I hate being broke...

My fiancee and I's puppy needed to have her innards taken out.  We've finally saved enough to get the yearly rec-center passes we want for the winter months.  All done, that's about $350 out of my pay this past period that would normally be spending money or savings.  So what that amounts to is a broke JoBildo with no Borderlands, no money to go see one of the new movies he's aching to watch, and boredom all weekend long. 

The good news is at least I've got plenty of stuff to fill my plate until next payday.  Work, last week of school, and I did manage to snag Torchlight and that drops Tuesday. 

Bah well... life goes on.  I just needed to bitch about it a bit.

Run to the Border... lands.

I get it.  I give in.  Really.  You don't need to convince me anymore.  Borderlands is apparently what Hellgate: London could have been, and I'm going to trade in some old games this weekend in order to snag it up for the PC.  I'll probably order it off of steam so it can pre-load and be ready for when I decide to be sick that day.  I mean... for when I come down with H1N1 mysteriously. 

So if you want to goof off with JoBildo in Borderlands, add me on Steam (JoBildo is my username).

EDIT: Crap... I forgot I have to pay for that shiny thing I just put on someone's finger.  Borderlands will wait until next weekend I assume.  Thank Jebus for Torchlight.

Scratching that itch...

It's been a long time since I had game-fever.  Perhaps it's my Masters program wearing down, or just the change from summer to fall, but I'm really itching for something new to play.  I hear Borderlands is one hell of a game, Torchlight has action RPG fans (like me) all abuzz for something new to play, and Pete won't stop making me drool over Dragon Age.  But all of these games come out next week or even later.  So what do I do until next Monday/Tuesday when I can get my hands on the first two?

I played a little Left 4 Dead last night.  I usually don't play it online, as I prefer to do split-screen with my friends when they're over at my place.  So I played single-player last night, and while it's fun... it's just not the same as when you have your best mates there screaming and laughing with you.  The new (to me anyway) campaign is a lot of fun though.  Makes me want the sequel more.

I also played a little FATE on my laptop.  A fun Diablo-clone, but missing something I can't quite put my finger on... scratch that.  I know what I'm missing, the Skill Trees.  FATE has everything an action-RPG should have except that.  So I'm leveling, getting new gear, but I don't really care about leveling because I don't get shiny new ways to make things go splat.  This is a problem that Torchlight won't have, but hey... that game's still five days away.

The good news is I have homework and stuff to do for TTH this weekend, as well as plenty of other plans over the next few days.  I should be killing things in Borderlands and Torchlight before I know it.

Very bored...

And all I can think about right now is going home, killing zombies in L4d, placing a pre-order for Dragon Age on Steam, and wishing Torchlight was already out. I feel like a teenager at the moment, and it's just one of those "incapable of concentrating on work" kind of days.
No homework due tonight.  No plans.  Just a good solid few hours to sink into a game of my choice.

Global Agenda: Pricing Details Announced

Global Agenda is a bit under the radar still, but everyone I know that has played the game at conventions has come away awestruck and itching to play more.  It's a persistent online MMORPG in shooter form.  The marketing department has been keen enough to advertise this as simply, "There are no elves."  There's a wealth of PvE gameplay, and a purportedly very strong PvP system that involves players fighting for control over territory and resources. 

Global Agenda is due for release in early 2010 and today Hi-Rez Studios announced the pricing model for the game.  Showing their intelligence, players will not be forced to pay a subscription to enjoy the game.  You can play as much as you want just by buying the box, but in order to participate in the PvP and have access to all the game's content, you'll want to pay the $12.99 for a monthly subscription:

Global Agenda (one time purchase - $49.99 MSRP) includes:

• Creation of up to eight different agent characters
• Character visual customization
• Access to all combat weapons and devices
• Cooperative Player vs. Environment missions against the Commonwealth NPC faction, AI-controlled enemies, and Boss Fights
• Matchmade Player vs. Player missions with five different game types and over 20 unique maps
• Character progression through 30 levels
• Achievement and unlocks system for individual characters
• Player Inventory for suits, flair, dyes, upgrades, and loot
• Virtual Reality practice fighting area
• Vendors and accumulation of in-game currency
• Text chat with multiple channels
• Built in voice chat during missions
• Ability to join an established player-created agency
• All play is on our single-shard, hosted server environment to ensure convenient and consistent gaming experience.
• Ability to sign up for one free month of subscription at registration (credit card required, can be cancelled at any time)

Global Agenda: Conquest ($12.99 per month, $11.49/mo for 3 month, $9.99/mo for 6 month) includes:

• Access to Alliance vs. Alliance (AvA) World Domination gameplay
• A massive scale campaign between player created agencies and alliances over scarce territory and resources on a persistent world map.
• Attack and Defend Territories in zones that match your agency's schedule
• Agency and Alliance Management – Create and maintain persistent player groups and officer ranks
• Creation and Upgrading of Facilities - Control production and output
• Base Raids – involving up to 60 players per side; coordinated between 6 different strike teams within linked territory instances
• Agency Achievement System, Leveling, and Recognition
• Auction House with bidding and buyouts
• Mail System
• Upgrade Text and Voice chat to support multiple channels and strike teams
• Player Crafting with blueprints
• Additional character customization options including elite character suits, dye colors, and seasonal flair
• Ongoing Co-Op content at max character level
• Ongoing AvA content, multiplayer PvP content, and new social areas

The coolest thing about this setup is that even if you cancel your subscription, you'll still be able to play the game.  Don't have much time to game?  Cancel the sub, keep playing when you can in the free mode, and then resub when you want later.  Sure you won't have access to the crafting and auction and mail, and you'll be missing out on the PvP, but at least you can still get your PvE fix with up to 8 characters.  There are a handful of games I'd love to see some sort of model like this for.  I don't have the money or the desire to play them a lot, but sometimes I wish I could without shelling out $15.  Not only that, but Global Agenda is breaking from the norm with a $13 subscription model.

If this little gem plays as well as my TTH brethren are saying, they just earned my $50 and then some.  Hopefully one of these days I'll get into the beta and give it a whirl, if not... at least I know my $50 won't be wasted should I decide the game's not quite worth subscribing too.

Champions Online: C-Store Restocked

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Torchlight Pre-Order on Steam

Thanks to a very helpful reader, I found out that one can pre-order Runic Games' Torchlight on Steam for $17.99.  And thus, it was done.  I've not played the little indie game myself, but going by my experiences with both FATE and Mythos, I'm expecting quite a bit of fun for my less-than-twenty-bucks.  There's going to be an extensive modding toolset released with the game as well, which should help the game remain playable quite a bit until the MMO version comes out eighteen months or so down the road (according to the developers). 

I'm a sucker for a good Roguelike, but they must have randomly generated dungeons.  I loved Titan Quest, but grew bored on subsequent playthroughs because the game always had the same path through.  Torchlight won't have the same issues, thank Jebas.  And with three classes, and the ability to retire one character to give benefits to your next?  I'm sure there'll be a reason to play through the game at least once with each class.  I'll probably start off with the Destroyer, just because I'm a fan of melee classes, followed by the Alchemist after that. 

The game shares some of FATE's features.  Like a pet that accompanies you and can return to town for you, carry items, help in battle, etc.  And of course the fact that the entire game revolves around a single town with one very deep and never-ending dungeon to traverse.  You can really tell that the folks behind Diablo 1 and 2 and FATE are trying to recapture some of the former magic from those games.  While it remains to be seen if Torchlight holds a candle to any of those titles, from the video and screens, I'm pretty optimistic.

I'll be installing this little diddy on my laptop for sure... you know, for downtime at work.  Or just to play constantly as my work goes by the wayside.  Either or.