Video Game Tuesday: Shadowkeep’s Seasonal Content Is Not OK

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m once more upset with Bungie. It’s why Shadowkeep’s Seasonal Content Is Not OK!

Seasonal Content?: So let’s get this out of the way first. I haven’t played Shadowkeep, I didn’t receive a review copy and I have no desire to get back into a game that I love to hate on, unless I get asked to do so. That being said the plan outlined about a month and a half ago by Luke Smith regarding future content with Destiny 2 is completely unacceptable in my eyes. It involves limited time content that will take tens, if not hundreds, of hours of player’s time and throw it all away forever. They gave an example using the Black Armory content, where it’d ramp up over the course of a single season (about 3 months real time) and by the end of it all the main activities introduced in that season would be gone forever, including all the loot and activities. That’s not okay in a game like Destiny. Fortnite and games like it get away with it because it’s a purely PvP game at it’s core. Sure you can ignore the competition parts and go complete certain Battle Pass objectives in a match, but that really isn’t what the game is about.

Destiny on the other hand is all about the power fantasy and getting cool guns. If they remove the ability to get certain guns forever that’s not okay. People who join late, or even people who have unfortunate circumstances in their actual lives that prevent them from playing during that season like say a hurricane flooding your home, are completely and utterly screwed over. It’s a weaponized form of FOMO, or the Fear Of Missing Out, and that’s a completely predatory and unacceptable practice on Bungie’s part. It proves, at least to me, once and for all that Bungie doesn’t really care about their player base and it’s one of the biggest reasons I’ll not be going back to Destiny 2 unless I’m asked to do so with a review copy. If I had lost the ability to gain Vex Mythoclast in Destiny 1 when The Dark Below launched I would’ve been incredibly upset and I know I’m not the only one who would feel that way.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday.

Bookish Wednesday: Io Online by Dave Willmarth

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m covering the first in another LitRPG series. It’s Io Online, Book 01 of The Greystone Chronicles, by Dave Willmarth!

Plot Synopsis: In the latter half of the 21st century, Alexander and his guild mates play Io Online for fun and to earn a living. It’s the largest VRMMORPG on the planet, and the source of income that supports families around the globe. Given the chance to test a new experimental immersion system, the friends must give up their high level characters and begin again at level one….

Plot: The plot is pretty great, in fact it’s one of the better LitRPGs out there. I’m looking forward to listening to the sequel quite a bit. While there are plenty of standard plot devices that occur, they are utilized in such a way that it isn’t grating, at least to me.

Characters: Alex is our main character and PoV for most of the story. He’s a great lead character, and while he’s not the best I’ve ever seen I found myself enjoying his story quite a bit. The rest of the cast is also pretty awesome.

Overall: A good LitRPG and one of the better ones out there. Definitely worth a read if you love games or good Fantasy.

For those who like: LitRPGs, Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Awesome Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Video Game Tuesday: Most Hated Mission Type

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m covering my most disliked quest genre in all of gaming. It’s my Most Hated Mission Type!

What is it?: Escort Missions, or Quests. I freaking hate doing these missions because I almost always feel like I have to babysit the NPC I’m escorting, who will do nothing but get into trouble and cause me grief.

Really?: Yeah, so I guess my hatred of the mission first really appeared with my time playing Vanilla WoW as an Alliance player in the Westfall zone. As anyone who played during that time will probably remember, that is the first zone most Alliance players will be in that allowed PvP on PvP servers. There’s one specific quest chain that was in the zone that dealt with the first dungeon many Alliance players would ever encounter, The Deadmines. The very last quest before the one that led to you being instructed to actually venture into the dungeon required you to escort an NPC to the entrance of the building that led into the dungeon. You were required to defeat many spawned enemies, in an area that was full of annoying rogue and mage type enemies as well.

In addition if you were unlucky enough to do it when a Horde player was skulking around they could easily just kill your NPC causing you to fail the quest instantly. This would mark them for PvP, but as most of these people were Rogues who could use the skill Vanish it was rather pointless trying to deal with them even if you were of the same level, which you often weren’t.

But they can’t all be bad!: Well that’s true, Bioshock Infinite for example actually had a great escort mechanic, in that not only did your companion Elizabeth not constantly draw fire onto her (she couldn’t die thank god) she also used her powers to change the battlefield to your advantage. She also threw you ammo occasionally during a firefight which would instantly refill your currently equipped weapon. But she is one of the few exceptions. Most of the time, Escort Quests are still a pain in the ass.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday. What are some of your least favorite mission types? Leave your answers in the comments below!

Serial Saturday: Our Chaoz Chapters 1-16 by SlyOkami

This week for Serial Saturday I’m back with the first few chapters in a series that’s completed. It’s Our Chaoz Chapters 1-16 by SlyOkami!

Plot Synopsis: Kyle was a simple gamer, he always picked the strangest classes or jobs and his characters almost looked the same. He played for the combat, he played for the grind and he played for his guild but above all he played for the story. Kyle is a roleplayer, one who enjoys the simple parts of this virtual life. Whether his guild was starting a war or ending one he’d always have his drammatic entrence or exit, his decleration of annihalition or demand of surrender. After all that? He divulged himself in the game’s story, the interaction with NPCS (Non Player Characters) and their advanced AI. He went through many questlines, many tales of heroics and many more adventurers of legend, but one thing always remained true with his character….

Kyle absolutely loved to the play the villain.

Plot: The plot of these first few chapters is introducing us to the main characters and really understanding what’s going on with Kyle when he starts up this new game. It’s pretty good although if you wanted a righteous main character you’re going to be highly disappointed.

Characters: We get introduced to a lot of characters, but Kyle is our main lead. The rest of the cast is just as good as Kyle though, with some nice depth to them. That being said my favorite side character is probably Sly.

Overall: A solid start to a series that thankfully is already completed.

For those who like: LitRPGs, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Drama, Action, Adventure, Fantastic Plot, Great Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Personal Status: Fully read. I’ll get to covering the rest of the series soonish.

Anime Sunday: Net-juu Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m looking at another new Fall 2017 series. It’s my Net-juu Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Morioka Moriko is a 30-year-old successful career woman who decides to quit her taxing corporate job and become an elite NEET and find a more fulfilling life. She joins an online MMORPG Fruits de Mer and creates a male character named Hayashi as her avatar. In game Hayashi meets a another character Lilly, a high level player who helps him learn the game…

Plot: The plot of this first episode is pretty decent, not super amazing but there were only a couple cringe worthy moments that occurred. I tend to have a lot more with Slice of Life series, but this being aimed at an older audience might be helpful.

Characters: Moriko is most certainly a NEET, there is one point in the episode where if you paid attention you’ll see she’s upgraded her entire computer set-up to something incredibly gamer centric. The rest of the cast is amusing, though we really didn’t a good look at anyone other than Lilly.

Art: The art is pretty good, not ufotable quality by any means, but it’s not reached the terrible level of a Studio Deen production.

Music: The music is okay, but it’s not super memorable either.

Overall: If you are a gamer, you’ll probably find Net-juu fairly amusing and worth giving a shot. Others may not find this as appealing.

For those who like: Gaming, MMOs, Slice of Life, Drama, Interesting Plot.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.