Sunday, 2 July 2023

Games, gaming and more, oh my!

So this last week in my gaming.....

Stray seems to be getting a release through Xbox Ultimate. The game appeals to me but I saw a full playthrough, so am thinking there's not that much to gain from it in person. As good as it is I doubt doing it myself would warrant it never mind a purchase. The game via Ultimate however is essentially 'free' so I may as well have a look.





Palia also seems to have a date for further play-tests. Think of a Stardew game crossed with an MMO with sides of many, many mini-games..... It's got an appeal so worthy of keeping an eye on. The next MMO stress test is due. https://palia.com/news/alpha-stress-test






Eve Online....

Ah Eve Online; My favorite hate sport, cough mystery code cough. Nah that's too harsh to say, and not true, honest. I'm a bit bitter at the management/company decisions 'is all'.... I just expect a company that relies on a customer base to treat said customers with a greater level of 'respect' when making promises about their product(s), rewards and talk of loyalty. Especially given the way the playerbase is played as being that all needed and respected community of customers. Yea 10 years on I'm still bitter...

Anyway, another decade, another collectors edition. The first item was shown off..... Just what every Eve Player wanted... A 6" Fedo Plushie?? A manga version of a fedo given this plushie has 'eyes'..... 


I have a feel that this plushie is the new way of things.... Useless and unwanted? Too harsh? Personal perspective so. Even back in the day I was ok with the Rifter usb hub; it still looked good and it had practical functionality. Maybe I'm not in on the crowds level of expectation. I'd not be hyped about it as the first of the 'redacted' items to be announced for this collectors edition. Just saying!

Also not to say I'm not into plushies, I can be... Willem Dafoe as a polar bear for BirdsEye. Epic(here and here and here).


With the collectors edition costing €174.99, not counting postage and packing etc; Each of the 12 items then has a shared breakdown cost assumption of €15.90. I'm not saying the plushie is not worth that cost; Just that if I was looking to get items for my space game the plushie of an in game asset item wouldn't be top of my list. Maybe the crowd will go wild for it. Maybe I'm out of touch with the crowd but at least in the second decade we got more to use and enjoy in game and out(music/artbook/rifter etc). Promised or not. Odd how they never capitalized on that mystery-code thing... I may have mentioned that a time or two before.

I guess actual merch from the online shop is too expensive to waste on a collectors edition. Cost reasons? Time will tell.

Too much to expect anything related to the "CCP Games’ Shanghai studio is developing a F2P 4X strategy game for mobile devices set in the EVE Universe"?
Then again I'm still miffed about my second decades free Eve Valkyrie item that wasn't real never mind redeemable in the game(Not that I bought that game).....

Too much to expect anything related to the "CCP Games’ London studio is focused on developing an upcoming tactical FPS game in the epic sci-fi setting of New Eden."?
Poor Dust 514. At least it was a playable game! I got use out of those second decade items.

Yea I'll shuuush up. As for playing the game; Eve Online.... I haven't this last week.





Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun....

Mention the level and the next time I take it on it turns out to have been 'no problem'. So onto the next. More progress made, more to do.


Progress is progress but I've not been going crazy with it. Slow progress is good progress; More time for other games as well. The game may be in it's last 'act' but it's far from over. This feels like it needs to be savored.







Darkest Dungeon....

Things can become disheartening when the 5th dungeon run in a row has been a nightmare of disappointing frustration. Failure is the order of the day and indeed the last week. Rolling on from the week before. So much so that I actually thought of restarting the save.... Then I remembered how much work would be needed to regain all that I've already gotten done so far. So better to persist with dogged determination and 'make it work'. 


Just need to be slower and more steady, less caution to the wind and more iron cast certainty(not that I wans't already), build up and be sure it's all in order. I'd been looking after my heroes and the hamlet/facilities etc.. But a full in dept audit is needed. Gotta turn this franchise around.... More filler weeks perhaps. With more expendables. 


Maybe I should take a longer break from it....





Battlefield 1....

Random and light matches which were intensified by the flavor of the week being hardcore team deathmatch. Noting like having all the aids of a game turned off and friendly fire turned on.


It really depends on both the team your with and the team your against if such matches can be called 'fun'. Pick up Groups are random at best. Some are good, some are less so and some are plain not. 

Given the mode I only did it on PC. Such a mode on Xbox would be harsh due to the controller and my not being so practiced with that side these days.

However fun was had, for the most part. Here's two Hardcore TDM'matches:






PowerWash Simulator....

A white nozzle used on the stone statue makes me go somersetting something. Simpson's quote aside, This map and achi requirements are a tad tedious; So no wonder I've not been playing the game but that's not the only reason.

The Spongebob content it turns out is paid DLC. I must have missed that part. If it was free content I could have run with it but as paid dlc it's not of importance.
Looking back at the games roadmap now I think I was blinded by what was marked as free content. I now fear that free content may not be as 'good' as I first thought; And that the paid DLC will be akin to the way The Sims is. I know the devs have to keep the lights on and food on the table etc.... My expectations are to blame for any disappointment I feel regarding the DLC.



I guess I'm just concerned that there will be so much paid DLC in an ongoing cash cow kind of way. Lessening the games 'special' in favor of  'more paid' making it loose it's appeal to me. Best of luck to the devs and their creative income but I'd rather not have a game with 10 DLC's of extra content(quirky themed or nor). Less is more in my view. I hope content quality is not at the expensse of paid  vs free. I'm sure there will be a happy medium(right?) 
I've no problem playing or paying extra for a game I enjoy. I'm into this game, but DLC like this isn't a 'must' have for me. Ultimately the Spongbob DLC just isn't for me so I won't be buying it. 







Star Citizen....

Both my RL friend and I had plans to play co-op/multi interact with the game systems mechanics on show this last weekend but life happened and so the game for both of us did not.






Star Trek Online....

The start of the summer event was good to see. Large crowds and helpful chatting on both platforms(Xbox and PC), fun being had and good to see.


Last year I was into collecting a lot more of the summer items/pets(here,  here and  here) and so I've got little to hunt down this year. Or at least don't have the motivation to persist/redo. The new melee ground set is not of interest and I've more summer currency than I can shake a hoverboard at(on both platforms). That's not to say I've not been doing the activities. Being helpful and adding to the currency have been done. I've 'just' been mainly persisting with the daily towards the new ship. 




On PC there was a few days of crossover in events and their dailies; But more so on Xbox given events there were behind PC and now have the summer event on top(summer same time on all platforms). So the Xbox has been getting the brunt of the dailies to do(with added endeavours to do as well).



Some things not changing is not all a bad thing.






World of Warcraft....

Getting an unprompted urge for a gameplay session in wow is pretty uncommon for me. So the last few months has seen me using my wifes account to level her characters has been interesting. I guess I'm getting the WoW bug back. After leveling up my wife's hunter I was surprised to find myself on her level 40 Warlock. A Demonologist which I'd previously customized her transmog. 



One thing led to another and again I was on a lower level character. Wandering the dungeons and previous expansions for XP. Mainly Pandaria, I know I really should let that expansion go but at least to my mind(nostalgia included) it's the easiest, less hassle and most fun. So level 40 went to 46 after just a few quests and two dungeons. I also forgot about the seasonal dungeon so added it into the mix as well.
It was 'nice' being back on a class and spec I've known. Oddly (or maybe not)a spec that I felt more comfortable on than beastmaster; Didn't think that would happen. Either way fun was had.  

With the transmogs she has and the use of the Squawks mount it all kind of blended well together. I like when that happens.



Things were going so well and I was 'into' being a lock again I kept up the leveling. Hitting 58 got the nostalgia juices flowing for outlands so needless to say the leveling and dungeons kept going there. It was only at 60 that I stopped. Taking her to the starting quests/area and first 'town' for a Dragonflight parkup.







American Truck Simulator....

At just under 30 hours of gameplay I thought I was a casual player; But looking at the stats on most of the achi's I've unlocked makes me think I'm above the average (casual) ATS player... A few of the achi's are the more common ones that I'd have thought most player of the game would have gotten. 

48% havn't earned 100k from deliveries.... Seems strange.

Since last time I've been sticking with both heavy and special deliveries. Not great money makers but I'm not really in it to build an empire. Not yet anyway. That's what ETS 2 is for.




Of the extra funds that were generated I did finally fully upgrade my garage. Which leaves no money to buy two trucks to fill the two extra bays, never mind drivers for them etc....



I've got two trucks and two AI drivers to make money with so the more I play the more they will earn. No rush.
As I've said before ETS 2 is my main trucking game. ATS is a minor distraction to potter about with.





Planet Crafter....

Three narratives continue to play out with the arrival of the new Space Trading content. The Players journey, the previous Planet Crafters struggle and the Wardens who were there before us all. Each got at least one mention or entry. All play into the new patch and the new area/items it unlocks. 


Frogs frogs everywhere. The amphibian stage is upon us as well as the trading and all they bring.... 










Working with and developing the amphibians is as close to the same as the fish phase it's been no surprise that the processes were already streamlined. So it only took a small amount of time to 'get up to speed' and 'complete' all I needed.








The trading is a lot more problematic for me. I've no massive use of the drone network or automated processing. Which would if developed feed into the trading cash farming of the expansion. The two achievements for 10 and 100k cash will take a long time if ever for me. Especially as I've gotten all I need from the current list of acquirable traded items. So no real motivation to develop a network/cash farm. Time will tell.

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