Classic Game Themes: Lords of the Fallen
Lords of the Fallen is an action role-playing game from 2014, played from a third-person perspective. It is broadly in the same idiom to Darksiders and Dark Souls with the emphasis on complex and challenging combat. And it is for that reason that I didn’t get on with this title when I bought it in a Steam sale a few years ago. I felt that the long, protracted fights were an impediment to the narrative, which I quite enjoyed. However, the game was designed this way to appeal to the combat focused gamer and “git gud” culture. But I think that it’s important to try different genres of games from time to time and to step occasionally out of your comfort zone. I would cite the Hand of Fate series as a positive example of this. Both of those titles are from a genre I wouldn’t usually consider and playing them turned out to be a very positive experience
Lords of the Fallen is an action role-playing game from 2014, played from a third-person perspective. It is broadly in the same idiom to Darksiders and Dark Souls with the emphasis on complex and challenging combat. And it is for that reason that I didn’t get on with this title when I bought it in a Steam sale a few years ago. I felt that the long, protracted fights were an impediment to the narrative, which I quite enjoyed. However, the game was designed this way to appeal to the combat focused gamer and “git gud” culture. But I think that it’s important to try different genres of games from time to time and to step occasionally out of your comfort zone. I would cite the Hand of Fate series as a positive example of this. Both of those titles are from a genre I wouldn’t usually consider and playing them turned out to be a very positive experience.
One aspect of Lords of the Fallen that did stand out for me, was the score by Norwegian composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen. Haugen is best known for his association with video game developers Funcom and writing the soundtrack for Age of Conan. His work on that MMO was very broad in scope, encompassing inspiration from a wide variety of world cultures. However, his approach for Lords of the Fallen is quite different. The main title cue is a simple track which blends ethereal vocalisations and strings with a strong percussive beat. This surprisingly versatile leitmotif is subsequently used in interesting variations throughout the game. This very clear musical style reflects the games central theme of an individual on a path of self-discovery and bolsters it very effectively.
To highlight how well Knut Avenstroup Haugen uses the concept of the leitmotif in Lords of the Fallen, here are three tracks from the game’s soundtrack album. “Winter’s Kiss (Theme from Lords of the Fallen)” which establishes the central musical concept. “Sacrifice” which presents a robust variant as the main character progresses through the game’s narrative. And finally, “Atonement” which beautifully adapts the main theme to a triumphant and emotional end piece. It should be noted that the score Lords of the Fallen was nominated for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards by critics. This was due to its adaptable simplicity which lends itself to significant variation and interpretation.
Can LOTRO Modernise Any Further?
A while back Syp wrote a blog post over on his personal website Bio Break, in which he discussed how The Lord of the Rings Online had avoided the “complexity trap” he feels affects other MMORPGs over time. It’s a sentiment I broadly concur with. The 12-year-old game has now reached a point where it has a fixed set of systems. Developers Standing Stone Games continue to produce regular PVE content in the form of quests, instances and raids. But they haven’t added a major new component to the game since the introductions of Epic Battles. Instead they have refined and fine-tuned existing facets of the game. Consider the recent overhaul of the Virtue Trait system. The basic functionality remains but the way a player advances their chosen virtues has been streamlined and now provides more tangible benefits. Overall, LOTRO has settled into a comfortable niche. New content is forthcoming but is very much a case of “same meat, different gravy”.
Has the Lord of the Rings Online avoided the “complexity trap”?
A while back Syp wrote a blog post over on his personal website Bio Break, in which he discussed how The Lord of the Rings Online had avoided the “complexity trap” he feels affects other MMORPGs over time. It’s a sentiment I broadly concur with. The 12-year-old game has now reached a point where it has a fixed set of systems. Developers Standing Stone Games continue to produce regular PVE content in the form of quests, instances and raids. But they haven’t added a major new component to the game since the introductions of Epic Battles. Instead they have refined and fine-tuned existing facets of the game. Consider the recent overhaul of the Virtue Trait system. The basic functionality remains but the way a player advances their chosen virtues has been streamlined and now provides more tangible benefits. Overall, LOTRO has settled into a comfortable niche. New content is forthcoming but is very much a case of “same meat, different gravy”.
Now Syp’s post logically raises the question could LOTRO be more complex? Is it possible to add a radical new mechanic to the game at this stage in its lifecycle? Because LOTRO is an old game by industry standards. It may have launched in 2007 but the code is older due to the games longwinded development process. As a developer, SSG has two main problems as a result of this. Can the game technically be altered in a major capacity and is there the expertise in house to undertake such a project. Because that latter is a regular issue for many companies. Staff come and go and that means expertise can be lost. It is a major reason why Cryptic closed The Foundry in Star Trek Online. I believe it is also why no new skirmishes were forthcoming in LOTRO for a long time. Something the developers have now addressed through the hiring of new staff. Furthermore, SSG have surprised their playerbase by successfully managing to produce a 64-bit client for the game. Although it remains a work in progress, considering the technical hurdles, this was quite a coup.
But before we embark upon this thought experiment, let us take a moment to reflect upon what LOTRO does that is quite advanced by the standards of the genre. It is the only MMO that I play that has auto-looting direct to your bags. All the other’s want me to press at least one key to select lootable items. LOTRO just hoovers them up. The game also has vendors that you can add to your house. There is also a tinker that can be summoned to a campfire to fix broken armour. Both of these services set a precedence that could potentially be expanded. LOTRO also offers a thorough personal transportation system. The reputation based “return” skills cover a surprisingly wide percentage of the game’s zones. However, I don’t think the game could accommodate a loss or consolidation of skills to become more of an action combat-based game. I think this would be a far too controversial. Rather than changing class and race attributes, it would be better to focus more on what you can done in the “wider world”.
So exactly what new systems or mechanics would be beneficial to a MMORPG such as LOTRO? My immediate answer is dynamic, public events in relevant zones, that can be justified from a lore perspective. Next it would be good to see some sort of scaling content system. A mechanic that allows a max level player to revisit older zones and adjust to the right level. This is something The Elder Scrolls Online does very well. The levelling of content is seamless and there are plenty of World Bosses, Dungeons and Dolmen to complete. Furthermore, they are all clearly marked on the zone map. LOTRO is halfway there with some similar systems, such as roving threats for example. But they need to be easier to find. Similarly too many instances in LOTRO are tied to discovery or specific quest lines. Accessibility and promotion are lacking. And let us not overlook the state of housing in LOTRO, which remains mainly a glorified storage service. The Cape of Belfalas housing has some pleasant leisurely quests but they are not repeatable. Housing needs to offer players a reason to spend time in the neighbourhood. I would also advocate improving the skirmish soldier system, to make them more versatile companions, rather than the blunt tool that they currently are.
Zone Guides in The Elder Scrolls Online offer more than just a simple map
Naturally I have barely scratched the surface, with regard to ideas to improve LOTRO and expand its scope and complexity. But I believe there is a focal point, that if addressed properly, would potentially lead to further improvements. A lot of the game’s existing functionality is hidden or too esoteric. The UI needs to be made “smarter”. To be able to provide more information, make suggestions be more proactive. Again I’d say look to ESO and its zone guides. Something similar in LOTRO would ensure that players got the most out of the content they’ve purchased. An optional list that let’s players know if there are any quests or places of interest that they haven’t completed or discovered. A lore book of some kind may also be useful. The existing skill trees need to do more than just inform a player of what they can earn. I would welcome suggestions regarding specific class builds based upon player preferences. I know that a great deal of useful information exists outside of many MMOs, curated by fans. But I’ve always felt that tabbing out of a game is counterproductive. Can this information not be brought in-game?
Finally, as we’re considering complexity, let us reflect upon social interaction. It is still a regular lament from certain quarters that the MMO genre is losing its social element. So why not address this issue by incentivising kinships with some additional perks. STO has gear and other items that are only accessible by joining a fleet and running fleet projects. Again, the more you think about it, the more it becomes clear that this is an aspect of LOTRO that could be expanded and improved. However, if there ever was a concerted move to broaden the complexity and scope of LOTRO it would have to be done within specific parameters. Or else there would come a point where it would be easier to just create a new game. So bearing all of this in mind, is any of this likely to happen? Well if you had asked me a few years ago, I would have said “no”. But the pipe dream of the 64-bit client has now become a reality, so who can say? Perhaps, there is hope after all. But perhaps the biggest obstacle to any potential change to LOTRO would be the playerbase itself. Trying to find a consensus would be extremely difficult. So may be SSG have decided on a policy of “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”. I wouldn’t blame them.
Star Trek Online: The Problem with the Latest Roadmap
Game developers enjoy a “roadmap”, don’t they? I always get snippy about marketing speak as it’s an industry I have zero respect or tolerance for. Perhaps such a position is a cliché? But I digress. Cryptic recently released their latest roadmap for Star Trek Online, after their successful appearance at the Star Trek: Las Vegas convention. At first glance it promises a lot of content which is its purpose. But if you take a minute or two to digest the list of forthcoming material, it soon becomes clear that it is predominantly group Task Force Operations. Apart from one new story episode, Awakening, it is decidedly light on narrative material. Now Cryptic have constantly tinkered with the story arc of STO over the years and have also experimented with the format in which its presented. Hence terms such as “featured episode” have become ambiguous. But if you look beyond the semantics, there seems to have been fewer story driven missions being this year.
Game developers enjoy a “roadmap”, don’t they? I always get snippy about marketing speak as it’s an industry I have zero respect or tolerance for. Perhaps such a position is a cliché? But I digress. Cryptic recently released their latest roadmap for Star Trek Online, after their successful appearance at the Star Trek: Las Vegas convention. At first glance it promises a lot of content which is its purpose. But if you take a minute or two to digest the list of forthcoming material, it soon becomes clear that it is predominantly group Task Force Operations. Apart from one new story episode, Awakening, it is decidedly light on narrative material. Now Cryptic have constantly tinkered with the story arc of STO over the years and have also experimented with the format in which its presented. Hence terms such as “featured episode” have become ambiguous. But if you look beyond the semantics, there seems to have been fewer story driven missions being this year.
For me, the appeal of STO is centred upon the IP and the way Cryptic has successfully continued stories and themes from the various television shows. When I returned to the game during the Delta Recruit Event of 2015, the story was building up to the Iconian War. Content came thick and fast and the plot was gripping. The post war narrative of New Dawn was also regularly added to. But the pace has slowed noticeably. Although I am pleased to see Star Trek: Discovery themed storylines the release schedule has been ponderous. I had virtually forgotten about Ju’la the renegade Klingon and her theft of mycelium technology. This dearth of story content is further compounded by the fact that several stories have been removed from the game for “retooling” and Cryptic have still not put them back. It’s a little frustrating because new players do not get the full story arcs that were present in the game 18 months ago.
Although I welcome new content, Task Force Operations are not full stories. They are repeatable events with just a wrapper of dialogue and a smattering of cutscenes. They may well offer an opportunity to earn tokens for a specific item but they eventually run the risk of becoming repetitive and dull after a time. They’re supposed to be an addition to the big story arcs, not a substitute for them. Therefore I hope that the current roadmap is a temporary holding pattern and that at some point soon, they’ll be an announcement regarding a new expansion with a lot more narrative content. Or at the very least, the missing content will be returned to the game, with new wrappers and subtle tweaks, so that the various story arcs are fully restored. I am not hopeful that STO will tie in with the new Star Trek: Picard show. I suspect that certain members of the Star Trek alumni are either too expensive to hire or just won’t play ball.
In the meantime, I am slowly winding down my activities in the game, now that I’ve finished the Summer festival and got the ship. I shall just be checking in a few times a week. Last night I started the Arena of Sompek event mainly because I’m interested in the reward, the Section 31 Heavy Phaser Rifle. However, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to stay the course due to waning interest. If I fail to earn the requisite number of tokens in time, I can buy 10 from the C-Store. It’s a curious business model that seems to undermine the point of playing the repeatable event. But all these minor niggles notwithstanding, it is clear that I’m running out of things to do in STO. Phoenix Prize Packs are currently available for the next seven days. Having earned sufficient Dilitium (400,000 refined) over the last few months, I purchased 100 packs yesterday. All I wanted from these were the Phoenix Tech Upgrades. I ended up with 175 of them and applied them to my current build. Now all items are Mark XV and Epic (Gold) quality.
It is common for content to ebb and flow in the MMORPG genre and for players to come and go accordingly. I have argued in the past that STO usually has sufficient to keep one busy but it does feel that things are slowing to a degree. If you roll an alt, then three of the factions available have a partially bespoke storyline. Therefore you will get some different content before you find yourself playing missions that are universal to all. There are still residual patrol missions dotted about the various sectors of the galaxy and if you investigate via the STO Wiki, you’ll find some interesting minor missions tucked away in the game. But I think I may be heading for a break, as I don’t know if I want to create a seventh character. I have never played STO socially, although I am in the Reddit Alert Fleet. Hence there are no ties with friends to keep me logging in. Perhaps that is part of the problem.
Stout-Axe Dwarves and Race Changes Coming to LOTRO
Some interesting news came out of Gen Con 2019, where Standing Stone Games recently held their Dungeons & Dragons Online/The Lord of the Rings Online “meet up”. According to Draculetta who attended the social event, Severlin AKA Rob Ciccolini, Lead Producer for LOTRO stated that Stout-Axe Dwarves were to be added to the game as a new playable race. Furthermore, the ability to change the race of existing characters was also coming to the game. It was later clarified that the race change ability was subject to the existing class restrictions. Hence an existing Hobbit Guardian could become an Elf if the player so desires. But races such as Hobbits and Dwarves are still excluded from certain classes such as Captain or Lore-master. Although this was a very informal setting, the statement has been seen as a formal announcement and SSG have not said anything to the contrary so far.
Some interesting news came out of Gen Con 2019, where Standing Stone Games recently held their Dungeons & Dragons Online/The Lord of the Rings Online “meet up”. According to Draculetta who attended the social event, Severlin AKA Rob Ciccolini, Lead Producer for LOTRO stated that Stout-Axe Dwarves were to be added to the game as a new playable race. Furthermore, the ability to change the race of existing characters was also coming to the game. It was later clarified that the race change ability was subject to the existing class restrictions. Hence an existing Hobbit Guardian could become an Elf if the player so desires. But races such as Hobbits and Dwarves are still excluded from certain classes such as Captain or Lore-master. Although this was a very informal setting, the statement has been seen as a formal announcement and SSG have not said anything to the contrary so far.
The ability to change race, once you have created a character, is not anything unusual by genre standards. Many other MMORPG offer such a service but it is certainly a useful facility to have. New players may find that a certain race is not to their liking and the ability to change rather than start from scratch is therefore welcome. High end players may also wish to change race if it gives them a statistical improvement or tactical bonus. And then there will be some players who may simply want to change just to see what difference it makes. However, regardless of how this ability is used, it goes without saying that this is going to be a chargeable premium store item. I wouldn’t be surprised if a “race change token” is included in one or two of the different permutations of the next LOTRO expansion. SSG is a creature of habit so I don’t think its unreasonable to assume that previous business practises established with Mordor, will continue next Minas Morgul themed expansion.
As for the merits of adding Stout-Axe Dwarves to LOTRO, I’m not so sure. I thought the edition of High Elves didn’t really add any major value to the game. If you’re a lore enthusiast, then the distinction between Elves and High Elves may well be of interest but for many players, it really is a case of “same meat, different gravy”. I suspect the same may be so regarding the Stout-Axe Dwarves. They already exist as characters in the game, having been introduced with the Mordor expansion in July 2017. The Dwarves were enslaved by Sauron after they refused to relinquish one of the Seven Rings of Power. They were subsequently liberated by Gimli and have returned to Erebor to try and find their place in Middle-earth. It’s a great story line, but I’m not sure what this playable race can offer that isn’t already available via the regular Dwarves. However, you should never underestimate the Dwarf enthusiast LOTRO player. Perhaps this race may prove popular.
I am curious as to how SSG are going to integrate this new race into the game. At present the Stout-Axes enter the LOTRO storyline at level 105. Their history is unknown outside of Mordor up until this point, so I’m not sure if SSG can cunningly and seamlessly dove tail the Stout-Axes into the existing starter areas of the game. Perhaps they may be a race that starts at level 105 and aren’t intended to be retrofitted into older content. I’m also curious about the availability of this new race as its accessibility is bound to be gated financially. Again I suspect that they may be bundled with the middle tier and top tier of the next expansion. At a later date, they may well be sold in the store for LOTRO points. If this supposition is correct, there may well be an outcry form the LOTRO playerbase. Similar to when High Elves weren’t included in the Standard Edition of Mordor. No doubt a more definitive press release will be forthcoming soon.
A Month in Gaming
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.
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.
Having successfully completed the Summer Event in Star Trek Online and earned the Tier 6 ship, I’ve decided to reduce my involvement with this MMO for a while. I’m somewhat bored with just grinding out repeatable daily missions for perk points and don’t have much to do at present. I completed Tier 6 reputation with Discovery Legends so am now just left with levelling alts until new content arrives. As the latest featured episode, Awakening, is not due for release for over a month (10th September) I’ve decided to just log in once or twice a week to farm some Dilithium and ensure I don’t get kicked from my various fleets due to inactivity. I’ll keep reading the subreddit and ensure that I don’t miss any news from Star Trek Las Vegas 2019. Just because I’m not actively playing a game, doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what’s going on in the wider community.
In some respects it a broadly a similar story with The Lord of the Rings Online. Since last November I’ve been steadily levelling a new High Elf Guardian and also playing through any new content added to the game with my level cap Lore-master. I’m beginning to slow down now mainly because my Guardian is fast approaching Mordor. I won’t say I dislike the zone but it is fair to say it is a radically different area to other parts of Middle-earth. There is a major gear check circa level 112 and the game feels demonstrably harder. Because I played through that area, this time last year, the stories and themes are still very fresh in my mind, so I don’t feel such a pressing need to push on. I shall again probably just log in a couple of time a week to finish playing through the Vales of the Anduin with my primary character. Hopefully there will be some news released soon regarding the next expansion for the game.
I suspect that my overall gaming activities will be somewhat curtailed this August. I’m involved in the Blaugust Festival of Blogging Event which is going to monopolise a fair amount of my leisure time. Also my son is getting married so I’m away from home for three days out of thirty-one. What I’m thinking of doing is trawling through my Steam and Epic Store game collections to see if there are any simple titles that I can explore that aren’t major time sinks. Such a project could also potentially provide good material for a blog post. As for gaming goals for August, I’m hoping that Blaugust may lead to some social gaming between those participating in the event. The initial hurdle is trying to find a game that everyone has and that is conducive to team play. I must admit it’s been a while since I played collaboratively with “new people” and the prospect sounds quite enticing. Let’s hope that some common ground can be found and that differing time zones can be overcome.
The Changing Face of MMOs
The above promotional video for Guild Wars 2 (dated July 19th, 2011) came up in an online discussion recently. The game as it exists today is radically different to this eight-year-old marketing presentation. It got me thinking about MMOs, how they evolve and those that have fallen from grace. Naturally the spectre of World of Warcraft looms large in such a discussion, because for many years this was the game to beat. Subsequently the market was awash with clones, which proved to be an unwise business tactic. The tumultuous life of Star Wars: The Old Republic along with the closure of Warhammer: Online, Vanguard and recently WildStar indicates that more of the same is not necessarily what players want or at the least, insufficient to keep them engaged. Guild Wars 2 initially deviated noticeably from the perceived wisdom but then contradicted its own ideology out of necessity to remain financially viable. Subsequent expansions have proven far more “traditional”. A decade on from the MMO boom, the genre has had to become far more niche to survive. MMOs exist and make money, but the are no longer seen as cash cows.
The promotional video for Guild Wars 2 (dated July 19th, 2011) featured below, came up in an online discussion recently. The game as it exists today is radically different to this eight-year-old marketing presentation. It got me thinking about MMOs, how they evolve and those that have fallen from grace. Naturally the spectre of World of Warcraft looms large in such a discussion, because for many years this was the game to beat. Subsequently the market was awash with clones, which proved to be an unwise business tactic. The tumultuous life of Star Wars: The Old Republic along with the closure of Warhammer: Online, Vanguard and recently WildStar indicates that more of the same is not necessarily what players want or at the least, insufficient to keep them engaged. Guild Wars 2 initially deviated noticeably from the perceived wisdom but then contradicted its own ideology out of necessity to remain financially viable. Subsequent expansions have proven far more “traditional”. A decade on from the MMO boom, the genre has had to become far more niche to survive. MMOs exist and make money, but the are no longer seen as cash cows.
So what has changed? Well for a broad overview, I’d recommend watching a selection of episodes of The Jimquisition; Jim Sterling’s show that critiques the video games industry. He regularly explores the main problems that are endemic with mainstream, triple A games publishing. But one particular issue seems to be the root cause. Although game developers may well have artistic intentions and want to create a content that delights audiences, such motives are subordinate to the commercial requirements of the publisher and their shareholders. The industry is primarily focused on what sells and how to monetise any new product to ensure increasing financial growth. Hence after numerous efforts to make a WoW clone, most companies have discovered that such projects take too long to develop, cost to much up front and don’t have the adequate return on investment in the short term. Hence you seldom see such grandiose projects in development anymore. But what about Star Citizen, I hear you say. Yes indeed, what about it, I say in return? I’ll let you know when there’s an open beta and a release date on the horizon.
Now to clarify, the MMO market does have regional differences. In the China and South Korea large budget titles are still produced and prove viable, but this is due to major differences in the core market. The player base often embrace mechanics rejected in the West and monetisation is perceived differently. Hence many titles remain conspicuously absent from the North American and Europeans markets. Therefore, in recent years MMOs have had to adapt in the West to such an extent that the term itself is now being redefined. Older notions about persistent, immersive worlds, filled with group activities and nurturing communities have been replaced with more flexible concepts. Such as any game that supports a large body of players in an open world or instanced set of maps. Thus GTA Online, The Division 1 and 2, as well as the Destiny franchise find themselves as part of ever growing MMO Venn Diagram. Naturally old school purest protest, but from the industry perspective, “money talks and bullshit walks”.
Therefore, I am not optimistic about there ever being any weighty IP based MMORPG projects that are of a traditional nature. Perhaps the last big MMO was indeed The Elder Scrolls Online. The website Massively Overpowered lists numerous MMOs in development but the reality is that many of these are doomed to failure. Crowd funded vanity projects or indulgences by gifted fans or old school development staff who haven’t quite adjusted to the realities of the contemporary market. Titan after all got canned and parts of it became Overwatch. Amazon Game Studio’s New World may not get beyond its recent Alpha Test and could be augmented into something else with a more marketable IP. Hence, we are left with a handful of titles that are established and survive purely on the whims of their playerbase. New content costs money to develop but will bring in some profit. But to reduce content output risks bored players who’ll go elsewhere. If a publisher is content with the realities of their projected revenue, then games can tick over. However, if they seek all the money in Christendom, then things may go ill.
Perhaps the MMORPG has had its day in the sun. A cursory look at other leisure industries shows that trends come and go. Different genres of movies and music rise and fall, proving lucrative for a while and then fading away. When you compare the likes of Ultima Online with Guild Wars 2 there is a considerable gulf in mechanics and systems. Would the former sell well today? Fifteen years of changing consumer tastes may well put pay to such time-consuming games. With time being such a precious commodity these days, is there room for such a genre as the old school MMO? I played The Lord of the Rings Online heavily between 2008 and 2011, mainly because it was a period of my life where I was available to do so. I simply cannot do something comparable today. Furthermore older players who lived through the era of subscription models are often averse to modern monetisation methods. Live services are not embraced by this demographic, where younger players who prefer the quick fix nature of competitive multiplayer games are not so concerned. All of which leaves me increasingly disposed towards the idea that the MMO genre is going to be relegated to the sidelines in the years to come. A few will exist in their own bubbles of fandom, but they will be a relic of the past. Just like cinematic musicals, westerns and “poodle perm” rock.
Video Games and Voice Acting
I think it’s a fair assessment that here are several genres of game that don’t have any requirement for in-depth voice acting. If there is no substantial narrative to tell or a necessity to deliver a lot of complex instructions, then plain text or simple audio soundbites will suffice. However, games such as an RPG or an MMORPG, which tend to have complex stories and multiple characters, benefit immensely from good quality voice acting. Now some gamers are not interested in intricate plots and find dialogue and cutscenes an impediment but I do not believe them to be a majority. If they want to skip dialogue and such like, then that is their prerogative and I support their right to do so. I actually think that both dialogue and cutscenes should wherever possible be “skippable”. But I am often heavily invested in the narratives of the games I play. I enjoy good dialogue when its available and feel that voice acting reinforces the plot and credibility of the various characters. I sorely miss it when it is not present.
I think it’s a fair assessment that here are several genres of game that don’t have any requirement for in-depth voice acting. If there is no substantial narrative to tell or a necessity to deliver a lot of complex instructions, then plain text or simple audio soundbites will suffice. However, games such as an RPG or an MMORPG, which tend to have complex stories and multiple characters, benefit immensely from good quality voice acting. Now some gamers are not interested in intricate plots and find dialogue and cutscenes an impediment but I do not believe them to be a majority. If they want to skip dialogue and such like, then that is their prerogative and I support their right to do so. I actually think that both dialogue and cutscenes should wherever possible be “skippable”. But I am often heavily invested in the narratives of the games I play. I enjoy good dialogue when its available and feel that voice acting reinforces the plot and credibility of the various characters. I sorely miss it when it is not present.
I am currently playing The Elder Scrolls Online again after a year break. What is striking is that the voice acting is very good across the board. There are several high-profile names providing voices and they certainly don’t come across that they’re just phoning in their performances. It helps tremendously that the storylines are well written and so the likes of Alfred Molina, Michael Gambon and Bill Nighy have something to work with. John Cleese adds both humour and some pathos as Sir Cadwell. Sadly, older MMORPGs such as The Lord of the Rings Online struggle with voice acting. Only a few lines of dialogue are voiced when interacting with NPC.s Cutscenes tend to be fully voiced but often the quality is variable. The actor who has consistently voiced Gandalf over the years is solid others just conviction and quality. One of the greatest assets of Star Trek Online is that many of the original cast members from the various shows have voiced their in-game avatars. It’s a far cry from the early days of the game when times were tough and the development team supplied some of the voice acting. Commander Kurland being voiced by Jeremy "Borticus" Randall.
However, simply having known voice actors involved with a video game by default, does not necessarily automatically add real value. The first two instalments of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare benefited greatly from well-cast voice actors. Actors such as Billy Murray (Captain Price), Soap (Kevin McKidd), Sargeant Foley (Keith David) and General Shepherd (Lance Henriksen) greatly enhanced the characters and gave them more depth and personality than you’d usually find in the FPS genre. But in the later iterations of the franchise, I felt that the presence of Stephen Lang, David Tennant and Kit Harrington did not improve the proceedings, mainly due to the lacklustre scripts. However, what CoD did achieve in those early games was in making celebrity voice acting respectable and not some poor relation of TV or movies. But it was Skyrim that actually made me sit up and take notice when I discerned that the voice acting talents of Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow. I wasn’t aware that they were involved in the game prior to playing and I was astonished that actors of their pedigree were on board.
Sadly for many games, voice acting is an expensive undertaking, especially for those developers that produce modest, lower budgets titles. Hence, you will often find variable performances or actors who are not native speakers of English which can be problematic. Poor voice performances can undermine the credibility of a game, even if every other aspect of them is sound. It instantly puts me in mind of old VHS copies of martial arts movies from Hong Kong that have been excruciatingly badly dubbed. Some of the earlier Sherlock Holmes games from Frogwares suffered in this respect. But for good or ill I feel that for certain genres of games simply must have full voice acting these days, just as I expect a sumptuous score and cinematic cutscenes. To not have such things seems a little “cheap”. It is curious how games have assimilated so many tropes and audio-visual affectations from cinema. But that is a separate blog post. Returning to the matter of ESO, I don’t know if I would be as interested if I had to digest the game’s complex lore simply via a wall of written text. Vocal performances make imparting such information far more accessible and bring it all alive.
Addons, Dependencies and Libraries in ESO
Once again, I’m writing a post not out of technical enthusiasm but to try and spare someone else the tiresome bullshit I’ve just had to endure this evening. I wrote earlier this year about the duality of addons in The Elder Scrolls Online. They can be a great boon to the player but they can also be fiddly to configure and frequently break when the game is updated. You’re dependent on the good will of a third party to maintain them. Naturally the recent addition of Elsweyr to ESO meant that a bunch of addons were broken by the expansion. Oddly enough I didn’t initially notice that several of mine had stopped working because I’ve been away from the game for a while, plus I was busy trying to transfer various settings from my previous character to my new alt. However, once I actually got down to the business of traversing Tamriel and questing, it came to my attention that lots of details were missing from my map. Hence, I discovered that all was not well in “Addonsville”.
Once again, I’m writing a post not out of technical enthusiasm but to try and spare someone else the tiresome bullshit I’ve just had to endure this evening. I wrote earlier this year about the duality of addons in The Elder Scrolls Online. They can be a great boon to the player but they can also be fiddly to configure and frequently break when the game is updated. You’re dependent on the good will of a third party to maintain them. Naturally the recent addition of Elsweyr to ESO meant that a bunch of addons were broken by the expansion. Oddly enough I didn’t initially notice that several of mine had stopped working because I’ve been away from the game for a while, plus I was busy trying to transfer various settings from my previous character to my new alt. However, once I actually got down to the business of traversing Tamriel and questing, it came to my attention that lots of details were missing from my map. Hence, I discovered that all was not well in “Addonsville”.
To cut a long story short when I brought up on screen the list of addons, there were several that had “Dependency” in red text next to the author details. A little research indicated that the addon relied upon a library and that this was out of date. According to Wikipedia “in computer science, a library is a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often for software development”. On the left-hand side of the addon menu there is a little triangular arrow next to each one that is installed. If you click on this, a list appears of all the libraries that the addon uses. Again several of these were written in red text, indicating they were out of date. Thus I checked on each addon that indicated and out of date dependency and made a note of which libraries needed replacing. This included such all-time classics as LibDebugLogger, LibDateTime andLibMapPing.
I ended up with a list of 11 libraries that needed to be updated. Mercifully, these were all easy to find and install via everyone’s favourite mod manager, Minion. I then logged back into ESO and found that all installed addons were now working, there were no further dependencies showing in red and I now had Skyshards and other collectables showing on the map. However, there’s a very good chance that the next lot of DLC or quality of life patch will fubar everything again. I would therefore suggest to ESO players who are not technical inclined, to regularly check their libraries as described to ensure they are not inconvenienced. So far ESO is still proving to be a fun and entertaining game but it is becoming increasingly high maintenance. I don’t mind tweaking things from time to time but the list of items to check and monitor with regard to addons seems to be growing. For gamers such as I, it can be a dangerous thing to upset the fun to effort ratio.
Creating Alts and Copying Settings in ESO
If you are a veteran player of The Elder Scrolls Online, this post will simply be a statement of the “bleedin’ obvious”. However I have written this article for the benefit of those relatively new to ESO as well as the occasional or casual player who are not au fait with all the subtleties and nuances of the MMORPG. If I can spare someone the hassle that I’ve had over the past 48 hours trying to figure this shit out, then I consider that a valuable social service. Because unlike other MMOs, creating a new alt in ESO causes some additional problems to arise. If you know about them in advance, they are a lot easier to manage. If, like me you were not aware of them, then it can be frustrating attempting to trouble shoot them on the fly.
If you are a veteran player of The Elder Scrolls Online, this post will simply be a statement of the “bleedin’ obvious”. However I have written this article for the benefit of those relatively new to ESO as well as the occasional or casual player who are not au fait with all the subtleties and nuances of the MMORPG. If I can spare someone the hassle that I’ve had over the past 48 hours trying to figure this shit out, then I consider that a valuable social service. Because unlike other MMOs, creating a new alt in ESO causes some additional problems to arise. If you know about them in advance, they are a lot easier to manage. If, like me you were not aware of them, then it can be frustrating attempting to trouble shoot them on the fly.
In older games such as The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online, you can customise you UI and key mapping easily and when complete save all relevant settings to a file. Hence when you create a new alt, once you finished the important task of tweaking their appearance you can start the game and load all your customary settings. You bags, hotbars and other onscreen paraphernalia is all where you expect it to be. You can now focus on the game rather than fine tuning your HUD etc. However, things are not so simple in ESO. New alts enter the game world with defaults settings. Yep, you read that right. All changes made to the key mapping of your other character are not present. Furthermore, assuming you want to use the same addons on your new alt, all those settings have not by default been carried over. Hence hours of tweaking await you if you’re unprepared.
So, before you start the process of creating your alt, get ahead of these potential issues by installing the following addons (yes, it takes an addon to solve and addon problem). Joviex's Addon Settings Transfer (Updated) and Voltan's Keybinder. Once these have been added to your existing collection, log into your primary character whose settings you wish to replicate. Use the command line /jovast to bring up the addon settings transfer window. You then highlight which characters you wish to transfer settings from and to. Congratulations, you’ve now duplicated all your addons settings and GUI locations to your new alt. While still logged into your primary alt, press the Esc key and navigate to Controls and then to Settings. You’ll find Standard Keybinds and Addon Keybinds listed. If you investigate further, you’ll find that all the existing keybind settings have a tick box next to them. Use this to choose which key mappings are duplicated on your new alt.
Following the above steps will save you time and a lot of bother. But due to the foibles of ESO there are still a few settings that have to be dealt with manually. For example, some onscreen displays only show during combat. Chat can also fade if not active. If you want to change such settings you have to alter a drop-down box or toggle a switch. None of the above tools port these settings and you’ll have to make them manually. So I would advice making a comprehensive list beforehand, taken from your primary alt or if you have a second monitor, simply take some screen captures and use them as a crib sheet to fine tune your new character. I suspect that if you implement this process several times, eventually it will become second nature as you refine it and make it more efficient. If you are feeling particularly generous you could categorise this foible of ESO as part of the game’s charm. I wouldn’t go that far myself but now that I’ve learned the hard way, I have no intention of being bothered again in the future with other alts. Forewarned is forearmed.
The Elder Scrolls Online and Action Combat
I was recently gifted a copy of Summerset in The Elder Scrolls online by a friend. Naturally this act of generosity lead to me returning to the game. Although I participated in the beta test, I only seriously started playing ESO from January to July last year. I created a High Elf Sorcerer and levelled to the current cap of 50 and then started working on gaining Champion Points, which currently stand at 187. Although I enjoyed the experience, especially from a narrative perspective, I did struggle to a degree with the action combat. It can be a quite a culture shock playing ESO after years of traditional, older MMOs that have a more static combat system. There is a tendency to default to old habits and ways that frequently leads to mistakes. Older MMOs often share common key mappings and system methodologies. ESO often flies in the face of that, so you find yourself having to “unlearn what you have learned” to coin a phrase. It can be done and you can adapt. I managed last year but now, due to the time elapsed, I am now having to do so again.
I was recently gifted a copy of Summerset in The Elder Scrolls online by a friend. Naturally this act of generosity lead to me returning to the game. Although I participated in the beta test, I only seriously started playing ESO from January to July last year. I created a High Elf Sorcerer and levelled to the current cap of 50 and then started working on gaining Champion Points, which currently stand at 187. Although I enjoyed the experience, especially from a narrative perspective, I did struggle to a degree with the action combat. It can be a quite a culture shock playing ESO after years of traditional, older MMOs that have a more static combat system. There is a tendency to default to old habits and ways that frequently leads to mistakes. Older MMOs often share common key mappings and system methodologies. ESO often flies in the face of that, so you find yourself having to “unlearn what you have learned” to coin a phrase. It can be done and you can adapt. I managed last year but now, due to the time elapsed, I am now having to do so again.
With MMOs such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Star Trek Online, combat is based around Tab Targetting. By pressing the tab key you highlight the nearest enemy and if you continue to press, cycle through all potential threats in the immediate vicinity. Once you’ve selected your target of choice you can attack it by using the skills on your hotbar. Due to Hard Locking, unless there’s an algorithm designed to make you occasionally miss, you will never do so. It’s a practical and straight forward form of combat. Hitting your enemy is not exactly difficult, although it can be argued that the expertise lies in the choice of skills used and their specific rotation. Different enemies with different buffs, strengths and weakness need to be approached accordingly.
The FPS genre offers a far more taxing approach to combat. Favouring a No lock system, the player is required to accurately aim a reticule to efficiently land hits upon a target. This is approach requires a level of skill right from the get-go and is very dependent upon the player’s situational awareness and reflexes. It’s one of the reasons I don’t play such games much these days as I have slowed with age. However, MMOs with action combat such as ESO have compromised with both Tab Targetting and No Lock mechanics. Although the tab key will select an enemy, and the reticule has to be aimed, there is a degree of assistance provided. Hence if your aim is slightly off, yet broadly in the right direction, then your attacks will reach the target although there may be a reduction in efficiency, the more your aim is out. This Soft Lock system requires a more mobile approach to combat. Standing your ground and key mashing is far from effective. Soft Lock also means that ranged attacks will ignore obstacles in the way, such as other mobs.
The net result of the fluid combat in ESO is that players have to be aware when to attack and when to defend. Dodging is essential in certain situations. Blocking via the right mouse button is also important in melee combat or close quarter situations. Then there are different types of primary attacks, other than your hotbar skills. The left mouse button governs attack types. Tap it once for light attack and hold it down for heavy. What you have to learn is to how to manage combat for your class. You have to consider your enemy and their skills so you can work out an appropriate strategy. Navigating the PVE content may not be too taxing but much of the group instance content does require a measured approach. Again, old school key mashing tends not to work and will result in death, inconvenience and in extreme cases, rage quitting.
As I’ve already mentioned, it is entirely possible to adapt to this contemporary approach to MMO combat but it require practise. There are lots of common mistakes that are made while trying to embrace this new methodology. Having the reticule on the screen is perhaps the primary difference that old school MMO players may immediately struggle with. I instinctively try to click on skills and instead simply find my character rotating or accidently attacking whatever is nearby. It takes a while to press the “.” key first to bring up the mouse arrow. The simple act of aiming takes a while to become second nature. It can also seem odd swapping between weapons type in mid-combat. However there are certain advantages to be had over old style MMO combat. The reduction in hotbar skills and the nature of action combat means that induction animations tend to be relatively quick and players are less likely to get caught out by Animation Lock. ESO also spares players from excessive and superfluous skills bloat on the hotbar by imposing limits.
Because there has been a year long gap in my playing ESO, when I logged in the other night, I was naturally rusty with regards to basic key mapping and navigating the UI. Furthermore, I had completely forgotten whether I had assigned some of my addons to the keyboard or the mouse. However, I found once again that Dolmen Farming was not only profitable, but useful as a training environment. So I immediately travelled to the Alik’r Desert and spent some time bouncing between the three Dolmen’s that regularly appear there. As for action combat, I have mixed feelings about it. This mobile approach is more credible and suits the idiom of the Elder Scrolls IP. But it does present a slightly higher barrier to entry than older, more static combat systems. Yet it also creates an additional motivation for co-operative play and grouping. If you find that the subtleties of fighting in ESO allude you, there is safety to be found in numbers.
A Month in Gaming
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.
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.
At present I am continuing to level my High Elf Guardian in LOTRO and recently hit 112. I immediately went to Udûn and bought an armour set with the “Light of Eärendil” stats, as I had plenty of spare Motes of Enchantment in my barter wallet from my primary alt. This gear gave me a significant boost in all relevant stats, not that I’m struggling in Northern Ithilien. Still it’s good to be overpowered. I decided it was time to try and acquire several First Age Legendary Items but the economy is so “fubar” on Laurelin server, that hardly any were available on the auction house at a viable price. Thankfully, kin-mates helped me out so I am currently levelling three items, pending imbuement. I had to meticulously follow a guide to ensure I had the right stats and such like and didn’t mess the thing up. If ever there was an example of a game system that was utterly bloated, ill-conceived and impractical, then it LIs in LOTRO.
I also decided to take my Primary alt (a level cap Lore-master) through the new region. I had a brief look at the Anduin zone during the beta testing but I purposely didn’t explore every nook and cranny. Overall, it’s very aesthetically pleasing, being lush and verdant. Once again, the ambient music by composer Bill Champagne is both apt and atmospheric. It is pleasant to trade in the mountains of the previous update for such a spacious and temperate zone. As ever the stories are intriguing and well research from a lore perspective. The various gear drops that accompany the Epic Story provide a means to further fine tune one’s stats. I very much like playing LOTRO in this fashion. Immersing myself in the story and tweaking my numbers to see if it changes my performance.
After dutifully playing through the various featured Task Force Operations in Star Trek Online, I finally earned my coupon for a free ship from the C-Store. I chose the Presidio Command Battlecruiser, which is a robust and versatile ship. After adding Pulse Phasers Beam Arrays and the right selection of consoles, it has proven formidable. I hope this event is something that Cryptic do again in the future, although I’m sure it wouldn’t be financially viable to giveaway such items with a tangible real-world cost too often. As the yearly summer festival on Risa has started, I have assigned an alt to the resort to undertake the daily repeatable quest. On a whim, I also renamed my primary Captain. So Fleet Admiral Kramer (named after the well-known danger seeker, Rex Kramer) is now Fleet Admiral Carrasco (which sounds much more like a pirate).
During June, I played through the entirety of the classic single player game Mafia and dabbled with the popular RTS, Total War: Warhammer. Both were interesting experiences but not just for “gaming” reasons. Both titles incurred several logistical problems that I have blogged about previously. To summarise, old games often need a lot of patching and modding to run on contemporary operating systems. Complex strategy games really do need hand holding tutorials if you are not familiar with the genre. I also toyed with the idea of playing The Elder Scrolls Online again and buying the Digital Collector’s Edition of Elsweyr which also contains the last expansion, Sommerset, which I didn’t buy. However, I’m not sure if I can give this game the attention required to play it effectively, so I’ve put the notion on hold. Similarly, I deferred trying Neverwinter again for the same reason. The last time I played was during the Beta test. So again, as with last month, the plan for July is to just stick with my two main MMOs and see if there’s any extra time to dabble with something else. As ever I’ll let you all know next month.
Star Trek Online: Lohlunat Festival 2019 Controversy
Yesterday Cryptic posted details of the forthcoming summer event, known in Star Trek Online parlance as the Lohlunat Festival 2019. As usual there’s a Tier 6 ship to be earned through daily missions along with a ton of cosmetic items. Emotes are popular with players and so this event also includes several that can be used in space via your starship, giving “Captains” further means of expressing themselves. At first glance, there’s nothing exceptional about this bundle of goodies. Nor nothing controversial. However, the devil is in the detail, as developer’s Cryptic subsequently found out.
Yesterday Cryptic posted details of the forthcoming summer event, known in Star Trek Online parlance as the Lohlunat Festival 2019. As usual there’s a Tier 6 ship to be earned through daily missions along with a ton of cosmetic items. Emotes are popular with players and so this event also includes several that can be used in space via your starship, giving “Captains” further means of expressing themselves. At first glance, there’s nothing exceptional about this bundle of goodies. Nor nothing controversial. However, the devil is in the detail, as developer’s Cryptic subsequently found out.
One of the emotes that was included in this year’s event was the “Dixies Horn”, just like in The Dukes of Hazard (for those old enough to remember that TV show). I say “was” because Cryptic have now removed that particular emote as a reward, having been made aware of the socio-political connotations associated with the song it is based upon. A post made by Vesta 3312 prompted a debate on the STO subreddit and it soon became clear that this was a matter that needed to be resolved promptly. Below is the original post which makes it point very clearly.
As ever with such online debates, not all participants “covered themselves in glory” and there were several comments removed by moderators for obvious transgressions of the subreddit rules. As ever, many of those who have never faced any sort of discrimination in their life, displayed an empathic blind spot and there were the usual arguments based around false equivalence. “I’m not offended, so why are you” still seems to be the go-to argument of choice, despite being logically flawed and emotionally tone deaf. However, Cryptic have acted promptly, addressed the matter and issued an apology. The official STO website has been edited accordingly and hopefully things can move on without too much loss of goodwill.
Yet, it is still a valid point to ask as to how such a blunder could have been made. Star Trek is an intellectual property couched in liberal, progressive attitudes. It is about diversity, inclusion and social issues. Over the years the various shows have explored many different aspects of human failing but they certainly haven’t endorsed any of them. It is sad that such a mistake was made, especially in light of the existing political climate that has become more partisan in recent years. Hopefully lessons can be learned from this incident and that no lasting harm has been done.
Hoard It or Spend It?
This posts stems from a recent experience I had in Star Trek Online but it is not a matter that is exclusive to that MMO. This is a subject that is pertinent to any multiplayer game that has an in-game currency and an economy driven by player activity. I’m not referring to single player games where you can use a console command to give you infinite wealth, such as Skyrim. This is about currencies that are earned in-game through grinding missions, selling gear and other assets to NPCs and trading via the auction house. It’s about how we as player perceive that virtual money and our relationship with it.
This posts stems from a recent experience I had in Star Trek Online but it is not a matter that is exclusive to that MMO. This is a subject that is pertinent to any multiplayer game that has an in-game currency and an economy driven by player activity. I’m not referring to single player games where you can use a console command to give you infinite wealth, such as Skyrim. This is about currencies that are earned in-game through grinding missions, selling gear and other assets to NPCs and trading via the auction house. It’s about how we as player perceive that virtual money and our relationship with it.
I’ve been playing STO regularly since 2015 when a recruitment event enticed me to return to this MMO. I have a primary character, a Tactical Federation Fleet Admiral and five other alts from various other factions. I play through all new content on my main “Captain” (as the developers like to refer to them) and harvest resources with the alts. Therefore over time I have built up a fair stock of the games two main currencies; Energy Credits and Dilithium. The former is quite hard to acquire unless you proactively follow an established course of action. Grind out Dilithium, refine it, sell it for Zen (the in-game store currency), buy lockbox keys and then sell them via the Exchange (auction house). Raising capital any other way is a long and laborious process. Generating Dilithium is not so difficult, but players are limited to refining 8,000 ore per 20 hours. Hence farming via alts is a necessity if you want to speed this process up. However, if you log in regularly and follow a daily routine, you can keep your account solvent with both currencies.
And so onto the crux of this post. There I was logged into my main alt a few days ago, toying with the idea of tinkering with my ship build on my main character, because that is a major part of the “endgame” (yes, I rolled my eyes as I said it) in STO. To cut a long story short I bought 6 Pulse Phaser Beam Arrays from the Exchange. I chose to buy “rare” quality to keep the costs down although this may have been a false economy as I then had to use a lot of resources to upgrade the weapons to “epic” quality and Mark XV level. I won’t bore you with all the details but I ended up using 100 Phoenix Universal Tech Upgrades, several hundred Superior Beam Weapons Tech Upgrades, about 250,000 Dilithium and spending 60,000,000 Energy Credits. Furthermore, the above process described was not undertaken casually. I spent hours perusing what was available for sale, trying to work out the potential upgrade costs and agonising over whether to make such major inroads into accumulated in-game wealth.
And there you have it in a nutshell. The curious paradox that arises from accruing resources that exist to be spent yet hesitating to do so, because you don’t like the idea of using it and being left with significantly less. I’m no psychiatrist but I suspect this reticence may stem from the investment of time it takes to gain in-game currencies and the fact that once spent, the clock is reset. Yet considering the fact that so much other progression is time gated in these sorts of game, why should this be any less palatable than say spending skills points or grinding reputation XP? Probably because its money. It may only be virtual cash but players tend to treat it in a similar fashion to the real thing. If gaining wealth comes easy to you in real life, you may well take a cavalier approach to spending it because there’ll always be more rolling in. If, however, you only earn a moderate wage and saving is an uphill struggle, then spending is subject to more scrutiny and certainly not done on a whim. Perhaps people bring these mindsets into the games they play?
I really procrastinated over this recent “investment of funds” in STO. I eventually got quite cross with myself for worrying so much about something that exists purely to facilitate a leisure activity and that getting vexed to such an extent was actually contradicting the entire point of playing this game. However, it certainly gave me food for thought. And again, this is not something that is unique to me or to this specific MMO. I’m sure similar dilemmas happen to those playing LOTRO, ESO, Guild Wars and the like. It’s an odd phenomenon and I’m not sure how it can be addressed because it stems from us rather than the game. Developers could use all sorts of inventive methods to disguise a currency in a game but as soon as players determine its function, they’ll approach it like money. Then they’ll either hoard it, spend it or dither over what they should do.
Video Game Tutorials
Video game tutorials are a curious thing. They are intended to orientate a new player and give them a quick and succinct overview of a games systems and mechanics. However few do this well and they can slow the player down. Because the MMO genre shares a lot of common features, it is often relatively straightforward to pick up the controls of a new game. Hence players will complain about the tutorial being a bane rather than a boon. Yet in single player games such as the Sniper Elite series, the tutorials are integrated into the first level and provide a good overview to playing the game without out staying its welcome. Furthermore, you can elect to disable this function in later versions of the game and play through the starter level without assistance. Hence tutorials have a tendency to be a somewhat mixed bag, yet they are a very necessary service. Having to continuously tab out of a game or refer to a website on a second monitor can really kill your sense of immersion and diminish your enjoyment of a new game. On a simple consumer level, selling a product that doesn’t come with some semblance of instructions is poor marketing.
Video game tutorials are a curious thing. They are intended to orientate a new player and give them a quick and succinct overview of a games systems and mechanics. However few do this well and they can slow the player down. Because the MMO genre shares a lot of common features, it is often relatively straightforward to pick up the controls of a new game. Hence players will complain about the tutorial being a bane rather than a boon. Yet in single player games such as the Sniper Elite series, the tutorials are integrated into the first level and provide a good overview to playing the game without out staying its welcome. Furthermore, you can elect to disable this function in later versions of the game and play through the starter level without assistance. Hence tutorials have a tendency to be a somewhat mixed bag, yet they are a very necessary service. Having to continuously tab out of a game or refer to a website on a second monitor can really kill your sense of immersion and diminish your enjoyment of a new game. On a simple consumer level, selling a product that doesn’t come with some semblance of instructions is poor marketing.
Which brings me on to Total War: Warhammer, which I bought recently for the bargain price of £11 from an online key seller. I used to play back in 1999 the real-time tactical wargame, Warhammer: Dark Omen. So Total War: Warhammer struck me as a natural progression to that game. So I installed the game along with the DLC and watched the opening cutscene. However, when I started the campaign, I discovered that there was no separate tutorial or one integrated into the first battle. There is a hints option, as well as a degree of guidance provided by an avatar on your GUI, but it is not in anyway what I would describe as a robust overview that you expect from a genuine tutorial. Given the complexity of a franchise such as Total War and the fact that a licence such Warhammer will naturally attract new players, you’d have thought the developers would ensure that such a facility was in place. I did pause the game and use the text based manual but it again only offered and overview and lacks details of which keys to press to change view, move between units and give specific orders.
My leisure time is a finite commodity. So when I discovered this “omission” I had two choices. I could go online and find a key map that I could print off and then watch a few third-party guides and tutorials on You Tube. The only problem with the latter option is that you have to watch several until you find one that is appropriate. Sadly not everyone is a good communicator and too many videos of this kind are simply not fit for purpose. The second option was to simply close the game and play something else and that is exactly what I chose to do. Because having to do my own research to determine the subtleties of Total War: Warhammer is obviously a subconscious tipping point. A comparable analogy would be when you go into a store to make an ad hoc purchase and you find yourself waiting in a queue. After a time you reach a point where you feel that you’ve waited too long and leave before being served. I’m sure certain gamers will at this point balk at such an attitude, but this is irrelevant. The fact remains that humans are subject to such capricious whims and often act upon them. Something that game developers would be wise to take note of. Therefore, to summarise this post; always include a tutorial in a game if you want people to play it.
E3 2019
I’ve watched a few presentations from this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo over the last few nights, mainly out of idle curiosity. Overall, it’s all broadly been what I expected. This is not your run of the mill promotion and advertising. No sir. This is targeted marketing, delivered with all the vigour and verve of “old time religion”, preached by a “fire and brimstone” minister to the faithful. It’s a curious symbiotic relationship between awkward, forty something tech guys as they stand on stage and strive to remember their media training and an audience of fundamentalist gamers who are there to whoop and clap on cue. Information about forthcoming games is not merely imparted but presented as gospel or the party manifesto. I’ll stop there with the religious and political analogies but they come very easily because that’s what E3 reminds me of; a church congregation or a political rally. And when you consider that we now live in an age of “feelings” rather than “thought”, it’s easy to see why enthusiasm for new products has been replaced by an eagerness to climb aboard the hype train and ride all the way to the “promised land”.
I’ve watched a few presentations from this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo over the last few nights, mainly out of idle curiosity. Overall, it’s all broadly been what I expected. This is not your run of the mill promotion and advertising. No sir. This is targeted marketing, delivered with all the vigour and verve of “old time religion”, preached by a “fire and brimstone” minister to the faithful. It’s a curious symbiotic relationship between awkward, forty something tech guys as they stand on stage and strive to remember their media training and an audience of fundamentalist gamers who are there to whoop and clap on cue. Information about forthcoming games is not merely imparted but presented as gospel or the party manifesto. I’ll stop there with the religious and political analogies but they come very easily because that’s what E3 reminds me of; a church congregation or a political rally. And when you consider that we now live in an age of “feelings” rather than “thought”, it’s easy to see why enthusiasm for new products has been replaced by an eagerness to climb aboard the hype train and ride all the way to the “promised land”.
The Gospel according to Keanu Reeves
E3 follows a clearly established pattern and certainly this year’s show has ticked all the usual boxes. I will now put aside hyperbole and try and articulate what concerns me about this situation. The triple A video game industry has had a very tumultuous relationship with both the gaming press and its core customers in recent years. Early access, broken games, egregious monetisation and a general lack of ethics are just some of the iniquities that are prevalent. Then there’s the broken relationship with the media, “influencers” and a need to “control the message”. And let us not forget that some companies have a track record of institutionalised bullying, sexism, crunch culture and general “douchebaggery”. So I find it somewhat contradictory that such companies have the unmitigated gall to stand on a stage and make out that they’re gamer’s best friend. The very companies that have patented algorithms for trying to squeeze every possible penny from their core customers. It’s also weird that the people who have been burned by such business practises, develop temporary amnesia for the entire duration of E3 and happily participate in this charade.
“Would I lie to you?”
There is a lot of truth in the old adage that politicians are only as good or bad as we allow them to be. We are now seeing a similar race to the bottom spill out of government and become de rigueur in business culture. So unless we call out the video game industry loudly and clearly whenever it lies, acts unethically, abuses customers good will and doggedly perpetuates “bro culture”, we as gamers are just facilitating the ongoing decline of very thing we allegedly love. As for this year’s E3 presentations, sure there do appear to be some good titles coming our way, but if you have a functioning intellect, you’d be well advised to take it all with a pinch of salt. Bear in mind previous games that were much lauded when announced, that subsequently failed to live up to expectations upon release. Do you really want to pay up front purely on the strength of a promise, from “an old liar with honey on his forked tongue”? If gamers truly want the industry to change then they need to stop enabling its failings and encouraging its excesses. Otherwise we are doomed to endure more hysterical, hyperbolic presentations such as those we’ve seen this week.
The Perils of Installing Old PC Games
This is a big subject with thousands of PC games from over a decade ago that could be referenced. However, for the sake of brevity, I am just going to mention three in this post. So to begin with let’s just bypass the entire “nostalgia versus current” debate. Simply put, I feel there is value and enjoyment to be found in older PC games. Graphics and game mechanics naturally date, but often the technical limitations that existed at the time made the game developers both innovative and creative. Therefore you will often find that there are older titles that still have merit and something to offer. I recently bought Mafia which is the first instalment of a franchise currently owned by 2K Games. I have only played the latter two iterations of the game, namely Mafia II released 2010 and Mafia III released 2016. I was aware that the original released back in 2002, had a good reputation for its story driven gameplay and that it is still considered both challenging and creative.
This is a big subject with thousands of PC games from over a decade ago that could be referenced. However, for the sake of brevity, I am just going to mention three in this post. So to begin with let’s just bypass the entire “nostalgia versus current” debate. Simply put, I feel there is value and enjoyment to be found in older PC games. Graphics and game mechanics naturally date, but often the technical limitations that existed at the time made the game developers both innovative and creative. Therefore you will often find that there are older titles that still have merit and something to offer. I recently bought Mafia which is the first instalment of a franchise currently owned by 2K Games. I have only played the latter two iterations of the game, namely Mafia II released 2010 and Mafia III released 2016. I was aware that the original released back in 2002, had a good reputation for its story driven gameplay and that it is still considered both challenging and creative.
So I purchased the game from Good Old Games and installed it via their Galaxy gaming client and installer. One of the major selling points of GOG as a game provider is the way they retrofit old titles to run on current operating systems. I could easily have picked up a copy of Mafia on physical media but installing and running the game from such a source is often problematic. Setting aside driver issues, compatibility mode and the like, many installation disks from this era use obsolete copy protection software. SafeDisc being one example. Thus playing Mafia from a CD installation is dependent upon removing a very specific Windows Update that disabled SafeDisc support. If you have a more recent build of Windows 10, you may find that it is integral to your operating system and cannot be uninstalled. I encountered this same issue with Hidden and Dangerous 2 recently which I installed from the original media. Without the necessary copy protection support the game’s main executable would not work.
However, despite GOG doing their best to resolve such technical issues with the older titles that sell, other problems can arise. For example Mafia has a soundtrack consisting of period Jazz music from such artists as The Mills Brothers, Louis Armstrong and Django Reinhardt. However, due to licensing complications the music is absent in the GOG release. Now some players may not think this relevant to their enjoyment of the game, but I feel that it is integral to the overall game experience. Hence, I spent an hour reading the GOG forums as to how to restore the game score. There is a way to do so and someone has posted a link to the “removed” files which they’ve sourced from the original installation CDs. Needless to say I have followed this process and all has gone well, but it does require you to put your trust in your fellow gamers and that is not something one does lightly.
Another problem arising from installing Mafia is that this is a game that hales from a time when screen resolutions were a lot lower and aspect ratios other than 4:3 were not commonplace. Thus, elements of the onscreen UI are distorted or broken when running the game at 1920 x 1200, which is my default screen setting. Again a search online will yield a list of workarounds and I found a suitable “mod” over at Nexus Mods, along with another to update the draw distance for modern PCs. Nexus Mods is a long-established site whose community ensures that bogus mods are eliminated, making their content more reliable than other third-party sites. Hence, I was finally able to play Mafia with the original score and at a contemporary screen resolution without and distortion. My initial impressions of the game are good. The story is indeed well written and the missions are quite taxing, although the vehicle handling is appalling.
Another favourite game of mine from the late nineties is the real-time tactical fantasy wargame, Warhammer: Dark Omen. This game was released in 1998 and used 3D generated terrains in which 2D sprites subsequently battled. The game was one of the first to include support for the first-generation Voodoo 3dfx 3D accelerator cards. Getting such a game, which was also designed to run on Windows 98 to function on a modern PC is a challenge. Unlike Mafia, if you want to play Warhammer: Dark Omen, then you have to do more than apply a few mods. There is an entire forum dedicated to this game with a very complex set of instructions to get the game working. Going to such lengths to play a game one feels nostalgic about may not viable option for everyone. Therefore, the casual gamer would be wise to bear in mind that purchasing a much beloved title from GOG does not guarantee an exact duplicate experience to what you may have had previously. Nor does trying to install and play a game using the original media. Unless you have access to older hardware with the appropriate operating system of the time, you’ll probably have to do some tweaking to get things running either way. Therefore, caveat emptor.
A Month in Gaming
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.
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.
MMO wise, I continued to focus on The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online throughout May. I gritted my teeth and progressed through Western Rohan and Wildermore, endeavouring to keep the mounted combat to a minimum. The Epic Story was engaging and most of the time, I preferred to tackle mounted foes on foot, using my Archer skirmish soldier in support. However, I reached at point at level 87 when my Guardian couldn’t progress any further with the Epic Story as the content was more than five levels above. The only way to move forward would have been to grind out the regional quests and gain a few levels. This meant having to endure quite a lot of quests that were specifically designed to be completed via your Warsteed. This was not a prospect I relished. Also the continuous levelling and deconstruction of Legendary Items every five levels was becoming a nuisance. It would be so much better if developers SSG eliminated the scale of LIs from 50 to 100 and just presented you with one at the start of Moria and allowed to simply imbue and retain that for the remainder of the game.
But I digress, faced with a levelling impasse, I decided to buy the Aria of the Valar Upgrade and auto levelled to 105. The intention wasn’t to bypass content, but to allow me to continue to pursue the epic story on my own terms. The gear that the aria provides is of the non-slotted variety and is certainly adequate for all pre-Mordor content. I therefore intend to progress through the Epic Story and over time earn sufficient LOTRO points to be able to purchase nine Anfalas Star-lit Crystals. Then at an appropriate juncture I can acquire a first age Guardian’s belt, sword and two-handed sword, max out and imbue them, then lay the whole sorry LI “problem” to rest. Recent levelling has also raised the spectre of Epic Battles which have to be endured as they’re incorporated into the Epic Story. However, I have learned which ones have fail mechanics and which ones do not, so have so far managed to clear all that I’ve encountered with minimal inconvenience. At present I have got so far as Pelargir and am looking forward to exploring Minas Tirith throughout June.
Again, STO continues to provide a quick fix of gaming with its personal endeavour system. Having reached rank 49 out of 71, the benefits of specific account wide perks being unlocked is now producing tangible results. The latest rep faction (Discovery Legends) provides several new gear sets to experiment with and this years Summer Festival is not far off now and will once again offer the opportunity to earn a Tier 6 ship. I am hoping that Cryptic will announce the restoration of several classic episodes that have been “temporarily” removed from the game to be overhauled, in the months ahead. One of the reasons I’ve stopped levelling several alts at present is due to the overarching narrative currently being out of sync and somewhat confused. I’m also toying with experimenting with my Romulan alt to see if I can contrive a build that utilises their alleged DPS advantage. One of the benefits of STO is the way you can experiment with builds without being 100% dependently on the most optimal gear. The various game systems offer enough scope for small tweaks that can yield improved performance without having to have the resources of an über player.
Again, my long-term gaming aspirations for June will have to be tempered against my current domestic commitments. I’ll probably just focus as ever on my two current MMOs, although I am tempted to buy a new single player game. I’ve been keeping an eye on A Plague Tale: Innocence which seems to have reviewed well and offers both an authentic interactive story set during the Black Death along with a stealth orientated game mechanic. Combat is usually to be avoided and the player is primarily focused on using items and the environment as a means of diversion. The swarms of rats certainly look formidable and I think this sort of measured approach to navigating your way through the game will appeal to me. The other title that is currently on my radar is The Sinking City which gets released, exclusively through the Epic Store at the end of June. Developed by Frogwares, this has the detection mechanics of their previous Sherlock Holmes games combined with a sandbox open world for the wider Lovecraft inspired RPG narrative. It all looks rather atmospheric and intriguing. Again, the seems like the sort of game that you can undertake at your own pace and focus on the detail. That’s the plan for June. Let’s see if that’s how it pans out.
Remastered Games
I played through Sniper Elite V2 Remastered this week and the graphical overhaul is impressive and the addition of photo mode provides an amusing diversion. It is a superior iteration of the game than the original 2012 release. However, I have read reviews that have found this new version unsatisfactory. There have been complaints that the game lack the scope and sophistication of Sniper Elite III and 4. If you explore such comments further you soon find that those who have made them seem to fundamentally confuse a remaster of a game with a remake. Sniper Elite V2 Remastered has been lovingly dragged up to visual standards of the latter versions of the games by Rebellion Developments, but it’s original 2012 structure, mechanics and limitations are still present. If you require a succinct metaphor it is the difference between redecorating and refurbishing a house.
I played through Sniper Elite V2 Remastered this week and the graphical overhaul is impressive and the addition of photo mode provides an amusing diversion. It is a superior iteration of the game than the original 2012 release. However, I have read reviews that have found this new version unsatisfactory. There have been complaints that the game lack the scope and sophistication of Sniper Elite III and 4. If you explore such comments further you soon find that those who have made them seem to fundamentally confuse a remaster of a game with a remake. Sniper Elite V2 Remastered has been lovingly dragged up to visual standards of the latter versions of the games by Rebellion Developments, but it’s original 2012 structure, mechanics and limitations are still present. If you require a succinct metaphor it is the difference between redecorating and refurbishing a house.
The recently released Resident Evil 2 is a remake of the original 1998 PlayStation game. Unlike the original, which uses “tank controls” and fixed camera angles, the new version features over-the-shoulder third-person shooter gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4. The game has found favour with both critics and players and although it remains true to the themes and idiom of the original, it is more than just a graphical overhaul. The developers, Capcom R&D Division 1, refined the existing mechanics and systems, improved the environment, rather than just recreating it with improved assets and textures, resulting in a new product that is compatible with the prevailing tastes of contemporary gamers. It is not an exact duplicate of the PlayStation version, neither has it wondered entirely “off script”. It therefore clearly fits the criteria of what constitutes a remake, instead of a remaster. Clearly this process has not been applied to Sniper Elite V2 Remastered by Rebellion Developments.
Another debate surrounding remastered games is over their relative value and whether development resources would be better focused on creating entirely new titles. I’d argue that Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is a positive example of a game that been remastered. The fact that I didn’t have to pay the full retail price (which wasn’t excessive to begin with) because I owned the previous version, helped with my positive opinion. Furthermore when it was announced, Rebellion Developments also pointed out that a new instalment in the franchise was currently being worked on, so the remaster was not at the expense of anything else. However, on the other side of the coin, let us remember how Activision handled the remaster of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game benefited from improved graphics and assets but suffered from a somewhat egregious business model. Activision decided to initially release it as part of a premium bundle when players bought Infinite Warfare. Then there was also the inclusion of microtransactions that were not present in the original. Finally, the DLC multiplayer maps that were free with the 2007 version of the game were gated behind a paywall in this 2016 remaster.
It is naïve to expect ethical business management by default from the video games industry, so gamers are left having to keep their wits about them when it comes to determining whether a remastered game is or is not good value. Rebellion Developments have at least been fair with their remasters so far, with respect of content and pricing. Other publishers have taken a different route. The Skyrim Special Edition may well have an improved aesthetic but still contains bugs that have existed in every other iteration and port of the game. It is therefore up to us as consumers to make clear what “is” a good value remaster and what isn’t. We should also be vocal if we discover that a remaster comes at the expense of something new. Polite, measured and intelligent lobbying can and does work. As does screaming and throwing your toys out of the pram, but the latter comes at the cost of dignity, moral rectitude and credibility. In the meantime, I suspect we shall continue to see remasters of all types, as nostalgia is a proven seller. May be on occasions, a successful remaster acts as a litmus test, proving sufficient interest to justify a new entry in an existing franchise.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint - No More Squad Support For Solo Players
Ghost Recon Wildlands was my introduction to this long-standing Ubisoft franchise. I bought the game a year after launch so got a good deal on a comprehensive package of all the content. Broadly I like the game and really enjoyed the massive open world environment. Although there was a four-player co-op option, I tackled the game using A.I. teammates and didn’t find them as problematic as some player did. Perhaps their tactical deficiencies were more prevalent at higher difficulty levels. As for the characters’ cheesy dialogue, it really wasn’t a problem. Most banter between friends in real life is far from erudite. So it is unrealistic to expect witty ripostes and “puckish” epigrams from a squad of special forces soldiers. Overall, I found playing through the game this way, rather than with other players a far more enjoyable experience. I could take my time, plan my strategy and my AI team mainly did what I expected them to do. For a player of my skill level, this was a win, win situation.
Ghost Recon Wildlands was my introduction to this long-standing Ubisoft franchise. I bought the game a year after launch so got a good deal on a comprehensive package of all the content. Broadly I like the game and really enjoyed the massive open world environment. Although there was a four-player co-op option, I tackled the game using A.I. teammates and didn’t find them as problematic as some player did. Perhaps their tactical deficiencies were more prevalent at higher difficulty levels. As for the characters’ cheesy dialogue, it really wasn’t a problem. Most banter between friends in real life is far from erudite. So it is unrealistic to expect witty ripostes and “puckish” epigrams from a squad of special forces soldiers. Overall, I found playing through the game this way, rather than with other players a far more enjoyable experience. I could take my time, plan my strategy and my AI team mainly did what I expected them to do. For a player of my skill level, this was a win, win situation.
Hence, I was pleased to learn of a direct sequel to the 2017 game and watched the announcement trailer for Ghost Recon Breakpoint with interest. Frankly, these sorts of videos don’t really give you much information about the nuts and bolts of the game, so I then decided to see what a few websites had to say about what was on offer. It didn’t take long for me to read a short paragraph that effectively killed my interest in Ghost Recon Breakpoint dead. It would appear that Ubisoft have elected not to address the shortcomings of the squad A.I. in this iteration of the game. Rather than increase their functionality and give the player greater control over their actions, they’ve simply removed them from solo play. If you want the support of a full squad you will have to play with other players and endure the problems that are inherent with such a system. According to Emil Daubon, the lead writer on the game “the mission statement that we received was we want to create a fantasy that replicates being alone trapped behind enemy lines. Ultimately, if you choose to play a solo, you have the option to immerse yourself deeply in that aspect of the fantasy. The A.I. teammates would have taken away from that”. Yeah and if my Granny had wheels, she’d be a wagon.
I really dislike this ongoing mindset of primarily placing a player’s enjoyment and progress in a game, in the hands of other players. I don’t enjoy being reliant on random strangers, all of whom have different play styles, varying ability and personal notions of what is or isn’t “fun”. Perhaps the biggest problems for me is that such auto-grouping systems have zero impact over issues such as social skills and one’s ability to interact with others in a commensurate fashion. The alternative to this is to play with friends but most of the people I have on my various friends lists tend to play different genres of games. I doubt if I know anyone who will play Ghost Recon Breakpoint. If I do, then there’s the logistics of arranging a suitable play session that suits respective time zones. Another issue that stems from removing the A.I. squad is that solo players are now at a disadvantage when it comes to effectively using vehicles. There are apparently over 30 available to use in the game, but solo players will no longer have teammates that can utilise turrets and provide tactical support. And then there’s the issue of the famous sync shot mechanics. In previous games, you’d potion your squad and simultaneously take down multiple enemies. It would seem that Ubisoft have got around this by allowing the solo player to now use drones, but it lacks the panache of the original method.
So there you have it. Once again, a game studio has made a change to a long-standing game mechanic associated with a franchise and as a result lost a percentage of potential customers. I have no idea if that is a large or relatively small number of players, but I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels this way about the ubiquity of co-operative play. It one of the reasons I decided not to buy the new World War Z game. Again, there is no single player mode with an A.I. Squad. As for the reasons used to justify such decisions such as “immersion” and such like, I simply don’t believe them. Removing A.I. teammates means eliminating a problem. It is one less coding headache to address and it makes it easier for companies such as Ubisoft to assemble their cookie cutter games. That’s not to say that their games are bad, because they are not. But they all seem to share common components, systems and mechanics. Without straying into hyperbole, it is this approach to gaming and the continued stripping away of anything that doesn’t easily integrate into the “live serves” business model, that is driving the triple A video games industry towards an inevitable crash or major recalibration.
A Month in Gaming
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.
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.
I’m still not sure how Turbine (now Standing Stone Games), got it into their heads that mounted combat was the holy grail of the game. It is present as a game mechanic in Rohan mainly due to the lore and the prevailing Equine culture. It persists in parts of Gondor, but by the time you reach the Black Gates it’s a dim and distant memory. I think of all the game systems present in LOTRO this has been the most ill-conceived. Mounted combat is plagued with flaws. Steering your War Steed is a chore, even if you choose the lightest class. Speeding up, slowing down and tightly turning are virtually impossible and the poor handling is compounded by the lag and stuttering inherent in Rohan. Skills are proximity based, even the ranged ones and you can never get off a decent series of attacks. And then there’s the Legendary Bridle which just adds another LI to your existing collection to micromanage. Thankfully, for the present I’m just pursuing the Epic Story through the Western Rohan and have managed to proceed through the Eastern March and Wildermore with minimal mounted combat. Oh Hang on. I’ve got Epic Battles coming up? Deep joy.
Meanwhile, back in Star Trek Online, I’ve been keeping busy with lots of content that you can play in relatively short bursts. Ideal gaming for when you want to unwind in the midevening but don’t have the time, energy or commitment to pursue something too complex. I’ve completed yet another featured Task Force Operation event. Operation Riposte is somewhere in between a cake walk and a no brainer and once you know the format of this short five-man mission, it’s something you can do, while you listen to a podcast or watch TV. This TFO and others also earn you credit for the 100% Discount Coupon. Effectively just play the specified content and over time you’ll fill out yet another blue progress bar. Once complete you can claim any Tier 6 ship of your choice from the C-Store. And then there’s the Personal Endeavors which are just a variation of daily quests. All these things can keep you busy but not in an overtly annoying way. “It’s a grind Jim, but not as we know it”. Also there’s a new feature episode coming up soon featuring Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs), so STO remains on the current game list as it keeps me busy.
I briefly toyed with the idea of buying World War Z. Watching the various streams and You Tube reviews reminded me of how much I enjoyed Left 4 Dead 2. This game is cooperative third-person shooter in which four players fight against massive hordes of zombies in Moscow, New York, Jerusalem, and Tokyo. It looks slick and when the zombies attack en masse, it certainly seems like fun. However, it doesn’t have a single player campaign which means that the game is purely an online multiplayer experience. That makes your enjoyment of the game dependent on those you PUG with. The last time I played such a game was Friday the 13th: The Game back in December 2017. It was great when you got a good team and everyone was broadly on the same page, but all too often it just seemed like I was attending a group meeting for recovering assholes. I suspect there is a risk of this with World War Z. Shame the game doesn’t allow you to play with the rest of your team made up of bots. Hence, I declined to make this title my first proper purchase from the Epic Store.
I suspect my real-world commitments will continue to monopolise my time throughout May, so I suspect that I shall continue to just play both LOTRO and STO. However, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is released on the 14th and so I’ll shall try to make time for this classic title. As an owner of the existing PC version, Rebellion offered me an upgrade for just £6.99 which is a very good deal. This remastered version includes not only all the DLC of the original game but some new features such as 4K support and photo mode. The latter may provide some grim amusement with copious screenshots via the X-ray kill cam. Also, irrespective of the new bells and whistles, Sniper Elite is a good franchise offering a slow and measured gaming experience. A pleasant change of pace in today’s frenetic world of gaming.