donderdag 31 maart 2011

STO: Enjoying the Foundry

GameClient 2011-03-29 23-06-34-60

I have really been enjoying Star Trek Online this week.
The Feature Episodes are really awesome to play through and although the standard explore and defend missions are still boring i am really enjoying this game again.

With the recent Foundry missions being added to the game, which is basicly user generated content the game takes a whole different turn, i can see a lot of fun coming to this game and it definatly adds a lot to the endgame and gives a lot of more interesting stuff to do between feature episodes.

I have only done a few Foundry missions so far and a couple of them have been a lot of fun.
So i can really recommend trying out some of these Foundry missions.

GameClient 2011-03-31 01-33-22-02

The only thing i constantly feel like doing is talk to my companions and try build a "relationship" with them, especially when i visit my bridge, i guess i am really getting used to the Bioware approach and i somehow miss the fact that i can't in Star Trek, as in STO they are basicly just pets, you can tell them to attack, stay or give them commands to use certain abilities but that's it.

My character is slowly moving through the ranks and is now a Captain 4, has allready got her new ship an Exploration Cruiser, really a nice (and big) ship to see.
I have to say i was somewhat worried about reaching endgame too soon and have nothing to do but exploration missions or daily missions while wait for Feature Episodes, but with the new Foundry i am pretty sure there will be plenty of stuff to do.

vrijdag 25 maart 2011

DAW: Bioware

Looking back over the years, i realised that the games i enjoyed playing the most when it comes to singleplayer games came from Bioware, games like Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Dragon Age.
Simply beautifull adventures with lots of storytelling.

The companion system Bioware uses is often a lot of fun to play around with and they seem to have "perfected" it with the recent Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2.

The game that actually really got me into MMO's (and RPG's) was Knights of the Old Republic, after playing this i just had the craving to enjoy more games like this, adventuring in big worlds, questing and enjoying story (i ended up in Star Wars Galaxies).
So i actually have to thank (or blame) Bioware for my current "addiction" to gaming :)

I am really looking forward to what they are doing with Star Wars The Old Republic, i think if anyone can pull it off to make a story driven MMO it's Bioware and if they manage to combine the best from Mass Effect and Dragon age into SWTOR i think it will be an awesome game to play.

My second post for Developer Appreciation Week (DAW) is for Bioware, their story driven RPG's are always very addictive, in a positive way and so far i have enjoyed everything they have done and i am definatly looking forward to what they will be bringing us in the future.
Can't wait to see Mass Effect 3, but also what is coming after that.
So to all the people working on the games at Bioware, i thank you!

donderdag 24 maart 2011

DAW: Steam

Now a developer is a developer, whether they develop games or a platform to distibute them.

Personally i love steam for it's easy use, both in buying as in installing games.
I recently upgraded my computer to Win7 and had to re-install all my games, except those i bought on Steam, i re-installed the Steam client and all my games worked without problems or losing settings/saves, no re-installing needed.

Removing and re-installing i also very easy, unlike some other DL services i don't have to look/search for installation files, it's all there in my client.

I also like pre-ordering on Steam, just buy and whenever the game comes out it's ready to play, as more and more games are ready for pre-loading before it comes out meaning only an unlock is needed in order to be able to play the game.

Even gaming on different machines is easy as you can install the Steam client on all machines and play any game you own on Steam.

Updates and patches to games are often automaticly downloaded and applied to your games, so never any worries about having to download the latest patch.

So yeah this is my first post for Developer Appreciation Week (DAW), i just figured to look a little bit further into gaming and instead of a game developer pick something else gaming related that i enjoy using.


maandag 21 maart 2011

They come out at night.


First impression was one of, what the hell...
Looking at the graphics i never thought much of it and it was what actually kept me from playing it, despite many bloggers being very positive about it.
But eventually i figured if so many people play and enjoy it, it's worth giving it a try.

At first it was quite frustrating and it took some time to figure out what exactly Minecraft is suppose to be but once i started building my house and messing around with the world it actually became quite addictive.

The game doesn't tell you what to do and if it wasn't for a few "first night" videos on YouTube i probably wouldn't have played it very long.

Graphicly the game looks like it could come from the Atari 2600 era, but i mean that in a positive way, i was actually one of those gamers who started gaming on the Atari 2600.

And just like many of those Atari 2600 games, they don't look like much but there is a hell of a lot of gameplay fun in them and it's the same with Minecraft.

This game is also a great example for giving the community/player everything he/she needs to entertain themself and they will, no fancy stuff, just a few tools to do whatever they want.

I still have much to learn and figure out as crafting is a lot of trial and error but a lot of fun and i am sure i will spend quite a few hours playing it.

zondag 20 maart 2011

The arrival will bring the end

MassEffect2 2011-03-05 23-28-07-68

I only finished the last Mass Effect 2 DLC (The Shadowbroker) early this month and of course like all DLC it was awesome yet way too short.
After every DLC i feel that "the end" of a game and now with the last Mass Effect 2 DLC, "Arrival" coming March 29th, the end is truly in sight.
I really enjoyed the ride and hope "Arrival" is really going to be awesome, who am i kidding, of course it will be awesome, what i really hope is that it will bring at least a lot of hours of fun and by that i mean, make it possible to keep exploring/adventuring/questing, but looking at Mass Effect that will be very unlikely.

Of course we know Mass Effect 3 is coming and i personally can't wait to see what Bioware is going to bring.

To Dragon Age or not to Dragon Age

DragonAge2 2011-03-10 16-34-27-49
My character in Dragon Age 2

I have started playing Dragon Age 2, but for some reason i haven't continued playing..
I think part of the reason is i don't want it to end, which of course is stupid if you don't play, but still i feel like i should "save" it for later.
I do have plenty of other games to keep me busy, but still everytime my eye crosses the DA2 logo on my desktop and want to click it but so far i end up clicking something else

Yeah i know i am wierd :)

donderdag 17 maart 2011

The Princess and the Klingon

GameClient 2011-03-17 01-22-51-90

Who says you're never too old to learn, i have been playing STO for quite a while now and never realised there was an autofire function..
I found out last night because i accidentally rightclicked while firing off a torpedo.
This really makes things a lot more easy (and comfortable) while fighting in space, before my hand would actually start to hurt from pressing (spamming) the space bar for lasers and the numeric keys for torpedos, playing for more than a few hours would be very uncomfortable.

Not only is it more comfortable but i think it also makes sence, i mean you're the captain of the ship and have your crew to fire the weapons, it's not like you fly a fighter and have to do everything yourself (apperantly my ship has a crew of 500).
Needles to say i am very happy about finding this autofire function (i know i am a noob) :)

GameClient 2011-03-17 01-35-31-54

I also finished a little mission called Saturday's Child, where you escort a princess and save a planet, which was really fun to do, although i did manage to "bug" the mission as i destroyed the asteroid before defeating the I.K.S. Kang (i missed the hail from the Kang) which left me with the message to destroy the asteroid which of course was no longer there since i allready destroyed it.
The only way to finish the mission was to leave the system and redo the last part of the mission, which was very annoying, really think the game should have detected i allready destroyed the asteroid instead of telling me to destroy something that is no longer there..

dinsdag 15 maart 2011

To boldly go where everyone has been before

GameClient 2011-03-14 23-29-09-28

I have been having a lot of fun playing through the Feature Episodes, i have (finally) finished going through "Series 1: The Breen", which was a lot of fun and have now started with "Series 3: Cloaked Intentions" and just finished "The Vault" a really different type of mission which has you flying in a tiny little shuttle through a huge space station.

Somehow i managed to miss the start of "Series 2: The Devidians", so i definatly have to look for that.
The Feature episodes are really a lot more fun than the standard explore and patrol missions, which tend to get boring after visiting 3 systems as they are often not much different from the previous missions and they often feel like grinding missions, there just to level your character.

I am really enjoying the story based missions and that's definatly one thing that i think STO is doing right, and eventhough i am not a big Star Trek fan i am really enjoying them.

And i also managed to finally reach a new rank, Cynfull is now a Commander, which also means a new ship. Since i so far enjoyed flying a cruiser i went with the heavy cruiser.
GameClient 2011-03-15 02-33-06-78
Heavy cruiser "Pok's Demise".

zaterdag 12 maart 2011

SWTOR: The more i see you..

..The more i want you.



It's definatly true for me when it comes to Star Wars The Old Republic.
I have been a bit selective about what i wanna know about the game, i do read the blogs, i do watch the videos, i do listen to podcasts and the more i read/watch/listen the more i wanna play this game.
I am trying to not get too hyped about SWTOR, afterall if you raise the bar too high there's going to be a lot of dissapointment

So far for me the positives are, it's Bioware, it's Star Wars, it's KOTOR, what more do you want ??
But eventhough i can't wait to play this game, i still have no clue as to what class i am gonna be playing... personally i love playing the hunter in WoW and in most mmo's i enjoy playing a pet class and i guess with companions in SWTOR all classes could be considered pet classes :)
I have to admit though, i have not been reading up on the different classes in SWTOR and don't think i'll be doing that in the near future.

But it sure feels nice to be excited about a new mmo coming out :)

woensdag 9 maart 2011

Another one bites the dust

I still have a backlog of podcasts to listen to so i am way behind.
I finally got around to listen to the last episode of "Shut Up. We're Talking" and have to say i am really going to miss this podcast, really sad to see it go. It has been one of my favourite podcasts and i have been listening to it since episode 1.

Darren, Karen and guests, thanks for all the great times, really hope to hear you guys again some time in the (near) future. It has been epic.

zondag 6 maart 2011

LT. Commander Cynfull reporting in

GameClient 2011-03-01 03-16-47-30

I recently picked up playing STO again and have to say it is still a lot of fun to play, but does get kinda repetitive after a while.

Every now and then there is stuff that sparkles my interrest again and since i have a lifetime sub it's easy to jump back into.
Blogposts are a sure way to get my attention and i particulary enjoy reading posts about feature episodes on blogs like MMO Gamer Chick, West Karana and Combat Archaeology, reading their posts make me all excited about playing again.
Often they will write posts that feature a lot of backstory from the Star Trek series, making the feature episode extra interresting.
However since i am not a big Star Trek fan, i like it but i have not watched all series, a lot of the lore/story passes me by, sure i might occasionally come across a name that sounds familiar, but more often than not it feels like just another quest in my log.

Just the other day i finaly managed to finish the "The Ultimate Klingon" questline and eventhough i don't know much about the Star Trek lore, this quest was pretty cool and it felt good completing it.

At the moment my character is only LT. Commander 5 and most of the missions are just the standard explore/kill missions that tend to get very boring after exploring system number x.
But the "The Ultimate Klingon" questline made me hopefull that not everything in the game is as boring and that there are definatly nice storylines to follow.

So the game is definatly nice to play but i can't help but feel that having watched all series/episodes would really help in appreciating the game more.

vrijdag 4 maart 2011

Alone in a big world

The reason i like mmo's so much is basicly because of the RPG part.
I really like/enjoy exploring big open worlds.

To me mmo's are just RPG's with the exception there is a lot more stuff to do, there are actual people in the same world and the game basicly never ends.
With most RPG's you're eventually going to run out of things to do and unless there are mods (like for example Oblivion) for the game you are done. True you could run out of stuff to do in an mmo, but for me that has never happened.
The other people playing the mmo with you make it more fun to run an instance more than once, something i would hardly do when playing an (singleplayer) RPG.

One of the things i also enjoy is the feeling of a "living" world where stuff changes according to actions in game, unfortianatly we don't see that much in MMO's, one thing does come to mind that was somewhat of a living world and that was Tabula Rasa where you would have several bases that would fall into enemy hands without players fighting for it, the bases were under constant attack and if the players would loose the enemy took over and players would have to fight to get it back.
I really enjoyed this and i could often be found fighting or defending these bases instead of questing.

You could argue wether this is actually changing the world, but to me it felt that way, it felt like i was making a difference when taking over the base was a success and my allies took over the base.

Maybe it is also a bit of a negative that i like RPG's so much as i often do spend most of my time in mmo's playing solo and only group up with other people when i have to for dungeons etc, even still i would rather level up and take a mob that i couldn't beat solo at later level, basicly out leveling the mob.
As a result of course i don't get to raiding content, mostly because of the elite attitude of a large percent of the player population demanding you to have x amounts of achievements and certain gear.
The random dungeon finder in World of Warcraft is of course a great tool for getting into dungeons and experience that side of the game without that elitism and i do enjoy using it and have fun trying to get through a dungeon.

But more often than not i return to solo play because i simply enjoy exploring, going into new areas, go see what's behind that mountain over there, discover great scenery/views, i love getting completely immersed in the world i am exploring and have a feeling i made a difference in the end.