Tag Archives: PC Gaming

Digital Playground

A Battle A Day Keeps the Vader Away

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(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!

Digital Playground

Puzzling Through Duelyst

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(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.

Digital Playground

El jefe es muerto! Vive el jefe!

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(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.
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.
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.
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!

Digital Playground

What I did on my Summer Vacation (Part 1 – PC)

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(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.
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.
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.
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.

Digital Playground

Old Gods, New Tricks?

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(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.
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?

Yo, y'all got more of that Hearthstone? I'm just asking for a friend.
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.
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?
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*
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.

Digital Playground

We Built This City (on Minecraft)

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(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.
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.
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*
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.
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.
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.

portalcraft
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.

Digital Playground

Quick Hits: Magic Origins Duels

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(Editor’s Note: Please report any one you see playing only basic mountains in their deck. If you see something, say something. Together, we can defeat this red menace.)

I have not been a fan of Magic Origins so far. Initially, I wanted the set to be good. I got back to a point where I enjoyed the game again and I hoped that Origins might keep the momentum going. Then, the spoilers started. Nothing caught my interest as particularly interesting and my interest waned again.

Mono red became stronger in standard with the set. The ridiculous decks proliferated both in the events I watched and also the games I played against people online. I just started autoconceding every time I saw a mountain played by the opponent. I went from indifferent to actively hating the game and my red opponents.

Red Magic players are evil. Commies are evil. It isn't a coincidence.
Red Magic players are evil. Commies are evil. It isn’t a coincidence.

Thankfully, two things happened that puled me back from the brink of pulling the plug on Magic altogether. Chris and I expanded the play group with decidedly mixed results. The latest (and by all accounts last) version of the Duels series finally released at the end of last month. This has actually led to an unquestionable increase in my Magic habit without any of the previous negative side effects.

I might have already mentioned that I was so excited for the new game and promised return of features taken from the previous version that I downloaded and installed it on the day that it released. My favorite part of these games has always been the story. Wizards recently announced that Origins represented a new era in storytelling for them. If this game is any indication, then they have succeeded. The story has always been secondary in Magic, but as I played through, I saw the story come into sharp focus through the writing and card art. Five separate characters brought together by similar destinies to create a cohesive tale that will only become bigger with the coming sets.

No snarky comment this time. 4/5 of my favorites. Instead of Nissa, I'd prefer Garruk.
No snarky comment this time. 4/5 of my favorites. Instead of Nissa, I’d prefer Garruk.

I also said in that same article that the inclusion of daily quests did not entice me to log in to the game. That has actually turned out to be false. I log in daily, build a deck to match the quest, and play a few games. The games are actually quick enough that I don’t feel locked into them as I sometimes do when playing a actual game of Magic.

They also borrowed from the Hearthstone model and allow you to buy “packs” (only 6 cards in each pack) with gold earned from quests and victories. Opening these packs has exposed me to cards that I thought were interesting before and might make for cool combos, but never actually got to play them. An example is the new Jace and Sphinx’s Tutelage or the new Liliana in a sacrifice deck. That led me to try to come up with some new and different deck ideas to try.

I only have one complaint about the game, but it is a big one. Past versions of the series, but not last years, have included puzzles based on board states similar to the ones that Gathering Magic(click the link for an example) does weekly. I actually just learned about the Gathering Magic ones a couple of weeks ago and spent thewhole weekend trying to figure out the Elemental one. I did, by the way, and the one for last week, too. I will take a look at this week’s in the next day or two.

Took me a while only because I didn't read Stratus Walk very well. Hey, I'm a math guy, not a reading guy.
Took me a while only because I didn’t read Stratus Walk very well. Hey, I’m a math guy, not a reading guy.

So, it’s a bit of a bummer that they got rid of that feature. I would replay the game several times over in an attempt to complete the puzzle. At least in the last version, they also had achievements to chase, too. All of that kept me plenty busy once I finished the story. The potentially good news is that Wizards has said that they will keep the game updated via patches when each new set releases. The possibility exists that they could patch the puzzles back in, too. Here’s to hoping.

My thoughts:

  • Decent story. Well worth playing the game once just for the story.
  • Almost Magic gameplay. You get the cards, but it is for a casual/new experience, so some of the more intricate rules are diminished or eliminated altogether.
  • Free to play with a gold/daily quest system very much like Hearthstone. I haven’t spent a dime in the game and already have a sizable and eclectic collection.
  • Replayability, if you aren’t interested in the “competitive” games is severely limited.
  • No puzzles again. Holding out hope that they patch them in at some point.
  • Can’t import your collection from previous versions.

Overall, it is a fun game, completely free, and as close to actual Magic as such a casual game allows. Download it, play through the story, and have fun for a few days. There are far worse ways to spend your time.

Digital Playground

Communication Breakdown

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(Note: Fake Surgeon General’s Warning – Hearthstone May Be Hazardous to Your Mental Health)

I was playing Hearthstone the other morning as I sometimes do. Usually, I will log in to check what the daily quest is and if it is one that doesn’t look like it will take too long or I am close to that magic 100 gold mark (free packs!), then I will try to complete the quest. While the quest was not necessarily and easy one (Hunter or Druid dominance – because my druid deck is not the most efficient win wise as it is a troll deck designed to frustrate hunters and I despise playing hunter because it is basically face roll), I decided to play the druid deck because I haven’t played it much lately. I tweaked it to make it slightly more competitive, but it still works mostly only as a way to get the opponent to use the “threaten” emote as much as possible in the time that it takes me to ultimately lose. Childish? Perhaps, but it is all just meant to be harmless fun.

On this particular morning, the plan backfired big time. Instead of facing hunters, who were no doubt unleashing many hounds on their last minute pushes to legend rank before the nerf bat smacks them, I went up against a priest, a face warrior that somehow drew every weapon in his deck in his opening hand, and then another priest. These are all terrible match ups for my poor druid deck and I lost every single game. Good, you might be thinking, sometimes you are the troll and sometimes you get trolled. Serves you right. I respect that sentiment and agree with all of it. That’s not the point of this post.

As an aside, I should have a drinking game where you take a shot every time I say “That’s not the point of this post” (and chug a beer for every parenthetical phrase) in my articles. Then again, we do want this to be a form for everyone and that disqualifies our younger readers. How about Bingo? Is there a non-old people equivalent to Bingo?

But, I digress. (Aha, that’s another one for Bingo!) The point of this article is that as the losses mounted, my mood turned worse and worse to the point that I was actively cursing the screen and the anonymous person on the other side of it. So, you’re a sore loser, you might respond, why write an entire article about it? I’m usually not. I lose, quite often, to Chris in Magic during our games and I take those losses in stride. Granted there was the time that I called his Quicksilver Amulet “bull…stuff” but that was more a commentary on my inability to properly counter it and it has led me on a crusade to build a deck to do just that. Forget games, I’ve lost plenty in live (most notably jobs) and I just get back out there and “fail up”.

Another piece of this puzzle is that it isn’t just me. Chris stopped playing Hearthstone completely because he didn’t like the person he became when he lost. I have seen more than one Twitch streamer have a meltdown on camera after a prolonged losing streak. I’m not proud of this, but I also rage added an opponent to my friend list simply to type some of the curses directly to him. Mind you, I come here not to bury Hearthstone. Granted, I’m not exactly here to praise it either. While I think that the game relies entirely too much on randomness (a reason that I hate poker and to an extent fantasy football), it isn’t the game alone that elicits these responses.

I once played two Hearthstone games against a Twitch streamer and lost one of them on a fluky play that normally would have caused a tantrum, but I congratulated him and went on completely unfazed. I have also played friendlies against Chris and others and those losses were also handled with my normal good nature. That leaves the question, “Why can this game turn a normally mild mannered gamer into a foul-mouthed verbal assassin?”

The previously mentioned randomness and imbalance of certain cards and classes does not help. You can go from a very strong position to a very weak one in the span of only one draw or turn and it happens regularly. I have seen the phenomenon in other card games, but it happens more infrequently in those games than in Hearthstone. Watch or play enough of this game and you will hear or utter the phrase “top deck” as a curse at least once a game. No doubt that adds to the frustration (I had that game won and it was the last one for the quest. Son of a –) but it has just as much chance of going for you as against you, so there has to be more.

Enter “zoo” warlock and hunter. There are others (like the priests and warriors against my druid deck), but those are the two major offenders right now. Sure, the decks are consistent, cheap, and fast. I’m not even that good of a player and I can win 75-80% of my games with those decks. I finished the hunter quest later in the day with a 5-1 streak as hunter. I cheer when the warlock dominance quest shows up because I know it won’t take more than 15 minutes to complete. So, I can’t blame people for using them. Still, Web Spinner turn 1, then face plus hero power turn two, buzzard plus unleash on turn 5 (this one will change because the only way that Blizzard knows how to balance is with the nerf bat), or Voidwalker, coin blood imp turn one, then two flame imp on turn 2, and then Harvest Golem turn 3. The decks are so damn predictable and that’s boring and frustrating. Warlock has the added bonus of two card potential per turn in a game that features 30 card decks. You can stonewall hunter. As I mentioned earlier, my druid deck does well against them because of removal. If you somehow remove the onslaught of zoo, no worries, they have plenty of one and two drops to replace them. Random plus boring times severe imbalance equals streams of obscenity at some anonymous person that is just as easily a wanna be pro neckbeard as a 12-year old kid trying his first card game.

That brings me to my last, and most important, point in the article. There’s a reason that people hate Twitter. When you can easily create an anonymous account and spew forth any stupid opinion in 140 characters or less, that’s not exactly healthy for intelligent discourse. The same problem plagues Hearthstone. When I played against Chris or my other friends, I knew my enemy and the Battle.net chat function allowed us to communicate during the match. Even if I wasn’t friends with the streamer, I had watched and interacted with him via chat enough to build a rapport. Normally, the other person in Hearthstone is completely unknown to you and some days you just feel like the world is out to get you. The only way to react to something is through a friend request at the end of the game. Because of rage adding, of which I’ve already admitted to being guilty*, most people won’t even respond or they might try to beat you to the rage with some venom of their own.

A chat function (and there have been many requests and good ideas of how to implement one that Blizzard has routinely ignored in favor of using updates to swing their nerf bats) would solve these problems. you would know if your opponent was a dink worthy of ridicule, scorn, abuse, or simply being ignored. You could react to a good play with an actual comment instead of a preconceived “emote” that more often than not sounds sarcastic. Who knows what could happen? I’ve made connections with people through World of Warcraft that extend beyond the game. A game supposedly built on social interaction might actually foster meaningful and healthy social interactions instead of bouts of furious swearing and the threat of broken monitors.

Do you want to swear at or be sworn at by me? Meet me in Hearthstone and bring your zoo deck. Or, would you rather Blizzard stop nerfing hunter (while completely ignoring the warlock hero power) long enough to implement chat. Show your support in the comments and in forum posts with poor spelling and grammar. Trust me, those are the ones that get the attention of the “Blues”.

*I felt so guilty after swearing at that person that I added the very next person that I played. He pulled off some insane combo with Raging Worgen, Elven Archer, and Power Overwhelming to kill me, so I added him and said, “Awesome combo.” He admitted that was the first time he was able to pull it off and we have chatted a few times since. See…chat. To the forums.