Everquest 2: Everquest Worlds Mobile App

 SOE did the smart thing and made a mobile app that covers all Everquest Worlds in one app.  The app is available for Android and Apple users.  I understand why they excluded Windows users, even if it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  Carrying on however, I’ve used the app since I have access to an Android device.

It is a very well done app and in one evening sucked me in completely and I drained the phone battery from full to depleted without realizing it.  There are news and video feeds for whatever Everquest franchise you play and they are separated out so you don’t have to wade through Landmark video trying to find one that pertains to Everquest.

I watched the first EQ2 Insider yesterday and will watch the second one today.  I don’t normally watch dev videos either but it managed to keep my interest over the hour even if it were a month old.  The one thing they could do to improve the news/video feed is to put dates on the feed rather than just the newest on top. 

The mini-games in the app are addicting.  I fully admit I got sucked into Mineral Match and Book of Magic.  I won in-game rewards as well, a mount for Everquest and an appearance weapon for EQ2 (pictured below).  The EverGuess game kicked my rear and I’m normally good at those games.  The EQW Trivia mini-game was the clear winner for me.  It proved that my lore-foo is WEAK and needs improving to day the least.  I will be improving that over time, especially since I play EQ2 for the tremendous lore and involved storylines. 

I’ve barely begun to dig into the app but I can say, well done SOE well done. 

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Catching Up on the Larger World of Assassin’s Creed

Despite the frustrating and non-Assassin based gameplay of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, the franchise remains one of my favorites.  This is in large part because of the incredibly complex and rich story telling Ubisoft released with the Ezio trilogy.  There is a confirmed new game release for the Xbox One and the PS4 entitled, Assassin’s Creed: Unity and I have high hopes that given it’s setting in the era of the French Revolution there will be no sailing missions.  (Dear God help me if there are because I cannot promise not to hurl my controller in frustration across the room!)

The French Revolution awaits us all

This morning I decided to catch up with the world of Assassin’s Creed outside the games and jumped right into the AC Initiates database.  Initiates is a site run by Ubisoft still in Alpha release, despite being available for months.  A couple of side notes/observations about Initiates it is incredibly frustrating that the site isn’t accessible on mobile devices (not even so-called mobile devices that do not have cellular access) and it defeats the purpose of having missions related to Assassin Creed games that are heavily played on consoles but in order to get credit for those missions the gamer needs to interrupt game play to leave the room and seek out a non-mobile device.

Gripes over, despite the grumbles about the site Initiates has a wonderful amount of detail relating to the main characters of the game.  I loved reading about young Haytham long before we meet him in Assassin’s Creed III or the invention backstory of Benjamin Hornigold.  But most interesting is the dossier on Gavin Banks current Master of the Assassin Brotherhood.  The details and relation of the game to real life events we are privy to every day.  A great example is the Tunguska blast in Siberia and the Apple of Eden.  Old favorites from the Ezio trilogy are alive and well on the Initiates site and are still active.  It is incredibly satisfy to get a glimpse of Rebecca and Shawn outside the games and enjoy the intrigue and humor in brief snippets.

The Brotherhood is rebuilding in the present day world.  Abstergo may be far more in the public eye but the present day Brotherhood is rebuilding cells world wide.  It was fascinating to read who leads the Japanese cell and the activities that were going on in Russia.  It is nice to read about women in the Initiates database and surveillance reports because women are still missing from the actual games.  There is also a mini-game called Lost Memories which allows users to find memories around the world.

Adding to the already rich world of published material related to the world of Assassin’s Creed, there is a new book scheduled to release November 4, 2014 entitled Assassin’s Creed Unity: Abstergo Industries Employee Handbook by Christie Golden who also wrote Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag: Blackbeard: The Lost Journal.  I’m far more interested in the Handbook than the Blackbeard’s book.

  Access the Animus is an Italian fan site which summarizes the various extraneous materials published for the franchise.  If you don’t have time to read the various novels and comics, and trust the review of someone else, then Access the Animus is a great place to catch-up and learn about the other Assassin’s roaming the planet in various times and places.

So, if you are in need of an Assassin’s Creed fix before the release of Unity then it is worth checking out both Initiates and Access.  Little snippets of a glimpse of what is happening between the Assassin’s and Templars is certainly one way of filing the void between the release of major titles.

 

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Weekend Activities: SWTOR and Xbox

SWTOR got a lot of play Thursday and Friday, easy stress escape and I got caught up in leveling my bounty hunter.  What is really irritating me is that since the last time I played the fine folks over a Bioware have for some unfathomable reason disabled the ability to take a screenshot during a dialogue scene with a NPC.  I’ve missed countless great shots of humorous lines or facial expressions as a result.  Hell, I’ve just missed great shots of my characters up close.

I have a plethora of screenshot for the wildlife or environment but not one of my character.  I am going to have to remedy that next time I log on.  I fell into the crafting trap this weekend, you know the one.  You spend more time logging in and out of various characters to craft items or send raw materials.  I wish they would release an app for one of the mobile platforms to let gamers do that stuff while away from their gaming rig.  I would definitely spend more free time in SWTOR or any game to be honest, that let me get some of the more mundane but vital activities, like crafting, accomplished while waiting at the doctor’s office or watching television.

I fired up the Xbox demo for Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD before I had my first cup of coffee on Saturday morning.  It left a bad taste in my mouth and I quickly moved on.  Hubby woke up and he tried it thankfully and I was instantly charmed.  So a couple of cups of coffee and a trial by hubby and AC: Liberation wound up on my game rotation for the week.  A full review when I am more than a couple of hours of game play in and more than one cup of coffee consumed.

Thanks to the fine folks at Gamefly I also played some Diablo III on Saturday.  I created a female barbarian and set off on my single adventures.  I got to New Tristam and learned that there was no way to link my battle.net account to my Xbox account and was instantly frustrated.  All those fine goodies from virtual Blizzcon tickets are going to go to waste because of my platform choice?  Seems like a oversight that should not have happened.  Diablo III never felt like a PC game to me and there is no way I’m paying PC prices for it when I can rent it or buy it from Gamefly.  The one thing I do really like about the port to the console is that cooperative game play isn’t fouled up by a split screen which drives us both bonkers.

Hubby fired up Mass Effect and started the ugliest character he has ever created on Insanity.  No seriously, the Shepard he created was so ugly I cringed every single time I looked up at the television and caught a glimpse of him.  He took pity on me and recreated Shepard as Sheldon Cooper and started over on Insanity.  All I have to saw is that Insanity is a difficulty setting I will never be attempting!

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Mobile Gaming: Rule the Kingdom

Rule the Kingdom from GameInsight is available for free on idevices, Android, Windows, and Facebook.  Knowing my love of the RPG genre and games focused on questing I downloaded it to my Windows 8 tablet as soon as it became available.

The game is charming but it suffers from what I consider a fatal flaw: over monetization.  It is possible to play the game and not spend a cent but to do so you would have to have the patience of a saint.  Seriously, should your character die you have to flee to the castle and wait on hour before your can resume playing or your need to spend real world money to continue playing.  While I don’t mind spending money on good games, I do mind when every possible action almost in a title is possible to complete with cash.

So, while charming it isn’t going to get a recommendation from me despite the wide number of platforms the game is available on.  I would much rather have a small purchase price associated with a mobile game than have every move in the game monetized.  If you have children, then this game is a definite pass.

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2014 Gaming

2013 and 2012 I was a MMO tourist.  I couldn’t find and settle down in any one game for any length of time.  Instead, I’d play game X for a couple of months while “cheating” on it by playing a couple of other games on the side.  2013 isn’t going to be touristy for me.  I know what games I want to play and what games just hold no interest for me any more.

WOW is off of my SSD and my subscription cancelled once again.  I’m not going to jinx myself and say I’m never going to play it again but that’s how I feel.  BlizzCon left an incredibly sour taste in my mouth and I honestly don’t want to continue to support Blizzard economically via gaming.  I prefer my WOW lore in book format where actual stories can be told and finished.  I loaded up on several WOW novels when they were last on sale as an Amazon Daily Deal.  Raiding isn’t enough to keep me continually paying a subscription, hell let’s be honest it is as boring and trite as running the same five-man instance repeatedly.  End game boredom is the reason I first “cheated” on WOW and nothing has changed since I started playing the game back in 2008.  I’m a woman over forty-five who doesn’t enjoy raiding, clearly WOW doesn’t care about what interests me and thus I’ll spending my gaming dollars elsewhere.

Games that I’m “Quitting”

Guild Wars 2, Rift, and SOE games are definitely no longer on my radar. 

GW2 was a huge disappointment for me and every time I pop back in and retry it my initial disappointment is reconfirmed.  There is no one playing the game and thus the whole “events” theory of gaming is utter crap. 

Rift is still enjoyable but I still can’t stand my questing being interrupted by rifts.  I do thoroughly enjoy Rift’s PVP but that isn’t enough to keep me interested in playing the game. 

SOE has its own particular set of issues.  I love Everquest 2 but I do not love the artificial blocks they have established to character progression.  Also I’m not going to spend money on SOE games when the benefits of subscribing are constantly in flux and are detrimental to the gamer but highly beneficial to SOE.

2014 Games

This year, the MMO’s I am going to playing Elder Scrolls Online, Lord of the Rings Online, The Secret World and Star Wars: The Old Republic.  The one thing these games all have in common?  Fantastic story telling and characters I am utterly invested in. 

TSW is a game I can play for small doses at a time but I love every moment of that play time.  TSW has expanded my reading base and thus my knowledge and I cannot fault any game that pushes me to become a better read individual.

LOTRO may not be a perfect game and it may not be hundred percent pure for the lore purists, but it is more than reasonably close for me.  The cosmetic system and the stunning screenshots I get are worth minor inconveniences like purchases not being account wide from the cash shop for almost every purchase.  I admit, I lose complete track of time while playing LOTRO and that alone is an endorsement for me.

Elder Scrolls Online releases on 4 April 2014 and I am eagerly looking forward to the official release.  I fell in love with Oblivion on the Xbox360 and have been a fan ever since.  Elder Scrolls games will always hold a special place in my heart, with the exception of Skyrim, and based on developer statements and interviews ESO will be a game that perfectly fits my play style.  I will also admit the Skywind mod for Morrowind has me intrigued.

SWTOR is going to be my guilty pleasure this year.  I have characters with unfinished stories and I will admit that bothers me immensely.  I may pop in and out of SWTOR this year as a break from high fantasy games like LOTRO and ESO and I’m ok with that.  I will complete story lines and enjoy myself immensely doing so.  I am a complete sucker for anything Star Wars, Yoda slippers & Jaina Solo shirt I’m looking at you, so it shouldn’t be a complete shocker that unfinished stories in a Star Wars game is driving me bonkers.

Console & Mobile Gaming

I will still be playing games on the 360 and the One this year.  Fable Anniversary releases next month and I’m looking forward to it.  I still have several games to finish on the One purchased on release day.  I like the titles just fine, I’ve just been in the reading mood and not the gaming mood the last month or so. 

Mobile gaming caught my attention in the last couple of weeks.  Games like Dungeon Hunter 4 and Royal Envoy 2 have me engaged and interested.  It is safe to say that mobile gaming reviews and impressions will be forthcoming this year. 

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BlizzCon 2013: Initial Impressions

There was much goodness revealed at BlizzCon yesterday.  An expansion for Warcraft, cinematics for Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone open beta announcement. Beta sign-ups are live for all expansions or new games, so sign into your battle.net account and join the fun.

Where to begin?  Diablo II first, The Reaper of Souls expansion.  Adventure mode: play where you want, when you want.  It is a separate mode from campaign mode, designed for players to freely move between modes and enjoy the game anyway they wish.  The game play looks amazing and I’m interested in the Crusader panel today discussing the upcoming class and changes in greater detail.  I admit I haven’t played Diablo III yet more than the trial but I am itching to, specially because the transmogrification system coming in the expansion is something that has peaked my interest greatly.

 

World of Warcraft, the Warlords of Draenor expansion looks to have the potential to revitalize and aging MMO in a competitive marketplace.  UI improvements are coming (true Bind on Account Heirlooms!), popular add-ons being integrated into the UI (random mount, battleground timers), and NEW and stunning character models.  Oh yeah let’s not forget Blizzard’s take on player housing is coming too!

Initial reaction here was meh, but digging deeper I’m deeply interested because let’s face it, I’m a lore junkie.  I think they took the easy way out and reworked old, familiar favorite characters from past Warcraft games but at the same time, they are bringing the past to bear on the present.  I didn’t play the RTS games but I know that the MMO I play today is based on what happened in those previous games and thus I’m looking forward to meeting the current day iterations of those beloved characters from RTS games.  Do I think they need to clear up some of the time travel that isn’t time travel confusion, oh yeah.  I think the potential is there, especially on the lore front.  Orc history, Draenei history, Ogres, and the incredibly juxtaposition of Thrall and Garrosh going back in time to meet their parents with affecting the timeline that we all know.

Heroes of the Storm is the Blizzard entry into the rapidly expanding and incredible popular arena style of multiplayer game.

Heroes is all about your favorite Blizzard multiverse characters into the same game.  Models for characters are familiar but different and game play looks fun, like a fast paced RTS with friends. 

Hearthstone, Heroes of Warcraft is the online card game that is set in the Warcraft Universe.  It has been in closed beta since August and open beta hits next month.

I’m in closed beta for Hearthstone, although I haven’t yet fired up the game.  It looks fun but at the same time I can’t seem to find any excitement on interest for an online card game.  Maybe I’m too old?  Also announced was the game will be coming to apple and android phones in beta form sometime next spring. 

Overall, the first day left an overwhelming impression that Blizzard has spent more time listening to the player base and is more focused on creating games that their players want to play.  Hopefully, the trend continues and they follow through with that potential. 

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Firefly Online

San Diego Comic Con started today and the surprise announcement of the convention so far is ... Firefly Online! That's right folks, if you've missed Firefly's unique sense of humor and amazing adventures over the past decade, then fire up your Android and iOS devices in 2014. The world of Firefly is coming to a mobile device near you.

Beta sign-ups are now open and I confess we've already signed up around here.