[WoW] WoD LFR changes, it's Montague and Capulet all over again

This past week WatcherDev has released three blog posts explaining the history and forward vision of raiding. In the third entry he threw a bloody morsel into the pool of piranhas they call a playerbase. While we’ve known about the changes to raid structure for a while, this was the first confirmation of lockouts and rewards. Needless to say, feathers were ruffled, jimmies were rustled, and the WoW-ternet exploded.

The main point of disagreement as I saw it was the change to LFR rewards. As it stands, in Warlords of Draenor, the LFR raids will drop their own set of loot separate from the regular raids. In other words LFR will not drop the raid trinkets, rare pets, or class sets. Unsurprisingly, players for whom LFR is the primary form of endgame gear acquisition were not pleased. On the other side of the debate, players who felt forced to run LFR to complete set bonuses or get specific trinkets were overjoyed.

Both took to the interwebs to tell the other side about why they were having fun wrong, harsh words ensued. Each forgot that it’s actually possible for both sides to be “right” and both to have legitimate concerns because in the end we’re talking about subjective enjoyment of a game.

[LoL] Some proposed tweaks to ARAM

Due to my dislike of the meta-game and communities in MOBAs I ended up stepping away from League of Legends for a long time. It took the introduction of ARAM (All-Random All middle) mode for me to enjoy them again. Randomized characters destroy the idea of a meta, and it brings the game back to focusing on having a character and fighting enemies rather than placing the importance on arcane jungling routes, last-hit numbers, and team composition.* It is by far my favorite mode because its very design helps reduce much of the stress of being in a typical MOBA game; players can't expect you to know every champion when you had no control over who you got and with the amount of chaos going on things like creep-score have diminished importance.

But for all its perks ARAM still has some points I find unduly frustrating that could deal with a little tweaking.

[WoW] If you haven't finished Heroic SoO, you aren't allowed to be bored

With roughly 4-6 months before WoD, players are starting to get burnt out on SoO content. As Rohan points out, the delay before WoD is one of the longest content gaps WoW has ever experienced. Plenty of players are claiming that they have nothing left to do but stand on the Timeless Isle waiting for Huolon (or whichever rare you’re farming) to spawn.

The Farewell Tour - Bioshock: Burial at Sea

Irrational Games has closed its doors. With Ken Levine off on a wild adventure in start-up land it is unclear whether that mind will ever spawn another Bioshock. So will this last piece of DLC rise to the surface, or will it be spending its days sunken in Rapture?*

[TW: Torture description, Rape mentioned]

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Sadly I cannot adequately discuss the game without spoiling some important plot points, so consider yourself warned.

[MOBAs] AD-Carrying your Weight

The jury is still out on whether I will give Heroes of the Storm a try, but something I keep seeing pop up in reviews and discussions about the game is that because of the experience catch-up mechanism that helps the losing team stay competitive and a general lack of snowballing that it makes a player more reliant on their team and prevents a good player from carrying a bad one.

[D3] Diablo 3: A Game Reborn?

Did you ever have something you were really looking forward to but when you finally got it the thing was nowhere near what you expected; in fact, you got something substantially worse? A birthday where you looked forward to a shiny new gaming console but ended up with a block of wood? A promotion that turned out to be a move from the corner office to the basement? Whatever your experience that's a bit like how I felt about Diablo 3. Now, in all fairness it was not "trash" but at release it was not a very good game. Comparing it to its contemporaries it didn't do anything exciting and was somewhat unremarkable aside from the "Blizzard Entertainment" sticker. The franchise that had brought the ARPG genre into the sun had seemingly phoned-in its third installment.

[ESO] Steak-Flavored Tofu

Edit: I have kept details vague due to the NDA; and plan to elaborate when it comes down.

So the almost comically restrictive ESO NDA was partially lifted for specific media outlets enough that between them, previous articles, and rumors from people who give zero fucks about the NDA they clicked "I agree to abide by..." we the anticipating public now have enough information to form some opinions on the game.*

[ESO] Curbed Enthusiasm

Frustrated as I was with the announcement of ESO's preorder and CE bonuses, I felt it would be unfair to the game and my journalistic integrity* to discount the game purely because of one hitch. After all, I played and loved Skyrim despite numerous critical bugs (Left Eye of the F**KING Falmer) and balance issues. So I did some more research into ESO and sadly all it did was make me less inclined to play. It's disappointing to me that every upcoming game sounds fabulous until I dig a little deeper and the flaws start to become apparent. But if I am going to be so fervently against supporting ESO, I feel it only fair to explain why.