Review: Planetside 2

A new Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter enters the Free-to-Play market, and it’s out to make a big bang. Planetside 2 features high-end graphics for an MMO, and boasts a persistent world where thousands of players fight for territory on the world of Auraxis. Unlike most FPS games, you can often find yourself playing part in battlefronts with hundreds of other soldiers, sieging enemy bases, or defending important objectives. Unfortunately this also means the game will run computers with lower specs into the ground. Overall, Planetside 2 can be quite fun and addicting for FPS lovers, but not without its own issues and shortcomings.

FFS: Planetside 2

Funs, Frustrations, and Suggestions: Planetside 2

For the past several days I've been playing the First-Person Shooter MMO, Planetside 2, and found myself enjoying the game quite a bit. I haven't played the original Planetside, so I knew very little going into the game. Overall I find the game really fun for FPS players and worth trying out. Did I also mention that it's Free-to-Play? Here are some of my funs and frustrations with the game so far:

Fun:

• Good for hardcore and casual players
• Casual players can just go in and mindlessly kill the enemy.
• More serious players have objectives to capture for territorial conquest.
• No commitment or demand to play
• Can play for any length of time. Not necessary to dedicate a part of your day to get through content.
• No real "quests" or "content"
• No rails for your gaming experience.
• No level limits or content separating players.
• This can be stale for some players though, since it can get repetitive.

League of Legends: Katarina Rework - First Impressions

After a glance at Katarina on the PBE recently, here were my initial thoughts on her:

• Combo feels nice with the new W
• Feels more active with the new W
• Farming is much easier with W
• Farming is more predictable and manageable with the bouncing to nearest targets on Q
• Creates a tough choice between safety of Q, vs higher damage output via W
• Very glad she's still resourceless
• Kit now encourages her to be in melee more, emphasizing more high-risk gameplay with higher rewards

League of Legends: Introduction to Positioning

Melee

Tanks - Champions like Malphite, Alistar, and Amumu. Tanks are usually the ones to initiate the fight and attempt to cause as much disruption in the enemy team as possible. This includes trying to separate the enemy team to minimize their damage and ruin their positioning. Tanks also try to protect their own team, especially their squishies.Tanks often want to be the ones focused on their team so their squishies can have free reign.

Fighters - Champions like Irelia, Garen, and Rumble. Fighters are often durable enough to jump straight into the fray and pursue the target of their choice. They usually help focus a target and try to take down enemy squishies. Fighters prefer to be the focus over

League of Legends: 10 Suggestions for Improvement

League of Legends has come a long way over the years and won its way into many hearts as one of the top games of all time. As with everything, there is still a lot of room for growth. Here are ten things I'd personally love to see to improve the League of Legends experience in different areas, and not just in the game.

PvP.net Suggestions

1. Invisible Mode

I, for one, don't always want people to know I'm online or playing a game. Some people don't like being bothered at times, or don't like being spectated when they're trying out something new or are having an off-day. It's also upsetting at times when people trail you into Custom Games just because they see you creating one, or throw comments about how you don't play with them when you decide to play on your own or with other friends. Sometimes you just want to enjoy the game in peace and quiet, rather than feel like you're always being watched. 

League of Legends: Diana - First Impressions

Diana, the Scorn of the Moon

Leona's inverse finally approaches, wielding the power of the moon, a slick suit of black armor,  and a large crescent blade. This lunar maiden brings an interesting blend of assassin and fighter to the League of Legends. Her strongest positions on Summoner's Rift seem to be in the jungle, or soloing in the top lane. 

I found Diana to be quite fun to play from the time I experimented with her on the Public Beta Environment. While I'm not a huge fan of fighter-type champions, I enjoyed her kit and liked some of the design choices made. Zyra was a little visually disappointing for me, as I felt she could've looked much more impressive than she did, but Diana's presentation is very well done.

Overall, I only had a few reservations from my experience, but I was happy to see her not be another AD-based fighter. Her kit felt refreshing and different from the other champions currently in the game, and her position as an AP Fighter can spark some interesting builds.

League of Legends: Why Poppy Should Be Remade

Remakes are a great way to address design issues in a champion. They also make them feel refreshing, hopefully something more enjoyable to play as and against. For example, Evelynn and Twitch were just remade to address a lot of fundamental design issues revolving around strategic stealth, while also touching up some other areas of concern. A few champions still come to mind in needing a remake, such as Karma and Sion. However, one champion that has some incredibly frustrating design is Poppy.

What's wrong with Poppy?

Poppy has two major problems with her kit. Her passive and her ultimate. Both of these abilities have a heavy burden of knowledge for new players and create a frustrating experience for players. Fortunately, Poppy doesn't seem to be a very popular champion, so running into Poppy, or Poppy running into you, isn't a frequent pleasure.

League of Legends: The 0 CS Support

The 0 CS Support

In the current state of the game it is almost universally played in intermediate and expert play where the support in the side lane doesn't compete with their lane mate for last hits. This allows the carry to grab as much gold for their build as quickly as possible. Because of this, supports in bottom lane are typically champions that still have high impact with minimal farm, such as Janna, Soraka, Blitzcrank, and Leona.

Who would want to play support?

With so much emphasis on farming, who would even want to play a role that relinquishes it all? Most people would prefer playing a champion that can farm and kill over a support, but this was true even prior to the 0 CS meta. I personally find more people voluntarily playing support now than in the past, though that may also be due to people's increasing desire to stick to popular trends and social pressures. Playing a support is also usually a more relaxed role than others during the laning phase, since you don't need to worry about last hits in addition to your opponents. A comfort also comes with knowing that you can still have a large impact even with fewer items than everyone else.

MapCrunch

So my friend just exposed me to MapCrunch. It uses Google Maps but removes the ability to really see where you are specifically and where you're going. When you start, you are thrown into a random place in the world. You can then freely explore as you please, or play the game of trying to find an airport.

It's odd that something so simple is fairly addicting. It gives an odd "survivor" feel if you are trying to search for an airport. Aside from that, it's interesting to see the architecture and layouts of different cities. You can find some pretty amazing buildings and can simply enjoy exploring places you'd likely never visit. I found myself admiring some person's lawn for a good five minutes, or wondering what this silo-looking building is inside a residential district.

If you're looking for some random exploration, MapCrunch is a simple but interesting pass-time. Just hit the green "GO!" button. I didn't think I'd like blindly wandering around in a random spot of the world, but I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. Now off to go look at some more interesting neighborhoods!

League of Legends: Popularity of ARAM

What is ARAM?

ARAM (All Random All Mid) has been a fairly popular "game mode" for League of Legends for roughly two years now. Through the early stages, the community developed the unwritten rules of ARAM, such as no backing to heal or shop, no leaving the lane, and no going into the jungle or side paths. Unfortunately, there was a lot of flaws for the make-shift mode on Summoner's Rift. The game mode had so much more potential.

The Proving Grounds

With the recent release of The Proving Grounds map, ARAM entered a new era. Riot addressed some of the limitations of ARAM on Summoner's Rift, by implementing a lot of the fundamental rules of the mode directly into the map. No longer can you shop once you leave base. The summoning platform no longer heals. There is nothing but a singular lane. Additionally, it adopted some of the mentality from Dominion, with starting at a higher level, heightened ambient gold, ambient experience and shorter respawns. Now there is a dedicated map for ARAM lovers, and it's more fun than ever.

League of Legends: Last-Hitting

Why should I last hit?

Last hitting is one of the most important aspects of Summoner's Rift. It is the primary source of income, especially during the laning phase. Even if you round to 15g per minion, and you kill a total of 200 minions, that's 3000g, which is enough for a Bloodthirster or 100 short of a Zhonya's Hourglass. That's one full final-tier item worth of gold with the generous estimate of 15g each minion.
 
The only two roles that don't necessarily get too many last hits are Junglers and Supports in the current trend of the game. Junglers spend most of their early game in the jungle, which doesn't necessarily fall under last hitting. They do, however, last hit if they end up in a lane to defend it. Supports rarely ever last hit because they are usually paired up with someone in the bottom lane, who they relinquish their farm to. They typically only last hit if their partner isn't around so the gold isn't wasted.

League of Legends: Why So Angry?

Ever hop in a game and someone is already on a rampage, insulting everyone left and right without anything even happening yet? We've all had those teammates that just love to complain about everything and nothing is their own fault. It seems like no matter what, someone's a "noob" or a "baddie."

Why are so many people so angry in League of Legends?

First off, this isn't something exclusive to League of Legends. The anger, the frustration, the raging, the offensive language, the blame, the negativity...it comes with any competitive game. Especially team games. You can find this behavior in other competitive team games, such a DotA, HoN, Call of Duty, etc. Hell, you can even find it in World of Warcraft and other MMO's.

People's competitive nature lends them to become more heightened in a competitive situation. League of Legends is a competitive game, where everyone involved needs to pour a lot of effort into achieving victory. The rush of victory is a natural high that people love, while the slump of a loss is a low people hate. If League were a fighting game or another solo-competitive game, then people could only blame themselves for their loss (well, except those who still manage to blame "cheap" tactics, game mechanics, or their broken controller). However, since League is a team game, it requires everyone on the team to perform fairly well and work together to win. A person's teammates' performance is relatively out of their control, and there's nothing more frustrating than something you cannot control. People often jump to blame or direct their frustrations at what's out of their control, because it's much easier than accepting responsibility.

League of Legends: Glossary

Here are some common acronyms and expressions used by the League of Legends communities and writing.

Stats:
AD - Attack Damage
AP - Ability Power
AR - Armor
AS - Attack Speed
MR - Magic Resist
MS - Movement Speed
GP5 - Gold Per 5 Seconds
HP5 - Health Per 5 Seconds
MP5 - Mana Per 5 Seconds
CDR - Cooldown Reduction
CC Reduction - Tenacity for crowd-control reduction. Makes crowd-control effects not last as long against you
DR - Damage Reduction
Crit - Critical Strike Chance

League of Legends: The Mighty Jungle

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

In my previous article, “In the Jungle”, I addressed the benefits of jungling, and possible counter-jungling strategies. While it is important to learn how to deal with junglers, it is also important to realize the potentials of the jungle outside of jungling.

The Fastest Path

The jungle, while it may be a little bit windy, often yields the quickest path between lanes apart from the river and at the outer wall of the bases. Similarly, it can serve as the fastest way to get to Dragon or Baron, as well as to the middle of lanes and the river. It is very important to keep this all in mind, as every split second makes a difference in a match. If some of your teammates are engage in battle, and your swift reinforcement can tip the scales in your favor, you must react fast and get to the scene as quick as possible. The time it takes you to reach the battle can mean the difference between victory and defeat, so it is always critical to know the quickest way to reach your destination (while also considering safety).

  

Now let us suppose a battle did occur, but your help wasn’t needed, or you were too far to make it there on time. Your team has won the battle, and the enemy champions are on the run. An enemy champion managed to gain enough distance from your team to survive, but he is running down the river. The jungle is often the quickest way to intercept your enemies, as they often yield the shortest path to your destination. Similarly, this is also the case for your enemies, as the jungle often provides the shortest path to their safety. You can use this to your advantage to predict where someone will run, and plan your interception with that in mind. However, your enemies likely realize all of this as well, so it is best to exercise caution when necessary.

League of Legends: In the Jungle

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

In the Jungle

The jungle plays a critical part in a Summoner's Rift game. The jungle serves as a means of escape, ambush, and pursuit. It also provides gold, experience, and buffs. Junglers dwell here and are one of the most influential roles in a match. With this in mind, it is important to learn how to minimize these benefits as much as possible for the enemy team. Before I delve into possible counter-jungling strategies, we must understand what a jungler brings to the team, and why a jungler is a threat.

League of Legends: Ganking

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

Why Gank?

Ganking can shift the balance of an entire match. Ganking allows a team to set the pace. With a successful gank, you place the ganked champion at a major disadvantage in both gold and experience. Successfully ganking a jungler sets them behind on experience, and also steals their jungle buffs. It also temporarily frees up the enemy jungle until the jungler respawns, or if the enemy team decides to roam their jungle in attempt to avenge their fallen comrade.

Successfully ganking a person in lane allows the lane to be easily pushed. A gank can quickly turn a lane from 2v2 to 3v1, which often means a destroyed turret. At the very least, it forces the lane onto the defensive, allowing the team to zone the remaining laner away from the minion front, depriving them of experience and gold.

League of Legends: Seeing is Believing (Wards)

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

Seeing is Believing

Wards. Oh, wards. Why for do you receive such little attention? Why for do so many find you unworthy of purchase? Why for do people give you so little credit? Why for are you only used for Dragon and Baron? Why for do you have so much potential, yet people choose not to utilize it? Why for am I writing like this?

Fear no longer, wards, for I shall give you the time of day. No longer will your value be hidden in silence. No longer shall you be an item of small notice. I shall glorify you, appraise and praise you. I shall dedicate this article to you, so that your worth shall receive notice.

League of Legends: Master the Brush

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.
 
The Brush

Basics:

•     Brush are the grass patches you can stand in
•     If you’re standing outside of the brush, you cannot see what is inside or behind it
•     If you are in the brush, you can see what is in the same brush patch, and the surrounding areas
•     Wards behave as other units do. It needs to be in the brush to see in the brush
•     If you are fighting someone, and they run into the brush, you lose vision of them
•     Attacking from inside the brush (except for some skills) reveals you, and a small bit of area around you
•     If minions are chasing you, you can run into a nearby brush patch to lose aggro
•     If neutrals are attacking you, running into a brush patch does nothing. They still see you
•     NPCs are also hidden in brush patches

League of Legends: Harassing is Fun!

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

Now let's get down to business. Assuming you've read my previous post on laning, you should all know the basics and the general idea of this phase. Now we can start diving into one of the more interesting aspects of laning.

Harassing

The point of harassing someone is to weaken them both physically and mentally. When you’re harassing in lane, the best way is to usually target your opponent’s mom. People are usually more offended when their mothers are insulted, which can deliver some amazing results when trying to affect your opponents mentality. Unfortunately, this kind of harassment is against the Terms of Service (Article IX. C.), and can net you a lovely spot in the Tribunal, so let’s instead discuss attacking the enemy champion without intending to go for the killing blow.

League of Legends: Laning Basics

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

Introduction

Laning typically makes up the first ten to fifteen minutes of the game. The laning phase is an intricate dance between two parties, often one-on-one, one-on-two, or two-on-two. This phase of the match can be argued as the most important phase, due to the snowball effect it brings. Capitalizing on an early advantage serves to increase that advantage, such as more gold, experience, or map control. The pace of a game is often determined during the laning phase, and much of that comes from the lane match-ups.

League of Legends: Teamwork

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

Teamwork

For the sake of simplicity, everything in this post will be under the assumption of a full 5v5, Summoner's Rift game.

League of Legends is a team game. Even in solo-queue, you are only one piece of the whole. You cannot win a game by yourself (well you can, but let's assume your opponents aren't brain-dead). Sure, it does help if an individual player is good, but what matters most is teamwork. A team of less skilled players with great teamwork will win against a more skilled team with poor teamwork.

Step One: Get Over Yourself

It’s human nature to blind yourself from your own faults. No one wants to be flawed. Worse of all, no one wants to be told they’re flawed. 

But don’t worry, you have no flaws. Everyone else is flawed in comparison to you. You didn’t make any mistakes, your teammates did. Your teammates dragged you down and lost you the game. If your teammates were anywhere near as good as you, you would’ve dominated the game.

League of Legends: Improving Your Game

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

Improving Your Game

A common desire for people who play any competitive game is to improve. Even if someone doesn't play to win, people generally wish to become better at the game they enjoy so much. In a competitive game, it is usually more fun when you do well against your opponents, which requires one to improve and learn.

Learning From Observation

A great way to learn something new is often from observing others. Nifty tricks like dancing in and out of brush to harass in the laning phase to avoid creep aggro are easiest learned by example. Even for tricks that don’t directly apply to you, such as Shaco juking tactics, are good to observe in case you ever end up chasing a Shaco, and he switches directions on you with a Deceive. Other “less observable” tactics, such as being ambushed in a random brush or jungle due to a ward, are always a good thing to take note of to learn how powerful map awareness can be, and common enemy ward placements. Even simple things are good to keep in mind as well, such as common paths you or your team takes through the jungle, so you can predict similar movements in your enemies and ambush them or predict ganks and baits. Always keep a watchful eye. You can learn a lot just by watching and paying attention.

Progression: Achievements

Achievements are a rising trend in games and gaming platforms. Every Xbox360 or PS3 games have achievements, as do a large multitude of games released on Steam. Games outside of these platforms have achievements as well, such as World of Warcraft and Diablo III. You can even find them in mobile games.

Why are achievements so popular now, and why must I achieve all of them?

Most games utilize straightforward, game-oriented progression that directly affects the playing experience of the game, such as levels and equipment. Achievements, however, provide an alternative form of progression in a game, very often not even contributing to the game itself.

Since the achievements rarely ever affect the game, but are accomplished through specific events in the game, it allows for an often fun and humorous form of accomplishment that isn’t limited to the mood or content of the game. After all, who would ever normally run up to a Witch in Left 4 Dead and trying to kill her in one blow? Or who would run into the battlefields of Warhammer Online with no armor specifically to get a silly title about being some sort of exhibitionist?

Progression in Games

Progression is becoming one of the necessary ingredients for modern games. Sure, games of the past had a sense of progression as well, but much of the emphasis was on personal challenges and speed of completion in games such as Mario Bros., Contra, Castlevania and Megaman.

However, a large number of recent games are keeping players coming back with levels, rankings, unlocks, achievements and more. Even Castlevania games have adopted levels and unlocks.

So why are there more progression mechanics in games now, if games of the past were just as fun for their time?