Over this long weekend I had some extra gaming time, which then led to me commenting out loud (to no one) about the games I was playing as well as games I was reading about. Talking to myself is bad enough, but not recording the conversation so I can listen to myself at a later date is just wasteful.
So, I decided it was time to once again put my thoughts on to virtual paper.
First up: My dead Xbox 360.
It went sort of like this:
- Sit down. Grab Controller. Turn on Xbox. Red flashing lights. *sigh*
- Turn off. Unplug. Cross fingers. Plug in. Turn on. Red flashing lights. *Deep sigh*
- Turn off. Unplug all plugs. Let sit. Read support site. *sigh* Plug back in. Turn on. Still red lights. *tear for my wallet*
- Call nearby Best Buy. Out of stock of new 250gig model. Target. Out of Stock. Walmart. Out of stock. 3rd Gamestop called. *yay* One left, but we close in 10 minutes. Drive. Pick up. But no transfer cable. *sad*
- Start calls again. Yay. Best Buy has one. Drive across town. Pick up cable. Drive home. *happy*
- At home. Unpack and set up new box. Shiny, quiet, lots of drive space. *Very Happy*
- *wallet still sad*
Yes I could have repaired the old one, but it was going to cost $100+ and I would have still been left with a 1st gen 360 with a puny 20gig HD, and loud DVD drive. I would have easily been able to wait if not for the upcoming Halo Reach, and Dead Rising 2. Which leads to …
MrAnderson EQ2, Final Fantasy, Free2Play, Games, LOTRO, Musings, XBox360 Dead Rising, EQ2, FFXIV, Free2Play, Games, Lotro, Musings, Xbox360
Over the last couple of weeks there have been a couple of topics that frazzled me a bit when I heard them discussed. I really try not to respond to podcaster or blogger comments that I disagree with, because I do not feel I can debate well with the written word. I am much more comfortable debating in person and often do with my co-workers and friends.
But these two topics struck me enough that I decided I should record my thoughts for future reflection. My comments below are not so much direct responses to people I disagree with, they are simply my thoughts on the topics as I believe today.
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MrAnderson Free2Play, Games, Musings Guild Wars 2, micro transactions, MMO, Musings, rant
Hello again everyone. Its been a busy summer for me, I have made sure to keep some time to play games and I figure its time for another “what I’ve been playing” update. This time two games I’ve played approached a system in such strong opposite fashion that I’ve title my post around it. Matchmaking.
Let’s start with the bad: APB
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MrAnderson Design, FPS, Games, World of Warcraft Design, FPS, Games, MMO, RTS, Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft
The game industry as well as my family have had a busy summer so far. So much so, that I probably should have taken the time to compose posts about things as they were happening. *shrug* Oh well, this summary of thoughts will have to do.
The List starts here:
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MrAnderson Games, Musings, movies, tv Games, MMO, movies, Musings, tv, World of Warcraft
Wowhead posted some new information about the upcoming expansion, Cataclysm. While I’m disappointed in the “Path of the Titans” loss, and not completely sold on their take on “Guild Leveling”, I was very happy to find this little nugget:
Raid Lockouts
Here’s another big change—they’ve added a great deal of flexibility to raid lockouts. Rather than being locked into a particular raid ID, you can now join any raid, as long as it doesn’t have any bosses up that you have already killed. Basically, as long as you’re not killing the same boss twice in one lockout period—you have total freedom.
Fantastic news! This could be what I was asking for, explained in a much simpler and clearer way, as long the “ it doesn’t have any bosses up that you have already killed.” part checks the character status of kills and not the last raid the character was in status.
What I mean is I want to:
- Join a raid on Wednesday and kill boss 1 of 5
- have that raid runs without me on Thursday and kill boss 2
- Then allow me to join a new raid on Friday that has only killed boss 1.
If that is how Blizzard expects things to work then WELL DONE Blizzard.
MrAnderson Games, World of Warcraft Games, MMO, Raiding, World of Warcraft
While I was thinking about a quick post about things I was playing, watching, listening to, all the talk about Lord of the Rings Online going F2P helped tipped my hand. Thus here I am actually sitting down to type out words on the blog.
LOTRO F2P
I have not even started to read everything people have said about this move to F2p, but I see there is a lot of conversation about it. From a quick glance there is some positive, some negative, some a bit crazy, and a few of my friends believe its a sign of the future; F2P is the way “all” future MMOs will use.
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MrAnderson Free2Play, Games, LOTRO, Musings, World of Warcraft Free2Play, Games, Lotro, MMO, World of Warcraft
Time again for another addition of “What I’ve Been Playing”. This edition’s guests are Red Dead Redemption, World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Alan Wake. Although Alan Wake probably won’t make it, since he is still wrapped in plastic.
First up DDOU
This is a game I really but I have never been past level 2 any only off the starting zone for a little bit. Last week I started playing a new character, whom was crafted by the decisions of my almost four-year-old, and has only been played when she is with me. She has been having a blast, and it gives me a new perspective on the game. The fact that its free to play, means I don’t see myself uninstalling it and instead enjoying it for a long time.
World of Warcraft
On my main character I have been continuing on my goal to collect 100 mounts; currently I am at 95. I also spent some time advancing a few faction based, and old quest based goals that I had. Though overall I am in a holding pattern with her until the next expansion, which gives me time to work on my alts; a rogue, druid, and a little bit of a pally. They are all still in the old world and I am having blast playing them.
Red Dead Redemption
I picked this up for two reasons; I like the old west setting and I enjoy “open world” games. In the past I have not been consumer of Rockstar’s games, mostly because I am not a fan of playing a “bad guy”, so buying this was a bit of a risk for me. I took that risk because I had heard they had implemented a system where players could pick the path of their character, and thus far its been a great being a reformed outlaw. I suspect the story is going to take turn into darker moral grounds, but so far I am enjoying the heck out of it.
Alan Wake
I bought this, because. Umm. I am not sure. I think I bought it because I fell victim to the hype. I like the idea of the creepy, supernatural story game, but I might have been a bit hasty in buying it. I have yet to take it out of the plastic, so I ‘could’ take it back. Though more likely I will give it a spin this weekend. That is if I can take time away from stopping cattle rustlers and horse thieves.
MrAnderson Games Games
With all the discussion’s lately of cataclysm Raid changes, my mind started pondering how much I don’t like the way current Raid IDs are implemented. In doing so I started thinking about ways I would improve the system and came to the same conclusion I did a few years back. When I do this sort of thing I always ask myself, why did you not write your thoughts down? My answer is always dumb, so this time I’m going to write instead of just talk.
Where to start?
How about how one person can screw everyone else out of raid content for the lockout period?
Yep, I think that is a good place to start since the worst things about MMOs are the other people. 
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MrAnderson Design, Games, World of Warcraft Design, Games, MMO, World of Warcraft