Summer

I'm finding it difficult, with my newborn and my 3 year old, to stick with my Tuesday and Thursday schedule during the summer.  I'm going to put my schedule aside until the fall and just put out reviews and blog posts when I find a moment.

Thank you for being understanding.

~~*Darcee*~~

Taking A Week Off

Hey guys,

Between a teething baby and family coming to town today I've had no time to actually work on a proper post.  However, I did find the time to do this: http://youtu.be/jiVlEvBslJk

ENJOY!!

I did have some issues with this video... the program I used told me after I was done that it could only be 2 mins. long.  I worked really hard on the video, so I didn't want to shorten it.  I decided I would Hypercam it; unfortunately, that led to skipping and some freezes.  Take it as it is, though.

Have a great weekend... play some LA Noire (It looks awesome).

 

That Was Left Out.... Why?

This week, due to my irritating issues with Black Prophecy, I’ve decided to talk (more question) about game designing that doesn’t make sense for us (gamers) in 2011.  If you never read Tueday’s review go take a look right now; I will be bringing it up.  

Key functions being left out

I have yet to find a good review for Final Fantasy XIV (highest being 2 out of 5 stars), but the main reason I’m bringing it up is the lack of “jump.”  For a game being released this day and age it makes no sense to leave out something (although minor) that prevents you from getting stuck on the terrain.  There is nothing more irritating than running, running, running and, BAM, you’re stuck on a flower pot.  Other games you could just jump over it and carry on.  This game had far too many complaints to discuss here (lack of containers, targeting, lack of auction, copy pasted terrain).  It blows my mind that a company, with so many hits, would put their name to this game with all of its faults.

Don’t hate me for this, but I’m bringing up Star Wars The Old Republic.  We’ve been hearing  about all the money going into this game and all the amazing features it will have; then I hear this: SWTOR will not have swimming.  It’s said that you can wade out into the water and a message will flash on your screen telling you to turn around or you will drown.  While the lack of “underwater combat” makes me happy I do not like that my Jedi cannot swim.  Many people will argue that lightsabres don’t work underwater which is understandable (Kit Fisto’s did) but that shouldn’t stop a Jedi from being able to swim.  One of my biggest pet peeves in many single player games was falling into water and drowning because I couldn’t swim.

Mac vs. PC

At this point, with so many gamers spread between the two systems, our games need to be released for both.  Console gamers have these options (as long as designers didn’t sign on exclusively with one console) why don’t we?  World of Tanks did not release for Macs and Nexon announced that they had no intentions of releasing their games for the other system.  This seems strange to me and leaves me with no intentions of ever owning a Mac.  For more on the state of Mac gaming I suggest reading an article posted on Macworld: http://www.macworld.com/article/157700/2011/02/stateofmacgaming.html. 

Graphics are too high for a regular gamers system

There is no need for a game to be that awesome to look at if no one will be able to play it.  If you read Tuesday’s review you’d know my problem with Black Prophecy.  The short story, my computer (a year old) did not meet the system requirements to run Black Prophecy.  I am not about to run out and buy a whole new system to play your little space game no matter how awesome your character creator is.  I could play EVE or Star Trek and get my space MMO fix.

Why are these games leaving out these attributes?  I recall a month ago being so excited for ARGO online; only to log in and find that I can't play because there is no inverted y-axis.  Company's are wondering why it's so hard for a new MMO to make it in the market, it's because the older games we have did almost everything right that everyone can play. 

That's it for me the this week.  You can follow me on twitter @akaDarcee and don't forget to leave comments below.  Share with us your biggest disappointment in a game that you could not play or lacked something you enjoyed.  I'll be back on Tuesday with a game that (hopefully) lets me play it.

Backyard Monsters Review

All right guys, I decided this week I would do something a little bit different and review some "guilty pleasure" games (as I call them).  These are small games found on social networks like FaceBook that many people do not want to admit they play (or like them).  This weeks "guilty pleasure" game is "Backyard Monsters" by Critters.  It is a strategy game allowing you to build the best (and well defended) monster city... while destroying other people's cities.

First off, Backyard Monsters is not like most FaceBook games (relying on your friends to play in order to advance); although friends can help you with reducing your upgrading times and can send you gifts.  You do have the option (like most FaceBook games) to buy the "special currency."  Backyard Monsters uses "shiny's" as their currency.  You can pick mushrooms around your backyard (I guess that's what it would be called) and have a chance at finding shiny's, or you can just buy them.
14,000 Shiny for $99.99
6,000 Shiny for $49.99
2,200 Shiny for $19.99
1,000 Shiny for $9.99
550 Shiny for $5.99
200 Shiny for $2.99

Shiny's are used for buying your grunt workers, increasing your building area, finishing upgrades or buildings, or buying special decorations to customize your backyard.

Once logging in you begin the tutorial.  You have one worker and a few buildings.  The tutorial explains about collecting resources, upgrading buildings (using shiny's to make upgrading instant), building new buildings (using shiny's to make building instant), being attacked, defending and how to strike back, and making new monsters.  By the time the tutorial is done you will be level 5 and will have 7 days of protections from any enemy player's attacks to build your city, prepare defenses, and build an army.  If you decide to attack anyone before your protection is up you will lose that protection.

Backyard Monsters is definitely a game to check out.  I find myself playing it Tuesday morning while WoW server's are down or sometimes to pass the time on those long flights across Azeroth.  I find myself building the best army I can possibly build to destroy other people's cities (taking their recourses for my own).  Definitely a rainy day boredom filler.

Tell me what your "guilty pleasure" game is or what you think with comments below or follow me on twitter @akadarcee.  I will be back on Thursday with my "Tidbits of Interest."

Black Prophecy Review (Kinda)

After several weeks of fighting with it, I finally decided to give you my review of Black Prophecy by Gamigo.  Videos, screenshots, and other reviews for this game made it look fairly entertaining.  I was excited to get to try their character creator which I was under the impression was remarkable.  However, here’s my Black Prophecy experience.

I logged into Gamigo’s site, made my account, and entered in my beta key.  I downloaded their beta client (which for some reason took forever) and began the install.  I believe it was about two days later before I actually got to log in.  Apparently my year old system did not meet the requirements to run said game.  I cried “BS” and re-installed the game several more times only to have the same outcome.  I then deleted the beta client and re-installed it, to no avail.  Finally in frustration, I took several days off to work on more fulfilling projects (“Free Gary”).  I went to re-download the beta client only to find that my account no longer works.  I had my password reset and new one sent to me, but the site will not recognize this new password that they generated.  Even though I never got to experience the game doesn’t mean that you will have the same issues I did, so here are some other reviews of the game from people who did get to play. 

MMO Reviews gave Black Prophecy 3.86 out of 5 stars.  There review can be accessed here: http://www.mmoreviews.com/black-prophecy/ 

Mike B showed off the character creator on the BFF Report along with some gameplay.

Outpost Gamez gave Black Prophecy a 7 out of 10.  Here's what they had to say: http://www.outpostgamez.com/outpostgamez/top-stories/656-opg-black-prophecy-review.html 

Here is a video from MMOReviews:

Hopefully my problem with Black Prophecy gets resolved so that I can give them a proper review (maybe when it goes live).  That will be it from me until Thursday.  Please feel free to leave comments or even a little something about your experience with Black Prophecy.  Don't forget to follow me on twitter @akadarcee. 

Gary Gannon Update!!

Late last night two YouTube videos were released.  They were placed unlisted on the popular video site, so only accessible if you have the link.  Here is the link to the first video:
http://youtu.be/2vLIoQfLM3I

New theories of sprung up about what may have happened to Gary.  The most popular is that Blizzard led by Bashiok took out the studio and captured our beloved ginger.  A few fans have made mention that Gary jested of being involved in the Sony Online Entertainment hacking, and they are the ones behind all this.  New reports say that Darnell, the host of BlizzBlues, has been behind this incident all along.   After the second YouTube video emerged (http://youtu.be/VVAQsIp0mQ8), fans have been wondering, "is Darnell really the captor?" "Has Blizzard taken him as well?" or "Is he there to save Gary and clear his name?"


Gary's fans have been doing as much as they can to find their beloved host using whatever tools they possess (websites, blogsites, forum posts). 

News of Gary's disappearance has reached the popular Trion MMO, Rift. A forum post was found entiltled "Gary Gannon is missing!  Help!"   I've provided a list of current (known) forum posts involving the disappearance of Gary Gannon:
http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?182703-Gary-Gannon-is-missing!-HELP!
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2483748474  (Blizzard removed our first one)

We hope to hear word from the Gamebreaker crew soon, as Sunday is fast approaching, and we need our Republic, TWIMMO, and Sanctum fixes.  If you have any information you may leave comments below, post at http://freegarygannon.tumblr.com/, or contact @irljasmine, @akamikeb, @devolore.  Don't forget to follow me on twitter @akadarcee.  I will try to keep everyone updated.



Legendary Episode #27 http://blip.tv/file/5103455

SOE Hacked, Blizzard's Patch 4.2, and More...

What’s made the MMO news this week?  From Sony Online Entertainment’s hackers to Warcraft’s Patch 4.2 notes, this week has been full of interesting events that I just could not leave untouched.  

Sony Online Entertainment: Hacked??

 

...that’s right you heard correctly.  April 20^th, Sony noticed an attack on their servers, but never reported it for two days.  Their customers were finally notified April 26^th.  SOE went offline (forums, games, etc.) due to their player’s personal information being compromised.  Some of the stolen information included: names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, login names and passwords, and birthdates.  Those customers that had any credit card or debit card information stolen were contacted (from what I understand they were all non-US customers).

However, it doesn’t end there, Sony informed the public this week the hackers acquired more information from approximately 24.6 million customer accounts.  These accounts contained an estimated 12 700 credit card and debit card numbers.

How will this attack affect you?

This is an extremely difficult problem.  Information that can lead to fraud and scams has been taken, along with credit card information.  Due to the servers being offline, customers cannot access their accounts to change any of their information.  One thing customer’s need to do is change password and information on their other (non Sony) accounts.  As many people use the same passwords and login information on other accounts, hackers will be able to infiltrate other online sites/services.  Customer’s need to be wary of anyone saying they are from their banks or other trustworthy companies.  As always, never give out any personal information (pins, account numbers) over the phone or email.  Lastly, check and recheck all credit card statements to make sure you are not the target of credit card fraud.

A release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic??

Yesterday (May the Fourth be with you), financial reports from EA were released which included an approximate release date for, the much anticipated MMO, “Star Wars: The Old Republic.”  The report stated that SWTOR would be released Q2 FY12 or Q3 FY12 which means sometime between September and December of this year.  I’ve provided the link to their financial report if you are interested http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=574530. 

APB: Reloaded Open Beta

 

APB has announced that open beta will begin May 18^th.  Various features will be fixed and ready to go for open beta, along with new items.  As I did not get into closed beta, I am looking forward to having my try before launch date.  As for those pesky aimbotters, changes will be made to the game prior to open beta launching.  Goodbye cheaters, you will not be missed.

Lots and Lots and Lots of Blizzard News

 

Blizzard announced that a new vanity pet will be available in their online pet store.  The Cenarian Hatchling will cost players $10.00 USD and 100% of the proceeds, from now until July 31^st, will go towards the Japan Earthquake Relief.  The Cenarian Hatchling is a replica of the rare Hippogryph Hatchling obtained through the Warcraft trading cards.  Help support the Red Cross by purchasing your Cenarian hippogryph today.

As well, information for Patch 4.2 was released all this week.  New quest lines, Firelands info, and the highly anticipated Legendary weapon were one at a time posted for viewers to read and begin flooding the forums with their complaints.  Probably the largest complaint was that the newest raid, Firelands, would only have seven bosses.  The forums lit up with angry posts and Bashiok was there to “calm” them down with his replies that made very little sense.  I believe what he was trying to convey was that Blizzard tried to make challenging and entertaining boss fights; therefore, only seven bosses were needed.  However, it took him several posts and many angry players to express this.

Caster DPS players were ecstatic to learn that the new legendary weapon was a DPS staff, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest.  It will be the end reward to an epic quest line involving the blue dragonflight appointing a new leader (Malygos met his demise in Wrath of the Lich King).  This quest line is said to need guild involvement and your guild mates will receive a special vanity pet once a guildy receives their shiny new staff.

That’s it from me this week.  If you would like to leave a comment feel free to do so below.  Follow me on twitter @akadarcee or keep checking back Tuesdays and Thursdays for new posts.