Just an update - 12/26/2012

Happy Holidays, people! I made another blog post!~

Well there been too much going on with me, but I finally got back to doing MMO news recaps for OnRPG! This week, I got to talk about The Secret World going B2P, Tera's 2013 letter, the new smite god reveal Xbalanque, Jade Dynasty's expansion launch, and Defiance accepting beta invites. 

Also near the end of the video, I host a little get together for TERA players on CH to come along and have a little holiday fun.

Just an update - 12/12/2012

It's been way too long since my last post on this here blog. My Fall semester is just about other, so I'll have some free time to do what I want this winter break, which is mindlessly playing and writing about video games, of course.

I've been having some trouble trying to get some requested reviews during the semester, so I feel like I may be a bit rusty on writing my usual articles. This month, though: I decided to snag a review for Webzen's Arctic Combat, with looks like a pretty shameless CoD: Modern Warfare clone, but has some nice touches here and there. I previously got to try the game out a few months ago during a special VIP test and it wasn't half bad, I'd say. Expect a full review this month.

I'm (surprisngly) STILL playing TERA, despite En Masse dropping the ball on several occasions, like just recently: En Masse decided to release the heavily desired bunny suit outfits in the vanity shop, only except they weren't actual bunny suits: They were 'leotards', instead. They removed the cuffs, bowtie and the fake bunny tail, making the entire outfit look incredibly plain and boring. Not only that, but they've put the black version of the suit inside another RNG chance box to boot. As if the whole Gym Bag chance box fiasco wasn't bad it enough, it seems like they didn't learn their lesson from it at all.

Sure, it seems like a really small thing to gripe about, but it's all the little small things that add up over time and really makes En Masse look like a very amateur game publisher.

...and yet, I'm still playing it and keeping my subscription going through Chronoscrolls, all because I enjoy my character and roleplaying too damn much. Still: I'm expecting En Masse to pull off something very crazy that will make me drop the game cold turkey, and soon. Like I keep telling myself and others: If it wasn't for my friends, the RP server and the CH community, I would have quit playing TERA after the first month.

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I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things for video news updates for OnRPG this week. I was hoping to get back into last week, but it seems like DizzyPW got distracted in giving me a script to work with, or whatever... I'm sure I'll be able to get back on Saturday, though. It really is a good way for me to keep taps on whatever is going on in the western MMO industry.

That's all for now.

Just an update - 11/19/2012

Oof! The month is almost over and I haven't posted much of anything! College is really taking a lot of me, so I haven't found the time to get any new posts up. Not only that, but I also haven't been working on any articles for OnRPG recently, which sucks because I could really use some extra money.

At the moment, I'm working with OnRPG and covering for JamesBl0nde as the weekly MMO news update guy, so from now on I'll be doing video news re-caps of MMO news for each week!

Getting to do these video recaps is fun and a nice way of keeping pulses on news for upcoming MMO and PC titles.

I've also been bumping around Mabinogi for just a little bit. checking out some of the game's new content. So much of the game has changed since I last played it, so I'm completely lost and confused on what to do! At least I have a partner card that I saved from last year that I can get to try out...

That's it for now.

GunZ 2 - 2nd VIP Test

Today, MAIET Entertainment held a second VIP test for a selected few to test out some new features before they launch another closed beta. The client has been updated with some tweaks here and there, but it more or less plays the same as it did in the last version.

They've redone the tutorial a bit and made it shorter so players can breeze through it easier while learning all the game's core mechanics. Another noticeable change is with the Z-point system: They've now included lesser skills and attacks that can be performed, and players now have three bars that can be filled up by attacking enemies or collecting Z-point canisters. Lesser skills and attacks with Z-point can be performed from using up one bar (activated by pressing the E key), but the more powerful skills and attacks require three full bars (activated by pressing the Q key)

From one Z-point bar:

• Silent Avengers can perform a quick kick that will knock enemies on the ground (can be performed with any weapon)
• Gunslingers can perform a scan that will temporarily show enemies that are hiding anywhere on the screen (only lasts for a two seconds.)
• Shield Troopers can perform a jumping smash attack (can only be performed using a riot shield)

The more powerful Z-point attacks also no longer have cinematic cutscenes with them, so they no longer break the pacing of gameplay to a screeching halt.

Other than that, they've made some changes to the UI, added an item shop, player stats/ranking info, one new map for DM/TDM/TDM-E and three new missions along with some briefing videos that play at the start of every mission.

That's as much as I could make from my time spent playing in the VIP Test. I couldn't get any decent footage with some PvP action, because they've made some hefty changes to the netcode that makes my lag issues more prominent than before, and I didn't want to record footage of players flashing and disappearing all over the screen due to my 300+ ping, so I sure hope someone else out there will have something recorded.

Also: Engrish.

Just an update - 10/30/2012

Lazy, lazy, lazy. I've been so lazy with updating my blog recently. I've had plenty of chances to get some posts up, but rolling back into classes after my trip down to New York for the NYCC just made me very neglectful. I've had a lot of work done over the past few weeks with recordings for panels and interviews at NYCC, too.

I managed to snag interviews for World of Tanks, Marvel HEROES, Age of Wushu and HAWKEN. It was really a fun week and a nice learning experience for me. Personally, though, in my interviews I felt like I was way too unprofessional about the whole thing compared to my brother, that kept stressing over every little detail for his interviews. He kept saying his interviews weren't as good as mine, but I honestly feel it's the other way around. I got some critique on my Age of Wushu interview which is did take to heart and will use that advice to improve myself in the future.

As for games on my list: There's not much going on for me in terms of new stuff. I got into the HAWKEN CB test but I haven't been playing it a lot, which I really should, since the game looks and feels great even though it's considerable more fasted paced that "realistic" mech games. I'm still bumping around TERA (surprising), although I may be done soon enough. There's a Battlegrounds tournament coming up soon and some members from my server are trying to get a team going to participate, although I'm not sure if I want to be in it or not, because after the month I spent playing Battlegrounds mode just TRYING to get the top spot and dealing with so many idiots and assholes from MT, I don't think I can handle that mode ever again. Still: the people on my server that are signing up for the tourney may end up short of a few members, so I'm considering whether I should join or not and make one last big splash.

That's all for now. Will be posting my interview videos soon.