Category Archives: Reviews

Star Wars, The Old Republic: The Evolution of Gaming?

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We’ve seen Star Wars games by the dozens and MMORPGs by the handful. Even a Star Wars-based MMO is nothing new. The franchise alone doesn’t always sell games, which are inevitably judged on their own merit.

So what makes EA and Bioware think they can profitably challenge industry behemoth World of Warcraft and its competitors? Is the Force with them?

I tested Star Wars: The Old Republic this weekend, possibly the most ambitious game ever made. It was innovative and surprising, and takes the genre in new directions as promised.

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Dear Apple…

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…thanks very much for the flawless OS upgrade. As usual, it has gone smoothly and without problem.

I also appreciate the specific nature of communicated errors, allowing me to troubleshoot quickly and accurately, with a minimum of search engine use and throwing objects through walls. Your patching process is so efficient that its only equal is your communication process.

Thank you for bricking my $400.00 device under the guise “upgrades”. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, as I’m sure that lacking access to music, movies, directions, email, time and temperature at my fingertips is an overall boost to quality of life.

I’m certainly better off without the music library I’ve spent thousands of hours acquiring and organizing, to say nothing of my alarm clock and to-do list. Thanks again.

I’m a Jedi, like my father before me.

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Greetings Lomerell,

Your account has been selected to participate in an upcoming Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Beta Weekend Test. If you have previously tested or are currently participating in an ongoing test, you will be invited again. Additional details for this upcoming test will be announced soon.

As part of this test, we will be partnering with games industry sites to distribute additional beta codes as necessary. This will help ensure we meet our population goals, so we can effectively stress test our servers in preparation for launch. Please do not acquire and redeem one of these codes as it could jeopardize your ability to participate in this test.

As a reminder, should you choose to participate, everything associated with this test (game information, process, forums communication, etc.) is confidential and may not be discussed outside of the Game Testing forum. Additionally, your participation in the Game Testing Program is subject to the Game Testing Agreement.

May the Force be with you,
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Team

RIFT: The Next MMO?

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I’ve had the pleasure of beta testing RIFT, a new MMO from Trion Worlds.

As a six-year veteran of World of Warcraft, I have hardly encountered another game (of any genre) which comes close to WoW in quality of storyline, world depth, intelligent game design, difficulty calibration.

During WoW’s impressive reign of the genre (and before), I have tried many other MMOs and found them sorely lacking in one or more regards. Among those discarded lie Dark and Light, EVE, City of Heroes/Villains, Perfect World International, Champions Online, and Warhammer. And while I have good things to say about most of them, they simply didn’t capture me in the way WoW did.

I bring a critical eye to the MMO landscape, an eye tempered by years of game-tweaking of my own in tabletop roleplaying, as well as endeavors into player-content-creation opportunities afforded by venues like Spore: Galactic Adventures and Neverwinter Nights.

RIFT was the first game in a long time to bring some new concepts to a saturated market: Ideas like truly mixed classes, and dynamic world-altering events.

So how does RIFT stack up to the giants of the industry? Is it worth playing? Or will it shortly be set aside? Continue reading →