I like simulation type games like Tropico or Caesar games. I can spend numerous hours planning road layouts and ratios between amounts of different buildings. They have a great build-in sense of progression, as your town grows from a little settlement with few houses to a big and busy city. And anyone who is a fan of the genre, probably has tried playing on of the Simcity games. I think I have played Simcity 2000 at one point, but several years ago I tried the fourth game in the series. So, while I get my broken RAM replaced and not able to play any of recently released games (Oh Skyrim, how I crave you), I decided to revisit this 2003 game.

Well, couple of cities and some time spent on browsing the internet for helpful tips, I don't think I like it very much. Well, let me be more clear. I like it for the first couple of hours of every new city. It is fine, when you lay out your first zones and start to bring services to people. On a side note: The game teaches you fast, that things like healthcare and education are a luxury more than a necessity. After a while, you start making money, doing some more zoning and slowly changing your low-density zones to better ones. You see your city grow, feel good about it. The pollution levels are fine, people are healthy, safe and well educated. And all seems well, until you hit and invisible wall and start to loose money. At first I didn't really understand why. I did everything as I did before, using some of the things I have learned from my previous failed attempts to build a metropolis. And after watching video tutorials on YouTube I understood, that, without a network of other cities connected to yours, it will grow only to a specific point.

And this is where I go from liking this game, to not so much liking this game. I don't wan't to manage other cities, just to make my main city grow. I don't want to have areas called "FarmVille" with nothing more than one power-plant and lots of agriculture zones. I like these games, when I can build a fully self-sufficient city, and not worry about making several dummy-towns. Other games, like Anno or The Settlers, allow you to trade to make money and get rid of excess goods. Since you don't make anything specific is Simcity 4, the only one quantity that can be managed in a similar way are the people. And I get why such a region network system is in place, but I don't really find it fun.

Maybe it just has not clicked with me yet, so I will probably give it another go or two. But as of right now, I think it holds back a game, that otherwise is a great city building game. I think it would be better, if you just had virtual neighbors, instead of making them on your own.

After watching Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 video review, I wrote to Drew Scanlon, here on Giant Bomb, to congratulate him on his fine work. What started as a simple thanks, turned into a little conversation/interview about making the review and video production in Whiskey Media in general.

Me: Hey Drew. Just wanted to congratulate you on the awesome job you did while working on the Modern Warfare 3 video review. As someone who has to edit videos from time to time, I can imagine the amount of work that went into making that video. A very good job.

Drew: Thanks duder! Yeah, the montages took a bit of doing, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Me: I guess so, since the game is not that long to begin with, and you included a lot of explosions, you must of edited footage almost of the whole game. How long did it take for you to make that video review?

Drew: Yeah, most of the clips are from the middle of the game. Overall, the review took me around three days to edit. And now you know why video reviews are kind of rare!

Me: Well, I kind of figured it out myself. Considering, that not all the game come in time for you guys to review it and then make a video review of it. Plus, I can imagine there are more useful ways to use yours and Vinny's time, as a review looses its value after the game has been already out for some time. By the way, is there a clear difference in what you do, and what Vinny does, ore you both edit and film the same stuff?

Drew: Vinny oversees all of Whiskey Media's video production, so sometimes that means he's editing stuff that doesn't go up on Giant Bomb. I, on the other hand, edit for Giant Bomb almost exclusively. I do most of the Quick Looks, Video Reviews, and until recently I Love Mondays, which our intern Thomas has taken over. When we have an off-site appointment, I'm usually the one to take a camera to it and edit it afterward. During live shows, Vinny usually runs the control board and I run the audio mixer. This is the case for all live shows, regardless of what site it's for. Often, however, Vinny is busy during the live shows, so in that case it usually falls to me and occasionally another producer (Joey, Ana, or Thomas). Thomas generally helps out wherever he is needed, so he's done a bit of everything. Who edits what isn't really set in stone, though. Our schedule is changing constantly, so it really comes down to who has the time!

Me: So, before editing or shooting, when is the last moment that things can be changed and someone else does it? A day before or couple of hours?

Drew: Things change all the time. Sometimes I'll have to get Thomas to come over and monitor audio levels while we're recording a Quick Look while I go edit another one, then, if I'm still busy, Thomas will take over the editing for that Quick Look. Generally, though, once a larger project like a Video Review starts the editing process, it rarely changes hands. FYI, the "posted by" name on the video page refers to the person who edited the video, and generally they are the ones who write the deck (the video description) and choose the still (the video thumbnail image).

Me: Speaking of interns, is hard for a new video intern to get the hold of things, or is it a pretty straightforward and easy to understand process?

Drew: We take our video intern candidates through a pretty rigorous interview process. They kind of have to know their stuff before applying. Thomas has been editing video for years and knows Final Cut Pro. From there all he needed was to be brought up to speed on our workflow, which didn't take more than a few days.

Me: And how much do you expect for a potential intern? How much did Steve know, before he became a video intern?

Drew: They have to be pretty proficient in filming and editing software, so that we don't have to spend time training them. I had seen Steve's work in the Question of the Week segments, so I knew he could film and edit, but he still had to pass our interview process. The "video intern" job description has changed a bit since then, however. It's less a grunt work position and more an assistant producer position, which requires a lot more know-how and responsibility.

Me: Well, filming and editing is one, but how much does your and intern jobs require knowledge of audio and other hardware? How much equipment does Whiskey Media use?

Drew: We use a lot of weird capture stuff that people won't likely be familiar with unless they come from a video capture background. In addition, we have a lot of audio gear, but most of it is pretty standard (mixers, compressors, etc.), so that stuff should be pretty familiar to anyone who has audio production experience. I should stress here: we are currently not looking to hire any video interns! Last time we posted a job posting, we got literally hundreds of responses!

Me: What would you say is your typical workday, if there is one that can be called like that?

Drew: We usually have a meeting about what video features we're doing that day, then it's just a matter of dividing up the work and doing it! For me specifically, that can include, but is not limited to, setting up studio spaces for recording or filming, running the camera/capture equipment and monitoring audio levels, editing, going out for an off-site shoot, and running part of a live broadcast.

So here you have it! I hope this gave you an idea about the video production process here in Whiskey Media and you found it interesting. I would like to thank Drew once again for this.

Almost everyone who has played games online has encountered the word "noob". And while it has lost a part of it's original meaning, it is still used to point out unskillful players (well, when someone thinks the other is unskillful). There are a lot more other words that are used with it and such behavior has been a part of gaming since the 90's. But there is something to be said about MOBA style games and the people who play it. There is an opinion that people who play such games are a part of community which can be one of the worst in video games. It is a valid one, with some proof to back it up. I must say that I only have played League of Legends, but I know that in other, similar games people tend to behave the same way.

Popularity leads to assholness

Battle arena games are very popular right now, but why? Well, first of, games like LOL are free to play and free beats playing for something which grants a bigger amount of users who are willing to try it out. Then they find an interesting mix of RPG elements and team mechanics that can be found in games like Team Fortress 2. And the 5v5 matches have a nice length to them which is typically 30-40 minutes. It's longer then a regular FPS deathmatch., but not long enough to get boring and uninteresting.

These games also lend themselves quite nicely to tournament play because of their team-gameplay nature. That helps them to be constantly covered by the gaming press and be talked about. And that is probably the biggest factor of their popularity, this sports game appeal, like soccer or hockey. It is fun to kill a random dude in Call of Duty, but there is something else in coming victorious after a big team-battle and pushing their lane a little bit further. But this sports like nature of the genre is also one of the biggest problems of it.

I love your mother

Since this is a team game and everyone picks a character a the star of the match, players have a role. The problem is, that everyone wants to be the David Beckham of their match. Everyone want to be the guy, who powns noob with their might and skill, leading their team to victory. And there are classes that can do that. And there are others classes that can't do that, but they are still needed. Every second game I play, someone asks in the team chat window "tank?" as a request for a tank. I try to be the tank if I can, but if I already locked in my pick, there is little I can do. A support type character is even a bigger rarity. Once I ended up in a team, where everyone was a ranged type character. How we won that, I still don't know, but a good team composition can be a big factor.

But a bigger problem comes from peoples attitudes and behavior as everyone has a opinion. And they have a right to have one, but they tend to forget, that other people also have such a right. A user may spam: "ban trynda! ban trynda! ban trynda!" and if you did not ban Tryndamere, then you will find out some interesting things about yourself. This may happen if your pick is wrong, or if you died one to many times, or if you took the blue buff, or if you killed an enemy that the other player wanted to kill, or...well you get the point. And you will learn a complete different set of things about yourself if you argue back (which is pointless). This can go to extremes, where players leave their lanes, stop playing for couple of minutes or leave the game outright if someone did something they did not like. And behavior like this doesn't fix the problem they had, but makes everything worse, because a 4v5 game is practically a lost one.

In my opinion, most of these cases can be avoided if people just relax and remember that they are playing games. They are just games. Sure, a big rank score is awesome, but it has no value outside the game. You might think that this is obvious, but there are times I have to remind other players that. The funny thing is that I once played with someone who said to me: "This isn't just a game. This is a ranked game" And I don't think he missed my point. It can be odd that something that was designed for fun can be so frustrating to some people. I am not saying that all these people complain without reason, they just take to close to heart. (to be fair, there are cases where the reason is either completely stupid or missing altogether).

/surrender

I like playing League of Legend a lot and cannot wait for the DOTA 2 beta to start, but dealing with random jerks most of the time can take away from enjoying the game. I know Heroes of Newerth has voice chat that can solve some of these problems, but I wonder does it in reality. I know that because of this, some people play by themselves as little as possible which is a shame. I know that most people that play these games are not like that, but one asshole is enough to spoil the game. Sometimes, there are two.

Next week marks three years of Giant Bomb since it was officially lunched in beta. For me, and I assume it is for many others, this is the best video game website in this world. Now, I am not a premium member or take an active part in the community here. I know for a forum post here, or there, but my biggest contributions must be the creation of the heroes concept (it is still cool to see the original image I posted there in use) and my awesome user review of The Sims 3. Still, I take pride it the fact, that I can be a part of this great experience, even if there are thousands like me. 
 
For me, it all started back in spring 2007, when I had finished Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. I liked that game quite a lot, to the point where I searched for videos of it on YouTube. One such video was a review of the game by one Greg Kasavin, who worked at GameSpot at the time of its filming. This led me to registering on the site and being exposed to people as Jeff, Ryan, Vinny, Brad, Rich, Kevin, Greg himself and many others. After watching my first episode of On The Spot and some video reviews, I soon started to dig through on some of the back catalog of the site. I viewed almost every video review and almost every Button Mashing and Tournament TV episodes there was. And what was my joy when I found the old archives of GameSpoting Live. And it was all because of these people and there sense of humor and unbreakable integrity. After couple of months I learned that Greg has already left by the time I got to the site and Rich was also leaving that summer. But it was still awesome and funny. And then, at November that year, while I was hoping to watch a new episode of On The Spot, I learned that Jeff was fired from reading some comments. 
 
That event there was a shocker for me, as it was for the rest of the people there. I just could not believe that a man with such history as game reviewer could get fired over a review of one game. Now, I am sure there is more than that, but we may never know how it all actually came down. Following Jeff's blog on GameSpot, I saw a post about his off-site blog and that is how I learned about www.giantbomb.com. I have been visited it form day one, back when it was still a blog and was happy to see these guys back on track. Then, when the beta version lunched, I was exited to register my user name here (without any number or crap like that) and again be part of a site, that is runed by people, whose opinion I value and trust. 
 
And here we are, three years later. Much has changed since then, but this is still the same site I was so exited to visit back, when it all started. I guess, that with this post all I am trying to say, that the hard working staff and of Giant Bomb and Whiskey Media in general are some of the most awesome people one could find on the internet. Because of them, my knowledge of video games has grown immensely and that helped me to grow an opinion of them, that has some basis. I have followed these guys from the day I learned about them and I regret not a second of it. I am greatly happy that they get to work the job they like and provide people like with quality content. It had been fantastic three years and lets hope for even better year to come. This was my early Happy Birth Day Giant Bomb.

After watching one video, I had a number of things I wanted to say. So here they are.  

  

I played the first Witcher back when it came out and loved it. I found it great and interesting to play with a compelling story. So I was excited when I got to play the second game. Now, that I have finished it, I feel a bit off. 
You see, for me, the most memorable thing of the first game was its story. Especially the part, when you had to choose: Humans or Elves. I chose the Elves. That choice was somewhere in the middle of the game, more leaning to the second half of the game. By that time you got to know both sides very well. What do they stand for, what are their goals and nature. The game succeeded in telling a story about racial tension and how, with every day, that conflict grew bigger. And Gerald himself was not willing to take part in it, but he got dragged in it and had to make a choice. That choice felt full of impact since the player had to decide the faith of lots of people. Of-course, it later grew into saving the world form a mad templar, but at the time of the choice, it was all about the inner conflict of that land and what role you would take in it. Though the future was not clear, at-least you knew what your choice means.

With that in mind, the big choice in the sequel is not that grand or great. At-least it felt like it for me. When Triss is kidnapped and I had to choose with whom I will go and find her, Iorweth or Roche, I did not feel like I knew what I was choosing. it was apparent, that there was more than saving Triss, but what? The racial conflict was not at the center anymore, since the story was about power in the region. But, at the end of chapter one, your goals were to find the King-slayer and Triss. So there was no real difference between those two. I chose Iorwith, because he spoke about Saskia and her goal to unite everyone. That was something I could get behind, but what would happen, if I had chosen Roche was not apparent to me. Now, after looking it up on the internet, I know, that I would spend the whole second chapter in the Kings camp, but I just think, that the game did a poor job in telling me about the differences when choosing one or another. I was left there to take a blind guess, since no one could be really trusted that early into the game.

And that is my biggest problem with it it that it was to early. If the player could know both of them better by talking with them more and taking quest for/with them, then it would add more weight to the decision, since you would spoil the relationship with one of them. But, most of the quest you take do not involve directly them, and, while you can get a feel for what kind of people these both men are, you don't really know them. For a game, which world is dark and full of betrayal, making a player choose a partner with too little information is a flaw.

Then there are all the loose ends with some of the characters. What happened with Iorwith, when I was searching for Triss in chapter three. Or what happened with Philippa after her eyes got burned out and I left her in the dungeon. Or with the town Flotsam and its ruler? Or Saskia? Or Roche? Or Sheala? While I did feel like a peace in a bigger puzzle, the story wasn't tightly raped up as in the first game. To many questions felt unanswered. And the romance side of the game felt a bit weak.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the game. I like the setting, the humor (the joke about lesbian magic still cracks me up), the mature tone of the game. It explores a lot of gray areas, and doesn't shy away from the themes it talks about. It is just the story felt somewhat...odd.    

I need the blog quest done. But the title speaks the truth.

Far Cry 2. It is just too repetitive. The story had lot of untaped potential, the shooting and driving were gridded to death, and mission structure was the same for all the missions. Just could not make my self to end it.