No Such Thing as a Free Game: Quake Live

Ever heard that there is no such thing as a free puppy? Sure, the puppy is free, but the food is not, veterinarian bills don't pay themselves, and that poop in the back yard isn't going to clean itself up. Nothing is ever free; there is always a price to pay.

Quake Live: Free to play, ad supported

Why Quake Live isn’t a free game: because there’s a $1,500 gaming computer sitting on the desk.

Pros:

• Free to play and the advertisements are not intrusive.
• It runs or will run on almost any PC.*
• Quake Live is quick and simple to get started with. The game itself downloads while players play a practice match against the computer.
• The social and community features are well done. It’s easy to track friends and join them in matches.
• The achievements system is well done, adds challenges, and contributes to replay value.
• Tons of maps and several game types also keep replay value high.
• Match-making based on skill level helps to keep a level playing field.
• Finding a match that interests a player and offers the game type they want is dead simple. One of the best mergers of a server browser/match making system that I’ve ever seen.

Cons:

• It claims to be web browser-based, but requires an installer that runs outside of the web browser. **
• The game does not seem to cope well with latency. Any little bump in latency or lag will result in a deteriorated play experience.
• Game-play is twitch-based and fast. This limits the game to a niche audience.
• The text output onto the UI is tough to read and follow.
• The graphics are dated and special effects are lacking.

Conclusion

Quake Live significantly lowers the barrier for entry into the FPS gaming genre and as a game that is meant to be played in a web browser, it’s good. For those players lacking an up to date gaming rig, Quake Live is a golden opportunity. For those players with an up to date rig, like me, Quake Live feels dated. I have always believed in quality of game play over eye candy, but when I can pick up games like Team Fortress 2 or Unreal Tournament III for $10-$20, Quake Live loses ground. However, free is free and Quake Live delivers exactly as it has promised and offers a FREE escape for a few minutes of FPS fun. For that, I give it two thumbs up. So, go give it a try!

*as of this writing, only a Windows installer is available, but they are working on Linux and MAC versions.

**the installer installs a plug-in based on the web browser being used. For me, it was Firefox, which normally can install plug-ins without the need to download an installer and regardless of what operating system I am using at the time.

Team Fortress 2: Spy vs. Sniper Unlocks/Item System Woes

It was not long ago that I questioned Valve's item unlock and achievement system for Team Fortress 2. The original system, whereby new items were unlocked by completing achievements, promoted grinding and cheating. It wasn't any fun.

Fast forward to the Spy vs Sniper update and Valve has introduced a new system. Gone are unlocks via achievements; arrived are unlocks via random luck (or so it seems). The new system:

For the last number of months we've been working on using the Steam Cloud to store a player's inventory. With that finally in place, we were able to deploy a new system focused on the giving of items to players. That new system watches the amount of time that players are playing TF2, and gives them a chance to find items at regular intervals. They aren't guaranteed to get the item at those points, but they have a pretty good chance. We based the system on granting items on the amount of time played because we don't want players to have to do weird things like join achievement grinding servers to get new content. Basing it off time also has the benefit of ensuring that if you play a lot of TF2, you're going to get more items than players who don't.

However, this has spawned a new type of cheat. Players are filling up cheat servers, going AFK, and after X hours are receiving their items. Whereby, a lot of players who are actually playing, are getting items at a slower rate because when someone actually plays, there is downtime between matches as servers load new maps. There is a slight advantage to the cheaters currently, but honestly, if the items can be attained legitimately by just playing, the cheating isn't as detrimental as within the old system.

Valve has stated the system is suffering from some bugs and they are investigating it. The major issue where players were receiving NO unlocks after hours of play has been resolved.

In the first few hours after the release yesterday, we had some issues that prevented the system from working properly, so that timeframe was not indicative of the system as it's designed.

Unfortunately most of my playtime with the new patch was during the affected timeframe, so I do not have much experience with the system to give a thumbs up/down. So far, in about an hour of play outside that window, I've yet to stumble across a single item. Thus, I am ending this post and getting back to the business of bitch-slapping some spies and hoping for random drops. It almost makes me wonder if I'm playing an FPS or an MMO!

Update: After 2.5 hours of play, I have "found" my first item. I died and then a screen popped up stating that I had unlocked Bonk! Atomic Punch for the scout.

Were You Surprised?

Proving that not even updates are safe from a backstabbing Spy in Team Fortress 2: Valve. Simply. Owns.

First there’s the Dead Ringer Spy Watch, a brand new golden pocket watch. As many speculated last night, this is a device designed to create a ‘feign death’ move. Activated once the Spy has received a non-critical hit, he cloaks for up to eight seconds, while a fake corpse collapses to the ground.

Then there’s the Cloak And Dagger Spy Watch, a regenerating cloak device. Stand still and it will refill your power gauge, only draining when you move.

These are the two items selected from the Spy’s Dapper Rogue Catalogue, “Catalogue for the Gentleman Rogue”. Others featured include a suit made of macrofilm and a ski mask grappling hook. Of all those mentioned, perhaps the only other realistic option might be the flamethrower lighter.

Oh, and a new "Meet the" movie (guess who it is).

Two Weeks of Gaming in a Hotel

I will be out of town for a couple weeks starting tomorrow, which means I move onto the great adventure of online gaming via crappy hotel wireless. Or lack there of. Most likely, I will end up installing a few single-player offline games on my trusty laptop.

I was thinking Never Winter Nights 2 (I still haven't finished the single player campaign!). Or maybe Warcraft III. Oh, and The Path to see what hidden secrets I can find. Plants vs. Zombies too, because it simply rocks. Peggle for that matter as well!

Now, lets hope the wife doesn't read this.

You Will Shoot Them and They Will Stick to the Wall and They Will Die

No, the Huntsman doesn't stun. It pins dead/dying players.

Any experienced sniper will tell you how irritating it is when your targets keep moving around. The question is how to stop these cheaters from wind-sprinting around like they own the place. And the answer is to pin them to a wall. How? With arrows!

"Now, hold on," you might be thinking. "I'm strong, but no one could throw an arrow that hard." Introducing the Huntsman longbow, which solves that age-old throwing problem.

"Now, hold on," you keep saying. "Aren't bows and arrows primitive and harmless?" Why don't you ask the dinosaurs? Except you can't, because the cavemen bow and arrowed them to death. One headshot from the Huntsman can mean an instant crit, in addition to a bolt-riddled corpse hanging from a wall that's gruesome and funny.

And even if you don't kill them, they'll carry around a certain arrow-shaped something as a living testament to your awesome archery skills and their frankly unawesome dodging skills. Comes with 18 arrows and a one-second charge for full power shots.

Team Fortress 2 + class updates + sniper + bow and arrow = win. Now, Valve, how about that next "meet the X" video?