

 

Sunday 12/14/2025 Post: Packers lose to Broncos

 The Green Bay Packers may have lost more than a game to the Denver Broncos today.  Stand out defensive star, Micah Parsons, left the game with an assumed ACL injury and star wide receiver, Christian Watson, left the game with a suspected chest injury.  The Packers went from a 9 point lead in the 3rd quarter to one of the worst 2nd halfs of football I've ever witnessed.

 

Sunday 12/7/2025 Post: Packers beat Bears

 The Packers took care of business and beat the Bears taking over first place in the NFC North.

 

Thursday 11/27/2025 Thanksgiving Post: Packers Beat Lions

 The Packers feasted in a victory over the Lions on Thanksgiving 2025! Yum!

 

Sunday 11/23/2025 Post: Packers Beat Vikings

 The Packers turned the Vikings upside down in their dominant victory.  I guess 9 was really 6 all along.

 

Sunday 11/16/2025: Packers beat Giants

 The magic number, 27, appears once again in a Packers victory.  That is 5 out of 6 wins where the Packers final score was 27.  Jordan Love is also officially 27 now.  The game against the Giants wasn't a pretty game but a win is a win.

 

I Really Like No Man's Sky but....

 

 I have put 50+ hours into No Man's Sky since I bought it following the Voyagers update in September. There is an addictive quality to the game, and I am enjoying my time. Yet, in the back of my mind, I’m not feeling the sense of accomplishment to match the addictive quality. I’m doing cool things and progressing through achievements, but something still feels missing.

 The number of systems in No Man's Sky is staggering, which is not a surprise considering the game has been live for nine years now and, with its underlying model of exploring unique planets—unique planets that there are more of than can ever possibly be explored (literally; it would take a player 585 billion years to visit every planet if they visited one per second!). This is where the initial addiction sets in. Do thing one and thing two opens; then while there, three, four, and five, and then before you know it... well, it's early in the morning and you've forgotten to go to sleep.

 That is a good feeling to have! It’s been a while since I just lost myself in a game—especially one that is not explicitly a multiplayer game. Add in the fact that No Man’s Sky is a seamless game, and it’s a magical experience at times. For example, last night, I took off from my “Home Sweet Home” base, jumped into the cockpit of my starship, and boosted through the atmosphere into space. A space fleet warped into the area around me and started a cargo scan, but they were a moment too late, as I was already jumping to lightspeed. Seconds later, I dropped out of lightspeed and arrived at another planet, descending through its atmosphere to land. Not a single loading screen interrupted that entire experience. String together that sort of sequence over and over again and you can see how you can lose track of time in this game.

 I've built multiple bases, visited space stations, summoned the Anomaly (a multiplayer hub of sorts), completed quests, upgraded various items, and most recently built my first corvette. The corvettes are the main feature of the Voyagers update and allow players to piece together spaceships that have interiors and can be walked around in while being flown. To put it simply: corvettes are a game changer. I 100% get the buzz and why No Man's Sky rocketed to over 100,000+ concurrent players on Steam (plus it's also on consoles).

 The first time I got up out of my pilot seat in my corvette, enabled autopilot, and then walked through my ship's interior areas and opened my hatch to watch the world glide around below me... wow. Then the fact that, if you are daring enough to try, you can do the same in outer space... there is so much potential here. And to think this tech is in No Man's Sky because they needed it for their MMO-in-development, Light No Fire, and I am a giddy kid in a candy shop here, folks.

 But, but, but... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for my enjoyment of No Man's Sky.

 While there are more planets to explore than time in the universe for players to do it, it doesn't mean there is the variety of experiences to match on those planets. Sure, the exact mix of visuals differs and everything on that planet will be uniquely named and available for you to discover, but they are, for all intents and purposes, mostly the same as the last planet you were on. Each planet will also be littered with the same repeating points of interest as well, which drive the same gameplay loops regardless of the planet.

 Progression in the game starts out tied to the planets you have access to and the resources available to you on those planets, but that quickly changes as you gain access to trade posts, space stations, and the Anomaly, where many materials can be bought for units (the in-game currency). Units are easy to come by, so it doesn't take long to shift to a mode where you just buy all of your materials instead of extracting them from planets. For some players that may be fine, but for me it felt like it minimized much of the game. That drive to explore more planets for new resources goes away. The desire to set up a base with automated mining operations is diminished.

 The game is also quasi-multiplayer. Players can enable multiplayer and, if you happen into the same planet or galaxy as another player, you can interact. Or you can visit the Anomaly, which is a player hub of sorts that you can summon anywhere in the universe, and once inside you see other players and their ships. This gives you a chance to see what others are up to and you get to see a lot of cool ships—well, that is except when someone's custom modded ship crashes the Anomaly you are instanced into.

 Being able to use mods to change how you play the game and what you are able to accomplish are all fine, but when it comes to multiplayer it takes away from the sense of accomplishment. I had spent hours and hours on my dumpster of a ship—both collecting the parts and funds to build it—only to run into players that clicked a few buttons and got way better results.

 I don't fault the game for supporting mods. I don't fault players for using mods. It just takes away from my experience knowing that the playing field isn’t level. It also doesn't take mods for players to un-level that field. The game by default allows players to change all sorts of settings or modes. Basically, you can load up creative mode and do anything—build anything—without thinking about material costs or expenses. Or you can crank everything to hardcore settings and be miserable. I have been playing on the out-of-the-box normal settings. But again, knowing other players are playing how they want eats away at my sense of overall progression in the game. Yep; that is a me problem and I get that.

 The game is also buggy—or maybe a better word is janky. I routinely get stuck on things or fall through solid objects. Combat is laughably bad, but I get that it's not a focus of the game. Base components are often found not working; that power I wired up last play session suddenly doesn't work this session. That terrain I modified so that I could place my base popped back into existence. Numerous times, trying to land in the Anomaly or a space station has sent me into a spiral across the space-time continuum.

 Overall, the game has an addictive gameplay loop and a never-ending array of options and systems to explore. However, with the wide nature of the game comes a certain blandness. Players can play however they want, which is good for a single-player experience but makes it a poorer multiplayer experience. With No Man's Sky you can't have your cake and eat it too. It is still a fascinating game, and I definitely got my money's worth out of it but the game play is only skin deep. To be determined if I continue playing much more in the future.

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

Forward to Stella Montis

 I've been putting my gaming hours into ARC Raiders over the past week, and it's been a blast. The game is a perfect mix of PvP and PvE mashed into an extraction game that sometimes features shooting from a third-person perspective. It is fun and addictive, and only getting better with its first major patch going live today.

 Before we get into the patch, I want to say a few things about the game because I am having a ton of fun playing solo and with friends. Every raid is tense. Every successful extraction hits the joy center of my brain. Quests, workshop upgrades, projects, and more keep me going back topside over and over again. Even when I end up dead and leave everything with my corpse, I am still enjoying it.

 The game threads the needle on making death sting yet bearable enough that you want to come back for more; replacing lost gear always feels within reach. This encourages better player interactions across the game, as everyone is not a walking loot box. Chances are if you don't shoot first, others won't shoot back. Everyone is currently working on something—a quest, project, or upgrade—and they don’t want to be hassled any more than you do.

 The game has bred a unique community camaraderie because the real enemies are the ARC robots that infest the world. They are the reason humankind was driven underground and why we have a job as raiders to head topside and scavenge for scraps. Getting into a fight with another player is a surefire way to attract the attention of nearby ARC, and even the weakest of them have no problem dropping players. Many an aggressor has found themselves in the same downed state as their targets—all thanks to a sting from a hornet drone.

 PvP still happens. Some players play the villain and ambush you at the extract points. Other players just have itchy trigger fingers. As players get further along in the game and have more supplies stashed away, they are more likely to risk losing some gear to a PvP fight. When playing in the trio or duo queue, you are much more likely to run into a fight, while the solo queue has been friendlier. Lots of players are in the “just on a quest; don't shoot!” mode in solo lobbies.

 The “just on a quest” aspect also plays a key role in how we are experiencing the game currently. Quests and other objectives give a reason to be in the world beyond just looting and looking for a fight. So far, the game has offered me, as a more casual player, plenty of quests and upgrades to work on—each one gets progressively harder and forces me to step that much farther out of my comfort zone during a raid.

 Which takes us to the patch—and one of the major things the patch is adding is a community event to unlock the next zone, Stella Montis. All players globally are being asked to contribute supplies to work toward unlocking the zone. While the patch has only been live a short time this morning, the community had already made 14%+ progress—much faster than the developers intended—so it’s been reset back to 1%. It will be slower now, which means we'll all be back topside grinding away toward a shared goal, encouraging good behavior even more.

 This type of event will be key for ARC Raiders in the long run. Anything that keeps raiders going topside to loot and extract will keep players engaged. Add in their optional character wipe system that resets progress at the promise of a permanent reward, and players will be cycling through low-end and high-end content. With how clever and dangerous the ARC enemies are, including new ones being added in the patch, and how conditions on maps can change with weather and special conditions (night, lightning storm, etc.), there is a lot of replayability and fresh experiences to have.

 Overall, I am really enjoying this game, and it's a welcome refuge from thinking about the demise of New World. Patches are adding content faster than my more casual playtime allows me to complete it, which is a perfect combination for my needs. Friends are playing and enjoying it as well, and there is nothing better than having a buddy to pick you back up after missing yet another shot on a swarming ARC drone. See y’all topside.

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

Monday 11/10/2025 Post: Packers Lose and Eagles Win

 I am putting as much effort into this meme as the Packers put into their offense tonight.  Another embarrassing loss for this team.  Highest paid QB in the league by the way.

 

Acceptance At Last

 Hear ye, hear ye, let it be known across the land that I, Heartlessgamer, have come to peace with the New World end-of-development announcement. Not really, but I have a grief checklist to complete, and the last checkbox is acceptance. And if there is anything certain in life, it is death and taxes; and for MMORPG players, completing checklists.

 The acceptance stage of grief is all about exploring options, new plans, and moving on.

 Except I can't move on yet because New World dropped a bunch of new content in what we assume will be the last major patch. Multiple in-progress features were released to the game: daggers, the Reekwater revamp, global storage, and more. That means there are immediately new things to do and try in New World, and I owe it to my 4,000+ hours invested to try them out.

 As far as new plans go, I was able to play a little bit of ARC Raiders, a game I was waiting on for months after it didn't get shadow-dropped this past summer. It’s an amazing game with incredible experiences. So you'll find me over there in the solo queue, beating down robots and screaming, "FRIENDLY FRIENDLY FRIENDLY DON'T SHOOT!"

 That brings us to exploring options. What MMO is Heartless going to go play in the wake of New World's demise? I'm glad you asked.

 Guild Wars 2 jumps to mind immediately, as I have put an enormous number of hours into it prior to shifting to New World as my daily driver MMO. I have tried revisiting it a couple of times during my time playing New World, and I own the expansions up through Path of Fire, but in those revisits I couldn't jump backwards to tab-target combat. New World really spoiled me with its action combat. But if New World isn't an option, then Guild Wars 2 combat is still pretty good.

 Guild Wars 2 also has an amazing in-game economy, which was one of my favorite aspects when I've played it for extended periods. It is also casual in nature with true horizontal progression. Most time in Guild Wars 2 is spent doing something of interest vs. doing something strictly for vertical power gain. The barrier to entry for PvP is also low, which makes it easy to try things out—and easier to get friends to consider it.

 Albion Online is also attractive to go back to, as I have a few hundred hours logged there. While it is a step back visually because of its top-down isometric view, it more than makes up for it in variety of features. The in-game economy is unmatched in my opinion, and I played the market aspect of the game for months even after I gave up on PvP and PvE content. It is solo and casual friendly, but at the same time offers a deep, grind-it-out aspect for the more dedicated player. There is every level of PvP content you can imagine: risk-free and repeatable through to hardcore drop-everything-on-death.  Then private housing islands, crafting, refining, gathering, collecting, and even fishing!  There is a lot to enjoy about Albion Online.

 Ashes of Creation is in alpha testing and is the "next big thing" in MMOs (if there is such a thing). I've had a mixed history following and writing about this game. I don't think it's ready for my time yet, so I'll keep on watching and waiting for its fuller form to make it to a release.

 

 

 In reality, I am going to keep playing New World. I have a few months, at least, of enjoyment left. My friends and I will also be playing ARC Raiders. Then we'll re-evaluate early next year and maybe—you never know—just possibly, New World might get a lifeline.

Daggers of Depression

 New World Aeternum released a minor patch last night and with it they pulled back the curtain on multiple pending updates to the game that were in the hopper before Amazon rug pulled the entire studio and canceled the game's development.  Chief among the surprises waiting us was the reveal of daggers as the next weapon that would have been in New World.

 Daggers show up as a weapon skill tree option and their skill trees are available.  They cannot be unlocked yet and no daggers exist in the game yet (that we've found anyways; could be a drop hiding out there).  Update: daggers can be obtained from Reekwater's new vendor but they cannot be equipped.

 

Update: you can get daggers from the Reekwater Soulwarden vendor that was added in the patch.  Do the new Reekwater questline to learn more.

 The assumption is there is a quest or some other gating element not yet in the game to be able to equip the daggers. Update 2: And we can actually equip daggers!  Holy f'ing sh!t.

Dagger skill trees

 The Well of Fortune in Cutlass Keys was updated to include a dagger cache which goes to show that they were not forgetting about the FFA PvP zone and that they had plans to update to be relevant again in the new end game system.  Unfortunately no information on how to learn the dagger cache recipe (or the recipe for the new perk charms also pictured).

Dagger cache and unreleased perk charms in Well of Fortune

 Reekwater also received a zone update and a new node of the main story quest was added to the zone. We knew a zone rework was underway for Reekwater so its good to see some of that making it live into the game. 

 This all adds up to bring us into the depression stage of our grief journey since the end of development announcement.  Daggers were a much desired weapon within the community and knowing that areas like the FFA PvP zone were getting some love for the new end game was very promising.  Everything was headed in the right direction for this game.  Thank you to the few remaining devs who are letting this stuff leak out in the update files. 

Sunday 11/2/2025 Post: Packers lose to the Panthers

 The Green Bay Packers lost 16-13 to the Carolina Panthers. Once again, an early turnover for the Green Bay Packers became an insurmountable challenge for the team to overcome.

 Matt LaFleur coached teams, whether Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love at QB, never seem to be able to adapt when the early game goes poorly. Sprinkle in some "f*ck it, chuck it" from Jordan Love, and this game was painful to watch as a Packers fan.

 The defense couldn’t get off the field, and the offense couldn’t execute. Then Matt LaFleur made the baffling decision to go for a TD on fourth down late in the game instead of kicking a field goal.

 This is the same Matt LaFleur who, a short few years ago, did the opposite in the NFC Championship Game—where he kicked a field goal instead of going for a TD. In the NFC Championship Game, it was the wrong call, so maybe that was in his brain here. But in this context against Carolina, a field goal made a ton of sense.

 Sure enough, after turning the ball over on downs with no points, the Panthers promptly gave it right back, with our defense finally figuring out how to stop Carolina. Then we marched right down and scored a TD.

 Had we kicked the field goal earlier, we’d have been up by three, but instead we settled for a tie ball game and gave the ball back to Carolina with 2:32 left in the game. A few plays later, time ticked away and Carolina kicked the game-winning field goal.

 Shocked Pikachu face. Damn, this team is dumb sometimes. Fire LaFleur or something, I guess.