Category: Video Games

Hey, you playing Conan Exiles?

…Technically, I still am; which is to say, I was, and in a month I probably will be again, as soon as I go and finish saving ANOTHER galaxy from having to do its own fetch quests. But for right now I’m playing Mass Effect. Which is a shame, because Conan Exiles is offering a bounty on exploits:

Similar to Ark: Survival Evolved’s bounty program, Funcom has introduced a cash-powered vehicle for tracking down exploits in their Early Access survival game, Conan Exiles.

[snip]

Funcom says it’s looking for “Serious exploits which can be used in online play and on multiplayer servers” that give players “big advantages in the game, like duplicating items or being able to build inside mountains/rocks.” Players spotting these kinds of exploits can email the developers to provide them with the info…

$100 to $500, depending on the exploit.  First person to report gets the money. So, hey, go for it. I gotta go rescue that cute asari reporter from something or other, myself. Swear to God, no wonder the Initiative went pear-shaped…

So now it is time for the inevitable question…

…Mass Effect: Andromeda DLC?

Yeah, yeah, I’m only on Planet #4 and I’m already asking that question.  I’m pretty sure that we’re not going to be getting new companions, if only because there isn’t a space for any in the Squad screen.  Looks like we’re back to a Mass Effect 1 ethos, which is hardly a surprise to anybody who’s played Andromeda for long. The entire dang game is a return to those days of yore, only now with jet-packs and no elevator ride conversations. Continue reading So now it is time for the inevitable question…

Well, Fallout: Cascadia looks interesting.

Fallout: Cascadia is going to be a fan expansion set in Seattle. It uses the Fallout 4 engine, but it seems to be drawing a lot of intellectual ideas from Fallout 3 and before. In particular they want to bring back S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (stat) checks, which is something that was only mildly used in Fallout 4 – and I’m actually a little surprised about that.

There’s a big team on this, so hopefully we’ll have another Falskaar (a similar project for Skyrim) on our hands.  Eventually.  This is probably going to be a while.

Moe Lane

PS: I certainly hope that the Enclave is involved, somehow. I’m still convinced that they were originally going to be in Fallout 4, but then got turned into the Gunners.

…Sorry, folks, I got nothing.

Unless you want to hear about how I’m ready to let that turian dude get exiled because he was engaging in conduct unbecoming in a turian.  Because I’m absolutely ready to do that.  When it comes to the Mass Effect universe, I have like zero tolerance for turians who let the species down. With great badassery comes great responsibility, and when your iconic figure is Garrus, well.

Sorry, yeah, this is mostly what’s taken over my brain.  You all know how that goes.

So, a few hours in for Mass Effect: Andromeda.

I’m still on the space station, which in classic beginning of video game fashion is a hot mess of people who apparently can’t do anything because of the thumbs up their rears.  Probably a side effect of the cryosleep process.  The leadership is all pissed at each other, nobody’s got a better plan than the Level 3 Chosen One who just breezed in, and there are a remarkable amount of boxes making it impossible for me to access a variety of doors just at this particular moment.  So, again, pretty typical. I’m sure that it’ll all clean up nice in the end, though. Continue reading So, a few hours in for Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Three days to go on Mass Effect: Andromeda…

…and we’ve already begun the traditional ‘yelling at Bioware.’  They hate the animation, they hate the sex scenes, they hate the wrong kind of sex scenes, they hate the character creation process… it’s all very exciting.  No, seriously.  It’s not truly a Bioware game unless somebody’s pissing and moaning over every conceivable aspect of it.  And, thanks to the miracle of limited early access, we can experience this marvelous folk custom before the game even comes out!

…Mind you, I largely don’t care about this because we’re getting back something like recognizable skill trees, more generalized characters, and Mako 2.0 the Nomad.  This is what I am here for. I want to wander around and obsessively look for stuff. I’ll be able to get it, starting Tuesday.
Continue reading Three days to go on Mass Effect: Andromeda…

So, apparently Conan Exiles saved FunCom’s butt.

Which is good to hear, because FunCom’s The Secret World is still my favorite MMO.  Although it hasn’t had much new stuff, and I was worried about that, mind you. But I hadn’t realized how worried I should have been:

Speaking to Engadget at GDC, [FunCom] creative director Joel Bylos said the company was so close to bankruptcy before Conan Exiles it was borrowing from investors to make payroll. Seeking a way out of this dire situation, Funcom took to SteamSpy to see what sort of games sold strongly enough to make the bank needed to keep the company afloat – and which it could afford to make. The plethora of dodgy survival games on Steam was the answer.

“These games sell a lot, but they’re not that high quality. We could definitely hit that bar,” Bylos said. And lo! Conan Exiles was born.

Continue reading So, apparently Conan Exiles saved FunCom’s butt.