Allods Online removing Fear of Death debuff

I just received news that in Allods Online patch 1.1.0, the Fear of Death (FoD) debuff will be removed:

The upcoming Allods Online Patch 1.1.0: Revelations of Gipat introduces new content and gameplay mechanics. In fact, one of the most controversial aspects of the game, Fear of Death, is being eliminated!

Fear of Death is a debuff that players receive upon death which reduces all of their offensive stats by 25% for an amount of time proportional to their level. It can be removed by spending Drops of Myrrh that can be bought from vendors, using Incense that can be bought from the Item Shop, or just waiting it out. However, most users will rejoice in knowing that Fear of Death will no longer be a part of the game.

For those that have followed Allods Online's progress from beta to launch, FoD was the most controversial topic. It is the reason Keen, and I suspect many others, decided not to stick with the game.  Personally, I disliked FoD, but came around to an agreement with myself that it wasn't that bad since I only played the game casually.

I didn't agree that it was a cash shop or micro-transaction issue.  What I didn't like about FoD was the fact that it didn't make sense in terms of gameplay.  Reading these upcoming changes, I feel somewhat vindicated in my prior stance.  If FoD was a mechanic meant to create revenue, as many argued, it wouldn't be getting yanked from the game.  This to me, is evidence enough that it was just a bad gameplay mechanic awaiting replacement. And now Allods is getting that replacement:

When a player dies in the upcoming patch, instead of receiving a debuff to all of their offensive stats, players will have a very small chance that a curse will be cast upon them. The curse will randomly land on one of a player’s item slots; however, if the curse lands on a slot that is empty or contains an item that is Uncommon or Common, the curse will be deflected, leaving the contents of the item slot unharmed. If the curse lands on an item slot that contains an item that is Rare, Epic, or Legendary, its stats will become inverted.

Bosses in dungeons and raids will now also drop Cursed Items in addition to the items that they usually drop. This means that means that players will have a chance to receive more loot, which can be used once the curse is removed.


In order to remove a curse from an item, players can purchase Scrolls of Purification from the Item Shop, or buy them from other players. Players can also avoid items becoming cursed with each death by wearing Holy Charms. Players may have up to 1000 Holy Charms equipped at a time and each time the player dies, one charm will be used to deflect any possible curse. Holy Charms are available for purchase in the Item Shop, and can also be bought from other players.

There are no hard numbers to substitute for the "chances" mentioned in the blurb above, but as FoD was in effect 100% of the time, this is already a better system.  Also, it does a better job of defining the Cash Shop's role in the death penalty revenue scheme.

While I don't like the idea that any game penalizes players and then tells them to go into a Cash Shop to remove that penalty, the proposed system has a couple of tricks up it's sleeves.

First, the items are player trade-able, creating a currency system of sort for players that have real life cash and want to exchange it, legally, for in-game goods and services.

Secondly, it offers proactive and reactive items to be purchased allowing players to decide how they want to pay.  Players can pay up front and carry Holy Charms to prevent the curses or they can pay on the back end after a curse has hit via the Scrolls of Purification.

Or, players don't have to pay at all by keeping stashes of spare equipment on hand to replace any cursed items.  This may not be efficient or advisable, but it does allow players to continue their free rides.

Allods Online is still a great game and I am looking forward to getting back into at some point and the upcoming Patch 1.1: Revelations of Gipat will be live July 7^th!

Hidden Gems from E3: Heroes of Three Kingdoms

E3 has come and gone.  We've learned about Kinect, Move, and the 3DS.  The major players were as expected and it was a very console heavy show.  However, hidden in the pile of consoles were some gems for the PC market.  The first one I'd like to point out is Heroes of Three Kingdoms, a free-to-play PvP MMO from Perfect World.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun sums it up nicely:

It’s weapon based, with your role changing depending on what you choose to tool up with. Finally – and most RPS-interestingly – in the end game, after you’ve formed legions and conquered cities, leads to a large-scale board-game which apparently involves keeping your population happy and taxation and similar.

That blurb certainly has me interested.  Further, there is a video:



With all of this said and watched, I just don't have time for another MMO in 2010, but if you are interested; Heroes of Three Kingdoms is set to launch Q3 2010.

Holy **** : OnLive on an iPad

This video literally made me shit my pants.  OnLive, the cloud gaming service launching right as I post this, shows off Borderlands.  Now this was only a tech demo, but one hell of a tech demo it was.  I still will not buy an iPad, but come later this year and 2011 when decent Android and Windows 7 tablets start launching I may have to give OnLive a try.




We may very well be looking at the future of PC gaming.

Guide for Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalker

As I mentioned on my twitter stream a while ago, there is a great guide for Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalker available over at PlayHaven.com.

Introduction

This guide is aimed at anyone who wants to get better at playing Magic, and specifically on Duel of the Planeswalkers (DOTP). This guide will also be a reference point for all other guides I write for this game. Beginners and casual players will probably benefit the most from this. Advanced players may find much of what I say obvious to them, but may pick up a useful tip here and there. I will cover a lot of the mistakes that are often made by beginners, not to poke fun at them, but to help them understand how they can improve. I will also cover more advanced techniques that can be used to gain small advantages here and there. Magic is all about making the most out of every single card that you draw, and every little thing matters.

I have been playing Magic for about 15 years and feel that my experience in both constructing and playing decks can be of value to others.

Enjoy!

Debunked: 10 Reasons not to buy Duels of the Planeswalkers

I love forum posts like this.  First, the list is only 7 items long (as of this posting).  Secondly, half the mentioned issues listed are non-issues.  Breaking it down one by one.

1. No online CO-OP 

Alright, I concede this point.  Everyone was disapointed that the co-op mode was local only and not Internet-enabled.

2. No Text chat

The Steam community is available in all Steam games and includes text chat.  As Duels of the Planeswalkers (DotP) is built on Steamworks, it is easy enough to start up a chat with another player based on their Steam username. 

 3. Game is currently unplayable for several users, especially some users with ATI video cards. <-- upgrade your video card drivers and try the demo first.

This can be said about every PC game.  PC is a hostile and varied platform to play on.  So far, I have had no issues and I know no one who has had any (out of three friends playing).

4. No deck building <-- I knew this going in but still its a negative in my book and even more so now that we have discovered reasons # 1 - 3.

If the original poster knew this, then they are dumb for including it.  If they expected differently, they are playing the wrong game.  MtG: Online is over here.  And for clarity's sake, there is minor customization as additional cards can be unlocked for each deck and added or removed before each game.

5. Music / Sound. its horrible and very annoying.

It can be disabled.  Plus, its a fucking card game, what was expected for sound?  Turn the damn radio on.

6. the game auto taps your land cards for you.

Finally, a second point I can agree on.  This is annoying and borderline game-breaking for multi-color decks.

7. You cant mute the other player online. <-- which sucks because some times you just dont want to know what they are doing with their other hand.

OK, I'll give in on this one as well, but I maintain there is still the ability to turn off the sound on your PC.

Conclusion

Buy the game, but don't expect a hardcore experience.  It's fun, casual MtG.