It’s A Whole New World!

Like a great many long-time Minecraft players I have gotten heavily into modded Minecraft.  I tried one or two manual installs, that didn’t go well.  Then I found Feed-The-Beast.  Talk about an eye-opener.  A plethora of wonderful mods, all in one collection, with launcher that made it easy to download and update.  Glorious!  But limited.  It didn’t take long for geek me to whack slacker me over the head and regain control.

These days I use MultiMC to control several instances of Minecraft spread across multiple versons, each with its own set of mods.  I’ve added mods to, and subtracted mods from, Feed-The-Beast that the best I can say now is that I used a no antiquated version as the basis for my worlds.

With the 1.5.1 update of Minecraft most of the standard mods I use were updated.  So it is new world time!  This time around three mods were dropped, replaced by two others.  Thaumcraft2, Red Power 2, and Steve’s Carts are gone.  In their place come Ars Magica and MineFactory Reloaded.

I just couldn’t get into Thaumcraft’s research mechanic this time around.  It was set to replace the fire-and-forget mechanic that was in TC2.  However this mechanic is a pure grind.  Instead of dropping something into the table and letting it run, now we have to drop the correct something and spam a button.  However since we didn’t get to choose what we wanted to research going for something specific often required many attempts as you kept getting other things popping into the research table first.  It got so bad that TC3 was often something that I would only start after I was well established in other mods.  Of course, by that point, TC3 was overshadowed by the benefits of those other mods.

Red Power 2, oh the love/hate relationship I have with you.  I love your red alloy wiring & logic gates, but your insistence of being obstinate almost to the point of hostility to other mods just means moving on before you’re updated stings a little, but is oh, so freeing.

Ars Magica looks to have a much progression mechanic.  IE, it is useful early on and provides increasing benefits as the player progresses.  I really haven’t tried it before so we’ll see how it goes.

MFR.  This is the reason why I stopped my 1.4.7 world and decided to jump to 1.5.1.  A few worlds back I dropped Forestry.  I never liked bees, I didn’t like the new farms, the only thing I really got from it was biofuel.  MFR provides an alternative method of automatic farming.  This, too, is why Steve’s Carts was dropped as I was only using it to provide automatic farming.  But as of this latest version MFR really nailed it.  Rednet was introduced.  Remember the Red Alloy wiring that I loved from Red Power 2?  Yeah, Rednet addresses that gap quite nicely.  I am really excited about diving into this mod!

She’s Right, We’re Not Producers…

I wanted to take a short moment to respond to Christina Norman’s rant at GDC wherein she said, “We just want to release awesome stuff. Players please, give us a chance. Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is. Stop thinking you’re a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content.”

Christina, I can understand your sentiment.  And you’re right, we’re not producers.  We’re your customers.  You remember who those are?  Yes, the people who purchase your product.  It is those purchases that is the whole point of producing a game for sale.  You want us to purchase and play the game.

If we feel slighted by day one DLC, especially on-disc DLC, or DLC which is supposed to be an enticement for a problem which doesn’t exist on our platform (in my case, PC) then we do have the right to express our displeasure.  That includes not purchasing your game.

You’re right, we’re not producers.  Our opinions do matter.  Cross those opinions at your peril.

MMO Macros

Obviously given that I consider a programmable UI as a Massively Forgotten Feature I am not opposed to Macros. However, in a recent discussion with fellow OTGers I pointed out that Macros are really just covering up something that the devs should be doing. Here is that post.

I am of a mixed mind on this. On the one hand I’m ambivalent about macros after having reduced one class in Rift to a single button. There was no case where I would want to cast one power over another if they were available. The end result was to place the powers in order of preference and spam 1 constantly. I even top-ranked PvP matches with that setup. *shudder*

On the other hand I think that they should provide some mechanic whereby a skill which modifies another can be overloaded onto the same key. For example there are three pairs of this in the Gunslinger tree alone. There’s Charged Shot and a power which makes the charged shot hit for 100% crit on the next shot. Then there’s Speed Shot and the associated modifier which instantly clears it’s cooldown and makes it so the next use has no cooldown, either. Finally there’s Nut Shot, er, Dirty Kick and Cheap Shot. Nut Shot incapacitates, Cheap Shot is only available against incapacitated enemies.

In the first two cases the second power modifies the first and chances are there is no time, at all, which I would not want the power so modified! In the third case you can’t use the second power without the first nor would there be a time when you would do the first and not follow up with the second. I like modifier skills like this. I like 1-2 combos like this. I don’t like that MMO developers require us to use up 2 slots when overloading one would do.

I know macros cover this. In fact, as a programmer, I’ve got no problems whipping up macros on a whim. But for most people macros are DEEEEEP MAGIC. What needs happen is the devs should make a simple UI mechanic to allow the non-programmers in the crowd (Hi, honey!) to overload keys. Something visual instead of the DEEEEEP MAGIC of stringing things together. Like being able to click a button and have a stack appear where you can drag & drop your powers into that stack.

Alternatively they should do what the developers of Aion did. Just make the stack already! Aion’s combat system was slick. Some of the powers you got were explicitly chained off of other powers. Some stacks would go 5 deep. In other MMOs that means for one stack you would have to do something like, 1,2,3,4,5. However in Aion they realized this would get cumbersome really quick. So instead of requiring each power have a separate button they made it so the next power in the chain appeared on the same button. So that 5 chain power resulted in pressing 1,1,1,1,1. Of course they also had branching chains, but I digress.

Point being while macros address the problem I think that they are not the resolution to the problem. It is time for the industry to stop relying on the community to band-aid over these issues when it is simple for them to resolve. If the power modifies another power, make it a pre-fab chain. If it is a 1-2 combo off another power, make it a pre-fab chain. Don’t make the end user have to jump through a hoop to get the intended result. Leave macros for the truly odd combos players come up with (Sabotage Charge into Speed Shot being my current favorite!).

P.S. the corollary to the above is that if you have more than 15 powers then anything above that should be a modifier or chain of an existing power. Finding binds for more than 15 keys is tough for most players. More powers doesn’t mean more depth. MOBAs get by with four standard and one or two optional.

Yay, Kill 10 Rats! Yay!?

The Kill Ten Rats (KTR) quest is a staple of MMOs.  Well, actually, most games when you get right down to it.  It is so named because early MMOs had newbie players tasked with something trivial, like killing 10 rats.  The format doesn’t change as you level up, either, only the rats are now goblins, or orcs, or whatever nasty critter is nearby.

TOR has a near perfect implementation of the KTR.  Almost all of TORs KTR quests are offered in the form of bonus quests.  They are completely optional.  Furthermore, most of them get completed as you work on the main objective.  So 90% of the time you complete the quest before you’re really aware you had it.  As for the other 10% of the time you’re either so close to completing that it’s hardly a hardship to hunt down the last group or two of mobs or, if you’re not close to completing it, you can just blow it off.

2011 – L.A.G.

Another quasi-revolution around the sun down, another started.  This blog is named for 3 main topics but actually has for.  Libertarian, Atheist, Gamer/Geek, Ferrets.  What did 2011 bring for each of those to my door?  Let’s just say it hasn’t been kind.

Libertarian – Ron Paul.  This past year has seen his star ascend like no other year before.  He’s one of the few politicians who I don’t only not hold in contempt, but actually respect.  So much so that the first time in my life I have contributed directly to a political candidate.  Not only that, but the media focus on him shows how biased and contemptible every major media outlet is.  He is the only voice of dissent on many major policy issues with any voice at the national level.  That it not something to be dismissed, laughed at, or treated with scorn.

Atheist – This one has been low-key.  As much as fellow Atheists may grouse about transgressions by the government, local to national, most of it has been small potatoes.  I can respect the work that several Atheist organizations have engaged in over the past year, but I can’t really get interested in it when I see otherwise rational Atheists become irrational ideologues over the small shit when we have much bigger issues facing us.  Refer to the paragraph above to get my meaning.

Gamer – Many great games were purchased and played this year.  My Steam account is closing in on 300 titles and I’ve recently become a fan of Gamer’s Gate.  But the year goes to TOR.  It was released the 13th of last month.  In the 20 days since Raptr has me at just shy of 200 hours.  I haven’t clocked that much time in any other game since such a short time since Aion.  Difference is, I’m not utterly pissed off at TOR as I was with Aion.

Geek – I still work in the tech sector.  It still sucks balls.  Linux still doesn’t get it’s just due.  I have become Google’s bitch.  My tablet computer now has a detachable keyboard which adds 8 hours of battery life.  So, win some, lose some.

Ferret – Worst year ever.  Ever.

Samson left us back in May.  He was quite old for a ferret.  Even though we knew he wouldn’t be with us long his passing was quite sudden.  But I could deal with it after a few days time.

Aesa followed her friend for life in August.  She too was old and I think she was tired of taking the medication that was helping her live day-by-day.  We fought to keep her going for two weeks but in the end did what was best for her.  Even though I held her as she passed away I think having faced up to the fact it was her time over those weeks helped ease the weight in my heart.

Come September Fex, our first ferret and youngest of our business, suddenly took ill.  He was gone less than 48 hours later.  It was completely unexpected.  For some reason it just hit me hard.  He wasn’t, isn’t, supposed to be gone yet I still find myself missing him, even now, far more than I missed Samson or Aesa.  I loved them no less.  I can only think it was that he was still appeared quite healthy for a ferret.  I never thought for an instant that he would be gone this year, or the next, or even the one after that.  Certainly not without us seeing it coming like we did with Aesa and to a lesser extent Samson.

We now have two cute-as-a-button girls, Xena and Xara.  At least they had some time with Aesa and Fex.  They never fail to put a grin on my face when I need it most.

Finally, one last event from 2012.  My wife’s mother, Ruthann, passed away back in October.  We lived in different states and my work schedule rarely gave me time to visit as often as my wife did.  But she accepted me into her home and her life.  She accepted my marriage to her daughter.  In a world where I hear of far too much strife between parents and their children’s spouse I was lucky to have had her as my mother-in-law.  She was taken from us too soon.

I know Ruthann would not approve of my words but I think she’d understand the sentiment.  Fuck you, 2011, you took more than your due.  I’m glad you’re gone.

Wait… what!?

Star Wars: The Old Republic has been released.  I have been playing heavily since the first minutes of early access. In 2 words, lovin’ it!  TOR is not without its problems, all minor and not really worth mentioning.  What Bioware set out to achieve they did in spades.  That being the story they are so famous for.

When I create characters in MMOs I need to have some basic character concept in my head.  I can’t get into the character nor the game without even having some notion of who my character is.  Even if there’s absolutely no expression of those personalities and motivations inside the game I still need to have it in my mind.

TOR isn’t the first MMO where some portions of these characters can manifest.  The basic personality peeks out from choices in weapons, powers and gear.  TOR is most certainly the first where my characters truly feel completely different.  It stems from the conversation choices as well as consequences that come with them.  My male gunslinger, Resolute, responds to conversations differently than my vanguard, Kristn.

Because of this two days ago something happened in TOR which has never happened in the 12 years I have been playing MMOs.  I was doing some solo missions on Alderaan with Resolute.  I was presented with a choice I could not answer.

Up to this point my concept of Resolute lent itself to quick answers and has resulted in a mostly light side character.  Chase all the skirts (but not the kilts), bad critters must die, slavers are bad critters, show him the money, mouth off to authority to knock’em down a peg.

This one choice was clear on what was light side and what was dark side but I never made choices based solely in those terms.  One choice took him out of the conflict, one that wasn’t his and saved a dozen lives.  The other was to tell the bad guy to piss off and start blasting.

Both choices were well within Resolute’s character.  So, for the first time in an MMO is sat and stared at a choice and had to really, truly think, “What do I do?”

This is Why Origin Sucks.

When Origin was unleashed upon the world I was one of those people who proclaimed that it sucked.  As much as I love Valve and Steam I do recognize that they need competition if for no other reason to continue to show how awesome they are.  In fact most of my recent PC gaming purchased have been through Gamer’s Gate, not Steam.  But Origin seriously rubbed me the wrong way.  Many people pointed out that Steam was no better when it was launched.  And I agree.  But this isn’t 2003 any more.  We have several digital distributors from which to purchase games.  The limitations of Origin are simply inexcusable.  How bad is it?

I pre-ordered TOR back in July through Origin because I haven’t purchased a PC game from a brick & mortar store since the release of WLK in 2008.  Since then I have canceled the credit card I used to purchase the game.  I have tried on three different occasions to update my payment information with EA.  All three times I was told by their CSRs they were not able to do that.  So here it is, 4 days from the release of TOR and I have no prospect of a serial key so I can keep playing past the 22nd.  I decided to see if I could enter payment information into Origin and settle this once and for all.  No such luck.

EA is literally preventing a paying customer from giving them money.  Origin does not facilitate them taking my money.  Seriously, what the hell!?  What kind of storefront refuses customer payment?  This is why Origin sucks!