Cute Overloaded

[Introduction]

I was over at Addicting Games yesterday, and I somehow got suckered into trying the free-to-play game Wizard 101. At first, I thought I was going to be sorely disappointed. The game was not really intended for an older audience, of which I belong, but rather for teens. I was expecting a lot of childish antics (which there was a little bit of), crude behavior (of which there was not much), and horrible gameplay.

[Childish Antics]

Yes, there are some younger players around. Most of them can't chat because they don't have their parents permission. This is a godsend. There are still some that can chat, and do so both openly and with a lack of tact. There are plenty of limitations to the text chat. If you type something in that is not on the acceptable chat words list, it gets posted as "..." instead of what you wrote. This can be a pain in the ass at times, but generally makes things a lot easier on the eyes. In the end, it also makes the game far more enjoyable.

There is a lot of one-upmanship in Wizard 101, which brings me to my next point.

[Crude Behavior]

I must preface this next section with the fact that the people that play Wizard 101 tend to be younger. By younger, I mean in their teens. They like to show off their pets and their mounts and they "glam" outfits. If they don't like what you are wearing, they will boldly tell you and everyone around you how much it sucks. They pick on people who do not have mounts, at least a little bit. Lower level players don't get picked on as much, but higher level players have this de facto standard applied to them, and if they don't fit the standard, they are outcasts.

Outside of these couple of things, however, people are generally friendly and willing to help each other out. If you are clearly not doing well in a battle, other players jump in to help out. If you need to do a quest that is a bit more difficult, you need but ask, and a number of players will be glad to assist. The older players know where everything is, and are more than willing to show you around if you only say the words. There are even players who shout out in the streets that they are looking to assist the newer players with their quests. All-in-all, the community is far better than I had imagined.

[Horrible Gameplay]

I was really, really, really, really, really expecting the gameplay to be substandard at best. In fact, I was expecting to stop playing within about 10 minutes of loading the game.

Much to my surprise, the gameplay is fairly decent. The quests make sense and move smoothly from one to the next. The combat system takes a little bit to get used to, but has a lot going for it, from pre-fight set up to in combat tactics that need to be done. The fact that anyone can join your fight, seemingly without loss of experience or loot gains, is a godsend when you accidentally pull too many mobs. The spell system has a lot to offer, from the ability to choose which paths you would like to take, to the ability to customize your character's effectiveness in many situations.

Items, and their associated bonuses, don't always make sense, and will take some searching google to fully comprehend what specific things do or are for. Everything stat-wise, has a symbol associated with it. Once you know what the symbols are for, you can quickly choose the gear that is most beneficial to your current situation. Some gear adds bonuses to combat offense, some to defense, some give the ability to use spells in combat that you normally would not be able to use.

In the end, I played to complete all of the free-to-play quests. Took me a couple of hours, and I may at some point in the future decide to continue on my journey and subscribe to the game. It seemed pretty fun at first, and I definitely enjoyed the time I spent there. I would have liked to have a couple of friends with me that I knew, but otherwise, it was a nice little ordeal.

Oh, Holy Night

I decided to play some Killing Floor again, just because I have not played that game in quite some time. To say that they have made some changes would be an understatement. They have redefined quite a bit of every class, and have added loads of new achievements.

In addition to that, they have added the Twisted Christmas event to boot. Running through January 4th, players will face off against hordes of zombies in Christmas attire, from the Santa Patriarch, to the Gingerbread Gorefast, and everything in between. I think the funniest thing is when a Bloat dressed as Santa comes within range of you and says "Cookie?"

Anyway, fun little game. Kill loads of zombies on any number of maps. With a wide range of classes. Be prepared to spend some hours doing this. It is well worth it.

Genie in a Bottle: Three things Guardians wished everyone knew.

Introduction

I play Lord of the Rings Online. My main character is a Guardian. I find that many people don't fully understand what a Guardian does. Sure, they all know that the Guardian is a tank. Most know that Guardians can do decent damage these days (thanks to Turbine for actively developing the class as something more than just a tank.)

But, here are three things that Guardians wished everyone knew about them:

Number One - Narcissism

If we are not getting hit, we can't generate threat. Most of our threat skills are reactive based. Sure, we get things like Vexing Blow, Engage, and Challenge, but those skills don't generate enough threat to be able to control the flow and pacing of a fight. We need to use things like Whirling Retaliation (in the parry chain), Litany of Defiance and Shield-Taunt. None of these are readily accessible without being attacked by something, and preferably multiple somethings.

One of the biggest pet peeves of mine is when I run in, hit Challenge, and then the Champion comes in right behind me and hits their horn. Sure, the stun is nice, but while the mobs are stunned, the Champion is happily throwing down massive aoe damage while the Guardian is sitting there with nothing hitting them. Then, the healer complains about why the Champion is taking so much damage. Obviously, it is because the Guardian was unable to generate threat due to an untimely stun.

Number Two - It all Boils Down to One

While I am all for balls-to-the-wall DPS in many situations, there are plenty of times when the DPS classes need to just chill the fuck out. This is especially true when there is only one mob to fight, be it a boss or the only mob in the area. If you remember from the first point, Guardians need things hitting them in order to generate threat. With large numbers of mobs, this is very easy. With only a single mob, it is much harder, as you have fewer block and parry responses. This means we generate less threat overall. A lot less. In fact, with fewer aggro generation skills against single targets, the Guardian is less effective at generating threat than a Warden against a single mob.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when the DPS classes decide they are going to just go all out against a single mob, and then complain about why the tank can't hold aggro.

Number Three - Taking the Bull by the Horns

Should we be moving faster? Should we be moving slower? This should be something the tank controls directly. While there are times when other people need to step up and take charge of pacing in an instance, most of the time, the Guardian's role is to make sure that he or she can hold aggro over not just the course of a single fight, but over the course of the entire instance. I can't speak for other Guardians, but I keep a close eye on the rest of my fellowship's morale and power. I know how much they are going through, and how quickly. I know when I have to take a break. I know when they have used skills which have a longer cooldown and we will need for future fights. I keep an eye on everything going on around me.

This generally means I do not stop unless I feel we need to. Sometimes, a fellow will tell me that they need to stop for something, be it a cooldown, some regen, or something outside of the game. I don't mind stopping if asked to, however, I do mind people just stopping because there is a lull in the action. Many times, I have a reason for not stopping. Maybe I got a lucky block at the end of a fight, and it gives me an advantage in threat generation in the next fight. Maybe my Guardian's Pledge is up and ready for use, and the healer doesn't have to work as hard. No matter the reason, it is important to let the tank lead and set the pace for the group. Successful groups let the tank do this. Sure, you can succeed when you take it nice and slow, but I love the action. The more the merrier.

Conclusion

I likely don't speak for all Guardians in Lord of the Rings Online. Maybe I don't speak for any of them. In my experience, however, I find these things to be important to the game, and important to the success of many a fellowship. Guardians need to be the center of attention. Guardians need time to generate threat against single targets. Guardians need to be able to set the pace. Well, maybe not the last one as much as the other two, but all three are valid points.

Shmups FTW!

There is nothing quite like a good shmup. And by good shmup, I mean a game that offers fast-paced action, unending waves of enemies, and so many bullets on screen that it makes your eyes hurt. Seriously. There are plenty of shmups out there. There are even plenty of really good ones.

Then, you have some really excellent shmups, although not nearly as many of those. Following those are the really good ones, the ones that can keep you playing for hours.

And then, you have the greats. Games that can have you playing for days and weeks. Games that will keep you coming back day after day, month after month, year after year. There aren't many of these. You have games from the past, like Galaga, that are classic hits that will keep you coming back for the rest of your life. Sometimes, however, you just can't get to an arcade, and even when you can, you are lucky to find a game you want to continually throw quarters into.

This brings me to games you can play either in your web-browser or install on your computer. Games like Warfare Forever bring plenty to the table when it comes to good shmups. It's something fun to do. Tonite, I had the pleasure of finding something fun, exciting, and altogether my idea of a great shmup: Death vs. Monstars. You can find it here: http://armorgames.com/play/3307/death-vs-monstars

I suggest you check it out.

Bubble Tanks Tower Defense

I love Tower Defenses. Ever since I player my first one in Warcraft 3, I have found them to be fun and exciting. I have played hundreds of them, and created dozens of my own. I love finding new tower defenses based on interesting concepts, from the Bloons TD franchise to Anti-TD, I like them all and find them to be for the most part enjoyable.

I found Bubble Tanks Tower Defense this past week on Addicting Games. I loved the Bubble Tanks franchise for its near open-ended gameplay, its interesting upgrade system, and its replayability factor. These things are present in BTTD as well, and they have not skimped in any of those things. The game is fun, as is any tower defense. It can be pretty hard. It also comes with an FML setting. FML is pretty much impossible. I have only been able to beat the easiest of levels on FML mode so far, but have only been playing for a couple of days. We shall give it a few more before I make any firm commitment to the FML setting.

That being said, the game is exceptionally balanced. It also has a pretty unique upgrade system. It upgrades towers similarly to the way the tanks upgraded in the Bubble Tanks games, but it also allows the player to make Mega Towers and Mega Mega Towers if you play on the main website. The game also has a bunch of extra content available on the main site as well.

All-in-all, the game is a great change from the standard fare of tower defenses. I hope they continue to make these types of games in addition to their normal games.

Oh devious little people

Sometimes, I wonder just who it is that comes up with the ideas behinds some of these Facebook games. There are some that are fun. There are some that are not-so-fun. There are some that hook you for a couple of weeks and then fade away. There are some that having you thinking "Wtf?"

And then there are a few, a very select, limited few, that are fun, replayable, and ever-so-addicting. It's these games that I want to know who has that first tiny little inspiration. Games like Mousehunt or EggBreaker. These games have this tiny little smidgen of "Oh my god, this is fun. Let's just keep going." in them. And they have you hooked. They don't have the flashiest graphics, although their graphics are pretty good, and they have spent enough time on them to give them the polish they need to be part of the "in" crowd. They have great gameplay. And they have HUGE communities of players willing to help each other and share what they know.

And lastly, I want to know why there aren't more games out there like these. Why aren't more people developing fun, little past times that keep you hooked weeks, months, and years after starting. Games that take little time, and little effort. Games that are fun and exciting, yet simple enough for anyone to understand and play. I demand more of these gems, and so should you.

Sometimes I wonder...

Sometimes I wonder what goes through the heads of developers when they are developing games. Don't get me wrong, I love a good old-fashioned challenge. However, there definitely comes a time when a game goes from challenging to downright stupid in 0.2 seconds because the game goes from being able to keep up to be completely unplayable in 0.2 seconds due to mechanics that have not been completely thought out.

What is so difficult about testing your product before releasing it? What is so difficult about balancing opponents, balancing weapons and skills and spells? What is so difficult about maintaining that simple balance between certain defeat and certain win that seems to elude the average developer?

Many people will say "But there are people who are too good who will complain if a game is too easy!" There most certainly are going to be people who are too good and will complain about that. However, the average user is not that high-end gamer with the best equipment and thousands of hours of gameplay experience. The average user plays a couple times a week, has little to no use for advanced mechanics that have steep learning curves, and really just wants to have some FUN.

I like knowing that when I play a game there is a certain chance of failure. I also like knowing that a game is generally not going to let me fail. It shouldn't. I play it because I want something of a challenge in my day-to-day life, but I also play because I want to escape. I want to be the hero that saves the damsel. I want to be the pilot that threads his way through 50 enemy fighter pilots, all while focusing on the enemy base without nary a shot hitting me. I want to live a fantasy of what I wish I could be, not what I am. Sure, I am not a complete and total failure at life, but hell, I am far from some amazing hero who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. When I play a game, I like knowing that maybe somewhere, somehow, I could have possibly been something more than I am, something better, something full of awesome and win.

So, listen up developers. I want a challenge, but I don't want too much of a challenge, just enough to keep me on my toes and away from boredom. I want to think that maybe I can perish in some quest you have given me to undertake, but I want to know that my chances for success are far greater than some lonely peon off the street. I want you to understand that I want to SUCCEED at your game. I want to BEAT it. I want to stand tall and say "That was ME!"

Furious Fists of Fiery Fear

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine asked me if I liked fighting games. I had no real reply for him. I started playing fighting games with the advent of Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter. Those days are long since gone, and nowadays fighting games are nearly impossible for me to figure out.

I did enjoy my time playing fighting games. There is just something about adrenaline pounding while you are furiously smashing buttons in the sincere hope that somehow your ability to smash buttons is better than your opponent's ability to smash buttons. In most cases, it is just purely random chance. In some cases, it is not.

I did get a chance to play some more recent fighting games when I worked for Namco at the Pac-Man cafe in Orlando, Florida. Don't try to look it up. It closed three months after I quit, and the world has lost one of the greatest places to visit. Period.

I also had the opportunity to witness live the Tekken 2005 world championships. The top 25 players in the world competing for a shot at $25,000 in cash and bragging rights for a year. I tried playing against one of those guys. My button smashing antics lasted me approximately 0.1 seconds before I was knocked out by "Super Mega Awesome 9876238746234 Hit Omega Complex Devastation Combo 4". Then it was time for round 2, which also ended up being roughly 0.1 seconds and ending with some combo reminiscent of the first one. Needless to say, I stuck to beating up 10-year olds on my breaks from that point on. Real competition made me want to cry, and it was just an arcade game.

The point I am trying to make here is that I do enjoy fighting games. At least somewhat. It is not my favorite genre. I find that button smashing does not leave me much in the way of strategy, and definitely does not require much in the way of brainpower to play, unless you include trying to remember the 847 different combos of moves that every character in every game seem to have. And there are usually 20 of those, plus another 47 secret characters, and 13 more additional hidden characters. They can be fun. They can be enjoyable. But for me, it isn't an all the time thing, although once in a while, having a beer and kicking the snot out of my friends is a fun thing to do.

They always get me with...

These Facebook games always get me. They start me off with this nice little UI, fun little things to do, and lots of cute little animations to make me say "Oh, well that is a nice game." About two days into the game, however, I am left wondering what I was thinking. They all follow the same basic concept: Here is your little plot of land, town space, building, farm, etc. You can gain more area to build in, on, around, etc as you gain more neighbors, friends, etc through invitations to the game. Or you can spend real money on expanding said area. The real money portion would be alright to spend if it weren't so damned expensive, but that is another rant.

The games themselves are not too bad. The concept, at least the first time, was fresh and fun. I played Cafe World for the first time almost a year ago, and I really enjoyed it. I recently got sucked into SocialCity last week. I thought to myself, perhaps they improved upon the UI and the gameplay. However, the game itself is sorely lacking in both gameplay and UI advancements. There is very little to do in the game, especially at the early stages, and it seems that even at the later stages in the game, there is also little to do.

There are quite a few games based on this same idea: Build a town/farm/restaurant/whatever, sell some items at different times based on your level and different contracts/growing times/recipes/whatever, buy new items/equipment/decorations/etc and in general have a jolly good time. This is all well and good, and makes for a decently playable game, but it lacks any kind of substance, and definitely lacks any kind of monetary incentive. I am not paying $1 for 1 in-game dollar. Not when a single item cost 10, 20, 50 or more dollars in the game, and gives little to no reward outside of some small bonus or just is there to look pretty. What is worse is that they have these little buttons all over the UI trying to get you to buy their in-game dollars. ALL OVER THE GOD-DAMNED PLACE!!! If I wanted to buy your in-game money, I would do so. I do so for other games I enjoy, such as HitGrab's Mousehunt (http://apps.facebook.com/mousehunt), and I will for other games that I find to be fun and enjoyable. I won't for games that are just there to try and sucker me for my money, for no other reason than to line their pockets without giving me something in return.

That being said, if anyone is a developer and would like to make one of these types of games, and would like some serious input on creating a game that would be fun for a less casual gamer like myself, please don't hesitate to contact me right here through this blog. I would love to hear from you, and maybe even give you some ideas. Who knows, you may even like some of what I have to say.

Games Games Games

I never could figure out what topic to blog about on a consistent basis. I always switched from one topic to another, without ever settling on anything that really caught my fancy in any particularly spectacular way. I think my main problem is that I always avoided the one thing in my life that I really and truly enjoy most: games. I love games. I love board games. I love card games. I love mind games. I love pen-and-paper role playing games. I love games you play in the car on long trips with your family. I love games you play at the park when you are a kid with no props, no rules and nothing to get in the way but your imagination and that silly thing called dinner. Most of all, I love video games.

Video games are my current passion in life. I love them in pretty much any shape they come. From arcade games to handheld pocket games to console games to computer games, I love them all. And I don't just mean a couple of different types of games. I love all types of genres: FPS, RTS, racing, simulation, action, shmup, puzzle, shooter, adventure, and everything in between.

I am going to dedicate this blog to my passion for games, to my passion for gaming, and to my passion for wanting to become a game programmer. I may throw in bits of the games I am working on. I may throw in bits of the games I play. I may throw in bits of games I think I may one day want to play or games I have read about here or there. I may even throw in bits of the games I dream about in the quietest depths of the night when my brain is working overtime on the best parts of everything that is possible in the realm of everything that could ever be.