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Archon of the Tiers

March 31, 2017 by Belghast

This morning I am flailing quite a bit when it comes down actually sitting here and composing a blog post. Its been one thing or the other… like a cat that decided she had to be held before she would relinquish the keyboard to me to actually type. Or the fact that I spilled coffee on my shirt and needed to go change it. Now that I actually sit down at the keyboard I am not entirely certain what I have to talk about. Last night was a night devoted to Tyranny because Saturday we are recording our March AggroChat Game Club game show and I wanted to be able to participate in the conversation fully. I like the idea of the Game Club, but I am a poor member. I am highly susceptible to whims, and tend to get focused in on a game… or number of games at a time. I am also super bad at forcing myself to finish some thing when I am really not that into it. This is evidenced by the fact that my night stand is filled with partially finished books discarded when the mood left me. There was a time when I was actually rather good at finishing games… in fact I spent one entire summer competing with a friend of mine trying to see how many Nintendo games we could finish. The difference there however was that I had very limited options…. and now thanks to the commodity that games have become… I have all of the options in the world to distract me from actually focusing on a game once the going gets less than enjoyable. As a result I tend to bounce back and forth between the games that excite me the most and when any one of those games slows down… I tend to stall and eventually stop playing it.

Playing games for the game club often times feels like homework, and I either avoid it entirely… or put it off until the point where I cannot reasonably finish the game before the show. There is a big reasons why I don’t really do reviews, because I never really have that drive to finish games. In fact I have the opposite drive. When I get sucked into a story and a world, there is a part of me that never wants the journey to end. So I have found myself constantly reaching points in games where I am a few hours from the end… and then I simply never make that finish push. It is like so long as I do not cross that hill then the adventure never has to end. All of that said… I didn’t want this to be the case with Tyranny because I had a really amazing first weekend playing the game… but stalled out at some point during the middle section. However over the last few weeks I have tried to put in a few hours, every few nights hoping to pull through on the other side and get to a place in the game where the pace quickened once more. Last night I seemed to hit that stride and found myself completely unable to stop playing as I circled the ending and finally finished around 11:30 last night. I was not going to sleep without completing this… or at least what I hoped and apparently guessed right was going to be the ending. All of this said… I absolutely crave a continuation. I want dlc or a sequel that lets me continue on from the point I reached in the main games arc.

I don’t really want to go into a lot of details because I am largely saving them up for the podcast, but I have to say… this was a really great game. More shockingly it goes on the pile of games that I want to play through a second or third time because along the journey you have to make so many choices. There are things that I did that I might have done differently. The game is absolutely brutal in forcing you down a path based on your actions, and not letting you wriggle out from under those actions without consequences. In many ways it reminds me of the way Undertale did this, with the exception that at least here you can reload a save file and try again. However usually by the time you reach one of these branching points… it is too late because a series of tiny decisions will ultimately make or break your choices when it comes to a larger one. The game flips so many conventions on its head, as you play through as the functional “bad guy” in the story… but one that is entirely capable of making fair and just choices in spite of this fact. In many ways there are chunks of my play through that remind me of what it was like trying to play a Light Side Sith in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. I did not succeed entirely but in the grand scheme I thought I was doing a good job of walking the line… until I reached the end and was forced to account for all of my past decisions. This game remembers… and winds up rubbing your nose in them… forcing you to confront the ramifications of each minor choice. All told start to finish I spent 14 hours… and could have probably easily spent another 10 hours were I not rushing towards a fixed goal. I highly suggest checking out this game if you are into classic Baldur’s Gate era PC RPGs.

Hair Elemental Gone

March 30, 2017 by Belghast

Yesterday was a bit of a mixed day for me, given that I was sick and staying home. I spent the majority of it watching Iron Fist on the sofa while attempting to do other things…. and sorta fading in and out of sleep. Throughout the course of the day I played a little Tyranny, working my way closer and closer to the end. I also worked my way through the new Final Fantasy XIV patch content, that represents the last bit of story we will see before the launch of Stormblood this summer. That said I feel like it is just too soon to really talk about the patch or any of the ramifications of it. In the evening I poked my head around in Destiny attempting to get a husk to drop for the new necrochasm exotic quest. I had zero luck and instead just completed a few bounties, when I wandered away from the game to do something else. I found out that apparently Skyforge is available not on the PS4, in its pre-launch patron pack sort of scheme like they did on the PC. Now there have been a number of times in the past where I have talked about liking this game, but feeling it would play considerably better on a console. As a result I absolutely jumped on the bandwagon last night and gave it a shot. You functionally have three options that you can go with if you feel like buying your way into what is essentially console based early access. Each of the prices listed is with the PS+ discount… because really I consider plus a cost of owning a PS4.

Early Adopter Pack – $11.99 – Access to 3 Base Classes
Rage of the Beserker – $39.99 – 3 Base + Berserker Class
Wrath of the Gods – $55.99 – 3 Base + Berserker + Gunner + Mount

I jumped in with both feet and went ahead and went for the pack that includes the Gunner class and mount, because in truth I already know I like this game. One of the things about this game that I wish others would notice… is all the damned beard options. It wasn’t just a choice of full mountain man vs stubble beard… but instead I had this complex set of styling options for facial hair that seriously put every other game to shame. The end result allowed me to create a “Belghast” I am extremely happy with… the lack of the whole eye scar thing made me go with an eyepatch instead even though it is on the wrong eye. Traditionally when given the option I give my “Bel” characters some sort of a scar around their left eye… and if given the choice I do the damaged white eye thing as well. All of that said I was able to create a character that I really like… instead of a character that wound up being the lesser of evils like is always the case with South Korean MMOs. The UI took a little getting used to because it varies slightly depending on the screen, but is generally navigated by a combination of bumpers, triggers and the d-pad. The square to show and hide hints piece is something super important that I took a bit to grasp, because the game inexplicably pops windows up over other windows… and the only way to remove them is to click the button.

Something important to note is that it has been a really long time since I have played Skyforge. I played quite a bit during July of 2015, and have poked my head in occasionally since but never for terribly long. The mouse and keyboard control scheme worked, but it always felt artificial. So as a result I have not seen the intro to this game in a very long time… and back then it felt somewhat random. They seem to have fixed some things narratively, to give you a better explanation of the world you inhabit and why your character happens to be immortal. The end result still feels extremely thin, but it at least flows better than I remember it doing in the past. Similarly I noticed that they fixed some of the problems I had with a few of the character models. Herida for example the NPC that you talk to as part of the tutorial had a weird design in the past of teal hair wearing a turquoise hood that flows down into a dress. The problem is the hair was not distinct enough of a color and it make it look like she was a lady with turquoise hair that somehow connected to her boobs. In the console version however she has blonde hair, and the hood itself has been moved back a bit so that you can clearly see the haircut below. As a result you have some contrast and it no longer looks like she is some sort of hair elemental.

As far as the gameplay itself… the game feels excellent but it has a complex enough control scheme that I am still getting used to it. It is following in the footsteps of console MMOs like FFXIV and using the face buttons for most of the attacks with bumpers and triggers acting as either modifiers or quick time event buttons for finishers and power attacks. It was a little awkward at first but after completing the first few missions it started to feel extremely solid. All in all I feel like this game is so much more suited for the console, with its pseudo lobby system and little bite sized missions. Another tweak that I noticed is that we now apparently have a pet that follows us around, and over time can be trained to do functions like automagically picking up loot Diablo 3 style. At some point I want to go through all of the tutorials for sub classes, because if I remember correctly each one of them unlocked a new outfit. I never really made much progress in the PC version of the game, so abandoning it completely for the console is not really that big of a decision for me. That said if you are happy with the PC, then in truth there probably isn’t enough new in the console release to really tempt you. I think the game just feels better in this form factor, but that is a deeply personal preference. Its not like I needed another game to be playing, but whatever the case it seems like I am going to be poking my head more into the PS4 Skyforge.

[Edit]

These are not exact comparison shots, since I failed to take a screenshot during the tutorial. However this at least shows the slight difference between the two models. Column A… weird hair elemental, Column B – someone just wearing a shawl.

Content Creator

March 29, 2017 by Belghast

This is probably not the best subject to talk about on a day when I am feeling lousy. However there is something that bugs the shit out of me, and I feel like I want to get it off my chest… or at the very least use my frustration for a blog post. I hate the term “Content Creator”. Over the last few years it has gone from something you would hear every now and then to something that is constantly used. At face value it seems like a term that places all sorts of incoming content on an even playing field. Do you write a blog? Awesome you are a “Content Creator”. Do you post amazing artwork on Deviant Art? Awesome you too are a “Content Creator”. Do you create a Podcast, upload songs to SoundCloud, stream “let’s plays”, post creative photos on Instagram, carefully curate a Reddit, or create amazing videos… then awesome by all reason you should all be “Content Creators”. The only problem is that this new unifying term… isn’t really that unifying at all. Functionally it should by definition mean anyone who produces content for others to consume. In my experience however that really is not the case.

When you see someone talking about “Content Creators” the majority of the time they exclusively mean Youtubers and Streamers. Please don’t think this is a rant against Youtube or Streaming, because while I fail miserably at doing either I greatly respect both platforms. This is a rant against the creating this theoretically inclusive term but instead applying it to a very narrow margin of items that are “content”. Functionally the frustration comes when someone says they are looking for content creators to work with a product, but in truth really meaning they want eyeballs on YouTube. For years I have struggled with the definition of “Media” as concerned with conventions and such. While I can qualify as such, it always feels wrong. I am not the news and I don’t produce content designed necessarily to inform purchase decisions or report breaking stories. I am the editorial page in the newspaper and spend my time talking about the things I want to talk about. More importantly however is the distinction that I do not do it for monetary gain. That last part often knocks me out of the traditional Media category completely. However having that special “media” pass sort of grants you an instant layer of legitimacy that cuts through some of the awkwardness that comes from introducing yourself and trying to get detailed information out of them about their product. Side note… having a business card also does this but it still ends up being wierd as you shove a crisp card with your logo on it into someone else’s hand.

Now I have gone to PAX three times and I have found ways to do this without the vaunted badge each time. However it would have made things easier, and acted as a sort of social lubricant to make the conversations flow a little more smoothly. I’ve been able to set up press appointments on my own without the benefit of the designation, so the truth is it isn’t a hard barrier. This year around however I saw that they had “Content Creator” badges for the first time, and then was instantly saddened when I saw that they were almost exclusively targeting Youtubers and Streamers with them. Maybe everyone just assumes this and I am the last one to the show. When you say “Content” to me that is a super universal term for literally anything that a user can consume. Hell if you are creating xeroxed “Zines” and handing them out to random people passing by… that is still Content to me because someone devoted time and effort and more importantly mental cycles in to creating something that they thought another human being would enjoy consuming. So all thing are largely equal to me… but it feels like some animals are more equal than others. Were it just PAX it would be no big deal… they maybe used the wrong term for the wrong thing. The problem is I have seen the same sort of stacked deck against non-video creatives in a lot of different “creator” programs in the gaming industry.

Maybe this is a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, and maybe this is just a sign that I am old. Hell this past week I got my very first prescription for multi-focal lenses, which is sort of the gold standard of “signs that you are old”. However this is not me yelling at those damned kids to get off my lawn. In truth I just want all of the people standing on the lawn to be treated equally. While I might have preferences towards this or that sort of medium for consuming information… I am still actively consuming pretty much all of them. While I largely still think of myself as a blogger and a podcaster, that doesn’t mean I only get information from blogs or podcasts. I have a pretty steady diet of YouTube channel that I follow, and a handful of streamers that I watch “as time allows”. To branch out there are even a bunch of artists that I follow on a regular basis, and a few people that I keep tabs on just because they make really amazing craftables. In my mind each and every one of these people that I have identified… is a Content Creator. It should be this unifying term, not something that narrows the focus. I mean labels are bizarre in the first place, and there are a lot of them that I struggle with. Content Creator is just another in a long line of titles that I used to think seemed like a great idea… until I saw the way it was being used.

Third Party Screenshot Tools

March 22, 2017 by Belghast

masseffectandromeda-2017-03-21-19-10-10-56

Last night was the night we go out and do things in Final Fantasy XIV, but for a period of time before and after the events I got in some Mass Effect Andromeda. There are still aspects of the game that I really do love, and aspects that I am really struggling to cope with. I am trying really hard to come up with a headcanon that the 600 year cryo sleep has given pretty much everyone partial facial paralysis… because wow… just wow. It is fine more or less when dealing with the normal ins and outs of missions… but when you take a romantic option you tread on some seriously painful uncanny valley territory. I am hoping we get later patches that adjust this, because it is mostly a distraction from what is otherwise a pretty solid game. I am having some weirdness with Ryder as well because I keep forgetting he isn’t Shepard. I mean I am playing a Mass Effect game and dealing with weird elder god robotic space magic stuff… and I am trying to approach the game as though I were my version of Shepard and it isn’t quite working out that way. Maybe over time I will stop doing this, but for now Ryder is very much “Not-Shepard” for me and doesn’t have much of an identity of his own. I get what they are trying to do with this game, but so far it feels like a pair of jeans that doesn’t quite fit right anymore but you are still trying to wear them. There is so much love and nostalgia for those “jeans”, but its a struggle to keep them pulled up and keep from mooning everyone.

Now the weirdest thing about this game so far is that no one seems to be able to find the screenshot key? I did some research last night and folks seemed to indicate it was F11… however that did not actually work for me. A second search this morning indicates that no… the game does not actually have a built in screenshot functionality and is relying on you to use some sort of a third party solution. I have personally used FRAPS for the better part of a decade, and especially when I started doing the daily blogging thing I needed the ability to have a predictable place where all of my screenshots would be. I’ve talked about this before but all of my screenshots get dumped into a single directory on each machine that I play games on… and then I pull those screenshots off onto network attached storage to sort into a Genre>Game directory structure for long term storage. Basically when I write my morning posts… I am still waking up and I really need to make things as easy on myself as humanly possible. Trying to remember what the hell the screenshot directory for this or that game is at 5:30 in the morning is not something I excel at. Knowing that any recent shots are going to be in G:\Gameshots is much much easier, and with Windows 10 showing off recently used directories… it is also almost always easily available. FRAPS unfortunately costs money, and is outdated… and at this point is not the most amazing thing in the world… but it is extremely reliable and seems to be willing to take screenshots of anything. It does have the nice side effect of having a one time fee of $37… and then lifetime free updates. It feels sort of dirty that I had to point that out as a positive… because that used to be the way all software worked. I thought however I would cover a few other options that are “Not-FRAPS”.

GeForce Experience

This is probably the secondary go to for me, and with the introduction of Ansel technology I am contemplating making the switch myself. If you have a somewhat modern video card, it is almost certain to support ShadowPlay (gtx 650 or higher). GeForce Experience is the weird software that exposes this functionality, and also gives you some performance tweaking options. If you just want the ability to play games without having to fiddle with settings, you can launch the game once and then have Experience optimize the settings. In all cases the game will be playable… but I have found the software pretty conservative on quality settings especially if you are running in a generationally mismatched environment of an older CPU and newer Video Card. However for the sake of screenshots you can toggle on share options, which gives you access to set screenshot functionality. The reason why I am not already using this however is that there is no functionality for remapping your screenshot hotkey.

GeForce Experience Website

AMD Gaming Evolved

If you are on the Red team side of the house they have the AMD Gaming Evolved app… which you need to understand is just Raptr. At some point they either bought them or struck a deal with them… but installing the AMD tool is functionally installing a beefed up version of the Raptr gaming social media thing. It however offers screen shot functionality, but having not used this in years I cannot comment on how functional it is.

Raptr AMD Gaming Evolved Website

MSI Afterburner

Afterburner is a piece of software that has been around since the early days of PC Video Cards. In fact it was originally called RIVATuner if I am remembering correctly, that specifically relates to the Riva series of Nvidia cards from the late 90s. This is the go to software for overclocking, but it also has a bunch of packed in functionality… one of which is the ability to snap screenshots and record video clips. It is fairly light weight and just runs quietly in the background allowing you to take screenshots at will. My only suggestion here is to make sure you don’t fiddle with any of the settings that you are not comfortable with. You can absolutely crash your machine if you start playing with the sliders. The fact that it is “MSI” branded really should not throw you off, because they simply maintain the software these days and it still works for every brand of video card.

MSI Afterburner Website

Windows 10 Game DVR

Included as part of the Windows 10 installation is the Xbox app, which among other things exposes something called the Game DVR. This does some things that are good and some things that are not so good. The not so good is that it will start recording gameplay footage, in a rolling loop of the last X minutes which is configurable. The idea being that it gives you easy access to snag clips of gameplay footage AFTER it happens. This also means that your system will be effectively recording video all of the time, and a certain bit of diskspace will simply just be lost to this process. The positive is that it allows you to also set up a screenshot keybind without installing any additional software. I’ve noticed a decent performance hit while this option is turned on, so this is largely why I do not personally choose to use it. It is however there so I thought I would cover it as an option.

Windows 10 Game DVR Adjustment Settings

Forge.gg

In a similar “gaming DVR” camp is Forge which should be mentioned. This is software that essentially allows you to broadcast your gameplay and after a session trim clips from it to save to the Forge website. One of the options is to take still frames from this DVR footage, which also seemed a bit more contorted than I really wanted it to be for just taking screenshots. However there are a ton of people that love the software, and the ability to stream without needing to do much of anything special. I am throwing it out there because it technically can take decent screenshots, but it functions so vastly differently than what I want a screenshot software to function like.

Forge.gg Website

These are just a few options that I can think off off the top of my head at 6 in the morning. There are countless other pieces of software that do some version of this functionality. I continue to use FRAPs largely because it works like want it to work, and doesn’t seem to consume much in the way of system resources. It is also extremely reliably… several other options I have tried in the past like DxTory or Greenshot have both created situations where I thought I was taking a screenshot… and ended up with either nothing, black screens, or pictures of my desktop icons. While I absolutely can talk at length about the virtues of using some form of third party screenshot software… and having a filing system for said screenshots… I can’t really push one piece of software over another. You are ultimately going to need to try a bunch of them and find the one that seems to work with your gaming style. Any of the ones I mentioned save for maybe Forge is going to probably function exactly how you want.