Return to Dauntless

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A fair chunk of the spring was spent in Dauntless‘ Open Beta.  I opined then that the game had come a tremendously long way from close beta, and that the last “kitchen sink” patch had done a serious job on the systems within the game.  The downside with adding systems is that you have to explain them (*cough*Warframe*cough*).

In early summer Dauntless hit the Epic Game Store.  Chief benefit here is cross-play.  And after a few days of teaming for some runs, I have to say that is entirely a positive.  Anecdotally, there’s a fair share of players from PC, XBOX and PS4 playing at any given time, making hunt matching making go ultra fast.  I can recall quite a few fights in beta where you may wait 5 minutes for a solo fight… not the case here at all.  The game is based around playing with people after all.

On Sept 12, the game fully launched (1.0).  Launch brought a few more tweaks to the game.  Fist weapons were added, and the rest of the weapons were all re-balanced.  Where Hammer was king and guns were trash, the meta order seems to be fists –> guns –> dual blades –> swords –> axes –> hammers.  This is almost entirely due to behemoth attack speed; enemies here are about double the speed seen in something like Monster Hunter.  Slow weapons get the short end of the stick.  Balancing is always a tough one, but there still is a whole lot of build variety. Certainly more balanced than in the spring.

Launch also came with some essential guidepost information.  Every hunt now clearly lists what you should have in terms of offence/defence, the resistances, effects, and drop rates.  No more having to alt-tab to the wiki to remember it all.  It also brought load outs, making gear swaps a much better experience.  Rebuilding a fire-resistant set was a massive pain, but also required to hunt something like a Hellion.

Battle pass is still there (99% cosmetic, gives a single extra drop per hunt).  Still some daily hunts that cycle through.  The main quest line is now ultra obvious.  The town has a better layout.  Interface is generally cleaner.  Bounties get rid of the daily quests (e.g. kill with warpike) and allow more flexibility for the same rewards.  Long and short of it, the game feels like a final release.

I’ll admit I was really unsure if Dauntless could deliver a workable and quality game, based on what I saw last fall.  It was a cool prototype but there’s been a wide gap between that and release that mars a ton of “early access” titles.  I’m rather astounded at what’s delivered here.  Very easy to pick up and play.  The incremental grind that people are always chasing.  An active development team that is liked and respected by the community.  A F2P model that feels both fair and transparent.  I’ll be keeping this on my active play list for a long while…

8.2.5 Where All Is As It Should (Spoilers)

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The 4 cinematics (from WoWHead).  Each faction gets the first 2, then a single closing one.  About 10 minutes to get through it all…

Effectively ends the War Campaign, which was effectively the entire jumping point for this expansion.

 

So yeah.

I think the story hit all the beats that were predicted over a year ago.  This is as close to Garrosh 2.0 as you can get.  Sure, there’s a general disappointment that this story was already told, but all stories have been told by this point.  There are a thousand books that detail the Chosen One as a hook and their journey… how many of them actually were good?

In that respect, if the overall goal was to eliminate the faction divide through a common internal enemy, that goal is likely achieved.  As to why that was a goal in the first place, given the end state of Legion is a debatable point.  It seems more like the plot moved the characters, and that generally aligns with some poor storytelling at the major arc level.  So let’s hit a few of the arcs.

  • Saurfang was an old vet, tired of war.  He came to the conclusion that Honor was more than the Horde deserved, and took his own path.  He acted strategically to call out Sylvanas, knowing he would die, but also do something to break her spell on the Horde.  His death however, leaves a massive hole in the Horde with only Thrall around to fill it.  A strong arc of atonement.
  • Zekhan (zappy-boi) is the innocent’s perspective in this (like C3P0 in Star Wars).  He’s an agent of exposition, blindly following orders until he realizes there’s more.  He’s the trigger for Saurfang’s arc, and comes back into the scenes when a decision needs to be made.  He is sadly a plot device.
  • Anduin.  There is no arc here.  Anduin at the end of Legion is the same as Andiun and the end of the War Campaign.  He is a plot device for Saurfang’s redemption.
  • Tyrande.  Somehow made into a god, but apparently an exceedingly weak one.  Considering her entire arc is revenge, that she isn’t in line with this makes so very little sense.  She’s a loose thread.
  • Jaina.  A redemption arc, where internal guilt on previous decisions puts her on a path of punishment.  Her struggles are external compared to Saurfang, and she therefore pushes many of the Alliance plot points forward.  Nearly goes off the deep end, but is pulled back.  Strong arc.
  • Sylvanas.  A brooding female lich king in many respects, where others fear her more than respect her.  She wants to control death (came close!), and seems to be playing 7 dimensional chess.  Until she somehow tells the Horde that they are nothing, with the most minor of provocation.  That’s the trigger point for the Horde to abandon her?  Sylvanas was always an ends-justify-the-means character, but when you can’t see the ends, let alone the means, how do people follow along?
  • Nathanos.  I’m calling it.  He’s been replaced by something similar to an old-god and is whispering in Sylvanas’ ear for years.  There’s no other way to explain his ability to survive through all this without a scratch.  If he isn’t a super being, then he is the most overused plot device after Green Jesus in Cataclysm.

 

From the burning of Teldrassil, the mood has been negative.  Blizz has tried to spin this as a “lot of grey”, but it’s been pretty clear there was no grey here.  Sylvanas’ has had zero areas of redemption/questioning.  She’s been a hammer throughout, and that makes everything she touches turn into a nail.  If this is the end of the War Campaign, then I’m glad that both Saurfang and Jaina were able to be further developed.  Killing Saurfang without establishing a logical second Horde leader doesn’t give much wiggle room for the writing team.

At this point it’s crystal clear we’re going into an Old God expansion.  External enemies are Blizz’s strength, let’s hope there’s a rebound.

I do want to finish on some positive vibes. The cinematics, art, music, and world building team have raised the bar so very high that it’s worth some recognition.  It really does feel like another level, and an ultra-redeeming part of BfA.  The world is beautiful, haunting, and worth exploring at nearly every turn.  The multiple cinematics have amazing production values, and do an excellent job of presenting the general pathos of this expansion.

A Little Bit OCD

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My brain works with structure.  I put things into imaginary spreadsheets, liking big ideas in chunks, and allows me to reference a whole bunch of stuff really quickly.  It allows me to absorb a new situation, reference previous occasions for options, evaluate those options, and take action without a whole lot of panic.

Well, more like a duck on the water – peaceful on the surface but paddling like crazy underwater.

With that, there’s an upper limit on the amount of new data I can absorb in any given time.  That number changes based on fatigue, hunger, and mood.  Right now, I’m running at about 120% intake.  It’s making me lose focus in other areas to make up for the backlog.  A week or so ago I was running a squat routine, clearly lost focus in the middle of a rep, then felt a tweak.  A wake up call I guess.

And sleep is harder to come by too.  My brain is digesting all my normal things (wife, kids, job, hobbies) and now has to deal with

  • wife & kids return to school
  • new kids activities and scheduling
  • new job starting in a week
  • job opportunity for an interesting position, outside comfort zone
  • coaching duties for kids hockey (start of year is crazy)
  • friends in social circle going through really rough spots
  • my comp hockey team needing WAY TOO MANY SPARES

The act of digesting all this new intake means a lot of brainpower and not enough hours in the day.  So I’m now thinking about this stuff when I would normally be resting.  Falling asleep is taking longer.  I am dreaming about these things.  I am putting them in their boxes, and building plans to – for lack of a better term – mentally survive.

The good news here is that nearly all of this is good problems to have, and they are extremely rewarding.  I also know that quite a few of these items will get dramatically better in the next 2-3 weeks.  Having managed way more chaos for longer periods of time, I know that this is just a speed bump.

For now, I am hyper-focused and obsessed with this new data set.  Just need to ensure that the essentials that make my family health & happy are not neglected.  Writing about it, that’s a big part of it.  Best cure for everything is sunlight.

Classic Spike

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I have zero interest in playing WoW Classic.  I already did that 15 years ago.  I am however interested in the nostalgia meta.  WoW is a very interesting subject given that numbers around the game have been around for so long.

Without question the launch was very popular.  Peaked at 1.1m on Twitch where the normal average is ~80k.  I’ve followed a fair chunk of news/blogs on it, all quite interesting.

Apparently Ragnaros & Onyxia are dead.  Not sure why people would rush through Classic.  Seems to defeat the point and all the selling points of “a real world”.   On the meta level, it’s interesting that the most basic dungeon in retail has more mechanics than both of these classic raids combined (also, apparently people really like farming Silithus for Hydraxian faction).

Sure, people are talking about all sorts of learning curves.  Things that people thought would work (e.g. summon stones) but didn’t get set up.  Hit chance.  It’s interesting to see that relearning curve…it’s not like people’s memories are based on patch levels after all.  Things that came in with TBC and WotLK are all blended into the pre-Cata window.  Sort of like me thinking of older Easy Bake ovens.  They were hotter than my oven, and meant for kids.  Completely different than my memories.

A more recent trend is engagement.  I’ve written at length about the impacts to retail, but here in Classic we’re a week away from the 1 month line.  My gut was telling me that it would drop by 50% in 30 days, and then down by 80% by month 2.  Not necessarily a criticism of the game, but just that in 2019 gamer’s attention and willingness for time sinks isn’t exactly massive anymore.  Twitch numbers are down by ~80% from peak but triple their average.  It’s not the best tool for measuring popularity, but it is a trending tool all the same.  The news to read from this is that the MMO-tourist still exists.

I am reading across the blogging/forum world that there’s a general drop in players.  Again, expected.  Where the floor of players ends up is the real question.  And how many people who had dropped BfA, came back for Classic and are giving BfA a new try.  The new Blizz doesn’t do anything without financial incentive, so the number crunchers over there must be doing crazy OT to see how this plays out.  I’d be somewhat surprised if the overall retention numbers increase as both BfA is much better now than even 6 months ago, and the shock of Classic/Retail will surely keep some people subbed.

Dark Crystal – Age of Resistance

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There’s a special place in my mind for Jim Henson.  Both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth came out when I was a child, and their mix of horror, fantasy, and comedy was just right.  Labyrinth is the story of character growth (and where I developed a crush on Jennifer Connelly), and the ending itself is finite.  Plus there’s no way to replace the Goblin King!

Dark Crystal though.  That the story about an entire world, and childlike discovery.  The Jim Henson Company had a contest for pre-quel books (in 2013) and eventually scored a deal with Netflix for a series.  It’s entirely puppets, with a few CG elements to blend.  It is rare that I watch something that’s related to my youth and I get quality flashbacks, or similar feels.  Age of Resistance had entire sections where you completely forget you’re watching puppets – and you’re just engrossed.

UNIT_029.tif

Each of these is a life-sized puppet, with a person below the robes.

The series can certainly be enjoyed if you never watched the classic.  The lore setting is explained through various means – including a very important scene in episode 7.  It also doesn’t take long to get going on the main plot point… with only a few spots where the pacing feels a bit off.  I’m not sure how much influence Netflix had on the storyline, but the habit of “multiple character points, converging at the end” is certainly present.  Compared to the recent season of Stranger Things, Dark Crystal has some merit in every separate storyline.  And when it reaches the final episode, it ends on a note that allows both a second season and a fairly consistent line to the original film.

What really sets this apart though is the puppeteers.  In every other form of visual media, the actors with the voice provide the non-verbal structure.  Animations are filmed after voice recordings after all. Here though, the scenes are first filmed and then dubbed over.  The nuances in movement…small shakes, twitches, even the larger gestures all feel real.  Like you could reach through the TV and touch them.  We haven’t had that type of fantasy in over 30 years.

The set design, the puppets, the music – all of it falls into the classic style, with Brian Froud around for a lot of the art direction.  It feels almost like lost footage.  Highly recommended.

Finding Joy

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I’m in a weird mental state lately.  My winter hockey has restarted (and I’m short a couple guys).  Both kids have started too, I’m coaching one of them, and I’m the association’s webmaster.  A vendor at work is nearly 4 months late on a critical delivery.  There’s a rather significant re-org underway too, with some new opportunities presenting themselves.  There’s something wonky with my back/shoulder, making it hard to get a good workout.  Our social circles seem to be going through midlife crises.

A lot of spinning plates that are taking up both physical and mental real estate.  Feels like I could use a couple more hours a day.  Blogging as a whole has taken the side.  I am feeling the need to focus on the things that bring me joy/energy, and let the rest of the stuff just wash over.

Hockey

The older I get, the more I realize that playing hockey brings me a ton of joy, as long as the rest of the team is all on the same page.  If I’m playing rec, then it’s a rec attitude.  Comp is the same.  When those two worlds mix… things get less fun.  But there’s always a good beer after the game.

Coaching, that brings something else altogether.  There is something to be said about seeing 15 kids grow before your eyes, and being part of their enjoyment of the sport.  I’ll need to write another post about my process for coaching, but it would appear that it’s popular as a few kids this year put in requests to transfer to my team.

Working Out

We all need to move, or things just stop working.  I’ve been doing strength training for a few years now and it’s made a world of difference in nearly every aspect of my life.  It requires planning (since time is limited), focus (to not get injured), tracking (to see progress), consciousness (smarter eating choices), and provides a solid example to my family.  I can tell you that when you have 225lbs on your shoulders and you’re at the bottom of a squat, if you’re not focused then you’re going to have a bad time.  It’s a different form of meditation I guess, and the endorphin rush you get is a great high.  Plus, when you hit the pillow, you sleep like a rock.  Completing a workout, setting a new lift record, seeing changes in the mirror… all great feelings that push out the rest.

Baking

This is a family root type of thing.  Baking requires planning, patience, and confidence.  I had a pile of recipes from older relatives that just say “a fist of flour”.  Decoding all that is half the battle.  Yet when I am able to replicate a recipe my grandmother made me when I was a child… that hits every single right spot.  It’s a great way to spend time with the kids too, and teaches them a pile of lessons with a great result at the end.  We end up making ~500 cookies as Christmas gifts every year, as well as the boys getting together to make ~50 tourtieres in the fall.  You can’t rush baking…

Active Listening

You can be a wallflower and just listen, or you can be a jabberbox who’s just waiting for their turn to interject and one-up the conversation.  I dislike both, and prefer to have a conversation where the other person(s) get to share, I take it in, and I get to share as well.  That means paying attention, asking clarifying questions, debating ideas.  I enjoy this with my kids… it has them spend more time thinking about what they are going to say.  More enjoyable even with my wife, who brings an entirely different perspective on nearly all topics.  Hockey boys are similar with all types of views.  Does a decent job of avoiding the echo-box that social media builds around us.

Breathing

This sounds corny, but just taking a breath when things go a bit sideways is a great tool.  It’s common enough that my team at work recognizes it as a sign.  I dislike reacting, because it often lacks forethought.  There’s a way to say something is dumb without saying it’s dumb.  Getting that piece of news, taking a breath, allowing digestion of it and looking at potential options… that allows me to focus on the bigger picture.  Example: a team member inadvertently disabled 8,000 clients, and caused a 8 hour outage.  It was entirely accidental, happened while fixing another problem that wasn’t ours and running on little rest, and mistakes happen.  I mean, they know they did something wrong and me reacting negatively is just going to make it worse.  Breathing, focusing on getting them involved in the fix, and away from the mistake… that’s the only way to grow.  Seeing them come out stronger.  One breath makes all the difference.

Next Little Bit

The next few weeks are going to be a bit in the same rough spot, but it should even out at the start of October.  One breath at a time, one day at a time.  Things are good.

 

 

AC Complete?

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I finished the last (first) DLC the other day.  That felt like a more traditional DLC or “more of the same”.  One of those cases where the plot moves the characters rather than the other way.  The naval portions were more meh.  I can see why people were not really enthused by it on release.  Fate of Atlantis is like a triple decker sundae compared to ultra vanilla.

I would be hard pressed to call the game complete though.  I still have a dozen (?) side quests to run through.  A fair chunk of land to fully explore (15%?  something like that).  More levels to gain – I’m 79 of 99.  Some more builds to test out – I’m 5% away from a 100% crit build.  Then there’s the super side quests (blue ones) that need to be run through.  Fair guess is there’s at least another 10 hours of content to go.  And that’s not counting the weekly quests that take about an hour to complete.

I can easily see how people would have spent over 100 hours here, which frankly is bonkers in 2019.

Overall thoughts:

  • Main storyline is ok.  Kassandra (female) seems like the logical default choice.
  • Combat is much improved on Origins.  The various skills allow for a lot of horizontal growth.
  • Engravings are neat, but end up game breaking at top levels
  • Enemy variety is what you expect from AC. A fort is a fort is a fort.
  • Boss encounter can be fun and hectic.  The dodge mechanic makes some of them trivial.
  • Naval warfare still isn’t at the AC4 level – but considering the setting it’s still decent.
  • The seemingly infinite ability to climb anywhere doesn’t get old.  Old Greece is surprisingly vertical.
  • Customization of armor pieces is neato!
  • The world is crazy massive.  (the game engineers who allow this size and not have my PC melt deserve a bravo.)
  • Fate of Atlantis is worth the price of admission alone.
  • It’s very pick up and play.  Most missions are 10 minutes or less.  But you’re always getting that just one more thing feeling.
  • The MTX store is never in your face… I barely noticed it at all.  Not sure how revenue positive it was, but I greatly appreciate it.
  • Nearly every single system was dramatically improved and expanded upon from Origins
  • The next game (Vikings I hear) has some massive expectations to meet.

 

There are better games out there.  But I struggle to think of any game that costs this much and gives this much quality in return.

AC:Odyssey – Fate of Atlantis

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School started, life’s getting back into some routine.  Hockey for the kids starts this weekend, scouts in a bit.  Rather be busy that not.  Makes it a bit hard to write though.

I’m farther along in AC: Odyssey – much farther.  The main line game “stops” at level 50, but the actual cap keeps on going til 99.  The 1-30ish portion is just chocked full of content.  A stupid amount truthfully.  The road to 50 past there is still dense compared to nearly every other game, but it’s also clearly more focused on the main quest that pure exploration.

I completed the main quest, took out all the cultists, and have completed something like 50% of the map.  It is hard to explain how much stuff there is here.  I killed a Minotaur, solved a Sphynx, killed Medusa, did Hercules journey, fought a dozen conquest battles, cleared hundred of forts, took out dozen of leaders, killed at least 100 bounty hunters, dove for sunken treasure, found hidden tombs, found engravings, customized weapons, solved murders, caused them too.  It’s like everywhere you turn, there’s something to do.

There are 2 DLC that follow the main quest.  First is about following the footsteps of assassins from Persia.  I’m only a small bit into there since it takes place in the main map.  The other one is the Fate of Atlantis, which I recently completed.

It smartly removes the systems that didn’t work all that well (ship combat, conquest battles, bounty hunters) and instead focuses on story and exploration.  There are still some fights, and enemies are more complex and deadly.   But that’s more the exception.  You go through 3 (large!) maps, solve a bunch of quests, and get a good look at the Isu civilization that underpins the entire AC series.  Quest choices have consequences.  It’s a great capstone and probably worth the purchase of the game all on itself.  Honestly, the last DLC to even come close to the sheer amount of content is XCOM2 – War of the Chosen.

The downside here is that as you get more levels and more ways to upgrade items, you start becoming a walking god.  Where in the main game I would have to sneak around, I have enough engravings and boosts to items to be running with 100% crit chance, +150% damage, 35% faster cooldowns and a single attack (Hero Strike) that takes down every enemy in 1 hit.  Bosses may take 4-5.  Even Rush Assassinate can chain kill 4 enemies.  Entire bases are cleared out by just walking through rather than taking out strategic targets.  Sure, it makes sense to become all powerful, but it takes a lot away from the mechanics (probably why the Fate of Atlantis is so focused on not having combat).

Still have to take out the first DLC to consider the game “complete”.   Still stand by my initial reaction that this game offers more content than pretty much anything else out there.  I’m a little sad that I waited this long to pick it up.

 

Weekend Ramblings

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Warning – RANDOM.

Went to a pool party for a few friends that were hitting 40 this weekend.  I think it’s the 6th such party I’ve had this year, each one with a completely different vibe.  Mine was axe throwing & a pub.  This particular group’s history with pool parties dealt a lot with actually being in the pool.  That was not the case here, and it was extremely mellow.  There were tacos from a local truck.  Mellow people tend to have odd conversations.  Refreshing since it’s not at all small talk, but still out of left field.  The really neat bit was that there were people taking differing views on all the topics – far from an echo chamber.

Weather

I live in the national capital (Ottawa) and we get some wild weather swings in a year.  We’ve had:

  • Coldest = -33C (including wind) (-27F)
  • Warmest = 43C (including humidity) (109F)
  • Most snow = 25cm (101.8cm in Jan)
  • Most rain = 35mm (300mm over Apr/May/June)

It was a 76C swing between hot and cold, and there are few places on the planet that have those swings.  It was also the year with some recordbreaking snowfall, and a repeat 50-year flood from 2 years ago.  Oh, and a couple tornadoes to boot.  We shouldn’t be breaking records every other week.  This isn’t the Olympics.

US Electoral System

What pool party doesn’t talk about this???  I’ll withhold comment on the current administration, there’s more than enough people to pipe in on that.  What I will talk about is the insane electoral system.  No rational person can think that this is a reasonable system, right?

  • 1980 election – Reagan wins with 50.7% of the vote but 91% of the colleges.
  • 1984 – Mondale wins 40% of the popular vote and gets 2.4% of the colleges.
  • 1992 – Perrot wins 20% of the popular vote, 0% of the colleges
  • 1996 – This was a really close race, and the person with more votes lost. 537 votes in Florida (0.009%)
  • 2012 – This was also a close race, though not as close as ’96.  Nearly 3m total votes more (2%), yet lost the colleges by 77 (14%).

It’s utterly fascinating to see that machine at work, and the absolute insane amount of gerrymandering at play.  This was a problem in Canada a long time ago, but there’s an independent group that draws elections lines based on population totals – politicians have no say in it, except at municipal levels.

It’s one of those odd things were there’s a special list of countries that endorse gerrymandering.  I wouldn’t think any of those countries are on a top 10 destination list, if you catch.

Elon Musk is Lex Luthor

So deep thoughts on this one.  Elon is clearly at the genius level intellect.  You don’t manage to do what he’s done if that’s not the case.  Plus, you don’t build a working flamethrower and sell it.

He really does have all the comic book signs of a super villain.  Rough upbringing.  Makes wave as a teenager.  Successfully builds and runs multiple multi-million/billion dollar industries, in different genres (IT, auto, power, engineering, heavy machine, rocket propulsion, AI).  And it’s not like he’s Warren Buffet-owns-tons-of-stock leadership here.  He’s the face of all those companies.

His stated goals match the Foundation series, where all his actions are meant to improve/prolong humanity’s chance at survival, and reduce the change/duration of a dark age.  That he has the actual power to accomplish these goals…

So if you look at the current Lex Luthor, there’s a lot of maniacal drive move forward.  A lot of ends justify the means, where only he can do it and no one else.  There is an ultra fine line, and the absolute best comic book villains thread it (Victor Von Doom).

And More!

There were plenty more conversations that had nothing to do with each other, but none were really debated/discussed as much as the above.  There’s a part of me that’s both confused and impressed at the types of conversations that exist when you’re not throwing an axe at a piece of wood.  I really should go to more pool parties.

Final Fantasy Series

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There are lines here to read.

The first FF game launched in 1987.  FF15 in 2016, and FF14’s recent MMO expansion a few weeks ago.  We’re over 20 years in this series, with expansions/DLC/offshoots a plenty.  It’s one of the few Eastern RPGs to actually sell in the West.

Each game in the series has similar foundational elements, builds on previous systems, and takes some new twists.  Whether it’s adding classes, improving skills through use/osmosis, random battles, auto-battles, or a dozen other systems that either worked, or tanked.  Everyone has a favorite in the series (mine is FFX).  The series fans will generally try the next “main line” iteration, meaning sales are somewhat baselined.

Where this model and the MMO model differ, is that players cannot play their favorite versions, they have to play the most recent one (or play a pirate version of the old one.)  What keeps them similar is that everyone has a “perfect” version of the game, a time-boxed version where they as players, and the game meshed.

I loved Rift at launch, it was a great time in my life to play an MMO of that genre, and it hit all the right notes.  Summer vacation hit, and when I came back there were some big changes in the game that made it less attractive.  I tried the nostalgia server for a bit, and it certainly felt familiar.  As a player though, I had changed and the model just didn’t hit the same notes.

I’ve probably “finished” FFX a good 6 times now.  It’s an 18 year old game.  The first complete playthrough was something like 60 hours, and I did that as a dedicated game.  I gave it another go last fall, and got to the monster hunting phase with a couple celestial weapons.  I played it off/on for a few months, as a side project.   After a few days of not playing, I figured I’d just get it over with and take out the last boss (which is like 1 shot when you’re looking to max characters).  Didn’t take down a single Dark Aeon.  It was still good, but there were other interesting things taking my time.  I didn’t need it, but I certainly appreciated it.

Other games in the series are OK after FFX.  FF11 asked for way too much time from me.  FF12 was really impressive mechanically, but I felt it was really bloated in the middle.  FF13 looked great, and had some strong strategic options near the end… but it also had a 20 hour tutorial.  FF14 is solid, though I’m an expansion behind.  FF15 simply never clicked with me.

I’m aware that this is my perception and that other folks are fascinated by nostalgia.  I mean, war re-enactments are different level, but there’s plenty of people fascinated with 50s fashion.  Certainly enough for niche markets to develop.  And we’re in the age of remakes for movies.  I mean, I get why industry is doing this.  Past money often means future money.  Why risk a new IP that will tank, when you have an existing client base?  I can count at least 12 releases of FF6.  Chrono Trigger can probably be played on a fridge now.

Yet… selling a box and supporting a box are two different things.  Opportunity costs abound. RIFT Prime is gone.  EQ’s progression server management has generated at least 100 posts from Wilhelm alone.  UO tried and it didn’t fly (though emulation servers abound, with wildly different rulesets).  Even WoW’s classic version is full of debate of what “true” vanilla is, and there’s certainly a lot of questions on both sides about what happens once Naxx is released.

Seems like everyone’s past is for sale.