A Month in Gaming
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
At present, I have three games for the Switch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Yono And The Celestial Elephants and Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection. Essentially, any Mario based game is a joy to play and Mario Kart is an exemplar for the Nintendo brand’s virtues. It offers both fun and a challenge but it’s warm friendly graphics and inherent charm mollify the competitive elements that come with such a driving game. Yono is a A Legend of Zelda-esque adventure/puzzle game starring an elephant. Despite its child friendly aesthetic and design, there is a degree of depth to the gameplay. Due to it’s linear world design and narrative, it lends itself to short bursts of gameplay. Assassin’s Creed offers a different type of challenge, mainly because it requires mastering an action RPG using a controller, rather than keyboard and mouse. This is a very good port and I must admit I am impressed that the Switch can handle an open world environment so well.
I returned briefly to Call of Duty: Warzone recently, mainly to see the new map of Verdansk. When the game launched in early 2020 the story associated with Warzone was linked to events tied to the 2019 soft reboot of Modern Warfare. But because CoD is a yearly franchise, a new iteration was released in September and story elements began being integrated into Warzone. The only problem being that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is set in 1984 thus requiring the most tortuous and convoluted plot devices to square the ongoing narrative circle. From my perspective, bringing weapons from an older period into a game set in the present was problematic to say the least, causing balance issues. Furthermore the inclusion of Black Ops content brought zombies into the game. Hence Warzone is now a sprawling mess of differing types of gameplay. A recent nuclear blast has “conveniently” destroyed the contemporary iteration of Verdansk and replaced it with a version of the zone from 1984. Simply put I just don’t like the cumulative changes that have come to the game, so once again I’m taking a break from it.
Sadly, I have spent precious little time playing The Lord of the Rings Online, returning briefly to check out the latest content update which proved to be very disappointing. I do worry that this game is just treading water with regard to its growth and that developer’s Standing Stone Games are limited in the scope of their vision. The anniversary festival is currently live in the game but it really isn’t doing anything new. Yes, the various events can be fun if you are playing them for the first time but the various trinkets and baubles that you can obtain are purely cosmetic. If you are not enamoured with collectibles there is a substantial amount of content currently available that is of no interest or use to you. Furthermore, at present I own all the content available in LOTRO. Hence if there’s very little reason for me to subscribe to the game. I find it odd that SSG don’t seem to be offering any broader incentives to become a VIP.
Star Trek Online, which has some similarities to LOTRO with regard to its age and the fact that it’s based on a popular intellectual property, seems to perpetually have events and goals for players to pursue. I created a new Klingon alt in late January due to the then recruitment event. By the end of March I had brought the character to level cap and had gotten as far as level 5 with all reputation factions. I also bought a Legendary D7 ship and have spent time trying to equip it with the best gear that I can. One of the best aspects of STO is that there’s always something to do. Since January the game has had the Klingon Recruitment event with the storyline revamped, it’s celebrated First Contact Day and there have been two Red Alert events which are great for earning reputation marks. The game is currently running a revised version of the Delta Recruitment event, so if you’re thinking of playing STO, I’d urge you to roll a new character before May 13th. I now have three new alts making a total of nine altogether. Most unusual for me.
There are a few other games I’ve been intermittently playing over the last two months. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is something I regularly return to and is fun in small doses. As I’ve mentioned before, I keep The Elder Scrolls Online up to date as I will more than likely return to the game once the next expansion launches. As for immediate gaming goals I have none of any significance at present. Naturally I’ll continue with STO and keep a weather eye on LOTRO. I want to come to grips with Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection and finally complete a game from this franchise (I’ve started Black Flag). The convenience of the Switch is a big selling point and I seem to evenly spend my time (at least for the meantime) using it as a handheld device as well as docked to the TV. It certainly has reinvigorated my attitude towards gaming which had become increasingly indifferent of late. I hope that this positive outlook continues over May and beyond.
I last wrote a post in this series in June. Back then I wanted a break from MMOs as I had invested heavily in Star wars: the Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Because I was still enjoying the Star Wars vibe, I decided to try Jedi: Fallen Order. Sadly, despite the story showing a lot of promise, the PC version of the game handles poorly and the controls are sluggish. Often it felt like my character was wading through mud and there was a tangible amount of skills lag. So I uninstalled it and moved on to something else. One of the odd things about gaming is that despite amassing a library of free and discounted titles, we often end up buying something new, instead of playing that which we already own. And that is exactly what I did. I purchased Stray amid all the excitement surrounding the game, but to date I still haven’t played it. Make of that what you will.
Usually I keep subscribing to an MMORPG, even if I’m not playing it that much. I like to have options in case I decide to log in on a whim. Especially if an absent friend returns to a particular game presenting an opportunity to catch up. However, the current economic climate is no longer something that I can ignore. Although far from having a low income, the current ongoing increase in the cost of living is becoming apparent, so I have been fiscally prudent and cancelled my monthly subscriptions to Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Both have provided me with a lot of entertainment over the last three to four months but until new content becomes available, I can happily dispense with them for the meantime. Not only have I saved £17.98 on subscriptions, I shall no longer be making ad hoc purchases of in-game currencies. Something I have been doing a lot more than usual of late.
I have confined my gaming to three MMORPGs in recent months and have not strayed into anything new. Time has been an issue due to a great deal of change in my domestic life. Hence The Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Trek Online have proven suitable for my needs. Being able to log into a game and commence an activity without any complicated preamble is convenient and currently suits my schedule down to the ground. I will be buying Sniper Elite 5 at the end of the month as this is a franchise that has always proven entertaining and engaging. While recently perusing the various game launchers I have installed, I took the opportunity to remove several games that I’m no longer playing or that have proven to be a “five minute wonder”. Hence I said goodbye to GreedFall, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Days Gone. Their removal is no reflection upon their quality.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an instalment of A Month in Gaming. Over Christmas and New Year I was busy with family issues and it’s only in January that I’ve started anything approaching a regular gaming schedule. The novelty of Forza Horizon 5 has run its course and I’ve grown tired of the game’s upbeat tone and neverending activities that litter the in-game map. It’s nice that the game tries hard to engage with you but it reaches a point where you never get a time to stop, think and take stock. I couldn’t find anything else included in the Xbox Game Pass which especially excited me. There were a few titles that did take my fancy but I then discovered that I already own them elsewhere via Steam or Epic Games. So I decided to cancel my subscription. I still think that the Xbox Game Pass for PC is very good value and my failure to find anything that I like is my problem and not Microsoft’s fault.
September has been and gone and the nights are now drawing in. Usually this time of year is ideal for gaming but sadly I’ve had a lot on over the last 30 days and as a result there’s been precious little time for gaming or indeed writing. Such is life. When I did have some leisure time, MMOs were the easiest way to get a quick gaming fix, as per usual. Standing Stone Games announced that the next expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online would be released in November and that a revision of the Legendary Item system would be coming prior to that. Hence I took a look at the beta builds on the Bullroarer test server and then started prepping my various alts on the live servers, to get ready for this major change. I also managed to complete the latest event in Star Trek Online. However, beyond these straightforward tasks I didn’t really get to do much more.
Again this is more a case of two months in gaming. Furthermore although I was quite active in July, I was less so in August as the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event consumed the lion share of my leisure time. The majority of my gaming time is usually mid to late evening. Although Mrs P and I do many activities together, there are times when she will want to watch something I don’t, be engrossed in a book or out with friends. These occasions present sizable windows of time to focus upon a video game, which is especially useful for the MMORPG and RPG genres. However, I often have to choose whether to use this time exclusively for gaming or some other recreational activities such as writing. Another foible of my video game time management is trying to arrange things so I can undertake recurring, daily quests in a game early in the morning. I will often tackle such content in Star Trek Online, as soon as I get up.
The last installment of A Month in Gaming was at the end of April. I have decided to update this recurring post less often to ensure that I have more to write about than just cataloguing my generic activities in The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. The only downside of such an approach is that it invalidates the title but that can’t be helped. Fortunately, I have done more than usual over the last two months. My daily schedule has changed temporarily and I now have a little more leisure time available. Hence I’ve dabbled with several new games as well as using my Nintendo Switch more often. I also took part in a “tag team” playthrough of XCOM 2, which was a very interesting experience. And I finally took the time to go through all my games libraries on the various different platforms to catalogue exactly what I have. I found a few hidden gems but the majority is just “filler” that you find in most video game bundles.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Here we are again. Yet another month has gone by and I find myself writing another instalment of “a month in gaming”. And to be honest, I have very little to say in this particular roundup of my gaming activities. I played Star Trek Online throughout February and created a new Klingon character to take advantage of the ongoing Klingon recruitment event. I have managed to upgrade a Tier 5 D7 and kit it out in such a way that it is fairly robust. And I also created a new Jem’Hadar alt, as they start at level 60 and you are provided with a fully equipped vessel and crew. Nothing fancy but it allows you to get into the endgame content a lot quicker. I may write a more detailed blog post about this at some point. I also played a lot more Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout as my granddaughters came to stay for a week. I have already expressed my thoughts about the mechanics of that game in a prior post.
I last wrote A Month in Gaming post in December. Quite a lot has changed over the last two months. I have abandoned Cyberpunk 2077 as it has totally failed to hold my interest. I just couldn’t get on with the first person perspective. I also stopped playing Neverwinter, despite the game having many appealing elements. Sometimes, when you start an MMORPG that has been running for years, you feel so “behind the curve” that the prospect of catching up with everyone at the endgame is too daunting. And because the Call of Duty franchise has a yearly lifecycle, a new iteration of the game was released in November. Black Ops Cold War subsequently replaced the reboot of Modern Warfare and a lot of the new games content subsequently bled through in the free Battle Royale version. I’d been playing Warzone since last April and it was beginning to get a little stale. So I didn’t buy the latest Battle Pass and decided to move on. And then there’s The Lord of the Rings Online. Let it suffice to say I have completed as much of the latest “mini expansion” as I require and the game is now “on hold”.
November proved to be a very productive month, gaming wise. I had to self isolate for 14 days, due to coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Hence I had far more leisure time than usual. For a second month I applied myself to progressing through the new “mini expansion” in The Lord of the Rings Online. The new zone is a two phase map. The first is Elderslade, a mountainous region to the North of the Wells of Langflood. This area contains mainly story quests. The second phase, called War of Three Peaks, is the same zone but during a period of open war between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Quests here are mainly repeatable slayer and achievement quests. I did not discover this until I had completed the first round, so to speak, only to be offered exactly the same quests again by an NPC. As I had reached maximum rank in reputation for this new faction and there were no rewards of any note for me to spend my barter currency upon, I simply stopped playing through this content.
The last 31 days have gone by really fast, or at least that’s the way it feels. Despite having bought several new games recently and acquired yet more for free from the Epic Store, I did not embark on anything new throughout October. Due to the unexpectedly prompt release of the new “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of a new event in Star Trek Online, I found myself focused upon the MMORPG genre, yet again. And after playing continuously for six months, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has finally begun to lose its lustre. I didn’t especially enjoy the Halloween event, not that there was anything inherently wrong with it. It just wasn’t for me. I played a little Fall Guy: Ultimate Knockout but quickly discovered that the “season” system is just another gear treadmill, although the gear in this instance are novelty cosmetic outfits. I don’t want to be tied to too many games in this fashion (it’s bad enough with MMOs), so this is another title that has been relegated to occasional play when the fancy takes me.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
As I mentioned in the last instalment of “A Month in Gaming”, I was toying with the idea of buying Ghost Recon Breakpoint. However, I have decided against that. Yes the game may well be a third person, co-operative shooter but ultimately it’s yet more explosions and military hardware fetishism, which isn’t anything new. I have more than enough of that at present with Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. I also don’t feel disposed towards giving Ubisoft any of my money at the moment, until they get their house in order. I am so tired of continuously reading about how shitty the video game industry is to work in. It’s difficult to protest in a meaningful way but I guess for the present not buying a product is as good a way as any. So rather than purchasing any further games, I decided in July to play at least one of the many titles I’ve got in my existing library.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
The problem I find with monthly gaming articles is that they tend to cover ground that I’ve already written about over the last 4 weeks in other blog posts, only in less detail. So here is the brief version of my gaming activities throughout February. I played through the entirety of the Star Trek Online 10th Anniversary event and received the new hybrid Tier 6 ship. I enjoyed the new 2 part feature episode and have managed to maintain a schedule of doing “odds and sods” to keep myself busy. STO is currently my primary game. I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online, as soon as I start questing in Minas Morgul itself. It is simply too uninspiring and grindy an area. So I’ve focused on completing deeds for virtue experience and daily repeatable quests for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Due to constraints upon my schedule, I decided to temporarily stop my subscription to ESO Plus, as I simply do not have the time to invest in The Elder Scrolls Online at present. ESO is a good game and deserves attention when played. Committing to multiple MMOs at once is always a mistake.
So much for the New Year. January has now been and gone and 2020 just seems to be barrelling along. As ever, due to my real world commitments, I’ve been pushed for time over the last thirty one days. Therefore, most of my gaming has been targeted “binge” sessions conducted late at night. However, I do find playing through episodic content over several hours to be a very productive means of making progress in MMOs. So overall January has been an enjoyable experience, game wise. Due to my circumstances, I have deferred starting any new single player games and have focused primarily on two titles; The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. Sadly, The Elder Scrolls Online has been relegated to being played just once a week, usually on a Wednesday night when I meet up online with friends. My exploration of Vvardenfell will have to wait until later in the year, as I cannot sustain three MMOs to any great degree.
October has been and gone. And as ever the MMORPG genre has been the mainstay of my gaming activities over the last thirty days. Furthermore, it has been a productive month. I managed to complete the Daggerfall Covenant narrative arc, along with the main story on my Dragonknight in The Elder Scrolls Online. I find that completing Coldharbour is the biggest obstacle in progressing. It’s an atmospheric zone but once you’ve experienced it, it doesn’t really lend itself to repeat playing. But having done all this my Dragonknight hit level cap. I had taken the precaution of buying appropriate gear ahead of this achievement, so I managed to acquire some decent armour and jewellery that provide robust set bonuses. Despite focusing mainly on ESO, I did manage to progress further in The Lord of the Rings Online. I got as far as the Wolf Denes in the Vales of Anduin update. I also took the time to visit the LOTRO test server and checked out the Minas Morgul expansion preview. As for Star Trek Online my daily visits have been focused upon completing Task Force Operations and grinding for a free ship (again).
September saw The Elder Scrolls Online becoming my primary gaming focus. No real surprises there as I’ve been having so much fun of late with this MMORPG. I managed to get my Argonian Necromancer to level cap and then had the fun task of trying to equip them suitably. I don’t quite know why this aspect of gaming appeals to me so much but I just get a real kick out of trawling around looking for appropriate gear. I tend to enjoy it in all the MMOs I play. There’s just something inherently satisfying about equipping a new piece of armour or jewellery and seeing your stats noticeably increase. This process is even more enjoyable in ESO as there isn’t any server wide auction house, so you have to travel around from region to region, individually checking each guild trader you find. It really is virtual shopping. Once I managed to find the right gear for this character, I promptly created a new Imperial Dragon Knight and started playing through the Daggerfall Covenant storyline as it the one faction I haven’t yet completed. Oh and in ESO cosmetic pet news, the ghost chicken (official name Spectral Chicken) is outstanding.
Last month panned out pretty much as I expected. Blaugust and writing daily blog posts took up a fair amount of my leisure time. And then I lost a few days due real-life social activities. What gaming time I had was focused mainly on The Elder Scrolls Online. I’m sorry to say that I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online. My level 113 Guardian remains at the Black Gates and for the present I simply do not feel disposed towards working my way through Mordor again, which I did just a year ago on my primary character. I have undertaken a few quests with my level cap Lore-master and will endeavour in the weeks ahead to at least complete the Vales of Anduin region. LOTRO at present doesn’t have much of a hold on me, although I may well become more enthusiastic once the next expansion is formerly announced.
Contrary to my last A Month in Gaming post, I did actually end up buying a discount copy of Elsweyr and returning to The Elder Scrolls Online. And I’m rather glad that I did, because it has provided a welcome change of scene and an opportunity to do something different. However, you can’t just fire up ESO and dive right in. No sir. The first thing you have to do is update all your addons and if your starting a new alt (which I decided to do), ensure that your key mappings and custom settings are ported over. This process was a pain in the butt; however it did inspire a couple of blog posts. Creating a new alt is the perfect way to reacquaint yourself with ESO after a lengthy absence. In my case it has been 12 months. I decided to try the new Necromancer class and so far, it has proven to be both fun and rewarding. Rather than try to do a thousand things at once, I just started the Elsweyr main story and doggedly pursued it. The narrative is enjoyable and it was fun to see Cadwell as part of the plot focus. For practical reasons I’ve re-subscribed to ESO plus to unlock various DLC and I intend to continue playing for the next month or so.
This post should have been published two weeks ago but as ever, real life just keeps getting in the way. As expected, June proved to be a busy month, however, I managed to organise my leisure time pretty well, affording me an opportunity to not only play my two current MMOs but also experiment with some other games. At present my caring commitment keep me busy from about 10:30 AM to about 5:00 PM. I tend to get up round about 7:00 AM so if I promptly have a shower, dress and eat, I can usually create a two-hour window in the morning to either tackle admin and paperwork or undertake dailies in games such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Star Trek Online. I can also find several hours in the evening as Mrs Peril tends to go to bed earlier than I. Therefore practical time management has proven beneficial over the last four weeks.
As I suspected in my last post, my gaming activities were somewhat curtailed throughout May due to both my parents being ill. However, the time I did manage to spend in-game was both therapeutic and relaxing. For me, I’ve never really seen gaming as escapism, although I appreciate it certainly is for others. One of the aspects it offers, along with a degree of challenge and entertainment, is a release from stress and the pressures of one’s daily life. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed Sniper Elite V2 Remastered so much, because not only is it a thoroughly absorbing game, it also provides a sense of catharsis. I’ve already written about the game in some detail, along with my thoughts about the ongoing “remaster versus remake” debate. However, I would add that I enjoyed it so much I re-installed the sequel, Sniper Elite III, which I haven’t played since it’s release in 2014. This also proved to be an enjoyable undertaking, again for the self-same reasons.
So what have I been up to in April gaming wise? Oh, yes there was this. Mounted combat for the Guardian class is awful. There. I said it. As I’m not a LOTRO “altoholic” my only previous experience with mounted combat was with my Lore-master. Most of their skills are ranged which makes the fights less tedious and time consuming. And you get a combat pet which helps the proceeding slightly, but overall, it’s not that much fun. However fighting via your war steed with a Guardian is a ponderous grind. You have to be in close proximity to your foe to hit them and half the time they are running around you, conspicuously out of range. Sure there’s a skill that brings them next to you for a short period of time but as a level 85 Guardian’s DPS output is distinctly average at this point in the levelling curve, it’s a long, arduous slog to kill anything. My solution has been to summon my skirmish soldier who is an Archer and to use them in conjunction with my own bow to shoot down mounted foes while on foot. This still takes time but is quicker than doing it from horse back.
A Year in Gaming
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
So, what have I played? Let’s start with MMOs.
Star Trek Online: This game celebrated its ten year anniversary this year and celebrated with a lore infused two part story in February which was an utter joy to fans. Sadly the pandemic has somewhat reduced the flow of major story content but there has been further feature episodes produced. I rolled a new character and raised them to level cap by playing events and Task Force Operations. I’m now trying to play through all story missions in order and refamiliarize myself with the narrative arc of the game, which has become confused over the years. I finally achieved my long term goal and obtained a Tier 6 Constitution Legendary Miracle Worker Light Cruiser (a ship that looks like the original Enterprise) and I’m enjoying slowly working towards gear upgrades and advancing in-game systems. When you already have a high end alt that basically has everything available in the game it can become somewhat dull playing that character. Having to start from scratch another is quite challenging. Plus I just love the Trek vibe that is so strong in this game. It covers a multitude of sins.
The Lord of the Rings Online: LOTRO gave away a wealth of content free of charge earlier this year and players returned in droves. And then there were the server outages and the games fortunes took a nosedive. The “mini expansion” was obviously done out of dire financial need but it didn’t help flagging community relations. And then at the eleventh hour developer’s Standing Stone Games were bought out by Enad Global 7 and suddenly a wealth of questions that have been outstanding for the last few years became clear. I have enjoyed the content that I played in LOTRO of late but it doesn seem to be stuck in a rinse and repeat mindset. I’m hoping that a new owner will mean that content will come more often and will be broader in scope. I have a great deal of affection for this MMO and I would like to see it continue, rather than slowly fade away. Let’s see if a Producer’s Letter and a “roadmap” are forthcoming in early 2021.
Neverwinter: I returned to this game briefly for the first time since its beta test in 2013. I enjoyed the hybrid style of action combat and the atmosphere and aesthetic of the game. But it makes that typical MMO mistake of focusing too much on endgame and trivialising the early content. So I have already drifted away.
The Elder Scrolls Online: I started the year playing ESO but as I stated before, you can’t have too many MMOs on the go at the same time or else you end up spreading yourself too thinly and not getting enough enjoyment out of any of them. So I stopped subscribing but briefly returned in June for the Greymoor expansion. Oddly, I wrote a post about Harrowstorms providing a simple guide regarding where they occur and the quickest way to get to them. It proved one of the most popular items I’ve written in 2020.
Dauntless: Not strictly an MMO but it does share a lot of similar mechanics. This is another game that I played during its initial testing period. I returned to find it streamlined, polished and great fun. It is similar to Monster Hunter: World but far more accessible and sociable. It’s well worth a try and has a great art style.
Single player and multiplayer games:
Deathtrap Dungeon: A superb adaptation of the Ian Livingstone adventure book with its branching narrative. An avuncular Eddie Master sits in an armchair and narrates the story while the player chooses text based options. Combat is carried out by the roll of virtual dice. It’s wonderfully old school and an utter breath of fresh air from modern glossy triple A guff.
Call of Duty Warzone/Modern Warfare: I finally returned to the FPS genre after a break of seven or eight years. I bought this reboot of Modern Warfare in April and by that time, Warzone, the Battle Royale version of the game, had just launched. Simply put I had great fun playing up until November and then the next iteration of CoD was launched. Warzone endures but is now weighted towards content from the latest instalment Black Ops: Cold War. Modern Warfare will no longer receive any content updates for multiplayer and its player base will slowly diminish. All of which is an object lesson in the ephemeral nature of video games and the franchise treadmill.
Fall Guys: A fun Battle Royale game? Can there be such a thing? Yes. And Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is just that. I find that if I play this sparingly, then I don’t get too frustrated. It’s amusing to dress up in silly virtual costumes and indulge in what I can only describe as a video game version of Takeshi Castle. However, I still think the game needs some tweaking to adjust certain “human factors”. Plus I haven’t yet won five games in a row and gained a crown. I doubt if I ever will. That peeves me. However, my Granddaughters love this game so I’ll keep it installed.
The Sinking City: Frogwares make the popular Sherlock Holmes games and so The Sinking City shares a lot of the same investigative mechanics. It does have some bugs and not all the mechanics are as engaging as they could be but I really liked this odd, Lovecraft inspired game. It’s very atmospheric. Sometimes a game’s imperfections can be part of its appeal.
Cyberpunk 2077: Let us not discuss the hype surrounding this game or the fickle nature of gamers that projected their own hopes and dreams on to this product. CD Projeckt Red have tanked their own reputation by releasing broken versions for the previous generation of consoles and the game remains controversial. At some point I may write a lengthy blog post on my thoughts on this game, now that I’ve played sufficient to assess it. The short version of that future analysis is as follows. I love the story and the characters because it addresses complex adult issues in a challenging fashion. But I dislike the first person perspective and find that it ruins combat, which is in itself somewhat underwhelming. I never understand why a game that gives you such a rich and varied character creator and then elects to never let you see yourself in-game. Cyberpunk 2077 offers a big, visually impressive immersive world but it is lacking in interaction. It doesn’t feel as alive as the city of Los Santos in GTA V, although it looks better. My advice to those curious about this game is to buy it in six month times when it’s patched and on sale. And adjust your expectations accordingly.
So that’s what I played in 2020. Broadly I had fun. As for next year, I suspect I’ll keep playing games in a similar fashion. MMOs will continue to provide a staple and I’ll try various single player titles as the year progresses. It is customary when approaching the New Year to make predictions and many of my blogging friends will be doing such. I shall now bring the benefit of my fifty three years of “wisdom” to bear on the matter and give my thoughts on what is to come over the next twelve months. Game developers will hype and over sell their products. Gamers will get over excited and partisan debates will divide the community. Some folk will make lots of money and others won’t. Some games will be fun and others will not. Some gamers will be massive assholes, where others will be cuddly and nice. We’ll all keep grumbling but we’ll also keep playing. Finally, no matter how much things change, they will essentially stay the same. And Dwarves will still jump around annoyingly in my peripheral vision while I’m perusing the auction house. See you next year.
I don’t really celebrate New Year’s Eve anymore. By that I mean, I don’t go to the pub or any other social gatherings. Nor do we have guests ourselves. Mrs P often doesn’t stay up to midnight. Mainly because she tends to go to bed relatively early, by default. One year changing to another seems a somewhat arbitrary excuse for a celebration to me. However, I realise that New Year is a big deal for some. I used to work with someone who said, very philosophically, that Christmas was for the children and New Year was for the adults. He was of Scottish antecedents and so New Year’s Eve was of more cultural significance to him. Also if you’ve had a difficult, problematic or traumatic 2025, then I fully understand that you may well be happy to see the back of 2025 and look to 2026 to be a significantly better year. Or at least, not to be as shit.
I have not watched as much TV as I usually do, this year. Mainly because I have become a little weary of the ways contemporary TV is produced, especially with regards to streaming shows. Due to the costs, shows such as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds only have 10 episodes per season. Simply put, the season begins to hit its stride and then is abruptly over. This problem (if you see it as such) is then further compounded by there being a significant wait between seasons. In the case of STSNW it was two years between season two and season three. Not all shows fall foul of this. Apple TV produces two seasons of the excellent espionage drama Slow Horses at a time, ensuring a prompt release schedule. However, even this has issues. Due to the complexity of the plots of many contemporary TV shows, something that is a marketing point, some viewers cannot remember the plot after a twelve month hiatus. Network TV shows seldom have these issues with each season being 20 plus episodes long and story arcs that are seldom as complex.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
I began 2025 with a fairly strong writing streak, publishing posts about games, technology and even air fryers. Sadly, this burst of enthusiasm gradually tailed off between April and June. I can’t even recollect if there was any particular “real world” reason for this or whether it was just a case of I wasn’t especially motivated. Fortunately, I started writing again in July in preparation for Blaugust: Festival of Blogging and subsequently wrote throughout the entirety of August. Revamping my blog in September and moving it to the latest version of Squarespace proved a positive move and since then I have kept up a writing schedule of posting to Contains Moderate Peril every second day. At present I have a lot of draft posts pending and I am not struggling to come up with ideas and write in general. I intend to nurture this positive approach and see if I can build upon it in 2026.
Looking back at my various posts regarding “technology” this year, a recurring theme has been my ongoing attempts to replace certain mainstream products with alternatives that do the job in-hand better, don’t require constant updates, aren’t bloated by superfluous functionality and are more cost effective or even ethical. Needless to say, this has proven quite hard. Hence I was unable to find a suitable replacement email client for Microsoft Outlook and end my subscription to Microsoft 365 Personal. The main problem is that most alternative software won’t support my email archive due to differences in the mailbox format. One possible work around is to install an older and therefore, non-subscription version of Outlook but this raises support and compatibility issues. It would be a lot easier to divest myself of a lot of mainstream software if I was starting from scratch.
I created a Bluesky account a little over a year ago. I was initially somewhat sceptical of adopting a third social media messaging platform, because I had become quite comfortable using Mastodon as a replacement for Twitter/X. However, certain individuals that I wished to continue to follow were migrating to Bluesky, so I followed suit. It has always been my long term goal to pick one of these two newer services and make it my sole point of presence in social media terms. So far that hasn’t happened. Hence a year on I find myself juggling three such platforms. Twitter/X, Mastodon and Bluesky. I post links to my blog posts on all of these services. To be honest none of them generate any tangible traffic but this is how you promoted your website or blog 15 years ago and old habits die hard.
In my teenage years, there was a social obligation to go out on New Year’s Eve. This often meant congregating in some dismal pub, queuing at the bar for 30 minutes to get a drink, then trying to find a corner where you could stand and struggle to have a conversation with your friends, above the noise of the crowd. The evening was dull, noisy and often ended in a fight. Then, around 1:00 AM we were summarily turfed out into the street and had to make our way home. Buses always run at this time of year to serve a public need but the “drunk express” was never a pleasant means of transportation. Quite frankly the whole experience was shit but the hubris of youth meant we deluded ourselves that we were having a good time. If someone suggested something similar today, I would laugh in their face. I am happy to spend New Year’s Eve indoors and away from it all.
It is customary for me to write an end of year summary of my gaming activities but I suspect that on this occasion it will be somewhat short. For me, 2024 has really hammered home the notion of the ephemeral nature of video games as well as their commercial ubiquity. The moment a game fails to satisfy for whatever reason, rather than complain or worry about it, I just move on to something else. It’s not as if there’s a shortage of games out there. I have a substantial back catalogue of games that Epic and Amazon prime regularly giveaway. I have bought numerous discounted bundles in the past, in the pious hope that I’ll play one of the games included, at some point in the future. Games may well be enjoyable and engaging but many are also disposable. That’s not to say they’re bad. While playing them you are indeed “entertained”. However, when you’re “done”, it’s amazing how you quickly find another and forget what you were previously playing.
The last time I wrote A Year in Movies post was back in 2020. That was naturally an unusual year and it certainly had a radical impact upon the film industry and the way new movies are distributed. In many ways the pandemic accelerated the inevitable move towards cross platform, same day releases. 4 years on and it is quite usual for films to have a short cinema release before becoming available on streaming media. They often appear on physical media at the same time. Effectively you can go to the cinema, or simply watch at home on the platform of your choice if you prefer. Rent, buy or subscribe, the film studios still get their pound of flesh and everyone is happy. Sometimes if a film has failed to gain sufficient traction at the cinema, its release will be cut short and it will go to streaming even quicker. Direct to video from the eighties and nineties has been superseded with direct to streaming.
It is fair to say that we live in an age where we do not lack quality TV. There are numerous shows that have garnered critical acclaim or a strong word of mouth following that are deemed “must see” viewing. No doubt you, like myself, have a long “to do” list of programs that you need to “get round to watching” on top of those shows which are staples of your viewing regime. If you didn’t have enough programmes already to catch up with, we all have friends and family telling us about a “great show” that’s on a platform we don’t subscribe to, that we really need to see. It is quite extraordinary and a far cry from my youth when the UK simply had three terrestrial channels until satellite TV became popular in the late eighties. To paraphrase the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan “we’ve never had it so good”.
This post is not intended to be a comprehensive review of music per se in 2024. It is simply a few thoughts on what I’ve been listening to over the course of the year and my ever changing relationship with the Terpsichorean muse. As a man in his fifties who has always enjoyed multiple genres of music and it is a comforting presence in day-to-day life. Up to a year ago, I relied upon my own music collection on my PC as the source of music to which I listened. Yet, this meant that I was somewhat locked into my own existing tastes and there was limited scope for me to find new material. This changed last December when I started subscribing to Spotify and since then it has become my primary source of music. It caters to my tastes, which at times are quite niche and it gently introduces me to new material without being too invasive. This has proven most beneficial.
This is my third attempt at writing this post. The first was a little too philosophical, tackling the nature of adult life and how it is a far cry from the childish notions I had about being a “grown up” when I was seven. The second was just a list of the various shit that has gone down in my life over the last twelve months and it felt far too much like whinging. Hopefully this one is more succinct and even handed. 2022 was not a good year, personally speaking. My family and I experienced a lot of health issues and my mother died after a rapid decline. Hence there has been a lot of stress and anxiety which has left me feeling tired and somewhat jaded. Due to the subsequent changes in my personal circumstances, I now find myself at somewhat of a “loose end”. I feel the need to channel my energies into something but I’m not sure exactly what at present.
So far I have written 135 blog posts in 2022. Not much compared to previous years, but frankly I’ve become a little despondent with writing in recent months (I shall expand more upon that in a moment). Hence, since October I have been enjoying a break from regular blogging. I have written sparingly and pursued other leisure activities. Given that my post output has gone down, it would be logical to assume that there has been a commensurate drop in web traffic to Contains Moderate Peril, but this is not the case. Overall, my monthly statistics have remained the same, proving once again that most of my readership find my written content via Google searches, rather than reading new material on a daily basis. This has given me much food for thought and added to my ongoing reflection upon my writing activities.
When I wrote Goodbye 2020 a year ago, I endeavoured to be philosophical and sanguine in my approach. It was a challenging year for all of us and for me it was further compounded by a bereavement. However, I strove to keep matters in perspective and tried to look at things in a broader context. I cannot be as even handed this time. 2021 has been a very difficult year for myself and my family and I will be glad to see the back of it. Nationally speaking, things haven’t been much better. I feel that we’ve squandered the initial progress that the COVID-19 vaccines offered. Obviously, I cannot do anything about the problems that the UK faces in 2022. However, I certainly intend to address some of the issues that I and my immediate family are facing. I am going to tackle some specific problems that need to be laid to rest and set myself some tangible goals to achieve. 2022 isn’t going to be something that just happens and I passively sit back and watch.
Getting older does have a few benefits. One of them, if you are fortunate enough to embrace the concept, is a degree of self awareness and the ability to be honest with yourself. Over the years I have tried to adjust my technological habits but ultimately I am a creature of habit. My use of technology and consumption of content has been determined by the decades I grew up in. Therefore, I am a PC user and prefer to sit in my office where I write, play games and peruse the internet. I have my desk set up in a way that suits my needs and I can go about my business in comfort. When away from my office, I rely heavily on my phone as an alternative platform. In some instances phone based apps offer a superior experience to the desktop or browser based PC alternatives. Banking being one example. For better or for worse this is how I do things and I am comfortable with these choices.
Usually in a post such as this, my primary focus would be writing about the games that I’ve played over the last twelve month and what it was about them that I specifically enjoyed. However, this year I feel that I must address the wider issues that have dominated the news regarding the video games industry. Simply put, several very high profile and successful triple A video game companies have been beset by scandals over the last twelve months. And these have been of such a nature that they have finally laid to rest the myth that some still cling to, that working “in video games” is somehow different from working in more traditional industries because it’s “cool”. It turns out that it has all the same failings as TV, music and film. The people at the top are abusive and broken and maltreat those at the coalface who do all the real work for precious little reward.
I can’t speak for others but my relationship with social media has certainly changed over the last two years. Whenever new internet technologies emerge, there is a brief period when it feels like some sort of new frontier. Often such innovations become a means of empowering the marginalised and the voiceless. For a while new platforms can even be a force for good. But eventually commercial interests creep in along with rules and regulations. Hence, it all inevitably takes a turn for the worst. The frontier is finally tamed and ends up being just another corporate space. Social media is certainly not a forum for discussing social issues or politics, instead being a medium for tribalism and rancour. Because of these factors and others, I have moderated my use of social media and it has proven extremely beneficial to my state of mind.
A very wise Vulcan once said “change is the essential process of all existence”. 2020 has demonstrated that unequivocally. How our privileged, pampered lives have altered over the last twelve months. We’ve had to stay at home, curtail our social interactions and reflect upon the meaning of existence. I appreciate that things are relative, so it’s not helpful to compare the concerns that discombobulate people today with the realities that folk had to endure during World War II for example. I won’t trivialise the sense of isolation and desperation some folk have felt over the lockdown. From my own perspective, my life as a carer is regimented and focused, so 2020 hasn’t really “cramped my style” to use an old fashioned phrase. However, several things happened over the course of the year that have had an impact upon myself and my family.
Let it suffice to say that due to current “circumstances”, Mrs P and I have watched a lot more TV this year. However, rather than just reiterate what we’ve viewed, which is already covered in my recurring blog post The Idiot Box, I thought I’d take the time to reflect upon some wider issues. TV has become a major source not only of entertainment but psychological support during this year’s social restrictions. The closure of cinemas for the majority of the past twelve months has meant that TV has had little or no competition. Furthermore, many of the films that may well have drawn audiences away, have come to the smaller screens a lot quicker. Never has so much TV been voraciously consumed. There’s also been a degree of nostalgia as viewers have watched popular shows at broadly similar times, reviving that sense of a shared experience that was so common in the seventies and eighties. However, the pandemic has also caused a slow down in TV production. Will the shortage of new content that many have predicted finally manifest itself next year?
In 2019, I went to the cinema just once to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. I didn’t write a summary of the films I’d seen throughout that year, as I felt that mainstream releases had become far too formulaic and dull. 2020 has done little to change my perspective. The global pandemic has meant that Cinemas have spent most of the time closed and therefore many of this year’s major film releases have ended up on video on demand services. A few titles remain indefinitely postponed, such as the latest Bond movie No Time to Die, while Sony Pictures wait to see if “normality” resumes. But a film that is sitting on the shelf is not a film making money. Hence, Warner Bros. have announced that all their major releases for 2021 will be across multiple platforms simultaneously, thus ensuring a broader flow of revenue. This has not pleased director’s such as Christopher Nolan who argue passionately regarding the merits of cinema. But I doubt Mr. Nolan has ever had to endure an out of focus screening in the wrong aspect ratio at Cineworld, Rochester, where audiences talk and mess with their phones continuously.
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
In my lifetime technology has always been promoted as something that improves our lives, especially at a domestic level. The VCR in the eighties is a prime example of this. It liberated us from having to watch TV at a specific time and place. Then there the personal computer, which brought into our own homes tools, that until that point, had been exclusive to the office. And for all the ill that it brings, the internet has certainly made the world demonstrably smaller. It’s revolutionised shopping and has improved the administration of services. So overall, I still feel that technology is a force for good. However there have been changes. In recent years technology on a domestic level has ceased to be quite as transformative and become more of a disposable commodity. Tech is now a fashion accessory, with a distinct lifecycle and upgrade treadmill. It is fast becoming just another form of superfluous crap to fill your home with.
Despite the tumultuous events of the last twelve months and the accompanying emotional fallout that has followed in their wake, I’ve managed to keep writing throughout 2020. My output has been somewhat inconsistent this year and I’ve noticed some changes in what I write about. This is inevitable as one’s tastes and focus changes naturally change over time. I’m finding it tougher to write enthusiastically about the video games industry per se, as it has hardly covered itself in glory this year. However, I still enjoy writing film reviews although I haven’t set foot inside a cinema for over a year. I suspect that this will remain the case for much of 2021. My writing has broadened in its scope and I find myself writing social commentary about various aspects of life, rather than just posting articles about my hobbies. Sharing my thoughts on the pandemic itself and “caring for the elderly” has proven very cathartic. But as I’ve stated many times before, writing is one of the ways in which I make sense of the world around me.
Last year I tried to write a measured and balanced post about the passing of the year. Sadly this time round my attitude toward the departing 12-month period is somewhat binary. Yes there were a couple of highlights to 2019 but most of it was an uphill struggle and therefore not worth celebrating. It can frankly sod off and won’t be missed. The two high points were my son’s wedding in August and my renewed enthusiasm for blogging that came about due to the Blaugust writing event. But overall 2019 was a repetitive and somewhat depressing grind having to continuously deal with multiple family illnesses, numerous hospital visits and then at the end of the year a bereavement. Yes, these are things that happened to us all eventually and there is no escaping them but I appear to be trapped in this facet of the “circle of life”. Furthermore, until certain situations resolve themselves, I cannot make or implement any long-term plans. 2019 has been in many ways about just treading water.
Life is often cyclical, if you don’t believe me go watch The Lion King. I started 2018 playing The Lord of the Rings Online and by writing a post about how gamers collectively seem to repeat the same mistakes. And as the year and indeed the decade ends, I find myself once again playing the Yule Festival in LOTRO and reflecting upon how some games that garnered criticism over their egregious business models, have ended up as huge hits. It would appear that gamers are their own worst enemy. I shall leave the psychological analysis of paradox to others. From my perspective, irrespective of the iniquities of the video game industry and certain quarters of the gaming community, it has been a good year, gaming wise. I have enjoyed my time playing MMOs such as Star Trek Online, The Elder Scrolls Online and the aforementioned LOTRO. These and other titles have entertained me, provided me with an opportunity to unwind as well as affording me some much-needed social interaction. I particularly enjoy Wednesday evenings when I log into my Discord server and then chat and play collaboratively with longstanding gaming friends.
One of the benefits that comes with age (for some people at least), if the gift of realistic expectations. Having reached 51 years, I no longer harbour thoughts that each year will be a rollercoaster ride of excitement, mirth and personal gain. Nor do I count on the stars aligning so that I make my fortune and retire peacefully to the Cayman Islands, to live the life of a tax exile. If New Year’s Eve rolls round and no one has died, I’m not looking at being tried for murder and there’s still gin in the drinks cabinet, then I usually deem the previous twelve months an acceptable year. However, despite even these fairly lose and undemanding criteria I feel compelled to say that 2018 was bollocks and that I won’t be sad to see the back of it.
I did not manage to maintain my writing schedule this year and have not posted everyday as I would’ve liked. I have produced over two hundred and seventy posts but still feel I could have done more. Blaugust was a welcome burst of enthusiasm that I managed to sustain for September and October, but I lost momentum in the run up to Christmas. At least I know what the root cause is which puts me a step nearer to resolving it. Having written several posts in the past about “writers block” and the other perennial excuse of not having anything to write about, I seem to have squarely fallen into both those traps. At present I find that motivating myself is the key problem. If I haven’t started writing something by midday, then it more than often gets left for the day. If I intend to escape this malaise, then I shall have to establish a far stricter writing schedule for 2019 and endeavour to do my writing first thing in the morning, when I am most focused.
Throughout my adult life I have always gone to the cinema as a leisure activity. 2018 has been of note in this regard as it’s the year I’ve been to the cinema the least. I have visited my local multiplex just three times over the last twelve months. It’s not that good quality movies are not made anymore. Far from it. It’s just that they don’t always get released theatrically. Furthermore, the cost to entertainment ratio has simply become too much of a gamble. Standard tickets are priced between £12 to £15 locally and I resent such an outlay for a film that may only be adequate or worse. Perhaps my outlook on pricing is unreasonable but I am not going to pay such money for mediocre entertainment. I don’t expect every movie I see to be a cinematic milestone or genre classic but nor do I expect it to be an exercise in indifference. If I had paid such ticket prices to see The Predator or Death Wish at my local Cineworld, then I would have been singularly annoyed. Mercifully I saw them both at home and therefore at a much lower cost.
A Month in Gaming
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September, apart from finishing the main story in The Sinking City . Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
At present, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone continues to provide what I call “quick fix” gaming. I’ve been playing since April and every new season, developer’s Infinity Ward continue to add new features to keep the game engaging. Season Six started on 29th September and came with some interesting new maps and weapons to unlock. At present there appears to be a glitch with the SP-R-208 marksman rifle, as there is no bullet drop. Hence it has temporarily become the weapon of choice of all “wannabe” snipers. Even I can hit things with this weapon. There’s also another glitch with the AS VAL silenced assault rifle. When converted to use SPP ammunition, these armour piercing rounds penetrate everything with no reduction in bullet velocity. You can effectively shoot through an entire building and hit a target. I suspect that a patch will quickly eliminate these issues.
Despite my lack of time for in-depth gameplay during September, I did acquire four new games, which came as a surprise to me given the circumstances. Firstly, I was gifted Spiritfarer via Steam. This is a charming and thoughtful game. You play as Stella, (accompanied by her pet cat Daffodil), who takes over from the mythological Charon as the new Spiritfarer. As a ferrymaster you must sail the sea to find spirits, grant their last wishes and finally take them to the Everdoor, the gateway to the afterlife. This is a game that provides relaxation and an opportunity to reflect on the nature of life and death. I also bought two new RPGs. Elex and Horizon Zero Dawn. The latter is a known quantity and a recent console conversion. The former is a smaller title developed by Piranha Bytes who previously made the Gothic and Risen franchises. Elex mixes futuristic and medieval locations, in which the player can use guns, swords and magic against enemies. Finally Toren is an action adventure puzzle game from a small independent Brazillian developer. I found the basic premise of a baby girl protagonist who grows up as she progresses through a trap filled tower intriguing.
In October, I plan to start playing one of the above RPGs and try again to see if I can catch up with content in The Lord of the Rings Online. I’m hoping that there will be an improvement in server performance. It will also be interesting to see how the community responds to the “mini-expansion”. I may return to Star Trek Online but that is more of a question of conducting research for a series of blog posts. What I crave the most from my gaming at present is something different. Hence I have tried content outside of my usual genres during the lockdown. I cannot find any compelling reason to return to The Elder Scrolls Online at present. That is a game I like to apply myself to, due to the richness of the lore. I don’t want to just dabble with it, so I think I’ll keep it in reserve for later. I suspect it may well be a difficult autumn and winter so perhaps an MMO such as this, will be the ideal solution to the dark nights.
Here we are again with another summary of my gaming activities in recent months. Or in this case since last September. It’s been a while but I’ve been on a blogging hiatus until recently. However, I’ve kept myself busy gaming wise and often I find the hunt for news video games, just as entertaining as I do playing them. Perhaps that could be a future blog post. Back to the matter in hand. Gaming wise, pretty much all things related to the MMORPG genre are currently on the back burner. I’ll give specifics later but I am taking a break from these for the present. I am currently looking at trying games outside my usual comfort zone and also trying to test whether you can or cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, the answer appears to be yes you can. Enough summation, on to the specifics.
I last wrote a post in this series in June. Back then I wanted a break from MMOs as I had invested heavily in Star wars: the Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Because I was still enjoying the Star Wars vibe, I decided to try Jedi: Fallen Order. Sadly, despite the story showing a lot of promise, the PC version of the game handles poorly and the controls are sluggish. Often it felt like my character was wading through mud and there was a tangible amount of skills lag. So I uninstalled it and moved on to something else. One of the odd things about gaming is that despite amassing a library of free and discounted titles, we often end up buying something new, instead of playing that which we already own. And that is exactly what I did. I purchased Stray amid all the excitement surrounding the game, but to date I still haven’t played it. Make of that what you will.
Usually I keep subscribing to an MMORPG, even if I’m not playing it that much. I like to have options in case I decide to log in on a whim. Especially if an absent friend returns to a particular game presenting an opportunity to catch up. However, the current economic climate is no longer something that I can ignore. Although far from having a low income, the current ongoing increase in the cost of living is becoming apparent, so I have been fiscally prudent and cancelled my monthly subscriptions to Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Both have provided me with a lot of entertainment over the last three to four months but until new content becomes available, I can happily dispense with them for the meantime. Not only have I saved £17.98 on subscriptions, I shall no longer be making ad hoc purchases of in-game currencies. Something I have been doing a lot more than usual of late.
I have confined my gaming to three MMORPGs in recent months and have not strayed into anything new. Time has been an issue due to a great deal of change in my domestic life. Hence The Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Trek Online have proven suitable for my needs. Being able to log into a game and commence an activity without any complicated preamble is convenient and currently suits my schedule down to the ground. I will be buying Sniper Elite 5 at the end of the month as this is a franchise that has always proven entertaining and engaging. While recently perusing the various game launchers I have installed, I took the opportunity to remove several games that I’m no longer playing or that have proven to be a “five minute wonder”. Hence I said goodbye to GreedFall, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Days Gone. Their removal is no reflection upon their quality.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an instalment of A Month in Gaming. Over Christmas and New Year I was busy with family issues and it’s only in January that I’ve started anything approaching a regular gaming schedule. The novelty of Forza Horizon 5 has run its course and I’ve grown tired of the game’s upbeat tone and neverending activities that litter the in-game map. It’s nice that the game tries hard to engage with you but it reaches a point where you never get a time to stop, think and take stock. I couldn’t find anything else included in the Xbox Game Pass which especially excited me. There were a few titles that did take my fancy but I then discovered that I already own them elsewhere via Steam or Epic Games. So I decided to cancel my subscription. I still think that the Xbox Game Pass for PC is very good value and my failure to find anything that I like is my problem and not Microsoft’s fault.
September has been and gone and the nights are now drawing in. Usually this time of year is ideal for gaming but sadly I’ve had a lot on over the last 30 days and as a result there’s been precious little time for gaming or indeed writing. Such is life. When I did have some leisure time, MMOs were the easiest way to get a quick gaming fix, as per usual. Standing Stone Games announced that the next expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online would be released in November and that a revision of the Legendary Item system would be coming prior to that. Hence I took a look at the beta builds on the Bullroarer test server and then started prepping my various alts on the live servers, to get ready for this major change. I also managed to complete the latest event in Star Trek Online. However, beyond these straightforward tasks I didn’t really get to do much more.
Again this is more a case of two months in gaming. Furthermore although I was quite active in July, I was less so in August as the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event consumed the lion share of my leisure time. The majority of my gaming time is usually mid to late evening. Although Mrs P and I do many activities together, there are times when she will want to watch something I don’t, be engrossed in a book or out with friends. These occasions present sizable windows of time to focus upon a video game, which is especially useful for the MMORPG and RPG genres. However, I often have to choose whether to use this time exclusively for gaming or some other recreational activities such as writing. Another foible of my video game time management is trying to arrange things so I can undertake recurring, daily quests in a game early in the morning. I will often tackle such content in Star Trek Online, as soon as I get up.
The last installment of A Month in Gaming was at the end of April. I have decided to update this recurring post less often to ensure that I have more to write about than just cataloguing my generic activities in The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. The only downside of such an approach is that it invalidates the title but that can’t be helped. Fortunately, I have done more than usual over the last two months. My daily schedule has changed temporarily and I now have a little more leisure time available. Hence I’ve dabbled with several new games as well as using my Nintendo Switch more often. I also took part in a “tag team” playthrough of XCOM 2, which was a very interesting experience. And I finally took the time to go through all my games libraries on the various different platforms to catalogue exactly what I have. I found a few hidden gems but the majority is just “filler” that you find in most video game bundles.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Here we are again. Yet another month has gone by and I find myself writing another instalment of “a month in gaming”. And to be honest, I have very little to say in this particular roundup of my gaming activities. I played Star Trek Online throughout February and created a new Klingon character to take advantage of the ongoing Klingon recruitment event. I have managed to upgrade a Tier 5 D7 and kit it out in such a way that it is fairly robust. And I also created a new Jem’Hadar alt, as they start at level 60 and you are provided with a fully equipped vessel and crew. Nothing fancy but it allows you to get into the endgame content a lot quicker. I may write a more detailed blog post about this at some point. I also played a lot more Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout as my granddaughters came to stay for a week. I have already expressed my thoughts about the mechanics of that game in a prior post.
I last wrote A Month in Gaming post in December. Quite a lot has changed over the last two months. I have abandoned Cyberpunk 2077 as it has totally failed to hold my interest. I just couldn’t get on with the first person perspective. I also stopped playing Neverwinter, despite the game having many appealing elements. Sometimes, when you start an MMORPG that has been running for years, you feel so “behind the curve” that the prospect of catching up with everyone at the endgame is too daunting. And because the Call of Duty franchise has a yearly lifecycle, a new iteration of the game was released in November. Black Ops Cold War subsequently replaced the reboot of Modern Warfare and a lot of the new games content subsequently bled through in the free Battle Royale version. I’d been playing Warzone since last April and it was beginning to get a little stale. So I didn’t buy the latest Battle Pass and decided to move on. And then there’s The Lord of the Rings Online. Let it suffice to say I have completed as much of the latest “mini expansion” as I require and the game is now “on hold”.
November proved to be a very productive month, gaming wise. I had to self isolate for 14 days, due to coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Hence I had far more leisure time than usual. For a second month I applied myself to progressing through the new “mini expansion” in The Lord of the Rings Online. The new zone is a two phase map. The first is Elderslade, a mountainous region to the North of the Wells of Langflood. This area contains mainly story quests. The second phase, called War of Three Peaks, is the same zone but during a period of open war between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Quests here are mainly repeatable slayer and achievement quests. I did not discover this until I had completed the first round, so to speak, only to be offered exactly the same quests again by an NPC. As I had reached maximum rank in reputation for this new faction and there were no rewards of any note for me to spend my barter currency upon, I simply stopped playing through this content.
The last 31 days have gone by really fast, or at least that’s the way it feels. Despite having bought several new games recently and acquired yet more for free from the Epic Store, I did not embark on anything new throughout October. Due to the unexpectedly prompt release of the new “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of a new event in Star Trek Online, I found myself focused upon the MMORPG genre, yet again. And after playing continuously for six months, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has finally begun to lose its lustre. I didn’t especially enjoy the Halloween event, not that there was anything inherently wrong with it. It just wasn’t for me. I played a little Fall Guy: Ultimate Knockout but quickly discovered that the “season” system is just another gear treadmill, although the gear in this instance are novelty cosmetic outfits. I don’t want to be tied to too many games in this fashion (it’s bad enough with MMOs), so this is another title that has been relegated to occasional play when the fancy takes me.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
As I mentioned in the last instalment of “A Month in Gaming”, I was toying with the idea of buying Ghost Recon Breakpoint. However, I have decided against that. Yes the game may well be a third person, co-operative shooter but ultimately it’s yet more explosions and military hardware fetishism, which isn’t anything new. I have more than enough of that at present with Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. I also don’t feel disposed towards giving Ubisoft any of my money at the moment, until they get their house in order. I am so tired of continuously reading about how shitty the video game industry is to work in. It’s difficult to protest in a meaningful way but I guess for the present not buying a product is as good a way as any. So rather than purchasing any further games, I decided in July to play at least one of the many titles I’ve got in my existing library.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
The problem I find with monthly gaming articles is that they tend to cover ground that I’ve already written about over the last 4 weeks in other blog posts, only in less detail. So here is the brief version of my gaming activities throughout February. I played through the entirety of the Star Trek Online 10th Anniversary event and received the new hybrid Tier 6 ship. I enjoyed the new 2 part feature episode and have managed to maintain a schedule of doing “odds and sods” to keep myself busy. STO is currently my primary game. I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online, as soon as I start questing in Minas Morgul itself. It is simply too uninspiring and grindy an area. So I’ve focused on completing deeds for virtue experience and daily repeatable quests for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Due to constraints upon my schedule, I decided to temporarily stop my subscription to ESO Plus, as I simply do not have the time to invest in The Elder Scrolls Online at present. ESO is a good game and deserves attention when played. Committing to multiple MMOs at once is always a mistake.
So much for the New Year. January has now been and gone and 2020 just seems to be barrelling along. As ever, due to my real world commitments, I’ve been pushed for time over the last thirty one days. Therefore, most of my gaming has been targeted “binge” sessions conducted late at night. However, I do find playing through episodic content over several hours to be a very productive means of making progress in MMOs. So overall January has been an enjoyable experience, game wise. Due to my circumstances, I have deferred starting any new single player games and have focused primarily on two titles; The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. Sadly, The Elder Scrolls Online has been relegated to being played just once a week, usually on a Wednesday night when I meet up online with friends. My exploration of Vvardenfell will have to wait until later in the year, as I cannot sustain three MMOs to any great degree.
October has been and gone. And as ever the MMORPG genre has been the mainstay of my gaming activities over the last thirty days. Furthermore, it has been a productive month. I managed to complete the Daggerfall Covenant narrative arc, along with the main story on my Dragonknight in The Elder Scrolls Online. I find that completing Coldharbour is the biggest obstacle in progressing. It’s an atmospheric zone but once you’ve experienced it, it doesn’t really lend itself to repeat playing. But having done all this my Dragonknight hit level cap. I had taken the precaution of buying appropriate gear ahead of this achievement, so I managed to acquire some decent armour and jewellery that provide robust set bonuses. Despite focusing mainly on ESO, I did manage to progress further in The Lord of the Rings Online. I got as far as the Wolf Denes in the Vales of Anduin update. I also took the time to visit the LOTRO test server and checked out the Minas Morgul expansion preview. As for Star Trek Online my daily visits have been focused upon completing Task Force Operations and grinding for a free ship (again).
September saw The Elder Scrolls Online becoming my primary gaming focus. No real surprises there as I’ve been having so much fun of late with this MMORPG. I managed to get my Argonian Necromancer to level cap and then had the fun task of trying to equip them suitably. I don’t quite know why this aspect of gaming appeals to me so much but I just get a real kick out of trawling around looking for appropriate gear. I tend to enjoy it in all the MMOs I play. There’s just something inherently satisfying about equipping a new piece of armour or jewellery and seeing your stats noticeably increase. This process is even more enjoyable in ESO as there isn’t any server wide auction house, so you have to travel around from region to region, individually checking each guild trader you find. It really is virtual shopping. Once I managed to find the right gear for this character, I promptly created a new Imperial Dragon Knight and started playing through the Daggerfall Covenant storyline as it the one faction I haven’t yet completed. Oh and in ESO cosmetic pet news, the ghost chicken (official name Spectral Chicken) is outstanding.
Last month panned out pretty much as I expected. Blaugust and writing daily blog posts took up a fair amount of my leisure time. And then I lost a few days due real-life social activities. What gaming time I had was focused mainly on The Elder Scrolls Online. I’m sorry to say that I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online. My level 113 Guardian remains at the Black Gates and for the present I simply do not feel disposed towards working my way through Mordor again, which I did just a year ago on my primary character. I have undertaken a few quests with my level cap Lore-master and will endeavour in the weeks ahead to at least complete the Vales of Anduin region. LOTRO at present doesn’t have much of a hold on me, although I may well become more enthusiastic once the next expansion is formerly announced.
Contrary to my last A Month in Gaming post, I did actually end up buying a discount copy of Elsweyr and returning to The Elder Scrolls Online. And I’m rather glad that I did, because it has provided a welcome change of scene and an opportunity to do something different. However, you can’t just fire up ESO and dive right in. No sir. The first thing you have to do is update all your addons and if your starting a new alt (which I decided to do), ensure that your key mappings and custom settings are ported over. This process was a pain in the butt; however it did inspire a couple of blog posts. Creating a new alt is the perfect way to reacquaint yourself with ESO after a lengthy absence. In my case it has been 12 months. I decided to try the new Necromancer class and so far, it has proven to be both fun and rewarding. Rather than try to do a thousand things at once, I just started the Elsweyr main story and doggedly pursued it. The narrative is enjoyable and it was fun to see Cadwell as part of the plot focus. For practical reasons I’ve re-subscribed to ESO plus to unlock various DLC and I intend to continue playing for the next month or so.
This post should have been published two weeks ago but as ever, real life just keeps getting in the way. As expected, June proved to be a busy month, however, I managed to organise my leisure time pretty well, affording me an opportunity to not only play my two current MMOs but also experiment with some other games. At present my caring commitment keep me busy from about 10:30 AM to about 5:00 PM. I tend to get up round about 7:00 AM so if I promptly have a shower, dress and eat, I can usually create a two-hour window in the morning to either tackle admin and paperwork or undertake dailies in games such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Star Trek Online. I can also find several hours in the evening as Mrs Peril tends to go to bed earlier than I. Therefore practical time management has proven beneficial over the last four weeks.
As I suspected in my last post, my gaming activities were somewhat curtailed throughout May due to both my parents being ill. However, the time I did manage to spend in-game was both therapeutic and relaxing. For me, I’ve never really seen gaming as escapism, although I appreciate it certainly is for others. One of the aspects it offers, along with a degree of challenge and entertainment, is a release from stress and the pressures of one’s daily life. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed Sniper Elite V2 Remastered so much, because not only is it a thoroughly absorbing game, it also provides a sense of catharsis. I’ve already written about the game in some detail, along with my thoughts about the ongoing “remaster versus remake” debate. However, I would add that I enjoyed it so much I re-installed the sequel, Sniper Elite III, which I haven’t played since it’s release in 2014. This also proved to be an enjoyable undertaking, again for the self-same reasons.
So what have I been up to in April gaming wise? Oh, yes there was this. Mounted combat for the Guardian class is awful. There. I said it. As I’m not a LOTRO “altoholic” my only previous experience with mounted combat was with my Lore-master. Most of their skills are ranged which makes the fights less tedious and time consuming. And you get a combat pet which helps the proceeding slightly, but overall, it’s not that much fun. However fighting via your war steed with a Guardian is a ponderous grind. You have to be in close proximity to your foe to hit them and half the time they are running around you, conspicuously out of range. Sure there’s a skill that brings them next to you for a short period of time but as a level 85 Guardian’s DPS output is distinctly average at this point in the levelling curve, it’s a long, arduous slog to kill anything. My solution has been to summon my skirmish soldier who is an Archer and to use them in conjunction with my own bow to shoot down mounted foes while on foot. This still takes time but is quicker than doing it from horse back.
Quickscoping
Developers do like to gate access to the best gear and equipment in video games. Often there will be an achievement or deed required to unlock the object that you desire. Now I have no objection to this concept in principle. It’s just that every now and then, the criteria required to access an item is beyond my abilities. Take Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. Infinity Ward recently added the Rytec AMR to the game. It is a semi-automatic sniper rifle that can use thermite and explosive rounds. It has a significantly higher rate-of-fire than the HDR and AX-5, and performs better at range than the Dragunov. I’ve been itching to get my hands on this weapon for a while. However, to unlock it, you have to complete the following achievement. "Get 2 quickscope kills using sniper or marksman rifles in 15 different matches". For me this is effectively one of the labours of Hercules.
Developers do like to gate access to the best gear and equipment in video games. Often there will be an achievement or deed required to unlock the object that you desire. Now I have no objection to this concept in principle. It’s just that every now and then, the criteria required to access an item is beyond my abilities. Take Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. Infinity Ward recently added the Rytec AMR to the game. It is a semi-automatic sniper rifle that can use thermite and explosive rounds. It has a significantly higher rate-of-fire than the HDR and AX-5, and performs better at range than the Dragunov. I’ve been itching to get my hands on this weapon for a while. However, to unlock it, you have to complete the following achievement. "Get 2 quickscope kills using sniper or marksman rifles in 15 different matches". For me this is effectively one of the labours of Hercules.
Quickscoping is a technique used by a player to promptly eliminate an enemy. When confronted with an opponent, you must quickly aim down the sight of your weapon (by pressing the right hand mouse button), instantly fires a shot (by pressing the left mouse button) and then returns to the default view (by releasing the right mouse button). To have a kill counted as a quickscope kill, you'll need to “one-shot” a target within 1- 2 seconds of aiming down sights. You'll require a weapon with a “one shot” capability that can also aim down sight (ADS) as quickly as possible. It also helps to be proficient with sniper and marksman rifles and to have fast reactions. Let it suffice to say, I am not fast enough to easily undertake this task. I played seven matches last night and only managed to achieve 2 quickscope kills in one game. I have to do this another 14 times to unlock the Rytec AMR.
Like many other video games, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has an ingame store. One of the things it sells are weapon blueprints. These are plans of bespoke builds, that if purchased instantly provide you with a reciprocal weapon, irrespective of whether you have the base version of the same weapon unlocked. However, this system comes with a minor but significant caveat. I bought the blueprints for a particular version of the Rytec AMR. If I equip this version and use it while playing, I will level the weapon and unlock all the various barrels, sights and other customisations. However, I will not be able to equip any of these items until I unlock the gun itself, which inevitably brings me back to that achievement that I’m currently struggling with. I still have to “get 2 quickscope kills using sniper or marksman rifles in 15 different matches".
I guess if I play enough, I can unlock this achievement by pure attrition. However, it does take the pleasure out of playing to a degree. I am currently using the Kar98k marksman rifle to try and improve my proficiency at quickscoping but it’s a slow process. In the meantime my kill to death ratio has taken a turn for the worse while I use this weapon. I don’t mind a challenge but there’s a fine line between an engaging learning curve and a tedious grind. It would be preferable if developer’s Infinity Ward offered a choice of achievements to unlock weapons, so the player could at least find one that they enjoyed as well as met their skills set. If my attempts to unlock the Rytec AMR fail, I shall have to wait and see if a better set of blueprints for the weapon go on sale, as I would like to experience firsthand the benefits of explosive ammunition.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
Developers do like to gate access to the best gear and equipment in video games. Often there will be an achievement or deed required to unlock the object that you desire. Now I have no objection to this concept in principle. It’s just that every now and then, the criteria required to access an item is beyond my abilities. Take Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. Infinity Ward recently added the Rytec AMR to the game. It is a semi-automatic sniper rifle that can use thermite and explosive rounds. It has a significantly higher rate-of-fire than the HDR and AX-5, and performs better at range than the Dragunov. I’ve been itching to get my hands on this weapon for a while. However, to unlock it, you have to complete the following achievement. "Get 2 quickscope kills using sniper or marksman rifles in 15 different matches". For me this is effectively one of the labours of Hercules.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
This post started out as something completely different. I was simply going to write about a popular new game, how it came to my attention and my impressions and thoughts once I had purchased it. But while reflecting on one aspect of the game; the social element that stems from playing with friends, I realised I had more to say about this rather than just writing a review. But such is the nature of writing. In my experience my train of thought is seldom linear. So this post has now morphed into some musings about social gaming and how it is an integral aspect of modern game design. Because playing games with friends is often regarded as a superior experience to playing alone. At least by game developers. I think that the reality is more nuanced and dependent on the game in question. However, I do think that some games are better played with people you know and that playing on your own or in a PUG is less fun. Because that has been my experience of late.
Adding a train to a Battle Royale game is hardly a new concept. Both Apex Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battleground have successfully done this. So it was only a matter of time before one was added to Call of Duty Warzone. We were tipped off by the addition of train tracks last season. The launch of Season 5 this week finally made the “choo choo” a reality. I must admit, I’m quite surprised at how adding something as straightforward as a freight train has reinvigorated the game. That and the fact that you can now access the stadium seems to have really enthused the playerbase. Since Tuesday, whenever you play Warzone or one of its variants, a large number of players head straight to the stadium or the station where the armoured freight train starts its journey around the map. As a result of this, new players or those who aren’t so skilled in combat can navigate the outlying areas of Verdansk with a greater degree of freedom and safety. Everyone else is at either of those locations.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone have a wealth of customisation and cosmetics options. One of which is the ability to assign hand gestures to your character. These can be used as a means of giving instructions when playing in a squad but more often they’re just used for fun or humorously. Players will use them after a kill or sometimes make them part of a trick shot, such as making a gesture with the left hand while firing from the hip with the right. I’ve not noticed a lot of use of gestures while playing nor do I use them myself. It takes all my concentration to stay alive. However, they do seem to feature in the various CoD clip shows I watch on YouTube, so they’re more of an affectation used by “top tier” players. Recently, developers’ Infinity Ward removed the OK gesture from the game. This minor change was not mentioned in the patch notes and the gesture was replaced with a new one called "crush".
I was watching a YouTube video recently of someone trying the new Fennec SMG in Call of Duty Modern Warfare Multiplayer. It was a 5 versus 5 game and the player who made the video was clearly quite skilled. After quickly racking up multiple kills, 3 of the enemy team left mid game. He laughed and pointed out that they had “rage quit”, although that is just conjecture. They may have left the game for a multitude of reasons (a point I shall return to later). As ever this video began a train of thought which I would now like to explore. Multiplayer games often go hand in hand with a lot of informal social etiquette. Much of which stems from the original MMOs from two decades ago. However, these conventions are not in any way mandatory or enshrined in any games terms of service. Yet quitting in the middle of a multiplayer game is still frowned upon in certain quarters, often being seen as an act of selfishness and childish anger. However, like everything in life, I think it’s not as simple as that.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
Setting aside the debate regarding the rectitude of the Battle Pass system in Call of Duty Modern Warfare, I certainly enjoyed Season 3. I managed to find multiplayer games that suit my ability along with loadouts that allow me to hit something every once in a while. It was very much a learning process but from April 12th to June10th, I slowly improved my performance and re-acquainted myself with the fact that the FPS genre can be fun. I finally got to try a Battle Royale game and was pleasantly surprised by how accessible they are. However, (and there’s always a however) Activision Blizzard seem to be hell bent on losing the good will they seemed to have gained in recent months. Today’s release of Season 4 has been blighted by major performance issues with the patch servers. Furthermore, the developers still insist in removing certain maps and game modes to promote new ones. This “lottery” which results in a lack of choice for many players is especially galling when you’ve just bought the new Battle Pass.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
I bought and started playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the 13th of April when it was on sale. I purchased the game via the Battle.net launcher and not through a third party key seller. The game includes a Single Player campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative gameplay as well as the new Warzone which includes various versions of the popular Battle Royale mode. Call of Duty Warzone can also be downloaded separately for free, without the need to buy the base game. Due to the recent controversies surrounding the use of loot boxes as a business model, Activision have instead implemented a Battle Pass system which is tied to the games “seasons”. A season runs for about 50 plus days. The current one (season 3) is scheduled to end on June 2nd. Here is the official blurb regarding how the Battle Pass system works.
I’ve been playing Call of Duty Warzone for about a month now and have documented my progress through the game and my attempts to improve my performance. It would be generous to categorise me as a distinctly average player. But I don’t worry too much about this as I am not alone. Not everyone is a high end player, although one’s perspective on this can be skewed as it is the most competent players that tend to dominate games. However, through simply playing CoD WZ regularly, despite my low body count per game I have slowly progressed through the ranking system. I am currently ranked 103 (the cap is 155). CoD WZ is generous with XP and each game’s score is not just based upon your kills. Your final position out of 150 other players is also a factor. There are additional marks for damage and a lot of other superfluous factors that the devs had added to ensure that even the weakest players move forward through the rankings.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
This post comes with caveats. In a perfect world, common sense would prevail and I wouldn’t have to list them. But we live in an age where some people take great pleasure in being professional contrarians and deliberately obtuse. So let me state clearly and unequivocally, I am not advocating that your gaming pleasure should come at the expense of someone else's. If you sign up for a 12 man raid and have a specific role to play, then do so to the best of your ability. Fooling around has consequences in such a scenario. However, that is not what is being discussed here. Nope. What I am suggesting is that you should take your pleasures, where you can find them. And if they have no tangible impact upon other players, then you are totally entitled to play your game of choice in a manner that suits you. It’s a simple axiom, yet it still proves to be very difficult for some gamers to comprehend and more importantly accept. Allow me to explain by means of an example.
I originally climbed aboard the Call of Duty bandwagon in 2009 when Modern Warfare 2 came out. I enjoyed the campaign and the multiplayer so much I promptly bought the first instalment. I then stuck with the franchise up until 2013. I didn’t especially like Ghosts, although I enjoyed the option to play as a dog which was different. Overall I was somewhat tired of the FPS genre from then on and so didn’t keep up with any further releases. For me the best iteration of the game was Black Ops in 2010. The campaign had a densely plotted story and the multiplayer was extremely polished. The multiplayer maps were well conceived allowing for fluid and engaging gameplay. Six years on and I recently got an itch to play Call of Duty again. The soft reboot of the franchise with Modern warfare in November 2019 promised a return to basics. The recent inclusion of a battle royale mode with the release of Warzone finally clinched the deal. So I bought a discounted version of the standard game recently and dived back in.
A Month in Gaming
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
However, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom. I decided to buy Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, partially due to the wealth of positive reviews and feedback surrounding the game. It is great fun and often very amusing but I do seem to have developed a love hate relationship with the gameplay. I’ve failed to qualify for more than four games in a row and hence have not experienced much variety in races and challenges so far. I’m also not a fan of the team games, as I hate losing due to others, rather than my own actions. Hence progressing through the season pass is a grind. However, I occasionally have some good fortune and no matter how poorly you play, there’s always someone worse than yourself. The large number of “Tryhards” in the game are also a drag at times, as are players using the “grab” function in a negative fashion. But then it’s hard to stay pissed off with a game that lets you dress as a Triceratops.
I have made good progress through the Season Five Battle Pass in Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. As I suspected, players were initially quite happy to swamp the train that’s been added to the game. But a month on, no one seems interested anymore and it is substantially less dangerous to investigate now. The new FiNN Light Machine Gun has proven useful to players like me. I use the XRK LongShot Adverse barrel which provides not only an increase in range but an insane rate of fire. If you’re not especially accurate with your aiming, then these factors are a real boon. There is a degree of recoil to deal with but this can be compensated by firing in rapid bursts, rather than just holding down the trigger and hosing the gun around. Plunder continues to provide the best of both worlds with regard to play styles, so once again CoDMW/WZ has managed to hold my interest for yet another calendar month.
Over the next month, I shall be making a concerted effort to complete The Sinking City. I find that if I get sidetracked with too many other games, it is always the RPG that I’m playing that suffers. This is probably due to the fact that they need a more substantial time investment, so you can absorb the narrative. I have enjoyed this Lovecraft inspired game, despite its foibles and flaws. It certainly nailed the main themes of the Cthulhu Mythos. I think that I shall replace it with yet another RPG, as I like games with open worlds and dense lore that I can lose myself in. So I may purchase GreedFall next. It bears quite a few similarities to Amazon Game Studios forthcoming MMORPG, New World. However, after several beta tests, I have decided that the latter is not to my liking and think that the former will be a more suitable alternative. I hope that September doesn’t prove to be as tumultuous as August and that I can find the time to accommodate a new game.
Here we are again with another summary of my gaming activities in recent months. Or in this case since last September. It’s been a while but I’ve been on a blogging hiatus until recently. However, I’ve kept myself busy gaming wise and often I find the hunt for news video games, just as entertaining as I do playing them. Perhaps that could be a future blog post. Back to the matter in hand. Gaming wise, pretty much all things related to the MMORPG genre are currently on the back burner. I’ll give specifics later but I am taking a break from these for the present. I am currently looking at trying games outside my usual comfort zone and also trying to test whether you can or cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, the answer appears to be yes you can. Enough summation, on to the specifics.
I last wrote a post in this series in June. Back then I wanted a break from MMOs as I had invested heavily in Star wars: the Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Because I was still enjoying the Star Wars vibe, I decided to try Jedi: Fallen Order. Sadly, despite the story showing a lot of promise, the PC version of the game handles poorly and the controls are sluggish. Often it felt like my character was wading through mud and there was a tangible amount of skills lag. So I uninstalled it and moved on to something else. One of the odd things about gaming is that despite amassing a library of free and discounted titles, we often end up buying something new, instead of playing that which we already own. And that is exactly what I did. I purchased Stray amid all the excitement surrounding the game, but to date I still haven’t played it. Make of that what you will.
Usually I keep subscribing to an MMORPG, even if I’m not playing it that much. I like to have options in case I decide to log in on a whim. Especially if an absent friend returns to a particular game presenting an opportunity to catch up. However, the current economic climate is no longer something that I can ignore. Although far from having a low income, the current ongoing increase in the cost of living is becoming apparent, so I have been fiscally prudent and cancelled my monthly subscriptions to Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Both have provided me with a lot of entertainment over the last three to four months but until new content becomes available, I can happily dispense with them for the meantime. Not only have I saved £17.98 on subscriptions, I shall no longer be making ad hoc purchases of in-game currencies. Something I have been doing a lot more than usual of late.
I have confined my gaming to three MMORPGs in recent months and have not strayed into anything new. Time has been an issue due to a great deal of change in my domestic life. Hence The Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Trek Online have proven suitable for my needs. Being able to log into a game and commence an activity without any complicated preamble is convenient and currently suits my schedule down to the ground. I will be buying Sniper Elite 5 at the end of the month as this is a franchise that has always proven entertaining and engaging. While recently perusing the various game launchers I have installed, I took the opportunity to remove several games that I’m no longer playing or that have proven to be a “five minute wonder”. Hence I said goodbye to GreedFall, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Days Gone. Their removal is no reflection upon their quality.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an instalment of A Month in Gaming. Over Christmas and New Year I was busy with family issues and it’s only in January that I’ve started anything approaching a regular gaming schedule. The novelty of Forza Horizon 5 has run its course and I’ve grown tired of the game’s upbeat tone and neverending activities that litter the in-game map. It’s nice that the game tries hard to engage with you but it reaches a point where you never get a time to stop, think and take stock. I couldn’t find anything else included in the Xbox Game Pass which especially excited me. There were a few titles that did take my fancy but I then discovered that I already own them elsewhere via Steam or Epic Games. So I decided to cancel my subscription. I still think that the Xbox Game Pass for PC is very good value and my failure to find anything that I like is my problem and not Microsoft’s fault.
September has been and gone and the nights are now drawing in. Usually this time of year is ideal for gaming but sadly I’ve had a lot on over the last 30 days and as a result there’s been precious little time for gaming or indeed writing. Such is life. When I did have some leisure time, MMOs were the easiest way to get a quick gaming fix, as per usual. Standing Stone Games announced that the next expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online would be released in November and that a revision of the Legendary Item system would be coming prior to that. Hence I took a look at the beta builds on the Bullroarer test server and then started prepping my various alts on the live servers, to get ready for this major change. I also managed to complete the latest event in Star Trek Online. However, beyond these straightforward tasks I didn’t really get to do much more.
Again this is more a case of two months in gaming. Furthermore although I was quite active in July, I was less so in August as the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event consumed the lion share of my leisure time. The majority of my gaming time is usually mid to late evening. Although Mrs P and I do many activities together, there are times when she will want to watch something I don’t, be engrossed in a book or out with friends. These occasions present sizable windows of time to focus upon a video game, which is especially useful for the MMORPG and RPG genres. However, I often have to choose whether to use this time exclusively for gaming or some other recreational activities such as writing. Another foible of my video game time management is trying to arrange things so I can undertake recurring, daily quests in a game early in the morning. I will often tackle such content in Star Trek Online, as soon as I get up.
The last installment of A Month in Gaming was at the end of April. I have decided to update this recurring post less often to ensure that I have more to write about than just cataloguing my generic activities in The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. The only downside of such an approach is that it invalidates the title but that can’t be helped. Fortunately, I have done more than usual over the last two months. My daily schedule has changed temporarily and I now have a little more leisure time available. Hence I’ve dabbled with several new games as well as using my Nintendo Switch more often. I also took part in a “tag team” playthrough of XCOM 2, which was a very interesting experience. And I finally took the time to go through all my games libraries on the various different platforms to catalogue exactly what I have. I found a few hidden gems but the majority is just “filler” that you find in most video game bundles.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Here we are again. Yet another month has gone by and I find myself writing another instalment of “a month in gaming”. And to be honest, I have very little to say in this particular roundup of my gaming activities. I played Star Trek Online throughout February and created a new Klingon character to take advantage of the ongoing Klingon recruitment event. I have managed to upgrade a Tier 5 D7 and kit it out in such a way that it is fairly robust. And I also created a new Jem’Hadar alt, as they start at level 60 and you are provided with a fully equipped vessel and crew. Nothing fancy but it allows you to get into the endgame content a lot quicker. I may write a more detailed blog post about this at some point. I also played a lot more Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout as my granddaughters came to stay for a week. I have already expressed my thoughts about the mechanics of that game in a prior post.
I last wrote A Month in Gaming post in December. Quite a lot has changed over the last two months. I have abandoned Cyberpunk 2077 as it has totally failed to hold my interest. I just couldn’t get on with the first person perspective. I also stopped playing Neverwinter, despite the game having many appealing elements. Sometimes, when you start an MMORPG that has been running for years, you feel so “behind the curve” that the prospect of catching up with everyone at the endgame is too daunting. And because the Call of Duty franchise has a yearly lifecycle, a new iteration of the game was released in November. Black Ops Cold War subsequently replaced the reboot of Modern Warfare and a lot of the new games content subsequently bled through in the free Battle Royale version. I’d been playing Warzone since last April and it was beginning to get a little stale. So I didn’t buy the latest Battle Pass and decided to move on. And then there’s The Lord of the Rings Online. Let it suffice to say I have completed as much of the latest “mini expansion” as I require and the game is now “on hold”.
November proved to be a very productive month, gaming wise. I had to self isolate for 14 days, due to coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Hence I had far more leisure time than usual. For a second month I applied myself to progressing through the new “mini expansion” in The Lord of the Rings Online. The new zone is a two phase map. The first is Elderslade, a mountainous region to the North of the Wells of Langflood. This area contains mainly story quests. The second phase, called War of Three Peaks, is the same zone but during a period of open war between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Quests here are mainly repeatable slayer and achievement quests. I did not discover this until I had completed the first round, so to speak, only to be offered exactly the same quests again by an NPC. As I had reached maximum rank in reputation for this new faction and there were no rewards of any note for me to spend my barter currency upon, I simply stopped playing through this content.
The last 31 days have gone by really fast, or at least that’s the way it feels. Despite having bought several new games recently and acquired yet more for free from the Epic Store, I did not embark on anything new throughout October. Due to the unexpectedly prompt release of the new “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of a new event in Star Trek Online, I found myself focused upon the MMORPG genre, yet again. And after playing continuously for six months, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has finally begun to lose its lustre. I didn’t especially enjoy the Halloween event, not that there was anything inherently wrong with it. It just wasn’t for me. I played a little Fall Guy: Ultimate Knockout but quickly discovered that the “season” system is just another gear treadmill, although the gear in this instance are novelty cosmetic outfits. I don’t want to be tied to too many games in this fashion (it’s bad enough with MMOs), so this is another title that has been relegated to occasional play when the fancy takes me.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
As I mentioned in the last instalment of “A Month in Gaming”, I was toying with the idea of buying Ghost Recon Breakpoint. However, I have decided against that. Yes the game may well be a third person, co-operative shooter but ultimately it’s yet more explosions and military hardware fetishism, which isn’t anything new. I have more than enough of that at present with Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. I also don’t feel disposed towards giving Ubisoft any of my money at the moment, until they get their house in order. I am so tired of continuously reading about how shitty the video game industry is to work in. It’s difficult to protest in a meaningful way but I guess for the present not buying a product is as good a way as any. So rather than purchasing any further games, I decided in July to play at least one of the many titles I’ve got in my existing library.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
The problem I find with monthly gaming articles is that they tend to cover ground that I’ve already written about over the last 4 weeks in other blog posts, only in less detail. So here is the brief version of my gaming activities throughout February. I played through the entirety of the Star Trek Online 10th Anniversary event and received the new hybrid Tier 6 ship. I enjoyed the new 2 part feature episode and have managed to maintain a schedule of doing “odds and sods” to keep myself busy. STO is currently my primary game. I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online, as soon as I start questing in Minas Morgul itself. It is simply too uninspiring and grindy an area. So I’ve focused on completing deeds for virtue experience and daily repeatable quests for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Due to constraints upon my schedule, I decided to temporarily stop my subscription to ESO Plus, as I simply do not have the time to invest in The Elder Scrolls Online at present. ESO is a good game and deserves attention when played. Committing to multiple MMOs at once is always a mistake.
So much for the New Year. January has now been and gone and 2020 just seems to be barrelling along. As ever, due to my real world commitments, I’ve been pushed for time over the last thirty one days. Therefore, most of my gaming has been targeted “binge” sessions conducted late at night. However, I do find playing through episodic content over several hours to be a very productive means of making progress in MMOs. So overall January has been an enjoyable experience, game wise. Due to my circumstances, I have deferred starting any new single player games and have focused primarily on two titles; The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. Sadly, The Elder Scrolls Online has been relegated to being played just once a week, usually on a Wednesday night when I meet up online with friends. My exploration of Vvardenfell will have to wait until later in the year, as I cannot sustain three MMOs to any great degree.
October has been and gone. And as ever the MMORPG genre has been the mainstay of my gaming activities over the last thirty days. Furthermore, it has been a productive month. I managed to complete the Daggerfall Covenant narrative arc, along with the main story on my Dragonknight in The Elder Scrolls Online. I find that completing Coldharbour is the biggest obstacle in progressing. It’s an atmospheric zone but once you’ve experienced it, it doesn’t really lend itself to repeat playing. But having done all this my Dragonknight hit level cap. I had taken the precaution of buying appropriate gear ahead of this achievement, so I managed to acquire some decent armour and jewellery that provide robust set bonuses. Despite focusing mainly on ESO, I did manage to progress further in The Lord of the Rings Online. I got as far as the Wolf Denes in the Vales of Anduin update. I also took the time to visit the LOTRO test server and checked out the Minas Morgul expansion preview. As for Star Trek Online my daily visits have been focused upon completing Task Force Operations and grinding for a free ship (again).
September saw The Elder Scrolls Online becoming my primary gaming focus. No real surprises there as I’ve been having so much fun of late with this MMORPG. I managed to get my Argonian Necromancer to level cap and then had the fun task of trying to equip them suitably. I don’t quite know why this aspect of gaming appeals to me so much but I just get a real kick out of trawling around looking for appropriate gear. I tend to enjoy it in all the MMOs I play. There’s just something inherently satisfying about equipping a new piece of armour or jewellery and seeing your stats noticeably increase. This process is even more enjoyable in ESO as there isn’t any server wide auction house, so you have to travel around from region to region, individually checking each guild trader you find. It really is virtual shopping. Once I managed to find the right gear for this character, I promptly created a new Imperial Dragon Knight and started playing through the Daggerfall Covenant storyline as it the one faction I haven’t yet completed. Oh and in ESO cosmetic pet news, the ghost chicken (official name Spectral Chicken) is outstanding.
Last month panned out pretty much as I expected. Blaugust and writing daily blog posts took up a fair amount of my leisure time. And then I lost a few days due real-life social activities. What gaming time I had was focused mainly on The Elder Scrolls Online. I’m sorry to say that I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online. My level 113 Guardian remains at the Black Gates and for the present I simply do not feel disposed towards working my way through Mordor again, which I did just a year ago on my primary character. I have undertaken a few quests with my level cap Lore-master and will endeavour in the weeks ahead to at least complete the Vales of Anduin region. LOTRO at present doesn’t have much of a hold on me, although I may well become more enthusiastic once the next expansion is formerly announced.
Contrary to my last A Month in Gaming post, I did actually end up buying a discount copy of Elsweyr and returning to The Elder Scrolls Online. And I’m rather glad that I did, because it has provided a welcome change of scene and an opportunity to do something different. However, you can’t just fire up ESO and dive right in. No sir. The first thing you have to do is update all your addons and if your starting a new alt (which I decided to do), ensure that your key mappings and custom settings are ported over. This process was a pain in the butt; however it did inspire a couple of blog posts. Creating a new alt is the perfect way to reacquaint yourself with ESO after a lengthy absence. In my case it has been 12 months. I decided to try the new Necromancer class and so far, it has proven to be both fun and rewarding. Rather than try to do a thousand things at once, I just started the Elsweyr main story and doggedly pursued it. The narrative is enjoyable and it was fun to see Cadwell as part of the plot focus. For practical reasons I’ve re-subscribed to ESO plus to unlock various DLC and I intend to continue playing for the next month or so.
This post should have been published two weeks ago but as ever, real life just keeps getting in the way. As expected, June proved to be a busy month, however, I managed to organise my leisure time pretty well, affording me an opportunity to not only play my two current MMOs but also experiment with some other games. At present my caring commitment keep me busy from about 10:30 AM to about 5:00 PM. I tend to get up round about 7:00 AM so if I promptly have a shower, dress and eat, I can usually create a two-hour window in the morning to either tackle admin and paperwork or undertake dailies in games such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Star Trek Online. I can also find several hours in the evening as Mrs Peril tends to go to bed earlier than I. Therefore practical time management has proven beneficial over the last four weeks.
As I suspected in my last post, my gaming activities were somewhat curtailed throughout May due to both my parents being ill. However, the time I did manage to spend in-game was both therapeutic and relaxing. For me, I’ve never really seen gaming as escapism, although I appreciate it certainly is for others. One of the aspects it offers, along with a degree of challenge and entertainment, is a release from stress and the pressures of one’s daily life. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed Sniper Elite V2 Remastered so much, because not only is it a thoroughly absorbing game, it also provides a sense of catharsis. I’ve already written about the game in some detail, along with my thoughts about the ongoing “remaster versus remake” debate. However, I would add that I enjoyed it so much I re-installed the sequel, Sniper Elite III, which I haven’t played since it’s release in 2014. This also proved to be an enjoyable undertaking, again for the self-same reasons.
So what have I been up to in April gaming wise? Oh, yes there was this. Mounted combat for the Guardian class is awful. There. I said it. As I’m not a LOTRO “altoholic” my only previous experience with mounted combat was with my Lore-master. Most of their skills are ranged which makes the fights less tedious and time consuming. And you get a combat pet which helps the proceeding slightly, but overall, it’s not that much fun. However fighting via your war steed with a Guardian is a ponderous grind. You have to be in close proximity to your foe to hit them and half the time they are running around you, conspicuously out of range. Sure there’s a skill that brings them next to you for a short period of time but as a level 85 Guardian’s DPS output is distinctly average at this point in the levelling curve, it’s a long, arduous slog to kill anything. My solution has been to summon my skirmish soldier who is an Archer and to use them in conjunction with my own bow to shoot down mounted foes while on foot. This still takes time but is quicker than doing it from horse back.
Social Gaming Alone
This post started out as something completely different. I was simply going to write about a popular new game, how it came to my attention and my impressions and thoughts once I had purchased it. But while reflecting on one aspect of the game; the social element that stems from playing with friends, I realised I had more to say about this rather than just writing a review. But such is the nature of writing. In my experience my train of thought is seldom linear. So this post has now morphed into some musings about social gaming and how it is an integral aspect of modern game design. Because playing games with friends is often regarded as a superior experience to playing alone. At least by game developers. I think that the reality is more nuanced and dependent on the game in question. However, I do think that some games are better played with people you know and that playing on your own or in a PUG is less fun. Because that has been my experience of late.
This post started out as something completely different. I was simply going to write about a popular new game, how it came to my attention and my impressions and thoughts once I had purchased it. But while reflecting on one aspect of the game; the social element that stems from playing with friends, I realised I had more to say about this rather than just writing a review. But such is the nature of writing. In my experience my train of thought is seldom linear. So this post has now morphed into some musings about social gaming and how it is an integral aspect of modern game design. Because playing games with friends is often regarded as a superior experience to playing alone. At least by game developers. I think that the reality is more nuanced and dependent on the game in question. However, I do think that some games are better played with people you know and that playing on your own or in a PUG is less fun. Because that has been my experience of late.
Now the “buzz” surrounding Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout reached my social media timeline a few days after the games release on August 4th. As I already play a Battle Royale game (Call of Duty Warzone) I didn’t feel the need to investigate the new game any further. However, after several YouTube channels that I subscribe to reviewed the game positively, I decided to delve a little deeper. So I watched some live streamers play the game and quickly decided to give Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout a go. Mainly because everyone I saw playing it was having fun. The game has a cartoon-like aesthetic and the collision physics are endlessly amusing. But what stands out the most from all the video footage of gameplay I’ve seen, is that it engenders a sense of communal fun. That kind of “in the moment”, organic enjoyment that stems from friends being together and sharing an experience.
And that is exactly the opposite experience to what I’ve had. Although Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is most definitely fun, playing like a cross between “Takeshi’s Castle” and “It’s a Knockout/Jeux sans frontières”, it does feel like something is missing when you play solo. There’s no one to share the moment with when you fail spectacularly, or run “interference” against other players if you’re having difficulty. Choosing an exotic costume becomes somewhat arbitrary as a single player, compared to the mirth it creates when riffing off friends. Outside of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, there are benefits to be had from playing socially in other games. I enjoy Call of Duty Warzone but when I watch live streams and YouTube videos, you cannot deny that the game can be played far more effectively in co-ordinated groups. You just don’t get that with PUGS, which usually range from adequate to “herding cats” to mental torture.
The summit of my social interaction in video games is when I play MMORPGs. I’ve been in the same kinship in The Lord of the Rings Online since 2009 and still regularly enjoy organised gameplay via Discord. Although this is fun, it is limited to just one game and the nature of MMOs doesn’t really lend itself to a great deal of diverse experiences. I haven’t played any games from other genres with friends and people I know since 2016. The last time was when there was an organised game night via The Newbie Blogger Initiative and a few people got together and played Overwatch. Since then I’ve just used the auto grouping option in the games that I play. It’s not so much an issue of a lack of friends but the fact that no one seems to be playing the same games as me (and vice versa). The fact that not all games support crossplay is another factor.
I also suspect that age may well have a bearing on this. Younger people tend to have larger, active social circles. These decline over time, something I have written about in the past. Now naturally my online friends play and enjoy video games. It’s usually one of the reasons why I follow someone on Twitter. But many of the people I know locally, despite being of a comparable age to me, don’t play video games. They tend to be interested in more traditional leisure activities like football, reading tabloids and casual bigotry. So upon mature reflection, despite there being a focus on social gaming as a source of fun by the industry itself, my reality is not the same. Returning to Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout for example, my experience is not like those who play in a group. It’s like being at a party where you drink and move around the periphery of events, laughing at jokes you overhear but not actively participating in any meaningful interaction. It’s an odd sort of fun by osmosis, just by dint of being present. Social gaming alone, as it were. And I’m beginning to tire of it.
The next expansion for the MMORG, The Lord of the Rings Online, was announced on the 1st August, via the gaming website MMORPG.The Wolves of Mordor, which will launch later in the year, appears ambitious in scope as it will include two new game systems as well as the obligatory story update. This expansion takes place in Draugardh located in the North East of Mordor, beyond the Plateau of Gorgoroth. It includes the new zones of Heledhris, Parth Rhavas and Nan Ogol. These vary environmentally ranging from the arid, volcanic and semi-tropical. Players will encounter the Daugrim in these regions, Werewolves but not in the modern sense. This is not the lycanthropy of Eastern European legends but in the established Tolkien idiom of fell spirits inhabiting the bodies of Wolves. The region also sees the return of the Woses and players can expect to encounter Elves and scouts from Gondor. As ever with LOTRO expansions, there will be new instances as well as a raid.
This is a post about the power of nostalgia and how sometimes, interacting with something from your past, be it physically or mentally, can produce a very strong and tangible emotional reaction. In some instances, this can be the result of something that you have specifically set out to do. On other occasions you can wander into a sense of nostalgia purely by chance. Today I experienced a very strong sense of nostalgia while watching a YouTube video and then again when I sought to replicate what I had seen. The video showed someone installing Windows 95 on to an old 486 PC from that era. The Window’s start up sound really touched a nerve (but in a good way) and then when the guy in the video launched Space Cadet 3D Pinball, a game that shipped with the operating system, I felt a strong compulsion to track down a copy and install the game myself, thus revisiting something that was an integral part of my life in 1995.
RV There Yet? is possibly the most entertaining game I’ve never played. My vicarious pleasure regarding this title has come exclusively from watching two popular YouTubers, JackFrags and WillFromWork, play through the game over a series of videos. It has been immensely amusing to watch and I have empathised a great deal as the group of four players has struggled with the game’s unpredictable mechanics and their own team’s dynamic. I could go and buy RV There Yet? myself but I doubt if I would ever have a gaming experience anywhere close to what I’ve watched online recently. So in some respects watching these videos has been an interesting alternative as I’ve been entertained, which ultimately is the point of video games. Perhaps there is a deeper philosophical point here that the game developers should reflect upon, as they’ve lost a potential sale. However, that is separate discussion for another day.
I don’t keep up with gaming news as much as I use to but several noteworthy announcement have come to my attention of late. Firstly, there’s an expansion, Songs of the Past, coming for the Witcher III: Wild Hunt in 2027. No doubt this is to pave the way for the Witcher IV. Next, I also found out about Hand of Fate: Horde. I liked this franchise and was saddened to learn that the original studio, Defiant Development, closed. Hence is was a pleasant surprise to see this new game being developed by members of the original studio. The third announcement was regarding Guild Wars 3. A new MMORPG in active development by a major studio is no small feat and is certainly good news for fans of this franchise and the genre per se. However, once you look beyond this news this announcement raises several questions and has certainly given me pause for thought. Let us take a few moments to consider them.
Star Trek Online has many in-game systems that are common to the MMORPG genre. The reputation system is one such example. In STO there are 13 reputation factions. Once a player has reached level 50 they may start progressing through the 6 reputation tiers of each one. Players gain progression through daily projects (20 hours in duration). Hourly projects are also available though they yield less reputation advancement and are limited to three times a day. Hence 20 hour projects are consider by default the most efficient way to gain rep. Projects require 30 Faction Specific Marks (earned via various activities in-game), 15,000 Energy Credits (standard in-game currency) and 2000 Expertise points. The most efficient way to tackle the reputation grind is to build up the necessary resources in advance and then at a designated time each day, start all 13 respective projects. Upon completion projects yield a player bound lockbox containing a random space or ground weapon, a console or Elite Marks which can be used to acquire faction gear.
I was recently perusing my archive of old blog posts, when it struck me how much I’ve written about the MMORPG genre over the years. Naturally, there was far more material from between 2008 and 2012 as that was period when I immersed myself in the genre and was very enthusiastic about it. I was at a point in my life when I had the time to dedicate to such games and I was happy to participate in the social aspect of they offered. I would regularly play through group content and spend time socialising online with fellow guild members. My experience remains a textbook example of how online games can be more than the sum of their parts and that where you are at in your life has a major impact upon your overall enjoyment. As I read though various old posts it became clear that my experiences where specific to this particular part of my life and that they cannot be repeated. My relationship with the genre is very different now and that’s fine.
Creating alts is an integral aspect of the MMORPG genre. Many players will create a character of a specific class or faction, play it for a while, lose interest in it or they may decide that it is just not for them. Fortunately it is no effort at all to simply re-roll a new alt and set off once again. Furthermore, lots of players never reach level cap of the MMORPG that there playing. When the going get’s tough, so to speak, you can either soldier on for another 50 levels or simply create a new alt and return to the comfort of tried and tested content. Alts also give you the chance to secure an accolade or achievement that you previously missed. They are also of great benefit to the genres social aspects. Creating a new alt so you can play along with a friend who is just starting is great fun. Developer’s love them too as it means you’re still playing the game.
I recently took a break from Crimson Desert choosing instead to to play something familiar and easy going. As I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online daily to participate in the anniversary event, I decided to look through my various alts and see how far they had progressed through the game and what resources they had. At present I have twelve alts. My primary Captain was created in 2015 during the original Delta Recruit Event. I had previously played STO intermittently since its release in January 2010 but I never kept any of those characters. Hence this decade old Tactical Federation Captain has been my main focus when playing. The other eleven alts are the result of other recruitment events or whenever I wanted to try something different, such as playing a specific class or faction. I obviously played a lot of STO during the lockdown as several alts date from that period. Several had maximum reputation across all factions.
The action, open world RPG Crimson Desert has been patched five times since it launched on March 19th and there have also been multiple hotfixes. At first glance this isn’t anything unusual. New games have bugs and issues arise once a game is released and played across a much wider variety of hardware than in QA testing. However, if you read the patch notes that accompany these sizeable downloads it quickly becomes apparent that developer’s Pearl Abyss are not just addressing bugs and software glitches. They are actively engaging with their player base and responding to suggestions and requests from that community. Although this is not a unique approach, what is surprising is the speed and quantity in which these player driven changes are happening. There seems to be an active ongoing process to refine the game and eliminate some of its “rough edges” and the players are contributing to this process with their feedback.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
13 days after its release, market analysts estimate that Crimson Desert has already earned $200 million across the four main platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S). The game is certainly proving popular among gamers with the internet awash with live streams and “let’s play” videos. However, reviews are mixed both among gaming journalists and YouTube influencers. Common complaints about the game include that it is slow to start, the controls are poorly laid out on all platforms and that developer’s Pearl Abyss have done a poor job of explaining most aspects of the game to new players. Although such criticisms are true to a degree, I think these complaints highlight how many gamers are conditioned to expect new titles to follow a specific pattern with regard to pacing, narrative exposition and learning in-game systems. A pattern that Pearl Abyss has chosen to ignore, instead favouring an old school approach.
Early on Crimson Desert, the main quest requires the player to enter a tavern and arm wrestle a particularly strong guard. The arm wrestling match consists of a quick time event. If playing on PC you have to rapidly press the “E” key which turns a power meter from white to red. Then a white dial appears above the meter with a rotating hand. When the hand passes over a segment of the dial that is marked by hatching, the player must press the “R” key. The idea being the meter filling with red is you strength building (or waning) and the “R” key prompt indicates when to try and force your opponent’s arm. You will need to to continuously press the “E” key throughout the arm wrestling match and the “R” key about 4 times to win.
Earlier this week, Nvidia posted a video featuring their latest iteration of DLSS technology (Deep learning super sampling). DLSS 5 is an AI-powered “real-time neural rendering” process and unlike previous versions that focused on improving frame rates through upscaling or frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to “infuse” frames with photorealistic lighting and material details that the game engine never actually calculated. Let us pause for a moment and consider these words. Material detail that the game engine never actually calculated. Therein lies the rub. If you watch the aforementioned video or peruse the images posted here, it is abundantly clear what the technology does.
Last night, I spent the first 45 minutes after the launch of Crimson Desert, watching the 92GB pre-downloaded game files slowly decompressing and installing. I finally launched the game at about 10:50 PM GMT. I then waited a further 5 minutes while shaders were downloaded. It took me about 15 minutes or so to read through the various game settings and choose those that are optimal for my PC. I suspect even if you have a beast of a computer, you’re still going to have to spend some time tweaking settings. As for those players like myself with a gaming rig that is somewhere in the middle of the game’s specifications, be prepared to do a lot of fine tuning both within Crimson Desert itself and your Windows settings.
I have been aware of the online interest around the open world action game Crimson Desert for a while now. One of the things that has intrigued me about it is the scope of the game. The word “hype” has been bandied about by a few gaming websites. However, from what I have observed, developers Pearl Abyss have not been excessively hyperbolic themselves, with regard to the manner in which the game’s systems and mechanics have been marketed. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, the pre-release reviews seem to confirm that everything we’ve seen in promotional videos in the run up to the launch, is in fact present in the game. So far the initial critical response has been very positive and it has been hinted that the game may well be a genre milestone. Perhaps Crimson Desert is just a rare example of a game that has not had a rushed development and isn’t launching prematurely for business reasons.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I decided to pursue a magic and spellcasting build in the RPG Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon after the story prologue. During the opening section of the game, the player is presented with a sufficient range of weapons to determine which type suits them best, although you can change at any time during the game. For me, casting spells feels right and is fun. Plus I have fond memories of the magic system in Two Worlds II and Skyrim. So once I started playing through the first zone, I started putting attribute and skill points into the appropriate trees to bolster my spells strengths and frequency. I also chose gear that would bolster those statistics further. The results have been surprising, as magic and spellcasting is not presented in the usual “glass cannon” style you find in some other RPGs. Here it offers robust DPS output and with the right gear and spell combination, a strong degree of survivability.
I originally bought Warhammer: Dark Omen in the summer of 1998. I played a demo copy via a magazine cover disc, which was a common means of promotion and marketing back then. Although I was at that point, unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, I found this game to be an excellent point of entry. The story did an excellent job of introducing players to “The Old World”, the political and power structure and major characters. I instantly liked both the aesthetic and the lore. Warhammer: Dark Omen was also the first real-time tactical wargame that I played and I spent numerous hours playing through the campaign. Overall, the game was a critical success, particularly on PC, but it struggled commercially upon its initial release and didn’t quite find the audience that it deserved. However, it has achieved status as a “cult classic” among gamers, leading to a recent re-release on GOG in late 2025.
According to the recent “letter to the players”, Standing Stone Games will be adding a new zone to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online in the second quarter of this year. Possibly around May or June. Having spent the last three expansions in the South of Middle-earth exploring the tropical Umbar and the deserts of Harad, I would certainly welcome a change of location. I have gradually warmed to these zones over the last eighteen months but I do find them so incongruous. They are so radically different to the European style content that has been the mainstay of the game for so long. Tolkien’s source text has plenty of detail regarding Eriador and Rhovanion. Information regarding Harad is scarce, hence it has afforded the developers a great deal of artistic freedom. Although exceedingly well realised these tropical zones have taken a while for me to get used to.
I’m not sure exactly when it started but I’ve recently noticed a graphical bug within the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This problem often occurs within caves or in areas where there are a lot of rocky surfaces. Hence it has become very apparent in the latest two expansions, set in Umbar and Harad. This graphical glitch causes some surface textures to appear to flash from light to dark intermittently. The resulting strobe effect is hard to ignore and very distracting. Fortunately, a quick online search showed that this is not a problem unique to my installation of LOTRO and is a known problem. Furthermore, there is a very simple workaround, which is to go into the Advanced Graphics setting and uncheck “Per Pixel Lighting”, which immediately remedies the problem. I have no idea why this has recently started to happen but at least it can be resolved.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. The original TV show was first broadcast in the US on September 8th 1966. If you search online you’ll find details of lots of related events. There are documentaries, conventions, new TV shows and even some video games in development. However, what you won’t find are any details regarding what will be happening with the MMORPG Star Trek Online. So far no road map for 2026 has been posted online by the developers but it is still quite early in the New Year. That being the case, I am not especially optimistic about there being any major plans waiting to be revealed. It is not as if DECA Games have demonstrated or stated any major ambitions for STO beyond keeping the endless events treadmill going and regularly adding content to the in-game store, during their development tenure. The ongoing story arc drags on inexorably and is as dull as ditchwater.
I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in June 2013. This was over 18 months after the game’s initial release and the base game and DLC were bundled together in a “Legendary” edition. Although a seasoned gamer at the time, familiar with the RPG genre with such titles as Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV, I had not played a game from this franchise before. It only took a few hours of gameplay to realise that this was a special title. The scope of the story, the art design and the size of the world were immediately notable. Tamriel was immersive in a way I had not experienced with other titles. Often simply traversing the terrain and watching the dawn break while the game soundtrack swelled, was sufficient to hold my attention. I instantly picked up on the voice acting of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. All of which indicated that this was a gaming landmark.
The latest expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, Kingdoms of Harad, launched on December 3rd. With this release the level cap was raised from 150 to 160. It should also be noted that the cap for virtue traits was also raised from 96 to 100. Naturally these changes meant that there is a requirement to replace all armour and jewellery once the new cap is reached. Similarly Legendary Items have to be reforged and any traceries upgraded or replaced. If you follow the Epic Story it will lead you from quest hub to quest hub. The main quest rewards, along with those from side quests will provide adequate gear as you slowly progress towards the new level cap. The new raids, instances and missions/delvings then provide a means to acquire higher quality level 160 gear. LOTRO and indeed, many other MMOs are consistent in this methodology.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
Today Standing Stone Games began beta testing Update 46.1 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. The current preview on the Bullroarer test server is mainly for the new instance cluster that comes with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion which launched a few weeks ago. However, it would appear that this latest preview has another feature or note. One that should please LOTRO players. Contrary to what a lot of people thought, myself included, SSG have been working on a scaling UI for 2K and 4K monitors and the results are now available for testing from today Monday 15th through to Friday 19th December. Until now the main workaround to the lack of UI scaling has been to use either Nvidia or AMD graphics software to upscale the game from 1920 x 1080, or a third party app such as LosslessScaling. Having an official solution is a far better option.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
In the wake of Disco Elysium, I’ve been playing through several other games that have a focus on narrative and plot. I began with Call of Cthulhu which I shall write about in a separate post. Let it suffice to say that although I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t quite satisfied. This is not necessarily the game’s fault, as it makes a good attempt at depicting Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. It’s just that any game following hard on the heels of one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played, is likely to come up short in comparison. So I looked through my game library and found that I had Still Wakes The Deep, which enjoys a good reputation for having a strong story. I subsequently played through the game over two late night sessions and was left suitably impressed. So much so that I’ve bought the additional DLC, Siren’s Rest, in the hope that it maintains the quality of its predecessor.
Choo Choo
Adding a train to a Battle Royale game is hardly a new concept. Both Apex Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battleground have successfully done this. So it was only a matter of time before one was added to Call of Duty Warzone. We were tipped off by the addition of train tracks last season. The launch of Season 5 this week finally made the “choo choo” a reality. I must admit, I’m quite surprised at how adding something as straightforward as a freight train has reinvigorated the game. That and the fact that you can now access the stadium seems to have really enthused the playerbase. Since Tuesday, whenever you play Warzone or one of its variants, a large number of players head straight to the stadium or the station where the armoured freight train starts its journey around the map. As a result of this, new players or those who aren’t so skilled in combat can navigate the outlying areas of Verdansk with a greater degree of freedom and safety. Everyone else is at either of those locations.
Adding a train to a Battle Royale game is hardly a new concept. Both Apex Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battleground have successfully done this. So it was only a matter of time before one was added to Call of Duty Warzone. We were tipped off by the addition of train tracks last season. The launch of Season 5 this week finally made the “choo choo” a reality. I must admit, I’m quite surprised at how adding something as straightforward as a freight train has reinvigorated the game. That and the fact that you can now access the stadium seems to have really enthused the playerbase. Since Tuesday, whenever you play Warzone or one of its variants, a large number of players head straight to the stadium or the station where the armoured freight train starts its journey around the map. As a result of this, new players or those who aren’t so skilled in combat can navigate the outlying areas of Verdansk with a greater degree of freedom and safety. Everyone else is at either of those locations.
I try and avoid the stadium as it has too many open corridors and because of the rewards that can be found there, too many skilled players. I see no reason to provide an easy target for such individuals. Let them prey on their own. The train however is a more interesting proposition. It again offers the orange supply crates which contain the best weapons and gear. But it also provides a means to navigate the map and potentially flank enemies. It can also offer a degree of cover and I’ve used it as a means of escaping difficult firefights several times. Contrary to popular belief, strategically withdrawing is a sound option in Warzone. Another great aspect of the train is that it provides endless opportunities to mess about with friends. I’ve already seen videos of players parking as many vehicles as possible to try and derail the train. They quickly discovered that it is unstoppable.
Plunder is my game of choice in Warzone and I’ve developed my own short term strategy for the train. I suspect that after a week or two it will no longer be viable as the overall meta strategy of most players will alter. As present, most players head for the train as soon as they parachute into Verdansk and congregate at the station. Hence for the first stretch of its journey, the train is smothered in players. However after about 4 minutes or so, as the train passes the eastern side of the Hospital, it enters a tunnel. This leads to the Great Bridge area where the track follows the perimeter of the International Airport and Maintenance Block. You can wait above the tunnel exit and subsequently ambush any players remaining on the train. Admittedly many have gone by this point but there’s usually two or three. You can then jump down onto the train. If you miss the chance to do so, there’s a quad bike nearby so you can catch up. You can’t outrun the train.
This is a good way to start a game. At the very least it's a way to get some easy kills and collect some gear. If the players you’ve disposed of have already looted the orange supply crates, then you will get some good gear. If they haven’t then you’ll at least get some money and one armour plate. After I’ve collected any loot, I move to the front of the train which has the best cover and then find an appropriate location to get off. There are houses around the perimeter of the airport and these offer a good place to snipe at those fighting around the hangers. I tend not to stay on the train any longer as there are further bridges ahead and sooner or later, someone else will decide to get on. Conversely, if you do not wish to loot the train, then the route I’ve mentioned offers ideal high ground and cover to attack those on it. Both options keep me amused, however I think that players will soon adjust their strategy to counter this. But that’s what I like about Warzone. Both the developers and the players continually find ways to change things and keep the game fluid.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
Developers do like to gate access to the best gear and equipment in video games. Often there will be an achievement or deed required to unlock the object that you desire. Now I have no objection to this concept in principle. It’s just that every now and then, the criteria required to access an item is beyond my abilities. Take Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. Infinity Ward recently added the Rytec AMR to the game. It is a semi-automatic sniper rifle that can use thermite and explosive rounds. It has a significantly higher rate-of-fire than the HDR and AX-5, and performs better at range than the Dragunov. I’ve been itching to get my hands on this weapon for a while. However, to unlock it, you have to complete the following achievement. "Get 2 quickscope kills using sniper or marksman rifles in 15 different matches". For me this is effectively one of the labours of Hercules.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
This post started out as something completely different. I was simply going to write about a popular new game, how it came to my attention and my impressions and thoughts once I had purchased it. But while reflecting on one aspect of the game; the social element that stems from playing with friends, I realised I had more to say about this rather than just writing a review. But such is the nature of writing. In my experience my train of thought is seldom linear. So this post has now morphed into some musings about social gaming and how it is an integral aspect of modern game design. Because playing games with friends is often regarded as a superior experience to playing alone. At least by game developers. I think that the reality is more nuanced and dependent on the game in question. However, I do think that some games are better played with people you know and that playing on your own or in a PUG is less fun. Because that has been my experience of late.
Adding a train to a Battle Royale game is hardly a new concept. Both Apex Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battleground have successfully done this. So it was only a matter of time before one was added to Call of Duty Warzone. We were tipped off by the addition of train tracks last season. The launch of Season 5 this week finally made the “choo choo” a reality. I must admit, I’m quite surprised at how adding something as straightforward as a freight train has reinvigorated the game. That and the fact that you can now access the stadium seems to have really enthused the playerbase. Since Tuesday, whenever you play Warzone or one of its variants, a large number of players head straight to the stadium or the station where the armoured freight train starts its journey around the map. As a result of this, new players or those who aren’t so skilled in combat can navigate the outlying areas of Verdansk with a greater degree of freedom and safety. Everyone else is at either of those locations.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone have a wealth of customisation and cosmetics options. One of which is the ability to assign hand gestures to your character. These can be used as a means of giving instructions when playing in a squad but more often they’re just used for fun or humorously. Players will use them after a kill or sometimes make them part of a trick shot, such as making a gesture with the left hand while firing from the hip with the right. I’ve not noticed a lot of use of gestures while playing nor do I use them myself. It takes all my concentration to stay alive. However, they do seem to feature in the various CoD clip shows I watch on YouTube, so they’re more of an affectation used by “top tier” players. Recently, developers’ Infinity Ward removed the OK gesture from the game. This minor change was not mentioned in the patch notes and the gesture was replaced with a new one called "crush".
I was watching a YouTube video recently of someone trying the new Fennec SMG in Call of Duty Modern Warfare Multiplayer. It was a 5 versus 5 game and the player who made the video was clearly quite skilled. After quickly racking up multiple kills, 3 of the enemy team left mid game. He laughed and pointed out that they had “rage quit”, although that is just conjecture. They may have left the game for a multitude of reasons (a point I shall return to later). As ever this video began a train of thought which I would now like to explore. Multiplayer games often go hand in hand with a lot of informal social etiquette. Much of which stems from the original MMOs from two decades ago. However, these conventions are not in any way mandatory or enshrined in any games terms of service. Yet quitting in the middle of a multiplayer game is still frowned upon in certain quarters, often being seen as an act of selfishness and childish anger. However, like everything in life, I think it’s not as simple as that.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
Setting aside the debate regarding the rectitude of the Battle Pass system in Call of Duty Modern Warfare, I certainly enjoyed Season 3. I managed to find multiplayer games that suit my ability along with loadouts that allow me to hit something every once in a while. It was very much a learning process but from April 12th to June10th, I slowly improved my performance and re-acquainted myself with the fact that the FPS genre can be fun. I finally got to try a Battle Royale game and was pleasantly surprised by how accessible they are. However, (and there’s always a however) Activision Blizzard seem to be hell bent on losing the good will they seemed to have gained in recent months. Today’s release of Season 4 has been blighted by major performance issues with the patch servers. Furthermore, the developers still insist in removing certain maps and game modes to promote new ones. This “lottery” which results in a lack of choice for many players is especially galling when you’ve just bought the new Battle Pass.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
I bought and started playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the 13th of April when it was on sale. I purchased the game via the Battle.net launcher and not through a third party key seller. The game includes a Single Player campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative gameplay as well as the new Warzone which includes various versions of the popular Battle Royale mode. Call of Duty Warzone can also be downloaded separately for free, without the need to buy the base game. Due to the recent controversies surrounding the use of loot boxes as a business model, Activision have instead implemented a Battle Pass system which is tied to the games “seasons”. A season runs for about 50 plus days. The current one (season 3) is scheduled to end on June 2nd. Here is the official blurb regarding how the Battle Pass system works.
I’ve been playing Call of Duty Warzone for about a month now and have documented my progress through the game and my attempts to improve my performance. It would be generous to categorise me as a distinctly average player. But I don’t worry too much about this as I am not alone. Not everyone is a high end player, although one’s perspective on this can be skewed as it is the most competent players that tend to dominate games. However, through simply playing CoD WZ regularly, despite my low body count per game I have slowly progressed through the ranking system. I am currently ranked 103 (the cap is 155). CoD WZ is generous with XP and each game’s score is not just based upon your kills. Your final position out of 150 other players is also a factor. There are additional marks for damage and a lot of other superfluous factors that the devs had added to ensure that even the weakest players move forward through the rankings.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
This post comes with caveats. In a perfect world, common sense would prevail and I wouldn’t have to list them. But we live in an age where some people take great pleasure in being professional contrarians and deliberately obtuse. So let me state clearly and unequivocally, I am not advocating that your gaming pleasure should come at the expense of someone else's. If you sign up for a 12 man raid and have a specific role to play, then do so to the best of your ability. Fooling around has consequences in such a scenario. However, that is not what is being discussed here. Nope. What I am suggesting is that you should take your pleasures, where you can find them. And if they have no tangible impact upon other players, then you are totally entitled to play your game of choice in a manner that suits you. It’s a simple axiom, yet it still proves to be very difficult for some gamers to comprehend and more importantly accept. Allow me to explain by means of an example.
I originally climbed aboard the Call of Duty bandwagon in 2009 when Modern Warfare 2 came out. I enjoyed the campaign and the multiplayer so much I promptly bought the first instalment. I then stuck with the franchise up until 2013. I didn’t especially like Ghosts, although I enjoyed the option to play as a dog which was different. Overall I was somewhat tired of the FPS genre from then on and so didn’t keep up with any further releases. For me the best iteration of the game was Black Ops in 2010. The campaign had a densely plotted story and the multiplayer was extremely polished. The multiplayer maps were well conceived allowing for fluid and engaging gameplay. Six years on and I recently got an itch to play Call of Duty again. The soft reboot of the franchise with Modern warfare in November 2019 promised a return to basics. The recent inclusion of a battle royale mode with the release of Warzone finally clinched the deal. So I bought a discounted version of the standard game recently and dived back in.
OK Gesture Removed From Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone have a wealth of customisation and cosmetics options. One of which is the ability to assign hand gestures to your character. These can be used as a means of giving instructions when playing in a squad but more often they’re just used for fun or humorously. Players will use them after a kill or sometimes make them part of a trick shot, such as making a gesture with the left hand while firing from the hip with the right. I’ve not noticed a lot of use of gestures while playing nor do I use them myself. It takes all my concentration to stay alive. However, they do seem to feature in the various CoD clip shows I watch on YouTube, so they’re more of an affectation used by “top tier” players. Recently, developers’ Infinity Ward removed the OK gesture from the game. This minor change was not mentioned in the patch notes and the gesture was replaced with a new one called "crush".
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone have a wealth of customisation and cosmetics options. One of which is the ability to assign hand gestures to your character. These can be used as a means of giving instructions when playing in a squad but more often they’re just used for fun or humorously. Players will use them after a kill or sometimes make them part of a trick shot, such as making a gesture with the left hand while firing from the hip with the right. I’ve not noticed a lot of use of gestures while playing nor do I use them myself. It takes all my concentration to stay alive. However, they do seem to feature in the various CoD clip shows I watch on YouTube, so they’re more of an affectation used by “top tier” players. Recently, developers’ Infinity Ward removed the OK gesture from the game. This minor change was not mentioned in the patch notes and the gesture was replaced with a new one called "crush".
Neither the developer Infinity Ward, or the publisher Activision have publicly commented on this minor change but it’s more than likely to do with this gesture’s appropriation as a “hate symbol”. In late 2019, the Anti-Defamation League added the OK gesture to its list of hate symbols after they identified its use by various white supremacist groups. Allegedly this gesture’s use in this context stems from the 4Chan “community”. Members of the site apparently propagated a bogus rumour that the OK sign had racist connotations as a means of baiting the media. Ironically, the OK sign was adopted by the “far-right” and hence some institutions now feel that it’s meaning within certain contexts has been usurped. It should be noted that Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mass shooting in New Zealand, used this gesture during his first court appearance.
Now whenever something is changed in a popular game, there is inevitably some “push back” from certain players, irrespective of whether the change is justified or not. Also, anything that is vaguely motivated by socio political reasons will always cause a ruckus from certain quarters. Hence if you read a lot of the comments on gaming websites that have covered this story, you’ll find a lot of spurious arguments, bogus claims of censorship and spittleflect ire. “So divers can’t signal to each other anymore because it’s racist?” is one example of the incessant whataboutery I’ve seen bandied about. Naturally the answer is “divers can do what they want because their recreational pursuits doesn’t fall under the auspices of Activision Blizzard or take part exclusively in a space that they own and control”. But I seldom see any sense of arguing with idiots. “They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience” as the great George Carlin said.
As far as I’m concerned the removal of this gesture has simply eliminated something that could be used for trolling and causing “unrest” within an online community. There’s more than enough of that sort of culture associated with PVP and the FPS genre already. Do we really need something that can potentially contribute more? As ever, the “debate” that has arisen around this nominal change is nothing more than standard bloviations from career malcontents. It’s a shame that these gamers do not put the same sort of effort into reflection upon the real problems associated with the video games industry. But I suspect that many of the gamers who feel the need to be perpetually outraged, are cut from the same cloth as the problem staff that are often at the centre of the majority of gaming “controversies”.
The next expansion for the MMORG, The Lord of the Rings Online, was announced on the 1st August, via the gaming website MMORPG.The Wolves of Mordor, which will launch later in the year, appears ambitious in scope as it will include two new game systems as well as the obligatory story update. This expansion takes place in Draugardh located in the North East of Mordor, beyond the Plateau of Gorgoroth. It includes the new zones of Heledhris, Parth Rhavas and Nan Ogol. These vary environmentally ranging from the arid, volcanic and semi-tropical. Players will encounter the Daugrim in these regions, Werewolves but not in the modern sense. This is not the lycanthropy of Eastern European legends but in the established Tolkien idiom of fell spirits inhabiting the bodies of Wolves. The region also sees the return of the Woses and players can expect to encounter Elves and scouts from Gondor. As ever with LOTRO expansions, there will be new instances as well as a raid.
This is a post about the power of nostalgia and how sometimes, interacting with something from your past, be it physically or mentally, can produce a very strong and tangible emotional reaction. In some instances, this can be the result of something that you have specifically set out to do. On other occasions you can wander into a sense of nostalgia purely by chance. Today I experienced a very strong sense of nostalgia while watching a YouTube video and then again when I sought to replicate what I had seen. The video showed someone installing Windows 95 on to an old 486 PC from that era. The Window’s start up sound really touched a nerve (but in a good way) and then when the guy in the video launched Space Cadet 3D Pinball, a game that shipped with the operating system, I felt a strong compulsion to track down a copy and install the game myself, thus revisiting something that was an integral part of my life in 1995.
RV There Yet? is possibly the most entertaining game I’ve never played. My vicarious pleasure regarding this title has come exclusively from watching two popular YouTubers, JackFrags and WillFromWork, play through the game over a series of videos. It has been immensely amusing to watch and I have empathised a great deal as the group of four players has struggled with the game’s unpredictable mechanics and their own team’s dynamic. I could go and buy RV There Yet? myself but I doubt if I would ever have a gaming experience anywhere close to what I’ve watched online recently. So in some respects watching these videos has been an interesting alternative as I’ve been entertained, which ultimately is the point of video games. Perhaps there is a deeper philosophical point here that the game developers should reflect upon, as they’ve lost a potential sale. However, that is separate discussion for another day.
I don’t keep up with gaming news as much as I use to but several noteworthy announcement have come to my attention of late. Firstly, there’s an expansion, Songs of the Past, coming for the Witcher III: Wild Hunt in 2027. No doubt this is to pave the way for the Witcher IV. Next, I also found out about Hand of Fate: Horde. I liked this franchise and was saddened to learn that the original studio, Defiant Development, closed. Hence is was a pleasant surprise to see this new game being developed by members of the original studio. The third announcement was regarding Guild Wars 3. A new MMORPG in active development by a major studio is no small feat and is certainly good news for fans of this franchise and the genre per se. However, once you look beyond this news this announcement raises several questions and has certainly given me pause for thought. Let us take a few moments to consider them.
Star Trek Online has many in-game systems that are common to the MMORPG genre. The reputation system is one such example. In STO there are 13 reputation factions. Once a player has reached level 50 they may start progressing through the 6 reputation tiers of each one. Players gain progression through daily projects (20 hours in duration). Hourly projects are also available though they yield less reputation advancement and are limited to three times a day. Hence 20 hour projects are consider by default the most efficient way to gain rep. Projects require 30 Faction Specific Marks (earned via various activities in-game), 15,000 Energy Credits (standard in-game currency) and 2000 Expertise points. The most efficient way to tackle the reputation grind is to build up the necessary resources in advance and then at a designated time each day, start all 13 respective projects. Upon completion projects yield a player bound lockbox containing a random space or ground weapon, a console or Elite Marks which can be used to acquire faction gear.
I was recently perusing my archive of old blog posts, when it struck me how much I’ve written about the MMORPG genre over the years. Naturally, there was far more material from between 2008 and 2012 as that was period when I immersed myself in the genre and was very enthusiastic about it. I was at a point in my life when I had the time to dedicate to such games and I was happy to participate in the social aspect of they offered. I would regularly play through group content and spend time socialising online with fellow guild members. My experience remains a textbook example of how online games can be more than the sum of their parts and that where you are at in your life has a major impact upon your overall enjoyment. As I read though various old posts it became clear that my experiences where specific to this particular part of my life and that they cannot be repeated. My relationship with the genre is very different now and that’s fine.
Creating alts is an integral aspect of the MMORPG genre. Many players will create a character of a specific class or faction, play it for a while, lose interest in it or they may decide that it is just not for them. Fortunately it is no effort at all to simply re-roll a new alt and set off once again. Furthermore, lots of players never reach level cap of the MMORPG that there playing. When the going get’s tough, so to speak, you can either soldier on for another 50 levels or simply create a new alt and return to the comfort of tried and tested content. Alts also give you the chance to secure an accolade or achievement that you previously missed. They are also of great benefit to the genres social aspects. Creating a new alt so you can play along with a friend who is just starting is great fun. Developer’s love them too as it means you’re still playing the game.
I recently took a break from Crimson Desert choosing instead to to play something familiar and easy going. As I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online daily to participate in the anniversary event, I decided to look through my various alts and see how far they had progressed through the game and what resources they had. At present I have twelve alts. My primary Captain was created in 2015 during the original Delta Recruit Event. I had previously played STO intermittently since its release in January 2010 but I never kept any of those characters. Hence this decade old Tactical Federation Captain has been my main focus when playing. The other eleven alts are the result of other recruitment events or whenever I wanted to try something different, such as playing a specific class or faction. I obviously played a lot of STO during the lockdown as several alts date from that period. Several had maximum reputation across all factions.
The action, open world RPG Crimson Desert has been patched five times since it launched on March 19th and there have also been multiple hotfixes. At first glance this isn’t anything unusual. New games have bugs and issues arise once a game is released and played across a much wider variety of hardware than in QA testing. However, if you read the patch notes that accompany these sizeable downloads it quickly becomes apparent that developer’s Pearl Abyss are not just addressing bugs and software glitches. They are actively engaging with their player base and responding to suggestions and requests from that community. Although this is not a unique approach, what is surprising is the speed and quantity in which these player driven changes are happening. There seems to be an active ongoing process to refine the game and eliminate some of its “rough edges” and the players are contributing to this process with their feedback.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
13 days after its release, market analysts estimate that Crimson Desert has already earned $200 million across the four main platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S). The game is certainly proving popular among gamers with the internet awash with live streams and “let’s play” videos. However, reviews are mixed both among gaming journalists and YouTube influencers. Common complaints about the game include that it is slow to start, the controls are poorly laid out on all platforms and that developer’s Pearl Abyss have done a poor job of explaining most aspects of the game to new players. Although such criticisms are true to a degree, I think these complaints highlight how many gamers are conditioned to expect new titles to follow a specific pattern with regard to pacing, narrative exposition and learning in-game systems. A pattern that Pearl Abyss has chosen to ignore, instead favouring an old school approach.
Early on Crimson Desert, the main quest requires the player to enter a tavern and arm wrestle a particularly strong guard. The arm wrestling match consists of a quick time event. If playing on PC you have to rapidly press the “E” key which turns a power meter from white to red. Then a white dial appears above the meter with a rotating hand. When the hand passes over a segment of the dial that is marked by hatching, the player must press the “R” key. The idea being the meter filling with red is you strength building (or waning) and the “R” key prompt indicates when to try and force your opponent’s arm. You will need to to continuously press the “E” key throughout the arm wrestling match and the “R” key about 4 times to win.
Earlier this week, Nvidia posted a video featuring their latest iteration of DLSS technology (Deep learning super sampling). DLSS 5 is an AI-powered “real-time neural rendering” process and unlike previous versions that focused on improving frame rates through upscaling or frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to “infuse” frames with photorealistic lighting and material details that the game engine never actually calculated. Let us pause for a moment and consider these words. Material detail that the game engine never actually calculated. Therein lies the rub. If you watch the aforementioned video or peruse the images posted here, it is abundantly clear what the technology does.
Last night, I spent the first 45 minutes after the launch of Crimson Desert, watching the 92GB pre-downloaded game files slowly decompressing and installing. I finally launched the game at about 10:50 PM GMT. I then waited a further 5 minutes while shaders were downloaded. It took me about 15 minutes or so to read through the various game settings and choose those that are optimal for my PC. I suspect even if you have a beast of a computer, you’re still going to have to spend some time tweaking settings. As for those players like myself with a gaming rig that is somewhere in the middle of the game’s specifications, be prepared to do a lot of fine tuning both within Crimson Desert itself and your Windows settings.
I have been aware of the online interest around the open world action game Crimson Desert for a while now. One of the things that has intrigued me about it is the scope of the game. The word “hype” has been bandied about by a few gaming websites. However, from what I have observed, developers Pearl Abyss have not been excessively hyperbolic themselves, with regard to the manner in which the game’s systems and mechanics have been marketed. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, the pre-release reviews seem to confirm that everything we’ve seen in promotional videos in the run up to the launch, is in fact present in the game. So far the initial critical response has been very positive and it has been hinted that the game may well be a genre milestone. Perhaps Crimson Desert is just a rare example of a game that has not had a rushed development and isn’t launching prematurely for business reasons.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I decided to pursue a magic and spellcasting build in the RPG Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon after the story prologue. During the opening section of the game, the player is presented with a sufficient range of weapons to determine which type suits them best, although you can change at any time during the game. For me, casting spells feels right and is fun. Plus I have fond memories of the magic system in Two Worlds II and Skyrim. So once I started playing through the first zone, I started putting attribute and skill points into the appropriate trees to bolster my spells strengths and frequency. I also chose gear that would bolster those statistics further. The results have been surprising, as magic and spellcasting is not presented in the usual “glass cannon” style you find in some other RPGs. Here it offers robust DPS output and with the right gear and spell combination, a strong degree of survivability.
I originally bought Warhammer: Dark Omen in the summer of 1998. I played a demo copy via a magazine cover disc, which was a common means of promotion and marketing back then. Although I was at that point, unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, I found this game to be an excellent point of entry. The story did an excellent job of introducing players to “The Old World”, the political and power structure and major characters. I instantly liked both the aesthetic and the lore. Warhammer: Dark Omen was also the first real-time tactical wargame that I played and I spent numerous hours playing through the campaign. Overall, the game was a critical success, particularly on PC, but it struggled commercially upon its initial release and didn’t quite find the audience that it deserved. However, it has achieved status as a “cult classic” among gamers, leading to a recent re-release on GOG in late 2025.
According to the recent “letter to the players”, Standing Stone Games will be adding a new zone to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online in the second quarter of this year. Possibly around May or June. Having spent the last three expansions in the South of Middle-earth exploring the tropical Umbar and the deserts of Harad, I would certainly welcome a change of location. I have gradually warmed to these zones over the last eighteen months but I do find them so incongruous. They are so radically different to the European style content that has been the mainstay of the game for so long. Tolkien’s source text has plenty of detail regarding Eriador and Rhovanion. Information regarding Harad is scarce, hence it has afforded the developers a great deal of artistic freedom. Although exceedingly well realised these tropical zones have taken a while for me to get used to.
I’m not sure exactly when it started but I’ve recently noticed a graphical bug within the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This problem often occurs within caves or in areas where there are a lot of rocky surfaces. Hence it has become very apparent in the latest two expansions, set in Umbar and Harad. This graphical glitch causes some surface textures to appear to flash from light to dark intermittently. The resulting strobe effect is hard to ignore and very distracting. Fortunately, a quick online search showed that this is not a problem unique to my installation of LOTRO and is a known problem. Furthermore, there is a very simple workaround, which is to go into the Advanced Graphics setting and uncheck “Per Pixel Lighting”, which immediately remedies the problem. I have no idea why this has recently started to happen but at least it can be resolved.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. The original TV show was first broadcast in the US on September 8th 1966. If you search online you’ll find details of lots of related events. There are documentaries, conventions, new TV shows and even some video games in development. However, what you won’t find are any details regarding what will be happening with the MMORPG Star Trek Online. So far no road map for 2026 has been posted online by the developers but it is still quite early in the New Year. That being the case, I am not especially optimistic about there being any major plans waiting to be revealed. It is not as if DECA Games have demonstrated or stated any major ambitions for STO beyond keeping the endless events treadmill going and regularly adding content to the in-game store, during their development tenure. The ongoing story arc drags on inexorably and is as dull as ditchwater.
I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in June 2013. This was over 18 months after the game’s initial release and the base game and DLC were bundled together in a “Legendary” edition. Although a seasoned gamer at the time, familiar with the RPG genre with such titles as Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV, I had not played a game from this franchise before. It only took a few hours of gameplay to realise that this was a special title. The scope of the story, the art design and the size of the world were immediately notable. Tamriel was immersive in a way I had not experienced with other titles. Often simply traversing the terrain and watching the dawn break while the game soundtrack swelled, was sufficient to hold my attention. I instantly picked up on the voice acting of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. All of which indicated that this was a gaming landmark.
The latest expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, Kingdoms of Harad, launched on December 3rd. With this release the level cap was raised from 150 to 160. It should also be noted that the cap for virtue traits was also raised from 96 to 100. Naturally these changes meant that there is a requirement to replace all armour and jewellery once the new cap is reached. Similarly Legendary Items have to be reforged and any traceries upgraded or replaced. If you follow the Epic Story it will lead you from quest hub to quest hub. The main quest rewards, along with those from side quests will provide adequate gear as you slowly progress towards the new level cap. The new raids, instances and missions/delvings then provide a means to acquire higher quality level 160 gear. LOTRO and indeed, many other MMOs are consistent in this methodology.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
Today Standing Stone Games began beta testing Update 46.1 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. The current preview on the Bullroarer test server is mainly for the new instance cluster that comes with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion which launched a few weeks ago. However, it would appear that this latest preview has another feature or note. One that should please LOTRO players. Contrary to what a lot of people thought, myself included, SSG have been working on a scaling UI for 2K and 4K monitors and the results are now available for testing from today Monday 15th through to Friday 19th December. Until now the main workaround to the lack of UI scaling has been to use either Nvidia or AMD graphics software to upscale the game from 1920 x 1080, or a third party app such as LosslessScaling. Having an official solution is a far better option.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
In the wake of Disco Elysium, I’ve been playing through several other games that have a focus on narrative and plot. I began with Call of Cthulhu which I shall write about in a separate post. Let it suffice to say that although I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t quite satisfied. This is not necessarily the game’s fault, as it makes a good attempt at depicting Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. It’s just that any game following hard on the heels of one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played, is likely to come up short in comparison. So I looked through my game library and found that I had Still Wakes The Deep, which enjoys a good reputation for having a strong story. I subsequently played through the game over two late night sessions and was left suitably impressed. So much so that I’ve bought the additional DLC, Siren’s Rest, in the hope that it maintains the quality of its predecessor.
The Social Etiquette of Quitting a Multiplayer Game
I was watching a YouTube video recently of someone trying the new Fennec SMG in Call of Duty Modern Warfare Multiplayer. It was a 5 versus 5 game and the player who made the video was clearly quite skilled. After quickly racking up multiple kills, 3 of the enemy team left mid game. He laughed and pointed out that they had “rage quit”, although that is just conjecture. They may have left the game for a multitude of reasons (a point I shall return to later). As ever this video began a train of thought which I would now like to explore. Multiplayer games often go hand in hand with a lot of informal social etiquette. Much of which stems from the original MMOs from two decades ago. However, these conventions are not in any way mandatory or enshrined in any games terms of service. Yet quitting in the middle of a multiplayer game is still frowned upon in certain quarters, often being seen as an act of selfishness and childish anger. However, like everything in life, I think it’s not as simple as that.
I was watching a YouTube video recently of someone trying the new Fennec SMG in Call of Duty Modern Warfare Multiplayer. It was a 5 versus 5 game and the player who made the video was clearly quite skilled. After quickly racking up multiple kills, 3 of the enemy team left mid game. He laughed and pointed out that they had “rage quit”, although that is just conjecture. They may have left the game for a multitude of reasons (a point I shall return to later). As ever this video began a train of thought which I would now like to explore. Multiplayer games often go hand in hand with a lot of informal social etiquette. Much of which stems from the original MMOs from two decades ago. However, these conventions are not in any way mandatory or enshrined in any games terms of service. Yet quitting in the middle of a multiplayer game is still frowned upon in certain quarters, often being seen as an act of selfishness and childish anger. However, like everything in life, I think it’s not as simple as that.
Firstly, let’s consider the rectitude of quitting a multiplayer game halfway through. If the game you are playing has a fail state that is dependent on a full team, or requires players of a certain class to be successfully completed, then leaving will definitely inconvenience others. Raids, dungeons and other complex group content often require planning and a degree of organisation. If you have committed to such an undertaking then it is not unreasonable to be expected to honour it. If the group content is not going to plan then the “problem” should be discussed within the group. However, if genuine external factors mean that you must leave the group, then it is best to inform your colleagues and then depart at the most appropriate juncture. Simply quitting because things are not going well or because something potentially more entertaining presents itself, does strike as inconsiderate. The Healer or Tank leaving a group will often make specific tasks impossible.
However, as previously mentioned, group situations are frequently nuanced. If you are taking part in a multiplayer game and subject to abuse of any kind, then leaving is most certainly an option. Events and activities organised via friends or a guild hopefully reduce the risk of such behaviour but many games now include auto grouping tools. “Pick Up Groups” are potentially far more problematic due to their random nature. I personally will not tolerate any sort of prejudicial abuse and will leave if I encounter such. Unless it is essential to talk, I mute voice chat with strangers and communicate via preset ingame commands. More often than not I find that people leave PUGS if the task in hand is not being completed in an optimal fashion. Another issue is joining a full group but finding that several players have deliberately gone AFK. This is usually done so that an achievement or reward can be gained. Some games will detect such activities and sanction the player by kicking them from the group or applying a time penalty preventing further auto grouping.
But not all group situations come with the same stakes. In the FPS genre auto grouping is a common practise used to assemble players quickly and conveniently. Furthermore, players are not always interdependent upon each other. Irrespective of whether your team wins or loses a Deathmatch you’ll still be rewarded XP and weapons will unlock. Due to the popularity of certain genres, there are a wealth of players to draw upon when forming groups. Hence if players leave in the middle of a multiplayer game, they are seamlessly replaced. And players do leave often. Circling back to the original anecdotes about the players leaving the 5 versus 5 game on CoD MW, this is frequently due to the inadequacy of the “Skill Based Matchmaking”. It is beneficial to all concerned if players are grouped with others of a broadly comparable ability. Nothing kills your enjoyment quicker in these sorts of games than one or several players dominating events. Hence players will simply remove themselves from a situation that is not conducive to their enjoyment.
The MMO genre is still predominantly a social one, filled with guilds that run on player interaction and association. People build up relationships overtime and as such social rules and cultural norms often come into play when undertaking group content. Activities that are arranged and managed directly by multiple people logically require a different level of social commitment from those participating. The more impersonal game mechanic of autogrouping for content with less complex fail states (and therefore fewer consequences), requires a lower social dynamic. And let us not forget that paying to play a game can considerably alter one's relationship with it. The moment money is involved players often adopt a more transactional mentality. Anything that impedes enjoyment or progression is seen as a failure of service delivery and not necessarily in terms of the capricious nature of gaming.
Therefore, quitting a multiplayer game halfway through is not a binary issue (I wish I had £1 every time I’ve written that over the years). It is very much a contextual matter. I do not see an auto grouped undertaking in a FPS or similar game as commensurate with a pre-planned raid in an MMO with people I know. Leaving halfway through has different consequences in both scenarios and should be treated accordingly. Raiding and similar events in the MMO genre are a far more logistically and socially complex endeavour than joining a PUG in a Team Deathmatch. If a raid isn’t working there may well be planning issues to address or social problems within the group. But these are human failings and not always attributable to the game content. Competing with players of greater skill is not something that an individual can so easily address, apart from the obvious solution of leaving. But cultural attitudes and societal baggage towards what are your “social obligations” vary among gamers. So there is no definitive answer beyond the one you fathom for yourself.
The next expansion for the MMORG, The Lord of the Rings Online, was announced on the 1st August, via the gaming website MMORPG.The Wolves of Mordor, which will launch later in the year, appears ambitious in scope as it will include two new game systems as well as the obligatory story update. This expansion takes place in Draugardh located in the North East of Mordor, beyond the Plateau of Gorgoroth. It includes the new zones of Heledhris, Parth Rhavas and Nan Ogol. These vary environmentally ranging from the arid, volcanic and semi-tropical. Players will encounter the Daugrim in these regions, Werewolves but not in the modern sense. This is not the lycanthropy of Eastern European legends but in the established Tolkien idiom of fell spirits inhabiting the bodies of Wolves. The region also sees the return of the Woses and players can expect to encounter Elves and scouts from Gondor. As ever with LOTRO expansions, there will be new instances as well as a raid.
This is a post about the power of nostalgia and how sometimes, interacting with something from your past, be it physically or mentally, can produce a very strong and tangible emotional reaction. In some instances, this can be the result of something that you have specifically set out to do. On other occasions you can wander into a sense of nostalgia purely by chance. Today I experienced a very strong sense of nostalgia while watching a YouTube video and then again when I sought to replicate what I had seen. The video showed someone installing Windows 95 on to an old 486 PC from that era. The Window’s start up sound really touched a nerve (but in a good way) and then when the guy in the video launched Space Cadet 3D Pinball, a game that shipped with the operating system, I felt a strong compulsion to track down a copy and install the game myself, thus revisiting something that was an integral part of my life in 1995.
RV There Yet? is possibly the most entertaining game I’ve never played. My vicarious pleasure regarding this title has come exclusively from watching two popular YouTubers, JackFrags and WillFromWork, play through the game over a series of videos. It has been immensely amusing to watch and I have empathised a great deal as the group of four players has struggled with the game’s unpredictable mechanics and their own team’s dynamic. I could go and buy RV There Yet? myself but I doubt if I would ever have a gaming experience anywhere close to what I’ve watched online recently. So in some respects watching these videos has been an interesting alternative as I’ve been entertained, which ultimately is the point of video games. Perhaps there is a deeper philosophical point here that the game developers should reflect upon, as they’ve lost a potential sale. However, that is separate discussion for another day.
I don’t keep up with gaming news as much as I use to but several noteworthy announcement have come to my attention of late. Firstly, there’s an expansion, Songs of the Past, coming for the Witcher III: Wild Hunt in 2027. No doubt this is to pave the way for the Witcher IV. Next, I also found out about Hand of Fate: Horde. I liked this franchise and was saddened to learn that the original studio, Defiant Development, closed. Hence is was a pleasant surprise to see this new game being developed by members of the original studio. The third announcement was regarding Guild Wars 3. A new MMORPG in active development by a major studio is no small feat and is certainly good news for fans of this franchise and the genre per se. However, once you look beyond this news this announcement raises several questions and has certainly given me pause for thought. Let us take a few moments to consider them.
Star Trek Online has many in-game systems that are common to the MMORPG genre. The reputation system is one such example. In STO there are 13 reputation factions. Once a player has reached level 50 they may start progressing through the 6 reputation tiers of each one. Players gain progression through daily projects (20 hours in duration). Hourly projects are also available though they yield less reputation advancement and are limited to three times a day. Hence 20 hour projects are consider by default the most efficient way to gain rep. Projects require 30 Faction Specific Marks (earned via various activities in-game), 15,000 Energy Credits (standard in-game currency) and 2000 Expertise points. The most efficient way to tackle the reputation grind is to build up the necessary resources in advance and then at a designated time each day, start all 13 respective projects. Upon completion projects yield a player bound lockbox containing a random space or ground weapon, a console or Elite Marks which can be used to acquire faction gear.
I was recently perusing my archive of old blog posts, when it struck me how much I’ve written about the MMORPG genre over the years. Naturally, there was far more material from between 2008 and 2012 as that was period when I immersed myself in the genre and was very enthusiastic about it. I was at a point in my life when I had the time to dedicate to such games and I was happy to participate in the social aspect of they offered. I would regularly play through group content and spend time socialising online with fellow guild members. My experience remains a textbook example of how online games can be more than the sum of their parts and that where you are at in your life has a major impact upon your overall enjoyment. As I read though various old posts it became clear that my experiences where specific to this particular part of my life and that they cannot be repeated. My relationship with the genre is very different now and that’s fine.
Creating alts is an integral aspect of the MMORPG genre. Many players will create a character of a specific class or faction, play it for a while, lose interest in it or they may decide that it is just not for them. Fortunately it is no effort at all to simply re-roll a new alt and set off once again. Furthermore, lots of players never reach level cap of the MMORPG that there playing. When the going get’s tough, so to speak, you can either soldier on for another 50 levels or simply create a new alt and return to the comfort of tried and tested content. Alts also give you the chance to secure an accolade or achievement that you previously missed. They are also of great benefit to the genres social aspects. Creating a new alt so you can play along with a friend who is just starting is great fun. Developer’s love them too as it means you’re still playing the game.
I recently took a break from Crimson Desert choosing instead to to play something familiar and easy going. As I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online daily to participate in the anniversary event, I decided to look through my various alts and see how far they had progressed through the game and what resources they had. At present I have twelve alts. My primary Captain was created in 2015 during the original Delta Recruit Event. I had previously played STO intermittently since its release in January 2010 but I never kept any of those characters. Hence this decade old Tactical Federation Captain has been my main focus when playing. The other eleven alts are the result of other recruitment events or whenever I wanted to try something different, such as playing a specific class or faction. I obviously played a lot of STO during the lockdown as several alts date from that period. Several had maximum reputation across all factions.
The action, open world RPG Crimson Desert has been patched five times since it launched on March 19th and there have also been multiple hotfixes. At first glance this isn’t anything unusual. New games have bugs and issues arise once a game is released and played across a much wider variety of hardware than in QA testing. However, if you read the patch notes that accompany these sizeable downloads it quickly becomes apparent that developer’s Pearl Abyss are not just addressing bugs and software glitches. They are actively engaging with their player base and responding to suggestions and requests from that community. Although this is not a unique approach, what is surprising is the speed and quantity in which these player driven changes are happening. There seems to be an active ongoing process to refine the game and eliminate some of its “rough edges” and the players are contributing to this process with their feedback.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
13 days after its release, market analysts estimate that Crimson Desert has already earned $200 million across the four main platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S). The game is certainly proving popular among gamers with the internet awash with live streams and “let’s play” videos. However, reviews are mixed both among gaming journalists and YouTube influencers. Common complaints about the game include that it is slow to start, the controls are poorly laid out on all platforms and that developer’s Pearl Abyss have done a poor job of explaining most aspects of the game to new players. Although such criticisms are true to a degree, I think these complaints highlight how many gamers are conditioned to expect new titles to follow a specific pattern with regard to pacing, narrative exposition and learning in-game systems. A pattern that Pearl Abyss has chosen to ignore, instead favouring an old school approach.
Early on Crimson Desert, the main quest requires the player to enter a tavern and arm wrestle a particularly strong guard. The arm wrestling match consists of a quick time event. If playing on PC you have to rapidly press the “E” key which turns a power meter from white to red. Then a white dial appears above the meter with a rotating hand. When the hand passes over a segment of the dial that is marked by hatching, the player must press the “R” key. The idea being the meter filling with red is you strength building (or waning) and the “R” key prompt indicates when to try and force your opponent’s arm. You will need to to continuously press the “E” key throughout the arm wrestling match and the “R” key about 4 times to win.
Earlier this week, Nvidia posted a video featuring their latest iteration of DLSS technology (Deep learning super sampling). DLSS 5 is an AI-powered “real-time neural rendering” process and unlike previous versions that focused on improving frame rates through upscaling or frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to “infuse” frames with photorealistic lighting and material details that the game engine never actually calculated. Let us pause for a moment and consider these words. Material detail that the game engine never actually calculated. Therein lies the rub. If you watch the aforementioned video or peruse the images posted here, it is abundantly clear what the technology does.
Last night, I spent the first 45 minutes after the launch of Crimson Desert, watching the 92GB pre-downloaded game files slowly decompressing and installing. I finally launched the game at about 10:50 PM GMT. I then waited a further 5 minutes while shaders were downloaded. It took me about 15 minutes or so to read through the various game settings and choose those that are optimal for my PC. I suspect even if you have a beast of a computer, you’re still going to have to spend some time tweaking settings. As for those players like myself with a gaming rig that is somewhere in the middle of the game’s specifications, be prepared to do a lot of fine tuning both within Crimson Desert itself and your Windows settings.
I have been aware of the online interest around the open world action game Crimson Desert for a while now. One of the things that has intrigued me about it is the scope of the game. The word “hype” has been bandied about by a few gaming websites. However, from what I have observed, developers Pearl Abyss have not been excessively hyperbolic themselves, with regard to the manner in which the game’s systems and mechanics have been marketed. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, the pre-release reviews seem to confirm that everything we’ve seen in promotional videos in the run up to the launch, is in fact present in the game. So far the initial critical response has been very positive and it has been hinted that the game may well be a genre milestone. Perhaps Crimson Desert is just a rare example of a game that has not had a rushed development and isn’t launching prematurely for business reasons.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I decided to pursue a magic and spellcasting build in the RPG Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon after the story prologue. During the opening section of the game, the player is presented with a sufficient range of weapons to determine which type suits them best, although you can change at any time during the game. For me, casting spells feels right and is fun. Plus I have fond memories of the magic system in Two Worlds II and Skyrim. So once I started playing through the first zone, I started putting attribute and skill points into the appropriate trees to bolster my spells strengths and frequency. I also chose gear that would bolster those statistics further. The results have been surprising, as magic and spellcasting is not presented in the usual “glass cannon” style you find in some other RPGs. Here it offers robust DPS output and with the right gear and spell combination, a strong degree of survivability.
I originally bought Warhammer: Dark Omen in the summer of 1998. I played a demo copy via a magazine cover disc, which was a common means of promotion and marketing back then. Although I was at that point, unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, I found this game to be an excellent point of entry. The story did an excellent job of introducing players to “The Old World”, the political and power structure and major characters. I instantly liked both the aesthetic and the lore. Warhammer: Dark Omen was also the first real-time tactical wargame that I played and I spent numerous hours playing through the campaign. Overall, the game was a critical success, particularly on PC, but it struggled commercially upon its initial release and didn’t quite find the audience that it deserved. However, it has achieved status as a “cult classic” among gamers, leading to a recent re-release on GOG in late 2025.
According to the recent “letter to the players”, Standing Stone Games will be adding a new zone to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online in the second quarter of this year. Possibly around May or June. Having spent the last three expansions in the South of Middle-earth exploring the tropical Umbar and the deserts of Harad, I would certainly welcome a change of location. I have gradually warmed to these zones over the last eighteen months but I do find them so incongruous. They are so radically different to the European style content that has been the mainstay of the game for so long. Tolkien’s source text has plenty of detail regarding Eriador and Rhovanion. Information regarding Harad is scarce, hence it has afforded the developers a great deal of artistic freedom. Although exceedingly well realised these tropical zones have taken a while for me to get used to.
I’m not sure exactly when it started but I’ve recently noticed a graphical bug within the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This problem often occurs within caves or in areas where there are a lot of rocky surfaces. Hence it has become very apparent in the latest two expansions, set in Umbar and Harad. This graphical glitch causes some surface textures to appear to flash from light to dark intermittently. The resulting strobe effect is hard to ignore and very distracting. Fortunately, a quick online search showed that this is not a problem unique to my installation of LOTRO and is a known problem. Furthermore, there is a very simple workaround, which is to go into the Advanced Graphics setting and uncheck “Per Pixel Lighting”, which immediately remedies the problem. I have no idea why this has recently started to happen but at least it can be resolved.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. The original TV show was first broadcast in the US on September 8th 1966. If you search online you’ll find details of lots of related events. There are documentaries, conventions, new TV shows and even some video games in development. However, what you won’t find are any details regarding what will be happening with the MMORPG Star Trek Online. So far no road map for 2026 has been posted online by the developers but it is still quite early in the New Year. That being the case, I am not especially optimistic about there being any major plans waiting to be revealed. It is not as if DECA Games have demonstrated or stated any major ambitions for STO beyond keeping the endless events treadmill going and regularly adding content to the in-game store, during their development tenure. The ongoing story arc drags on inexorably and is as dull as ditchwater.
I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in June 2013. This was over 18 months after the game’s initial release and the base game and DLC were bundled together in a “Legendary” edition. Although a seasoned gamer at the time, familiar with the RPG genre with such titles as Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV, I had not played a game from this franchise before. It only took a few hours of gameplay to realise that this was a special title. The scope of the story, the art design and the size of the world were immediately notable. Tamriel was immersive in a way I had not experienced with other titles. Often simply traversing the terrain and watching the dawn break while the game soundtrack swelled, was sufficient to hold my attention. I instantly picked up on the voice acting of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. All of which indicated that this was a gaming landmark.
The latest expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, Kingdoms of Harad, launched on December 3rd. With this release the level cap was raised from 150 to 160. It should also be noted that the cap for virtue traits was also raised from 96 to 100. Naturally these changes meant that there is a requirement to replace all armour and jewellery once the new cap is reached. Similarly Legendary Items have to be reforged and any traceries upgraded or replaced. If you follow the Epic Story it will lead you from quest hub to quest hub. The main quest rewards, along with those from side quests will provide adequate gear as you slowly progress towards the new level cap. The new raids, instances and missions/delvings then provide a means to acquire higher quality level 160 gear. LOTRO and indeed, many other MMOs are consistent in this methodology.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
Today Standing Stone Games began beta testing Update 46.1 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. The current preview on the Bullroarer test server is mainly for the new instance cluster that comes with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion which launched a few weeks ago. However, it would appear that this latest preview has another feature or note. One that should please LOTRO players. Contrary to what a lot of people thought, myself included, SSG have been working on a scaling UI for 2K and 4K monitors and the results are now available for testing from today Monday 15th through to Friday 19th December. Until now the main workaround to the lack of UI scaling has been to use either Nvidia or AMD graphics software to upscale the game from 1920 x 1080, or a third party app such as LosslessScaling. Having an official solution is a far better option.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
In the wake of Disco Elysium, I’ve been playing through several other games that have a focus on narrative and plot. I began with Call of Cthulhu which I shall write about in a separate post. Let it suffice to say that although I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t quite satisfied. This is not necessarily the game’s fault, as it makes a good attempt at depicting Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. It’s just that any game following hard on the heels of one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played, is likely to come up short in comparison. So I looked through my game library and found that I had Still Wakes The Deep, which enjoys a good reputation for having a strong story. I subsequently played through the game over two late night sessions and was left suitably impressed. So much so that I’ve bought the additional DLC, Siren’s Rest, in the hope that it maintains the quality of its predecessor.
A Month in Gaming
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
I found a good deal on the latest expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online and so I purchased the Digital Upgrade Edition of Greymoor. I mainly wanted to see what the new Harrowstorms events were like and was pleasantly surprised by their difficulty. Dolmen become easier when more players are present but that is not necessarily the case with Harrowstorms. I have so far refrained from playing any of the story content in this new zone as I’m still committed to playing the narrative content in ESO in order. I like to keep the installation of ESO on my PC up to date as my twin granddaughters enjoy this game. They will often ask to see what the “lady with the burnt face and big boobies” is doing (their description, not mine) when they come round and visit. They also like the exotic cosmetic pets and the Khajit “cat people”. The recurring dragon events in Southern Elsweyr is also a source of entertainment for them.
June also saw several games uninstalled from my PC, as I had either completed them or had reached a point where I wasn’t going to return to them any time soon. So I removed Red Dead Redemption 2 as it really is a title you need to apply yourself to. To get the best out of the game it helps if you play for several hours at a time and immerse yourself in the story. I haven’t done this for a while and so my connection to the narrative was lost. Another thing I’ve noticed when playing these densely plotted RPGs is that I sometimes spend too much time pondering over decisions. Games with branching narratives are interesting but I occasionally find myself worrying that I will somehow “hobble” myself at some point in the future, if I make a “bad” choice. It’s a curious paradox as these decision making mechanics are designed to provide a sense of immersion but the “worry” they can produce can sometimes have the opposite effect.
Overall, Call of Duty Modern Warfare is still keeping me engaged after two and a half months. I do find it frustrating the way various game modes come and go. I was just beginning to learn the layout and foibles of the “Trench” map in 5 versus 5 battles when this was taken out of the game menu. However, Plunder Mode has proven to be a good alternative to the standard Battle Royale Mode in Warzone. The object is to collect cash from various stashes around the main map and then airlift it out. There are several prime landing zones in the Downtown area that are always heavily contested. However, for the more cautious player, you can explore and accrue money in the outlying areas and bank it by regularly buying Cash Deposit Balloons from Buy Stations. Combat is not so frenetic in this permutation of the game, although you do still have to keep your eyes open for players doing exactly the same as you. Auto Grouping is also not so problematic in Plunder Mode either. Players seem to take a more casual attitude to proceedings so you can play collaboratively or do your own thing if you prefer. This mode also provides a lot of XP if you’re levelling through the Battle pass.
I’ve been toying with the idea of buying Ghost Recon Breakpoint. I initially declined to do so due to the broken nature of the game upon its release and the conspicuous lack of AI teammates. They were present in Wildlands, the previous iteration of the franchise and were a boon for anyone who didn’t have a copiously populated friends list. However, Ubisoft is finally adding AI Squad functionality to Breakpoint this month so I may see if I can get a deal. A lot of the game’s problems have been fixed and there’s now over a year’s worth of content to be played through including a guest appearance by Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell. Furthermore he’s voiced once again by Michael Ironside. I may also see if there are any smaller games I can try in July to take my mind off the fact that the video game industry and associated culture just seems to be a continuous dumpster fire. It’s going to be a long uphill struggle to see these institutions evolve and adapt into something vaguely equitable and ethical.
Call of Duty Warzone Season 4 and Battle.net Patch Servers
Setting aside the debate regarding the rectitude of the Battle Pass system in Call of Duty Modern Warfare, I certainly enjoyed Season 3. I managed to find multiplayer games that suit my ability along with loadouts that allow me to hit something every once in a while. It was very much a learning process but from April 12th to June10th, I slowly improved my performance and re-acquainted myself with the fact that the FPS genre can be fun. I finally got to try a Battle Royale game and was pleasantly surprised by how accessible they are. However, (and there’s always a however) Activision Blizzard seem to be hell bent on losing the good will they seemed to have gained in recent months. Today’s release of Season 4 has been blighted by major performance issues with the patch servers. Furthermore, the developers still insist in removing certain maps and game modes to promote new ones. This “lottery” which results in a lack of choice for many players is especially galling when you’ve just bought the new Battle Pass.
Setting aside the debate regarding the rectitude of the Battle Pass system in Call of Duty Modern Warfare, I certainly enjoyed Season 3. I managed to find multiplayer games that suit my ability along with loadouts that allow me to hit something every once in a while. It was very much a learning process but from April 12th to June10th, I slowly improved my performance and re-acquainted myself with the fact that the FPS genre can be fun. I finally got to try a Battle Royale game and was pleasantly surprised by how accessible they are. However, (and there’s always a however) Activision Blizzard seem to be hell bent on losing the good will they seemed to have gained in recent months. Today’s release of Season 4 has been blighted by major performance issues with the patch servers. Furthermore, the developers still insist in removing certain maps and game modes to promote new ones. This “lottery” which results in a lack of choice for many players is especially galling when you’ve just bought the new Battle Pass.
Season 4 which was originally due to be released on June 3rd, was delayed for 8 days due to the ongoing protests regarding George Floyd and other issues currently monopolising the news cycle. The patch servers became available at 7:00 AM BST today and I started updating my installation of the game at about 9:00 AM. The patch is 45GB in size but a lot of the files are replacing existing ones. It quickly became apparent that there was an issue as the download rate soon dropped to 200 KB/s. Changing region within the Battle.bet launcher had no effect. Blizzard’s Twitter Customer Service account was conspicuously silent, despite the EU forums being rife with comments from frustrated gamers with similar issues. The unofficial solution was to install a VPN service and select a US or French server to ensure a faster download. I initially installed Proton VPN as they offer a week’s free trial and this did indeed help at first. But as other players did the same, the capacity of the free service that Proton offers dropped accordingly. I eventually had to renew my subscription to IPVanish at a cost of $10 to finish installing the patch. This fiasco took about 11 hours plus to resolve.
It is very easy to say “gamers are their own worst enemies” and glibly advise us to vote with our wallets. I’m guilty of doing so myself on occasions. But living outside of the US, I am used to having access to decent customer services when things go wrong. If matters cannot be resolved via such channels I rely on EU consumer regulations and legislation to ensure I’m protected and not given the shitty end of the stick by sociopathic corporations. Hence I was angry that not one of the various social media accounts associated with CoD MW/WZ made any attempt at an apology for today’s shambolic update. I also resent, greatly, the arbitrary way the Infinity Ward removes on a whim, specific game modes leaving me with a greatly reduced choice. I wish to continue to play Clean Up on Aisle 9 and Shipment via 6 versus 6 players. There’s also a lot of balance issues that are not getting addressed. The new Warzone Rumble mode as well as the classic MW2 map Scrapyard, are great in principle but are effectively usurped by snipers. The ubiquity of these plays means that game play is constrained, with everyone camping and not pushing forward.
I spent £16.49 on a Battle Pass Bundle today. My mistake was purchasing it before the game had finished patching, as I didn’t know in advance what changes had been made to the various game modes. It really does feel like Activision Blizzard don’t care about the playerbase beyond securing their payments. As a 52 year old man I don’t feel comfortable dealing in simplistic stereotypes regarding “greedy” companies and binary arguments about corporate culture. But when I look at the way that Activision Blizzard behaves, I struggle to see any justification for their actions other than the obvious. There have been thousands of forum and reddit posts regarding game balance, map rotations and play modes as well as bugs in the game that still persist months after launch. To just ignore such feedback because you simply have such an enormous customer base is lazy and cynical. If Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone wants to sustain its current success, it would be wise to listen to it’s players and ensure at the very least, that choice is not limited. The majority of players are not high end achievers but distinctly average. You need to keep them engaged. And sort out your patch servers. Much smaller games manage to this process, why can’t you. If these problems persist into Season 5, then I’m done.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
Developers do like to gate access to the best gear and equipment in video games. Often there will be an achievement or deed required to unlock the object that you desire. Now I have no objection to this concept in principle. It’s just that every now and then, the criteria required to access an item is beyond my abilities. Take Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. Infinity Ward recently added the Rytec AMR to the game. It is a semi-automatic sniper rifle that can use thermite and explosive rounds. It has a significantly higher rate-of-fire than the HDR and AX-5, and performs better at range than the Dragunov. I’ve been itching to get my hands on this weapon for a while. However, to unlock it, you have to complete the following achievement. "Get 2 quickscope kills using sniper or marksman rifles in 15 different matches". For me this is effectively one of the labours of Hercules.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
This post started out as something completely different. I was simply going to write about a popular new game, how it came to my attention and my impressions and thoughts once I had purchased it. But while reflecting on one aspect of the game; the social element that stems from playing with friends, I realised I had more to say about this rather than just writing a review. But such is the nature of writing. In my experience my train of thought is seldom linear. So this post has now morphed into some musings about social gaming and how it is an integral aspect of modern game design. Because playing games with friends is often regarded as a superior experience to playing alone. At least by game developers. I think that the reality is more nuanced and dependent on the game in question. However, I do think that some games are better played with people you know and that playing on your own or in a PUG is less fun. Because that has been my experience of late.
Adding a train to a Battle Royale game is hardly a new concept. Both Apex Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battleground have successfully done this. So it was only a matter of time before one was added to Call of Duty Warzone. We were tipped off by the addition of train tracks last season. The launch of Season 5 this week finally made the “choo choo” a reality. I must admit, I’m quite surprised at how adding something as straightforward as a freight train has reinvigorated the game. That and the fact that you can now access the stadium seems to have really enthused the playerbase. Since Tuesday, whenever you play Warzone or one of its variants, a large number of players head straight to the stadium or the station where the armoured freight train starts its journey around the map. As a result of this, new players or those who aren’t so skilled in combat can navigate the outlying areas of Verdansk with a greater degree of freedom and safety. Everyone else is at either of those locations.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone have a wealth of customisation and cosmetics options. One of which is the ability to assign hand gestures to your character. These can be used as a means of giving instructions when playing in a squad but more often they’re just used for fun or humorously. Players will use them after a kill or sometimes make them part of a trick shot, such as making a gesture with the left hand while firing from the hip with the right. I’ve not noticed a lot of use of gestures while playing nor do I use them myself. It takes all my concentration to stay alive. However, they do seem to feature in the various CoD clip shows I watch on YouTube, so they’re more of an affectation used by “top tier” players. Recently, developers’ Infinity Ward removed the OK gesture from the game. This minor change was not mentioned in the patch notes and the gesture was replaced with a new one called "crush".
I was watching a YouTube video recently of someone trying the new Fennec SMG in Call of Duty Modern Warfare Multiplayer. It was a 5 versus 5 game and the player who made the video was clearly quite skilled. After quickly racking up multiple kills, 3 of the enemy team left mid game. He laughed and pointed out that they had “rage quit”, although that is just conjecture. They may have left the game for a multitude of reasons (a point I shall return to later). As ever this video began a train of thought which I would now like to explore. Multiplayer games often go hand in hand with a lot of informal social etiquette. Much of which stems from the original MMOs from two decades ago. However, these conventions are not in any way mandatory or enshrined in any games terms of service. Yet quitting in the middle of a multiplayer game is still frowned upon in certain quarters, often being seen as an act of selfishness and childish anger. However, like everything in life, I think it’s not as simple as that.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
Setting aside the debate regarding the rectitude of the Battle Pass system in Call of Duty Modern Warfare, I certainly enjoyed Season 3. I managed to find multiplayer games that suit my ability along with loadouts that allow me to hit something every once in a while. It was very much a learning process but from April 12th to June10th, I slowly improved my performance and re-acquainted myself with the fact that the FPS genre can be fun. I finally got to try a Battle Royale game and was pleasantly surprised by how accessible they are. However, (and there’s always a however) Activision Blizzard seem to be hell bent on losing the good will they seemed to have gained in recent months. Today’s release of Season 4 has been blighted by major performance issues with the patch servers. Furthermore, the developers still insist in removing certain maps and game modes to promote new ones. This “lottery” which results in a lack of choice for many players is especially galling when you’ve just bought the new Battle Pass.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
I bought and started playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the 13th of April when it was on sale. I purchased the game via the Battle.net launcher and not through a third party key seller. The game includes a Single Player campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative gameplay as well as the new Warzone which includes various versions of the popular Battle Royale mode. Call of Duty Warzone can also be downloaded separately for free, without the need to buy the base game. Due to the recent controversies surrounding the use of loot boxes as a business model, Activision have instead implemented a Battle Pass system which is tied to the games “seasons”. A season runs for about 50 plus days. The current one (season 3) is scheduled to end on June 2nd. Here is the official blurb regarding how the Battle Pass system works.
I’ve been playing Call of Duty Warzone for about a month now and have documented my progress through the game and my attempts to improve my performance. It would be generous to categorise me as a distinctly average player. But I don’t worry too much about this as I am not alone. Not everyone is a high end player, although one’s perspective on this can be skewed as it is the most competent players that tend to dominate games. However, through simply playing CoD WZ regularly, despite my low body count per game I have slowly progressed through the ranking system. I am currently ranked 103 (the cap is 155). CoD WZ is generous with XP and each game’s score is not just based upon your kills. Your final position out of 150 other players is also a factor. There are additional marks for damage and a lot of other superfluous factors that the devs had added to ensure that even the weakest players move forward through the rankings.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
This post comes with caveats. In a perfect world, common sense would prevail and I wouldn’t have to list them. But we live in an age where some people take great pleasure in being professional contrarians and deliberately obtuse. So let me state clearly and unequivocally, I am not advocating that your gaming pleasure should come at the expense of someone else's. If you sign up for a 12 man raid and have a specific role to play, then do so to the best of your ability. Fooling around has consequences in such a scenario. However, that is not what is being discussed here. Nope. What I am suggesting is that you should take your pleasures, where you can find them. And if they have no tangible impact upon other players, then you are totally entitled to play your game of choice in a manner that suits you. It’s a simple axiom, yet it still proves to be very difficult for some gamers to comprehend and more importantly accept. Allow me to explain by means of an example.
I originally climbed aboard the Call of Duty bandwagon in 2009 when Modern Warfare 2 came out. I enjoyed the campaign and the multiplayer so much I promptly bought the first instalment. I then stuck with the franchise up until 2013. I didn’t especially like Ghosts, although I enjoyed the option to play as a dog which was different. Overall I was somewhat tired of the FPS genre from then on and so didn’t keep up with any further releases. For me the best iteration of the game was Black Ops in 2010. The campaign had a densely plotted story and the multiplayer was extremely polished. The multiplayer maps were well conceived allowing for fluid and engaging gameplay. Six years on and I recently got an itch to play Call of Duty again. The soft reboot of the franchise with Modern warfare in November 2019 promised a return to basics. The recent inclusion of a battle royale mode with the release of Warzone finally clinched the deal. So I bought a discounted version of the standard game recently and dived back in.
A Month in Gaming
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
Star Trek Online has not had any new story content added since the anniversary event. And that two part adventure “The Measure of Morality” wasn’t exactly what you would call a long term, episodic, story arc. Developers Cryptic seem to be focusing at present on short term events that are dependent on repeatable content which get very old quickly. I have abandoned the latest grind as it’s not fun and do I really need any more Tier 6 ships or another cosmetic pet? Similarly, I’m tired with the new gear treadmill that accompanies the addition of any new zone in The Lord of the Rings Online. I still need to level my Legendary Weapons but that is a ponderous and singularly uninspiring undertaking. As for returning to The Elder Scrolls Online, I must resist the allure of an expanded Skyrim as I still have so much older content to play through. Plus whenever these three MMOs add new material, it is always just a variation on a theme. They never do anything radical or innovative.
So in recent weeks I’ve made a conscious effort to step away from MMOs and try other types of games. I finally experienced the Battle Royale genre and have had fun for the last month playing Call of Duty Warzone. It makes for a pleasant change to be able to enjoy a game where you do not have to worry about keeping up with a complex story or having the best gear. The matchmaking system has its foibles but finding a suitable game is not a problem. You can get your quick fix of “action” within minutes of logging in. I also bought Man of Medan on a whim, which is best described as an interactive drama survival horror video game. It is a curious beast but I must admit it has kept me engaged, with its multiple outcomes and endings. I also played through Deathtrap Dungeon for a second time and was once again impressed how “less is more”. I really hope that developers, Branching Narrative, produce more games like this.
I suspect that I will spend less time playing video games in June as I’m becoming a little jaded at present with this pastime. I have written recently of the need to find myself a new project of some kind to keep my “head straight” as the lockdown continues. Games are simply not providing that level of engagement at present, especially the MMO genre which is my traditional mainstay. I’ll probably keep playing Call of Duty Warzone for a little longer as it provides sufficient stimulation and dopamine fixes. It would appear that Season 4 may bring some major changes to the game match, which would certainly shake things up. Another “radical” idea would be to actually finish some of the other games that I’ve started and then abandoned. I really would like to see the end of Red Dead Redemption 2. Perhaps that can be my gaming goal for the month. Maybe having some targets may make this hobby more enjoyable.
Here we are again with another summary of my gaming activities in recent months. Or in this case since last September. It’s been a while but I’ve been on a blogging hiatus until recently. However, I’ve kept myself busy gaming wise and often I find the hunt for news video games, just as entertaining as I do playing them. Perhaps that could be a future blog post. Back to the matter in hand. Gaming wise, pretty much all things related to the MMORPG genre are currently on the back burner. I’ll give specifics later but I am taking a break from these for the present. I am currently looking at trying games outside my usual comfort zone and also trying to test whether you can or cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, the answer appears to be yes you can. Enough summation, on to the specifics.
I last wrote a post in this series in June. Back then I wanted a break from MMOs as I had invested heavily in Star wars: the Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Because I was still enjoying the Star Wars vibe, I decided to try Jedi: Fallen Order. Sadly, despite the story showing a lot of promise, the PC version of the game handles poorly and the controls are sluggish. Often it felt like my character was wading through mud and there was a tangible amount of skills lag. So I uninstalled it and moved on to something else. One of the odd things about gaming is that despite amassing a library of free and discounted titles, we often end up buying something new, instead of playing that which we already own. And that is exactly what I did. I purchased Stray amid all the excitement surrounding the game, but to date I still haven’t played it. Make of that what you will.
Usually I keep subscribing to an MMORPG, even if I’m not playing it that much. I like to have options in case I decide to log in on a whim. Especially if an absent friend returns to a particular game presenting an opportunity to catch up. However, the current economic climate is no longer something that I can ignore. Although far from having a low income, the current ongoing increase in the cost of living is becoming apparent, so I have been fiscally prudent and cancelled my monthly subscriptions to Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Both have provided me with a lot of entertainment over the last three to four months but until new content becomes available, I can happily dispense with them for the meantime. Not only have I saved £17.98 on subscriptions, I shall no longer be making ad hoc purchases of in-game currencies. Something I have been doing a lot more than usual of late.
I have confined my gaming to three MMORPGs in recent months and have not strayed into anything new. Time has been an issue due to a great deal of change in my domestic life. Hence The Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Trek Online have proven suitable for my needs. Being able to log into a game and commence an activity without any complicated preamble is convenient and currently suits my schedule down to the ground. I will be buying Sniper Elite 5 at the end of the month as this is a franchise that has always proven entertaining and engaging. While recently perusing the various game launchers I have installed, I took the opportunity to remove several games that I’m no longer playing or that have proven to be a “five minute wonder”. Hence I said goodbye to GreedFall, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Days Gone. Their removal is no reflection upon their quality.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an instalment of A Month in Gaming. Over Christmas and New Year I was busy with family issues and it’s only in January that I’ve started anything approaching a regular gaming schedule. The novelty of Forza Horizon 5 has run its course and I’ve grown tired of the game’s upbeat tone and neverending activities that litter the in-game map. It’s nice that the game tries hard to engage with you but it reaches a point where you never get a time to stop, think and take stock. I couldn’t find anything else included in the Xbox Game Pass which especially excited me. There were a few titles that did take my fancy but I then discovered that I already own them elsewhere via Steam or Epic Games. So I decided to cancel my subscription. I still think that the Xbox Game Pass for PC is very good value and my failure to find anything that I like is my problem and not Microsoft’s fault.
September has been and gone and the nights are now drawing in. Usually this time of year is ideal for gaming but sadly I’ve had a lot on over the last 30 days and as a result there’s been precious little time for gaming or indeed writing. Such is life. When I did have some leisure time, MMOs were the easiest way to get a quick gaming fix, as per usual. Standing Stone Games announced that the next expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online would be released in November and that a revision of the Legendary Item system would be coming prior to that. Hence I took a look at the beta builds on the Bullroarer test server and then started prepping my various alts on the live servers, to get ready for this major change. I also managed to complete the latest event in Star Trek Online. However, beyond these straightforward tasks I didn’t really get to do much more.
Again this is more a case of two months in gaming. Furthermore although I was quite active in July, I was less so in August as the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event consumed the lion share of my leisure time. The majority of my gaming time is usually mid to late evening. Although Mrs P and I do many activities together, there are times when she will want to watch something I don’t, be engrossed in a book or out with friends. These occasions present sizable windows of time to focus upon a video game, which is especially useful for the MMORPG and RPG genres. However, I often have to choose whether to use this time exclusively for gaming or some other recreational activities such as writing. Another foible of my video game time management is trying to arrange things so I can undertake recurring, daily quests in a game early in the morning. I will often tackle such content in Star Trek Online, as soon as I get up.
The last installment of A Month in Gaming was at the end of April. I have decided to update this recurring post less often to ensure that I have more to write about than just cataloguing my generic activities in The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. The only downside of such an approach is that it invalidates the title but that can’t be helped. Fortunately, I have done more than usual over the last two months. My daily schedule has changed temporarily and I now have a little more leisure time available. Hence I’ve dabbled with several new games as well as using my Nintendo Switch more often. I also took part in a “tag team” playthrough of XCOM 2, which was a very interesting experience. And I finally took the time to go through all my games libraries on the various different platforms to catalogue exactly what I have. I found a few hidden gems but the majority is just “filler” that you find in most video game bundles.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Here we are again. Yet another month has gone by and I find myself writing another instalment of “a month in gaming”. And to be honest, I have very little to say in this particular roundup of my gaming activities. I played Star Trek Online throughout February and created a new Klingon character to take advantage of the ongoing Klingon recruitment event. I have managed to upgrade a Tier 5 D7 and kit it out in such a way that it is fairly robust. And I also created a new Jem’Hadar alt, as they start at level 60 and you are provided with a fully equipped vessel and crew. Nothing fancy but it allows you to get into the endgame content a lot quicker. I may write a more detailed blog post about this at some point. I also played a lot more Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout as my granddaughters came to stay for a week. I have already expressed my thoughts about the mechanics of that game in a prior post.
I last wrote A Month in Gaming post in December. Quite a lot has changed over the last two months. I have abandoned Cyberpunk 2077 as it has totally failed to hold my interest. I just couldn’t get on with the first person perspective. I also stopped playing Neverwinter, despite the game having many appealing elements. Sometimes, when you start an MMORPG that has been running for years, you feel so “behind the curve” that the prospect of catching up with everyone at the endgame is too daunting. And because the Call of Duty franchise has a yearly lifecycle, a new iteration of the game was released in November. Black Ops Cold War subsequently replaced the reboot of Modern Warfare and a lot of the new games content subsequently bled through in the free Battle Royale version. I’d been playing Warzone since last April and it was beginning to get a little stale. So I didn’t buy the latest Battle Pass and decided to move on. And then there’s The Lord of the Rings Online. Let it suffice to say I have completed as much of the latest “mini expansion” as I require and the game is now “on hold”.
November proved to be a very productive month, gaming wise. I had to self isolate for 14 days, due to coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Hence I had far more leisure time than usual. For a second month I applied myself to progressing through the new “mini expansion” in The Lord of the Rings Online. The new zone is a two phase map. The first is Elderslade, a mountainous region to the North of the Wells of Langflood. This area contains mainly story quests. The second phase, called War of Three Peaks, is the same zone but during a period of open war between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Quests here are mainly repeatable slayer and achievement quests. I did not discover this until I had completed the first round, so to speak, only to be offered exactly the same quests again by an NPC. As I had reached maximum rank in reputation for this new faction and there were no rewards of any note for me to spend my barter currency upon, I simply stopped playing through this content.
The last 31 days have gone by really fast, or at least that’s the way it feels. Despite having bought several new games recently and acquired yet more for free from the Epic Store, I did not embark on anything new throughout October. Due to the unexpectedly prompt release of the new “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of a new event in Star Trek Online, I found myself focused upon the MMORPG genre, yet again. And after playing continuously for six months, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has finally begun to lose its lustre. I didn’t especially enjoy the Halloween event, not that there was anything inherently wrong with it. It just wasn’t for me. I played a little Fall Guy: Ultimate Knockout but quickly discovered that the “season” system is just another gear treadmill, although the gear in this instance are novelty cosmetic outfits. I don’t want to be tied to too many games in this fashion (it’s bad enough with MMOs), so this is another title that has been relegated to occasional play when the fancy takes me.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
As I mentioned in the last instalment of “A Month in Gaming”, I was toying with the idea of buying Ghost Recon Breakpoint. However, I have decided against that. Yes the game may well be a third person, co-operative shooter but ultimately it’s yet more explosions and military hardware fetishism, which isn’t anything new. I have more than enough of that at present with Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. I also don’t feel disposed towards giving Ubisoft any of my money at the moment, until they get their house in order. I am so tired of continuously reading about how shitty the video game industry is to work in. It’s difficult to protest in a meaningful way but I guess for the present not buying a product is as good a way as any. So rather than purchasing any further games, I decided in July to play at least one of the many titles I’ve got in my existing library.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
The problem I find with monthly gaming articles is that they tend to cover ground that I’ve already written about over the last 4 weeks in other blog posts, only in less detail. So here is the brief version of my gaming activities throughout February. I played through the entirety of the Star Trek Online 10th Anniversary event and received the new hybrid Tier 6 ship. I enjoyed the new 2 part feature episode and have managed to maintain a schedule of doing “odds and sods” to keep myself busy. STO is currently my primary game. I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online, as soon as I start questing in Minas Morgul itself. It is simply too uninspiring and grindy an area. So I’ve focused on completing deeds for virtue experience and daily repeatable quests for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Due to constraints upon my schedule, I decided to temporarily stop my subscription to ESO Plus, as I simply do not have the time to invest in The Elder Scrolls Online at present. ESO is a good game and deserves attention when played. Committing to multiple MMOs at once is always a mistake.
So much for the New Year. January has now been and gone and 2020 just seems to be barrelling along. As ever, due to my real world commitments, I’ve been pushed for time over the last thirty one days. Therefore, most of my gaming has been targeted “binge” sessions conducted late at night. However, I do find playing through episodic content over several hours to be a very productive means of making progress in MMOs. So overall January has been an enjoyable experience, game wise. Due to my circumstances, I have deferred starting any new single player games and have focused primarily on two titles; The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. Sadly, The Elder Scrolls Online has been relegated to being played just once a week, usually on a Wednesday night when I meet up online with friends. My exploration of Vvardenfell will have to wait until later in the year, as I cannot sustain three MMOs to any great degree.
October has been and gone. And as ever the MMORPG genre has been the mainstay of my gaming activities over the last thirty days. Furthermore, it has been a productive month. I managed to complete the Daggerfall Covenant narrative arc, along with the main story on my Dragonknight in The Elder Scrolls Online. I find that completing Coldharbour is the biggest obstacle in progressing. It’s an atmospheric zone but once you’ve experienced it, it doesn’t really lend itself to repeat playing. But having done all this my Dragonknight hit level cap. I had taken the precaution of buying appropriate gear ahead of this achievement, so I managed to acquire some decent armour and jewellery that provide robust set bonuses. Despite focusing mainly on ESO, I did manage to progress further in The Lord of the Rings Online. I got as far as the Wolf Denes in the Vales of Anduin update. I also took the time to visit the LOTRO test server and checked out the Minas Morgul expansion preview. As for Star Trek Online my daily visits have been focused upon completing Task Force Operations and grinding for a free ship (again).
September saw The Elder Scrolls Online becoming my primary gaming focus. No real surprises there as I’ve been having so much fun of late with this MMORPG. I managed to get my Argonian Necromancer to level cap and then had the fun task of trying to equip them suitably. I don’t quite know why this aspect of gaming appeals to me so much but I just get a real kick out of trawling around looking for appropriate gear. I tend to enjoy it in all the MMOs I play. There’s just something inherently satisfying about equipping a new piece of armour or jewellery and seeing your stats noticeably increase. This process is even more enjoyable in ESO as there isn’t any server wide auction house, so you have to travel around from region to region, individually checking each guild trader you find. It really is virtual shopping. Once I managed to find the right gear for this character, I promptly created a new Imperial Dragon Knight and started playing through the Daggerfall Covenant storyline as it the one faction I haven’t yet completed. Oh and in ESO cosmetic pet news, the ghost chicken (official name Spectral Chicken) is outstanding.
Last month panned out pretty much as I expected. Blaugust and writing daily blog posts took up a fair amount of my leisure time. And then I lost a few days due real-life social activities. What gaming time I had was focused mainly on The Elder Scrolls Online. I’m sorry to say that I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online. My level 113 Guardian remains at the Black Gates and for the present I simply do not feel disposed towards working my way through Mordor again, which I did just a year ago on my primary character. I have undertaken a few quests with my level cap Lore-master and will endeavour in the weeks ahead to at least complete the Vales of Anduin region. LOTRO at present doesn’t have much of a hold on me, although I may well become more enthusiastic once the next expansion is formerly announced.
Contrary to my last A Month in Gaming post, I did actually end up buying a discount copy of Elsweyr and returning to The Elder Scrolls Online. And I’m rather glad that I did, because it has provided a welcome change of scene and an opportunity to do something different. However, you can’t just fire up ESO and dive right in. No sir. The first thing you have to do is update all your addons and if your starting a new alt (which I decided to do), ensure that your key mappings and custom settings are ported over. This process was a pain in the butt; however it did inspire a couple of blog posts. Creating a new alt is the perfect way to reacquaint yourself with ESO after a lengthy absence. In my case it has been 12 months. I decided to try the new Necromancer class and so far, it has proven to be both fun and rewarding. Rather than try to do a thousand things at once, I just started the Elsweyr main story and doggedly pursued it. The narrative is enjoyable and it was fun to see Cadwell as part of the plot focus. For practical reasons I’ve re-subscribed to ESO plus to unlock various DLC and I intend to continue playing for the next month or so.
This post should have been published two weeks ago but as ever, real life just keeps getting in the way. As expected, June proved to be a busy month, however, I managed to organise my leisure time pretty well, affording me an opportunity to not only play my two current MMOs but also experiment with some other games. At present my caring commitment keep me busy from about 10:30 AM to about 5:00 PM. I tend to get up round about 7:00 AM so if I promptly have a shower, dress and eat, I can usually create a two-hour window in the morning to either tackle admin and paperwork or undertake dailies in games such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Star Trek Online. I can also find several hours in the evening as Mrs Peril tends to go to bed earlier than I. Therefore practical time management has proven beneficial over the last four weeks.
As I suspected in my last post, my gaming activities were somewhat curtailed throughout May due to both my parents being ill. However, the time I did manage to spend in-game was both therapeutic and relaxing. For me, I’ve never really seen gaming as escapism, although I appreciate it certainly is for others. One of the aspects it offers, along with a degree of challenge and entertainment, is a release from stress and the pressures of one’s daily life. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed Sniper Elite V2 Remastered so much, because not only is it a thoroughly absorbing game, it also provides a sense of catharsis. I’ve already written about the game in some detail, along with my thoughts about the ongoing “remaster versus remake” debate. However, I would add that I enjoyed it so much I re-installed the sequel, Sniper Elite III, which I haven’t played since it’s release in 2014. This also proved to be an enjoyable undertaking, again for the self-same reasons.
So what have I been up to in April gaming wise? Oh, yes there was this. Mounted combat for the Guardian class is awful. There. I said it. As I’m not a LOTRO “altoholic” my only previous experience with mounted combat was with my Lore-master. Most of their skills are ranged which makes the fights less tedious and time consuming. And you get a combat pet which helps the proceeding slightly, but overall, it’s not that much fun. However fighting via your war steed with a Guardian is a ponderous grind. You have to be in close proximity to your foe to hit them and half the time they are running around you, conspicuously out of range. Sure there’s a skill that brings them next to you for a short period of time but as a level 85 Guardian’s DPS output is distinctly average at this point in the levelling curve, it’s a long, arduous slog to kill anything. My solution has been to summon my skirmish soldier who is an Archer and to use them in conjunction with my own bow to shoot down mounted foes while on foot. This still takes time but is quicker than doing it from horse back.
Is the Battle Pass Just as Egregious as Loot Boxes?
I bought and started playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the 13th of April when it was on sale. I purchased the game via the Battle.net launcher and not through a third party key seller. The game includes a Single Player campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative gameplay as well as the new Warzone which includes various versions of the popular Battle Royale mode. Call of Duty Warzone can also be downloaded separately for free, without the need to buy the base game. Due to the recent controversies surrounding the use of loot boxes as a business model, Activision have instead implemented a Battle Pass system which is tied to the games “seasons”. A season runs for about 50 plus days. The current one (season 3) is scheduled to end on June 2nd. Here is the official blurb regarding how the Battle Pass system works.
I bought and started playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the 13th of April when it was on sale. I purchased the game via the Battle.net launcher and not through a third party key seller. The game includes a Single Player campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative gameplay as well as the new Warzone which includes various versions of the popular Battle Royale mode. Call of Duty Warzone can also be downloaded separately for free, without the need to buy the base game. Due to the recent controversies surrounding the use of loot boxes as a business model, Activision have instead implemented a Battle Pass system which is tied to the games “seasons”. A season runs for about 50 plus days. The current one (season 3) is scheduled to end on June 2nd. Here is the official blurb regarding how the Battle Pass system works.
The Battle Pass is a tiered reward system that awards players with items as they play Warzone and Multiplayer. It contains 100 Tiers of content to earn, with over a fifth of those being free for all players. Upgrading to the full Battle Pass gives you access to all 100 Tiers along with a bundle of exclusive items for Battle Pass owners. For example, Season 2 Battle Pass owners gain access to the Operator Ghost, the Marshland skin and Operator Mission for Thorne, the Time Traveler watch, and a 10% global XP boost. The full Battle Pass can either be purchased for 1,000 COD Points or 2,400 COD Points (the Battle Pass Bundles), which automatically unlocks 20 Tiers upon purchase. At first glance it all seems very simple. You can buy a pass and unlock content as you increase in rank. You can pay extra and buy the pass and automatically unlock the first 20 levels. Or you can choose not to buy the pass and as you rank up gain the occasional free item.
But the reality of the Battle Pass system is in many ways just as insidious as loot boxes. It plays to exactly the same “fear of missing out” mindset. Cosmetics, despite what many publishers publicly state, are not just “optional” for many players. If they were then “default” wouldn’t have become a pejorative term in Fortnite. The ability to customise your avatar and establish your own identity is often an integral part of game enjoyment for many players. Possibly more so in competitive genres. And then there are the Weapon Blueprints which offer a substantial advantage. All weapons in CoD have multiple attachments and are highly customisable. However you have to earn weapon XP and to unlock the different variations. If you favour a specific Assault Rifle with a certain selection of attachments, it may take you a significant amount of time to access them. Weapon Blueprints which feature in the Battle Pass can provide superior gear a lot quicker. Two players can start playing CoD MW/WZ on the same day. The one that buys a Battle Pass Bundle which immediately unlocks the first 20 tiers and thus has access to a Weapon Blueprint has an instant advantage.
I did not buy a Battle Pass straight away but decided to do so after I had progressed to about tier 30. My main motivation was mainly for research for this blog post. The game certainly makes a big deal about the current content of the Battle Pass both before you buy one and then after. After you finish a game, an animation shows your rank progression and your respective unlocks. If you haven’t purchased one you are frequently prompted to do so. And once you have, the next line of marketing is to encourage the player to buy more Call of Duty Points and unlock tier rewards in advance. If you are currently tier 47 and there’s a cosmetic skin you desire at tier 50, you can simply pay to unlock the intervening tiers if you haven’t the patience to grind the required XP. And this is where the real money lies for Activision. Some players will see what is available in a Battle Pass at the start of a season and will want to access it immediately. So they will buy a Battle Pass Bundle which unlocks the first 20 tiers for $24 and will then buy out the remaining 80 tiers at a cost of a further $120.
I unlocked the last tier of my Battle Pass last night. I must admit I felt a need to play and ensure that I unlocked all rewards before the current season ended. Otherwise I would have felt that I’d somehow “wasted my money”. And that feeling I had is a prime example of how these business models play upon consumers desires and personal psychology. A competent and experienced CoD player can come to this new version of the game and grind out all their favourite weapon unlocks without paying any money. But for regular players if they pursue a similar course of action, the first month will be hard work and often you’ll face other players with the advantage of superior loadouts. And let us not forget that as well as the Battle Pass system, there numerous ad hoc bundles of skins, cosmetics and Weapon Blueprints in the game store. These are frequently only available for a short time so there is a sense of urgency if you see something you want to buy. Hence, although I am enjoying this game I am ambivalent regarding its monetisation. So far 60 million players have downloaded CoD WZ in the first two month since its launch. If only 10% are paying customers that’s still a lot of money.
The next expansion for the MMORG, The Lord of the Rings Online, was announced on the 1st August, via the gaming website MMORPG.The Wolves of Mordor, which will launch later in the year, appears ambitious in scope as it will include two new game systems as well as the obligatory story update. This expansion takes place in Draugardh located in the North East of Mordor, beyond the Plateau of Gorgoroth. It includes the new zones of Heledhris, Parth Rhavas and Nan Ogol. These vary environmentally ranging from the arid, volcanic and semi-tropical. Players will encounter the Daugrim in these regions, Werewolves but not in the modern sense. This is not the lycanthropy of Eastern European legends but in the established Tolkien idiom of fell spirits inhabiting the bodies of Wolves. The region also sees the return of the Woses and players can expect to encounter Elves and scouts from Gondor. As ever with LOTRO expansions, there will be new instances as well as a raid.
This is a post about the power of nostalgia and how sometimes, interacting with something from your past, be it physically or mentally, can produce a very strong and tangible emotional reaction. In some instances, this can be the result of something that you have specifically set out to do. On other occasions you can wander into a sense of nostalgia purely by chance. Today I experienced a very strong sense of nostalgia while watching a YouTube video and then again when I sought to replicate what I had seen. The video showed someone installing Windows 95 on to an old 486 PC from that era. The Window’s start up sound really touched a nerve (but in a good way) and then when the guy in the video launched Space Cadet 3D Pinball, a game that shipped with the operating system, I felt a strong compulsion to track down a copy and install the game myself, thus revisiting something that was an integral part of my life in 1995.
RV There Yet? is possibly the most entertaining game I’ve never played. My vicarious pleasure regarding this title has come exclusively from watching two popular YouTubers, JackFrags and WillFromWork, play through the game over a series of videos. It has been immensely amusing to watch and I have empathised a great deal as the group of four players has struggled with the game’s unpredictable mechanics and their own team’s dynamic. I could go and buy RV There Yet? myself but I doubt if I would ever have a gaming experience anywhere close to what I’ve watched online recently. So in some respects watching these videos has been an interesting alternative as I’ve been entertained, which ultimately is the point of video games. Perhaps there is a deeper philosophical point here that the game developers should reflect upon, as they’ve lost a potential sale. However, that is separate discussion for another day.
I don’t keep up with gaming news as much as I use to but several noteworthy announcement have come to my attention of late. Firstly, there’s an expansion, Songs of the Past, coming for the Witcher III: Wild Hunt in 2027. No doubt this is to pave the way for the Witcher IV. Next, I also found out about Hand of Fate: Horde. I liked this franchise and was saddened to learn that the original studio, Defiant Development, closed. Hence is was a pleasant surprise to see this new game being developed by members of the original studio. The third announcement was regarding Guild Wars 3. A new MMORPG in active development by a major studio is no small feat and is certainly good news for fans of this franchise and the genre per se. However, once you look beyond this news this announcement raises several questions and has certainly given me pause for thought. Let us take a few moments to consider them.
Star Trek Online has many in-game systems that are common to the MMORPG genre. The reputation system is one such example. In STO there are 13 reputation factions. Once a player has reached level 50 they may start progressing through the 6 reputation tiers of each one. Players gain progression through daily projects (20 hours in duration). Hourly projects are also available though they yield less reputation advancement and are limited to three times a day. Hence 20 hour projects are consider by default the most efficient way to gain rep. Projects require 30 Faction Specific Marks (earned via various activities in-game), 15,000 Energy Credits (standard in-game currency) and 2000 Expertise points. The most efficient way to tackle the reputation grind is to build up the necessary resources in advance and then at a designated time each day, start all 13 respective projects. Upon completion projects yield a player bound lockbox containing a random space or ground weapon, a console or Elite Marks which can be used to acquire faction gear.
I was recently perusing my archive of old blog posts, when it struck me how much I’ve written about the MMORPG genre over the years. Naturally, there was far more material from between 2008 and 2012 as that was period when I immersed myself in the genre and was very enthusiastic about it. I was at a point in my life when I had the time to dedicate to such games and I was happy to participate in the social aspect of they offered. I would regularly play through group content and spend time socialising online with fellow guild members. My experience remains a textbook example of how online games can be more than the sum of their parts and that where you are at in your life has a major impact upon your overall enjoyment. As I read though various old posts it became clear that my experiences where specific to this particular part of my life and that they cannot be repeated. My relationship with the genre is very different now and that’s fine.
Creating alts is an integral aspect of the MMORPG genre. Many players will create a character of a specific class or faction, play it for a while, lose interest in it or they may decide that it is just not for them. Fortunately it is no effort at all to simply re-roll a new alt and set off once again. Furthermore, lots of players never reach level cap of the MMORPG that there playing. When the going get’s tough, so to speak, you can either soldier on for another 50 levels or simply create a new alt and return to the comfort of tried and tested content. Alts also give you the chance to secure an accolade or achievement that you previously missed. They are also of great benefit to the genres social aspects. Creating a new alt so you can play along with a friend who is just starting is great fun. Developer’s love them too as it means you’re still playing the game.
I recently took a break from Crimson Desert choosing instead to to play something familiar and easy going. As I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online daily to participate in the anniversary event, I decided to look through my various alts and see how far they had progressed through the game and what resources they had. At present I have twelve alts. My primary Captain was created in 2015 during the original Delta Recruit Event. I had previously played STO intermittently since its release in January 2010 but I never kept any of those characters. Hence this decade old Tactical Federation Captain has been my main focus when playing. The other eleven alts are the result of other recruitment events or whenever I wanted to try something different, such as playing a specific class or faction. I obviously played a lot of STO during the lockdown as several alts date from that period. Several had maximum reputation across all factions.
The action, open world RPG Crimson Desert has been patched five times since it launched on March 19th and there have also been multiple hotfixes. At first glance this isn’t anything unusual. New games have bugs and issues arise once a game is released and played across a much wider variety of hardware than in QA testing. However, if you read the patch notes that accompany these sizeable downloads it quickly becomes apparent that developer’s Pearl Abyss are not just addressing bugs and software glitches. They are actively engaging with their player base and responding to suggestions and requests from that community. Although this is not a unique approach, what is surprising is the speed and quantity in which these player driven changes are happening. There seems to be an active ongoing process to refine the game and eliminate some of its “rough edges” and the players are contributing to this process with their feedback.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
13 days after its release, market analysts estimate that Crimson Desert has already earned $200 million across the four main platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S). The game is certainly proving popular among gamers with the internet awash with live streams and “let’s play” videos. However, reviews are mixed both among gaming journalists and YouTube influencers. Common complaints about the game include that it is slow to start, the controls are poorly laid out on all platforms and that developer’s Pearl Abyss have done a poor job of explaining most aspects of the game to new players. Although such criticisms are true to a degree, I think these complaints highlight how many gamers are conditioned to expect new titles to follow a specific pattern with regard to pacing, narrative exposition and learning in-game systems. A pattern that Pearl Abyss has chosen to ignore, instead favouring an old school approach.
Early on Crimson Desert, the main quest requires the player to enter a tavern and arm wrestle a particularly strong guard. The arm wrestling match consists of a quick time event. If playing on PC you have to rapidly press the “E” key which turns a power meter from white to red. Then a white dial appears above the meter with a rotating hand. When the hand passes over a segment of the dial that is marked by hatching, the player must press the “R” key. The idea being the meter filling with red is you strength building (or waning) and the “R” key prompt indicates when to try and force your opponent’s arm. You will need to to continuously press the “E” key throughout the arm wrestling match and the “R” key about 4 times to win.
Earlier this week, Nvidia posted a video featuring their latest iteration of DLSS technology (Deep learning super sampling). DLSS 5 is an AI-powered “real-time neural rendering” process and unlike previous versions that focused on improving frame rates through upscaling or frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to “infuse” frames with photorealistic lighting and material details that the game engine never actually calculated. Let us pause for a moment and consider these words. Material detail that the game engine never actually calculated. Therein lies the rub. If you watch the aforementioned video or peruse the images posted here, it is abundantly clear what the technology does.
Last night, I spent the first 45 minutes after the launch of Crimson Desert, watching the 92GB pre-downloaded game files slowly decompressing and installing. I finally launched the game at about 10:50 PM GMT. I then waited a further 5 minutes while shaders were downloaded. It took me about 15 minutes or so to read through the various game settings and choose those that are optimal for my PC. I suspect even if you have a beast of a computer, you’re still going to have to spend some time tweaking settings. As for those players like myself with a gaming rig that is somewhere in the middle of the game’s specifications, be prepared to do a lot of fine tuning both within Crimson Desert itself and your Windows settings.
I have been aware of the online interest around the open world action game Crimson Desert for a while now. One of the things that has intrigued me about it is the scope of the game. The word “hype” has been bandied about by a few gaming websites. However, from what I have observed, developers Pearl Abyss have not been excessively hyperbolic themselves, with regard to the manner in which the game’s systems and mechanics have been marketed. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, the pre-release reviews seem to confirm that everything we’ve seen in promotional videos in the run up to the launch, is in fact present in the game. So far the initial critical response has been very positive and it has been hinted that the game may well be a genre milestone. Perhaps Crimson Desert is just a rare example of a game that has not had a rushed development and isn’t launching prematurely for business reasons.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I decided to pursue a magic and spellcasting build in the RPG Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon after the story prologue. During the opening section of the game, the player is presented with a sufficient range of weapons to determine which type suits them best, although you can change at any time during the game. For me, casting spells feels right and is fun. Plus I have fond memories of the magic system in Two Worlds II and Skyrim. So once I started playing through the first zone, I started putting attribute and skill points into the appropriate trees to bolster my spells strengths and frequency. I also chose gear that would bolster those statistics further. The results have been surprising, as magic and spellcasting is not presented in the usual “glass cannon” style you find in some other RPGs. Here it offers robust DPS output and with the right gear and spell combination, a strong degree of survivability.
I originally bought Warhammer: Dark Omen in the summer of 1998. I played a demo copy via a magazine cover disc, which was a common means of promotion and marketing back then. Although I was at that point, unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, I found this game to be an excellent point of entry. The story did an excellent job of introducing players to “The Old World”, the political and power structure and major characters. I instantly liked both the aesthetic and the lore. Warhammer: Dark Omen was also the first real-time tactical wargame that I played and I spent numerous hours playing through the campaign. Overall, the game was a critical success, particularly on PC, but it struggled commercially upon its initial release and didn’t quite find the audience that it deserved. However, it has achieved status as a “cult classic” among gamers, leading to a recent re-release on GOG in late 2025.
According to the recent “letter to the players”, Standing Stone Games will be adding a new zone to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online in the second quarter of this year. Possibly around May or June. Having spent the last three expansions in the South of Middle-earth exploring the tropical Umbar and the deserts of Harad, I would certainly welcome a change of location. I have gradually warmed to these zones over the last eighteen months but I do find them so incongruous. They are so radically different to the European style content that has been the mainstay of the game for so long. Tolkien’s source text has plenty of detail regarding Eriador and Rhovanion. Information regarding Harad is scarce, hence it has afforded the developers a great deal of artistic freedom. Although exceedingly well realised these tropical zones have taken a while for me to get used to.
I’m not sure exactly when it started but I’ve recently noticed a graphical bug within the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This problem often occurs within caves or in areas where there are a lot of rocky surfaces. Hence it has become very apparent in the latest two expansions, set in Umbar and Harad. This graphical glitch causes some surface textures to appear to flash from light to dark intermittently. The resulting strobe effect is hard to ignore and very distracting. Fortunately, a quick online search showed that this is not a problem unique to my installation of LOTRO and is a known problem. Furthermore, there is a very simple workaround, which is to go into the Advanced Graphics setting and uncheck “Per Pixel Lighting”, which immediately remedies the problem. I have no idea why this has recently started to happen but at least it can be resolved.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. The original TV show was first broadcast in the US on September 8th 1966. If you search online you’ll find details of lots of related events. There are documentaries, conventions, new TV shows and even some video games in development. However, what you won’t find are any details regarding what will be happening with the MMORPG Star Trek Online. So far no road map for 2026 has been posted online by the developers but it is still quite early in the New Year. That being the case, I am not especially optimistic about there being any major plans waiting to be revealed. It is not as if DECA Games have demonstrated or stated any major ambitions for STO beyond keeping the endless events treadmill going and regularly adding content to the in-game store, during their development tenure. The ongoing story arc drags on inexorably and is as dull as ditchwater.
I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in June 2013. This was over 18 months after the game’s initial release and the base game and DLC were bundled together in a “Legendary” edition. Although a seasoned gamer at the time, familiar with the RPG genre with such titles as Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV, I had not played a game from this franchise before. It only took a few hours of gameplay to realise that this was a special title. The scope of the story, the art design and the size of the world were immediately notable. Tamriel was immersive in a way I had not experienced with other titles. Often simply traversing the terrain and watching the dawn break while the game soundtrack swelled, was sufficient to hold my attention. I instantly picked up on the voice acting of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. All of which indicated that this was a gaming landmark.
The latest expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, Kingdoms of Harad, launched on December 3rd. With this release the level cap was raised from 150 to 160. It should also be noted that the cap for virtue traits was also raised from 96 to 100. Naturally these changes meant that there is a requirement to replace all armour and jewellery once the new cap is reached. Similarly Legendary Items have to be reforged and any traceries upgraded or replaced. If you follow the Epic Story it will lead you from quest hub to quest hub. The main quest rewards, along with those from side quests will provide adequate gear as you slowly progress towards the new level cap. The new raids, instances and missions/delvings then provide a means to acquire higher quality level 160 gear. LOTRO and indeed, many other MMOs are consistent in this methodology.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
Today Standing Stone Games began beta testing Update 46.1 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. The current preview on the Bullroarer test server is mainly for the new instance cluster that comes with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion which launched a few weeks ago. However, it would appear that this latest preview has another feature or note. One that should please LOTRO players. Contrary to what a lot of people thought, myself included, SSG have been working on a scaling UI for 2K and 4K monitors and the results are now available for testing from today Monday 15th through to Friday 19th December. Until now the main workaround to the lack of UI scaling has been to use either Nvidia or AMD graphics software to upscale the game from 1920 x 1080, or a third party app such as LosslessScaling. Having an official solution is a far better option.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
In the wake of Disco Elysium, I’ve been playing through several other games that have a focus on narrative and plot. I began with Call of Cthulhu which I shall write about in a separate post. Let it suffice to say that although I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t quite satisfied. This is not necessarily the game’s fault, as it makes a good attempt at depicting Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. It’s just that any game following hard on the heels of one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played, is likely to come up short in comparison. So I looked through my game library and found that I had Still Wakes The Deep, which enjoys a good reputation for having a strong story. I subsequently played through the game over two late night sessions and was left suitably impressed. So much so that I’ve bought the additional DLC, Siren’s Rest, in the hope that it maintains the quality of its predecessor.
Call of Duty Warzone Matchmaking
I’ve been playing Call of Duty Warzone for about a month now and have documented my progress through the game and my attempts to improve my performance. It would be generous to categorise me as a distinctly average player. But I don’t worry too much about this as I am not alone. Not everyone is a high end player, although one’s perspective on this can be skewed as it is the most competent players that tend to dominate games. However, through simply playing CoD WZ regularly, despite my low body count per game I have slowly progressed through the ranking system. I am currently ranked 103 (the cap is 155). CoD WZ is generous with XP and each game’s score is not just based upon your kills. Your final position out of 150 other players is also a factor. There are additional marks for damage and a lot of other superfluous factors that the devs had added to ensure that even the weakest players move forward through the rankings.
I’ve been playing Call of Duty Warzone for about a month now and have documented my progress through the game and my attempts to improve my performance. It would be generous to categorise me as a distinctly average player. But I don’t worry too much about this as I am not alone. Not everyone is a high end player, although one’s perspective on this can be skewed as it is the most competent players that tend to dominate games. However, through simply playing CoD WZ regularly, despite my low body count per game I have slowly progressed through the ranking system. I am currently ranked 103 (the cap is 155). CoD WZ is generous with XP and each game’s score is not just based upon your kills. Your final position out of 150 other players is also a factor. There are additional marks for damage and a lot of other superfluous factors that the devs had added to ensure that even the weakest players move forward through the rankings.
Now despite what Infinity Ward have said publicly, there is a matchmaking system in place and sadly it appears to be somewhat basic. Rank features in group placement plus some backend stats regarding kill ratio. To cut a long story short, a month on I now find myself placed in games with players of a comparable or higher rank than me. Many of whom have reached the maximum tier through ability and not attrition. The net result is that my enjoyment of Solo Battle Royale matches has somewhat diminished. As an average player I expect to die when going head to head with someone with superior skills. But when this happens two thirds of the time, it does sour one’s experience and pleasure. There are sufficient random factors that mean I can sometimes find myself in an optimal position or I quickly obtain good gear but these are becoming fewer and far between.
I played a Solo Battle Royale game yesterday in which I chose a relatively isolated part of the map to land (The building site in the Novi Grazna Hills). I looted several houses and got a half decent assault rifle and sufficient armour. I think I did this in under 5 minutes. In the same amount of time another player had landed nearby, collected sufficient money to call in a Loadout Drop, select their optimal weapons selection and then sniped me through a window at a considerable distance. I was quite impressed but it highlights the problem with the current matchmaking system perfectly. This other player knew the map inside out and had robusts skills. It raises the question, what are the benefits of us being placed in the same game? It’s not as if I offered any sort of significant challenge to them. And if this happens continuously to me, it doesn’t exactly motivate me to keep playing.
I am not a fan of “Git Gud” culture. As I’ve written already in previous posts, I’m happy to try and learn some general tips and tactics to try to play more efficiently. Becoming a better player does improve your overall enjoyment. But I’m not looking for a “job”. Let the high end players with their stats and gaming philosophy play with comparable players. I would prefer to tool around in the shallow end with those of a broadly comparable mindset and ability. Unfortunately, the current matchmaking system doesn’t seem to be able to accomodate this. Does this mean that I’ll end up abandoning Solo Battle Royale games? No. But I will be more cautious and adjust my expectations accordingly. In the meantime I have found a compromise. CoD WZ has 5 versus 5 Multiplayer games which use very compact maps. These are great levellers, due to the frenetic pace. A poor player armed with an RPG and a SMG that they fire from the hip can do just as well as a good player. This mode doesn’t crush my interest and keeps me engaged. Something the devs could learn from with their wider matchmaking.
The next expansion for the MMORG, The Lord of the Rings Online, was announced on the 1st August, via the gaming website MMORPG.The Wolves of Mordor, which will launch later in the year, appears ambitious in scope as it will include two new game systems as well as the obligatory story update. This expansion takes place in Draugardh located in the North East of Mordor, beyond the Plateau of Gorgoroth. It includes the new zones of Heledhris, Parth Rhavas and Nan Ogol. These vary environmentally ranging from the arid, volcanic and semi-tropical. Players will encounter the Daugrim in these regions, Werewolves but not in the modern sense. This is not the lycanthropy of Eastern European legends but in the established Tolkien idiom of fell spirits inhabiting the bodies of Wolves. The region also sees the return of the Woses and players can expect to encounter Elves and scouts from Gondor. As ever with LOTRO expansions, there will be new instances as well as a raid.
This is a post about the power of nostalgia and how sometimes, interacting with something from your past, be it physically or mentally, can produce a very strong and tangible emotional reaction. In some instances, this can be the result of something that you have specifically set out to do. On other occasions you can wander into a sense of nostalgia purely by chance. Today I experienced a very strong sense of nostalgia while watching a YouTube video and then again when I sought to replicate what I had seen. The video showed someone installing Windows 95 on to an old 486 PC from that era. The Window’s start up sound really touched a nerve (but in a good way) and then when the guy in the video launched Space Cadet 3D Pinball, a game that shipped with the operating system, I felt a strong compulsion to track down a copy and install the game myself, thus revisiting something that was an integral part of my life in 1995.
RV There Yet? is possibly the most entertaining game I’ve never played. My vicarious pleasure regarding this title has come exclusively from watching two popular YouTubers, JackFrags and WillFromWork, play through the game over a series of videos. It has been immensely amusing to watch and I have empathised a great deal as the group of four players has struggled with the game’s unpredictable mechanics and their own team’s dynamic. I could go and buy RV There Yet? myself but I doubt if I would ever have a gaming experience anywhere close to what I’ve watched online recently. So in some respects watching these videos has been an interesting alternative as I’ve been entertained, which ultimately is the point of video games. Perhaps there is a deeper philosophical point here that the game developers should reflect upon, as they’ve lost a potential sale. However, that is separate discussion for another day.
I don’t keep up with gaming news as much as I use to but several noteworthy announcement have come to my attention of late. Firstly, there’s an expansion, Songs of the Past, coming for the Witcher III: Wild Hunt in 2027. No doubt this is to pave the way for the Witcher IV. Next, I also found out about Hand of Fate: Horde. I liked this franchise and was saddened to learn that the original studio, Defiant Development, closed. Hence is was a pleasant surprise to see this new game being developed by members of the original studio. The third announcement was regarding Guild Wars 3. A new MMORPG in active development by a major studio is no small feat and is certainly good news for fans of this franchise and the genre per se. However, once you look beyond this news this announcement raises several questions and has certainly given me pause for thought. Let us take a few moments to consider them.
Star Trek Online has many in-game systems that are common to the MMORPG genre. The reputation system is one such example. In STO there are 13 reputation factions. Once a player has reached level 50 they may start progressing through the 6 reputation tiers of each one. Players gain progression through daily projects (20 hours in duration). Hourly projects are also available though they yield less reputation advancement and are limited to three times a day. Hence 20 hour projects are consider by default the most efficient way to gain rep. Projects require 30 Faction Specific Marks (earned via various activities in-game), 15,000 Energy Credits (standard in-game currency) and 2000 Expertise points. The most efficient way to tackle the reputation grind is to build up the necessary resources in advance and then at a designated time each day, start all 13 respective projects. Upon completion projects yield a player bound lockbox containing a random space or ground weapon, a console or Elite Marks which can be used to acquire faction gear.
I was recently perusing my archive of old blog posts, when it struck me how much I’ve written about the MMORPG genre over the years. Naturally, there was far more material from between 2008 and 2012 as that was period when I immersed myself in the genre and was very enthusiastic about it. I was at a point in my life when I had the time to dedicate to such games and I was happy to participate in the social aspect of they offered. I would regularly play through group content and spend time socialising online with fellow guild members. My experience remains a textbook example of how online games can be more than the sum of their parts and that where you are at in your life has a major impact upon your overall enjoyment. As I read though various old posts it became clear that my experiences where specific to this particular part of my life and that they cannot be repeated. My relationship with the genre is very different now and that’s fine.
Creating alts is an integral aspect of the MMORPG genre. Many players will create a character of a specific class or faction, play it for a while, lose interest in it or they may decide that it is just not for them. Fortunately it is no effort at all to simply re-roll a new alt and set off once again. Furthermore, lots of players never reach level cap of the MMORPG that there playing. When the going get’s tough, so to speak, you can either soldier on for another 50 levels or simply create a new alt and return to the comfort of tried and tested content. Alts also give you the chance to secure an accolade or achievement that you previously missed. They are also of great benefit to the genres social aspects. Creating a new alt so you can play along with a friend who is just starting is great fun. Developer’s love them too as it means you’re still playing the game.
I recently took a break from Crimson Desert choosing instead to to play something familiar and easy going. As I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online daily to participate in the anniversary event, I decided to look through my various alts and see how far they had progressed through the game and what resources they had. At present I have twelve alts. My primary Captain was created in 2015 during the original Delta Recruit Event. I had previously played STO intermittently since its release in January 2010 but I never kept any of those characters. Hence this decade old Tactical Federation Captain has been my main focus when playing. The other eleven alts are the result of other recruitment events or whenever I wanted to try something different, such as playing a specific class or faction. I obviously played a lot of STO during the lockdown as several alts date from that period. Several had maximum reputation across all factions.
The action, open world RPG Crimson Desert has been patched five times since it launched on March 19th and there have also been multiple hotfixes. At first glance this isn’t anything unusual. New games have bugs and issues arise once a game is released and played across a much wider variety of hardware than in QA testing. However, if you read the patch notes that accompany these sizeable downloads it quickly becomes apparent that developer’s Pearl Abyss are not just addressing bugs and software glitches. They are actively engaging with their player base and responding to suggestions and requests from that community. Although this is not a unique approach, what is surprising is the speed and quantity in which these player driven changes are happening. There seems to be an active ongoing process to refine the game and eliminate some of its “rough edges” and the players are contributing to this process with their feedback.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
13 days after its release, market analysts estimate that Crimson Desert has already earned $200 million across the four main platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S). The game is certainly proving popular among gamers with the internet awash with live streams and “let’s play” videos. However, reviews are mixed both among gaming journalists and YouTube influencers. Common complaints about the game include that it is slow to start, the controls are poorly laid out on all platforms and that developer’s Pearl Abyss have done a poor job of explaining most aspects of the game to new players. Although such criticisms are true to a degree, I think these complaints highlight how many gamers are conditioned to expect new titles to follow a specific pattern with regard to pacing, narrative exposition and learning in-game systems. A pattern that Pearl Abyss has chosen to ignore, instead favouring an old school approach.
Early on Crimson Desert, the main quest requires the player to enter a tavern and arm wrestle a particularly strong guard. The arm wrestling match consists of a quick time event. If playing on PC you have to rapidly press the “E” key which turns a power meter from white to red. Then a white dial appears above the meter with a rotating hand. When the hand passes over a segment of the dial that is marked by hatching, the player must press the “R” key. The idea being the meter filling with red is you strength building (or waning) and the “R” key prompt indicates when to try and force your opponent’s arm. You will need to to continuously press the “E” key throughout the arm wrestling match and the “R” key about 4 times to win.
Earlier this week, Nvidia posted a video featuring their latest iteration of DLSS technology (Deep learning super sampling). DLSS 5 is an AI-powered “real-time neural rendering” process and unlike previous versions that focused on improving frame rates through upscaling or frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to “infuse” frames with photorealistic lighting and material details that the game engine never actually calculated. Let us pause for a moment and consider these words. Material detail that the game engine never actually calculated. Therein lies the rub. If you watch the aforementioned video or peruse the images posted here, it is abundantly clear what the technology does.
Last night, I spent the first 45 minutes after the launch of Crimson Desert, watching the 92GB pre-downloaded game files slowly decompressing and installing. I finally launched the game at about 10:50 PM GMT. I then waited a further 5 minutes while shaders were downloaded. It took me about 15 minutes or so to read through the various game settings and choose those that are optimal for my PC. I suspect even if you have a beast of a computer, you’re still going to have to spend some time tweaking settings. As for those players like myself with a gaming rig that is somewhere in the middle of the game’s specifications, be prepared to do a lot of fine tuning both within Crimson Desert itself and your Windows settings.
I have been aware of the online interest around the open world action game Crimson Desert for a while now. One of the things that has intrigued me about it is the scope of the game. The word “hype” has been bandied about by a few gaming websites. However, from what I have observed, developers Pearl Abyss have not been excessively hyperbolic themselves, with regard to the manner in which the game’s systems and mechanics have been marketed. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, the pre-release reviews seem to confirm that everything we’ve seen in promotional videos in the run up to the launch, is in fact present in the game. So far the initial critical response has been very positive and it has been hinted that the game may well be a genre milestone. Perhaps Crimson Desert is just a rare example of a game that has not had a rushed development and isn’t launching prematurely for business reasons.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I decided to pursue a magic and spellcasting build in the RPG Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon after the story prologue. During the opening section of the game, the player is presented with a sufficient range of weapons to determine which type suits them best, although you can change at any time during the game. For me, casting spells feels right and is fun. Plus I have fond memories of the magic system in Two Worlds II and Skyrim. So once I started playing through the first zone, I started putting attribute and skill points into the appropriate trees to bolster my spells strengths and frequency. I also chose gear that would bolster those statistics further. The results have been surprising, as magic and spellcasting is not presented in the usual “glass cannon” style you find in some other RPGs. Here it offers robust DPS output and with the right gear and spell combination, a strong degree of survivability.
I originally bought Warhammer: Dark Omen in the summer of 1998. I played a demo copy via a magazine cover disc, which was a common means of promotion and marketing back then. Although I was at that point, unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, I found this game to be an excellent point of entry. The story did an excellent job of introducing players to “The Old World”, the political and power structure and major characters. I instantly liked both the aesthetic and the lore. Warhammer: Dark Omen was also the first real-time tactical wargame that I played and I spent numerous hours playing through the campaign. Overall, the game was a critical success, particularly on PC, but it struggled commercially upon its initial release and didn’t quite find the audience that it deserved. However, it has achieved status as a “cult classic” among gamers, leading to a recent re-release on GOG in late 2025.
According to the recent “letter to the players”, Standing Stone Games will be adding a new zone to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online in the second quarter of this year. Possibly around May or June. Having spent the last three expansions in the South of Middle-earth exploring the tropical Umbar and the deserts of Harad, I would certainly welcome a change of location. I have gradually warmed to these zones over the last eighteen months but I do find them so incongruous. They are so radically different to the European style content that has been the mainstay of the game for so long. Tolkien’s source text has plenty of detail regarding Eriador and Rhovanion. Information regarding Harad is scarce, hence it has afforded the developers a great deal of artistic freedom. Although exceedingly well realised these tropical zones have taken a while for me to get used to.
I’m not sure exactly when it started but I’ve recently noticed a graphical bug within the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This problem often occurs within caves or in areas where there are a lot of rocky surfaces. Hence it has become very apparent in the latest two expansions, set in Umbar and Harad. This graphical glitch causes some surface textures to appear to flash from light to dark intermittently. The resulting strobe effect is hard to ignore and very distracting. Fortunately, a quick online search showed that this is not a problem unique to my installation of LOTRO and is a known problem. Furthermore, there is a very simple workaround, which is to go into the Advanced Graphics setting and uncheck “Per Pixel Lighting”, which immediately remedies the problem. I have no idea why this has recently started to happen but at least it can be resolved.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. The original TV show was first broadcast in the US on September 8th 1966. If you search online you’ll find details of lots of related events. There are documentaries, conventions, new TV shows and even some video games in development. However, what you won’t find are any details regarding what will be happening with the MMORPG Star Trek Online. So far no road map for 2026 has been posted online by the developers but it is still quite early in the New Year. That being the case, I am not especially optimistic about there being any major plans waiting to be revealed. It is not as if DECA Games have demonstrated or stated any major ambitions for STO beyond keeping the endless events treadmill going and regularly adding content to the in-game store, during their development tenure. The ongoing story arc drags on inexorably and is as dull as ditchwater.
I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in June 2013. This was over 18 months after the game’s initial release and the base game and DLC were bundled together in a “Legendary” edition. Although a seasoned gamer at the time, familiar with the RPG genre with such titles as Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV, I had not played a game from this franchise before. It only took a few hours of gameplay to realise that this was a special title. The scope of the story, the art design and the size of the world were immediately notable. Tamriel was immersive in a way I had not experienced with other titles. Often simply traversing the terrain and watching the dawn break while the game soundtrack swelled, was sufficient to hold my attention. I instantly picked up on the voice acting of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. All of which indicated that this was a gaming landmark.
The latest expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, Kingdoms of Harad, launched on December 3rd. With this release the level cap was raised from 150 to 160. It should also be noted that the cap for virtue traits was also raised from 96 to 100. Naturally these changes meant that there is a requirement to replace all armour and jewellery once the new cap is reached. Similarly Legendary Items have to be reforged and any traceries upgraded or replaced. If you follow the Epic Story it will lead you from quest hub to quest hub. The main quest rewards, along with those from side quests will provide adequate gear as you slowly progress towards the new level cap. The new raids, instances and missions/delvings then provide a means to acquire higher quality level 160 gear. LOTRO and indeed, many other MMOs are consistent in this methodology.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
Today Standing Stone Games began beta testing Update 46.1 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. The current preview on the Bullroarer test server is mainly for the new instance cluster that comes with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion which launched a few weeks ago. However, it would appear that this latest preview has another feature or note. One that should please LOTRO players. Contrary to what a lot of people thought, myself included, SSG have been working on a scaling UI for 2K and 4K monitors and the results are now available for testing from today Monday 15th through to Friday 19th December. Until now the main workaround to the lack of UI scaling has been to use either Nvidia or AMD graphics software to upscale the game from 1920 x 1080, or a third party app such as LosslessScaling. Having an official solution is a far better option.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
In the wake of Disco Elysium, I’ve been playing through several other games that have a focus on narrative and plot. I began with Call of Cthulhu which I shall write about in a separate post. Let it suffice to say that although I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t quite satisfied. This is not necessarily the game’s fault, as it makes a good attempt at depicting Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. It’s just that any game following hard on the heels of one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played, is likely to come up short in comparison. So I looked through my game library and found that I had Still Wakes The Deep, which enjoys a good reputation for having a strong story. I subsequently played through the game over two late night sessions and was left suitably impressed. So much so that I’ve bought the additional DLC, Siren’s Rest, in the hope that it maintains the quality of its predecessor.
A Month in Gaming
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
I have been curious about the Battle Royale genre for a while, since the explosive growth first of Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and then Fortnite. I’ve read a lot about the success of both these games and the way that, despite offering essentially the same experience, they have pursued different audiences and markets. I have often considered trying either one of them but the demographics of their respective playerbase has put me off. The arrival of Call of Duty Warzone subsequently provided a tipping point, as I have prior experience of the franchise and the game offers a Battle Royale experience in a format that is acceptable to me. I’ve written elsewhere about the game and my attempts to improve my gameplay performance but to summarise here, it has been a positive experience to try something new. Although there is a strong element of twitch gaming in Call of Duty Warzone, it is not the only defining factor. There is much that a player can do to succeed in the game and progress through the ranking system.
As a result of trying something new, I have temporarily sidelined The Lord of the Rings Online. I was surprised how quickly Update 26 (now called Mists of Wilderland) was released so soon after being previewed on the test server. And as a result the new zone launched with a lot of bugs. I don’t especially like questing in new areas when they’re swarming with players and find forming an orderly queue to kill a specific mob somewhat immersion breaking (and annoying). So I’ll return to LOTRO in a month or two when the area is a little quieter. My other MMO of choice, Star Trek Online, has been pulling out all the stops to keep players engaged and to entice those who have moved on to return. At present, I’m just logging in once a day to do a featured Task Force Operation. This earns a token that can be handed in for either a C-Store ship or for a stash of Lobi Crystals (which can be bartered for fancy gear, crew or yet more ships).
I briefly dusted off Sniper Elite 4 but my overfamiliarity with the maps soon put pay to that. I am really looking forward to the fifth iteration of the game as it really is such a different experience to the hectic pace of other game genres. As for May, I think I keep playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare. I’m still working my way through the campaign, playing multiplayer against bots as a means to practice my aiming and familiarise myself with the maps. And despite only being a distinctly average player, I am having a lot of fun in Warzone. My only complaint is that I play Solo Battle Royale and would like at some point to play as part of a four man squad. But I don’t know anyone else who plays the game and I am reluctant to join a PUG. However, with an excess of time on my hands, even that may change. No doubt next month’s post will highlight yet further changes in my gaming habits, as this seems to be a theme at present.
Here we are again with another summary of my gaming activities in recent months. Or in this case since last September. It’s been a while but I’ve been on a blogging hiatus until recently. However, I’ve kept myself busy gaming wise and often I find the hunt for news video games, just as entertaining as I do playing them. Perhaps that could be a future blog post. Back to the matter in hand. Gaming wise, pretty much all things related to the MMORPG genre are currently on the back burner. I’ll give specifics later but I am taking a break from these for the present. I am currently looking at trying games outside my usual comfort zone and also trying to test whether you can or cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, the answer appears to be yes you can. Enough summation, on to the specifics.
I last wrote a post in this series in June. Back then I wanted a break from MMOs as I had invested heavily in Star wars: the Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Because I was still enjoying the Star Wars vibe, I decided to try Jedi: Fallen Order. Sadly, despite the story showing a lot of promise, the PC version of the game handles poorly and the controls are sluggish. Often it felt like my character was wading through mud and there was a tangible amount of skills lag. So I uninstalled it and moved on to something else. One of the odd things about gaming is that despite amassing a library of free and discounted titles, we often end up buying something new, instead of playing that which we already own. And that is exactly what I did. I purchased Stray amid all the excitement surrounding the game, but to date I still haven’t played it. Make of that what you will.
Usually I keep subscribing to an MMORPG, even if I’m not playing it that much. I like to have options in case I decide to log in on a whim. Especially if an absent friend returns to a particular game presenting an opportunity to catch up. However, the current economic climate is no longer something that I can ignore. Although far from having a low income, the current ongoing increase in the cost of living is becoming apparent, so I have been fiscally prudent and cancelled my monthly subscriptions to Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Lord of the Rings Online. Both have provided me with a lot of entertainment over the last three to four months but until new content becomes available, I can happily dispense with them for the meantime. Not only have I saved £17.98 on subscriptions, I shall no longer be making ad hoc purchases of in-game currencies. Something I have been doing a lot more than usual of late.
I have confined my gaming to three MMORPGs in recent months and have not strayed into anything new. Time has been an issue due to a great deal of change in my domestic life. Hence The Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Trek Online have proven suitable for my needs. Being able to log into a game and commence an activity without any complicated preamble is convenient and currently suits my schedule down to the ground. I will be buying Sniper Elite 5 at the end of the month as this is a franchise that has always proven entertaining and engaging. While recently perusing the various game launchers I have installed, I took the opportunity to remove several games that I’m no longer playing or that have proven to be a “five minute wonder”. Hence I said goodbye to GreedFall, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Days Gone. Their removal is no reflection upon their quality.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an instalment of A Month in Gaming. Over Christmas and New Year I was busy with family issues and it’s only in January that I’ve started anything approaching a regular gaming schedule. The novelty of Forza Horizon 5 has run its course and I’ve grown tired of the game’s upbeat tone and neverending activities that litter the in-game map. It’s nice that the game tries hard to engage with you but it reaches a point where you never get a time to stop, think and take stock. I couldn’t find anything else included in the Xbox Game Pass which especially excited me. There were a few titles that did take my fancy but I then discovered that I already own them elsewhere via Steam or Epic Games. So I decided to cancel my subscription. I still think that the Xbox Game Pass for PC is very good value and my failure to find anything that I like is my problem and not Microsoft’s fault.
September has been and gone and the nights are now drawing in. Usually this time of year is ideal for gaming but sadly I’ve had a lot on over the last 30 days and as a result there’s been precious little time for gaming or indeed writing. Such is life. When I did have some leisure time, MMOs were the easiest way to get a quick gaming fix, as per usual. Standing Stone Games announced that the next expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online would be released in November and that a revision of the Legendary Item system would be coming prior to that. Hence I took a look at the beta builds on the Bullroarer test server and then started prepping my various alts on the live servers, to get ready for this major change. I also managed to complete the latest event in Star Trek Online. However, beyond these straightforward tasks I didn’t really get to do much more.
Again this is more a case of two months in gaming. Furthermore although I was quite active in July, I was less so in August as the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event consumed the lion share of my leisure time. The majority of my gaming time is usually mid to late evening. Although Mrs P and I do many activities together, there are times when she will want to watch something I don’t, be engrossed in a book or out with friends. These occasions present sizable windows of time to focus upon a video game, which is especially useful for the MMORPG and RPG genres. However, I often have to choose whether to use this time exclusively for gaming or some other recreational activities such as writing. Another foible of my video game time management is trying to arrange things so I can undertake recurring, daily quests in a game early in the morning. I will often tackle such content in Star Trek Online, as soon as I get up.
The last installment of A Month in Gaming was at the end of April. I have decided to update this recurring post less often to ensure that I have more to write about than just cataloguing my generic activities in The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. The only downside of such an approach is that it invalidates the title but that can’t be helped. Fortunately, I have done more than usual over the last two months. My daily schedule has changed temporarily and I now have a little more leisure time available. Hence I’ve dabbled with several new games as well as using my Nintendo Switch more often. I also took part in a “tag team” playthrough of XCOM 2, which was a very interesting experience. And I finally took the time to go through all my games libraries on the various different platforms to catalogue exactly what I have. I found a few hidden gems but the majority is just “filler” that you find in most video game bundles.
I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.
Here we are again. Yet another month has gone by and I find myself writing another instalment of “a month in gaming”. And to be honest, I have very little to say in this particular roundup of my gaming activities. I played Star Trek Online throughout February and created a new Klingon character to take advantage of the ongoing Klingon recruitment event. I have managed to upgrade a Tier 5 D7 and kit it out in such a way that it is fairly robust. And I also created a new Jem’Hadar alt, as they start at level 60 and you are provided with a fully equipped vessel and crew. Nothing fancy but it allows you to get into the endgame content a lot quicker. I may write a more detailed blog post about this at some point. I also played a lot more Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout as my granddaughters came to stay for a week. I have already expressed my thoughts about the mechanics of that game in a prior post.
I last wrote A Month in Gaming post in December. Quite a lot has changed over the last two months. I have abandoned Cyberpunk 2077 as it has totally failed to hold my interest. I just couldn’t get on with the first person perspective. I also stopped playing Neverwinter, despite the game having many appealing elements. Sometimes, when you start an MMORPG that has been running for years, you feel so “behind the curve” that the prospect of catching up with everyone at the endgame is too daunting. And because the Call of Duty franchise has a yearly lifecycle, a new iteration of the game was released in November. Black Ops Cold War subsequently replaced the reboot of Modern Warfare and a lot of the new games content subsequently bled through in the free Battle Royale version. I’d been playing Warzone since last April and it was beginning to get a little stale. So I didn’t buy the latest Battle Pass and decided to move on. And then there’s The Lord of the Rings Online. Let it suffice to say I have completed as much of the latest “mini expansion” as I require and the game is now “on hold”.
November proved to be a very productive month, gaming wise. I had to self isolate for 14 days, due to coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Hence I had far more leisure time than usual. For a second month I applied myself to progressing through the new “mini expansion” in The Lord of the Rings Online. The new zone is a two phase map. The first is Elderslade, a mountainous region to the North of the Wells of Langflood. This area contains mainly story quests. The second phase, called War of Three Peaks, is the same zone but during a period of open war between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Quests here are mainly repeatable slayer and achievement quests. I did not discover this until I had completed the first round, so to speak, only to be offered exactly the same quests again by an NPC. As I had reached maximum rank in reputation for this new faction and there were no rewards of any note for me to spend my barter currency upon, I simply stopped playing through this content.
The last 31 days have gone by really fast, or at least that’s the way it feels. Despite having bought several new games recently and acquired yet more for free from the Epic Store, I did not embark on anything new throughout October. Due to the unexpectedly prompt release of the new “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of a new event in Star Trek Online, I found myself focused upon the MMORPG genre, yet again. And after playing continuously for six months, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has finally begun to lose its lustre. I didn’t especially enjoy the Halloween event, not that there was anything inherently wrong with it. It just wasn’t for me. I played a little Fall Guy: Ultimate Knockout but quickly discovered that the “season” system is just another gear treadmill, although the gear in this instance are novelty cosmetic outfits. I don’t want to be tied to too many games in this fashion (it’s bad enough with MMOs), so this is another title that has been relegated to occasional play when the fancy takes me.
September has been a difficult month. A family crisis and subsequent bereavement meant that gaming got pushed down the daily agenda. However, after the various chores and duties were done I did need some downtime and means to relax. Hence I did play some games in a limited fashion. Nothing fancy, just stuff like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Gang Beasts, which are light-hearted and undemanding. I also took the time to log on to The Lord of the Rings Online test server and check out the preview of the forthcoming “mini-expansion”. Not only was this informative but it provided material for a blog post. But overall I didn’t really achieve anything substantial with my gaming throughout September. Gaming was relegated to being just a convenient diversion from the immediate problems I’ve been facing but as such, it did fulfil that role well.
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
As I mentioned in the last instalment of “A Month in Gaming”, I was toying with the idea of buying Ghost Recon Breakpoint. However, I have decided against that. Yes the game may well be a third person, co-operative shooter but ultimately it’s yet more explosions and military hardware fetishism, which isn’t anything new. I have more than enough of that at present with Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. I also don’t feel disposed towards giving Ubisoft any of my money at the moment, until they get their house in order. I am so tired of continuously reading about how shitty the video game industry is to work in. It’s difficult to protest in a meaningful way but I guess for the present not buying a product is as good a way as any. So rather than purchasing any further games, I decided in July to play at least one of the many titles I’ve got in my existing library.
I stopped subscribing to The Lord of the Rings Online in June. I’ve always had a very cyclical relationship with this MMO and at present I feel I need a break from the games somewhat linear formula. Plus the new content scheduled for release centred around the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen doesn’t exactly sound enthralling. So I’ve left my primary character in Langflood and will return to the game later in the year when I feel the need to catch up with content. I have also abandoned the ongoing events in Star Trek Online as they’re getting too repetitive. I would like to see a new longterm story arc rather than just a continuous cycle of short term events and repeatable content. I don’t mind working towards a goal but it has to be something I want and the rewards offered in this MMO are getting a little too generic for my liking. I shall return to the game at some point as I’m a lifetime account holder and I’m curious to see how developer’s Cryptic overhauls the Klingon story arc.
I see by the financial data that is currently available and being pawed over by industry pundits, that April was a very good month for the video games publishers. Quelle surprise. Who would have thought it? The increase in leisure time has certainly meant that even I have had a greater opportunity than usual to invest in playing video games. And as I predominantly play the MMORPG genre that has proven to be a boon. Or at least it was initially. After two month plus that is fast becoming a bane. MMOs are great when you have new content to play through, stories to discover, goals to achieve and systems and items to advance. But once you’ve done all these things and find yourself doing dailies just out of obligation and a way to kill time, then it may well be time to move on to something else.
April has been an usual month. The ongoing lockdown here in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) has afforded me more gaming time than usual. The policy of social distancing has reduced my caring duties to just three hours a day. Hence I and many others like me have much more leisure time available. I initially thought that this situation would be the perfect time to try some of the many of the games that I have stockpiled over the years. However, despite trawling through many titles, I still failed to find anything that immediately took my fancy. So I decided to take stock of my overall gaming activities and whether it was time to revise them and try something new. And by new I don’t just mean just buying a new game but taking a step out of my current comfort zone into a genre I don’t usually play. So that’s exactly what I did and the results have been very interesting.
The problem I find with monthly gaming articles is that they tend to cover ground that I’ve already written about over the last 4 weeks in other blog posts, only in less detail. So here is the brief version of my gaming activities throughout February. I played through the entirety of the Star Trek Online 10th Anniversary event and received the new hybrid Tier 6 ship. I enjoyed the new 2 part feature episode and have managed to maintain a schedule of doing “odds and sods” to keep myself busy. STO is currently my primary game. I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online, as soon as I start questing in Minas Morgul itself. It is simply too uninspiring and grindy an area. So I’ve focused on completing deeds for virtue experience and daily repeatable quests for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Due to constraints upon my schedule, I decided to temporarily stop my subscription to ESO Plus, as I simply do not have the time to invest in The Elder Scrolls Online at present. ESO is a good game and deserves attention when played. Committing to multiple MMOs at once is always a mistake.
So much for the New Year. January has now been and gone and 2020 just seems to be barrelling along. As ever, due to my real world commitments, I’ve been pushed for time over the last thirty one days. Therefore, most of my gaming has been targeted “binge” sessions conducted late at night. However, I do find playing through episodic content over several hours to be a very productive means of making progress in MMOs. So overall January has been an enjoyable experience, game wise. Due to my circumstances, I have deferred starting any new single player games and have focused primarily on two titles; The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. Sadly, The Elder Scrolls Online has been relegated to being played just once a week, usually on a Wednesday night when I meet up online with friends. My exploration of Vvardenfell will have to wait until later in the year, as I cannot sustain three MMOs to any great degree.
October has been and gone. And as ever the MMORPG genre has been the mainstay of my gaming activities over the last thirty days. Furthermore, it has been a productive month. I managed to complete the Daggerfall Covenant narrative arc, along with the main story on my Dragonknight in The Elder Scrolls Online. I find that completing Coldharbour is the biggest obstacle in progressing. It’s an atmospheric zone but once you’ve experienced it, it doesn’t really lend itself to repeat playing. But having done all this my Dragonknight hit level cap. I had taken the precaution of buying appropriate gear ahead of this achievement, so I managed to acquire some decent armour and jewellery that provide robust set bonuses. Despite focusing mainly on ESO, I did manage to progress further in The Lord of the Rings Online. I got as far as the Wolf Denes in the Vales of Anduin update. I also took the time to visit the LOTRO test server and checked out the Minas Morgul expansion preview. As for Star Trek Online my daily visits have been focused upon completing Task Force Operations and grinding for a free ship (again).
September saw The Elder Scrolls Online becoming my primary gaming focus. No real surprises there as I’ve been having so much fun of late with this MMORPG. I managed to get my Argonian Necromancer to level cap and then had the fun task of trying to equip them suitably. I don’t quite know why this aspect of gaming appeals to me so much but I just get a real kick out of trawling around looking for appropriate gear. I tend to enjoy it in all the MMOs I play. There’s just something inherently satisfying about equipping a new piece of armour or jewellery and seeing your stats noticeably increase. This process is even more enjoyable in ESO as there isn’t any server wide auction house, so you have to travel around from region to region, individually checking each guild trader you find. It really is virtual shopping. Once I managed to find the right gear for this character, I promptly created a new Imperial Dragon Knight and started playing through the Daggerfall Covenant storyline as it the one faction I haven’t yet completed. Oh and in ESO cosmetic pet news, the ghost chicken (official name Spectral Chicken) is outstanding.
Last month panned out pretty much as I expected. Blaugust and writing daily blog posts took up a fair amount of my leisure time. And then I lost a few days due real-life social activities. What gaming time I had was focused mainly on The Elder Scrolls Online. I’m sorry to say that I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online. My level 113 Guardian remains at the Black Gates and for the present I simply do not feel disposed towards working my way through Mordor again, which I did just a year ago on my primary character. I have undertaken a few quests with my level cap Lore-master and will endeavour in the weeks ahead to at least complete the Vales of Anduin region. LOTRO at present doesn’t have much of a hold on me, although I may well become more enthusiastic once the next expansion is formerly announced.
Contrary to my last A Month in Gaming post, I did actually end up buying a discount copy of Elsweyr and returning to The Elder Scrolls Online. And I’m rather glad that I did, because it has provided a welcome change of scene and an opportunity to do something different. However, you can’t just fire up ESO and dive right in. No sir. The first thing you have to do is update all your addons and if your starting a new alt (which I decided to do), ensure that your key mappings and custom settings are ported over. This process was a pain in the butt; however it did inspire a couple of blog posts. Creating a new alt is the perfect way to reacquaint yourself with ESO after a lengthy absence. In my case it has been 12 months. I decided to try the new Necromancer class and so far, it has proven to be both fun and rewarding. Rather than try to do a thousand things at once, I just started the Elsweyr main story and doggedly pursued it. The narrative is enjoyable and it was fun to see Cadwell as part of the plot focus. For practical reasons I’ve re-subscribed to ESO plus to unlock various DLC and I intend to continue playing for the next month or so.
This post should have been published two weeks ago but as ever, real life just keeps getting in the way. As expected, June proved to be a busy month, however, I managed to organise my leisure time pretty well, affording me an opportunity to not only play my two current MMOs but also experiment with some other games. At present my caring commitment keep me busy from about 10:30 AM to about 5:00 PM. I tend to get up round about 7:00 AM so if I promptly have a shower, dress and eat, I can usually create a two-hour window in the morning to either tackle admin and paperwork or undertake dailies in games such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Star Trek Online. I can also find several hours in the evening as Mrs Peril tends to go to bed earlier than I. Therefore practical time management has proven beneficial over the last four weeks.
As I suspected in my last post, my gaming activities were somewhat curtailed throughout May due to both my parents being ill. However, the time I did manage to spend in-game was both therapeutic and relaxing. For me, I’ve never really seen gaming as escapism, although I appreciate it certainly is for others. One of the aspects it offers, along with a degree of challenge and entertainment, is a release from stress and the pressures of one’s daily life. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed Sniper Elite V2 Remastered so much, because not only is it a thoroughly absorbing game, it also provides a sense of catharsis. I’ve already written about the game in some detail, along with my thoughts about the ongoing “remaster versus remake” debate. However, I would add that I enjoyed it so much I re-installed the sequel, Sniper Elite III, which I haven’t played since it’s release in 2014. This also proved to be an enjoyable undertaking, again for the self-same reasons.
So what have I been up to in April gaming wise? Oh, yes there was this. Mounted combat for the Guardian class is awful. There. I said it. As I’m not a LOTRO “altoholic” my only previous experience with mounted combat was with my Lore-master. Most of their skills are ranged which makes the fights less tedious and time consuming. And you get a combat pet which helps the proceeding slightly, but overall, it’s not that much fun. However fighting via your war steed with a Guardian is a ponderous grind. You have to be in close proximity to your foe to hit them and half the time they are running around you, conspicuously out of range. Sure there’s a skill that brings them next to you for a short period of time but as a level 85 Guardian’s DPS output is distinctly average at this point in the levelling curve, it’s a long, arduous slog to kill anything. My solution has been to summon my skirmish soldier who is an Archer and to use them in conjunction with my own bow to shoot down mounted foes while on foot. This still takes time but is quicker than doing it from horse back.
Play Your Own Way
This post comes with caveats. In a perfect world, common sense would prevail and I wouldn’t have to list them. But we live in an age where some people take great pleasure in being professional contrarians and deliberately obtuse. So let me state clearly and unequivocally, I am not advocating that your gaming pleasure should come at the expense of someone else's. If you sign up for a 12 man raid and have a specific role to play, then do so to the best of your ability. Fooling around has consequences in such a scenario. However, that is not what is being discussed here. Nope. What I am suggesting is that you should take your pleasures, where you can find them. And if they have no tangible impact upon other players, then you are totally entitled to play your game of choice in a manner that suits you. It’s a simple axiom, yet it still proves to be very difficult for some gamers to comprehend and more importantly accept. Allow me to explain by means of an example.
This post comes with caveats. In a perfect world, common sense would prevail and I wouldn’t have to list them. But we live in an age where some people take great pleasure in being professional contrarians and deliberately obtuse. So let me state clearly and unequivocally, I am not advocating that your gaming pleasure should come at the expense of someone else's. If you sign up for a 12 man raid and have a specific role to play, then do so to the best of your ability. Fooling around has consequences in such a scenario. However, that is not what is being discussed here. Nope. What I am suggesting is that you should take your pleasures, where you can find them. And if they have no tangible impact upon other players, then you are totally entitled to play your game of choice in a manner that suits you. It’s a simple axiom, yet it still proves to be very difficult for some gamers to comprehend and more importantly accept. Allow me to explain by means of an example.
I was playing Call of Duty Warzone a few nights ago. I like to play Solo Battle Royale mode, which consists of 150 players parachuting into the warzone in a free-for-all fight. Now not being the world’s best “runner and gunner”, I try various different tactics to keep me engaged and occupied when playing this game. On the occasion in question, I decided to grab one of the helicopters you find dotted around the map and took to the skies above Verdansk. Now this doesn’t come without risk, as you can take fire from players equipped with LMGs and surface to air missiles. If you alight upon a rooftop, you are at further risk as there’s full access to these areas via stairwells. Players can also call in airstrikes and artillery bombardments. So if you decide to fly a helicopter as a means of avoiding the firefights happening at ground level, you have to keep moving and keep an eye on the contracting “safe zone”. Well to cut a long story short, this is what I did. I managed to stay aloft and get into the last three players, however I eventually succumbed to the gas and crashed.
Now for me, this was just an amusing experiment and diversion. It’s not something I intend to do continuously but I’ll certainly try it again with another type of vehicle. It’s a means for me to keep engaged with the game. However, it has come to my attention that “this sort of behaviour” is an anathema to some CoD WZ players. And you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out who. Every game has their own version of the “Fun Police” but it seems to be especially more endemic to PVP genres. There’s a certain type of player that considers their own approach to the game to be the only relevant position and doesn’t care for any form of dissent on the issue. They’re self appointed arbiters of what is and isn’t (in their opinion) the correct way to play. It’s an utterly intellectually bankrupt position but we sadly live in an age of such dogmatic tribalism. And it was some of this brigade who were most displeased with my shenanigans as they felt it wasn’t in the spirit of the game.
It will come as no surprise to you that these baseless complaints fell on deaf ears. My activities incommoded no one and as there is no universally accepted game code, such complaints are irrelevant. If you want to ensure that everyone you play with cleaves to the same ideology as you, I would advise not joining public groups but instead creating private games. All of which can be done easily in CoD WZ. But such people would much rather have something to complain about and see every minor social interaction in life as some part of a wider ongoing culture war. The best way to counter such entrenched stupidity is to mock it. Therefore, I strongly advocate and extol the mantra of “play your own way”. You are not beholden to slavishly follow someone else’s interpretation of the rules. Do what brings you pleasure and fun. If you want to collect all the shinies, then you do that. Roleplay a Bolivian, amputee, bee keeper if you see fit. Only play a specific zone in an MMO if that’s your jam. Dress up alts, eschew levelling, ignore the prevailing game meta if you like. You are free to do what you want, how you want within the terms of service. Angry arguments to the contrary are just white noise from the socially dysfunctional. Bollocks to them.
The next expansion for the MMORG, The Lord of the Rings Online, was announced on the 1st August, via the gaming website MMORPG.The Wolves of Mordor, which will launch later in the year, appears ambitious in scope as it will include two new game systems as well as the obligatory story update. This expansion takes place in Draugardh located in the North East of Mordor, beyond the Plateau of Gorgoroth. It includes the new zones of Heledhris, Parth Rhavas and Nan Ogol. These vary environmentally ranging from the arid, volcanic and semi-tropical. Players will encounter the Daugrim in these regions, Werewolves but not in the modern sense. This is not the lycanthropy of Eastern European legends but in the established Tolkien idiom of fell spirits inhabiting the bodies of Wolves. The region also sees the return of the Woses and players can expect to encounter Elves and scouts from Gondor. As ever with LOTRO expansions, there will be new instances as well as a raid.
This is a post about the power of nostalgia and how sometimes, interacting with something from your past, be it physically or mentally, can produce a very strong and tangible emotional reaction. In some instances, this can be the result of something that you have specifically set out to do. On other occasions you can wander into a sense of nostalgia purely by chance. Today I experienced a very strong sense of nostalgia while watching a YouTube video and then again when I sought to replicate what I had seen. The video showed someone installing Windows 95 on to an old 486 PC from that era. The Window’s start up sound really touched a nerve (but in a good way) and then when the guy in the video launched Space Cadet 3D Pinball, a game that shipped with the operating system, I felt a strong compulsion to track down a copy and install the game myself, thus revisiting something that was an integral part of my life in 1995.
RV There Yet? is possibly the most entertaining game I’ve never played. My vicarious pleasure regarding this title has come exclusively from watching two popular YouTubers, JackFrags and WillFromWork, play through the game over a series of videos. It has been immensely amusing to watch and I have empathised a great deal as the group of four players has struggled with the game’s unpredictable mechanics and their own team’s dynamic. I could go and buy RV There Yet? myself but I doubt if I would ever have a gaming experience anywhere close to what I’ve watched online recently. So in some respects watching these videos has been an interesting alternative as I’ve been entertained, which ultimately is the point of video games. Perhaps there is a deeper philosophical point here that the game developers should reflect upon, as they’ve lost a potential sale. However, that is separate discussion for another day.
I don’t keep up with gaming news as much as I use to but several noteworthy announcement have come to my attention of late. Firstly, there’s an expansion, Songs of the Past, coming for the Witcher III: Wild Hunt in 2027. No doubt this is to pave the way for the Witcher IV. Next, I also found out about Hand of Fate: Horde. I liked this franchise and was saddened to learn that the original studio, Defiant Development, closed. Hence is was a pleasant surprise to see this new game being developed by members of the original studio. The third announcement was regarding Guild Wars 3. A new MMORPG in active development by a major studio is no small feat and is certainly good news for fans of this franchise and the genre per se. However, once you look beyond this news this announcement raises several questions and has certainly given me pause for thought. Let us take a few moments to consider them.
Star Trek Online has many in-game systems that are common to the MMORPG genre. The reputation system is one such example. In STO there are 13 reputation factions. Once a player has reached level 50 they may start progressing through the 6 reputation tiers of each one. Players gain progression through daily projects (20 hours in duration). Hourly projects are also available though they yield less reputation advancement and are limited to three times a day. Hence 20 hour projects are consider by default the most efficient way to gain rep. Projects require 30 Faction Specific Marks (earned via various activities in-game), 15,000 Energy Credits (standard in-game currency) and 2000 Expertise points. The most efficient way to tackle the reputation grind is to build up the necessary resources in advance and then at a designated time each day, start all 13 respective projects. Upon completion projects yield a player bound lockbox containing a random space or ground weapon, a console or Elite Marks which can be used to acquire faction gear.
I was recently perusing my archive of old blog posts, when it struck me how much I’ve written about the MMORPG genre over the years. Naturally, there was far more material from between 2008 and 2012 as that was period when I immersed myself in the genre and was very enthusiastic about it. I was at a point in my life when I had the time to dedicate to such games and I was happy to participate in the social aspect of they offered. I would regularly play through group content and spend time socialising online with fellow guild members. My experience remains a textbook example of how online games can be more than the sum of their parts and that where you are at in your life has a major impact upon your overall enjoyment. As I read though various old posts it became clear that my experiences where specific to this particular part of my life and that they cannot be repeated. My relationship with the genre is very different now and that’s fine.
Creating alts is an integral aspect of the MMORPG genre. Many players will create a character of a specific class or faction, play it for a while, lose interest in it or they may decide that it is just not for them. Fortunately it is no effort at all to simply re-roll a new alt and set off once again. Furthermore, lots of players never reach level cap of the MMORPG that there playing. When the going get’s tough, so to speak, you can either soldier on for another 50 levels or simply create a new alt and return to the comfort of tried and tested content. Alts also give you the chance to secure an accolade or achievement that you previously missed. They are also of great benefit to the genres social aspects. Creating a new alt so you can play along with a friend who is just starting is great fun. Developer’s love them too as it means you’re still playing the game.
I recently took a break from Crimson Desert choosing instead to to play something familiar and easy going. As I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online daily to participate in the anniversary event, I decided to look through my various alts and see how far they had progressed through the game and what resources they had. At present I have twelve alts. My primary Captain was created in 2015 during the original Delta Recruit Event. I had previously played STO intermittently since its release in January 2010 but I never kept any of those characters. Hence this decade old Tactical Federation Captain has been my main focus when playing. The other eleven alts are the result of other recruitment events or whenever I wanted to try something different, such as playing a specific class or faction. I obviously played a lot of STO during the lockdown as several alts date from that period. Several had maximum reputation across all factions.
The action, open world RPG Crimson Desert has been patched five times since it launched on March 19th and there have also been multiple hotfixes. At first glance this isn’t anything unusual. New games have bugs and issues arise once a game is released and played across a much wider variety of hardware than in QA testing. However, if you read the patch notes that accompany these sizeable downloads it quickly becomes apparent that developer’s Pearl Abyss are not just addressing bugs and software glitches. They are actively engaging with their player base and responding to suggestions and requests from that community. Although this is not a unique approach, what is surprising is the speed and quantity in which these player driven changes are happening. There seems to be an active ongoing process to refine the game and eliminate some of its “rough edges” and the players are contributing to this process with their feedback.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
13 days after its release, market analysts estimate that Crimson Desert has already earned $200 million across the four main platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S). The game is certainly proving popular among gamers with the internet awash with live streams and “let’s play” videos. However, reviews are mixed both among gaming journalists and YouTube influencers. Common complaints about the game include that it is slow to start, the controls are poorly laid out on all platforms and that developer’s Pearl Abyss have done a poor job of explaining most aspects of the game to new players. Although such criticisms are true to a degree, I think these complaints highlight how many gamers are conditioned to expect new titles to follow a specific pattern with regard to pacing, narrative exposition and learning in-game systems. A pattern that Pearl Abyss has chosen to ignore, instead favouring an old school approach.
Early on Crimson Desert, the main quest requires the player to enter a tavern and arm wrestle a particularly strong guard. The arm wrestling match consists of a quick time event. If playing on PC you have to rapidly press the “E” key which turns a power meter from white to red. Then a white dial appears above the meter with a rotating hand. When the hand passes over a segment of the dial that is marked by hatching, the player must press the “R” key. The idea being the meter filling with red is you strength building (or waning) and the “R” key prompt indicates when to try and force your opponent’s arm. You will need to to continuously press the “E” key throughout the arm wrestling match and the “R” key about 4 times to win.
Earlier this week, Nvidia posted a video featuring their latest iteration of DLSS technology (Deep learning super sampling). DLSS 5 is an AI-powered “real-time neural rendering” process and unlike previous versions that focused on improving frame rates through upscaling or frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to “infuse” frames with photorealistic lighting and material details that the game engine never actually calculated. Let us pause for a moment and consider these words. Material detail that the game engine never actually calculated. Therein lies the rub. If you watch the aforementioned video or peruse the images posted here, it is abundantly clear what the technology does.
Last night, I spent the first 45 minutes after the launch of Crimson Desert, watching the 92GB pre-downloaded game files slowly decompressing and installing. I finally launched the game at about 10:50 PM GMT. I then waited a further 5 minutes while shaders were downloaded. It took me about 15 minutes or so to read through the various game settings and choose those that are optimal for my PC. I suspect even if you have a beast of a computer, you’re still going to have to spend some time tweaking settings. As for those players like myself with a gaming rig that is somewhere in the middle of the game’s specifications, be prepared to do a lot of fine tuning both within Crimson Desert itself and your Windows settings.
I have been aware of the online interest around the open world action game Crimson Desert for a while now. One of the things that has intrigued me about it is the scope of the game. The word “hype” has been bandied about by a few gaming websites. However, from what I have observed, developers Pearl Abyss have not been excessively hyperbolic themselves, with regard to the manner in which the game’s systems and mechanics have been marketed. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, the pre-release reviews seem to confirm that everything we’ve seen in promotional videos in the run up to the launch, is in fact present in the game. So far the initial critical response has been very positive and it has been hinted that the game may well be a genre milestone. Perhaps Crimson Desert is just a rare example of a game that has not had a rushed development and isn’t launching prematurely for business reasons.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I decided to pursue a magic and spellcasting build in the RPG Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon after the story prologue. During the opening section of the game, the player is presented with a sufficient range of weapons to determine which type suits them best, although you can change at any time during the game. For me, casting spells feels right and is fun. Plus I have fond memories of the magic system in Two Worlds II and Skyrim. So once I started playing through the first zone, I started putting attribute and skill points into the appropriate trees to bolster my spells strengths and frequency. I also chose gear that would bolster those statistics further. The results have been surprising, as magic and spellcasting is not presented in the usual “glass cannon” style you find in some other RPGs. Here it offers robust DPS output and with the right gear and spell combination, a strong degree of survivability.
I originally bought Warhammer: Dark Omen in the summer of 1998. I played a demo copy via a magazine cover disc, which was a common means of promotion and marketing back then. Although I was at that point, unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, I found this game to be an excellent point of entry. The story did an excellent job of introducing players to “The Old World”, the political and power structure and major characters. I instantly liked both the aesthetic and the lore. Warhammer: Dark Omen was also the first real-time tactical wargame that I played and I spent numerous hours playing through the campaign. Overall, the game was a critical success, particularly on PC, but it struggled commercially upon its initial release and didn’t quite find the audience that it deserved. However, it has achieved status as a “cult classic” among gamers, leading to a recent re-release on GOG in late 2025.
According to the recent “letter to the players”, Standing Stone Games will be adding a new zone to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online in the second quarter of this year. Possibly around May or June. Having spent the last three expansions in the South of Middle-earth exploring the tropical Umbar and the deserts of Harad, I would certainly welcome a change of location. I have gradually warmed to these zones over the last eighteen months but I do find them so incongruous. They are so radically different to the European style content that has been the mainstay of the game for so long. Tolkien’s source text has plenty of detail regarding Eriador and Rhovanion. Information regarding Harad is scarce, hence it has afforded the developers a great deal of artistic freedom. Although exceedingly well realised these tropical zones have taken a while for me to get used to.
I’m not sure exactly when it started but I’ve recently noticed a graphical bug within the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This problem often occurs within caves or in areas where there are a lot of rocky surfaces. Hence it has become very apparent in the latest two expansions, set in Umbar and Harad. This graphical glitch causes some surface textures to appear to flash from light to dark intermittently. The resulting strobe effect is hard to ignore and very distracting. Fortunately, a quick online search showed that this is not a problem unique to my installation of LOTRO and is a known problem. Furthermore, there is a very simple workaround, which is to go into the Advanced Graphics setting and uncheck “Per Pixel Lighting”, which immediately remedies the problem. I have no idea why this has recently started to happen but at least it can be resolved.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. The original TV show was first broadcast in the US on September 8th 1966. If you search online you’ll find details of lots of related events. There are documentaries, conventions, new TV shows and even some video games in development. However, what you won’t find are any details regarding what will be happening with the MMORPG Star Trek Online. So far no road map for 2026 has been posted online by the developers but it is still quite early in the New Year. That being the case, I am not especially optimistic about there being any major plans waiting to be revealed. It is not as if DECA Games have demonstrated or stated any major ambitions for STO beyond keeping the endless events treadmill going and regularly adding content to the in-game store, during their development tenure. The ongoing story arc drags on inexorably and is as dull as ditchwater.
I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in June 2013. This was over 18 months after the game’s initial release and the base game and DLC were bundled together in a “Legendary” edition. Although a seasoned gamer at the time, familiar with the RPG genre with such titles as Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV, I had not played a game from this franchise before. It only took a few hours of gameplay to realise that this was a special title. The scope of the story, the art design and the size of the world were immediately notable. Tamriel was immersive in a way I had not experienced with other titles. Often simply traversing the terrain and watching the dawn break while the game soundtrack swelled, was sufficient to hold my attention. I instantly picked up on the voice acting of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. All of which indicated that this was a gaming landmark.
The latest expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, Kingdoms of Harad, launched on December 3rd. With this release the level cap was raised from 150 to 160. It should also be noted that the cap for virtue traits was also raised from 96 to 100. Naturally these changes meant that there is a requirement to replace all armour and jewellery once the new cap is reached. Similarly Legendary Items have to be reforged and any traceries upgraded or replaced. If you follow the Epic Story it will lead you from quest hub to quest hub. The main quest rewards, along with those from side quests will provide adequate gear as you slowly progress towards the new level cap. The new raids, instances and missions/delvings then provide a means to acquire higher quality level 160 gear. LOTRO and indeed, many other MMOs are consistent in this methodology.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
Today Standing Stone Games began beta testing Update 46.1 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. The current preview on the Bullroarer test server is mainly for the new instance cluster that comes with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion which launched a few weeks ago. However, it would appear that this latest preview has another feature or note. One that should please LOTRO players. Contrary to what a lot of people thought, myself included, SSG have been working on a scaling UI for 2K and 4K monitors and the results are now available for testing from today Monday 15th through to Friday 19th December. Until now the main workaround to the lack of UI scaling has been to use either Nvidia or AMD graphics software to upscale the game from 1920 x 1080, or a third party app such as LosslessScaling. Having an official solution is a far better option.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
In the wake of Disco Elysium, I’ve been playing through several other games that have a focus on narrative and plot. I began with Call of Cthulhu which I shall write about in a separate post. Let it suffice to say that although I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t quite satisfied. This is not necessarily the game’s fault, as it makes a good attempt at depicting Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. It’s just that any game following hard on the heels of one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played, is likely to come up short in comparison. So I looked through my game library and found that I had Still Wakes The Deep, which enjoys a good reputation for having a strong story. I subsequently played through the game over two late night sessions and was left suitably impressed. So much so that I’ve bought the additional DLC, Siren’s Rest, in the hope that it maintains the quality of its predecessor.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
I originally climbed aboard the Call of Duty bandwagon in 2009 when Modern Warfare 2 came out. I enjoyed the campaign and the multiplayer so much I promptly bought the first instalment. I then stuck with the franchise up until 2013. I didn’t especially like Ghosts, although I enjoyed the option to play as a dog which was different. Overall I was somewhat tired of the FPS genre from then on and so didn’t keep up with any further releases. For me the best iteration of the game was Black Ops in 2010. The campaign had a densely plotted story and the multiplayer was extremely polished. The multiplayer maps were well conceived allowing for fluid and engaging gameplay. Six years on and I recently got an itch to play Call of Duty again. The soft reboot of the franchise with Modern warfare in November 2019 promised a return to basics. The recent inclusion of a battle royale mode with the release of Warzone finally clinched the deal. So I bought a discounted version of the standard game recently and dived back in.
I originally climbed aboard the Call of Duty bandwagon in 2009 when Modern Warfare 2 came out. I enjoyed the campaign and the multiplayer so much I promptly bought the first instalment. I then stuck with the franchise up until 2013. I didn’t especially like Ghosts, although I enjoyed the option to play as a dog which was different. Overall I was somewhat tired of the FPS genre from then on and so didn’t keep up with any further releases. For me the best iteration of the game was Black Ops in 2010. The campaign had a densely plotted story and the multiplayer was extremely polished. The multiplayer maps were well conceived allowing for fluid and engaging gameplay. Six years on and I recently got an itch to play Call of Duty again. The soft reboot of the franchise with Modern warfare in November 2019 promised a return to basics. The recent inclusion of a battle royale mode with the release of Warzone finally clinched the deal. So I bought a discounted version of the standard game recently and dived back in.
This post is not intended as a review. There have been plenty of those already. What I mainly want to do is share a few thoughts on the way Call of Duty Modern Warfare handles the various kinds of multiplayer modes. The campaign is acceptable and does what it’s supposed to do. Does it go out of its way to be controversial? Yes but the franchise has form for this. But let’s face it, these games are bought for their multiplayer component and that is where the franchise strength and innovation has always been. At present (Season 3) there are over forty multiplayer maps available in the game. Some of these are small and deliberately confined, offering rapid gameplay for small teams (2vs2). Then there are medium maps offering a more traditional multiplayer experience. Some of these are remakes of classic maps from CoD4, CoD MW2 and CoD MW3. And then there are the larger ground war maps, designed for 64 players in total. These offer a far more tactical approach to the game, rather than pure run and gun gameplay.
Out of all game modes, I enjoy Team Deathmatch the most. For me this is the most purest multiplayer experience to be found in CoD MW, unburdened with complexity or gimmicks. However in the latest instalment of the game, the degree of my enjoyment is very dependent upon which map is being played. Some such as Azhir Cave or Hackney Yard offer a sufficient variety of environments to afford the player a good choice in loadouts. These maps provide fluid gameplay but the players still have a choice of strategy. This is CoD MW at its best. However, the dial gets turned up to 11 on many of the smaller maps such as Gulag Showers. These are fine if they are played with the correct size team but if utilised with larger populations they become just a frenzied free-for-all. Spawn, spray gun fire, die, rinse and repeat. It’s manic gameplay that means that everyone will get a number of kills simply by random chance. And then there’s the Ground War maps which work best if each team plays in a collaborative and coordinated manner. Or else you spend half your time just trying to find where everyone else is at. Alternatively you can dig in and camp.
Then there’s the Plunder Mode, where the objective is to collect cash hidden around the map and then arrange for its collection. The principle is sound but the reality of the situation is not the same as the concept that is sold during the tutorial. The matches often take far too long. They’re limited to either 30 minutes maximum (which is forever in this fast paced genre) or until either squad has collectively banked $1 million. All too often the majority of players are concentrated in one area of the map, focusing on the same stash of money. These fights again just become a free for all, which makes them initially amusing but such an approach gets old quickly. Unlike the Warzone multiplayer experience there is no mechanic that forces the gameplay along or advances the situation. As a result Plunder Mode often descends into a “wee stooshie”, robbing players who crave a more measured approach of any measured fun.
Finally, Warzone is a surprisingly good attempt at the Battle Royale genre from the Call of Duty developers. It manages to add just enough innovation to the formula to make it sufficiently different from other games. The standout mechanic is the chance to re-enter the game, if you die early on. You respawn in the Gulag Showers map armed with just a sidearm and go one on one with another player. The victor is redeployed in the Warzone. Then there’s the looting in the actual combat zone itself, which is streamlined and equitable in the initial stages of the game. However, there is the ability to have prebuilt loadouts air dropped into the game and this can make a sizable difference to proceedings. Experienced players therefore tend to end the latter stages of the game better geared and with useful killstreaks and buffs. Warzone also works better with team based gameplay as this encourages a more proactive approach to exploring the map and seeking out the enemy.
As ever with multiplayer games, the wild card in the proceedings is the human element. If you play with a group of friends then you’ll more than likely find the engaging gameplay you seek. Play with strangers and it becomes far more of a lottery. Players will abandon pick up groups if they underachieve or differ in skill. Playing Warzone with 150 solo players is also a challenge. The sensible thing to do is the aim for where you think the centre of the ever decreasing circle will be, grab a weapon and find somewhere to dig in. You can frequently find yourself in the last remaining 20 players this way but it doesn’t make for the most compelling gameplay. Also joining a game populated by experienced players who know the maps well and have unlocked optimal loadouts can also make Team Deathmatch an uphill struggle. The flaw in most of the multiplayer permutations in CoD MW is that you have to play a lot to unlock resources and learn your way around before you get the most out of the game. Hence newer players may well become despondent at being cannon fodder and thus leave the game.
However, CoD MW has a saving grace that can throw a lifeline to new players who find themselves battling the learning curve. There is a multiplayer practise mode which allows you to play against bots of varying difficulty. It allows you to customise your loadout (and there is an insane amount of scope to customize your weaponry), pick a specific map and experiment with the various game modes. Furthermore, the AI of the bots is quite challenging. There is also a tutorial for Warzone, although it is confined to a specific part of the map (The Quarry) and doesn’t offer the scope of the other multiplayer practise modes. I would certainly recommend practise mode, especially for those players who dislike live PVP and its associated “culture”. Overall, Call of Duty Modern Warfare offers exactly what it claims to and if approached with the right mindset, will provide varying degrees of entertainment. If you have friends you can play with, then you’ll experience the best that the franchise can offer. As ever dedicated servers are sorely missed and every now and then you’ll have a poor game due to the players or the host quitting. The developers also need to come up with an incentive for players to stick around until the end of the match. However such issues have always been inherent with any sort of PvP. If you bear all of this in mind then the latest instalment of CoD can offer you hours of entertainment.
The next expansion for the MMORG, The Lord of the Rings Online, was announced on the 1st August, via the gaming website MMORPG.The Wolves of Mordor, which will launch later in the year, appears ambitious in scope as it will include two new game systems as well as the obligatory story update. This expansion takes place in Draugardh located in the North East of Mordor, beyond the Plateau of Gorgoroth. It includes the new zones of Heledhris, Parth Rhavas and Nan Ogol. These vary environmentally ranging from the arid, volcanic and semi-tropical. Players will encounter the Daugrim in these regions, Werewolves but not in the modern sense. This is not the lycanthropy of Eastern European legends but in the established Tolkien idiom of fell spirits inhabiting the bodies of Wolves. The region also sees the return of the Woses and players can expect to encounter Elves and scouts from Gondor. As ever with LOTRO expansions, there will be new instances as well as a raid.
This is a post about the power of nostalgia and how sometimes, interacting with something from your past, be it physically or mentally, can produce a very strong and tangible emotional reaction. In some instances, this can be the result of something that you have specifically set out to do. On other occasions you can wander into a sense of nostalgia purely by chance. Today I experienced a very strong sense of nostalgia while watching a YouTube video and then again when I sought to replicate what I had seen. The video showed someone installing Windows 95 on to an old 486 PC from that era. The Window’s start up sound really touched a nerve (but in a good way) and then when the guy in the video launched Space Cadet 3D Pinball, a game that shipped with the operating system, I felt a strong compulsion to track down a copy and install the game myself, thus revisiting something that was an integral part of my life in 1995.
RV There Yet? is possibly the most entertaining game I’ve never played. My vicarious pleasure regarding this title has come exclusively from watching two popular YouTubers, JackFrags and WillFromWork, play through the game over a series of videos. It has been immensely amusing to watch and I have empathised a great deal as the group of four players has struggled with the game’s unpredictable mechanics and their own team’s dynamic. I could go and buy RV There Yet? myself but I doubt if I would ever have a gaming experience anywhere close to what I’ve watched online recently. So in some respects watching these videos has been an interesting alternative as I’ve been entertained, which ultimately is the point of video games. Perhaps there is a deeper philosophical point here that the game developers should reflect upon, as they’ve lost a potential sale. However, that is separate discussion for another day.
I don’t keep up with gaming news as much as I use to but several noteworthy announcement have come to my attention of late. Firstly, there’s an expansion, Songs of the Past, coming for the Witcher III: Wild Hunt in 2027. No doubt this is to pave the way for the Witcher IV. Next, I also found out about Hand of Fate: Horde. I liked this franchise and was saddened to learn that the original studio, Defiant Development, closed. Hence is was a pleasant surprise to see this new game being developed by members of the original studio. The third announcement was regarding Guild Wars 3. A new MMORPG in active development by a major studio is no small feat and is certainly good news for fans of this franchise and the genre per se. However, once you look beyond this news this announcement raises several questions and has certainly given me pause for thought. Let us take a few moments to consider them.
Star Trek Online has many in-game systems that are common to the MMORPG genre. The reputation system is one such example. In STO there are 13 reputation factions. Once a player has reached level 50 they may start progressing through the 6 reputation tiers of each one. Players gain progression through daily projects (20 hours in duration). Hourly projects are also available though they yield less reputation advancement and are limited to three times a day. Hence 20 hour projects are consider by default the most efficient way to gain rep. Projects require 30 Faction Specific Marks (earned via various activities in-game), 15,000 Energy Credits (standard in-game currency) and 2000 Expertise points. The most efficient way to tackle the reputation grind is to build up the necessary resources in advance and then at a designated time each day, start all 13 respective projects. Upon completion projects yield a player bound lockbox containing a random space or ground weapon, a console or Elite Marks which can be used to acquire faction gear.
I was recently perusing my archive of old blog posts, when it struck me how much I’ve written about the MMORPG genre over the years. Naturally, there was far more material from between 2008 and 2012 as that was period when I immersed myself in the genre and was very enthusiastic about it. I was at a point in my life when I had the time to dedicate to such games and I was happy to participate in the social aspect of they offered. I would regularly play through group content and spend time socialising online with fellow guild members. My experience remains a textbook example of how online games can be more than the sum of their parts and that where you are at in your life has a major impact upon your overall enjoyment. As I read though various old posts it became clear that my experiences where specific to this particular part of my life and that they cannot be repeated. My relationship with the genre is very different now and that’s fine.
Creating alts is an integral aspect of the MMORPG genre. Many players will create a character of a specific class or faction, play it for a while, lose interest in it or they may decide that it is just not for them. Fortunately it is no effort at all to simply re-roll a new alt and set off once again. Furthermore, lots of players never reach level cap of the MMORPG that there playing. When the going get’s tough, so to speak, you can either soldier on for another 50 levels or simply create a new alt and return to the comfort of tried and tested content. Alts also give you the chance to secure an accolade or achievement that you previously missed. They are also of great benefit to the genres social aspects. Creating a new alt so you can play along with a friend who is just starting is great fun. Developer’s love them too as it means you’re still playing the game.
I recently took a break from Crimson Desert choosing instead to to play something familiar and easy going. As I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online daily to participate in the anniversary event, I decided to look through my various alts and see how far they had progressed through the game and what resources they had. At present I have twelve alts. My primary Captain was created in 2015 during the original Delta Recruit Event. I had previously played STO intermittently since its release in January 2010 but I never kept any of those characters. Hence this decade old Tactical Federation Captain has been my main focus when playing. The other eleven alts are the result of other recruitment events or whenever I wanted to try something different, such as playing a specific class or faction. I obviously played a lot of STO during the lockdown as several alts date from that period. Several had maximum reputation across all factions.
The action, open world RPG Crimson Desert has been patched five times since it launched on March 19th and there have also been multiple hotfixes. At first glance this isn’t anything unusual. New games have bugs and issues arise once a game is released and played across a much wider variety of hardware than in QA testing. However, if you read the patch notes that accompany these sizeable downloads it quickly becomes apparent that developer’s Pearl Abyss are not just addressing bugs and software glitches. They are actively engaging with their player base and responding to suggestions and requests from that community. Although this is not a unique approach, what is surprising is the speed and quantity in which these player driven changes are happening. There seems to be an active ongoing process to refine the game and eliminate some of its “rough edges” and the players are contributing to this process with their feedback.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
13 days after its release, market analysts estimate that Crimson Desert has already earned $200 million across the four main platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S). The game is certainly proving popular among gamers with the internet awash with live streams and “let’s play” videos. However, reviews are mixed both among gaming journalists and YouTube influencers. Common complaints about the game include that it is slow to start, the controls are poorly laid out on all platforms and that developer’s Pearl Abyss have done a poor job of explaining most aspects of the game to new players. Although such criticisms are true to a degree, I think these complaints highlight how many gamers are conditioned to expect new titles to follow a specific pattern with regard to pacing, narrative exposition and learning in-game systems. A pattern that Pearl Abyss has chosen to ignore, instead favouring an old school approach.
Early on Crimson Desert, the main quest requires the player to enter a tavern and arm wrestle a particularly strong guard. The arm wrestling match consists of a quick time event. If playing on PC you have to rapidly press the “E” key which turns a power meter from white to red. Then a white dial appears above the meter with a rotating hand. When the hand passes over a segment of the dial that is marked by hatching, the player must press the “R” key. The idea being the meter filling with red is you strength building (or waning) and the “R” key prompt indicates when to try and force your opponent’s arm. You will need to to continuously press the “E” key throughout the arm wrestling match and the “R” key about 4 times to win.
Earlier this week, Nvidia posted a video featuring their latest iteration of DLSS technology (Deep learning super sampling). DLSS 5 is an AI-powered “real-time neural rendering” process and unlike previous versions that focused on improving frame rates through upscaling or frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to “infuse” frames with photorealistic lighting and material details that the game engine never actually calculated. Let us pause for a moment and consider these words. Material detail that the game engine never actually calculated. Therein lies the rub. If you watch the aforementioned video or peruse the images posted here, it is abundantly clear what the technology does.
Last night, I spent the first 45 minutes after the launch of Crimson Desert, watching the 92GB pre-downloaded game files slowly decompressing and installing. I finally launched the game at about 10:50 PM GMT. I then waited a further 5 minutes while shaders were downloaded. It took me about 15 minutes or so to read through the various game settings and choose those that are optimal for my PC. I suspect even if you have a beast of a computer, you’re still going to have to spend some time tweaking settings. As for those players like myself with a gaming rig that is somewhere in the middle of the game’s specifications, be prepared to do a lot of fine tuning both within Crimson Desert itself and your Windows settings.
I have been aware of the online interest around the open world action game Crimson Desert for a while now. One of the things that has intrigued me about it is the scope of the game. The word “hype” has been bandied about by a few gaming websites. However, from what I have observed, developers Pearl Abyss have not been excessively hyperbolic themselves, with regard to the manner in which the game’s systems and mechanics have been marketed. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, the pre-release reviews seem to confirm that everything we’ve seen in promotional videos in the run up to the launch, is in fact present in the game. So far the initial critical response has been very positive and it has been hinted that the game may well be a genre milestone. Perhaps Crimson Desert is just a rare example of a game that has not had a rushed development and isn’t launching prematurely for business reasons.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I decided to pursue a magic and spellcasting build in the RPG Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon after the story prologue. During the opening section of the game, the player is presented with a sufficient range of weapons to determine which type suits them best, although you can change at any time during the game. For me, casting spells feels right and is fun. Plus I have fond memories of the magic system in Two Worlds II and Skyrim. So once I started playing through the first zone, I started putting attribute and skill points into the appropriate trees to bolster my spells strengths and frequency. I also chose gear that would bolster those statistics further. The results have been surprising, as magic and spellcasting is not presented in the usual “glass cannon” style you find in some other RPGs. Here it offers robust DPS output and with the right gear and spell combination, a strong degree of survivability.
I originally bought Warhammer: Dark Omen in the summer of 1998. I played a demo copy via a magazine cover disc, which was a common means of promotion and marketing back then. Although I was at that point, unfamiliar with the Warhammer Universe, I found this game to be an excellent point of entry. The story did an excellent job of introducing players to “The Old World”, the political and power structure and major characters. I instantly liked both the aesthetic and the lore. Warhammer: Dark Omen was also the first real-time tactical wargame that I played and I spent numerous hours playing through the campaign. Overall, the game was a critical success, particularly on PC, but it struggled commercially upon its initial release and didn’t quite find the audience that it deserved. However, it has achieved status as a “cult classic” among gamers, leading to a recent re-release on GOG in late 2025.
According to the recent “letter to the players”, Standing Stone Games will be adding a new zone to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online in the second quarter of this year. Possibly around May or June. Having spent the last three expansions in the South of Middle-earth exploring the tropical Umbar and the deserts of Harad, I would certainly welcome a change of location. I have gradually warmed to these zones over the last eighteen months but I do find them so incongruous. They are so radically different to the European style content that has been the mainstay of the game for so long. Tolkien’s source text has plenty of detail regarding Eriador and Rhovanion. Information regarding Harad is scarce, hence it has afforded the developers a great deal of artistic freedom. Although exceedingly well realised these tropical zones have taken a while for me to get used to.
I’m not sure exactly when it started but I’ve recently noticed a graphical bug within the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This problem often occurs within caves or in areas where there are a lot of rocky surfaces. Hence it has become very apparent in the latest two expansions, set in Umbar and Harad. This graphical glitch causes some surface textures to appear to flash from light to dark intermittently. The resulting strobe effect is hard to ignore and very distracting. Fortunately, a quick online search showed that this is not a problem unique to my installation of LOTRO and is a known problem. Furthermore, there is a very simple workaround, which is to go into the Advanced Graphics setting and uncheck “Per Pixel Lighting”, which immediately remedies the problem. I have no idea why this has recently started to happen but at least it can be resolved.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. The original TV show was first broadcast in the US on September 8th 1966. If you search online you’ll find details of lots of related events. There are documentaries, conventions, new TV shows and even some video games in development. However, what you won’t find are any details regarding what will be happening with the MMORPG Star Trek Online. So far no road map for 2026 has been posted online by the developers but it is still quite early in the New Year. That being the case, I am not especially optimistic about there being any major plans waiting to be revealed. It is not as if DECA Games have demonstrated or stated any major ambitions for STO beyond keeping the endless events treadmill going and regularly adding content to the in-game store, during their development tenure. The ongoing story arc drags on inexorably and is as dull as ditchwater.
I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in June 2013. This was over 18 months after the game’s initial release and the base game and DLC were bundled together in a “Legendary” edition. Although a seasoned gamer at the time, familiar with the RPG genre with such titles as Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV, I had not played a game from this franchise before. It only took a few hours of gameplay to realise that this was a special title. The scope of the story, the art design and the size of the world were immediately notable. Tamriel was immersive in a way I had not experienced with other titles. Often simply traversing the terrain and watching the dawn break while the game soundtrack swelled, was sufficient to hold my attention. I instantly picked up on the voice acting of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. All of which indicated that this was a gaming landmark.
The latest expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, Kingdoms of Harad, launched on December 3rd. With this release the level cap was raised from 150 to 160. It should also be noted that the cap for virtue traits was also raised from 96 to 100. Naturally these changes meant that there is a requirement to replace all armour and jewellery once the new cap is reached. Similarly Legendary Items have to be reforged and any traceries upgraded or replaced. If you follow the Epic Story it will lead you from quest hub to quest hub. The main quest rewards, along with those from side quests will provide adequate gear as you slowly progress towards the new level cap. The new raids, instances and missions/delvings then provide a means to acquire higher quality level 160 gear. LOTRO and indeed, many other MMOs are consistent in this methodology.
It is customary in a post such as this to list the various games that I’ve played over the last twelve months and share my thoughts on them. Wider analysis of the video game industry is also de rigeur. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel disposed to do either of those two things. My thoughts on the games I’ve played have already been published and can easily be accessed via the links at the bottom of this post. As for the video game industry, it suffers the same flaws as music, TV and cinema. There is creativity and innovation out there but it is often drowned out by mainstream products which are demonstrably inferior due to their inherent mediocrity. As for the business side of things, we once again clearly see the failings of the corporate management class. Sadly, they do not face the consequences of the mistakes that they make.
Today Standing Stone Games began beta testing Update 46.1 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. The current preview on the Bullroarer test server is mainly for the new instance cluster that comes with the Kingdoms of Harad expansion which launched a few weeks ago. However, it would appear that this latest preview has another feature or note. One that should please LOTRO players. Contrary to what a lot of people thought, myself included, SSG have been working on a scaling UI for 2K and 4K monitors and the results are now available for testing from today Monday 15th through to Friday 19th December. Until now the main workaround to the lack of UI scaling has been to use either Nvidia or AMD graphics software to upscale the game from 1920 x 1080, or a third party app such as LosslessScaling. Having an official solution is a far better option.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
In the wake of Disco Elysium, I’ve been playing through several other games that have a focus on narrative and plot. I began with Call of Cthulhu which I shall write about in a separate post. Let it suffice to say that although I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t quite satisfied. This is not necessarily the game’s fault, as it makes a good attempt at depicting Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. It’s just that any game following hard on the heels of one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played, is likely to come up short in comparison. So I looked through my game library and found that I had Still Wakes The Deep, which enjoys a good reputation for having a strong story. I subsequently played through the game over two late night sessions and was left suitably impressed. So much so that I’ve bought the additional DLC, Siren’s Rest, in the hope that it maintains the quality of its predecessor.
Here we are again with another summary of my gaming activities in recent months. Or in this case since last September. It’s been a while but I’ve been on a blogging hiatus until recently. However, I’ve kept myself busy gaming wise and often I find the hunt for news video games, just as entertaining as I do playing them. Perhaps that could be a future blog post. Back to the matter in hand. Gaming wise, pretty much all things related to the MMORPG genre are currently on the back burner. I’ll give specifics later but I am taking a break from these for the present. I am currently looking at trying games outside my usual comfort zone and also trying to test whether you can or cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, the answer appears to be yes you can. Enough summation, on to the specifics.