Thank the Maker it's Friday! It's been kind of a grueling week, to say the least. Between some issues with my bipolar, and some weird news that I got, it's been tough. But, the weekend is here now, and it's time to relax!
It now feels odd to not have a loot shooter beta/demo this weekend, after three consecutive weekends with either Anthem or The Division 2. I guess I'll have to play actual released games.
I'd like to finish Resident Evil 2 this weekend, at least one playthrough, but I'm chafing at the backtracking and fetch-quest aspects of the game a bit. I'm overall really enjoying it, but my heart sinks every time I see that I need to find six different plugs based on chess pieces, and I have no fucking clue where to go to find the rest of them. Sigh ...
... I've also been contemplating jumping back into Pathfinder: Kingmaker and finishing it off. I dearly love a lot of things about that game, and then clench my teeth at other parts. I dig the story, characters, combat, and appreciate what Owlcat intended with the kingdom management bits, but I actually get angry at how 'hardcore' this game wants to be, and I hate that the game can set you on the path toward a fail state hours before you realize it. That shit's just lame.
I don't understand the crowd that wants brutally unfair and 'hardcore' cRPGs, but I won't look down on them, either. People find their bliss in different things, and that's part of what makes games great. The diversity in gaming is fantastic.
That being said, I'm not someone that a) enjoys being punched in the teeth by a game, and b) has the time to be overly challenged. I like having to think my way through things, but I need actual clues to work with, and Pathfinder: Kingmaker fails hard in this regard at times.
When I finish the game, I think it'll be the most hours I've ever put into a game that I somewhat hated (and liked at the same time.) Dragon Quest XI will be just behind it.
It was a decent week, but I'm always glad for the weekend. And I'm playing some awesome stuff!
First up, The Division 2 beta is live right now! I played a little bit last night, but I'll be playing through the entirety a little today and a bunch on Saturday with my oldest son.
And it's interesting having played Anthem the past two weeks and now playing The Division 2 beta. It's hard not to compare them in this circumstance, even if I think that the similarities are superficial.
Without really getting into the idiocy of 'OMG which is better LOL,' I'll say that I really enjoy both.
The gunplay is pretty different in the two, but I really like both. Anthem feels like Mass Effect, which is great, and The Division 2 feels much more real and grounded, which I also appreciate.
The traversal in both is fun, and totally different. Anthem has the flying and floating and zipping around, which is fantastic, while I really like the cover-to-cover movement of The Division 2, too. Totally different, but each feels great in the game's context.
Also, the environments in both look and sound amazing.
Really, they scratch different itches for me, and I'm glad I'll be able to bounce between the two for a while (once they come out.)
Tonight, as usual, I'm streaming The Witcher trilogy at 7PMc on Twitch. We're eyeballs-deep in Velen in The Witcher 3, and having an absolute blast. The in-game action is wild, and the chat is a great place to shoot the shit and relax. Get yourself a six-pack or make yourself a stiff drink and come hang out. It's a great way to kick off the weekend.
If you want to get caught up on The Witcher or any game series that I've streamed, check out my YouTube channel!
Otherwise, I plan to try and tackle more Resident Evil 2 and get some more quality MMO time.
I finally got a pro-tip from my boss at work to get me un-stuck in RE2 (I haven't been able to figure out how to get back to the goddam fucking parking garage), so I'll probably start on that post-stream tonight. I'm loving RE2 so far.
MMO-wise, I'll probably focus on playing through the rest of the Summerset campaign. I hate the Altmer, but this is a great expansion.
So, how about you? What are you playing this weekend?
Shit's still outta-control insane busy, but I feel like talking at someone about games, so here's some quick hits.
Looks like Bethesda's starting up the hype train by teasing some E3 announcements. PC Gamer has a good take on it. Obviously, there are two unknown properties that will be discussed, but I also think that the bigger surprises might come from games that are already shown there. I also think it's maybe time to retire Skyrim. The Morrowind expac will have just dropped, so another big-ass ESO announcement would be nice. I'm tired of them milking Skyrim. As for Fallout ... go big or go home. Gimme New Vegas 2 from Obsidian. A single-player expac for Doom would be awesome. Dishonored is on there, so something substantial in that area would be cool. No more trials, please. Gimme a proper expansion. And it looks like there be Prey post-release content? Wow.
As for the new stuff ... I'd love to see a new IP, obviously. I'd love to see another Rage game. Yeah, I'm that guy.
Dirt 4 has a trailer. Unfortunately, it looks like they're going arcade-style again, after the excellent Dirt Rally. This seems an odd choice.
On the plus side, FFXIV has dropped a pretty new trailer for Stormblood.
I also think I'm gonna ramp up my presence here. I'm getting pretty frustrated with existing so-called 'gamers' and gaming communities, so I'm giving thought to starting my own. I'm just tired of the hate, hyperbole, and discrimination. I try to learn from those that are different, but I know a lotta people that react in the opposite way.
I'm not really sure what I'm gonna do. I just wanna start a community that's more inclusive. I firmly believe that most gaming enthusiasts aren't what 'gamers' portray themselves as. I think most are normal, well-adjusted adults. Not the alt-right GamerGate Nazi fucks that are most commonly out in front.
Regardless, I'm also really fucking tired and I've had people all up in my face nonstop for weeks. I'm a private person that values his alone time greatly, and I rarely get it, especially lately. That's just how this time of year is for me. Holy cow, though, dude ... I am exhausted, both in terms of lack of sleep, but also in terms of face time with other humans.
Whatcha Playin'?
I'm still double-fisting Mass Effect: Andromeda and Torment: Tides of Numenera, with a side of The Elder Scrolls Online. I finished the ESO main campaign this weekend, and that was pretty rad. I haven't had much gaming time lately, but after I do some travel next week, I should be able to finally have some personal time again, around mid-May.
My goal is to finish MEA and TToN before E3. I think that's feasible.
I'm also trying to do a Dawn of War 3 mission whenever I can. I love that series. I'm not totally sold on the new one yet, mainly because I LOVED the cover system in DoW2, which has been replaced with something ... else, and I don't love it ... yet.
We've also got Prey coming next week, though I'll be traveling at the time. I'm still going to try and get it going then, but I'll likely have to wait until mid-May before I can really dig in.
Zzz
Anyway, I'm tired as fuck and tired of people as fuck. I'm tired of humans. I'm tired of being tired. I used to love spring time. I think next year, I'm going to just force everyone to fuck off in April. I dunno.
I played a shitload of Mass Effect: Andromeda over the weekend. The game has really sunk its hooks into me. For me, the planet of Kadara was a real turning point. Everything prior to that was cool, and I was really digging the 'explorer' vibe, but Kadara is where I really got into the story, and where I really started to like my companions. I'm now about 60 hours into the game, and a little less than halfway to completion.
I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but reading Nexus Uprising has added a lot of cool background information to my experience. If you've played MEA at all, you can gather from the title what it's about.
Really, I'm having a harder time than ever with the critical abuse that this game has taken. I'm not gonna expound on why people act like hateful lemmings, but let me explain how you should approach this game.
One, it's a new games that takes place in the Mass Effect universe. A lot of mechanics, weapons, species, and more will seem familiar. However, it is NOT ME4, in any sense. It has a 'feel' that is vastly different from the other three games, and story-wise, it's a clean break that references back to ME1 and ME2 a little bit.
Just go into it loving the universe, but not expecting more of what you know, and you'll fall in love. I really feel, strongly, that this was a great move for the franchise, and I really wanna see more in Andromeda.
As always, Torment is what I'm hitting a bit each week, and it'll shift back to being my 'main' game once MEA wraps up. Torment is a hell of a game.
Meanwhile, I've been on two betas. One was Dawn of War III, which I sniffed at briefly, but just never made time for because of MEA. The other, I can't talk about at all because of an NDA, but I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
PRE3
We're in the last seven weeks before E3. It's getting so close, I can start to feel the hum of excitement coursing throughout the gaming world.
Typically, leading up to E3, I set some gaming goals for myself. Nothing really hardcore or crazy, just for fun, and to nudge me a bit to clear my pile of shame somewhat.
This year, we're targeting Mass Effect: Andromeda, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and the Elder Scrolls Online campaign, which I've been sitting on the end of for over a month now.
What's tough is that between now and E3, we're seeing Dawn of War III drop this week, Prey next week, and Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind on 6/6.
And I haven't even mentioned the PS4 games I still haven't finished.
The pile of shame is going to swell, and then hopefully, the summer sees a drought of releases. 2017 has been nuts in terms of releases.
Oh shit, I also accidentally bought Ghost Recon: Wildlands! Don't ask! But it's really fun!
Beyond that, I'm going through the joyful exercise of slowly building my E3 week. Every day, I scour the internet for more dates and times and anything that might add to the week. I build quite an experience for myself every year, and this year shall be no different.
So far, we know about EA, Microsoft, and Bethesda's pressers. We're still waiting to hear from Ubisoft, Sony, and maybe PC Gamer. I hope they do another PC Gamer Show at E3. I've really enjoyed those.
It'd be interesting to see someone else push their way onto the scene. Squenix has done PRE3 pressers on occasion. Acitivision or Blizzard would be interesting.
What's been getting harder each E3 is the fact that EA owns BioWare, and EA's presser is worse and worse every year, and they just haven't leveraged BioWare well in a long time. This year will be interesting, since we're going to see a new IP from BioWare.
What I'm expecting, though, is that Andrew Wilson will come out, lead off with two minutes of a shooter that everyone but me wants, then talk about BioWare for maybe 90 seconds, and then we go into 90min of fucking soccer.
I hope not.
I'll do a full EA preview when we get closer to the actual event.
What about you? You hyped for E3? What do you wanna see?
I love MMORPGs. I love the 'instant play' aspect, and I love getting to live inside their worlds. I love the community (usually.) Modern MMORPGs very much cater to the love of story that I have, plus they heavily feature math, which makes me swoon.
The problem is that there are too many that I like. I go through this every year or two, when I need to pare down, especially relative to the lack of free time that I have, and the fact that I mostly play gargantuan single-player RPGs.
So, here's what I have in rotation at the moment.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
This is my champion. Of any game I've ever played, I've put more hours into SWTOR than any other. I was in the beta, and fell in love HARD. I still play this pretty regularly. I adore this game. I've put over 1000 hours into it, and there's still a ton of content I've never played. This one stays, no matter what.
Yeah, I know, this game became fashionable to hate or loathe or whatever weird emotional assignment you tied to it, but it really is delightful, especially if you're a fan of the now-deleted Expanded Universe, specifically the KotOR stuff. This is a natural extension of it.
The free-to-play option is a good demo, but I'm a subscriber, and I feel just fine about that. The Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne mini-expansions were great. What this game needs is a proper expansion.
The Elder Scrolls Online
I had a bumpy ride with this one early on. Like SWTOR, I was in the beta for a long time, and it was decent, and then once the game launched, I decided to unsub for a time while they worked out some issues. At no point was it bad, but it had some problems that I wanted worked out before I came back. Eventually, I did, and really enjoyed it. I don't sub anymore, because it went buy-to-play, but I buy each of the DLC, and I've prepurchased the Morrowind expansion, which looks AMAAAZING.
What's interesting about this and SWTOR is that I approach each as a living single-player game. I'll group when I need to, and I belong to fairly active guilds, but I don't raid a lot. I do enjoy it when I do, but I'm fairly introverted, and MMOs are an OK way for me to brush up against being social.
I actually got my oldest son pulled in, and he's playing now. Once he's leveled, maybe we'll hit Cyrodiil together.
Guild Wars 2
This is another game in which I've been since the beta. I actually had some IRL friends playing with me for a while, but they've dropped out over the years, and I'm now the last man standing.
I finished the main campaign a while ago, and have been pushing through the Living World content, though I've hit a bugged dungeon, and have been waiting for it to be fixed so that I can continue. It is very frustrating, especially since I've enjoyed the game so much.
Guild Wars 2 is also the most fun 'just sit down and start playing' game that I play. It's just silky smooth.
The world is a hell of a lot of fun, too. Not only the lore, but the reactive elements, which, in my opinion, makes it the ultimate theme park MMO.
The lack of a subscription helps the enjoyment, too. I think the base game is F2P now, too.
Final Fantasy XIV
This is the tough one for me. I pay a sub for it, I used to really love Final Fantasy, I adore the combat and the mechanics of this game, as well as the structure of the world, but it has a few things that really bug me.
I play games that lack voice acting all the time, but FFXIV's flapping lips really bother me. I'd rather that there wasn't any camera work or anything, and that it just had textboxes over static images, or even handled it like the old SNES Final Fantasy games. The flapping lips just bother me.
This is a game that I really need to get more into. The above games were all 'my main game' for some period of time, which allowed me to really propel myself into the game. I've never done that with Final Fantasy XIV. I was even a launch day player, and got to enjoy the debacle of the original version of the game.
I've got Stormblood prepurchased, I've paid my sub through August, so I am going to try and really take the plunge.
Star Trek Online
I played the shit outta this when it first came out. I am absolutely nuts about Star Trek (and Star Wars), and this was my only connection to the franchise for a period of time. The Abrams fan fiction films were fun, brainless action movies, and we'll see if Discovery ever amounts to anything in spite of CBS. This is all I had for a while, and it was really enjoyable. The ship-to-ship combat is great, the ground combat has improved, but is still basically crap, but the game is a fun dip in the Star Trek universe.
I haven't been a subscriber in years, and I really barely play anymore, but I want to play more.
In Conclusion
So, that's five MMOs, plus my constant itch to fire up The Secret World again. I just checked, and holy shit, that's an expensive game to jump into right now and buy the full game.
It's too many, flat out, and I could use some help paring it down. I'd love your opinions. SWTOR and ESO are definitely sticking around.
On the flipside, I could also dial back the single player games that I play, to make more time for the MMOs. I dunno. Having too many quality games to play is a good problem to have, and a very, very first world problem. Still, it can be a fun discussion, and I'd appreciate any input ya'll have.
On Morrowind
I think I'm still enjoying Morrowind. I'm not sure. I love the world, the writing, the lore, the gradually building overall story, but ... that fucking interface and the endless slog from point to point.
Have modern games ruined me? Is that what's going on? Most of what I bitch about it is stuff that attempts to simulate real world, like the endless slog from point to point. Let's go to Sadrith Mora. Ah, gotta head to Tel Branora. Got the thing. Now back to Sadrith Mora. Now let's go to Vos. Ah, this tower is really confusing. Let's spend two hours trying to find our way around it. Fuck it, I'll just look online.
The problem with all of the above is that the player character moves at a somewhat realistic pace, unless you're willing to burn down all your stamina. You don't realize how slow we walk in real life until you play this game, and realize that your snail pace is actually really fast in real life.
Really, my biggest gripe with the game is the tepid pace brought on by the slow player character and distance between fast-travel points and objectives. It just takes too goddam long to get anywhere and do anything. Much of the design is spectacular, but I'm torn on how I should feel about how fucking long everything takes to do.
As I said, I can't decide if I have a legitimate gripe, or if modern design has tainted my ability to enjoy slow games.
I'm still loving it, I think, but goddam ... this is why so many people sunk so many hours into this game. Not because there's so much to do (though there is), but because they were walking slowly to silt striders, boats, and mage teleports over and over ... and over ...
... oh, and I have a confession. I finally broke down, and have been using console commands to fix some parts of the game, namely my inventory. I've been loading up on torches and levitation potions. Nothing else. But I've pledged myself to House Telvanni, which I didn't realize would mean I'd need a fucking truckload of levitation potions. None of the high-up dudes know what stairs or a ground floor is. It's annoying.
I love it, though. I'm roleplaying the hell out of this character, trying to manipulate circumstances so that I lead a Dunmer revolution. I'm getting concerned, though, as I'm trying to prove my loyalty to conflicting groups. We'll see where my bid to take over both the Ashlanders and the Temple leads me.
On ESO
Meanwhile, I'm wrapping up the main campaign in ESO, and that's a lot of fun. It's interesting playing through these two games simultaneously, and enjoying their vast differences, but also common ancestry.
ESO is a great game that wasn't great at launch, but has molded itself into something very much worth buying and playing. I have a lot of fun every time I fire it up, and the story and exploration are a blast. And the combat, once you learn it, might be the best of any MMO.
My perfect Elder Scrolls game, though, would be ESO's vastness + live players, combined with Morrowind's landscape and lore (which I'm getting in June) with Dishonored's movement. I REALLY hope the next Elder Scrolls game brings in Arkane to handle the player character movement. It could happen, since they're both under the Bethesda umbrella.
So, what say you about Morrowind? Looking back, how well do you think it plays for modern audiences? Do you have an older game that you love that you think might be hard to replay today?
I gotta say, sifting through the first half of 2017 game releases is kinda staggering. We're seeing a ton of awesome and innovative stuff real quick this year.
Before I get to that, let me use 2007 as a point of reference. That was a year that I feel completely changed gaming. I'd argue that it was the most innovative year in gaming ever, and not in a totally oblique kind of way. There were several games that had subtle design decisions that, I'd argue, completely altered the trajectory of modern games.
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Crysis
Gears of War
Portal
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
The Witcher
From the storytelling in BioShock to the stop n' pop in Gears, to the amazing mechanics in Portal, to the open world exploration and storytelling in STALKER, I think each one of those introduced a new concept in gaming that then permeated throughout gaming.
Also, Quake Wars is still the only multiplayer game that I've ever really gone crazy for.
The gaming scene in 2007 merits its own post some time this year, as it really was pretty incredible if you'd been a gaming enthusiast for a long time. Lotsa sweeping changes, and lotsa seeds planted.
Anyway, about this year ...
... or more specifically, the first half of this year.
I know I've seen crowded post-Christmas release calendars before, and I've seen games drop in March before, but I don't think I've ever seen such density in terms of quality releases in the first six months of the year. I also see the potential for a lot of innovation and new ideas. Also, a fair number of these are either new IP or total reinventions of existing IP.
First, the only one of these that I am NOT getting, Nioh. This game looks fantastic, and way too hard. I don't like hard games. I'm a busy guy, and if it's challenging, it needs to be in terms of strategy, and not twitch. If I can't beat a boss strategically on my first attempt, then no. In these kinda games you have to die a few times to learn the patterns, and then you can kill it. Yes, I recognize this as a strategy, but not the kind I like. Not for me. Nope.
Still, the reviews, if they were able to finish the game, are glowing, and there's already rumblings about 'game of the year.' Some folks love these kinda games, and I respect this genre absolutely (even if I personally have no use for it.)
Horizon: Zero Dawn
This really caught my attention at E3 a couple years ago. Every time Guerilla Games would show a new game at E3, in the past, I'd marvel at how alive and amazing the world looked, and then I'd roll my eyes as soon as it descended into yet another shoot-shoot-shoot experience. I saw so much wasted potential there.
Then, at E3 2015, they showed off a world that captured my imagination, and immediately started setting incredibly unrealistic expectations. Techno-savages battling robo-dinosaurs in a post-apocalyptic world that was way after the apocalypse! Yes! It all looked great, minus being trapped as a console-exclusive. That's enormously disappointing, but I bought a PS4 for Uncharted 4, so now I'll have a second game to play on it.
I've since dialed my expectations waaay back, but this game still looks great. I'd honestly be more hyped for it, were it not releasing against my personal (expected) game of the year.
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Holy shit, I am over the moon for this one. I've had to work very hard to not play more of the Early Access version, because I wanna be as fresh as possible on this game, but GODDAM, it is so good. I love everything about it, from the lore, the character building, the reactive world, the combat, all of it. It is a perfect blend, so far, of deep mechanics and rich storytelling.
This is marketed as a spiritual successor to PlaneScape: Torment, but that doesn't mean a lot for me, since I never played it. The few hours of Torment: Tides of Numenera that I've played, though, make that matter little, because I am so in love with it.
This hits three weeks from today, but I'm hoping that maybe it's available to backers the weekend before. That desire is not based on any real information that I've gotten, and will probably not happen.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
I love the Mass Effect series deeply, and felt that it came to a natural conclusion with ME3. I was skeptical when I heard about this game, because its existence (not coming from the ME trilogy team, not part of the trilogy) seemed like a possible EA-forced cash-in, but everything that I've seen over the last couple of months disputes that notion.
One of the things that is potentially off-putting to me is that seems even more action-focused than the previous games, which is not really something in which I have a lot of interest, but I'm more than happy to give it a chance. BioWare is a studio that has repeatedly gotten me to enjoy things that I didn't think I would, including the first Mass Effect, which had me (and others) screaming, 'WHY ISN'T IT KOTOR3?! JUST MAKE KOTOR3!' After playing it, I was relieved that they'd made it instead of KotOR 3 (which I still want.) I love new ideas, and BioWare is very good at implementing them.
I'm actually extending my Spring Training vacation by one day, so that I can squeeze in a full day with this game.
Prey
This looks hot. Some of my favorite people are working on it, including Shawn Elliot and Chris Avellone. Everything we've seen of the gameplay looks innovative as hell, and the creep factor is off the charts. I get vibes of everything from BioShock to Half-Life. I am so all over this.
Also ...
... a buddy pointed out that Resident Evil 7 and Yakuza 0 have both already released and made very good impressions on many folks (I have a small number of issues with RE7, but I'm way early in the game.) I really wanna play Yakuza 0, but I already have too many games that are console-only (Uncharted 4, HZD, Gears 4), so I'll wait on that one.
We also MIGHT see stuff like Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 3 in the first half, though I'm skeptical. I'm very excited for both of those, as well, and the Original Sin 2 Early Access version is incredible.
I can't wait to see what the latter part of the year holds. We've got an incredible lineup for the first half, and like I said, I've not seen it this dense with cool games ... maybe ever?
How about you? What's got you stoked for the first half of 2017?
Dude, I cannot properly explain how excited I am. I'll be honest, too. What has me excited isn't the trailer above, but what Richard Lambert explained afterward, in the reveal discussion. PCGamer has a nice write-up here.
Here's the basics:
- it arrives 6/6, a week before E3!!!
- it takes place on the island of Vvardenfell, which was the main landmass in the game, Morrowind
- ESO, and this expansion, are 700 years before the game, Morrowind
- this expansion sets up a lot of the events of the game, Morrowind
- most of the notable landmarks from the game, Morrowind, are present in the expansion, Morrowind, though in an earlier state; Vivec City, for example, is still under construction, so some of the cantos aren't there yet
Here is a link to the full presentation, or check it out below. I promise, if you're a fan of the series, it's a great watch.
There was a flurry of Final Fantasy announcements early this morning. You can get the full breakdown here.
Here's what caught my eye the most:
01. FFXIV: Stormblood is still on-target for 6/20. I had no doubt, but they're bringing back my favorite Final Fantasy class ever, the Red Mage, in this expansion. I played the first Final Fantasy back on the NES when it first came out, and I loved the Red Mage in that game. I've been hot and cold on Final Fantasy XIV, but the folks that love it FUCKING LOVE IT, so I keep trying it.
02. Final Fantasy XII HD is hitting PlayStation 4 on 7/11. I adore this game, but I'm not sure I'll ever replay it, especially if it's only on a console. I have a PS4, use it occasionally, but console gaming in my house is very difficult, whereas I can play my PC games anywhere, any time, with any mods, and they look gorgeous. I hope this hits Steam.
03. That Final Fantasy VII remake. By the maker, that's a clusterfuck. Today's announcement was just a reminder that this project exists. I already think Nomura is all flash and no substance, and the gutting of the battle system in this thing just reinforces that to me. Materia + turn-based + strategy made for some amazing battles, whereas this dumbed-down action system completely turns me off. I just don't understand this need to make everything flashy and stupid. Strategy is fun. Thinking is fun. And it's episodic because Nomura can't get projects out the door anymore. At least there's a chance he'll be kicked off this project, too (as happened on FFXV), when it takes too long. I hate this. Final Fantasy VI and VII were amazing games, and don't need to be 'fixed.' Make something new and great. Don't take something old and great and make it new and bad. Give me a true Final Fantasy VII sequel. Make it turn-based, strategic, and deep. Bah.
In happier news, Elder Scrolls Online is getting a major announcement today, at 1300 central time. As I said yesterday, I'm expecting it's going to be Vvardenfell (the island in Morrowind.) I'm a big fan of this game and series, so I'm excited to check it out. You can watch it here or below:
I'm also thrilled with how well the Fig campaign is going for Pillars II. I'm loving the stretch goals, especially the one at $2m, which allows for more advanced user-controlled AI programming. I love that kinda shit, like in the original Dragon Age.
Anyway, I'll be streaming today @ 1630, and it'll probably be some ESO, so we can talk about the recent announcement. Check me out here or below!
So, what do you think of the Final Fantasy announcements? Anything you're excited about? Anything really got your panties in a twist? What about ESO? Do you play? What do you wanna see?
I think I finally clicked with the Elder Scrolls this weekend. I also played a shitload of Mass Effect 3, which you can get caught up on via my Road to Andromeda series below.
For someone that's never finished an Elder Scrolls game, I have an absurd number of hours sunk into Morrowind, according to Steam. Maybe 80 or so.
I think I've written about it here before, but on paper, the Elder Scrolls and I look a match made in heaven. Deep stats, deep lore, freedom of choice, loads of exploration, and on and on.
Yet, we've never quite clicked. I'll start a game in Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim, and I just never quite feel comfortable. I got really deep into Morrowind once, but even then, it was never something in which I felt terribly at-home or like I was really loving it.
I felt that way about (Bethesda) Fallout for a long time. Up until maybe early 2015, at which point, I burned through Fallout 3 + all DLC, Fallout: New Vegas + all DLC (holy shit, I loved that game), and then Fallout 4, once it hit.
In the case of Fallout, I believe I had to dial back my need to have constant and rapid progression through the story. Both Bethesda Fallout and Elder Scrolls are very loose in their story structure, and I was really off-put by that for a long time, despite really enjoying the Wasteland setting in the Fallout games.
I wonder if part of my issue with Elder Scrolls is that I'm just not a big fantasy guy, at least high fantasy, but I dunno. I'm nuts about Dragon Age and The Witcher, both of which are more low fantasy. Hmm.
Part of it, I know, is my need to play things in order (though I did talk myself out of Arena + Daggerfall), and the journal system in Morrowind is utter shit. It's an active inhibition to my enjoyment of the game.
So, yesterday, I finally caved and decided to finally push forward on a new character that I'd been writing in my head for a while, AND I decided I'd use Microsoft OneNote on my iPhone to act as a journal and note-taker for my high-level objectives. This changed everything for me.
I know about the Nerevarine and all that in the game, so I decided my guy would be a Dunmer, raised in the Empire, who was coming to his true home, Vvardenfell, for the first time, with which he would fall madly in love. He'd throw himself head-first into being a Dunmer, joining the Temple, the Morag Tong, and despite not being a magic user, House Telvanni, which he regards as the most truly Dunmer of the great houses. He'd turn on his Imperial masters at just the right moment.
He'd also use the filthy Khajiit to make himself rich, making money hand over first off of their moon sugar and skooma addictions.
I got through Seyda Neen recently, and started rounding out all the quest-gathering in and around Balmora. It sucks that there's no way to join the Camonna Tong, but oh well ... I wasn't going to join the Thieves Guild or Fighers Guild, but changed my mind. It's a good chance to earn XP and some of the quests are fun.
My goal is to ascend to become ruler of Morrowind and to drive the Imperial dogs out of my lands. We'll do that via leveraging groups like the Temple, the Great Houses (though Hlaalu might be a problem), the Ashlanders, the Morag Tong, and the Dunmer themselves.
I'm using OneNote to jot down anything I uncover that will help me in that process, and I'm finding that's been a relief in terms of keeping myself organized.
Last thing about this. Part of what's helped is that I am NOT streaming any part of this. I'm keeping it all for myself, and taking it at my pace, which has been really nice. I'll go 20-25 minutes without really moving the plot forward, just by talking to folks and taking notes on my phone. It's pretty fucking great, honestly.
And a side note - I've enjoyed ESO for a long time, though that's a fairly different beast from the main Elder Scrolls games.
So, any chance any of you have a game or series with which you should've clicked, but haven't yet? Or maybe you had to make an adjustment to your normal approach, and then it clicked? Is there a game or series that you really wish you liked? Tell me about it!
Also, if you wanna watch me stream, I'll be on tomorrow at 1630 central. Not sure what game yet. Maybe ME3. Lemme know if you have any requests. Maybe ESO?
I've been pondering the next 'move' for my YouTube Gaming Channel after my fairly successful DXHR run.
The marathon part was a bit much, but it was actually pretty fun to have folks come and hang out for a while and talk Deus Ex.
The long-form continuous playthrough, though, has actually gained some traction, which surprised me. I can understand why it would be interesting to watch, theoretically, but I can't fathom someone actually setting aside the required 30 hours to do so. But, some folks are. Cool!
I like doing it, and I seem to slowly be finding a niche audience. Where do I go from here?
Well, I've been thinking about that, and here's kinda where I am:
01. In thinking about what I want to see more of on YouTube, I want to see:
a. someone that doesn't scream in falsetto (or at all, really)
b. someone that's committed to the roleplay of the character in-game, but not to their audience
c. in terms of a long 'canon' playthrough of a game, mods that enhance the original vision of the game
d. someone knowledgeable about the game's lore
e. someone knowledgeable about the game's development
f. someone that has well-founded opinions on the game, and that can communicate them in an intelligent, non-hyperbolic fashion
g. someone that's cool and funny 02. I enjoy sharing some of my gaming with the world; for example, I'm enjoying playing DXMD for the first time by myself, and wouldn't enjoy sharing that with YouTube; conversely, my new 'MMO & Chill' streams are there for hanging out and socializing; what I did with DXHR was my second playthrough after five years, and that really enhanced the experience; it was technically my first playthrough of the Director's Cut; streaming subsequent runs of games that I know and love is fun, especially when I can balance, commentary, comedy, and knowledge 03. I think my channel, for me to stick with it, needs to have more than one 'product;' that's where the 'MMO & Chill' thing came from; I don't want to just be that guy that makes 15-20 streams for one game, and it's this really long, involved, intense thing 04. I think I might get away from, altogether, playing brand new games on the channel; there's a ton of people already doing that, and that's really not the way I enjoy discovering games 05. I think I'd really enjoy devoting my channel to not-new games; not really 'retro' games, though some of those might come up; I'm not one of those dickheads that believes that everything good stopped being made after year X. I love all kinds of games from all kinds of years, and fully believe that every year, the best games ever made are being made
So, with that in mind, I think this where we're going from here.
01. I'm going to have an ongoing series in which I'm playing through a game (or series), at least an hour a week. Probably more. I may even have two in parallel. It'll usually be pointed at an upcoming release, but not always. The series that are will be titled 'The Road to [insert upcoming game].' They'll always be subtitled 'Blaine vs [insert title of game or series that's being played].'
a. in support of this, I will have done a lot of research on both the in-game lore, as well as the behind-the-scenes so that I can drop interesting knowledge bombs while playing.
b. I'll install mods to crank up the visuals to their max prettiest. I may install mods that bring cut content back. I won't install the 'Skyrim Needed Thomas the Tank Engine' mods, unless that somehow suits the theme I'm going for.
c. These will almost always be on a weekend night. I'm going to look into expanding my streaming schedule, but for now, this is what you get. 02. My other stream series will be Sunday mornings, and that will be my 'MMO & Chill' series. I'll rotate the following MMOs: Elder Scrolls Online (which was featured this morning), SWTOR, Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Star Trek Online, Guild Wars 1, and Neverwinter. I'll also try out others if enough people request them. The objective of this stream will be to just chill and do whatever in-game. 03. I don't have any other series planned yet.
I'm also part of a larger network of streamers called The 1UP Rejects, and we're slowly building a pretty decent catalog, with something for anyone. Give it a look. In particular, the Single-Player Multiplay is pretty cool. It's my buddy Marc and me each playing through DXHR, but totally differently. I dig the shit outta that.
So, here's what's coming next (for my channel):
Rest of 2016 + early 2017: The Road to Mass Effect Andromeda: Blaine vs the Mass Effect Trilogy
Later 2016: Blaine vs the KotORs
2017-2018: The Road to Dragon Age 4: Blaine vs the Dragon Age Trilogy
2017: add another weekly show (lemme know what you want)
2018: add another weekly show
The plan isn't super-aggressive, and that's intentional. I'm a husband, father, developer, writer, and too many other things right now to just set everything aside and do this, though I really enjoy this. The plan is to build up a bigger support structure for this over time, and we'll just see where it goes.
On that note, I could really use your help. Check out my channel. Watch my videos. Subscribe. Like. Donate. Comment. Share the videos. Please. And give feedback. Seriously. If it's constructive and/or praising, I really need both.
Here's a look at my first 'MMO & Chill' stream:
It wasn't as chill as I would've liked, but it still ended up being pretty fun.
I'm going to try and get started with my 'Road to Mass Effect' series today, but it may not happen. We'll see. I have a lot of modding to do with it first, and some of these mods are nearly the size of the base game install.
Anyway, give my stuff a look, lemme know what you think, and hit me with any requests.
I might've said it before, and if so, it's worth saying again. For a short week, this felt like a looong week.
Now, it's Saturday. I got to sleep in until almost 9AM, I'm showered, I'm relaxing with my sons, I'm listening to Elder Scrolls Off the Record, and I'm typing at you. Good times. I'm thinking about taking the boys out for lunch today. Not sure where. Suggestions are welcome.
I fully plan to engage max chill this weekend. I got my sister-in-law and her boyfriend coming down today, and they're both cool people. I'm buying the UFC thing on PPV tonight for her man, for his birthday, I got a buddy coming over tonight to shoot the breeze, and we haven't seen each other in a while, and I got an itch for some MMO action, so either SWTOR, ESO, FFXIV, or Guild Wars 2 (or some combination thereof) is/are going to get played. Probably SWTOR, at least, since I wanna play the next chapter of Knights of the Fallen Empire, and I wanna continue in the Dark vs Light event.
Your vote here might matter.
All four are amazing games, I don't have nearly enough time for all four, three cost monthly money, I know, but all four are amazing games, and I love MMOs. I love RPGs in general, but I love having a main single-player RPG and an MMO to focus on. I'm fickle about the MMOs, though. I dunno. I'm weird.
I'll probably stream a bit, too. I wanted to stream my first foray into Red Dead Redemption on Xbox, since it's on backwards compatibility now, but I don't think I can stream to YouTube Gaming from Xbox One, which sucks ASS. I don't want to stream to Twitch, but I might anyway. We'll see.
I did have a couple GREAT streams the last couple days, though. PLEASE, if you haven't watched any of my stream recordings yet, check these out. The Doom one starts out slow (I had some dog issues), so jump ahead to six minutes. I guess I could just edit it.
Also, playing Inside was interesting. I do not play platformers, especially 2D, and especially puzzle-heavy. I got a request to go way outside my comfort zone with a game, and this one was suggested, and apparently, the results were hilarious. This was kind of a special video. Give it a look-see.
Anyway, check those out, and please give me some feedback, either here, or in that video's comments. And feel free to poke around my channel, take it all in, and give me some overall feedback. I love doing this stuff, and I wanna do it better.
If you have any requests to see me play something, lemme know. I'm pretty open.
Alright, time to plan for lunch. If I'm gonna stream later, I'll throw something up on my Twitter.
