I know this is late for a preview/impressions post on the new Hearthstone expansion, as it has been out for about a week now. However, I have yet to actually play a game with any of the cards. As I said to Chris, I haven’t even opened a single pack from Knights of the Frozen Throne. I have played through only dungeon runs so far, which gives me almost no indication about the cards. Nevertheless, I’ve been watching and paying attention to the card reveals and think that I can give a decent impression to my fellow noobs.
Mechanics
I’m not positive if there aren’t usually very many new keywords in each set. I suppose that I could not be lazy and Google past sets, but then I might actually get a reputation for being a responsible journalist. Besides, I don’t even have to Google anything because I’m already on Hearthstonepedia (or whatever it’s called) so all I’d have to do is click a few links and I’m not even willing to do that much.
Seriously, have you seen House of Cards? Reporters just end up dead on the front of a subway train!
Recruit – This is the only official keyword that I can see that is new on the cards. There are a couple of others that show up once or twice or aren’t exactly keywords, per se, that I will review quickly at the end of the section. However, recruit is the only new bold word on card text. On the surface, it seems strong because it takes a card from your deck and puts it onto the battlefield. Yes, you read that right. Never change, Blizzard. Never change.
Spellstone – I wouldn’t necessarily call this a keyword. It is more of a card type. Each of the classes have a type of spellstone (only one now, but it’s probably only a matter of time before they introduce more) that does something relevant to the class. It starts off as a lesser spellstone, but can be upgraded to a spellstone and then further upgraded to a greater spellstone, again through some action that the class usually accomplishes through normal gameplay. I like the idea of these cards as they really push the narrative of being able to do things online that can’t be done in a traditional card game.
Legendary Weapons – Each class has also been given a new weapon of legendary status. Just like minions, only one can be included in a deck and they, at least on the surface, promise the same kind of game breaking potential. As they say, results may vary.
“Bonus effect” isn’t bold, but it does show up on several cards in the set. When you draw the card, you see the bonus effect which, in true Hearthstone fashion, is randomized.I promised some unique mechanics in the set. As far as I know, this is the only card in the set with “dormant”. It also reads an awful lot like Dark Depths from Magic, though not as reliable…yet. I will say that I’ve been impressed at the Hearthstone team’s ability to make formerly terrible cards not as terrible. So, who knows. Before long, The Darkness could be meta.
Notable Cards
Please understand that this doesn’t mean good, or even necessarily playable cards. If you want that list, there are a thousand other pages that will give you the best cards, combos, decks, etc. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in the wrong place. I also just mentioned The Darkness and how bad it is, so I’m not going to waste your time with borderline unplayable cards. However, if you just want a (possibly random) collection of cool and interesting cards, read on!
I like this card because it takes the druid mechanic of choice and expands the possibilities. Very cool design.Rogue finally gets secrets, something that seems to fit the class more than Paladin. This one is cool because it’s like a delayed shadowstep. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to play around, which defeats the purpose of secrets.The first card in Hearthstone with “Trample” and it is a situational spell card. Weird, but neat!There are at least two cards that have this ability only to attack if you have a certain amount of armor. It is a bit of a half measure between the “can’t attack” and normal minions. There are so many applications of this for other classes.This is an example of them testing the waters with an idea (the mage quest) and then building on it. Admittedly, this is an odd application of the extra turn dynamic, but it shows that they are willing to take chances and experiment.
The Verdict
This set has perhaps the stupidest name for a card game expansion I’ve ever heard. I honestly thought it was one of Blizzard’s famous April’s Fools Day jokes either very late or a bit early when I first heard the name. In spite of that, I still logged in and claimed my packs. I haven’t opened them. Heck, I haven’t even opened my Frozen Throne packs, as I said earlier.
So, I don’t see this set getting me to play the game any more than I have been playing it to this point, which is only enough to finish a quest or two a day. What does get me to play more is interesting stuff like the mash up arena mode that they had for Halloween this year. I played through several of those runs. Oh, I have also done a few dungeon runs recently, and those have been a fun and interesting experience. Aside from that, though, I will just have another 50+ packs sitting in my inventory. Oh well, there’s always Eternal and Magic the Gathering to keep me busy.
I was watching Brian Kibler’s stream about a week ago and he was playing a card game other than Hearthstone. It wasn’t Magic, either. Now, that would be news. It was called Eternal and, from what I could gather, it appeared to be a cross between Magic and Hearthstone. As I explained it to Chris, it has the mana and interaction on your opponent’s turn of Magic, but the quick matches of Hearthstone.
Heck, it even looks and sounds like Hearthstone.
I know that might sound antithetical. Hell, Chris and I have spent many a text conversation discussing how much better Magic is than Hearthstone for a variety of reasons. The only thing that we agree is better in Hearthstone is the mana system. Gaining one mana per turn instead of hoping on a wing and a prayer that you curve properly is the best thing about Hearthstone. We tried a version of Magic with the Hearthstone rules and, it turns out, being able to do stuff every turn is a good thing.
Nevertheless, I watched the stream and the game. I also chatted with several others since Kibler’s is one of the few streams that doesn’t descend into spam/meme chaos every day and you can have a conversation. It was especially easy since only about half his viewers care about Eternal or don’t care at all what game he’s playing. They politely answered my questions, as well as questions that others had. After about a half an hour, I was convinced. I needed to try this game. I was going to download it via the Steam client and try it. Then, something even better happened. I learned that it was on mobile. I downloaded it, started playing through the tutorial, and immediately texted Chris.
Okay, Grandma. Why don’t you just call him? Nobody texts anymore. It’s all about the Snapchat emoji…or something. I’m even too old to trash talk myself about being too old.
The Good
This whole game is good. In fact, it’s great. One of the selling points was that it is very F2P friendly. I’m still the grumpy old man gamer who refuses to pay good money for digital goods/currency, so if a game doesn’t let me compete without dropping hard earned cash, I’m not playing. I was skeptical at first, but that skepticism soon faded. The tutorials give away starter decks, which isn’t different from Hearthstone on the surface. Underneath, though, it only takes 4 wins to earn a whole deck, where Hearthstone makes you play through 10 levels of the character to get all of the basic cards.
There are also puzzle levels that teach you about the basics of the game and give, as far as I know, 20 gold per. I have only finished one of them as of this writing. The reason for that is because I am having so much damn fun playing the game. Who wants to read the instructions when you can just be out there slinging spells and minions at your opponent’s face?
I’d like to phone a friend.
There are a ton of game modes in the game. In addition to the typical casual and ranked versus modes, they figured out a way to do an actual draft mode where you don’t have to wait for people to sit down at your “table”. There is also a PvP mode called “Event”, which has a special rule and loot attached to it. While most come to a card game to test their mettle against other people, guys like me are perfectly content beating the snot out of the overmatched AI. Thankfully, Eternal takes care of us with two single player modes. In “Gauntlet”, you choose a constructed deck and fight against AI until you win 7 games or lose 1. “Forge” is a draft like mode similar to Hearthstone Arena where you pick from 3 cards to build a deck and then fight the AI until you win 7 or lose 2. The difference here is that you get to keep all cards drafted.
That brings me back to the best part of Eternal. The individual who told me that the game was very F2P friendly was not lying. Nearly every day you are getting at least one pack. The packs are full. None of this 5 cards per pack nonsense. Modes cost more than Hearthstone, but you are also compensated better for performing in them. I won 7 games in Forge and got the 2,000 gold entry plus in rewards. I also received a couple of packs for my trouble. There is no problem in building a decent to good collection in this game.
The Bad
In keeping with my pie in the eye optimistic gamer attitude, there isn’t much that I can categorize as bad in this game. The most obvious is that the mana system is like Magic. Sure, they give you less of a chance of flooding and screwing with one mulligan of your opening hand and by limiting the number of influence (mana) you can draw in the opener and mulligan. Also, there is a card that lets you draw influence for the cost of one. Still, the flood and screw will not be denied and some games you just sit there and stare as your opponent beats you mercilessly.
An exclusive 2GG investigation reveals that statistics are broken.
The only other “bad” in the game is mostly likely just due to the fact that I’m a noob and don’t have the time to dedicate to getting better at drafting. Because of how it is set up, the skill cap for drafting is much higher than it is in Magic the Gathering. Again, instead of sitting down with a pod of players, you are “passed” a pack that has been opened sometime, somewhere, by someone and had cards taken from it. So, you can’t really pick up on signals or bully players off of strategies. What you can do is draft much more with synergy in mind. I just don’t have the skill to do it, so my only draft has ended with a very embarrassing 0-3 and I haven’t been back to try again.
The Ugly
I always worry with these types of games. Before you know it, the developer pulls the plug and you are left with a stagnant game or, worse, one that gets shut down completely. Now, honestly, I haven’t seen either of those happen with any of the games that I play. They must all maintain a high enough player base to justify keeping the servers open.
That’s not entirely true. I did join this game right before they decided to shut down the servers. Fare the well. I hardly knew ye.
I’m not saying that Eternal will shut down. However, I am worried that it won’t be able to maintain the player base in the face of all of these other games. One thing that it has going for it is that it is mobile and it seems to be quick paced, which has so far been a recipe for success with these types of games. The other side is that Magic is releasing their new digital property and it appears to occupy a lot of the same space as this game. I hope that Eternal can hold its own, but if not, it’s going to be ugly for me.
The Verdict
Eternal is a fun game. I have been playing it regularly for the last week. Unlike Hearthstone, which I log in to every couple of days to clear out quests and don’t really have much fun playing, I lose hours to Eternal and don’t regret it one bit. I know that it won’t ever reach Hearthstone levels of popularity because Blizzard just knows how to hook and then keep people running on that treadmill. However, I have had no problem in finding a match any time I log on and play to do the daily win quest.
Eternal is a cheap gamer’s game. They advertise it as a game where you can collect every card without spending any money. While that is probably true for Hearthstone and I’ve done pretty well by it, Eternal’s quest rewards are just an embarrassment of riches and I don’t doubt that I’ll have most, if not all, cards in a relatively short period of time.
Eternal is a well designed game. It is made and distributed by a company that employs prominent names in the gaming community. While that doesn’t always work out, I think of them as the Image of gaming. Image broke off from Marvel and DC to allow their creators to keep their creations and market them as they see fit. It didn’t work for everyone because not everyone is a marketing genius or able to keep a tight schedule. However, Image is still around, they are still allowing their creators full reign, and they are still making great comics. I hope to see the same from Dire Wolf.
(Editor’s Note #1: We are reviewingParzi’s Star Wars Modfor this article. What? A genuine Editor’s note and not a lame joke? Well, they asked to be given credit in any article/video, so here it is.)
(Editor’s Note #2: You got Star Wars in my Minecraft. You got Minecraft in my Star Wars! Two great tastes that go great together? Ah, there’s the lame joke.)
This article will serve as a bridge between our current topic of Star Wars and our main topic of May, which is Minecraft. I wish that I could take credit for doing that on purpose. However, the truth is that it is a happy accident. I was simply looking for another Star Wars game to write an article to support the podcast and I remembered that I downloaded a Star Wars mod for Minecraft last year, but never played it. Well, as Bob Ross says, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
This accident certainly was happy. I made the same stupid joke in the editor’s note of my Lego Star Wars article as I did in this one. Sometimes a “mash up” of two different good things is a disaster. I’m looking at you, Glee. Most of the time, though, as long as the two things complement each other and care is taken to integrate the best of those things into the final product, the mash up can succeed and maybe even surpass the quality of the originals.
Seriously, Thriller is just about the perfect song. You dishonor your family by attempting to remix it.
As you read this review, bear in mind that I have only made it about an hour into playing through the mod. It’s been enough to discover two new types of dust, fuse them together, and smelt them into a new kind of ingot. Other than than, though, the rest of what I’ve done is normal Minecraft things. I haven’t even been able to use the new metal to craft any other new material. So, no, this mod has not enhanced Minecraft to a level beyond yet. It certainly is not something I’d play over Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront, or even any of the Lego games.
I’m not saying that it won’t. I’m not even saying that it can’t In fact, I did a bit of searching to see if I could find any tips or hints for the mod to get me started. “Hey!” You might protest, “Minecraft is about exploration!” True. However, and my defense is two fold. First, I was exploring the Google Machine for assistance. Secondly, the console version has a tutorial to introduce you to the game. So, I feel vindicated from my Googling shame.
Besides, it’s not like I found anything. I think I need to take my phone to the Apple genius bar to get it checked out. The Google doesn’t work right.
So, while I have a life line out at the mod forum, I loaded it up in creative. The main problem is that I need a ship to use my hyperdrive in order to get to other planets. I’m not sure if I have to craft the ship or if I will find one that has spawned randomly. So, I created my own ship, used the hyperdrive, and went to Tatooine.
Okay, now this is more like it! There are sand people (and their signature roar!), Bantha, and pig men (not of the zombie variety)! That guy over there wants to make me a storm trooper! This guy doesn’t like me, either! That dude is selling ships! Wow, this is awesome! For the record, both Aiden and Quinn agree.
This is awesome!
I didn’t want to spoil too much of the mod before I’m able to do a video capture, so I shut down the game after that. However, I have an update on my forum inquiry. Apparently the first hyperdrive, the one that takes you to Tatooine, does not require a ship. Therefore, I am free to continue my exploration to find obsidian to make a nether portal and get a blaze rod. Because, the hyperdrive requires an Eye of Ender. I already have the Ender Pearl (because eff those creepy thieving freaks) and the ore (found a use for it!), so it’s diamond hunting time. Should be no problem because I usually have an uncanny ability to find diamonds. As with my Lego The Force Awakens Update, look for more of my adventures in the mod in a couple of weeks when we talk about Minecraft.
(Editor’s Note: We know that you have become accustomed to our intense and burning hatred for all things Blizzard and Hearthstone. If so, this article might come as a shock to you. Please consult your doctor if you have a heart condition or are prone to fits of hysteria.)
Yes, it’s that time again when a not so young gamer’s heart turns to anger and frustration. Spring means a new Hearthstone expansion–as they’ve done away with adventures–and our “card review”. More often than not, “card review” means that I discuss new mechanics, get excited that control might finally become a viable option in the game, and then conclude that Hearthstone is just fundamentally flawed in design and face decks will always rule until they change how the game plays.
It’s become a bit of a running gag around here that we hate Hearthstone. That’s only partly true. I do find the focus on aggro and the reliance on RNG to be annoying. Also, I’m bitter that they ultimately killed a good game in the WoW:TCG to focus on this. I still feel like they could both exist. But, I do genuinely like some of the ideas that the game has introduced to the genre.
I mean, people might get confused because there is so much overlap in the art for the two games, but eventually, I think we’re smart enough to get it.
And, so, I kept playing in spite of how angry it sometimes made me. Chris kept telling me that I was addicted. Hell, I might have been. I am a sucker for the treadmill type of games that Blizzard makes. So, I guess we score one for addiction. Because I kept playing it, I’ve found my comfort zone in the game. It may not always be fun, but I’m not constantly texting Chris how much I hate the game anymore.
I have a feeling that some of this is temporary. After months of trying and promising control decks, Blizzard finally accidentally created an environment where they are viable. Sure, the meta is overwhelmingly face decks, so you still get aggro’d out of the game quite a bit of the time, but control decks actually do exist and get played quite a bit. As someone who prefers that playstyle, I couldn’t be happier. But, Standard rotation beckons and Reno is being relegated to the Wild frontier.
Don’t worry, Buddy. As a filthy casual, I prefer playing Wild, so we won’t be apart for long.
That’s the big selling point this time. Every time there’s an expansion, players get excited for new cards, the meta gets solved in a few days to a week, and then everyone complains about how boring the game is for another 3 months. Rinse and repeat. This time is different, Blizzard promises. Not only are new cards being introduced, but cards are rotating out for only the second time int he history of the game. That’s gotta add at least a day or two of theory crafting to figure out that spamming minions and going face is the optimal strategy. Okay, okay, that was a cheap shot. Only one at this in the article, though, is way under par.
So, what cool stuff can we expect from Un’Goro? First, and I’m actually genuinely excited about htis one, they’re bringing back the concept of quests. If you ever played the WoW: TCG, you remember that quests were the resource similar to mana. Since Hearthstone uses mana crystals, it doesn’t make sense to use quests in a similar fashion. Instead, they are legendary cards that are auto included in your opening hand. They require you to do something–ie, playx cards of some sort or another–and reward you with a super powerful card. I don’t know if any of the quests will be seen in competitive play, but I can’t wait to play around with them in the casual modes.
I feel like I’ve seen this card before. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the card was definitely blue there, too.
The other new mechanic that has potential is “Adapt”. This feature “discovers” three upgrades to your minion in the form of divine shield, windfury, stealth, taunt, etc. The discover mechanic is one of the best ideas that the Hearthstone team has introduced into the genre. It fits in with the theme of the game that RNG is skill. There is variance, but because the game gives you three options, the chances of getting something useful are that much higher. Anything that adds more discover to the game is okay by me.
Hey, you might say, you’ve already mentioned 2 concepts that you like about the new expansion. Maybe you’ve turned the corner and will actually like the game now. Woah! Hold up there. Hating Hearthstone is part of my identity. If I actually like it, who have I become? this is an existential crisis in the making. But, not right now! Yes, there are some cool mechanics in the set, but there are always things that I can find to like about a card set before it’s been released.
I’m right there with you, Snoopy. Hearthstone is enough to make a man mad.
Usually, in Magic, that means that these things are not remotely viable as a competitive strategy. In Hearhtstone, they are usually unique strategies that change the way the game is played. So, I guess both are in keeping with my tendency to go against the grain. As far as the rest of the cards are concerned, there is an emphasis on “tribal”. Tribal is always one of the MtG buzzwords that is never viable, but always hooks me.
In addition to an overall deck strategy, I will often try to adhere to a tribal theme in Magic. Honestly, I don’t thin that it is any more viable in Hearthstone, but it is easier to make a tribal theme work because the synergies are more prevalent. For instance, you won’t ever get high ranks playing murlocs, but I did get a healthy win streak while playing a dumb shaman murloc deck the other day.
Who knows? Maybe I have turned the corner. I have gone from actively hating the game to accepting it as part of my daily routine. I suppose the next logical step is actual enjoyment.
(Editor’s Note: Not that long ago, in my newly minted and cleaned play room.)
Like most males my age that identify strongly as geeks, I am a fan of Star Wars. relax, Trekkers, I have gained an appreciation for that series as well. It’s just that I grew up while the movies were being released, then re-released, then remastered, then “ruined”, and finally saved. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the last step is occurring as my own children are of age to accompany me. Hmm, it’s almost as if it was planned that way.
Last article, I confessed one of my nerd crimes of not having seen Inception. In spite of my claim to make that right, I have still not yet watched it. Well, I come before you to lay bare my soul again and confess perhaps my greatest sin against nerddom. I don’t remember the first time I saw Star Wars.
I know! Shocking! Everyone always talks about their first time viewing the movie as a historical event that they remember and will for all time. Well, I don’t. I remember seeing it with my wife when it was re-released. I remember Empire vaguely. I obviously remember Return and the Rancor pit scene.
Okay, there are probably other reasons that I remember Jedi.
But, there is a gap in my childhood memories where “first time seeing Star Wars” should be. Maybe I was too young. Like, I would have been 4 or 5 when it came out. I wonder if Quinn will remember seeing Episode 7 when they inevitably re-release it for his generation. Still, this is supposed to be a childhood defining event, right? People continually talk about their experiences with the movie and how it propelled them to a lifetime of love for science fiction, etc. Clearly, it had a similar effect on me, but still I’m bothered by missing memory.
Okay, sin purged and soul cleansed, let’s talk some Battlefront. Now, in spite of being such a huge fan, I never got much into Star Wars games. Sure, I played Kotor and that led to a beta test of The Old Repubilc MMORPG that lasted longer than most people because I had friends in the game. Other than those, and Lego games, I pretty much avoided Star Wars games. That included Battlefront. That changed last Christmas. The boys got some Sims games, so I had to reinstall the Origin client on the computer. On of the sales–and I’m a sucker for sales–included Battlefront, so I bought it because the deal was so good.
So far, I have made it through the tutorial mode and two of the training missions. I have not played any of the coop stuff yet as I don’t have any friends on Origin and I don’t want to noob it up with strangers. I think that Kevin might have Origin, but he forgot his password or something. Who knows? Maybe this will inspire us to bring back our long planned but often delayed or cancelled game night. Stranger things have happened.
I don’t have an attempted funny caption for this one. It speaks for itself.
Until that happens, I’m stuck in single player purgatory unless I get brave enough to expose strangers to my own particular brand of noobery. As I don’t anticpate that happening any time soon, I will be saving and/or ruling the galaxy alone for the foreseeable future. Only 2 Sith are there ever, but apparently Noobs are doomed to a life of solitude. That’s actually not so bad, except I do miss having a regular gaming buddy.
So, what can I say about what I’ve played in the game? Well, being a Star Wars fan, I was hyped. That hype only increased when the Lucasfilm logo appeared on the screen followed by the iconic theme song. I clicked through, though, so I don’t know f there’s a scroll or not. However, once the menu loaded, it started the Imperial march. And, so, I ended up humming the march on my way to dinner because that’s when my wife announced that it was done. And I spent all of dinner with the song running through my head and making me more excited to play the game.
After dinner, I rushed back upstairs to finally get my journey started. I figured I’d start with the tutorial because I’m not called Noob of All Trades for nothing. And this is…an FPS? Really? That’s not at all what I expected and more than a little disappointing. Well, the sooner I can get this done, the sooner I can play other and better games.
Oh, wait, what’s this? Princess Leia is going to talk me through the mission? Well, that’s…wait, I don’t think that’s Princess Leia. Is it? No, I’m pretty sure it’s not her voice. Oh well, I will still see it through to the end. If the rest of the missions are FPS, I’ve wasted my money. Damn you, sales! Wait, what was that? “Good job!” Fake Leia encourages me after jumping up a snow bank. Maybe this game will be worth it after all. The only thing that would make it better was if it was an achievement, too. Heck, I need that kind of support in real life.
“Way to go! You got out of bed this morning!”
“Super job on those groceries!”
But, I digress. The tutorial progresses as you’d expect. You walk to a place, shoot a droid, walk to the next place, shoot another droid, find a weapon upgrade, walk to the final place and obliterate a droid. Okay, that was damn cool, too. I’m still not sure about this whole FPS thing, but it ended up being a relatively fun tutorial level.
I also played through a training level where you dog fight tie fighters as an X-wing. That was so much fun and much more what I was expecting from the game. Quinn got a kick out of me crashing my X-wing into the mountain the first time I played the level and he kept saying to me, “Don’t crash, Daddy!” He was like my fake Leia voice of encouragement through this level. I only had one complaint about the level. It was too repetitive and about one wave too long in my opinion. By the end, I was done flying and wanted to try something else.
The something else was also a first person level, but it was the level where Darth Vader and the Emperor are attempting to take over the rebel Hoth base. This level was entirely too much fun. You could force choke, throw your lightsaber at the rebels and it gave you the feeling of being Darth Vader. I say that the Arkham games are the closest thing to being Batman. Well, this level was very similar as far as Darth Vader goes.
Feel the power of the dark side, rebel scum!
Overall, I recommend the game if you’ve somehow avoided playing it until now. The graphics are very good. The voices are not the actual voices, but they are close enough from what I could hear. The levels are actually varied. However, some of them are a bit too long, or maybe it was just my feeling about that X-wing level. I would have to play more to see if that thought persisted. Other than that, this is a great game and worth your time and money. Go, get it, now!
(Editor’s Note: We missed our first publishing deadline of the new year. But, we promise not to make it a habit and will continue to crank out at least 3 new articles every week!)
We’ve been meaning to do a Duelyst article for some time now. Several factors have kept us from doing so. Most notably, I haven’t played the game much. When I first learned about it, I loved the concept and played through all of the tutorial missions as quickly as I could. However, I haven’t had the time to explore strategy in any significant way, so playing live opponents wasn’t that much fun, even with the gold rewards.
I still have played many live opponents. I’ve played against a few now and then to clear out my quest log, butt I still have no real grasp of the intricacies of the game. Therefore, this article will mostly be an introduction. I will also talk about my current favorite game mode, the daily puzzle.
If you’ve never played Duelyst, it is a difficult game to explain. It might also be difficult to understand the appeal of the game. Well, I’m doing a heck of a job selling it, that’s for sure. As I often say, there’s a reason that I’m no longer a salesman. Many reasons, actually, but the main reason is that I’m a terrible salesman. Though, I’m sure you deduced as much from that lame attempt.
Seriously, what do you want from me? It’s a 19 inch TV. It’s like every other 19 inch TV out there. It might have stereo, but do you realize how far away from the TV you’d have to sit in order to get the stereo effect? But this 100 dollar one instead. It’s probably the exact same TV made in the exact same Chinese factory.
In spite of my evident handicap, I will try to make a case for the game. First, let me see if I can even explain it. It has elements of a card game, but it isn’t exactly a card game. It plays like a miniature game, but it isn’t exactly a miniature game. It combines these game types into a not quite perfect conglomeration.
In an age where video games are pushing graphics, sometimes over story, Duelyst has chosen a different trend. The graphics have an old school 8-bit feel to them. This is charming and comforting to an old man gamer like me. It speaks to that part of my brain that responds to the “nostalgia” that I discussed in an earlier article. Your results may vary and the style might even turn you off.
As if all of that isn’t enough the game has (what I assume to be) a robust story and lore. I say that I assume because I have not actually read any of it. However, apparently the designers built a puzzle into the lore that took a few months to solve. So, they seem to be proud of their work. Perhaps I will read it one of these days.
Hmm, 100,000 gold, you say? Yeah, that might be worth a few hours of my time to read some silly stories.
So, what do you think? Old school (like way old school graphics) and an odd combination of card and mini strategy, all with a possibly decent story. Sound like your kind of game? Well, if you’re like me (and judging by the traffic, not many of you are), this is just about the perfect game. Even so, it has take some time to grow on me. But, it does finally have its hooks in me with the puzzle mode.
Before I give specifics on that, though, I should probably explain the general gameplay better than it is an imperfect combination of card and mini games. Okay, here goes nothing. There are factions similar to Hearthstone’s classes. Each faction has at least one general that acts as your proxy on the battlefield. Therefore, destroying the general effectively destroys the player. Now, here is where Duelyst plays more like a miniature game.
Once the minions have been summoned to the battlefield, they can move around and attack. The board is not a simple one tier, or even multi tier, playmat style. It is a chess or checkers like gameboard that allows for movement in 4 directions by both your general and minions. If this seems like a huge departure, it is. It adds so much strategy to the game beyond spamming minions or spells and pounding the opponent in the face. It is simultaneously a reason that Duelyst interests and intimidates me.
Me go face! Wait, where is face? This board is cheat!
As a result, I have spent much of my time in the game playing through the daily puzzle mode. You are faced with a, seemingly hopeless, situation and expected to solve it by the end of your turn with the resources available to you. It reminds me of the Magic the Puzzling page that I forget about for months at a time only to remember again randomly, like right now. That reminds me. I have a few months of puzzles to solve. The nice thing about the Duelyst puzzle mode is that you know right away if you have solved it or not. Also, there is a tangible reward at the end instead of just your name in lights on a web page.
I’m also pretty sure that the puzzles are supposed to show off mechanics in the game and potential combos in the game. It might also intend to give deck ideas. I’m not sure why, but my brain hasn’t been able to wrap itself around the first two in any reliable way. Sure, I understand how the cards work together and most of the time I can figure out the situation based on how those cards work, but I can’t for the life of me make those things happen without the guidance offered by the game right now.
However, I will say that I started to research (Google) different deck types in the hope of getting some ideas to start building something. So far, I haven’t gotten any farther than clicking a link or two, but it’s a start. I’d really like a practice partner where there isn’t any judgement or pressure. That way I’d be able to do what I do with the puzzles and make mistake after mistake until it finally clicks into place and I can figure out the different ideas that I have. For now, though, I guess I’ll just work on the puzzles and reintroduce myself to the MtG puzzles, too.
(Editor’s Note: It is bad enough that Steam runs regular season sales. Now that I have discovered Humble Bundle, I’m destined to live the rest of my life in poverty. At least I won’t have enough money to do anything besides play through my massive back log of games.)
A few months ago, Humble Bundle offered Tropico 4 for free for some reason. Never one to turn down cheap–or, in this case, free–games, I got the code and loaded it into my Steam account. I have been using my tank Acer laptop. While it survives almost everything, it can’t run even the most basic game. Therefore, my treasure remained unplayed until I was able to upgrade the desktop to a respectable gaming PC.
Well, I am sorry to report that it still remains largely unplayed. I downloaded it and have been working through the tutorial, but the computer is having issues. Randomly, it will freeze and buzz. The frustrating part is that there is no BSOD. At least in that case, I could Google the error code and have a starting point. Instead, Googleing “Windows 10 freeze and buzz” has produced results ranging from bad memory (tested, but more on that later) to a sound control conflict (tested). I also removed a second monitor because it might have been an HDMI adapter conflict (nope!) The last possibility is that it is overheating. I will check that soon because so far I’m enjoying what I’ve played of the game and want to provide an in depth review. An update: I checked temps and it isn’t that, either. I think that it might just be an issue with Windows 10 at this point. Next step, installing Windows 7. Ihate the Windows monopoly.
Who would have ever guessed that someone would actually miss the blue screen of death? I guess it’s true what they say. You don’t truly appreciate what you have until it’s gone.
Okay, an update. I downloaded the image file for Windows 7 and downgraded the computer. I say “downgraded”, but so far it has been upgraded to an actual working computer. A little more than 24 hours and I am happy to report no freezing and no buzzing, so that’s a positive development. Hopefully, it isn’t just a hiccup and I can get to playing some SimCity with Banana Republic flavor.
I’m happy to report that they “pepper” that “flavor” in just the right mix of “seasoning” to create the perfect “recipe”. Holy, cow, that was a lot of wordplay in one sentence. I might need to take a break afte that one. No! I’m strong enough to power through. The fans need me.
The game opens with an “everything is fine” splash page of a hot air balloon accompanied by a quote from a famous historical leader like GWB saying, “This would be so much easier if it was a dictatorship.” (Note: This is not a political statement. It is simply the only one my brain remembers right now.)
Okay, so maybe it was a sneaky political statement, but if you’ve been following the page, you already know that.
The loading screen fades, predictably into the game menu. I clicked on the “tutorial” option. I’m not sure why I did so. I almost never play though the tutorial of any game and I’ve played so many of these city building type games–especially since they are so revalent on mobile–that I’m pretty sure that I’ve got the basic idea of city building games. You build cities, right?
However I ended up in the tutorial, I was driven by the same strange compulsion to finish it. Even as the first set of missions took me through the very basics of camera control and city building, I continued to click through to mission set #2.
What kept me coming back for more inulting tutorial game play? That banana republic flavor, Man!. The AI guides you through this abuse with the simulated voice of your mentor, Generallisimo Santana. The vignettes between missions are humorous enough to keep even this jaded old man gamer scrolling in and out.
Besides, we have our own wannabe dictator that we need to prepare for. I assure you, this is not a political statement.
Final Note (I hope): Well, the freezing came back and I had no idea that I was able to skip over tutorial missions that I had played before. Therefore, I must have played through the first mission at least a dozen times in between restarts and fits of swearing. However, I have finally figured out what the problem is and it had nothing to do with anything other than a faulty RAM stick. So, about checking that as I said earlier…apparently, I hadn’t done so thoroughly or properly.
The remaining tutorial missions offer no surprises and simply cover the rest of the mechanics unique to these types of games. But, the voice and humor alone made it worth my while to play through them even if they taught me nothing.
The tutorials got me into the game and they got me interested in the game. I guess, on that front, they did their jobs. I’ve found another game to occupy the free time that I don’t really have. Seriously, though, if you are like me and don’t have the money to spend on Civ 6 right now, you are tired of the city building games in your library, but you still want control over thousands of expendable virtual lives (that somehow become like family, at least to me), then drop the 15 bucks for Tropico 4. They also have a collector’s edition with addons for $30. I haven’t played any of them yet (another article idea!), so I can’t recommend them as of this article.
If you’re really cheap, you can wait for it to be included in a Humble Bundle–or maybe as one of their free deals again–or buy Tropico 3 for 99 cents. Again, I can’t vouch for that game, but what do you have to lose other than a buck and a few megs of hard drive space? Heck, you could get 3, 4, and 5 for less than Civ 6. And people wonder why I do my video game shopping in the clearance section. I need money for my newly rediscovered Magic habit.
Viva la resistance! No, wait, that’s not right. Vive el jefe!
(Editor’s Note: Welcome back, class. Today, we will share what we did over the summer. Oh, Noob has his hand up, so we will start with him.)
Well, it’s September. Summer is winding down. My wife and kids all started back to school last week. I started back today. What better time than now to reminisce back and write one of those lame essays about “what I did this summer” that were always the first assignments in elementary and middle school. I’m actually writing four of these. This one will focus on PC gaming. Two others will talk about console and mobile games and the final will deal with my tabletop exploits.
I am starting with PC because it allows me to open with a long and meandering story that may more may not have anything to do with the overall point of the article. It is one of my favorite things about writing for the page.
I am currently restricted to my ancient Acer laptop after yet another electronics disaster. I have had computers get stepped on, tripped over, fall off of the couch and chairs, and one even fell down a flight of stairs. I sat on my tablet. I also dropped it out of my bag onto the parking lot after repairing the screen. That happened even though I got smart and started putting it into a case. Oh, but it wasn’t in the case because I took it out to clean the case and then didn’t have time to put it back in. What could go wrong? In that same parking lot, I watched as my month old phone got run over by a car. The point is that I have bad luck with electronics. I have bad luck with vehicles, too, but that is a different story.
If I was ever stupid enough to do this, I’m positive that this is how I would die.
This last laptop lasted me longer than any other one had by several months. I had no reason to believe that it would not continue to perform for months, if not years. Sure, I had to replace the screen and two hard drives, but the thing kept going. And then, one day, it didn’t.
That’s how it happened. It was working fine as I watched some stupid Hearthstone streamer as another. It was shaping up to be a fine day of relaxation. But, wait, what’s this? The computer does not appear to be charging. That’s okay. Maybe there’s a loose connection in the cord. No. Okay, well, I’ve had this problem before and it was just a quick solder job. I’ll pop on Youtube just to see how to disassemble–
Oh, my. Oh, well, that’s complicated. Okay, that’s fine. It won’t be a quick fix. Just take my time and it will be no problem. Well, to make a long story short (I know, too late!), you know that the story ends with the computer being non-operational. More specifically, I severed one of the ribbon cables. that might have been an easy and cheap fix, too, but by that point, the computer was in so many pieces that I just gave up. I’ve also learned my lesson. My next computer will be a desktop.
Just so we’re clear, Twitch, I blame you.
So, as a result, I’m restricted to my old laptop that has somehow survived the five plus year purge of electronics. The thing is a tank. t overheads and is only really good for web browsing and word processing, but it works decent for those two things. That brings us, finally, to the reason for this lengthy explanation.
The laptop may not be able to run many of the Steam games I own. So far, it has been unable to download the card images for xMage with any reliability. Heck, it sometimes has trouble playing Twitch streams. One thing it can play, though, is Hearthstone.
Hello, Darkness (no, Hearthstone, that’s it), my old frenemy.
Chris will give me crap about this because the number of times that I’ve texted him to tell him that I uninstalled Hearthstone only to come crawling back. Heck, one of my articles just before the summer hiatus talked about my hate/slightly less intense version of hate relationship with the game. So, I deserve the abuse. All of that notwithstanding, the only PC gaming I’ve done all summer is Hearthstone. I can therefore report that, even though they’ve recently released a new adventure since the last time I covered the game, not much has changed.
In fact, the game has become even more face-centric and control decks exist only in legend, whispered by Mt players as proof that their game is superior. As a dyed in the wool blue mage, I consider myself among that group. The interaction of different archetypes and the ability to win games through different strategy on a consistent basis is what makes MtG a vastly better game. still, when I’m feeling SMOrcish and I just want to point that arrow at the opponent’s face, Hearthstone is there for me.
(Editor’s Note: The 2 Guys Gaming have a hate/slightly less intense hate relationship with Hearthstone. I will try to keep that bias out of this article, but like the rage that I often feel after only a few games, it may infect the article in slow and steady waves until any semblance of joy is crushed under that weight of despair and hopelessness. How’s that for hype?)
I finally got so fed up with Hearthstone that I deleted it from my phone a couple of weeks ago. This is not a new reaction. I’ve deleted it from the my computer a couple of times and my tablet at least once. I say “at least once” because the game is not currently installed, but I have this strange habit of reinstalling the game a week or two after deletion. I can’t remember if I did that on the tablet or not. Ultimately, I suppose that it doesn’t matter other than several of you reading most likely have similar stories to tell.
It’s not like this phenomenon is unique to Hearthstone for me. I’ve written in the past that I have a similar history with another Blizzard game, World of Warcraft. I take extended breaks from that one, for as long as two years once, and periodically check in to see how the latest expansion has changed the game. WoW is different, though. I have a history and emotional attachment to the game that I don’t have with Hearthstone. Nevertheless, a new expansion was released for Hearthstone a little over a month ago and it brought me running back with promises of a new game play experience.
The game also promises tentacles. Lots of tentacles. I’ve seen enough of those kinds of movies to know where this is going.
That’s not to say that I don’t have a history with Hearthstone. I was part of the last wave of closed beta invites after they made the announcement that they were not going to wipe accounts. Granted, I’m a completely free to play account, but if you started playing today, I have a considerable head start in terms of collection. Skill and determination? Maybe not so much. I suppose that none of this is entirely relevant to the point of this article than to draw comparisons and provide a little background. So, then, what is this elusive point of this article? Well, as I mentioned, Hearthstone released an expansion and I’ve come to report what’s changed.
I’m sure by now that you’ve read dozens of articles about the new expansion. As usual, I’m going to try to give a different perspective. If you’re like me and not great at the game, sometimes prone to fits of rage due to the random nature of it, and slightly embarrassed by that second fact, is there any reason to return to the game for Whispers of the Old Gods? Well, the short answer is no.
In general, I like to start with the bad news. But, since I’m making the argument against spending your time and potentially hard earned money on Hearthstone, I will start with the good this time. Yes, in spite of my overall negative attitude about the game, I can still find some positives. There have to be reasons that I keep coming back other than force of habit and addiction. Right?
Y’all got more of that Hearthstone? Just asking for a friend.
Free Packs! (Plus a somewhat worthless Legendary card)
Blizzard isn’t helping the case against addiction. They give you 3 free packs for logging back into the game. You also get a copy of C’Thun, a legendary card. While that might seem impressive, C’Thun is unplayable by himself and requires other cards to buff it into a formidable adversary. But, hey, this is the plus part of the article (and there’s not many plusses, so we’ll keep it positive as long as possible).
You also get two dorks that buff C’Thun, so it’s a start. As two final rewards, if you can get a total of 9 Standard wins (not an easy feat, especially if it is during the try hard portions of the season), you can get 10 additional packs. Hey, it’s something if you can stitch together the wins. Plus, free is free, so it’s worth a shot.
A “Wild” New Mode to Play
The real reason for this update on a game that neither one of us plays or likes all that much is that it, at least nominally, fundamentally changes the way the game is played. Noticing that both the stagnation of the meta and power creep were becoming very real, Blizzard introduced Standard mode and limited the card pool.
I’m not entirely sure how the sets rotate with each new season. Thankfully the program keeps track of all of that for noobs like me and I don’t have to spend brain power. After all, I am a little slow. I have to periodically checkhttp://whatsinstandard.com/to keep up with MtG Standard.
All of that aside, I’m much more of a Legacy player when it comes to card games. I just don’t like limiting myself to the latest few sets. Give us the most powerful cards in the game and let’s go at it. Blizzard calls this mode “Wild”. Aside from the silly (but accurate because I’ve seen some crazy decks) name, it give me an opportunity to continue to use all of the OP cards that I’ve grown accustomed to playing during my time in Hearthstone.
Seriously, does this guy even need a caption? Played in every deck for ever and always drawn on curve as long as you aren’t me.
Okay, that’s the good news…
Blizzard Balance
People often ridicule Blizzard’s ability to properly balance their games and with good reason. Every round of buffs and/or nerfs in their games either creates a class of super powered beings or renders another group so inept as to make you wonder how they don’t kill themselves with their own weapons. Often, they accomplish both in the same update.
I wasn’t around for the initial rounds of balancing cards, so I’ve never seen a card buffed, if it has indeed ever happened. I have seen some nerfs that have taken cards from staples to unplayable, though. The latest round of cards to be changed reads like a newspaper article about a massacre of a bus load of orphans after they all survived the bus crashing into a fireworks store. All of them were necessary, even if some of them were strange. My goodness, Blizzard wound up and swung for the fences with that nerf bat.
Won’t someone please think of the orphans?
In addition, this set introduced new cards, of course. However, the power level of some of those cards is in question. Hearthstone doesn’t experience the same buff/nerf cycles of WoW, but it certainly sees its share of the nerf bat followed by unexplained release of more OP cards. I suppose that the thinking now is that they will only be live for one season, so it isn’t as bad. Honestly, who the hell knows what Blizzard is thinking half the time?
Your new doctor. Or, should I say doctors. 3 mana to call one of them by random, so of course it is 8 mana to get all 3. *shrug*
About that Meta Shift
Blizzard talked a lot about how the meta had become stale and that Standard would fix that by limiting the pool of cards, which is a logical leap that I can’t make. Sure, at the beginning of the season, things will adjust a bit as people test new cards. Then, once they’ve found the ones that work, they will fit them into the old deck archetypes that have already been established.
That’s exactly what happened this time. Some “new” decks have surfaced, but they’re really just old decks with tweaked strategies thanks to new cards. However, the top playeddeck is still zoo Warlock because being able to draw 2 cards and flood the board every turn is good. Who knew, right?
The Verdict: The update hasn’t changed much. The Standard meta is still full of brainless face decks. Wild is only slightly more varied, but I have seen some interesting stuff in there at least. I haven’t played Arena yet, but that place is always random, so if you’re looking for a challenge and some weird stuff happening, I guess you can always see how that’s changed. Though, a recent unscientific poll revealed that Mage, Paladin, and Rogue are still top selections, so I guess it’s a “more things change” scenario all around.
(Editor’s Note #1: Rock and roll is just a terrible foundation upon which to build a city.)
(Editor’s Note #2: Minecraft? You mean that Lego rip off game? I don’t understand the appeal.)
My thoughts on Minecraft mirrored those in the second editor’s note. Admittedly, they came from ignorance, but that’s how I felt. I couldn’t understand why anyone, let alone tens (or even hundreds) of millions of people, could play the game for hours on end. Heck, I even watched my kids play and joined in on a few games in my attempt to understand. Hey, not every game is for every gamer. Maybe it’s just a kid thing. Still, it nagged at me. There has to be something.
Turns out that, as with most things that are hugely popular, there are many somethings. As cheesy as it might sound, Minecraft is what you make it. (That’s not really a pun, but it was fully intended to invoke the crafting element of the game.) So, what caused this change of heart? As with most wars of ignorance, knowledge won the battle.
Though, to be fair, red or blue lasers would be nice to have in a battle, too.
A couple of weeks ago my youngest asked me to play Minecraft again. Irritated, as I often am, with the mind numbing gameplay of Hearthstone, I figured “why not” and joined him in a game It was during this session that I finally learned that there are multiple modes in the game and that we had mostly played “Creative”, which is exactly how it sounds. There is no danger of dying and no objective in the game other than to build.
There’s nothing wrong with that and many people have built amazing things in creative mode. I guess that I am just more of a survival Minecrafter because once I learned about that mode, I was hooked. In survival, you have to mine for your resources, you can die, and actually offers a challenge other beyond recreating your favorite skyline or college football stadium.
Neither my favorite stadium, nor my own work. Grudgingly paying respect to the best college football program in recent history, I suppose.
My middle, youngest, and I have since created a survival world that has given us hours of entertainment. We planned our first house by building a moat in the desert to keep out monsters. We laughed when Quinn refused to leave the house and spent his first MInecraft week mostly sleeping. I explored to find a mountain range full of resources for our second, and now main, house. We cheered at mining our first diamonds in that mountain range. We found obsidian, used that to create a nether portal, and now make regular trips into that horrifying plane for supplies. We even researched “The End” and battling the Ender Dragon, but we need more time to plan and collect resources to make that a successful adventure.
Like I said earlier, the discover and subsequent adventuring through Survival mode has me hooked. I bought the game on my tablet (hey, it was only 7 bucks) and recently bought it for the PC, too. We now own the same game for XBox 360, mobile, and PC. There is precedent for me buying the same game more than once, but there usually has to be a special reason. Like it is my favorite game of all time or there was a steam bundle that includes the game.
Those are totally the reasons that I bought Portal 2 more than once. It has nothing to do with GladOS and her plan, with the help of Skynet, to destroy humanity. No, GladOS didn’t tell me to say that last part. *nervous look off camera*
i don’t think Minecraft is available on Steam. If it is, don’t tell me, because I might just buy it again. That’s only partly a joke. So, what about this game has made me buy it three times? It is a good-great, even-game that offers hours of entertainment.It’s not my favorite game yet. That still goes to Portal 2. Well, why, then? Just tell us, Man!
Well, if you’re going to be impatient about it, I guess I have no choice. The squeaky wheel always gets the grease. Why are metaphors always so gross? Skinning cats, beating dead horses, greasing wheels. Okay, last diversion.
As if that previous statement could possibly be true.
Okay, now for the reasons as to why I bought each version of the game and what they offer so you don’t have to buy them all. You can, of course, and even knowing what I know, I would to support a great company and game. If you are more frugal or con’t care about the fine people at Mojang feeding their families (you monster!), then keep reading.
I bought the XBOX 360 version as the second half of a Groupon (or some other such email marketing gimmick) deal a couple of years ago. Having heard of the game, but not respecting it, I got the game because “The boys will have fun with it.” For the record, Forza something or another was the other game and I have not played more than an hour on that game, played far more Minecraft, and maybe have even played more Minecraft than the kids.
The XBox 360 (and other console versions, I assume) offers a good introduction to the crafting system. Granted, there are FAQs and video guides galore these days to discover the recipes for any item in the Minecrft world, but if you’re more of a traditionalist, the PC version can be a tough nut to craft. Hey, terrible puns and non sequitirs. You get both in spades here at 2 Guys Gaming. If you’re a strict traditionalist, I believe that you can set the options to the classic crafting system and besides, that, there are still plenty of secrets to find in the game even if you play with the assistive crafting system. Besides, there are still plenty of secrets to find in the game even if you play with EZ mode crafting on. One final word of warning before continuing. The console versions lag slightly behind in terms of updates to the game, so you’re not necessarily playing the latest version if you’re only playing on console.
Look at Steve. He looks so happy to be going on an adventure. Little does he know that, soon enough, he will be dropped off of cliffs, blown up by creepers, eaten by zombies, doused in lava, and much, much worse. Let’s not tell him. The surprise is half the fun.
I bought the mobile version next. It was the cheapest version and I wanted to see if was faithful to the big boy versions. SPOILER ALERT: At first glance, it is the same game. You mine blocks, you place blocks. You craft things. You kill zombies, skeletons, and creepers. It’s the same game. Well, not quite. On closer examination, there are things missing. It’s not a huge deal, but the mobile game is not the complete game. Even so, the mobile version also uses an easier crafting system and fairly intuitive controls. If you don’t want to pay full price for the game or want to get an overview before buying the full game, mobile Minecraft is a good place to get your feet wet.
If you’re like me, and Minecraft speaks to you on a deeply personal level, then you want the PC version. It is the most expensive, but allows you to install on an unlimited number of computers. That alone makes it worth the price if you have a bunch of Minecraft fans in the house like we do. There is another reason to invest in the PC version (the best reason, IMO) that I will discuss briefly, but I want to talk about the major drawback first. Unlike the XBox version, or even the mobile version, which both allow multiplayer at an affordable price, you need to spend $27 for each account to play multiplayer on the PC. That restriction even applies to LAN games, as we discovered this past weekend. That was a huge bummer.
Oh well, we still have split screen on the XBox 360 and cross platform support on mobile. What neither of those allow, and this leads into the best reason (in my opinion–and really, this is my article, so what else but my opinion) to own the PC version of the game. As far as I know, the PC is the only version to allow you to play mods that alter the way the game acts and, in some cases, alters the game in almost unrecognizable ways. So far, we have tried Pixelmon and Thaumcraft and have enjoyed them both. I have to say that I’m completely addicted to the study/minigame aspect of Thaumcraft as that one introduces a kind of wizardry to the game. Aiden has played much more of Pixelmon, which is to be expected, but I’ve had some fun with that one, too. That’s how we learned that you need separate accounts to play multiplayer on the PC. I wanted to join in on Aiden’s Pixelmon world, but coudn’t. I’m not willing (yet?) to pay for the multiple accounts. Hopefully, they offer a family account in the not too distant future.
What introduced me to mods and got me hooked to the game was I really wanted to find a mod that allows for Obsidian armor and found one that supposedly introduces technology to the game, but I haven’t gotten that one to run. I am always on the lookout for different mods, though, so if you know of any, send an email or leave it in the comments.
Portal in Minecraft? That might just be the way to get me to spend absurd amounts of money on this game.
Regulars at the page know that I’m perpetually behind the times in all things pop culture. I have no excuse for being this late to the Minecraft party other than ignorance. Nevertheless, if you have missed the boat for as long as I have (or, more likely, if you have children who are just now growing into the age of Minecraft) then I hope that this article serves as a good introduction into the pros and cons of each version so that you can make a more informed decision. Finally, if you do buy the game, give it a try. I can almost guarantee that you will find it entertaining.
