Who doesn't like free stuff?

Not too long ago I wrote a post explaining the nature of expansions in Guild Wars 2, how the game world has been designed to evolve with the growing storyline. Well it's started, Flame and Frost is that name of the current story arc.

Havoc and destruction abound in the north. Severe storms are pushing the inhabitants of these northern reaches southward into the Charr and Norn capitals. Most assume the cause of natures distress is the frost dragon, Jormag. However some say that something far more insidious stirs in the insufferable north.

I love this game. In actuality the content that has been released so far for this story arc is minimal. Drawing a comparison from another game, the difficulty in helping these refugees is about the same as trick-or-treating in WoW and you're rewarded with the "Volunteer" title... So far. It's not too much of a stretch to think that the achievement will be a stepping stone into a much larger group of rewards.But the real reward for this game is the story.

It's often the case, at least for myself, that a game has my undivided attention. Drawing me into a beautifully written story... and then it's over. The fantastical tale is done and you're left with grinding for better gear until the game big-wigs decide that subscribers are frothing at the mouth enough to buy whatever half-cocked idea they pull out of their creative pool.

That's not really the case here. It's not that this game has eliminated the *shudder* level cap gear grind, but they've hidden it really well. There's literally a flood of events that are constantly happening around you. Here's a quick example.

You're up in the northern portion of the world, why? because you've never been there of course! As you're walking around you discover the entrance to a dungeon, but wait, what's that noise? A huge frost dragon appears out of nowhere and begins something akin to an open world raid that scales difficulty to the number of people around, and should you manage to kill it you're rewarded with the typical "fat loot" minus the threat of losing a need/greed roll and being stuck with whatever vender trash is left.  You'd think it stops there, but no, but killing it you've actually finished a daily achievement which rewards you with a type of currency you can use to buy end-game gear.

But that dragon wasn't a random mob,  it was part of a regional story that required multiple events to come to pass. Without you're assistance, a town may have been destroyed, people killed, all kinds of bad news. You're actions change the world and in Flame and Frost you'll have ample opportunity to do just that.

A Realm Reborn Beta Date

Hurray! So Square Enix beta test for "FFXIV A Realm Reborn" is happening in just over a week, I'd post a link to the signup page but anyone should be able to find it with minimal effort.

Every gamer loves getting into beta tests, if for no other reason than to gripe about how their preferred game is so much better. That being said I'd like to take a moment and quote one of my favorite game reviewers TotalBiscuit. "Beta is beta". Things are going to be broken, things are going to be rough, and try not to compare this game to whatever your current online addiction is, keep and open mind! These things are important because this isn't just a new game per say, this is a complete redo of an existing game, they want FEEDBACK! Don't be just a leech if you get in, there are always methods to deliver feedback in game, use them! It's the only way to help build a world worth playing.

While I've always been a fan of the Final Fantasy series, I have to say that my own exposure to their MMO counterparts is pretty limited but I'm definitely in line with everyone else jockeying for a spot in the beta.

Video Game Movies

I often wonder, just how many bad video game movies can hollywood put out before they realize this is not a good idea?

The current track record for game-movies is poor to say the least, I won't lie though it's a rare treat to see that random copy of the Mario Bros. movie on a friends shelf, which is often followed by the grim realization of it being in the company of movies like Mortal Kombat Anhillation or even Fatal Fury. 

But leave it to the creative geniuses in the movie business to once again try and tap into the poorly conceived and consistently failing game-movie, this time in an attempt to bring Azeroth onto the silver screen.



Expacs: The Good, The Bad, and The Pandas

Ok, so almost immediately after tossing up my last post and talking about the mythical "WoW Killer" I had the urge to rant about something that's been bugging me.
Let's just quickly look at the major points in the previous Warcraft story arcs. In the first expac, The Burning Crusade, the players strode bravely through the dark portal to do battle with the demonic hordes. The second pitted the players against the Lich King Arthas and his undead legions. In the third we saw the corrupted black dragon avatar, Deathwing, rise from the depths to try and wipe all life from Azeroth.  And now we have anthropomorphic pandas.
I can't get over it, they've built an expansion on a race that was originally meant as a gag, a joke. I mean seriously, who can take this seriously?

I do believe that WoW is a good game, it's entertaining, engaging and evolving. I know that suspending disbelief is a major part of any MMO but... talking Panda's are just too far off the bridge for me to follow.

No such thing as a "WoW Killer"

For years games have tried to claim the seemingly impossible title of "WoW Killer" and so far each challenger has been unceremoniously crushed. So what's the big deal about this concept?
Well first of all lets look at this from a financial standpoint, with over 10 million subscribers at $15 a month... not a small chunk of change. And that doesn't even cover the online store and micro-transactions. It's definitely a position that most game companies would do almost anything to get.
So there it is, the white-whale. A lot of games and game reviewers have tried to convince the world gaming community of ones superiority over WoW and it doesn't appear that it will end any time soon.

One of the newer challengers is Guild Wars 2. As one of the current leaders in the "micro-transaction pricing model" MMO's GW2 has a fairly strong following and a few tricks up it's sleeve in the form of different game functions. GW2 steps away from the accepted ideology of most MMO's and brazenly states that it has done away with things like the holy trinity of gaming (a party combination of established roles including; Tank, Healer, and DPS), Loot ninjas (people that join groups only to steal or "need roll" on absolutely everything that  drops off mobs), and the removal of expansions.

I know what you're thinking "Hold up, no expansions? No growth?! How the heck can a game stay alive with stagnant content?!". Actually that's not as hard as it sounds. ArenaNet (the developer for GW2) has said that there will be no PAID expansions, every month new content is released into the game, either in the form of holiday events or, the newly coined phrase, the "living story".
All this makes GW2 an incredibly fun and attractive game, but WoW Killer? No. If anything the reality is that GW2 is the alternative, the second person in a 2 party system. It appeals to a different group, that's all.
Truthfully, the only WoW Killer that will ever exist are the Blizz executives. The game will live for as long as they let it and in turn we the players are the ones who decide when it's truly time to let it go.