90 hours, I have poured into this game. This has to go into my personal record of one of the longest enduring gaming journey in the category of anything-but-world-of-warcraft. I seldom complete games these days. 50 odd hours into Mass Effect 2, I thought I was obsessive. 90 hours into Dragon Age: Origin, I reckon I could have read Iliad or Odyssey perhaps once.
You know how I am like when I get excited about something. Of many whom I have talked to – strangers and friends alike – some are into role-playing games (better still, Baldur’s Gate), just like Dragon Age: Origin, waiting for that one final push to jump down the cliff. Yes buddy, think no more. I’ve jumped. Now it’s your turn. Some have no clue what this game is about. Like my mother. One evening she tapped onto my shoulder and asked, “Is this a game? It looks like a movie.” I took off my headset and replied, “Yes mom. Computer gaming has certainly progressed since the day you and dad got me that Apple machine when I was a teen.” Some come from the world of Mass Effect and ponder if they would too love this franchise. And some have completed the game, like I do, and are eying on the expansion Dragon Age: Awakening, like I do.
In Short …
… Dragon Age: Origin sets in the fantasy backdrop of human and elves, dwarves and golems, dragons and dark magic. The beauty of gaming versus reading or watching a fantasy story is that you get to shape the story the way you want it to be, within the framework provided. You decide the beginning: a noble or a commoner. You decide the role you want to play: front-liner or supporter. You decide how the world should be explored, how to influence the people around you. There are sub-plots that keep on distracting you, that you may choose to ignore. And finally, a multitude of endings that you have to decide based on the little things you have done along your journey. Some gamers may prefer a clinical approach in researching online prior to what is to come in order to shape an outcome that they want. As for me, I prefer to shape my story according to my own decisions, even if there are sacrifices to be made along the way. Bearing and living with the consequences is part of the game.
Game Play
Coming from the action role-playing game background (like Mass Effect franchise), I was apprehensive if I would find the frequent game pausing to issue commands to four party members a turn off. Neverwinter Night turned me off. Curiously, this game does not. Though, when I showed it to Cynthia, she went “eeeewwww” because she swears by the real time game play of World of Warcraft. I guess the reason is that not every encounter requires us to pause and strategize. And if we do pause, it has to be something extraordinary that can turn the game to our advantage.
Another thing that took me a short while to get used to is that the conversation options chosen by the main character (a.k.a. you) are not read-out-loud. Like Mass Effect. Some say Mass Effect is an exception. I could also loop in The Witcher (by the way, the sequel is in the making) to argue my case. In any case, the conversation in Dragon Age: Origin has much depth and in a way, I am glad to click my options through.
The Things I Love Most
Character development is one. It is memorable and you get to hate and love certain characters, love and even more in love with others. Both the indoor and outdoor scenes are beautiful to look at. The control is smooth (not sure how the console players can live with only two sticks and that many buttons on the controller though) mapped nicely to recent popular games of similar genre. The learning curve is steep but one can persevere by trying out different strategies. The game mechanic appears simple with three distinct classes – warrior, rogue, and mage. But with different deployment of skill set and specialization, a rogue can play like a hunter and a mage can play like a priest or a warlock. Lots of reading within the game of course, in the form of codex.
What’s Next?
From my research, Dragon Age: Awakening is the largest DLC (downloadable content) to date. Despite the price tag that is comparable to the original game, it will likely to take nowhere near to 90 hours to complete. Much faster. But if you are already a fan, shouldn’t you dive into Awakening right now? It turns out that for the PC gamers, you may be better off to wait for a bit due to reported game crashes caused by the latest patch 1.03 that you must apply in order to play the expansion. Some gamers suffer more than their fellow PC gamers. And for the console gamers, there are still in-game issues that may worth the wait to see if the developer BioWare is going to do something about them. When in doubt, check the BioWare forums.
Personally, I wish the experience was as epic as the one with Mass Effect 2. Unfortunately the experience was somewhat ruined due to the bad patch I have applied towards the end of the journey (if you are still playing the original game and if you could, stop at patch 1.02a). Game modding is a powerful tool, given to the community. But to rely on the community to fix some of the game issues using mods is just too strange for me to accept.
So what’s next? When all fails – and if BioWare doesn’t get the game fixed – we can always look forward to Diablo 3, can’t we?
While I am still far from completing the game Dragon Age: Origins (20% progress on 35 played hours), last evening, I have completed the three add-ons of this epic dark fantasy – a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate. If you are interested to find out if any of these add-ons worth your money, when the ideal time to begin these quests is and in which order, you have come to the right place.
Depending on the edition of your copy, the game may come with one or even all of these premium contents. For me, one is free and I have to purchase the other two. At present, I do not know if there are means to reinstall these paid contents in the future (like Mass Effect 2). I surely hope so. Some gamers comment that the add-ons are too short taking only a couple of hours to complete. Considering how lengthy the original game is and how much these add-ons cost, I can understand the general sentiment. However, since the price of each add-on is similar to a movie ticket or two, I have no qualm.
“The Stone Prisoner” (USD 15), that comes with the newer game edition, should be the first one to tackle as soon as you are comfortable with some basic combat techniques and crowd control mechanism. You should complete this add-on at the early stage of the game so as to gain access to a new companion. Shale is a golem and he (or it?) hits hard, works well as a tank too. “The Stone Prisoner” probably ranks high on puzzle solving but not too much on story and combat. The area is rather small and it does not take long to finish. The most tangible reward from this add-on? Shale of course. His dialogs can be hilarious at times too.
“Warden’s Keep” (USD 7) is perhaps the best Dragon Age add-on I have seen. It is rich in story and combat. And you get to unlock a new class specialization as well as abilities. On top of that, you have access to a party stash if you wish to extend your inventory space. That stash is the only place in the game – officially of course – you can stash your items (for a free stash made by one BioWare developer, click here for my forum post). Some complain that you have to travel to the castle to interact with your stash. But it is merely a click on the world map and so far, I have not been held back from any random encounter while travelling to the castle. The stash is right outside the castle some more. What’s there to complain really? As in when it is a good time to visit the castle, I would suggest visiting it when your warrior (or if you are not, one of your companions) has a buffed strength of 30. You will then be able to use the set item (massive gear). One word of advice: pay attention to all the details, including the Codex. If not, you may miss some great loot!
I have a mixed feeling towards “Return to Ostagar” (USD 5). The area is large, as it is a revisit to the original starting area that is locked after you have completed the prelude. The combat is not particularly hard (maybe by then I have one of the best tanking gears in Dragon Age?). Not too much on the story or puzzle solving. The cut scenes are not as fascinating as “Warden’s Keep”. But, you get to recover the King’s armours and weapons and more, recruit the dog if you have missed that out during the prelude, and perhaps seek some closure of where the prelude has ended. You will need a buffed strength of 36 in order to wear the King’s set (another massive gear). And if I have that buffed strength, wouldn’t I wish to equip the Juggernaut set (require 38 strength to equip) found in the Brecilian Forest instead? Personally, I wish there is a set item for the rogue or mage class instead, from any of these add-ons.
Looking back, because I have started to collect the Juggernaut set as early as when my warrior reached level 9, the armour reward of the add-ons does not seem to be that attractive. If I am going to reroll another character, I would dive into these add-ons as soon as I can.
When my mother first saw how my phone assisted me to navigate from Wheelock Place to The Big Splash on the road, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Hearing that all we need is the free satellite signal from above us even in the absent of mobile signal is enough to add that into her list of fascination on how technology has advanced. From my new rice cooker that has the options to select the type of rice and how soon we want to eat, to the TV system that … think about it, what happens to those good old days when you select what you want with a click of a button? Or two? I can only imagine how fascinated I would be in the not so distant future.
Recently, it was announced that Nokia’s Maps – branded as OVI Maps – would come with free navigation for selected phone model. You can also plan your trip on your PC and synchronize the bookmarks with your phone. I am happy to hear that N97 is one of them. Yesterday, I gave it a try, mainly because I had a genuine need. The first thing I have noticed is the new menu (see below). It took me a brief moment to download the guide (I chose British female voice!) and to log onto OVI Maps using my Nokia ID (not mandatory but it is nice, as you will read later). And it was good to go.
The map is on 3D and it rotates as I navigate (see above). In theory, there is no need for me to see the screen. But because at times the Global Positioning System (GPS) signal is lost, I may miss a turn (and the phone is smart enough to do re-routing almost instantly). So for best result, I reckon it is good to mount the phone somewhere at the windscreen and see where is your next turn, which is what drivers do for their GPS devices.
So, why is there a need to log onto OVI Maps? For the simple reason that you can now synchronize your bookmarks with your OVI account in the Internet. This is powerful. Because I may discover a new eatery place or a place of interest anywhere in the world, save the GPS data onto my phone for future use, and I can synchronize with my OVI account and continue to access this location for my future Nokia phones. Or I can share my locations on Facebook, via OVI Maps.
Another powerful feature is the ability to plan my trip using the computer. I have used Google Maps. And I am surprised by the user interface of OVI Maps. The transition is smooth. And overlay onto the different map modes (such as landmark etc.) is the real time traffic condition. At one glance, I can tell where are the areas that I shall avoid, if so I wish.
Route planning in OVI Maps is a breeze. Alternative routes are displayed and can be selected with a click of a button. I have no complain about OVI Maps for now, except that there are locations that I cannot find using OVI Maps in the Internet but able to find via my phone. To be fair, I can’t find these locations in Google Maps neither. Below is a screenshot of how, in theory, I can plan my route from my home to the Botanic Gardens. The deeper purple route from A to B is the optimized route. The red thin line along the highway CTE indicates that heavy traffic at that segment is expected. And the route in light purple is an alternate route via the highway. There is a third one also in light purple overlaid with the highlighted one for the shortest route in case if you wonder why the routing near the destination is a bit confusing. Selecting different mode – shortest route, fastest route, and optimized route – will highlight the route accordingly in deep purple.
In summary, despite the occasion lost of GPS signal during my first navigation experience, as a free service that bundled with selected Nokia phones, it is certainly one feature that Nokia users should cheer about. Imagine no more getting lost when you are overseas and in town. Looking at how far the maps function has progressed since the early days of Nokia putting maps onto their phones, I am keen to see what the near future will bring.
PS. I may try to mount the phone to the windscreen to see if the GPS signal strength can be improved.
After spending more than 50 hours to explore every aspect of the game, I would say that Mass Effect 2 is indeed a masterpiece. No spoilers here of course. In my over two decades of computing gaming, there aren’t many games that keep me engrossed, playing over a sustained duration. The Mass Effect franchise could well be one.
But change, can be hard to swallow. That applies to the world of gaming too. Mass Effect 2 (ME 2) has fundamentally revamped some of the gaming elements of Mass Effect 1 (ME 1) and you can tell from the fan base that some of these new elements may not go well with some. And I initially too. Having said that, now that I have played through the game once, overall speaking, the combat system is more engaging (more complex too!), some dialogs have more depth (you can interrupt them too), the story is a lot darker, and ME 2 is more visually pleasing.
Mass Effect can be classified as action role-playing game. I am not a shooter type of gamer. ME 2 is certainly more demanding than ME 1 when it comes to the lengthy combat scenes. But I live. I also enjoy the real time interruption to conversation that may change the outcome of the scene. As far as decision making is concerned, there are plenty in ME 2. From the very technical aspect of the game to the political influence that one can play, some decisions got me thinking hard on what I should do next. Judging on how some of the little decisions I have made in ME 1 affect ME 2, I won’t be surprised to see how these decisions I have made in totality will affect the upcoming ME 3 – the end of the trilogy.
It is frequently asked if one should start with ME 1 now that ME 2 is out. The answer is an absolute yes. The gaming experience of the two is different. And you get to experience the best of both world (there are still things I miss dearly in ME 1). Ideally, you should complete ME 1 fully – that includes all the side missions and planet exploration. Not only the decisions you have made get imported into ME 1, you will get a little boost in resources, character level, and paragon-renegade inclination (the equivalent of hero and badass).
The Mass Effect franchise as a whole has a great replay value. After a game completion (“playthrough” as we called it), you may start a new career with a different class and or gender choice. You may create a new career from one of your existing characters and continue advancing from where you left off. There is a big boost to all your subsequent characters after you have completed the game in terms of experience gained as well as initial resources. I enjoy playing the character in either gender, preferably in either alignment. The voice over is different. The outcome of the story can be different (romance sub-plot as well as the “good” and “aggressive” decisions you make). Hence, the overall experience can be different.
Now that we have established that if you are an avid gamer, you have got to check out the Mass Effect franchise, the next question would be: Is the Collectors’ Edition worth it? For an extra S$20?
It has a mini comic booklet that is nice to have, but I can live without. A mini hardcover art book that is very nice to have, and I love to own. A making-of DVD, that makes me appreciate the game better. Access to Cerberus Network (a.k.a. a portal for the digital download of new contents) that at present has: 2 in-game collectors’ items that I use one but not another (I don’t like the look of the other), a mini-mission called Normandy’s Crash Site that fans would like, and a new squad member that comes with a new loyalty mission – very good to have. Free to be downloaded if you have the access. All in all, no regret in spending the extra cash for all of the above.
Below is the cinematic trailer, which I am sure some of you may enjoy watching.
“Pinnacle Station” is the 2nd downloadable content of the game Mass Effect. Unlike “Bring Down The Sky” – the 1st free content – “Pinnacle Station” costs S$9.99 to play. I have paid, played, and have completed the mission in the same day. Is it worth it? Read on and find out.
I reckon there is a renewed interest within the gaming community to complete the game Mass Effect now that the second installment Mass Effect 2 is due to be released later this month. Why? For one, you can continue the character progression in the upcoming installment of a trilogy. For those of you who are new to Mass Effect, it is a game with a high replay value. You can have multiple play through’s on the same character with higher difficulty level if hitting the level cap is your cup of tea. You can revisit all the side missions that you have missed during your initial play through. You can also try out the 6 different classes if you wish to experience a different play style. The beauty of the game is the achievement system. Each play through may enable you to unlock unique achievements that benefit the next time you start from the beginning again. Making your life a lot easier so as to speak.
The game play of “Pinnacle Station” is different from the rest of the game in terms of mission objectives as well as pace. Pinnacle Station is a training center equipped with combat simulators and it is opened only for the Spectres (i.e. you have to complete the first chapter of the game before heading to Pinnacle Station). There isn’t much story development inside the station. So, I suppose this downloadable content may appeal more to the shooters than the role players. There are 4 types of simulations: capture, hunt, time, and survival. And there are two different maps initially for each trials. Only upon topping the rank for all 8 trials will the third set of map be unlocked. My thoughts on the different types of trials are as follows.
In capture trial, your team has to defend a set of strategic locations against the virtual enemies. I enjoy this the most. You have to move fast, from one strategic location to another in order to beat the time.
In hunt trial, you have to hunt down enemies, with a twist. The clock is constantly on a countdown. Each enemy you take down, additional time is added to the clock for you to stay longer in the game. When the clock strikes zero, your game is over. Like capture trial, you have to run fast. On top of that, you have to kill fast too. I too enjoy this one.
Time trial, is hard. There is a sequence in the spawning of the groups of enemies. Your job is to secure the entire location by taking down all the enemies. That part is easy. The hard part is to beat the time. I often fail in time trial. Not only do I need to move fast and kill fast, I have to memorize where the enemies spawn. Not quite my cup of tea, to be honest. Also, time trial seems buggy. If an enemy is thrown into a wall, he may be stuck inside the wall and cannot be attacked any more. Fortunately there is a reset button in the simulation ground should this unfortunate event happens.
Survival trial is interesting. Maybe because it is my second play through and my team is near to the level cap (57 of 60) with superb gears and abilities, survival seems easy. In fact, in my first try, my team survived for more than 15 minutes and the game crashed thereafter (time to beat is under 2 minutes I think). In the second map, I found a location that I could literally stay there for a very long time. Worried that the game might crash again, I let the virtual enemies took us down. In the third map, survival seems more challenging due to the open space. Hectic, yes. I wish the game gives us extra achievement points for surviving way beyond expectation.
After completing the 12 trials, the last test is a scenario setup similar to the First Contact War when you are vastly outnumbered, with an objective to complete and a countdown before evacuation. Now, that is excitingly fun. Perhaps because I am already familiar with the game mechanic and working with my team, I made it in my first try (normal mode though). The gear reward of “Pinnacle Station” is not something worth mentioning. Certainly a disappointment in a sense. But to be able to earn myself a retirement apartment in a planet owns by me? That is priceless. That is as close to player’s housing as Mass Effect can get. I hope that my apartment stays in the next installment and beyond.
Given the fact that the full version costs US$50 (now US$20 and once US$5 on Steam’s specials), I personally think that this downloadable content is a bit too expensive. Fun though, no doubt.
I remember what school holiday was like. Or to describe my current sentiment more correctly: these two weeks of annual leave reminds me of what school holiday was like. In UK, the school holiday is long, very long. Six weeks of break in between terms (we call them Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity), more than three months of break in between the years. Maybe school holiday is long, everywhere in the world. Since staying in the college added extra strain to my student loan for my university education, I often opted to visit my relatives in Paris, just across the English Channel (note: today I learn that the same arm is called differently by the French and the Dutch … of course!). Or to stay with my friends in London, which till today, I am still thankful of their hospitality whenever I think of the good-old-days.
In retrospect, I suppose I could have made my school holiday more productive. Like doing an internship, finding an opportunity to help out the faculty or the graduates who may need an assistant, or even picking a voluntary work to do. Holiday in Paris was often more productive, comparatively. I would soak in the local culture familiarizing myself with every corner of the street, every significant piece of artwork inside a museum that caught my eyes. Holiday in London was often more – for lack of a better word – laid-back.
What does laid-back mean? Depending on which camp you are in, if you think that laid-back is a negative attribute, especially in the context of a work environment, the opposite of laid-back would be driven, motivated, all the wonderful descriptions that are likely to earn you a good bonus. But if laid-back is to mean relax, the opposite would be tense, edgy, and uptight. All the negative attributes you probably would not want to see in your partner, or your pet. Having said it, it is about the context, isn’t it?
Progress and mass expectation is extrinsic. It is always good to positively contribute to the community, even if it is in the expense of your internal happiness and well being. Society does not reward you on how happy you are. It does however have a multitude of goods and services that you can purchase to make you a happier person. Feeling relax and happy is intrinsic. Something you have to generate from within. The best of it all is to find someone as laid-back as you, when you want to be. Imagine the otherwise.
* * I * *
This holiday, I have done something unconventional. I am often someone who is loyal to brands and shops and spends a great deal of time researching on products and pricing before making a purchase. Since Cynthia is not as insistence on an overseas holiday as she is used to be and since my sister’s baby may pop out any time soon, I am happy to laid-back at home, for the entire two weeks.
I know in certainty that Cynthia and I would spend much time playing an online computer game. And I know for a long time that upgrading Cynthia’s computer would vastly enhance her gaming experience, visually speaking. So I took something from my computer and planted it into hers. That works great for that one computer game that Cynthia plays. But what about me? I got myself a pretty decent video card and an even larger wide screen monitor. Decision was made on the spot. It was a cash transaction so you could say that it was a premeditated move.
Funny if I think about how laid-back I had been in making that purchase decision and now in a laid-back holiday, I tacked the situation with motivation and drive, as oppose to the laid-back philosophy. What’s going on here?
* * II * *
I look forward to a day when economists write a book on the online game World of Warcraft. Its success story is much to be learned by other corporations. It is amazing to see how Blizzard – the producer of the game – is able to constantly evolve the game and motivate the millions of subscribers to keep playing a game that is now more than five years old. Premium contents are continuously commodified, made accessible by the mass players who may not have as much time to invest as the hardcore players, as new premium contents are produced. That way, there is always a chance for the laid-back players to catch up and at the same time, a strong motivation for the hardcore players to reach new heights. On paper, that is an easy thing to say. Blizzard executes this vision flawlessly by making changes on different aspects of the game simultaneously so as to bring forth a holistic experience that does not feel patchy. Putting customers with different aspirations at the center. So easy to say, so hard to do it right.
We know that we manage what we measure. That is the foundation of the management tool called balanced scorecard: measuring performance by key indicators. Cynthia and I are fortunate to have Mark – not sure if his wife would think the same – to immerse in this online game in this laid-back holiday of ours. Last night, we have re-installed a gaming component that enables us to view our in-game performance in real time. All of a sudden, I observed that Cynthia has turned insanely competitive. Against me, in a cooperative mission, with a team of 5 against our adversities.
Huh?! What’s going on here?
With real time meter, she has turned into a committed player dishing out insane amount of damage against our common targets. I could not help but to peep onto her screen during our cooperative battle to see how I was doing in comparison. Why? Because she is tracking performance battle-by-battle while I am tracking how well we do by the sum of all battles. Her hunter beat my mage in both counters – hers and mine. And I conclude that tracking near-term targets yields a higher performance than tracking targets over a longer duration. An analogy would be if you have to clock in 40 hours of learning a year in your work, more likely so, you would defer your learning till the end of the year, which you may or may not be able to spend all that 40 hours. Setting a quarterly cumulative target would have yielded a better result.
Because we manage what we measure.
Back to last evening, I think I was the laid-back one. 4 in the morning and I was sleepy.
* * III * *
In a normal day, racing games are the least of my favorite. Because I suck so badly in this genre. Maybe I am simply not a good gamer. Maybe I am simply a laid-back gamer. I play games to experience something quite honestly speaking, if you seldom or have not played any computer game, you are missing an unique experience in life. An analogy would be you as a regular user of the Internet (which I presume you are since you are reading this) wonders what those people who have little or no exposure to the Internet would have missed. Cynthia’s mother from Indonesia was so amazed when she was with us in Singapore as she witnessed how McDonald’s breakfast can appear at our doorstep with a click of a button. That, to her, was an experience.
The game DiRT 2 comes with the video card that I have recently purchased. The delivery of the game is via STEAM – a service provider that streams games that you own into your computer via the Internet. That alone is an experience worth mentioning. Imagine no more game boxes that take up space (did I hear Cynthia cheering in the background?). OK. The download takes long. But the good thing is that you can re-download games that you own any time in the future and all the patches can be applied via the one source. Now, that is STEAM. But what about “Games for Window”?
The Microsoft initiative “Games for Window” has been around for ages. To be frank, I had no idea what difference does it make if I am to compare games that do not have “Games for Window” stickers to those that have. DiRT 2 is the first “Games for Window” game I have that saves my game progress into Microsoft gaming server, online. Combine that with STEAM, this is what the future of PC gaming should be like. As and when I upgrade my computer, all I need to do is to install STEAM, re-download my games in their latest versions, and pick up from where I have left off. No game boxes, no need to search for latest patches online, and no need to manually back up my game progress. Life is not only good, but great.
DiRT 2 is not only good, but great. One of the few games that utilizes the latest DirectX 11 graphics standard. And I have one of the few video cards today that support this new standard. Visually, the game is stunning. The dust, the water splashes, the smoke, and the day and night scenes. I suck at playing racing game. But once in a while, I am able to put up a heroic performance that involves teeth grinding overtaking moments, beautiful drifting in spacious corners, picking up from my mistake and fight back to the top of the grid. If only DiRT 2 allows us to upload our replay – which by the way, is very visually satisfying, realistically made – to YouTube for sharing, that would have been a dream comes true. For now, below is a video clip featuring Ken Block. And yes, it is that real.
* * IV * *
Computer gaming often delivers what we fantasize. It would not be a good game if it involves reading and replying emails, organizing and attending conference calls, like my real job. Space traveling is a different kind of fantasy. Unlike dragons and trolls that we know they do not exist, cars that we know exist but highly unlikely that we would be behind those wheels any time soon, anything to do with a probable future that involves space traveling has a certain charm. And that is the main reason why I enjoy playing Mass Effect. Therefore, I have decided to start all the way from the beginning even though I have lost my previous game progress when my hard disk crashed. Now, that would not be a problem had my game progress was saved online, would it? And since its sequel is due to be released early next year, in my mode of ‘laid-back-ness’, I better finish the game fast.
When Cynthia peeped at my screen one fine day, she commented that the game is like a movie, with dialogs and story development. Indeed, Mass Effect to me is like an interactive movie. An experience that is hard to describe (imagine how difficult it is to describe what Internet is and can do to those who have little exposure to the technology). Almost like directing your very own movie in your own home.
Back to the game, I have no clue how gamers can finish a game in 20 to 40 hours. I have no clue how anyone can finish any game these days. So many hours have been sunken into this game and I have yet to see the ending. That shows how laid-back I am with my gaming career.
Want to know what I am playing for? Below is the trailer of the sequel. Mouth watering. No less.
* * V * *
I reckon I can be an ambassador for PC gaming. And if you have the patience to read thus far, I have a message for you. Have a great New Year Eve celebration. Thank you for being with my site all these while and have a productive 2010, in a laid-back style.
PS. Of course, in this 2 weeks of laid-back holiday, beside computer gaming, we have also enjoyed watching the movies and dinning out. Come to think of it, just like how I spent my school holiday in London. Woot! I made it. This post has a word count of 2009!
Let’s keep it real. Who am I – a regular dude who has a full time job with little time to invest in character development and elite raider networking – to dream of defeating the Lich King? I reckon it would be a lot easier for me to get the S$1,288 life size legendary sword Frostmourne than the one in the game. Fulfilling the fantasy of getting up close and personal with the Lich King in his dungeon aside, the new patch 3.3 has a lot more to offer. Top of my list: the new Dungeon Finder. The 5 icons below from left to right indicate if the roles of the tank (i.e. damage taker), the healer, and the three damage dealers have been filled. In the case below, the game was still finding a tank for us.
I think I can speak on behalf of my brothers and sisters in the World of Warcraft. Two things suck being an Asian player in an American server (or we refer it as ‘realm’). First, servers are down for maintenance on Tuesdays, off-peak hours in America but prime time evening hours in Asia. 8 to 10 hours, often to be. Second, assembling a group of 5 to venture into a dungeon during Asian prime time used to be hard because most of the players are still sleeping (the Americans) or have gone to bed (the Australians). Cynthia and I could spend 1 to 2 hours spamming the looking-for-group channel and we could end up going to bed not visiting any dungeon at all. I reckon most players simply level their characters through questing. But questing day in day out could drive us mad. When we heard that the new Dungeon Finder is out, we were dying to give it a shot.
Seriously, what took Blizzard so long to implement the idea of pulling players from different realms into a group for dungeons? Especially for some of us who have such difficulty in looking for players for dungeon outings, any dungeon outing. It turns out that to make this idea works is a pretty complicated matter not only from the technology point of view. Here are our observations.
Finding a random group for a random dungeon seems fast. At times within minutes. That is great. As expected, healer and tank remain as the hardest to come by. Everyone wants to be a hero, to kill something. No one seems to enjoy taking a beating or keeping people alive!
Exiting a cross-realm dungeon brings us back to the exact location of where we were prior to joining the dungeon. Imagine being able to continue questing right after visiting a dungeon. Also, once outside the dungeon, we can teleport back into it at any time. That enables some of us to stock up reagents, poison, and to repair our gears. Very nice!
There are rewards to be earned. Did I mention a random rare pet Perky Pug that may drop? There is also an extra buff that makes your random pick-up group (PUG) stronger. But hey, if the group sucks, not even those 5% extra of this-and-that can save us.
Some players do suck. Maybe Cynthia and I too suck. Since now that we cannot ‘interview’ our team members prior to them joining our group like I used to (cross-realm conversations are normally not possible), we have to rely on luck to get the players who know at minimal how to play their class. And more often than not, luck was not on our side.
OK. That may be due to the fact that everyone are still trying to get used to the new interface that comes with the new patch (that new camera!), trying to cope with the absence of outdated mods (I miss my damage meter).
And / or because many players who have not had a chance to experience dungeons regularly have no idea what they should do inside a dungeon. Now they can. But skills are not built overnight. I hope in time to come, players do get better.
Because of that, many players deserted our group and we constantly needed to go back to the queue and look for replacements. Fortunately, the wait was not long, although I can’t say that it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Deserting a group should be discouraged or further penalized by the current 15 minutes ban before re-joining the queue. What happens to patience and mentorship, friendship building and peace?
We did complete one dungeon, after numerous change in players and dungeons. We could have finished a higher level dungeon had the server not needed a restart (we nearly completed Azjol-Nerub in 15 minutes!). I think more fine tuning of Dungeon Finder is certainly needed. And I trust Blizzard on that. Below is a trailer for this new patch 3.3.
Update: On the next day, Cynthia and I took our characters to yet another random dungeon after spending an entire morning researching on how to play better (this link is no joke). That random dungeon was tough! But we had a good group. Nobody dropped out (thank God!). It was worth the wait (about 20 minutes to assemble the group).
I have friends who swear by the Eseries (while I am more of a Nseries dude). When the E75 was out, I asked one friend of mine if she would get that but she got the E71 instead. Why? I suppose having the full QWERTY keyboard right underneath the screen does have its appeal, a design without a need to slide out the keyboard. Knowing that I would attend this Nokia event, I did some homework, ‘interviewed’ my friend and got to know a bit more about Nokia Eseries.
Now that I have touched and felt the new E72, I can understand why my friend – in her own words – loves the Eseries. For those who are constantly on the go and need an efficient phone and messaging device – both email and instant messaging (and also social networking), the Eseries is optimized for just that. There are dedicated buttons on the E72 to quickly access the calendar, contact, and messaging functions. Holding one of these buttons create a new calendar entry, a new contact, or a new message (imagine if my N97 has that!). There is a button to instantly return to the home screen too and by holding it, you can toggle between various opened applications. At the center of the phone is the new Optical Navi™ Key. It senses the motion of your finger (or thumb) as you scroll your long emails up and down. And you can use that key to scroll through any onscreen items. From my brief experience, it feels responsive. And I do like the keyboard design too. The common punctuation symbols are easily accessible, a different experience I have with my N97.
In fact, the entire phone interface feels responsive thanks to the Symbian S60 3rd Edition operating system. For those who are already using E71, this could be a worthwhile upgrade for the following reasons.
5 mega-pixel camera
250MB internal memory and supports up to 16GB microSD memory card
3.5 mm audio connector (now you can use the standard earphones)
Able to synchronize calendar items to Outlook (on top of emails and contacts that E71 is able to)
Better battery performance
Slimmer design
And for those who are curious about the key features of email and instant messaging, on email, E72 supports Mail for Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes Traveler, Nokia Messaging service (lifetime license), and POP/IMAP. On instant messaging, it supports MSN, GoogleTalk, OVI Chat, Y! Messenger, and more. E72 is now available in Singapore selling at a RRP of S$750 (excluding operator plan and GST). If you have questions for Nokia, please drop me a comment here or send me an email.
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I have always enjoy blogger events hosted by Nokia and Text100. And I had such a great time catching up with old friends, making new friends. During the event, there was a little contest that involved a bit of instant messaging using the new E72 and a bit of creativity. Shocking to me, I won this little Nokia Mini Speakers (MD-6). I have no idea if Nokia does sell those little beauties but had I known such thing exists, I would certainly have bought them long ago. Great for traveling (comes with a pouch). And great for playing music in the bathroom while showering too! These are active speakers taking in 4 AAA batteries. Definitely better sound quality than the phone speakers, a design more geared towards the XpressMusic series. So this looks really good pairing with Cynthia’s XpressMusic 5800 than my N97.
Yes, what you see here is a typical screenshot Cynthia and I see when we play an online game together, a massive one that players from different parts of the world gathered online. Looks complicated but it is like driving. After a while, it is second nature.
It’s been 5 years since World of Warcraft was launched. Nov 23 was the date. Wow! Think about the subscription fees I have paid. US$12.99 per month to be exact. I have been their faithful subscriber since Feb 2005, when the game finally arrived in Singapore.
I am not disillusioned. I know what is real, what is not. There was a period of time when concerning family and friends tried their best to keep me in check, against game addiction. I suppose if one spends too much time on something, not able to find time to do something else with someone else, collective wisdom would say: that’s no good. And if one spends too much time on something that majority of people do not understand, collective wisdom would say: that’s even worse. How about if one spends too much time on something that majority of people understand (or think they do), what would collective wisdom say? Here are my thoughts.
Most of us have a letter of employment that says we are paid from 9 to 5. But yet some of us pour in more hours for no tangible outcome.
Most of us are convinced that we build useful skills as our career progresses. But how useful are these skills as time goes by?
Most of us have our eyes on promotion, having a new title. But what does the title really mean outside your office?
Some of us claim that never mind the long hours because we have fun at work. How much of those juicy war stories really mean anything to someone who is not of your work domain?
What I am trying to say is that, you too are in your own world. Everybody does. We all have our passion and obsession, in different forms.
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In celebrating the 5th anniversary of this one great game, fans are recounting and sharing their World of Warcraft moments online. Hence, this post.
All Levels Begin With Number 1 (Before Death Knights Ruined It All)
The very first moment logging into the game was magical. I was an elf. My buddy Mark was too an elf. Every moment in the game was new, and breathtaking. How many of us in reality can look through the routines and find something fresh, and exciting? Like every moment is a moment of discovery? That mysterious forest; those spiders that killed me again and again. Ah, good old level-lowbie.
Our Town Is Attacked Again (And Then Honor System Came And Vanquished It All)
In the good old days, opposing fractions often raged war against each other’s towns. The first time I participated one was exhilarating. Opposing fractions would form a long line facing each other, stayed out of each other’s attack range (much like the movies of the ancient wars), waiting for the number to gather. Reinforcement flew in as news traveled fast. Lots of taunting and luring to start the battle. At a critical moment, someone would rally a group and march into the enemy line. And then, the battle began involving easily more than 50 players.
As the attack progressed, it often broke into smaller battles amongst small groups (has anyone played the ‘egg and flour’ war in say birthday parties?). I once thought that I was safe hiding behind a tree resting. In the next moment, I saw 5 or 10 of them in front of me out of nowhere. Uh oh.
The side effect of these unintended episodes was that not only did players take down other players, but they also took down the guards, the pheasants inside the town, basically halted all kinds of questing for those who wished to stay out of conflict. So, the creator of the game has decided to take the battle out and into designated areas. I miss those large scale town raiding. Or as a matter of fact, being raided was just as fun.
General Drakkisath (In The Good Old UBRS)
The first time tackling the dungeon in a group of 15 online players was, as I remember, nerve-wrecking. Raid leader’s commands were streaming through the chat window in the form of text. Everyone followed order, for every maneuver inside the dungeon. Flawless execution like an orchestra that all musicians play a different instrument, but the same song. The quality of leadership and the bravery of the group was inspiring. Although in much later, I too led groups to tackle different dungeons, although as time goes by there are newer and more complicated dungeons, I still hold dear to my first memory of the dungeon UBRS.
No, we didn’t kite General Drakkisath during my first encounter. That strategy was derived much later, I think.
It Is Level 1 To 60, Or 70 Once Again (For The Horde!)
By the time Cynthia joined me, it was 2007. First expansion of the game was out and she was attracted to the beauty of the new race blood elf, curious about what got me so into the game (I remember we had a bet or something). To someone who has 8 level 60 characters back then, it is all the way from the beginning again.
Interestingly, Cynthia is my antidote to game addiction. Because of character progression, there is little point in getting ahead of each other. We complete quests together, visit dungeons together, and play the game together till today. If she doesn’t play, I don’t play. Simple as that.
Self-Actualization (For Now Before Expansion #3 Arrives)
2009 is an interesting year. The game has evolved in a way that it is now much easier to attain “self-actualization”, even for the casual players. Cynthia and I are now able to work towards improving our characters beyond the level cap tackling dungeons in heroic mode side-by-side with the serious players (or raiders). We are exalted in major factions riding dragons (see picture above) and collecting exotic pets, collecting in-game titles. We have a good pile of gold coins stashed up somewhere. In short, all that we have ever wanted – given the real life constraints we have – we have. These days, we rarely play, maybe a couple of times a week.
And when expansion #3 arrives, it will be all the way from level 1 once again …
“Come to think about it, what you are holding is quite a rare thing. I have not heard of a ExpressCard reader for CF cards,” said one photography friend of mine. To recap, I have tested the new SanDisk Extreme Pro here. I love what the new card can do. That got some of my photography friends excited as well. But the top question from the crowd was: Hypothetically speaking, if we had the 64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro card, how long would it take to download the photos? On a USB 2.0 connection like mine, the answer is 3 hours.
When I am on my overseas holiday, I always back up my photos daily onto my old laptop (and I make another backup on another external hard disk). Transferring photos via the USB 2.0 seems like a pain, at least to me. Even as I delete off unwanted photos during the shooting session, I may still end up with 4GB worth of materials. That is 12 minutes of photo download, from the memory card to my laptop, using my laptop’s precious battery power. But that is only for a holiday trip. I can imagine for the professional event or sport photographers, they would have shot a lot more photos a day, required to transfer a lot more photos a day into the computer for processing. Any time saving for these professionals could mean a lot. In fact, I once covered a media event. And I ended up with tons of photos that evening.
So, just how fast is the SanDisk ExpressCard Reader? To cut a long story short, by my testing, this reader reduces the download time by 70%.
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One day SanDisk called me and asked if I am interested to test out the new ExpressCard Reader for CF cards. I said yes in a heartbeat, excited about the opportunity to touch and feel this loaned unit. When the excitement subsided, there was one minor logistic challenge – I don’t have a laptop that has an ExpressCard slot!
Panic, and I began making contacts with my friends and asked if I could borrow their laptops for a timed experiment. Interestingly, while not all laptops in this world has an ExpressCard slot, quite a few do – both Windows OS and Mac OS. In fact more than I have anticipated. So, a big thank you to my friends who have responded and especially those who are so keen to loan me their laptops for testing on something they have no idea what it is all about. You guys rock!
Although my sister’s [pretty high end] Fujitsu laptop is about 2 years old, it does have an ExpressCard slot. In fact, Fujitsu began shipping that technology since mid 2005. I am not technologically inclined and hence, it took me a while to correctly install the necessary software (or driver) and got the test going (and to correctly find the slot!). Remember, only install the driver from the CD provided once you attach your card reader into your laptop preferably with a CF card inserted. Your Windows OS may tell you that your card reader is ready to be used. But in fact, the speed can be so slow that it is not usable (6 times slower than USB 2.0 in my case when I incorrectly installed the driver).
For my simple test, I use 40 real life photos in 14-bit RAW format. That sums up to about 500MB worth of photos. I preformed the test on both the new SanDisk Extreme Pro (90MB/s) as well as my old SanDisk Extreme IV (45MB/s). The result is the same. Upload of photos (i.e. write speed) via the card reader took 20 seconds. Download of photos (i.e. read speed) took 26 seconds. For comparison, download via USB 2.0 took 86 seconds. To extrapolate, a 16GB worth of photos would take less than a quarter of an hour to download using this card reader. That may seem long, but imagine the alternative option I am currently having (and how precious laptop battery power is). If download time can be cut by 70%, that is awesome.
So who needs this?
Professional photographers or enthusiasts who have a laptop that supports ExpressCard, consider the time saving (and power saving for the laptop on battery), it is certainly a worthwhile investment.
Note: SanDisk proposes that I should use either a MacBook Pro with ExpressCard slot or Sony VAIO VGNCR220E for testing. Unfortunately, I am unable to secure any of these two types of laptop at the time of testing.
