My World of Warcraft Update....gif overload

It's been a mixed few weeks/month in wow. I've not been doing much other than messing about with alts, doing achievements and gearing runs with the retro dungeon events and the usual daily (when I do it) garrison harvest. I've done more transmog updates than anything else I think. I wish I had more to talk abotu but most people I know in game and in the guild are in the same position.

I've spent a good bit of time helping out with my wife's characters and also trying to gain some more interest in wow with an RL friend via PVP but it hasn't taken hold.

I'm not a huge fan of all the news about the next expansion and it's changes. There is so much news about whats coming but it's all "Alpha" so it will all change in a month never mind in 8 month's time when the expansion is due out. That's a loooooooong time to wait and try to "do" something. Will have to wait and see how it all pans out. 
I have about 4 more weeks left to wow and I don't see myself doing a lot more in game besides levelling up some more alts to 100.  For the time being it's gonna be a lot of faffing around, levelling and doing alts and achi's....... alts and achi's......

Interesting stats....

I may not have much to flesh out a proper Eve related update to blog about but I just saw a post online worthy of sharing. That post was the image below. Ships used in PVE. I would have thought RNI/Rattlesnake's would have surpassed the Tengu's. I would have thought that players would have used more racial ships. Amarr using Amarr ships etc. Maybe the racial stats for players would be another interesting thing to see.

Wise words by the watercooler....

Not that I'm affiliated with the dude but another video to watch....

Should you Watercool your System? Is it worth it? a video from JayzTwoCents

Oculus Rift.......again....

I think the general feelings about the Rift pre-order is that it is too expensive and most people will wait and see how it pans out over the next year.
In that time the Rift will/might/should mature and develop and a cheaper version is "hoped" to be released. Also in that time there should be other VR headsets released that "may" do it better.
Waiting is where I sit on the matter as I would prefer to get a new gaming pc before I even think about getting the Oculus rift. I have not even considered getting a new pc specifically for the Rift. I do hope to experience it but that will have to wait. Time will tell.
I do hope that the price of the Rift isn't a cliff that halts VR's charge.

A good article reinforces my stance over on mabricksmumblings.com, well worth a read.

Mechwarrior.... on my mind again....

I'm a big Mechwarrior/battletech fan. I've never done the actual board/tabletop games with the model/figurines etc (diplomatic phraseology). I have massively taken part in the pc games. One of the first 3Dfx games I played was the "enhanced" version of Mechwarrior 2.
On a side note it is now funny to see the old comparisons, when 3D cards were separate from 2D vga. And the war was between the likes of Voodoo cards and Matrox Mystique:

Back on topic, I enjoyed watching this playthrough/review from Unit Lost even if it is a paid/sponsored video of the new online Mechwarrior game. I may have mentioned it before but here it is again.

And I really really like it.... I just really really dont' want to play it and I don't know why. Maybe I like the single player mode of old too much.

More nostalgia. Mechwarrior 4 in all its games was by far my favourite but the commentary and mission briefings of the third game are at the very least more memorable.

Interesting commentary....

An Interesting commentary from TotalBiscuit, The Cynical Brit

He discusses a lot of over/miss-used gaming phrases.

My Fallout 4....

I'm really enjoying Fallout 4. It's a game that is soaking the free time I have in major ways. I can see many days (dare I say week(s)) more gametime in it.

I'll keep this spoiler free. So I wont' talk much and post some screen shots.

First my waffle.
The crafting of weapons and armour is in depth and well worth doing.

I've not come across many bugs with the game/ Many people in the online community are talking about a lot in that regard.
One bug I've encountered is happening with two separate characters that are supposed to sit down but they don't, one being pretty irrelevant and the other being a bigger game breaker.
The only other bug I've seen is where a companion wont' talk "normally" and was stuck in a loop. Thankfully I play the PC version and was able to use a console command to "fix" the character. So all in all only one bug persisting that doesn't impact my game style as I play.  With luck there will be patches sooner rather than later.


My current game is in a paused holding pattern in the main storyline as I chase the perks from the companion characters which is easy on some and harder on others.

Some automatic weapon names are ridiculous.

Some weapons from npc's are "odd" configurations

Some weapons are given and kick many a virtual áss

This weapon is THE game changer, I wish I had gotten it sooner. It is amazing.

A little robot I did find

A little robot I did give a home.

Collecting the bobble heads is fun and add to the gamplay in more ways than one.

First suit of power armour. Photobombed

loyalty is good

more loyalty is better

My Characters main look at the moment

Not much of a change in the old look

My Characters current "speech" outfit

The old "speech" outfit looked way cooler.

Way way cooler, especially with a modified 10mm pistol out. Very James Bond looking.

Some side missions are well worth doing.

tripping over powersuits

Jump!

Excuse me!

hide....hide.....

 

 

Developers and those teddy's.....

 

Satisfaction!

Jackpot!

 

Speaking of Xcom....

A great playthough is being done by Unit Lost....

XCOM 2 is looking to be better than expected....

Image yourself....

Here is  an interesting snippet from Erica Griffin.

The dream of scanning yourself into a game and using your face on your character is looking more real now.

Star Trek Online....

I've not been doing too much other than dailies in Star Trek Online.

I've kept my character in Q's winter wonderland as there is access to the event and thankfully a mini Q character that allows access to the bank, exchange and mail etc. It's a handy hub to base out of for the event.

I've continued the daily officer and fleet missions to give both the normal rewards as well as the event specific currency. I've only used some of them to buy vanity items, pets, coats and scarf's. Maybe next year I'll try the events properly for the ship. My character could do with it.

I can't see myself grinding reputation for gear or other high-end stuff. I do see myself levelling up another character, Klingon or Romulan with a slight chance of my other Star Fleet character.

Star Citizen Alpha....

With the latest update for Star Citizen it's progressing in having actual player interaction and real gameplay. It's always been a game of such promise and now looks to have started fulfilling some of them. Time will tell but lets hope they don't do a CCP and go all quiet in the near future.

A good gameplay review of the latest version is done by FRANKIEonPCin1080p
Keep watching after the "leave a comment" section :)

No matter how many 10 for the chairman I watch I get a nervous feeling on the direction and way that some things are being developed. Like buying and selling used ships.... It's not gonna be an Eve Online market for sure.

Dust 514....

Dust had it's December event. I did get to login and play most of the day's. I missed the start due to Christmas day priorities and the last day I ignored because I didn't want to waste my game time doing the daily on two characters just to get a snowball launcher.

Overall I found that the event may have brought back a large contingent of older players, as the total áss whooping was a lot harder than normal. I saw a lot of high end, co-ordinated groups. Which is not so much fun for a solo player in public matches. So I mainly found myself running expendable infinite militia suits to get the job done. If I'm gonna be spam in a can I may as well do it in a free militia suit getting kills that would make an Eve player blush about their killboard. I still really really enjoyed killing officer geared players with a militia weapon/suit.

There's been no real news on the Dust 514 front about the future of the game. I think most players who care about such things are past the caring stage due to a huge amount of apathy. CCP's silence is of concern.

So much could have been done with Dust there was promise in the game, then it fell flat on it's face and no amount of resuscitation can help get it back on it's feet never mind sitting up straight. At the moment it is what it is. Better than the mess it was due to CCP Rattati, he has helped the game and the CCP/player bridge for sure but there's so much more out there that does things better. Dust's uniqueness is on a knife edge and CCP overall aren't helping.

I'm surprised I never got into Planetside 2 where dust has that "something" that hooks me in. There was this blog post that may bring light to a port, hopefully that site will bring port news front and center.

I was pleased to see a return form a youtuber regarding Dust 514 gameplay and fitting video's, 

SAXON ON A MISH.(closed and removed now). I come across his corp a lot and they are pro players. I only hope that I've been a minor irritant in some way to them as they have been to me in most matches I find them in :)

His video's are well worth watching. I only wish my main character had half the amount of SP his does.

Dust 514 - Back In The Saddle (Commentary)

Dust 514 - MK.O Assault Shotgun Fitting (Commentary) 

Cities Skylines....

I've been pottering around with Cities Skylines a lot as well.

Building a road system for a small industrial area that over time gets more built up always becomes problematic. Adding on these area's in turn puts more traffic on roads with intersections that were never made for the level of traffic they have to deal with.
It's always a problem. It's a constraint you have to live with as without industrial area's your city can't make money and with money you can't setup roads etc. 

I thought agriculture might be a better way to go but I also think that is an error, maybe in a later game but not mid game.
I have no idea how you can get the achievement for 10,000 population with no ground pollution. I'm sure that the waste treatment plants are all ground pollution as are all but the green energy generation modes. My wife tried to do a city as a pure green no pollution area..... it didn't go well. It may be a city that needs the unlimited money mode on but where is the challenge in that.
My compounding of errors over time has lead me to revert to older saved games and working on from there. Unfortunately this has happened several times over several area's with several other problems popping up. There is a lot to consider with this game. Nothing can really be future proofed. It's a learning experience.

I'm still watching BdoubleO100's video's, his last cities skylines one is here:

Oculus Rift....

The Oculus Rift had it's initial pre-purchase launch date. At €500 not including shipping that is a hefty amount of cash.
My current pc is on the lowest end of running an Oculus. My gaming laptop is way more powerful but I'd rather not use the Oculus with that. That's just me.
I'll be getting a new pc before I get a rift so that will be at it's latest a year away. plenty of time for hardware improvements and price drops. Time will tell.
One thing is for sure, I'm in no hurry to get shafted by CCP just to play Eve Valkyrie sooner rather than later. 

There is a good write up here from The ancient gaming noob from the view of playing Eve Valkyrie.

And a youtube review form Totalbuiscuit on the hardware itself:

Jita cam....

I've found myself looking at a lot of youtube and gaming streams of late.


CCP Logibro has his Jita cam on twitch

I've also found another Jita cam here:

Squad.... Looking up.

I mentioned this game a few weeks ago after seeing it on Steam.
I described this game as the poor mans Arma III to a friend that play's Arma,  I don't think he liked that. But if it is a poor mans Amra III I might stand a chance of getting into it.
I found some gameplay footage over on Unit Lost that speaks volumes.

Homeworld remastered....

It's been over 10 years since Homeworld 2 came out. It's a game that I've always considered the pinnacle of RTS games. One that has stumped me on many a mission. Taken my gaming from great heights to soul crushing lows with it's difficulty and AI.

On and off I'd considered getting the Remastered version. I'd read so much had been enhanced and upgraded but I was hesitant due to the fat that I knew I'd be subjecting myself to the same highs and lows as before.

Over Chrimbo on the last steam sale I picked it up.
Watching the intro again in full brought back so many memories. Not like watching a youtube version but the actual remastered game seemed to bring more than my memory allowed. Must have been the HD upgrade :)

The main menu music is a thing of beauty.

I've spend a few hours with the game's remastered version but not nearly enough to get past the second mission the way I would have liked. This game is going to take up a lot of time to come.

Terraria....

It's hard to not compair Terraria against Minecraft. Both have block worlds where you harvest wood with axes and ores with picks. They are vastly different games.
While I've been playing Minecraft for years on and off. I did knew Terraria was out there but dismissed it quickly taking 3d graphics over 2d and not looking into any other details. I was so so wrong to have done so.

 

Terraria is a much more fun game.

I'm glad I picked it up for less than €3, that's not to say I wouldn't have paid more for it.

Where minecraft is all bout the building and the blocks, Terraria is all about the adventure.
"Stuff" be it blocks or items is secondary in Terraria, not inconsequential but you seem to work harder in Minecraft for not a lot or payout.

Minecraft has you looking up sites to see what you can make where Terraria shows you what you can make and what you need to make it with. And you have it there and then. It's a much better crafting system.

The addition of Terraria on Steam has made multiplayer an easy feat. Where I believe it was more complicated in the past. Now it's a few clicks between hosting a world and inviting a steam friend.

The fun side of Terraria is best shown when you can have a yo-yo as a weapon, upgrade it to have better damage as well as pushback against enemies and add on special items like "lucky string" to buff it again! As fun as the yo-yo was I did change it for the flail, more damage is always better.

Minecraft never had a cart/rail system like this:

 

But the older trailer is a better gauge on the game, I wish I'd looked harder when I heard about it first.

Spotlight on the Mystery Mystery code....

In my recent online reading I came across a post on nevillesmit.com regarding the Mystery code!
The post is here: http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2015/1/9/stopmysterycodeneglect
The highlight of which is the video of CCP Pokethulhu describing the Mystery Code in the Collector's Edition at Fanfest 2013.
Anyone who has been reading my blog knows the venting I've done on the subject. It's good to see that a larger member of the community has posted about it. I did do a comment but I'm sure it's to long of a reply to post so I don't expect to see it. I really do hope that the #StopMysteryCodeNeglect does get some traction and makes CCP change their view of the Mystery Code. As an owner of two of the collectors editions (one for each of my accounts) I feel that I invested in the future of my characters based on CCP's promises.

Lets see where this goes! #StopMysteryCodeNeglect