Monthly Archives: November 2011

Alright, let’s get this thing out of the way…

First off, I’m positive I don’t need to mention this to anyone who’s reading this, but who knows?
I was recently picked up for Channel Awesome’s Blistered Thumbs. The only thing this will effect is that I will place the Blistered Thumbs bumper at the very end of the video (post stinger). I’ll post on LordKat’s Blogs and Angry Bananas, but let’s face it… a good amount of you come here first, anyway.

I’ve been getting some oddly overwhelming feedback from people, which I honestly didn’t expect. I never go into something expecting a warm reception. What I DO hear most often is that I’m very stiff in my delivery. Some even take it as “lifeless”. I guess now is as good a time to tell you that’s just how I look. I think a lot of people might be overly used to the “angry reviewer” trend that was so prevalent these past few years, but I don’t think multiple camera angles, wearing sunglasses, or flailing my arms around while wielding garden shears constitutes as a review. I really don’t appear on camera that much, unless I have a quick joke to make that I think would work better visually. That’s just how I roll. For the most part, I let the words or the footage do the talking. I only seem to go on camera to remind you where that voice is coming from. I know I’d forget.

The Superhero MMO Poll is going much better then I thought… mostly because someone posted about the poll on a message board. (Don’t think I didn’t notice the sudden influx of comments and votes, even before I checked in with the “referrers” feature on this site.)

I would like to mention to those players/commenters one thing, because there seems to be some confusion. The poll isn’t giving an award to the “best MMO” or saying that the winner is the best choice of the three. All the polls are are a gauge of interest in a certain MMO, and the winner is the one I review for that episode. In no way does that mean I WON’T review the others at some point, nor does it mean that I’m going to give any special praise to the poll winner. I’m going to go in the same way I always do. I know a lot of people think I was very negative to Maple Story, but I honestly expected to be much more harsh about it, and it was nice to see the changes they made for the better. (Also, is traveling around the entire fucking world REALLY a better option that taking the transportation provided? That seems broken as hell to me. Why not tell me it’s easier to get to China by waiting for winter and walking over the Bering Strait, and through Russia?)
Ok, I digressed long enough. When it comes right down to it, when you vote in a poll, you’re only making my job in choosing the next MMO to review that much easier. I am very impressed by your fervor however.

So, League of Legends. Ok… You all were right. It’s NOT an MMO and it really doesn’t fit my definition of an MMO, so yeah. You were right about that. Still there’s a bit of roots and style that lend itself to MMO like development, such as talent trees in the form of “Masteries” and equippable bonus traits in the “Rune” system. There’s summoner levels to be gained and grinding to be done. So it’s closer then Team Fortress 2 will ever be.
I’ve… yet to start the script because… there’s not nearly as much to talk about, and I’m wondering how I want to go about doing it. Perhaps I’ll get more work done today, if the weather would stop being so damned depressing.
If you want to catch me online in LoL, look for me as Nios, but I do play alongside a few other people. Feel free to ask me if I want in a game, but don’t expect me to answer yes every time.
I have to warn you, though. I am absolutely terrible.

I haven’t updated the Suggested MMO List in a while, and I really should get on that. I think I might want to organize it better… like separating Browser-Based MMOs for the others. I’ve received a FEW new suggestions but still haven’t gotten around to doing anything but removing Rusty Hearts from the list.

So, before I go, I mentioned that LoL doesn’t really fit what I think counts as an MMO, but as well all know, that’s a heated discussion for the ages. So much so that it’s the topic of a podcast I have been in that recently started up with TWBfromTDOB (an MMO news blogger who frequently posts on the BT Blogs, and Tyger from MUD2MMO. Right now it’s only one episode, but keep a look out for “The MMO Underground”. In time, I’ll probably have a link to it on the sidebar once we have enough episodes up. So if you want to hear a recording of myself talking out of my ass to other people for about an hour, feel free to check out the Pilot, here. We just finished recording the second episode, and if you want to keep up on anything and all things MMO, check out TWBfromTDOB’s site here.

Ever since DC Universe Online went free to play all of… a few weeks ago, I’ve been bombarded with requests and inquiries as to whether or not I’m going to look at it. While the interest is there, I am noticing that a LOT of people were also requesting City of Heroes and Champions Online, two much older, formerly subscription based, and now Free-to-Play MMOs that I have previous experience with.

Since both CoH and CO put up an initial good fight in the last poll, and the interest in DCUO is there, I figured… why not pit all three against each other?

Same poll rules apply as last time.

• Poll closes the Saturday night before the previous episode is released. In other words, just before Episode 11 airs. (Sunday Dec. 11th, 12:01 a.m.)
• In the event I am unable to run the game that wins, for whatever reason, the next highest voted game will be chosen.

I added a new twist this time around. Now you will not be able to see the results in the poll, so you won’t be able to vote stack the game that’s currently winning to ensure its victory. Have fun now.

Ok, as many of you might have figured out by now, my Eden Eternal episode is now up on TGWTG’s main page. (Well, second page by the time you read this.) I’ve noticed a major influx of views on here, so if you’re just arriving…

Welcome to anyone who’s found this site from TGWTG! I usually post new Episodes every other Wednesday, while I update with news about the show here but that is subject to change. Feel free to check the About page to get an understanding of how the show works (as well as find Episode 0). You can also check the F.A.Q. for other more specific show questions, otherwise, feel free to ask. You can also find the Episode Guide to see what’s been currently reviewed, or the Suggested MMO List to see what’s being considered, or offer suggestions of our own.

If your comments are not appearing immediately after posting them, it’s because I have to approve the initial comment. Luckily, I get the alerts to my e-mail, and can approve them over my phone when I see them. After the initial approval, you can comment again at any time. I do this to weed out the amount of spam WordPress blogs usually get, as even though the filter here does a decent job detecting them. Usually.

Ok, that’s over now. Time for the actual update.

I’ve been playing Rusty Hearts for a good while now, and like DFO, I think I have more then enough footage and knowledge to finish up, so I’m using the time to make sure I can cover as much as possible. I’m finding the lack of the “awakening” mode information a bit annoying, and since I’m already level 21 with Angela, I’m not sure how much further I have to go before I reach it. It might end up being another “Skirmish” issue like in LOTRO where I didn’t have the time to reach the appropriate level, but we’ll see. As for footage I’m sure I have more then enough, but I might need to delve into PvP… just because I like being humiliated before I finish playing.

I’m noticing that once you leave the first town area, and move onto the second, the framerate (on my PC mind you) seriously dropped, and it was a lot more lagging. Unfortunately the stages weren’t much better as the Atrium was pretty choppy… I chalked it up to my PC being junky again, so I’ll delve back into it solo. I also need to verify something about the gamepad controller option, otherwise this should be on time. Vegas willing.

Looking at the Poll for Episode 10, it seems a tug of war between Ragnarok and League of Legends. It’s nice to know that one isn’t drowning out the other, but it’s sad it seems like it’s only down to two games again. Now since I want to have ample time to deal with possible video issues, the poll will be officially “closed” on 12:01 a.m. Sunday, November 13th. (That’s “Saturday night” to avoid confusion there.) Whatever the poll reads at that time will be game I look at. Standard exceptions apply. (i.e. “Shit don’t work no good.”) Make your final pushes soon.

Stay tuned for Episode 9: Rusty Hearts on Wednesday. It’s a game I’ll probably keep installed, so message me if you want to find me in game as “Vaias”.