CCP....

A begging letter from the CCP Online Dev team. Charming. Talk about milking your playerbase.

Strange how they don't say the difference in Alpha and Omega rewards is 'just' a battleship. That one caveat allows them to sell it like this. With a time limit. And handy links to reinstall the game, or recover your account.......

XV Anniversary Rewards Upgrade before 6 May for More

Greetings XXXXXXXXX,

Log in as an Alpha, or upgrade and log in as Omega before 6 May to receive the awesome EVE Online 15th anniversary rewards. As an added bonus, there is a staggering 50% off the 3 month Omega package on this account only, if you upgrade before 6 May!

The rewards for Omega pilots are not to be missed, so make sure you secure that upgrade in time! All gifts will be delivered on 7 May, and you must upgrade and/or log in by 6 May to be eligible.

- The EVE Online Dev Team

Ready to Reinstall? Do it in Minutes

Recover Account Details Usernames and Passwords

Still if you want to be milked, everyone is a free adult..... etc etc etc.

I prefer to keep the mantra "A sale is only a sale if you wanted the product in the first place".
But I'm a bitter burned customer, what do I know.

Grumble..
Grumble...
Grumble....

STO....

The reemergence of the Delta recruits (still valid for new characters till the 17th of May) offer had be thinking....
I may as well create two more Klingon characters. I have the one (trill) tactical character on that side of the factions. No harm in having an Engineer and a Science character as well....
Just in case I ever want/need them...

I created and got both to level 5 in the blink of an eye. All I did was the tutorials and one "real" mission back on the homeworld.

My Klingon freed Borg Engineer:

And my Orion Science:

Both long-term place-holding until I decide to do something with them.... At some stage.... Maybe.

Hmmmmmmm I still have 5 character slots available......

Swords of Ditto....

I'm feeling conflicted about the game. 

It's a good game but it is flawed(imho) by grind.

It's arty cute both in looks(U.I. and all) and sound. It feels good to play, whacking away with a sword, swiping your torch at anything that will burn and especially the red laser pointer for your ranged weapons all feel satisfying.

SplatterCatGaming

While I can 'get' why they have the game mechanics be the way they are; It's also a mechanic that kills the game for me(us). Even playing it co-op as we intended there is still a level of frustration in the grind that only grows as the game goes on. 

If your hero(s) dies, a 100 years pass and the world map changes which can be interesting depending on the random map generation. The next 'hero' you wake up as keeps the previous experience level and experience earned, as well as their coins. It's a cycle that can get old fast if you keep getting killed. But the co-op hug revive is hilarious.

We got some enjoyment, certainly  €14 worth out of the game. For us there is a lacking longterm content that feels fun... As it is, it's overwhelming feeling is that of a shallow grind. Coins, gear, XP, boss fight.

The dungeon mechanics are a saving grace but again there is a lot of repetition (move block, kill mob, pull block, ranged switch pull etc etc.). It's all a lot more fun with a second person but even that doesn't prolong the game's fun factor before the real grind kicks in. 

I'm sure that the progression as is, is great for some players; It's just not clicked with us.

I can't put my finger on it, maybe it's the throwaway characters, a lack continuity beyond the sword. 

If it ever gets some form of  reworked/patched content it may be reinstalled in the future..... 

WoW....

An interesting view from the Alpha soon to be Beta testing:

Taliesin & Evitel Do Games

While I can appreciate that the hands on he has with Battle for Azeroth is playing out well. What he said about the coming Classic WoW did have me thinking, doubting the classic experience. WoW classic will always be a slower game, vanilla WoW had a different play style, each class had different abilities/spells never mind the talent tree, it was complex but never slow. At least I don't recall it being "that" slow.

It's been so long since my first character in Vanilla.

I may have linked to it before but it's a video that gives me great hope for the future of what Classic WoW will be. An experience.

Kargoz

BF1 - 10 basic crates

Dice has gifted 10 basic crates.

I don't keep up with the up to the minute news from Dice or with BF1, so I have no idea why I have these. Maybe something to do with a revamp of the rewards/crate system(?).

My first unboxing video lolz:

Casual Carebear

At this stage of owning the game I feel I've gotten my money's worth. BF was always more about the multiplayer than the solo campaign. But I've not touched the campaign mode in month's and the multiplayer of late has been very one sided, be or being steamrolled. I've a feeling this game may be nearing an end, at least for me. There is new content coming, a new mode. Dice are updating and changing(improving) the game. I won't be uninstalling it just yet.

STO....

I got to potter about in Stat Trek Online a bit today. No great aim just meandering character hopping enjoyment; Which did include the usual admiralty missions on each.

I took my main to the Captains Table, to take a look for himself. The nebula is just outside Earth Spacedock.

Get near the nebula and you get an option to warp in; And there it is. 

It was empty of players bar myself and one other (he was afk). I took a wander around and decided it was just as good to be on Earth Sapcedock. While there may be NPC's closer together to save time; They are NPC's I dont' use often....
So the real hook to stay on the normal station is seeing the other players as well as the general chat....

I also got to take my main to do the third day in the weekend event.
The best run of the three day's, the pick up group got to level 7 where we were swatted like bugs. A valiant effort for a bunch of random players with no communication.

I claimed the console with the vouchers and relogged and got it on my new character.

I also decided on an outfit set while on that new character, a generic one for all the officers based on the Veteran upper and Intel lower. I think it worked out well.

It's been interesting to see the number of players as the new expansion races. This game gives a lot for free and people buy a lot  as well. It's a quirky but balanced game. A lot of give and take on all sides.

The more I think about that the more I think about Eve Online and how CCP are all take take take... Like the 15th anniversary and the discount sub sale offer, getting players to pay for the sub in order for them to quality for the anniversary Battleship "giveaway"....

ETS 2....

With the addition of the Special Transport DLC I've been trying out it's contracts. It seems that my choice of base (Brussel(s?)) is ideal for getting the new contracts.

I've also finalised my three trucks in that garage (Iveco, Man, Scania)

I'm surprised at how much levelling gets done by the A.I. drivers while you rest. So much so that once my character hits 50% tiredness I park up and sleep. I go overboard on longer journeys doing maybe 3 park and sleep's's's. Getting the time to pass really makes the bank balance increase as well.

The DLC has a good amount of additional changes to differentiate it from 'normal' contracts. It's a lot more structured; Not a bad thing for me as I have a tenancy to push the limits.

There are longer and better paying contracts out there. The DLC and the upcoming updates/changes make Special Transports worth while from a variety standpoint alone.

Free is free....

F1 2015 currently free on steam....

https://store.steampowered.com/app/286570/F1_2015/

It may have mixed reviews from the franchise fans but free is free.

House of the Dying Sun....

I mentioned a few month's ago about being interested in House of the Dying Sun; At -60% discount on steam it's a must buy now....

https://store.steampowered.com/app/283160/House_of_the_Dying_Sun/

STO....

A small bit of levelling up was done with my new character, she is now a massive level 20.
I've not decided on any uniform for her and her crew but I'm sticking with just having her wear the majority of the intel set.

Levelling up also saw the new ship claimed above. A bit of a pity as I do like the older designs, but onwards and upwards.

My main started the Bobayashi Maru event.

I appears that it does not need a reputation queue to be done, just keep the vouchers and claim the console when you have enough.

Not that I think I'll get to use the console. Only my current and previous levelled character use phasers, specifically the same prolonged phaser that is the other half of the set. So they may be the only ones to get value from this....

Mini Metro....

Definitely a sim of satisfying micromanagement. 

A quick attempt at the London 'map':

Casual Carebear

Mini Metro....

After the purchase, some game time and waffle about Mini Metro, it is a much better train management sim.... A purchase worth it.

Train Valley....

Train Valley has a demo.... A proper limited(but not too limited) demo!
I've not played a demo in years....

https://store.steampowered.com/app/380930/Train_Valley_Demo/

The demo starts off easy but there are two factors that I found annoying.

The first is that as a level progresses, trains can automatically leave a station with only a few second countdown as a warning. That problem can be resolved with a lot of knowledge of the game. I'm sure there are a lot of cookie cutter track layouts and way's to loop tracks that allow multiple lines for train redirection.
In the end it's not really an annoying problem as much as needing proper train management under duress... It's an unforgiving game. You really need to know the game and it's mechanics. It's what the game is all about. It's what changes this game from a cute little mess-about to a demonic ruthless addictive hell-bound train journey to Valhalla!

The other annoyance is that new stations can pop up in the middle of your map, even if you already have tracks placed.

The new stations pop up problem you could get around by knowing placement in advance. Not a great workaround because each map really has random placement of stations each playthrough. A frustratingly game breaking element. And it is random every time, starter stations as well as 'newer stations', I have to emphasis that. You can't predict the stations to work around this.
Maybe this is a demo only limitation?!?

All in all I was thinking that the gameplay is broken due to it's random stations, "games fault, I'm not buying it". In retrospect beyond the station problem I see now that it's a far more challenging game and I might not buy it because of that. There is challenge in difficulty but to go from 0 to 100 so fast is jarring. I'm being more forgiving to the game demo than the game is to me.

The start is so so easy:

Casual Carebear

Phoenix Point....

Phoenix Point caught my attention when I saw pre-alpha playthrough of a mission.
A new x-com game that looks and feels better(imho) than the current xcom offering.
The playthrough was from Many A True Nerd:

I'd not heard (like a lot of things) about this game. Now that I have I'm very interested. I might not be jumping on the pre-order bandwagon but I'll be keeping tabs on it for sure.

The Dev narrated video's from the official youtube page offer a lot more info and insight.

Phoenix Point

Dev run of the mission:

Games....

I got the Special Transport DLC for ETS 2 as well as the currently on sale Mini Metro. 

Enjoying both, both worthy of a waffling filled post each, so more to come.....

ETS 2....

A good video on the upcoming ETS 2 patch/changes.
I think I'll be buying the Special Transport DLC after all!

Squirrel

Mini Metro....

I mentioned Mini Metro a month ago. I've had it on my steam wishlist ever since and today it's shown up as a 50% sale.....€4.99 for a €9.99 game .... nice!

Surviving Mars...

That's a lot of nice changes to the game.... Again with the epic patch.

The changes to the game rules are fantastic.

ETS 2...

With a lot of free additions in the next patch I'm tempted to buy the Special Transport DLC. There is to be an expansion of the job's and routes used in the DLC.

Given my massive expansion of the in game company/trucks and driver hiring. Special Transport could be the new hook for my gameplay.

STO...

The Kobayashi Maru returns!
The "event will run on PC starting on April 26th at 8 AM PST through April 30th at 10 AM PST".
Do the event for three day's will give you three vouchers to put towards a reputation, the completion of that will give the event reward.
The last time the event was out the rewards were the Prolonged Engagement cannon and phaser bank.  Claimable across all your account characters. This time the reward for it's completion is the Prolonged Engagement Power Dynamo Universal Console. I look forward to seeing it's stats.

WoW....

Looking at the progress of the new expansion from the Alpha server news, I'm not being won over.

Things like putting everything on the global cooldown don't sound good at all. 

That change will kill the fun from gameplay. This change could be even worse than removing the bulk of utility abilities, then bringing most back, then changing them again.

The reality of that for a my ice mage would see him cast a frost bolt and try to follow it immediately with an ice lance, something that used to be satisfying and immediate but will now have to wait... literally. The game needed a slower form of combat but this change will feel like waiting for an elevator.

Or my hunter not able to use any ability straight after disengage.... That sucks!

BellularGaming did a good informative video:

Another concern is voiced perfectly in the new video from Taliesin & Evitel. Warfronts being the expansion activity are looking a lot like Garrison Invasions. Something I did a few times myself and then never touched again... Details from that video here.

Still a lot of questions and answers and probably more questions all yet to come....

Could WoW classic be an alternative?

Kargoz

Train Valley.

A game I don't think I've ever seen before caught my eye, one that's been out since 2015.... Train Valley. I've added it to my wish list.

It so very much reminds me of an old C64 game I played "back in the day".

I think I said that before about locomotion and another pc game but I can't remember when, or about which game... May have been this one.

C64 look-see....

Mingos Commodorepage

It seems that Train Valley 2 is also in the works, with a few changes....

P.S.(2022) I never did get Train Valley. Old post here.

The Swords of Ditto....

The Swords of Ditto released today(24th), I'd been looking at it as an option to do co-op with my wife. It's a game that in reality is even more cute visually as well as it's sound effects and music. All combine in an overload of atmosphere!

Co-op is "local" co-op so that means you either share a keyboard or use controllers (xbox/ps). I've not shared a keyboard with a second player since the early 90's! Today for me and my other half that worked out with me on an xbox controller and my wife with the keyboard and mouse.

Getting the game into a co-op mode on a keyboard is done with one key - backspace. It took a more than a while to figure that out... Co-op isn't a menu option.

Getting into the game, rebinding the keys is a must. Both player keys are set across the keyboard. If you are to use just the keyboard, it will lead to a lot of friction... That can be fun/funny but when the action gets heated and a slipped finger hits a key that sends the other player rolling off the map one time too many...

Or avoid all that and have both players use controllers....

It's a fun game, the actions of the characters as well as the interactions as players in a shared space both in and out of game makes for great fun moments. I can see us playing this game on and off for a while...

Subnautica....

Although I got Subnautica a month or so ago(steam sale/discount I think) I've not had a good chance to immerse myself yet. Still nice to see an update come out before I dive on in.

So many puns so little time.

STO....

Starting my new character as a Delta recruit has been interesting. It's reminded me a lot more of my first characters start, more so than any of my other characters. Not least because it gives me a chance to equip the Chromodynamic Armor on a character again. At least I'll have that for a few levels.

I was also able to equip my character and officers with the free dual pistols; Making all ground missions a lot easier.

The in mission Delta locations are more obvious than the Temporal agent versions. Even in space you are prompted to do actions rather than the Temporal version that sees you trying to find and scan the probes. I much prefer the Delta recruit system.

Being on the starter end of the ship line getting access to the more classic designs (Miranda/Constitution class) has been nice again. It's been giving me a lot of Trek Movie Nostalgic vibes. As well as making for some sweet screenshots: