Neverwinter First Impressions

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a beta key for the upcoming free-to-play MMORPG title, Neverwinter. The game, I can happily report, is very fun and enjoyable. In a world of an ever increasing number of free-to-play titles to try it was nice to see Cryptic Studios try some new things.

I liked their combat system they created for the game. It's a fast-paced, real-time, action-oriented kind of combat. The combat is more on par with other action MMORPG titles such as Vindictus or Rusty Hearts. I  felt there was also a certain amount of strategy involved in when was appropriate times to use different types of skills.

The skill sets follow rules from 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons which breaks it down to At-Will Powers (skills you can use indefinitely), Encounter Powers (skills you can use after a small cooldown), and Daily Powers (skills that you can use only after filling up your action points). Knowing when and who to target is essential when getting into the harder fights.

Eat divine fire, bandit!

As of right now I felt the skill choices were limited as I only really had one path to follow. However, I will admit that I didn't get a character past level 25 so I imagine there is more customization through your feats and Paragon paths that you can follow. Also, it is only in beta at the moment and the development team has plans to add in more classes and I would imagine refine the classes.

One of the other things, that maybe is necessarily a "fresh idea" was their use of Neverwinter itself and its place within the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons and Dragons. While I've never actually played a game of Dungeons and Dragons (a deprived childhood that I am already aware of) I do know a little of the Forgotten Realms through reading of some of the books. It's exciting to see the city of Neverwinter take shape and makes me want to read more or maybe play some of the video games surrounding the Forgotten Realms (i.e. Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Icewind Dale) just so I can study up on the lore.

The great city of Neverwinter! Or part of it anyway.

However, that brings me to another feature that Cryptic Studios is playing with. If anyone has been keeping up with news on Neverwinter then you probably already know what I'm talking about, but for those who don't, two words for you: The Foundry. This feature the development team is trying to implement is to give the tools of level design to the players so that they can be able to create user content for the game.

This will allow players to create a never-ending supply of unique quests and campaigns to play through. In essence, I feel like this can drastically reduce the boring routine of grinding that many players find themselves doing within a MMORPG. Not only that, but I think it will bear some really interesting quests that may be well-driven into the lore of Forgotten Realms. Especially once the Foundry community gets to be experienced with it then that's when players will be able to muster out some rather impressive works.

Unfortunately, the Foundry had a separate beta that I wasn't apart of so I wasn't able to check out how the level designing actually worked firsthand. Although, I did manage to pry myself away from the base game to play through a few user created quests. As to be expected, some were good and others were not, but with each quest it showed me what some of the capabilities were of this system was. In one quest I was in a simple bar fighting in an illegal tournament and in another I ran through a simple dungeon crawl.

The system also allows you to drop feedback. This particular quest wasn't too bad.

My particular favorite (and seemingly the community's as well: The Dweomerkeepers, Act I) was one where you heard word of a some ruins of a  temple Mystra and are sent to investigate. When there you attacked by creatures of the forest (which at the time was a nice change of pace to get out of the city) and evil drow Lolth followers. I liked this quest a lot because it was engaging to try and use your skills to decipher certain things with in the quest rather than use them purely to gain materials for crafting (which wasn't available within this beta weekend) and because it seemed to be so well-versed within the lore.

With more A+ quality, such as what was seen, then I'm sure players will never get bored of finding new stuff to do within the world of Neverwinter. I was very pleased with my experience of the game and am gracious I was able to take part. Now all I need to do is find some way to stop my withdrawals as I await the next beta weekend. . .

End of the beta weekend party!

Should story be necessary in a MMORPG?

As a RPG (role-playing game) fan, the two things that I always loved from the genre was their stories and exploring their worlds. It wasn't about how great their combat mechanics were or what loot dropped. Not to say I don't like those aspects, but how well written and well executed the games's story was the selling point for myself and RPGs.

I have played several different MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) over the years and have been enthralled by many. While I have spent numerous hours in front of the computer screen playing these titles I would still consider myself a casual MMORPG gamer. I have never once played "end-game" material in one of those type of games and while many would argue that's the crux of the game, I would disagree.

A player spends countless number of hours preparing a character and getting him or her to that final level for its "end game" content. It's within this time that the game needs to try really hard to snare the player or otherwise to get from level one to level 'x' is going to be long and tedious.

This is where MMORPGs always lose me. I absolutely abhor the hot-keyed, level grinding, almost turn-based combat mechanics. So it's usually left to the exploration and PVP (player vs. player) elements to hold my attention. Unfortunately, most of the time this always goes back to needing to level up to progress further or perform any better.

Story is something that drives the game for me. It's the element that makes me endure the rooted combat and its endless level grind. I want to find out how my character is affected, what challenges he or she will face next, and overall what the results and lasting impact was.

However, with long walls of quest text to read and typical missions such as fetch quests for 'x' amount of items or kill so-and-so or 'x' amount of monsters, it leaves a lot to be desired. Also, I don't want to see something that my character worked hard to acheve all to be undone because the building I was sent to plan explosives on suddenly respawned a few minutes after I just blew it up.

Luckily, I feel that MMORPGs are finally heading in the right direction. New games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic add in a much stronger story pillar that was much needed in past titles in the genre. Firefall and Guild Wars 2 also produce new ways of storytelling through dynamic events that happen around the player which add new story elements to shape your characters own story. In subsequent articles I want to examine each of the story elements used in those games, but for now I just left with the posed question: Should story be necessary in a MMORPG?

Is the Linearity of The Walking Dead Necessary?

The Walking Dead is not quite a game, but, at the same time, not a movie either. Albeit this confused identity, it still is a rich experience that tells an emotional and thrilling story. Although, it does make me wonder whether or not a well told story has to be told in the extremely linear fashion of The Walking Dead.

The basic premise of the title is based on the successful comic and television series. I've never read nor watched the series, but I still found this game very enjoyable. It is broken into five different episodes with each one progressing the story of the man, Lee Everett. About to be taken to prison when the police car driving him there gets into an accident. From that moment on, he learns that the dead have risen and he needs to do what he can to survive. Over the course of the five episodes, Lee meets several other people, like him, who are just trying to stay alive.

Stop looking at me in the rearview mirror and keep your eyes on the road!

It was through these other characters that I felt this game come to life. With the ongoing zombie threat, other hostile survivors, and minimal supplies it tends to raise tensions amongst Lee and his companions. Each of these characters have their own backstory and help the plot move in some way. You start to care for each of these characters, or on the flip side wish they'd die so you didn't have to deal with them anymore.

Nothing is going to happen to you, Clementine. I promise.

However, much of the time spent exploring this world, crafted by Telltale Games, and learning about the characters seemed to be more through watching the "game" rather than playing it. Most of the gameplay revolves around clicking on things and the occasional quick-time event. The core of the game and what makes it hard is the decisions that have to be made especially when you have to think fast.

Even the dialogue and choices you make seem to be quite rigid. In the long run of things, the outcome of the game is still the same no matter what you decided to do to get there. Point A leads to Point B with a few twists and turns in the road that ultimately don't change anything.

It's then that I feel this game probably good have been just as effective in telling its great story as a short animated series. A Kotaku writer, Kirk Hamilton, had said, in his reflection ("Yes, Your Choices In The Walking Dead Mattered") of the game, that it was more about the decisions Lee had to make in order to get to where he was. There wasn't any major change to the story, but it did craft Lee in a manner of the player's intent.

I guess with that being said, I can see that side of the coin. It's not what I expected, but I can certainly respect the decision of the developers if that's what they had intended. With a second season in the works, I feel I am now better prepared for what to expect from Telltale Games.

Blood Bowl or Bust

I've never played the board game nor have I ever been a fan of football. Despite both of these things I still felt intrigued by the concept of Cyanide Studios, Blood Bowl. This title is a mix of American football and elements heralding from the Warhammer series. This blend of reality meeting fantasy is done really well and is shown through its gameplay and visuals. While I'm sure the developers' main goal was to recreate a faithful PC adaption to the board game  they also did a wonderful job with the conception.

Upon starting a campaign you are presented with a large selection of different teams to play as, such as your typical Humans and Orcs, but also more unique choices like the Skaven, a race of ratmen. I chose to play as the High Elves and entitled my lineup, The One Percent, thus beginning their long road to Blood Bowl Champions. Or so I thought.

They have absolutely no idea what's in store for them...

 This game, like football, is a team sport. Upon first playing Blood Bowl, I only used a few of my guys leaving the rest of them standing around being useless. I found the one blitz (the act where a player can "attack" an opposing player that is 2 or more squares away) per turn was frustrating. That was until I learned to use my players more effectively. For instance  to have them shadow opposing teammates to intercept a pass or to create a formation to block the opposing ball carrier forcing them to run through my tackle zones.

Despite taking a lot of their guys out of the match they still won in the end...

Strategy of the game is further broken down to the skills of your players and the teams. Some of the abilities are pretty standard such as Block, which allows the player not to get knocked down in the event of a "Both Down" roll, or Sure Hands, which gives the player a re-roll if he fumbles the ball. What if the player had Leap though? Then that player would be able to get around all your tackle zones. Or if the opposition brought a person that had a "Secret Weapon"? It's the skills that adds in a lot of the variation and strategy for the game and also the satisfaction when your own players level up high enough to gain these abilities.

The many races you can play as, or against, also adds flavor to the Blood Bowl. They are not just added in merely for diversity, also for the strategy surrounding each team. Teams like my High Elves, for example, are a bit more basic in play style relying on their good agility to pass the ball back and forth to get it down the field. Tactics gets deeper when you choose a team like the Ogres which only consists of Ogre players and little goblins called Snottlings. For them to score effectively they need the Snottling to pick up the ball and have the Ogre toss the Snottling across the field.

Man, this is going to be close...

Yay! I made it!

Like any form of media, it's not perfect. I wish there was more of a musical soundtrack to the game to accompany the epic-sounding main screen. Also, the commentators, while fun to listen to at first, become really annoying to the point that I just shut them off. However, if you're looking for something unique or if you were interested in a spin on the tactical-turn based genre then I would definitely recommend this game to you.

A further look into Salem

Despite my complaint in my last entry, I still, as stated continued to play Seatribe's upcoming MMO, Salem. It's really the only game I've been playing lately so I wanted to take the time to look at the things that I felt the developers did right.

The first thing was their business model. Salem is a free-to-play game with the option to purchase in-game currency with money. The first thought that probably comes to a person's mind is "pay-to-win", which is the idea that a player can just spend money to gain an edge over the other people playing. In the beginning, Salem seemed that it would be "pay to win" because of the difficulty new players will find to try and earn money.

Hmm...$5 for 150 silver? Very tempting for that first bit of land.

In Salem, there are only few things that you can sell to the in-game vendors to make silver such as furs or Indian charms. In order to be able to acquire these items you need to first train up your proficiencies and skills along with having a lot of patience. After you make your first few hundred silver though and have settled down, money-making starts becoming easier.

I've found that now that I own a considerable amount of land and am more capable with the game mechanics that money is actually easy to procure now. At least a lot easier than it was in the beginning anyway which leads me to believe that it is very possible to play this game without needing to spend a dime -- a real dime. Although, more importantly, it allows me to feel confident that another player who does use the cash store does not have that great of an advantage over me.

Being established leads me into the other reason to what Salem did really well. Advancement and the fruits of your labor are everything in this game. I've always been in love with that concept of working up from nothing to see all the accomplishments you made. This does exactly that.

My fiancé starting up her homestead.

Starting with just the clothes on your back you are led through a rudimentary tutorial. Upon its completion, you are granted your first little area to call a home. A lean-to. From this lean-to you build a variety of things to help expand your industry-base and homestead whether it's building several drying frames to create leather or tilling the ground for farming.

As stated earlier, you eventually start earning enough money to make a rightful claim to the land and will be able to expand it large enough to encompass a sizable area. Then the player can build their first real house and maybe even fence it off from wildlife and other less-than-honorable pilgrims. At the end of the day it feels like you've really achieved something and made a small dent in the world.

Finally have a real house to rest in!

Salem: The treasure hunting MMO

The other day I was blessed, or perhaps cursed, enough to receive a beta key for Seatribe's upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online title called Salem. The premise of the game is that the player is a pilgrim roughing it out in the wilderness of colonial New England and trying to build up a homestead for his or herself. The player is allowed to craft a variety of objects, tools, and buildings to help them achieve this.

However, in order to craft these items you need the the proper skill. The concept itself is understandable and this is a role-playing game so leveling up your skills is natural. Unfortunately, the method involved in which you increase your skills seems to be based on luck and being in the right place at the right time.

The system is broken down into skills and proficiencies. In order to raise a skill you need to have a certain number of points allotted into the proficiencies that it requires. For example, for Fishing it requires you to have a proficiency of 600 in both Frontier & Wilderness and Hunting & Gathering.

Looks like I'll be fighting with my fists for a while...

 In most role-playing games you are awarded experience points for when you do something related to the skill whether it's through combat, some form of crafting, etc. Salem has the player, instead, scour the wilds around Boston for curios and materials to create items called inspirationals. With these objects you can study them and after a certain amount of time gain proficiency points.

This wouldn't be so bad since it's an obvious attempt to emulate the pioneers living off the land and understanding it before they become self-sufficient and able to work the land to their own designs. Regrettably for the game, it turns it into a treasure hunt for certain items you might need for inspirationals or for the other specific items on the ground that you can analyze. The system seems to be very random when in one instance you can come across two or three of an item, such as a smooth stone or a rabbit, but then on the flip side you can be searching for hours just to find that very same item.

Well...found my rabbit only now it's going to kill me.

Despite all this, I have kept at it and continued playing Salem trying to disregard the frustration. As of writing this, my character finally earned enough money to purchase his first plot of land. This was a great sense of accomplishment but it took at least 10 hours of game time for me to get as far as I did. The game doesn't seem to get that much easier in this aspect because even though you start to rely less on some of the lower level items you eventually need to start hunting for other things to level your skills up. I think that I definitely need a map with a X on it.

Yay! This is mine!

Finding nuances to achieve victory in Crusader Kings 2

I never quite understood the grand strategy genre of entertainment provided by Paradox Interactive. The games were vast in their scope spanning years of history and large amounts of land all broken down into countries, provinces, counties, cities, and towns. Then when the developers throw in a dynasty that you have to lead to glory through wars, rebellious vassals, scheming enemies, and siblings with ulterior motives for succession, you have yourself a very confusing yet appealing prospect.

Just wow...also, the main menu music is amazing.

The many levels of detail had always caught my eye, but I never was ready to take that first step into something new. After watching the trailer for "Crusader Kings II" and constantly seeing it pop-up on Steam, I finally decided to try my hand as some grand strategy.

Upon my first time playing, my mindset was that of any other strategy game which was to conquer and destroy my opponents. This led to a befuddling and frustrating experience as my vassals began to rebel due to poor leadership, lands passed over to rival leaders, and I inevitably lost because I did not have a dynastic heir. I really didn't have a clue as to what I was doing.

I'm looking at you Aife...you sly devil, you.

Although, I did have a taste of what Crusader Kings had to offer and I really wanted to enjoy this game. So begun my scouring of the internet to find any helpful starting tips, guides, and strategy --the most notable being "How the Hell Do We Play Crusader Kings 2?" by Kersch-- to help me.

What I found wasn't your typical strategy at all. The franchise's primary focus wasn't about having a lot of conquered lands or maintaining a large army. Those were certainly good to have, but the main idea I feel the developers wanted to convey was all the smaller gameplay elements that were incorporated.

With a new way of looking at the game, I started to pay more attention to the other details such as the proper attributes, like being honest or kind, a ruler should have so that I could breed my dynasty properly. Or that I stay in the good graces with the Pope so that I wasn't excommunicated and lower my vassals' opinion of me causing them to rebel. I constantly found myself being rewarded for paying attention to those little details such as holding more troop levies because my vassals liked me.

This Pope actually doesn't mind me too much...for now.

Even its combat had more subtle tricks that you had to pay attention to or your goals may be a lot harder to pull off. One good example of this is when I had my eyes set on England. Being the King of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, of course I needed another piece of the pie. Unfortunately, their armies were standing at 45,000 strong while I could only muster a measly 28,000.

I could have spent the funds into mercenary armies, but that would be a strenuous strain on my coffers. Instead, I noted that England's leader was old and decrepit. So I waited. In a few short years he was dead with his son taking the throne and English lords fighting for independence due to their lack of faith in the new crown. A perfect time to strike. In no time at all the battle lines were drawn and I'm walking away with two new English provinces under my belt.

This young English King is doing remarkably well holding England together.

While the learning curve is a bit steep, the overall experience is fun and rewarding. I'm still figuring out all the nuances to the title to fully take advantage of my realm and usurp my enemies. If you're willing to throw in some extra time outside Crusader Kings to figure out these other game options then I can assure it will be a much rewarded experience.