the be all end all video game thread

I just recently got back into WoW as well, and I have been seeing a ton of changes. The talents are completely different, you have to choose a main tree and spend 31 points in it before you can put points into the other two trees. Orgrimmar is completely different, and I've only checked out a couple zones but there are a couple with pretty big changes to them, like Desolace, Azshara, and the Western Plaguelands.

I also started leveling a priest that has been at lvl 35 on my account for about 3 years now and holy crap it is so much easier to level now. You can get normal mounts at 20, fast land mounts at 40 (and for pennies compared to what it was in the past). Duel spec is now super cheap too which is nice (10g, down from 1000g). Also, with all the changes from the shattering to the older zones, there are a bunch of new quest lines.

And how the fuck do you "accidently" drop 4000g (assuming exalted) on Master Flying? I would like to have 310% flying speed, but that would break the bank for me and I like having some extra money around for gemming, etc.

 

I just had my free week of WoW game time expire. Probably not going to reactivate until launch day next week. The new world is kind of cool; they basically only redid half of the old zones and it's all new and cool for people leveling their alts. Other than that, the old zones could be removed completely and nobody would notice. As bitter as I am with this game having played since launch, I am still sort of excited for expansion. It's just hilarious how Blizzard is getting away with making us pay for content that wasn't new since 2005 (same bosses, instances, zones, rated battlegrounds, etc.). Still, I can't complain too much as Azeroth is the part of the game I enjoyed most; Outland and Northrend can go fuck themselves. Rated BGs are going to make it even easier to get gladiator, or whatever the equivalent to that is.

What's the deal with the master flying? I have gladiator so my mount is already 310% and I didn't spend any time in Northrend to fly around before my week expired. I did notice, however, that all the old level 40 60% mounts were boosted up to 100% mount speed. Oh and if you guys want to check out Azeroth from an aerial view before Cataclysm goes live, here's how: Go to the entrance of Hyjal in Winterspring and get yourself killed by the low level mobs by the border. You'll spawn in the Hyjal GY as a flying ghost and then you fly to your corpse and resurrect. Now you can fly throughout Azeroth as long as you don't dismount or cast anything (Night Elf players can, however, cast all they want and remain in flight; have fun ganking duelers in Orgrimmar. You can't check out all the new zones, though, as they teleport you out instantly or dismount you. You can take the Orgrimmar Zeppelin to Undercity and fly into Gilneas and it won't dismount you. I got to check out most of the new zones but was eventually dismounted upon arrival in Ewylen Forest (Redridge dismounts you, too). Disclaimer: this may have been patched today but I'm not sure, so it's still worth checking out.

I have a feeling next Blizzcon is when they begin announcing that new MMO they've been working on and start slowly killing off WoW.

 

I don't see the incentive for them to do that. Part of the appeal of WoW is that you can still play it on a 6 year old computer. My laptop is a piece of shit Dell from 2004 and I can still play it with almost no hiccups. They have 12 million people paying 15 bucks a month to play the game. Why mess with success?

 

Their new MMO is going to try and be an EVE-Online killer. WoW is going to stay WoW. They're not going to kill it off or anything, its too much money, Activision/Blizzard is about the benjamins baby.

 

Thats pretty accurate. Also remember the initial purchase price of each game and subsequent expansion.

 

World of Starcraft, calling it now.

Seriously though, I don't see this being an EVE killer, just based off of what Blizzard's done in the past. Could they replicate the PVP everywhere, complex tech, single-shard, PVP adrenaline rush of EVE? Maybe. But the fact that CCP is committed to that ideal turns off a lot of players,* and I think Blizzard will always pick more money/subscribers over sticking to some niche. Obviously just hot air and speculation, but I'll be really surprised if they come out with anything that hits the same nerves as EVE, sufficiently to make people switch.



* "Hey, someone left some free ammo in a canister, just floating around in space! How nice!" *drags ammo into cargo hold* "Whaaat! They shot me! I just lost my shiny ship!" Yep, you just got can-flipped. l2gamemechanics.
"Fine, I'll buy a new one off contracts!" *clicks accept contract* "Hey, there's no ship in here!" You just got scammed, son.
"I'm petitioning this! This is unfair!" GMs will tell you the game is working as intended.
"Now they're laughing at me in local chat! I hate this game!" Welcome to EVE.

And that's such a huge part of what makes people want to play EVE, stuff like this. Not to mention the uniquely psychotic political aspect. To put it simply, I don't see Blizzard committing to any of that anytime soon.

 

I thought that number was bullshit too, but I checked it out and it seems legit. I've read elsewhere that many people have multiple accounts and the actual people playing is close to 8 million, but Blizzard is still collecting the revenue on 12 million accounts... fucking insane.

 

Which is the reason they are one of the only developers that are allowed to have a "When it's done" for a fucking release date. I'm glad they do because they make great games, but they need to hurry the hell up with diablo 3.

 

I completely agree to you there. Even though they make great games, they are still going to be aiming at a large number of subscribers, not a niche game. WoW is a game that has something for the hardcore players, but is also geared towards casual players too.

Whatever this next mmo is that they are making it will print money, that's for sure.

No Kidding.

 

Who knows if this is legit, but MMOChampion just posted this supposedly leaked chart that has all of Blizzard's planned releases for the next 5 years: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/</a> (right there on the front page with a description below). Even if this is fake, which it probably is, it is fun to speculate. Titan is the supposed codename for the new MMO they are working on which is rumored to be an MMOFPS. I'm kind of hoping that's true. Having to wait until the end of 2013... Kind of hoping that isn't true.

 

I said "try and be an" and they might not necessarily think "to kill EVE we have to be niche" but I'm just throwing shit out there. I'm well aware of all the fun of EVE. I was in Guiding Hand Social Club, the guys that pulled off the second article that first brought the "OMG, people can do bad things" shit in EVE-Online. The problem with that game is that half of it takes place on MIRC and MSN chats. That's why it depressed me and I quit, because I have a draw to the large scale bullshit that happens in that game. I'm probably going to try and come back one more time, we'll see what happens. They just keep making it sooooo pretty.

 

Pretty easily by not paying attention. Oh well, I would've bought eventually anyways. Guess I'll get it out of the way.

After a night or two of playing, I'm loving the Holy Paladin changes. The word "offense" is actually in my vocabulary now. If I go into PVP (or even questing) my sole purpose is not only healing. I can do some DPS and heal at the same time. It's nice to be able to do that. Holy Shock + Exorcism (with Judgments thrown in) is really nice. You can do a lot on the run and only stop for a 1.5s spammable cast in Exorcism. Plus, if you spec into certain talents, you gain Holy Power as you get hit, so you have an instant, mana free, heal in WoG or LoD.

I think as of right now, at 80, if you have good PVP gear a Holy Pally is almost unkillable by any standard DPS spec (unless the player is a moron). I'm expecting that to DRASTICALLY change once everyone hits 85.

 

I heard that "Evony" game you see ads for damn near everywhere online brings in that kind of money, too.

 

I don't suppose anyone here still plays Borderlands?

 

Have. You. Fucking. Seen. This?





<a class="postlink" href="http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/homefront/news.html?sid=6210629&mode=previews" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/home ... e=previews</a>

The premise is fantastically genius, and the graphics and gameplay look very spot-on, and if they do this right, I'm calling it now: this has the potential to blow the fuck out of the Call of Duty series. And if that happens, it will be thanks to the above part in bold. Dedicated servers have been a long time coming in COD; we might finally see them with Homefront. Here's hoping they deliver.

 

Well, except for the fact that a crumbling, weak nation like North Korea conquering the US is laughable. Or that the premise is ripped straight from a crappy 80's film called "Red Dawn". I guess having an Arab nation take over the US was considered too politically incorrect, though. (Highly unlikely too, but at least a Saudi Arabia or Iran will still be an important, economically viable country 20 years from now, aside from merely possessing nuclear weapons. North Korea won't.)

The graphics look amazing, but how can you tell anything about gameplay from either trailer? COD is great because it's a crisp, arcade-style shooter; great controls, perfect camera angles, fluid movement, just the right amount of lock-on and damage per shot, etc.

Right now, we don't have a clue about how "Homefront" will compare.

 

I am pretty excited about this one. The premise for the single player story looks to be really promising, especially in that it will draw you in emotionally much more so than any other FPS I've played. I read a really great article about this, I think it was on Kotaku, I'll see if I can pull it up.

I am, however, skeptical about the multiplayer. The thing I like to much about CoD's MP is that it has just the right combination of balanced guns and equipment, perks, killstreaks, and overall gameplay. I will definitely keep my eye on Homefront and will most likely play it, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Aside from Halo, CoD and TF2, most multiplayer FPS's have been pretty ho-hum in my opinion.

EDIT: Article from Kotaku that I mentioned.

 

I like the concept of having to stay in the place you just fought, but I agree with KI. The "what if?" is retarded. The idea that North Korea could amass an assault to take so far into the United States as Colorado is ridiculous. North Korea couldn't take over Texas, let alone the entire United States. If I end up buying this that is all I will be able to think about. How big of pussies we are that a country with 7% of our population is occupying the 3rd largest country in the world.

 

DISCLAIMER: I think many video games, especially this one, should be given a certain amount of suspension of disbelief. Who's to say what is and isn't plausible with serious story lines like this, particularly when it's set in the future? I don't play them for 100% realism; I play them to be entertained. I'm willing to overlook certain details or the occasional plot hole in the pursuit of a fun story. With all that being said...

In all seriousness, how can you be sure that North Korea won't still be relevant in 15 years? I don't know enough about economic growth and politics (let alone about N. Korea) to refute or agree with that claim. I'm genuinely curious. It's worth mentioning that the second video I linked said that this particular game speculates North Korea and South Korea uniting in 2015 to get "the economic power and modern military equipment" to make the invasion work, and they somehow are able to get their hands on and train with U.S. weapons. The likelihood of either is pretty laughable, especially a mere 5 years from now, but it's still a fascinating idea.

As for the story being ripped from Red Dawn, so what? It's a different medium. I think it's even better suited for a video game because of its interactive nature and, as Fernanthonies pointed out, it has the capacity to draw you in emotionally more than any other FPS. As much as I love the Call of Duty series and their campaign stories, I could find similar "the world is going to end" plots in Tom Clancy's books. The story from Black Ops was ripped straight from a 60s film called The Manchurian Candidate, but I didn't hear anyone complain about that.

I can't tell anything, it's all nothing more than speculation at this point. But it did as convincing of a job as I could hope for from a video that's all of a minute and a half. From what little I was able to see, their map design shows promise. We'd have to see and ultimately play more to know for sure about that, but it does look very COD-esque. As for the controls, camera, movement, damage, etc...you're right, I don't have a clue about that, either. For what it's worth, the setup is going to be similar to COD, such as perks, rankings, class loadouts, etc. That counts for a lot, because those are all facets that make COD so fun.

Like I said in my original post, "if they do this right," it could be awesome. But that's all it has right now: potential. Potential doesn't mean anything if it's not realized. All I'm saying for now is, the pieces are there. Now it's up to them to deliver. If nothing else, dedicated servers may finally get put into place. If Call of Duty isn't going to get that ball rolling, someone else might as well do it.

I don't want to sound like a dick, but did you watch the second video I linked? They address this very point, explaining the "how" of the premise. At 2:42, it's mentioned that North Korea currently has the 4th-largest army in the world. I'm not sure how accurate this article is, but according to that, they also have nearly twice as many soldiers as we do (although a glaring lack of naval and air support). Additionally, there's the aforementioned points about South Korea and the possession of U.S. weapons (a couple big plot holes I can understand people taking issue with). Finally, there's a chart shown at 3:05 that juxtaposes the decline of U.S. military power with the growth of Korean power.

It's all very bold to think about, but is the story any less ludicrous than that of Modern Warfare 2? Fighting a conventional ground war, on our own soil...against fucking Russia? Neat concept, sure. But you can't tell me that's any less implausible than the other. There have been literally dozens of other video games with more convoluted story lines and bigger plot holes than Homefront, and none of them had me as excited as this one. It only looks pretty on paper right now, so if it does end up being a bad game, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong about it.

I should also admit that I'm biased towards post-apocalypic/post-war/survival games, such as Fallout 3 (another game whose plot points we could debate heavily about), so it's worth taking my thoughts on this game with a grain of salt. That's why I'm frothing at the mouth over this one. I don't typically get this excited over a game's release