I’ll be spending some quality time with StarCraft II tonight, no doubt.  I played the first three missions of the campaign last night and I like it so far.  I’ll hopefully have some more impressions of it at a later date.

What I really meant to post about was the news that EverQuest II was going to introduce a free-to-play server.  You can read all the details at the official site, here: http://everquest2.com/news/read/current/3630.

I’ve said it many times before, that I loved EverQuest II back when I played it, and hopefully this move does something to introduce the game to new players.  It used to drive me nuts to hear people put the game down without having tried it.  I’ll definitely be trying it out again myself.  It’s too bad I won’t have access to my existing characters, but they’ve been dormant long enough that I probably wouldn’t know how to play them anyway.

My only concern is that this move may prove to be too little too late.   The last time I was in EQII (free period just before the release of Sentinel’s Fate) it really showed its age and it couldn’t hook me in.  I can’t see anything having changed since then.  It’ll be nice to have the option of poking my head in now and then though.

I’m actually a little surprised that EQII was the game that SOE decided to try the free-to-play model on (aside from Free Realms of course).  I was Vanguard would be the first to go that route.  I would love to play that game some more, I just can’t justify paying for it.

Things, of course, didn’t go according to plan.  As usual I spent the evening playing with my daughter and our rousing game of hide-and-seek around the house riled her up a bit too much because she was way too wired to fall asleep after going to bed at 8:00.  It wasn’t until 10:00 that she finally closed her eyes and drifted off to never-never land.  Unfortunately, by the time 10:00 rolls around, I need to start heading off to bed myself, otherwise there’s no way I’d ever hear my alarm go off at 5:00 AM.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d gladly trade any amount of “free time” to play with my daughter, but there are certainly times that I miss the days when I could get home from work, have a quick supper, and then game all night.  It’s incredible to think of all the time I spent playing EverQuest II for instance.  In fact, it outright blows my mind.

This is the big reason I don’t really play MMO’s any more; I just don’t have time.  Games like Braid, my game “du jour”, are perfect.  I can pop in, play for a few minutes, and pop back out.  Brad is even extra cool because it saves your progress in such a way that I launch the game and I’ll be standing exactly where I was when I previously quit.  No load screens, no menu screens, just instant gratification.

I think I may have trouble getting into, and subsequently through, Dragon Age.  There have been times where I’ve had a few minutes of free time but I gather that you can’t really play a game like Dragon Age in twenty minute chunks, so I’ve played something else, or just browsed the web.

Is this what it feels like to be a grown up?

I can actually remember picking up the very first issue of PC Gamer, complete with a demo of Theme Park on a floppy disk.  For several years after that, I purchased and read every single issue.  I tried a subscription once but that was a horrible experience.  My issues would show up a solid month or two late.  The following months issue would already be on store shelves before I got my subscription issue for the previous month.  I could understand that if I lived in the North Pole, but I’m in the middle of Canada for crying out loud (insert North Pole joke here).  Needless to say, I didn’t renew and just continued to purchase them off the shelf.

If I had to guess, I’d say it was about five or six years ago when I stopped buying them every month.  I’d still get the occasional issue here or there, but it was mostly restricted to when I was really bored and wanted something simple to read or when I was traveling somewhere.

I would suggest that it was around the time when Greg Vederman left as editor in chief that the quality of the writing took a steep nosedive.  Just a few months ago I picked up an issue on a whim and it was littered with potty jokes and all manner of sophomoric “humour”.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good poop joke just as much as anybody, but it was pretty bad.  The layout was also terrible, using some ridiculous font which made the whole magazine look completely low budget and ugly.  Finally, the articles themselves were poorly written and extremely short, presumably to make room for all the pretty screen shots.

The point of all this is to say that I’m not surprised to notice that PC Gamer has all but disappeared from all the stores I normally would have bought it from here.  It’s been about two months since I’ve seen one on a shelf in the grocery store I shop at, the local 7-11, or even the bookstores.  It all feels eerily similar to the situation leading up to the close of Games For Windows magazine.  I checked the PC Gamer website and it appears as though the magazine is still operating, having just announced another new editor in chief, but from where I am it looks as though it’s going belly up.  Any word?

The first resolution I made in 2009 was to cancel World of Warcraft, which I did in July.  I have not been back since time expired on the account, although I have felt a pull now and then.  I’m hoping that playing Runes of Magic can satisfy my MMO urges in the time being to keep me from re-subscribing to WoW.

The second resolution was to become competent with the Source SDK and make some levels.  I got as far as actually downloading the SDK, which really isn’t difficult through Steam, and I may have even launched it one or two times.  That’s it.  Apparently I’d rather play games as opposed to make levels for them.

The third resolution was to learn to program C++ or C#.  I went with C# given its similarities with Java, which I’m already fairly competent in.  I bought a book and everything.  I got a few chapters into the book and have enjoyed it, but it’s stalled somewhat of late due to various other reasons that I can’t think of right now.  I think my biggest problem is that I’ve got too many hobbies.

Finally, I mentioned a few games that I wanted to finish and I managed to achieve a fifty percent score on that, which in my book, is a passing grade.  I finished both Oblivion and Fallout 3, but failed to get through Baldur’s Gate 2 and GTA IV.  I don’t think I even played GTA IV once through the entirety of 2009.  I did start playing BG2, and it was great fun, but like a moth to a flame I was distracted by other newer, shinier games.

As for 2010, I don’t want to make any resolutions.  There, that was easy.

The Stolen Throne is not typical of the books I read, and to be honest, I didn’t really expect it to be any good.  I picked it up on a lark, thinking it’d be interesting to get some more background info on the lore of Dragon Age.  The reader reviews on Amazon were surprisingly positive however, so my hopes began to elevate a little.

I finished the book over the Christmas holidays and quite frankly, it’s kind of bad and I had to push myself to continue reading it.  I will not be reading the follow-up novel.

There are a lot of problems with the book, but my biggest issue was the over-use of tired, old, fantasy clichés.  There’s the prophesizing witch that lives in the mysterious foggy forest, the over-the-top evil guy, and the young, naive prince who rises to heroic stature seemingly overnight.  I kept thinking that the book felt like the final project of a “How to Write Fantasy in 21 Steps” course.

I really hope that the game does a better job than the novel at providing a sense of scale to the world.  In the novel, it apparently doesn’t take any time at all to travel from one edge of the map to the other, as the characters in the book end up criss-crossing the map seemingly at random.

Fortunately, the book has not dampened my enthusiasm for the game.  Like I said, I bought the book thinking it’d probably be bad, and it lived up to those expectations.

Both games received major patches recently and both released cinematic trailers for their respective patches.  The first one I saw was for EQII’s Game Update 54, Will of a Tyrant.  Here it is, courtesy of YouTube:

I’ve always thought EverQuest II could use some work in the advertising department.  The trailers they’ve released over the years have never really done much for me, but my immediate reaction to this one was generally positive.  I find it to be more “cinematic” than previously released trailers, with the sweeping camera movements, the music, and the semblance of a story behind it (albeit small), as opposed to randomly inserted action scenes without context.

Soon after, World of Warcraft released a trailer for Patch 3.3, Fall of the Lich King.  Once again, courtesy of YouTube:

World of Warcraft, in contrast to EQII, has never lacked for advertising, consistently releasing top quality trailers.  To me, there is an obvious difference in quality between these two trailers, and yes, I think the WoW one is significantly better.  The camera work, the pacing, and the music are all masterfully executed, not to mention the story.  Anyone who has played Warcraft III and its expansion will be familiar with the story of Arthas and its significance in Warcraft lore, and for over a year now, WoW has been re-telling that story, building its players up for the events depicted in the trailer.  For over a year now, players have been chomping at the bit to get at Arthas/The Lich King, and as I watch the trailer I can’t help but feel an epic sense of anticipation.  Even though the chances that I’d even be able to take part in any of the fights depicted in the trailer are slim to none, I still feel an urge to resubscribe.  That is some great advertising.

Isn’t it always the way that when you go ahead and post a blog entry re-affirming that your blog isn’t dead that you follow that up with a month long absence?  Craziness.  Truth is, there hasn’t been a whole lot for me to talk about lately.  It appears, unfortunately, that I’m not the only one to think so either.  A quick run through my blog list reveals that a few other gaming bloggers have taken indefinite breaks or have shut down outright.  The gaming world just doesn’t seem as exciting any more.

PC Gaming has definitely changed, there’s no denying it.  The PC section in the EB Games across the street from my office has been reduced to less shelf space than that dedicated to used Xbox games.  I’m talking original Xbox here.  I can remember a time many years ago when I could stroll through four or five entire aisles filled to the brim with PC games at Future Shop.  Now, they have barely one aisle, most of which is occupied by World of Warcraft boxes and various budget titles.  What is this world coming to?

Fortunately, while perusing that one aisle at Future Shop, I stumbled upon a collector’s edition of Dragon Age: Origins which I picked up.  I was planning on holding off on buying the game to give myself some time to finish some others, like Fallout 3, but I decided not to pass up the opportunity to grab the collector’s edition, what with its cloth map and all.  I’ve gone so far as to install it on my aging PC to see if it ran, which it did, but I’d still like to delay playing it for when I get a new rig, sometime in the mid-distant future.

I’m interested in trying out Torchlight as well, given the great reviews I’ve read, but the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like the game Fate which I had started playing not so long ago.  That makes sense of course, given it’s done by some of the same developers, so I’ve loaded that up again and have been enjoying it periodically.

I’ve also taken on a renewed interest in Fallout 3 after a few weeks off to play NHL 10.  I have a feeling I’m approaching the end of the game, so I’ll try and get that finished up as soon as possible.  It’s still a great game, very enjoyable, but I’m about ready to leave the desolate waste lands for some greener environments.  I’m thinking of heading back to Oblivion to play through the Shivering Isles which I have yet to do, just so I can cross that game completely off my play list.

I received an email from the EverQuest II team, outlining all the lovely bonuses I could get for pre-ordering the upcoming expansion.  I checked out the trailer for Sentinel’s Fate and I’m sorry, but I have to say, as much as I loved EverQuest II, they’ve never been able to make a compelling trailer to save their lives.  The beholder-like monster looks pretty cool, but other than that, there’s nothing in there that makes me desperately want to play the game.  That said however, I am toying with the idea of checking it out in February.  It still eats away at me that I stopped playing with my Mystic sitting just six measly levels away from 80.  Of course, now I’d have to get him to 90, but, you know… whatever.

There’s a whole lot of post regurgitation for you, a rambling, incoherent post if I’ve ever seen one.  Cut me some slack though, I’ve been out of it for a month.  Don’t worry though, I’m not dead.

It’s been just over two weeks since my last post, which is a lifetime in blogging terms, but rest assured I’m still around (because I know you were wondering… right?).  The fact of the matter is, now that I’m no longer actively playing any MMOs, the blogging well has started to run dry.  There isn’t really a whole lot of interesting stuff to write about when you’re playing single-player games, is there?

Here’s a quick little update on a few different things:

Guild Wars
I was challenged by a friend claiming that I’d never be able to play Guild Wars up to level ten without first quitting of boredom.  I set out to prove him wrong and I definitely got off to a roaring start.  I was having a fair bit of fun with the game and rocketed my way up to level 8 and have since hit a brick wall.  I haven’t logged in to the game in weeks, so I’ll concede to my friend.  It probably wouldn’t take much to get those next two levels, but I’m not sure if I want to.  There you go Kuarlos… you win.

Dungeons and Dragons Online
The game went free, I played for a bit, and lost interest.  I definitely liked what I played, but my problem with it at the moment is that I wasn’t having a great time solo’ing it.  This game screams out for group play but my real life commitments don’t allow for that right now.  Maybe some day.

World of Warcraft
My subscription has been up  for two weeks now and I still have no burning desire to head back.  I suspect I’ll be able to last until Cataclysm’s release, at which time I fully intend to resubscribe, however, there’s nothing in that game for me right now.

Fallout 3
I finally cracked this one open on my Xbox 360 and I’m loving it.  It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, I was hooked.  I really like the atmosphere, although I can certainly see how it wouldn’t be for everyone.  There’s something so very satisfying about playing an RPG like this on a big TV while sitting in a comfy couch.  Sure the PC version looks better, but my rear end is so much more happy to be ensconced on the couch.  By my estimates I’m about halfway through the main story, and I’ve done every single side quest I’ve come across.

NHL 10
I hate (the internet version of hate) EA as much as the next guy, but they sure do make a good hockey game.  I’m having a blast with the “Be A Pro” mode in this one; a great feature if I’ve ever seen one.

Another reason I’ve migrated to my Xbox as of late is because I’m desperately in need of a new computer.  My current rig is approaching six years old and has been chugging on the newer games for the past little while.  When I finally get around to purchasing a new one I can see a whole lot of Dragon Age: Origins in my future.  For the meantime though, I’ll be sticking with the 360.

A week ago a flyer arrived in the mail for Future Shop, one of my favourite stores.  Flipping through it my eyes widened at a promotion selling a bunch of Xbox 360 games for $9.99.  The promotion included titles such as Mass Effect, Too Human, Lost Odyssey, and Dead Space.  I decided I’d get Mass Effect for sure, and decide on any other games while I was there at the store.  As luck would have it I was home from work the day the sale started so I was at the store just a few minutes after it opened.  I was dismayed to discover that they didn’t have most of the titles they advertised in stock; I managed to pick up Mass Effect, but I wanted more!  They had Too Human, but I heard far too many bad things about that game so I took a pass on it.  Of the games they had, nothing else jumped out at me, so I just paid for Mass Effect and went home.

The more I thought about it though, the more it bothered me that I was missing out on ten dollar gaming, and for whatever reason, I now wanted Dead Space more than anything.  This was a game that I had shrugged my shoulders at and dismissed outright, but now I was driving all over town like a mad man checking the other Future Shop locations to see if they had it.  None of them did.  I checked again the next day and finally talked to an employee about it.  He told me they were expecting a shipment on Wednesday (that was yesterday as I write this post).  I checked the store by my work throughout the day but they didn’t have it.  I checked a different store on my way home and they also didn’t have it.  It was obvious after talking with some employees that there were many, many, other people looking for Dead Space.  Finally, an hour before the store closed last night, I phoned and asked if they had it in stock, which they actually did!  So I sped off to the store and picked myself up a copy of Dead Space for $9.99.

Reflecting on it now, I find it quite absurd that I went so nuts to get a game that’ll just sit on the pile until I get around to playing it.  If there’s any lesson to be learned though, I think it’s quite obvious that all games should be $10, because then I’d buy just about anything.  Except for Too Human I suppose.

I turned my head and saw three little red bars.  Flashing.  The Red Ring of Death.

My first reaction was to swear.  For the year and a bit that I’ve had my 360 I’ve never experienced any problems whatsoever.  The day I got it, I literally unpacked it, put it on its open and well-ventilated pedestal, and haven’t touched it since except to load and unload games, and even then it’s not like we play it all that much.  The very reason I got the Elite version was because I had heard it was less susceptible (if not immune) to the Red Ring of Death.

I powered the console off and back on again.  The red lights reappeared and I swore again.  I powered it off once more and started digging around for my receipt, cursing under my breath the entire time that I was now going to have to send this “stupid piece of garbage” to Microsoft to have repaired.  The one bright side to the situation, I thought, was at least I’ll have something to blog about.  To that end, I decided to grab my camera to take a picture of the red ring to feature with my post.

I turned the console back on, camera at the ready, only to have it boot up successfully.  Weird.  I played for a few minutes, expecting it to crash any second, but it didn’t.  I did some searching on the web and discovered the  Microsoft support article that I’ve linked above.  I read with interest the part about looking at the light on the power supply after turning the console on.  Apparently, the Red Ring of Death can appear if there were any recent power surges, and as luck would have it, the lights did flicker while I was upstairs making my lunch.

I checked the power supply and saw a yellow light.  I turned the console off, unplugged the power supply and plugged it back in after a few seconds.  I powered up the 360 again, the power supply light turned green (yay!), and the console booted up fine.

I was relieved, concluding that the RRoD was caused by the power surge and not a hardware failure.  To be honest though, I’ll forever be a little more on pins and needles every time I power up that stupid piece of garbage that I love so much.