Onslaught of Entertainment
So while my interest in DCUO is waning somewhat (by level 17/10, quests are looking a little too parallel between hero and villain sides and starting to feel grindy), there's plenty of other stuff popping up.
SWTOR is doing a mostly-open beta weekend that's... probably just started. It's my impression invites went out to everyone registered at the site or with EA, and there's some intent to stress-test servers. Mind you, after those first few days with DCUO, I'm not really looking forward to technical problems getting in and playing such a game, but... I'll probably poke at it some over the weekend.
And Skyrim just came out. I went ahead and picked that up after work last night, and was a little surprised at the number of people waiting around for the midnight release. I suppose the store knew exactly how many preorders it had, so could judge the value in being open early.
Pre-game impression: WTF? I bought a physical DVD because I wanted a physical DVD to load data from. I did not want to put the DVD in, click install, and get Steam popping up and downloading/installing 6 GB worth of data. Was there anything on the DVD? Rawrgle! I'm annoyed by this. Doubly-so considering Steam recently had data hacked.
I've managed a little bit of play time this morning, but haven't gotten in very far. It's an Elder Scrolls game, so you start as a prisoner - at least that seems to be the way of things since Morrowind. Fate intervenes to set you free... well, arguably. You're not given royal dispensation because you're recognized as a fated person so much as your execution is interrupted. That could be fate, or it could be chance, take it for what you will.
And then... you're off on your own. Well, you can follow a thread of quests to help one faction or another in Skyrim's civil/revolutionary war. Or not. There aren't any classes to pick, or birthsigns to choose. In fact, there's a whole lot less character-building guidance, and I think I like that so far.
What else has changed?
The interface is heavily consolized. Most of it flows okay, but I don't think it really plays to the strengths of a mouse-and-keyboard setup, and I resent that. The Favorites list makes it easier to switch between often-used weapons/spells, but it's nowhere near as convenient as being able to bind the 1-8 keys to such things was in Oblivion. I haven't messed with it much, but apparently you've the option to dual-wield weapons/spells, but a readied spell does take up a hand. And my mouse sensitivity started so low in the game that it was mind-boggling to me, but that could be adjusted.
Edit: I see forum talk about a way to hot-key to 1-8 out of the Favorite menu, which seems an unusual extra step, but should help in the long run.
And at least most of the early spells appear to be channeled. Rather than a fire-and-forget fireball, I've got a flamethrower sort of spell that does damage as long as the button is held down (and magicka lasts). The healing spell seems the same way - which seems largely redundant as health regenerates outside battle at a reasonable rate. There's also defensive/shielding spell that... appears to be channeled too. That strikes me as odd. I just bought a zombie-conjuration spell - hopefully that isn't channeled.
Weapon combat looks just about like Oblivion. Functional, but not remarkable.
The world looks... nice, if somewhat monotonous. The latter part reminds me of Morrowind. Oblivion had a fairly wide variety of color and tone. The (admittedly small) part of Skyrim I've seen so far looks pretty realistically similar as far as design of the highland-stone structures and the land around. There's detail there, and some pretty lighting, just something of a lack in palette variety. People look better than Oblivion, certainly, though I wouldn't go so far as to say "lifelike."
The sound seems quiet for some reason. I usually run my system sound around 50% and everything is perfectly audible without having WoW sound effects overwhelm my Vent chat. I found myself immediately cranking that up, though, to be able to make out conversations. Seems a little odd to me.
And that's about it so far. Seems a big, open world with a lot to potentially do and I've barely stepped into it. That has appeal, but it isn't as consuming (yet) as a story-heavy game like DXHR, so... maybe I can take my time with it.
SWTOR is doing a mostly-open beta weekend that's... probably just started. It's my impression invites went out to everyone registered at the site or with EA, and there's some intent to stress-test servers. Mind you, after those first few days with DCUO, I'm not really looking forward to technical problems getting in and playing such a game, but... I'll probably poke at it some over the weekend.
And Skyrim just came out. I went ahead and picked that up after work last night, and was a little surprised at the number of people waiting around for the midnight release. I suppose the store knew exactly how many preorders it had, so could judge the value in being open early.
Pre-game impression: WTF? I bought a physical DVD because I wanted a physical DVD to load data from. I did not want to put the DVD in, click install, and get Steam popping up and downloading/installing 6 GB worth of data. Was there anything on the DVD? Rawrgle! I'm annoyed by this. Doubly-so considering Steam recently had data hacked.
I've managed a little bit of play time this morning, but haven't gotten in very far. It's an Elder Scrolls game, so you start as a prisoner - at least that seems to be the way of things since Morrowind. Fate intervenes to set you free... well, arguably. You're not given royal dispensation because you're recognized as a fated person so much as your execution is interrupted. That could be fate, or it could be chance, take it for what you will.
And then... you're off on your own. Well, you can follow a thread of quests to help one faction or another in Skyrim's civil/revolutionary war. Or not. There aren't any classes to pick, or birthsigns to choose. In fact, there's a whole lot less character-building guidance, and I think I like that so far.
What else has changed?
The interface is heavily consolized. Most of it flows okay, but I don't think it really plays to the strengths of a mouse-and-keyboard setup, and I resent that. The Favorites list makes it easier to switch between often-used weapons/spells, but it's nowhere near as convenient as being able to bind the 1-8 keys to such things was in Oblivion. I haven't messed with it much, but apparently you've the option to dual-wield weapons/spells, but a readied spell does take up a hand. And my mouse sensitivity started so low in the game that it was mind-boggling to me, but that could be adjusted.
Edit: I see forum talk about a way to hot-key to 1-8 out of the Favorite menu, which seems an unusual extra step, but should help in the long run.
And at least most of the early spells appear to be channeled. Rather than a fire-and-forget fireball, I've got a flamethrower sort of spell that does damage as long as the button is held down (and magicka lasts). The healing spell seems the same way - which seems largely redundant as health regenerates outside battle at a reasonable rate. There's also defensive/shielding spell that... appears to be channeled too. That strikes me as odd. I just bought a zombie-conjuration spell - hopefully that isn't channeled.
Weapon combat looks just about like Oblivion. Functional, but not remarkable.
The world looks... nice, if somewhat monotonous. The latter part reminds me of Morrowind. Oblivion had a fairly wide variety of color and tone. The (admittedly small) part of Skyrim I've seen so far looks pretty realistically similar as far as design of the highland-stone structures and the land around. There's detail there, and some pretty lighting, just something of a lack in palette variety. People look better than Oblivion, certainly, though I wouldn't go so far as to say "lifelike."
The sound seems quiet for some reason. I usually run my system sound around 50% and everything is perfectly audible without having WoW sound effects overwhelm my Vent chat. I found myself immediately cranking that up, though, to be able to make out conversations. Seems a little odd to me.
And that's about it so far. Seems a big, open world with a lot to potentially do and I've barely stepped into it. That has appeal, but it isn't as consuming (yet) as a story-heavy game like DXHR, so... maybe I can take my time with it.
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