Community Page for Gods and Heroes
Well, they killed it. The site says it is on indefinite hold, but heck, that's as good as dead in the MMO world.
I have to admit I was never really sold on the setting or the game play as it was presented to the media or on the site. I didn't get into the beta, but I heard that it was fairly interesting with the squad play and other mechanics that pulled it to a more tactical angle.
Now that I think about it, I didn't really like the art either. Hmm, I guess I won't miss this one.
Anyone know of any good MMOs that are about to launch?
Hellgate London is still the NextBigThing(tm) right?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Blue Dragon XBox360
It's been a long time since I played a traditional turn based RPG on a PC or console. I think the last time I really got into one was FFX on the PS2. In the next gen world of console game it's all about the action, even Fable, which many considered a great RPG was at it's core an action game.
Blue Dragon for the 360 is turn based. Good ol' fashioned turn based combat. I love it.
There are plenty of good reviews of the game, as it's been out a while in Asia and a couple weeks here in the USA, so I won't go into that. I will go into one thing that I really like about the game... it's fun twist on charge up moves and turn sequencing.
In general the combat turns are straightforward agility based move orders. The higher your agility, the more likely you are to go first and more often. I haven't exactly nailed down the increase in action frequency a higher agility gives you yet, but it feels like it's there.
This creates a nice feel to the combat, and you can build a character to be a speedster relatively easily. Additionally, you can build for slower harding hitting skills and get a different experience without feeling underpowered. In the 6 hours of play I've put into it at this point (I just started) it feels balanced.
To mix things up a little, there are charge based skills in the game that also effect your turn sequencing. For instance, a black magic user might try and use the flare attack spell. When this spell is activated, a charge bar appears and you get a chance to increase the damage done by holding down the button. You can even try to land the charge bar in a sweet spot that lowers the MP cost of the spell, very nice.
To balance out the increase in power, the charge bar also adds in a sort of casting time to your move. If you fully charge the bar you'll end up acting last in the round. You can also try and time the amount of charge you use, as it indicates where in the charge bar other characters will act. A very nice, open approach to the mechanic. I really like it.
This is good twist in what is otherwise a very traditional turn based combat game. While I've just started, it looks like this game is going to get a solid amount of hours from me. I love that it's turn based and I love that they are trying new things with turn based gaming.
More to come.
Some links for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dragon
http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/728/728023.html
Blue Dragon for the 360 is turn based. Good ol' fashioned turn based combat. I love it.
There are plenty of good reviews of the game, as it's been out a while in Asia and a couple weeks here in the USA, so I won't go into that. I will go into one thing that I really like about the game... it's fun twist on charge up moves and turn sequencing.
In general the combat turns are straightforward agility based move orders. The higher your agility, the more likely you are to go first and more often. I haven't exactly nailed down the increase in action frequency a higher agility gives you yet, but it feels like it's there.
This creates a nice feel to the combat, and you can build a character to be a speedster relatively easily. Additionally, you can build for slower harding hitting skills and get a different experience without feeling underpowered. In the 6 hours of play I've put into it at this point (I just started) it feels balanced.
To mix things up a little, there are charge based skills in the game that also effect your turn sequencing. For instance, a black magic user might try and use the flare attack spell. When this spell is activated, a charge bar appears and you get a chance to increase the damage done by holding down the button. You can even try to land the charge bar in a sweet spot that lowers the MP cost of the spell, very nice.
To balance out the increase in power, the charge bar also adds in a sort of casting time to your move. If you fully charge the bar you'll end up acting last in the round. You can also try and time the amount of charge you use, as it indicates where in the charge bar other characters will act. A very nice, open approach to the mechanic. I really like it.
This is good twist in what is otherwise a very traditional turn based combat game. While I've just started, it looks like this game is going to get a solid amount of hours from me. I love that it's turn based and I love that they are trying new things with turn based gaming.
More to come.
Some links for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dragon
http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/728/728023.html
Sunday, July 29, 2007
XBox 360... collecting dust.
I have an XBox 360 sitting next to the tv... collecting dust.
I just can't seem to get into any of the games that are out there. I'm looking forward to the next version Madden, and I occasionally break out XBLA for some Settlers, but aside from that there really isn't anything out there that I want to play.
I guess I've always been a bit of a PC game snob. There is something about console games that has always been rather blah. Don't get me wrong, there are some great console games out there and I've spent lots of hours playing them. For some reason I just don't get hooked like I do to PC games.
Is there anything out there on the XBox360 that just blows away everything else? A defining game that I simply MUST play?
I just can't seem to get into any of the games that are out there. I'm looking forward to the next version Madden, and I occasionally break out XBLA for some Settlers, but aside from that there really isn't anything out there that I want to play.
I guess I've always been a bit of a PC game snob. There is something about console games that has always been rather blah. Don't get me wrong, there are some great console games out there and I've spent lots of hours playing them. For some reason I just don't get hooked like I do to PC games.
Is there anything out there on the XBox360 that just blows away everything else? A defining game that I simply MUST play?
Friday, July 27, 2007
Pox Nora
I logged back into Pox Nora again and played a couple games after not played for a number of months. The game has advanced a bit, they updated the interface and released two expansions since I played.
Pox Nora is a good game. I really like the art and the animations, the way the pieces move and the abilities. The game design is solid as well, with a good amount of attention paid to balance. It also appears that the designers know a thing or two about collectible card game play, as it's a theme of the system used there.
There is however a design issue that makes it really frustrating to play. The issue I have with it is the way character points are earned and then applied to the pieces themselves. This combined with a confusing ranking system make it a virtual crap shoot as to who you're about to play against. It could be a complete noobie, or a straight up killer pro, and you have no way of knowing.
This happened to me last night, and it pissed me off to no end. I created a game, and a user drops in with a totally fresh ranking. He was "provincial" and level 0. I'm thinking, okay, I'll start this game as I haven't played in a while and this guy is new so we'll both take our time and help each other out. Exactly what I was looking for.
The first round, I placed a piece and ended the turn. His turn now..
He places a nora miner, to get more resources. No problem. My turn, I place another and advance a little. His turn, my turn again, his turn. I asked a question to see if he needed any help, he had only placed one thing and nothing else happened. He didn't reply.
Then he placed a level 5 Lich King. And another level 5 piece. I look back at the Nora Miner, it's leveled up too!
I was a little shocked. How could this guy have level 5 pieces, let alone an exotic, at so low a ranking and level?
He essentially twinked the account. It was likely a really good player that created a second account, then traded a completely stacked bad-assed deck to the new account, and then was able to trick people into playing against him, where he could rake in wins and blow away people like me.
I know, there are people like this everywhere, and I happen to think that's sad. You always get a few jerkoffs no matter where you go.
To me, this is really a design flaw. A flaw in the ranking system at Pox Nora. I love the idea of the pieces themselves gaining levels. I also love that they balance the leveling up of the pieces by increasing the resources needed to put it into play. The flaw is that it is not indicated in the matchmaking system. So when I'm browsing games, I have no way to tell if the guy I'm going against is going to field a completely stacked army of max level pieces or what. If I'm not leveled up, I'm at a severe disadvantage because the experience gain REALLY overpowers the pieces. I don't see that as a design flaw, but as a balancing issue I hope they work out soon.
Overall, Pox Nora is a good game. I'll still play it every once and a while. Sadly there are so few good tactical turn based games out there.
Do you know of other tactical, or turn based games on the web?
Do you play Pox Nora?
Edit: I just realized that I posted this little rant without a solution. That sucked. I'm not about to be a whiner.
What needs to be in place is a way to gauge the effectiveness of the pieces you're playing against, independently of the person controlling them. It is a tactical game after all. Take the lead of many other tactical games out there and even the playing field itself, so the skill of the players can be ranked.
In BattleTech, it was first tonnage of the mechs, and then they created a point system.
In Warhammer and Warhammer 40k it's points. Upgrades to the units increase the point cost, so the "value" of the army increased. You would choose an opponent and play a point total.
In Pox Nora, my suggestion would be to first balance the effect of levels and character points on the pieces themselves. Then, create a level ranking of the pieces in the deck. Maybe when you join a game lobby is shows that your current deck has an average piece level of 3.2 with three of those pieces being level 5. Something to indicate to other players what they are going up against. The current system of Rank and Level is not at all indicative of the army strength (independent of the players skill).
Hopefully that makes sense.
Pox Nora is a good game. I really like the art and the animations, the way the pieces move and the abilities. The game design is solid as well, with a good amount of attention paid to balance. It also appears that the designers know a thing or two about collectible card game play, as it's a theme of the system used there.
There is however a design issue that makes it really frustrating to play. The issue I have with it is the way character points are earned and then applied to the pieces themselves. This combined with a confusing ranking system make it a virtual crap shoot as to who you're about to play against. It could be a complete noobie, or a straight up killer pro, and you have no way of knowing.
This happened to me last night, and it pissed me off to no end. I created a game, and a user drops in with a totally fresh ranking. He was "provincial" and level 0. I'm thinking, okay, I'll start this game as I haven't played in a while and this guy is new so we'll both take our time and help each other out. Exactly what I was looking for.
The first round, I placed a piece and ended the turn. His turn now..
He places a nora miner, to get more resources. No problem. My turn, I place another and advance a little. His turn, my turn again, his turn. I asked a question to see if he needed any help, he had only placed one thing and nothing else happened. He didn't reply.
Then he placed a level 5 Lich King. And another level 5 piece. I look back at the Nora Miner, it's leveled up too!
I was a little shocked. How could this guy have level 5 pieces, let alone an exotic, at so low a ranking and level?
He essentially twinked the account. It was likely a really good player that created a second account, then traded a completely stacked bad-assed deck to the new account, and then was able to trick people into playing against him, where he could rake in wins and blow away people like me.
I know, there are people like this everywhere, and I happen to think that's sad. You always get a few jerkoffs no matter where you go.
To me, this is really a design flaw. A flaw in the ranking system at Pox Nora. I love the idea of the pieces themselves gaining levels. I also love that they balance the leveling up of the pieces by increasing the resources needed to put it into play. The flaw is that it is not indicated in the matchmaking system. So when I'm browsing games, I have no way to tell if the guy I'm going against is going to field a completely stacked army of max level pieces or what. If I'm not leveled up, I'm at a severe disadvantage because the experience gain REALLY overpowers the pieces. I don't see that as a design flaw, but as a balancing issue I hope they work out soon.
Overall, Pox Nora is a good game. I'll still play it every once and a while. Sadly there are so few good tactical turn based games out there.
Do you know of other tactical, or turn based games on the web?
Do you play Pox Nora?
Edit: I just realized that I posted this little rant without a solution. That sucked. I'm not about to be a whiner.
What needs to be in place is a way to gauge the effectiveness of the pieces you're playing against, independently of the person controlling them. It is a tactical game after all. Take the lead of many other tactical games out there and even the playing field itself, so the skill of the players can be ranked.
In BattleTech, it was first tonnage of the mechs, and then they created a point system.
In Warhammer and Warhammer 40k it's points. Upgrades to the units increase the point cost, so the "value" of the army increased. You would choose an opponent and play a point total.
In Pox Nora, my suggestion would be to first balance the effect of levels and character points on the pieces themselves. Then, create a level ranking of the pieces in the deck. Maybe when you join a game lobby is shows that your current deck has an average piece level of 3.2 with three of those pieces being level 5. Something to indicate to other players what they are going up against. The current system of Rank and Level is not at all indicative of the army strength (independent of the players skill).
Hopefully that makes sense.
Resurrection check, made it.
Reshaping my blog here. Gunna shift entirely over to gaming discussions. It's what I love after all.
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