ESO = B2P

Whether you're an MMORPG fan, a PC gamer, or something in between, you've probably heard about Elder Scrolls Online.

I'm a huge Elder Scrolls fan, and currently own all the PC iterations that have been released. Naturally, I got very excited when I heard about Elder Scrolls Online releasing on PC. I promptly signed up for beta access, and jumped into the fray during the many beta weekends that Bethesda was running as soon as I got my invitation in my e-mail.

As with many MMORPG's, you need a certain level of dedication, time, (and let's be honest, time management) in order to get as much out of them as possible. In addition, for many of these games, buying the game is just the first step in your journey. You may then be asked to fork over a monthly subscription fee which is charged for a variety of reasons. Content, updates, bug fixes, DLC, server maintenance, customer support, they're all things that make a good MMO a great one. And, paying such fees, one starts to expect a certain level of quality. Was it worth it in ESO? I'll leave that part up to you.

I'm not here to debate the advantages and disadvantages that pay to play, buy to play, and play for free have over each other; but it's a worthwhile topic to discuss now that Elder Scrolls Online is BUY TO PLAY. 

Well, not now. It will be as of March 17, 2015. And, on June 9th 2015, you'll be able to play on console as well, with releases coming for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Over the last few months, Bethesda has been making changes to the way their payment and subscription system works. They've been cutting down on subs and making adjustments so that you could no longer buy gametime of a certain length. This was of course in anticipation of the game going either Free to Play or Buy to Play, such as a fan favorite, Guild Wars 2 by NcSoft.

I think it's a step forward to where ESO wants to be. Now dubbed Elder Scrolls Online; Tamriel Unlimited, it will offer much in the way of the content it did when it was a subscription based service, however a few things will change.

Firstly, ESO Plus will be the new subscription model, acting as more of a value added service than an actual subscription; as you will no longer be required to pay a monthly fee to play ESO. That being said, ESO Plus will offer a number of "Benefits":

• An allotment of crowns (premium currency) to spend in the online store for mounts, costumes, pets, and other vanity/convenience items. 
• Access to all DLC as long as you are subscribed.
• 10% bonus to XP, gold, crafting and inspiration gain. 

ESO Plus will be available for 30, 90, and 180 day increments; with crown allotments reaching 1500, 4500, and 9000 respectively for the duration of the given period, awarded in full at the beginning of said period. (For example, if you subscribe for 90 days at a time, your allotment of 4500 crowns will be awarded immediately, and then again once your subscription renews 90 days later, and so on.)

Secondly, it will be nice to know that if you ever stop playing the game, the barrier of re-entry will be small, if there at all. Having played many MMO's in the past with a subscription, I found it to be very difficult to get back into the game after a period of absence; generally because I would play for a week and get bored, thereby losing 3 weeks of paid value while no longer playing the game.

 Thirdly, I have heard that in addition to this change in business model, numerous updates and fixes are scheduled for the near future, improving the game further yet.

I for one am very curious to see if the next-gen launch will be plagued with as many issues as the original PC launch was; but, I hope that Bethesda has learned much from it's ordeal with ESO and will provide a smooth transition into the B2P business model, as well as onto consoles.

What are your thoughts on ESO? Which business model do you prefer? Do you think Bethesda has what it takes to keep this game alive? Let me know!

Until next time, thank you so much for reading. Stay classy!

-Scary

The Light is Dying

Hey everyone,

Scary here again. Happy new year to you all :)

It's been business as usual with the day job, not to mention the job at home as well - which is all to familiar to regular work (which I get paid to do) :P Nevertheless, a necessary thing to do.

Besides having all this on my plate, I've really been looking forward to some of the great games coming out in the near future.

If I haven't mentioned it before, I recently purchased a Playstation 4, and am thoroughly enjoying myself with it. Albeit there is a considerable lack of media features available at the moment (no doubt to be patched sometime in the future) it provides access to the games I've wanted to play most for a few months now. Games like Grand Theft Auto 5 next-gen (which by the way looks amazing and plays just as well as last-gen, if not better), The Last of Us (remastered) and many more.

Having beaten the Last of Us on Survivor (deep breath) I started working on GTA5 (having beaten that on my Xbox 360) but it's been a painfully long process. I've also tried a few other smaller games, including Trials Fusion, which I really enjoyed and continue to play. Thinking about all the fun I could have with the games I currently own, I thought to the future and per-ordered some games that looked very promising.

Here's one I just need to talk about - Dying Light.

Does Techland ring any bells? Well, it should. They were responsible for Dead Island. And, although fitting that they make another zombie game, I feel like they've actually learned some lessons from their previous titles and incorporated some of that genius into Dying Light.

Don't get me wrong - all games have their downfalls and drawbacks. But arguably, there were some terrible things in Dead Island. Specifically the hype created by one of the launch trailers that had us all salivating and foaming at the mouth only to realize....we weren't getting quite what was advertised. I still enjoyed Dead Island however; and feel that with a little more polish it could have really been a great game, instead of just a good one.

Looking forward to Dying Light, I will reserve some of that excitement and anxiety; not because I feel like the game's developers won't fully shine and come through on the hype this time. But, more so because I feel that if I set my expectations low enough, anything better than that will leave me happy. And I've started to approach many different things this way as well.

That being said though, I still have some hopes that Dying Light will deliver on some of the really cool things we've seen in trailers. The free roaming open world is always something I am looking forward to checking out. Who doesn't love blowing zombie brains everywhere? The animations in this game look fluid and believable- and that's the kind of attention to detail I can really dig. On top of that, the game just looks visually appealing and full of eye candy (not counting the semi-coagulated blood spraying out of decapitated zombie bodies and so on).

It's rare for me to go out and actually pre-order games nowadays; so I hope that at least this time, I've made a good choice.

Thanks for reading! Until next time, stay classy. :)

-Scary

Let the Bloodbath Begin!

Hello everyone, 

Scary here again and this time I am playing Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. I haven't really played through the entire game yet, but I wanted to give you my opinions and some ideas as to how it does well, and where it falls short. 

Needless to say, this game is very, very violent. Don't get me wrong, I love violence in video games, because it lets me be that person that probably wouldn't be accepted in our real world society so much. However, if you are the kind of person that doesn't do well with gore, blood, more gore, bone, tendons and more gore being thrown around every 1.3 seconds - this game probably isn't for you and you should turn away. 

Rated B, for BLOODY AS HELL.

Without giving too much away - you are a man who's family has been horribly slain. A dark power is returning to the land you call home, and it's up to you to stop it. But that's pretty much where the cliches end. 

Shadow of Mordor is a dark, unsettling story told in the universe of Middle Earth. It has some references to the Lord of the Rings content, but doesn't necessarily focus on it. It is its own thing, and that's good. 

The game is completely explorable from the very beginning; albeit you have to find, climb, and unlock "towers" to grant you a better view and a lay of the land as seen in games such as Assassin's Creed.

You can play at your own pace, go where you want to go, and do what you want to do. The map is often laden with the main story missions (outlined in gold); but, if you like, you can stray off the beaten path and go hunting for relics. Or, do the many side missions that give you the resources you need to improve your character through various perks and unlockable "talents".

This "Dark Lord" as he is called in the game is the one and only antagonist; however he has a massive army that you have to fight through in order to avenge your family and ultimately restore the peace. The people that haven't been brutally murdered by the dark lord Saron (if I spelled that correctly) have been turned into slaves to fuel the Urok war machine (kind of like orcs, but far uglier, and much more brutal). The many slave drivers as well as other captains and warchiefs in Saron's army are the ones you need to get through. The trouble is, they don't like to die much. And once you play the game, you'll know. It's called the nemesis system, and I will get into it a little later.

Along your path, you are haunted by a wraith - who you eventually bond with and team up with to perform amazing moves and help you make your way through the story. You and this wraith are somehow connected through the pain of loss, and you help one another down the long road ahead. I don't know the wraith's purpose towards the end game, as I have not yet gotten to that point, but I am sure the skills you learn from him will be invaluable to your success.

In Shadow or Mordor, the enemies (namely the captains) you face are as sinfully ugly as they are
vicious and brutal. Each has certain strengths, weaknesses, and a set amount of power. And, each vies for control and power through various activities with and against other would-be captains as they try to climb the hierarchy that is the chain of command in the army. A captain may hold a feast for his men to bolster their troops, or engage in a duel against another captain in a show of power. More often than not, if one of these captains is successful in his mission, or manages to kill you, he immediately takes a promotion to the next highest point of power where there was a vacancy. He grows in power, toughness, gains many strengths and loses some weaknesses, making him that much more difficult to take down. Keep in mind though that you don't have to be killed by a captain - if you are killed by just a regular Uruk, they too get promoted so long as there is a spot in the entry level rank - and become a captain themselves. Captains drop runes when you kill them - and the rune they drop depends on if you killed them using a weakness. If you killed them with a stealth attack, you will get a rune for your dagger. If you killed them from afar with your bow, you will get a rune for your bow. And if you killed them with a melee finisher, you will get a rune for your sword. However, you HAVE to kill them using one of their weaknesses to guarantee the rune for that weapon - else it will be random and at a lower quality.

So let's talk about the nemesis system. As I mentioned above, ranks are filled according to the successes and downfalls of captains. The only true way to really kill a captain is to cut his head off, or he will return stronger and more difficult to kill. The nemesis system works in such a way as to provide infinite (theoretically) replay value by forwarding time throughout the game (through different methods - some which are controlled by the player). Thus, allowing for endless ranks of captains to fill the voids of their fallen comrades. If you're not careful, all the men you killed can have their places filled and you will have to take out even more captains to get to the dark lord himself.

This is a cool, albeit sometimes annoying idea; as I find myself sometimes being overwhelmed and killed, and having just wasted several hours of my time because all those captains I had just killed got replaced. This does however, add a touch of realism and significant challenge to the game - which I really enjoy. And, getting that kill on the increasing difficulty of captains and other enemies feels great.

I know I just barely scratched the surface here, and didn't really go into very much detail. But that's because I feel that this game is worth playing, and that you really need to enjoy it for yourself to understand how well the game works.

Aesthetically the game is beautiful. Mind you, on the PC version, even a $5000 rig will struggle with Ultra settings, as they are unbelievably high in texture and shadow quality. The audio fidelity is equally as impressive with a subtle but noticeable score and extremely well done voice acting. The action is vicious and in your face, but the stealth system allows you to go more at your pace, and enjoy the view of the scenery along the way. The combat is very Batman-ish and provides satisfying yet challenging combat with a variety of weapons, enemies, and moves to learn and pull off.

I must say that the difficulty ramps up quite a bit so don't charge into story missions head-on without doing a few quests on the side; although it is completely possible to just power through the story if you are patient enough.

Thanks so much for reading, and let me know what you thought of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.

Till next time, stay classy.


Scary