Star Trek Online new skill system....

I may have waffled on a bit in my last STO blog entry, but Brent Justice has put up a video on the new system on the test server.  It's gonna take a bit to get used to it, but I think it is a vast improvement.

Eve more offline than online....

At least it has been for me. Between the problems they had last Friday, extended down times and they login bug that is ongoing now I'm not gettign mychb luck with Eve being Online.

Minecraft 1.9 visual bug for me....

On reading the 1.9 notes for Minecraft I was glad to see all the update and changes listed. It all seemed to good. Changes previously have always been great with MC, always filled with additions and tweaks for the better. However MC 1.9 on initial logging in has made my old worlds unplayable. It's all down to rendering. It's like the view distance has been reduced to zero... It sucks. I've messed about with changing the settings but without much improvement. If this is more intentional I hope it's not to push older worlds out of existence.

Broadband.....

While I'm away from home I'm stuck with a "lesser" form of broadband that feels like dialup. Poor little stick modem may need to be replaced.

Sometimes I'll have a great signal with 3G and burn through my data allowance but I've really been struggling this week with it. Head banging off keyboard style. I dare not do anything online in my MMO's as I'll disconnect and if I loose a ship/item due to a DC I'll just be more frustrated.
Using my phone as a hotspot is great but for some reason with great broadband comes great data usage... I wonder why ;-p
What game time I do have is going towards my second playthrough of Fallout 4.... It's not all bad.

Star Trek online.... Good news.

Skills are getting a revamp in the next "season", the upcoming next step for Star Trek Online.
As with every good TV series I really like the way that the game has a "season" as it's expansion's.
The details of the skill changes are detailed here and they are of great impact. The main reason for the change is listed as the first answer:
"Time and again, we have received feedback from our players that the Skill System is unusually difficult to understand, and has done a poor job at helping players master the combat mechanics involved in Star Trek Online. In fact, even a basic level of understanding required a good amount of research and “tribal knowledge” that was difficult for players to obtain through game experience alone. For both the benefit of existing players, and to lessen the barrier to entry for new players starting their Star Trek Online experience, we felt it was necessary to simplify the system, improve the levelling experience, and de-mystify many of the underlying combat mechanics."
Bravo STO! In particular I really like the way that they phrased the learning of knowledge ingame as "tribal knowledge". 
All current skill points will be refunded, so if you have points spent and unspent they will all be pooled together and ready to be spent in the new system.
Unspent reskill tokens will also remain to be spent. But even better for the release of the next season and for the reworking of the system they are reducing the cost of a respec token! They have not said by how much but that is good news. It's what I've been saving Dilithium up for(conversion to ZEN for s token). Maybe now I'll be able to get two.... or save for something else.
The vast majority of skills are being given a same or similar skill in the new system. I'm sure a lot of players will be happy as their are not that many builds that really rely on an obscure skill that can't be replaced by another. "Any abilities you have purchased/unlocked from Specializations will remain yours" yay!
Something really controversial in my book is the removal of the ships crew!
I know that Eve Online has had a lot of push for ship crews. Indeed they did implement a "crew" system for industry and it had to be scrapped. STO is now scrapping crews on ships. I would have liked the crew to remain but I can understand the reasons they are removing it but the lore...... the lore! Poor lore.
"This is a mechanic that never worked well in Star Trek Online, and needlessly confused some systems (such as Hull Regeneration). Rather than try and improve a system that added complexity to an already complex game, we decided it was time to retire the mechanic as a whole. As a result, you will no longer see a Crew meter in the HUD, and all existing mechanics that relied upon Crew have been changed so that they behave at all times as if you had 100% of your available Crew.
 Any items/traits/etc. that improved Crew Regeneration have been changed to improve Hull Regeneration.
 Any items/traits/etc. that improved Crew Resistance have been changed to improve resistance to Subsystem Offline Durations."

Very interesting changes! I'm glad to have been a part of the game and seen it the "old" way and to see it change and improve into the new season. I wish there was still a crew indicator that at least was a reflection of the hull damage. Even if it is cosmetic for old times sake.

I had to laugh at the next change. "We have abandoned “Abandon Ship”". I never found it useful at all and if it stops some player griefing I'm all for it's removal.

Lots and lots of changes incoming.

The next bit of news is a great way of making the STO universe feel more alive. It involves every player in this inbetween expansions phase. With a massive war with the iconians over and a return to some exploration there is a rebuilding event to bring strength back to the factions. This post war recovery event starts today and runs until the 10th of March. The first week unlocks a bonus XP second week. So it's like a main doing an in game event that unlocks an XP buff your lower levelled alt can use.
"Captains can aid the recovery efforts by completing PvE Queues and Fleet Actions. Based on the contributions made by all Captains during this week, a Bonus Experience Week will be unlocked for the following week, with a bonus of 50%, 100% or 150%."
What a great way to have an event.

It's a better word....

Being volunteered....

Stuck between my mother and wife as they discuss and plan my mam's ongoing house "redecorating" is an experience. Nothing like being volunteered for household DIY. In fairness it's been a long time coming. But it still hurts to be volunteered (again). X will be delivered on Y; A, B and C will be delivered on X. And I there trying to work out the dates in my head as to how long that gives me and what needs to be done when. So that struggle is going to take up most of this week and the gaming will suffer because of it, never mind trying to blog. I jinxed my gaming by thinking of doing some major gamage this week. On the other hand maybe it's not a totally bad thing, Xcom2 may get a new performance patch soon.....

Eve online news....

The CSM summit is currently ongoing. It's a pity that the minutes will be delayed back to the older way of being done rather than being published this week, we will have to wait...
I do like that Sugar Kyle is asking for input on whats being discussed.

I may be behind with talking about the news but the more I look at doing this post the more I'm going to moan on about changes I dont' like. 
Skill points are still the big news.

Discussion (http://nosygamer.blogspot.ie/2016/02/skill-point-trading-numbers-are-in.html)
&
Opinions (http://crossingzebras.com/extracting-rage/) are plentiful about it all.
That last link from Crossingzebras points a finger at a lot CCP is doing with the ongoing sales as well. I think that this article says a lot of truth as well.
And keeping both those last two linked writers in mind I think that this post is a good follow up and conclusion on thoughts.

I'm still confused by the way they say that it's a skill respec. Usually a skill repec in any other game is a total reset of points that can then be reallocated as you wish... maybe that's CP's next move. I can see it now: Free all your skill points to be reallocated to your leaned skill's for a mear 6 plex. I say that sarcastically but there is a hint of reality that cuts too close to the bone with it.


I've bitched on about how I hated the skill point extraction and not to harp on about it but this post about a rich player maxing out a new alt using skill injection is the very big tip on a large iceberg ahead. All those large alliances with more isk to burn than anyone can count I am sure are using that isk to play the skill injector system.
I really can't see how a newer player can use the skill injectors/extractors paying for it themselves without paying with real cash. I know a few newer players and they are having problems after a year of play getting enough in game isk to buy battleships.

The skill injector/extractor "thing" smells a lot like there was an interest group lobbying to push skill extractors into the game. CCP marketing/sales strong arming the rest of the company to implement something that has no place in the game. That's too much tin-foil hattery, no use in crying over spilled SP. I think it was a mistake to implement and it will make the older wealthier characters move further away form the newer characters in game. But as long as CCP gets it's quick cash in they will keep doing things like that.

The last patch/release had no major news or changes for me except for the new camera which I think is a way worse change to the look of Eve. I know that a lot of people miss the tracking camera as it has been removed from the "new" camera even though it itself was a newer feature. I don't miss it as I never had it in the first place. Thankfully changes are in the works, however once all "done" I don't think it will be what the users wanted.

The next release should be seeing a lot of changes. Strange that the official March release website doesn't even mention module tiericide.

There is a HUGE amount of changes incoming for a lot of modules:
Damage Controls 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPfHuJ0tOxM

Warp Disruptors & Scramblers 
ECM
ECCM 
Damage Modules 
Dampeners
Tracking Modules 
Cap Batteries 


They are also planning to:
Reworking Capital Ships: Skills, Modules & Refitting 

They have also been giving information on Structure fitting in the EVE: Citadel expansion 

My reaction to all those changes is a lot like hearing Doc Brown from back to the future

Once things are changed and appear in the game I'll have to see my ships and fits to really see the impact of these changes.

API changes are also in the works with increase of CREST availability for third party developers. I'm sure that will help with the meta game players as well as the tool makers.

Thanks enough waffle form me so I'll end it here.

Waffle on.... Waffle on....

• waffle - verb [I] (TALK)

› To ​talk or write a lot without giving any ​useful ​information or any ​clear ​answers: "If you don't ​know the ​answer, it's no good just waffling (on) for ​pages and ​pages".

Gaming....

Late last week I ended up alt hopping within Eve Online.
For no reason I can pinpoint I actually stayed logged in on an alt. Instead of logging in, checking planetary interaction etc and quickly logging out as I usually do I actually started to "play" that character.
Refining a lot of ship fits, clearing inventory and altering what I had and where I had it. I put a few ships on sale in contracts. I spend hours logged in on the character and considering the number of hours of training I've investing (At around 20 million SP) it actually felt like a "real" character for once. Holding it's own in lvl 4 missions and other content.
That got me thinking, dangerous I know.
When does an Alt stop feeling like an alt. The age old question.
That's ALT not an ALT(Assistant Language Teacher).
Is it an Alt's use or perception of use that makes it an alt or maybe the lesser number of SP/level or experience.
Anyway it had me thinking that if I spent less time doing quick gaming hops I'd find greater gamplay not just between alts in specific games but with the likes of solo games like darkest dungeon.
Instead of doing one dungeon crawl every now and again, what could I do if I spent a larger amount of time with it... or any other game...
Fallout 4 is the best example of flat out precision specific gameplay, I racked up a colossal amount of gameplay hours (and still counting), which has given a great deal of enjoyment.
I wonder why I haven't done that more with other games. Is it habit or happenstance.

My usual gaming session starts with a batch of daily tasks on my MMO games (Eve Online, Dust 514, Star Trek online & World of Warcraft), then move onto a solo (or two) game of choice.

Sometimes I will ignore games and other times I will pay more attention. Maybe not a lot more, it's a mood thing.
Take wow for example, I could log into all my level 100 characters and harvest all the garrison ore/herbs and mission rewards to send to my auction house alt who would sell it all for gold. Other days (or longer) I'll ignore wow.

Even that auction house alt is no longer a real auction house alt as she is nearly 100.

Overall these session times change on personal circumstances but my time is usually plentiful rather then limited. So the sessions usually last for longer times and over multiple games.
2 a.m. has become a not abnormal bedtime. Unhealthy as that may be.

Fallout 4 and XCom 2 don't help and I'm not pushed by the adverse effects of a lack of sleep to "make" me go to an earlier bedtime, but that's my problem. Living the dream some would say, gaming addiction say others. I dont' think I can sell the gaming dream to the wife (as understanding as she is) for much longer.

That "longer" may be more than even I can think of.
My current crop of non mmo games in no particular order are:
Xcom 2,
Darkest Dungeon,
Homeworld 2 Remastered Edition,
Fallout 4 (playthrough #2),
Cities Skylines (lost count on how many cities I've done)
Terraria
Faster than Light
Democracy 3
Race the Sun
Minecraft

If Star Citizen ever gets a polished stable release that feels like a  proper game then I really think that it has the potential to blow all other MMO and solo game's time out of the water and my gaming time with it.
 
Over the next few weeks I hope to do a series of posts on specific games. Giving each game it's own day to be played 100% of the time with a blogged write up.
Even thinking of that now makes me wonder  if I'll be able to set aside some of the "specific game" day to do MMO tasks/dailies etc. That would be a distraction but one that may need to be worked into the "plan". 11 Days of "solo" games might be a lot to work into, some games are not games for longer game sessions. Race the sun is a perfect example of that. Once you get used to the day's random race course you can only go so far until the sun goes down and you "finish" the game. Maybe I can do a more mix and match session with smaller games. MMO games might have to be split over a few days.... In the end I hope to see that I'm getting more value in gameplay per game. Time will tell.

For anyone interested that current desktop image is:

  rescue_by_emilisb-d68fllc : http://emilisb.deviantart.com/

Fallout 4 DLC.... Season pass looking better now....

The info coming out about the incoming Fallout 4 DLC makes me wonder about getting the season pass.... Info about that incoming DLC is here:
http://www.geek.com/news/fallout-4-dlc-revealed-robot-building-capturing-enemies-and-a-whole-new-island-1647472/
& here:
http://www.polygon.com/2016/2/16/11018046/fallout-4-dlc-schedule-prices-season-pass

XCom 2 Interpretation

From Eurogamer:

My first real look at Far Cry Primal....

I've not payed much attention to Far Cry Primal but the video from FRANKIEonPCin1080p has me looking for more information.

Windows 10 and Xbox One cross-buy may be a thing....

 
I found an article that interests me regarding games on XboxOne and Windows 10.
It all points towards the fact that if you buy a game for one platform you can "claim" the game on the other platform.
I really like that. I've always been an Xbox owner on the console front. So a mix of games is good for me.
I wonder how retroactive this will be. Will some of my steam titles be downloadable on my Xbox One....

Lots to think about.

That article was over on digitalspy.com: windows-10-cross-buy-and-cross-save-will-become-a-platform-feature/

More of the same is here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3032510/software-games/microsoft-plans-to-make-windows-10-xbox-one-game-crossbuys-a-habit.html

Fallout 4 survival mode getting an overhaul....

Just spotted an article that sparked my interest over on digitalspy.com.
In that article they quoted news from Bethesda's twitter page:

We’re also doing a complete overhaul of Fallout 4 Survival mode. Food, sleep, diseases, danger and more. Stay tuned.

— BethesdaGameStudios (@BethesdaStudios) February 11, 2016

I wonder what way things will work when they release these changes, how harsh will things really be.
Interesting times ahead for sure. Roll on the DLC as well.

STO.... T6 Event ship claimed.

After doing the last daily needed I applied the reward vouchers and claimed the T6 event ship.

I'm not immediately in love with the ship but it does need a lot of gearing up. I haven't tested the current standard fit it comes with due to the shard maintenance that is ongoing for the next hour or so. I'll be interested to see how it works out. I wouldn't mind grinding some missions for specific rewards to gear it with a workable tactical fit. For that I'll need to keep an eye on Brent Justice's video's as his character should be doing the same and he knows what he is talking about.

World of Warcraft....

Finally got my latest auction house character to a stage where she is no longer an auction house character. She dinged 97 last night and with some transmoging and enchants can now start to run with some guildies as a healer. I've been avoiding healing in dungeons altogether and only done a few quests here and there so I have no idea how I got her to this level. So the future will hold a dungeon healing role and will see how that works out. I've seen so many healers getting slated that I truly dread the role but it is one that I've done in previous wow expansions as a priest. At least doing stuff with guildies will be easier as they will be both supporting and forgiving and it it doesn't work out they will help on gear/enchants/advice. I'm looking forward to that.
Funny how things should be interesting during the last two weeks of paid game-time.

STO - One more daily to go....

One more daily and I'll have the last 40 vouchers to get the 6th anniversary ship.

Imperium Galactica....

I've mentioned Imperium Galactica on this blog before and of late I'd not seen any updates for it's java based incarnation but thankfully there has been a recent update. I hope that the work goes on.

The facebook page is:
https://www.facebook.com/OpenImperiumGalactica

Main project page is here:
https://github.com/akarnokd/open-ig


On another note I've also just seen a playthrough of the original game by a YouTuber called Leo M. Panther, it's well worht a watch:

That patch worked....

I'm glad I got to experience the "he wouldn't sit down" glitch. It's part of the history of the game now. The patch does work and does correct a lot of other problems as well. I should have added the screenshot below to my last post about the patch.

I've played Fallout 4 a bit more after the end of the main story lines. Not much to report but the game does give you a more gameplay to work with and continue in the world that is Fallout 4. Even if I feel overpowered now.

My second playthough is about 5 and a half hours so is very early on and already I'm noticing things and viewing places in a different way. I may not be hitting the gameplay as hard as the first playthrough but it's a game that will be taking up more of my time for sure.

I was interested to see a non weapon playthrough from Many A True Nerd:

Blast from the past.... Kotor II

I got to route out my old copy of Star Wars Knights of the old Republic II.
This was the older original CD edition. And according to the receipt that was tucked into the manual I bought it on the 19/02/2005 at 13:56, so 10 day's short of 11 years ago.

Thankfully the install was flawless and I ran both the patch A and B from my old save folder.
I did see a lot of mods but I'll stick with the original in all it's patched vanilla'ness.
The official patch's are still available online, but I think there is a bigger newer patch for the latest steam version of the game.
Once installed I decided to bin the launcher.exe shortcut on the desktop and replaced it with a shortcut to the main program .exe file. It all ran perfectly.


Graphics were scalable and worked well, I didnt' mind a lack of a wide screen option. So in that regard it does have a more "retro" feel.
It may not have a massive amount of options for character creation regarding looks but the statistic junkie will be in awe at the way the game works for your characters abilities and chosen stats.

The game still stands up to the test of time imho. I enjoyed revisiting my old saves, it is a great adventure to get into and this revisit hasn't changed my opinion.

There are really two things that stand out to me now. One good and one bad.
Bad news first is that the control of the character feels more awkward than I remembered. There was no proper strafe movement so it feels very robotic moving around. Using the mouse without the WASD keys is much better but you end up moving around holding both mouse butts down for free-look and moving forward. Which leads me onto the second thing.
The good news is the combat system, it's a semi real time, semi turn based combat mix, I really like the pause that gives you time to add new actionable commands that is a joy to work with, especially during lightsaber fights.

At some stage I think I'll have to setup a proper retro (offline?) gaming XP based PC but that's a longer term project.... 

IGN had a good review (from 2008 I think) on YouTube for Kotor 2 that will give a more in depth look at the game and is worth a look:

Darkest Dungeon.... Depressingly addictive

There is such atmosphere in this game and so much gamplay that I'm still playing it despite having Xcom 2.

Darkest Dungeon is both a long term one more turn, one more dungeon game and short term quick 5 minute game. The random number generator nature of the game all seems like balanced chance, like the matrix, as long as you think you have a chance you'll try and get that chance and not be fully beaten down by it.
Hard to really describe and master, I have such a long road ahead in this game and that fact is a motivator rather than being in any way dissuasive.

A great playthough is being done by SplatterCatGaming, well worth a watch.

 

STO, 5 Dailies to go....

With the event dailies ongoing I'm surprised at how times has flown. At the start of the event even with the once off mission reward of 400 vouchers it seemed like it would be a long haul.
I'm enjoying the two dailies, not difficult and both are quick to do. So it's not a problem to stick the fleet or doff missions in while travelling from place to place for the stabilisation daily.
I wonder what fit the reward ship will be; Science/polaron based but will it be workable for a tactical officer...

The Latest video from Brent Justice is out and has a lot of insight for tactical officers via his playthrough, knowledge also in general STO gaming terms is a gold mine in his video's.
I liked that he used the quad weapon from the free ship this week on his own characters current ship fit.
I went off and got the turret off the ship I claimed for my own ships fit, then discharged that reward ship and claimed it again, and again and again. Taking the turret off it each time except the last claim. I think I ended up with 5 of the quad turrets. Unfortunately you can only fit one per ship so I placed a few on my other ships. I've tested it out in a random encounter and it really is a damage dealer. Looks like I may have to grind missions to get a proper working tactical ship fit for the T6 reward. Still glad I saw that turret taking tip and used it. Cheers Brent Justice. 

STO: Best daily so far....

Do nothing, complete mission:

My Star Trek Online update....

I've been persisting with STO. Mainly for the daily missions from Q for the 6th Anniversary, which will lead to a reputation ship. That may sound more downbeat than I intended.
I'm plugging away with the 2 dailies form Q, both are easy to do. One is not really needed but has some fun and the other gives you the 40 reputation marks per day that you can use towards the ship. Both missions also reward you with Dilithium which I am again hording till I can change it to ZEN.

Both Admiralty and Doff missions are ongoing and I'm updating them / collecting the rewards when I get a chance.

The Event has had a few freebies.
The 20,000 Fleet Dilithium was nice to get but since I have never been in a fleet I doubt I will ever be so I'll never get to use it.

The Extra speciality points is gonna be nice to use but I'll wait on my main for his re-skill and the alts will have them in the bank till I level them up.... if ever.

I'm sure the next freebie was available to me before but it's available to all characters on all outfits now, or at least on outfits that can use it so it's an all thing to all people. Kinda.

I was a little miffed at the last giveaway. The free T4 ships. Not a great giveaway but would have been nice for levelling up my alts. However although the site doesn't say you need to be any specific level to claim the ship, but yeah you need to be level 30. So no freebie ship waiting in the wings for my little level 10 alts to use. Pity.

I went ahead and used most of the dilithium I had in a conversion to ZEN and with that ZEN I bought the EC unlock for my characters.

My next ZEN purchase is currently aimed towards the skill point reset token for my main.

However after watching the latest video from Brent Justice I did go ahead and buy (with EC) the Tholian ship he talked about. This Tholian ship without the upgrade is about the same as my current ship. but it is a ship that is a much better fit for an upgrade so I may end up buying a ZEN ship upgrade token to make that ship a T5U version. That would then be better than my current ship.
Time will tell on the dilithium/ZEN front as I'll have the current event T6 ship before I ever have enough dilitium, never mind the Zen to enable that upgrade plan.

Brent Justice latest video on his Free to play character: