Diablo 3: Immortal or Short Lived?

It's not easy to create lasting appeal for a game. In a culture overflowing with short attention spans and an unquenchable thirst for new content, developers need to be constantly innovating to provide replay value. While Diablo 3 is a solid game that provides more than the average amount of fun, it is doomed to a short lived large following.

The game suffers from two main problems, balancing and endgame content. The imbalance in the character classes arises from the way the games damage is structured and perceived advantages to classes that don't truly exist in full.

All skill damage is based on the damage of your main weapon. This largely favors melee classes, as their weapons are almost always much more powerful. This mechanic also suffers from the fact that certain key class weapons (like Ceremonial Knives) cannot be found within many level ranges. This means that for a period of levels, you will be using underpowered weapons and thus doing underpowered damage. This almost exclusively hurts ranged classes as they are really the only ones who should stick to specific weapon types. The melee classes also have the benefit of higher armor than ranged classes, making them even better in contrast.

All of these factors are generally the case in most RPGs, but are balanced by the non-melee attribute of ranged attacks that allow you to stay out of harm’s way. While this works in most games, and should in theory work for Diablo 3, it does not. The truth is that even ranged classes like the Wizard or Witch Doctor are constantly surrounded by hoards of enemies.

The camera zoom also furthers this dilemma. Since you are not capable of seeing enemies more than a short distance away from your character, you often stumble into large groups without being able to initiate the battle from a safe ranged position.

I will grant that in the later difficulties (mainly Hell), kiting enemies is a little harder with melee classes. However, given that probably 90% of the game is played while not on Hell difficulty, this isn't enough to balance the classes out.

As mentioned earlier, the game also lacks enticing endgame content. There are no raids, no exceptionally hard dungeons, and no content that you haven’t completed in your previous playthroughs. Yes there are 5 classes, but as each might not appeal to every player, you are left twiddling your thumbs once they are all done.

The way that many RPGs, especially MMORPGs, solve this problem is with player verse player (PvP). PvP gives you a reason to go out and waste 5 days collecting all that super sweet best gear. In the PvP model, you get better gear to more effectively win ever-changing games against opponents who are also constantly upgrading their gear.

Without PvP, upgrading your character's gear once you have hit max level serves no true purpose. In essence, you are getting better gear just to get better gear. These upgrades will not allow you to do anything you haven't already done, and no one will notice but yourself. Once you have done everything, what's the point of being more powerful?

And now to anticipate the raging criticism all diehard Diablo fans have been wanting to scream at me by this point; yes, Diablo 2 possessed the same problems. And yes, it remained popular for years. But ask yourself who it remained popular with, and how many people really played it past it's glory days?

As with any game, there will always be a portion of the population that consider themselves to be extreme fans. Maybe they like the storyline, maybe the gameplay, or maybe they ration themselves to one game every  ten years. Either way, this select group dedicated individuals is not enough to declare a game without fault, but only to acknowledge that it possessed something special. Diablo 3 definitely has something special, but not for all of us, and I think not for long.

Battlefield 3: Close Quarters Pre-Release Thoughts

          We are now just a single day away from the release of the new Battlefield 3 Close Quarters DLC. I have tried to remain hopeful and postpone spreading the bad news, but I can wait no longer.
          Battlefield has a few great advantages over other more conventional shooters like those in the Call of Duty franchise. These advantages take the form of huge sandbox maps, vehicles, and more tactical gameplay centered around a loose class system. The release of DLC devoted entirely to close quarters combat (CQC or CQB), effectively neglects these advantages and attempts to provide gameplay that cannot rival other titles who are entirely dedicated towards it.
          No one plays Battlefield for room to room combat. That's not what the game is, and that's not what it will have success in being. The gunplay, weapon handling, and firing mechanics in games such as Modern Warfare 3 far exceed what Battlefield 3 is capable of and, more importantly, capable of impressing people with in this area. the simple fact is, when you take away vehicles and huge maps, you also take away the major components and benefits to each of the games classes, leaving you with a FPS that is no more than decent.
       With an already overwhelming amount of people using either the viciously powerful Assault class or just shooting rockets down hallways with Engineer all game, it is my hope that the new DLC won't further these trends. Had it been me in the conference room, I would have voted for more vehicles, more stuff to blow up, and more space to do it in.

Diablo 3 Imbalanced Classes

          Every game has its flaws, even the great ones. To me, Diablo 3's most obvious flaw lies within its class balancing. Every class is powerful, and perfectly capable of holding its own with the right build, but the melee classes are noticeably better, especially the Monk. Blizzard must have picked up this scent as well, having just nerfed the Monk, but the different it has made is minimal. Barbarians and Monks still dominate the field, while the ranged classes get rick-rolled when it hits the fan. The Wizard is probably the best of the ranged classes, owing to its heavy AoE focus, but still can't compare to melee. The Barbarian and Monk both do crazy damage, can knock enemies back constantly (basically becoming ranged fighters), and in many instances can constantly heal themselves. I'm not sure if you guys feel the same way, but it's pretty hard to miss for me.

The Easy Way Out

          In my opinion, gaming has quickly become less about fun and testing yourself, and more about leader boards and easy kills. From developers to players, we have created a gaming culture in which the easiest path is obvious and encouraged. This sentiment is seen in almost no other sport, however. You didn't see Barry Bonds get away with corking his bat, and you won't see steroids legitimized for pro football players. You do, however, see quick scoping work its way back into Call of Duty, and the ability to buy all Battlefield 3 vehicle upgrades from the live marketplace. Is it just me, or is the industry handing out god mode passes to anyone interested? Players have apparently lost touch with the good old philosophies of earning your keep, and taking the road less traveled.

          RTSs have always been a passion of mine. There is nothing quite like winning a game with pure tactics and battlefield creativity. It is strange to me that a simple board game such as chess has survived through the ages, while the RTS genre, its gaming equivalent, appears to be running on empty almost from the start. I enjoy getting multi kills in Halo as much as the next guy, but after a few hours of exerting my dominant reaction time, my mind craves a challenge as well.

          Let me be clear about this from the start; I’m not saying that FPSs don’t challenge you or require a certain set of skills to become proficient in. The fundamental difference between many modern FPSs and most other video game genres is the degree to which a person lacking experience or real skill can overcome their handicap by simply picking better gear. How else do you explain the rampant use of guns like Modern Warfare 3’s ACR and FMG9s? These guns are no frill, death machines, tailored to maximize kills, and minimize effort in doing so. To me, that's what it seems to be all about these days, minimizing effort. The ACR is pinpoint accurate, shoots fast,, has a large clip, and does decent damage. With this gun in your hand, good aim or the ability to control for recoil are not necessary to have an extremely successful game. Similarly, the FMG9 akimbo shoots incredibly fast (doubly so with akimbo), has a tiny hipfire reticle, and has a huge magazine. The FMG9 akimbo as a secondary is better than many of the primary weapons on smaller maps. Now I understand that certain players find themselves outmatched by more experienced players, and use these guns to gain an edge. This playstyle is fine to me. Where the problem arises is after the match ends and these same people talk trash about how much they pwned you. To talk trash with an ACR in your hand, is much like bringing a gun to a knife fight and bragging that you won. Oh, and one more thing: modded controllers…..enough said.

Full editorial written for TalkingAboutGames. See the rest at http://talkingaboutgames.com/?p=24486

Hater Blocking, Without Hater Blockers

          So I noticed you’ve been catching a lot of flak for doing so well on online. I’m sure you’re wondering how I noticed this. *Hides camera* Don’t worry, I have my sources. What’s more important here is your lack of adequate retorts. Well yes, it CAN be hard to come up with the perfect one liner to send them to the corner with a “Dunce” cap, but luckily I’m here to help. I may not be the best player out there (then again I might be), but I know how to handle myself in game chat, which can sometimes be more useful. Now let’s make one thing clear, I’m not advocating for trash talk…..I’m advocating for reverse trash talk. After all, they started it. Here’s a breakdown of how to deflect all that hate coming your way:

Insult about your mother (classic opener):

          The important thing here is to stay calm. Like Dorothy Mantooth, your mother is a saint so don’t believe their lies. What you want to do now is claim you have no mother; come up with a better childhood story (sorry mom). For example, you were raised by a pair of endangered white Bengal tigers. When these tigers came under poacher attach, you were separated forever and forced to join civilized society under the moderation of your court appointed guardian Roy Horn. To this day, you search for your furry parents. People won’t know how to handle this response. Maybe they say something mean about the tigers, whatever, you weren’t raised by tigers, stupid them. Keep the story going if you have to. Eventually you will probably get some laughs from the rest of the game lobby, dissuading the incoming hate even more.

Want to read the rest? Visit http://talkingaboutgames.com/?p=24232 for my full editorial.

Gamers Dating Gamers

          Today I want to talk about girls. Now I know this isn't really a gamer's area of expertise, but I'm going to put my best, and probably most futile, effort into warning you about something you may stumble upon if you leave the basement to get another six-pack of Mountain Dew.

          It's not girls in general that you need to be warned about, God knows your parents have probably tried awkwardly at that already, but young ladies who call themselves gamers. If you consider yourself to be a gamer, I'm sure you'd like to find a girlfriend who's a gamer as well. Am I right? WOAH there! That was a trick question, and see how easy I have caught you off guard? Let's examine this further.

          So you meet a girl, and she says she's a gamer. Ok, fair enough, but how much of a gamer? A girl once described herself to me as a gamer, and when asked what she played, she hit me with "Mario Kart." As I recall, I was drinking something and nearly choked. For the ladies reading this, that does not qualify you to even jokingly refer to yourself as a gamer. While Mario Kart is admittedly a fantastic game, it is more of a pastime. That's like saying you are an excellent pilot based on your computer flight sim. Moving on.

          So we have got those posers out of the way, but what if they aren't lying? This path could be even more detrimental to your potential future relationship.....with your console or PC. You ask her if she's a gamer, she says yes, and drops all the right names. You're love struck. You're booty blinded. She asks you out. Your mouth managers to spit out the word "yes" through your drool. Life seems great, until you realize you've created a monster. You play games a lot, right? So does she. You want to finish your campaign tonight, right? So does she. It's a matter of sheer physics. There's one Xbox, one copy of Skyrim, and two people that want to play it. Ladies and gentleman, we have reached an impasse. So let this be a warning, if you are going to date a gamer, make sure you've got the hardware to support the relationship, and I'm not just talking about the bedroom (unless you have a console there).

          Now that we have gotten to the real meat of the issue, it's time for the proverbial double rainbow "what does this mean?" It means that the secret lies, as it usually does, in moderation. If you plan on exhibiting none in your gaming life, you better find someone who does. Find the girls that get bored after two games, they won't tie up the Xbox all night. Or look for the ones that stick to handheld gaming, they make for nice company while you play real games. If none of this works for you, long distance may be a good fallback.

Like My Blog? Check This Out!

          If you like my blog, you will like some of the latest content from the awesome gaming website TalkingAboutGames.com (TAG). I have recently begun writing editorials for TAG, featuring many of the same topics you will find on this blog. The website is still in the beginning stages, but already has a good following that continues to grow. If you are looking for a great gaming website, check out TAG and don't forget to look for my editorials (look for "Written by Nick Krone").

L2P Your Class

          This one goes out to all the boys and girls who are doing it wrong. Whether its an FPS, RPG, or something in between, there's a bunch of people who just don't get it. It's not that hard, most of the games even help you out.
          Take Battlefield 3 for example; the classes are named according to their purpose. Could it get any easier to figure out? If you're playing support and your using a sub machine gun, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! If you're recon and using a shotgun, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!
          Now let's take Modern Warfare 3. Some of the class/weapon combos in this game are mind-bogglingly absurd and illogical. If you are using an LMG with Marathon, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! If you are using Marksman on anything other than a sniper, YOU'RE DOING IT EXCEPTIONALLY WRONG!
          Wanna switch up the game? Me too. Let's take the always lovable World of Warcraft. What's that? You're a Priest who only joins groups in Shadow? YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! You're warrior doesn't have tanking gear, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!
          It's simple really, but somehow everyone seems to get it wrong. When you pick a class, figure out what its designed for and what its benefits are. Finding a good multiplayer lobby in Mass Effect 3 would take 1/4 of the time if I didn't have to kick so many adepts with shotguns or engineers with snipers. Please people, please, L2P your class.

Balanced Characters = Fail

          If you don't agree with the title, then you're doing it wrong. Throughout games of all genres, you will face the option of whether to specialize or whether to balance. For the love of God, Thalos, Sephiroth, Kratos, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whoever you pray to, please specialize.
          In choosing to balance, mediocrity is your best possible outcome, and this rarely leads to great success. Every game is about strengths and weaknesses, whether it be racial bonuses in RPGs, or gun stats in FPSs. The right choice is never to balance both equally, but to capitalize on strengths and utilize them efficiently in different situations. For example, an LMG is Call of Duty has various advantages over the other gun classes, while maintaining an equal amount of disadvantages just as severe. The smart move would not be to allocate your precious resources (here in the form of perks, attachments, and proficiencies) in minimizing the gun's weaknesses, but rather to chose resources that play to the gun's already existing strengths, in order to make them even greater. No, you will not be well suited for every encounter with this strategy, but if you pick your battles wisely, and move about the battlefield with precision, you will be exceptional at most.
          As mentioned, the same rule applies for RPGs. It is surprising to see how many players chose classes or races that are considered to be the jack-of-all-trades. These characters rarely give you an edge during play, and are almost always frowned upon as potential companions for online groups or parties. Of course every team of players desires a well rounded makeup, but they seek this through a healthy mix of specialized characters, rather than an abundance of characters that are well rounded. This difference translates to a group that is designed to have at least one expert in any situation, and not 5 players that are mediocre in all situations.
          The great fear that plagues many gamers is the fact that they will not always be the best. In specializing, this fear will become reality, but no more so than in balancing. A specialized character will be unsuited for some situations indeed, but no game is designed where success is not always possible, despite the struggle. A balanced player will find himself perpetually average; moderately suited for every situation, but succeeding at none with ease. Specialization is therefor the key to success in all genres, especially during online play. In video games, as in life, your talents are more beneficial than those skills you perform poorly in. Focus on these talents, build and develop them. If you settle for constant mediocrity, there will always be someone better.
        

So You Wanna Be YouTube Famous

          I'd like to take some time out of my day, and yours, to talk about gamers with YouTube channels. At least once a week I get a message from someone on Xbox Live claiming that their n00b pwning skills are far superior to anyone they sent the message too, and you should check them out on their YouTube channel. Understandable really, who doesn't want to get YouTube famous and be the next Justin Bieber (minus everything about him except for the fame)? However, before you embark down this long path, take a good hard look at your own videos and think, "Who the $#%@ am I?"
          That's right, chances are, you're no one. To anticipate the obvious argument raging in your heads right now, yes, some no ones have blown up on YouTube and became overnight sensations, but they had some real talent (to the general dumb populous at least) or were just funny (which doesn't require talent). Let me give you an example. Yesterday I received a tweet to my personal Twitter account asking me to check out the guy's friend on YouTube, watch his gaming videos, and subscribe because he was trying to get "YOUTUBE FAMOUS." The use of ALL CAPITALS!!!!!! in the message was enough for me to know it was a teenager with hopes and dreams above his parents basement that he would never reach. So I did what any other normal human would do and sent him a reply saying that his friend was the very epitome of gaming trash and he would never be famous for video games. I didn't watch any of his videos of course, I have more important things to do with my life like stare aimlessly at my computer screen trying to think of something to cure my boredom. Later that day, I received a reply saying that his friend wasn't bad and that I had never played him. Against my better judgement, I clicked the previous link and went to his YouTube channel to confirm my suspicions. Suspicions confirmed. There was a plethora of videos around 300 views and one hilariously serious video of the player getting a MOAB using.....wait for it.....an ACR. Impressive I know, it must have been hard with such an underpowered gun; props random player. The best part about the videos lay in the fact that they were all clearly taken and uploaded with a phone. Now having my evidence, I again replied to the gamer's friend, mentioning, among many remarks on the players lack of skill, that anyone using a phone to create videos is obviously not serious about being YouTube famous. His response to my argument was 2 replies along the wording of "you little bitch all you care about is good graphics and editing" and "1: his finger is broken and 2: he doesnt have an hdpv so he uses his iPhone to upload his video." Let me take some time to respond to these remarks in length, as this should be a lessen to anyone posting gaming videos on YouTube.
          Firstly, as much as it isn't related to player skill, editing and video quality are necessary to success on YouTube for such a genre of video. If you tell me to watch your sweet new throwing knife montage and it looks like you hired the camera man from Blair Witch, all my interest is lost. Video games these days are highly dependent on graphics for success, so it only follows that clips of video games should be the same. Secondly, if you are trying to make to most badass FPS video ever with the intention to get YouTube famous, but your finger is broken, you should probably wait until its healed. Now, about that MOAB. Twenty five kills in a row is not easy for any person, but if you are using an ACR, it's a hell of a lot easier. Not that it's not an accomplishment, but definitely not one that will impress others and showcase your skill. Drop a MOAB with a KSG and maybe I'll consider watching.
          In closing, there are a few things you should remember if you are trying to be YouTube famous. One, "Who the @&^% are you?" Two, don't hire the Blair Witch cameraman. And three, impress ME, not yourself.

Proposed Battlefield 3 Changes (Post-Update)

          The most recent patch for Battlefield 3 was certainly an improvement and a long time coming. That being said, there are still a number of issues with the game that demand correction. Here is a list of issues that I have personally experienced, combined with some ways to fix certain ones:

MG36 - Now has a 50 round standard capacity, despite visually featuring a double drum mag which would hold much more than 50.

RPK-74M - Now has a 100 round standard capacity, despite visually featuring a banana clip.....seriously? Extended mag brings it to 200, still with a banana clip.

QBU-88 - In my opinion, the SKS should be the only semi auto sniper that takes more than 2 shots to the body.

FIM-92 Stinger - Still does not kill even the lightest armored of choppers in one hit, completely unrealistic, also broken considering how fast flares recharge. Also, considering that the Javelin can lock onto aircraft when laser designated, the stinger should be able to lock onto land when laser designated.

Soflam - Is essentially useless as the designation wears off almost instantly and it really provides no benefits as locking on is still required. It is only useful if you are using a Javelin and want to hit aircraft. A good change would be that launchers do not need time to lock onto designated targets, and can be fired instantly, especially considering how overpoweredly fast flared recharge. Another acceptable change would be that designated target's flares have no effect on incoming missiles, this would still not be overpowered considering it takes 2 stingers to kill a chopper....dumb in its own right.


IR Flares - Should recharge much slower. If locked on with a chopper, can fire 2 sets of rockets at an enemy vehicle constantly locked and have them flare both sets.

Heat Seekers - If flare recharge stays as current, heat seekers should recharge faster to offset the painfully long defensive strategy of constantly flaring.

All LMG's - Should be more accurate when in full auto. Its really quite depressing to dump 200 rounds mid range at an exposed target and land 3 hitmarkers. Hipfire is also horrific on all LMG's. Takes an unrealistic amount of sustained hip fire time to kill a target no more than 10 feet away.

Parachute - You claimed that it is now easier to control, quite the opposite. You also now take around 30 damage many times when you land, foolish.

AK-74U - Should not be the greatest long range gun ever. Currently, it can whipe you across the map in just a few short bursts. If my M60E4 can't do that, I don't think a sub (technically battle carbine) should be able to. This goes with many of the subs.

Suppression - Should have a greater effect against snipers that are aimed down scope. Almost 100% of the time I am bipod full auto LMG suppressing a sniper I will be headshotted. No sniper should be able to shoot even remotely accurately down his scope while suppressed, otherwise what is the effect really good for?

C4 - It should not take 3 to kill an LAV if it takes 3 to kill a heavily armored T90 tank.

Disabling Vehicles - Vehicles should only be disabled when below 30% life. Currently they can be disabled at around 50% life, possibly higher. Given the fact that a disabled vehicle is utterly useless if an engineer isn't around (and they usually aren't when your vehicle gets disables, aside from the fact that most people on your team aren't helpful anyway and won't go 5 feet out of their way to repair), it almost always results in both vehicles in a shootout being killed, as the surviving one is often ditched since it is on fire.

Overall - I like the changes in the update and give props to DICE for listening to their fanbase, but there is still some areas of the game that are blatantly flawed or imbalanced.

Spawn Camping - Your Fault or Theirs?

          For me, it usually ends in one of two ways: trying desperately to form a late-stage comeback, or seeing how many I can spin while facing the sky before the next "Hit X to Respawn" shows up. I personally find the latter option to be more enjoyable in these circumstances, as both are quite futile. I am talking of course about the biggest double standard in FPS's. I mean, we are nice people, we have respect for the game, we would never spawn camp....right?
          Now picture this. There you are, GanjaNinja420, strapped to the hilt with ammo for your FAMAS. Your team is obviously superior; CoDPwner1337 and BabySealClubber haven't died in 3 games, and its looking like number 4 isn't far away. The enemy team is falling back, BeiberLover1996 doesn't know how to aim down his sights, and GirlPowerRep isn't even competition. You reach their home base, ChickMagnet6t9 spawns in and you kill him before he can move. Guilt kicks in, your teammates feel it too. All of a sudden the mic light flashes and BabySealClubber tells you to back off so the game will be fair.
          So what went wrong there, besides someone naming themselves after Justin Beiber (lets skip the obvious points please). The truth is, as much as we all hate spawn camping, we are all guilty of it. I mean what else are you really supposed to do? No one works hard to push the opposing team back, and once reaching their spawn says, "Hey guys, I think they have had enough, lets retreat and give up everything we have worked for. I just don't think we are being nice enough to them." FPS's aren't about being nice, and they aren't about giving the other team handouts. If your team is strong enough and the other team plays poorly enough to get pushed all the way to their spawn, it simply doesn't make sense to walk away. In reality, if you are being spawn camped, it's your fault; maybe not yours personally, but as a member of your collective team. Where this can lead to obvious frustration is where one person is performing well enough to gain ground, but being hampered so much by teammates that no ground is actually taken. If this is the case, go ahead, throw some @%&*#, some ^#&@*, and maybe even some *#^@#($&(@&# at the screen (be careful with that last one though). But if you are middle of the round on the team scoreboard, you really don't have any justification to complain, and you'd sure as hell be dishing out the punishment if you were on the other team.

Why Borderland Developers Got It Right

          If you have read some of my other posts, then you know that one of my main criticisms of modern games is that developers never seem to truly have the consumer in mind during creation. Kotaku recently released an article about Borderlands and how Gearbox Software developers acknowledge that their games belong more to the consumers than they do to the studio. I urge you all to take a quick look at the article (which I have posted below), as I believe it is one of the best examples of how a development team should view their work. Well done Gearbox, and thank you.

• The Worst Thing Players Did in Borderlands Made It Better

As a side note, the following quote from the article particularly sums it up:
          "We make that as a joke. We'll say, ‘You're a bad designer if you tell your customer that you're playing the game wrong.' It's actually the customer's game. We should do our best to enable that experience. If someone is playing the game and they're not having a good time and it's because they're not playing it right, that's our fault."

The Human Element and Why Games Need It

          I'll be up front with it, people on video games suck. They scream in your ears, get in your way, talk like 10 year olds (because most times they are), and generally cant comprehend basic strategy or the core elements of the game you are playing. Regardless of all these facts that combine to make your life a living hell while online, it just wouldn't be the same without them. Video games need people as much as people need people, and I wish more developers realized it. It is disappointing to see modern games being released without aspects that speak to our species desire to socialize and share experiences. While this may sound like a lofty and philosophical idea that doesn't really apply to creating games, it could not be more closely relevant. In the video game world, the anomaly of our desire for interaction with members of our own species is directly reflected as one of the most important aspects of any video game and one many consumers base purchase intent on....replay value.
          I recently posted about the upcoming release of Capcom's RPG Dragon's Dogma, combined with my admittance of boredom for Skyrim. I will start with the latter. What Skyrim truly lacks is a human element. It has all the class possibilities and environmental immersion one could hope for, but it has nothing to definitively change your experience every time you start the game. Whether I use bows, daggers, or spells, I know how my enemy will react and almost always know how each combat interaction will start and end. This all changes with the addition of another brain. A game like Skyrim with co-operative online (or even offline) play would have considerably more replay appeal and value. Each combat sequence would be unscripted as no two humans think the exact same and one cannot anticipate the actions of another. Randomized action can be minimized with teamwork, but this even furthers the amount of differentiation in each play session. Allowing users to work together, plan strategies, and take no two battles the same as each player has before with a different partner would blow boredom out of the water and open the game to endless hours of exciting and ever changing gameplay. This concept is captured within the genre of MMORPG's. The core component in the same as RPG's of course: quest, kill things, gain experience, level up, customize. But this component is built into an infrastructure of human interaction. Where no dungeon or group adventure could be replicated and no frustration as your tank goes AFK during the final boss fight more meaningful. Yes, we hate it, and we love it at the same time. It is drama we crave and only humans can create it. It is in our nature to share experiences with others, and it would seem that many modern video game developers are fighting this nature. This brings me to Dragon's Dogma.
          I would like to make it clear that this post is not meant to be in conflict with my previous post on Dragon's Dogma. The game does look great and I am certainly excited about many of its aspects, but why no co-op? Is it really that hard or costly of an implementation? A system for players to hire "pawns" has already been added, and must have the same requirement of servers as online play would. Is it possible that developers are so blind that they cannot see the hole in the center of their games, the blatant lack of replay value created by making a game so ancient in fundamentals that it cannot be played with a friend? Video games are social creations, they deserve social features. In a modern gaming industry, and one that has long been exposed to the joys of co-operative and competitive online play, to create a new game without either is a months delayed death wish.

Dragon's Dogma Is Catching Fire (See what I did there?)

           So I've gotten pretty bored of Skyrim by now. I've played just about every possible character (which contrary to popular belief is not that long of a list, considering half of the so called "creative" characters are either not creative or basically not feasible to do anything of substance with) and they all seem pretty much the same to me. The game really boils down to a question of 1-handed, 2-handed, sneak, archery, destruction, illusion, conjuration, or a mix of those. The rest of the skills are really not very good and serve only as minor compliments. Regardless, I am here to talk about Dragon's Dogma.
          Nowgamer.com recently released an article (first link below) about Dragon's Dogma and its comparability to Dark Souls. While I never played Dark Souls and can't speak for the comparison, the article is also chocked full of good material and explanation of the game and its elements. Aside from my disappointment that the game will not feature a co-op mode, Dragon's Dogma is actually looking better than I expected so far. I have also linked two videos of assassin and mage gameplay that I thought showcase the game fairly well, aside from the obvious fact that the guy playing the assassin has a rapidly degenerating eye condition. Take a look and let me know what you guys think.

• Dragon's Dogma, 7 reasons why it's the Dark Souls of 2012
• Assassin gameplay
• Mage gameplay

The "Yeh, but..." Rule

          If there's one thing I hate in a video game (besides 10 year olds screaming in the mic) its imbalance. No matter the genre, balancing of all aspects is crucial and can be strongly felt by the user if done incorrectly. It is my belief that the process of balancing has been sacrificed over recent years for the more popular process of appealing to the masses
          The casual player would not notice this difference anymore than Infinity Ward would notice half their player base modding and exploiting. The casual player is kept happy by the imbalance purposefully created to make them appear and perform above their true skill level. Creation of imbalance in a game comes from ignoring an important concept that I call the "Yeh, but..." Rule
          Application of the "Yeh, but..." Rule involves only a simple process of checks and balances when designing an aspect or item in a game; a mere question of "Yeh, it can do this, but it can't do that". In my experience (which involves the majority of my days), recent FPS's are the biggest culprit in ignoring the "Yeh, but..." Rule. For example, we will take Modern Warfare 3's ACR assault rifle. Now, when this weapon was designed, its function should have been designed in a way where its strengths were balanced by added situational or operational weaknesses. Take the ACR's near zero recoil. It is a powerful advantage to have a weapon with no recoil, allowing users to hit their target with almost every bullet as long as they have decent aim. Such a powerful advantage should have been combined with a powerful disadvantage, say slow fire rate, or extremely small clip size. In the case of the ACR, however, the gun has no disadvantage, or at the very least no disadvantage relative in proportion to its advantage.
          Now obviously no argument is convincing just because someone can name one example, so take a second to think of all the assault rifles in just about every modern FPS. If you are someone who only uses assault rifles, then you probably wouldn't understand. For those of us with a working pair that have ventured outside the standard loadout, it is obvious in any game that the assault rifle classes are clearly better than every other weapon class. Personally, I love LMG's, and they are often one of the only weapon classes I will use in a FPS. The last game that I believe got LMG's right was Modern Warfare 2. Most of the LMG's in MW2 were 2 hit kills and high capacity clips. Those are two great benefits in one gun, not we must apply the "Yeh, but..." Rule. Yeh, they are powerful and suppressive, but along with these advantages comes the equal disadvantages of moving slow, slow aim-down-sight time, long reloads, and high recoil. Consider LMG's in MW3; they have all the disadvantages from MW2, but their damage is either the same or worse than the assault rifles. This is a blatantly obvious recipe for imbalance, and is felt by anyone that has equipped an LMG.
          It is not just Modern Warfare 3 that has assault rifles being the best weapon class by far, however. If you have ever played Black Ops, Battlefield 3, Operation Raccoon City, or just about any other game with multiple weapon classes, it is clear from the start that if you aren't using an assault rifle, you are at a significant disadvantage. Like I said, things like this are a simple case of "Yeh, but..." Somewhere along the line, developers just stopped asking themselves the necessary questions to balance games out, and started watching what players were using. I mean, if only 10% of the user base uses weapons that aren't assault rifles, does it really matter if you don't spend a lot of time making sure they are comparatively strong? Games these days aren't about making players happy, they are about making casual players happy, and the rest of us that don't use the status quo can apparently go to hell.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - Multiplayer, Singleplayer, and Class Review

          Well its not Call of Duty, Battlefield, or Gears of War; hell its not even Homefront or Medal of Honor; truthfully, its not even Resident Evil. What is Operation Raccoon City (ORC) then? A snack to hold you over between meals; just a knock around game before the good one your waiting for comes out. So don't get your hopes up, but don't count it out too fast either.
          Long before this game came out, it was obvious to me what its future success would be. All this analysis required was a little thought. A Resident Evil game focused on multiplayer being released about 6 months prior to a full fledged sequel in the series? Tell me that's not a recipe for mediocrity. The entire game is clearly a stunt to increase demand for the November release of Resident Evil 6, while also introducing consumers to an increased multiplayer aspect for future series drops. Viewing the game in this light, it's not all that bad. If you were hoping for a blockbuster multiplayer hit, then you are more at fault for buying the game than Capcom is for selling it.
          The campaign actually isn't horrible, the only faults I find with it are that the missions aren't very creative or exciting, and the AI of your squadmates if you aren't playing with friends is shameful. I am constantly having to pick up downed teammates, especially when Hunters show up. The best part about the campaign, and the main reason I play it, is that it gives you a lot more experience (used to purchase weapons and upgrades) than multiplayer. If you are short on cash and want that sweet weapon you keep picking up off the number one player, hit up a few campaign missions and its yours.
          Multiplayer is where this game really shines, not necessarily brightly, but there's some light coming out. While there are a number of gametypes on verses mode, they are all essentially the same, with the exception of capture the G-virus (flag). The other game types all just boil down to killing the other team when you find them, and zombies when they get in your way. I personally find killing zombies much more enjoyable than searching for players, and it generates you a lot more experience. The top player on the end game scoreboard will almost always be the person with the most zombie kills. If you find that you aren't very good at killing people, just go zombie hunting and you should be fine.
          Overall, the game is probably a B- at best, but its grade needs to be taken into consideration with its logical expectations and purpose. Before I let you all go, take a quick look at my reviews of each character class, and how they handle:

Assault
I personally believe that anyone who plays as an assault class in a class based shooter has zero creativity and isn't getting anything out of the game. That being said, the assault class is extremely powerful, not only because the assault rifle weapons are blatantly better than everything else, but because their purchasable abilities (such as Incendiary Rounds and Super Soldier) basically allow them to outright kill anyone in their path with no effort when activated.

Demolition
My personal favorite class, demo is designed around all things explosive. Putting down Fragmentation Mines and luring people around corners only to trigger the mines at their feet is priceless. The laser trip mines are decent, but the red line is pretty easy to see. Because your own explosives can't hurt you, this class is especially good in campaign, as you can put a Fragmentation Grenade at your feet if surrounded by enemies, blow it up, and have plenty of breathing room. Stick with shotguns or machine guns for this class and focus heavily on your traps.

Field Scientist
The field scientist is a very interesting class for a shooter game, really only made possible by the environment of the game and its genre. This class can control zombies and select targets for them to attack, or just turn them on your side and watch them go nuts looking for their own targets. The major downside to this class is that the zombies not only do depressing damage (like "once I watched one attack another zombie for over a minute and not kill it" damage) but also that the AI is super bad and the zombies you control will often just run around not doing anything. When you play as the field scientist, as enticing and cool as the abilities are, they will not really help you kill anyone.

Medic
I am extremely unhappy about this class. I am a huge support player and especially love medic and healer classes. I was very excited to find out ORC had a medic class, only to be dissapointed when I learned from experience that most of their abilities work far better and are much easier to administer on themselves than on teammates. The term "medic" should describe a class that focuses on healing others. While medics certainly can heal other people.....so can everyone else. The only difference is that medics can start with one First Aid Spray; a pitiful cop-out for a team healing mechanic.

Recon
The super ninja skill class. Invisibility is pretty powerful in this game, but most people use it in the wrong way. Whenever I see cloaked people in-game they are always sniping, which really doesn't require invisibility as snipers are often too far from targets to be hit anyway, not to mention that sniper bullets are fairly obvious when fired.A much better tactic is to use the cloaking ability to engage players in melee and instantly perform the special melee quick kills on them. Employing this method the player wont even know whats hurting them and will rarely react in time to stop the kill.

Surveillance 
The surveillance class is very practical and definitely helpful to have one on your team, whether you want to be the one to play it is another issue. The first of the three Y button abilities that gives radar to your team is by far the best of the three choices, and none of the surveillance passive abilities are exceptional. What this means is that once you activate the radar and it feeds to the rest of your team, they essentially all gain the one good benefit of your class, maintain the benefits of their own class, and you are just a guy with a gun. Like I said, it's great having a surveillance class on your team, but someones gotta fall on the sword for it.

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer - Infiltrator

Infiltrator: master of the brain game and super ninja skills. If you've had a rough day at work and just wanna slouch down and hit the easy mode button, this ones for you. To say the class is overpowered in multiplayer would be putting it lightly. Here is a breakdown of the Infiltrator races:


Human
Like most of the Human classes, the Human Infiltrator is a nice rounded character with the ability to take down a wide variety of opponents. The Human comes with Sticky Grenade, Cryo Blast, and Tactical Cloak. Sticky Grenade is exactly what it seems, a heavy damage grenade that sticks to enemies and surfaces. Use it on harder enemies like Atlas' and Banshees. Cryo Blast freezes enemies solid or slows them down, depending on if they have shields up or not. It also allows you to do more damage to enemies affected by Cryo Blast. Tactical Cloak is what Infiltrators should be using the most and is the bread and butter of the class. The ability allows the user to go invisible for a duration, and gives the next attack a huge damage bump. An important thing to remember that is not apparent or in Tactical Cloaks game description, however, is that the increased damage is not actually limited to 1 attack after the skill is initiated, as long as the user remains scoped in with the sniper. For example, with the Human class, you can go invisible, then use Cryo Blast to freeze to freeze your target and snipe them a second afterward and the bonus will still be applied to the snipe. This effect also works with semi-auto snipers, giving multiple shots (sometimes the entire clip) the damage bonus when first firing from stealth as long as you don't zoom out in between shots. As I will discuss in each section, each race has a different way to take advantage of this effect with their abilities.

Salarian
My personal favorite Infiltrator race and what I believe to be the best and most versatile. The Salarian comes with Energy Drain, Tactical Cloak, and Proximity Mine. The true power of this class comes from an effective use of the Tactical Cloak damage bump delay described above. Energy Drain is used to damage enemy shields, while restoring your own in the process. Now, in order decimate shielded enemies, activate Tactical Cloak, use Energy Drain, and snipe. The Energy Drain will completely destroy the enemies shields (assuming you have it leveled up enough), and the subsequent snipe will still benefit from the Tactical Cloak bonus, allowing it to 1 shot the now shieldless enemy. When sniping using this method, also make sure to accommodate for the stagger on enemies that results when the Energy Drain hits; aim a few feet behind where the shielded enemy is standing. Proximity Mine on its own is a high damage grenade that will stay on a surface until an enemy comes comes within its range, or will explode upon impact if it hits an enemy, When combined with the aforementioned Tactical Cloak delay, it allows for total destruction of unshielded enemies. Atlas' and Brutes will seem like Husks on bronze difficulty with this technique. Proximity Mine can be used either before or after the snipe, it makes no difference to the damage bump. My recommendation is to Snipe, then use the ability directly after. Using the Proximity Mine in this way can also kill shielded enemies in one snipe-mine combo.

Quarian
The Quarian Infiltrator comes with Sticky Grenade, Tactical Cloak, and Sabotage, and is best used against Geth or Cerberus due to the Sabotage addition. Sabotage makes enemy synthetics fight for you for a short duration. If leveled up fully, the skill will also boost enemies lethality during its duration and can even make them explode when the ability wears off. Sabotage can be used on non-synthetics, but the resulting effect only overheats their guns and is not very useful. Notable enemies to use Sabotage on are Atlas', Turrets, Geth Primes, Geth Pyros. A skilled Quarian Infiltrator will have the battlefield looking like a free-for-all with all multiple enemies attacking one another. It is possible to combine Sabotage into the Tactical Cloak delay but the result is nothing substantial, as Sabotage is primarily a defensive skill that does not do immediate damage.


In the hands of a skilled player, the Infiltrator class can be a deadly asset to any multiplayer match. I have always said that, killing aside, every team should have one just to use Tactical Cloak to pick up fallen comrades surrounded by enemies.

Call of Duty - Its Own Worst Enemy

          I had to interrupt my Mass Effect 3 multiplayer reviews to comment on some news I recently heard. Modern Warfare 3, which not long ago added 5 extra prestiges, plans to continue on this path by adding another 5 prestiges soon, and more after that. Now if your like me, a normal human being, you probably thought that the board room drunk came up with the original plan to add 5 prestiges and everyone else fell asleep when he asked if there were any objections.
          Infinity Ward's reasons for adding even more additional prestiges on top of the first loathsome 5 lies in the decline of their franchise. Modern Warfare 3 is seeing the fastest player drop rate of any of the previous Call of Duty games. Now my question is, and you are probably familiar with it if you have read any of my Call of Duty themed posts, "Do any of the Call of Duty developers and marketing representatives actually play the games?"
          Anyone that has played a Call of Duty game, watched a friend play one, heard about the premise, or is mentally competent at all could tell you that Infinity Wards "solution" is really just a longer shovel to keep digging that hole. Most players on games like Modern Warfare 3 do not end up hitting the final prestige in the first place, as they are casual gamers that do not have enough time to achieve such a goal. To this majority, adding 5 new presitges is like saying "I know you are having trouble shooting 3's, so we are moving you back to half court.....good, right?" Just 100% devoid of all logic.
         The change also does not sit well with hardcore gamers such as myself. I hit 10th prestige fairly early, and not because I was hoping they would add prestiges so I could endlessly keep repeating the cycle. Nobody actually likes prestiging, we do it so we can finally say we made it to the end and start accumulating things like gold guns that would have been pointless of unattainable in previous prestiges. To add more prestiges forces us to waste even more time before we can settle down and actually be happy with the game.
          Overall, the original addition of extra prestiges was terrible, and the upcoming continuation of that idea is exacerbating the very problem they are trying to solve. I truly do not know who is advising the development team at Infinity Ward, but it is obviously not someone familiar with Call of Duty games, and certainly not a gamer themselves.

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer - Engineer

If you want a class that just oozes sex appeal, then look no further, the Engineer has what you need. Whether its throwing sidewinder tech fireballs or pissing enemies off with a floating orb I named "Steve," all your sadistic Cerberus killing fantasies can be satisfied with this class. As usual, it comes it three different race varieties, neither of which I believe to be any better than the others. That is not to say that any are bad, however, as I believe every race within the Engineer class makes an equally powerful multiplayer character.


Human
The Human Engineer comes with Incinerate, Overload, and Combat Drone. This is a nice well rounded skill setup to deal with every type of enemy that comes your way. Incinerate burns through enemy armor like girlfriends burn through your cash flow flow (you'll get that once you stop playing video games). Like most of the skills, it doesn't hit the enemy instantly, but this can almost always be worked to your advantage by whipping it around corners and hitting enemies behind cover. Overload is one of the most helpful skills in the game. Not only does it decimate enemies shields and barriers, but it also stuns the foes. A good combo with Overload is to get close, hit them with it, then heavy melee while they are stunned and shieldless. Combat Drone is incredibly effective at taking enemy attention off you, while still doing a little damage. There are basically two ways to use the drone, given the path in which you spend points into it. The two ways boil down to long range or close range. I have used both, and I believe that choosing the close range shock skills for the drone are slightly more useful and effective than the long range rocket capabilities. The Combat Drone is also good at alerting you to enemies before you can see them, as it will often wander around killing enemies that you didn't know where about to sneak up on you. Make sure to always have a Combat Drone up as a Human.

Quarian
As a Quarian Engineer, you will start with Incinerate, Cryo Blast, and Sentry Turret. The true strengths of this race as an Engineer lie in the combined use of Incinerate and Cryo Blast. Hitting a shieldless enemy with Cryo Blast will cause them to become frozen solid and fall to the ground. Depending on the path you choose with its skills, frozen enemies may also be easier to kill. The real reason you want to be sending enemies back to the ice age, however, lies with the last upgrade in Incinerate, which makes it do 100% more damage to frozen and chilled target. Incinerate is already a high damage ability, so doubling its power makes it devastating to enemies.....plus you get to see them shatter and their icy gibs go everywhere. Sentry Turret is a good skill, but probably not as good as Combat Drone. I have found that the Sentry Turret is most powerful when upgraded with long range rockets instead of the short range flamethrower. Since the Sentry Turret can't move around like the Combat Drone, enemies often move out of its short range capabilities by the time you throw it at them and have it pop up. As a Quarian, you will probably want to use one very light SMG to maximize your recharge time. With the combination of Incinerate and Cryo Blast being so powerful, I have found that focusing on only using skills with this class and minimizing shooting as much as possible allows for the greatest damage output.

Salarian
The Salarian Engineer is a much different play style than the other two. As a Salarian, you will focus more heavily on gunfire than the other two races. The starting skills you will have access to are Incinerate, Energy Drain, and Decoy. Energy Drain drains the enemies shields and restores your own at the same time, a useful skill when you are severely damage and need defense fast. This skill should also be used in the same manor as Overload, as it does just about the same damage to shields and barriers. Decoy is the Salarians bread and butter. I have personally won many a game on gold difficulty because of the use of Decoy. The skill sends out a clone of yourself to a designated spot, which enemies then focus on and attack instead of you. The clone has a great deal of life and shields and lasts for a surprisingly long time. Decoy is especially useful against more powerful enemies like Atlas', Banshees, and Geth Primes.


Hopefully this has all inspired you to play my favorite class and has given you the edge you have been looking for with each of its Race combinations. Now get out there and take back Earth.

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer - Adept

I easily spend at least half my Adept playtime screaming "OOOOHHH!" or "BOOM!" It really just doesn't get any crazier than seeing a 5 kill Biotic Explosion or hitting an enemy with Throw and seeing fly outside of the map. If you are looking to Chris Brown some enemies, here are my thoughts on the various multiplayer Adept races:


Human
The human Adept comes with Singularity, Warp, and Shockwave. Singularity lifts people into the air and swirls them around for a while, doing some damage. Warp hurts enemies and weakens their armor. Shockwave knocks enemies down in an arc in front of you, and also does a small deal of damage. None of these powers alone is that amazing, but the combination of them, leading to Biotic Explosions, leads to an event that looks like New Years Day Celebrations....with gibs instead of confetti. To trigger a Biotic Explosion with the human Adept, first use Singularity on an enemy. Once the enemy is floating, use either Warp or Shockwave on them. Upon impact with the second skill the Singularity field will explode, causing massive damage and sending enemies flying. Now, the strengths of the human race Adept in particular lies in the Singularity skill, as all Adepts can trigger Biotic Explosions in some way. Singularity is great for crowd control and using it to trap multiple enemies can turn the tide of many dangerous situations. Make sure to use only one weapon with this race, and make it the lightest weapon possible, probably either the Predator pistol or Shuriken SMG. An Adept is most deadly with max skill recharge rate possible, don't even worry about shooting people, you won't need to once you get good.

Asari
My personal favorite and to me the best option for Adept. With the Asari, you will be whooping ass and making enemies look like the main character from the movie Bubble Boy all at the same time. You may be confused by that last part, let me explain. The Asari comes with Stasis, Warp, and Throw. Stasis is the real gem here and what makes the class incredible for support tactics. Stasis effectively paralyzes an enemy wherever and however they were when the skill hits. These enemies can still be damaged, and are sitting targets for any sniping infiltrator on your team. When facing Phantoms, this skill is particularly useful as it effects them even at full barriers. One of the two last upgrades for Stasis allows it to form a bubble on impact that will paralyze additional enemies if they are stupid enough to enter it, and they always are. Stasis, however, is not the only great skill this race has to offer. Throw is one of the funniest video game abilities I have ever seen or used. The effect is simple enough, throw the enemy in the direction it gets hit, but the result is insanity. Seeing an enemy get hit with a Throw and then rocket across the map only to hit a wall and fall down dead is Mastercard priceless. The ability also has an extremely fast recharge time which makes it even better. Biotic Explosions with this class are triggered by the combinations of Stasis + Warp/Throw, or Warp + Throw, in that order respectively. The same weapon choices for the human to maximize skill recharge rate should also be used with the Asari.

Drell
The Drell is, in my opinion, an underpowered race and should be accompanied by a strong weapon to achieve a decent amount of kills. The Drell's skills include Reave, Pull, and Cluster Grenade. Reave damages targets, stops their health regeneration, and restores some of the user's health....or at least that's what it says. In reality, Reave doesn't seem to do anything. Pull is basically the reverse of Throw, pulling enemies towards the user. Pull is also notable for its effect against shield-toting Guardians when facing Cerberus, as it will pull the shield from their hands. Cluster Grenade causes one hell of a cluster...well...you know. The skill throws a handful of grenades that explode all over the ground and send enemies launching into the air and all over the place. As is maybe apparent from these three skills. They aren't necessarily the greatest for a character using only skills and no weapons, especially as one of them is grenades and needs to be gathered from ammo crates when empty. Pair this race with a submachine gun or an assault rifle to make it viable on the battlefield. Biotic Explosions can be achieved by Pull + Reave.


The Adept is a class that takes some time to level up before their true lethality begins to shine, so if you find yourself frustrated that you aren't getting many kills, give it some time. My next post will be on the Engineer class and should be posted tomorrow so keep watching. (Make sure to check out the first comment below for an additional opinion on the effectiveness of Reave and the Drell Adept in general.)

My Concerns with the M60E4 in Battlefield 3 (Pre-Patch)

The M60.....why guys? Why? I know it was too good in BF:BC 2 but seriously? I'm not gonna get everyone all hot and bothered and say its terrible, but it has noticeable flaws that it shouldn't have given its real life performance. For example, it shoots the same caliber as the M240B and PKP, but has more inaccurate spread patterns in this game, while having a lower rate of fire which should make it MORE accurate. If you put a bipod on those three guns and fire them into the sky with the bipod out, the M60's performance is painfully obvious as the worst. The M240B and PKP all have very tight spread when fired with a bipod, with most of the bullet paths only reflecting small vertical recoil and would land on top of each other if corrected for this. The M60 on the other hand still goes all over the place. Seriously, fire it with a bipod on and keep the vertical recoil still, it is crazy how big the mass of bullet fire is. I almost never get long range M60 kills even with the bipod deployed. If you are going to give the gun a bipod, at least make it more accurate than the M249 or MG36 without a bipod. No lies, the M249 foregrip is 10x more effective and accurate from range than the M60 with a bipod. It does not make sense, the bipod should give guns almost no recoil,, especially considering it makes you a stationary target, gives you a limited viewing angle, and takes time to set up and put away. To be honest, its close range performance is also terrible considering ITS A GUN. Every single game I will have numerous situations where I fire 100 rounds standing up at a guy 10m away that isn't moving. I'll get 2 hitmarkers in 8 seconds and he will turn around and kill me. I know its not supposed to be an AR or a sub, but firing a gun full auto towards someone at close range should not take 100 rounds with any weapon unless its in the hands of Helen Keller. I'm not looking for the M60 to be what it was in BF:BC 2, if it was then I wouldn't use it anymore, but please don't make it the least accurate LMG, that doesn't make sense It has a slower fire rate and same caliber bullet as more accurate guns in the game.

Famous Movie Quotes - Video Game Style (Skyrim)

 Thought I'd kick up a little idea I thought of the other day. Here are some famous movie quotes worked into video game situations. They are either slightly altered, or relate well to specific game characters. I plan on coming out with these posts regularly from now on. This compilation is dedicated to Skyrim:


"How do you plan on getting Brother Verulus to Reachcliff Cave?" - Eola
"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." - Dovahkiin

*Finally reaching the Throat of the World*
"Lydia, I've got a feeling we're not in Morrowind anymore." - Dovahkiin

*Karliah appears from the shadows*
"Go ahead, make my day" - Mercer Frey

"I'll be back with the Elder Scroll" - Dovahkiin
"May the Thu'um be with you." - Paarthurnax

"What do you see?" - Adventurer #1
*Cast Detect Undead*
"I see dead people." - Adventurer #2  


 Hopefully you guys enjoyed the quotes. Comment below with your own similar style quotes if you liked the idea behind these, and don't forget to vote in the poll on the top right of the page before you leave.

Battlefield 3 vs. Modern Warfare 3 - Unjust Video Game Comparisons

          If there's one things I've learned from all the previous "BF3 vs. MW3" discussions, its that people are dumb. Hopefully this will be the last post ever written on the subject, as the debate has no argument. The entire subjects boils down to a misunderstanding of the genre in which the two games are placed. The FPS genre is simply too large and fragmented to compare titles based solely on the fact that two games lie within it. For example, it would be foolish to compare two games like Quake and Medal of Honor. Both titles are FPS's, but they each have their own distinct feel and differentiated gameplay. Comparing the two would undermine every aspect of creativity that the developers implement.
          BF3 and MW3 both have their respective advantages, advantages neither game deserves to have compared directly against the other. BF3 prides itself on sandbox maps, realism, and vehicles. MW3 in turn prides itself on excellent gunplay, close quarters action, and fast paced competitive play. The masses are easily fooled by seeing two games with guns in them and assuming they should be compared trait for trait to see which one they should buy. In reality, comparing games like BF3 and MW3 truly involves aligning the games strengths with your personal preferences. Do you like using vehicles, playing as a specific class to add a team work and support element, accounting for realistic factors like bullet drop? If you do, then BF3 is definitely your game. If you are the type of person that just enjoys fast paced action on smaller maps, relying solely on the gun in your hand and your fast reflexes, then pick up a copy of MW3. While both franchise desires to steal players from the other, it does not wish to do so by imitating, and thus lending itself to direct comparison. These are two very different games, so please stop saying one is better than the other. They are both great, you just like the style of one more.
          One a side not, I am compelled to add my thoughts on the most recent unjust video game comparison - Skyrim vs. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Though they both fall into the RPG genre, they could not be more different. KoA emphasizes advanced combat tactics and frenetic encounters with enemies. Skyrim attempts to completely immerse the player in a breathtakingly realistic environment where you can be whatever you want to be. To say that one game is better would again be foolish and only show your personal preference on play style. I have seen far too many articles and posts comparing these two games and ultimately naming one as the better title. I urge people to look past the obvious genre grouping and see the games in their own light, not in the shadow of another.

Does Infinity Ward Support Modders and Exploiters?

          Anyone that has played a good number of Call of Duty games can easily determine from a few minutes of gameplay whether the one they are playing was released by Infinity Ward or Treyarch. There are many noticeable differences between the two, but more interesting are the subtle differences that draw into question the motives of IW. Given that the two companies both lie within Activision and develop games for the same franchise, one would assume that new technology flows between the two companies and that successful ideas from previous games are implemented into the next release.
          When Treyarch developed Black Ops, they added coding to render rapid fire controller mods useless. This was a great change in response to the increasingly large player base that purchases these modded controllers. One would assume that this change would have also found its way into the next Call of Duty release, MW3; this was not the case. Rapid fire mods are alive and well in MW3 and again create an unbalance that could have easily been solved with the previous game's technology. This fact, as well as the rampant use of mods and exploits in IW games compared to the almost nonexistence of them in Treyarch games, leads me to believe that IW supports such actions.
          Infinity Ward has never been known for listening to its users. Whenever they make updates for their Call of Duty games, they always come far too late, and rarely fix the problem. An example of this is the recent nerf of machine pistols in MW3 that has made no noticeable effect. Other examples include the facts that theater mode in MW3 is still depressingly bad and that Clan Operations finally came out for Call of Duty Elite....more than 3 months after the game release.
          My person belief is that, although IW raises half-hearted campaigns to stop modders and exploiters, the company actually supports them in order to increase player base and thus increase profits. Just think of how many players IW would lose if they got rid of infection lobbies, 15th prestige lobbies, modded controllers, and quickscoping. These are all aspects widely considered to be detrimental to gameplay, but somehow find their way into almost exclusively IW produced games of the franchise. What do you guys think? Anyone else noticed the glaring differences between Treyarch helping to eliminate unbalance and IW rejecting to implement proven methods of solving the same?

FMG9 - Modern Warfare 3

I've been convinced for some years now that Call of Duty developers don't actually play their own games. This opinion of mine has come from witnessing countless weapon updates that either don't fix anything, or make good weapons better and bad weapons worse. In Modern Warfare 3, the FMG9 has been nerfed once already, and fourzerotwo says that it is scheduled for another nerf soon. In his Twitter post he stated that all akimbo machine pistols will receive reduced fire rates. While this may sound like a great idea to someone who has never played the game, its the worst possible fix to those that have. Akimbo effectively doubles your fire rate (2 guns firing at the same time). After two akimbo fire rate nerfs, my guess is that the new fire rate will be around 1.5x. To machine pistols like the FMG9 that already have very fast fire rate, lowering the fire rate of akimbo, which is still faster than having a single gun, will make no difference at all. At over 1000rpm, any difference in fire rate will be negligible. The better solution would be to alter more noticeable aspects of the weapons performance, such as its recoil and hip fire spread. Increasing these two parameters would have more concrete and game changing effects. But, if you have played enough Call of Duty games, you know this approach is far too logical to ever be considered by the developers. So look forward to another nerf that wont change a thing.

So You Wanna Be A Vampire

Vampirism makes a glorious comeback in Skyrim, minus the glory. The benefits to being a vampire are not quite as notable in Skyrim as they have been in previous Elder Scrolls games. An increase in illusion spell power and sneak skill are really the main pros this time around. This means that becoming a vampire really isn't very useful if you don't plan on using these two skills. There are other bonuses, like summoning a weak undead pet and going invisible (each only allowable once per day), but these abilities can be achieved easily through illusion or conjuration, without the limited once per day aspect. Vimpirism in Skyrim makes you weaker to fire, and more resistant to cold. This means that fire dragons, the most common dragon, will do quite a number on you. Citizens will also attack you if you do not feed before you hit the later stages of Vampirism. The decision to be a vampire in Skyrim really comes down to the coolness factor. Lets face it, despite how much current media is overplaying vampires, they are pretty damn cool (except Edward Cullen). Check out the link I've posted below for more info on the pros and cons of Vampirism, as well as how to become a vampire.

• Vampirism in Skyrim (click)

The Best Skyrim Jokes

Who doesn't love a good Skyrim joke, right? Its not like the cool kids in high school maintained their popularity by having overdeveloped football skills or wearing short skirts. No, they all had the best Skyrim jokes. I've recently stumbled upon a great list of these jokes, and from my ever gracious boon wish to extend them to you. Check them out:

• Skyrim Jokes (click)

Borderlands 2 Official Release Date

Borderlands 2 now has an official release date....September 18 for North America (September 21 for Europe). This release date is later than expected, with a late issue of Game Informer and many other sources listing the release date in June While I'm sure this push back leaves many of us, including me, wanting to punch a baby, Gearbox has tried to persuade audiences into happiness by creating a pre-order bonus. Aside from the game, the pre-order includes:

• Gearbox Gun Pack - Unique guns that you start off with
• The Golden Key - Unlocks the golden compass....just kidding. Lets you unlock a rare item from the in-game Golden Sanctuary Loot Chest
• Vault Hunter's Relic - Seems to improve your chance of finding good loot while playing

These bonuses are an interesting and welcome change to me. Most games give the standard 1 or 2 weapons and a couple of character skins, meaning that every consumer gets the same thing, and knows exactly what he/she is getting. Borderlands 2 allows for some mystery, randomization, and excitement in the way of the Golden Key. It is entirely possible, given Borderlands random item generation system, that no 2 pre-order customers will receive the same item. Borderlands has always been a creative game, and it looks like they haven't lost a beat. For the full article on Borderlands 2 release date and pre-order bonuses, check out the link below.

• Borderlands 2 Release and Pre-Order (click)

Rumors About The New Xbox

Ran across this link today and had to share it with you guys. The link contains just about every rumor that has been circulating about the next Xbox and tries to shed some light on each one. Hope you enjoy.

• Rumors on new Xbox (click)

New Prestiges for Modern Warfare 3?

So the news has broken that Infinity Ward intends to add 5 new prestiges to the console platform of Modern Warfare 3. This change will mirror the new prestiges added to the PC version of the game. Telling news like this to 10th prestigers like me is like telling a fat kid in gym class that he still has 5 more laps to go. With the ability to reset your prestige through the prestige shop, it seems highly unnecessary to add more prestiges and piss off the people that are dedicated to the game and have already attained the highest prestige. I didn't hit 10th prestige because prestiging was fun, I did it to be done with prestiging.....apparently not.

• Check out this link for more info (click)

Mass Effect 3 Demo Multiplayer Review

If you've read my previous posts on the Mass Effect 3 Demo, then you know I was a little hesitant about the thought of buying he new Mass Effect in March. After playing the multiplayer segment of the demo for a good amount of time, I am now hooked. I love the gameplay, and I love the teamwork. The multiplayer truly forces you to work as a team if you want to survive, something which I truly admire in a game because it is so often hard to find. An example of this lies with the different types of enemies the game throws at you. A sentinel may be of little use against an enemy holding a shield in front of his face, but an infiltrator can use his sniping skills to knock his head  back through the shields vision hole. Likewise, the infiltrator may find himself in trouble when surrounded by enemies, but the sentinel can use his heavy armor to rush in and clear a path for the teammate. These rock, paper, scissors situations are abundant in Mass Effect 3, and make a diverse team a powerful weapon.

In terms of the actual multiplayer layout and customization, the game tries to simplify things for you, both helping and hurting a little. Each class is broken down into 4 playable characters: human male, human female, and 2 races seen in the campaign that change for each class. Each playable character within the class is then given three abilities to level up and use, with the exception that the human male and human female have the same abilities, and the only differences are looks. Like I said, this helps in one way by eliminating the necessity to bring up your skill menu in order to use a 4th skill that cannot be hotbutton mapped, but hurts in the sense that the 3 ability loadouts are not always what you would have wanted from a list of the classes singleplayer usable skills.

Many of the classes are also quite deceiving at first, with a large number of the abilities not really being effective until you put a considerable amount of points into them. For example, the engineers combat drone is near useless until you get almost all the way down its skill tree, but at that point its pretty damn good and extremely useful. Another example is the adept as a whole. At lower levels, the adept is probably the weakest multiplayer, and probably single player, class. The abilities do little damage, and the biotic explosion normally doesn't even kill regular enemies. As the class gains levels and you are able to upgrade the abilities, however, the adept becomes quite powerful and can subdue entire groups of enemies with singularity and powerful biotic explosions. Although, even with the adepts eventual power, it is essentially a 2 button class and does get pretty boring after a while.

The main thing to remember in the multiplayer is that adding guns lowers your abilities recharge rate. In the single player demo campaign, you are forced to carry all the guns the game gives you, and this leads to massive ability recharge times. In multiplayer, you can select what guns you want, and how many. It is my belief that the abilities of your class are more essential to your survival than having a lot of guns. Given this belief, my recommendation is to pick whatever gun type you want, and select that as your only weapon with no secondary. This will allow for maximum skill recharge time, and greatly increase your lethality and versatility in the field. With the infiltrator, however, it is sometimes wise to carry a low weight pistol along with your sniper, due to the snipers cumbersome nature in close range fights. With the adept, the best choice is to use the lowest weight gun you have, probably the starting sub machine gun or pistol. I have won entire multiplayer matches without firing a bullet with my adept, and the ability to fling singularities and warps at maximum recharge rate is priceless.

The way you unlock weapons, mods, characters, and everything else in multiplayer is through buying packs. The recruit pack costs 5,000 coins and the veterans pack costs 20,000.  In my experience, the recruit packs rarely have anything of value in them, and the best strategy is to save up for veterans packs over and over. If you beat all 11 waves of the multiplayer (which takes about 25 minutes on average), you will earn around around 15,500 coins, so it is not very hard to continually purchase veterans packs.

Well there you have it guys. So far I have beaten all 11 waves of the multiplayer campaign on bronze about 8 times, with 4 difference classes. If you are new to the Mass Effect scene like me, I advise you to use the multiplayer aspect of the demo to experiment with the different classes and find out how each ability works once you have skilled it up. Feel free to comment on this post with thoughts or questions.

Live on Twitter

Attention jelly bros! Your favorite bro has just gone live on Twitter. No not Barney Stinson, me you fool. Visit my new Twitter page at https://twitter.com/#!/Ujellybros and follow me if you like this blog or like hearing witty video game tweets. I will now be updating fans via tweets whenever I have a new blog post up. Happy merking.

Mass Effect 3 Demo: After

Let me first make clear that this review is in relation to the single player portion of the demo. Overall, I thought it was a solid game so far. The areas that bothered me the most were the ineffectiveness of some classes and class skills. So far, I have played through the demo with Engineer, Adept, and Infiltrator. Here are my thoughts on each of those classes.

Engineer
Not the worst, but certainly not the best. I was really looking forward to some cool, powerful gadgets, and the game didn't really deliver. When the enemies dropped their big collapsible sentry guns, I thought I would give them what-for and sling mine out. The encounter proved much more awkward than I had planned, as the only sentry gun I could apparently muster looked like a flying pancake. This scrawny little saucer thing appeared and was quickly dispatched by the enemies, I could barely see it shooting. Keep in mind as well that I had upgraded the sentry gun a good deal. Needless to say, it was disappointing; so much potential down the drain. The rest of the engineer skills were decent but not nearly as powerful as I felt they should be given that the class is a pure build and not a hybrid.

Adept
Suffered from the same downfall as the Engineer: for a purist class, the skills simply aren't as powerful as they need to be. The weak biotic abilities become even more of a downfall considering the adept's lack of weapon skills. Probably the most annoying aspect of this class is the fact that almost all the skills, regardless of power, do essentially the same thing. Push, pull, singularity, and shockwave all just pick people up or knock them down. There's no real sense of differentiation between the skills, leaving you to wonder if its really worth putting points into more than one of them.

Infiltrator 
This class actually felt pretty powerful. The cryo ammo ability lets you freeze enemies while you shoot them. This results in the enemies being either very slow, or completely immobilized and unable to shoot. Coupled with these effects, the enemies shatter when killed if they are frozen. The tactical cloak is definitely the highlight of this class, however. The cloak gives you an amazing damage bonus for attacks that bring you out of invisibility. This means that your snipes and melee attacks while cloaked will almost always be 1 shot kills. The infiltrator is a very fun class, and by far the best that I have tried in the game so far.


Hope this helps you guys a bit when you are trying the demo for yourself. I've never played any of the Mass Effect games before so maybe this is all off or how it is supposed to be, but get out there, explore it for yourself, and let me know what you think.

Mass Effect 3 Demo: Before

The time has come to walrus said.....to try the Mass Effect 3 demo. I have always been a big fan of RPG's, probably because my own life doesn't involve merking people with swords or magic, but I have never played a Mass Effect game before. I don't deny that they are great games, not that I would necessarily know, but they receive great praise from everyone I know that has played them. My fear lies in the belief that they focus too heavily on speech and interaction with NPC's rather than strict gameplay. I have recently been convinced by my friends, however, and not without the help of a few gameplay trailers, to purchase Mass Effect 3 on its release date. The demo for the game goes live today on the Xbox marketplace, and hopefully it confirms the good reviews I often hear. I will probably have another post up tonight after I've completed the demo to let you guys know what I think. Anyone else a little hesitant to jump into the series for the first time after 2 previous installments?

Gotham City Impostors

Well hello there fan base. Today's topic is Gotham City Impostors. So I was a little hesitant to trade 1200 Microsoft points for this one. The demo gave me an hour of play time, and at the end, I really wasn't sold. The game seemed fun enough for a while, but didn't strike me with the potential to have lasting appeal. Another key issue for me was the time in between unlocks for important things like weapons. You get unlock keys frequently, but they alternate as to what they unlock, meaning you can go quite some time between unlocking new primary weapons. But as most of my video game purchase decisions are determined, my friends got the game so I had little choice. Now that I have been playing it for a while, I am definitely warming up to it. All of the weapons are very well balanced, and some pretty innovative class combinations can be formed. If you are in the market for a knock-around FPS that, if nothing else, is great at passing some time, then spend some time with Gotham City Impostors.

Q&A

I would like to open up my blog for questions or comments you guys have. Whether its on guns, perks, killsteaks, or anything else, I want to know what you guys think about the game. So hit me with your thoughts, whats worth arguing about today?

Riot Shield Tactics - Modern Warfare 3

In my opinion, and contrary to popular belief, the riot shield is the epitome of skill playing in CoD games. I always find it funny when people trash talk me for using it, considering that out of all the available primaries in the game, it is obviously the worst. You cant shoot anyone with it, you need to be right next to them to shield bash, and the games lag makes shooting and knifing through the shield as easy as if the player wasn't holding one. For some reason, players in MW3 will always feel the need to trash talk you for using bad weapons while they shoot you with a ACR, it blows my mind. Anyway, my personal experience with the riot shield includes over 3 days of play time with it and the title/emblem for achieving over 50k bullet deflects. As a side note, IW has NO idea how hard they made that challenge. At the end of my 8th prestige (and using the shield the entire time) I only had 12k bullet deflects. Given that if you prestige the title resets, this challenge took me what would have been over 3 prestiges to accomplish. Giving up this prestige time, however, was well worth it considering I am now part of probably .0001% of MW3 players that have that title/emblem. Ok, enough chitter chatter, lets get down to it. These are some tips that riot shielders should pay attention to in order to be effective with the weapon:

1. Bashing
• Prone targets: If your target is prone, stay crouched when you are bashing. Their lower profile gives them a better line at your exposed feet, crouching against these targets will minimize deaths.
• Standing targets: If your target is standing up, approach them while crouched, then stand up directly after or before you bash them. Many players with good reaction times will try knifing you after the shield hits them. If you are still crouched when this happens, you will be so close to them that your lower height will allow them to knife over your shield and kill you.
• Lead your bashes. Due to the slight time differences in timing given lag, moving targets are always slightly farther down their path than they appear on your screen. This means that if you are trying to bash someone that is circling around you, you should shield lunge just a little bit in front of where you see them. This will always lead to more shield hits and less failed lunges. 
• Watch out for the 180. For some inexplicable reason, many shield lunges will leave you facing the opposite direction, whether you hit the target or not. There isn't anything you can do to compensate for this other than to keep a sharp eye out for when it happens and adjust yourself quickly before you get shot in the back.
• Pick your targets. Don't forget that shield bashing takes 2 hits and a good deal of time. If you sneak up on your target, its probably a better idea to pull out your secondary and quickly knife them, rather than shield bash. If you chose to bash them, they will be aware of your presence after the first hit, and skilled players could turn and kill you before the second bash.
2. Using Secondaries
• Pick carefully. Choosing your secondary is the most important class setup choice you will make. Your primary goal is to find a weapon that will come out fast, and be able to fire as soon as it is out. For example, the MP9 is a great secondary, but it is slow to switch to, and takes a long time to start firing once its out. Pistols are a good choice for shield classes, due to the high speed of both aspects. The G18 is my personal favorite; it comes out fast, shoots right away, and is unique in the fact that no one ever uses it. Akimbos are also a fair choice with riot shields given the close range fire power they have. Realistically akimbo FMG9's are the best shield secondary, they come out instantly, shoot seemingly before they are even out, and do incredible damage, I just cant use them because they are stupidly overpowered and EVERYONE uses them.
• Timing is everything. If you pull out your secondaries while your target is still shooting at you, you are going to die. The best time to attack with secondaries is while your targets are reloading, throwing grenades, or in between sniper shots.
• Knifing. Like I said earlier, switching to your secondary and knifing as fast as you can is sometimes more effective than shooting the target. This strategy, however, requires that your target is close enough to knife lunge, and is not going to shoot you while you try. The main advantage to knifing, of course, is that you remain off the radar.
3. Making a Good Wall
• Cover your feet. Your main weakness is your exposed feet. Make sure you stay crouched when facing your targets to minimize bullets to this area. Also, always aim down a little bit. Even if you are crouched, your feet may still be visible if you don't tilt the shield downward a little.
• Cover your sides. In certain positions, your sides may be exposed on the edges of the shield. To counter this, always try and try to keep one side up against a wall. Implementing this strategy means you only need to cover one of your sides.
• Lead your targets. Much like my advice on leading your bashes, your targets will always be a little further than you see them. If your target is moving, make sure you face a few feet in front of them to compensate for lag and not get a death you will be scratching your head at.
• Work with teammates. Use the weapon to its strength, which is support. The riot shield allows for your teammates to have a source of mobile cover. Planting yourself at strategic positions and letting your team stand behind you and fire at the enemy is extremely fun and beneficial to everyone (except the players getting shot at).
4. Class Setup
• Throwing knife. The throwing knife is the best lethal equipment choice because it allows for longer ranged kills regardless of the long range capabilities of your secondary weapon. It also allows you to quickly attack the enemy while he reloads without exposing yourself for very long.
• Concussion grenade. Enemies are much easier to throwing knife and shield bash when they aren't able to to quickly dodge incoming attacks. The concussion grenade also stops players from flanking your shield.
• Sleight of hand. A must have for every riot shield class. The pro version is really what you are looking for. Switching to your secondary faster is essential with the riot shield and will save your life countless times.
• Blast shield. The key to the riot shield is survivability; blast shield gives you this survivability and allows you to stand your ground longer until your enemy is vulnerable. The pro perk is also extremely helpful, as a blinded or stunned riot shielder is a dead one
• Steady aim or sitrep. These are the two best choices for third perks. Steady aim should only be used when equipping akimbo weapons, as it makes them much more potent. Sitrep is great for blowing up enemy claymores and betties before they hard your team, as well as hearing enemies sneaking up on you with the pro variant.
• Support streaks. Support streaks pair extremely well with riot shields, as assault killstreaks achieved without deaths are hard to come by when using the shield. For the same reason, specialist streaks are also hard to attain. Like I've said, the shields main advantage is the element of team support, and support kill streaks provide further play into this aspect.

The main thing to remember when using the riot shield is that its not good. What I mean by this is that you shouldn't go into a game with the mentality that you are going to get 30 kills and have a 5 k/d. You are going to die a lot, and a lot of those deaths will be getting shot and knifed through the shield due to lag. The best way to get better with the shield is to watch your kill cams and think of how the death could have been avoided from the enemies perspective. Hopefully these tips give you fellow riot shield enthusiasts a fighting chance against all those assault rifles out there. Keep tuning in for more MW3 posts.