Posts by Izuno

  • Destiny

    I'm so torn by this. I want to really love it and get lost in it. But I just can't. I'm wanting some real meat additional content for this, but having already paid $60 for the game I don't see myself risking more money for more of the same. I really like the Bungie folks and I know they worked very hard on polishing this thing but...well, Sprony basically said what I was thinking.


    tl;dr: what Sprony said.

  • Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

    Quote from dux

    Downloading now! This is the first game I've bought for full price on release since forever. 35gb though, my poor 20mb conenction is shedding a tear


    I assume via Steam on PC?


    Anyone get this for console via download direct from XBL or PSN? (That's really a topic for another thread...)


    This is on my list to get...

  • Destiny

    I'm still playing it but due to time limitations I've only just hit lvl 15 today and that was after finding the Loot Cave™. I was there a for 30 minutes and went from just under lvl 14 to just over lvl 15 and got 8 green engrams. But the real fun part was the event that happened where a shitload of mobs just come at you...i was with a few players in mid 20s and a couple in single digits and it was an incredible spontaneous blast.


    That said, this game is going to need imprUvements to be viable in the long term...and FAST.


    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/JKHUA.png]

  • Blizzard "resetting" Titan...

    Sad. But this is the right thing to do. The market for MMO is not the same...and unless Blizzard can come up with something truly amazing in the category then there is no realistic chance of a subscription MMO doing anything close to what WoW has done. The market has been burning out on sub based MMO for a long time and the F2P MMO business is getting very tough after being tough for a while.


    Beyond Diablo and SC, Blizzard has Hearthstone which is definitely making good revenues and good profits. And it has Heroes of the Storm. I know, I know...MOBA is on its way to saturating or else already has saturated and everyone seems to be getting into it. LoL and DOTA 2 are the clear market leaders and if anyone can become a 3rd major player in MOBA it's Blizzard. Quick, name another dev/pub that could likely jump into the MOBA market better than Blizzard? [silence]

    A Warcraft themed MOBA is an extension of the WoW PvP arena anyway (with some level of RTS thrown in). That's basically how one could roughly describe LoL and DOTA. (Yeah...WoW arena does not equal a LoL style MOBA...yeah...heard that argument from nitpickers. kthxbai.)


    Also, "in dev for 7 6 years" does not mean full scale production for 7 6 years. How much of that was pre-prod with a small team? I don't know. But to finish something, launch it and all the live ops might cost another $100 million plus tens of millions per month?


    Basically Blizzard execs have to go to the Activision-Blizzard board and justify how they will make that a viable business and between all of them the writing on the wall probably became pretty clear. Still I'm sure this decision was long analyzed, probably caused tremendous internal 'discussion' and overall was not easy despite being the only realistic option.


    tl;dr version:

    Blizzard has a high fun/quality bar to reach...and has to make money. Titan just wouldn't have done it. Glad no one lost their jobs as of now.

  • Destiny

    Quote from (HP)

    It's with friends that this game REALLY shines, like really, it's not the same.


    I haven't played it with friends yet (no love!) but I have joined some random fireteams where noone talked. It works...totally fun. That said, I'm having fun in SP simply because the combat is so fucking good. Yeah it is very story light which I think is weird given Bungie's capabilities and, you know, there are a lot of smart people out there who can get stories working in games. But whatever, I understand how some people don't like it but I'm glad I bought it and plan to continue playing it.

  • Minesoft...Microcraft...you decide

    Quote from FrieChamp

    The thing is: he doesn't even maintain the game anymore. Jeb has been in charge of it for years. notch has been tinkering on new projects (that frankly haven't lead to anything substantial yet). The guy has made many millions - and yes, I know, more millions are always better - but even if his attitude has come across as snobbish at times, he always seemed to be very genuine and outspoken. He has often talked about how he wants Mojang to be best studio to work for in the world and made his disdain of big corporations public at numerous occasions (he cancelled the Rift version of Minecraft after Facebook picked up Oculus etc.). I was thinking, maybe the other shareholders want to cash out, but rumor has it that notch instigated the deal. Him being burnt out or a general discontent with making games under the microscope is my best guess at the moment.


    Who are the other shareholders? Afaik Notch never took any outside investment because everything was funded out of cash flows. I thought I heard some employees have stock in the company, but the total amount doesn't add up to much leaving Notch as the only significant shareholder by a large margin (ie over 90 or 95%)...


    ....lest ye, Frie, have some other knowledge ye doth hast withholdeth?

  • Minesoft...Microcraft...you decide

    http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/09/mic…rding-to-rumor/


    ...and http://online.wsj.com/articles/micro…raft-1410300213


    and lots of other news on this.


    So Microsoft is close to buying Mojang. Notch will supposedly see the deal thru then depart with his $2b (pre-tax). Great payday for him, but then what?


    Remember, it's not just the developer but all the licensing businesses...how many of you have Minecraft licensed shirts, condoms, keychains, rainbow colored rat poison pellets in the shape of a creeper, rainbow colored kids vitamins in the shape of a creeper, cardboard Steve heads, etc. etc. etc. ?


    Minecraft is one of my top 10 PC games of all time, no questions asked. There is the question about the PlayStation versions of the game, but I would be shocked if Microsoft pulled them from the market because it would enrage a lot of people.


    Two observations:

    1) This signals that Microsoft is still serious about the games space. You don't invest $2b without having a strong commitment to the space.


    2) The market for Minecraft will saturate. How many copies can you buy? How much Minecrap can you buy (see above). Minecraft movie? Fine. TV show? Eh maybe. But all that takes a lot of work and additional capital to make a return from. What about other Mojang games/products? Think any future Mojang creation will come close to Minecraft potential? It's unlikely.


    Discuss.