wiley@wileyreport.com

I started my SWTOR journey just two weeks ago and I am pretty hooked so far. My guild is migrating over from WoW and I am pushing through the storylines on two characters and am about to make a third for tanking duties. But, like with all things I love, I have some issues. I’m going to get them out here.

Why are there even mailboxes in this game? I carry a personal holocommunicator and have an electronic bank account for my credits. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to check my mail anywhere, just like I do in real life. The only argument against this is if an item is sent to me, and it is a pretty weak argument. Droids swoop down every time I level or advance a mission objective, they certainly could deliver the belt and shoes I ordered.

Speaking of my holocommunicator, why would I ever need to return to someone to tell them I finished a mission for them? If I had to get something for them, fine, I get that… but if all I am saying is, ‘hey, I cleared the path of bandits for you,’ then there is no reason for me to hike two miles back to the city to say it to his face. Again, technology that we have right now that the space-faring, galaxy-spanning, world of Star Wars lacks, apparently.

I’ve never been to New York, but I am pretty sure if I went to the airport and asked if I could go there they wouldn’t deny me because I haven’t ‘discovered’ it yet. This piece of archaic progression control really needs to go. I shouldn’t have to discover places in order to travel to them, I am pretty sure that shuttle or taxi knows how to get to every place on the planet and doesn’t need my directions. You know what would stop me from just flying off to the highest level area in a zone? The fear of death… which,come to think of it, is probably the same reason I haven’t flown to New York yet, either.

And the game has already established that every hour I can call a shuttle to come pick me up and take me anywhere on the planet (that I’ve been to, of course). This shuttle can even pick me up indoors, somehow. Yet, the damn thing can’t drop me off directly at my ship? It can traverse a mile of mountain caverns, but can’t float down an open-air port to deposit me at my vessel/home?

This is some serious science fiction we are talking about here, it is about time it started acting like it.

X-COM was one of the first PC games I played (well, that isn’t true, if you count Jumpman and Shamus on my Apple IIe, but I am talking about more modern games here… sheesh I know I am getting old when I am referring to 19 year old games as ‘modern’. Ok, this aside has gotten away from me, where was I… oh yeah, X-COM) and still has a special place in my heart next to Legend of Zelda, Yar’s Revenge, and Metroid.

You can imagine my disappointment when they revealed the newest game in the line as an FPS instead of its Turn-Based Strategy heritage. The new game doesn’t even look like it has anything to do with X-COM except that it has Aliens and a human organisation that fights them, and if that is all it takes to be X-COM then MiB were the shittiest X-COM movies ever.

Just as I was about to write the eulogy on another bit of my childhood, Firaxis Games swoops down like a Valkyrie to breathe some new life into it. XCOM: Enemy Unknown hopes to be a much truer to original title, and I wish them godspeed. They have a hefty legacy to live up to.

My man-crush Damien Walters is at it again. If you have never seen his escapades before, you owe it to yourself to check out his other Showreels.

An interesting little mystery:

Back before Portal 2 even released I put ‘The cake is a lie’ up on my whiteboard. It has been quite some time since I have even looked at it, and I was surprised to see an additional scrawl had been added.

None of my office mates play Portal, so it had to have been someone from the wider company. Seeing as I work with an older crowd the possibilities are very obscure.

The game is afoot, Ratman!

Some cartoony Firefly goodness.

http://otisframpton.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c747b53ef0162fc55cb8d970d-popup

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, so my next two posts are going to be a bit of catch-up on my current campaigns.

Read more

Deathwatch has been released to the masses and here are my first thoughts. Read more

I am not exactly sure why, but my FLGS had copies of the new Dark Sun a week early. So, here is my early review of the new face of Athas.

Read more

My thoughts on the six Space Marine Chapters announced for the upcoming Deathwatch RPG.

But first, my beautiful header image was created by Radojavor. You can see more of his amazing work on his Deviant Art page. Read more

In this installment, I will be discussing the iPad as a gaming tool for GMs and players. Read more