Rome Total war.... Still a game worth playing.

Despite needing a command line argument to fix dx9 issues I still enjoy dipping my toe into Rome Total War. Yes the first one. A true classic.

Nothing like a city siege....

404 population.... settlement not? found....

Cities Skylines.... I wonder....

New towns have a limit not only in cash but with access to upgraded roads, buildings and zone types. In some way's it's part of the fun in getting a town going and then extending it into a major metropolis.  Upgrades earned as you go.

I wonder what I could do if I used the full access to upgrades and cash from the start.... would it take the "fun" away.... I think so.

More thought needed....

WoW.... land of Confusion....

After having a bit of a preliminary hands on testing of characters and specialisations along my own lineup of characters I can say that I'm surprised at the way I now feel about the way wow has changed them.

I knew the changes were coming and I'd read a bit about the way things were going to go. However I'm more comfortable with getting my hands on, so was always going to wait for the patch and implementation of the expansion character changes.

What has surprised me is that both my "mains" are either "feeling" worse off or I've not been able to get my head around the way they now play.

My Hunter was the character I've spent the most time on and now feels rather lacking. He is a beast master and I wouldn't have it any other way. He still does great damage, even better than some guildies that are a higher ilevel than he is currently. But it's the loss of the utility spells, I'm really left with one shot to use while waiting for others to "cooldown". At least with the old spec I had a trap to cast down and was constantly going between building focus and using it, then go for the beast cooldowns.
My Lock is another story, started way back when as a Demonic then switched to Destro in Cata but seems today the best is affliction. Like my hunter this lock is missing spells that would keep me going in terms of feeling like I was doing something. At the moment as an affliction lock I'm casting off dots and then really have one spell to do damage with (drain life). Leaving me with a feeling like I should be doing other things instead of waiting.

Likewise the game had completely killed the protection paladin. Which I had liked to tank on and which my guild master was a pro at and could with ease sneeze and solo mythic content in. Now it's a different story.
It really boils down to the utility spells, the crossover spells in specs.
I foresee a lot of in raid chat and conflicts over people needing or not changing over to different talents between combats (mobs and boss's), there is a lot in these new characters for the min/maxers to cry over in their perfection.

On the up sides I'm going to be playing class's and specs I've never had any real feel for before beyond levelling them up with a slight side of timewaped gearing.
My preferences in class/spec's so far are:
Frost Mage
Shadow Priest
Fury Warrior
Feral (cat) druid
Frost DK
Outlaw Rogue
Windwalker Monk
Beastmaster Hunter
Affliction Warlock
Protection Paladin

The only other class not at 100 is the shaman who is still levelling but not in a hurry.

So overall the old top of my list (hunter, warlock, paladin) have sunk to the bottom.
The old middle of the list (mage, priest) have risen to the top; And the old bottom characters have now created a wider midfield that I can actually see myself really playing and not just levelling up.
Time will tell if the new demon hunter class will be "any good". From what I've seen they more closely resemble a cross between an outlaw rogue and maybe a blood death knight. Which could be interesting.
I'm sure that Blizzard will implement a patch once the main feedback in is on the last patch with all the changes. I think it won't backtrack on the changes but it will tweak the likes of mana regen etc. Small stuff that will help.






Fun times ahead.

WoW.... It's that time again....

Last night I saw the login queue message for the first time since the start of the last expansion.... Its getting real now.

WoW.... Post Patch, Pre Expansion....

I returned to wow the day before the pre expansion patch hit. I got to enjoy some guild craic and a fun run in a mythic everbloom. The patch hit and removed the generic/utility of each class. So for example my hunter a beastmaster had all traps removed. All classes were stripped back and have only specific spells for their specialisation. It's more tactical now as only certain classes can cast certain spells. No longer can all priests cast a buff on a dungeon or raid. There is still a lot in the air. Of all the classes I am liking my Shadow priest and frost mage.... maybe the mage a little more than the shadow priest but it will be a long while until even the "familiar" spec's become felling "normal".
All part of the adjustment process.

 It was nice to have the new wardrobe system as I got to sell and dump the entirety of my characters void storage and most of their bank spaces. I like the way that my warlock can now look like the warlock I had on an alliance character.

The graphics were updated and the first thing I noticed was how good the core hounds looked.

Thankfully they did do the reimbursement of both honour and conquest points. Quite a few of my characters made a good bit on gold that way.

My wife opted to splash out and get the special edition.

As our accounts are linked I gain the benefits as well, so just needed to buy the normal edition.
Part of which got a character boost to 100. I opted to level my level 60 warrior.

I only have a Shaman to level up next to 100, if that ever happens.

It will be interesting to see the pre expansion event, not to mention the new hero class.

Terraria updated....

The new update for Terraria adds more life to the game. The full patch notes are all about the 5th anniversary of the game. It does include some nice fixes and additions as well like the chest sorting.
It's all about the partying. Nice little updates like this are always good to get a person back into the game after a spending a while away.

ChippyGaming over on YouTube shows the items:

No Man's Sky.... Still looking up.

I think the thing that rings more true to me about the game isnt' the graphics but the fact that the producers of the game say that it won't have any DLC. You buy the game and you get the game. That's not the say that there won't be patch's. There will be patches and that's a good thing.
Even with that fact and the allure of the game from what I know so far I won't be buying it straight away. I think I'll wait till it's released on all formats and then see about it.

I've been liking the newer trailers based around activities in the game. They are showing what the game is about rather than trying to wow with visuals like previous trailers.
For some reason the UI in those new trailers reminds me of Destiny. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

Trade:

Fight:

Explore:

Darkest Dungeon.... Circle of life....

I've gotten through the end of the Darkest Dungeon. Being a sentimental type and not wanting to "betray" my current teams. Those that I'd seen through soooo many dungeons, battles and helped to upgrade in gear and abilities. I decided that a "suicide squad", levelled up fast and sent in to do it was the best way to go. I wont' waffle on further about them as I've done that already in other posts.
I finished levelling up those two squads of "expendables" for the purpose of completing the final boss. 

That Darkest Dungeon did not disappoint in it's enemies with regard to attacking rotations. In retrospect like all things, being though it once I know I would handle it better now.
I had only read one aspect of the final fight and spoiler incoming.....

It was the fact that the end boss has an attack that makes you select a team member to be sacrificed.

In the end I only needed to sacrifice two team members. The surviving Houndmaster and Hellion will now take their place back in the lineup as "permanent" members. Not that that matters now as the game is over and the NG+ (New Game Plus) version with game difficulty ramped up is available to play. That will be for round two.

It's been a long journey to complete it. But with NG+ I have a time and limit on team member kills so It should be interesting from the start. I might wait a while, let the game filter and hang at the back of my mind and then once I've got enough of an urge I'll plunge back into the despair of Darkest Dungeon.
 

That last week in Eve Online....

The last week in eve was a mash of activities.
Gathering and adjusting P.I. Trying to sell those P.I. products. Adjusting all market orders for sale.
My Amarr alt finally finished off her Amarr epic arc missions. That completed all my faction specific characters arc's. The reward implant was then sold for 250 million isk.

An alt survived a gank by a Talos while flying in T1 hauler carrying nothing. She got to warp off before a second volley and then sold the kill right.

Another alt got to look into the Serpentis event and cleared a Serpentis site for 100 "activity points" and in doing so got an escalation that once cleared as well dropped about 130 million in loot.

With that arc done and my characters marketing finished up (and ended by the last expansions huge changes to the market in general) I had finalised all I needed to do in the game. All other activities would be based around grinding missions and asteroids; And of course grinding passive SP. In saying that I do consider all my characters rounded out with having enough SP to do what they needed to do already. They already fly what they need to fly and fit those ships as they need to be fit.  So realistically the game was grinding for the sake of grinding in either passive SP or active in game activities that would boil down to isk. There needs to be more to the active gameplay than that.

It will take a lot of PVE changes in Eve to get me back playing. With Eve always changing I'm sure that things will improve. Time will tell if I rejoin that universe.

Star Trek Online....

The first patch after the expansion was deployed during the week and improved a lot of things as per usual for all patches that come after a big expansion.
Full notes on changes are here: https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10082783

I've created and been playing a new character from the expansion from the start to level 51 in the last week. The boost to XP was impossible to ignore. I got to unbox a few rewards that I could claim like the T6 Krenim science ship from the 6th game anniversary. Science ship for a science based character makes sense. The problem is I'm flying it like the character and ship were tactical. So much so I was thinking of using the newer summer event T6 ship instead. But I'll test the science ship out and try and refit it to better suit the character.

A lot of players seem to have done the same and levelled up a new "Temporal Agent". I decided to have this character as a science based one. That means buff's and de-buff's. I also made another character based around engineering. All my other characters are tactical.

My main being 60 is concentrating on upping his reputations and both ship and ground gear. I was surprised at the amount of dps he is now doing in space. Ground is combat is ok. But space combat is like a hot knife through butter.

That must hurt....

Main on a mission....

Login image...

.

Eve Online.... bye bye.

Over the last month or so I've been trying to post about Eve Online. Every time I've gone to the draft and added or changed something I've ended up sounding very negative. Very antigame or more specifically very antigame company. That can be a good thing as rant posts are not aloud on the official forums so I have to vent frustrations somewhere. I wanted something more constructive though. Events for my own gameplay and interaction with CCP have also overridden what I was going to talk about. This post is going to be more about the game company rather than gameplay. I'm going to waffle on as well as make some points. I could rewrite it to be more to the point but that would undo the stress relief of venting.

I enjoy the game. I have two Eve Online accounts. This last month saw both accounts come around for renewal. I decided with much mulling over to continue and bought a year sub on both. Almost immediately I regretted it. Not for any reason like buyers remorse but I should have waited.
CCP has no consistency with promotions. What annoyed me was that on one account I got free SKIN's and two weeks later got nothing when updating the other account. However if I'd waited another two weeks and only bought 90 day's instead of a full year sub, I would have gotten 90 days of free multi-character training as well. It grinds my gears.

Its the Mystery code disappointment all over again.
Nothing for the Mystery code due to CCP saying nothing big or worthy happening in the game ... Citadels happen ... not big enough apparently. It goes against all they actively said.

My other mystery code rants:
https://acasualcarebear.blogspot.ie/2015/10/eve-eve-and-more-eve-bad.html
https://acasualcarebear.blogspot.ie/2016/01/spotlight-on-mystery-mystery-code.html
https://acasualcarebear.blogspot.ie/2016/05/ccp-mystery-code-misers.html


It's frustrating.


I'm not the only one to feel frustration. NevilleSmit.com makes a lot of good points on his blog!
http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2016/5/1/occupy-new-eden
http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2015/1/9/stopmysterycodeneglect


The sandbox allows for a lot of play styles it's true. I'm enjoying what I do, even if it is a short login. #I am the 85 percent

I've seen a lot of similar people drop off the grid over the last year or so. Others like me have become stuck in a rut routine and become more of a hermit. Effort and timing need to be considered when doing anything in Eve. Trust especially both in and out of game, player to player and player to game company.

People and the "Meta" say that players coming and going is all part of a cycle but my friend list over the last 6 years is longer than ever with inactive players. There are lots of things to do in Eve but that is a problem in itself. Maybe a broader general appeal would help but that would inflame the vocal minority into a firestorm. 

Two good related post:
https://evehermit.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/2922/
http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2016/7/1/listlessness 

The last patch/expansion (does CCP know what to call these "releases" now?) was received as being underwhelming. http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2016/5/1/occupy-new-eden with a link to a podcast that is also worth listening to regarding it.

CCP has a mish mash of idea's and implementations. Fool me once with the mystery code shame on CCP, fool me twice with this latest offers fiasco, shame on me.
Is there any real consistency for offers!
So being that peeved I sent in a support ticket to get a refund. Long story short the nice GM that replied offered the choice of suspending the accounts until I decided to return to the game or an immediate refund. I chose the immediate refund (few days, banks permitting). So in short order I had got the money back.

The quickness of the process makes me wonder if this type of refund happens often.

CCP does walk a fine line to keep the playerbase they have but they may rely too much on the lies of statistics. These stats can change depending on the current flavour of the month that the current perspective of CCP.

Why CCP does things the way they do I am sure is down to it's own internally developed culture and changes, or lack of changes over time. It's like there seems to be a loss of common sense sometimes. CCP works in mysterious ways (that's not meant as a good thing). Some of their actions leave me scratching my head. 

Pay for a year of Eve and you may be lucky to get some free skins, two weeks later and you won't get those skins. But if you wait another few weeks again and you'll see that if you had waited and only paid for 90 days of game time you'd get 90 day's of free alt training.
I'll be complaining about that for a long time to come. Right after I bitch again about the mystery code.

CCP seems to place too much emphasis on the here and now. Granting the most benefits to players who are living the game month to month while abandoning the longer term players. Focus on the microtransactions is probably the driver for that.

I have to mention the mystery code again. I'm sure CCP has all but forgotten it at this stage (That really, really, really grinds my gears!). After many dev posts about nothing being big enough to warrant a mystery code "gift" they release Citadels. There is nothing bigger in Eve Online yet there is still nothing. The mystery code is an ideal way for keeping longer more invested players like me keen on the game. What a true facepalm fail for CCP.

Making the current player base grind on dailies will burn out and bore people unless it's implemented better. Yes they will continue to do it as is,  it gives an in game plus for that player. It is Eve after all.
I do think that making the player base you already have work for the subscription they already pay is effort in the wrong direction.
Some more thoughts on the dailies worth reading: http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2016/7/6/horseshoes-and-hand-grenades

I won't be holding my breath for any upcoming in game PVE content changes. The long term CCP Seagull road map has great things planned. If there is any improvement to PVE content it will be very coincidental with whatever else is changing.

CCP seems to be leaning on the only common ground all players have, no matter the direction they have taken in game. Player (can) shoot player. As long as they revolve around that then they will never grow the player base and appeal to a broader range of player.

The NPE, it's development plan and attachment of a player with an NPC faction with a strong storyline gives hope for PVE but I don't see much else. If that even happens at all.

If things change and change for the betterment of my gameplay style I might consider a return to the game but more likely than not I'll end up being a dick of a player on a trial account.

A good podcast and an interesting interview....

One to stick on the second screen if you have one, in the background if not and listen.
An author who's books I'll have to look up.... http://ryanholiday.net/

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

Star Trek Online changes coming....

The latest developer before and after makes me concerned for the graphical future of the game. I've been saying that for a while, but this latest one actually had me saying I liked the original (before) image rather than the new(after) side.

 https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10075563

I know it's all work in progress but these images are mounting up to a lot of evidence. It really will be telling when the changes make it into the game.

Star Trek Online....

A lot has changes in the world of STO in the last two weeks. Mainly with the Agents of Yesterday expansion.
I'm a Trek fan and always have been ever since I was young. I grew up watching the re run's of the original series. I do get a lot more out of the game as a fan of the franchise. I get the uuh and aaah moments when something in a story line connects with an episode of the series.
Not quite a fan boy but Trek fans are a more specific o.t.t. than any fanboy or girl.

With STO there is a game that does a lot for the nostalgia factor. Yes there are microtransactions and yes there is a lot in the game that is buggy and annoying. But it is free. Free and being nostalgic are a combination that make me go back to the game. The more you go back to it the more it grows on you. There is a lot going on in the game.  The patch notes alone hold so much information.

I've created two new characters of this new 23rd century faction / classic era of Trek so that I can take advantage of the expansion bonus's for them (not available for 23rd century characters created after august).
What the game has done is to create the classic era of Trek as a new faction for the game. This faction is automatically aligned with the federation and though the starting story arc you move from the 23rd century into the modern game.

The expansion is the best and most immersive I've seen in the game since I started playing. The use of the classic era is ideal for an expansion. I love the classic look of the sets, ships, uniforms. I love the way the star field in the 23rd century has the same colourful look as the tv series rather than the more bland starfield of the "modern" trek.

I used that "love" word a lot because of the nostalgia kicking in. It's more than just liking the game elements. I really, really like the game elements. It's the little things.

23rd Century starfield:

Modern starfield:

I even like the way that the game makes your 23rd century characters ui look like the classic era tv show. Even if you are in a more modern ship the old tv show noises from doors to button clicks are still used and make it so immersive. The ui does change depending on your faction and having the 23rdC original series ui adds to the game.

The 23rd century map:

Modern map:

 
With time travel there is a lot a series and a game can do and dear god does Star Trek Online use it a lot. I think I complained about how much in the last year alone how much if was worked into story arc's. And that stuff gets really really confusing. But in saying that this expansion adds so much more character into the game.

I found that in the starting missions the look and feel may have been intentionally made more granular to further push the way the tv show looked.

The addition of old cast members from different series and movies all adds to the mix in a good way.

Levelling up a new character is xp boosted as going from the 23centry to the modern era already has my character at level 11.

I've spent a lot of time to also finish off my main max level character to complete the summer event, get the free T6 ship from it. equip is as best I can and finish off the Delta mission episode missions. That completes all of that characters PVE mission content.
This week also gave an opportunity to replay missions with the once off rewards reactivated. The ophidian cane, Breen and Reman duty officers and the shard of possibilities. Some of those are things that I'd seem and wished I'd had been around to claim the first time they came around. Glad to have them now.

The summer event ship in it's original paint looked a little too fuzzy dice for me...

So I altered that to be nearly all black where it would let me alter it and it looks much better for it. Adding in a few of the new visual enhancements from ship modules and tada!
 

With the work being done to bring the game to the XboxOne and PS4 there were some interesting comments online about the new graphics that will be implemented. one comment was very significant, at least for me because it pointed out that that new graphics ramps up the contrast rate so much that it washes out the details you normally see on in game items.
This can bee seen on the consoles in this developer news article that includes a before and after slide image.
 https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10053953
Maybe the general overall level of detail will go up. I just hope it doesn't do it at the cost of the other minor details in the game that play into the immersion.

The new ui for console should also be interesting to see when implemented but I dont' know if it will hit the pc as well. So I'm taking the opinion that it's best to read and keep informed just in case.
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10029803

I've been really really into the new expansion as well as finishing off my max level character. All I need to do is finalise him with a better ground and ship fit. Not to mention a proper more refined stat configuration including both primary and secondary specialisations. From there on it's all minor tweaking.

As good as the expansion has been there has been an ongoing bug that while not game breaking does ruin the immersive nature of the game.... I'm pretty sure they are all supposed to be seated..... or maybe it's a new galactic Simon says.

Overall it's a Free game that has given hours of enjoyment. I really doubt I'll put any money into it and better yet I've not felt compelled to in any way.
I've enjoyed my time in the game and I'll be spending a long more time in it now because of the new characters I can create with the expansion.

Just thinking...

With the summer steam sale I picked up the Unreal bundle. I may have only wanted some of the games but cheap games in a bundle with a lot of nostalgia.... 

With the latest shooters like Overwatch and Doom I've been thinking back to what online shooters I've played. They really break down into two groups. PC shooters I played and then console shooters. PC with the likes of Unreal Tourney in the 90's and early 2000's and on console with Call of Duty and battlefield from the xbox 360 to today.
What this is all leading to is that in my steam summer sale nostalgia I am remembering how much more fun I had in skill based shooter's rather than class based. Maybe not 100% of the time. But I can still remember a great solo battle from a quake 2 multiplayer game. An encounter that's stuck with my brain. Maybe it's a pc v console thing. Maybe I'm over thinking things way too much  

That Quake II moment was at the start of a match. I grabbed the first gun I ran across, the machine gun. High rate of fire but inaccurate at distance with a lot of recoil.

Running down a corridor I ran smack into a player with a rocket launcher. That was an oh-shit moment.

I started to fire to at least get some damage on him for killing me.
He fired and I sidestepped; But then I realized I was still alive and sidestepped the second shot. I should have been gibbs on the floor. What happened next was over in seconds

I continued to fired, peppering that player to death as I sidestepped more rockets coming at me. It felt good.

If our roles were reversed and I'd seen that player dodge my first rocket I'd have started to aim lower and try to have him at least step into splash damage. But I survived that solo battle. The thrill of survival and victory in a match that I don't recall otherwise. What else makes PvP the rush of PvP matches.

I don't remember any other kind of game where I faced off against another player like that in a more modern era of CoD or Battlefield.

 

*2023 Update; One of my PvP match moments from Battlefield 1's Xbox iteration was similar:

 

 

A Casual Carebear Gamer

Maybe I need to check out Overwatch and Doom after all..... or maybe Battlefield 1 will be a "slower" paced, less twitchy shooter....  either way no matter what I choose if any I think I'll have to return to the pc versions.

And now for something random....

Dust to Nova....

Dust...
Legion....
Nova....


The name will probably change before it is launched. Knowing what CCP is like the less they say the more likely it is that there will be a greater disconnect from Dust and it's playerbase going into the new iteration.
There is still a lot being talked about in the community. Time will tell if the hardcore forum warriors survive the long term. I wish CCP were at a point to talk about what is being done.


One thing is for sure, given the genre that it is, I hope they create a shooter that is adaptive. It will need to be in order to stay active in the long run and compete with everything else out there.

Maybe Eve Vegas will have a presentation.

Some interesting links that are worth reading on the subject:

http://sandciderandspaceships.blogspot.ie/2016/05/bb75-dust-to-dust-all-hail-nova.html

http://sandciderandspaceships.blogspot.ie/2016/05/blog-banter-75-what-does-project-nova.html

http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2016/5/20/bb-75-what-does-project-nova-need-to-succeed

Battlefield 1 closed beta....

I'm not lucky enough to be part of this testing process but the video below by FRANKIEonPCin1080p of the closed beta does make me want to know more and start playing the game.

SAVING PRIVATE NEWB! - Battlefield 1 Closed Alpha

Fallout 4 DLC.... Contraptions

It seems like it's been ages since the contraptions dlc was released.
I've not done much with it for any real use in the game beyond being window dressing within some of my settlements. I like that it opens up those elements for use but it's not really worth it unless you like me received it as part of the season pass.

No Man's Sky.... Looking up.

Some more details have been coming out ahead of the impending release of No Man's Sky.
I've interest in the game but I'm not chomping at the bit to get my hands on it. If I do buy it I'll probably be getting it around December. Plenty of time for it to have been updated and patched.

Worth reading for more info:


http://www.pcgamer.com/no-mans-sky-10-burning-questions-answered/

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/no-mans-skys-first-update-in-development-disk-size-revealed/

&

The official twitter is always worth checking for updates:

https://twitter.com/NoMansSky

WoW interest....

I've been unsubbed from World of Warcraft for just over 4 week, it feels like month's. For the first time in a long while my interest in wow has been peeked. My interest was spawned by seeing video's from BellularGaming:

The New Legion DPS Demon Hunter - Is It Fun To Play?

WoW Legion Leveling Speed - Explained | Is It Fun?

He has also done a "good" and "bad" video also worth watching. It will be interesting to see what changes are made before release.
 

My 10 Concerns With WoW: Legion 

14 Awesome Things About WoW: Legion

Star Citizen.... Still sliding....

I've waffled on a lot about Star Citizen in the past and with the latest release 2.4.1, my Greycat slide test of the "latest enhancements" is still doing it's "trick".  I wont' waste any more time on it. Next......

A friend of mine has started to call it Star Sh*itizen.

It really, really.... REALLY needs to start delivering on a playable "game".