Oh snap! Two anti-Fallout3 rants in one day?! Well it seems Bethsoft has updated their blog with info on the last DLC for 360 and PC, Broken Steel.
"If we were to increase the level cap to 30, we first needed to figure out which factions we wanted to support the new cap."
That's nice and all, but how about balancing the game play such as the skill system and what not first.
"Super Mutants were one creature we knew we had to support. The decision was made to keep the Super Mutant Behemoth at the top, so we needed to fill the gap between the Behemoth and the Super Mutant Master. Thus was born the Super Mutant Overlord - a creature much stronger than a Super Mutant Master and one that is beginning to take on the shape and form of a Behemoth. Its posture is beginning to show signs of the Behemoth with its large, thick neck and slightly forward head. Given enough time, the Overlord would eventually grow to become a Behemoth."
Seems like a reasonable idea. No problems with that personally.
"To fill the gap for the Feral Ghouls we added the Feral Ghoul Reaver, which wears worn out armor, has special effects emitting from its body, and a new ranged attack, making it visually distinct from the normal Feral Ghouls as well as the Glowing One"
This is Bethspeak for "We slightly altered the Feral Ghoul Roamer. Gave it worn out metal armor instead of combat armor, and the ability to throw grenades." Such innovation Bethsoft, you guys are truly the greatest developer of all time.
"For the Rad Scorpion, we made the Albino Rad Scorpion - a formidable foe that roams the Wasteland, dealing out great amounts of damage, and is much more resistant to attacks than the Giant Rad Scorpion."
ZOMG HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!1111!1 OMFG ALBINO SKORPIONZ SO KEWL AND ORIGINL!!!!1111. So, you guys are going to slightly alter the appearance of the Giant Radscorpion? Talk about innovation!
"For the Enclave, we introduced a new elite fire-based ranged soldier who not only wears new fire-resistant armor, but also wields a new and powerful weapon, the Incinerator. The Incinerator is a powerful ranged fire attack that ignites its victims upon impact."
The armor looks cool. The weapon however, not so much. I have a feeling this is yet another god mod weapon.
"Can anyone explain why i should buy this useless, overpriced DLC with BoS that sounds like medival knights slaying dragons ?" Patton89, NMA forum regular.
Good questing. Considering the fact it's going to be 2 hours tops, easy, and overpriced half assed DLC from Bethsoft. And yes, the Brotherhood Knights do sound like a bunch of generic fantasy knight running around killing dragons.
Broken Steel drop May 5th.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Stop giving Fallout 3 awards people!
In the latest series of awards given to Fallout 3, this time coming from the ELAN awards winning best art direction and best console game. As always I'm going to offer my thoughs on this and bring some form of logic to the ass pat-a-thon that is FO3.
Best Art Direction.
This one I can actually understand as Bethesda has a amazing art department. One of FO3's strongest aspect was overall world design, armor design, and the 50's style art work (even if it was over done). However....
Best Console Game.
No it's not. What about Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, or Valkyria Chronicles? These three games offered a more enjoyable experience than FO3. Fo3 was short, buggy as shit, average visuals, and hell I could go on. Not Best Console Game material at all.
Best Art Direction.
This one I can actually understand as Bethesda has a amazing art department. One of FO3's strongest aspect was overall world design, armor design, and the 50's style art work (even if it was over done). However....
Best Console Game.
No it's not. What about Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, or Valkyria Chronicles? These three games offered a more enjoyable experience than FO3. Fo3 was short, buggy as shit, average visuals, and hell I could go on. Not Best Console Game material at all.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Deadliest Warrior
For those who don't know, Deadliest Warrior is a show on Spike similar to shows like Jurassic Fight club. The difference is instead of Dinosaurs, they pit two warriors against each other, most often from totally different time periods. When I say time periods, I don't mean like 100 years, I mean like centuries apart. Each episode they talk about various weapons they used and test the effect these weapons would have on the human body using ballistic gel, fake blood, organs, and pig carcasses (pig skin is fairly similar to human skin in it's make up). However, while the show is good fun, it at times relies on stereotyping the various warriors, which I will explain later.
The show is all in good fun, and not to be taken seriously at all, but some valid criticisms have arisen about the fighters pitted against each other and the over use of stereotypes. The most controversial of these I think, along with several others, is the Viking v.s Samurai episode. I have to be honest, this is probably one of the most nonsensical match ups I've seen, with only Pirate v.s Knight (that's right a guy in armor with melee weapons against a guy with gun power weapons) rivaling it for sheer weirdness. For the Viking v.s Samurai episode, the Viking was mercilessly stereotyped as a barbaric and moronic savage, while the Samurai was, of course portrayed as intelligent, and highly skilled. Another big criticism was the choice of long range weapon for the Viking and the special weapon for the Samurai respectively. The Viking was given a spear, which was thrown instead of using it as a melee weapon, and even an instant where they tested throwing two at once. Now, I for one don't understand why they didn't give the Viking a bow, as combat archery was HIGHLY valued in Viking culture. The Samurai was also given the Kanabo as it's special weapon. The Kanabo is a large wooden club with metal studs on it, and while it was used as a weapon by Samurai as well as Monks, it was not an everyday weapon that Samurai used. In addition to that, it was more of a mythical weapon used by the Oni (Japanese Demons) than a practical one.
Another match up that has a fair amount of Criticism is Spartan v.s Ninja. This was another lopsided match up. The Ninja is a stealthy fighter, and the Spartan was a wall of muscle and armor. Several people pointed out the choice of weapons for the two fighters as incorrect. For the Ninja it's short range weapon was the straight bladed Ninjato, which is a sword hotly debated to as weather or not it actually existed. The Ninjato is often found in movies, and video games as the typical sword of a Ninja. They tend to be straight, single edge blades with a square hand guard, which is incorrect. The Spartan also had incorrect weaponry as well. The short range weapon for the Spartan was the Xipos, which is correct except it wasn't made of steel, but bronze.
The latest episode was Pirate v.s Knight, and well we all know how that ended up. Once again the match ups are totally one sided as the Pirate has Gun Powder weapons and bombs. The next episode actually makes since though. It's Mafia v.s Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) and the episode after that is Green Berets and Spetsnaz, both are elite military unit from the U.S and Russia. Episode 7 is another odd one, it's Shaolin Monk v.s Maori Warrior (indigenous people of New Zealand). Episode 9 however is wacky as all hell as it's William Wallace v.s Shaka Zulu (African tribal leader). I honestly hope they make another season, the show is a lot of fun even if it's beyond crazy and weird most of the time.
The show is all in good fun, and not to be taken seriously at all, but some valid criticisms have arisen about the fighters pitted against each other and the over use of stereotypes. The most controversial of these I think, along with several others, is the Viking v.s Samurai episode. I have to be honest, this is probably one of the most nonsensical match ups I've seen, with only Pirate v.s Knight (that's right a guy in armor with melee weapons against a guy with gun power weapons) rivaling it for sheer weirdness. For the Viking v.s Samurai episode, the Viking was mercilessly stereotyped as a barbaric and moronic savage, while the Samurai was, of course portrayed as intelligent, and highly skilled. Another big criticism was the choice of long range weapon for the Viking and the special weapon for the Samurai respectively. The Viking was given a spear, which was thrown instead of using it as a melee weapon, and even an instant where they tested throwing two at once. Now, I for one don't understand why they didn't give the Viking a bow, as combat archery was HIGHLY valued in Viking culture. The Samurai was also given the Kanabo as it's special weapon. The Kanabo is a large wooden club with metal studs on it, and while it was used as a weapon by Samurai as well as Monks, it was not an everyday weapon that Samurai used. In addition to that, it was more of a mythical weapon used by the Oni (Japanese Demons) than a practical one.
Another match up that has a fair amount of Criticism is Spartan v.s Ninja. This was another lopsided match up. The Ninja is a stealthy fighter, and the Spartan was a wall of muscle and armor. Several people pointed out the choice of weapons for the two fighters as incorrect. For the Ninja it's short range weapon was the straight bladed Ninjato, which is a sword hotly debated to as weather or not it actually existed. The Ninjato is often found in movies, and video games as the typical sword of a Ninja. They tend to be straight, single edge blades with a square hand guard, which is incorrect. The Spartan also had incorrect weaponry as well. The short range weapon for the Spartan was the Xipos, which is correct except it wasn't made of steel, but bronze.
The latest episode was Pirate v.s Knight, and well we all know how that ended up. Once again the match ups are totally one sided as the Pirate has Gun Powder weapons and bombs. The next episode actually makes since though. It's Mafia v.s Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) and the episode after that is Green Berets and Spetsnaz, both are elite military unit from the U.S and Russia. Episode 7 is another odd one, it's Shaolin Monk v.s Maori Warrior (indigenous people of New Zealand). Episode 9 however is wacky as all hell as it's William Wallace v.s Shaka Zulu (African tribal leader). I honestly hope they make another season, the show is a lot of fun even if it's beyond crazy and weird most of the time.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Gamasutra Interviews Emil Pagliarulo.
And I offer my comments to some of more interesting things he said. So gather around all, uncle Richard is about to rant.
"Yeah! We did. The shock that people saw was legitimate. I'm actually really shocked at the writing award."
I think everyone is Emil. FO3 had no business winning that award, at all. However what's even more shocking is that people actually will defend the writing as good. Having played FO3 numerous times, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the writing is absolute garbage. I've already explained why the writing is total crap several times, I mean just look at skill check dialogs.
"Bethesda is to an extent proving the viability of the large-scale single-player Western RPG. It's not the most ubiquitous genre." Interviewer
No their not. I think Cimmerian Nights over at No Mutants Allowed said it best, "Yeah, if by "large-scale single-player Western RPG" you mean FPS Adventure game with RPG elements. Perhaps the most ubiquitous genre currently." Right on the money I'd say, as Bethesda's game barely can be called RPG's at all and have more in common with with first person shooters and action games honestly. The RPG elements in Bethesda games have always been rather minimal at best.
"And while we realized that people saw this game as a sequel to Fallout; they saw it just as much as a sequel to Oblivion, and Oblivion didn't end. People expected that from us."
Of course they did Emil, FO3 is nothing more then an Oblivion mod with Guns.
"Our goal, anyway, is to capture a little bit of that magic of PC games. I think a lot of our audience is in that same category. They see what we do and appreciate it. I think there's definitely some of that going on. There's not a lot of that on the console, so it's almost like we have that novelty quality, too. We have those niches -- the giant open game niche, and also this PC game novelty niche, too."
PC magic? Are you kidding me? I'd love to know where that PC magic is Emil, cause every Bethesda game since Daggerfall HAS been devoid of that. Also your target audience isn't in the same category, I mean look at the sales for FO3 as an indication. The 360 version sold the most, followed by the PS3, and the PC version dead last. FO3 appealed to the FPS audience, not the RPG one.
"Now, you're reacting to that feedback almost immediately. We're able to, months later, respond to that player feedback and put out DLC. For us, it's been a tremendous success. We're actually surprised that more companies don't do it, but we also know how difficult it is to do."
I'm glad most companies don't do this. Give me a well though out expansion pack that actually adds plenty of content, not some sorry ass 1-2 hour long shoot'em up.
"Shivering Isles was a major project, and horse armor was -- well, we were one of the first people to do DLC, so it was an experiment."
Horse armor is nothing new Emil. Several free-to-play MMO's have been doing it for a good while now. Shivering Isles is also overrated.
"We used the Knights of the Nine model of small, well-priced, additional quests with new stuff. Look at Operation: Anchorage -- four, five hours of gameplay. People criticized it."
Since when is Operation: Anchorage 4-5 hours? Most people are lucky to get an hour out of it. Well priced? Seriously Emil, lay off the drugs. Ten bucks isn't well priced for something that's an hour long tops. People criticized it because it was a rip off.
"And thematically, The Pitt plays a lot more on the shades of gray. We explored moral ambiguity a little bit in the base game, but we were just starting to get a feel for it."
Well at least Emil admits they are new to moral ambiguity and didn't have a handle on it during development.
"I think as we wrapped up production, we thought, "We understand this now. We get it, and we want to do it." In The Pitt, it's much more, "What is good and what is evil, and which line do I walk?"
Sorry Emil, that's not moral ambiguity. Moral Ambiguity is the lack of any good or evil or a mix of the two. The Pitt is heavy handed with how it deal with moral ambiguity, making all the characters as "Evil" as possible but fighting for a "good" cause. That's simple black and while paths as far as WRPG's go.
For the record, I like Emil. He's probably the most intelligent guy over at Bethsoft and no where near the ego maniac Todd Howard is or clueless as Pete Hines is.
"Yeah! We did. The shock that people saw was legitimate. I'm actually really shocked at the writing award."
I think everyone is Emil. FO3 had no business winning that award, at all. However what's even more shocking is that people actually will defend the writing as good. Having played FO3 numerous times, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the writing is absolute garbage. I've already explained why the writing is total crap several times, I mean just look at skill check dialogs.
"Bethesda is to an extent proving the viability of the large-scale single-player Western RPG. It's not the most ubiquitous genre." Interviewer
No their not. I think Cimmerian Nights over at No Mutants Allowed said it best, "Yeah, if by "large-scale single-player Western RPG" you mean FPS Adventure game with RPG elements. Perhaps the most ubiquitous genre currently." Right on the money I'd say, as Bethesda's game barely can be called RPG's at all and have more in common with with first person shooters and action games honestly. The RPG elements in Bethesda games have always been rather minimal at best.
"And while we realized that people saw this game as a sequel to Fallout; they saw it just as much as a sequel to Oblivion, and Oblivion didn't end. People expected that from us."
Of course they did Emil, FO3 is nothing more then an Oblivion mod with Guns.
"Our goal, anyway, is to capture a little bit of that magic of PC games. I think a lot of our audience is in that same category. They see what we do and appreciate it. I think there's definitely some of that going on. There's not a lot of that on the console, so it's almost like we have that novelty quality, too. We have those niches -- the giant open game niche, and also this PC game novelty niche, too."
PC magic? Are you kidding me? I'd love to know where that PC magic is Emil, cause every Bethesda game since Daggerfall HAS been devoid of that. Also your target audience isn't in the same category, I mean look at the sales for FO3 as an indication. The 360 version sold the most, followed by the PS3, and the PC version dead last. FO3 appealed to the FPS audience, not the RPG one.
"Now, you're reacting to that feedback almost immediately. We're able to, months later, respond to that player feedback and put out DLC. For us, it's been a tremendous success. We're actually surprised that more companies don't do it, but we also know how difficult it is to do."
I'm glad most companies don't do this. Give me a well though out expansion pack that actually adds plenty of content, not some sorry ass 1-2 hour long shoot'em up.
"Shivering Isles was a major project, and horse armor was -- well, we were one of the first people to do DLC, so it was an experiment."
Horse armor is nothing new Emil. Several free-to-play MMO's have been doing it for a good while now. Shivering Isles is also overrated.
"We used the Knights of the Nine model of small, well-priced, additional quests with new stuff. Look at Operation: Anchorage -- four, five hours of gameplay. People criticized it."
Since when is Operation: Anchorage 4-5 hours? Most people are lucky to get an hour out of it. Well priced? Seriously Emil, lay off the drugs. Ten bucks isn't well priced for something that's an hour long tops. People criticized it because it was a rip off.
"And thematically, The Pitt plays a lot more on the shades of gray. We explored moral ambiguity a little bit in the base game, but we were just starting to get a feel for it."
Well at least Emil admits they are new to moral ambiguity and didn't have a handle on it during development.
"I think as we wrapped up production, we thought, "We understand this now. We get it, and we want to do it." In The Pitt, it's much more, "What is good and what is evil, and which line do I walk?"
Sorry Emil, that's not moral ambiguity. Moral Ambiguity is the lack of any good or evil or a mix of the two. The Pitt is heavy handed with how it deal with moral ambiguity, making all the characters as "Evil" as possible but fighting for a "good" cause. That's simple black and while paths as far as WRPG's go.
For the record, I like Emil. He's probably the most intelligent guy over at Bethsoft and no where near the ego maniac Todd Howard is or clueless as Pete Hines is.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Krazy Keith at it again!
Well it seems like out good friend and bat shit insane liberal, and left wing nut job, Keith Ubermoronn really out did himself on Wednesday's Countdown and for Keith to really make a totally earth shatteringly ridiculous statement, it takes something really stupid, and boy did we get a bomb on Wednesday.
On the Wednesday edition of Keith's rating challenged show he blasted moderate democrat Ben Nelson for daring to lump Keith and his BFF Richard Mancow (Rachael Maddow) with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, both of whom are much more successful that either Mancow and Oralmann. Now that's not the most ridiculous point about Keith's rant, oh no. You see, this was a perfect moment to attack News Corp, Fox News, and people more successful than both him, Maddow, and MSNBC as a whole. The usual insults where thrown about Glenn Beck makes stuff up, Bill O'Reilly stalks people, and Fox News is biased and gets talking points from conservatives, never mind the fact Keith and Rachael are both pathological liars, and both get talking points from far left websites such a Think Propaganda and Daily kos. Being a liberal, Olby of course loves to call people Racists (a time honored liberal tradition) and of course called Rush a racist and encouraging violence.
This is the same Olbermann who just recently had failed comedian and extremely unfunny person Janeane Garofalo, who like all liberal called the Tea Parties "a small group of racists, and filled with hate for our black president". Comments like this don't shock me at all, because Miss Garofalo is a text book insane liberal. You know the kind, the ones that preach about tolorance, how white people are bad, being worthless race traitors, and exploting black people.
In other words, more of the same from obly.
On the Wednesday edition of Keith's rating challenged show he blasted moderate democrat Ben Nelson for daring to lump Keith and his BFF Richard Mancow (Rachael Maddow) with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, both of whom are much more successful that either Mancow and Oralmann. Now that's not the most ridiculous point about Keith's rant, oh no. You see, this was a perfect moment to attack News Corp, Fox News, and people more successful than both him, Maddow, and MSNBC as a whole. The usual insults where thrown about Glenn Beck makes stuff up, Bill O'Reilly stalks people, and Fox News is biased and gets talking points from conservatives, never mind the fact Keith and Rachael are both pathological liars, and both get talking points from far left websites such a Think Propaganda and Daily kos. Being a liberal, Olby of course loves to call people Racists (a time honored liberal tradition) and of course called Rush a racist and encouraging violence.
This is the same Olbermann who just recently had failed comedian and extremely unfunny person Janeane Garofalo, who like all liberal called the Tea Parties "a small group of racists, and filled with hate for our black president". Comments like this don't shock me at all, because Miss Garofalo is a text book insane liberal. You know the kind, the ones that preach about tolorance, how white people are bad, being worthless race traitors, and exploting black people.
In other words, more of the same from obly.
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