I walked away from last week’s Star Wars: The Old Republic livestream pretty happy. Considering that I repeatedly say how much I absolutely loathe information presented as a video rather than just a nice solid block of text, that says something. When I returned to SWTOR, it was after a two-year break from the game that followed reasonably close on the heels of Rise of the Hutt Cartel. I enjoyed that expansion, but what kind of dragged me to a halt with the game was my general disinterest about Star Wars combined with the fact that the endgame was the same unpleasant mire that wasn’t doing World of Warcraft any favors then or now. It’s important to note that when I left, the game had been my main go-to game for quite some time. Now, of course, The Force Awakens managed to kindle a heretofore unprecedented affection for the franchise in me (a discussion of that would be outside of this particular article’s wheelhouse) and my wife and I couldn’t help but go … [Read more...] about How Star Wars: The Old Republic won me over with its endgame
Ub40 bring me your cup
Massively Overthinking: What’s your favorite MMORPG swag of all time?
In a conversation about the recent Starflight 3 Fig campaign – which you won’t see covered here since it’s not multiplayer, but let me throw in an OMG and a squeeee right now anyway – a guildie of mine wondered aloud whether anyone really cares about art books in these campaigns. I’m with him; art books aren’t my thing. I probably wouldn’t pay for soundtracks either since YouTube is awash in free video game music. On the other hand, I am a sucker for maps. I still have my original Ultima Online cloth map, for example, as well as my City of Heroes maps, the latter of which I used to hang on my walls because I never could freaking remember which line went where. This game doesn’t even exist formally anymore, but I still have my maps! I thought it would be a fun question to post to the team and the readers for this week’s Massively Overthinking: What’s your favorite MMORPG swag of all time? What was the game? Is it from a … [Read more...] about Massively Overthinking: What’s your favorite MMORPG swag of all time?
Why I Play: Trove’s Geode changed me from a visitor to a player
Play Trove for freeTrove’s Geode expansion has been a game-changer – and I mean it in more ways than one. The latest update/expansion to the colorful voxel-based game did indeed offer a major big change to the game as players knew it. Launched a month ago, Geode introduced not just a new zone but a whole new world filled with new NPC for Trovians to visit and work with. More than that, the entirety of the activities offered there are non-combat! That is quite a departure from how the game worked before (and how it still works in Trovian lands). But that is only half the story: Geode is a game-changer for me personally. It drew me into the game. Despite all of the neat and fun things Trove had and did prior to this, I never felt a hook. Previously, I’d hop in to peek at new content or play through an event just to get a mount or ally, but that was it; once I had my new little friend, I’d leave. With Geode, however, I have been logging in regularly every week. Now … [Read more...] about Why I Play: Trove’s Geode changed me from a visitor to a player
Rabbini Cup Event Brings the World Cup to Riders
Riders of Icarus has been updated with the news that the Rabbini Cup event has arrived in game. In a way, it brings a bit of the World Cup to riders everywhere. The event allows players to choose the Rabbini that represents the real-world nation they wish to support in order to receive the Country Trophy Booster. A number of other events are included in the update: Rabbini Cup familiar training Familiar Adventure Gathering Air Victorious Fishing Rabbini Outbreak Field & Dungeon Event Players will also receive a free character slot increasing the maximum number of characters per account from 6 to 7. Read the full update notes on the Riders of Icarus site. … [Read more...] about Rabbini Cup Event Brings the World Cup to Riders
Dear Google, Now Please Don’t Bring Back Your Google Reader…
…Now that Google Reader is almost dead. As you probably know Google announced last month that they’re officially shutting down its popular RSS reader, Google Reader, on July 1st, 2013. My reaction was almost the same as Hitler’s reaction. Hitler finds out Google Reader is shutting down But now I no longer care about Google Reader and in fact I don’t want Google to bring back their Google Reader as Feedly is just too awesome. Feedly is the biggest winner with Google Reader’s death as over 3 million new users have joined Feedly ever since the announcement of Google Reader’s death. Feedly was not a perfect alternative to Google Reader but then guys at Feedly did a great job after Google Reader’s retirement news. And with one of its recent update the Feedly even mimics Google Reader in terms of appearance as they added a "Title Only View". Now the only problem with Feedly is that you need a browser extension to access the web version and … [Read more...] about Dear Google, Now Please Don’t Bring Back Your Google Reader…