Star Wars: The Old Republic - The next big MMO?

So, just wondering how many people will start playing this game as soon as it's launched? Atleast with all the attention in the internet it has gathered and with all the hype, it seems SW:TOR might be the next big MMO.

I mean the Star Wars series as a whole has a HUGE fanbase, everyone knows the basic lore (who hasn't watched the movies?) - arent these the making of a succesful game? Atleast well-targeted. And planned:

For all you that didn't know this already, SW:TOR was announced in 2008 and almost finished gameplay was released in 2009. The release was delayed though, which was a really smart move.

If you youtube search gameplay from 2009 and 2011 you'll see that the animation and overall graphics have really improved; something that sets it away from the WoW generation of MMOs. By waiting for technology to advance and fine-tuning the game, Bioware really did a great job by the looks of it. Here's a comparison video, which isn't the best quality, but it'll have to do.

But the setting is what makes it stand out from the masses. Maybe it is the time for the fantasy genre to leave its throne? We'll see what happens in December.

My launch rush MMO is still Dark Millennium, you ain't getting me Bioware...

Atleast not yet

BetaField 3

Sup, been a long time again.

As I now have some free time at my hands I decided to unload some short thoughts of the upcoming Battlefield 3 game. This is the first time I'm talking 'bout a game that's still unreleased I think. (Minecraft doesn't count 'cos that bastard will probably still be in beta in the year 2020.  >:0)

Aaaaanyway, most people of the fps tribe are probably having a group hard-on playing the BF3 beta. While it is extremely glitchy and laggy on occasion the amount of epicness seems to be added in just the right places.

Most people are likely to just talk about the beautiful graphics and such, but man... The sounds of everything happening around you, all the little details, is the one that makes me have to take the extra laundry day for my pants.

The sound of hundeds of bullets colliding on different material and whistling past you, the ground and foliage shaking explosions... Feels good to have a new headset

Because I can't think of anything other to post now

Heres something I made in the last few days in minecraft:

Yes I know the left tower is 1 block smaller than the other, its being fixed

The staircase and the interiors need a bit more work and I'm not yet sure what to put on the roof... Any ideas? :D

Was thinking of putting a TNT cannon up there but not yet sure if it will fit :)

All suggestions welcome!

I feel like its missing something

The trend in games nowadays seems to be stuffing online stores with huge amounts of downloadable content, which you usually have to pay for. But where goes the line between paying for extra content and content that you would think to get when you buy the game itself.

Usually DLC is just a crappy pack of side missions for 5€ or a load of extra multiplayer maps. But lately there's been a lot of fuss about DLC being too pricy or restricting the gaming experience for non-buyers. I can easily imagine the player base of any generic online fps game moving onto greener pastures, aka fresh new maps for the extra price.

But why not just release the content on launch? I know they develop the content while the game has already launched, but that is like showing a movie and showing the audience an additional scene afterwards... oh yeah, they actually do that.

But seriously for example take this link, it's about the upcoming game Space Marine which co-op multiplayer is being released later on cause they can't get it ready for the release date. I mean, what is the hurry here? I don't think a little delay would brake that many balls...

Though it would brake mine.

How about...

It's time to kick ass and ch---

NO.

Just NO. I aint doing this. Nope, not even touching this.

That is all.

More and less like minecraft?

While digging myself up from the pile of dying blogs, I wondered which game should I talk about this time? Scrolling down my achive of posts I read my post about sandbox games again and then looked at my pc's desktop... Terraria... perfect ground digging goodness for this blogs revival.

On release terraria was critisized by the huge amount of Minecraft fans as "just a 2D Minecraft". Is it true? In a way, yes and in a way, no. How come?

As I first started the game, all alone in the wilderness, I started exploring the retro-looking surrounding my little Gnyrll character had been thrown into. Ok... there's trees... and dirt... and stone... let me just-- wait wrong controls... Ok now I got my wooden box palace of comfort and safeness surrounding me. Oh what survival skills minecraft has taught me I thought. Well, then came night and the zombies came. Sounds familiar? Yep, it sure is minecrafty alright.

But oh it was dark... And where could I find torches? Coal! "Nope." Said my terraria playing friend on skype, of course it had to be the slimes that appear on daylight and in deep dungeons. Apparently the gel they drop is both tasty (potions) and flammable. I wonder why slimes won't explode when I shoot my flaming arrows at them. Hmm... Maybe that would cause some creeper-like problems to your creations. SSSSSSSHHHH

Eye see you

And talking about creations, the purpose of buildings you build with wood/stone/anything but dirt is making them a home. This requires it to be atleast  certain size, have background walls and furtiture. This was hard for me to do at first because if you don't look it up on the internet it can be quite annoying to find out the right measurements on a home. And no, the home isn't for you. Different shopkeepers move in when you achieve certain things like getting more max health or getting more money. You can then buy stuff you can or cannot craft yourself for money dropping from monsters, jars, chests or bosses spread around the map. This is a nice addition to the game because you have a certain purpose or goal and you have more to do than to just mine more and more blocks. And farming gold to purchase bombs etc is not necessary, as you can just go exploring to find them in chests or kill bosses.

Om Nom Nom

Bosses too are a nice thing to see in a minecrafty game like Terraria. Killing them alone is sometimes boring, but when you get friends to play with you it's fun as hell to prepare to fight against them by building a tower to shoot from or by creating sand traps. Bosses drop great loot and have different "phases" when fighting against them. For example the first boss, The Eye Of Cthulu (featured above), turns into a chomping mouth that charges at you rather than shoots little eye minions at you when you drop his health down a certain percentage. Its not just a sword you'll be hitting these bosses with by the way, you have a LOT of weapons to craft and find and different items use mana also! *Pew pew starfall*

Popping some defence in your "town" is useful also against certain events that sometimes happen either when night falls (blood moon) or the sun rises (goblin invasion). These events make enemies more stronger and grant them the magical ability to - oh shit - open doors! This would certainly be welcome in minecraft too... Atleast the creepers would enjoy it.

I won't cover up all the things to do in Terraria, cause this text would be even longer than it is right now. Theres so much to do from exploring underground jungles, crafting epic gear or climbing up to floating islands and so much more. I hope you have seen how this game is a lot different than Minecraft though the basics are the same. I'd say that if you like a more monster slaughtering or a rpg - like experience than minecraft, Terraria is for you to explore.

So Invite your friends and take the time to spend that 10$ on something more than beer! :)

Resurrection

Mhmm... Just what you have been waiting for am I right?

Hold on to yer pants lads