T w e n t y S i d e d

So Infinity Nikki was finally released on Steam. It’s still not available on the Steam Deck; the limiting factor being the Anti-Cheat Expert implementation. The team responsible for bringing the title to Steam expressed interest in bridging the ACE requirement so the game will run on Steam Deck and as a result, most Linux installs (Valve has done this for other titles). However that may never happen at this point. A significant update to the game a couple of weeks ago has caused quite a bit of consternation among long-time players. Obviously I haven’t talked to every single person, but Steam reviews have dropped from near-perfect not long ago to “Mixed.” Essentially, before the Steam release, the reviews were from people who obtained the game in some other way and were talking about how great it was. The Steam version released with the new update from what I’ve read. You can see negative review after negative review now, all complaining about the update. The best I can put together is that the 1.5 update added co-op play, which seems simple enough. But for some reason also nixed the original story, introduction, and tutorial. I’ve read reviews of people complaining that the co-op play update makes the new content completely different from the original release. This, according to many, ruins the original “cozy” and casual feel to the game. If this trend continues, further development on Steam will likely cease, as will any upcoming content. In the U.S. anyway; I have no idea how people in China feel. (Allegedly the term “boycott” has been banned in-game and on social media accounts, but I don’t know if that’s English-only or for all languages. The word “girlcott” has been substituted, according to Wikipedia.) I also want to be clear that *I* haven’t played the game, so this is only reporting on what other people are saying, and how they are responding through official channels. I don’t completely agree with the idea that “online isn’t real,” but I DO agree that you hear about complaints at a much greater rate than you hear about satisfaction, so if this concerns you…the game is free. You can play it or not. Unless you’re on Linux.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mother’s Day and Vacation Time”

Paige Francis He/him

I played several hours in Lord of the Rings Online this past week, and learned *something else* new. The game has had a 64-bit client for several years. *BUT* apparently they only made 64-bit *servers* available like, last month. Standing Stone started encouraging everyone to transfer to the new servers; they even offered a free server transfer. (If you don’t play MMORPGs regularly, this is one of the standard purchases that every MMO with more than one server offers. It’s one of the reliable money-makers. Because people want to play with their current friend group or active guild, you know.) I find it very interesting that the new servers give a pretty accurate measurement of the current population. I mean, other than what the developer claims, which may or may not be accurate. LOTRO has been considered a decently-populated game for an older legacy MMO, operating dozens of servers as recently as only a year or so ago. Under the 64-bit schema, SS is offering one RP server (role-playing), one non-RP server, and one “Legendary” server (I don’t know anything about those) in North America and Europe, for a total of six servers. This actually puts LOTRO on par with Star Wars The Old Republic which has six servers as well, although they aren’t divided by role. Since transferring to the new server, I have in fact noticed much-improved performance and the occasional improved texture. I assume there are other improvements I have not noticed.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “A Week of Various Updates and Upgrades”

Paige Francis He/him

Remember the last time I said I was done with Lord of the Ring Online for good? I think it was in January. Just a few months ago. I had even mentioned THEN that I had previously become so disillusioned with the game I had tried to delete my Standing Stone (the publisher) account. Well, funny thing. As has happened multiple times before, I started missing certain things. On top of that, the problem with performance should surely be addressable. While I have no doubt playing on Linux introduces certain problems, I keep seeing people mention (and I remember from troubleshooting last time) the poor performance is *not* limited to Linux players; Windows players have the exact same problems. On top of that, most of those problems seem to have only presented themselves in the last year or so. One problem I have I know is because of Linux: I have the game installed on a separate SATA mechanical hard drive. Uh, formatted in ext4 if I remember correctly. Program access in that situation is known to be relatively slow, and how Linux caches disk writes and reads means you can tie this process in knots if you’re not careful. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The bottom line is that a few days ago I re-installed LOTRO *again* and started playing with a set of of criteria…that *seems* to be working this time. And one particular change to the graphics that has helped immensely.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Insanity: I’m playing LOTRO AGAIN”

Paige Francis He/him