World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Why aren't there any historicly accurate MMO games? Isn't this something that more developers should consider? I can think of a few periods that could be interesting to visit in a MMO, like the Roman Republic or the Cruzades, the Napoleonic Wars or even WWI and WWII. Instead companies start to craft their own world even if the lore they come up with isn't all that great. It's always the place that orcs and demons and dragons inhabit, and I Iove that, don't get me wrong, I played through the Warcraft games and got into WOW for awhile, but enough is enough.
 
It seems to me that the fantasy worlds created by companies don't have an obvious advantage over the real thing. But it's probably easier to stick with the tried and tested formulas: 
WWII ---> FPS/Strategy
Roman Republic ---> Strategy
MMO ---> fantasy universe
 
More than that, these fantasy MMO's have a gameplay that relies solely on combat. Sure they put fishing and cooking and weaponsmith professions in there, but is there really any gameplay bonus that comes from these additions? I believe it's just a matter of time before the MMO market starts shrinking, because the impact that WOW had is already wearing down. WOW membership is decreasing at this point, and its not because there are better MMO's out there, it's because people get tired of killing 6 Kobold Wizards over and over again. 
 
Besides, all the effort you put into your quests has virtually zero impact on the WOW universe.  In this last aspect I hope that KOTOR:OR does a lit bit more for the player than WOW did. 
 
It seems to me like these are the main flaws that plague the MMO genre: 
-Been-there-done-that Universes
-Next-to-null impact of the player on the Universe
-Repetitive combat-focused Gameplay 
 
Do you agree? Love some feedback.
Cheers

My summer vacation just ended, but luckily I had time to play a lot of games. In this blog I will list all the new games/content I've tried during the summer. The games are listed in no particular order.
 

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Platform: Xbox 360  

My most played game of the summer by far, because of it's addictive multiplayer. I even managed to earn the most time consuming achievements like reach 100000k XP, 5000 kills and 16 challenges. The game is not without flaws though as the singple-player could have been a lot better.
 
The Good 

• Great, addictive multiplayer
• Awesome destruction

 
The Bad

• Boring, broken, repetitive missions

 
   

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

Platform: Xbox 360     

Being a fan of the original Nintendo 64 games, I was curious to see if the new gameplay system would do the franchise any good. And it did! I've had a lot of fun playing the game so far, but stopped since it begun to get a bit repetitive. I will without a doubt return to this game at a later date.
 
The Good

• Unique gameplay
• Both funny and charming

 
The Bad

• The multiplayer component feels half arsed
• The missions will eventually become too repetitive

 
  
 

Spiderwick Chronicles

Platform: Xbox 360  
  
I bought this game very cheap awhile back and finnaly found some time to check it out. The game is a typical movie/game adaption and it is obviously meant for kids. That being said, the game is actually not horrible, but there is not much for an adult to enjoy in this title.
 
The Good

• Great children's game. I guess.

 
The Bad

• PS2-era graphics
• I have not personally seen the movie, and after playing the game I still don't know what it's about. Bad storytelling.

 
   

Left 4 Dead Survival Update

Platform: PC  
  
In my opinion, Left 4 Dead is an awesome game, but it's also Valve's worst game. I love everything about it, but it has never felt like a full stand-alone product to me. The game simply didn't ship with enough content. That being said, I was glad when Valve finally announced the first content patch, which added the new Survival mode.
 
The Good

• It's free!
• Greatly improves the replayability

 
The Bad

• I know I will sound like a sissy saying this but... it's frustratingly hard! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a challenge, but I don't want the challenge to be "find the most bugged spot on the map and camp".

 
   

Shadow Complex

Platform: Xbox 360    
 
Good XBLA games are starting to be a common breed. Truely great XBLA titles aren't. Shadow Complex is a truely great game that is worth a lot more than what it's charging.
 
The Good

• Great gameplay which rewards exploration
• Interesting power-ups

 
The Bad

• The framerate is rather unstable

 
  
 

Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Platform: Xbox 360  

Point Lookout is the 4th DLC for Fallout 3 which adds a new svamp to explore. The setting is simply awesome and I haven't seen anything like it in any other game. The main story mission is interesting, and almost anywhere you go in the svamp, something interesting pops up. If you like Fallout 3; buy it.
 
The Good

• Great atmosphere
• Interesting quests

 
The Bad

• Not much new quipment to be found

 
  
 

Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Platform: Xbox 360  
 
The 5th and last DLC for Fallout 3, and this time you're going to space. Yes, space. I value the effort that went in to create this very unique DLC, but I can't help but feeling it's misfit for this game. All the DLC's content is happening on a single alien spacecraft, so if you're a big fan of corridor shooters, don't you dare miss this one.
 
The Good

• Interesting setting 

 
The Bad

• Boring level design
• The final boss battle is complete junk.

 
  
 

World of Warcraft 3.2 Patch

Platform: PC  
 
I'm not a big WoW player anymore, but I do like to peek inside everytime a new content patch arrives. The patch added a new raid dungeon, a new 5 man dungeon, renewed token drops in old instances and a lot more.
 
The Good

• Updated the token drops in all heroics which greatly enhances the replayability for casual players
• Hardcore players will probably find lots of fun in the new raid content

 
The Bad

• The new dungeon layout is boring

 
  
 

Gears of War 2: Dark Corners

Platform: Xbox 360  
 
The new DLC which added the "Deleted Scene" and 7 new multiplayer maps. The new DLC level is kinda what you would expect; it's a Gears of War 2 level. It is possible, however, to choose a stealthier approach instead of running right at them. It's not as good as I thought it would be, but it's still a solid product.
 
The Good

• The new multiplayer maps each have a distinct look
• The "Deleted Scene" chapter includes unique cutscenes and voiceacting

 
The Bad

• It's stupid that the chapter is not integrated into the game itself

 
  
 

Warhammer Online Trial

Platform: PC  
 
A friend of mine pursuated me to try a trial of Warhammer Online, and I must confess I entered the game with great skepticism. I leveled my character to level 9 until I decided I'd seen enough. The game is not bad, but having played World of Warcraft, the game just seems a little dull. I understand that the game is heavier focused on PvP than Worlf of Warcraft, but it didn't really come into play in my trial time.
 
The Good

• Lots of classes
• Public quests are a great addition to the genre

 
The Bad

• Seems weird to me that the best way to level your character is to PvP. I don't know if that's the case in end game, but I always gained a crazy amount of XP in PvP scenarios with my low level character.
• I often got stuck in the terrain. 
• Most public quests were impossible because it often required about 9 people to complete, which is an insane amount in a starting area.

 
  
 
I think that was all of them, so this marks the end of my list and my first blog post. What new games did you play?

So its been a while since a made a proper list. I like to go back from time to time and look at gaming and its ability to create unique experiences. The time has come for music again. This time I´m doing it with a twist tho. I´m going to single out specific tracks instead of whole soundtracks. I´m going to look at the song´s composition, its placement within the game, its ability to create a certain mood and the power of being remembered.
As usual theres really no right way to create such a list so keep in mind that this is only one version of a list that might have looked differently had I made it at a different date. 
Ive also tried to not pick the most obvious ones. It remains to see however, if I will succeed at this or not.
But I´ve thought long and hard and my hope is that it will at least be interesting.  
Feel free to add your own aswell !
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Number 20: 
Chip N Dale - Rescue Rangers, NES, Stage J Theme
 

 

 

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Number 19: 
Castlevania, NES, Vampire Killer
 

 

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Number 18: 
Dungeon Keeper, PC, The Horned Reaper
 

 

 

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Number 17: 
Donkey Kong Country, SNES, Final Boss Battle 
 

 

 

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Number 16: 
World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King, PC, Sholazar Basin
 

 

 

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Number 15: 
Bionic Commando ReArmed, Xbox 360, Heat Wave
 

  
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Stay tuned for Part 2 !
 

 

Quick Blog here but here's the thought:
 
I remember playing World of Warcraft and gaining mis-matched armour during quests etc. and I the though I recently had was; "Why don't they just give me the power to stick attributes to items, rather than just having preset attributes to the armour." This way I'd be able to have my character to look how I wanted while maintaining the powerful attributes I'd earned. I know this is probably quite a flawed and underdeveloped idea, but I was wondering what your thoughts were on it.

I recently came back to WoW after an 6-month hiatus that spanned the "end" of the TBC expansion (Essentially August 2008 - February 2009), and started playing a bunch again until now.
 
I was a "hardcore" raider in TBC, raiding 20 hours a week and ended up quitting when my guild broke up bashing our faces into Brutallus. I've been catching up with this expansion by leveling up a new class (a rogue, lol) and learning the ropes of the new raids. 
 
Seeing as how I experienced the end of TBC, I'm not surprised at all at the massive negative response to 3.2. It's been criticized as making the game too "noob-friendly", allowing "bads" to get gear and generally closing the gear gap between the "hardcore" and the "casual".  
 
I don't think that 3.2 was a detriment to the game whatsoever. Look at it from Blizzard's perspective. Their development team had a budget for creating content in WotLK, and too many players were not penetrating into endgame PvE content. All the while, they were expected to keep rolling out new content for players at the cutting edge, resulting in a ton of content not even being experienced by a ton of players stuck doing the initial raids.
 
How many players out of their subscriber base had never even stepped foot into Ulduar? How many guilds were stuck running Naxx, OS, VoA's and the like to meet a minimal gear requirement to even step foot in Ulduar 25? On my server (Gurubashi) I'm not even sure Yogg had been downed before the nerf. With 3.2, guilds can now experience the full breadth of content, and individual players now have the means to establish themselves as having some relatively good gear, even if their guilds cannot down bosses in Uld 25.
 
The way I see it, the game is not getting "dumbed down". Think of it more as Blizzard giving players the means necessary to raid more advanced content, rather than a gear giveaway to "baddies". Core raiders that have invested a ton of time to get their gear have a right to be indignant, but having more players experience more content doesn't suddenly invalidate the countless hours spent raiding.

Took us long enough. But it was worth the wait.

Look at it this way, now you can listen to me and my friends yell about videogames while we are retarded drunk. And my god was there a ton of stuff to talk about...

Mod Edit: No advertising/spam please.
 

 -Javi

So here I am, sitting night after night wondering what Mmo to play, looking through videos, news blogs, reviews and screenshots.  
I look at several games and sometimes I get to the point where I think "Hey I'll subscribe to this one, I'll play it for years to come" but the simple fact is, I won't and I will only play for days to comes, I simply cannot hold onto an mmo for a long period of time, the only mmo(s) I have held onto for a period of time would be, The World Of Warcraft in which I played for atleast 4 months straight and then off and on after that, then I had played Guild Wars for a good 4-6 months and then off and on, but after those two I have played nothing for longer then a month, but the funny thing of this all is that, I feel like I need to play an Mmo, I'm not addicted to any single game but the genre in general, I really feel like I need to play one, even now as I type this. 
 
The whole feeling of a massive world where you and thousands of others can explore, battle and help each other out for a common goal is something that really "Clicks" with me, it just feels good to log on and socialize with some online friends (yes I have outside friends) and help them out with a quest or maybe just relax and fish by a beautifully rendered lake. 
I almost get an urge, sometimes when I'm at work (I'm 18 I work at a drug store) I just want to run home, download *insert mmo name* and play it right away, but then when I get in game and play for a while I feel like my high is over, and thats it. 
Half of my fun comes from watching the videos, building me up to the point of playing the game and then when I start I feel like "Why the fuck did I subscribe to this shit" and It's not that I don't like them obviously, it's just maybe I need to find the right one or something, but this is a huge mess of a blog now and I totally lost whatever it was I was trying to describe, so I'll just leave this off the forum. 
 
So overall, I feel like I need to play an mmo, I subscribe, I play for maybe 1-5 days then quit, then look for another, I'm waiting for Aion currently, maybe this will be the Mmo I play for years to come ; ) 
 

 

I've just got up to go to the bathroom and noticed a box piled around other random stuff I have in my room.

Warhammer  Online? 

Pre-order bonus?

But... I've never ordered Warhammer?


That's when I remembered that my WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition last year had an odd orange box accompanying it.  Which I have promptly ignored...

First thought, "Huh, I guess the pre-order bonus for WOTLK  was Warhammer..."

Second thought, "Wait that's not right! That can't be right at all?!"

On closer inspection... They gave me a copy of the Pre-order Bonus Edition of Warhammer Online!

Now I'm not sure if this was Amazon policy to throw down some games to remove inventory, but this is pretty ridiculous.


Has anyone else got some random items shipping to them from Amazon or any online store like this?