I’m sure I’ve said it here before, but it bears repeating: I’m a crazy sucker for a gaming deal.  It doesn’t take much convincing for me to buy a game that I consider “super cheap”.  Given that I’m constantly browsing gaming related web sites, news sites, and forums, I’m also fairly knowledgeable about which games are good, and which are bad, so I’m usually a very good judge of what is or is not a gaming deal.

I was browsing through a store today looking for Christmas gifts when I stumbled upon a bin of assorted PC games.  Flipping through I came across Gothic 3: Collector’s Edition, which includes the fully updated version of Gothic 3, the Forsaken Gods add-on, a making of DVD, a soundtrack CD, and a full world map, all for $5.99.  Oh, and the whole thing comes packaged in a case made of freakin’ tin.  TIN!!!

I held the luscious case of tin in my hands and contemplated the potential purchase.  I remembered trying the demo of the game way back when and, quite frankly, hating it.  I remembered the graphics being great but the combat horrible, and the voices and sound effects being unbelievably annoying.  I didn’t pay too much attention to the game after that, but I was aware that while some people quite enjoyed it, it was universally panned in reviews mostly on account of bugs.  I almost put the tin back in the bin, but I just couldn’t do it.  For some reason I just knew that if I didn’t pick it up, the decision would haunt me for the rest of the day, so I did what any sucker would do and bought it.

Back at a computer, Gothic 3 tin now firmly in hand,  I checked the game out on metacritic.  Ouch.  There are some really terrible reviews for this thing.  Granted, there are some that are relatively okay, but mostly they’re horrible.  I quite like 1up’s review of the expansion:

The only reason that this didn’t get an “F” is the original music, which is very nice.  Not excellent mind you, but very nice – and the lone thing I latched on to for sanity while trying to review the otherwise completely putrescent Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods.

My friends, let me take you on a journey through a magical land where everything sucks.  On our jaunt, the sights are ugly and outdated, the indigenous fauna’s incredibly annoying, the locals have the communication skills of Chewbacca’s illiterate, deaf-mute cousin, and the controls on our vehicle are archaic and unintuitive.  Sounds great so far, right?

That certainly doesn’t sound too promising.  But you know what?  I’m even more eager to check it out now.  If anything it’ll give me something to talk about here.  That’s worth six bucks, isn’t it?

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.

… indifferent.

It’s now been almost three months since I last played World of Warcraft and I have just one week left until my subscription runs out.  In that time I haven’t once been compelled to go back and play again, almost as if the longer that I’ve been away, the less I want to play.  When I quit EverQuest II however long ago, I struggled almost daily fighting the urge to resubscribe, but I’ve felt no such pull with WoW.  Until Cataclysm comes out I can’t see there being anything I want to do in that game, of course, I suppose I should never say never.

There isn’t any MMO out there right now that appeals to me, and that’s mostly due to my lack of free time to play them, but I also don’t really like the direction they seem to be taking.  WoW especially seems to be strictly all about gear upgrades as opposed to creating a sense of adventure, and fun.  Yes, I know that ultimately the loot is a prime mechanic in any MMOs, but no game hits that point over your head like WoW does, and it’s gotten to the point where I don’t even know which badges can be used to buy what armour and frankly I couldn’t care less.

If Cataclysm can bring back that sense of adventure and exploration as opposed to an endless grind for better gear, I’ll be back.

Real life commitments lately have kept me away from any sort of gaming, so I haven’t been able to try out Dungeons and Dragons Online which I picked up for two dollars.  I did manage to get in and create a character the other night but haven’t been able to actually play the game.

I finally have some free time right at this very moment as I write this post, and I was quite eager to get some game time in.  I clicked my DDO icon which started up the games launcher.  A quick little patch was applied and the launcher automatically restarted.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  The launcher came back up and then told me that “Client DAT files do not correspond to those on the patch server” at which point the launcher would just continue retrying unsuccessfully.

I check the forums and see the message above in the screenshot: There is currently an issue with the DDO game client that causes it to download incorrect files, leaving the game in an uplayable state.  At this time we recommend you do not open the launcher to prevent the files from downloading.

Well gosh.  Thanks.

It’s been three weeks since I canceled my World of Warcraft account, and despite the fact that my account won’t actually expire until the first of October, my motivation to play the game has plummeted.  I suppose I just don’t see the point any more, which only reaffirms my decision to cancel.  I had a great time with the game for a while but towards the end, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my character was just a hamster running on a wheel, not doing anything useful, just repeating daily after daily.  It’s a good time for a break.

In the mean time I’ve fallen back in love with Civilization IV.  I had forgotten how addictive that game is and I’ve caught myself several times late at night playing “just one more turn!”.  Unfortunately it doesn’t make for the most interesting blogging material, hence the lack of updates here.

Civ IV has prevented me from playing a few games I picked up on the cheap in the last week.  First, I purchased Supreme Commander for $10.  I’ve always wanted to try it because I loved Total Annihilation back in the day.  I’ve gotten as far as installing it, but haven’t actually played it yet.  Actually, after installing I launched the game only to be told I didn’t have the correct CD in the drive.  A few internet searches later led me to the latest official patch which fixes that issue.  How does that issue even occur?  Stupid DRM.

The other cheap game I picked up was Dungeons and Dragons Online for a whopping grand total of $2.20.  That’s right, two dollars and twenty cents.  I realize of course that the game is going free to play September 9th, but the retail box comes with 30 days free so I figure it was worth two bucks to try it out for a bit.  I’ll try and post some impressions shortly, assuming of course I can pull myself away from Civ IV for a bit.

I have zero experience with DDO, so it’ll be interesting to see how simple or hard it is to start playing an established game.