R.I.P. Outspark (Off-Week Update 02-11-2013)
So quick news on the MMO front. If you haven’t heard by now, or on my Twitter (either account) it seem MMO Publisher Outspark, hosts of the previously reviewed Project Powder, Fiesta and the recently shut down DarkBlood, have completely shut down, losing and shutting down all of their published titles, like the cutesy World MMO, “Luvinia” a host of other titles, and all of the previously mentioned games, save for Fiesta, who have been picked up to be published by Gamigo. On the plus side to Fiesta players, you don’t have to do anything to move your account over to Gamigo, and all assets and information have been moved over to the new site. Just patch up and you should be back in the land of cel-shaded grinding once more.
This is pretty sad news, as Outspark, while not exactly king of the publishers, had a good foothold in the market, it seemed, and published a lot of memorable titles over the years. The announcement that they lost their flagship Fiesta, was pretty much no different from an announcement of closure, and unfortunately for fans of their titles, that’s exactly what it turned out to be. With the only publisher that actually had a media department keeping me in the loop with their plans, it’s sad to see this one go, whether you saw this coming or not. R.I.P. Outspark. 2007-2013
Also I’ve been keeping my streams up semi-lately, with playthroughs of Portal 2 Community Maps with Phelan “Phelous” Porteous, as well as trying to play more Secret World alongside Chris “Rollo T” Larios. I also tend to show off the next episode I’m working on, provided I don’t feel like recording it instead. (Yes, I’m aware I can get the streamed recordings but I don’t want to do it that way.) As a stream related side-note, the “Chip-In” I have on the bottom to allow people to donate is apparently going away due to the company shutting down. Not sure if I want to replace it or not, as I do have a thing against the ideal of accepting money for what I deem to be nothing, but I won’t refuse the generosity of others… if that makes sense.
So, let’s go quick over “Path of Exile” which… well it held up well. Not nearly as popular or well loved as DDO, but it’s gaining a following of very impressed people. I, again, am not a major fan of the dungeon grinder, but I see the charm in this game. I don’t plan on deleting it, and I’d like to see how it improves later on.
Yes, the next episode is TERA. Yes, I am NOT a fan of TERA, but this isn’t going to be a Maple Story review of ranting… However, like Maple Story, I find things in it that I can enjoy, but the fans tend to render the game’s faults insufferable with their refusal to address them as such. I’m sure I’ll mention it soon enough.
My main concern is that I won’t be able to finish this episode, as I’m heading out of state for a week, from the 17th, to the 24th. Cutting into both this episode and the next. Stupid tiny month. Let’s hope I can get some progress done this week. I’m already off to such a bad start!
Off-Week Update (02-02-2013)
So, yeah… got hit with a second wave of flu, seriously cutting into my time. Fantastic. East coast epidemic, for the win.
First up, DDO, which did fairly well, despite the usual infusion of fanboys of the game, who tend to have NO idea how this show works, and accusing me of forgoing basic research, not getting very far, or failing to mention certain paid aspects… Again… I didn’t do the “basic research.” Luckily it was all pretty focused from like, one source, and wasn’t all that bad. Many vets of the game liked it, even some more key players like DDO fansite and podcast runners, and, hell, even someone from Turbine commented on here, so that’s a first. I only feel slightly awful about mentioning the cash shop is a total, nigh unusable mess. (It still is. Sorry.) I’m surprised the episode lasted as long as it did, as I did cut a LOT of things I could have talked about, simply for the sake of brevity. The game is simple to grasp, but tough to fully understand, and I stand by that.
So the astute, and the fact my clue wasn’t entirely difficult, yes, this upcoming episode (provided I stop being lazy) is going to be on Path of Exile, the Diablo clone I covered over 6 months ago in a Sidequest that nobody watched. It’s nice to know that this game DIDN’T perform a complete 180 when hitting open beta, and most of the mechanics remained the same, only the Skill Web receiving the most tweaking. It might come across as a redundant episode as this was before I decided to make Sidequest a “first impressions only” show, but at least I can actually explain the mechanics besides just mentioning them quickly. That’s a fairly common fear I have with ALL Sidequests I do, really.
Pray I get this one done on time. I still haven’t decided to stop coughing.
…I also got into the Scarlet Blade Alpha… That…. is certainly…. a thing. A thing that apparently ISN’T under NDA… I… I just don’t know…
Off-Week Update (01-19-2013)
OWU three days before the next episode deadline? When have I ever made sense.
Major apologies for the lack of content, as despite many things being in the works, nothing’s been executed on account of me (expectedly) getting sick after MAGfest. Never fails. Blame winter, or something.
So the Year-In-Review got WAAAY more of a response than I thought it would. Subjective things will do that, hence why I try to avoid is as best I can.
I wanted to have a lot more things up before the next episode but instead…. I put up this stupid background… that’s something, I guess.
I have one, possibly two games I’d like to look at for Sidequest, and I’m REALLY debating on bothering with one of them. I can only see a shitstorm on the horizon for even thinking about the game, so perhaps I best sticking with my original plan of ignoring nearly all games of its type.. We shall see.
In the pipe and abandoned temporarily are two Backtracks, both scripts finished, one on World of Tanks (which JUST got another major update, so thankful I did procrastinate) and the other on (oh god Jon would you shut up about) The Secret World (already).
Since my parenthesis are not in agreement with this decision, no I will NOT shut up about the Secret World. In fact let me add some quick info and possibly a “super-post” of sorts later on if people feel I should.
If you wish to find me in The Secret World, find me on the following characters and cabals. Remember the server you play on DOES NOT MATTER. Just add me to your friends list and you can contact me when I log on.
Illuminati:
Character: ChaosD1
Cabal: Novus Ordo Marganars
Templar:
Character: Azure-Maiden
Cabal: In Marganars We Trust (I’m tempted to change this to “Trust in Marganars” before anyone joins it. Thoughts?)
Dragon:
Character: T-GIF
Cabal: The Marganars Effect
I do NOT mind people finding me or asking me questions in game, just as long as you understand it’s quite possible I might not be able to answer them right away, especially if I’m in a dungeon, or I just neglect to see the tell.
I’m also still running my very unscheduled streams over at twitch.tv/chaosd1 so make sure to check there and on my twitter for when I decided to run games on there. It might be the next episode I’m working on, it might be The Secret World, and it might not be an MMO at all. Also if you wish to monetarily support me in such endeavors (I don’t demand this, but I do often have people ask me.) there is a “Chip-In” widget on my stream page if you feel so inclined/hate money. Otherwise, just stop by and ridicule me like everyone else seems to be doing.
Also the next episode is DDO. So there’s that.
The MMO Grinder 2012 Year-in-Review
Behold my totally subjective list of the MMOs I’ve reviewed from January to December of this year. In no particular order, I’ll be listing several of the games I’ve reviewed and events of the year, along with arbitrary “awards” that have no meaning other than a reason for me to talk about them more. Remember all games looked at BEFORE January of 2012 will not be counted, so Maple Story is STILL my highest viewed video, and Eden Eternal is still my favorite overall, at least out of the actually F2P games. Let’s get this shitstorm started!
MMO Grinder 