Blog Posts from "The Demon Within..." - Gameriot.com

Street Fighter IV: The Review

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:45:41 -0400

Over 20 years ago Capcom created the “Street Fighter” franchise, which rose to success with the release of its second iteration, which has been re-made and re-released several times over the years and is still regarded as one of the top fighting games ever created, a pioneer of its genre.

It’s been over 8 years since the release of the last addition to the story, and Capcom have finally unveiled the title they have been working on since the Playstation 3 was released, “Street Fighter IV”, which has been highly anticipated and sure has a lot of hype to live up to.

With the transition from the last generation of gaming hardware, many well known gaming series’ have been under pressure to meet the high expectations of the fans.
But with classic titles like “Street Fighter”, there is more at risk. The gamers who spent countless college nights button-mashing with their friends for hours on end are those gamers who Capcom are developing for here, what’s at stake here is similar to continuing a film trilogy that has been deemed legendary, such as “The Godfather”.
A brilliant set of films, but if Coppola decided to release a new instalment and it turned out to be anything less than ‘classic’ worthy the series would be tainted.

Luckily, the majority of franchises such as these that hold the hearts and souls of many gamers, whose iconic protagonists are seen as heroes to them, such as Hideo Kojima’s groundbreaking Metal Gear Solid 4, or Miyamoto’s outstanding Legend of Zelda, the time and effort had been put in and solid titles were released.

The question is, did Capcom follow the footsteps of such greats? With such an important gaming series at stake here, was it wise to try and carry on a legacy?

I’m happy to say Yoshinori Ono has done the industry proud, “Street Fighter IV” is one of the most refreshing and enjoyable games the scene has seen in a very long time, joining the ranks of groundbreaking hits such as “Tekken 3”. Ono has managed to take the skeleton of the franchise, pretty it up with some incredible artwork, and add a few more features to deem it innovative whilst at the same time remaining near enough the same simple fighter we all know and love.

Each game in the series has been tuned to the finest degree in terms of character balance and gameplay, and that is most apparent in this iteration, It pleases me to see Capcom didn’t take the series to a 3-D plane as all its rivals have, having 3-D models playing on a 2-D field captures the fast paced, arcade-esque action of the game and keeps it different from today’s ‘sidesteppers’.
Speaking of character models, the art director Daigo Ikeno did a wonderful job here, keeping the vibrant, colourful Japanese anime themes of over-exaggerated muscles and garish costumes, which are complimented by the equally flamboyant J-pop soundtrack.
The art-style really adds to the games overall appeal, the aesthetical appeal of the finishing sequences gives the possibility of an artistic flair to one’s play style.

Amongst the thirteen classic warriors, of course including classics such as Ryu, Ken, Guile, E-Honda and Chun-Li we are introduced to four new characters available from the start, as well as two unlockable new characters.
El Fuerte is a pro wrestler with obvious influences from the WWE’s Rey Mysterio, and has a fast paced play style filled with mid, high and low rushes and air throws.
There is also Rufus, an obese yet deceptively quick American, Crimson Viper, a female fighter with a mix of long and close range attacks and Abel, a mixed martial arts character who relies on getting up close and personal and unleashing the pain.
We also have the new end-game boss Seth, who mimics the abilities of other characters, and for once the master of Ryu and Ken; Gouken, is available to play.
Luckily, as always, Capcom have got the character balance just right, so you should never feel at a disadvantage for choosing a certain character against another.

Now the visuals and audio have been mentioned, it’s time to get into the gameplay, the one thing Street Fighter prides itself on is the whole “a minute to learn, a lifetime to master” level of depth, that was apparent in Street Fighter III, and fortunately hasn’t changed for the new installment. A fight between characters essentially boils down to raw skill including the ability to input commands rapidly and understanding when to use certain techniques, and of course the mind games you can play with your opponent through faking attacks or suddenly changing from a highly defensive play style to an all out offensive.

Let’s review the basic fighting system that has been in each major installment, each character has a “light, medium and heavy” kick and punch, and then each has an assortment of special abilities that require a mix of directional buttons and an attack to pull off.
They also have a special meter that fills up as they perform special attacks, which can be used to enhance a special ability, or be saved up to unleash a quick combo on a foe.
Every character also has a flashy Ultra meter, which is filled up upon receiving damage, giving a slight spin on tactical gameplay, as an ultra attack delivers a vicious amount of damage.
In essence, this is a simple system that allows people to button mash if they really want to, or learn a few special moves and spam them.
On the other hand, a more advanced player can learn that due to ‘recovery frame times’ in which a character is left vulnerable after pulling off a special move, that maybe it’s more efficient to counter an enemy with a light uppercut as opposed to a heavy one.

Ono had to keep this fighting style the same, but introduce a few new goodies to make it refreshing, and the introduction of the ‘Focus Attack’ does this beautifully.
A simple command, executed by holding the medium punch and kick button down simultaneously, can break through an enemies defense, leaving them to crumple to the ground.
This is the basic use for a Focus Attack, however it also has another useful feature, it gives the user ‘hyper-armour’ whilst the attack is being charged, where they can absorb an attack, and heal back the damage later over time. This gives a new level of depth to the attack, giving the ability defensive properties also.

Going even deeper, advanced players can cancel this attack to play mind games on your opponent, or even cancel a special attack to perform a Focus Attack.
Take Ryu, for instance, his uppercut is a powerful special attack, but with a long recovery frame time, and his ultra attack is a powerful fireball. With the use of a focus attack, the player can land his uppercut and immediately cancel the rest of the recovery animation to perform a focus attack, but before landing that, cancel again and fire his ultra fireball.

Whilst this level of depth may seem daunting, it’s important to understand that a beginner really can pick up and play within no time at all, and with an amazing training mode built into the game it won’t be long until even the amateur is pulling off sick combos and vicious ultra’s, and then feel confident enough to go online.

Online play is what players of the Street Fighter II remake are already used to, but is the first for an original installment, and is a welcome addition, which is necessary for today’s generation of gaming. Generally gameplay is nice and fluid, however it takes just one laggy player to make the match awkward and at times, unplayable.

Outside of the internet there is a story mode, where each character can fight through a series of opponents spanning from 8 different difficulty levels, to unlock their finishing anime sequence, which unfortunately, to me at least, seem a little lackluster.

Then we have the training mode, and then the challenges mode, where you can play through ‘time-attack mode’ and ‘survival mode’, and also the new ‘trial mode’, in which you have to pull off certain abilities to advance, which not only helps you to understand a character’s special abilities and combos, but in turn unlocks titles and icons which can be displayed online.

Unfortunately though, asides from these there is nothing else to the game, none of those original mid-story-mode ‘smash-a-car’ or ‘hit-the-barrels’, which would have been really cool with the new art style, and no creative new game modes such as Tekken Force, or the ability to play the previous Tekken Arcade games in ‘Tekken 5’, although having said this, I wouldn’t actually have ever expected this to be included, I am only mentioning it as there is so little else wrong with the game.

The Street Fighter series, regarded as one of the top beat-em-ups around, is still to this day untainted thanks to a powerful instalment that pushes the genre to a new level, and it’s easy for me to say Street Fighter IV is now the best 2-D fighter since...Street Fighter III, but the saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, and despite a few tweaks for the overall good, Capcom stuck to that principle and we have a brilliant fighting game amongst us that will be played for years.
5/5

The Verdict is?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:24:33 -0400

So have those mages out there decided whether they're stacking haste/pen gear or crit/dmg or crit/pen e.t.c yet?
I haven't played in a while and once my account is topped up I need a plan of gear choices and gem choices!
GIVE ME THE VERDICT DAMNIT!

I'm writing this in an unusual style which is leaning away from my normal idiosyncrasy since im a bit of a wreck after my birthday party so im going to go out and write this from a sort of stream of conscienceness so i can't really tell if it's making sense or not so just bear with me whilst i try and remember what i was trying to say except:
is diablo 2 worth downloading to see if I would like the third or is it really ****/
any rts out there that i can download with free multiplayer so i can try and get into SC2
That mage question above
the grind from 19-20 is a *****.

STREAM OF RANDOMNESS FTW.

Right i'll get back to normal in the morning so count this post as a blip and just answer my questions whilst i recover

safe safe

Why I'm returning to WoW.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:52:20 -0400

Various reasons, actually.

/WallOfText off.

EU Rules KK??

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:00:04 -0400

So Nihilum won MLG, GG, I just hope Kungen doesn't brag about how 'his' PvP crew own as much as his PVE team does.

Was a pretty fun mach, RRD vs HDP, but at the end of the day the only EU team in that tournament topped all the US scrubs and won.

Nice one.

EDIT: lol joke man gz FD

SEASON 4 DATE! In before the others :)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:40:23 -0400

So, season 4 out on the 24/25th June, for US/EU respectively.

Interestingly timed for a MONTH after the AoC release date, when people are wondering if they want to top up or not, to help egg them on to get back to WoW.

Wizzard are indeed Blankers.

Anyway, in my head at least, since my WoW account is payed from my arena partner, I will be sticking with AoC and just doing the odd bit of arena when I can be bothered...before AoC i was really looking forward to S4 and was planning to beat my record and get my Venge weapon within the first week, but now I really have turnt into a casual player, and whilst I -without sounding too arrogant- am able to get at least 2000 if not 2200 on my Mage, I just couldn't care less anymore.

I am looking forward to the WoW PvP changing, though, more defense against Armour Penetration, better itemization and a little damage/haste/spell pen for my Mage.

I already planned what I'm getting when S4 is out (wrote a blog about it a few months back -.-), and I already also know I can't be assed to grind for the haste cape

Think what you want about S4/AoC Conspiracy or whatever, but it's coming.

Are you prepared?

WoW sucks, AoC owns.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:34:08 -0400

Yeah so WoW is boring, I mean being point capped for months because Blizzard won't release S4 -so PvE'ers can get what they want, and casuals can try and scrape points for 4/5 S3 - JUST ISN'T FAIR.

Had they released S4 prior to the AoC launch, I would've been more interested in WoW, fighting my way to 2200 to be done with the rankings grind and kick back on my Vengeful mount.

But, that's not the case, so two fingers up to you Blizzard.

So I bought AoC to compliment my new PC and put my Mage up for sale as soon as I saw the lush graphics, the engrossing storyline (I never got into Quests/Lore in WoW but AoC is just amazing), and I even have the sound on, because it's that damned good.

I rolled a Conqueror, and it's probably one of the most underpowered classes, a buff-bot who can dish out some decent DPS and half-tank some mobs, but will require some skill to be good at, and will hopefully get buffed a little.

Had to be female, since they look hot (not in a nerdy "ooh pixels" *fap* kind of way), and I donned my loincloth and started beating down some Picts utilising the awesome combat system where you smash the key which corresponds to the direction you want to attack in.

Anyway, I'm not going to do a review, this is just me writing whilst I can't play AoC due having had a 10 hour session earlier **.

The storyline is pretty gripping which is a first for an MMO, in my case, and there is an optional night-time mode where you can venture into the single-player part of the game where you fulfill your 'destiny', for those who are interested in character storyline developments e.t.c

But obviously the best part of the game is the multiplayer part, and what makes AoC the ultimate PvP game is not just the guild interactivity (my guild has a 'keep' which can be taken over by others), but the PvP servers (If you roll PvE you've chosen the wrong game -__-) are FFA (free for all) which just kicks ass.

How many times have you wanted to kill someone on your same faction? In AoC you can quest with a guy when you need to kill hordes of mobs, and when you've finished you can kill/camp him afterward after he/she's served his purpose for you.

This is a situation I had last night, at level 14.

- See Level 16 Barbarian -

- Start Ganking, the dumb ****** can't hit me since I'm actually moving -

- He dies, I go to where he spawns and kill him again, and again...and let him go -

- See him later and start camping -

- Tell from Player X : "CAN YOU LET ME PLAY PLEZ I PAY FOR THIS GAME TO PLAY NOT DIE FFS" -

Now, I was creasing so hard, because everytime I ganked him I'd see him give up and say "noob", or "******* you" or some other foreign person's broken English garbage, and then to get a tell from the guy, to be glad that I can't get banned for camping/swearing, unlike a certain other MMO.

So like I said, I'm not going to review the game, there are plenty out there, and tbh just buy it, if you don't like it sell your account

Now, the interesting thing is I logged back into WoW and really hated it (WTS Full Venge Mage 5k arena points kkthx) but then when I log in AoC there is always some prick in the global channel who talks about how he hates AoC and is going back to WoW.

To people who say that, no need to tell us that's your perogative since we don't care and you can **** off back to your casual-orientated, fairly easy to play, game.

But it interested me why these people say these things.

I came up with answers.

1) They can't stand a few bugs in the game, understandable, but don't slate the game, come back in 2 months or so if you can't hack it.

2) They keep getting ganked because no-one likes them and they suck, therefore have no chance of hitting level 80, in which case I would say go back to WoW since PvE servers suck.

3) They're ex-PvE-******* from WoW and don't understand why spamming one button doesn't work (shielding system means you have to attack in different directions or you'll gimp your damage a lot).

4) They are ex-PvP-noobs who really suck at WoW (LOL?) and can't hack AoC.

To those 4 GTFO my game and leave us to it, enjoying the luscious scenery and lovely fatalities.

To everyone else, who is even vaguely interested, if your PC can handle it, just go out and buy it, it pwns.

/wallofunorganisedtext off.

Let's NOT talk about WoW!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Sat, 31 May 2008 09:41:07 -0400

So, I picked myself up a new PC and I need some more games!

Currently have the CS bullsh*t, WoW, will get AoC and then have some random emulators.

What free games are there out on the 'net that are worth getting, and what games have kept you occupied the most?

I've been looking at The Witcher and when it's out, the new PoP looks awesome!

My specs are quite high, so I doubt there's a game I can't run, so just recommend everything.

P.S MGS4 OUT SOON! \o/

World First KJ kill -PvE is Hard!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:54:11 -0400

Well obviously that's not true, but it'd be quite funny considering the latest PvE vs. PvP dramas.

Speaking to Method who are on my current server, today they did an 8.00 AM --> 1 AM raid on that big bad mo'fo but to no avail.

For those who can't count...asides from a few mini breaks, that's 17 hours of pure PvE.

Nerd much? (although I'm sure of course SK/Nihilum e.t.c are getting their fare share of skiving work to raid WoW)

Joking, love you guys, if it wasn't for people like you WoW wouldn't have the nerdy connotations and links it has today!

It's more of a late night rant since I'm a bit pissed that Manchester United of course won the UEFA, and then after watching "The Apprentice" (Sir Allen Sugar UK goodness, not any of this USA - over - dramatised ****), to find out my favourite candidate was fired.

But seriously, as WoW is becoming more and more of a idle-in-SW game to me, once again, the more hearing things like 17 hour raids just make me sigh at the type of people who play this game.

Bye.

PvE Skillz.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:03:19 -0400

Will Season 4 REALLY balance PvE/PVP gear?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:49:53 -0400

So, more private server-ing and I decide to try and deck out a rogue, hey-ho Sunwell gear and 4/8 T6 (used shoulders since Sunwell shoulders weren't available on the realm, but I suppose nabbing a 4 set bonus is nice anyway):

The stats I came out with were mind-boggling, in a ShS spec my rogue has --

2710 AP, 30% crit and 1099 Armour Pen.

Also 218 hit, 8% haste and 24/0 Expertise.

All this with just over 10k health, albeit a paltry 54 resilience but in all seriousness that level of damage is just incredible.

That was wearing Sunwell gear, T6 shoulders, SEASON 4 MACES + thrown, and Zerk's call. And for some reason's Dory's Embrace.

When we're talking Warglaives that becomes slightly less Armour pen/sta/resi in exchange for minor crit and 2780 AP.

Of course 54 Resi won't get you far, but I can imagine what 2v2 will be like, paired with a druid or even another burst damage class it would be pretty unfathomable, imagine Buddhist-Lewt style 2v2 but with a rogue rocking unbuffed stats of 2710 AP and a Boomkin with S4 gear to 'tank'.

Anyway, min-maxing with some S4 gear and that's one deadly 'return of the melee'- so there is indeed still a huge gap

Season 4 Plans!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:52:03 -0400

So, Season 4 should be arriving soon-ish, and I've been playing on a Private Server mixing and matching all different types of available mage gear, trying different gems/enchants e.t.c

We sure do get a lot of tasty spell pen gear, makes t a hella-lot easier, but at the expense of damage, int (and therefore crit), and resilience (wearing all the haste/spell pen gear gives 10 more HP than wearing the spell damage equivalents).

But is it worth it? I'm not fully certain, I mean sure a minute amount of resilience and damage nerf for 93 spell penetration (excluding talents) sure is cool, but when does that much spell pen become useful for FROST MAGES, asides from 1v1'ing Warlocks?

And whilst we're on that road, I was looking at the spell pen gear too.

Currently I'm almost honor capped WITH the new PvP trinket, Arena Point capped, and I, with the help of Raddy, was planning how I'm going to spend my well-earned currency.

It makes sense to get the silk Neck (Subjugation)/Belt/Bracers, and then with an AV's more farming get both rings (Dominance/Subjugation). Then farm the rest for the Boots as I gradually climb the arena brackets.

I won't bother farming 60 badges for a spell haste cloak, the first time I did it was a real pain -__-

This gives me a little haste on my PvP gear, which is cool, and when combined with the Wand/OH/Gloves, and then another week of arena I'll get the headpiece so I can finally WEAR headpiece again) - as I don't feel confident that I'll get my awesome, 266 spell damage spell-blade within the first week or two (and for some reason I always get gear --> Weapon).

Anyway, so I'll have ~4% haste, 93 Spell pen, ~same damage and crit, or will I go for the mix with a little haste from the neck, and just the 58 spell pen from cloak+rings+talents, or go for full damage, retain the 58 spell pen, and have no haste (for the record, with full haste sans cloak that's just under 2.4 second FB cast and 1.4~ poly).

Decisions, decisions--

Have you made yours yet?

-----

On a side note, AoC was released to some of the early pre-orderers, and whilst I was at first interested in the game, I think I've decided I won't play until they release some kind of free trial, but has anyone got the full version and can report on how good/bad they think it is?

Oh, and late Happy Birthday for Norway, apparently.

Wrath Info!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:32:41 -0400

http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/world-of-warcraft-wrath-of-the-lich-king/872693p1.html

Still looks dull.

So I Account traded. Big whoop.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:44:22 -0400

Time for another dose of [Insert Here].

So...yes, I recently decided to kick my Priest in the nuts and then rip them out through his chest to really represent the boredom and hatrid he has brought me these past weeks.
I'm not saying Priest is a bad/broken class, but I need variety in my life, a little spice, variety.

So guess what my Vengeful Priest also decked out in PvE goodness got me?
Well sure I naturally had offers from all sorts of wankjobs who really think 5 blue geared level 70's will give me an erection, but then I saw the account I secretly lusted for.

A Hunter. (and a Shaman lolz).
EDIT lol @ zilea from going Paladin --> shaman the same time I do

So I've rambled about Hunters as much as the next guy, complaining at how ridiculously OP they are, but in reality I always knew they required more skill than those little cats that run around which manage to throw magical-healing-leafs at their allies.

But it really is a whole new experience!

Now, me posting freely about my promiscuity on this blog was intentional, as I feel most of you will *hopefully* not:
1) Flame me.
2) Believe that one must really, actually, level from 1-70, or one will of course have no clue how to play one's new class.

Number 2 is linked to the responses that I got from the WoW forums for creating such a hypothetical situation, and quite frankly I was dumbstruck at how people think that if I am knowledgeable of the game enough to break 2K rating (On a character that wasn't originally mine, add), the fact I didn't level the character myself makes me a total retard at said hypothetical new class.

Whilst I still prepare to embark on undertaking a magical journey of Earth-Shocking and Viper Stinging (making a healer's life hell FTW) I ask you, the pro PvP'ers of Gameriot-

Do you, personally, feel that someone who trades accounts will instantly suck at the class and therefore doing PvP with that class (if someone suggests that unless you level you can't PVE then that someone deserves a cumshot to the face), or, like me do you feel that there are too many retarded people who play WoW who can't muster enough brain-cells to learn how to play?

*As quoted by Tosan- GREAT VID- it's the retards in WoW that keep me addicted to this game*

Ramblings of a Resurrected Player.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:50:44 -0400

So, I took a little break from WoW for a few weeks, and now regret having sold my Paladin/Warlock account, even though I am planning to move to Age of Conan, but weirdly enough returning to my old Priest (separate account) made the game semi-interesting again.

Naturally, I hit up the /2 and started looking for a rogue to play with, thinking with the 1900 arena points I have saved up I could get to 2000 rating in an evening, buy my shoulders, and be 3 parts vengeful down.

Boy was it harder than I thought...

Now I'm in no way a BAD player, my Paladin had held his own in the 21/22 bracket for months now, and my Warlock fared well in the 20/21 also, but healing as a Priest is a lot harder than with a Paladin, and the random rogue I picked up, whilst he is a nice guy, we just lack that synergy that is required to succeed in the arenas.

First team we meet, Mage/Rogue. In the 1500 bracket we dominated these OP setups, with such simple tactics that in retrospect just clearly wouldn't work on a team who possessed more than 5 active brain cells (outlasting damage and dispelling the sheep's that were cast on the ROGUE lol gg).

Then we met Warrior/Paladin, and I was starting to think if players just started sucking (not realizing I was playing in such a low bracket), rogue on Warrior so I can getting burns on the paladin and then switching to said Pink-pansy for full domination and win.

Anyway to cut a long string of gruelling-yet-silly-easy matches short, we hit 1750 and things were looking good, only 3 losses due to the fact neither of us really played the setup before let alone gotten used to each other.

Then we met the druids and hunters.

My world started crumbling as we had a string of losses due to these Viper Stinging, Travel-Form-To-Drink-Up *****, and the fact half the druids were full Vengeful ones who were boosting made things so much more worse.

I actually felt that nerd rage burning up inside of me as I was /spitting on ever Hunter I met due to the fact they take absolutely no skill to play when paired with a druid and someone used to playing a WARLOCK could easily succeed playing a Hunter.

Sorry to the victims of my obsessive projected salivating.

Anyway it took us a few more hours until we hit 1850 and my rogue partner was happy that he could finally upgrade his Season 1 swords to a tasty S3 MH, and I was moaning that I couldn't upgrade my Light's Justice just yet.

Going back to the point of 'skill', it's pretty annoying that coming back to this game after it's in the most casual state WoW has ever been in, leaves a taste of cynicism and simply drives me toward AoC even more (please Funcom, don't let down the Norwegians out there and make a good game!).

Looking at warriors who I pity after inspecting their full Arena 0.5 sets and then witnessing the awesome Stormherald they ALL seem to hold leaves a bitter taste of tears in my mouth, where are the easy-to-craft imba healing maces out there to give me a chance to sample some of the casual-juice being handed around? I hear it tastes 'gooderer-than-gravy'.

*As a side note, 30 badges to go for my awesome S3-Par healing mace*

To move on from Arena and onto other random things to groan and moan about, I miss not being able to sell points for cash anymore, and the season 4 changes are making feel a little bit sad since my main source of income has been crushed!
I'm stuck with 300 gold that I made from contributing to my server by doing those dailies.

I also find out my old 5v5 I used to be a part of are now the top in the Battlegroup at >2400 rating, GZ to the Kittens.

Drawing to a halt, GTA4 is out in a few days and I hear IGN has given it 10/10 "MASTERFUL". Then AoC is out a month after that, followed by Metal Gear Solid 4 in June.

My summer should be pretty fun, even though I'm looking to build a new computer first- although I do need to study for some rather important exams I have in the next few weeks (EEK!)

Anyone going to jump on the AoC bandwagon, have anything to say about this casual-ness that WoW is heading into head-first?
Maybe you want to call me a noob for writing this post or not breaking 2k already, whatever, just give me the rep

Oh and me and Miss Telma are getting married. GZ to me!

Some Fan-Fiction thing.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:45:31 -0400

This won't be enjoyable, you will regret reading this article, yet I urge you to carry on reading.

Seriously though, I got a little bored and started writing a little story, based on WoW and other stuff. See if you like it/constructive criticism is always welcomed.

----------------------------------------
The life of a murderer isn't an easy one, living in darkness, fear and paranoia preventing you from sleeping, the possible feelings of regret and remorse plaguing the brain of the assailant.
Then you get those rare few who feel surges of power.
The difference between a murderer and Hoax is that he enjoys his work, he feels no fear and he will break the necks of any person who tries to cross his path.

The sun rose and so did our protagonist.
His room was a small, rented cabin, on the outskirts of Stormwind City.
It was very quaint, and the only objects in the room was one single bed, one desk with scrolls of parchment cluttered all over them, which housed underneath a small cabinet where his poisons and powders were kept.
There was a small chair in the corner of the room, which he often sat on to enjoy a cool smoke in the dusk of night.
Hanging near the door was his leather clothing, the attire he had specifically crafted by the leatherworker of his home-village. Mounted on the back of door was his own coat-of-arms.
As Hoax crawled out of his bed, he started his quiet stretching sessions. The huge tattoos that emblazoned across his back were indeed a fine sight. “GENJITSU” could be read on his lower back, his train of thought.
Genjitsu was the psychological art of making your opponent feel over confident, then using that weakness to your own advantage, as taught by his father.

The well-toned Human stretched into his raiment, tightened his belt, strapped on his gloves and boots and then moved toward the desk. He filled the slots in his belt with vials of different poisons and other reagents he required, and then picked up a scroll and crumpled in between his belt and his body.
Grunting, he moved toward the door and wielded his swords, which he was very proud of. No-one knew but his father was the original owner of those swords, the same swords he obtained by slaying the great, evil Horde kings of past.
The reason no-one would ever find this out was because when you’re being back-stabbed you haven’t got time to appreciate the aesthetically appealing steel instruments piercing your flesh.

Before he could leave his room he heard a huge number of screaming, checking his gnomish handheld device he saw a worldwide message saying that the village nearby was being attacked by a fleet of Orcs, who seemed to be on a Kamikaze mission to Stormwind.

He snuck through the wooded area behind his home and witnessed the massacre that was being lived out. There were at least 15 strong orc soldiers, all carrying the flag of Thrall.
“Mother*******”, he sighed in a cool tone, chewing on his stimulating marijuana bud.
Before more humans were killed, an Orc cried that he swore a rogue was present.
“Damn right mother******!” yelled Hoax as he plunged his sword in the back of this young orc’s head.
Inspecting the area at a closer distance, it looked like there were only 3 casualties so far, so wanting to prevent further innocent killing Hoax sprinted over to the one who looked like he was the leader.
“Back down Human, or my men will stomp you down” he roared, tightening his grip on his polearm, as if he was anticipating an attack.
“Me and you, one on one. You kill me, carry on, if not, you all walk home, or I waste all you mother*******,” Hoax replied, in a very calm and almost soothing voice.
The Orc bowed down to acknowledge this challenge, and equipped his plate-helmet.
Hoax vanished and the crowd were shocked. The captain, trembling, shifted his grip on his weapon, and went to swing into thin air until he came to a sharp halt. Incapacitated, Hoax had the pre-emptive attack, and sheathed his weapons as he launched himself into the air, in a stance that made you assume he would land with two swords crushing the skull of his enemy. Instead, he sliced down the captain’s back, trying to wear away at his plate armour.
Hoax moved much too fast for the captain to land a blow at all, and every time he moved it opened up a weak spot where his armour didn’t quite cover, letting Hoax take a slice out of him.
“**** this, Kill him!” he bellowed, and his army of 14 others came charging toward the rogue.
“Heh, going against your word is bad, you have to remember I’m a rogue- I play dirty”.
In no time Hoax ‘shadowstepped’ over to the orc in cloth and cut his head off, and stole his blade, which he threw into the Horde opposite him, resulting in a hemorrhage which would leave him to bleed out and die.
There were still 13 left, but only one captain, so he threw blinding dust into his eyes and threw a poisoned shruinken into his waist, where he had cracked a part of his armour.
The captain came to a halt, and stammared-
“Orcs don’t go home when their leader dies...I hope you meet your fate light-skin!”
He fell to the ground as the wounding poison corrupted his bloodstream.
Chanting rose, tribal chanting of anger and revenge, the green-skins were turning red with fury, and it seemed fatal for Hoax who had no help whatsoever. He quickly bandaged up the wound the captain gave him upon cutting his arm and started to run, with a fleet of orcs behind him.
He couldn’t lead them into Stormwind, but he had to get to safety, so he purposely let them catch up to him as he arrived to the edge of a cliff. He was stuck, no doubt, but there wasn’t much he could do.
The green beasts slowly closed in on him, grinning and laughing.
“Your head’ll look good in Orgrimmer you little sh-” an arrow passed through the head or this fierce warrior and he fell to the ground. A Night-elf hunter appeared behind them all, and started to aim at the others.
“JUST KILL THE ROGUE” one brave soul yelled, and they all ran to Hoax.
******, he thought, and he held his breath and jumped off the edge of the cliff, but little did the Orcs know, the ones who followed him off, Hoax managed to ‘shadowstep’ behind the orc who was too scared to jump, and kicked him off to follow his green brethren.
“The first time I took out 12 people at my own skill level”, he panted to the beautiful Night Elf.
He went to look up to thank his savior, but she was gone.
Confused, and bewildered, he opened up the scroll and read from it.
“Mission - King of Stormwind. We need you to assassinate an Orc tribe currently resting in Duskwood, it appears they are heading for Stormwind. They cannot get to Stormwind or there will definitely be casualties.”
Grinning, he slowly walked toward the great city, wondering how he’ll spend the 100 gold reward.

---------------------------------------

GUUUUUH wall of text I realise. I literally wrote that in like, 15 minutes, so if you like it please do say so since I didn't put too much effort into it. Maybe I'll continue, lol

Need opinions!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:03:05 -0400

So what's the deal?
I have gotten good enough at my Paladin/Warlock/Priest enough to say I'm skilled, and now I want to move on.
I have a 50 druid which I have no desire to level, a 62 Hunter who happens to be Alliance, so no desire there either.
I've put it down to a Warrior or a Mage.
Rogue was an option but I have access to play about 4 rogues and I've played them long enough for them to become boring to me.

Warriors...I've said before I like to PvE so the thought of being able to dish out sick damage in PvP and become a Tank who leads his army of men to Kil'Jaeden seems appealing, but I wouldn't be assed with the whole "respeccing" (so in that sense levelling my druid = half a rogue and a decent off-tank in one spec).

However after watching SPYLORD (fricking awesome vid), PvP warriors are more enticing by the minute.

Mages...Well they can PvE too, and Fire seems fun to play around with in PvP (raddy's vid was very amusing). Frost mages also require a lot of skill to master, and that challenge is something that lures me to the class.
A class that requires skill, like say a Disc Priest, upon getting 2k rating, gives a higher sense of achievement than doing it on my Warlock, and with a Mage, not only can I feel this achievement they are also a solid class in the hands of a skilled player.

It's my dilemma, are warriors really that cool when you insta-gib fire mages in one intercept? Mages, do you love your class despite some of the whines that lurk in your forums?

Maybe continue the druid (never...going...resto....eugh)?

Halp plz.

P.S that teaser I leaked to you about the spriest/rogue (which some of you decided was a poor video) has been finished if you haven't seen it already- http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=68473
(note the >4 rating)

Just a little video of MING!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:37:15 -0400

Ooh I lied, but having "Ming" in the title really DOES attract attention

Anyhow, some highly skilled Rogue/Shadow Priest I know recently decided to release a video on their fast-paced face-melting 2v2 comp, at 2300+ rating.
Now- before it gets complete I thought I'd leak the 10 minute test video, so here we go.

http://files.filefront.com/testmovieavi/;9794210;/fileinfo.html

A few notes on the video:

- Didn't that look like such a FUN setup to play? I mean you've either won or lost but the outcome is clear in the first minute at least.
- The quick nuking zerg style looked so fun that I actually want to roll Shadow Priest (again).
- The music rocked (I now love Anberlin).

It got me wondering who wears the trousers in that relationship, it SEEMS that Nishin (the rogue) is the backbone of the team, the one who is relied on more, but a Shadow Priest is really squishy and even though Horvi did die in a few fights it was pretty nice how he kept himself alive enough to get in some mean burst.

Now; I tried this setup myself on the TTR with an RL friend.
I played SPriest, he played the rogue, neither of us having much skill in the classes.

A few things I figured out, Perception is awesome and really really owns druids.
Warrior/Druid teams are a JOKE, I mean they're pretty easy anyway but getting a druid zerged whilst he was stealthing really is a fun sight to observe.

----
You gain Perception.
You cast Shadow Word: Pain on <Druid>
<Druid> is affected by Cheap Shot.
----

Then it's over pretty much >.>

Again that might be becuase we're nabs at low rating on the TTR against nabs trying new classes, but it was hilarious to play. Clutch-fears and Vanish/Saps that won us the game give a higher sense of adrenaline than "phew my gheal JUST landed as you were about to die lolz".

I hope the TTR doesn't go down for a long while, it's the most fun I'm having in WoW at the moment, trying all these cool setups and classes.

What are your thoughts on the vid/setup?

I like shiny things.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:18:18 -0400

Because of this, I actually went out and bought one of those "iPod Touch" things, and so far I'm really impressed.
What a cool device! I can surf the net, watch WoW videos on Youtube, and with it "jailbroken" even play GBA games! Oh and I can listen to music on it, too.
Only gripe I have is that an in-line remote was never included, I mean what am I meant to do when it's raining outside "Sunny England eh?" and I want to change track?

Anyway...
My impulsive buying has been a problem for me since I was a kid, but now I actually plan the things I'm going to buy.
With WoW being just an "Arena" game for me now since I dropped out of PvE-school, I've found I play a lot more 360, and this got me thinking about how many killer console titles are incoming in the next few months.

For starters, GTA4. Long-awaited, highly anticipated and it's sure to be a stellar title, one that I'll be playing for hours on end I'm sure.
Lost Odyssey is a new 360 game which is from the makers of Final Fantasy. I actually used to love those games but now the slow turn-based combat system is really off-putting, so I'll probably miss out on that title.
As for the Wii, Mario Kart?! Damn I used to play that game for hours upon hours of smoky uni nights in the digs with my mates.

As for FPS', I'm pretty set with CoD and UT3 until Gears of War 2 shows his face.

I don't list PC games since I don't...actually...own...one.
Well I do, but it's really sucky and it's shared. Personally I own an Apple Blackbook (http://www.apple.com/uk/macbook/) so I don't really game on it, since I won't install Windows onto it and my laptop is pretty much starting to feel sluggish now I've almost filled it up to the rim.

But whatabout my WoW habits? Yes folks, I mainly play on a laptop, and it's not an easy task. Sure I can plug in my G5 and stay away from the trackpad and the lack of a right-click button, but the cute 13" screen surely makes it a ***** to see everything happening in 5s. Hell, even 3s and 2s!
It's not exactly slow, however, sometimes a little laggy yeah, but I do also hook mine up to my 26" HD Samsung LCD screen and connect my own Keyboard and Mouse and I instantly become Pro.

Back to topic!
So; have you guys got any alternative games or any other **** you're planning on substituting WoW with?
What's your WoW playing style? Blazing speed custom-built computer? Low-budget PC world? Or dare you play on a laptop, no an APPLE laptop like me?

With Season 4 incoming...

no.spam@gameriot.com (Fakenick) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:18:44 -0400

So- I'm new to this whole "Gameriot" blog posting, but I thought I'd start my own, even if I only have 1 or 2 readers, the fact I have a passion for writing as it is means I'll continue nevertheless, but I plan to keep you, at least slightly entertained, and hopefully end reading my posts without regret.

Now, I'm pretty well known on the characters I play, not on a hardcore professional BG9 level (EU here anyway), but still I would consider myself an avid and skilled PvP player.
My identity shall be withheld, so that you can read my posts and thoughts as coming from a writer, not a player you may or may not have heard of.

I currently play my Paladin quite a lot, we're talking >2000 rating level here, and so you can imagine that I got my Season 3 stuff pretty quickly.
I've even got an almost full Retribution set too, but as the PTR's update (been whoring myself to the TTR a lot, the equality in gear but huge diversity in skill and knowledge makes it fun to **** around on), and 'MMO-Champ' tell us more about the "Patch-of-the-rising-of-casuals", it's had me wondering what I'm going to do with myself on WoW.

As it is, and I'll throw it right here into the open, I'm pretty elitist, and sure I probably play this game way too much, but without divulging into a heavy rant let's just say I like flaunting my gear, it gives me a sense of achievement and I like to work for the things that seem prestigious.
Anyway; I think this patch marks a milestone in the steady decline of WoW, maybe just for me, but I'm sure it's for many others also. I've already decided WoTLK won't be the game for me, and I do plan to check out the other great looking MMO's that come our way in the near future, but regardless until that happens, I will still be playing WoW.

I haven't been on some mad BoJ grind since I'm a PvE-*** too meaning I have pretty top-level gear. I haven't been farming my ass off for honor, simply because until they OFFICIALLY announce a release date for Season 4 I can't be ****** with it, to be honest.

What I am doing is planning what to do with Arena, since my retribution set is almost complete I'm in a dilemma. Do I go for Retribution PvP in Season 4, and try and go for the Brutal Scaled set first? Or do I stick with Ornamented and repeat what's been the case for S1/2/3.
Since I'm barely getting past 1850 as Ret (Warrior/Ret Pala/Enhancement Shaman is teh lulz), it would be...interesting to see how it works out for me once all the teams hit 1500 again, but another idea could be to heal my way to 2k but buy retri gear.

Ooh it's tough being a hybrid.

My Warlock isn't getting a lot of love from me recently, I specced him Destro and retired him a LONG time ago, since I was finished with this Season. I occasionaly like to burst down people in BG's and such, but playing SL/SL is really rather boring, another 'limited-to-arena' speccs, like a Resto Druid. You may wonder how I've managed that comparison, but let's say if it wasn't for the CC and extra minute utility (dispel's e.t.c) that's brought with the Warlock class for arena, I'd never be SL/SL, it's simply too painful to play something that makes you feel sorry for the enemy.

As Season 4 comes nearer, however, I have to pick him back up again and get him ~3k more arena points to be capped again, as for honor he's already capped since if I do venture into the Battlegrounds, it's with him.
Now interestingly enough I've decided to try and get to 2k rating in whichever bracket as destruction, something I've never managed to do before. Whether I keep up this trend in S4 is anyone's guess, but we'll see how things turn out.

Drawing to an end I'd like to point out I will write about more interesting things and my views on other classes and whatnot, but this is something that's been bugging me for a while

What's your plans/aims for Season 4?