Shooterific!

Does anyone remember when First Person Shooters ruled the PC market? Well I do. Back in the day it seemed like that was all there was to play, but not anymore. I have had a real thirst for a good fps lately so I busted out Battlefield Bad Company 2 multiplayer again. I also tried out ArmA II, a game I bought during the Steam sales, and I bought Far Cry 2 for my birthday the other day.

I find that with any online fps there is a warm up time of maybe ten or so minutes where I have to adjust to the speed of the game, and that's definitely true with BFBC2. There are still some 'BS' moments in the game that make you want to cry hacker in chat, but I have learned that if I am not having fun and I am not 'in the zone' so to speak, then it's just best to just exit out of the game and avoid the rage chat that I have been prone to doing in the past. My main problem with BFBC2 is that it runs like crap, and to get it to run better I have to force DX9 and turn down a few settings without destroying the graphics too much. If only there was a game that played like BFBC2 but looked and ran like Modern Warfare 2. Actually, I think that's what the new Medal of Honor is going for.

ArmA II is an interesting game. For those who don't know, ArmA is a military simulation developed by Bohemia Interactive, the same folks that made Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. If you're looking for a heavy dose of realism in your shooter, these are the games you want to play. OFP was ugly, ran terrible at times, and AI was superhuman at times, but it was like nothing I had played at the time. Shooters have evolved since OFP was released, but my initial impression of ArmA II made me feel like I was playing the same buggy game just over ten years ago. To be fair I have only played about an hour of ArmA II, but I did like what I played enough not to regret my purchase.

Far Cry 2 is a purchase I made for a couple of reasons; A host on a podcast I listen to talks highly of the game and I wanted something that ran well and looked pretty. I loved the first Far Cry, that too was a game like none I played at the time. It looked great, played great and was a lot of fun. Far Cry 2 takes place in Africa this time as opposed to a tropical island like the first game, but it's still just as pretty looking. I have only put about two hours into  Far Cry 2 and done only a couple of missions of jobs I think they are going to be called, but so far it's fun. Far Cry 1&2 are known for their large open world but not in the traditional sandbox kind of way. It's more like you are confined to a certain area of the map, but you are free to traverse any part of that area you want to. This allows the player to approach missions any way they want to.

So those are my shooters for now, eventually I am going to pick up Singularity and the Crysis pack, but for now these will have to do.

Fallen Earth Revisited.

Thanks to the blogosphere craze over Fallen Earth after launch, I decided to pick myself up a copy. Here's some advice; sometimes it's ok not to listen to bloggers, cause Fallen Earth for me was a big dud. There's no real one thing I can point to as to why I wasn't enjoying the game, I just wasn't. Mostly it was that the ranged combat was borked and by not wanting to craft, I felt like I was only playing half a game. I never hated Fallen Earth for what it was trying to do, it just wasn't for me. So after playing less than ten hours during my free month, I cancelled.

The almighty Jaye Dubb

As time went on and the game was patched more and more, I had a slight desire to return to Fallen Earth and see how the game compare to when I first played. I won a code to FE off another blog, but instead of using that, I thought I would start with the 14 day free trial, give myslef an extra couple of weeks in case I was enjoying the game.

The good news is I am enjoying the game thus far. It looks better, runs smoother and I am actually interested in trying to craft this time around. The bad news is that crafting is still overwhelming, the starting towns are very empty and if I quit today I don't think fell like I am missing something. Like I said, I am enjoying the game, I'm just don't see myself playing FE like I have other MMO's.

The basic tutorial hasn't changed; you wake up in some facility that I wasn't paying attention to learn where and you must escape. What has changed is some of the extended tutorial you can do once you pick a started town. I picked Zanesville because it was a combat town that focused on pistols and rifles. The once was a mission to get a free horse, but it seems to be given to you, at what point I don't know cause I wasn't paying much attention to the mission text.

To be fair to FE I have only been playing very casually, maybe and hour a night. But I do think that part of my enjoyment comes from knowing what to expect this time around. I know how the combat is, I know half the game is crafting and I know that it's not a great looking game. I am not interested in trying the PvP, and I have no idea what the 'end game' is like, but I am interested in getting out of the started town and crafting some of the better gear and weapons. It would be great to not be using BB guns for once.

Tates like chicken!

The month of August is shaping up to be a good one for MMO addicts such as myself. There's the new EQ2X beta starting in about a week, Champions Online is getting some huge patch I believe, City of Heroes Going Rogue launches and all of this on the same day if I heard correctly. All of this along with a renewed interest in WAR that has been growing for some time. I am going to continue with Fallen Earth after the trial  for at least the free month and possibly playing WAR, but who knows with these things.

Runes of Massive Patching.

Here's a tip to those companies that are F2P or have a free trail - have the latest version of the client for your game to download. Nothings more frustrating than having to spend about an hour and a half downloading a client only to turn around and spend the next half hour to forty five minutes patching, not a good first impression.

For anyone wondering I have decided to try out Runes of Magic. Since I have no active subs at the moment and Fallen Earth still has free time remaining, I thought I would try out RoM to see what it's like.

Alpha Protocol Review.

Well the great folks at Gamesquad have allowed me to write them a review for Alpha Protocol for the PC. If interested you can check it out here.

It clicked.

As I was finishing up my review for Alpha Protocol for Gamesquad today, I had a thought; I am giving this game a low score, but I loved it, how can I do that to this game. I am required to give the game a score so I gave it a 6.0. Is this game really a 6.0? It has some really bad AI, doesn't look great and there are a number of bugs in the game, so yes it does. But I love Alpha Protocol; I finished it 5 times and invested almost 70 hrs into the game. Something about the game really clicked with me. I am really hoping that my review isn't so negative that it will deter people from ever playing AP, because it should be given a chance.

Wait and see.

At the expense of sounding like a homer for SOE or a defender of the EQ2X faith, I think I am going to refrain from further posts arguing against those whose sole knowledge on the new F2P service is ignorance. Frankly I am just tired already of reading the same type of comments from people who have decided not to wait and see but instead offer up their prophecy of doom for SOE and EQ2.

Honestly no one will know what the short term and long term effects will be till after the beta starts in the middle of August. My goal from now till beta will be to flood the forums with questions about the new service in order to learn more about what I am getting for free. Free. I think I will say it one more time, FOR FREE!!! Community concerns aside, it seems some are forgetting that if they if they do not like the free service, there is a perfectly good paid server that is still available for them to play on.

I am going to make an assumption here and say that although the community may be great, it hasn't been growing much which means little revenue coming in, and the popularity of micro transaction based games was the fuel for this move for EQ2. Let's not forget that in June Massively had an article about another SOE game called Free Realms hitting 12 million registered players. I'm not going to pretend that Free Realms actually has 12 million players, kind of like WoW still has 11 million players, but they certainly are not new to the F2P model like some may think.

My hope is that everything works out, the community on both sides grows really strong and SOE continues to bring substantial content to EQ2. Why not hope for the best instead of just spewing out irrational uninformed commentary on a service that hasn't started yet?

On a side note; I activated my free Fallen Earth key that Werit game me almost two months ago. So I think I might do some progression posts on detailing my experience starting with the tutorial and how different the game is now from launch. That is of course if I can remember the game from launch, but it will give me something to do for the blog. And thanks to Anjin I am like this close |-| to reactivating my Champions Online account. Problem is the new City of Heroes expansion comes out in a few weeks and that has some interesting things in it. Who knows, I have a bad habit of wanting to resub to games, but not doing it.

Word of the day.

The word of the day is: Conjecture.

Pronunciation: \kən-ˈjek-chər\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin conjectura, from conjectus,past participle of conicere, literally, to throw together, from com- + jacere to throw — more at jet

Date: 14th century

1 obsolete a : interpretation of omens
2 a : inference from defective or presumptive evidence b : a conclusion deduced by surmise or guesswork c : a proposition (as in mathematics) before it has been proved or disproved

If you would like a current example of the use of conjecture, please see any and all blog posts on the subject of the new EQ2 Extended service and how it along with SOE will die because of going F2P. In fact, you could read any post that foretells the future of the game and company, because at this point no one knows what exactly is going to happen.

I'm not here to fight the good fight for SOE or EQ2, I haven't been an active player in quite a long time. But what I am here to do is to be a counter weight to the doom and gloom rhetoric that is being tossed around. What I would prefer to see are more posts that are picking apart EQ2X and asking questions to try and get clarification. Green Armadillo points out something that is quite important to those who are intending on dungeon crawling or raiding. This is a legitimate concern that I think everyone should be questioning, it's just to bad the rest of the post is based on assumptions about the future of the game.

I believe what has me most peeved about the whole situation is the comparisons to what Turbine did with LOTRO and how those same people believe SOE should be doing the same thing with EQ2. I believe that the success of DDO instilled a certain confidence that Turbine would be able to handle the transition of LOTRO to a F2P business model. It would seem that SOE hasn't instilled that same confidence.

Some EQ2 Extended Info.

For those who have decided to sound the death knell for SOE and Everquest 2 and its community due to the new f2p EQ2X, please check out this handy FAQ page that available for your viewing pleasure. Let me just point out a few things of interest in the order that I read them:

• Active players can create a new account on EQII Extended for free or copy over a version of an existing EQII live character for $35.
• Extended is an accessible game purposely developed to grow the gaming community through new players. The free adventure service allows new players to experience more quality content and increased participation than the previously offered 14-day trial.
• The purchase of items in the EQII Extended Marketplace is entirely optional. While many items in the Marketplace are designed to immediately enhance your in-game experience, some of the best items and gear are the rewards of adventuring or tradeskilling and are only gained by playing the game.
• To become a Silver member there is a one-time item purchase called the "Silver Membership Pack." That pack grants you an additional character slot, better chat options, extra inventory capacity, raises your quest journal limit, gives you the ability to create guilds, and more. It also grants you two very cool Advancement potions so you can level more quickly. Once you purchase a Silver Membership Pack, you are permanently raised to that membership level. There is no recurring fee for this pack or membership.
• Like everyone else, you can come play Extended by simply downloading the new Extended client and activating a freeExtended membership with your same Station account.
• Active subscribing EQII players in good standing are able to copy a limited version of the EQII subscription character to EQII Extended for a fee of $35 (except during Alpha). Your character is copied over with all combat, AA and tradeskill experience intact. You also keep your ATTUNED and NO-TRADE items, as well as all your backpacks, but your use of such items will be restricted by your Extended membership tier. However, nothing else is copied over included coin. Please note that this process copies your character, your EQII live character will remain, as is, on its EQII live subscription server. There will be no character copies from Extended servers to the EQII live subscription servers.
• Despite the fact that the two services are separate worlds, SOE knows which expansions you've activated and we'll ensure that you have access to those expansions in both of the services, subject to your current Extended membership limitations.
• Once Extended launches, the 14-day trial will no longer be available to the general public. New players can try the Extendedfree adventure service instead. However, 14-day trial passes for the EQII subscription service will still be distributed by active players on the live subscription service via the Recruit-a-Friend program. This way, friends can play together on the same server and still enjoy free time. The RAF program will be updated at a later point in time to include Extended invitations and rewards.

This is just a sample of the information that can be found on the FAQ page. My only concern is with the Gold and Platinum memberships and how that will differ from the live servers. My guess is that those two payment plans will be geared towards those that have invested a lot of time and effort into the game, but don't want to have to start over on the live servers. Which would make EQ2 live that much more enticing to someone who plans on playing that much.

I really shouldn't let a couple of posts and the subsequent comments from one of them get me so riled up, but it has. It's frustrating to read posts on the future of SOE and EQ2 when no one knows what is going to happen, it's all conjecture at this moment. From what I can gather, there is nothing new in EQ2X besides being free that is going to draw a player away from EQ2 Live if they are already a paying subscriber.

EQ2 Extended? Yes Please!

I have always liked Everquest 2, but for one reason or another I just haven't stuck with the game for any real significant amount of time, not like WoW. Hmm, I guess when looking back at the MMO's I have played since the launch of WoW, none have been able to grab me like WoW has. Maybe for short amounts of time....but this is a topic for another post.

I am really excited for EQ2 Extended, I know for a fact that once it goes live I will be playing. From the information that has surfaced today I have already planned on purchasing a silver upgrade, I will probably purchase some if not all classes and races and most likely if needed I will purchase the level cap increase from 80 to 90. Why you might ask? Well it's not that I am a huge EQ2 fan or have a load of money sitting around, but instead it's from the fact that I will have the closest thing to a lifetime sub to EQ2. That's my thinking anyways, things could change once EQIIX goes into beta testing.

When compared to what Turbine is doing with LOTRO, is much more in line with what I would want out of a game without a monthly subscription price. And I have just really grown a small amount of disdane towards LOTRO in general, which is sad cause coming out of beta I was very much looking forward to playing. I have never been keen on the small amount of races and classes in LOTRO. Does it need to be to the excess found in Vanguard or EQ2, not at all. I am not a fan of the combat as well; yes there was a change, but I didn't notice it when playing my Warden, and it felt worse when playing my Champion. And let's not forget about the constant running around from one part of the map to another, or the standard gather/kill/collect quests that are enough to drive one insane. Please remember these are my personal gripes about LOTRO, if you are enjoying the game than by all means continue.

I did get invited to the beta for the new and improved LOTRO, and all I can say is that it's pretty much the same game. If you have been playing and are a lifetime or paying sub, no change for you. But if you are like me and have been playing off and on for ages and had hoped the F2P switch would have something to draw you in, guess what, it doesn't. If you are not a paying subscriber now, then there is nothing that the switch will do to entice you into playing again. That may all sound a bit negative, but for me there is nothing in LOTRO that interests me anymore, and being able to log in for free doesn't change that.

Well that's my little rant on LOTRO and why honestly that last bit could be applied to EQ2 as well. Regardless, August could be a nice month for MMO's; Champions Online getting a big update, City of Heroes Going Rogue launches and then the beta for EQ2X.

Dub's Playlist of the Week.

Since finishing Alpha Protocol for the fifth time last weekend I found myself jumping from one game to another as I find something that will hold my attention. I thought Resident Evil 5 would do that, but I ended up starting and finishing that on Monday, my day off. I really enjoy RE5, I had it for the Xbox and bought it when it was on uber sale through Steam a week ago for only $12.50. I do plan on returning to it at some point, being a Games for Windows Live title I don't mind playing more to get me some achievements.

After that it's been a few games; a little bit of The Witcher and Stranglehold, some Empire Total War when I can at work, even some Napoleon Total War multiplayer with a friend. I did play some WoW this week in the hopes of getting my Paladin to level 80 so I can start the emblem grind that has become the end game. I do like many things that WoW does, so much so that I sometimes find myself wondering why other MMOs don't do those things like WoW.

I did have a friend point out why I might not be having the fun I think I should be having and why the game has slowed to a grind; I'm not doing level appropriate content. At level 79 I am currently questing in the Grizzly Hills, content for level 75-77 by the looks of it. I does make sense when thinking about it, I didn't have the instant dungeon finder with my last two characters that made it to level 80. And neither my warrior or mage had the awesome AOE grinding power that the paladin has. So I guess everyone can ignore my whinny post I made about WoW the other day!

I can't forget to mention that I played about twenty minutes of the new Medal of Honor multiplayer beta last night. If you've played Battlefield Bad Company 2, well you've played the new MoH. Shouldn't be too surprising seeing how DICE is working on the multiplayer portion of MoH. Still, it does look good and runs better than BFBC2 does.

Well that's it for this week. Not really sure what to expect gaming wise next week, I just purchased a handful of used PS3 games from Gamestop so I may be slumming it with the console. I am probably going to spend some time playing some of the games I have owned for ever but haven't played much, like The Witcher, and if they don't grab me now then it might be time to trim down the game collection. Or at least put them in the box that's in storage just in case!

WoW is fun!

I don't what it is lately, but I am not finding the joy I once had in WoW. I had resubbed after almost a year off back a few months ago when a friend told me he was going to play again. And for the first few weeks I was having a blast; a blast with the random dungeon finder that is. But then things started to slow down and I just wasn't really wanting to raise my gear score just to run ICC.

Then one day I decided to jump on my Alliance Paladin, and suddenly the fun came back! I was playing at home in the morning, playing at work then back at home at night! I did this till I reached level 78 and had to stop because of losing the internets and moving to a new place.

I have this problem when I go long periods without playing a MMO, I suddenly lose my momentum and realize that I could be playing something else. That something else turned out to be Alpha Protocol for about two weeks. So eventually I relogged into WoW and take the Pally out for a spin, and I noticed the fun was gone. Instead there was pain, anguish and some seething hatred.

I think something is wrong with me because I just don't have the patience to put up with the grindy quests in Northrend anymore. I am tired of collection quests that require me to kill 50 creatures in order to loot 3 quest items, or run all over the know continent just to give some NPC a stupid (insert item here)! Frankly the main thing that killed my enjoyment of LOTRO was the questing, and getting from level 78 to level 80 is reminding me of that.

But maybe I am just tired of playing MMOs, who knows. But I am determined to make it to level 80 with my Pally, even if I have to kill someone, I mean if it kills me!

Best Thus Far.

I just finished Uncharted 2: Among Thieves only minutes ago, and I can say without a shadow of doubt that it is the best Playstation 3 game I have ever played.

Sure I have only played a small amount, but Uncharted 2 deserved every bit of praise it received. It is by far the best looking PS3 game I have seen and I wish all games looked half as good.

So does that mean I absolutely loved Uncharted 2? Not completely. I will say that I do think Uncharted 2 is as close to perfect as a game can get. My issues with the game come from my eternal hatred towards platforming, and the not so great and annoying boss battle at the end of the game.

I really do hate platforming, I find it to be a way to slow a game down in order to extend game play time for the player. Honestly most of Uncharted is great, it's when I had to do some rather annoying jumping and climbing to solve stupid puzzles that drove me nuts. But again, I hate platforming.

The final boss fight in Drake's Fortune was laughably easy, in Uncharted 2 it wasn't as easy, but more annoying. Still, I was able to finish the game and was left more than satisfied. I felt Drake's Fortune was a bit over rated, maybe because I was expecting something different, but Uncharted 2 is plain awesome. I have finally found the game that made owing a Playstation 3 worthwhile.

Some Randomness...

There are a few blogs that I read that I am having difficulty leaving comments on. I type my comment, hit the button to leave the comment, and then the page reloads and my comment is not there. It's becoming very frustrating!! It's not happening on blogspot or wordpress blogs it appears, but only those bloggers who have their own website set up, no idea what to do about it.

I have just finished Alpha Protocol for the fourth time, and it seems that I have invested around 67 hrs of play time in the past two weeks. Despite the bugs and jankyness, I really like the game. If there is anyone even remotely interested in giving the game a try, I would suggest waiting till it's on sale. Great game, but not worth fifty bucks.

I forgot to cancel both my WoW and AoC accounts last week, so I guess I'll have to make the most of it. I've got a paladin that is really close to level 80 that I can play and I have been thinking about leveling up a shaman. Between AoC and WoW I'm not sure if I will be able to make the time to play any of the awesome games I bought on sale from Steam this month.

Speaking of Steam, I spent just over $106 on games during the sale! Doesn't look like I'll be running out of anything to play anytime soon.

Getting back to the topic of MMOs, it's such a curse having many interests in gaming. I bought Champions Online on sale for about six bucks, and after playing just a bit I had an overwhelming desire to re-up my original account to play with the toons that I already have. Then there's my desire to play WAR, or maybe City of Heroes now that the new expansion is just around the corner, or what about Pirates of the Burning Sea with their expansion going into beta, then there's......ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Corpse runs are cool.

You know what, somehow when Blizzard was developing World of Warcraft, they set out to have a fun game that made money, which is not the way it's suppose to be. Everybody knows that Everquest was the pinnacle of MMO design and it's been downhill for the genre ever since. It's really hard to argue against that when looking at the booming server population that Everquest has right now.

The MMO genre has evolved, WoW has evolved, and society has changed, such is the way of life. It's shameful that developers and publishers want to make fun games that make money. I know this much; terrible level grind along with horrible death penalties does not make a fun game for me.

It's funny how it's now the in thing to criticize the one game that made the MMO genre what it is today, whether that's good or bad is up to you.

Lions, Tigers and RealID, Oh My!

So it appears that the new mass hysteria on the blogosphear is Blizzard's RealID. I admit to not knowing much about what RealID's potential is and how it works, but for me it's just a way for me to trim my friends list down, cause instead of having every toon a friend has made, I just have their name and I know what server and character they are on.

So apparently a person's real name will be somehow shown when they post on the official WoW forums, boo freakin' hoo.Don't like it, don't post on the forums. Think RealID is bad, then don't use it in game, simple as that.

It gets pretty annoying when one blog starts to complain, so every other blog feels they need to jump on the band wagon and add their complaints. Heck, now I'm complaining about the complainers!

I am going to make it my mission to find the truth behind RealID from the source, cause if I was to believe the blogosphear then it would seem the world is going to come to an end, or that WoW is going to suddenly loose all their subs from this.


****UPDATE****

It's probably best to never write a knee jerk post right before bed!

For those who like me are looking for well written articles about the problems RealID could cause, I suggest starting with a post by Stabs. For me it was an eye opener about the real problems that players could face with the implementation of RealID.

The only RealID's that I have on my friends list in WoW are people that I have know for years. I know where they live, work, even their real names. But I am not sure that I want RealID to extent past that and it sounds like Blizzard does.

Thanks Stabs for the insightful post.

Oh no!

Hey everyone, the crazy folks over at Multiplaying.net have allowed me to write something on their site, nuts ain't it! Go check it out here, if you dare muuuuuahahahahahahah.....

It's nothing fancy but I am grateful to them for giving me the chance to help contribute to the site.

Dub's Playlist of the Week

Even with Steam's awesome sale there have been only two games I've been playing this week, Empire: Total War and Alpha Protocol. Empire continues to be my game of choice while at work, its turn based campaign and the ability to pause during combat make it ideal.

There is a gameplay mode in ETW called The Road to Independence which tells the story of how America won its independence from the nasty British. The campaign itself is made up of four scenarios, with chapter four being the most interesting of the bunch. Honsetly, RtI is really just a glorified tutorial, but it's the only way to play as America because in the grand campaign they are not playable.

I actually met the victory conditions for the game awhile ago, but you are given the option to continue your game, so I did. I wanted to see some of the later military units and try for an achievement or two. The campaign by now is past that plateau of difficulty and is pretty easy; I have the largest army in the world, I'm making more money than I can hope to spend and I am pretty close to having every tech in the game researched.

So rather than continue with that game, I decided to try the grand campaign as Poland-Lithuania. So far I am having fun; I have been able to build up my infrastructure enough to support a couple of armies, made a deal with Prussia that gave me East Prussia for West Prussia (I came out on top in that trade), made a few alliances and even went to war with Prussia which saw me wipe them from existence!

Eventually I will be making my way over to Napolean: Total War, but for now I am still enjoying Empire too much.

The other game I have been playing is Alpha Protocol for the PC. Review scores for this game have been all over the place, with the PC scoring higher than the console version. I have a feeling I know why - Alpha Protocol is a third-person action RPG, and it's too easy to try and play the third-person action part and forget about the RPG aspect of the game. Alpha Protocol is like the first Mass Effect with regards to combat. The higher level you get, the more points you can invest in skills, the easier it is to kill things with guns.

There are a few other problems with the game as well like bugs, but I am hopelessly addicted to this game. I have completed the story twice now, and have already progressed about a third of the way through for a third time. Chances are looking good that I might even try a fourth play through because I would like to see how the game plays out if I make some decisions I have yet to choose the other times I have played. Hope that made sense.

The game made a lousy first impression for me, but something has worked cause I can't put it down. Even now as I write this I am looking forward to going home and playing. Maybe not worth fifty bucks, but I do think it's worth playing at some point for those who may be interested in the game.

So that's what I have been playing for the week. As of right now I don't know if that will change much for the coming week, but who knows, I did purchase an ass load of games from Steam during this insane sale and I may hop back on WoW and finally get my Pally up to level 80.

Impressions: Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer

Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption has been a huge success thus far, I for one believe it to be the second best game released this year. There is no doubt in my mind that RDR is a strong single-player game, but what about the multiplayer aspect, can it be just as satisfying?

To answer that question I decided to take a break from the single-player and see just what RDR has to offer those looking for some multiplayer action.

There are two ways to get online in RDR; from the main menu when you start the game or from the pause menu while in a game. The main menu option will automatically thrust players into a public match with other players. But what some may not realize is that you can create a private match where players can invite their friends, this can be done from the pause menu while in a single of multiplayer game. I would highly recommend that all new players start a private match first so that you can edit your avatar and check out the world hassle free from other players.

The best part about RDR's online play is the Free Roam mode. Free Roam brings the open-world that players have experienced in the single-player to the multiplayer. In Free Roam you can join a posse with other players, tackle gang hideouts or try some of the competitive modes that are scattered through out the map. In my little play time online, it seems that gang hideouts the popular choice with players.

Multiplayer also features challenges like in the single-player; there are the personal hunter, survivalist and sharpshooter challenges, along with some multiplayer specific challenges as well. The reason players would want to do the various challenges, clear out gang hideouts or participate in some competitive modes is to gain experience. It's very similar to what you would see in Modern Warfare 2 or in Battlefield; as players increase in levels, they gain access to new weapons, avatars, titles and even mounts.

Oh, did I forget to mention that online is open PvP, every man for himself just like the wild west? Well it is, and for me that's where the fun really is to be had. Now that I've gotten the details out of the way, let me tell you a tale of a man who has come to New Austin in search of fame and fortune - or how I stayed up way past my bed time having the most fun online in a long while.

Here's how the story begins; I loaded into the public match in the city of Blackwater. So naturally I begin shooting up the town, killing everything that moves. You have to understand, in the single-player story I am trying to be as good a guy as I can, so I need to let my inner cowboy out.

So after doing that for awhile, I decide maybe it's time to see what other players are doing. At this time there was just one other player, and he was out trying to clear a gang hideout. Being the curious type that I am, I go and ride out to the gang hideout to see what is going on. It's easy to spot another player when they are close because they will have this big colored circle with their name next to it above their heads.

So this guy is up on the ridge looking down at me, I know he's there but he must be using cover so I can't see him. Next thing I know this guys starts taking shots at me. So like a good cowboy I run my ass off to get out of there. At that point I have one thing on my mind, IT'S ON!!

I decided do the noble thing and wait till he's engaged in combat with some npc's before I make my rush on  him. Things go back and forth for a short time; I take him out, he snipes me with his better weapons. Eventually I decide that I might try something else and ride out to McFarland's Ranch. It's a short ride away, but once there I open my map to see what there is to do and I notice his teal circle moving. A few seconds later I realize that this guy is coming after me!

Realizing that my slow moving donkey mount is not going to get me away fast enough, I decide to hijack a real horse from some poor fool and ride as fast as humanly possible out of there. At this point I can't tell where this guy is, how fast he's going and if I am even going to get away. I was litterally on the edge of my chair sweating with my heart pounding when I realize that I am not going to be able to get away and decide to make my way to Armadillo to make my last stand.

I was familiar with the town because of playing the single-player and figured that my best chance was to run and hide in the saloon. I make my way up the stairs, using the railing as cover so that I have a good view of the upstairs and down stair entrances. At this point it's a waiting game, I know he's coming just by checking the map. My heart is pounding, I'm sweating way more than I should be, I'm on the edge of my seat just waiting with a smile on my face.

BLAME!!! Not realizing that I was right upstairs he came running through the front door, one headshot later he knows exactly where I am now. What happened for the next 20 minutes was a gigglefest of me blasting him everytime he tries to come inside the saloon. Eventually in frustration I imagine he tosses a stick of dynamite at the building and it kills me. Pretty cheesy, but it worked.

For the next couple of hours I had this guy chasing me all over New Austin and Mexico. Occasionally I would stop and ambush him then ride away while I had the chance, but eventually he did corner me in a small town in Mexico. Just to be clear, this guy owned me most of the night. Yes I had some success in Armadillo and with a few ambushes, but this guy was higher level with a better mount and weapons, and he wasn't afraid to use them.

Once I realized how late it was I made my way out of dodge and he went on with his gang hideout busting ways. But for that three and a half hour span I haven't had such a heart racing, pulse pounding, palm sweating gigglefest of a good time like that in a long quite awhile.

I have yet to try out the new coop DLC that was released, but what I have played so far has been a real blast. The online gameplay is a nice compliment to the already strong single-player, and I think thats what makes RDR such a great game.

The incredible shrinking wallet!

Ok, I am a sucker for a good sale, specially a sale on Steam! That noise you hear in the background? Well it could be one of two things; either my wife wanting me to explain why I need another game, or it's my wallet shrinking from all the games I have or will purchase on Steam during this sale.

So the damages so far include:

Buccaneer: The Pursuit of Infamy, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Tropico 3, Making History: The Calm & the Storm, Resident Evil 5 when it was on uber sale and finally Birth of America.

This doesn't include the two games I might pick up today because they are on uber sale, Left 4 Dead 2 and HOI3: Semper Fi expansion. We might as well include the four games I bought the past week when they were on sale as well; Elder Scrolls III Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and the Deus Ex Collection.

Yes my friends, that's a lot of games, and chances are I may play very little of some of those games. BUT THEY WERE ON SALE!! Some of those games I have already owned and played, but having a digital copy at such a low price seemed worth it to me. Chances are I would not have bought most of these games if it weren't for the sale.

Might as well add a game I bought on sale from GamersGate too, Warhammer 40k Dawn of War Soulstorm, a game I have wanted but did not like the price, till now!

Oh June, where have you gone?

It's been a long month thus far. At the end of May a coworker went out on disability and I was to work a six day work week for what was suppose to be only a couple of weeks. But as it turns out she ended up getting herself terminated on her fourth day back to work, and so the six day weeks continue.

If that wasn't tiring enough, me and the family decided it was time to move out of our claustrophobic one bedroom third floor apartment to something with at least one more room, and not on the east side of San Jose. We are in our new place now, but there is still more work to be done, put away and cleaned. I really hate moving.

The gaming did suffer some, like when my Xbox decided it didn't like sitting next to my PS3 and committed suicided and when I was without the internet and doing no gaming at home for a few days because of the move. Lucky for me I have a computer at work so I stepped up my slacking off, I mean gaming there to compensate.

I was able to finish Red Dead Redemption just before the move, and I just want everyone to know that it's the second best game to be released this year, it's that good. Sure it has some issues, but the story and the gameplay are great. Pretty much all I have been playing for the past couple of weeks has been Empire: Total War. It's only taken me over a year to finally spend some time with a game that is pretty darn fun.

The month of June has been crazy for me with the move and the work, but hopefully here in a few weeks at most things will settle down and get back to normal.

You Have To Be Crazy Yo Pass This Up.

I interrupt your regular scheduled programming to bring you this public service announcement:

Batman Arkham Asylum the Game of the Year edition is on sale through Steam. That's right, Steam has slashed the price from $39.99 down to $19.99. But you must act now cause this sale is only for a limited time.

Take it from me, you don't want to pass this up. I have played Batman Arkham Asylum on the Playstation 3, then the Xbox 360, and then finally on the PC and have finished the game on all three platforms. I can honestly say that it's one of the best games I have ever played, and the PC version is by far the most superior version of the three.

So do yourself a favor, go buy Batman Arkham Asylum, you won't regret it! I now return you back to your regular scheduled programming....

A One Console Owner or How I Became a Sony Fanboy After My Xbox Died!

That's right, my Xbox died on me almost two weeks ago. And of course the warranty is up so I would have to pay Microsoft a hundred bucks to fix my unit. Now if I had the three red rings of death then I would have been covered, but noooooo I had to get the one red ring of death, the E73 error.


What's the E73 error you ask, darn good question. It apparently has something to do with my ethernet port on the Xbox. Either way I have decided for the time being to give up on the Xbox and just stick with my Playstation 3. This is my second Xbox, it was in a good place with great air flow, basically it was in an ideal condition for longevity, at least I thought so.

So I went ahead and traded all my Xbox games in at Gamestop and came away with a new copy of Red Dead Redemption and a new Dual Shock 3 Controller, along with a pre-order for NHL 11 and Fallout New Vegas. Believe me, it took me nearly a week to decided whether or not to fix the Xbox and if I was going to trade in all my games, cause I had quite a few. In the end I came to the conclusion that the only reason to own two consoles are for the exclusive titles, and very few of which I really want.

I guess the only bright side to the story is that now I can show my PS3 some love!

Sparkle Pony has invaded EQ2!

I am not a big fan of the sparkle pony, I wouldn't personally buy one, but I can't fault Blizzard for thinking outside the box to make some money. Imagine my surprise when I received and email from SOE pimping out their new mounts for sale in EQ2. The price, $25.00! But instead of one mount, you have your choice of three different looking rides. I don't know what to think of it all, being so soon after Blizzs' pony sale makes me instantly think that SOE saw how successful it was and wants to try and cash in on some easy money as well.

Have players really been asking for this in EQ2? Again, not against it, just not sure why someone would spend so much on something like this.

A few RoGS Impressions.

The Age of Conan expansion Rise of the Godslayer was releases last Tuesday, and as you can expect it was a bit of a bumpy launch. By the time I got home from work in the evening the servers were back up and not long after I was able to get a taste of the new content.

After a little bit of debate with myself, I decided to take my lvl 21 Stygian Tempast of Set into the new content rather than role a new Khitan character. In order order to get to Khitai I had to take a caravan from Khemi. The cool thing was there happen to be a random encounter on the journey to Khitai, and from what I read there are 9 such random encounters.

You will eventually come to the Road to Khitai, the new 20-40 level zone. From looking at the map, there are only five zones in Khitai, and four of them are level 80 areas. The nice thing in AoC is that the zones are pretty large, and the Road to Khitai is much flatter than the launch zones so it seems even larger.

So far I am having a lot of fun, the new content is tough for my ToS because most of time I seem to be fighting two enemies at once. I have noticed an increase in performance in DX10 mode in most areas except one, the broken down caravan area in the new zone. I have a feeling it has something to do with the smoke coming from the broken down wagons, but other than that it still looks great.

Here is a screenshot of the new crocodile pet I got. It doesn't do anything special that I know of, but it's a crocodile, how cool is that!

Getting in is hard to do.

Has anyone ever had a game that when you watch it being played you think that it looks great and would be fun to play. And has said game been just so overwhelming that any enthusiasm and excitement you might have for playing the game are squashed by that overwhelming feeling? Well if so then I am not alone! And if not, well then crap, something must be wrong with me!

I bought Empire: Total War a few days after launch and Steam tells me that I have played a total of 25 hrs. That averages to almost 2 hrs of play time a month, that's not a lot. When I watch a friend play I think 'Wow, that looks looks great, I should play that game!'. But once I get into a campaign I almost immediately get crushed from the overwhelming scope and complexity of the game.

I think my issue comes from me trying to do way too much that early into a campaign. The best plan is probably to pick one of the large factions and play the game on the easiest setting while I grasp the game. I really have this urge, this desire to play some of the strategy games I have like Empire and Hearts of Iron III.

Becoming Unstuck

Speaking of MMO's, I am thinking that I really need to just choose one MMO to play, and stop dabbling. I recently resubbed to WoW, and even though I am having fun now, I am just not looking forward to WotLK, not one bit. I am however thinking of reserving the Moria expansion for LOTRO and even doing the lifetime subscription. That way I can play as little or as much as I would like, and not worry about feeling like I am wasting $15 a month. So do I stick with WAR? I or how about going back to CoH, that game is pretty awesome, and it's not fantasy based!

It was this little paragraph from a post back in 2008 that caused my melt down a few weeks ago. Why Jason, that doesn't sound so bad what seems to be the problem? The problem is trying to pick one MMO coupled with the feeling of not wasting money on a monthly sub has plagued me for quite some time now. There are other factors involved with my feeling of being stuck in a rut, but this started the ball rolling with me coming to the realization.

I have many interest when it comes to games, not only in the MMO genre but also with single-player games. I am going to come out and say it now, I have a touch of OCD, I can't help it. I also have a bad habit of purchasing a game and not playing it for long length of time. So what happens is the OCD kicks in and wants me to play all those games that are sitting on the shelf, and I can't decide on which MMO I want to play, and what you get is a situation where you become stuck in a rut. At least for me anyways. The wild card in all this is time, I tend to use it unwisely.

I still don't know what MMO to play some days. At the moment I have WoW and AoC subbed, but I was thinking of renewing my WAR sub and even trying out STO. I have no problems with playing more than one MMO, heck I've had up to four at one time. But I am getting off track here.

I need to get out of my rut by developing better gaming habits, using my time wisely, maybe play less and just play whatever I am in the mood for. It's going to be tough, but my games are counting on me!

And the you realize...

Have you ever come to the realization that you might be stuck in a rut? That the same random thoughts, struggles and questions for almost the past two years are still the same today? And does that realization suddenly remind you of a conversation you had from nearly twelve years ago that dealt with a pretty significant life changing experience? And now that conversation makes sense and you begin to wonder what the heck have you been doing for nearly a decade and a half.

And you see now why there is no contentment, your faith is weak, your walk has failed, the joy seems to be gone. Sounds bleak doesn't it? Welcome to my Saturday.

The WAR is over, for now.

A few weeks ago the unruly folks over at Multiplaying.Net started playing Warhammer Online again and talking about it on their podcast. I have always felt that on paper WAR is the MMO I should love the most: multiple races with differing starting areas, lots of PvE, and varied PvP gameplay that I can participate at my discretion. I think the main sticking point for me is the PvE content; the quests are really well written, seem pretty varied at times, but there is so much running around and the level grind was tough to stomach after playing WoW so much.

But I decided to use my Call to Arms 10 day free play, and I have been reminded of why I both like and dislike the game. I will say that leveling seems to be going much faster now, primarily due to the huge amounts of rest xp I have, so that was a pleasant surprise, but there is still a lot of running around at my level. In the short amount of time I did play that was really the only complaint that I had with the game, it's been a lot of fun doing scenarios and running around doing oRvR in T2.

But my free play ends today and with all the hockey going on right now I will not be reactivating my account. At least not yet. I figure that once the first round of the NHL playoffs are over there will be more time to play games, but right now I am DVR-ing everthing and watching games before and after work, I love it.

The Steed.

The popular topic today in the blogosphere happens to be about Blizzards new RMT items, in particular the Celestial Steed. I am thinking the main sticking point being that the Steed happens to cost $25.00!

Darren over at The Common Sense Gamer has a nice post on  the comparisons between the cost of the new Steed offered by Blizz and full games offered by a few digital retailers for the same price. I like the comparisons cause it does give one a new perspective about the amount of content versus the price.

But with that said, I have no problem with Blizz selling this, I just don't understand why anyone would spend this kind of money on a mount that will not be as unique as some other mounts in the game.

Dub's NHL Playoff Prognostication, Western Conference Style.

Yesterday I gave my predictions for Eastern Conference matchups, today I want to give my predictions for the Western Conference. As much as I love the Sabres, I do think that the Stanley Cup winner will come from the west, it's just that strong of a Conference. So without delay, let's get started:

San Jose Sharks (1) vs Colorado Avalanche (8) My prediction: Sharks in four.

Living in San Jose I am very much interested in the Sharks, and working one block form the Tank I am not looking forward to the traffic. Sharks should win this series and I would be surprised if they lose more than one game. But, this is the Sharks we are talking about and their playoff record as of late is not very good, so I will throw this out there; if the Sharks lose game one then they are done.

Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs Nashville Predators (7) My prediction: Blackhawks in six.

Yes Chicago has a great offense, but the big question is in net for them. The Preds had a great season and they finally get to play a team in the playoffs not located in Detroit or San Jose. This series features two teams with goaltenders with no playoff experience, but I think Chicago's potent offense is going to overwhelm the Preds.

Vancouver Canucks (3) vs Los Angeles Kings (6) My predictions: Canucks in five.

This is another tough game to predict. Vancouver has the playoff experience, a gold medal winning goalie and the league's top scorer, and LA may have a decent mix of young and vet players, but the big question for them is in net. Of all the series in the west, I feel this could be the one big upset.

Phoenix Coyotes (4) vs Detroit Redwings (5) My prediction: Coyotes in seven.

For me this is probably the most interesting series in the first round. Phoenix is this years cinderella team and Detroit is trying to make the finals for a third straight time. Detroit has the experience, they are the hottest team in the NHL since the Olympic break, and no one thinks Phoenix has a chance to win this. And should rookie goalie Jimmy Howard not be up to task, Detroit can turn to Chris Osgood who has won a couple of cups for the Wings. Here is what I think; Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov is going to play like there is no tomorrow and take the Wings to a game seven and win it in Phoenix, at least that's what I hope.


Well there you have it, i'm sorry if this isn't as informative as yesterday's Eastern Conference preview, but I really wanted to get this out before the puck dropped tonight. Let's go Sabers!

Dub's NHL Playoff Prognostication, Eastern Conference Style.

The NHL playoffs start on the 14th, and being a huge hockey fan I thought I would give some thoughts to the matchups in the first round of the playoffs, commonly referred to as the Conference Quarterfinals. So let's get started with the Eastern Conference matchups shall we!



Washington Capitals (1) vs Montreal Canadians (8) My prediction: Caps in four.

The Capitals are an offensive machine, if Montreal is to have any chance they need to hope they can take advantage of the Caps poor PK and pray that Jaroslav Halak plays like the second coming of Patrick Roy.

New Jersey Devils (2) vs Philadelphia Flyers (7) My prediction: Flyers in seven

If there was one team the Devils did not want to play in the first round, it would have been the Flyers. Philadelphia went 5-1-0 against the Devils this season. The biggest question for the Flyers is their goaltending, is it going to be good enough.

Buffalo Sabres (3) vs Boston Bruins (6) My prediction: Sabres in seven.

Being a Sabres fan I couldn't be any less happier to see them facing the Bruins. Boston went 4-2-2 against the Sabres this year, and Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask shut down the Sabres for the most part. On the flip side, Ryan Miller was 2-0-2 against the Bruins and is arguably the best goaltender in the NHL right now. The problem for both teams will be offense. The Sabres may have finished in the top ten in goal scoring, but that was mostly due to a late season surge in scoring while their defense was not at impressive as it was in the first have of the season. The Bruins are the worst scoring team in the NHL and if it wasn't for the play of Rask they would not be in the playoffs. Look for this series to be a low scoring snooze fest.

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs Ottawa Senators (5) My prediction: Pens in six.

They split the season series and all game were decided by three goals or more. But, the playoffs have a way of evening things out so expect a much tighter game from both teams with less scoring. In the end Pittsburgh has better goaltending and are a much more balanced team and it will be too much for Ottawa.

Borderlands for PC.

I have owned Borderlands for the Xbox since it launched, and I chose that version mainly for the online play. My thinking is that Borderlands for the PC uses the crappy Gamespy peer-to-peer multiplayer matchmaking and it's been my experience that games seem to not have much of an online community when using the Gamespy service. So instead I decided on getting the Xbox version and don't regret it one bit.

Even though I have completed one play through of Borderlands, I have played very little coop online like I thought I would. In the meantime I had been wondering just how great the game would look on my PC, cause it looks great on the Xbox, but I just wasn't ready to fork over fifty bucks for it yet.

On Friday I received an email from Gamestop with their latest deals and what not, and I noticed that Borderlands was 50% off for digital download! Hot damn, that's awesome, but I wonder if Steam has the same deal, and sure enough they did.

I love Borderlands, it great mindless fun with loads of loot. I was able to talk a friend into buying a copy as well, and once we were able figure the Gamespy garbage we played quite a bit of coop. It was pretty difficult because there were two of us, but it was a blast.

So if there is anyone out there who wants to play some Borderlands, feel free to send me a friends request in game @ xXJayeDuBXx. For now I leave you with a video on the making of Borderlands, it was the deciding factor for me when I considering on whether or not to purchase the game.

AoC time!

Today is payday, and as is customary on payday I tend to surf the web looking at computer and gaming stuff and convincing myself that I don't really need any of that stuff. But what did catch my eye was on the Gamestop website, they are selling Age of Conan 60-day time cards for only $12.99! Why that's less than a monthly sub, I should get some of those, and so I did!

I picked up two of these cards, so essentially I have four months of game time for the cost of less than two, if that made any sense. Looks like Jayedub is heading back to Hyboria!

It's a Dark Age.

Music in games can be such a magical thing. A good soundtrack can really add to the mood and atmosphere, as well as a bad soundtrack can be a detriment and detract from a someone's experience.

The reason I bring this up is because the other day my son was watching a tv show that had on it a trio of family members who could play some musical instruments, two playing the harp and on playing the violin. The music was great, but I couldn't help think that it sounded familiar.

And then it hit me, that sounds like the music from Dark Age of Camelot! And suddenly my mind was flooded with all sorts of thoughts, emotions and images from the days when I played DAoC. So the other day I was thinking of giving the DAoC trial a run, and I noticed that my old account is eligible for a 10 day free return time.

I am only into my second day of the ten days, but I am having fun running around getting reacquainted with the game world. Will I stick with it after 10 days? I really don't think so, but for now I will just enjoy my limited time with an old friend.