Star Wars: TOR Releases Sith Character Progression Video

BioWare released another progression video, this time we get a look at the Sith Warrior Character Progression. See the article and Video at the site here or check it out below.

So What’s the Deal with Rift Anyways

When you write a blog there is a very good chance that you read blogs as well, in most cases a lot of blogs. That is exactly where I am and ever since its release Rift has been a hot topic. It seems that bloggers are either writing about it or declaring Rift free zones on their sites. The biggest surprise has got to be the heated battles being played out between WoW fan boys and the newly converted Rifters.

           When the game was released I had some mild interest in it, but I decided to delay giving it a try and focus on my other gaming interests. But now that the game has been out for a few months and still appears to be going strong, I am starting to wonder if I’m missing something really good? Is it worth it to leave my other games and focus on this one? From what I’ve seen the game looks good and seems enjoyable to play, but I haven’t witnessed anything ground breaking. I guess I’m just curious about it, but not enough to get it. Maybe someone can change my mind.    

Lost Desire for Running Dungeons & Raids

            Since Cataclysms release I have not ran a single Raid instance, nope not one, nada, zero, zilch. If you were to go back in time and inform a past version of me during Vanilla, The Burning Crusade, or even Wrath, that they would not be running raids come a future expansion I would have either died of laughter or disbelief. Its not that I am a powerhouse raider or anything like that, in fact I am as casual at raiding as one can get.

I have been to Icecrown Crown Citadel, both 10 and 25 man versions, and garnered some nice loot. But to date I have failed to acquire the King Slayer moniker and don’t really care that I haven’t. It has occurred to me that I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to a dungeon for that matter. I still play the game (Although not as much as in the past.), so what exactly am I doing with all my time and why am I not raiding?

WOW without Raiding

            To some people the concept of playing World of Warcraft without an active dungeon or raiding aspect is some what pointless. For me it has always been just a portion of the game I have come to love and something I did when I wanted to.  I have never had the time or desire for the single minded focus a true hard core raider must have in order to successfully complete raiding in WOW. I applaud those that are able to conquer everything that Blizzard throws at them, but for me it’s just not that important.

           

With that being said I have never played this game before without some form of dungeon or raiding game play. There has always been some type of progressive gear building for PVE, but now I seem unwilling to climb that ladder. Although I am focusing a lot lately on PVP gear, this is also not the answer to the demise of PVE content for me. I have always balanced the two aspects during my time in game and maintained a desire to run both.

           

After some minor soul searching, I believe I have come up with the number one reason why I am not raiding anymore and it is rather simple, I just don’t want to. Dungeon running and raiding (Which for this topic I will now call PVE Progression) and the loot it provides, has lost its fun factor and luster for me.  PVE Progression in Cataclysm has had that “been there, done that” feel which I just can’t shake. I am actually at the point where running dungeon after dungeon and then repeating the same for raiding is actually distasteful for me.

           

Now I understand it is not the games overall fault for this drastic change in my gaming behavior, but it must hold some responsibility for my apparent burnout as each new dungeon and each new raid is basically the same thing as before with a few extra mechanics here and there. WoW has been plugging along with the same instance structure since the beginning of time and although some minor changes may have occurred, it is basically the same thing as it has always been which is an advanced game of sequence memorization with a gear check.

Simon Says

PVE Progression in WoW has for the most part been an advanced game of Simon says in which each player reacts to a preconfigured series of events. Before most players ever step into a Dungeon or Raid they can look up strategies and videos of the fight and gain a basic understanding of what to do next. Although I don’t begrudge Blizzards way of PVE design (They make a lot more money doing it than I do, because I make 0) There methods are not my personal ideal way of playing a game. With that in mind I just feel that the PVE Progession ladder climb is not for me anymore.

As long as a player can meet the following criteria – connection doesn’t lag (which was a killer in the safety dance), reads a strat guide, installs add-ons (Deadly Boss Mods and such), has sufficient gear, and can think and react on the fly, they can beat anything this game has to offer. Sadly for me the one thing missing from this is the unknown factor.

Raiding has no suspense or surprises anymore. I want to have to react to unexpected changes, to walk into a raid and marvel at it all, to enjoy that sensation of trepidation. I can’t do that with pre defined instances which can be viewed on YouTube. Now the expected response from others will be for me to not watch the videos, install add-ons or learn about the instance before entering, but is that really possible? How many raiders would put up with my uneducated and ill informed self before dropping in a fit of rage? For Cataclysm, Blizzard has made raiding harder, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to better or even different.

I Guess it’s Just Me

           Although I highly doubt I am the only one that feels this way about raiding, I imagine the majority of the raiding community is still having a good time. I am truly happy for  them and hope they get all they can out of the game, but for me I guess I am just missing that feeling you got when first entering Blackwing lair or Karazhan. With each release of an Expansion, raiding has lost its newness for me and I think I am just at the tipping point of not being entertained anymore.

           

          Secretly I am hoping that all I need is a break from raiding, that some day in the future I’ll be itching to jump back into the foray. Ultimately I feel that raiding for me is suffering from diminishing returns, becoming less and less enjoyable with each addition. I realize that for WoW it is too late to change the structure of raiding for me, but my hope is that future game I intend to play (looking at you SWTOR) can be different or original enough to relight that flame inside me.         

Arenas, Captain and Other Games

World Of Warcraft

PVP has still got me hooked to this game and now I have reentered the Arenas after a lengthy hiatus. Joined a wandering Warrior to create our team of DPS/Pally heals and I must say for a new group we did quite well winning 50 percent of our matches. I also discovered that I need much better gear, but all in all I am doing pretty good for myself. Also on the PVP front I I am still annoyed at the amount of interupts, snares and silences in this game. Once the other team realizes I am healing I am usually locked down in Battle Grounds. Sometimes I get tired of watching my GCD spin around and around without being able to do anything. I do understand that we need balance in this game, but it seems the only way Blizzard balances anymore is with interupts.

Star Trek Online

I made it to the rank of Captain and selected a cruiser for my next ship. Going from an escort to a cruiser is very dramatic. I coudln't beleive just how slow a cruiser seems next to an escort. I went ahead and purchased a escort as well in case I need some firepower. I didn't want an escort for this rank because I dont like the way the escorts look at this level, but I can tell I'll miss the fast kills if I level with the cruiser.
Also I played the mission set "Cold Case" and thought it was well done. Nice mix of lore, puzzle solving and fighting.

Other Games

Although most of my time has been taken up between WoW, STO and BF: BC2, I'm thinking of dipping my hand into a F2P game like Lord of the Rings Online (Again) or Champions Online (Never Played). I might also give Battlestar Galactica Online A try mainly to see how it works as a Browser based MMORPG.

Review of Star Trek Online: Part Two

Welcome back to my review of Star Trek Online after two months of playing. if you missed my first part please read it HERE first. Otherwise lets get back into it.

Crafting – 3.4

Crafting is somewhat entertaining, but ultimately confusing. Basically you gather Data Samples from around the galaxy and use them to make different items both for your person and ship. The biggest problem is the number of different data samples to obtain and which one to use when. I was able to get the hang of it after some time, but for a new player it may appear confusing. Also everyone crafts the same things with the same stuff. I much prefer a system that lets me pick my profession. In STO there is no choice if you want to craft you need to do what everyone else does. One last thing that annoys me is that the only place that I have found where you’re able to craft is a planet called Memory Alpha and no where else. it can be a pain to have to run up there every time you wish to make something.

Foundry – 4.8

Using the Foundry is by far my favorite part of STO. In case you didn’t know, the Foundry is a program you log into that allows you to create your own custom missions and then share them with the general player base. The details you can go into while making your missions is pretty in depth and make this a lot of fun. You can perform a wide variety of options including creating your own maps to setting up each encounter to adding sound effects. For a first release of this program it is well done and the only reason I did not give it a perfect score is because I feel there is some room for improvement. Adding some more advanced features like a building builder and item builder would help. This is one of the better parts of the game and one I look forward to using.

Game Play

 The meat and potatoes of any game is how well it plays and whether or not it has replay ability. In STO you have two completely different styles of game play, Space and Ground. Because these two are so different from each other I thought it prudent to separate each ones score and talk about them differently.

Space Game Play – 4.5

Ship combat in this game is very well done. You have well thought out offensive and defensive systems and many types to choose from. You can have Turrets, Cannons, Beam emitters (Phasers and others) and Torpedo Launchers. You can change out your ships consoles to improve different things both offensively and defensively. You can change the setting s of your shields, change your crew and on and on. There are a lot of options and it is fun playing around with them to find the right mix. Also the ships themselves are customizable and come in three different classes, Escorts, Cruisers and Science Vessels. Each looks completely different and performs different roles in the game.

Action is usually smooth with minimal bugs and traveling around open space, even in transit, is fun. By far the best aspect of this game and you never want to leave your ship. But alas this is a Star Trek based game after all and what would Star Trek be without Away Teams and ground based missions.

Ground Game Play – 1.5

I tried to give this a better score, I really, really did but for me the ground based missions are just too darn buggy and bland. Every time I stop running for no apparent reason or my forward progress is halted by a plant leaf I want to log off. Also the weapons in the future apparently miss fire a lot because my weapons almost never appear to fire when I press the button. Randomly generated maps also often create misaligned graphics leaving over laps and bugs. Enemy and crew member intelligence appears very low and they will often do very dumb things like running into bad. Fights are often chaotic and disorganized with very little effort given to strategy or team work.

Besides the bugs and messy game play of random generated maps, pre made maps like space stations and fleet actions operate better and better scripted storylines in some missions are an improvement, but overall the game play of ground based action is just a mess right now. Fortunately most of the developer’s time has been centered on improving this portion of the game and I am hopeful for it.

Fleet Actions and other things – 4.2

Fleet actions are fun period, the come in both space and ground varieties and are basically zones that people join and work together for a common goal. They are very similar to Warhammers public quests as each person is rated by their participation and given a reward based on it. They can be a lot of fun especially when you get several people working together. In fact my ship has been parked outside “The Big Dig” for quite some time now.

The other things I wanted to cover are Warzones. Warzones are areas in which opposing factions, Star Fleet and Klingons, can enter and compete to capture an objective. One in particular is about the Borg and shutting a Cube factory down. Which ever side completes the listed tasks first wins. It has group play and PVP in one and it can be quite fun. Unfortunately there always seem to be a shortage of Klingons playing in Warzones when I play, but from a game play aspect they are very well done.

Overall Rating - 3.7

Well there you have it 3.7 is the average of the 10 categories I graded above and quite frankly seems about right for the game as a whole. If we were to take that as a letter grade it would be somewhere around a C+ to B-. Either way the game is at times great and at other times abysmal. I still am enjoying my time in game and have decided to continue on to at the very least I reach level cap.

This after all is my opinion of the game so far and I hope this review will prove helpful and informative. I would like to hear from you on what you think of the game so far and also feel free to grade it yourself or criticize my grades the more the better.