barely fatal

Well I had a go at the trial period to see just what had changed with the game since I played last.

First off, setting up the trial account was straightforward. Clicktopay didn’t really give me any problems, so either I was really lucky or some of those stories I’ve heard are just pure garbage.

  

The game:

There is 1 distinction I can draw almost immediately between the current game and the older incarnation. In the current game the “hacker” profession is actually needed, looking back to the time when the game first launched being a hacker was fairly pointless, good for taking outposts but not much else. The list of things a hacker can do was somewhat expanded… each faction has specific gear that only a hacker can get the blueprints for in order for a constructor to build.

The kicker here is however that a hacker can only get access to the blueprints of whatever faction he’s part of, so that pretty much shoots all the fun factor out of that idea. Then there’s the hacknet … which isn’t good for anything as far as I can tell.

The hacknet itself seems like a very good notion (regardless what movie it was ripped from ) but the idea has been very poorly developed since its inception.

Right then moving on…

I believe it was when evolution 2.1 launched that the new player character graphics were implemented. The new models look leaps and bounds better then the older ones but unfortunately the devs only updated the graphics of the player characters, all the npc’s in the world use the old models which makes for a rather crapy contrast.

City graphics look the same, wastelands look the same, DOY looks positively depressing which I guess is the look they were going for.

Weapon models look better though, there’s no denying that.

  

General observations:

• PE armour still looks like a garbage can
• PE’s lost stealth (think that might have happened before version 2, don’t remember any more)
• Ceres was finally implemented, so all the people that love insane grinds rejoice, cos that’s what it is
• Building and researching is unchanged
• Drones are still bugged… and fun to use
• The English server “Terra” is a 4 slot server, love it or hate it.
• The community went from large, active and rude to elitist and rude. Why some people still believe that spouting garbage makes them look cool ill never understand. Post apocalyptic feeling is alive and well though.
• A lot of shops were moved, in some cases just plain removed.
• The escandor oasis genrep is gone used to be a great hunting spot.
• Ghost hacking of outposts is alive and well… unfortunately
• The new player experience is complete garbage, well technically it always was but when the game launched there were a lot more people on the streets to alleviate the boredom.

  

Final observation

For all the changes the game feels the same, looks mostly the same and apart from the intro music screen it even sounds the same. Graphics in some areas are better but the game play hasn’t changed at all.

At most there’s a bigger emphasis on player interaction but this comes at a time were the community is severely reduced, and that’s just not a very good mix.

So in the end I must come to the same conclusion I once had… I bought this game before, its sitting on my shelf. But to carry on playing I must buy the same game again? Hehe… not bloody likely!

So there you have it… the biggest change between now and then is that allot less people play the game. 

Cant help but wonder how it could have turned out in the hands of a more competent developer that wasn’t afraid to stand up to its community once in a while  

 

  

  

 

So Serengeti and I went to see Casino Royale last night. I liked it, it gives the whole Bond franchise a fresh, much appreciated makeover. Craig did a good, convincing job, and I don’t care if he’s blond or redheaded or Rastafarian, as long as he plays his part the way it’s supposed to be played. There were a few confusing moments in the second half of the movie, but all in all it’s worth watching and definitely one of the better Bond flicks. Less toys, very gritty.

Also, I registered for the trial of Amazon’s DVD rental service. I’m pretty busy this week, but I manage to squeeze in a movie before I go to bed once in a while. The trial lets me rent up to 6 DVDs in two weeks, the perfect opportunity to catch up with all the movies I missed or didn’t bother watching this year and last year.

I started out with The Island. It’s about a bunch of clones that don’t know that they’re clones, living in a sterile underground complex, waiting for the day they win the lottery and get send to an paradisiac island. In reality, of course, they are killed and used as spare parts for their real-world counterparts. Ewan McGregor, Scarlet Johansson, some others. The movie turned out better than I thought it would, and it actually has some pretty neat scenes and ideas. Okay, basically it’s Gattaca meets The Matrix. But the story promises a lot … however, it fails to deliver in the second half of the movie. Confusing shots, logic errors, thin story development and a weak ending destroy much of what the first half could have achieved. It’s almost like it was cut/edited in a hurry, and they had to stop before it was finished.

I loved Pirates Of The Caribbean, but I heard and read only so-and-so reviews about the sequel, Dead Man’s Chest. Well, the reviews are right. It’s a solid movie, more pirates, ships, monsters and so on … there’s a bit of story in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. Then somebody supposedly dies and the movie ends. Ta-da, cliffhanger, see you in two years when the next part comes out. Why, thank you, I might just pass. Lots of slapstick, nice music again, great actors, but other than that: unfortunately a rather irrelevant film. Shame, Johnny Depp is Jack Sparrow. Great character.

I have War Of the Worlds lying around here somewhere beneath the pile of paperwork I still have to go through, and then I have to decide which movies to rent next. Suggestions?

Oh, and before I forget: Happy birthday, Ma!

WARNING – Long read ahead… get snacks and soda

  

I used to be able to write reviews at one point.

It used to be interesting to pick up a new game and see what made it tick, what the entertaining bits were, what was boring, how to get the most fun out of every session.

I’m not really sure what happened but I cant seem to do that lately. Probably because I haven’t actually seen a new game that’s even worth testing for what seems like ages.  

So, since there’s nothing new to sink my teeth into I’ve been revisiting the older online games I once played. So far I’ve revisited 3 games and am in the process of cleaning the dust off of number 4. The list goes like this:  

Eve Online – ah yes! Eve online! I beta tested this back in the day and even played it for a few months after it went live but I never got the eve bug. At launch the game was essentially a “pay to display” screensaver and the corps were all centered around the “greed” factor. That never felt right to me, universe was huge and the introduction of a enemy race would have worked better in my view. Focusing peoples destructive nature always results in better ( or at least more cooperative) game play but the designers wanted it that way.

This was way back then and to be honest several updates later the game hasn’t changed much. On the upside anyone that enjoyed it when it launched must be loving it now. As far as I’m concerned it was a glorified screensaver when it launched and it still is one now.

I do hope to try it again if they ever implement the avatar and planetary systems there talking about, so I guess ill wait about 5 years for that to happen   

Anarchy Online – *cough*. Got an email from Funcom saying that my account would be reactivated for a 1 month period to come back and try out the game…again!

I cant really put into words what made me stop playing, the list is very long indeed. One reason I will list was that I had seen a guild I had helped to create degenerate into something cold and heartless, driven by the pursuit of the next shiny object with high value. I suppose the fault was partially my own, I could have tried to influence things for the better but by the time I realised what had happened everyone believed it was the “right way”, attempts at speaking out against the play style got me branded as a malcontent.

At any rate I took Funcom on there offer to review the game… not much has changed to be honest. The guild in question seems to be no more, all communication lines have been cut. The guild apparently disbanded. Played for about 2 days then I just erased it from my hard drive. I don’t mind the crap graphics but the user interface is as annoying today as it was when it launched, the devs should really try to fix that.

The saga of ryzom.

This was a strange game from day one… a rarity for sure. Allowing a character to train whatever skill they wanted without having to “forget” previously leaned skills was a truly refreshing twist on a stagnant market. A fairly decent training system and good graphics and sounds made for a great atmosphere, unfortunately this is were the innovation stopped. Game play itself was non too inviting for the new player which put off most new subscribers from sticking around. The game play was also fiercely defended by the game fanboys and the devs never tried to improve upon it.

End result ? company went bust, there trying to pass on this failure onto a new company that sees potential in the game, no-one knows who this mysterious benefactor is yet but with a bit of luck they’ll upgrade this game into something more entertaining without losing the good aspects of the original design.

The fourth game?  

Neocron!

Well neocron 2.1 anyway. I stopped playing the game when neocron 2 launched. It was a big ruckus about KK wasting time and money making a new version of the same bugged out game that every single person would need to buy “again” in order to carry on playing a game they already owned.  

Neocron is the only game I can remember playing that I truly enjoyed (other then jumpgate),it was a game with a great deal of potential. Community wasn’t the greatest but they did fit into the game setting rather nicely. A kind of rough and ready crew that would rather stab you in the back then lift a finger to help you, you don’t get much more post apocalyptic then that to be honest

The idea of having to download a 1.7gig client to try a game that’s sitting on my shelf didn’t really help but today I bit the bullet and downloaded the thing so I can go and try out the game again. Maybe even find out what this version 2.2 is all about.

That is assuming I can get the trial going… I’ve heard a few horror stories about clicktopay (or whatever the heck there called) I’m hoping are wild exaggerations

  

I just came back from my trip to Manchester. The EuroSTAR conference actually was pretty good, it was both fun and educating. However, I am happy to be back (in one piece and on the planned day of arrival). Listening to and speaking in a non-native language turned out to be stressful in the end – as did some other things. But see for yourselves: The List.

15 things I have learnt on my trip to Manchester

1. Travelodge hotels are cheap for a reason.
2. Burger King tastes better in the UK.
3. The software testing methods I use actually have names like Boundary Value Analysis or Orthogonal Arrays. Neat.
4. Tony Blair is watching you. Okay, maybe not him, but someone is. Many, many CCTV cameras.
5. There are many more Asian people in the testing business than Black people, even in the UK. I found that interesting.
6. Flash didn’t change a bit in the last five years, Telengo looks even more British today. They are still great mates to have a beer / chat / good time with.
7. I’ll never fully understand British humor – pardon me – humour on TV. Or their quiz shows.
8. It rains a fucking lot in England, and it’s a mean, devastating kind of rain. Sorry, but the truth is the truth.
9. Christmas markets are an international success. As are Glühwein and Bratwurst.
10. The 6th season of The Sopranos costs 45. Pounds. Sorry, but I’m not that desperate.
11. Elevators talk too much. Insert Douglas Adams “talking door” reference here.
12. Still true: Nobody remains so patient and relaxed standing in a really, really long line like the British.
13. Traffic lights are practically invisible to English pedestrians. They are pretty to look at though, free illumination.
14. Two hours are a too short buffer if you plan to catch a plane in Manchester. Unless you run right into the rush hour, jump onto some train which is terribly late and then stops on some field for 15 minutes for no obvious reason, get triple-checked by airport security (yes, they scanned my gorram shoes!) and arrive at your gate at the exact time for departure (read: not boarding). Because then it turns out your plane is 30 minutes late.
15. On business trips, men drink – you can smell it. At least 5 out of 10 on my flight. Bleargh.

Now I’m very, very tired. My hand hurts from racing my luggage across two countries and it’s freaking cold in here. Shower, bed.