Holy Helene!

We are safe.  Lots of trees down and damaged homes in the area.  Power will be out for a few days probably.  So much for Throne and Liberty early access! 

A picture of some damage on the street. Yes those are power lines under the downed trees!!

Initial Impressions: Deadlock

 Valve’s new project, Deadlock, has landed in a surprise invite-only alpha test, and I found it to be a mixed bag. It’s a shooter-MOBA hybrid that, while ambitious, feels like it’s struggling to figure out what it really wants to be. There’s potential here but there’s a long way to go before this one can be called a hit.

 Deadlock has you running around as a hero, shooting at enemies while juggling MOBA-style lane control and minion management. Movement’s a big focus—you can dash, double jump, and wall run, which sounds great until you realize that these mechanics are not for your average gamer. It’s fun when it works, but for anyone who hasn’t mastered both the art of twitch shooting and MOBA strategy, good luck. The learning curve is steep, and for players like me, it feels frustrating.

  Visually, Deadlock isn’t anything groundbreaking. If you’ve played Fortnite, Overwatch, or any number of other recent Valve games or hero shooters, you’ll know what to expect. What’s more interesting is the setting: prohibition-era New York with occult undertones (forget where I saw this description but I'm stealing it). It’s an unexpected backdrop and what sold me on the game, but it feels like a wasted theme on a MOBA.

  The community’s early reactions, which are, unsurprisingly, all over the place. Some players are digging the mashup of genres and are already organizing tournaments which seems a bit crazy considering the game is in early testing and things change every couple of days.  The biggest issue though has been the invite system where other testers can invite friends to play.  It was (and may still be) plagued with issues.  It took me weeks to get access where others got an invite within hours.  The invite approach has also clogged most community channels with requests or offers of invites instead of discussion about the game.

  In the end, Deadlock is promising, but it didn't grab me. Valve has time to make major changes—it’s still in alpha, after all—but as it stands its just a MOBA skinned in a unique theme. Keep an eye on it if you’re curious, but don’t be surprised if it falls short of expectations if you thought it was something new.

Getting ready for Throne and Liberty global launch

Here we go... again...

 With Throne and Liberty early access just two days away (9/26), I’m gearing up to hit the ground running. For those of you who’ve been following along, you already know I’m no stranger to MMORPGs, and the prep before launch can make or break your experience with a game. I’m not about to be that player running around clueless while everyone else is racing ahead. So, here’s the rundown of what I’m doing to make sure I’m ready to dominate from day one in Throne and Liberty.

 First up, I’m looking for a guild since my regular group isn’t fully committing to Throne (a few of them are jumping in, but not enough for a real guild push). Since the game is so guild-focused, it’s going to be important to join a solid group if I want to get my hands on the best gear and participate in guild objectives. Being part of a competent guild is going to be important when it comes to progressing gear and making the most of what the game has to offer.

 Next up is setting my sights on a build for my character. Throne uses a classless system, so your entire build comes from the items you equip and the upgrades you make to those items. From all accounts and my limited beta experience, the decisions you make in upgrading gear are very important to get right. Items can be changed later, but it gets progressively harder the further you go (or more expensive if you’re swiping your card to buy your gear for builds).

 My likely choice for a build will be Sword and Shield/Wand. This is a paladin-style build, and I’ve always been a long-standing fan of the paladin class. It’s also a tank build, and tanks are always in demand for group PvE content, plus they play a key role in the large-scale group PvP content. As for the details of the build—well, that’s still TBD. I need to do some homework, since a lot has changed since the last beta we played.

 Another important decision is whether I’m going to play early access or not. I’d love to dive into early access, but I’ve got a weekend trip that will keep me away for most of that time so I'd only benefit from a day or two of early access. There are other benefits to the early access package, so it’s not just about playing earlier (though that’s the main draw). If I wait for the regular launch, I can jump in for free instead of dropping $40+ on an early access package, which is a pretty compelling reason to hold off.

 I’m not sure if Throne will be a long-term MMORPG for me, but I definitely want to give it a try. New World Aeternum launches on October 15th, and I know that’s going to pull me back in, which will put some pressure on my time to play Throne. But hey, that’s a good problem to have with so many great games on the horizon!

 How are you getting ready for Throne and Liberty?

Get hyped for New World Aeternum with this fan made trailer!

 New World Aeternum is only a couple weeks away (Oct 15th launch) and I ran across this fan made trailer to help get you hyped!

New World : This is Aeternum - Fan Made Trailer
byu/toto77170 innewworldgame

Sunday 9/22 Post

 With the highest rated QB in the league over the past two weeks the Green Bay Packers dominated the Tennessee Titans this Sunday!  And that was just with our GOAT backup QB Malik Willis.

Sunday 9/15 Post

 The Green Bay freaking Packers beat the Colts.... with a backup QB!  A backup that joined the team less than a month ago.  A backup... that... played well and didn't make mistakes.  Granted; the Colts were not the biggest challenge but Malik Willis showed tons of promise with the absence of Jordan Love due to injury.

 Go Pack Go!

Throne and Liberty Early Access vs Full Launch Servers

 Throne and Liberty dropped some updated information for the early access and full launch servers here. Some thoughts below but first the important text blurb copied for posterity (and to save you a click):

Text version:

Early Access & Full Launch Servers

We saw some questions from the community regarding how Early Access Servers and Full Launch Servers are planned to work and interact with each other. Our goal is to design a system that provides non-early access users the same fresh server opportunity as early access players. Please refer to the early access section in the TL Business Model - What to Expect article for more information.

Early Access Servers are the set of servers that open on September 26 at 10AM PST (5PM UTC) before launch on October 1 at 10AM PST (5PM UTC). After the full launch on October 1, all new servers opening will be part of the Full Launch Server group.

We want to provide some additional clarity on how these servers will work. Here’s a quick summary, with more specifics below the following items.

1. Once both groups of servers are live, players can create new characters on Early Access or Full Launch Servers at any time, subject to population caps. If you begin playing at full launch and want to join your friends on an Early Access Server, you may create a character there on October 1 regardless of whether or not you purchased an Early Access Pack.

2. Players can transfer from Full Launch Servers to open Early Access Servers at any time.

3. We will offer limited-time free transfers to all players from September 26 through October 17.

4. Early Access Servers will eventually have their transfer restriction lifted.

My comments:

 This alleviates fears that the Early Access servers were going to be walled off from players joining later or from any player that didn't buy an early access package.  This is great news for those of us looking to jump in at regular launch but have friends on early access.  Not only can you start characters there but you can also transfer to the early servers.  To go with it they are offering free transfers for the first few weeks of the game!  At some point in the future players will be able to transfer off of early access to regular (which makes sense, letting players transfer off of early access to regular servers just launching would give them a huge advantage).

Tuesday 9/10 Post

 She thinkin' what the rest of us thinkin'

WTF he just say?

 

Monday Screenshots: A Tale of Two Deadlock Games

 I played Deadlock (Valve's new FPS MOBA) a good bit last week and over the weekend.  One of the more surprising hero choices I've picked up on is Mo & Krill.  While there are two characters you control them as a single unit with a melee brawler style.  Specifically a tunnel-under-the-ground brawler style.  

 I started out hot in my first game playing as Mo & Krill and bombed out in the second. Scoreboards below.  Fortunately my team still won both matches.

 First a look at Mo & Krill:

Scoreboards:

13-2 K/D!  Easily my best game of Deadlock

 

 

1-14 K/D!?  Easily one of my worst games of Deadlock... but we still won!

Friday 9/6 Post

 NFL football on a Friday!?  In Brazil!  It did not go well for the Green Bay Packers.  Failure to turn early Eagles mistakes into more points cost them at the end of the game (sounds familiar... hmmm).  Then with mere seconds left the unthinkable happens and Jordan Love goes down with a knee/ankle injury.  Thanks a lot Brazil!