Alex Martin's page

Bethesda has been busy! First Fallout 4, now Dishonored 2

Interesting idea that you can play as either Emily or Corvo. That connection between the two was one of the better story elements of the first game. I am curious to see if playing as different characters brings different powers and strategies. The implication is there in some of the powers she shows. Sort of like in Bioshock, where playing as Elizabeth forced you to play with a different approach than Booker.

Karnica (which appears to be the main setting) looks like it might be more of a creepy, steamy Australia as compared to the more gothic, grimy Dunwall/England. In what seems like another nod to the original Thief series (specifically Thief 2: The Metal Age), it looks like automatons/clockwork foes will be more prevalent as well. Not mention that the guy she chases down seems to have the same penchant for them.

No release date yet, but if this reveal is anything like Fallout's, then it will be sooner rather than later. Which means Bethesda's going to be getting all my money. ;-)

So Blizzard announced their latest IP:Overwatch
6 versus 6 team online, FPS-match style from the looks of it for PC only; no console based version for now.

Trailer: Overwatch Cinematic

Gameplay: Action/Character Movie

Now, the hype train is starting and Blizzard loves to make a great splash to releases. There won't be a Beta until "vaguely" 2015, so who knows what the game will look like by release in what...2-3 years from now? It looks like really cool now, but will be curious how much it changes for better and worse.

That being said, it does seem to have a positive vibe. Going Super-hero style for an FPS is a somewhat fresher than your traditional military or sci-fi shooter approach. There seems to be an emphasis on fun (how can a game not be fun with a super-gorilla PC?), and the designers have mentioned that there will be no "death-match" mode and more team-objective goals.

So - not overwhelmed but interested to see if Blizzard pull off something other than Diablo, WOW, or StarCraft.

I came across these comics recently, and thought they were a fun take on all those classic modules.The style is visceral, but well detailed and captures the "feel" of many of these old modules. I think it does a good job too of implying that in "old-school" D&D, adventurers were more large-team task forces than singular, heroic paragons. You got killed, we'll just send another bunch in after you.

Main Page

I'm leaning towards the "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" and "Ravenloft" as my favorites so far.

Interesting news.

On the one hand this seems to fly in the face of studio's and Bioshock franchise's critical and financial success. Why would Ken Levine close up what is essentially his production house? Two interesting things to take away from this:

1) 2K still retains control of the Bioshock IP. That means if they want to they can pull the same trick as with Bioshock 2 - where the game was developed by 2K Marin, not Irrational and Ken Levine. Granted - I fall into being one of those folks who thought Bioshock 2 was a good sequel, so I am not critical of this yet. I just bring it up because the next time a Bioshock fan complains that a new sequel "isn't as good without Ken Levine's input" or some-such, there's no reason to complain.

2) Levine says he wants to go back to a smaller studio with narrative driven story-games. I think this hints at something that's been going on behind the scenes for a long time when it comes to Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite - that there was the expectation that Levine could brilliantly repeat what he did after the first game. That there was pressure to make a certain type of game, but that along the way what Ken/Irrational wanted and what they thought would be successful didn't sync. It sort of boils down to the idea of the artistic vision (Levine's) versus commercial success (2K's) that happens.

Despite it's high praise, Infinite does seem to be two different games blended together at times - FPS and Narrative adventure. In light of this, I can't help but wonder about all the delays and different "game-play" previews we saw over the span of 3 years before release. Add to this the fact that we are back in Rapture for the DLCs, and I can 't help further feel like it there was a sort of "closing the door" feel for Levine/Irrational combined with a little fan pressure to finish out the series in familiar ground.

I wish these guys the best of luck and success. I'll be curious to know what the next "thoughtful narrative game" they make looks like.

So - don't know how much anyone recalls of Bullfrog's classic Dungeon Keeper (and it's sequel) from the late 90's. You can find the original ported through GOG.com, and it was an amazing series.

The game really put down the whole notion of being deliciously evil in a medieval fantasy settings. It's dark sense of humor aside, the game was one of the first to develop the "tower defense" style of game. It was one of the first games I saw to allow you to flip from overhead to 3D perspective in game. Newer games like Dungeons and Overlord, to name a couple, were clearly inspired by it. I would even say that Wizard's of the Coast's old module, Reverse Dungeon was something of an homage as well.

That being said, EA has recently released tablet versions (iOS and Android) of the original game. If you are fan of the original, you'll find it has much of the same humor and style - but visually it has gotten a much needed adjustment to modern standards. But that being said, it's turning out to be something of "pay to play" joke. You literally cannot do much outside the initial setup without paying in time or money. And by "time" I mean, it could take you a week or more to make a few spaces - let alone upgrade or build dungeon features. Almost every feature of the game has been translated into this kind of time/cash block. There's a good breakdown of the mess here.

Now before someone mentions that it's "free to play" so what should one expect; or that EA has the right to make the game however they like, etc., etc, this isn't about what whether that's good or bad. I am just saying that if you were a fan of the original games, you might be disappointed by how the game has been redone to incur this "pay to win" method. Personally, I would have paid an up-front price if I didn't have to have to deal with the intrusions. I also explain this because apparently there is some fudging going on with the app that might give the misread impression the game is 5-star awesome despite issues and critical reviews.

Bottomline - the game could be a fun redo of the game if it wasn't built in such a terrible "pay-to-play" way.

Don't know that anyone has brought this game up yet. State of Decay

While I am not a huge fan of the zombie game genre that so popular nowadays, this game as a nice mixture of sandbox-RPG and resource management.

Despite the hack n' slash combat, there is a surprising level of RPG talent-build in what your characters learn. You can focus on melee or range combat skills. Secondly, you can actually switch around between the survivors - which it gives it a more "party-maintenance" quality. You want to invest more time and energy in different characters; not just a single player I think.

Although there is a story-line that develops, the game has a great open feel/pacing as well. There are lots of mini-missions; sites for exploration; and NPC dramas that unfold. You're not necessarily railed into only doing certain things. That being sad, I do like that there is something of a "time" tension for some missions. Missing them could lead to some allies disappearing or dying or equipment that could be missed.

Another interesting element is the perma-death that can happen to your characters. If they get caught low on health and facing a zombie horde or wandering boss, it can really suck if you have invested time developing them for awhile. That, I think, adds to the tension and fear for the players - something that gets missed in a zombie apocalypse games sometimes. Reminds me too of old-school D&D games, where sometimes a bad save roll or trap could lead to character deaths.

Right now it's out on X-Box Live for about $20. There's supposed to be a PC version out around July, so it should be curious to see what changes they make. It was a bit buggy at release, but the developer has put a couple of patches that makes it even smoother and well-done.

Overall, worth a go for zombie action goodness or the exploration-game itch.

If any of you are fans of this game, please see here.
I know that phrase "nothing lasts forever" is probably the way of looking at this, but as a fan and player, I am sorry to see this happen and so unexpectedly as well. Not only was it a fairly unique Superhero MMO, but this was one of the longest running, best-managed MMO's period! It certainly stuck with me way more than WOW ever did.

I understand that in the world of online games, the economic model that COH and NCSoft used was quickly going away. They seemed to have adapted, and if anything, membership looked like it was going up with the free-mode/payer bonus system. So why they have decided to terminate the game in the midst of planning a new release doesn't but make you wonder what's going on here. Is it corporate greed? Some economic model the company has that isn't working? Any explanation feels like it would help at least soften the blow.

As a gamer and consumer, there have been few companies that have manageed to keep my brand loyalty. Paizo is one of them; Paragon Studios/Cryptic/NC Soft has been one of the few others. Depsite their gaming failures (Tabula Rasa/Auto Assault/Dungeon Runners), City of Heroes and the folks at Paragon Studios always kept a pretty good customer service and product quality in the game. Hell - it sometimes seems like the only thing keeping them afloat was COH and Guild Wars.

To the folks at Goblinworks - as you work on that new MMORPG, I think you should talk to those guys before they all get booted. I think they can give you some great insight on building a great online game; plus I'm sure they could use some employment options.

Feel like I'm rambling here, so I'm just to add to those who play now or used to play: Hope to see you all around Atlas Park before they shut the doors.

Its probably a sad influence of my profession to say that I am more curious as to why they (the hotel) choose to "fly" the projector with that screen size than anything else in the room.
Just go for the big screen, guys - it would probably have sync'd up better.

Looking for a bit of advice/suggestions for a group I'll be playing with this fall.

After a long break from DMing, I'll be running a gaming campaign for a group of old gaming buddies. Most of these folks have experience with all versions of D&D - so we're a bit old-school and rusty as a collective. We are starting out with 3.5, since that is what everyone knows, and then we'll likely transition to Pathfinder. I will be setting the adventures in Golarion.

The first step is that we are getting together in person for an intro session, and then likely we'll be continuing monthly via Skype - due to distance, jobs, kids, etc. So, I am hoping to make this first adventure one we can do in a day with some conclusion.

I think they'd like to see some dungeon delving in this first act, but some RPing would also be fun. That being said, my current roster of ideas are:

*Hollow's Last Hope - it seems like a nice intro module, but I'm not that familiar with it

*Crypt of the Everflame - This seems like a great dungeon crawl and intro adventure, although the pretext of going there may not fit with what the players want to do (all being from the same town).

*Mad God's Key from Dungeon Magazine - This also looks like a good one, and since it was designed as an intro to a game-world (Greyhawk originally - but I'll alter it to Golarion). It seems like it might be a little longer than we can finish in one sitting.

*Master of the Fallen Fortress - This one seems like a good intro, but honestly it seems like too much hackn' and not much else.

*Pathfinder Society Adventures?

I guess what I am asking for is further recommendations on an adventure, or suggestions on any of the ones I named above. For example, any Pathfinder scenarios that would be better than others?
Any feedback is appreciated.

Hello,

I recently received my order intact and in great shape. No complaints. However, I received another copy of The Order of the Stick #4: Don't Split the Party as a gift. So, I would like to return the copy I ordered.

I wanted to know if I could return it and receive a store credit or exchange it for some other things in your store. If that is not feasible, then a cash return to my card will be fine.

Please advise on how I should proceed. I tried to looking around the site, but I couldn't find any details on your return system. I also tried doing it on MY ACCOUNT page, but all that it tells me about is returning a Gamemastery product. Am I missing something obvious?

Thanks for your time on this.

Hello,

Not certain if I can change this request any other way. There doesn't appear to be a way on My Account page.

Can I please have the next module in this series:
Masks of the Living God (PFRPG)shipped to me seperately when it is released in December.

Since it looks like City of Golden Death (PFRPG) won't be out until next March, I'd rather not wait that long for both modules, as my pre-order originally requested. I'm hoping to start a small campaign that uses the two modules as a start in January.

Hope that makes sense. Thanks for your help on this. My apologies if there is an easier way to go about this in the system, but I couldn't tell.

Order #1238697

It looks like I haven't received this becuase it was going to be sent with the Pathfinder DM screen - that's still in pre-order. Can I please get the Bestiary sent now instead? I'd rather not wait until December for this whole order. Thanks for your help.

Hello there,
I apologize, but I didn't know of another means of contacting you.

This is really my first chance to get on the boards in awhile. I wanted to apologize for falling off the face of the Earth in your RotRL game sometime ago.
I don't know if you care that much, but I was in an automobile accident. It took some months of healing and rehab, but it looks like I'm OK.

In any case, I just wanted to say hello again more than anything right now. I'm sorry for any kind of mess I might have left in your plans. Thanks for your attention.

I'd like to apologize if I am retreading old ground here, but I'm hoping someone can clarify this - either the fine folks at Paizo or another person with the PF 10 book.

I was rereading PF10 the other day, comparing some notes to PF11 when I noticed on the back cover of the book that among the features included were 5 brand new monsters. I definetly remember seeing only four: Bonestorm, Cinder Wolf, Havero, and the Red Reaver. Sure enough - a double check reveals no extra monster.

Then on page 65 there's the box section that references Cinderland Creatures. There's a mention of a creature called an Akyrak, and references page 80. There's only an introduction to the Monster's section on that page - no details.

I wondered if this was a printing error; but then I checked my PDF copy and the result was the same. I haven't seen extensive posts or errata notes anywhere on the messageboard or website. Has this been addressed, or did I miss a post somewhere? Again, apologies for the nitpick, but I was trying to figure out has happened. Thanks for any information.

***Crickets chirping***

OK, maybe it was just me that was confused.

If no one disagrees with the suggestion or observation, can I at least get someone from Paizo to say, "Thanks, we'll take it under consideration," when they have some time.

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.

I keep having issues in that I can't add responses to other posts in a new thread. I don't mean missing posts, I mean that I can't respond at all.

Mostly, its been at the start of new threads, but it's happened a few times recurring threads. Essentially, I hit the "Reply" or "Add a post" and the page just recycles back to the thread as it is - I don't even get the space to type a response - just nothing. It's like I'm not allowed access or something.

Is these some setting on the board? Or is it something to do with my account? Anyone else having this problem?

Thoughts, Paizo folks? Suggestions, etc?