I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!

Official propaganda for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.



And let's not forget to blow some shit up.

Feb 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

My February gaming was a letdown.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for January below.  The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.

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Game of the Month


Mass Effect
Cost: $4.99 (Steam Holiday Sale)
Played: 5 hrs
3-words: Sucked, gets better.





My game of the month was Mass Effect; in honor of the release of Mass Effect 2 this month.

Mass Effect is growing on me.  At first I despised the combat and drawn out conversations.  Mass Effect has one of the worst introductions to an RPG that I've ever played.  There was nothing in the first four hours of the game that made me jump for joy.

However, I now have a feel for the game and have let the cards fall where they may.  I'm picking up steam, rock hopping across the galaxy and sticking to the main storyline.  I find the side quests easily and best avoided.  I didn't log as many hours I had hoped this month, but I do still plan to finish Mass Effect.

March's GotM: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

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/Played

In the /Played section, I cover other games I played during the month.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Beta

I love the Battlefield games.  Bad Company 2 is the next great title in the series and I spent most of my gaming time with it this month.  From my initial impressions post:

The first thing that struck me about Bad Company 2 (BC2) was it's destructive nature. As can be seen in the video, almost every wall and obstacle can be destroyed. This was something promised back in the days of Battlefield 2 and only partially realized in BC1. BC2 takes it to another level. No wall, box, barrel, or cement slab seems safe. Annoying sniper on the third floor three buildings down? Level the first two buildings and smoke that fucker out.

The full version goes live March 2nd and I am dedicating most of March to this great game!

Allods Online Open Beta

Its been an up and down month for Allods Online and its open beta.  I put a few hours in and have Healer and Scout leveling slowly, but surely.  Regardless of how the cash shop debacle turns out, I have to admit that Allods is a fun game to play in its free version.  That's why its so disheartening that the upcoming game changes could kill the fun.

Also, my Allods Online guide is coming along nicely.

Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2, like most of Valve's games never gets old.  I hooked up and rocked out for some great VS. matches on The Parish campaign.  The finale, bridge map for The Parish is one of my favorites.

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/Paid

Total spent this Month: $49.99
My Value Rating: Average

Bad Company 2 was expensive at $49.99.  I would have felt more comfortable at a $35 price point.  However, I was fortunate enough to receive a $75 "points" card as a bonus from work.  One of the few things it can be used on is a prepaid card usable on Steam games.  That is the only reason I shelled out $49.99 for this game.

I have now used up $105.16 of my $180 gaming budget for 2010.  Stay tuned each month to see if I can stay on track!

Calm Down! SecuROM DRM in Battlefield: Bad Company 2

I hate DRM as much as the next person, SecuROM being one of the worst offending DRM schemes out there.  However, the heat that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is taking for including this DRM is out of proportion to the facts of the DRM works.  Fortunately, we have level-headed redditor, SnakeDiver, to steer us through the fog.  He posted a great response to a comment in /r/gaming over on Reddit.com.

I've capture the comment in its entirety:

If you have been following BF:BC2's blog then you would have read How BC2 Uses Copy Protection .

Of course it's going to be disabled by pirates. It's inevitable. All it is is a deterrent. But SecuROM doesn't run like it has in the past in BC2.

• It runs only when the game runs, and really only does anything on first launch.
• It's a wrapper contained within the EXE. Launch the EXE and SecuROM does it's check and game goes
• It doesn't install anything into the Kernel

In reality PB is more invasive then this SecuROM. The only thing annoying is the download limits. I wish they'd have a smart activation server, not just a "limit to 5 installs" server. With the smarts being, unlimited installs but if you install X times within X geographically dispersed locations within X amount of time, we're going to block your key.

Complain about real piss-poor DRM such as UbiSoft's "always-on DRM". BC2's DRM is, for the most part, non-invasive as DRM should be. I don't care if they want to protect their code as long as it doesn't get in the way of my use of the product (or of other products).

Again, I don't like DRM. Pirates are already playing BFBC2 on pirated servers, days before the official launch. However, DRM is a fact of life for PC gaming and voting with my wallet is the only way I can let game companies know what I think of their DRM schemes.

I vote for Valve's games on Steam, because Steam offers more than just DRM protection for the games. I didn't vote for EA's last DRM disaster, Spore, and its originally planned "phone home every 10 minutes" DRM. I will NOT vote for any of Ubisoft's new "always-on DRM". I will and have voted for the new SecuROM bundled with BFBC2. its not perfect, but its not as terrible as it once was.

A Self-Serving PC Gaming Wish-List

It's not my birthday, but I was inspired by Alec Meer's birthday post over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

I want these things.

• A Free 2 Play Warhammer Online.
• A fantasy-based EVE Online (where is World of Darkness anyways?).
• A Shadowbane that doesn't make me want to vomit on my keyboard.
• Battlefield 1942 recreated in Battlefield: Bad Company 2's engine, destructible environments and all.
• An announcement from 38 studios on what their MMOG will be.
• To figure out what ever happened to Project Offset.
• Some sort of hypno-therapy that makes me incredible at FPS games overnight.
• To never see or hear the phrase “dumbed-down” again
• A loaf of bread.
• My kid's two front teeth (teething sucks btw)

NOTE: Yes, I stole a couple of Alec's ideas and changed or did not change the words slightly.

Sunshine for Allods Online?

Keen has a post up: A Ray of Hope for Allods Fans

Today’s communication from gPotato shed some light on a few things we’ve been having to deal with over the past week. First off they debunked the rumor that the original dev team was no longer working on the game. Second, they addressed the cash shop prices stating, “we are actively working on new pricing options to accommodate the masses.”

While we don't know what the final verdict is yet; Keen stated something a lot of Allods players feel.

What gPotato needs to realize coming out of all of this is that the people who enjoy the game are willing to spend money.

Allods players, for the most part, are willing to pay to play the game at a reasonable price. However, I disagree with Keen's next statement:

Yeah, it’s a cash shop microtransaction model game. We know that we’re going to be forced into the cash shop because that is an intrinsic property. That doesn’t bother us anymore.

I don't want to play a game that forces me into its cash shop. It is NOT intrinsic to the business model and does more damage to the game than good. A cash shop should be about convenience, not necessity. The game should make me want to spend money, not punish me for not spending.

I think I am the minority in this. All along I didn't feel the discussion should have been about the cash shop. It should have been about how poorly thought out the game changes were. Removing mana/health regeneration skills, changing the Fear of Death debuff, and increasing the leveling curve are dumb changes for the game. I could care less that I can "buy" my way past these changes, at any price.

Over at Serial Ganker, sid67 lays out his view in response to my original thoughts.

Heartless_ is making the argument that we would hate this type of penalty in any game. He argues that if this change were made in a subscription game, players would still be up in arms about it. Very true. But with one critical difference, in Allods, you can PAY to avoid the penalty.

sid67 is one of the more balanced writers I've found in the MMOG blogosphere. This shows just how much of a minority my line of thinking is. I'm pushing against the conversation about the cash shop, because I want to discuss Allods Online as a game, business model agnostic. The reality is that Allods Online is a poor example, at this point barring any changes, of the microtransaction model.

I have the problem of having a happy-go-lucky vision of Free 2 Play games and the micro transaction model. One whereby players pay for microtransactions that enrich their gameplay experience, while the base game is playable and satisfying within itself. Developers have the right to make money with the game, but at some point, forcing players into a cash shop tells me the game would have been better off in a subscription model.

I must accept my minority view and move on. I'm still playing Allods and depending on where the game changes go, will determine if I continue playing. I don't want to feel like I'm forced into paying for cash shop items; at any price.

Steam Update Incoming

Valve has released a beta version of the new Steam client:

As of today, a new version of Steam is available through a public opt-in beta, open to all Steam users. This Steam update provides several major upgrades to the platform's core functionality. We've overhauled the Steam user interface to enhance the way you already buy and play games, adding more info about the things that matter — getting games, playing them with friends, and staying current in the gaming world.

If you already have Steam installed on your computer, you can take part in the beta by clicking this link and then selecting "2010 UI Update" under Beta Participation. If you don't have Steam installed, download it today.

I'll update this post to leave my impressions tonight when I am back at home.

UPDATE:

I've installed the update. It looks very clean. The major difference can be noticed on the My Games screen, where the ugly old list of games has been replaced by a fancy new list of games. When a game's name is clicked on the new list, a basic description, screenshot, handy list of links, and your total playtime for that game is displayed. For example, Left 4 Dead 2 from my Steam install:

 

Unfortunately, not all areas were given the once over for a new visual look.  The Steam community page is still its same old self.  Hopefully Valve will look into giving a bit of new spin to that page at some point (it needs it).

Overall I like the new look.  

gPotato and Astrum Nivel respond to Allods Online debate

gPotato and Astrum Nival have responded to the community outrage over the recent Allods Online changes.

Over the last several days, the Allods team has been spending a lot of time listening to player feedback. We’ve noticed that two of the biggest topics this weekend have been regarding rumors of Astrum Nival remaining as the developers for Allods and what our future plans are for the item shop. We wanted to take a moment to address these topics and clear up some of the general questions many of you may have.

The original Astrum Nival developers are no longer involved in Allods!

False!

The original development team for Allods Online is still 100% involved in developing Allods.

To provide everyone insight on the situation let’s take a trip down memory lane. The developers for Allods Online were originally known as Nival Online. On July 6th, 2009 Nival Online merged with Astrum Online Entertainment and became what most people know them as, Astrum Nival. Then on December 1st, 2009, Mail.ru merged with Astrum Online Entertainment. Astrum Online Entertainment operates Astrum Nival, the development studio which developed our beloved game, Allods Online.

In any case, the original developers are intact – they just have a new company name. The original vision of Allods Online is still being followed by the developers. Allods Online is in great hands and is being actively developed!

Item shop prices are overpriced, what is gPotato doing about this?

As we mentioned in our official statement last week, the Allods team is well aware of the situation. We can’t apologize enough for the stir and shock it’s caused within the community and the lack of communication we had beforehand with not evolving you, the players, in our decision making process.

We want to make clear that this is something we are not taking lightly. We are not sitting and waiting just to see how many dollars we’re going to make over the next four weeks. It is very clear to us that players are already disgruntled with the situation and we are actively working on new pricing options to accommodate the masses. However, we ask the Allods community to please be patient with the situation! Adjustments like this cannot happen overnight. That’s why we continually encourage everyone to submit constructive feedback to us regarding your opinion about both the game and the item shop. In fact, we started a forum thread that we will be checking on an hourly basis here.

The Allods team works hard on this game and loves it just as much as many of you do. When we see a problem we want to address it and take the most appropriate actions that make sense for both the players and the game. With that said, we encourage everyone to voice your opinion, even if it’s about something you absolutely hate, just please do so in a constructive manner.

Thank you everyone for your continued support! As we’ve said many times, the Allods fans are some of the best gamers in the world – we really appreciate that!

First, they dispelled the conspiracy theory that the original developers were gone. Still, that is a lot of merging and there are reports out of Russia that mail.ru is a less than reputable online-games operator.

The price hike in the cash shop does not appear to have been a mistake as first assumed (they literally multiplied the prices by 10 for everything which made it seem like an obvious mistake).

The changes to Fear of Death, mana/health regen, and leveling speed are not addressed in the post directly, but are the catalyst of the problem. I sincerely hope that Astrum Nival and gPotato realize the prices aren't the problem, its them crippling the game to force players into the cash shop. The cash shop should be about convenience, not necessity.

They have brought up a forum thread to collect feedback.

Forget about the Allods Online cash shop, this is dumb for any business model

It never fails that a game implodes while I am away for the weekend.  This time around it was Allods Online.

In the beginning of the early closed betas, I was not worried about the Allods Online cash shop.  The game in closed beta proved to me and many other players to be playable without any cash shop items.  The cash shop was going to about convenience.  The only thing that was going to change that was a game breaking patch.  Barring that single situation, Allods Online was shaping up to be a delightful game.

Unfortunately, game breaking changes just so happen to have been slated for patch 1.0.07.07, which contains changes best summed up by Keen:

Guess what was in these notes? Game breaking changes to the cash shop. Being resurrected by other players now gives you Fear of Death (the death debuff). In Heroic instances, which you can not leave, this essentially means you must have perfume to remove the debuff. Clearly promises are broken here. Given that the NA version must pay $13.50 for a stack of 20 perfume, the math was done and we’re looking at over $50 / month in order to participate in end-game PvE. Top it all off? Fear of Death now lasts 2 hours at level 40.

Lets forget about the cash shop for a minute; these changes don't make sense for any business model.  Unavoidable, hours long death penalties?  In a game designed to have players die repeatedly?  This is a classic case of the punishment (fear of death) not fitting the crime (death).  I would have as much of a problem with these changes in a subscription game where I would have to grind away my time for perfume, something more valuable to me than my cash. 

Bringing the cash shop back into the conversation highlights how dumb these changes are.  Either change was bad by itself, but combined they are a nightmare.  Its not a question of players wanting to be free riders.  Many players were more than willing to pay for Allods Online (me included).

The power of the micro-transaction model is it's ability to attract players in at all buy-in levels.  Those willing to spend $5 are given options while those willing to spend $50 can do so as well.  Pricing every single thing in the cash shop out of that lower bracket, while simultaneously forcing players into the cash shop goes against the grain of the business model.  At that point, the game is better off in a subscription model.

Stay tuned for more commentary on this subject.  I think people, again, are losing focus because this involves micro transactions.  Hopefully, we can steer this conversation back to just how stupid the planned game changes are.

It’s not Battle.net, it’s me

I was less than thrilled to hear about the new Battle.net. I commented on other blogs that this new Battle.net was five years too late. I don’t want every new game to launch with its own developer tie-in service. I want simplicity; consolidation. For me that was Steam. Sadly, Blizzard has shown no move towards Valve’s digital distribution platform and as Blizzard has always been a heavy box sales driven company, it’s a pipe dream. I don’t like the idea of Blizzard’s new toy, but it’s me that’s at fault, not the new Battle.net.

I can’t accept that I have to maintain an EA, Steam, Games for Windows Live, NCSoft, SOE Station, Galanet, Gamespy, Rockstar, Battle.net, and God knows what else account. Whatever happened to launching a game.exe, typing in a display name, and hitting play? Where the hell is the OpenID or Facebook Connect of PC games? Even my cherished Steam platform is becoming a hindrance as the majority of games I play do not integrate with my Steam login for multiplayer or friends tracking, meaning for the majority of games I own via Steam I am logging in twice to play (thank God for the invention of the auto login features).

Battle.net will be successful and heralded as an industry standard. It is a Blizzard product after all. However, I don’t like the trend of every publisher/developer having their own separate platform trying to lock me into or out of their games. Hopefully my complaint has been noted and quickly dismissed somewhere within this crazy landscape of what we call PC gaming.

The New Battle.net

With the "eye in the sky" opinion out the way, lets get to the new Battle.net.  Ars Technica has a preview. It appears to have the usual Blizzard polish and is probably ready to go live now, but I suspect we won't see it until Starcraft 2 hits the shelves.

Nothing from the article is groundbreaking. The new Battle.net features streamlined matchmaking for Blizzard games with integrated social networking. It is what most expected and the Blizzard polish will seal the deal.

Conclude

I almost kind of wish it was opened to more than just Blizzard games, but as a long time Steam (and Steamworks) observer, I understand that even giving access away to a digital platform for free doesn't mean any of the larger developers will pay it any attention.  After all, that would be crazy. They can just make their own flavor!

Initial Impressions: Allods Online Open Beta

Allods Online launched into open beta this week and I've had a few hours to spend with it. I'm playing with the League faction as Heartless the Priest or Favre the Ranger on the Tensess server.  The open beta has been great so far and in classic Heartless_ style, here is a pro/cons list:



Pros

- Runs like a dream with little to no video or net lag.
- The visual style and game play is directly comparable to World of Warcraft. This works to the benefit of Allods Online.
- Leveling is well-paced. Not too fast, not too slow. There are enough quests to go around at each level.
- Combat is smooth and enjoyable.
- Class mechanics are unique to each class.

Cons

- Runs like a dream, but at the price of a view distance that can be measured in inches.
- Quest objectives and areas are camped into extinction.
- The general chat is a never ending debate about World of Warcraft.
- Questions about the Cash Shop are unanswered currently. The details seem to change every week.
- No auto attack.
- Chat interface needs improvement.

Overall I am really enjoying my time in Allods Online's open beta. As characters won't be wiped for launch, Feb 16th is the true Allods launch date. The greatest thing it has going is the free 2 play business model. This allows me to enjoy the game casually without the worry of maintaining a subscription. I can come back and play whenever I want and when I have more time to dedicate to the game, I can spend a few dollars in the Cash Shop to improve that dedicated time. Allods Online is going to be a popular game and I will be very interested to see how financially successful it can be.