Champion of Choice Week 2: Caitlyn

My champion choice for this week is Caitlyn: The Sheriff of Piltover. Caitlyn or Cait as I call her is my main ADC(Attack Damage Carry). I have played well over 100 games with her and I use her the most in ranked matches. She is my crutch if I really can't think of anyone else to play when I play League of Legends.  Cait excels at long range poke early to mid game and becomes a force to be reckon with late game. She has a lot of easy poke because her auto attack has a longer range than most ADCs and her Q skill shoots out a straight line of a penetrating shot that can deal critical amount of damage early game when most champs are still relatively weak. She can set mini bear traps to snare someone and deal tiny amounts of damage. I remember buying her and knowing she was going to be one of my main champions and I was right. To me she is the perfect starting ADC a great pick all around for a 5v5 match up! I chose her this week because I played her more than any other champ on my recent games.  **On a side note I will try to pick out a champion on League of Legends at the end of every week and just talk about and why I chose them so much during that week.**"I'm on the case".

This is the skin I use with her, Arctic Warfare

-Lamesbond007

Neverwinter Open Beta Weekend 3 Experience

****Hey guys, so I had to do a lot of homework on Sunday and could not post about Neverwinter like I said I would I apologize. But nonetheless lets get it going!****

So I only got to play one character up to level 10. I played the Guardian Fighter. I was eager to try and play the other classes but...I was hooked on my guardian. My anticipation was high and well... it was most definitely met! Neverwinter is packing the goods! The moment I started the game up I did not want to get off for a second! Okay I know I am praising a lot to the game that I only played 10 levels. But this isn't a review; this is an experience or a taste of the game!

The tank is my favorite role in MMOs :)

CHARGEEEEEE!!

 

 From the levels that I played though the game is great, the combat is a sweet spot between TERA's and Vindictus combat. There a flavor of TERA's aiming and targeting mechanic and also a lot of clicking like Vindictus. I am full board now for those styles of combat, it seems to me that Neverwinter found the sweet spot for the best of both worlds. Instead of a dodge roll or evade like most games like this have my guardian actually has a use for his shield. You hold down shift key and he puts up his shield to block incoming attacks(except for magical attacks. That seems to be the guardian's weakness). I think that is awesome! The tank role I chose should be able to actually use his shield to block. Unlike most where it is determined by your block percentage. Which gave me a learning curve since I am so used to the standard combat. I noticed I was dieing a whole lot and was getting frustrated early on because I was not blocking attacks at all. So after trying to figure out I realized "I actually need to think about what I am doing in combat." SO I switched to using my block and my survivability went up a lot! Making me think about how I attack and block(since Guardian's cannot roll away evade) really just made me be completely immersed in the combat! A huge plus to the game in my opinion. Now I am not sure if this is right or not but I think the Trickster Rogue has that standard dodge evade roll. Which when I think about it makes sense. Rogues are sneaky and acrobatic in combat so them having the dodge roll is fitting for the class. When I was playing the only negative sides I have to my experience are the lag-filled servers making my FPS on my computer really low sometimes making combat hard to know what I was doing. Might be my computer sucking or lag, OR a combination of both. That was minor though because it only seemed to happen at peak time. The other downside I notice just in my 10 levels is there is not a lot of skills so far. BUT I will fully give Neverwinter the benefit of the doubt and I will get more skills (also the talent system was unlocked at 10 so that's pretty sweet more customization) later on in the game!

It is hard NOT to get immersed with a city like that!

Another thing I'd like to mention is how deep the world is. The game looks beautiful and the art and graphics really immerse me into the world of Neverwinter! Big highlight to the main city especially making it a robust complex city filled with NPCs running around and shops and a lot of players hanging out. Games have not immersed me this much in their world before so it was an excellent experience!


All in all this game is a definitely recommend when it is finally released ( no confirmed release date yet! I am hoping soon). Neverwinter was a very positive and fun experience and I really wish I could have gotten my character higher but homework kept me from that(English class...fuck you). This is a game that I highly recommend to anyone into MMOs! Keep an eye out for it for when it is released! I will be playing the moment the servers go live!

-Lamesbond007

SWTOR: My thoughts after free to play hit

Be honest, You want to be a jedi too!

SWTOR(Star Wars: The Old Republic) was released late in 2011 as a subscription only MMO. It changed sometime late 2012 not even making it a year of a subscription MMO. SO it was a huge announcement(at least to me it was) when they were changing the game to free to play. I thought to my self "This is good I have been interested in a Star Wars MMO for awhile but couldn't afford the subscription(15 dollars is bullshit)". Once I saw the announcement that it was to become free to play I instantly got excited! I had got a free month of sub for buying the game and I tried it out and was really engrossed in it! The game is great and I love being able to play as star wars styled classes in the star wars universe! But had I known now how they were going to make it free to play, I wouldn't have been as excited...

When they finally released more information about free to play I found out some shady stuff. Come to find out the free to play limited A LOT of features. How did they do this? Oh by keeping the god damn subscription to technically play the full "game". Sure in free to play you could level up to max level and do the whole story quest and play it through with each class. But that only gets so far in an MMO where they have it focused on flashpoints(dungeons is what I call them) and operations(raids). They limited the number of times you could run operations and flashpoints! It really pisses me off that they limited to 3 PER WEEK of both. See you unlock flashpoints at level 10 and I love doing dungeons since they emphasis on group play with a certain role(Tank,Damage, Healer). I really think they did wrong here on limiting the dungeons you can do per week as a free to play player. You can get weekly passes in the cash shop. Yeah that's right not only do they keep the subscription to play the full game with no micro transactions but they also added in the cartel market(cash shop) where you can pay real money to get things like weekly passes to flashpoints and operations, warzones(pvp zones) and cosmetic skins. I do not have a problem with being limited the amount as a free player to do those things, but when it is 3 a week that is a very low number. It just shows how greedy the publisher is (EA...*shudders*) and how fucked up their "Free to play" option is. I understand limiting the operations since those are end game only things and require a lot of dedication to finish and complete, but the flashpoints? Come on let us do as many as we want as a free to play player.

Cartel Market: Whole new level of "nickel and dimeing" your money

I could go on and on about how bullshit their restrictions are but honestly, I ignore most of the restrictions. The game(to me) is engaging enough for me to ignore the silly restrictions and just simply enjoy the game. You can go on and on about how they need to change that but when it comes down to it, it is just a game and we as gamers play games to be entertained and to have fun. And that is what I'm doing when I play SWTOR. I'm genuinely having a lot of fun. I just think they could have handled the free to play options way better and let us do more things. The game itself isn't horrible and in fact, this is the only mmo that is like WoW where I actually love just as much as WoW. I have never had a game do that before. Some might ask "why don't you just play WoW then if you like games like it so much?" Well to answer that it is because I don't have money to subscribe to it so I need to find free to play options. SWTOR is the closest thing I can get to that is free and almost exactly like WoW. As bullshit as the restrictions that are put on me when playing, it is still a great game to play and enjoy. I would recommend it to anyone who likes WoW but can't afford subscription!

-Lamesbond007

Maplestory: Does this game have too many classes?

Ghost Mage that uses fans?

With the recent release of Kanna and Hayato classes in the game I have began to wonder more and more if Maplestory is getting over saturated with too many classes. Well I guess it depends on how you like games. For example someone may prefer games with slightly less classes but all classes are extremely balanced. Where as on the other side of it someone may want a lot of those classes to keep them interested in the game itself.

 I personally tend to fall into the category of "more is better". Only in a grind fest MMO like Maplestory. I say that because well it is a grind fest. You will be using the same skills on the same classes for the majority of the game. Sure once you hit 2nd, 3rd, and 4th job you get new skills based off of your class you play, but that initial newness quickly goes away after about 5 to 10 levels for me.With Maplestory releasing class after class lately it does seem a bit redundant, but there is still something about having new classes to explore that can keep me logging in. Now I am not the kind of person who needs a new class every couple of months no. I can stick to a class if I really like it! Since it is a grind fest MMO though you will eventually get bored from the same redundant killing things! That is why I think it is okay for Maplestory to keep releasing classes. As long as they don't release new ones every 3-4 months. Each new class in my opinion needs to have time to sink into the world of Maple and find its niche in groups or parties. If they continue to release more and more classes faster than I think the game will get me sick of the game itself and stop playing it all together.

Badass Samurai!

So does Maplestory have too many classes? Probably. But to my taste of gaming in that kind of genre game I think it is okay to have too many classes. I can understand where people are coming from where having too many classes and none of them balanced can make them not like the game. Lets hope Maplestory starts to slow down on classes for the future!

-Lamesbond007

Coming Soon...

It is upon us

Neverwinter the MMO!! I got into beta weekend number 3! I am so excited I have been trying to snag a beta key since last December. SO I will be playing the game a lot this Friday and Saturday and then Sunday I will be writing up what my thoughts are in the game based off of how far I have gotten in the game. I have a lot of hype for this game so I am anxiously waiting to try it out! As a bonus if I get a video recorder to work more than 30 seconds then I will get some game play up and some playing and talking about the game! Here is to looking forward to the weekend!

-Lamesbond007

Whats wrong with Guild Wars 2

I purchased Guild Wars 2 when it was on sale last Christmas. I got a great deal on it and only paid 40 dollars for it. Before I got the game obviously the game got a whole lot of praise for being innovative and reshaping mmos and potentially breaking the WoW mold. I was not necessarily hyping my self up to the game but I had been keeping the game close and following it up until its release. I am surprised I did not cave in and buy the game on release. I just watched it get plenty of praise from critics and I was even more interested in the game once I actually saw reviews and game play videos.

This was my desktop background for a longgg time! Great picture

So what does this have to do with Guild Wars 2 being bad? Well when I finally bought the game on sale and I sunk my self into the game. After many many many hours of playing on one character here is what I have come too. Me personally feel like the game does not start until 80. Is the game innovative? Oh hell yes for an MMO to actually not use the standard WoW mold is just great. IT was a great execution. The game is fantastic. I love exploring the maps and the classes are interesting enough. The game is a very good game and I still love playing it. but here are my gripes.

First is the the leveling experience. Now let me just come out and say I have no problem with slow leveling (hell, I played Maplestory back when the pirate class first came out. THAT was hell.) slow leveling is not the problem. But when the majority of the game is based off of being 80 and the main way to level is obviously to do the quests(oh I am sorry HEARTS) and just completing each section of the map(which is really really fun btw). But the problem is completing maps as the main way to level gives you little experience TO actually level your character. Okay that's fine I'll just do dungeons at 30. Well your first dungeon is unlocked sure, but the game almost FORCES you to have 80's in your group. Now I know the dungeons are meant to be hard as fuck to beat and I like that. But since they advertise "No tank, healer, and damage role" its very hard to coordinate a good group to beat these mind numbingly hard dungeons WITHOUT these templates that WoW has hammered into our heads.  I mean I just honestly think dungeons being hard as shit to beat are fine but the way I have always handled tough dungeons is with a good "Tank, Healer, and Damage" group. Giving a player a role I think just HAS to be there for an MMO. I just really can't stand how they don't use that form. Maybe it is just me but I hate that.

I don't want to be doing this boring shit all day to level :P

 Now I know the loophole to get to 80 really fast with crafting or professions but that is just boring and I have never liked crafting in any MMO. I am not a huge PvP player either. Although on a side note World vs. World vs. World is SO much fun defiantly an awesome experience. I just feel like the game is BASED around PvE it should have the leveling experience be worth it when clearing maps as the main leveling tool.

The other problem I have with this game is gear. the gear is not unique at all until you hit 80. I take a look at the dungeon gear at 30. Looks sweet! I look at the 40 gear. The same gear. The only time I noticed different gear for the same class is at level 80. They have many different sets for each class. Which is awesome. So why did they not do that for the first 79 levels too? I always loved getting an upgrade and it looking way different from the old gear I had. It kept me going sometimes. 

Now I understand low level gear never looks too interesting but I mean it couldn't be that hard to have several sets at each 10 level interval. Some even argue that's what dyes are for. Sure okay. That WORKS for the color of the gear. I like customizing that. but I like to have a wide variety of different looking gear. So I have to get to 80 to have different gear. That is fine and dandy EXCEPT it is a very slow grind to get there(unless you max out a profession skill which is more boring than the grind).

Side Note: Sylvari or tree people as I call them are my favorite race ^.^

Summing things up here is it is perfectly FINE for at a devs stand point to revolve all of the good stuff to happen once you hit 80 BUT if you make the core part of your game not worth the time to do the slow leveling then it is a flawed choice to have your core activities happen once you hit 80. To me those 2 things (slow leveling/not good time sink, and boring gear) that frustrate me the most about this game and has also held me back from playing it religiously( I was hoping it would get me really into it too). But hear me out, This game is still a great game! I was just pointing out the problems I have with it based off of what I look for in an MMO. I can still log into this game and have tons of fun with always plenty to do! If I would have bought this game for full price it still would have been worth my 60 dollars. I know this was long but I had a lot to say about it! Hope it was not too bad!

-Lamesbond007

Champion of Choice: Mordekaiser

Badass.

My champion of choice from this week is Mordekaiser. I have played him in 95% of my games this week and he is a blast! There is just something about his champion design that attracts me to play him. I almost always go mid lane with him. I get flamed quite a bit for choosing him mid from people on my team. What usually ends up happening though is I actually do good with Morde mid lane with my insane burst and shield combo. I think he looks threatening and menacing a good bully when played in mid lane. I feel like his a very viable mid champion and should be played more by others. But then again he is just a champ I am playing more than others at the moment. I will probably have a new champ by next weekend. But whatever it's fucking Mordekaiser!!! :D "You only have to click once, fool".