Some Random Friday Thoughts

 

Credit: ChatGPT generating an image to go with the blog post.

 It's been a tough work week and I've found myself juggling trying to play four different games: New World Aeternum, Dune Awakening, Battlefield 2042, and as of yesterday No Man's Sky.  On top of that I've gotten back to keeping on top of updates for other games: NASCAR 25, ARC Raiders, Battlefield 6, Ashes of Creation and Star Citizen to name a few.  And then my youngest son is starting into his first year of kid's activities of which I always volunteer.  All of that to say things are busy and blogging is on the bottom of the stack.  But it's Friday and I just have some thoughts to throw out there.

Magic the Gathering Arena

I tend to always catch various Magic the Gathering posts, specifically about Arena, on Reddit and get myself tangled up in the comments.  I really do miss playing this game but the financial commitment was something I couldn't keep up with (and it's even worse now with the pace of sets being released).  But I still miss it.  I still want to log in and cook up a deck or two; maybe throw down in Brawl (Arena's version of commander).  No action I am taking here; just sharing the thought out loud.

NASCAR

 I've gotten myself into NASCAR again lately.  I sort of take a pass at the sport once every five or so years.  I grew up in the Earnhardt days and still to this day find his legacy and story fascinating (seriously; I watched the recent Earnhardt documentary multiple times now).  The racing career of his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and now what Jr does to represent the sport is equally fascinating.  I have also always dabbled in racing games; more of the Wreckfests of the genre than NASCAR games but there is a promising NASCAR 25 game coming out this year from the iRacing devs that seems promising.  I am probably going all out for it with steering wheel and pedals.

ARC Raiders

 Holy freaking heck do I want this game to be here already.  That's all I wanted to share.

No Man's Sky

 I will likely have more posts on this but it is shaping up very nice to be a filler game for me between now and ARC Raiders releasing.  New World Aeternum is the loser here as time for that game is going to No Man's Sky for now.  No Man's Sky is just scratching the right itch.  It also helped that I felt like my $24 spent on the game was a direct donation to HelloGames work on Light No Fire which I can't wait for more information on!

Ashes of Creation

 This game occupies way too much of my thought cycles.  I want the game to be everything that I think it will be but also want it to dull the edge on the potential toxic aspects like always on PvP and the idea of "red" player killers.  Just give us a good MMO and cut the toxic gameplay aspects.  Players cannot freaking help themselves these days so it will never go the way that is expected.

New World Aeternum

 The current loser in the game of "what will heartlessgamer play today".  Still waiting for the big news of Season 10's changes but as that lines up close to when ARC Raiders will land it's hard to know where I am going to be with gaming time.  Also Dune Awakening isn't letting up as my friends and I are still pulling some fun out of that game (even if it feels like pulling teeth most of the time... Drak and Moist would know what I mean... and Drak and Moist you know who you are and who I am and why I am saying this).

Starting a new journey in No Man's Sky

 No Man's Sky released a massive update yesterday, and it has not only the No Man's Sky community buzzing but also catching the attention of the MMORPG community. In the update deep-dive video, the game's creator hints that the changes to No Man's Sky are also being applied to their unreleased MMO known as Light No Fire. While the MMO news is cool, the update to No Man's Sky is just as exciting—and so cool that I bought the game to give it a whirl.

 First, you need to watch the update video to get a sense of what has been brought to No Man's Sky:

 The big takeaway is that spaceships can now be turned into mobile homes—if mobile homes could zoom through space. Interiors of spaceships are now able to be customized and explored. Previously, players would either be in the pilot seat or outside of the ship. Now, players can get out of their pilot seat and walk around inside larger ships. They can place crafting stations and other decorations. Players can even open the door midflight and jump out!

 For some players, this means they are packing up their bases and investing into large ships that take their place—true mobile homes!

 It is kind of amazing to look back at all of No Man's Sky's updates. Launched to a ton of fanfare, the game initially struggled as it did not live up to the hype. Since then, the game has released update after update after update and never asked players for another penny. The developers have won a ton of goodwill with the community.

 Combine that community sentiment with what appears to be a groundbreaking update for the game, and my interest was piqued. The game was also on sale for $23, which seemed like a reasonable price for me to jump in. So off I set on my adventure.

 I had played free trials and weekends before, so this isn't my first rodeo. The start of my normal-mode adventure felt familiar, and I was quickly up and flying my spaceship. The UI and the number of actions that can be taken at any given time takes some adjustment, but once I started getting the hang of it, it felt more and more natural. I'd still like some more hotkeys to specific endpoints, so I’ll have to spend some time figuring out if there are any settings I can tweak.

 Unlike previous trials, I am more hooked this time around. I have an endgame in mind with building my own custom ship, and I now have a journey to get there. For now, it’s just about learning the game and the various systems. I documented my starting journey with some screenshots.

A new world... a new adventure

The scream of engines overhead was constant.  A mystery for now on who these pilots and ships may be.

A snowy planet; dang it's cold here.

Blast off!  Here... we... go!

 

Surprise Event: CHOAM Salvage Rights

 A surprise event dropped in Dune Awakening today.  It is called CHOAM Salvage Rights.  Hagga Basin is filled with the sound of turret fire and crashing ships as CHOAM cargo vessels are shot down across the zones.  Shai-Hulud is busy filling his gullet with the remains.  Players can race to collect the cargo before Shai-Hulud appears!

 A new vendor is available at various trading posts and new contracts are being issued to collect the shot down ship's cargo.  On the new vendor are multiple weapon/armor skins and the ability to get a turret as a decoration in your base.

 A video of the action:

  I am secretly hopeful the turrets will become a fully functional base feature in the future as it'd be awesome to be able to build a base in the PvP portion of the DD and set up air defense turrets.  That is the sort of exciting change this game needs! 

Are we losing faith in Ashes of Creation?

 Ashes of Creation has reached a noteworthy milestone—launching Phase III of its second alpha test. This update expands the world significantly, introduces new playable races, brings in a new archetype, enhances the initial player experience, tweaks guild systems, and advances the node progression system—among other improvements.

 Yet, community sentiment seems divided, and some players are expressing growing frustration.

 I came across a video from content creator Jamie Kaos expressing discouragement with the game's current pace. In the clip, Jamie appears disillusioned—indicating he may no longer have the time or interest to continue investing in Ashes testing. He even hints that his guild, formed around the game, is losing momentum—a tone best described as “disappointment.”

 I’ve navigated these waters before—especially during the “Narc” controversy, where community members took sides. Initially, I leaned toward Narc, but later recognized the nuance and re-centered my perspective. At that time, Narc voiced frustration over delayed updates that didn’t match his expectations.

 Now, Jamie echoes similar concerns, though with a more level head than Narc. He questions whether the development team can deliver the scale and frequency of updates being promised—and whether the team is moving in a direction that aligns with his expectations.

 While Jamie suggests the game might be targeting a younger audience and not the "old guard" I think that’s misguided. The average MMO or PC gamer is getting older; current surveys place that average in the mid-to-late 30s (around 36–38 years old), not younger. So, if anything, Ashes is being built for “us”—the seasoned MMO veterans. Even Steven Sharif (creative director) is in his 40s or 50s and has crafted this game as a passion project. It's the “old guard” who are most likely to carry it forward.

 Another factor at play is content creator fatigue. When updates come slowly or are thin in scope, creators struggle to stay engaged. Jamie—much like Narc—faces the challenge of producing content when testing is grind-heavy and lacks fresh hooks. It’s only natural that he’d compare it to established games like World of Warcraft, which regularly provides new content and consistent deliveries.

 All this brings me back to my own stance post-Narc: the most impactful statement I can make about Ashes is whether I choose to participate in the Alpha. Right now, I haven’t. That speaks louder than any number of words I've put on page here.

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.   

All in the Name: Reaper Actual

 Minecraft.  A game where you mine and then craft.  World of Warcraft. A game where you explore the world behind the Warcraft universe.  Everquest. A game where you quest ever on.  Battlefield.  A game where you fight on a battlefield.  Reaper Actual.  A game.  Err; wait... what actual reaping is being done?

 John Smedley, of SOE and Daybreak fame (or not-fame), is up to new things in an MMOFPS game going by the title of Reaper Actual.  Per their Steam page:

Reaper Actual is an Open-World Persistent Shooter where hundreds of players engage in FPS combat against each other and 5 NPC Factions on the massive war-torn island of Marova. 

 Terrible name aside I am always interested in new MMOs; especially MMOFPS.  Even more interested considering Matt Higby, creative director of Planetside 2, is involved in the project.  I lost many a good hour in Planetside 2 and would play a modern day version of it in a heartbeat.

 There are some concerns to get out of the way first.  The game is intending to feature NFTs in the versions of the game.  Fortunately NFTs won't be included in the Steam and Epic Game Store versions.  However, it remains to be seen what NFTs will impact since the game is an MMO and while my version may not have NFTs if someone elses version does that impacts me. Also someone should tell them they are a couple years late to capitalize on the NFT fad... lol.

 Secondly there is plans to use generative AI in the game.  Think ChatGPT generating a sidequest for players.  For some gamers this is a dealbreaker.  For me, I'm still on the fence with AI but tend to be an optimist for it's use in games.  Technology aside; the important thing is how the game plays and if it plays well then I don't care about if AI is being used.

 The game intends to be a full "drop loot on death" game and Smedley compared it to extraction shooters like Escape from Tarkov.  The promise being if you get killed and looted that you will be able to track down your killer and get a shot at getting the loot back.  This includes possibly raiding their base.

 Yes, the game will supposedly have player bases that can be raided.  Group together with friends and bigger and badder bases can built.  Bigger and badder bases means bigger base raids and battles.  Up to 200-player base raids apparently will be supported. Apparently and supposedly because, well, we all know Smedley's history.

 My interest is piqued and I'll keep tabs on the game.  It may be worth a few cycles worth of play when it eventually lands.

Hideouts and Raider Dens

Raider dens are coming to ARC Raiders!

 A pair of game updates came across my plate in the last few days that I wanted to share.  Valve has made updates to Deadlock and added a social lobby they are calling the Hideout where players can hang out before and in between games.  Then, much to my excitement, ARC Raiders announced they are adding Raider Den's which will be apartments that player's adorn with items as they progress in the game.  Hideouts and Raider Dens add a layer on top of the core game underneath; a layer that makes the games feel a little more like home than just a game and I'm all for it.

 Deadlock's update was shared in their latest post: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1422450/view/669466707009471267?l=english

 Welcome to the Hideout! The Hideout replaces the existing Dashboard UI and is your personal area to play around in while waiting for a match. You can invite friends to your hideout, or join them in theirs. We hope it will be a fun place to spend time as well as provide future opportunities for personalization, achievements, and events.

 ARC Raiders update was hosted in Discord so I copied the text below:

We’re making room for you in Speranza, quite literally! Here’s an update from the team on what to expect when it comes to lodging:

As every experienced Raider knows, the abandoned wilderness of the Rust Belt is vast and unforgiving. Missions Topside are necessary, but even the tireless Raider needs a place to lay their bruised head - and all their souvenirs - after a long day of gunning down ARC.

Enter, the Raider Den. Shani will be kind enough to lend you a cozy bedroom to call your own. Well, “cozy” might be stretching it. “Bedroom,” too. When you arrive, you’ll be greeted by a metal cot, peeling decorations, and a door frame with a notable lack of door. But hey, it’s better than living Topside! 

Fortunately, you won’t have to live in squalor forever. As you progress through ARC Raiders, your Den will progress with you. As players ourselves, we know how rewarding it is for you to visually see the progress your Raider is making, and the loot they’re accumulating, so our intention with the Den is to do just that. Trinkets you find Topside will litter the floors and the shelves of your den. Your best guns will be proudly displayed on the walls. 

Your Raider Den screen will be a living representation of your progress. Your highest-value items will be proudly displayed on your shelves. (Even if the most valuable thing you own at the moment is fifteen rubber ducks.) Think of the Den as a bird’s nest for all your trinkets, old world oddities, guns, and fancy weapon attachments.

We plan to continue refining the Den. We’ll also try to get some of those mystery stains off the walls before you get here… 

 Of the two updates; I think Deadlock's is the most promising as it allows players to enter and interact in the space where as ARC Raider's is described as a "screen" which indicates you won't set foot in it with your character and likely more have a static view similar to what we saw in Tech Test 2 for the workshop.  Hopefully over time Embark will improve on the concept for ARC Raiders.  There is no doubt Valve will continue to iterate on the Hideout.

 For anyone that followed my posts about ARC Raiders they will know one of my biggest requests was to add a social hub for us to interact in.  Raider Dens is a step in that direction and I was excited to see this update for the game.  October can't get here soon enough so I can check it out!

 

Battlefield 2042 is FUN

 

We're back on Iwo Jima in Battlefield 2042!

 With the Battlefield 6 open beta behind us and its release imminent, EA/DICE has decided to have one last hurrah in Battlefield 2042 with a special event that brings the famed Iwo Jima map from past Battlefields into the specialist-laden 2042. And boy, is it fun.

 First, the size of Iwo Jima puts everything in Battlefield 6 to shame. If someone told me you could fit all of the BF6 maps into Iwo Jima in 2042, I would believe it. That’s how big the map feels and plays. The map features everything from a naval fleet offshore—where the attackers launch from—all the way up to a volcano riddled with a maze of caves (as was common on Japanese-held islands during WWII). Everything about the map screams “this is Battlefield.”

 Another winning aspect of 2042 compared to 6 is the presence of tons of vehicles. Iwo Jima, for example, features upwards of 17 vehicles fighting it out. Helicopters are constantly overhead, tanks and IFVs are always pushing forward, and boats come rushing through the water during the initial sea deployment. A moment rarely goes by without a vehicle causing havoc, and it creates the glorious Battlefield experience I expect. Compare that to BF6, where the largest beta map featured, at most, four vehicles. Vehicles you rarely saw, either because they were paper-thin or—like jets—spent their time a mile away from the actual map thanks to the tiny ground area compared to the vast overhead airspace.

 You might think that with 2042’s vehicle count, the infantry experience would be miserable, but that’s far from the truth. Infantry gameplay is really solid on Iwo Jima. While it’s a big map, there are numerous compact points of interest with good fortifications that let infantry dodge and weave incoming vehicle fire and fight it out for final control of the points. On top of that, the map’s size allows anti-air players to step back from the frontline and focus on harassing air targets.

 Then there are the specialists, which many Battlefield players felt were a huge misstep for 2042, pushing it closer to a hero shooter than a Battlefield title. While that may have been the case at launch when there was no corresponding class system, that’s no longer true. Specialists now fit neatly into the class system and offer a ton of fun gameplay options thanks to their unique gadgets. Honestly, I’m a little sad they’re missing in BF6. I don’t think they were absolutely necessary, but in terms of fun, specialists add a lot of variety. In their current state in 2042, they complement the Battlefield classes really well.

 Overall, I’m having a blast jumping back into 2042. I’m not even performing well—I’ve placed in the bottom half of the scoreboard each match, my K:D ratio is below 1, and I’ve been on the losing side more often than not. In fact, I was doing much better in the Battlefield 6 beta, where I had close to a 2:1 K:D ratio and regularly topped the scoreboard. Yet I wasn’t having fun in 6, while I’m having an absolute blast in 2042.

 2042 just has so much more to offer thanks to the maps, specialist shenanigans, and the vehicle-vs-infantry balance. All of that to say: if you want a FUN Battlefield experience, jump into 2042 and skip 6’s launch. Maybe BF6 will turn things around, and years from now, we’ll be having the same comeback discussion about it—just like we’re having now about 2042, years after its launch.

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.   

Battlefield 6's Trailer Was A Lie

 Battlefield 6 just wrapped its second beta weekend and the community is divided. Some players swear it’s the next big thing, but I walked away shaking my head. This wasn’t the Battlefield I grew up on. Instead of sprawling, all-out-warfare, we got jammed into tiny, overcrowded maps that felt more like that other shooter. And after rewatching that first reveal trailer, I can say it outright: it was a lie.

 I grabbed some screen grabs from that original trailer (which you can view on YouTube here).  Comments are added in the caption of each image.  Where, oh where, are these epic Battlefields we see in the trailer because they certainly were not in the open beta weekends.

There is in fact no vehicles, let alone helicopters, on this map.  The bridge as well is not part of the map.  This could have been such a cool experience if the bridge and adjoining housing area were all part of the map.  But nope; instead we get a couple blocks of murder tunnel buildings.

 

Remember Gulf of Oman?  Heartlessgamer does.  This clip from the video led me to believe maybe we'd be heading back to that classic map.  Maybe it'll be included upon release?

Multiple vehicles!? Tanks no less!  Sign me up.  Oh wait; sorry the best the Battlefield 6 beta could offer is two vehicles and zero open spaced on the map.

An army running off to fight?  Not in Battlefield 6 beta where most matches felt like a couple squads.  Battlefield 6 also did the rare thing in the series and took a step back on max player count on a map.  Apparently 128 was too many so we have to go back to 64.  I guess that's fine since they also made tiny little maps instead of sprawling battlefields.

This image is the heart breaker because what is shown here would be an amazing start to a Gulf of Oman style map made in a modern Battlefield game.  None of the maps have anything close to this image. How the hell did they put this in the trailer and miss that this, THIS, is what we expect of Battlefield games?

See; they were trying to warn us in the trailer.  The trailer, in fact, wasn't anywhere close to the actual game we were going to get.

Dune Awakening Patches Just Don't Go Well

 

 Dune Awakening is having a rough patch day.  While the most recent patch brings a slew of improvements to the game and makes the end game deep desert more approachable for players not interested in PvP it also has brought a host of issues.

 The biggest issue players seem to be facing are crashes or being stuck on the entering server screen.  Players are reporting that when pressing "continue" to enter a server they get stuck on the loading/entering server screen for several minutes.  Others are reporting they are just crashing at this step.  No workaround is known as of this posting.

 Next; it seems like a new dupe has been likely introduced (while old dupes were fixed in the patch).  This time instead of naked players sacrificing themselves at the auction house in the capital cities we have naked players sacrificing themselves a the public thopter transport stations.  At this point in Dune Awakening it is assumed any naked players using respawn anywhere is some form of exploit to dupe items.

 The patch brought us the coveted "depost/extract all water" feature which will save millions of clicks for players.  Also full water containers can now be sold.  However, the change also seems to have brought the ability for players to enter other players bases and steal their water.  Players are logging in to find their cisterns drained.

 And not necessarily on the "bug" front but the community seems torn on the changes to the Deep Desert.  Previously players had to venture far into the PvP region of the desert to find Tier 6 resource nodes to harvest.  A bit of risk for a big reward.  Now the PvE area of the desert is loaded with Tier 6 resources and there is a mad scramble to lock in those safe PvE areas for harvesting.  Personally I see it as a good change but understand the community feedback that it takes away from the risk/reward that the PvP deep desert provided.

 I am still playing the game and will check out the patch some more.  

Camelot Unchained Video

 I did something I rarely do: I watched a YouTube video at normal speed. Why?  Because Camelot Unchained has a new video out and I needed to evaluate the game at normal speed.  You can watch the video below and then read on for my thoughts. 

 For a bit of catch up; Camelot Unchained is a crowd funded MMO piloted by Mark Jacobs of Dark Ages of Camelot (DAoC) and Mythic Entertainment fame.  It has been in development now for 13 years since it was first kick started in the heyday of Kickstarer.  The supposed "beta 1" has been ongoing for at least 7 years at this point.  To say it's been a long time coming is being polite.

 So what did we get for 13 years of development? To be honest: a game that looks like it was being released 13 years ago.  The graphics are antiquated, the UI is yesterday, and the player movement/combat looks dated.

 But, and I mean this as a big but, it looks playable and visuals aside I can at least see myself being interested in giving the game a try should it ever make an open beta or release.  While everything felt slow in the video and polish is missing (damage numbers going to the 8th decimal point for example) I still got a sense for what they were aiming for and I got some DAoC vibes when they were on 

 There are some other details we could squabble about such as it seems range play dominates the combat as we see almost no melee range combat in the video.  The archer that is featured seems to have a very, very long range.  Also the PvE featured is pretty generic; pull a mob and kill it before it can get to you then run away if it does get to you.

 Anyways I'm not here to squabble.  I am just excited to see a game from this team.  Yes, I know there is a bunch of controversy around Mark Jacobs and how he has run things but I'd be lying if I said there isn't drama around every crowd funded MMO at this point.  Just get me the game so I can get the bit of value my Kickstarter dollars I invested.