T w e n t y S i d e d
It seems that we’ve finally gotten bored with all of the mindless shooting and awesome explosions, so with this episode we’re bringing you very special presentation:
Spoiler Warning: NOBODY DIES
Link (YouTube) |
Spoiler Warning S4E11: And this is
World of Warcraft: Nitpicks Revisited
Two and a half years ago I wrote up a list of grievances against World of Warcraft. Now the world has been re-worked for the Cataclysm, so I thought I’d revisit that list and see how things have changed.
1. Low drop rates for quest items
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Drop rates are now usually at 80% or better. Of course, this is possible mostly due to the fact that they’ve sped up the leveling curve. Blizzard doesn’t need you to kill 200 Murlocs to get from level 10 to 11, so when a quest giver asks you to bring him 20 Murloc heads, you don’t need to worry that 90% of the Murlocs in the world will be inexplicably headless when you loot them.
Conclusion: Fixed. And thank you.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “World of Warcraft: Nitpicks Revisited”
Spoiler Warning S4E10: Garrus Bueller’s Day Off
Link (YouTube) |
At the top of the episode, we actually tried the assault on the doors like three times, and kept getting killed. We want to keep the show moving, and so Josh tried to avoid playing the game as intended: Crouch behind cover and play peek-a-boo / whack-a-mook for two and a half minutes. That’s really boring to watch, so Josh is a bit more aggressive than is advisable.
And then we stopped to begin the episode, and Mordin cleared the room alone. Sure, it seems odd that the ship’s doctor should be able to rambo his way through waves of enemies. But a more pressing question is: Where the crap was Jacob? I’m not sure why he decided to go on break right at this moment and leave all the work to Mordin, but I’m sure he’ll have lots of time to reflect on his mistake now that he’s never leaving the ship again ever.
EDIT: Oh right, he was with Garrus. Ah well. He’s staying on the ship anyway.
Drawn to Knowledge: Net Neutrality
Here is my latest in the Drawn to Knowledge series. I have also created a YouTube channel, just for this show.
Link (YouTube) |
Share and enjoy. Next time I’ll cover something a little less divisive.
Going into more detail…
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Drawn to Knowledge: Net Neutrality”
Deck the Dalek
Painted by my wife: A small (8×5 inches) holiday Dalek. (Watercolor.)
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| CEL-E-BRATE! CEL-E-BRATE! CEL-E-BRATE! |
My wife and kids are all huge Dr. Who fans, and fans of the new series in particular. (Tennant is the favorite Doctor among them. Personally, I was always partial to Tom Baker.) I don’t watch it. The Doctor is a master of time who can live for centuries. I am not, and so I can ill-afford to get engrossed in long-running sci-fi series.
I think it’s audacious how they have taken the classic 80’s villains and brought them into their modern productions with much of their camp still intact.
CEL-E-BRATE!
Experienced Points:
That Game I Should Have Liked
In which I express regret over a game I just couldn’t love.
Spoiler Warning S4E9: Stairway to Heaven
Good morning everyone, it’s Mumbles. Did you know that you can’t buy whiskey and eggnog before 6AM in California? So much for the Christmas spirit, law makers!
Link (YouTube) |
So, the show is called Spoiler Warning and we typically try not to give anything away before it happens. But, do you have any idea how difficult that is? In the early Bioshock episodes, I was this close to just blabbing who Atlas was, even if it didn’t really mean anything to the viewer at the time. I was bursting with truth, good viewers, but I could not share.
With that said, there’s a big surprise in this episode. As you know, Rutskarn has not played the game and is experiencing it for the first time. It’s really too bad that before the recording, I accidentally told him Archangel’s identity and gave him ample time to work on some puns. Whoops. My bad.
From The Archives:
The Best of 2016
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2016.
Batman: Arkham Origins
A breakdown of how this game faltered when the franchise was given to a different studio.
What is Vulkan?
What is this Vulkan stuff? A graphics engine? A game engine? A new flavor of breakfast cereal? And how is it supposed to make PC games better?
The Truth About Piracy
What are publishers doing to fight piracy and why is it all wrong?
Programming Vexations
Here is a 13 part series where I talk about programming games, programming languages, and programming problems.
Could Have Been Great
Here are four games that could have been much better with just a little more work.
Quakecon 2011 Keynote Annotated
An interesting but technically dense talk about gaming technology. I translate it for the non-coders.
How to Forum
Dear people of the internet: Please stop doing these horrible idiotic things when you talk to each other.
If Star Wars Was Made in 2006?
Imagine if the original Star Wars hadn't appeared in the 1970's, but instead was pitched to studios in 2006. How would that turn out?
Who Broke the In-Game Economy?
Why are RPG economies so bad? Why are shopkeepers so mercenary, why are the prices so crazy, and why do you always end up a gazillionaire by the end of the game? Can't we just have a sensible balanced economy?