Monthly Archives: February 2012
Off-Week Update (for Ep. 16)
Ok, that was an unexpected rush. Well. Ok, it was a little expected, considering how many people asked me to look at the game.
I tried to field some questions about the STO review through Formspring and didn’t get many results back. At least nothing I didn’t answer. Honestly, I really mean it when I say I know pretty much nothing about Star Trek. I did watch parts of the new movie when it was on SyFy last week. I do want to see all of it. That counts for something, I hope…. probably not.
A major thank you for everyone who clarified the issue with character slots. The game made it seem like I had no more than one slot per account, and wasn’t clear on the system of how it was supposed to work. For those who watched it early on and didn’t rewatch it, I stated that one slot meant you’d either have to buy a new character slot, or possibly delete your original character. THE TRUTH is that you have 2 character slots, but the second is only unlocked once you reach level 25, so you can make a Klingon. Character slots in general are still quite limited, though. Sure, every “class” in the game pretty much extends to “guy with a laser gun”, but it’d be nice to give a quick look to all available bridge specialties.
I also had a lot of people informing me about the differences in the Klingon missions and ships. While I did outright state I wasn’t going to look at the Klingon side at all, I’m not entirely opposed to making a supplemental review to go along with this one once I reach level 25 and try out Klingons.
…but considering the next game I’m playing that might pose a problem… HOLY HELL this game is addicting. I picked it simply because I knew there wouldn’t be too much to explain and I’d be able to knock it out in a few less days than normal, considering it wouldn’t have nearly as much to talk about. But I have been pumping HOURS into it, and I don’t think I’ll be able to stop. Such a simple game, but such an amazingly interesting system. Oh, it’s not for everyone, I can assure you, but it’s something that you can pick up and drop at your leisure… provided you can drop it. The video SHOULD be out next week, but I really need to peel myself away from it. It’s that much fun for me.
Any other questions about the STO review, please ask them here. If not, let me know if you’d be opposed to me possibly doing a vlog version of the off-week update. I have some ideas on how I’d do that.
Off-Week Update (for Ep. 15)
You know, it sure as hell doesn’t FEEL like the off-week.
I’m shocked that Lineage 2 was so universally reviled, to be honest. I figured it’d be one of those games where everyone who religiously has played it since launch would come in screaming about how click to move controls are a lost art, that quests requiring kills in the 300 enemy range are too sophisticated to be appreciated by such low-class, uncultured ruffians, or that playing in a PK system makes you irresistibly attractive to everyone who meets you.
What I should be saying is that I was never informed about how hated Lineage 2 was. I honestly thought it was liked and popular before I looked at it.
Once again I WILL state that I did start to get into it. There have been more than a few times where I was in bed at night thinking, “I wonder if I could do this…” before realizing I had uninstalled it long ago. No Kamaloka for me.
So the next game is one that EVERYONE WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT, and I’m hoping I don’t regret my decision to do it. So far I have not… I’m remembering that when first playing the game, despite spending what I had spent, I had no desire to play it after the first day. It was not a bad game, it just didn’t feel right in certain aspects, and I had no drive to get back into it. While I can’t say they fixed everything I felt was wrong with it, they did alleviate some of my biggest issues with the game. It’s still a bit dodgy though.
I can’t guarantee this will be back to the Wednesday release schedule, I can say that I’m trying harder to keep it this time, and I don’t feel I need to do as much to understand a lot of this game. I did most of it yesterday, and as I stated, I HAVE played this game before. Wish me luck.
One final thing I want to ask…
What is your interest in “Free-to-Try” games like “Rift Lite” and World of Warcraft?
These are games that are, at the core subscription games, but allow you to play the game for free in an extremely limited trial form. Like, letting you play until you reach a certain level, or keeping you from partaking in a lot of community features like Auctions or Guilds.
I really didn’t count them for MMO Grinder since I KNOW how limiting it is to be stopped at level 20 in WoW. There does seem to be a genuine interest in Rift Lite, and I’m wondering if I should once again make an exception, just to see if the formula fits. Granted, it’s not like that opens many doors. Free-To-Try isn’t exactly a vast market… hell, I just named the only two I know of.
