Burnout

Burnout is defined on Wikipedia (I know, reliable source and all) as a period of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in work. It occurs most frequently in me when I play a game too much in too short a period of time.

As of late, I’ve burned out on two games: Star Wars: The Old Republic and Neverwinter.

On SWTOR, it was a total burnout where I just have zero interest in playing the game right now. With Neverwinter, it’s a lesser burnout where I’m willing to hop in every now and again to do professions (thank you Gateway for making this less of a hassle) and to play around a bit here and there.

Neverwinter is still a fun game but I find myself getting lag locked in places. Lag lock is the term I’m coining here (yes it’s mine now) to cover that situation when you’re moving through a zone and your character stops and can’t move due to loading or lag. It also covers when I’m trying to rotate my camera and the game just won’t go because there’s so much going on. Lag lock can occur pretty regularly to me in Neverwinter, especially in the Protector’s Enclave around the Market, Sgt. Knox, and the invoker lady. It’s one of the contributing factors to my burnout because I get rather frustrated with having to fight my way through it.

I’ve experienced lag lock in a wide number of games over the years including (but certainly not limited to) Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Wars Galaxies, Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, and Star Trek Online. It regularly occurs when there’s a great number of players around, so heavily populated areas can cause this lag lock. It’s probably happening more today thanks to my old video chipset (AMD has stopped releasing driver updates and are now popping out individual issue patches that I’m not interested in as yet).

This comes down to a conclusion that I was afraid of: it’s about time I get a new machine. Fact is, money’s tight (when isn’t it?) and there’s two kinds of machines I’m interested in: one is a pie-in-the-sky “desktop replacement machine” that’s going to cost a lot but will last me a long time and the other is what I’m calling the “compromise model” where it’s kind of the midpoint between what I have now and what I really want. The “compromise model” is plenty good enough to do what I want while not lasting nearly as long as the pie-in-the-sky model. My current laptop has been kicking around for almost five years under my deft fingertips and she’s certainly seen better days. Also, my warranties run out in less than two months.

Turns out that I’m not the only thing that can experience burnout. If I can get a new machine soon, I will. If not, I’ll try to get by like usual. I am, in fact, quite tired of just getting by though. I deserve to see these worlds at maximum settings, to play in beautifully rendered settings and watch the digitally created grass blow in the fictional winds of whatever world my avatar has set foot on today. I deserve to have SHADOWS and WATER REFLECTIONS. My “make do” engine is nearing its own burnout.

We’ll see what happens.

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” – Jack London

A Return to Neverwinter

It’s been some time since I could wander the streets and alleys of Neverwinter. It’s not as it once was though. The scenery is… different. I’m getting used to the Moonstone Mask floating in the air and my old stomping grounds being overrun by everything from Wererats to Orcs of the Many-Arrows tribe.

I will say one thing though: the strife in the city never changes.

My favorite character thus far is my level 41 Dwarven Devoted Cleric, Sidian Stormhammer. I think I got him to level 30 before I even made another character. Right now I’m taking a much deserved break from him since once I got to a certain point, fighting enemies just became a bit of a drag. I might have to change up some skills. I started playing a Guardian Fighter last night and I hit 15 before I realized it, so I must be doing something right.

The profession system is a lot of fun. I especially enjoy how I can keep up on my stuff by logging into the Neverwinter Gateway. I have three characters with professions to work with and I’ve started checking the gateway each morning right after waking up. Super fun and all around a wonderful addition to the game. It’s a little buggy here and there, but I can make it work.

The random name generator for characters is amazing. Give it a few clicks the next time you make a character and you’ll see what I mean. My Tiefling Guardian Fighter from last night? Orianna Balorfist. So. Cool. My Half-Orc Trickster Rogue? Irienys. My Half-Orc Great Weapon Fighter? Zanros. My Human Control Wizard? Thom Urthadar. Great names, all of them.

I’ve had few issues with the game. Seeing as my computer is thoroughly venerable compared to today’s equipment, I suffer quite a bit of lag when there’s too many people on screen. Fortunately, Cryptic gave me plenty of video options to turn to low or completely off. During a dungeon last night (5 man mission), I had to reduce the rendering quality just so I wouldn’t lag as much in a fight. Every pixel just kind of blurred. It was weird, but very playable. Also, whenever I’m in the Protector’s Enclave, it’s only a matter of time before my computer goes, “hang on, don’t move ever while I try to draw everything around you that’s moving so fast”. Yeah, pushing my way through town is like slogging through a mud pit sometimes.

The game isn’t entirely pristine, but the bugs are pretty few and far between. I found out yesterday dying for the first time as a level 39 Cleric that injuries won’t heal themselves at a campfire like they’re supposed to (according to the help menu). Yup, filed that bug: NOT WORKING AS INTENDED.

Neverwinter is currently holding my attention pretty well in my post-Star Wars: The Old Republic haze. At least it will until Star Trek Online drops the Romulan content on the 21st. Also, I’m going to have to take another day sometime soon to record more XCOM Enemy Unknown footage for my current Let’s Play.

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “You must gather your party before venturing forth.” – The message in Neverwinter when you’re waiting for your group before entering an instance. It’s also what the narrator used to say in Baldur’s Gate when you were attempting to leave a zone without some members of your group close enough. I forever read it like that narrator is saying it.

Sprinting from Start to Finish – Star Wars: The Old Republic

Last night I hit level 51 and the end of Corellia AND the end of the Sith Inquisitor storyline in Star Wars: The Old Republic. It was good fun.

Seriously, I had a lot of fun playing my Sorcerer. By the time I finished my storyline, I didn’t have any companion storylines finished, one companion had yet to be around for 1000 kills (I was having trouble staying alive so, sorry Talos), and I’m pretty good at the whole “lightning lightning everywhere” approach to combat. So, while there’s still stuff to do (Ilum, Makeb, etc.) I need to take a break from the daily gameplay.

I started Ni’luri’aria on Tuesday, April 16th, and finished her on Sunday, April 28th. So, 51 levels in less than two weeks. Sounds about right, considering I hit level 22 in two days and after the first couple of worlds the level curve slows quite a lot.

I was disappointed (but not entirely surprised) to find out that the devs had removed the advanced gear quests that gave a free set of level 50 equipment. Well, one gave a free set of PVP armor and the other gave a free pile of Tionese crystals so you could buy a full set of PVE armor (almost, they gave 99 and you needed 100). So, I’m cool with this, I just needed to start saving my planetary commendations earlier than I did. I needed about 154 to fully trick myself out in the new level 50 item modifications and I had 68 last night. What I did was I maxed out both my focus and my lightsaber, my belt, and my bracers. Then I hit the auction hall and bought some pretty well priced armorings (10k per? Yes please!) for the rest of my equipment and hunted down some other mods (mods are always unfortunately priced on the Galactic Market so I didn’t get any). Oh, I also grabbed a pair of level 50 lightsaber crystals.

Speaking of equipment, I must’ve been in the mid 20′s when I decided to focus on critical rating. At level 51, my critical rating is such that I currently critically hit about 40% of the time (I think it’s 40.81% right now). When I DO critically hit, I do an extra 77% damage. Not going to lie, it’s super nice.

My strategy with the equipment was to go for all custom stuff early on and just replace the item modifications as I went. It worked remarkably well since they piled all the planet specific commendations into the same “planetary commendation” pool. Also, they kicked up the max you could carry to 100, so that’s a great thing. This allowed me to take the equipment for my companion of the day as the quest reward or the commendation if that choice wasn’t available or sucked really bad.

A small note on the ending of the Sith Inquisitor storyline: while it’s really awesome to become… what I became (hah, no spoilers here!), it has a much less sentimental finish than say the Bounty Hunter or Smuggler ending. At the end of those, I was proud, excited, and sad all at the same time. At the end of this one though, I was mostly proud, but determined and feeling like there was still a ton of work to be done. I’m not going to miss my Sorcerer’s companions the way I definitely miss Mako and crew (also Corso and crew). It’s weird.

While I’m glad for the experience of playing a Sorcerer beginning to end, I’m kind of relieved it’s over. I need a break from SWTOR again and it’s just in time for Neverwinter to become available to the masses tomorrow. Also, I need to start another Let’s Play and I’ve chosen XCOM Enemy Unknown as my next self-inflicted injury. I’ve decided that I’ll play through on Normal difficulty and with Ironman mode active. I think I’ll make the videos about 20 minutes long (30′s too long, 10 too short for XCOM) and we’ll see if I lose or not. I hope I win. I’ll either start recording today or Wednesday (since Monkey Island 2 ends on Thursday).

So, until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “I am the future of the Sith Order, and I intend to reshape it in my image. The Empire and the Sith belong to me.” – Ni’luri’aria, aka Darth Occlu

P.P.S. By the way, I finished the game pretty neutral but leaning light side. Net total, positive 550 points or so. I actually hit light side 1 at some point, but that changed pretty shortly thereafter.

Inquisitor? I’m still getting to know her…

Since Tuesday afternoon, I’ve been playing one character in Star Wars: The Old Republic – my Sith Inquisitor turned Sorcerer, Ni’luri’aria. She’s a Lethan Twi’lek (red skinned) with tattoos on her face and lekku (head tails) and she has purple eyes (to match the lightning coming from her fingers). Here, have a picture from earlier in her career…

She’s level 34 now, so obviously this was taken a few days ago. Also, as you can see, I have the graphics turned down because my computer is old. Apparently my three most recently played characters all have apostrophes in their names, are female aliens, and are all Imperial. Huh, how about that.

My first real Inquisitor (I’ve had two others that were kind of false starts), she’s been a ton of fun to play and I finished Chapter 1 last night. I’ve been training her up the Lightning skill tree, so there’s lots of double-firing of abilities going on. Further, she’s been using mostly orange equipment (customizable pieces) so that I could save money on that sort of stuff. I’ve been taking advantage of the newly revised Planetary Commendation system and purchasing armorings, hilts, mods, and enhancements as needed. So, while her appearance isn’t changing much at all, she’s definitely keeping up with what her level allows. Also, thanks to the pre-order bonus for Rise of the Hutt Cartel, she’s able to train in the field courtesy of the holographic Hutt trainer, Dr. Oggurobb. This drastically minimizes the wait on keeping up with my skills and reduces my traveling around to hit up my class trainer.

I’ve been playing her with a fair amount of whimsy. When a light or dark decision pops up, I choose whichever one floats my boat at that time. Thus far, she’s been stuck in the neutral realm of things. Last I checked she was leaning light but only barely with something like 2000 light side points but 1850 dark side points or whatever (it’s narrowly above a net zero score). It’s fun and I’m looking forward to seeing which way she eventually winds up. I don’t especially care about going fully one way or the other, I mean, being Sith, it’s mostly whimsy as is.

I’ve just arrived in orbit over Taris (last night) and so I’m looking forward to finding out first hand what this ruined world has in store for me. Me, I hope I can handle it. From her perspective, well, best get out of her way or you’ll receive a mighty shock (she doesn’t have much in the way of patience for people who beat around the bush or are generally annoying and that includes most NPCs that you can fight).

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “Murder and mayhem await!” – Ni’luri’aria

SW:TOR-ing It Up

This past weekend I jumped back into Star Wars: The Old Republic. No, I didn’t really touch the new content of Makeb, but I did collect some of the new commendations (that replaced all the old ones), I maxed out my crew skills on Saya’fida (Slicing, Treasure Hunting, and Scavenging), I ran around some planets getting lore entries and collecting achievements, and I finally was able to do the very last space mission, The Ascendancy Barrier/The Impossible Sector and I’m able to do it reliably.

The sense of relief late Friday night that I could do that final space mission was palpable. As soon as I finished it on Saya’fida, I switched to my other 50, Zyphus, and did it for him. It was GLORIOUS and the daily reward is WORTH IT: a lump of experience, an item for the new reputation system, a pile of fleet commendations, and FOUR of the new Classic Commendations (which will certainly help get me new equipment).

A note on the new legacy achievement system: it’s not entirely without issue. They have some tasks they need to remove from several of the space achievements in order to make them, I don’t know, DOABLE. There’s some objectives that cannot be done at all, and no, this isn’t just because I can’t do them, there’s literally no way to do them. There’s no communications tower in Fondor Escort to blow up, so unless they add one (unlikely), they’re going to have to pull that line out of the achievement requirements.

Also, all of the exploration categories per planet seem to have a higher cap by 10 points than what’s currently able to be done. For example, getting all the lore, bestiary, datacron, and location entries would net you 70 points while the category maximum is 80 points. I’m not sure if they did that intentionally in order to leave room for more stuff or if that was just an accident.

Oh, they could give achievement points to the Pets category, that’d be cool. Also, if they could make the PAX 2012 Taun Faun available to those of us who weren’t paying attention or were unable to attend, that’d be great. I’m a bit of an achievement hunter when it comes to MMOs, but I gravitate to the ones that are easier to get more than not. I do recognize that I’m going to need to take advantage of my last couple of character slots to make new characters and grind out the starter planet kills. No problem as I enjoy it and the new characters would benefit from the experience points and loot more than my level 50′s would. Also, some lore entries and several achievements are only available to certain classes in the game, so you do have to play every class in order to get all the achievements. Some classes more than once (I’m looking at you, Sith Warrior).

Anyway, I’m excited by the new achievement system. It’s really comprehensive and once they iron out the existing issues (probably in a patch later this week if we’re lucky) I think my achievement point score will bounce up overnight. Oh, a small thing… certain achievements award a few cartel coins! That’s ALWAYS welcome since they started adding cool things to the Cartel Market that I actually want!

Oh, and the space missions? So much fun for me. Grade 7 space equipment for the win!

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “Corrected an issue that could cause a crash to desktop directly after clicking “Play”.” – 2.0.0a Patch Notes for Star Wars: The Old Republic, dated 4/10/13.

Gaming Diet

My gaming diet has been pretty sparse lately.

I’ve been really enjoying Civilization IV and just starting a custom game and playing as a random civilization. It’s quite a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. Typically I get bored around the time where I have to win though. The build up, the expansion, the struggling to make a civilization that can stand the test of time is where all the fun is for me. Sealing the deal, winning, is just unnecessary at that point.

The other day a buddy and I got in some Diablo 3 and that was a pleasant change of pace. I do enjoy playing my Wizard, but he’s a mite fragile. I kind of have to be in the mood to kite enemies around to play him.

I’ve also been playing the occasional couple of rounds of Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. I’m almost through with the Sentinel and I’m considering which Infiltrator I’d like to play.

I’m holding off on playing any Star Wars: The Old Republic until Rise of the Hutt Cartel drops (and even then I might hold off because it’s going to be CROWDED). SWTOR isn’t a game I just pick up and play because it’s a serious time investment… also my computer has the occasional issue with running it.

I’m also holding off on playing any Star Trek Online until the new expansion lets us play as Romulans in May. I’m very much looking forward to that. It’ll be crowded too, but STO is a game I’ve whupped pretty well and it’s easier for me to just pick it up than SWTOR.

Yesterday I knocked out Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge for my next Let’s Play. I’ll start posting them this Wednesday. I was surprised at how quick the game was considering how I hadn’t played it in a number of years and I couldn’t remember most of it.

Anyway, not much going on here, so, until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “I’m a mighty pirate!” – Guybrush Threepwood

Sentinel Selection – Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

I’m currently in the prolonged process of getting all six of the categories of kits in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer up to level 20 before promoting them and starting all over again. It’s a personal goal kind of thing. Last night I finished up with Engineer (I love my Quarian Engineer!) and now I have a tough decision to make on which Sentinel I play. Here, check out my view of things:

The darkened ones are the locked classes I haven’t received yet through the random packs you can purchase. The “new” ones are characters I haven’t ever used in the past. The “level up” or blank characters are the ones I’ve played before.

This decision is hard because I haven’t proven myself especially good at playing a Sentinel. I’m hit or miss with the Adept, Infiltrator, and Vanguard and I’m half-way decent with the Soldier and Engineer.

I’m thinking I’ll try out the N7 Paladin (the guy with the orange shield) for a bit and then maybe (if that doesn’t work) fiddle around with the Volus (the short guy next to the shield guy) or the Human Male (guy on the far left of the row). It really depends on how I feel about their power loadout. The Volus is cool because it comes with a shield boost ability that restores shields to himself and others around him. Also, the Volus has a combat drone that flies around and zaps things, as well as a decoy ability where he can throw a copy of himself down and it can draw aggro from the enemy. Down side is he’s short and can’t take cover, but his melee is a personal cloak… so…

Wait, why am I choosing the Paladin again?

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “Let’s get paid!” – any Volus in ME3 Multiplayer upon starting the extraction wave.

Cultural Immersion – My Time At PAX East 2013

This past weekend was the highly popular Penny Arcade Expo in Boston and I had the good fortune to attend. My impression of the convention? SPECTACULAR! AMAZING! I CAN’T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!

There’s nothing quite like being in a place where everyone is a gamer and everyone wants to have a good time. Everyone I encountered was on their best behavior and I have never heard so many thank you’s. The lines were some of the most fun I had. Once I got past the initial anxiety about striking up a conversation with someone new, I was able to just plop down and talk to anyone. Everyone in line is there because they have some sort of investment in the panel and in gaming and you always have something to talk about. For example, in the Mass Effect Retrospective line, just asking about their Shepard, you see everyone’s eyes light up and you hear the passion in their voice as they tell you some of their experiences.

It’s like I went to a convention with thousands of kindred spirits. I’ve never felt such a sense of belonging before and it was quite remarkable. There was no shunning, only willingness to understand. Like, when I explained to someone my preferences for the Star Wars prequels and Special Edition over the Original Trilogy, I did admit that I have a hard time separating the Expanded Universe from the movies, so I have this big picture view and the changes in the Special Edition just don’t have that big an impact on me. I saw comprehension from everyone who heard that and I felt relieved.

On Friday I hit up the Expo floor, visiting the Neverwinter booth and the Awesomenauts booth pretty early. Then I picked up a Red Vs. Blue shirt and attended the Rooster Teeth panel. Later I attended a panel talking about turn-based games and it was starting out slowly until there was a technical issue where the speakers were sharing a microphone that wasn’t in the room. The panelists kept trying to out speak the disembodied voice and it was quite hilarious. Afterward, I attended a panel dealing with types of gamers and found it pretty enlightening but overall pretty straightforward and easy to understand. For more information and how to figure out your gamer type, hit up Game on Girl and take their quiz. Then I hit up the LoadingReadyRun panel and stuck around for the extremely hilarious Game Show Night (which hit mature humor levels in record time).

Saturday was a pretty simple day. I arrived, got in line, attended the Penny Arcade Create-A-Strip panel (which you can see the NSFW fruits of the labor of Gabe and Tycho on their site now) and then when it got out, I immediately got back in line for the same room to attend the Mass Effect Retrospective. As with all things ME, I almost cried at their Retrospective Video. You can see the panel I attended here. Then I left and got into another line to attend a panel talking about behind the scenes at Firaxis Games. After a quick stop at FedEx to get a tube to protect my new awesome poster, I went back in line for the third round of the Omegathon (it was Jenga) and the Saturday Night Concert (it rocked so hard I felt it in my hair). By they way, there’s nothing quite like Paul and Storm live.

Sunday was an easy day too as I got into the groove of the convention. I attended a panel on gamers dealing with depression which helped immensely as it’s always nice to know we’re not alone with our problems. Then I queued up for a panel entitled: “You Game Like A Girl: Tales of Trolls and White Knights” and I had flashbacks to my wedding planning class in college where (aside from the Professor’s unborn child) I was the only male in the room. It wasn’t that bad as there was a significant number of males in attendance and the all female panel was very welcoming and encouraging to men. One person got up to mention that she would play Mass Effect 3 multiplayer on XBox Live and no one would revive her because she was a girl. Shocked, I immediately gave her my Origin name and told her I’d always help her if I could (she just got it for PC to get away from the unhelpful XBox Live environment). Yay, new friend! After, I went down to the Bioware Base and hung out until the convention ended. It was a lot of fun and I got Raphael Sbarge to sign my PAX Pass for me. Well, I also told him that he brought some of my favorite companions to life and that meant a lot to me. He seemed genuinely moved by that and we shook hands.

A quick little story about that night though: I had just finished dinner at the hotel bar and I went to leave and froze. The whole team from Bioware that attended PAX East was RIGHT THERE kicking back and having drinks. A guy came up to the bar to order a lemonade and I was all, “Psst, look over there… that’s BIOWARE.” “Oh, wow.” “Yeah, I have to walk past them to get to my hotel room.” “Good luck with that.”

Then I chose the Paragon choice and didn’t bother them as I made my way to the elevator. The moment the doors closed though, I burst out laughing. The whole convention was like that.

All in all, I met some fantastic people, made a few amazing friends (especially in the airport waiting to fly home, you know who you are) and I had a wonderful time.

Lessons learned: a satchel with snacks and a bottle of water was a brilliant idea of mine. A pen and a small notepad, also genius. I needed a hat because DAMN it was cold outside the convention hall. Next time get a closer hotel. Next time maybe bring someone to attend with because it’s pretty lonely eating alone. Try to get a bit more swag. Ask people their names more often (even if I will forget it pretty quickly if I don’t write it down… see pen and notepad).

Anyway, I’m back and I’ve got plans for a new Let’s Play after I do the Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge one. I think everyone should enjoy watching that one as I’ll probably be cursing up a storm. You’ll see.

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “It’s not about being modern or retro or a Luddite or being hopeful or pessimistic about the future; it’s about clinging on to what makes sense of our lives, and what give our lives value, and what gives us a commonality and a feeling of belonging.” – Jack White of The White Stripes.

Computer Games Aren’t The Only Ones I Play

As the title says, I don’t only play computer games. I do have a DS, a PSP, a PS2, and I’ve played most modern console systems shy of the PS3 and the Wii U (and obviously I haven’t played on some older obscure systems like the Jaguar and a few others). From time to time I have also played Dungeons & Dragons (Third and Fourth editions), Pathfinder D&D, and Star Wars RPG (West End Games to WOTC’s three versions). I’ve tried Shadowrun, Lord of the Rings, and Champions RPGs. I’ve also played my fair share of board games ranging from the classics like Monopoly and Battleship to more modern ones like Settlers of Catan and Arkham Horror.

Yesterday I pulled out my Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game and took part in a small tournament at my local gaming shop. Shy of practicing to get a grasp of the rules when I first got them on/around Christmas, I’ve only played it once before with my friends. So, the relative newbie here entering a tournament where some of the guys have played so much they’ve got game pieces that show significant wear.

Initially I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play or not and it took a few minutes for me to build up the nerve to even walk up to the people gathering to ask about the tournament. I’d found out about it a couple of nights before just poking at the forums for the game. After chatting with a couple of friendly guys, the tournament coordinator showed and told us how things were going to work and what was going to happen. I went to my car, got my case of stuff (it’s one of those craft boxes with adjustable partitions that folks use for beads sometimes), and I paid my five bucks so I could play.

A few nights prior, when I found out about the tournament, I was messing around and built a 100-point squad. Initially based on a recommended internet build, I fiddled with it until I was more or less happy, never expecting to actually USE it. I had taken a picture of all the cards I was using and so I filled out the tournament entry sheet with phone in hand.

My 100-point squad was as follows:

Wedge Antilles with Swarm Tactics and R2-D2 (R2-D2 is a LIFESAVER because he allows you to regain a shield token whenever you use a green maneuver and I was doing that ALL OF THE TIME)

Biggs Darklighter with R2-F2 (Note to self: I really need to remember to have Biggs use R2-F2′s ability to increase his Agility by 1. That’s what got him killed more often than not.)

“Dutch” Vander with an Ion Cannon Turret, an R5 Astromech, and two Proton Torpedoes (I love the “cheapness” of the Ion Cannon Turret, but it’s supremely balanced because its effects don’t last)

I’m sure none of that means anything to you, but suffice to say I had two X-Wings and a Y-Wing. I called it “Just Another Rebel Squad” or JARS for short. Hey, they asked for a squad name and I’m horribly unoriginal.

In my first match, hands trembling as they usually do in PvP situations, I managed to squeak out a partial win. That means I only beat the guy by total remaining points on the field and not through killing all of his units. Biggs died kind of early on (his ability forces the enemy to shoot at him if they can), but I managed to wipe out all three of his TIE Fighters leaving his Firespray and my Wedge and “Dutch” to fight until the 60 minutes were up.

For my second match, the enemy fielded a pair of TIE Advanced and a generic Bounty Hunter piloted Firespray. One of the TIE Advanced was actually piloted by Darth Vader, but he died first to a really great shot from Biggs. Unfortunately, everything went downhill from there as he proceeded to wipe me off the board and I picked up a total loss. Still, great fun and I learned a lot… namely that the Firespray is DANGEROUS and Y-Wings are super durable in this game.

My third and final game was up against another Rebel squad, Wedge Antilles in an X-Wing and Han Solo in the Falcon (with Luke as a Gunner and Chewbacca as co-pilot). I was genuinely terrified for most of the match, but my opponent made a couple of mistakes that added up later. Biggs died very early on mostly due to my own mistakes, but then “Dutch” managed to use his Ion Cannon to make his Wedge get so close to the edge of the board that no maneuvers could bring him back on it (therefore he was removed from play and considered destroyed). Han Solo proceeded to kill “Dutch” ASAP because the was legitimately afraid of the Ion Cannon ability and then it was a slugging match between my “Mirror Wedge” and his Falcon. I very much won by sheer luck at the end with one hull point remaining on Wedge. We were both amazed at the outcome and talked for a while about what happened. Note: the larger ships are hard to maneuver through the asteroid conditions of a tournament. Also, if you don’t want one of your ships to get shot at by a big ship like the Falcon, just run into it and they can’t shoot at each other (I did this with my Wedge for about half the fight).

Seeing as I’d gotten only one loss, one total win, and one partial win, I happened to come in second place. Apparently all but one guy had two losses and one win (that one guy had three wins I think). So, I netted a bag of some lucite target lock markers for use in the game. They’re pretty cool looking and I’m very enthused by my success.

Yup. My first time playing in a tournament environment got me second place and I didn’t even have the newer pieces from Wave 2 (The YT-1300, Firespray-31, A-Wing, and TIE Interceptor and all the cards that come with them are all considered Wave 2). I don’t know if or when I’ll do it again, but it was a great experience. I consider it “social anxiety handling practice” for heading to PAX East later this week (I’ll write about that when I get back, maybe next Tuesday depending on how I feel after my return on Monday).

Maybe I was lucky yesterday. I am part-Irish and yesterday WAS St. Patrick’s Day, so, who knows?

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi.

My Neverwinter Beta Impressions

Aside from the initial snafu with email notifications about the beta, I had a pretty darn good Neverwinter beta experience this past weekend. Seeing as there’s no NDA, let’s see what I can throw out about the game.

1) Your level doesn’t matter in groups. I got up to level 20 at the highest point and it didn’t appear to matter how high a level I was, as long as I was on the same quest as my friends, we could play together.

2) It takes longer to level if you’re in a group than if you’re solo. This is just a feeling we got while playing. The argument we made (in defense of this idea) is that in normal D&D because you’re splitting exp with your group, it takes longer to level. That said, you don’t have to level as fast because there’s more people there.

3) You definitely get less money when you’re in a group. By the time I was 20, I had just barely hit 2 gold and you need 2 gold 50 silver to buy a horse. It’s not as easy to get silver when every reward is handed out in copper. No complaints here though. I get it.

4) Playing solo is great. I was playing a cleric most of the weekend and I discovered that by the time I was reaching this one level 14 quest, I was level 12. I still handled it, but it wasn’t super easy. Wasn’t super hard either… I think they might have found a Goldilocks zone of solo difficulty. Assuming a group of three players (you can have five in a group) would be a level or two lower at the same point, it’s just about right.

5) Playing in a group is great. Things die so much faster in group play than in solo play. That’s the significant difference. Also, you can access more things in the game thanks to individual class skills. As a cleric, you have the religion skill and there are shrines every now and again that if you use, you can get a party buff that gives plus 5% gold find for 3 minutes or something. Fighters and their dungeoneering skill give access to secret passages. Rogues can handle traps and use their thieving skill to do some other stuff. Wizards have arcana and in one instance was able to get us a treasure chest thanks to turning off some spellfire.

6) The game feels pretty well balanced as far as the classes are concerned. You don’t have to have one of everyone in your group. It’s NICE to have one of everyone. I did an instance of the Cloak Tower and most of the group were clerics (and we had one fighter). Each class is definitely unique and forces a change in play style.

All that said, it was a beta and as a result there were some issues. Like my human cleric not getting bonus feat points like his race specified or some items not having art assets yet and so they were white boxes on the character sheet/inventory. Being able to invoke a blessing from the gods was also happening more than once an hour in some cases for me (had to do with zoning and stuff, but I said, “I’m a cleric, of COURSE I can pray a lot!”). Oh, and apparently Celestial Coins were going away when you zoned instead of expiring naturally over a period of time.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to Neverwinter’s official release. If they promise to put in the Psion class, I promise I’ll get a lifetime account (if they exist eventually). Otherwise, well, I’m sold on this game. It’s got great graphics, great gameplay, and a great built-in soundtrack. Oh, and of course, all my favorite stuff from the great city of Neverwinter (I do miss the Neverwinter of 100+ years ago though… not gonna lie).

Until next time!

- Elorfin

P.S. “Ho there wanderer. Stay thy course a moment to indulge an old man.” – Elminster’s first appearance in the game Baldur’s Gate.

P.P.S. “You must gather your party before venturing forth.” – Narrator of Baldur’s Gate (coincidentally or maybe intentionally also the same message you see when you’re in a group and you’re trying to change zones).