Cosplay and Art

Missing some cosplay action? Me too.

Follow this Kotaku link for some more of this cosplay superstar (?) Meagan Marie.

And follow this one for more Mass Effect art

                                 

Races, Armor

Question: Should future iterations of Mass Effect give the option of selecting a different race, or should Sheppard always be human?

I was thinking of how Dragon Age had different origins stories which made it unique and gave more replayability. I would think this to be a great way to have more attachment to my character but EA should keep in mind to make only the popular races available; I 'tried' playing as a dwarf in DA:O.. but I hate them. I know other people like them.. but I just couldn't bring myself to playing one and missed out on their origin story.

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My gf is currently playing and is addicted to Iris Online and she was telling me how her healer was using plate armor instead of the traditional cloth armor that would garner her better healing. With the plate armor, she was a little less effective in healing, but survived much longer due to having a higher armor class and in not dying as much, she was able to heal more overall and was more effective.

I would like to see this more in mmo's: No armor restrictions for any class, where it becomes viable for any class to use any armor at a particular time.

Similar to my entry on shields, giving each type of armor different passive characteristics, it'll change the way in which we approach gear.

Cloth
- lightweight; allowing traditional cloth users to move at normal speed; leather users have a small speed boost and defensive (dodge) buff, plate users increase that effect
- gives boosts to healing/spellcasting abilities
- setting traps, dexterity-related abilities are quickened

Leather
- slows down cloth users slightly causing spells to be cast slower or (gasp) cause spell failure, or even decrease spell effectiveness; more defence than cloth
- no effect to traditional leather users
- speed boosts for plate users, defensive (dodge) buff as well

Plate
- slows down cloth users dramatically but provides a great amount of defence, BUT not as much as traditional plate users who have had experience practicing in it for years
- increased armor at the cost of the loss of dexterity-based abilities(ie. stealth)/effectiveness for leather users
- no negative effect for plate users, higher defence than any other archetype

Combination of Leather/Plate
- the in between of the two
- can have different levels of this armor (30% leather, 70% plate, or 50/50 split) which can cause a wide variety of gear and effects

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Added a cool blog/site: InformationIsBeautiful.net

Happy Friday

I never realized how popular the Little Big Planet was on the PS3, but 2 million levels? Thats pretty impressive. I probably shouldn't show this, b/c the gf is going to really want this game, when it's full priced at 69.99/79.99$ at EB :P Some really cool looking games in the number 2; especiall the top down racers! Loved those kinds!

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I want to see more games in the future which has more realistic elemental effects.
Fire should cause a chance to burn via a dot.
Ice should either cause a slow down of movement of limbs (decreasing speed or attack rate)
Acid should burn through armor or weapons (decreasing defence or attack).
Explosive should explode (knockback or extra damage?).
Lightning should cause a chance to disable a certain function (versus ice which just slows down)

In Neverwinter nights, these elemental effects were just an added type of damage which may be a good choice if they are resistant to other forms of damage. Mass Effect 2 had more elemental realism but was also more limited, as you could either light your enemies on fire, or turn them into ice. The buffs that did more damage or shot through shields weren't too graphically impressive.

Borderlands (yes, Borderlands) seemed to have this down pat, except for the lightning part (though the ability to reduce shields quickly is helpful). It is missing the ice elemental ability.. which i'm hoping for the future.. (come on, more DLC!)

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Does this screen look familiar?

Its Syndicate and looks like we're in for a remake!!!! Woot! I really wish the new XCOM game that is being developed stayed true to it's form and was a turn based strategy game (when was the last good one?)

Countdown: Three..

Official Mortal Online Vids

The mmo's i'm looking at these days Darkfall and Mortal Online seem to be going for a more realistic feel; a more in your shoes attempt a la first person view. I wonder from the screens I saw in the most recent Mortal Online video whether it is fully in first person view or not. I like FPS such as Borderlands (woo!) and they are great in rpgs such as old favorites like Elder Scrolls: Eye of the Beholder, and it even worked well in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

But an mmo, fully in first person view? I'm not too sure on that.

Games such as Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights and even Mass Effect needs a different camera angle to fully view and experience the game (hence why I got DA:O for high overhead camera angle), and would be a travesty if they were only captured via first-person view.

I like to look at how my character looks by itself, or with the landscape, or in relation to everything else in the game. Though I played Oblivion mostly in first person view, when it came to melee fighting I thought it was best to play in third person view to see what was around me. Casting and archery was best in first person view as you were more accurate. Oblivion didn't seem to have as many traps as you'd think, but that and jumping puzzles make 3rd person view essential (for proper footing). Not as 'realistic' but it was more fun.

March 17th Whiny Post Day

Read about what this day is about, other than it sharing St. Patrick's Day..

Something to whine about...

Why is it that every game that I talk about, no one takes my gusto seriously and writes it off?
Sure when it comes out, its lonely, but its still fun!
And then you eventually try it and it rocks your socks! I freaking told you so.. but noooooooooo..
And if you try it, of course its boring NOW b/c its 6mth after everyone finished the game!

Once again Borderlands.
Heyyy great game.. but its before ODST, so everyone is still playing that..
And then less than a month after, Modern Warfare 2 came out.. and no one even gave Borderlands another glance. And now? Who plays MW2? The one person that refused to think that it was a good game and waited 3-4 months after it came out, once everyone was finished with it.

Why are all the game producers out to punish Gearbox?
ODST, MW2, Left for Dead 2, Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, AVP, Battlefield Bad Company and the list goes on and on! No one gets to see the greatness that is Borderlands b/c all these other games came out at the same time? Its a conspiracy i tell you! A conspiracy! They did it so you don't play the great game and leave me alone in the dark corner!

And that concludes my whiney blog entry. Happy Whiney Blog day!.. i mean wah wah Whiney Blog day :P

Mass Effect 2 - Helmet Issue

Found on Kotaku..


I wasn't outraged about the helmet issue, merely annoyed. I just felt the need to write about how disappointed I am with the recent Bioware releases. I'm a 43-year-old gamer; I'm retired so I game a lot; I've been gaming since 1979; I pre-order 99% of my games and typically buy all the DLC. I pre-ordered DA:O and ME2 collector's editions. With the recent false advertising issue related to the CE exclusivity of the cerberus network card, the issues with Return to Ostagar and the horrific issues with the DLC and character importer nightmares in ME2 it seems that Bioware has lost an opportunity to build upon its extremely good reputation.

...blah blah blah... [i just saved you two paragraphs of whining]

I can only hope that enough people fail to buy Bioware's next release so that they see an impact in their financial statements, which seems to be the only place they are focused these days. It saddens me that the quality of Bioware games has declined so dramatically but I honestly no longer expect anyone to take any pride in their work or care about providing a quality product to their customers.


Guess what? When the next big Bioware game comes out.. if they actually have the balls to 'boycott' the game.. they'll wait maybe a few days and eventually cave in and buy it b/c they're pathetic. When people boycotted Left for Dead 2.. did that impact the company? No. When people wanted to boycott Modern Warfare 2, did Activision cry? No, they were laughing at the top of their mountain of gold; the best selling game EVER! Grow up people.

Mass Effect 2: First Impressions

New additions:
'Different' skill sets; Instead of a character having a possible 8-10 skills (weapon, tech, biotic, general/healing), alot of them have been eliminated and most characters only have about 4-6 skills. My adept has pull, singularity, throw, warp, biotic mastery and shockwave.. thats it.. call it dumbing down.. or call it streamlining.. you pick. I .. kinda like it but miss having alot of skills to choose from. One thing I like is now anyone can hack a computer/lockpick as there is no skill for that anymore.

Less micro-management; from an rpg point of view.. bad. From a person that likes shooting more, a game that is more streamlined, or that places higher priority on plot, this is a good thing. I personally liked spending my time doing many different loadouts for my characters. The joy of finding or using powerful weapons, armor or mods. Just being able to play your characters differently through the gear you give them. Now, all you have to do is worry about your main character's gear. Mods seem to apply to all members, you don't need to worry about their gear, characters get the wepaons in which they are proficient in (so an Adept doesn't get a sniper rifle). I guess the positive side on this is less micro-management means more time to play through the storyline.

The Good
Graphics; Gorgeous. Even better than the first game (i guess it better be); lots of cutscenes to show it off. More textures and holograms.

Removal of the Maco. I found it was the most annoying aspect of the original game. Cliffs you couldn't climb; fighting thresher maws was super annoying.. the ability to run over ground enemies was cheap and avoiding turrets or lava was annoying as well. Thank goodness for this.

Plot/storyline. I won't give it away.. but its good and makes sense.


Talking Shepard\Protagonist. When the main character, your character, is able to talk and it is not just assumed that what you selected is what you said, it draws you into the game. Greater immersion. Bioware has kept this, and the voice acting is fantastic. (Why not Dragon Age, i dunno)


Lots of npc companions. I believe around 12.. so double than the first game.

Mining; scanning mini-game while looking for natural resources; you scan a planet from orbit and you shoot a probe to an area that you find with high concentrations of resources and this is used for research projects that will be used for upgrades (not confirmed: weapons and armor)


Faster shopping; instead of having to strike up a conversation with a vendor each time you want to buy, there are convenient terminals to start the buying process.


The Bad

Load times; omfg takes forever! I may not have a top of the line computer in today's standard, but it's still pretty decent, but the load times are huuuuge. Just moving from one deck in the Normandy takes a good 2-3 minutes (these are super small levels). Sure the graphics are cool  but it sure does take a long time! I read my strategy guide in between.

Feels clunky; maybe my mouse laser is not as accurate anymore.. or maybe its the game, but it seems like the cursor is slow in the game, or I get stuck when trying to aim. Aiming around corners is significantly harder; sometimes I get extremely frustrated that i'm pressing the zoom button but my character is not getting out of cover to aim b/c i'm not positioned correctly.

Jacob (the npc). He looks like Kayne West, sorry buddy, no matter how nice you are in the game, i don't think i can play you.

Limited ammo. Call it easy mode; i don't like the thought of being limited to ammo.. which possibly makes being biotic more important.. or make each shot count. I haven't played a soldier/physical player yet, so I don't know whether the mags on assault rifles, smgs, shotguns or sniper rifles are bigger. It doesn't make sense, 2 years ago (game time) there was unlimited ammo with heat conservation, and now there is ammo? blah

--------------I can't put in an honest review of the game yet, as I've barely touched the surface (only played about 5ish hours.. nd more like 3 hours on my character) already rerolled with my female renegade (i like to be evil). The game is good (I know that is a rather weak descriptor). Its Bioware, and i've already played Dragon Age and it was solid, a very good game. I can't imagine them not trying with Mass Effect 2, but actually trying even better as it is supposed to be a trilogy.

They took some of the annoying issues away, added a few quirks (limited ammo, and streamlined micromanagement).. but overall its the same type of game the original was that was very popular. Once again, I can't figure out how to take screenshots, but as you see, I took pics while gaming for your viewing pleasure ;)