New World Aeternum is FINALLY here!

Here we go.... again

 Today is the day that New World relaunches as New World Aeternum and launches on consoles along with bringing a slate of updates to the game for PC players.  There is a new 10-man raid, match making in PvP modes (arenas and outpost rush), a free-for-all PvP island, new gear score max of 725, and many other changes.  Annnnnndddddd I won't be able to enjoy it because my backup internet solution (due to Hurricane Helene knocking out our main wired connection from Spectrum) can't cut it for action gaming!

 One item that has been a hot topic is the addition of target lock in PvP. During the Aeternum open beta the target lock was pretty aggressive and could track a locked-on target pretty well.  It made sense to have a target lock to help controller players, but with how sticky the lock was it took away most of the "skill" to be able to land attacks.  Players found they could just spam left click and the game would keep them on target (as made famous by TrickTrick winning a duel blindfolded and just clicking his way to the win).

 With the final patch notes for the Aeternum launch provided there are numerous changes coming to the target lock:

• Killing a PvP opponent in target lock will no longer automatically switch to another target
• Target lock now breaks more aggressively when losing line of sight to your target
• A character’s turn speed is now slower when using target lock

 These are all good changes that I think will help make target lock more palatable.  The biggest issue from the open beta was target lock sticking you to the enemy and performing in ways you could not realistically do normally.  It is now closer to the "assist" form that it should be.

 I was originally in the camp of NOT wanting any target lock at all but in reflecting back on it I came to the conclusion that the game needs to try new things to have a fighting chance at a long future. Console is a big part of the current future and there are plenty of games I've played where console players are given some assistance to compete with PC/Mouse&Keyboard players and those games were fine so why not expect that from New World?  There will still be outcry from a vocal few but they are the same vocal few that complain about everything.

 We are also finally getting a new season after Season 5 seemed like it was never going to end and I think it is appropriate they call the new one "Season of Opportunity".  This is the opportunity for the game to turn around.  We are only an hour into the launch here and Steam Charts are all hockey sticking upwards which is a good sign.  That is also just tracking the PC playerbase; we really don't have a sense yet of the uptake on the console side (I don't think it's going to be crazy high but hopefully enough to have made the work worth it for the New World team).

The type of graph we like to see!

 I am a bit bummed I won't be in Aeternum for a bit here until my internet situation stabilizes but I'm excited to get back to New World!  Being excited for the game once again is a better place to be than where I was at back in June with the game.  I'll take it!  See y'all in Aeternum... maybe.... hopefully sometime soon :)

Monday Screenshots: Throne and Liberty Post Helene

 A quick catch up if you haven't followed my Hurricane Helene posts.  I played a few hours of the early access launch for Throne and Liberty; right up until the hurricane took out my internet.  Fourteen (yes, FOURTEEN!) days later we got internet back via TMobile 5G home internet. Unfortunately it's not ideal for gaming due to poor signal at our house, but I did give it a go with Throne and Liberty.

 There were lots, and I mean lots, of deaths.  Disconnecting in the middle of a fight or more fun; lagging as you approach a cliff and learning that there is fall damage in Throne and Liberty.  But I at least got to grab some screenshots to share!

Heartlessgamerr (with two Rs)

Completing a public event

Flying over areas never gets old in this game

Amitoi house where you send your little minions on missions to get you free stuff

Waiting for the giant flying whale

Love the size and scope of this castle

Puzzle quest

Another shot of the large castle

Upgrading green gear to 6 to then transferring it to blue gear

Fishing!

More upgrading gear!  Oooh... Ahhhh... pretty!

My first PvP event... I died a lot since I am well behind on level

Sunday 10/13/2024 Post

 O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?  Packers beat up on the Cardinals and Romeo Doubs comes down with two amazing TD catches a week after coming off a suspension.

 

Helene Update Day 14: I PLAYED THRONE AND LIBERTY

 My TMobile 5G home internet arrived late yesterday which gave me a chance to jump in and play some Throne and Liberty.  This is the first online game I've played since Helene hit two weeks ago! 

 For anyone that hasn't followed along on this journey I bought into the Early Access for Throne and Liberty which started on 9/26.  I played right up to the point where my internet service went out as Helene started making its way inland.  Little did I know it would be 14 days later before I'd be able to return!

 During my hiatus from being offline my friend group, who had NOT planned to play Throne and Liberty, decided it would be a good idea to start playing and then constantly ask me "where you at bro?".  Since they started post Early Access they were on servers that I could not transfer my Early Access character to.  Thus Heartlessgamerr (with two Rs) has been born!

 

Heartlessgamerr

 I had only made it to level 27 on Heartlessgamer proper on the Amos early access server before Helene knocked me offline which was just a few hours of work.  So starting over to play with my friends was not that big of a hit to take and as I'd find out re-leveling was the least of my worries.

 I work in telecom so I hate to throw shade on telecoms and technology that is helping in otherwise tough times, but 5G Home Internet is just not great.  We actually had a better signal than I expected at the house for TMobile but even with that signal the technology is just unreliable.  There is consistent packet loss and latency spikes; not to mention regular periods of it dropping out altogether.

 The result is an unreliable service to play games on, but that did not deter me and it actually highlights one area that Throne and Liberty absolutely shines in!  As I explored there was a bit of rubber banding and frustration waiting for interact actions before eventually hitting some disconnects.  

 But the beauty of Throne and Liberty is its performance and whatever voodoo they use I was able to play effectively and when a disconnect did happen I could get right back into the game.  I am still amazed how they pull off not having long load screens even when dropping me into areas with hundreds of players all while I am on spotty internet!  This performance is entirely worth the price of early access admission and sets a new bar for competitors to match.

 For comparison if I was disconnected from New World it would easily be 4-5 minutes before I was back in game.  In Throne and Liberty I was back within a minute; basically as fast as my PC could boot the game back up.

 It's good that I confirmed to myself that gaming on 5G home internet is NOT reliable but in a pinch it is serviceable.  I still wait patiently for Spectrum to return more reliable service via cables in the ground.

Helene Update Day 13: Wooting 80HE

 As I posted yesterday we've taken a good number of steps towards normalcy in our post Hurricane Helene journey.  One more step today was heralded by the arrival of my long awaited Wooting 80HE delivery!

 I had ordered the 80HE almost a year ago at this point when it was first announced.  The 80HE brings all the goodness of the Wooting keyboards and lekkar switches in a "slightly bigger than 75% keyboard layout so we'll call it 80" size.  Compared to my 60HE this brings back my F keys, arrow keys, and a few extras like PgUp/PgDn/Del/Ins.  While I loved my 60HE I did miss all of extra keys; especially the F keys.  

Helene Update Day 12: Hoping Milton Stays South

 It is day 12 of our Hurricane Helene experience.  A quick recap: 

• We have power
• Spectrum internet is still down with basically no communication on progress
  
• Roads are mostly open now 
• Gas and food is readily available
• Most limits on purchases are also being lifted (hooray for being able to buy two loaves of bread now!)
  

  To attack the Internet issue I have ordered T-Mobile 5G Home internet.  I know the signal is not great here but its better than nothing and definitely better than an hour of commuting each day and paying for parking downtown.  It should arrive in the next couple of days.

 Next we are staring down Hurricane Milton to the south.  It should NOT swing north towards us but hurricanes were also never supposed to be bad for us before Helene dropped 40 trillion gallons of water on the area and knocked down every other tree within driving distance!  I am pretty confident Milton will stay south.

Helene Update Day 9,10, and 11: The long(er) wait begins

 Note: posting these updates a couple days late due to returning home on Day 7 but without Internet and spotty mobile service it has been difficult to get anything done online.  Fortunately, my company has office space still which has power and internet so after years of working from home I am back in the office.

 We returned to a house with power and a nasty mess in the freezers and refrigerator.  We had cleaned most of the freezer items out but on the off chance we got power back we left frozen tomatoes and peppers from the garden harvest this year so we could can them in jars.  That was the wrong choice and I should have thrown them out when I visited the house earlier in the power outage.  So we had to turn off the freezers and let them thaw which we then followed up with some cleaning.

 The fridge was mostly cleaned out except for some items that could withstand longer durations, but we still chucked a bunch of sealed food such as orange juice bottles and stuff like soy sauce.  Having an empty fridge gave us the chance to give it a good scrub down and we are now proud owners of a very clean fridge.

 The fridge/freezer cleaning inspired us to get some more kitchen cleaning done.  That in turn inspired some clean up in the office and then the great room.  It's amazing what you can get done when you put your mind to it and don't have Internet-connected devices distracting you.

 We then took on the task of getting the yard in order.  Fortunately we had no trees down in our yard but plenty of branches and debris.  We also live on the bottom of the hill in the neighborhood so had lots of washed out areas in the yard that needed attention.  

 The wash out reminded me I need to get the grading/drainage situation in the yard cleaned up.  A recent Spectrum cable repair in the yard compromised some of the drainage to the street and that's causing water to pool around the AC unit during these events.  I also need to see if the HVAC company can raise the AC unit.  So much to think about and get on lists to wait for companies to have resources to check out.

 Then it was back inside to relax and catch the Packers game on TV.  We were fortunate that it was an afternoon game on CBS and broadcast in our area.  I had to chuckle to myself after explaining to my oldest son on how over the air TV works even though Internet does not.  

 I also helped myself to an "adult soda" (as we call beer in the household) which is something that is a rare treat as I only have beer a few times a year.  The beer was from a brewery, Sierra Nevada, in western North Carolina which was heavily impacted by Helene and may be out of brewing for a bit so there was a tinge of guilt to go with it.

 Some gaming activity did return to the house.  Personally, I've been too exhausted each day to get any gaming in myself but my oldest son has latched onto Starfield again and is playing a good bit of that.  It was neat to see land vehicles introduced in the game and over all seemed like a better experience.  I need a few things to calm down at work and in real life before I jump into some offline games. Wreckfest is my normal go to.

 Lastly; we wait for Internet to return and for school to start back up.  Tentative plans are the kids go back tomorrow (10/9).  Internet (our provider is Spectrum) is an unknown.  They are not even giving estimates.  Communication is actually very poor from Spectrum currently and when they do give updates they are combative/defensive about the situation.  AT&T and other providers are providing much better updates and are facing the same widespread challenges as Spectrum.  None of them are working in our area.

 There is the option of going with 5G home internet from a provider like T-Mobile so I am weighing that option even though I know coverage is not great and all the major carriers are also heavily impacted for capacity due to the storm damage.  But it may be an option vs waiting likely weeks if not months for Spectrum repairs.

 I'll leave on a positive.  While cleaning up I walked past our fig tree and was greeted with the first ripe fig of the second crop it has set for this year.  It brought a smile to my face.  Mother nature marches forward and so do we!

 

Sunday 10/6/2024 Post

 Packers S Xavier McKinney intercepts pass in fifth straight game to start 2024!

 

Helene Update Day 8: The Return of POWER

 Power, but not internet, has returned to our home on this, the 7th day, of Hurricane Helene aftermath.  The family and I are heading back home today and saying good bye to our gracious hosts that have housed us the last few days.  

 While this closes one chapter in this saga it is not the end.  Trees are still down everywhere.  Hundreds of thousands are still without power.  Many businesses remain closed.  Schools are closed.  Many stores that are open are cash only but there isn't readily available ways to get cash.  There is a likely long wait for repairs to internet as Spectrum has deemed it still too unsafe to work the issue in our neighborhood due to the trees and down poles/lines.

 But we'll take it.  Power back on and getting back home is one more step towards normalcy.  Now I wait for the return of being able to stay up to the wee hours of the morning playing my favorite online games.

Helene Update Day 7: Hope and patience

 It is day 7 without power at our house and we continue to stay relocated with a coworker who has power and internet.  Tomorow is the estimated day for power to come back on at our house so we are hopeful that stays true.  I doubt we will get internet access back at the same time but that is secondary to having power.

 We are also prepping for more rain as another tropical storm makes its way through the gulf and up our way.  We should get a minimal bit of rain but any amount at this point has most of us here cautious.

 We've also been able to get word from some friends up in western NC which was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.  They are in good shape and their area specifically was spared from most damage but they informed us the brother of their's son's girlfriend is missing.  His last known whereabouts before the storm are unknown but his car was found in flood waters and home completely washed away.

 It is a stark reminder that while this is inconvenient for myself and my family; there are others who will forever be changed by this event.  It reinforces the patience needed to get through these events.  More importantly it reminds us that we all need some hope in these trying times.

Bonus cat picture.  This is our neighborhood cat who adopted us.  He's doing just fine. 

Helene Update Day 6: Reminders we still have a ways to go

 Still no power at our house on day 6 of the joy that Hurricane Helene brought us.  The family and I remain relocated.  I am making daily trips to the house to check on things and keep our outdoor animals fed (rabbits and chickens).  School is cancelled now into next week.

 In a more positive update there is now ice arriving at a regular interval in the local grocery stores.  It won't save anyone that lost everything in their fridge/freezer days ago but it allows some short-term storage instead of having to figure out how to use an entire container of milk in a single day.

 I was also able to check around more of the immediate area in our neighborhood and there were sober reminders that we still have a ways to go.  There are still downed trees on power lines that are still untouched.  Street lights are still out.  Roads are still blocked.  Damaged houses covered in tarps also remind us that for some getting back to normal is even farther away.

 An example of a partially blocked road and damaged power lines in our area that is TBD when it will be worked on.

Helene Update Day 5: The Estimate and Throne and Liberty launch day!

 It is day 5 of no power at our home and we got the first glimmer of hope to an end with an estimate from our power company that they will have power restored by Oct 4th.  We were fortunate enough to have a talkative worker that was working at the problem location where the lines were taken down.  He was optimistic but you could tell he was not convinced Oct 4th was real but thats what they had.  They have to replace multiple poles and transformers.  

 That will get power back into the spot where the utilities go underground to feed our house.  The risk after that is the state of the underground lines; some of which were ripped up as trees uprooted.  If the underground lines are damaged then there is unfortunately a wait for a crew that can do buried cables.  

 I don't even want to think about internet.  Down the street you can see Spectrum's buried line sitting six feet up in the air attached to a upturned rootball of a 100 year old oak tree that toppled over.

 With that said the family and I are still relocated to a coworkers house where they have power and internet.   Its a bit of a drive but still checking on the house and family members each day.  Gas is surprisingly available with minimal wait times.

 Also Throne and Liberty's global launch is today.  I played early access for a few hours the day before Helene hit so I have some thoughts but it will be a bit before I get to that and a bit before I get to jump back in Throne and Liberty.  

A pic showing what some streets still look like.

Helene Update Day 4: Relocated

 Day 4 update on our Helene journey.  No power at our house so our family relocated to a coworkers house where they have power.  Power crews are in our neighborhood but the damage is catastrophic and supplies needed for repairs limited.  More and more folks are getting power but in older neighborhoods like ours it is likely a long haul for power... and probably even longer for internet.  

Also counting our blessings seeing neighbors with houses like this. 

Sunday 9/29/2024 Post

 Packers went down 28 to nothin' early against the Vikings but clawed their way back to lose by 2, but it was never really that close.

Helene Update: Day 3 and still no power

Looks like we are in for the long haul for no power.  No estimate on restoration either.  Making use of the scout skills! 

Holy Helene!

We are safe.  Lots of trees down and damaged homes in the area.  Power will be out for a few days probably.  So much for Throne and Liberty early access! 

A picture of some damage on the street. Yes those are power lines under the downed trees!!

Initial Impressions: Deadlock

 Valve’s new project, Deadlock, has landed in a surprise invite-only alpha test, and I found it to be a mixed bag. It’s a shooter-MOBA hybrid that, while ambitious, feels like it’s struggling to figure out what it really wants to be. There’s potential here but there’s a long way to go before this one can be called a hit.

 Deadlock has you running around as a hero, shooting at enemies while juggling MOBA-style lane control and minion management. Movement’s a big focus—you can dash, double jump, and wall run, which sounds great until you realize that these mechanics are not for your average gamer. It’s fun when it works, but for anyone who hasn’t mastered both the art of twitch shooting and MOBA strategy, good luck. The learning curve is steep, and for players like me, it feels frustrating.

  Visually, Deadlock isn’t anything groundbreaking. If you’ve played Fortnite, Overwatch, or any number of other recent Valve games or hero shooters, you’ll know what to expect. What’s more interesting is the setting: prohibition-era New York with occult undertones (forget where I saw this description but I'm stealing it). It’s an unexpected backdrop and what sold me on the game, but it feels like a wasted theme on a MOBA.

  The community’s early reactions, which are, unsurprisingly, all over the place. Some players are digging the mashup of genres and are already organizing tournaments which seems a bit crazy considering the game is in early testing and things change every couple of days.  The biggest issue though has been the invite system where other testers can invite friends to play.  It was (and may still be) plagued with issues.  It took me weeks to get access where others got an invite within hours.  The invite approach has also clogged most community channels with requests or offers of invites instead of discussion about the game.

  In the end, Deadlock is promising, but it didn't grab me. Valve has time to make major changes—it’s still in alpha, after all—but as it stands its just a MOBA skinned in a unique theme. Keep an eye on it if you’re curious, but don’t be surprised if it falls short of expectations if you thought it was something new.

Getting ready for Throne and Liberty global launch

Here we go... again...

 With Throne and Liberty early access just two days away (9/26), I’m gearing up to hit the ground running. For those of you who’ve been following along, you already know I’m no stranger to MMORPGs, and the prep before launch can make or break your experience with a game. I’m not about to be that player running around clueless while everyone else is racing ahead. So, here’s the rundown of what I’m doing to make sure I’m ready to dominate from day one in Throne and Liberty.

 First up, I’m looking for a guild since my regular group isn’t fully committing to Throne (a few of them are jumping in, but not enough for a real guild push). Since the game is so guild-focused, it’s going to be important to join a solid group if I want to get my hands on the best gear and participate in guild objectives. Being part of a competent guild is going to be important when it comes to progressing gear and making the most of what the game has to offer.

 Next up is setting my sights on a build for my character. Throne uses a classless system, so your entire build comes from the items you equip and the upgrades you make to those items. From all accounts and my limited beta experience, the decisions you make in upgrading gear are very important to get right. Items can be changed later, but it gets progressively harder the further you go (or more expensive if you’re swiping your card to buy your gear for builds).

 My likely choice for a build will be Sword and Shield/Wand. This is a paladin-style build, and I’ve always been a long-standing fan of the paladin class. It’s also a tank build, and tanks are always in demand for group PvE content, plus they play a key role in the large-scale group PvP content. As for the details of the build—well, that’s still TBD. I need to do some homework, since a lot has changed since the last beta we played.

 Another important decision is whether I’m going to play early access or not. I’d love to dive into early access, but I’ve got a weekend trip that will keep me away for most of that time so I'd only benefit from a day or two of early access. There are other benefits to the early access package, so it’s not just about playing earlier (though that’s the main draw). If I wait for the regular launch, I can jump in for free instead of dropping $40+ on an early access package, which is a pretty compelling reason to hold off.

 I’m not sure if Throne will be a long-term MMORPG for me, but I definitely want to give it a try. New World Aeternum launches on October 15th, and I know that’s going to pull me back in, which will put some pressure on my time to play Throne. But hey, that’s a good problem to have with so many great games on the horizon!

 How are you getting ready for Throne and Liberty?

Get hyped for New World Aeternum with this fan made trailer!

 New World Aeternum is only a couple weeks away (Oct 15th launch) and I ran across this fan made trailer to help get you hyped!

New World : This is Aeternum - Fan Made Trailer
byu/toto77170 innewworldgame

Sunday 9/22 Post

 With the highest rated QB in the league over the past two weeks the Green Bay Packers dominated the Tennessee Titans this Sunday!  And that was just with our GOAT backup QB Malik Willis.

Sunday 9/15 Post

 The Green Bay freaking Packers beat the Colts.... with a backup QB!  A backup that joined the team less than a month ago.  A backup... that... played well and didn't make mistakes.  Granted; the Colts were not the biggest challenge but Malik Willis showed tons of promise with the absence of Jordan Love due to injury.

 Go Pack Go!

Throne and Liberty Early Access vs Full Launch Servers

 Throne and Liberty dropped some updated information for the early access and full launch servers here. Some thoughts below but first the important text blurb copied for posterity (and to save you a click):

Text version:

Early Access & Full Launch Servers

We saw some questions from the community regarding how Early Access Servers and Full Launch Servers are planned to work and interact with each other. Our goal is to design a system that provides non-early access users the same fresh server opportunity as early access players. Please refer to the early access section in the TL Business Model - What to Expect article for more information.

Early Access Servers are the set of servers that open on September 26 at 10AM PST (5PM UTC) before launch on October 1 at 10AM PST (5PM UTC). After the full launch on October 1, all new servers opening will be part of the Full Launch Server group.

We want to provide some additional clarity on how these servers will work. Here’s a quick summary, with more specifics below the following items.

1. Once both groups of servers are live, players can create new characters on Early Access or Full Launch Servers at any time, subject to population caps. If you begin playing at full launch and want to join your friends on an Early Access Server, you may create a character there on October 1 regardless of whether or not you purchased an Early Access Pack.

2. Players can transfer from Full Launch Servers to open Early Access Servers at any time.

3. We will offer limited-time free transfers to all players from September 26 through October 17.

4. Early Access Servers will eventually have their transfer restriction lifted.

My comments:

 This alleviates fears that the Early Access servers were going to be walled off from players joining later or from any player that didn't buy an early access package.  This is great news for those of us looking to jump in at regular launch but have friends on early access.  Not only can you start characters there but you can also transfer to the early servers.  To go with it they are offering free transfers for the first few weeks of the game!  At some point in the future players will be able to transfer off of early access to regular (which makes sense, letting players transfer off of early access to regular servers just launching would give them a huge advantage).

Tuesday 9/10 Post

 She thinkin' what the rest of us thinkin'

WTF he just say?

 

Monday Screenshots: A Tale of Two Deadlock Games

 I played Deadlock (Valve's new FPS MOBA) a good bit last week and over the weekend.  One of the more surprising hero choices I've picked up on is Mo & Krill.  While there are two characters you control them as a single unit with a melee brawler style.  Specifically a tunnel-under-the-ground brawler style.  

 I started out hot in my first game playing as Mo & Krill and bombed out in the second. Scoreboards below.  Fortunately my team still won both matches.

 First a look at Mo & Krill:

Scoreboards:

13-2 K/D!  Easily my best game of Deadlock

 

 

1-14 K/D!?  Easily one of my worst games of Deadlock... but we still won!

Friday 9/6 Post

 NFL football on a Friday!?  In Brazil!  It did not go well for the Green Bay Packers.  Failure to turn early Eagles mistakes into more points cost them at the end of the game (sounds familiar... hmmm).  Then with mere seconds left the unthinkable happens and Jordan Love goes down with a knee/ankle injury.  Thanks a lot Brazil!

August 2024 in review

 August (or should I say Blaugust) 2024 has ended so lets take a look back.

The Blog

 Blogger provided number (last 30 days graph so a bit off a full month): 30,300

 This is up about 1,000 from July.  I do not know what the big spike was in late August as I could not zero in any posts that had that much traffic.

 

 In other metrics:

• Posts:
  
• Target: 31 (Blaugust Rainbow Award level)
  
• Posted: 32
• Difference: +1 because I can't let a reward go unclaimed!
  
•  Search Trends
• "new world roadmap 2024" surged to the top spot this month.  Ironically it appears so often that I created a post for those exact terms with the 2024 roadmap which is just continuing to gain traction.
  
• "best battlefield game", "best battlefield", "best battlefield games" still all are near the top but not the top dog anymore: Best Battlefield!?
• Once Human searches filled out the third spot with searchers looking for more details around the season resets.  This makes sense as the first launch servers recent changed over.  Unfortunately searchers will find nothing of value on the blog as I've not gone through myself or commented about the actual mechanics of the resets... yet!
  

What I Played

 Once Human dominated my August playtime as I made it to level 50 and set up my Frost Vortex build.  I also built a proper base finally (it looks like an airplane hanger).  I posted about none of these accomplishments because I had other ideas for Blaugust posts that took up my blogging time.  I have had to take a break from gaming for the past week due to real life stuff (trip, work, kids stuff) so I have yet to transition from my first scenario into a new one (likely moving to a PVE hard mode server with some folks on Sept 8th).

Years Ago

1 Year Ago

 August 2023 brought my introduction to Blaugust (check my Blaugust 2023 tagged posts) and I jammed the month full of posts.

 The most notable game launch was Starfield (early access started late Aug) and it's hard for me to believe that was already a year ago.  Too bad that game landed like a dud, but they finally added vehicles a year later so I guess I should fix my old post.

5 Years Ago

  Aug 2019 was in the 'no blogging' era and nothing comes to mind.

10 Years Ago

 In Aug of 2014 I was not blogging regularly but I was thinking about it as evidenced by: Long time, no post.  My nonexistent heart was warmed by all the commenters that stopped by though!  6 comments; probably the most of any post in the last 10 years... ha!

15 Years Ago

 August of 2009 was the month I became a father and my life was forever changed.  That kid is now 15 and about to start learning to drive.  He may, and this is a BIG may, also be better at video games than me now.  Speaking of comment counts; this post garnered 40+ which was heartwarming but it also shows how much commenting on blogs has died off over the years.  I'd have a crazy smile on my face if a post these days hit 10 comments; let alone 40+!

 Also some loser named Brett Farve (don't you dare spell check me) signed with the Minnesota Vikings in August of 09.

 20 19 Years Ago

 Technically I have 20 named years on my sidebar, but mathematically 2005 is only 19 years ago.

 In Aug of 2005 I was posting on Google Videos (before this thing called YouTube).  Sadly I think the video "CS:S video released - Two of the gReatest things eveR" and "Battlefield 2 Video - Lets go!" are lost to history as I am not sure I have copies anywhere and they did not make its way to YouTube when that took over for Google Video.  It is crazy to think had I just stuck with videos in that early era I could have been a YouTube content creator instead of annoying my team at work about getting stuff done. 

 With that said; one video from that Google Videos era did get saved to YouTube.  A World of Warcraft video I made while playing with the guild behind the Taverncast podcast: The Pod People invade Westfall.flv

Deadlocked No More

 I finally got my invite to play Deadlock.  More thoughts to arrive tomorrow!

Deadlock Invite Problems

Update: I got an invite. If you need an invite let me know in the comments.

 Deadlock is Valve's new hotness(mess?) available for testing, but only if you can get an invite from a current playtester.  For some players the invites happen almost instantaneously.  For others, like me, the invite never arrives.  The entire invite system is a bad idea and getting worse.

 At face value the invite system for Deadlock appears to be a way to limit how many testers are playing the game.  This makes sense and is not uncommon in testing phases of games.  The difference here is that other play testers have control of the invites and that, along with other issues, is where problems are starting.

 The first obvious issue that arises is "pay for invite" and the even more obvious "scammers will scam" that comes with it.  While many of the communities across Discord and Reddit for invites are banning anyone trying to pay for invites; inevitably someone was bound to get scammed.

 Next comes the behavior of "creating alt / second accounts" in the hope of getting a stuck invite to go through.  While I didn't create an alt account I did get my son's account invited and his invite came through in about 45 minutes (I've been waiting 5+ days now with dozens of invite attempts).

 With alt/second accounts comes the inevitable "selling account w/ Deadlock" access.  This is not my cup of tea and I can wait (or just play on my son's account when he is not playing anything).  However, there are some in the community that won't wait and will buy those second accounts which brings in it's own level of scams.

 Fear of missing out (aka FOMO) is also a huge part of the equation that drives the above.  Playing a game close to it's launch and during it's test period is a one-time affair.  If you miss out; you miss out.  Some players can't stand missing out so go above and beyond to get access.  Thus the situation becomes ripe for scammers.

 The question is whether other methods of test invites would avoid these problems?  Not exactly.  Steam does have "request test access" processes built in that many other games use.  At minimum this eliminates the "get scammed asking for an invite" from other players and does reduce how easy it is to get a second account set up to then try and sell.  It does not reduce FOMO.

 Personally I think Valve would have been better suited going the same way they have other games enter testing on their own platform. At least then players could confirm their invite status by simply going to the store page for the game.  End of day I just want to try the game and not miss out on the chance to learn the game while everyone else is learning it.

/signed "a frustrated Valve fanboy"

Blaugust 2024: That's a wrap folks!

 Another Blaugust has come to an end.  Let's check in to see how I did:

 Posts: 31 - one a day!  Hooray!

 What about blaugchievements (we know this is the real reason I participate in Blaugust!)

• Reading the Manual – Read the introductory blog post with the rules of the event.     Joining the Cause – Sign-Up for Blaugust.
• Completed
   
• Recruit a Friend – Convince another blogger to participate in Blaugust.
• Failed; I have no friends
   
• Spreading the Madness – Promote Blaugust on your blog or through your social media of choice.
• Completed as the toots on Mastodon and posts on Blue Sky account for
   
• Friend of Wumpus – Join the Blaugust Discord.
• Completed
   
• Sharing is Caring – Post your content in the “Share Your Content” Channel.
• Completed; who doesn't love a judgement free zone to spam drop blog links
   
• Forum of Friends – Take part in a discussion on the “Post Discussion” Channel.
• Completed
   
• The Pet Tax – Post a picture of an animal friend on the “Stuff and Things” Channel or create a blog post about them.
• Failed
   
• Friend Like Me – Answer a question posted on the Blagust Discord or help out a new blogger.
• Failed
   
• Shared Thoughts – Comment on a blog post from another Blaugust participant.
• Completed; I made my rounds this year!
   
• Federation of Bloggers – Sign up for a Fediverse account and follow the official Blaugust account.
• Completed
   
• Getting Inspired – Write a blog post inspired by a post from another Blaugust participant.
• Completed; see my post about Inventory Management
   
• Pickup Group – Play a game or take part in an activity with one or more Blaugust participants.
• Failed
   
• Hot Topics – Write a blog post based on the Blaugust Prompt List.
• Completed; see my post about a quote
   
•  Welcome Wagon – Write a blog post based on the first week’s theme of Welcoming Folks to Blaugust.
• Completed; see my First Post of Blaugust
   
• Introduce Yourself – Write a blog post based on the second week’s theme of Introducing Yourself.
• Completed; see my post about fishing
   
• Creative Appreciation – Write a blog post based on the third week’s theme Appreciating the works of some Creative or Company.
• Completed; see 1, 2, 3
   
• Staying Motivated – Write a blog post based on the fourth week’s theme of how you have managed to Stay Motivated.
• Completed; see my post on staying motivated about MMORPGs
   
• Lessons Learned – Write a blog post based on the fifth week’s theme explaining some of the Lessons you have Learned through Blaugust.
• Completed
   
• Going Platinum – Complete All of the Blaugchievements for Blaugust 2024.
• Failed... :(
   

No Post Today - Blame Deadlock

 Just like last year there inevitably comes a day in Blaugust where I can't hit my daily post commitment, but there is a secret hack for Blaugust: just post something and it counts.  There are no rules except the rules you make for yourself. So as I said last year...

 Must watch Starfield streamsDeadlock streams.  This post still counts for Blaugust!

Deadlock!?

 What the heck is Valve doing with Deadlock?  Apparently it's the hottest thing since sliced bread but you can only get a chance to play via another tester inviting you?  I've been invited, by multiple people now, but have yet to see the invite notification/email (waiting 24+ hours now).  So I'm stuck here watching videos instead.

 One video that I really liked was Day9s

  What I like about the video is the sure joy that Day9 espouses for the game.  Many content creators can use a lot of words and video minutes to say a game is good, but its rare to find one where you can read it on their face and in their actions on camera.  Day9 is really pleased talking about the game.

 I really can't wait to play this game.  I had seen the leaks/rumors about it but didn't pay much attention.  However, after seeing various videos like this one from Day9 I am very, very curious.

 I played a good bit of League of Legends and DOTA2.  Add HoN, HoTS, and several other MOBA games.  I feel like I am familiar with MOBA lane-based games to know what I'll like.  I even gave Smite a good try so feel like I've covered the landscape this genre has to offer.  

 Deadlock has an interesting theme and visual style which will go a long way for me as I've been in a "not fantasy" mood lately.  There seems to be a big cast of characters already in the game with a wide variety of styles supported.  As Day9 says in his video he found his style to play which wasn't dependent on being the best shot.  With that said the skill ceiling does look high but more due to variety and complexity than strictly ability to aim.

 Hopefully I'll get an invite in the next few days and can give the game a fair shake for some honest opinions.  Are you playing Deadlock? Waiting on your invite? What do you think?

MyMMORPG: The 3 Pillars

This is a post in my ongoing series MyMMORPG where I pontificate about the MMORPG I would create should I ever get the chance.  See all of my MyMMORPG tagged posts.

 My last post for MyMMORPG covered my "rule of 10" and how it is important to strike a balance between too few and too many decisions to put in front of a player at any given time.  That rule sets a good tone for systems, but it doesn't give us a framework for those systems.  That is where my idea of pillars come into play.

 Stealing from my real life knowledgebase: A pillar refers to a fundamental principle or concept that serves as a core element of a project or product. Design pillars help guide decision-making and maintain focus throughout the development process.  Effective design pillars are typically:

•     Limited in number (usually 3-5)
•     Simple and easy to understand
•     Distinct from one another
•     Fundamental to the project's identity

  So what are my pillars?

1. Combat
2. Economy
3. Content

 Combat is really about conflict: conflict amongst players and conflict between players and the world.  Combat is not always strictly in the form of hitting things with sticks.  Conflict arises anywhere a player is challenged by the game: "to kill 10 rats", racing to get a gathering node, or an objective to climb to the top of a mountain.

 Economy is best represented by it's definition: An area of the production, distribution, trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. Trading is the most easily understood (trade with players or NPCs).  Production not far behind trading (bang anvil, make sword).  Distribution is harder to understand, but is best boiled down to rich vs poor (which itself takes on a lot of variation).  Consumption is the most important aspect of an economy and without it you don't really have an economy. 

 Content is best stated as "things to do".  Content is the engine that provides context for combat and drives the consumption that makes the economy work.  After 30+ years of online games I've come to realize that content is king and as much as we want to think players, when left to do what they want, will make up content the reality is they don't.  They get bored and play other games.  We must deliver them "things to do".

 And there may be discussion worth having on a missing 4th pillar: social.  Social would represent how players interact with each other.  However, I didn't make it a pillar because I feel like it violates our rules for an effective pillar.  

 Is Social "Simple and easy to understand"?  At first glance but when you dig further what does it really mean?  

 Which takes us to "Distinct from one another" where I'd argue it is not distinct.  Trading is a form of players interacting, combat is a way of interacting, and doing content is a way of interacting.  Social isn't distinct. 

 But isn't social "Fundamental to the project's identity"?  Yes it is.  Without social interaction I'd argue the second M is missing in MM(multiplayer)ORPG.  However, its fundamental in all of the other pillars.  Social isn't a pillar; it is the foundation.  Each of the pillars stands on players interacting with each other.

 In follow up posts about MyMMORPG I will try to reference back to the pillars.  Any idea for the game should fit into the pillars; preferably offering something across all three to be considered as a system worth adding to the game.  

 So what do you think of my pillars?  Any pillars that I missed or that you would include?

Lessons Learned: MyMMORPG and the rule of 10

 In the spirit of "Lessons Learned" week for Blaugust 2024 I want to talk about a blogging lesson I've learned: ideas for serial posts are easier than writing the actual posts.  A prime example is the "MyMMORPG" series I started and, checks notes, wrote one post for.  The idea was to translate my experience playing games into pontificating about the MMORPG I would develop should I ever get the chance.  This should have been easy and I should have hundreds of posts already!  Yet I didn't post about it.  Let's give that single post a buddy using the lessons I've learned from playing MMORPGs for close to 30 years now.

 I've developed a rule in my head when playing games which I call "the rule of 10." The rule states: as a player, I can manage 10 available actions at any given time. Any more, and I get overwhelmed; any less, and I lose the feeling that I have meaningful choices or control over my outcome. This balance is crucial because it keeps the gameplay engaging without being stressful. When I have too many options, analysis paralysis sets in, making the experience feel chaotic rather than fun. On the flip side, if I have too few choices, the game starts to feel monotonous or overly simplistic, as if I'm just going through the motions without really influencing the world within the game.

This balance is crucial because it keeps the gameplay engaging without being stressful.

 Stress is a major factor for my enjoyment of gaming.  I can't do hardcore PvP or "dragon kill point" raid content anymore because the stress outweighs the possible fun.  Stress is also a compounding factor on players and every player's stress tolerance is different.  An area we can take stress away from a player is by keeping them feeling like they are in control. Limiting actions to 10 or less caps keeps the player in control.

When I have too many options, analysis paralysis sets in, making the experience feel chaotic rather than fun.

  Analysis paralysis is a real problem in games and life in general.   The paralysis quickly leads players to feel like they are losing control.  Even if the "good" options to choose are minimal the fact that there are many more choices to pick from defeats the minimal choice.  We also have to consider the game world itself and in the case of MMORPGs, other players, also are providing input to the player that drive additional choices. All of these contribute to the paralysis.  Limiting actions to 10 or less limits analysis.

On the flip side, if I have too few choices, the game starts to feel monotonous or overly simplistic, as if I'm just going through the motions without really influencing the world within the game.

  Going with too few options makes the game boring.  I can only left/right click so many times or press that same button so many times.  At some point as a player I need to feel like I am in control and just like too many options can cause me to feel like I'm losing control so can too few options.  Players end up feeling "helpless" without the choices to control what is going on around them.

 You may assume that this entire post is just about combat but that couldn't be further from the truth.  The rule of 10 applies to everything.  Crafting, exploration, navigation, traveling, gathering, any action you can think of taking in an MMORPG.  Any of them should have a goal of meeting the rule to strike the balance.  

 A complex crafting recipe with 20 materials and scroll bars to see everything is going to overwhelm players.  Breaking that crafting process into more manageable steps allows us to have more control of each step and reduces stress on the player increasing the chance they don't just give up.

 I also break the rule down further as not all 10 actions need equal weight at any given time.  This helps to further strike that balance we are striving for.  That breakdown is as follows:

• 5 immediate actions
• These are the bread and butter actions you take all the time.  In combat in most MMORPGs this would be your "rotation".  In crafting this is adding materials and setting variables.  
  
• 4 intermediate actions
• These are situational actions that are used when the conditions are right.  Too many of these skills and it increases stress and analysis paralysis chance. Four is a good number and gives enough variability to cover multiple situations.
  
• 1 limited use "fun" action
• Often called "ultimate" abilities.  These generally charge up over time and have some neat effect.  It always saddens me that this idea is often limited to combat, but it could be useful any other time.  For example; you are gathering away out in the wilderness and build up an ultimate gathering ability that lets you chop a giant tree down in one full swing.  The goal should be to answer YES to the question "is this fun to use?".

Two game examples where I feel like they get it right:

New World (combat)

5 immediate actions: Left click attack, right click block, 3 weapon abilities

4 intermediate actions: Four consumable slots (potions, etc)

1 fun action: heartrune ability 

Guild Wars 2 (combat)

5 immediate actions: 5 weapon abilities

4 intermediate actions: heal ability + three selected support abilities

1 fun action: the last ability on the hotbar (forget what its called)

 The ultimate goal of the "role of 10" is to make the game approachable for players and ensure that interacting with the game doesn't become a barrier to entry.  Not every game follows this path.  Some games, like Path of Exile, use complexity to target a specific type of player.  That is fine.  However, for MyMMORPG we're sticking with the "rule of 10".