Mass Effect: New Content March 10th

I just saw over on Next-Gen that BioWare is readying it's first bit of DLC for Mass Effect, due to hit on March 10th. Here's the write-up, directly from Next-Gen:

For $5 (or 400 Microsoft points) gamers itching for a new space-faring RPG adventure will be able to download Bring Down the Sky on March 10 via Xbox Live Marketplace. The content will continue the story of Commander Shepard and his crew.

BioWare claims that the new content will take gamers around 90 minutes to complete. Bring Down the Sky will also include a new Achievement and 50 Gamescore points.

BioWare explained the premise of the content pack in a press release: "...A new uncharted world that introduces the notorious and feared alien race of the Batarians (pictured). A Batarian extremist group has hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only Commander Shepard can save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid completes its deadly descent."

As you have likely already guessed, my five dollars is as good as theirs. With all the faults of the game's long elevator times, it's funky Mako handling, and texture bugs... it was still easily the most fun I've had in a game in years. I also can't wait to see the new alien race in action. The picture to the left is a glimpse at what they look like.

In all, the more I get to explore this galaxy, the better. This is one of the 1st games since Zelda 64 that I feel like keeping forever. Hurry up, March 10th.

Circle-Jerking: The WAR PvP Video

Cameron started it. As did that one dude at the Game/Life blog whose name I cannot for the life of me remember (and I'm too lazy to hunt down right now). Then Scott of Dungeon Run added some more fuel, which Heartless tried to douse with his own opposing take on the whole thing.

I love these topics. I love how they spider their way around the Metropoblog that we all congregate in. It really is a fantastic sight to behold. But why am I writing this, you ask? Well... I'd like to join in on the fun, of course. I usually try to find something of my own to write about, but when you're not really playing any games that are blogging material it becomes hard to find a topic of your own. So, I think it's time I coattail it a bit myself. There's plenty to talk about on this one anyway.

The topic in question is of course the most recent video from EA Mythic's monthly Warhammer Newsletter. As the host of the video, Paul Barnett says, it shouldn't be taken as indicative of the way PvP will actually play out in WAR, but rather it's just something they threw together for the newsletter. I get that.

I also get that Warhammer came long before World of Warcraft. In fact, it's long been the buzz that Blizzard was originally using the Warhammer universe for Warcraft, only to lose the rights to the IP and so they went on with Orcs and Humans by themselves. It's known by most geeks like us that Warcraft is ripped from Warhammer, or based on it at least.

That doesn't change the fact that this video presents a game that appears in its 1 minute of "Glory" to be very reminiscent of WoW. I know, I know... that's only smart business on EA Mythic's part. As much as I want something new and exciting (please, oh please, let AoC be that), there's no denying that sticking to established trends and mechanics works in the games industry. Through iteration and evolution we see improvements, and hardly if ever through sheer re-working of the medium.

But I think it's safe to say that those of us looking forward to Warhammer could have done without this "One Minute of Glory" and instead would have been better served by some of the more dynamic PvP functions we've been told about and shown in trade show demos. I want to see the Orcapault. I want to see the trolls hurling rocks on the players from cliffs.

I know that EA Mythic has plenty to work on without worrying about how their monthly snippets of video are received. But really, it's the video that gives us the best look at a game before we finally get our own hands on it. Warcraft argument aside, this little teaser did nothing to make me want to play the game. Because it was so very similar to everything else on the market. It would have been better to leave it out entirely and instead just make sure people check out that 30 minute behemoth of a podcast.

THAT is where the goods are. Forget about this piddly video. It shows us nothing other than what we've all known these many months. Warhammer ON THE SURFACE is borrowing a lot from WoW, DAoC, EQ, and any other Fantasy MMO you can name. Big surprise.

Breaking the NDA: Just Say No

I recently came across a forum post by a beta tester for a certain game that basically tore said game a new a-hole. I won't say which game, and I won't say where, because I don't need to add fuel to the fire. But I will say this.

Great job, buddy. You've lost the respect of an entire game company, many fellow gamers, and in general the people in and surrounding the hobby that made you want to be a volunteer tester in the first place. You've taken the trust of a company that expected you to know betas are where play is not really "fun", and crammed it up their asses. You've gained a few moments of internet fame, based on frustrations with a beta test for a game that's not due out for months.

I salute you. Well done.

Ass.

I mean seriously, people. It's no secret that I'm a Champion of the Virtues of NDAs here at my blog. I've made posts regarding the selling of keys and how I don't care if it seems "tattling" of me to turn these turds in. I know it's not the end of the world. I know it's not even really a serious offense. But as a gamer who loves partaking in these public closed betas, I hate it when the bad ones come out and make it that much harder for us real testers to be trusted.

*tsk tsk*

Do the beta tester's words have merit? I have no clue. It's very likely grounded in truth, but I have a feeling there's quite a bit of extremism in the words of a man who took the time to cross-post a several hundred/thousand word document about his problems with the beta. A lot of it could be hyperbole. But that's not the point. The game could really be a complete turd, and it wouldn't change what this tester did. It's taint that sullies the credibility of gamers when someone does this... one bad apple can spoil the bunch, you know?

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

No Beta For Joo!

At the suggestion of Tipa, I decided to e-mail James Nichols and inquire as to whether or not bloggers are considered eligible for the beta, or if we're considered press and therefore must wait until press-sites are allowed in before we too are given access.

Turns out, we're considered press and therefore no bloggers (that they keep an eye on) will be given entry to the beta until the NDA is lightened a bit and the press sites start getting in too.

So that answers that. No use hankering for some time in WAR for the next few months at least. But Conan's another story. I hope I get some time with that title before it launches in May, and something tells me I will.

Thanks to James Nichols, the CM of WAR, for being so swift to answer my question and so direct to boot. Keep up the good work out there, mate.

Once More Into Frustration

Maybe it's because I like angering myself. Maybe it's because I want to give my wife time with the shiny new cable TV. Maybe it's because neither WAR or AoC have been gracious enough to send my beta invites. Maybe it's because I'm addicted to MMOs. Whatever the reason, I've decided to give LotRO another try.

I didn't want to spend my 15 bucks a month to do it though, as I don't want to risk wasting said cash. My father in law was gracious enough to let me use his lifetime LotRO account... that he never uses anyway. I hope it doesn't keep him up nights.

Anyway, it took almost all afternoon Sunday to patch up, and by the time it was ready I had lost interest and instead enjoyed watching the Giants tear down the hopes and dreams of perfection that New England was vainly clinging to. So the hobbitses will have to wait until sometime this week.

The downside of being on my FIL's account is that I'll have to start from scratch, but I suppose that could be a boon too. Fresh beginnings might be a better idea than ramming my head against the wall of no solo content in the high 30s. It's likely a temporary thing, or so I hope. I keep praying to Jeebus for an invite to either Conan or Warhammer... but so far that's been useless. Plus, when my wife took over the couch with HGTV's programming the other day I realized I needed more than my Xbox for gaming goodness.

So look for more on Middle-earth later this week.

Cheers, peoples.

Gabe and Tycho Do It Again

Penny-Arcade is one of those webcomics that I just can't get enough of. They're absurd, juvenile, and so perfectly appropriate at the same time that I just can't stop reading them.

Take this lampoon of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed's use of the Euphoria Engine, which makes NPCs react accordingly to situations, including grabbing onto each other when their lives are in danger.



I salute you, Gabe and Tycho. You always get a chuckle out of me.

Gimme Action

I hope Tobold doesn't mind me pulling material from him, but I'm sure I'm not the first. The epic blogger recently created a list of predictions for MMOs' features come 2020, most of which I'd say are very likely to be true in some form or another. But there's one that really bothered me, and perhaps it was the way he worded it.

Combat: Due to advances in technology both from graphics animations and data transfer, MMORPG combat has become more interactive. The old system of autoattack coupled with special attacks on hotkeys is gone. Players now need to watch what the computer controlled monster is doing and react accordingly. Earlier experiments to have this interactivity be based on split-second twitchy reactions have failed, as only a small audience of male teenagers were able to master that sort of gameplay.

Now, I'm not saying there's not a significant portion of the console playerbase who are teenage males. I'd be lying to myself to refute that. What I have issue with is that Tobold seems to look down on this style of play as lesser than a more strategic approach.

I don't know how old the man is, but this portion of his post comes off making him seem like a Walter Mathau of Grumpy Old Men. And as I wrote in a comment over at his blog, I see this prediction as more of a hope due to his preferred playstyle than as an actual educated guess.

Personally, I think what is more likely, looking at games like Call of Duty 4's online multi-player is that you'll see more and more titles of all genres including MMO-like features. They may not all be persistent worlds, and in fact I think very few persistent world MMOs will have major success over the next 12 years, but rather I see games offering players the ability to level up their characters in online play in many different genres from sports games to FPS to more traditional single-player RPGs with an online component.

Why? Because it costs a lot of money and a lot of development time and heartache to make the type of world that can compete with WoW as many investors are going to realize over the next few years. Either the development trials and tribulations have to be lessened somehow, or the games will have to shrink in scope. Something will have to give as the bubble bursts in the next 5 or so years.

And personally, I'd almost rather have this happen. I love MMOs, but it's becoming clear to me that paying for them monthly, having to devote yourself to them solely, and essentially spend all of your free-time with one and only one is something I don't relish. I'd much rather have a few solid massive worlds to play in, and then some venues of smaller scope that wouldn't cost me additional monthly fees to play, and hours upon hours of my time. And before I get lambasted here, it's not that I have anything against the traditional MMO design... just that it's becoming outdated as the genre evolves.

Where am I going with this? I guess I'm just saying that I want evolution and I eagerly await it, however it may be. Blizzard's beast has launched the MMO into the American mainstream... so let's see where we go from here. I'm betting there will be something for everyone more so than any select few, and that my post and Tobold's will both be rendered moot.

EDIT: I should have just posted a link to this Next-Gen article, then I wouldn't have needed to write any of the preceding. This thing says it all.