Blizzard became the target of its own flame war after deeming that its forums would soon require the use of real life names. The Battle.net community backlash forced Blizzard to backpedal, removing the Real ID requirement in forums for World of Warcraft and Starcraft II.
They had to back off, and it's not a huge surprise. Not every user of anonymity is a troll, and some people just feel safer being anonymous. The same dynamic works all over, from political commentary to games. PC World had a good suggestion though - like Amazon, offer some sort of reward system for people willing to use their real names. In fact, it's worth reading the entire post.
I finished Alan Wake this evening - it's an interesting game. It's linear, but it held my interest more than shooters like "Modern Warfare" - it's more of a story with a game attached. The game elements themselves are challenging - the end battle, for instance, took me a few tries to get right. Let me just say this, to avoid too many spoilers: it's hard to beat a supernatural weather event with a flare gun and a flashlight :)
I only got 30 of the 50 achievement points - I'm not sure I'd try it on "Nightmare", but it might be worth running through again in search of the rest of the manuscript. Reading those pages to get a taste of what was coming next was one of the best parts of the game. If you like horror, I think you'll like this gane.
My daughter got me Alan Wake
for Father's Day - I started playing it late last night. It's an interesting game - a lot like an episodic TV series with a game component added on. The only complaint I have so far is the controller actions - what on earth were they thinking when they made the "B" button the action one? That's contrary to every other game I've played :)
I have to admit, it does a good job of setting the atmospherics though. It sort of freaked my daughter and I out when a light blew out in the room while we were playing :) If you don't get that - light (or its absence) plays a big role in the game. Your flashlight seems to be the best weapon (at least so far; I'm not very far in).
I finished a second run through of Mass Effect 2 last night; now I'm looking for a new plot driven game to get. Any suggestions? Alan Wake looks interesting, but I'd love to hear from anyone who's actually played it.
There were parts of Mass Effect 2 I didn't really enjoy - the planet scanning being the main thing. It also took me a mission or two to get beyond how the controls had changed since Mass Effect - but the story was really immersive, and the choices you make during the game impact what kinds of options are open to you later - for instance, if you don't get the loyalty of a character, then the upgrades they have on offer for the ship/weapons/armore just aren't available, period.
In my first game, I got everyone's loyalty except Jack - during the confrontation between her and Miranda, I made the mistake of siding with Miranda. Since I had everyone else locked in, that didn't end up matter much - I still finished without losing anyone.
The end game sets up ME 3 though, and it looks like that's going to be a hell of a tough one. Overall, I think BioWare really has the plot driven RPG thing down. Between the Mass Effect franchise and DAO, they'll keep me happily killing bad guys for a long time. Not only that - I find these games so much more interesting than TV, too. While I love a good story, I like an immersive one I can drive even better.
I've been playing Mass Effect 2
for a few days now - it took me a bit to get used to the changed interface from Mass Effect. The game is much bigger than the initial game, and mostly better. I really only have a few complaints:
The new planet scanning thing. Adds nothing to the game, it takes a fair amount of time, and you can't really avoid it. That should be streamlined
The whole running out of fuel thing is realism at the expense of game play. Chuck it; It's like narrating a sound sleep in a book.
That makes me sound more down on the game than I am. It's very immersive - much more so than the first game. That's part of why the annoying aspects are so annoying - they take time away from an otherwise enjoyable game. I hope BioWare cleans those two things up for the third iteration.
One thing I've noticed about the newer plot driven video games - you really need to run through them at least twice. Two cases in point - Fallout 3
and Dragon Age: Origins
. I played both games extensively after I first got them, but I missed tons of stuff - not just side quests, but lots of things that could help with the main plot (in fact, I never did finish the first character I created in DAO). With Fallout, I finished the main plot, but left the rest of the world largely unexplored.
On the subsequent plays, I took a lot more time - heck, I maxed my character to level 30 (I have the Game of the Year edition) in Fallout before I even started the main plot. By that time, I had enough custom weapons that I was taking Raider attacks as boring events that my dog could mostly handle on his own :)
This is quite different from most movies (at least for me). There are some movies I like watching again - LOTR comes to mind. For the most part though, it's one and done. First person shooters are mostly like that for me. The plots are linear, and you just run down the track. What I really like are the larger games. I'm running through Mass Effect
now, and will play ME 2 once I finish that.
On a humorous side note, I'm getting a lot more play time since I got a toe injury that makes jogging painful. I'm behind on my podcast listening, but the funny thing is, I get a lot more exercise. An hour passes very easily on the exercise bike while I'm playing a game :)
I downloaded the latest DLC for DAO
this morning, and then took a crack at it while I exercised. It's short; I finished it during my stint on the exercise bike.
It's the final battle for Denerim, but with two changes:
You play a Darkspawn Vanguard - the archdemon sends you messages for your goals, and you take other darkspawn as thralls (killing them to replace as needed)
It's an alternate reality where "your" gray warden never existed.
It's fun, but it's short. I haven't tried another Origins or Awakening run to see the new weapon that gets unlocked yet, but I'll plow into that after I finish Fallout 3
:)
last night; now I'm looking for a new plot driven game to get. Any suggestions? Alan Wake looks interesting, but I'd love to hear from anyone who's actually played it.
- but the story was really immersive, and the choices you make during the game impact what kinds of options are open to you later - for instance, if you don't get the loyalty of a character, then the upgrades they have on offer for the ship/weapons/armore just aren't available, period.
and 
. I played both games extensively after I first got them, but I missed tons of stuff - not just side quests, but lots of things that could help with the main plot (in fact, I never did finish the first character I created in DAO). With Fallout, I finished the main plot, but left the rest of the world largely unexplored.
this morning, and then took a crack at it while I exercised. It's short; I finished it during my stint on the exercise bike.
