Passing thoughts

Gamescon is over, and I missed a lot of it. My interest in the new and upcoming stuff is waning, or at the very least, not pushing against that wall of excitement the industry attempts to construct from hype and mystery to ensure a continued revenue stream (except for Battlefield 3 – that shit looks crazy yo). Sure, a few things were bound to catch my ear, only by sheer volume of the social circles I run around the perimeter of. Wrath of Heroes and Wildstar seeming to be the two that with the biggest foundation in place amongst my cliques, and I’ll admit – the giant robot that was fought in the raid of SW:TOR perked up my ears. I wouldn’t say that I have ennui towards the institutions or developments, more of a contented disinterest, as nothing really (again, except Battlefield 3) grabbed me by the genitals and dragged me down to the floor with it for a romp in the hay. I am at peace with my current gaming distribution, and calmly waiting for the few objects I see in the hazy distance. I understand now why a placated population is so much in demand by some, and can be so dreadfully dangers to others – then content make no demands, and demands drive innovation.

There’s the portion of my brain, nagging me to research and delve, and find out what all went on. The portion that craves knowledge and information to analyze and decide. To call judgment and declare that THIS is the side of the line that my opinion falls upon. Immediately afterward, the portion that controls the actual doing then points out InFamous, Wipeout, BioShock, and a stack of other games that I still have yet to play through and suggests to me that perhaps the new and exciting can wait, and that an opinion doesn’t always need to be formed early on, as if some type of posterity is at stake.

So, anything you think I should take a look at? What piqued your interest? What do you think I should keep my eyes on?

Oh, and seriously, go watch the Battlefield 3 trailer.

Guess who’s back?

From outerspace (okay, Wisconsin – semantics!).

The vacation was good. There was much drinking of beer, much eating of brats, and the lighting of fireworks, with the occasional dabble of family visitation, and a picture of my 93-year-old grandmother surrounded by her 9 great-grandkids. And the whole thing got capstoned by some terrible mucous plague that infected me about 5 minutes before the plan left the tarmac – a nice parting gift from the lovely midwest. While I was away, I stayed mostly out of the loop of the goings-on of the digital and gaming world, but I still tried to check my twitter feed once a day to see if anything amazing, fun, and cool happened.

There were a few things, but nothing monumental. The same-old drama of the interwebz.

Drama and Resolution.

Someone’s new job got me a Tee-shirt (in return for a Haiku)!

EA keeps gobbling up different territories of gaming.

Warhammer had another round of Blogger–invasion (not enough words for links!).

SoE’s FanFaire landed with some insight at upcoming games (finally), and a new graphics engine called Forge Light.

Relatedly: Planetside 2 looks pretty darn spiffy.

I’m sure there was tons more than that I missed in my drunken revelry, but that should be enough to keep any sane person busy for at least 15 minutes, more if you link-dive like I do.

Firefall

First, big thanks to Werit for pointing out this game to me when we were chatting. Firefall is a game being created by Red 5 studios, and from what I’ve seen so far, my interest is piqued. As usual, its heavy sci-fi influence instantly takes a hold of me, and the fact that they have a tool called a “thumper” and that calls bugs hits all the right trigger spots for my recent re-reading of the Dune series. It’s almost as if someone took a peek into my head and said, “Hey, how can plant a hook in this-here grey matter?”.  The two main videos on the front page of the website are great to watch, the first because it’s just an amazing cinematic, and the second because it gives you consistent game footage with commentary from the developers.

Story-wise, it seems like a pretty cut/dry sci-fi, end of the world, resistance fighting story. It doesn’t make it any less interesting, or intriguing, but I do expect it to follow some of the expected formulaic archetypes of the story. They hinted at some twists and turns to the story, and I’m curious about how those may pan out, but overall, the lore is nothing more than a backdrop for me to play in at this point.

August needs to conclude

It’s only the beginning of the month, and already, I want it to be over. Between all the changes coming with 1.3.6 and all the other things being discussed, I’ve got a head full of changes and not a lot of pay-off as of yet. I’m seeing potential new things that I really like (and want to talk about, but can’t), and more importantly, I want to play those things. On top of that, we have all the teasing and the hints, and the clues, and the innuendo about a big announcement going on with Warhammer this month in Baltimore and Cologne, that I’ve reached a saturation point. I’m becoming ambivalent towards anything new. I’m staying off twitter because I’m just in overload.

I want to stay on edge, but the constant stress has made me dull. I talked about the possibility of it happening in an earlier post, and it may be that the level of interest I’ve put into the game has caused it too happen sooner than normal, or perhaps I just want it too much. I think good things are coming, and soon, (weeks) for the game, and that a firestorm will come out of there. However, right now, at this moment, my drive is tiny. The game has its two-year anniversary coming up in 6 short weeks, and I would be avoiding the truth if I didn’t say that was a critical date that will draw a lot of attention. It will be a great launching point for something to go along with whatever it is they announce this month, or it will be a date of complaint for people outside to point to as proof of failure. That second group is probably going to do so either way.

Eh, maybe I just feel like things take too long to happen in the game industry. It feels like some things are able to happen lightning fast, but others require an act of Congress to get through. I just know that where before, I was eager, and excited, I’m now somewhat indifferent. I want to be excited again, but without something concrete, I can’t bring myself to be. As much as 1.3.6 is a great update, and will do a lot for the game, it’s rehashing and refining what I have been doing for the past 23 months.

How are you feeling? Have the hints you’ve heard been teasing you for too long? Are you still kindling that fiery inferno of passion for updates and information? Has your interest waned and you just take each day as it comes?

Dark Millenium

This will be quick:

Warhammer 40k trailer.

• It actually showed a good amount of gameplay footage, so that made me very happy.
• Only saw three distinct factions (Space Marine, Chaos, Greenskins), so that made me very sad.

Fantasy-shmantasy

The future works for me.

I’ve always been an unabashed sci-fi nerd. I started off reading sci-fi in my youth, and that progressed into the fantasy genre, naturally. Not because the two actually bear a close resemblance, but because in every book store you’ve ever been to, the two are grouped together, out of some strange demarcation of nerd-dom. If you are walking through those areas of Barnes & Nobles, you must be a dorky, socially inept, 20-something virgin, amirite? Okay mini-rant at social perceptions is over. Anyway, I really enjoyed reading the Ender Series, the first Pern novel, and a slew of other great science fiction as a kid, and still to this day read some of the more “mature” authors, and this mirrors over to cinema and video games as well. To me, sci-fi has always been just a different setting to relate the story of humanity. The focus of the genre can often be on the techie stuff, and space, and all the other bells and whistles that people expect to come along as a trope, but I find it to be more frequently about the people than I do in the fantasy genre. So, imagine my joy in the last year or so of surge of non-fantasy related MMOs coming out.