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Molten Core Legacy Edition - Level 100It's the big 1-0, World of Warcraft's 10th anniversary! As a special thank you for all the players who have continued to live and create and save Azeroth, Blizzard has updated an old raid for the level 100 players, and made into an LFR experience with players able to earn a mount (a corehound), some pets, and an illusion for weapons. The raid that's been updated? None other than Molten Core, a 40-man raid. And yes, it does go as well as you think it might. I'm constantly shocked and amazed at the capability of raiders, and Molten Core definitely tests people's ability to read and follow directions. I had two groups descend into madness and leavers because a few players proved themselves incapable of following written direction multiple times, over the same topic, even after seeing what happens when they do not follow the directions. First attempt.One of the very first bosses players encounter is the giant corehound, Magmadar. Before you reach Magmadar, however, you need to kill all of his little corehound buddies. These corehounds are unique to Azeroth, as they are the only corehounds that will reignite and resurrect if another corehound is alive and in a relatively large proximity. As a result, players need to pull the groups one at a time, and ensure that all the corehound bodies disappear before pulling another group of corehounds (there are 5 groups before players reach Magmadar). What did our group do? The first two groups went great! Killed them without any problems, but Shazzrah patrolling up and down probably helped to ensure that players didn't pull too much. After he died, however, that's when things went bad. Immediately after pulling and killing the third group, someone pulled the fourth group. This caused the third group to start reigniting, one-by-one. "Oh, just AoE! If everyone AoE's, then we'll be fine!" No. No. This is not how it works. There are plenty of classes that are not capable of sustained AoE, and on top of that, no one can control what spells crit and which ones don't, especially when AoEing over 10 different monsters. This group pulled, and wiped, due to the same mechanic, three times before players started leaving. They took so long with this pull that the trash respawned, and players were unable to rejoin the main party when they released instead of waiting to be resurrected. So, that group ended. Second attempt.I joined another group that seemed to have a knowledgeable raid leader, and it went well for awhile until he had to leave. Then, it got better! It was amazing, the mechanics were clearly spelled out and people followed the directions given. My faith was starting to be restored! When suggestions were given, they were thought about, and then either followed or not, but were given reasons as to why they were not used. It was marvelous. We took down most of the bosses on our first attempts, and sailed through the raid, killing Ragnaros. Everyone got their 640 epic helm, and potentially got a pet or illusion enchantment. Raid complete!In the mail, from the sometimes overzealous postmaster came the wonderful Corehound ground mount. Hurray!
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I'm not really quite sure what to make of this title. I generally enjoy every official Nintendo title, though I haven't finished all the games in my library (I'm a serial game-not-finisher, sorry!). This one looks pretty cute, but it's clearly gauged towards younger gamers, at least from the initial video. That being said, even simple games like the Kirby series can get somewhat challenging towards the end of the game. Going back and replaying some of the older variations such as my personal favorite, Kirby 64, I did find that they were extremely easy and simple to finish. That did not, however, diminish my enjoyment of playing the game. I tried to do different things, and complete the levels using counter-intuitive abilities that occasionally lead to my death. This kind of thought process makes me think that this game might be worth checking out, especially on days where I just want to run around and feel like I accomplished something in a game. This title seems super adorable, and quite enjoyable, and I feel as though the later levels may result in some challenges that actually make me lose a life or two. I'm going to look at some gameplay videos and reviews first, but this is definitely a game that's on my radar for now! The official trailer video is below, check it out if the E3 trailer seemed interesting, it goes into significantly more detail about what you'll experience within the world of Captain Toad, Treasure Tracker. "Reborn" may not quite be the correct word choice...I wonder how many people remember the catastrophe that the initial launch of Final Fantasy XIV was. It coincided with the launch of the World of Warcraft's Cataclysm expansion pack, and man, was I ever glad I chose to play WoW instead of switching over to Final Fantasy XIV.
The lure was there, absolutely, especially since I had always wanted to play FFXI Online but didn't have a capable computer or internet for my PS2. By the time it launched on the Xbox 360, the servers had dwindled and the initial thrill and novelty of the experience was gone; plus, I was already playing games like the World of Warcraft, Aion, Tera, which contained newer concepts and a wider fan-base at that moment in time. I later heard from my friends and coworkers that they could not pass level 20 in FFXIV; not due to any lack of skill or effort on their part, but because the quests simply ran out! Hard to believe in a game where the level cap was to be 60! Free time was given to paying customers, and some more quests were added. My friends could now progress to level 25, hooray! Yet here they languished yet again, forced to indiscriminately slaughter monsters in a vain attempt to gain new skills and abilities. Needless to say, Square had to create some major changes to the game. FFXIV: A Realm Reborn takes place five years after the initial "campaign", yet the launch for this game is fraught with nearly as many issues. There is no queue system to enter into a server, many North American servers are unavailable to create new characters on, and those who do have characters find themselves getting errors that boot them from the game and are then unable to log back in. There are even rumours spreading of players logging their characters in during the morning in order to play at night, as there is currently no removal of idle characters from the realms. I was finally able to create a character at around 12 a.m. on August 29 on the same realm as my friends (I previously made version of her and others on first a Japan Realm which had some lag, and later an EU Realm when they opened the, but it remains to be seen whether I'll be able to log in when I return home after work tonight. My Falafell awaits! Oh, Aksys!How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Sweet Fuse: at your sideI had all but given up on the PSP system; it has disappointed me from it's initial launch, and nothing really happened to make my opinion of it rise throughout it's lifespan. Truth be told, I actually sold my original 1000 PSP model to buy a DS Lite. I eventually wound up purchasing a PSP last summer to play some games in the Project Diva series, as I have yet to pick up a Japanese 3DS to play the current ones that have released, and that's pretty much all I owned on the system. Until now. This game popped up on my "Upcoming Releases" at work the other day, and it was unique in being the only title launching for the PSP. Period. The title was also quite interesting, so I couldn't resist looking it up. When I did, my brain nearly exploded out of happiness. I love the 999 series, and this looks to be along those veins but with more interactions between the main character and the rest of the cast. The fact that it is showing up in an EB Games Upcoming list means that it has been cleared for a North American release! Hooray! It's another visual novel game, where the decisions the player makes will directly impact the flow of the story. With 14 different endings and the possibility of romantic entanglement, I can honestly see myself playing through this game quite a few times. With 999, I completed three full play-throughs, and this one seems like it has even more to keep the player engaged. You play as Saki Inafune, the niece of Keiji Inafune (a legendary game developer), who has been invited to the opening of her uncle's new theme park. However, during the opening day ceremonies, Count Hogstein blows up the Ferris wheel, takes the park management hostages, and starts up a series of deadly games. Trying to save her uncle, Saki volunteers to be one of the players in Hogstein's games; she'll need every ounce of cunning, determination, and insight to get herself and the other players—all available bachelors—out alive, and maybe even find some love along the way. Sweet Fuse: At Your Side FeaturesVast, Diverging Story – 14 different endings and a host of unexpected twists and turns allow for over 30 hours of compelling gameplay. Stylish Art – Sweet Fuse: At Your Side is an experience that is stylish and easy on the eyes, with complex, eye-catching character designs. Disarm Perilous Puzzles – Reach an epiphany and solve dangerous puzzles; the fate of you and your companions depends on your insight. Unique Characters and Interactions – Blow your fuse or stay completely cool, the choice is yours when dealing with this crazy cast of characters. Links:
Pictures (in the order they appear): http://www.aksysgames.com/wp-content/gallery/misc/sf-mainbg.jpg http://d1vr6n66ssr06c.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/sweet-fuse-at-your-side.png http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-blZnFubL._SL450_.jpg http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvUFNQL0FkdmVudHVyZS9PdGhlcg==/sweet_fuse_at_your_side_backcover_large_WFdh3q68p3wwOwY.jpg http://www.aksysgames.com/wp-content/gallery/sweet-fuse-japanese-screenshots/sf-_0006.jpg Alright, I finally finished it! Here is my photoshopped version of Leona in a corrupted moon-style skin. I have no idea what to make for her background, aside from liking the idea of having an eclipse as a part of it (the moon is eclipsing the sun). As a result, I'm using the picture you currently see in the background until I can come up with something on my own that will also match the colouring that I did. I've also posted the picture in the League of Legends forums here in the general discussion thread and again in my own thread in the fan art forums and the player concepts forums. I haven't seen the OP on the forums lately, but hopefully he'll see my drawing soon and like it! I'm still learning photoshop, so I'm sure it could be better, but this is my best work so far, so I'm pretty excited about it. If anyone thinks they can do a better job colouring it and wants the original file, I have it available, and may make it available to download. Sources:
Background image: http://www.paintingsgallery.pro/upload/artists/stefanov_alexander_222444/artworks/www.PaintingsGallery.pro_Stefanov_Alexander_Eclipse_medium_222693.jpg TPA Orianna Skin on the PBESo far, I like it. I think it's a cute Orianna skin, and I really do love the ponytail. TPA Mundo Skin on the PBE"MUNDO GO WHERE HE PLEASES!" Seriously. What Happened?I am getting exceedingly frustrated now when I go to play ARAM. I don't know what has happened with my MMR or if it even applies, but I am consistently getting paired up with people who did very well in Season 2 of LoL; gold and platinum players. This sounds like a fantastic thing! After all, these players are clearly more skilled than the rest of the player base, and should be able to continue my winning streak.
How I wish that was the case. These players are so bad at ARAM, it almost makes me want to quit playing. They're treating it like it's a regular Summoner's Rift map, sitting back, and farming under the turret. They rarely engage with the enemy, who is able to completely dominate and control the lane the entire game. When they do eventually decide to engage, it happens one at a time or they engage on the wrong target. Here's an example: our tank, Maoki, goes into engage on the Miss Fortune who strayed too close to our turret. An enemy Olaf runs in, and the other four members of the team engage on Olaf instead of Miss Fortune despite them being quite close together (MF was perhaps a step or two behind Olaf, Olaf being closer to the turret now). Our team dies, as they are being freely attacked by Miss Fortune, and Olaf also winds up living. I was under the impression that players who had attained a certain level of skill knew who to focus in a team fight and who not to. Why they can't transfer this knowledge over to ARAM, which is pure team fights, I will never understand. All I can do, I suppose, is to keep playing and hope I get a team that is capable of engaging as a team and that can focus the appropriate target at the appropriate time. -KS Lissandra is available after all!The good news is that Lissandra released with today's patch, despite the initial fear that she would not due to a post by Riot. However, people have been attempting to learn how to play her in an ARAM queue to little avail; here's a quick hint, she needs a ton of cooldown reduction items to be viable and helpful in general, and especially in an environment like ARAM. Some items that have helped me land my combo magic in an ARAM:
These are great, as they have the CDR, plus some extra bonuses without loading you with mana regen, which really isn't needed in the ARAM map due to the passive mana regen and Lissandra's passive. If I were to play her in a regular map, I would definitely pick up at least one mana regen item though. I've also found that while her Q (Iceshard) has the lowest cooldown for all of her spells, it also has a very short range that makes harassing people with it nigh impossible. As a result, I found that maxing out her W(Ring of Frost) and then balancing the remaining points between her Q (Iceshard) and her E(Glacial Path) garnered the best results.
In an ARAM, I did find myself maxing Glacial Path first, mostly as a harass tool, depending on the enemy team composition. When both teams had equal poke without the ability to engage, I found it to be a viable way to contribute, instead of sitting on my hands in a bush. Meet KS Proxy, my second PSO 2 character!She is a RACaseal at the point of this photo, though I quickly updated her to become a HUCaseal, as I find I enjoy hunters just so much more. I may try her out as a RACaseal again, but I am uncertain as to whether that is something I would truly wish to do. She is quite lovely though.
The Howling Abyss on the PBEOne of my shorter games on the PBE in the new ARAM map. They finally fixed the towers (they don't spawn as being broken anymore) and everything seems to be working out great. Watch out for the Poro!
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