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.