I Feel Like I Was A Little Harsh

I feel like I was a little harsh yesterday, and I don’t want to be this negative.  Let me start by telling you about my experiences with WoW and then you might see where I’m coming from.  I haven’t been playing since vanilla, I started when Burning Crusade came out.  I was instantly hooked.  In fact, I tried it on a friends computer and went out and bought the game the same day.  That was only the beginning.  After I started playing, I got all of my other friends to play it (If they weren’t already playing).  We ended up playing all the time.  The game was extremely fun and became even more enjoyable at level 70 when the game became more challenging.  At level 70 I focused on PVP.  I remember rocking a full merciless set on my bloodelf warlock.  I worked extremely hard on getting that gear.  I was proud of it too, because back then when you was a player with a full set of gear you knew that they were skilled and knew what they were doing.  The same was true with PVP, if you was an opposing player with the Warglaives of Azzinoth you ran.  Now with PVE, you had to have friends or work hard to get a pickup group to raid.  With the game being challenging, the people who focused on PVE were a more focused player who understood the game type.  For example I was entirely possible to log on, find a group, raid, wipe between seven and thirteen times, to then finally down a boss (not always the case).  after all of that you might not even win a roll for gear, but after all of that you would call that a good raid because there was progress made.  Any progress for you and your guild was a big step. In the early days of wow being a hardcore player was the only way to see end game content.  Blizzard realized this and wanted to include the casual player.  In vanilla and BC there was no pug queue system, so it took longer to get gear because you had to go out and find people who wanted to do that instance on your server.  It was a similar problem with PVP.  If you wanted to win an Alterac Valley, and not have it take three hours, you were going to have to join as a group.  Now because there was no place for casuals , Blizzard changed some mechanics around and added features to be more accommodating in the later expansions.  Unfortunately for Blizzard, once they started making these changes, the started the downfall of their community.

In each expansion following Burning Crusade, Blizzard created features to make end game more accessible to the masses.  On of the major features, that at low levels is helpful but later in the game gets extremely annoying, was their PUG (pick up group) System.  This feature would queue you based on your group roll, to then create a group the the proper composition.  With this feature Blizzard made it possible to be grouped with players from different servers.  This system on papers sounded good, everyone was happy at first because there would be shorter queue times and you would get geared faster.  In reality, this system caused more problems by creating a new type of player, the loot ninja.  Because you were grouped with players from other servers it was entirely possible to down a boss and have someone need roll of a piece of gear just for the gold and instantly leave group.  Now because they are from another server there is no way you can stop this person.  Even if a player didn’t steal a piece of gear, there is still the problem of players leaving for no reason.  Because a player no longer needs actively search for a group they feel no consequence for dropping group if they don’t receive the gear they wanted.  As the game progressed ninja looting became more prevalent.  It continued to get worse when Blizzard set gear restrictions to enter some of the instances.

Now these are just some of the reasons why the community has taken a turn for the worse.  Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of good and decent players who play WoW.  Unfortunately the bad egocentric players over shadow the team players.  I can tell you I will not be buying the newest expansion because, I cancelled my account over a year ago.  Like I said, I loved playing WoW, but after Blizzard turned on “easy mode”, and unintentionally ruined their community, I can’t justify making that $15 payment every month.

I’m Really Sorry

No I have not stopped posting, don’t worry.  But for those of you who don’t know there was a storm in CT that knocked out most of the states power.  So that is why I haven’t posted in over a week.  Things are getting back to normal, I will post my second half of my WoW thoughts soon.

Blizzard, I’m not sure what you are doing

Blizzcon happened last week, and Blizzard has announced a lot of videos and info regarding their IPs.  Now I wasn’t there, and I don’t know everything they are planning, but from what I have seen it seems that Blizzard is changing.  They don’t feel like the same company that I loved years ago.  I used to get excited when they would release new videos on WoW.  Now with the most recent expansion video “Mists of Pandaria” I feel like they aren’t trying anymore.  Back in the day when Blizzard released a trailer for a new expansion, you watched the video and leaned where you were going to go, and the evils you were going to face.  For example in this tailer for” Burning Crusade”, the new area looks incomplete and not  rendered yet, but Blizz was still was able to show you what you were going to be fighting and and where.

Even more recently, when the patch for “Wrath of the Lich King” came out you knew what was up (even if the expansion title game it away).  I remember when this trailer came out, and how excited my friends and I were.  We would be able to down Arthas.

But now Blizzard puts out this trailer…..

This shows me nothing.  This looks like World of Warcraft ” Kung Fu Panda”.  From what I gathered in this trailer is the level cap is now 90, but there is no way to get there because there is nothing to fight in this new panda infested area.  What am I going to be killing, what is my ultimate goal, and who is the final boss standing in my way.  It’s funny really, they showed all of the other endgame bosses to then show you NOTHING.  I looked even further and I found another trailer on Blizzards youtube channel about one of the instances that you can take on.  Everyone is commenting on how the music is really pretty, but no one seems to notice that the dungeon is EMPTY.  There is no boss preview, not even trash mobs roaming around.

But enough with the new expansions, let’s talk about how it seems like this once confident company is scared of other MMOs.  Blizzard announced a deal.   If you sign up for 12-months of World of Warcraft via the WoW “season pass” you will get Diablo 3 for free….really?  You can still be billed monthly too. so you don’t need to shell out all the money all at once.  Not only will you get instant, free access to Diablo 3, but you’ll also be guaranteed access to the next World of Warcraft expansion’s beta.  Blizzard will also be giving an exclusive mount, Tyrael’s Charger.  Now is Blizz hurting that bad that they are going to give you a brand new game, a mount, and a beta key for “panda paradise” to continuing to play their MMO that you were planning on doing anyways.

What happened to you Blizzard?

Oh and I’m not done here, there is more to come on Wednesday.

“Thank You For Playing”

The Battlefield 3 beta is officially over, and I had fun.  I hope all of you did as well.  Now that it’s over let’s hope they take that data and crate a game that is going to take Modern Warfare down a couple of notches.  Also, on another note, now that the beta is over you will see posts on other games.  Wooo! other games.  So check back often, and remember NYCC is this week so keep an eye out for pics and tweets from the show floor.  Follow me @SPS_usdates

They Did One Thing Excellent Through

On Monday (if you didn’t read it go back and check it out) I posted a rather long review on the Battlefield 3 beta.  In that review I only looked at what they did wrong and what they need to fix.  This is the second half where I talk about what they did correctly, or rather what is already complete for the release.

The fist thing that stood out at me was the sounds in the game.  They are phenomenal.  Everything sounds crisp and clear.  The guns sound like the actual guns the player is firing.  The game balances the the sounds properly, for example gun shorts aren’t the only thing you hear.  If you’re a sniper, camping out on the little island in the pond, between head shots you can hear wild life like bugs crawling around and birds.  There is also the occasional breeze.  Maybe I find all of this amazing because I’m using really good headphones, but I’d like to think they took the time to get all of this right.  My absolute favorite part of the intricate sound is when another player spots an enemy, you hear chatter between NPC soldiers.  This also happens when you move from one MCOM group to another.  For example, when you destroy the first two stations in the park you hear a jet pilot radio in  ” Be advised I just blew a big f*cking hole in the ground, we should be able to enter the subway system through there.”  Lastly, something I find cool, if you are defending and you are about to deplete all of the attackers re-spawns the song from the trailer starts to play and get louder.

I’m posting this late, because I saw an article on another website quoting EA/DICE claiming that “the sound in BF3 is going to be better than it was in the beta.”  Now this may be only for the console visions, but in my opinion its flawless.

Something’s Not Right Here (battlefield 3 beta thoughts)

(Note this was written before the server maintenance that was preformed on the 3rd.)

(Reactions and thoughts are about the PC build.)

Well the Battlefield 3 beta has arrived and I have had some time to play it, and well, it’s in a not so good shape.  There are huge problems with the title that I thought would have been addressed before they let everyone get their hands on it.  Now the game is playable, and I know that it is still in beta phase, (I know the difference between a beta and a demo) but still lets get started.

1)

First problem I found with the game is the issue with the servers.  Now, when they announced that there was going to be an open beta I originally thought that is was going to test the server strengths, and work out some kinks.  I feel I was correct in assuming that, which makes the horrible connections forgivable.  But in terms of not being able to play for most of the first day, it was frustrating.  Now that isn’t the only problem with the servers.  For some reason it is extremely hard to join a server with friends, let alone change who’s in your squad.  Now for a game that prides itself on being different that modern warfare, because you have to work as a team and not be a lone wolf, I would think that it would be extremely easy to join with friends.  Every time three friends and myself tried to join as a group, (Four being the proper size of a squad) it would only place the party leader and one other person in the game leaving the other two people looking puzzled with nothing to do.  To add to the problem my other two friends couldn’t join the server after we entered.  They would receive an error message that claimed they already have a reserved slot in the game, but there was no way other way to enter the server.  So after that, one person entered a server and we all followed them individually, but again this just created more problems.  Now we weren’t just in different squads, but some friends were now on the other team.  (Note: this was still fun because we then got to shoot, and blind each other with the power of the heavens.)  But like I said betas test server problems, so all of this I can deal with.  On to problem 2.

2)

Now the video above is from alpha, But I can show this because even thought the game is now in beta this glitch is still present. There are a whole lot more where this came from.  For example there is a problem with the map, you can fall through it.  Now that is a huge problem.  Now I’m not a programmer, but if I was, I would worry about moving around on a map properly before I worked on anything else. (Note: it is really hard to defib a partner when he has just been flung across the map or he had just been consumed by the earth.)  Now there is also another problem with the map.  For some people the screen flashes green, and for others some of the textures flash.  Now unlike the previous glitches these don’t ruin the game for you.

3)

For some odd reason the battle log doesn’t work with opera.  Needless to say, I use opera, and hate the fact I can’t use my favorite browser.  Now don’t get me wrong, this may not be EA/DICE fault, but why do we have to launch the game through the browser in the first place.  They made me download and install Origin, why not just run the game from there and have an in game menu.   They had to make an in game menu for Xbox and PS3 why not use one for PC.  Unfortunately there is an answer for that, They make you use the “battle log”, AKA facebook for Battlefield.  So, now because opera wont work I am using IE because I don’t want to install another browser just to play a beta.  Even if I wanted to use another browser, Firefox is a memory hog.  So I’m stuck with IE and now I don’t have to just worry about Battlefield.exe crashing I also have to worry about IE crashing.

There are also tons of small bugs that are just really annoying, and ill just rush through these.

1. The flashlight is like looking into the sun, does it really need to be that bright.
2. Not saving crashed data (if the game crashes you lose all of your data and progression)
3. Can’t cook grenades.
4. Sometimes the gun doesn’t want you to look down the sights (it has a mind of its own)
5. Can’t skip kill cams (I don’t really want to see the dude who killed me for 10 seconds, I’d rather customize my class)
6. Please make an in game menu.
7. Ability to choose my squad please (playing with uncoordinated randys is really annoying)
8. Ability to invite friends to game mid-game.
9. Ability to shoot through rocks….really why even have cover.
10. My weapon is showing my attachments but not my gun.
11. Please shorten the knife animation (there is no use to knifing if you are a sitting duck)

Lastly what the hell is this!

Now don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good qualities to the game, and I will be posting that on Wednesday.  For now I’m more disappointed than thrilled.  I’m sorry for thinking that the game would look more polished seeing as it is going to be released in about four weeks.  I’m also disappointed with the whole idea of this beta in general.  If you are going to put out a video saying “going above and beyond the call” (a clear shot at call of duty), have the beta show off your good qualities.  Ya know, huge maps, 32 vs. 32, tanks , jets, and other vehicles.  You don’t put out a camp fest that is nothing new and isn’t going to wow the players you are trying to win over.

Battlefield Beta Review In The Works

check back here tomorrow for an update on our review of the BF3 beta.

Battlefield 3 Beta Goes Live Tomorrow

For all of you who who don’t know Battlefield 3 is going to be running an open beta for everyone, and I mean EVERYONE.  This beta is not just going live for PC, its going to be available for all platforms (sorry Wii no one loves you anymore).  The beta is going to be simple, it is only going to consist of one map and one game type.  The map is called “Operation Metro”. This map take place in the street of Paris with what seems like a large underground section to play in.  The game type is everyones favorite Rush.  I’m okay with that because I assume they are going to be testing their server strength, but I would have liked to been able to try out more multiple maps.  I say this not out of greed, but simply because I believe EA/Dice could get valuable data from players and might want to change the maps a bit before release.  Gears 3 did this and it worked. Okay now lets recap:

Map: Operation Metro

Game type: Rush

When: Starting tomorrow September 29th

Where: On all platforms (so you have no excuse not to play it….Again sorry no Wii)

How: If on PC go to  Origin, The rest should be on your consoles store/marketplace

So remember people this is a beta not a demo, if you want this game to be great remember to give feedback about glitches and problems.  Also remember this a Battlefield, work as a team and have fun.