YourGamer.Net

for the past few days, its all been about the Heavy. I’ve been Playing TF2 for quite a while now, and thought that the achievements in the heavy pack would be easy.

well it isn’t when everyone else is trying to also get the acheivements. I got the Sandvich and Natasha so far, need the K.G.B’s . hopefully i’ll get it here soon.

Another thing, Star Trek online and Diablo 3 fanbois seam to be setting an example of what out the fan base is devolving to. A bunch of panicky geeks that are constantly in a stage of nerd rage. You don’t know how annoying it is to see people whining about A)a game they know little about,B)how they make a big deal over stupid shit and C)its not there property to begin with.

here where it is, they make the games, you don’t: unless you can make the games, then you have no right to say how its made.

Its hard to forget the year E3 downsized and took out alot of the fan-faire. Fans where devestated by this sudden lack of things that really made the Electronic Entertainment Expo the awesome event it was. Massive area’s dedicated to every aspect of digital entertainment, no matter how obscure.

Booths tailored to feed your zealot-level admiration of what ever blew your skirt up. Discussion panels on everything from the future of the industry, to who would win in a fight, Samus Aran or Master Chief (Samus, of course). Free swag and booth babes as far as the eye could see.

But then they unthinkable happened. They reduced the size and all but banned booth babes. The amount of epic purportions was cut drastically.

Whats ironic is the fact that Comic-Con came at the same time as E3 this year. Now both are the top of the ladder as far as geeky events go, but most fans can only afford one or the other. My question is, if you had to choose, which would you choose? Having only been to lesser known cons in my time, i can’t really decide either way.

Am I alone in this indecision?

We’re no strangers to game development, you know the rules and so do I. Sometimes its a pain in the ass to wait for a game you believe, deep in your heart, is going to be good. Some people might have heard or seen videos of Project Offset, the epic FPS in a fantasy setting that the OFFSET team is working on with the support of Intel as their publisher. The game as been in development for quite in a few years, and even without updates the game still had a strong community of dumbasses like Warsaw and myself.

Even though the developers assured us they wouldn’t give us up, never let us down, never gonna run around and … desert us, the forums have been down for a month or two now (if not more, I don’t have an accurate date in mind), the main website as also been suffering from downtimes leading fools like me to believe the site was undergoing an update or refreshment. Unfortunately it pop’d back up with nothing new and the forums still down.

It doesn’t haunt anyone at night but it would be something nice to fix….and its fairly easy to do for devs being under the piles of money that Intel possesses. PLEASE CARE FOR US A LITTLE!

As I said in a previous post, City of Heroes/Villains is a terrific game; ground breaking in its execution and lucky in how it hit that “butter-zone” of super-heroes both in character creation and game-play. Their concept of content iteration in the form of “Comic book issue” paradigm makes for interesting story-line progression and a constantly changing world. It is a safe assumption to say that until the release of Champions: Online (also being developed by cryptic studios), it is the absolute gold standard in the super-hero games niche. A small cottage market that has seen more failures than successes. However, it is also an MMORPG, make it vulnerable to certain fallacies that plague those in the MMORPG sub-genre.

The most obvious is the near stagnation of the standard of quality previously set when CoH/V was first released. This is evident in the lack of original story arcs and unique events  to encourage the community to further pursue the grind. World of Warcraft gives players slightly more control in the lore of the world to which they play. Whenever someone beat the Onyxia instance on the Horde faction, the head of the dragon is placed on a pole in the middle of Ogrimmar (the Horde faction capital), and everyone in that zone gets a buff. This is a constant reminder that there is a goal that is within reach of the player. In CoH/V there are various instances that happen and encourage players to get involved. From putting out fires in Steel Canyon, to participating in raids; the events seam so static and generically regular. Although these events do add a simulacrum of realism in a unique way, its not interesting enough to turn the tide on boredom.

There is also a lack of what is commonly called, “End Game Content.” Its the missions and story arcs that give closure to a certain aspect or facet of the world. Even though these instances are repeatable, they serve to solidify the world around the player, making the immersion more complete. While playing a game, it is assumed that you can beat, or win the game as it were, yet MMORPG’s cannot do this because if you beat the game, why continue to play after you have beaten it? It conflicts with the subscription payment paradigm that makes MMORPG’s so profitable. NCSoft, the current owners and original publishers of City of Heroes, seam to be deathly afraid of end game content. Although, I don’t agree with this stance, I can understand why they shy away from something that may discourage continuing to play the game.

It is a tricky balance for the writers and designers of the missions; it forces them into a corner of trying to make a story that never seams to have a rewarding finale. Everyone wants the rewarding finale to cap off an achievement. It gives the player a goal and motivation to push through a story arc and really give the player a sense of pride for completing it. Its precarious how anything resembling “End Game Content” has to toe the line between uncovering all the secrets and halting the story altogether, and leaving enough mystery for the player to keep moving forward. The designers and developers must make end game content and make it so that the results encourage everyone playing, not just the one who completed, but everyone to keep going.

Heres a suggestion, have a large, heavily involved story-arc (or Task Forces’ as they call it) where one of the major underlings of Lord Recluse is the end boss. Whenever a group completes it, there is a huge, outdoor trial in Atlas Park, where as the verdict is handed down, Lord Recluse himself tele-ports out of no where, to retrieve his wayward underling, an epic battle ensues in which the whole group of baddies tele-port away in quick order before getting their butts handed to them. The Statesman makes a huge statement about how he won’t rest until Lord Recluse is brought to justice. This gives everyone a nice buff, like “Statesman’s Call to Arms” or what not.

The key is to make the player feel more involved in the storyline. Its events like that that make the game worth exploring. Make it more fun to be a hero, instead of it being a constant grind to the next free tailor session.

Seriously, the costume contests cannot support an entire game. You are City of Heroes, not a Second Life knock off. You’re better than that. I’m not saying its a bad thing, it just shouldn’t be the only thing.

Artemis>            Warsaw, are cheap shots allowed in rugby?
<Artemis>    and I mean cheaps shots that would be considered that in other sports or w/e.
<WarSaw>    fuck dude
<WarSaw>    its all cheap shots
<WarSaw>    its up to the ref really
<WarSaw>    but they happen a lot
<WarSaw>    and dont get called
<Artemis>    nicee
<WarSaw>    but its more of illigal stuff
<WarSaw>    and whats not liggal
<WarSaw>    illigal
<WarSaw>    like when a guy falls down with the balls and the other team it trying to step over him you can get away with ripping them down
<WarSaw>    and in the scrums sometimes guys will try to knee you
<WarSaw>    and get away with it
<WarSaw>    or you can get stepped on a lot
<WarSaw>    my thigh has a nice bruise on it from that-it was probably an accident tho
<WarSaw>    wait for it…
<WarSaw>    wait for it..
<WarSaw>    ITS A TRAP!
<WarSaw>    lol

So, I was going to talk about another game today, but when I checked my email yesterday I saw a message from the Video Game Voters Network. Evidently, a state senator from WI (my home state) thought it would be a good idea to impose an added tax to video games. The proceeds from this would go to moving 17 year olds that have committed nonviolent crimes from the adult court systems to the juvenile category.

Okay, so it may be unfair. Not may, it’s absolutely unfair. I mean, it’s for a good cause, sure, but why single out video games? If the gaming community accepts this sort of thing, it’s paramount to admitting that our hobby is responsible for delinquency. Why not apply the tax to books? Films? Music? The connection is obvious, and the reasoning is absurd.

I contacted my state senator about this, and today I got a reply back to the effect of “Senator X doesn’t support new taxes of any kind.” Which kind of pisses me off. I know he’s a republican and therefore is basically required to vote against most new taxes, but I’m sure that the constituents that write to him regarding the sin taxes on alcohol or tobacco get a better reply. This is what makes me so angry. Gaming is a lifestyle, like it or not. Serious gamers spend a lot of time on there hobby, and it reflects on the way they live. They deserved to be treated as thoughtfully in politics as any other special interest group. Instead, we’re ignored, vilified, and slandered. AND WE DO NOTHING. So this post is a call for all who read it to take action. Join one of the political groups related to gaming (The video game voters network is an excellent way to stay updated). Do something to protect your lifestyle. Gamers are notoriously “easy going” when it comes to politics, and if that remains unchanged, we’re going to see our rights in serious jeopardy.

Oh fine, you want a game? Here, try Sonny, an entertaining combat strategy game with a superb score done by David Orr, a good friend of mine. It’s good for a few hours of fun.

The story of Steam is well known to most PC gamers. The initial resentment, the crashes, the bugs, then the sudden upswing, the acquisition of indie titles, the increased ease of use, turning it into a useful tool more than a barely-tolerable burden to your gaming experience. Steam and Valve have together revolutionized the face of PC gaming, in terms of content (episodic games, third party devs all rolled into one app), installation and patching (all done automatically…if devs are gonna release a buggy build, the least they can do is have it patch itself when they finally get around to fixing it…), and most of all, exposure and advertising. How many people had heard of an indie studio calling itself Introversion before their outstandingly quirky RTS Darwinia was featured on Steam? With that success, the entire catalog of Introversion games started appearing on the service (Defcon, the classic Uplink, and the upcoming Multiwinia), and subsequently many other smaller studios started marketing their games on Steam. The platform has become a viable contender to become that “golden bullet” that will unify PC gamers, the answer to Xbox live that Microsoft’s own ham-handed attempt, GFW Live, clearly will never be.

So why bring all this up now? Old news, right? Well, what if Steam isn’t the golden bullet, but merely the trend setter? What if Steam is the prototype for countless other, similar systems of distribution? This could just mean a further splintering of the PC community, which, as some analysts would have it, can only lead to the DOWNFALL OF PC GAMING AS WE KNOW IT. Of course, this is BS, since PC gamers have exclusive, unlimited access to the most open ended online community known to mankind, the freaking INTERNET. Still, it’s an interesting point, and one that’s brought to the forefront by the freeware doodad known as “ZoopTEK Launcher.”

ZoopTEK is, according to their website, “a small organization built around programming for fun or creating useful programs.” This means that ZoopTEK has the notable distinction of being a delivery program for both gaming AND non-gaming software, though the focus is undoubtedly on gaming. The program is super-slim, at just over 500k, and grants you immediate access to several of ZoopTEK’s downloadable games. The reason the program was created, evidently, was to make an easy way for consumers to get the .net framework and Directx files that the games depended on, and it downloads these files automatically…but the potential is so much larger than this. The user doesn’t even need to check the website for new games, or updates to old ones…they’re just…there. And if you try a game and don’t like it, one click, and you’ve got an instant uninstall!

As for the games themselves, I can’t honestly claim to have tried them all. From the ones I have tried, most are passable for a short diversion, some are complete crap, and one is excellent (Zombsand, an outstanding zombie-survival-themed roguelike that I’ve been using to keep my hunger for Left 4 Dead at bay. Definitely try it.). But truly, that’s not the point. The point is, this is just another example of indie developers taking a concept from the commercial scene, using it, adapting it, and making it completely unique (and improved in many ways). That’s the sort of thing I love about the indie scene, and that is why we should ALL be paying attention to it.

EDIT: SO after writing all this up, our lovely editor johnwedd (killjoy =P ) informed me that ZoopTEK has been around for a while, before steam even. So, I stand corrected, but my point still stands. Indie devs are versatile and unique, and deserve notice.
Also, john mentions gametap, the well-received service that provides older games through a well-designed launcher, available on a rotating schedule of some sort or other (being on dialup, I can’t actually try it out to verify exactly how they do it). That sounds pretty awesome as well, and the thought of “recycling” old games in this way is novel. Too bad I can’t claim THAT spark of genius for indie, since gametap is run by Turner Entertainment. Ah well, can’t win em all.

Hey guys,

Not much going on in the site, but that doesn’t stop life!

Believe it or not, Tc-DaaX, one of my best writers, has been MIA since well before the holiday season. We’re worried, but not so much so. And thusly, the site has suffered. Doesn’t say much for my integrity as an administrator does it now? On the good side of news Aiglos is back, hopefully for good. His articles have always been awesome and sweet, and i think his disconnection has done him good in his recovery from the furry undercover work he did for us. With steady and regular medication it might lead to a full recovery.

If the title of this entry is any indication to you, I am in college now. I usually am in school for 4 to 6 hours a day. Books where enormous and the classes are all kinds of stressful and boring. Its not the instructor’s fault, the simple fact that i have to take them the first quarter is real issue. I’ll have to remind myself to get something along the lines of interesting electives in the spring.

It was all thanks to my funding, after i was approved i was able to purchase a laptop computer. So now i have my own computer and i no longer have to strain my marriage to get online. (Praise the pie gods) Unfortunatly, it came with Vista.

Now, don’t get me wrong, i really enjoy the Vista Aero interface and the search options. The error handling is smoother than silk and widgets are surprisingly useful, if not entertaining. But the way that microsoft really boned the pooch is how much memory and processor resources the OS takes to itself.

Not to mention the amazing amount of backwards compatibility issues that exist. The Unreal Tournament 3 demo that i was able to play nicely on my wifes computer looks like an old gameboy color game on this one. I simply chalked it up to the fact that Vista and OpenGL don’t play well, and the fact that the video card on this thing is, in fact, an ATI (yes, i feel dirty using it.)

So i tried the Call of Duty 4 demo that i have been drooling over ever since my neighbor brandon let me play it on his 360. and the graphics where fine,just unbelievably slow. completely out of sync with the audio to. And so I though, “maybe its just these new higher octane games that i can’t play, I’ll just try GameTap.”

I downloaded the client, and installed. Lo and behold, it crashes on startup, saying i had an issue with my video card drivers. I had forgotten one of the cardinal rules of gaming on a brand new PC, update the SHIT out of everything twice, remove the junk-ware and then reboot as needed. oye vey, i need a better hobby.

well after i have properly cleansed and sanctified the machine, it started running with a bit more pep, UT3 demo still sucks on it, but gametap runs well enough on it. Its got a smaller screen, but it works alright.

since most of my school stuff is computer related, i will be posting more, and i will see if i can’t encourage my writers to do the same.

It is indeed one of the very small joys of life to steal someone’s tetris high score under their nose, especially if you know that they have been playing for hours to achieve that goal, and it took you around a half less time because you play on a harder level. I can imagine how the vein on the forehead of my jolly fellow and competitor starts growing and how a very heavy sigh escapes his lips before he sits down, counts to ten and starts all to play again.

Must say that I admire his patience and will to beat me in a small arcade game like tetris. It does take some personality to waste hours and hours of your life to it, although I’m not rather sure whether or not it crosses the line of healthy hobby. I’ve been a member of the forum where this small contest between him and me takes part for almost three years now, and we’ve been fighting for the status of Master of Tetris almost since my joining day. Why almost? It took me sometime to get into tetris, and actually develop to a level where I can say I’m better than average.

I’ve noticed similar events take place between other players in other games. The competition situation gets lit by something very small, and off we go; You’re stuck with a game that gets out dated fast just because you can’t let the other win. Arcade games at a forum are only a single example. A friend of mine accidentally stole one low level creature from another player in an MMORPG when he was grinding to get up from lvl 1, and he got himself what could be called a Nemesis. After a short while he found it very, very annoying, but in the long run he has admitted that having someone to compete with.. someone who’s always trying to mock you or prove they are better than you was what made the game fun. He would’ve quit playing the game long ago in case that wouldn’t of seemed like he was giving up.

This rises up an interesting question - do we play online only to show off the size of our e-penis, or is it for the fun of challenge brought by wider variety of players? I think that most of us would like to answer both, at least I’d like to. Also, in a situation where I really, really would need to choose only one I’d go for the latter, because I’m like that, no matter how much I enjoy the frustrated look on the face of someone who’s trying to beat my high score.

What about you?

Greetings YerGamernetlings, I come in peace from planet GU and you don’t need to take me to your leader, as I think it was he who sucked my brains out, created me a user account and rolled a stone of responsibility on my shoulders. =P My (nick) name is Mystara, n’ thou may call me Myst if you want to.

The stone had some kind of carving on it.. I think it was something like: “Bring new content here *growl*” But I don’t really remember for sure. So.. Here I am. I’m not sure how much I can add to the intellectual part of the site, as I’m not much of a gamer (I don’t own a single console, and the only gaming platform I have is my PC.. which gaming side is overly under used for mainly my time goes to hanging online and doing arts). My favorite games are strategy & rpg along with puzzle arcade games.

On art side I’m mostly into pixel art (spriting, tiles and scenery) , playing around with GIMPshop (I guess it could be called painting), writing (Impressionistic short stories and some style of free form poetry), and of course traditional drawing and painting.

I’m not completely sure what else to add to this first rock that I’m going to throw back at yer leader. You’ll learn more as time goes by and I start mumbling more. =P