There is such a thing as a Free Lunch

It’s FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! (Remember this guy from those commercials? I took three years of French and can’t say a word, I remembered this dudes name was Matthew Lesko so I could google image search him, go figure)

It feels strange to speak of “the olden days” of gaming and be talking about 2004.  That’s when Blizzard released World of Warcraft and basically changed how people thought about games with a monthly subscription.  A niche Everquest audience was suddenly ten million people strong, all handing over cash on a monthly basis.  On some level almost all the major players have been chasing that same thing since, be it Call of Duty with its Elite service (which for the record, according to an IGN article posted earlier this week, has about 10 million subscribers, go figure) or Bioware’s banking that the Star Wars license will make The Old Republic into the next behemoth of the mmo space.  Sadly for them, it’s not.  It’s not that the game is bad but that the market has changed.  The future is free.

Mass Effect 3 SPOILERS!

I think anybody reading this will know what’s up by now.  Mass Effect 3′s ending angered many a fan to the point where they were demanding changes.  Conspiracy theories abound!  The REAL ending was going to be DLC in a move to make money by EA.  It’s actually something really wacky called Indocrination Theory that makes Bioware about 10x smarter than most of us.  Bioware hates children and supports disease….ok that’s not true, but judging by the level of freak out by some, it seems that way.  As hard as it was to not weigh in my review, I wanted to keep that spoiler free.  THIS ARTICLE IS GOING TO BE FULL OF SPOILERS.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.  I’m glad I waited because today Bioware announced that the “Mass Effect Extended Cut DLC” will be coming this summer and will be free.  Is this a good idea?  Did fans get what they want or destroy the creative process for all game developers in the future?  What of the children?!  Let’s discuss.

Mass Effect 3

Obviously this has been a long time coming.  The Mass Effect series is not just a universe in which three games are set.  It is basically one enormous continuing game.  Bioware told us from the start that decisions made in the first game would be carrying over to both two and three.  So now Mass Effect 3 is finally here.  With the expectations of two whole games weighing down on it, Bioware set themselves up to end the series in a spectacular fashion.  More than anything in the series, it’s the characters that captivated me.  Yes, I care about the fate of the universe, but I care even more so about the fate of Shepard, Tali, Liara, Garrus, Wrex, Grunt, Jack, and all the other squad mates that helped me throughout.  Except for James, I didn’t really care what happened to him.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Impressions

So confession my dear readers (all…four of you?).  I almost forgot to write this article because I was playing the game it’s about.  In fact it took Tophat to remind me that it was Friday!  We talked a bit about the latest MMO to hit the market, The Old Republic.  And I think I said something quite telling about the game in that conversation, without even thinking about it.  When he asked me how the game was, I responded with “I’m enjoying the single player.”  Wait, WHAT?!  This is an MMO.  Massive Multiplayer is in the genre.  As it stands now though,  the game seems very divided.  It’s this division that makes it both a unique game in the MMO space, but one whose power to retain a player base for a long period of time is in question.

Star Wars:The Old Republic beta impressions

So Bioware was nice enough to grant me beta access to their biggest game ever;  Star Wars MMO The Old Republic.  And by grant me access I mean I could play the game for three days.  I was hoping for more, but I managed to get a few hours in over thanksgiving weekend while working retail.  Last I checked there are already over 2.5 million pre orders for this game, with many calling it the MMO that will finally beat World of Warcraft.  The power of the Star Wars license is strong and will draw many to the game, but the real question is whether or not it has the staying power to keep people playing once the allure of having playing around in the Star Wars universe starts to fade.  Obviously, I can’t answer that question based off my limited play time.  However I can say that the game truly impressed me in some ways…and had me greatly concerned in others.

Dragon Age 2: Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

I was a fan of the first Dragon Age game.  The characters were memorable, the story and world gleamed with that Bioware quality they always put into such things, and the combat encouraged actual tactics.  However, the old school style of just choosing exactly what you want to say in conversations via big blocks of text left something to be desired, especially after Bioware’s OTHER nerdgasm, Mass Effect, used a fully voiced main character.    Dragon Age definitely has a place in my gaming heart though which made me very excited to for Dragon Age 2.  After playing the game, I found it difficult to truly decide if Dragon Age 2 was a great game or something slightly less.  Some of the character interactions and plot points are as incredible as anything Bioware has done to this point, but for every “woah!” moment there seems to be a “meh” to balance it out.  I enjoyed my 40 plus hours with game immensely, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it could have been better.

The Old Republic is feeling old already

Oooohhhh Bioware. I love you guys, I really do. Between Knights of the old Republic 1 and 2, the Mass Effect Series, and Dragon Age, I’ve never had a bad time playing your games. As a huge Star Wars fan, I was super excited to see you were working on another game set in that universe. When I realized it was an MMO, I grew a little concerned.