Category Archives: Halp

Too…many…Games…

Me right now.

Between playing the wonderful FFXIV and BDO, two games that complement each other very well, and so many Steam titles waiting to be explored, I feel a little overwhelmed by you right now, 2016!

I didn’t find a minute to play The Division yet or Firewatch. Then there’s Stardew Valley which looks addictive and cute and No Man’s Sky appears to hit PC way sooner than I expected. What a fantastic year so far, especially for explorers (I guess for the others too, I’m not paying attention). Where will I ever find the time??

Pre-Order Ordeal: Overwatch and Black Desert

In this crazy month of November, I couldn’t even catch up with all the games if I wanted to. First, there’s that FFXIV 3.1 patch packed with new content; I’ve just spent two delightful nights playing through the Void Ark and Maiden’s Rhapsody questlines, squealing like a fangirl because epic FF7 and FF11 nostalgia! I would also really like to advance my Wildstar housing project but ever since re-subbing in September, I have barely touched the game. Instead, I sank hours into the coop frenzy of Vermintide, with some Undertale on the side. I gave Telltale’s Minecraft Storymode a shot too but got so appalled at the lazy cliched writing and slow, dumbed down gameplay, I got it refunded on Steam after one hour. And now that Fallout 4 is out, I don’t see myself going near another new title anytime soon.

Guess who’s back

Of course that doesn’t mean I can’t pre-order more games though, right? Ahem. Blizzard got me and damn my weakness – looking at the Overwatch deals after Blizzcon (for some reason I recall there were three?), I decided that I really couldn’t live without Black Widow’s alternative costume. I always knew I was going to get Overwatch, so why the hell not – the game is already a safe bet in my book. That way, I don’t have to remember to get it when the time comes and I’m totally not rationalizing.

Now word has reached me about the Black Desert pre-order bundles which I didn’t expect to see so soon. The game will be buy-to-play and while I am mighty curious (mostly because I want to spend hours on the character creation screen), I am torn on pre-ordering this one. For one thing, I am still very glad I never bought into ArchAge at the time, considering what went down there. For another, my backers purchase for Landmark stings me to this day (I am cheap, I hate bad buys). Granted, the Black Desert page seems very transparent and comprehensive where the different goodies are concerned – still, I think I will hold off no matter the temptation.

I see myself spending some time in BD when it comes out but it’s doubtful I am ever going to live there and care enough to get virtual property and start caring for collectibles like pets and mounts. (Who am I kidding – my home lies firmly in Eorzea. And a good thing too.) In truth I fully expect this new MMO to do a lot of horrible stuff in the mid-and longterm, starting with the type of grind we’re so used to by Korean titles. Also, I don’t think I have it in me these days to pre-order MMORPGs; given how this genre requires players to spend weeks before they can possibly make up their mind, isn’t it almost counter-intuitive to do so?

P.S. It is entirely possible I will have pre-ordered Black Desert before the weekend. I have a horrible track record where new MMO resolutions are concerned!

You lost me at [Reasons]!

And the answer is NoooOOOOoooope!

Like most players there’s game genres I like more or less depending on mood and a fair few I won’t play at all. For me personally, RTS or stuff like train simulators definitely belong to that last category. I detest micro-management in games and sims better be exciting and set in some fantasy world or I won’t touch them with a pitchfork.

Genres to avoid aside, there’s features within my more prized categories that will instantly make me go “Eww” and 99 out of a 100 times that will be the end of our fleeting relationship. They’re the fly in an otherwise tasty soup, it really doesn’t matter if it’s a great looking RPG or adventure game or open world MMO – some features are make or break, au revoir mon ami! So of course here’s a quick list of my top five intolerable game features as of today:

Isometry; I can’t play isometric games. There’s a ton of great looking and no doubt fun online coop games that OH NOES happen to be isometric. I can’t stand it, it’s about the most unimmersive gameplay experience I can imagine. Also, many RTS are isometric, eww!
Round-based; I spent over a decade playing round-based JRPGs and am simply over this slow and formulaic type of combat. Give me hack’n slay any day of the week! Next!
Roguelike/permadeath; Who has time to lose their progress over and over? What is this, a real-life sim? Permadeath games are fun for about 2.5 seconds and then it all feels like the greatest waste of time ever. I don’t think sooooo.
Jumping Puzzles; Oh man, the pain…the cringe that shoots through my body whenever MMO devs talk about adding more jumping puzzles to their game as if that was somehow a great thing. Jumping puzzles will make me swear off a title quicker than tankinis – if I want to jump around like an obsessed monkey am gonna play PLATFORMERS, thank you!
Facebook; I don’t have a facebook account and never will. Many mobile games especially require players to log in via facebook or acquire special items exclusively via the devil. Suffice to say, they can burn in hell without me.

I realize this is a beautiful collection of features that should be buried deep, deep in the underbelly of game design never to see the light of day again. Of course, it’s all subjectivebla and we’re bound to disagree and have wonderful arguments about who’s right or wrong! So, why not share some of your personal no-gos in gaming with the rest of the world? I’m sure someone out there is playing a roundbased, isometric RTS with permadeath as we speak, yikes!

Mobile Gaming 4 U (and me)

After much consideration (I am cheap), I finally became the owner of a shiny Samsung T800 Galaxy Tab (10.5) this last Tuesday. Aside of being able to watch clips and movies as well as read and chat with more ease thanks to a much larger screen, owning a tablet means mobile games! I partly got this tablet so I could return to the frantic fun that is Cook Serve Delicious (which you should totally own) but I am also set on discovering more casual games to take to Italy with me next month. Yes, that’s what I do while sunbathing at the Adriatic coast (don’t judge).

In my head, mobile gaming has so much potential and yet, discovering games that are worth a dime feels like pearl diving at the bottom of a vast sea of humbug. That’s why I’ve spent this week sourcing my social media platforms for solid mobile titles inside the RPG/adventure/sim and casual silliness corner. So far, I ‘ve been able to secure the following games, along with the awesome CSD:

You must build a boat
Crossyroad
Monument Valley
Blek
Plague Inc.

As you can see, I don’t really care if the games cost me a dollar or not, as long as it’s worth the investment. In fact, paywalled content or a lot of ads and popups are a big no-go in my book. This is where I’m shouting out for more tips from y’all – it would be especially nice if there was a JRPG or two that I could sink my teeth into. I do know about mobile Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy & Co., what I’m looking for is something potentially new and fun that lands somewhere between Zelda and FF (no tactical RPGs plx!). I also really like games that look good or have nice music, so this is where I’m recommending Buddy&Me and TA: Red Riding Hood to those of you who are into that kind of thing.

So yeah, I need some help with this. More mobile tips & recommendations this way please! And happy weekend everybody!

(P.S. I am waiting on Fallout Shelter to come out on Android, in case that was your first thought!)

Identity Crisis and a Wildstar Avatar

It is the weirdest thing when our plans go topsy-turvy, when the things we thought we were looking forward to fail us miserably and the ones we never even considered, take us by surprise. What do we even know? Nothing.

Sometimes we think we want one thing only to discover that we really didn’t. Something looks just right and suitable in our mind but in truth it never was or will be. In the end, what we want and what we need are two different things and that’s something I have learned before, at a time when I thought I knew exactly what (and whom) to pursue in my life. And then seemingly out of the blue, someone came along and told me he was all I needed.

wsavafinal

Right now, I should be playing Guild Wars 2 or The Elder Scrolls Online because they look like everything I want in MMOs. Instead, I am playing Wildstar – a game with traditional questing, a holy trinity and cartoony graphics. Not just that, I am enjoying myself. A lot.

How did it come to this?? ………

Anyway. Happy Wildstar weekend everybody! The Nexus awaits and my olde healer muscles are aching for practice. Never say never.

Wanted: Your help to build my new PC rig!

I was going to wait, but yeah….maybe not! With the Guild Wars 2 headstart only 2.5 weeks away and me seriously under-equipped in the tech department, I decided it’s time to upgrade what has has been a faithful yet ancient rig for gaming standards. I don’t have unlimited funds at my disposal, but I’ll be damned if I play my most anticipated MMO since WoW on a 5 year old PC that lags during crowded events and WvW on lowbie settings!

This is where I’m going to need some help though and what better place to ask than the blogosphere, where people are more or less playing the same games as myself? I started the other night by inquiring about suitable graphic cards on twitter, to run GW2 smoothly on max settings; if I am to replace my entire rig (which I must) however, I need more advice from the seasoned PC builders out there! I’d like a solid, good quality setup with matching components to preferably last me 2 years before the next upgrade. Find below what I’m looking for first and foremost, including current budget limitations and please feel free to comment and share some much appreciated advice (I really am quite the hardware noob!) –

The budget
I don’t intend to spend more than ~1200 Swiss francs, which currently equals 1238 USD. So, for simplicity’s sake let’s say the total of all required components may range up to 1200$ maximum. I would spend more ideally but that’s what I have to make do with for now. Money unpleasantness out of the way, let’s talk components. Here’s what I need:

New graphics card
CPU
Mainboard
RAM
Power supply (I assume)

I’ve had a look at Nvidia GeForce 680 and while that looks very sweet, it would cost me almost three times what the GTX-560Ti is currently going for. I hear the latter is a very popular choice among PC gamers and several folks on twitter recommended it for GW2 purposes to me already. I can get my hands on the GTX-560Ti for a mere 250$ where I am (as opposed to 620$ for the GTX-680).

So, I am thinking this is the way to go, only this is where I get confused (bear with me…): which products do I combine for the best performance? And what brands are we talking about? I’ve seen Asus and Nvidia manufacturing these cards as well as CPU, RAM etc. People keep telling me it can vary greatly what you choose to combine here (*SCARED*)?? My preferred local hardware provider currently only lists Asus components, but naturally I’d be willing to order someplace else if it’s of essential difference. ..IS IT?

As for all other components in general to go with the GeForce, I have not the faintest clue yet. I will happily take on board any recommendations or experiences you folks can pass along. Of course I’ve also checked the system specs published by ANet, but I know at least as much about building rigs that it takes a little more in-depth knowledge to create a solid setup. Oh, and time is of the essence of course – the sooner I got my shopping list together, the better!

Thanks everybody who can lend a hand with this and for leaving specific responses (with brand/model specs or nr. ideally) a rookie such as myself cannot misunderstand! Much /love in advance and /halp!! ^^