Why I Quit Throne and Liberty to Go Back to New World

I just can’t bring myself to play Throne and Liberty any longer, and it took logging back into New World for a few minutes to see why. New World is the better MMORPG. It’s better in every aspect I care about.

Sorry Helpie!

One thing I missed while I was in Throne and Liberty was how being zoomed so far out affected my experience. Playing effectively in Throne requires you to zoom way out, which creates a sense of detachment. Over-the-shoulder gameplay becomes impossible. In contrast, New World limits the zoom, keeping you behind your character, which feels far more immersive.

I spent almost no time staring at the UI in New World. There’s no constant tabbing to check if I have the right enemy targeted, no staring at my hotbar waiting for skills to come off cooldown, and no constant glances at a minimap in the top corner. Instead, I’m engaged with the game world itself, which feels much better.

Combat is a night-and-day difference between the two games. Throne’s tab-targeting system, paired with its overwhelming “word salad” abilities, is replaced in New World by an intuitive and immediate action combat system. What you see on screen dictates your actions—big fireball? Dodge big fireball. Enemy in front of you?  Press attack and hit them.  It’s that simple.

Then there’s the PvP. If there’s one triggering event that pushed me away from Throne and Liberty, it was may last dominion PvP event where I was repeatedly getting stunned and killed in seconds which was frustrating. I thought maxing out my gear and tank build would unlock the “can’t kill me” status tanks are supposed to have in Throne. Instead, even with 3,500+ CP, I died within seconds, often while stunned. Purge one stun? Another is coming.

Even without the constant crowd control, Throne’s combat remains unintelligible, drowning in poorly explained skills and convoluted mechanics. I had no idea what was happening half the time, leading me to mash my emergency buttons out of desperation. It’s the worst PvP I’ve experienced in an MMO.

In New World, PvP is a breath of fresh air. The combat makes sense—dodge the fireball, hit the enemy, block the attack. Even in larger battles, I can understand what’s happening, and the game is responsive enough for me to make an impact. Stuns and crowd control, while present, are manageable and nowhere near the mess they are in Throne. I’d still like New World to refine these mechanics further, but compared to Throne, it’s night and day.

Even with New World introducing aim assist and target lock (which I’m still getting used to), the PvP remains far more enjoyable. In large-scale fights, I can follow the action and feel like I have a role to play. In Throne, battles often felt like meaningless chaos, leaving me with no sense of agency.

Best of all, gear in New World contributes to power without creating an insurmountable gap. Even though I’m still at 700 GS and many players are now 700+ (with a max of 725), I’ve noticed no significant disadvantage in PvP. It feels like I’m competing on skill rather than being outclassed by someone’s gear.

Another thing I missed was the trading post. Jumping back into New World, I was reminded of how satisfying the economic side of an MMO can be. Throne’s auction house, limited to premium currency, was a disaster. Not being able to trade for basic materials was frustrating. In New World, the economy feels alive. Items that were once worthless are now valuable, and I love placing buy and sell orders to carve out my slice of the market.

I don’t understand why New World isn’t more popular. And I don’t get why so many players are still sticking with Throne, especially with the upcoming Tier 2 items doubling the grind required for gear progression—unless you swipe your credit card. New World is the better game and offers so much more to players. Now, I just need to figure out how to convince my friends to leave Throne and Liberty and join me back in New World.

 

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Throne and Liberty is a checklist simulator

The more I play Throne and Liberty, the more it feels like I’m trapped in a checklist simulator. Sure, the checklist(s) are long and varied, but a long checklist is still a checklist—and that doesn’t scream “fun” to me.

When I log in, the first order of business is teleporting to Stonegard Castle to do what every Throne and Liberty player loves most: shopping. Not for gear or anything exciting—just my daily/weekly ration of time-gated items. Cooking supplies? Check. Daily materials? Check. Mystic keys? Check. Thrilling stuff.

Since everything in this game revolves around contract coins, my next task is to knock out the daily contracts. There’s a faint whiff of strategy here—optimizing which contracts can be done the fastest—but let’s not pretend it’s exciting. It’s just a checklist within the daily checklist.

Next up? The daily dungeon runs. I burn through my dungeon currency, loot the rewards, and, when the currency’s gone, move on to other tasks. Because why enjoy exploring a dungeon when the game can cut you off once you hit your quota?

At this point, I’ll pull up the event schedule and start planning my life around the game. Is a world boss happening? Maybe a dynamic event? Oh, wait—I missed it because I dared to have a life outside the game. Too bad, no random low chance at loot for me.

When there’s no event to crash, it’s back to the grind in open-world dungeons, where I chip away at another time-gated currency. Of course, I’m not just grinding aimlessly—I’ve got more checklists for that! Open-world dungeon contracts bought earlier? Time to tick those boxes.

Somewhere in all this, I remember my guild contracts. Gotta kill the right enemy types in the right locations because if we don’t finish the guild contracts, the guild rewards vanish into the void. And while I’m in the guild menu, let’s not forget my mandatory time-gated guild donations! The sooner I check that off, the sooner I can donate more, because donating isn’t about generosity—it’s about efficiency.

Oh, and the weekly missions. Can’t forget those. Grit your teeth, win three PvP arena matches, and pray your teammates don’t expect competence from you because you’re just here to get it over with.  Track down those mystic portals, complete events, spend currency.  Don't forget to check off collecting your random reward for the weekly missions.

Somewhere along the way, I remember the battle pass. Yep, another checklist! This one even has me setting my “world tree leaf” to 90% so my amitoi can heal me when I don’t need it. Why? Because the battle pass demands it. Resistance is futile.

Speaking of my amitoi I need to remember to teleport to my amitoi house and send them on their next mission.  Then set a reminder to come back a do that again at the allotted time I set (1,2,4, or 8 hours).

Notice a pattern here? Almost nothing I’ve described is something I wanted to do. It’s all dictated by the game’s endless checklists, none of which care if I’m enjoying myself. Sure, I might want to do some of these things—but I’m doing them because I have to, not because I want to.

And when the checklists run dry? Might as well log out. The PvP is awful, the event schedule is rigid, and the PvE is fine, I guess. But without those rewards dangling at the end of a task, there’s little reason to stick around.

Some folks argue that “it takes forever to run out of things to do,” and fine, I’ll give them that. But that’s not the point. The problem is the compulsion. I’m not playing because I’m having fun—I’m playing because the game demands it. My personal enjoyment rarely aligns with the game’s busywork, and that’s why Throne and Liberty is wearing out its welcome.

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Block Twitter and X via uBlockOrigin in Firefox

 If you are like me, use Firefox, and have no desire to accidentally navigate to Twitter (or X) then follow these simple steps.  

1. Get the uBlock Origin extension.
2. Open the extension's settings
3. Go to My Filters
4. Add these two lines:
   
   ||twitter.com^$document
   ||x.com^$document
   
   
5. Click "Apply Changes"

This will ensure any link clicked for either domain will result in a blocked message instead saving you from feeling too dumb from clicking the link in the first place.

Enjoy!

 

Sunday 11/17/2024 Post

 For the first time in 85 years the Green Bay Packers have won a game by blocking a potential game winning field goal.  Of course it happens to be against the Bears because why not.  I almost feel bad for the Bears fans.

 

Pirating Ashes of Creation

Thor from Pirate Software recently sat down with Steven Sharif for an in-depth interview on all things Ashes of Creation. The conversation focused primarily on Alpha 2 and what testers are currently experiencing, but also ventured into the game’s future direction. I have a few thoughts of my own on this.

Watch the Interview Here:

The Node System and Factions

One of the highlights of the interview was the discussion on the node (city) system and how it’s distinct from being in a guild or a religion. Steven explained that players will be able to join different "factions"—not in the traditional MMO sense, but as groups that may cross guild boundaries. Imagine it like this: you work for a company but play on a softball team with friends from other companies, and then attend a different church. This flexibility sounds promising and could add a lot of depth to social structures in Ashes.

Spycraft and Politics

Spycraft was also a key topic, with Thor comparing it to the legendary espionage tales of EVE Online. Steven described how Ashes will offer tools for players to engage in political intrigue and espionage. While these make for great stories, my experience—including in EVE Online—is that they often sour the game for many players involved. It’s one thing to read about grand betrayals, but it’s another to be on the receiving end of them. How well this will play out remains to be seen.

The Corruption System

The corruption system came up as well. When you kill players not flagged for PvP, you accumulate corruption, which is purely punitive and comes with significant risk. Though corruption can be worked off, it’s a slow process. I have my doubts about how well this will hold up at launch, especially given the potential for abuse (e.g., hacked accounts going on a killing spree). It’ll be interesting to see how Intrepid Studios manages this.

The Asmongold Incident

The recent Asmongold drama was a topic of discussion. When Asmongold, a popular streamer, joined Alpha 2, he was repeatedly hunted down and killed. Since Ashes is a PvP-heavy game with no current new player protections, technically, he was fair game. However, Steven intervened, banning players under the justification of "griefing."

My quick take:

• Asmongold received preferential treatment; most players in similar situations wouldn’t see any intervention.
• Banning players simply for not adhering to one person’s definition of "griefing" is unsustainable.
• Griefing lacks a "common sense" definition and is nearly impossible to manage at scale.
• New player protection and reducing abuse opportunities are critical.

The good news is that Steven mentioned plans for future features to protect new players. While this may address situations like Asmongold’s, any GM intervention in PvP will inevitably require judgment calls—leading to inconsistencies and likely some drama.

Transmog Plans

Ashes will feature transmog, with indicators to help players identify what their target is actually wearing. I think this is a good compromise, though I’d prefer restrictions on armor type (e.g., no transmogging cloth to look like plate).

A Social, Group-Centric Game

Steven emphasized Ashes’ focus on social aspects, with leveling designed as a longer journey (estimated at 225 hours to max level) and grouping being the best route. There will be some solo content, but the game will primarily be group-oriented, including combat balancing.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about this. I love solo and solo-adjacent gameplay and often play at odd hours when my group isn’t online. The old-school approach of finding a group, traveling to the meeting spot, and then having the group fall apart doesn’t appeal much. While I’m willing to give it a shot, I worry about the potential frustration of waiting on group availability, which could push players toward faster-action games.

Naval Combat and Deep-Sea Fishing

Naval combat also came up. While much of this system isn’t yet in the game, Steven’s vision sounds exciting, including the addition of deep-sea fishing for larger, tougher catches. That’s definitely my kind of content—I’d be ready to sign up for a ship crew immediately!

However, the naval discussion reminded me that Ashes is still far from launch. Alpha 2 is expected to last a year and remains feature-incomplete. Given the amount of feedback and polish needed, it’s likely still a few years away.

Steven’s Role and Vision

Wrapping up, Steven described himself as the "rudder" guiding Ashes’ development. This was a fitting metaphor, emphasizing that this is very much Steven Sharif’s MMO. As we saw with the Asmongold incident, he’s not afraid to get directly involved. Some will appreciate this, while others may find it concerning, as heavy-handed involvement isn’t always sustainable.

Final Thoughts

One thing is clear: Thor is having a lot of fun in Alpha 2, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Ashes of Creation remains the only MMO on my radar, and I’m cautiously optimistic.

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Monday Screenshots: I really like my chair

 I really, really like my chair throne in Throne and Liberty.  I show it off whenever I get the chance and these screenshots show that!

Sitting on my throne

Sitting in my throne waiting for a world boss to spawn

Sitting on my throne in a co-cop dungeon

Sitting on my throne waiting on another world boss spawn

Sitting on my throne getting ready to take on Talus

Sitting on my throne getting ready for Adentus (aka the dentist) fight to start

Well that sucks

 

 There is a long gone Heartlessgamer that would have been happier with today's results, but reality and old(er) age wizened him up.  Unfortunately that means today sucks.  This one is going to hurt for a while.  There is a non zero chance we never come back from this.

 The worst part is the truth that has been staring us in the face: this is America.  This is who we are.  It's time to grapple with that reality and the consequences of it.

October 2024 In Review

 October 2024 is in the books!

The Blog

 Blogger provided number (last 30 days graph so a bit off a full month): 19,800

 Note: this is missing the first few days of October where there was a spike in traffic visiting my Hurricane Helene posts.  You can see it falling off on the left side.

 

 In other metrics:

• Posts:
  
• Target: 0
  
• Posted: 24
  
• Difference: +24!  With the hurricane havoc every post was a win!
  
•  Search Trends
• "new world roadmap 2024" remains the top result that drops folks onto the blog
  
• "best battlefield game", "best battlefield", "best battlefield games" continue to drive traffic as well to Best Battlefield!?

What I Played

 October started with no gaming due to the hurricane causing power and internet outages, but towards the middle of the month I was able to get going with Throne and Liberty and that has consumed most of my gaming time.  I have two level 50 characters now and am working to max out my main's gear.

 I did spend a little bit of time in New World as well.

Years Ago

1 Year Ago

 Last year in October 2023 we got a chance to play The Finals beta and I ended up really enjoying it.  It didn't hold me long term but my oldest son is addicted and plays every day.  He is pretty good at it too.  Every once and a while I hop back on to play with him.

 We also got the "mind blowing" Star Citizen video.  A year later I am not sure anyone can say the game is any closer to what that video promises.

 Oh and New World's expansion, Rise of the Angry Earth, launched.  It brought mounts, level 65, level 700 GS, and a bunch of changes to the game.  It was light on content and staying power, but feature wise it was great.

5 Years Ago

  Oct 2019 was in the 'not a lot of blogging' era and nothing comes to mind.

10 Years Ago

 In October of 2014 I was getting a chance to play Archage for the first time.  I honestly couldn't remember the game all that well so it was good to re-read my initial impressions post.  My... uhhh... younger self does come through in the post.

15 Years Ago

 Setting a milestone and trend that continues to this day in October of 2009 World of Warcraft launched cross-realm (aka cross-server) dungeons and thus ended the idea that you were limited to the server you joined in an MMORPG.

 For fantasy readers: we received the first Wheel of Time book co-authored by Brandon Sanderson.

 We also got the Left 4 Dead 2 trailer; one of my favorite game trailers of all time!

 20 19 Years Ago

 Technically I have 20 named years on my sidebar, but mathematically 2005 is only 19 years ago.

 In Oct of 2005 we had hints that Diablo 3 may become an MMORPG.  Oh how wrong we were!

 We all celebrated Raph Koster starting his blog in 2005!  And he is still at it today which is pretty cool as I've gotten the chance to catch up with him over Discord as he works on his new project, Stars Reach!

 Oh and I got banned from the World of Warcraft forums for posting a picture of a magazine article.  A magazine I physically had in my hands.  Ironically this ban stands to this day!

Monday Screenshots: Throne and Liberty Halloween

 Some screenshots from the Halloween Event in Throne and Liberty.  I think the team did a really good job on the visuals here!

Lots of pumpkins!

Halloween dungeon; get in the flying pumpkin!

Don't forget to block or enjoy your flight into the abyss!

Pumpkin boss mechanic; get in the pumpkin to avoid the wipe!

F this pumpkin.  If you know; you know.

Amazing decorations at Purelight Tower!

Obligatory armor skin: the pumpkin helmet

I'm on the "Crazy Taxi" side

 I don’t usually dive into politics on this blog, but every now and then, something just grabs my attention. If you looked back far enough, you'd probably see that I’ve drifted between the right and left over the years. Since around 2016, though, I’ve found myself firmly on one side—and it happens to be the one where a VP candidate is unafraid to show off his Crazy Taxi skills. Plus a Mountain Dew!  Now that’s a candidate I can get behind!  Kamala is pretty cool too.

Throne and Liberty 1.5.0 Patch Incoming

 The next Throne and Liberty global patch 1.5.0 is rolling off the assembly line tomorrow (10/31).  I spoke into my AI box and told it what I was interested in and it spat out this summary for me:

Throne and Liberty Update 1.5.0 Highlights

Throne and Liberty’s Update 1.5.0 lands October 31, packed with new content and impactful tweaks:

New Battle Pass & Shop Gear

The Phantom Tracker’s Star Battle Pass launches October 31, bringing exclusive emotes, a spooky Amitoi, and new outfits. The Lucent shop refresh also offers themed cosmetics for a festive look.

Big Gameplay Enhancements

• Field Boss Rewards: Boss portals now scale better with player count, offering more spread and better odds for rewards, including new Epic reward chests for selecting your preferred Epic loot.
• Combat Adjustments: Faster crowd control immunity buildup makes getting CC’d less punishing in group fights.
• Dungeon Fixes: Bugs in Death’s Abyss are squashed, and Adventure Codex objectives now award more XP.

UI & Quality-of-Life Tweaks

Extra chat tabs, visible health bar shielding, and a better Guild Points tracker make it easier to stay connected and organized.

Bug Fixes Galore

This update smooths over crafting issues, character movement, and controller function—setting players up for a smoother, more polished adventure.

... and honestly the AI (ChatGPT) did really well here with what I gave it as my interest areas.  Specifically I told it my favorite dungeon was Death's Abyss and it picked out a change specific to it.  I also mentioned I was interested in epic loot which it used well.  I also said to make sure to let me know if there was a new battlepass (which I knew already but wanted to see if the AI would interpret correctly).  I also asked if there were any changes to CC / crowd control and it picked them right up!

 I am sure there is more I could get out of reading the actual full patch notes but time is limited here and I'd rather play around with my "read the patch notes for me" AI than read actual notes myself :)

Why doesn't Throne and Liberty use a blind auction house?

 RMT (real money trading) is rearing its ugly head in Throne and Liberty, but the developers are pushing back by penalizing players caught engaging in these transactions. When players are caught buying Lucent (the premium currency) from RMT sellers, they’re hit with negative balances in game, which the community seems to find amusingly effective. But it raises a question: Why is the game in this situation when there are better ways to design the systems to minimize RMT?

A screenshot from Throne and Liberty showing a negative Lucent balance due to a player being punished for buying Lucent off third party sellers.

 Taking a step back first: it's surprising that RMT is this prevalent, especially since there’s no direct player-to-player trading in the game. Player A can't buy items directly from Player B. Instead, all exchanges happen through the auction house, which is restricted to premium currency and a limited selection of items. Even calling it an "auction" system is a stretch, as there’s no bidding—everything is listed at fixed "buy it now" prices, and listings are anonymous, so players can’t see who’s selling what.

 This setup makes RMT transactions fairly obvious. For example, if someone buys an item for 10,000 Lucent that typically sells for 10, it's likely RMT-related. While it’s possible players are simply transferring Lucent this way without any real money trading hands it doesn't seem in the "spirit" of the game for players to move Lucent around like this.

 Given the lack of player-to-player trading and the limitations on which items can be traded, it seems like Throne and Liberty could benefit from a blind bidding system. In this setup, sellers wouldn’t see listing prices but only the most recent bid or purchase prices. When a player bids on an item, they’d either get a match or be informed their bid is too low. This would eliminate the obvious RMT loophole as players can no longer pick which seller they are buying from.

 Blind bidding has worked really well in other games such as Final Fantasy 11 and seems like the obvious design choice in Throne.  This blurb from the wiki I linked sums it up best:

In the auction houses of FINAL FANTASY XI, sellers designate an asking price when they put items up for bid. The first bidder to offer a price higher than the asking price gets to purchase the item.

 I can't even think of a legitimate reason that any player ever needs to buy something in Throne's auction house at a higher price than the current lowest price which means it is perfect for blind bidding.

 While Throne and Liberty’s current auction system limits direct player trading, it inadvertently leaves space for RMT to thrive, impacting the game's economy and balance. The blind bidding system would minimize opportunities for suspicious transactions that are likely RMT. As the developers continue to combat these issues with the negative account balances, it’ll be interesting to see if they consider more structural changes to the marketplace.

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Monday Screenshots: Daily and Weekly Checklist for Throne and Liberty

 I’ve described Throne and Liberty as a “chore” to play, but I keep logging in because my friends are there, and I do find some moments of enjoyment. Since I’m sticking with it, I decided to get organized and establish a daily and weekly routine. Part of that involves visiting specific vendors to buy time-gated items they offer. I came across a helpful image on Reddit that breaks this down, and I thought it’d be useful to share. 

Note: The only item I don’t fully agree with is the Rare Parchment. You can earn 33 of these by completing a single contract, so I don’t see much value in spending contract coins on them. Contract coins are hard to come by, so I’d rather save them for other items. However, if there’s nothing else you need from the contract coin vendor, the Rare Parchments could be worth picking up.

Your Throne and Liberty daily and weekly shopping list; see notes above about Rare Parchment!

Sunday 10/27/2024 Post

 The Packers keep on winning keeping their QBs undefeated streak alive.  Backup QB that is.  Jordan Love goes down and Malik Willis steps in and just like last week the game comes down to a game winning field goal from our newly signed kicker.  You can't make this stuff up!  What I can make up though is a combo image!

Things I do like about Throne and Liberty

 In my last post, I laid out all the reasons Throne and Liberty drives me nuts—yet here I am, still playing. Why? Because there are moments in this game that are so incredible they make me forget the frustrations, even if just for a while. Throne and Liberty pulls off some things I haven’t seen any other MMO do, and for that, it’s hard to walk away.

 First off—and I’ve said this so often that other people are starting to repeat it—the game’s performance is incredible. One standout feature is the seamless transition time. If you press B to recall back to town, you’re teleported almost instantly. Ready for a dungeon with your party? You’re transported there near instantly.

I'm not the only one impressed by the tech!

 On top of this, the game handles large groups of players remarkably well. I’ve joined open-world boss fights with hundreds, possibly over a thousand players. Sure, it’s a chaotic blur of lights, but the fight remains perfectly playable, allowing players to execute the boss’s mechanics reliably. Seeing a massive zerg of players fighting a giant monster is the essence of what an MMO should be!

 After 30+ years (holy crap!) of playing online games, I’ve learned to appreciate technological improvements. Whatever magic Throne and Liberty uses to enable near-instant loading and the ability to support thousands of players in one area deserves praise—it should be the standard!

 The game makes full use of these technical feats in its open-world dungeons. These aren’t small caves in the hillside; they’re massive, multi-tiered labyrinths requiring proper groups or careful solo planning to navigate.

 Just last night, my group spent an hour descending to the 6th floor of Syleus Abyss, where it felt like we were drilling down to the center of the earth. At the lowest level, we encountered massive lava pools and enjoyed knocking enemies off bridges into them. All the way down, we were flanked by hundreds of other players carving out their own spots in the dungeon. It’s a vibrant and dynamic environment.

 

The sixth floor of Syleus's Abyss.  Open world dungeons FTW!

 One of my favorite, albeit most frustrating, dungeons is the Sanctum of Desire. It only opens when it rains—which is annoying but also what I love about it! In so many games, content is always accessible with a click. Knowing Sanctum opens only with rain adds excitement whenever someone calls out, “Hey, it’s raining! Go, go, go!” It’s reminiscent of Dark Age of Camelot’s Darkness Falls dungeon, where everyone rushed in when conditions were right.

 This leads me to another feature I love: the server’s top players can activate world-changing abilities. One example is the power to make it rain. Sanctum of Desire has a world boss that spawns on a schedule, but if it’s not raining, players can’t get in. The other night, I watched our entire server plead with a top player to trigger rain so we could all rush in to fight the boss.

 Another thrilling aspect is that these open-world dungeons turn into PvP zones at night. Nothing beats the tension as two groups of players stand off in the depths of a dungeon, waiting for the clock to hit nighttime. The victor keeps their farming spot; the loser is kicked out. In Sanctum of Desire, if it’s not raining, the losing team can’t even get back in.

 Add in the “Eclipse” ability, where players can trigger nighttime across the server, and the stakes go even higher. Just recently, an Eclipse was triggered while hundreds of players waited for a world boss. The guild that triggered it was ready and ambushed everyone. I was frustrated after getting killed, but looking back, all I can think is, “That was freaking cool!”.  Players can literally change the world.

Eclipse! PvP is ON in the open world dungeons!

 I spend a lot of my game time in these dungeons, even though rewards stop once you run out of Abyssal Contract tokens. I really enjoy pushing deeper into more challenging areas and claiming my little farming spot. It’s a truly multiplayer experience that thrives on open-world interaction—and Throne and Liberty delivers here.

 Scheduled world events are another highlight. Whether it’s a “kill the most wolves” event or one where you can jump onto the back of a giant flying whale, there’s always something happening. The game even provides a schedule so you can plan for upcoming events.

 The game also excels at providing in-game information. Every item has an info icon you can click to see how to obtain it, listing vendors, quests, or other sources. You can click on a map location to see enemy types, then click on an enemy to view their loot drops. Once you learn the system, there’s hardly any need to visit an external wiki. 

Map > Area > Monster Info > Loot Table > Details about the drop without ever having to alt tab from the game!

 In the end, these moments I love—epic dungeons, massive player battles, and real-time world changes—are exactly what make Throne and Liberty’s shortcomings so frustrating. This game has the potential to be truly groundbreaking, with technology and ideas that could set a new standard for MMOs. If only the combat and PvP were tighter, if gearing weren’t such a grind, and if the progression caps weren’t so limiting, Throne and Liberty could be exceptional. For now, though, I’m sticking with it, because there’s still nothing quite like the experience it offers.

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Things I don't like about Throne and Liberty

 I’m still playing Throne and Liberty because my gaming group is, but the game is starting to wear on me. To put it simply, playing feels like a chore, and there are several things I don’t like about it.

 My biggest issue with the game is that everything is based on random outcomes (RNG). Want to upgrade a skill? It might take one skill book or five. Want to upgrade gear? Same deal. Craft something? It’s a random result. Looking for a specific loot reward from an activity? Good luck, because that’s also random. Even when you complete your weekly tasks, the rewards are random.

 There are "pity mechanics" in the game, like tokens you get from completing a dungeon that can be used to craft rewards—but the number required is high. You're limited to three dungeon rewards per day. Even if you run 100 dungeons, you can only receive rewards three times. These three daily rewards do stack, so if you miss a day, you can earn more when you do play.

 This limited rewards system runs throughout the entire game, and I don’t like it. Whether it’s co-op dungeon rewards, open-world dungeon tokens, contract rights, or something else, there’s always a cap. Even basic crafting materials are limited per day!

 Another major issue is the lack of a proper in-game economy. While there’s a premium currency auction house, it only allows certain items to be sold. So if you need extra honey to cook a meal and you've hit your daily purchase limit, you're out of luck. Plus, there’s no player-to-player trading for most of the game’s materials.

 You’d think that restricting player-to-player trading would solve the "gold buying" problem. But no—gold sellers easily bypass this by using the auction house to sell items for the purchased gold amount. What’s worse is that this involves the premium currency. It’s absurd that gold farmers can sell the game's premium currency at a cheaper rate than the game itself!

 The design of the PvE dungeons is another area where the game falls short for me. Most dungeons are short, which I don’t mind, but the basic structure is repetitive. You do a practice fight, then proceed straight to the end boss, which is packed with wipe mechanics. There’s no leniency—either you execute perfectly, or you wipe. I find it frustrating, as the fights feel more like memorizing mechanics than real progression.

 Another frustration is the complete lack of resurrections during combat. There’s no in-combat res, and there’s none in the open world either. If your hit points hit zero, it’s back to the respawn point. If you’re in a dungeon and get knocked out due to a moment of lag, you’re out of the fight. Gone is the dynamic of balancing in-combat resurrections.

 Then there are the events—another aspect of the game’s design I dislike. I enjoy many of the events, but they’re all on a strict schedule. If you can’t play during the scheduled time, you miss out. There are events I’d love to do over and over, but they’re locked away by this scheduling.

 Add up the RNG progression and all the caps, and it’s practically impossible to have a second build for your character, which is a shame in a classless system. It’s more efficient to just play a second character because that gives you access to another set of daily, time-gated rewards. Plus, premium currency is account-wide, so you can farm it on both characters and get more than one character could on its own. This is just terrible design.

 To top all of this off, the game often leaves me with analysis paralysis. There are so many currencies with so many uses, and since many are capped, I end up stressing over every decision. The tutorial might show me how to use five tokens to unlock something, but I’ll hesitate, because I only have seven tokens and worry I’ll need them later. Next thing I know, I’m on YouTube, watching guides on how to "best use Y tokens"—and still confused because everyone has a different opinion.

 So with all these gripes, why am I still playing? Well, despite everything, there are some things I genuinely enjoy about *Throne and Liberty*. But that’s a story for another day. Stay tuned for my next post!

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Rerolling into Rosa

 New World Aeternum has launched, and although my internet was still down due to Hurricane Helene (thankfully, it’s back now), I was determined to dive in. Bad internet or not, I couldn’t resist the urge to join the wave of new players hitting the shores. I decided to hop onto the new crossplay server, Rosa, and bring HeartlessgamerX (aka X) to Aeternum!

 My main goal? To play through the new storyline and reach level 65. I’m a few days behind the herd, especially since I’m still playing Throne and Liberty, so this will be a slower grind for X.

Amazing view!

 For my leveling build, I’m sticking to my tried-and-true setup: Firestaff paired with Sword and Shield. I’ve spent thousands of hours mastering this playstyle, and it’s still as satisfying as ever! There have been a few tweaks to the Firestaff, particularly with mana, so leveling a new character feels like a good chance to familiarize myself with these changes.

 Jumping back into New World was refreshing—literally! I like how the new introduction starts with the player swimming toward the shoreline. After a brief introduction to combat and item interaction, you're thrown into a dust-up with ole’ Thorpe and then introduced to Isabella. The tutorial now has much more substance than at launch!

 Once out of the tutorial, it’s back to familiar territory: the shores of Windsward, where I found myself gathering flint, picking bushes, and hunting pigs. The early quests feel familiar but have some fresh twists, with new characters joining you on the journey. While I think these new additions are well-executed, the story is still just "OK" for me. As much as I promised myself I'd pay more attention, I ended up clicking through most of the dialogue.

 All in all, I’m enjoying my return to New World. While the game feels improved, the commitment to push to level 65 is still substantial—especially when you factor in trade skills, gathering, and everything else that also is starting over. Having put thousands of hours into my main character, I already miss the perks of having piles of gold and full ultimate trophies. But for now, it's one step at a time. Stay tuned for more updates!

Sunday 10/20/2024 Post

 Gave them Texans 16 points just to break their hearts in the end.  Field Goals are back on the menu boys!

Helene Update Day 22: INTERNET

 It is day 22 post Hurricane Helene interrupting our lives and Spectrum has finally restored our home internet.  While I am grateful for TMobile 5G home internet helping get us through the down time on Spectrum I won't miss the constant connectivity issues the 5G experienced.

 And yes I feel a bit of guilt being this excited over something as stupid as good internet access. Folks in our neighborhood are still months of repairs away from having their normal homes back.  Just north of us in western NC the scene is still apocalyptic in areas.  Their wait for power will be months and they may never get stable wired internet back; 5G or satellite are their only answers for the foreseeable future.

 So I'll take a moment to enjoy reliable low latency and massive download speeds but still think of those folks a short drive away and we'll keep volunteering and donating.  I'd suggest if you have any means to give that you do so.

 Also some visuals for anyone interested in what the difference means on our internet connection.

Network monitoring via Pinging.net web tool. 
TMobile 5G on the bottom; latency spikes and consistent drops.
Spectrum on the top; smooth consistent connection.
Literally night and day difference.

 

 

 

Speedtest results on Spectrum.  Note: speedtest isn't the greatest of tests but it is a simple way to illustrate a connetions potential.  For comparison TMobile 5G sometimes couldn't even run speedtest as it would die out during the test or if it completed it was 20-50 Mbps down and 1-5 Mbps up and latency was always 60ms+ (expected with 5G).

Thoughts after making level 50 in Throne and Liberty

 Even with my poor backup internet I was able to hit level 50 in Throne and Liberty last night.  I have some thoughts to share on the experience.

Yay! Level 50!

 First, I’m not sure if reaching level 50 in Throne feels like much of an achievement. This isn't your early 2000s MMORPG where you'd grind for weeks to max out. Instead, leveling in Throne is extremely fast and requires minimal effort—basically just completing the main story quests. Aside from a small grind from levels 44 to 45, the quests propelled me right to 50, and I hit that milestone upon finishing the final story quest.

 This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as leveling in MMORPGs has largely become a way to deliver the story and introduce game mechanics. However, I can’t help but feel that something is lost with this express-train approach. The fast pace means I didn’t stay in any single area long enough to truly appreciate it. 

 The fast-paced quest design also left me feeling disconnected from the world. Most quests followed a simple formula: go here, click, walk a few steps, click again, and fight a couple of enemies. After that, you’d enter an instanced story mode, complete an activity, teleport back to town, and move on to the next area. As a result, I never felt encouraged to explore the visually stunning world.

 Another issue was that the story itself felt incoherent and disjointed. I struggled to follow it from chapter to chapter, and the actions my character took—making potions, arming magic traps, breaking into buildings—didn’t connect with the actual game mechanics. It was frustrating to set up elaborate magic traps in a quest, only to realize I couldn't do anything like that in the open world.

 The lackluster story only emphasized how generic the world felt. Despite the visual variety, the environments didn't offer much meaningful interaction. Harvesting nodes were the same from level 1 to 50, and they often felt out of place. In New World, you can chop down any tree or break almost any rock, but in Throne, you’re limited to just a few types of gathering nodes.

 Enemy placement in the game was another immersion-breaking element. It often felt like I was walking into "dumb piles of mobs"—"mob" short for "mobile" from text MUDs.  These were just enemies that stood around waiting to be killed. In many areas, they respawned so quickly that it disrupted any sense of immersion. And then, in the next area, there’d be nothing at all—no enemies, no gathering nodes, just empty space.

 Unfortunately, this left me feeling unmotivated to explore. The world has beautiful environments, and the game’s morphing abilities allow you to fly, swim, and jump to all sorts of places. But there’s no real reward for doing so. Your best bet is to use the map, which tells you exactly where everything is, making exploration feel unnecessary. The entire exploration side of my brain was left unsatisfied.

 Despite my gripes, I did enjoy the journey to level 50. While I didn’t explore as much as I’d have liked, the visuals were stunning, and jumping on the back of a giant flying whale to watch the world pass below is a core gaming memory for me now. Now that I’m level 50, I can finally dive into the game’s many progression systems. There’s a lot to explore—tokens, contracts, various UI screens, and mountains of unopened reward boxes. But with so much complexity, there’s a chance I’ll just get irritated and return to New World instead. For now, though, I can recommend Throne and Liberty as a decent free-to-play experience.

TLDR; Throne and Liberty: OK experience up to level 50. 

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AIs.

Once Human up to more crazy stuff

 I haven't checked back into Once Human since stopping after the first season ended on our server, but I caught Force Gaming's video update featuring some of the new content and it's some crazy (thematically) stuff!  I especially liked the theme park area featured in the video.  I may have to go check this update out!

New World Aeternum is FINALLY here!

Here we go.... again

 Today is the day that New World relaunches as New World Aeternum and launches on consoles along with bringing a slate of updates to the game for PC players.  There is a new 10-man raid, match making in PvP modes (arenas and outpost rush), a free-for-all PvP island, new gear score max of 725, and many other changes.  Annnnnndddddd I won't be able to enjoy it because my backup internet solution (due to Hurricane Helene knocking out our main wired connection from Spectrum) can't cut it for action gaming!

 One item that has been a hot topic is the addition of target lock in PvP. During the Aeternum open beta the target lock was pretty aggressive and could track a locked-on target pretty well.  It made sense to have a target lock to help controller players, but with how sticky the lock was it took away most of the "skill" to be able to land attacks.  Players found they could just spam left click and the game would keep them on target (as made famous by TrickTrick winning a duel blindfolded and just clicking his way to the win).

 With the final patch notes for the Aeternum launch provided there are numerous changes coming to the target lock:

• Killing a PvP opponent in target lock will no longer automatically switch to another target
• Target lock now breaks more aggressively when losing line of sight to your target
• A character’s turn speed is now slower when using target lock

 These are all good changes that I think will help make target lock more palatable.  The biggest issue from the open beta was target lock sticking you to the enemy and performing in ways you could not realistically do normally.  It is now closer to the "assist" form that it should be.

 I was originally in the camp of NOT wanting any target lock at all but in reflecting back on it I came to the conclusion that the game needs to try new things to have a fighting chance at a long future. Console is a big part of the current future and there are plenty of games I've played where console players are given some assistance to compete with PC/Mouse&Keyboard players and those games were fine so why not expect that from New World?  There will still be outcry from a vocal few but they are the same vocal few that complain about everything.

 We are also finally getting a new season after Season 5 seemed like it was never going to end and I think it is appropriate they call the new one "Season of Opportunity".  This is the opportunity for the game to turn around.  We are only an hour into the launch here and Steam Charts are all hockey sticking upwards which is a good sign.  That is also just tracking the PC playerbase; we really don't have a sense yet of the uptake on the console side (I don't think it's going to be crazy high but hopefully enough to have made the work worth it for the New World team).

The type of graph we like to see!

 I am a bit bummed I won't be in Aeternum for a bit here until my internet situation stabilizes but I'm excited to get back to New World!  Being excited for the game once again is a better place to be than where I was at back in June with the game.  I'll take it!  See y'all in Aeternum... maybe.... hopefully sometime soon :)

Monday Screenshots: Throne and Liberty Post Helene

 A quick catch up if you haven't followed my Hurricane Helene posts.  I played a few hours of the early access launch for Throne and Liberty; right up until the hurricane took out my internet.  Fourteen (yes, FOURTEEN!) days later we got internet back via TMobile 5G home internet. Unfortunately it's not ideal for gaming due to poor signal at our house, but I did give it a go with Throne and Liberty.

 There were lots, and I mean lots, of deaths.  Disconnecting in the middle of a fight or more fun; lagging as you approach a cliff and learning that there is fall damage in Throne and Liberty.  But I at least got to grab some screenshots to share!

Heartlessgamerr (with two Rs)

Completing a public event

Flying over areas never gets old in this game

Amitoi house where you send your little minions on missions to get you free stuff

Waiting for the giant flying whale

Love the size and scope of this castle

Puzzle quest

Another shot of the large castle

Upgrading green gear to 6 to then transferring it to blue gear

Fishing!

More upgrading gear!  Oooh... Ahhhh... pretty!

My first PvP event... I died a lot since I am well behind on level