Monthly Archives: July 2019

Overwatch Receiving Role Queue is a Good Thing

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Editor’s Note: The full article can be found at this link.

How many times can you think of, whether it’s in League, Smite, Paladins or Overwatch, has someone decided that just because your team needs a healer, that they shouldn’t have to do it, because they’re the best Zed/Freya/Maeve/Genji in Bronze 2? It’s probably a lot unless you always hyper carry your teams to victory. It happens, they feed, they blame someone else, and the cycle begins anew. In Overwatch, people could just pick whatever they wanted in any mode, and you have no leverage to convince someone to swap if they don’t want to. I mean, the chances are high that you’ll lose without a healer, but it’s not a 0%. Victory is never 100% assured, after all. So Overwatch announced that Role Queue is coming to the game, and it’s probably one of the best things to be added to the hero shooter. Now, I do think ultimately it kills a lot of “unconventional” comps, but there will still no doubt be creative, fun team comps available in the game. I do wonder if there were other answers that could have worked (hero bans, et cetera), but I still like this choice.

Developer Update _ Overwatch Anniversary 2018 _ Overwatch - YouTube

There are so many people that play team-based games that simply do not understand what it means to be a team player, creating an unfortunate, unpleasant experience. That is the major reason that I have passed on Ranked Mode in practically every game I play (except MTG Arena, but that’s not the point). However, Overwatch is doing something different compared to League of Legends and Smite – You just queue for the role you want, and that’s it! There’s no “Oh, you wanted to queue for Jungler/Mid-Lane, but you’re going to be Support”. Instead, there are three queues – Damage, Tank and Support, each with their own queue time, based on how many people are queueing for the roles. I imagine that Support is going to have the best queue times, with Damage having the worst times. You will have to play through five placements for at least one role, but you can go through all three roles (for fifteen placements total).

Overwatch Role Queue

This is going to affect all game modes (though probably not all Arcade Modes, as some matches simply would not make sense). On a personal note, I don’t think it should affect Quick Play, but since QuickPlay is just Ranked without Point Gain/Loss, I understand it. Now, there has been a great deal of backlash and hurt feelings about this, but I don’t really understand why. If you want to just queue for damage now, you can do it without worrying about having four to five other damage in your games! It just means that Overwatch is enforcing Two Damage/Two Tanks/Two Supports in all matches (including the Overwatch League!), and is that really so bad? Sure, the Three Tank/Two Support comp is fun, and everyone loves to go five damage/one support, (maybe not that one. . .). But this will make the game more competitive altogether, with teams not being hampered by one or two jerks holding things up for everyone. From what I’ve read, there will also be a Classic QP in Arcade Mode where people can just do whatever.

Overwatch Animated Short _ “Shooting Star” - YouTube

So, personally, I love and welcome this change. It’s even letting dps one-tricks continue to play just dps. There’s nothing stopping you now! You might just have to wait a little longer to join a match, but that’s not really the worst thing in the world. As someone who played Support in Overwatch, it doesn’t bother me one bit. I also read that there will be potential rewards for players that play the most desired/needed roles for matches. Is this going to “ruin creativity” in Overwatch? I don’t think so. You know what your opponent will have in terms of roles, but you don’t know what they’re going to pick and what strategies they’re going to employ. All this means is that players will be able to queue for what they want, and not have to stress about people ruining their games because they absolutely refuse to play anything but Junkrat. It won’t fix the problem of people trolling/leaving matches, but perhaps that’s next on the docket. A lot of “wacky” comps are going to go away, but that’s not the worst thing to happen to the game. This change isn’t to combat any particular team comp, but to make the overall game experience better for the vast majority of players. At the end of the day, players can play whatever role they want, provided they’re willing to potentially wait a little longer to do so. It’s a great move for Overwatch, and exactly what it needed.

Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad

Squad up with all your favorite Tom Clancy franchises in a mobile free-to-play Gacha style adventure game for iOS and Android.

Business Model: Free to Play

Microtransactions: It’s an Ubisoft mobile game. It’s going to be as predatory as they come.

Key Features:

Classes: To be announced

Squad Goals: Assemble your ultimate squad from across Tom Clancy’s many universes, including The Division, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell.

Game On: Bring your A game and your A team for PvP and Guild vs Guild action.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint

Join the ranks of the elite US Special Forces unit, the Ghosts, as they come to arms with their strongest foe ever, The Wolves, their own former brothers in arms. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is a first person, coop, open world, shooter.

Business Model: Retail Purchase, 59.99 with optional upgrade editions.

Microtransactions: Yeaaaah, it’s Ubisoft.

Key Features:

Classes: Unknown but hinted at.

Drop in/Drop Out Multiplayer: Your allies can join you, or leave you, at any time, seamlessly, as you traverse 11 unique biomes by land, sea, and air.

Survival: Mind your stamina as you fight not only the Wolves but also the environment.

Bivouac: Set up temporary camps to change your class and gear. Craft new items to win the day.

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition Now Available

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition is now available on Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC today, as Buka Entertainments first console game. In Redeemer: Enhanced Edition, players control Vasily, who is a once-elite operative, working for the biggest Cybernetic Weapon Manufacturer in the world. After his corporation turned on him, he tried for 20 years to find peace among a group of monks, but that sadly does not last forever. The corporation is closing in on Vasily, so he has one more shot at redemption.

“It was a really long journey. We’ve done a huge job and can’t wait for the upcoming release of the Redeemer: Enhanced Edition,” – said Dimitry Kachkov, Sobaka Studio CEO. “We literally feel the future excitement of a new players when they will launch the game on the consoles all around the world – that’s like the whole new planet is about to be born in the open space of the game industry!”

“Redeemer: Enhanced Edition is the first game Buka Entertainment is publishing on video game consoles. This is a very important milestone for both us and Sobaka Studio team as from this day on players can enjoy our title worldwide on any modern video game platform available. And thanks to our partners from Koch Media, it’s not only digital but also a disc edition!” said Artyom Studenikin, Buka Entertainment PR Manager.

Features of Redeemer: Enhanced Edition:

Intense top-down action: Take out enemies using a wide selection of firearms and melee weapons including combat knives, batons, fire axes, hammers and many more.

Unique kill system: Use three different types of kills to mercilessly eliminate enemies: sneak to stealth kills; use the environment to dispatch your opponents; utilize your combat prowess to beat down your opponents

Brutal hand-to-hand combat: Take out enemies using a wide selection of firearms and melee weapons including combat knives, batons, fire axes, hammers and many more.

Disarm-or-dismember system: Use a unique combat move to either disarm enemies of their firearms or dismember certain enemies at will and use their limbs as melee weapons.

Parry System: Defend yourself whilst taking down your enemies by utilizing a well-timed block. Learn the movements and attack patterns of different enemy types to perfect your parry.

Story-driven single-player: Discover Vasily‘s haunted past and experience a narrative journey of betrayal and redemption.

Co-op mode: Play with your friend in co-op mode on one console: Friendship is tempered in battle.

Leveling: In-game leveling is based on a gradual battle skills improvement – character’s proficiency with a skill is increased through practice of different attacks: kicks, punches, light and heavy melee weapons or guns such as a handgun, shotgun, submachine gun, assault rifle or plasma gun.

Perks system: You have 50 perks to improve the killing efficiency of Vasily. Expand his abilities after every victory. Use new incredible fighting perks – electro punches, dragon breath kicks, explosive plasma, and flame bullets etc.

Nowhere Prophet Now Available on Steam

Nowhere Prophet is an Indian-infused dustpunk deck-builder from No More Robots and Sharkbomb Studios, and it’s now out on Steam! Available for 24.99 (with a 10% discount during launch week), this unique card builder has a difficult twist. As a prophet, you recruit new followers, but those followers are the cards in your deck. As you gain and lose them through battle and events, the bonds with your people change, as does the strength of your deck.

Nowhere Prophet fuses card-based combat and a tactical battle board. Tactically drag your followers onto the battle board, and use Leader Cards to utilize your unique skills, swaying the fight in your favor. Procedurally generated maps give you a new journey each time you play, while 10 different convoys and four Prophet classes that change how you play, along with more than 300 cards to discover, make Nowhere Prophet infinitely playable.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York Revealed

Vampire: The Masquerade is the first V:TM title to be heading to the Nintendo Switch, but it will also arrive on PC, both set in Vampire: The Masquerade’s Fifth Edition rules/clan set. Coteries of New York will play out a battle between the Camarilla and the Anarchs, in the dark nights of New York City. Players will be a fledgling vampire, trying to find out what it means to be a Kindred in this setting. Players can choose from several of the Vampiric clans to pick from, each with their own powers, ethical dilemmas, and dialogues.

Stronghold: Warlords Releases New Developer Diary

Revealed during E3 2019 last month, Stronghold: Warlords offers a step forward in the castle sim genre with new gameplay, but also has a greatest hits in terms of features. Fear Factor is back, and lets players inspire love or fear in their followers to boost the economy. Laddermen and Siege Towers also return to make castle sieges far more exciting. The Warlords System is an evolution of the original Stronghold feature, which takes estates beyond their beginnings, to something leaning towards grand strategy.

“In terms of core features Warlords is a love letter to fans of the series,” said Nick Tannahill, Marketing Director at Firefly Studios. “We’ve taken Stronghold to a completely new setting, but also brought back fan favourite units like Laddermen and Siege Towers. In addition, we’ve made some big improvements to unit control and wall building, based on player feedback from Crusader 2.”

Alongside the return of fan favorite units and options Firefly are also planning troop and wall improvements requested by the community. Returning to the classic grid-based wall placement, allowing walls to travel along the terrain and taking advantage of 3D to introduce proper unit displacement and collision are just a few of the improvements fans can expect when the game launches next year.

Kickstarter Report: July 2019

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

It’s that time again! Time for me, your favorite Internet Ragachak, to go over some really amazing stuff being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. These are all in a various state of funding – some close, some well over the mark. But I picked these because honestly, I love the concepts for them. I did want to give an honorary mention to BESM – Fourth Edition, which is a tabletop RPG book, and I have a lot of fond memories of BESM. That stands for Big Eyes, Small Mouth and is an anime tabletop RPG. It’s what ultimately led me to finding The Slayers tabletop book, and for that I thank them. The BESM book has been funded, but I wanted to point it out because slowly but surely, I want to branch out to some of the tabletop/card games that are also on Kickstarter. For now, though, I want to focus on digital video games.

Kingdoms of the Dump – Okay, so – Kingdoms of the Dump is a world of trash, created by two real-life janitors, and honestly? That’s pretty damn life-affirming. Follow your dreams, friends. This gorgeous pixel game has a pretty interesting story and absolutely brilliant art. Plus one of your main characters is an animated, living trashcan! What’s not to like? Players can swap their main character on the fly, and take part in fun turn-based combat. However, the main character is Dustin Binsley, a disgraced Garbage Squire. This game has so much heart, and charm – it would be a goddamn shame for it to not get funded. A digital copy runs 15 bucks, which also gets the donators name in the credits. At 125 dollars, you get a ton of stuff, but possibly the best to me, is the SNES boxed copy of the game. The ultimate prize, honestly made me laugh far more than it should. 5,000 dollars lets you clean up trash with the creators of the game, and talk video games. Travel is not provided, but the food will be! “If you don’t feel like coming, we will do the litter pickup regardless”. Progress: 37,208/60,000 (26 days to go). Kickstarter Link: Kingdoms of the Dump

Reverie a Heroes Fate

Reverie – A Heroes Fate – You guys know by now that I absolutely adore turn-based RPGs and retro-style games. I come from that era, so I’m, of course, drawn to that style. Now Reverie: A Heroes Fate is already funded, albeit barely, but there’s still time to help them grow further. This game title sounded very familiar to me, and that’s because it takes place in the world of their previous project, Reverie: A Heroes Tale. It’s not a continuation of the previous game (so no sequel), but it is set in that same world, so a great deal of the world-building was probably already done. Reverie: A Heroes Fate takes the traditional Final Fantasy 1/Dragon Quest 3 style of building a party of four, but it features 15 awesome, unique classes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. They had me at “Omnimage” if I’m being totally honest. One of the upcoming Stretch Goals looks really fascinating too, the “Monster” class. It learns random abilities, which makes me think of the Gameboy Final Fantasy titles, and that’s a good thing. PLUS RANDOMIZER OPTIONS at 1,000 dollars. Come on, you know I love Randomizers. If you want to donate enough for a copy of Reverie, a DRM-free copy is available for 7 bucks, with an estimated date of December 2019 (my birth month!), but this is a limited backing price. The big winner is at 500 dollars, where whoever donates that much will have an NPC in your likeness, a personal gravestone, a quest NPC, and a complete questline! You can also create a town! If I had the money just sitting around, I’d do it – no lie. Progress: 622/500 (27 days to go). Kickstarter Link: Reverie: A Heroes Fate

Bleak Faith: Forsaken – This has to be one of the grimmest titles I’ve ever read out loud. It reads to me like a title of a Paradise Lost song, which is fine – I love them. On a personal note, survival horror is not my cup of tea, but I respect and appreciate the genre. There’s a lot of really cool stuff in the game style, but I personally don’t get down to it as much. But Bleak Faith: Forsaken looks to do some interesting stuff in the genre. The last frontier of humanity is trying to survive the horrors of the Omnistructure, and players are one of the Forsaken, which defend against this threat. It’s adapt to survive or be consumed, and your faith decides your fate. Now that‘s storytelling. Bleak Faith: Forsaken looks to bring a brutal open world to life, and I’m sure it’s going to draw the comparisons to other games in this style and that’s fine. I really like the art style they’ve shown off here, and they have some pretty ambitious stretch goals (like players being able to be dismembered? Rough). It’s got a ways to go yet, but I have faith in this title (Huh? Get it?). People interested in a copy of the game digitally can pledge 30 bucks, which also grants access to their private Discord and digital wallpaper. For the True Believer, 2500 dollars nets a sculpture of you in-game, the ability to co-write a quest, design an enemy and item, and so much more. Progress: 18,155/30,000 (19 days to go). Kickstarter Link: Bleak Faith: Forsaken