When Will This Month End

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I have mentioned over the years how much I despise the month of February and this year doesn’t feel much different.  Well, aside from the fact that winter seems to be leaving quite a bit early.  It’s a ho-hum month of blah, stuck at the tail end of the holiday season and before the March break.  The middle child month I suppose, certainly because the only days of note are for scams romantics or drunks.  Or maybe both, depending on how you’re feeling.  Ah well.

Three Body Problem

Continuing my Hugo journey, I picked up Three Body Problem, a sci-fi novel from a rather popular Chinese author.  Of course it’s a trilogy, it’s sci-fi.  I’ve finished the first book and moved onto the second.

I generally try to avoid translated material, as the nuances of a given language rarely ever translate properly.  I speak 2 languages fluently and understand chunks of a few others, and stuff just doesn’t move over.  You lose the flavor and nuance of that culture.  This is a clearly evident in the books.  It’s written at a high school level mastery of English, which I think is quite appropriate.  But when you compare to the vividness of English-first sci-fi, you’re left wanting more.  The story is solid, with some neat twists within.  It’s not hard to follow either.

The general premise is that scientific research is going haywire and scientists are freaking out.  There’s a hidden organization that needs to be infiltrated by a scientist and the stuff he uncovers changes the reality for all humans.  The final quarter starts to stretch the imagination, in particular in the description of sophons.  At a very basic level, the question is “what happens if we can’t move past the quantum mechanics wall”?  A story that is rooted in relativistic physics is more fiction related than science-fiction, but the ideas mesh well.

The second book deals with the aftermath of the first book’s discovery and how humanity has to deal with the idea of a no-win situation for their progeny.  If you’re read Childhood’s End by Clarke, then you have an idea where this is going.

I can’t seem to find a translated ebook version of the 3rd book yet, so we’ll see where I end up after the 2nd one.  I’m rather liking moving from recent, down to the golden age.  I have read a fair chunk of Heinlein, Clark, Asimov, Dick, Herbert, Gibson, Niven, and Bradbury.  Having that as a basis, it really makes you appreciate the foundations they’ve built for today’s authors.

XCOM2

I don’t get how GMG makes money.  I had a 25% voucher for XCOM2 on Steam through GMG.  Dan Stapleton is my go-to reviewer for strategy games and if he’s happy, then it’s a done deal.  My understanding is that it’s XCOM refined with lessons learned from both Enemy Within and the Long War mod.

Enemy Within was a great addition, since it forced you to keep moving rather than play a defensive style.  It also added a lot of customization options, which meant that I was no longer running 5 snipers.  The Long War mod…that’s just a whole other topic.  You can call it a remake of a remake I guess, since it took all the basics of the game and tweaked the balance in order to make much more strategic.  Placing the right resources at the right time, being able to recover from un-winnable decisions (like losing a country’s funding), and just extending the entire session to something epic.

Given the early reviews are extremely positive, this seems like a done deal.

One Series Down

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Book Complete

I’ve completed the Ancillary series (Justice, Sword, and Mercy).  They all clock in around 400 pages, which is a solid size for sci-fi I find.  As with most series, the first book is the best of the bunch as the stakes are the clearest.  The setting is hard to grasp in book number one, but it becomes more of a background in the 2nd and 3rd books.

While I already talked about the first one at length, I want to expand on the last two.  Justice is set on a single station, so it feels more like the DS9 series as compared to the TNG before it.  It deals with managing the station’s residents after years of neglect, and the politics therein.  It’s more of a setup for the 3rd, truth be told.

Mercy is the final book  and has a whole lot of hurry up and wait involved.  It’s neat to see some military strategy in this, since it’s completely lacking in the first two, even though the entire setting is in the military.  The dialogue is better here, where the writer seems to be more comfortable with her characters.  The arch-villain is quite pathetic however, a shadow of herself from the first book.  She gets trapped in a technicality and all the brilliance and planning she had completed for 2,000 years before this falls to pieces in mere moments.

I would have thought that the 2nd and 3rd books could have been combined to a single book.  There’s a fair amount of cuts that could have been made to increase the pace and therefore the stakes.  A trilogy in 2-parts, I guess.

I do want to say that it takes the concept of AI to a different level, where they appear to have more personality than the human characters.  An extension of Gibson and Asimov to a believable place.  Perhaps it’s my penchant for cold logic but the sheer amount of flaws found in every human as compared to the AI is quite staggering.  The altruism is clearly opposed to the selfish behaviors, which drastically eliminates any shades of grey.

Overall, I’d recommend the first novel but suggest skipping the latter two.

Shipping Complete

My woes with USPS have ended!  I received the package yesterday, without any notifications.  It say in a warehouse for over a week without any progress, then in 6 hours was at my door.  I think I’ve learned my lesson here and will instead use a company that ships internationally on a regular basis.

That said, the 30 washes I ordered all came in a small box.  They are in small plastic bottles (20ml), similar in size to what you’d get eye drops in.  The Testors washes are 15ml, and Citadel are 24ml, so I’m in a decent middle spot.  Did I mention Secret Weapon washes are $3 compared to Citadel’s $9?

Now that I have all the paints I need, I’m going to start up my Trandoshan hunter miniatures.  They have a fair amount of color to them, with a lot of texture – perfect for washes.  Once those are done, all that’s left is the heroes and Darth.  Should only be a few weeks to clear it all out.

 

How Long ’til It Ships

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Shipping Woes

Second part of the shipping rant.  As I mentioned before, I ordered some Secret Weapon washes on the 15th, late Friday.  I received a notification on the 18th that they had packaged it and the 19th that it had shipped.  I didn’t order from Amazon, so I expected a delay in getting the order all set up.  Secret Weapon is a small-ish shop and they don’t have people actively working weekends.  No biggie.

But USPS?  The first scan was at 7pm on the 19th, 12 hours after they received the package.  It then took 2 hours to move a few blocks down the road in Sacramento.  A few hours later it ended up in San Fran.  Ok, I’m thinking this is a major shipping route, no big deal, it should move again.

Nothing until the 22nd, and then it’s found its way to LA, early in the day.  Then nothing.  Apparently USPS doesn’t work weekends.

In the meantime, I ordered a microSD card on the 19th, shipped last night, and it’s going to be at my door tomorrow.  And it’s not directly from Amazon either, one of the sellers instead.

Did I mention that I paid for the Secret Weapon shipping and the SD card was free shipping?  So 2 days free shipping (once shipped) and we’re 6 days and counting for USPS.

Minor Hockey

My dad’s cousin’s kid (there’s some technical term for that, thrice-removed?) was in town for a hockey tournament.  He’s only a few years older than my own kids, just how family works when it’s on another branch, I guess.  Anyhoot, we ended up heading out to watch the game with some other members of the family.

I miss minor hockey. I coached it for a few years and it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.  It’s fun to see kids develop their skills, and have fun while doing it.  Most of them on the ice had giant smiles, which is really what it’s all about.

I spent most of my childhood in arenas.  Either I was playing, my 3 siblings were, or my dad was running the association.  Up until the age of 15, I’m sure I spent half as much time in a rink as I did in school.  I play 3 times a week now, and I think it has more to do with the feeling of belonging in a rink than I previously believed.

I don’t want to push my kids into hockey but it’s one of the few sports I have any actual interest in.  I can play most any sport, as can my wife, but when you’re given the choice, I’ll pick hockey.  We’ll see what the years bring our way.

Android Games

There are a few I’m trying out, aside from reading books that is.

Time Clickers is an incremental game, with clear plateaus for progress.  There’s no real meta to the game and I’m sitting at about 1 million cubes (~40 restarts I guess).  It also drains the battery quite fast, which is an odd one to figure out.

Star Trek Timelines is another.  The UI is neat enough, though pretty cluttered.  It’s very similar to any card/team based game, though there’s no strategy involved, just the computer throwing dice for you.  If it wasn’t Star Trek, I wouldn’t even bother, as there are plenty of games that do a better job mechanically.  It’s the art/setting that works.

Soda Dungeon is the final one.  It’s an infinite dungeon / incremental game with pixel based art.  The first run is a challenge, but after that you get some passives that make a world of difference.  There’s also dungeon loot while progressing, and some element of luck getting the appropriate gear to move forward.  I do like that it has a semi-intelligent auto-play feature. This will likely replace Time Clickers in the daily checks.

Making Tiny Things

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Decorating Tiny Things

Late last week I ended up ordering some extra items for my miniature painting hobby.  I had some old flock around but wanted to expand my base covering material.  There are remarkably few options when it comes to base building, with the Army Painter seemingly the best bet.  I was taking a look at their Battlefield line and decided to pick up some grass(flock), stone, rocks and tufts.  I received it in the mail on Tuesday (see next rant) and started applying it to the minis I had already painted.

You forget how much glue is actually required to make stuff stick.  I was a little light on my first couple passes, but learned quickly enough.  The base builds make up for a lot of the messes in painting I had with some of the earlier models.  I really need to get some pictures, at least some sort of progress update on the work.  The rocks and tufts looks really neat, and for my first time trying to get them to work, I was pleasantly surprised at the ease.  The only tough lesson learned is that the base foundation color should be earth toned rather than white, as even with ridiculous amounts of glue, you don’t get 100% coverage.

Painting Tiny Things

As much as I love the painting, I’ve come to conclude that my paint needs more options.  I tried to make my own flesh wash and it came out all wrong.  I am far from an expert but having better tools makes a world of difference, so I went on the lookout for washes.

A wash is simply thinned down paint.  I could mix my own, and I have, but the results never turned out proper.  There are quite a few options out there, though mainly Citadel, Reaper, P3 and Secret Weapon.  Those are also in the order of highest cost to lowest, with Citadel costing more than double what Secret Weapon does.  It was the main reason I stopped painting actually, Citadel prices are just ridiculous.  A Warhammer army will set you back $500 easily.

I read a bunch of reviews, videos, and what not, then ended up picking Secret Weapon washes.  The 30 paint kit.  I’m still waiting for it to show up but based on what I’ve seen, it should make my painting go twice as fast and be twice as nice.

Shipping

Canada is an interesting country.  Something like 80% of the population lives within a 2 hour drive of the border.  This drastically improves shipping lanes as it’s mostly an east-west affair.  Canada Post has dramatically improved their shipping capabilities, to a point of near absurd efficiency.  I mentioned I ordered the base building mats on Friday?  Well, that was Friday at 8pm, the shipping from the company (MeepleMart, amazeballs) went out on Sunday morning.  I had it in my mailbox on Tuesday morning.  Amazon Canada also uses Canada Post and has near identical shipping times.  Unless it’s an emergency purchase, or I’m buying food, there doesn’t seem to be a good reason to buy things in a store anymore.

And yet (you knew that was coming) the shipping from the US is near on par with ordering from China for delivery times.  I had order a laptop earlier last year, it took a whole month for it to ship from California to my door.  The washes I’ve ordered are through USPS and though I received notice from the vendor it shipped on Sunday, nothing happened until Wednesday and then nothing again for 2 days.  It can’t be like this for people who actually live in the US right?  If you live in Podunk, I get it, but not one of the largest cities in your country?  Why the heck does it take so long to ship from San Diego to any Canadian distribution center?  And then why does it sit around for days without anyone doing anything?

I guess I’m just spoiled in service quality up here in my igloo.

 

Hugo and Me

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Transport

Driving is more than the act of sitting in a vehicle, it involves actual movement.  Living in Canada in the winter, the capital no less, means that there’s not much driving to be had, so I end up taking the bus to and from work.  I don’t particularly like the bus as I can spend 20 minutes waiting for the damn thing to arrive, only to be packed like sardines, but it is a greener option and less costly overall.  When things do end up just right, I get a seat and can get some reading done.

Reading Goals

Murf had mentioned this late last year, getting some heavy reading done with a particular focus on the Hugo Awards. That works out, since I have quite a liking to the sci-fi genre.  I used to read quite heavily on my e-reader, though over time I found it less and less practical compared to having a tablet.  So I’ve loaded up some software and started at it.

I will say this about sci-fi, and fantasy even, authors have a love for trilogies.  I don’t get what people are so fascinated about the number 3, but it seems like everything is linked to something else.  The downside to this is that you have trouble moving between series and feel some sort of obligation to finish it (if possible) or end up waiting years between the books to close some cliffhangers.  Robert Jordan and GRR Martin are notorious culprits in the length of writing, though quite nicely offset by the quality.

Back on track.  I wasn’t quite sure where to start with the Hugos, either the golden age or the new age.  Then I started looking at the titles and realized that I’ve already read a fair chunk of the older stuff.  Clark, Asimov, Dick, Heinlein, Niven, Card…heck, without realizing it I’ve probably read 20 of them on the list already.  So I’m going to move from the newest to the oldest, skipping those I’ve already done.  If all works out, I should have 20 novels done by the year, though that will likely include books in the series rather than just from the list.  Some of them will be long to get through, such as Robinson’s Mars series but other’s I’ve already done, like Herbert’s Dune series.

Ancillary Justice

While I know the Three Body Problem should be first, I noticed that the Ancillary series was already there twice, so I started with the first one, Ancillary Justice.

Set in space, with a very high tech empire bent on conquest and annexation, the story deals with a ship AI who’s been stranded in a single body and is looking for revenge.  Ancillaries are corpse soldiers, captured enemies who get implants that allows for the ship AI to take possession of their body.  Not a hive mind as much as a bunch of puppets.

The book is most notable for its parallels to the Romans.  Conquest, culture assimilation, language, citizens, emperor and quite a bit more come out from the background.  There’s actually quite a bit found here that’s already been explored in the Foundation series, though this one certainly has more action within the pages.  The second piece that makes this series stand out is that the main culture is gender neutral.  I speak French, and as with most latin-based tongues, it’s heavily focused on gender.  A ball is feminine, while a book is masculine.  English really only focuses on pronouns (he/she), so there’s certainly less of a gap to be had, but it’s still hard to read through a book where the word “she” is used for both males and females.  It makes is hard to visualize the character’s attributes, but otherwise has little impact on the story.

Truly good sci-fi has technology as a setting and not so much part of the plot, which for the majority of the book is the case.  It’s the people that matter and their decisions, and they are all generally relatable.  The hardest part to get your head around is the concept of many bodies but a single mind, and the impact that has on society.  I’ve been in sci-fi for a long time, so the hive-mind mentality isn’t too far-fetched but I’m sure for a lot of folks, it’s a hurdle.  It does bring some interesting ideas to the table, certainly near the mid-point and the plot twist (well, you can see most of it coming), which I think is why it won the Hugo.  It’s not a perfect 5/7, but it’s certainly a solid read.

Now onto Ancillary Sword, then Ancillary Mercy.

The Gamer In Each of Us

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I was having a chat with my better half the other night and verbally confirmed what I had been thinking for some time.  My penchant for board games has less to do with the actual game and more to do with the social aspect.

Back in the EQ days (heck, even the BB days) I played video games for the social aspect.  Sure, there were always options to play board games, and I certainly did, but video games provided a rather easy way to play without the need to move outside my house.  I played D&D back then, but it was nearbouts an hour there and back to play with the group.  That wasn’t really an issue online.

With a wife and 2 kids, they are mine to manoeuver to play boardgames.  What kid doesn’t like snakes and ladders, or trouble?  Those are staples that will be around for another 100 years.  The challenge is getting them to play more in-depth games.  And to that end, I think I’ve found some ground rules.

Gaming Rules for Kids

The most important rule is that there are only a handful of rules and that they are presented at all times.  When kids have to refer to some manual for a rule, then they are out of the game.  Their attention span and appreciation for nuance isn’t really developed.  Having my kid stay focused on say, Decent, is a massive challenge since the player involvement is rather minor.

My kids are also primarily French and the eldest is just starting to read, so long instructions don’t work either.  An intuitive game, one that mimics what’s on the board, is what works well.  This means that dice games, counted movement games and picture games work great. Math games quite a bit less.  A game where someone rolls damage, then calculates critical change, then rolls defense, then armor and has a trigger ability, then removes health… that’s just too much.

Games also shouldn’t last more than 30 minutes.  If it’s a dice game and it lasts more than 15, there’s a problem.  My kids would much rather play 2 games of 30 minutes than 1 game of 60.

Finally, games that require some strategy/long term choices are best played in a team.  This way, the kids get to talk it out together rather than self-reason.  It’s the exposure to other thoughts here that really counts and after a while, they start thinking macro instead of micro.

Gaming for Neophytes

Let’s get this out front – everyone is a gamer.  Young, old, breathing or sleeping, people are bred to game.  From playing crib with my great grandparents to kerplunk with my little one, everyone has fun with games.

Now that said, with thousands of games available, there’s one for every itch.  Finding your personal itch is important, but finding other people who share that itch is even more important.  My wife couldn’t be bothered with MMOs but I showed her Puzzle Quest and lost her for 2 months.  Plants vs Zombies had her for even longer. She’s a fan of Pandemic and Monopoly (my family has a history with Monopoly, rage and all).  So it would seem that she has a like for strategy games, though perhaps more appropriately she likes tactical games.  She also really likes randomization, which I’ve yet to figure out why.

Playing with her has shown that while she sees the long game in a discussion, she doesn’t necessarily see the links between the short and the long.  Many board games have a ripple effect from the first dice roll, though there’s probably more than simply rely on every decision made instead.  My guess is that a CCG game like Hearthstone would work, because of the immediacy and randomness of play.  A game like Dominion, or 7 Wonders would not because of the long view required.  I’d sure like to try them out with her though, I’m all for surprises!

I know my sister likes boardgames, though the few I play with her are trivia games.  My youngest brother is more into the strategy games, more in lines with Risk or miniatures.  We 3 used to play a lot when we were younger, even playing quite a few games with my dad.  Hero’s Quest in particular was a super fun time.  But we were exposed to a lot of games, of many different types.  From those years of games, we each developed an affinity to a particular style.

And I think that’s really the conclusion here.  To get someone into gaming, any type of gaming, you just have to keep trying different types of games.  Eventually they’ll find something that clicks.

Next Up

So I have my list of games I’d like to try with the family.  I just need to find the right price point to try some of them out.  I really don’t mind paying $50-$70 for something I know I will really like and then can play for quite a few years.  Finding something dedicated for the family and youngings, that has a certain immediacy.  And spending $40 on something none of the kids like… well I might as well head to the park instead.

First Post of the Year

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Half way through Jan and not a post to be seen.  I need to get on that.

The final stretch of the holidays was a blur, followed by the stomach flu, then more work than I expected.  Being able to write has been a challenge, one I need to actively make time for.  Still, some minor updates.

Grim Dawn

I’ve played a ton of this game.  The higher difficulties are quite challenging compared to normal mode, which is nice.  My lightning shaman is fun to play, though I’m looking at building a pure tank for the next run through.  While the maps themselves are not randomized, the enemies generally are, and the loot certainly is.  I rather enjoy that depth in the game, especially the ability to re-configure your skill layout.  That’s one of my pet peeves in Path of Exile, you’re stuck with a specific item set based on your locked-in skills.  Mind you, leveling in PoE is a lot faster than in Grim Dawn, so it sort of works out.

New Tablet

My youngest daughter took a couple tries but successfully broke my table in the fall – or at least the digitizer.  I’ve been unable to repair it, so I spent some time looking for a replacement.  I don’t generally like to buy equipment unless there’s a good deal to be had, and I’m not one for a $90 tablet either.  Things worked out when I found the Nvidia Shield Table K1 for $199.  Spec-wise, it’s comparable to tablets in the $400 range, and it has an optional controller (which works great).  I ordered it shortly after the holidays and I am quite impressed with it.  The only real downside is the lack of a charger.  Since it’s a tablet, it needs a solid 2ma plug, and cell phones are not often above 1.  I have 1 charger that’s making due but the other ones are darn slow to charge it up.

Games play and look amazing.  Spending some quality time with KOTOR now.  For a game that came out in 2003, it’s aged remarkable well.  The tablet controls are more than adequate, with the exception of swoop racing.  For that, I absolutely need a controller to get ace times.  Otherwise though, superb port and worth every penny.  Now if only I could get XCOM to work on it…I’m sure there’s an APK somewhere.

Force Awakens

I was able to see this with my family at a VIP cinema.  It’s one of those that you sit in leather recliners, they serve food and beer and overall a much better experience.  I’ll be honest, I had shivers watching it.  It’s not the best movie ever made, far from it, but it hits every single note required for a solid boost of nostalgia and “newness” to make it work.  It was enough to convert my wife to Star Wars fan and my kids are certainly interested as well.

I won’t post any spoilers but it’s fair to say that’s it’s eerily similar to Ep4 in the paces.  There’s only minor merchandising in the movie (BB8 notably, and he’s a great R2 surrogate), the acting is pretty solid, and the visuals are impressive.  I look forward to the next installment.

Board Games

This is in 2 parts actually.  Over the holidays my kids got some board games and I wanted some as well.  Junior Monopoly is pretty good at teaching counting and the games are fairly quick.  Junior Catan is about trading gains today for gains tomorrow, which is interesting to see a kid figure out (even adults).  The staples of Uno, Trouble, Perfection, Kerplunk and Rebound are also additions to the pile.

For myself, I picked up an expansion to Imperial Assault, Twin Shadows.  That came with 2 heroes, 2 villains and some extra baddies (Wampas!).  There was a pretty big sale on acrylic paints at the craft shop over the holidays, so I’m making my way through all the miniatures now.  I’d say I’m about ¾ of the way through now, in terms of actual miniatures, but only half of the way through painting, as what’s left is individual models.  Painting 9 Storm Troopers is slightly more work than painting a single hero.

It’s remarkable how much skill progress I’ve had these past weeks though.  Looking at what I started doing, compared to what I’m doing now… it’s neat.  I can paint twice as fast and it looks a whole lot better.  I’ll post a picture of my Nexu (the cat from Ep2) soon to show an example.  To finish them off, I need to restock on some flock and rocks to fill out the bases.

The next post up should deal with 2016 predictions.

End of Year Gaming Review

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I’ve already done the predictions review, but this is more of an all around year review.

MMOs

I think the general consensus is that this was a ho-hum year at best, if not a negative one overall.  WoW lost over 50% of the player base, ESO and Wildstar both went free to play (or buy to play I guess), SOE turned into Daybreak and didn’t launch anything but “classic servers” of 10 year+ old games.

There are highlights I suppose.  FF14’s expansion is top-quality but also clearly shows the failings of a themepark MMO in today’s space.  (side note, I did reach max our my White Mage enough to raid but gave up at that point.)  GW2 launched its expansion, moving into the horizontal progression even further, with some appeal.  SWTOR just threw out any MMO conception at all and relaunched as KOTOR3, just in time for the new Star Wars movie.

I’ll have a predictions post in the new year but I’m not convinced that 2016 is going to be much better.

Mobile Games

If you were to look at the app store on iOS or Android, the top games today are nearly the same as they were last year, or the year before.  You think MMOs lack innovation?  How many CoC clones or Candy Crush clones can there be?

Monument Valley is the only standout I can think of.  Fallout Shelter hit a nerve in the gaming clans but that faded rather quickly.  Telltale games are good, and one of the few series where it seems a worthwhile investment.  Overall though, I think it’s fair to say the mobile scape is saturated and the bottom is being scraped.

On the flipside, everyone seems to be playing some mobile game and this has turned into a baseline of sorts.  Meaning, all games need to be bite-sized and easily consumable.  It’s great that CoC has strategy at TH8+ but the game doesn’t keep getting downloads because people want to invest 2 years to get there.

MMO-izing Games

This is certainly the new wave of games, where from mobile we have large games made up of small chunks.  While you certainly can sit down for a couple hours, instead of doing 1 thing, you’re able to do 20.  Simplified FPS and MOBAs (HotS this year) are popping up all over the place.  Fallout 4, for all it’s amazingness, is really exemplified by the small discoveries made along the way.  We’ve gone full circle back to the days of Civilization and “just one more turn”.

Sure, there are people who are willing to invest piles of time in a game to do a small thing but they are such a small (dedicated) minority that most game companies simply ignore them.  This has created a niche market (again), which allows people to try out new ideas.

Being Social Sucks

If people have learned anything, it’s that being social blows chunks.  You get the same bang for your buck by treating other players like NPCs as if you did invest any quality time with them.  Odds are, you’re never going to see them again anyways – at least in a large MMO game.  Why risk getting yelled out when you can just enjoy the ride instead?

And that’s really quite sad.  It only takes 1 asshole to ruin 50 people’s game and until devs properly figure out how to treat these folks, they are going to be forced to recycle content and launch expansions at a faster pace.  And I’m not talking about a Hello Kitty friendly environment, I’m just talking about people typing out words they wouldn’t have an issue saying  in front of real live people.

Great Games

Actually, this list is kind of crap compared to other years.  Let’s just look at some nominees:

  • Fallout 4
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Witcher 3
  • Ori and the Blind Forest
  • MSG 5
  • Mario Maker
  • Bloodborne

Since I don’t own a current gen console, I only played the top 4.  And of all of them, only Ori is a new IP – and a damn good one at that.  Everything else is either a remake or a sequel.

Steam certainly had some interesting games come out this year: Grim Dawn, Darkest Dungeon, Hard West, Satellite Reign, Undertale, Ark, and Victor Vran among others.  You’ll notice that most of those are RPGs of sorts, some with action bits, others with strategic bits.  All of them playable in small chunks.

Media & Culture

I really should take the time to mention that Joystiq went away, along with all its sister sites (WoW Insider and Massively).  While there’s certainly a market for that type of content, it’s rather clear the market was full of it and that it wasn’t viewed as being terribly “market favorable”.  It’s great that Blizzard Watch and MassivelyOP were able to crowd fund to restart.  Even better that they are still going on today.

It should be rather clear that the gaming boom is over though.  Most bloggers have seen traffic drop, and while Pewdiepie still makes money, it’s Twitch that’s running the show.  Live gaming content means that gaming as a whole has passed that “only geeks do that” to the “this is near on level with sports”.  It’s almost easier to assume someone plays games rather than doesn’t.  Who’d of thought that 10 years ago?

Overall

I think 2015 was a bridge year.  One where not a lot of big things happened but where we really started to see a shift in gaming overall.  We’re 2 years into the new console age, so devs know what they are doing.  Steam, GMG and GoG have a solid footing on games, sales and pushing products. It would seem that games are mainstream enough now that it’s less about th rare snowflake and more about finding that needle in the haystack.

 

Other folks

Here are some links to other blogs looking back at the year.  There are certainly more, but I’m bad at links.

Grim Dawn

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I’m on holiday break now.  Finally finished the shopping today, and it’s an odd one this year.  There’s no snow anywhere near here, and I think we’re about 20 years back from the last time that happened.  Heck, last year there was a solid 4 feet at this time.  Kinda strange being outside in a fall  jacket…

In the bit of gaming news, I’ve hung up my hat for Devilian.  I hit the mid 40s, and it was enough for me to see that it’s not the game for me.  After having played Path of Exile, and enjoying it, seeing a dumbed down game (farther than D3) was too much.  It’s more likely that I simply had enough of it on my tablet, as the game isn’t bad.  It’s just not good enough.

In my search for an alternative, I came across…

Grim Dawn

I think the simplest way to describe it is that it’s a more accessible version of Path of Exile.  You have a ton of liberty in character building, selecting 2 “sub classes” and inserting skill points to unlock various abilities (like Diablo 2 as well).  The art is pretty solid, based on a tweaked Titan Quest engine.  There’s a visceral aspect to it all.

Build 29 just released today, which means that it’s feature complete (it was in early access previously).  It’s also part of the Steam winter sale, so go at ‘er.

Stats mean something, and I mean all stats.   Some enemies are just simply immune to certain damage, DoTs can kill you, area effects are frequent, big enemies hit hard, there’s a whole pile of enemy types, tons of item types and qualities.   There’s even a crafting system, which is pretty neat.  One that shows that rare items, with good enough rolls, are better than uniques.

There’s a rather interesting lore behind it all, with demi gods and demons.  There are factions to be had, bounty quests to help stretch out the tail and now it has 2 rogue-like dungeons too.  Those factions, when capped, start unlocking super bosses, so there’s always something to knock out.  It feels more like D3 without training wheels, which is a great thing.  It also plays offline, for those who need it.

I really like Path of Exile.  My gripes are in the art style and difficulty to see things.  That’s part of the engine and I can’t really do much about it.  Grim Dawn’s engine is more pleasing to the eyes.

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For the price point, it’d be hard to argue a better value for money.  There’s a fair amount of content to be had here.  Enough complexity for those who want it, enough accessibility for those who just want to pick up and play.

ARPGs – My Kind of Bag

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There’s something about action RPGs that really floats my boat.  Sure, the loot piñatas are fun but I think it has more to do with the pace of gameplay.  While I certainly enjoy the more tranquil RPGs, say Pillars of Eternity or even Fallout 4 as examples, it’s the swish-swish-swish that really seems to keep me going.  Well, that combined and the slower portions of character development.  That difficulty treadmill is quite a lot of fun.

There are 4 that I’m tracking right now – Diablo 3, Marvel Heroes, Path of Exile and Devilian.   I think I’ve spoken at length about the first 3.  D3 and PoE have certainly seen the most hours from me.  Both are good games but the long-tail portion is in seasons/ladders.  Season 5 is starting on Jan 15 for D3, though the features listed don’t seem particularly interesting to me just yet.  I don’t understand the appeal of restarting an old character at level 1 in a new season… it’s the same as deleting them and starting a new one with the same name.  PoE is at the start of a talisman season, which is a neat feature.  I’m certainly enjoying that portion and looking forward to the latter parts (random maps).  While the passive tree is certainly intimidating, it’s the skill gem linking that’s the most interesting.  Being able to have 4-5 effects work together is great.  The gambling on gear sockets is less fun though.  One of the best parts is that the art on the gear in my bag is the same when I equip it.  I know it sounds stupid but it really reduces the guessing about what something will look like in a set.

Marvel Heroes has a new hero every month or thereabouts.  I’ve maxed my crafters and 5 characters, so there really isn’t much incentive to get back in it for me.  The “raid” structure doesn’t appeal to me.  I’ve put a ton of hours into it mind you, as it really is a good game.  The sheer variety of characters, loot, alternate advancements and the absolute best alt support is great.  Just doesn’t have a hook for me today.

Devilian, I think I’ve soured on it already.  I’m stuck with the same skills for another 30 levels (I think that’s about 4-5 hours) and generally the same look on the character.  I’m going to fight humans, dogs, ogres, skeletons and mages.  I’m going to run down a single corridor, then get to a big boss.  Then I’m going to gamble on cards.  I’ve played this to death on my tablet.

I’ve been keeping an eye on Grim Dawn for a while now.  To be honest, I mostly forgot about it until I read a recent article.  Made by some folks who developed Titan Quest (which was very good), it’s in Early Access right now with the final polish in the next couple months.  They need to round out the final act and then implement the end-game.  It’s more in-line with Torchlight 2 (I put a whack of hours here) in terms of design, with an off-line mode available as well.  It’s far enough now I think for me to pick up on Steam.  Well either that, or I put some coins into PoE.

I don’t exactly see myself bristling with free time, but there are certainly spots where I can scratch that itch.