Tuesday, June 20, 2023

I AM .heartlessgamer (Discord rant)

discord heartlessgamer
 I own the domain: heartlessgamer.com

 I have the gmail: heartlessgamer_at_gmail.com

 I have heartlessgamer in almost every online game service since the dawn of the Internet.

 But I guess having it since the dawn of the Internet is not enough for services like Discord to ensure I get to keep it when they randomly decide they need to change their username system.  So now on Discord instead of being heartlessgamer I am relegated to .heartlessgamer (yes a DOT f'n period in front).

 This is the dumbest change I've seen any system make in a long time.  There was literally nothing wrong with the username system in discord that used random numbers afterwards.  All of us heartlessgamers of the world existed just fine.  But now someone else is heartlessgamer and I am DOT FREAKING .heartlessgamer

 First it was losing my Youtube handle (a true headscratcher considering I own the domain via Google's blogger platform and gmail for the "handle" of heartlessgamer) and now it's Discord.  Screw these platforms changing their username systems and not giving priority to clear long term owners!



Monday, June 19, 2023

New (World) Ideas: Honing Stones and Coatings

new world new ideas
 New (World) Ideas is a series of posts in which I present small changes that New World could make that would improve the game.

 Honing Stones and weapon coatings are a key element to maxing your character's damage in New World.  Forgetting to apply them (or re-apply them) is a rookie mistake that many veterans make as well and forgetting is easy to do as they are often buried in your inventory waiting for you to remember to use them.

 New Idea: allow players to attach honing stones and coatings directly to their weapons via slots on the inventory and gear sets.  Player's can put a pile of stones or coatings in these slots which will then automatically be consumed (or not; it can be a player controlled setting). 

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Vehicles in Starfield?

Caught up to the recent gameplay deep dive for Starfield.  One missing piece for me was ground vehicles such as a rover.  Does anyone know if the game will feature vehicles?  How cool would it be to land your storage ship and drive off into the planet on your custom land cruiser!

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

New (World) Ideas: Buy/Sell Umbral Shards

new world ideas
  New (World) Ideas is a series of posts in which I present small changes that New World could make that would improve the game.

 Umbral Shards in New World are the main currency for upgrading gear to a max gear score of 625.  They are also now part of multiple crafting recipes and in the Season 2 patch more uses are being brought forward.  The only problem: umbral shards are bind on pickup so you have to earn them yourself.

 New idea: Let players buy and sell umbral shards for gold directly.  There are already numerous ways that gold is converted into shards (shard selling via mutated expeditions, buying flame cores to use at the forge, infused salvaging scraps turned into gypsum orbs and then casts, etc) so it's not a leap to just let the shards themselves be traded amongst players.


Monday, June 12, 2023

New (World) Ideas: Attribute Respecs

new world ideas
 New (World) Ideas is a series of posts in which I present small changes that New World could make that would improve the game.

 It costs 200 gold to respec attributes in New World even if all you are doing is adjusting a few points.  This cost isn't much fun in a game where players are encouraged to change gear often for different content (for example: changing from one ward gear set to another inside a split ward expedition).

 There is a stark difference between hitting an attirbute bonus or not (i.e. if you make 299 CON you don't get the 300 CON perk).  For all practical purposes players have to respec attributes whether they need to just adjust 1 point or reset all 190 -- the bonuses are that important to hit.

 New idea: instead of attribute respecs costing 200 gold it should be a sliding cost based on number of points being changed.  This way if you just change one piece of gear out and need to adjust 10 points it's only a few gold vs 200 gold for a full reset.  This would make it feel less penalizing for having to change out gear.  Simply go into the attribute and change your attributes and a cost will be displayed on screen to save.

 Even better would be to tie attribute respec to azoth instead of gold so it is consistent with weapon skill respec, but let's not get crazy on ideas here.  This is an MMO after all and what MMO doesn't need a gold sink!