EmpirezTeam's site

Tactical?

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:02:16 +0000

So I just downloaded BF3. The reason being is because I wanted to judge whether I'd be getting BF4. Basically my logic was that it's better to spend $20 to get a feel of what the gameplay is like rather than waiting for BF4 and spending $60 or more on a game I may not like.

Up until now all I've heard about the game was "omg it's so tactical", "you're going to need strategy", "this isn't CoD anymore". So I log in to my first game and I'm freaking stoked. I'm ready to shoot some dudes, fly some helicopters, ride some frogs, all that good stuff. Almost immediately after being deployed into the fight, "BOOM BOOM BANG POW". Explosions and crap going off everywhere and I'm thinking to myself "Oh snap, I'm about to have my mind blown". I look ahead and I see about 15 teammates all in one general vicinity shooting and tossing grenades down a flight of stairs.

Of course I wanted a piece of the action so I dash over and toss a grenade of my own. Didn't kill anyone, but I felt like I was making a difference anyway. As I'm looking down the stairs I start to see the enemies my comrades were aiming for, and apparently, they were doing the exact same thing - standing around throwing grenades. After a minute or two of shooting into a bunch of smoke ( after grenades go off, debris and crap fly into the air and make it hard to see enemies ), I decide to run down the steps and get up close and personal with the hostiles. They weren't expecting someone with the balls to run down there since I was able to shoot like 2 or 3 of them before the rest of the enemies even reacted and shot me down.

I die, re-deploy, and assume my position again at the top of the stairs. After another minute of wasting ammo and grenades, I type in the team chat "Hey, maybe we should just man up and go down there." No one in my squad responds, except for one guy that says "When are we going down there?" I take a look around and everyone is doing the exact same thing they were doing when I joined 5-6 minutes ago. No one is really trying to push the enemy back, they're just standing at the top, spamming explosives hoping someone will be dumb enough to try and make it up the stairs alive. So at this point I just run down the stairs again. I get a couple more lucky kills, but I get blown up immediately afterwards by a grenade ( because, remember, the enemy team is using the exact same, retarded "stand in one spot, spam nades, and hope for the best" tactic ).

So now I'm like "Okay, I'll just flank them." SIKE. As I walk out of the building we were in, I check the area for a possible alternate route that leads to behind where the opposing team had set up shop. However, the only path I saw that looked like it may have led to the enemies was blocked off by huge, indestructible box-like objects. I let out a sigh in disappointment and run back in. Oh, look, my teammates are still standing at the top of the stairs shooting and throwing grenades down at the enemies, what a surprise. I type "Can we seriously just go down there, this is getting boring." Still no response from my team, I try one last time to get my team to take some initiative and attempt to push the enemies back. I run down and before I can even turn the corner to aim my gun at the other team, KABOOM, blown to smithereens by, you guessed it, the same nade spam that's been dragging on for at least 15 minutes now.

What on Earth about this is tactical? To top it all off, there's no refunds for digital downloads. So yeah, this has been a splendid day for me as far as gaming goes. TL;DR: If you're looking for ways to waste money this summer, go ahead and pick up Battlefield 3. Better yet, hold off until Battlefield 4 so you can waste $40-$50 more. And companies wonder why piracy is so popular. BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO SPEND $20 JUST TO THROW NADES DOWN STAIRS FOR HALF AN HOUR.

I ain't even mad though. I got racks on racks. $20? Pfft, I make more than that in just 2 hours of work, bro. Get on my level, Origin.

A Slightly More Intelligent MOBA Argument

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:08 +0000

If any of you are into MOBA games, you'd know there's this never-ending quarrel between the idiots in the HoN, Dota 2 and LoL communities. They go back and forth about how their favorite MOBA is superior to all the others in existence, attempting to prove their point with stupid statements like "mine is better because it has more players in it", or "yours is worse because the artwork isn't shiny enough".

Having incredibly indulged myself in the MOBA genre since last year ( I no longer play any game besides Dota 2, I've uninstalled everything else ) and having tried all three MOBAs, it was interesting to see an intelligent comparison between Dota 2 and LoL for a change.

My main issue with LoL were that the game doesn't really allow you to pick a "role" as much as Dota 2 and HoN does. Basically, almost all the heroes seem to be based around dealing damage ( supports and tanks end up doing just as much damage as carries ), whereas in Dota 2, you have more heroes who are geared to do other things, like pushing lanes, or healing, or withstanding a bunch of damage. LoL just seems more like a casual action game with less strategy and more focus on "who can deal the most burst damage".

The game also allows you to make more mistakes by giving every hero in the game the ability to heal and "Flash" away if they get into danger, when in Dota 2 if you had made the same mistake you would've definitely died. Not to mention the ability to Recall is incredibly convenient as well, since you can make mistakes in lane and return to base, when in Dota 2 if you screw up your lane, you have to spend 135 gold and buy a scroll to teleport back or walk back, which results in a huge loss in gold and experience. I just prefer strategic, varying, and less forgiving game play as opposed to "5 damage dealers versus 5 damage dealers" style LoL has.

A few other minor things that kind of ruined LoL for me was the fact that you have to grind. MOBA games are supposed to be the genre where you DON'T grind, yet LoL introduced that to the genre with it's "Runes and Masteries" and the fact that not all champions are accessible. Meaning, a lot of players play the game over and over just so they can get to the point where they can unlock special stat bonuses, and so they can get points to obtain new champions. In Dota 2 there is no such system - we don't get 10% more damage for playing 100 games, or a new hero every time we save up 300 "Dota points". We play because the game is fun, not so we can gain access to unnecessary bonuses that can and have, in some cases, interfered with balance.

Oh My Goodness

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:30:16 +0000

Just watch this video please, I'm in tears right now. Whoever put this together was a genius.

The Ouya has been shipped!

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 19:56:39 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?feature=player_embedded&v=psCoR4zmIpE#!

Woot woot! 1200 units of the Ouya have been shipped to developers so they can sort of get a headstart in making games for it. I've actually been looking into some Android development myself because it seems attention is sort of leaving from flash and onto the Android and HTML5 market. Plus, this is going to hurt the "big three" consoles as well. Who is going to want to keep buying $300 consoles and $60 dollar games when they can buy a $99 console that you can easily make your own games for and all the games are free to try? You can even watch Twitch streams on it ( which would work wonders because I watch a ton more Twitch than I do cable anyway, almost nothing on cable is worth watching anymore besides Breaking Bad ).

This Julie girl is like, the Notch of gaming consoles. She just comes out of nowhere with this genius idea and bam - $8 million. I hope this works out. I told myself I would never buy another console again but Ouya just might make me reconsider.

War Z Fail

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:32:11 +0000

Not sure if any of you have been following the War Z MMO, but it was supposed to be this awesome new alternative to DayZ. Sounds good, right? Well, the developers obviously aren't playing with a full deck as they had false advertisement all over their Steam hub and contracted an artist who gave them stolen artwork ( sound familiar? ).

Apparently they're trying to pull it together, telling everyone they fired the artist and yada yada yada, but unless the community is willing to forgive them for releasing a buggy, incomplete game using stolen artwork and false advertisement ( the promises about your own private server or how many acres were in the game were all lies ), DayZ may remain as the zombie MMO of choice. Players even said that the "bonus" equipment you have to pay like $20 extra dollars to get when you first purchase the game can be looted from you within minutes upon starting the game if some random guy decides to run up to you and kill you. I find that hilarious.

This whole situation is causing such a fuss, it was #1 on Yahoo's trending list. I rarely ever see games on Yahoo's trending list. Oh well, Ace of Spades is better anyway. If you want a shooter from Steam, go with that one. =D

Ace of Spades

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:09:50 +0000

I'm usually against all these blocky building games but I can't deny how much progress was made with this game. One moment, it's a bland shooter only 300 people know about, the next moment it's snatched by Jagex and thrown on Steam for $10. It now features four classes ( one even has a JETPACK! ) , shiner voxel graphics and more fluid combat, new animations, game modes, you have to see it to believe it:

Just awesome. Can't you believe this is the same game?

What Yall Doin'

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 02:47:03 +0000

Greetings tadpoles. It has been a while since our last meeting.

As I mentioned in that thread a while back with Branks in it, I had gotten a crappy job at a hospital. They only needed me for three months though so it's back into the unemployed pool for me. Good news is I will have more time to do what I do best: troll the forums. Yay.

Enough about me. This post is about you - my BYONDite family. Keyword BYONDite - any comments in this thread by Oasis and his legion of BYONDlings will be removed on sight. Don't even speak the word "Oasis" here. Contrary to popular belief, our tribes are still at war and tensions are higher than ever. The battle for control over all of BYONDia is far from over.

But anyway, have any of you BYONDites done anything I should know about over the past 3 months? Any games? Epic flamewars I may have missed? Is Flash client done yet? Is NEStalgia on Steam?

TELL ME SO I CAN KNOW.

DotA 2 comic & early access opinion

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 02:00:49 +0000

I'm literally in tears right now after I saw this comic. It depicts the communities of these games so accurately it's unreal.

Anyway, I did purchase the $30 access thingy and my advice is to not buy it. Not because DotA is bad, it's that the game apparently doesn't have a lot of Americans in it right now or something because the majority of my games are filled with Russians that I can't even communicate with. And anyone who plays DotA type games knows communication is a must.

Just stick to HoN or LoL for the time being. You'd basically just be paying to play with retarded Russians and believe me, they are not worth $30. Wait for the game to actually release so more English speaking people can get into the game.

Main Issue with Guild Wars 2

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 13:30:33 +0000

Once again, a game with really great combat ( just like Dragon Nest, Vindictus, and TERA ) does something to annoy me.

I joined GW2 because I'm a competitive player. But as I keep playing, I'm noticing that there really is no strategy involved in this game. There's nothing you really have to do other than just hit keys on your keyboard and zerg stuff. Even in the smaller scale PvP matches, where it's like 10v10, I hate the fact that I don't need my teammates and that they don't need me.

Check this out: I can heal myself as a Thief. On what planet can thieves HEAL??? As a matter of fact, I think every class can heal themselves. Not only that, no one actually dies instantly - you get this short period of time where you're on the ground and you get another chance to heal yourself ( remember, any class can do this ), smack people away, teleport away, make yourself invisible, etc. While this is a unique system, it's actually too forgiving.

GW2 made the classes too jack-of-all-trade-ish. As a thief, I'm not just limited to daggers - I can equip swords, bows, and guns as well ( and heal myself as I mentioned earlier ). This is cute and all, but as I said before, it kind of makes my teammates less necessary because if there's a situation where I need a ranged attacker, all I have to do is switch my equipment around and voila - I'm attacking from long range. I don't need a mage or hunter around to do it, and vice versa ( a hunter doesn't need me around if he needs someone to do melee DPS, he can just toggle his weapons and instantly he's got a sword or axe equipped ).

Now while I EXTREMELY prefer GW2's combat over the clunky feel of WoWs, I have to say that I'm a fan of the "DPS, Tank, Healer" route as opposed to GW2s "everyone does everything" style. I want everyone to have one role - one special thing that makes you say "I need this guy on my team". I'd also like for combat to be less forgiving. Everyone should not have a heal and then have 4 skills they can use after they die to make them come back to life.

WvW is what I expected - one big zerg fest. Who wins the fight isn't based on who has the best positioning or who has a balanced variety of classes - it's whoever has the largest amount of people at that time. You basically just beat the crap out of people, pushing them back all the way until you get to a gate, then you smack the gate ( which is made out of wood by the way, so I'm not sure why it's so durable ) for about 10 minutes and then you claim that area. Rinse and repeat.

Don't get me wrong - GW2 isn't a bad game. It's just that every game does something wrong and these are the few aspects of GW2 that bug me. The fact that these are the only complaints I have about the game shows how good it is - I'm usually able to come up with 5-10 reasons on why a game sucks. I'd say if you're into large scale PvP and zerging people with friends, go for it, but if you want a really strategic PvP game where you really have to put some tactical thought into what you do, you might want to opt for a MOBA game ( DotA 2, LoL, etc. ). I just went into the game with the expectation that it would end up being a bit more skill-based than your average MMO and it just wasn't.

Wow, Sony

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:24:09 +0000

Not only do you wait years to make your own version of Super Smash Bros:

But you give it the dumbest roster I have ever seen in a fighting game. I mean, Street Fighter characters? Really? Like we don't have enough fighters with Heihachi in them already?

Where the hell is Crashed Bandicoot? Spyro? Some FF characters? I mean come on Sony. You skip all over the classics to add a bunch of new characters I don't even know about. They added the stupid princess from Fat Princess ( seriously? ) and the protagonist from the Uncharted series, but not THE CLASSICS?

Will this be fun? It might. Will it have retarded characters in the roster you won't want to play as? Certainly.

Nintendo's roster actually made sense. They added the characters people actually cared about. Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Kirby, Pikachu, etc. There wasn't a character that made you go "Why the hell is he in this game?" Ok, you probably said that about Jigglypuff but that's not the point.

If any of you see the designer of this game, slap him. A favorite of mine on the PSX was Bomberman, but seeing as he is on every console, I don't think Sony could "claim" him and put him into a roster that's supposed to be Sony characters only. They should do it anyway though just to make me happy. :)

You can view the current roster here.