Control Freak: Is There Any Hope For the Future of 1up.com?

 2003 - 2013

I suspect by now that most of the editors have cleared out their desks and may occasionally check the site at home from time to time. I imagine the server(s) that hold 1up in the digital spaces of the internet are ticking away the miliseconds to their inevitable unplugging but are still slowly working to post what few blogs come through via the users that still come here. I can only guess that the big business of Ziff-Davis has no intention of selling the site or name because they don't want to lose the ad revenue. And, I like to think that the users still care.

I have been a member of dozens of gaming community sites over the years. Some of them have been good to me, others I'd like to see burn to the ground with the creators trapped in the building.
I first heard of 1up through a magazine advert, the one with the kid holding the Dreamcast, I believe that was back in 2003 at the site's launch. I wasn't on the internet til 2001 and didn't really get into gaming until 2004. Back then I had never imagined there were gaming communities. GameSpy Arcade was my first real taste of online gaming and it opened the door to many of the big name review sites. I wasn't a member of 1up til about 2006 (under a different name) and what attracted me was the 1up Show. I had just gotten into podcasts and I genuinely loved it. The talent of production and the easy-going natures of Matt Chandronait and Ryan O'Donnell had me anticipating it each week. It was one of my few favorites. Sadly, out of the almost dozen or so I used to listen to, only 2 are still around.
It seems these days most people are migrating to the independent review sites for fear of pressure from the game companies or corporations. Ever since the Gerstmanngate debacle, writers have been called into question along with review scores. (And really, if a 5/10 is "average" then why is the average game a 7/10?) Its been hard to take anyone's word for how good a game really is these days.

1up had the best straightfoward writers that gave you the facts, it was never clouded with opinions. They had the wherewithal to know what the readers wanted. The only things I was ever disappointed with on this site was the game search, (it never had the little-known games that I have in my collection. While my count shows 452, its more like just over 500.) and the lack of reviews for old games. But those are minor mainly because I keep a list of everything on my computer and I know there wasn't enough manpower to review *picks absolute random game from the list* Silent Scope on the Dreamcast.
Along with that, the community has been one of the most mature I've ever come across. There was never any room for fanboys and the ones that I saw that made their way onto this site were largely ignored by those smart enough not to feed the trolls. I know my blogs were never A+ material, but getting one or two thumbs up for effort was good enough for me.

IGN had no real reason to buy 1up and Gamespy, UGO had no reason to merge with them, and neither should have let Ziff-Davis. What was the point of having a giant congolmerate of game review sites? Were they hoping to create a monopoly? I always felt 1up was more "raised on games" whereas IGN was for new gamers who only cared for the AAA titles. This site was about the gamers themselves, the community was always the main attraction. It was about finding people who were interested in certain games and geeking out about your favorite ones. You could post a blog, forum, or group message and have a game day with total strangers and make friends. You could even find people who liked the same music as you. No other sites did that.
It was about US. THEY created this site for US. For us to celebrate ourselves as gamers. To figure out why people loved the terrible games, to hate the draw distance on Turok 2, to praise the textures and polygon counts of a Sega Saturn game. From the headache-inducing pain of the Virtual Boy to discussing the rapid rise and fall of the 3DO. For tearing the newest video game movie a new one, to painfully admitting that Super Mario Bros was the worst movie we always love to watch. 1up.com was here for that.

"Where Gamers Call Home"

Yeah, I'm sorry I was never around the whole time to see just how great this site truly was. I don't want to start throwing out suggestions because the site is stable enough as is (just... fix the box art problem on some games, go look up Unreal Tournament) and I just don't know if, in the future if the site survives, anything will be changed.

If 1up were to rise again, I suspect it would be less like a phoenix rising from the ashes, and more like starting a New Game+: We have all the equipment, we know the storyline and what choices to make for a reinvention. The only thing to do is gather the crew and go after the Final Boss.

Keep Playing.

SGC 2013

Without a doubt, SGC 2013 was the greatest weekend of my life. It was less like a game convention and more like a family reunion. A lot of g1s who have met before and have become friends through ScrewAttack were all gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. It was a convention of epic proportions with a lot of voices lost, a lot of money spent, and a lot of friendships made.

Due to some trolling that happened a couple of weeks ago after I posted the first video, I've had to disable embedding. Someone posted it to Reddit and while I did get almost 2,000 views, I also got 8 thumbs down and a troll comment. I'm sure someone meant well by sharing it but instead the plan backfired. I don't like Reddit, its pretty much a troll site where people can say what they want about a shared webpage or video, and some users seem to think that they can take it farther and use the page comments for feeding their own agenda. 
While you may hate having to click the link for the videos, there's nothing I can do about it. I can't personally embed my own videos. Go figure.

I undid the embedding. If I get a thousand troll thumbs down, I don't care. The videos aren't for them.

A Second Look @ APEX

(All images are from Gamespot.com)

APEX is known as Evoluzione Racing in Europe

APEX is hard to pin down as far as a racing title goes. The physics are sim-like and grounded in reality while speed is more of an arcade commodity, never fearing to cause the car to brake quickly or bounce off of a wall. What it lacks in depth it makes up for in personality, but that alone does not a good game make.
You and your bud have found an old garage and inside are blueprints for race cars. While he builds your first car, you build the business, choosing the company name, logo, and car designs. Unlike other racing games, such as Enthusia, APEX has a purpose for racing: the better you do in each race, the more demand for car sales come in. Occasionally you'll be thrown a challenge from another driver or a car magazine who wants to see if your machine is truly up to par. A lack of definition as to what you're doing is to blame for the parts of the game outside of racing being boring. You can't really upgrade your cars right away, you can only choose from a few colors, and it will take a lot of replaying races to get enough sales to begin production on a new design. With enough cars sold the game automatically expands the company, adding R&D and Production wings to the small garage. 

Its definitely one of the better-looking games on the Xbox for the time. The frame rate never drops, there are no pop-ups, cars are nicely detailed, and tracks are varied, feeling alive with crowds, planes, banners and confetti. When passing under a bridge with support beams above, each beam shows a reflection in real time on the car's back window. Racing towards the sun causes the screen to brighten and might cause you to lose focus. Cars get damage from each other and the track but it never affects performance. Mirrors fall off, bumpers get dented, and sparks flying are the only extents of damage. Additionally you don't have to pay for repairs after each race, adding one more point to the arcade checklist. There's no money system involved, only sales to track your progress towards developing your next car.

Sound is an important part of a racing game. If the engines sound weak or repetitive then immersion is lost. A Corvette simply cannot sound the same as a Lotus Elise. While the sounds between cars might seemed varied here its merely the same sound just adjusted in pitch, meaning a muscle car doesn't sound powerful with a whiny engine. The hits between a car or the environment each time is just the sound of a glass breaking. Better get used to that.
The music is purely generic rock and seems to loop the same song constantly, or its just me ignoring the difference in them. On the original Xbox, you can choose your own custom soundtracks which saves you from having to listen to the mundane and unattractive tunes.

The game isn't easy, but that's mainly due to poor AI. (At one moment I looked behind me to find that the last three opponents had wrecked... on a straightaway.) The AI runs on rails and is, for the most part, always properly braking, turning and accelerating, causing you to either hit them or vice versa on a sharp turn. The AI just feels lifeless and they're more like moving obstacles on the track that you have to avoid and overtake. There is no option to restart a race on the pause menu, which I've never understood why a racing game does that. It forces the player to completely back out of the race in order to try again. There are racing series that forces you to go to the next race automatically, and those moments are understandable to have a no restart policy.

You'll find you can only race your custom-created cars in the Dream Mode against real world manufacturers. Meanwhile in Arcade Mode you can pick from several. Racing is done on city, mountain, racetrack, and stadium/speedway locales. There are several tracks in different "cities" with each track being a variation of one larger track. It changes up often enough to prevent boredom so there's enough variety in each locale to keep you interested. City courses have long straightaways and tight corners. Mountain tracks have winding roads. Racetracks are meant to test the player's braking and handling abilities. Stadium races are for true tests of speed.
Cars are sectioned by classes ranging from Roadster, Sportcar, Supercar, and Dreamcar, in the first two classes you have upgrades from Street to Evolution to Racing. Dreamcars are unlocked by fully completing all of the racing series being presented.

Uniquity is a hard thing to pin on a game such as APEX. The only stand-out performance in this game is the "custom" car creation which, even then, isn't very customizable. The only multiplayer option being couch co-op is just racing between you and one other person with no special modes; just choose a car and race. Its a neat idea to create your own company and that's just about the only appeal behind it all. The AI is lifeless and merely follows the track. Mindless drones that sometimes don't even brake properly, which can make the racing itself not very fun. Handling is either too loose or too sharp, braking feels unresponsive, and there's a lack of a sense of speed (80 feels the same as 40). However, once you reach the racing evolution for each car, then the real speed starts and the game begins to pick up its pace.

But despite all the shortcomings, if you're a fan of racing games in general then its worth playing. The developer, Milestone, put their all into this game and it shows. A careful attention to some details that other racing games of the time didn't have. It feels like it wasn't trying to be the best, it was trying to be just a racing game. In that regard it only succeeds as "something to do." It doesn't have a huge fan base and to be honest it shouldn't. The game doesn't do anything to WOW the player into completing it unless you're a completionist by nature, yet its solid enough to stay in you're collection for a while until you feel the need to play every so often. And maybe, one day, you'll check it off of your completed games list.

Keep Playing

BIG @ PAX East 2013

After all the events that have taken place in Boston recently, I want to go on record as saying: I LOVE BOSTON! Its a beautiful city, (most of) the people are nice, there's a Dunkin Donuts on almost every corner, and I most definitely felt welcomed. Bostonians, you guys rock. (But I'm still a Braves fan, don't hold it against me!)
This video should have been up last month but I've been procrastinating, also its been up on YT for a few days before this post. It would have also been longer but I didn't record much because I was standing in line most of the time so there are very few files left over that I didn't use. If I go next year, I'll be sure to record a lot more. 

My Top 10 Games of 2012

 (Pictures taken from various sources. Also you will notice ad links on these blogs now. I NEED to make money somehow. I'm going broke! These ads are suggested by Google and are safe.)

2012 has come and gone.

No, I don't want to start off a blog like that. It's been said too many times. What I can say is that almost everyone of note has a Top 10 of the year blog or video posted. Games have affected each of us differently. Some of us have had to choose our experiences carefully.That being said my list isn't full of AAA titles like most are. I quit my job late in the year and started a new one a few months ago. I'm getting paid less and even my collecting of retro games has slowed to a near-halt. So any new releases are pretty much out of the question right now.

Keep in mind, like everyone else says, this is MY personal top 10. This hasn't been influenced by anyone. No company is paying me. This is not your list, do not tell me I'm wrong. Additionally these are games that I have played, not just watched a bunch of videos and wished I had played them.

DIABLO 3 HAS BEEN REMOVED BECAUSE BLIZZARD DOES NOT RESPECT THE PRIVACY OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. WHY CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THEM WHEN THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU?

#10: Lego Lord of the Rings - Nintendo 3DS

The Lego series is best known for its goofy, some might say childish, humor. Meanwhile The Lord of the Rings series are some of the best epics that have ever been written. I became a fan of the movies out of the blue and I'm eager to read the books (sorry Tolkien fans, read the part where I quit my job, money's tight and I got the movies out of the $5 bin). Some might think that combining the three pieces of fiction to make a Lego game was a bad idea. It would be hard to make a violent movie into a kids game. Well its hard to take that violence and fearful tone seriously when its being done with Lego men. Hands popping off, comical deaths, and soundbytes taken from the movies all work well together to make sure that the LotR name is dulled down to a goofy, mindless adventure. The humor doesn't show at every cutscene and the story path follows the movies closely. Gameplay-wise, its a typical Lego game where you can switch out characters with the press of a button, run through the storyline a second time to unlock things you had to pass up first, and a TON of unlockable characters. To 100% this game will take more than 10 hours. What's best is that you can sit and play for an hour or so at a time and not feel bored. For the 3DS version, the 3D is just a minor addition. It doesn't really add any precedence to the gameplay and would probably have the same impact as the DS version. I bought this game after playing the demo and before that I was heavily considering selling my 3DS. Basically, this game saved my handheld and that's what's worthy of a mention.

#9: HAWKEN - PC

This game most certainly would have made it higher if it was easier to play. Every time I log in I feel inadequate and unprepared for a fight. While most players level up quickly, this adds an imbalance. New and better weapons are unlocked at higher levels so its easy for someone to go in and obliterate noobs, myself included. I haven't played the beta since day one and my mech is pretty much stock. Despite this, I will play Hawken in the future because its unique. Mostly. Mechs can be customized with new paint, weapons, and armor. New weapons can be bought and designs saved. The levels are nicely balanced and offer plenty of cover. There's always a chance to run away from a fight. On top of that, if your mech is badly messed up, you can repair it on the battlefield. If you can find a team that works well together or get some friends that you can communicate with, then you're pretty much unstoppable in Hawken. The gritty and barren feeling of the world around you is a perfect touch and the graphics are amazing to look at. Don't get caught ogling the scenery for too long because someone will come by and pick you off for an easy kill. 

#8: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD - XBLA

Yes, I know I wrote a scathing review of this game in an earlier blog, but you KNOW its bad when a free Android game, Rage of Bahamut at #8, beats out a $15 XBLA game. Still, it made this list, but ONLY because I wasn't able to play many AAA games this year. Borderlands 2, Dishonored, Assassin's Creed, even Lollipop Chainsaw would have easily knocked this one off. I won't go into details because you can read the review I've already posted. Go do that.

#7: RAGE OF BAHAMUT - Android

Not many people are into CCGs or TCGs these days. Magic the Gathering, World of Warcraft, Pokemon, and Yu-Gay-Ho are the only ones I can name off the top of my head. While looking at some cards earlier today I noticed a pack of 2007 baseball cards still on the shelf. Reduced price. Its awfully sad how the once-mighty companies of Topps, Fleer, Upper Deck, and Donruss are now just memories for older folks. A 1970 rookie card has probably reduced in price on eBay by a lot. Cards have evolved and so have games. If you haven't guessed by now, Rage of Bahamut is a CCG game on Android and iPod where the player is given a basic starting deck and they work their way up the totem pole through quests and by fighting other players. The game starts slow but there's never a feeling of helplessness. Meters for stamina and attack power drain with each quest attack and each battle. These don't refill once a day but rather 1 unit per minute, and with power ups you can play for even more time. What's great about it is that it can be played by both the casual and the hardcore. If someone wants to log in and play through the quest until their stamina runs out, they can. For the hardcore there are event quests, orders, trading and a lot more. I've spent over an hour before playing quests, battling players, and enhancing and evolving cards. This game is much bigger than you'd expect. Cards have rarities and the more rare they are, the more powerful they can become. Cards can be enhanced at the cost of other cards and rupies, and cards of the same kind can be evolved into more powerful ones. Real world money can be spent to buy power-ups or card packs and every once a while the game GIVES you a ticket to get a Rare card. Trading can be done among players and there are so many rewards for just participating. Best of all: ITS FREE. Its not a freemium game and buying a card pack doesn't always guarantee the best cards. Rage of Bahamut will stay installed on my phone for a very long time. I rarely find myself being bored with it.

#6: The Walking Dead - XBLA

A video game has never made me cry. At least not until Episode 3 of the Walking Dead when one characters desperation reaches a point where a suicide death is the only welcomed feeling they have, it becomes very heavy. The choices made at certain moments affect how other characters react to you or options you have down the road. Playing as Lee Everett, you're tasked with taking care of an 8-year-old girl named Clementine whose parents are lost. Traveling through Georgia (w00t!, about time we get recognized for something) you make stops throughout each episode and meet new people along the way, all the while watching your back for a zombie invasion. But sometimes the zombies aren't the only things you need to be afraid of. What makes the Walking Dead comics and show so great is that they're about the people and how they cope and survive during what might be a worldwide crisis. Its not all about hacking zombies to pieces. Old habits die hard among some and survival becomes the main mission. What's best for the group may not be best for one person and they will remember that, most of the time at bad moments down the road when there's a thousand walkers coming for you.

#5: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - PC

This is the late entry into this list and the reason this blog was delayed. I had been wanting to play it for a for a few weeks and decided I might as well go for it during the Steam Winter Sale. The gameplay is based around dual personalities, one light and one dark, residing in Giana (why its called Giana Sisters is beyond me). You can get a better understanding of the plot by reading the Wiki page about it. It wouldn't do you any good for me to try and explain things. Switching between a cute and punk personality changes the world between dark and light. You can only collect red crystals as the punk and yellow crystals as the cute. Its a really smart mechanic and done amazingly well. I haven't seen this sort of flow since Ikaruga. The artstyle is awesome and the difference between the light and dark worlds flows with an even pace. Its never the game's fault when the player dies, its all on the player: a mis-judged jump, not switching personas at the right moments, repeatedly dying so you can understand a pattern. Whenever I get past an obstacle there's never really a feeling of being rewarded. More of an expectancy of "what's next?" The enemies that roam through the levels are never the major concern. Its all about the environment and puzzles.
The game comes with two bonus levels based on Halloween and Christmas. The artwork gallery pictures are unlocked by discovering big blue crystals, these are always found on an alternate path. There are hardcore and uber-hardcore modes to unlock as well as score and time attacks. The game has a great replay value and if you can find it on sale on Steam or a GOG.com, then I highly recommend snagging it. Keep in mind, I'm still playing this game and have only made it to chapter 2, but from what I have played it most definitely deserves the fifth spot on this list.

#4: Guild Wars 2 - PC

I'm a huge fan of Guild Wars. I've sunk so many hours into the first game that its unbelievable. I pre-ordered Guild Wars 2 a few months before it came out and I dropped $150 on the collector's edition (which, honestly, doesn't seem worth it now when looking back) and reveled in how amazing it was. But a month before the game was released I was kicked out of my guild and after playing Guild Wars for a mere two weeks I found I just didn't have it in me to continue. Not only was I alone for most of the game but there was no one to have a friendship with. And then the WoW players started pouring in. I suppose after hearing all the good things about it, they checked out GW2 and liked it. Now the world is full of people who only play PvP, GvG, WvW and the ones who play PvE are the ones barking orders at people whom they can't control. GW2 may be doing well with others, but to me its just another MMO now. The magic is gone and I'm just not feeling it anymore. I will go back to it because I love the exploring aspect, I love discovering everything, but I'm hesitant because I'm constantly alone.
But I digress, what I did experience was amazing. A huge world, amazing art style, so many attack combinations and a unique unfolding story that's tailored to the choices I make should have made this my Game of the Year. What I said about players giving orders to others whom they can't control, I meant it. Freedom is the name of the game and the choice to go an do whatever you want is only limited by your character's level. The expansive world means you should never get bored easily and the quests that suddenly pop up, (such as having to fend off a town that's being attacked by minotaurs, followed by finding out where the minotaurs live, followed by attacking them) means a near-infinite variety of things to do. I should definitely get back into playing soon.

#3: Forza Horizon - Xbox 360

Forza Motorsport 4 is currently #6 on my list of All Time Favorite Games. The depth and lengths that the game goes to please every player is astounding. From the gearheads with steering wheel controllers, who turn off all assists and manually shift, to the casual players who want no damage and a lot of help controlling a fast car, Forza 4 does things right. Unfortunately I'm not talking about 4 here, just Horizon. A horrible misstep in the wrong direction for a well-established franchise, Horizon goes out of its way to draw in the crowd of people who loved the Need For Speed Underground games, and subsequently the next 5 games after that. Its a pseudo-sim-arcade street racing game and while it is easy to master, I for one only miss the depth of the previous games. While the cars have a definitive weight to them, the gearhead aspect is non-existent. Besides that, the game just CAN'T SHUT UP. The event organizer who must describe every fart she's ever made in her life, the radio DJs who give scripted monologue, and the racers who talk smack at the start AND during every race, it seems someone is talking at all times. Would it kill one of the star racers to just say "I've heard good things about you, don't disappoint me"? The game is tied together in a festival atmosphere. Music and speed gathered at one place in Colorado. If you're a fan of mostly alternative music then you'll be glad to know that the soundtrack is varied, and it might introduce you to some new music.The problem here being that ITS ALL BAD. From anti-music dubstep to indie rock bands you've probably never heard of, the soundtrack is one of the most useless I've ever heard in a game. I just play without the music on, and at one point I became so frustrated with the speaking that I just completely muted the sounds altogether.

Still, despite all of this, Horizon is solid, well-built, knows what it wanted to deliver and delivers it. Speed is abundant and the community is alive. Too bad I will NOT be buying any of the DLC or a sequel if it comes to that. So just to be clear, the only reason Forza Horizon makes it this high on the list is because of its quality. My overall feeling of the game however is that Forza Horizon should die.

#2: Spec Ops: The Line - Xbox 360

Extra Credits said it best when talking about this game, "Its engaging. Not fun, but engaging." (They give a better review in two videos than I could ever give.) Spec Ops: The Line wasn't on my radar until I played the demo for it. I was blown away by the action. I was sold after the first time I tried it. I pre-ordered after barely debating it. After playing through I can definitely say that this game deserves to be this high on the list. It takes the player, Cpt. Walker, through a mission to find Colonel John Konrad somewhere in Dubai, which has been overtaken by sand. Walker and his two squadmates must fight against the army of Dubai and later against the US Army. It becomes a sticky situation and by the end it delves into some aspects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I don't mean to make a spoiler of it but the story is expertly crafted and all throughout you begin to uncover some things that make you question who the real badguy is. On top of the excellent single player, the multiplayer is just as thrilling. Using the same game mechanics, you play through the usual multiplayer affair: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, etc. Throughout the multiplayer games, sandstorms happen that obscure the player's vision, disrupts the radar, and sometimes changes the environment.
While Spec Ops: The Line might not be a AAA game for years to come, it certainly made an impact on me simply by being different. It didn't want to follow the norms of other shooters and whenever I finish a game of single or multiplayer, I walk away satisfied.

#1: Halo 4 - Xbox 360

Please, anti-fanboys: Shut up and remember that this list IS NOT my top games of all time, just a top for 2012. That being said, Halo 4 is the most gorgeous-looking game I have ever seen on the Xbox 360. This is a step above Halo: Reach in the right direction. Adding new elements to gameplay, both single and multiplayer, while still keeping it familiar to the veterans, while even STILL making is accessible to newcomers is what makes Halo 4 so admirable. The single player campaign delves into the relationship of Master Chief and a failing AI Cortana whose own thinking is ripping her programming apart. The main mission for this new trilogy is to get Cortana to Dr. Halsey to be repaired all the while fighting your way through a sect of Covenant who are ignoring the truce in favor of discovering what's contained in a Forerunner planet. The solo campaign is vast but the usual "narrow way leading into an arena" is still present. Regardless, its just as much a star of the game as the multiplayer, which has a ton of various gameplay types in War Games and introduces Spartan Ops, an episodic side story where you play as your custom Spartan through a storyline separate from the main campaign. Multiplayer contains the usual fair of Slayer, Team Deathmatch, CTF, and the others you've come to expect in the Halo series. However I miss Firefight but its understandable since the number of differing enemies has been reduced, even with the new race introduced in the solo campaign.

It would be wrong of me not to mention the cutscenes that happen between the storylines in both campaign and Spartan Ops. 343 has outdone Bungie completely and not only is this game impressive to see, but it also backs it up by having astonishing gameplay. For those who lost faith in the first Halo Trilogy because of the extra games, Halo 4 is a great start to get back on track. I was never a huge fan of the Halo games but Halo 4 has made me a believer.

Keep Playing.

(I noticed when I started writing this that all top 4 games are ones that I pre-ordered. Go figure.)

An idea for a game based on the 5 stages of grief.

Just had an idea that I had to share. A game idea. One for kids. Its sketchy at best but its more of a teaching tool than something for adults.

You play as a kid, selectable boy or girl, with an adult AI character, selectable man or woman depending on the person that was lost. For a few hours, having experiences with the adult and learning to trust them. Safety, happiness, and bright colors are the themes from the start. Puzzles are easy, hints are plenty, and reassuring comments are abundant.
Then during one of the levels, the adult's gone. The character goes through the 5 stages of grief through themed levels.

Denial: The player finds their way back to the beginning of the first level while the colors gradually fade. The kid thinks they're okay on their own but the levels they went through with the adult are now hard or impossible to complete. There are no hints, the character is left alone.

Anger: This can either be done through the character they play, a change in the levels color schemes, or conjured as emotion through the player. They meet other adult characters that are downtrodden, always looking down, and never listen to the player's instructions. None of them work well, they don't seem to understand the puzzles and walk away at times. The character in turn gets mad and the movement is faster.

Bargaining: This is done in the same instance as anger. Switching out the adult they trusted with someone else. They start to long for the original adult and will subtly ask the others if they can go find the original. Replacement adults show the wrong kind of sympathy, leading the character to...

Depression: They can't have the original adult back and suddenly new puzzles are introduced. These can't be solved. None of them. Character visibly gets sad and the overall color scheme turns blue and the character's walk slows.

Acceptance. Returning to a backtracking section of the level, the character comes across something that helps them solve one of the puzzles. At the end of that puzzle is something that helps them solve another (a map, a tool, etc.). This is done several times until the last. During these puzzles the colors slowly change back to normal. The player feels as though they can accomplish things on their own.

At the end of the last puzzle, the character comes out into bright sunlight with a smile on their face and the smiling faces of the replacement adults. They realize now that they can do whatever it takes by themselves and they can learn to move forward with life.

The idea is sketchy because I feel like not all of the levels should involve puzzles. Maybe building things too and that requires one of the adults but none of them want to help. It can most definitely be improved on but I'd like to see it happen. It wouldn't have to be played by kids who are going through a tough time, it could be used to prepare them for IF one of those tough times come.

My Gaming History, Abridged

I have recently discovered that it is mentally impossible to be sad while the Super Mario World overworld theme is playing (wait about 40 seconds for the Yoshi bongos).

See? I told you.

I can't remember which was my first experience playing video games, or the year, but it was about 1991. I do remember having two babysitters growing up; family friends with kids of their own. One family had an NES while the other had an Atari 2600. Eventually the second family bought a Nintendo and a year later my brother and I were given one. Its the only time I can remember my dad actually playing video games with us: the Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt combo game.

I went through having an original Game Boy, a Game Boy Pocket, a Game Gear, a Nomad, a Genesis, and a crappy computer. These were the systems that I grew to love gaming on and would borrow games from friends and vice versa.

My brother and I always hoped to be the first one home after school so we could play whatever new games we had on whatever console we had then. I was rarely obsessed with the games I had but ones such as AAHHH!! Real Monsters, Vectorman, MUSHA, and even Bubsy (I was young, don't judge me) always captivated my attention.

I remember being obsessed with Pokemon in 6th and 7th grade. I would always look forward to waking up on weekdays before school just to watch the Pokemon cartoon. I had the comics from Nintendo Power, I had toys, I had plush dolls, the strategy guide, and the cards. Still do. They're in a box in my closet. A little while after going to a meeting for the Pokemon card game I just gave up on it all. It must have had something to do with the old-looking guy that was sitting around playing a card game with a bunch of kids and being serious about it.

A demo of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater came about via a Pizza Hut promotion and I was instantly captivated with the sport. I credit the Pro Skater series with turning me towards gaming even after going through a phase of being a skateboarding poser. After seeing how skateboarders treated each other and how no one was willing to teach me to ride one I delved into gaming more.

Some time in the summer before 10th grade I bought a Gamecube and for a year I only had Super Smash Bros Melee to play. I discovered EB Games and unfortunately sold off most of my collection, which included almost all of my PS1, NES, GameBoy, Genesis, and some PC games.

A year later I bought myself an Xbox when I read that if Monolith were to make a Shogo 2, it would be on that console. Shogo: Mobile Armor Division was the first PC FPS game I ever played. Not Doom, not Quake, and to this day it remains in my all-time favorites. I played on a crappy, over-priced, underpowered Gateway computer that could barely run flash games well enough. A friend loaned me some RAM and from there things got better. I could finally play games in a slightly higher quality. I also got interested in computers and fixing them. I had to otherwise the computers we had would succumb to viruses. But despite my best efforts they would always get ruined. I don't know how many times I've had to reformat the computers we've had but it was a pain to lose my saved games after pouring hours and hours into them.

My childhood hero was Sonic the Hedgehog. I had a plush doll, still have it in fact, that I carried around with me everywhere for over a year. I never took it to school because I was afraid of it being stolen or ripped by some other kid. Ironically that didn't help because the neck ripped open while it was in the wash. I watched the SatAM cartoons near-religiously, I had a couple of comic books, I had the Tiger handheld, I have a VHS tape of the cartoons, I had toys galore. Eventually I just grew up and Sonic lost his attitude when the Dreamcast came around.

I remember being in middle school and a friend of mine would always badmouth the Dreamcast for whatever reason we could find. We were Sony fanboys and we were dedicated to the console. Yet, whenever I looked and read about the games being released I was secretly envious of it. Oh how wrong I was to look down upon the console. A few years ago I bought a used DC and a few games for it. I can't believe how ignorant I was back then.

The original blue blur will always be one of my heroes, not this green-eyed poser you see in today's games that can't do anything right.

My favorite game of all-time is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on the Dreamcast. The graphics are superior to the other consoles, even PC, and it just had this overall feeling of completion. It's the definitive version of Pro Skater 2 in my mind. Neversoft asked fans what they wanted and they implemented those ideas into the game. The level editor, the create-a-skater, an expanded soundtrack, Spider-Man as a secret character, and a couple more pros added to the already amazing line-up made THPS2 the perfect way to do a sequel. I own almost every version of Pro Skater 2 with the exception of the Mac and iPod versions.

I'm a collector with a preference for the old school. My current collection total sits at over 400. Lately though I've been feeling that its all for nothing so my collecting has slowed down significantly.

I have some rare gems in my collection such as M.U.S.H.A. and Legend of Dragoon as well as a few others.

I was never really into RPGs and RTSs. They seem to be clones of one another. But I'm coming around: I've been playing a few of each and, although I'm not awestruck by them, they can at least hold my attention.

Sim racing is my favorite genre. It takes more skill than arcade racing and has helped me with driving in real life. 

I don't consider myself a professional, and I'm certainly not an amateur. I'm not hardcore or casual. I don't dispute console faults and advantages. I'm a gamer. I find the best of each and play them as equals. Fanboys are the most annoying, ignorant, and selfish beings on the internet.

I've been expanding my gaming horizons lately and have played some Magic the Gathering.

I also want to start a DnD group, but I can't find anyone willing to delve into the adventures with me.

This is part of where I stand when it comes to gaming. I hope, if you've been paying attention to my blogs any, that you get a general sense of who I am gaming-wise. Without video games, I don't know where I'd be. They've been there through rough times and they've also caused some great moments (double kill headshot with a single bullet in SOCOM:Combined Assault. No one else will ever see that). I feel like I'm a part of something big and that's how I like it. Gaming crosses so many cultural boundaries and is being pushed forward by people with bright ideas. I enjoy those ideas. I wish many others would as well.

Keep Playing.

Movie Review: Wreck-It Ralph

 (This review is spoiler-free. Also quick and hastily written.)

Let me start by saying that if you're expecting a hardcore movie all about video games then you'll be disappointed. Actually, you shouldn't be because its still a good movie. Its about a single character and for once its not a Disney princess. Also Pixar was NOT involved in this, its all Disney, so don't go looking for the Pizza Planet truck.

Should you set your mind to see it, you should try and imagine yourself as a kid again. Don't be so serious about video games and if you are then try to have a little fun with it. I say little because most of the humor is childish and never even once borders near adult. Its also never spoon feeds a "retro is better" message to the audience.

The plotline is well written, not all about video games. While it is shallow its never too complicated to follow. Some kids might not understand a few things and it won't dwell to explain them. It doesn't jump from game to game and try to cash in on licenses either. The special characters are guests and never main, never distractions. It shows a few memorable moments in the credits such as Sonic in Chemical Plant Zone. For a Disney movie its the typical fare of "underdog saves the day." There are few too many lingering poop jokes and the name calling at one point will probably make you wish they'd just stop.

Animation is sort of lacking in the texture department, don't expect it to look like a AAA game but there are moments where you notice the digitized textures on a few things and can only chuckle about the nod to the olden days of gaming. The big "violent" or scary moment comes during the Heros Duty segment, which lasts about 10 minutes. Another moment comes from one character repeatedly slapping another. Its comedic humor with an air of goofiness and will get the kids laughing. I noticed a moment in the first part of the movie where a reflective wall texture showed the image that was through the wall. Character designs are reflective of their games: Ralph and Felix are simple due to their primitive game, Sergeant Calhoun is intricately textured, the people of Sugar Rush are kids in a kid's game. Most of the movie takes place in the game Sugar Rush and at one point I found myself wondering if they were just going to end the movie with Ralph staying there.

Voice acting is superb with John C. Reilly playing the part of Ralph as a big, lumbering man. He's never dumbed down or flat-toned due to his size. It took me a long while to place Jack McBrayer as who he was, and playing Felix he can't escape that slight southern drawl he has. Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz is probably one of the better characters as she plays the part so well, childish insults and high energy. Jane Lynch as Sergeant Calhoun brings a toughness to the character, no-nonsense, but she's never gentle.
The music soundtrack, to me anyway, was a little bit of a let down. It could have used less Owl City and more chiptunes music. Artists such as I Fight Dragons or Animaniguchi would have been a better choice.

Plot villain almost smacks you right in the face upon the explanation of something. I won't spoil it but you should be able to see it coming. When it does show you'll understand that some decent thought went into it. However the villain is never really a major part, even near the end. Its more of a minor inconvenience when compared to a bigger threat.

Just about the only gripe you might come up with is that it uses up its bag of guest appearances in the first 45-50 minutes. Pac-Man and Sonic are good and all, but a few more minutes screen time wouldn't have hurt. Don't discard that as a bad move: its a movie about Ralph, not about the other star characters. They're never shoe-horned in and are mainly background filler. Moments where you can point out who is who. Don't expect to see Mario anywhere besides being mentioned. Nintendo wanted too much money for his appearance and they probably would have wanted more screen time. While Bowser does make an appearance its understandable with the "Bad-Anon" meeting that takes place at the beginning.

Should you see it? Of course.
Should you get the DVD/Blu-Ray. Yeah.
Should you get the game? No. They're cash-ins with little imagination to them anyway.
Just remember, if you do go see it: put your Modern Warfare attitude on pause and go back to the days when you played NES.

An Honest Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD

I can't write this coming from a passive angle. The Pro Skater series of games are among my favorites and Pro Skater 2 is not only my all-time favorite but its the one I cut my teeth on when it came to calling myself a gamer. So you can understand my utter disappointment when I say that Pro Skater HD is quite possibly the worst of the worst of the Tony Hawk games. Worse than even Ride and Shred. At least those two attempted something new. Pro Skater HD has us believing that it came to fruition to fix all the wrongs of the past few games. A revisiting of what was once greatness. An acceptance to the fans that the games can still hold their own.
Instead it cements the hopeless resurrection of the franchise.
At this point, Robomodo just needs to exit the gaming business. Their constant failures of games means meager profits for parent company Activision and they've wasted so much money on doing the wrong things. I find it funny how Tony Hawk himself was kind of "meh" about the whole idea of returning to the roots. Yes, it is what fans wanted, but we never wanted this. The amount of pros that signed up to return can be counted on one hand. The rest are amateurs that somehow got popular enough to make it in. I guess the others knew this game was going to suck so they all stepped away from it.

While I love the Unreal Engine 3, its versatility is completely wasted here. When I first heard the announcement I figured it would be a few levels from the first two Pro Skaters with just  HD re-skins. Instead the entire game is built from the ground up using UE3. This translates to a wonky, glitched, and pathetic remake. This engine is best suited for real-life physics and shooter games, not the arcade action of the Pro Skater variety. Had the original Pro Skater 2 engine just been used it would have been understandable and would have made for a better game overall.

I'll get the graphics portion out of the way and say that while its awesome to see the old levels get a facelift they're still the same. No new areas, no hidden secrets, same old, same old. If you've played the first two then expect de ja vu. Yes, there are a few small variations added to some of the levels but adding a kicker or planter doesn't make it more exciting.

Outright frustrating, the controls have suffered the most, making it nearly unplayable at times. Automatically snapping to rails when grinding or not grinding at all, rag doll bails that can sometimes force the character through the ground, unachievable heights due to a change in controls, and the glitches... OH SWEET TAP-DANCING JESUS. THE GLITCHES. The game is playable for the most part until you find your skaters foot stuck in a rail somehow after what should have been a normal grind. Then you start to realize that the game is seriously screwed up on an engine implementation level.

One major thing missing is the beloved Create-A-Skater from Pro Skater 2. Instead, for the XBLA version, we get our Avatars to skate around with. Create-A-Park? Just a memory. Couch co-op? Nope, its online only.

The soundtrack is pieced together with some old favorites from the past and some really horrible indie stuff from today. Its a sad mixture that lets you know that the hardcore, punk, do-it-yourself, push-the-envelope skaters of the olden days have disappeared and whats left are teenagers with flat-brim hats, Monster energy drinks, and piercings thinking they're evolving a sport that has been stagnant since Hawk landed the 900. (Yes, I know, a kid has landed a 1080, but I don't see him winning competitions left and right.) Let's face it, the skateboarding craze of over 10 years ago has cooled and this game does nothing to relive those memories.

I've played through Pro Skater on PS1, N-Gage, N64, GBC, and Dreamcast,. I've played through Pro Skater 2 on PS1, DC, GBC, GBA, PC, N64, and Xbox (when I say my all-time favorite, I mean it). I've gone through the levels so many times I know them by heart. Here, playing through Pro Skater HD is just a chore. Its boring. Slow. Uninteresting. Non-challenging in the sense that the only thing holding the player back are the bad physics.

I can't go on.
I'm usually good with words but now they just fail me. 
This game is horrible. That's all there is to it.
You're better off spending $15 buying the first two Pro Skater games on any available console than wasting your money on this. At least you'll get more content, entertainment, and value from something from the past.

Keep Playing.

Random Blog: And Now For Something Completely Different

I have WAY too many unfinished blogs and some of them have no real point while on others I was never able to fully flesh out the point. So instead of letting them rot in my backlog, here's what I have. Just splattered all over for you to read. My thoughts on things from reviewers to sports. I hate to use the word "rant" but that's what some of these are, so don't take them too seriously and don't throw bricks at me for anything I say.

3D(on't.)

With everything going 3D and motion control these days, it seems like video games are trying to become a different sort of medium. Going beyond games to become "interactive experiences." I don't think the original creators of Space Invaders ever thought that motion would be used to control a game.

I for one think makers are getting away from the point: GAMES. I don't want an experience, I just want a game. I don't want to become immersed in another world, I have too many problems in this world to ignore them. Gimmicks and flashy advertisement campaigns will not make me want to flail my arms around with a controller (or without). The problem with all the touchscreens, motions, and hand waving is that there's no pressure sensitivity. That's what a controller does best. Leave it at that. Until a touch screen can be pressure sensitive (and I'm sure it can) then let's just leave it to the controllers.

Half-Life Theorum:

Is it just me or does Freeman seem more like the cause of trouble in some things?
Was he placed at Black Mesa as a test subject or did he know what he was getting in to?
The opening text scroll of Half-Life states he's 27, with a P.h.d. in Theoretical Physics. The text seems to state that he's already been employed by whomever the G-man works for.

What are his "employers" really trying to get him to do?

G-Man isn't the bad guy since he's sent Freeman to liberate people. Or is he? Is there a hidden agenda behind the G-Man? Such as by destroying the Combine, does it give way to something greater?

And why did Freeman's "employers" wait so long to send him back?

What happened in the time between Black Mesa and City 17? Was Freeman sent to other places that we don't know about? And if he was, was the Combine there waiting for him, or another threat?
While we're on the subject, Cpl. Adrian Shephard was put in the same position by G-man but never released from his holding. How does he play into the story or was that just the dev team playing games with us?

Gaming Jockey:

(International readers, please note that when I say football, I don't mean futbol. I mean American Football. With the guys holding the brown egg-shaped object most of the time and running around with it.)

So Auburn Tigers won whatever championship just a few days ago. I don't know which one, I don't keep track of that crap. There will be another championship in a couple of months, I guess. I don't see the appeal in a bunch of guys running around a field chasing a ball. I have to hear it from almost everyone else, mindless droning. I live in a city where three or four college football teams converge and the amount of meat-headed fans grows each year.

Some football lover can say they don't see the appeal of playing games all the time.

     Because its me doing it.

Its me unlocking achievements, getting high scores, showing off what I've accomplished. Me going on the adventure as a character I control, meeting people, killing scores of enemies and me playing the game.

Not some guy on my favorite team who scores the goal. Who acts like a jerk off the field. Who trips and is out for three games because of hurt pride.

Gaming is personal for me. When someone bests me in a game, they're just better. With football, you can say whatever team you want and there will be a million fans behind you. When it comes to a championship you have to swallow your pride and root for some other team.

With gaming, we're all together. No matter what. Personal rivalries exist, yes, but regardless we are all gamers under the same banner.

I would much rather spend an hour playing a bad game than spend an hour sitting in a chair yelling at a TV while a football game is going on.

While we're on the subject, what is with football fans referring to their teams as "we?" You are not on the team just because you wear a hoodie or have a bumper sticker. You are not running on the field. You are sitting around watching jocks.

Reviewers Reviewing Reviewers: 

Ladies and Gentlemen, enough is enough.

We have come to the point that reviewers are themselves being reviewed (btw, you might be sick of the word by the time this blog ends).

I, unlike many, discovered the Angry Video Game Nerd just before he became the AVGN, back when he was the Angry Nintendo Nerd. His videos were hilarious and shed light on some bad games. It was something new: a man being frustrated by simple NES games and being tormented to the point of randomly cursing over losing a life. And who would argue with him? Some of the NES games he reviewed are just awful.

Of course, with success come imitators. Soon the Irate Gamer appeared and practically copied words from some of the Nerd's reviews. Following this, even more "angry reviewers" came along. (For purposes of keeping this gaming I'm excluding the Nostalgia Critic, even though he too has many clones and has very little in common.)

I thought the breaking point would finally occur once videos of the Angry Contra Kid  as well as some long-haired 13-year-old needlessly cursing out his viewers hit YouTube. Instead, this sparked more imitators. People sitting at home on their sofas, in front of webcams on their desks, copying hours of gameplay and (half the time) writing and rehearsing scripts. Most of them can't think of something more to come up with other than cursing a lot because they lose a life. I've said before: Don't curse the game, curse your lack of skills.

When I write reviews I try to give the good and bad points of the game regardless if I liked it or not. There are always some things about a great game that I don't like. I try to go for an air of professionalism in anything I write and mull over sentences in my head several times before I think about writing things, including this blog, including this sentence. My grammar and spelling might not be 100% accurate all the time but I pride myself on knowing what a paragraph is. Meanwhile, I've seen two-word reviews that get massive amounts of thumbs up by people because the game is popular.

It seems more gamers are turning to community sites where other gamers post their thoughts and are being driven away from professional sites. This can be attributed to some sites being bought out by major companies, or by some employees being fired, or by giving the Legend of Zelda an equivalent of a 'B.'

If you've seen the last few AVGN videos, you'll realize that they're not as good as they once were, like James Rolfe is becoming burned out. On the contrary, he has a lot going on for him and something must give slack. Thus the AVGN reviews have slowed and he's not as angry. He's a bit more informative and while that has deterred some fans, others have gone the opposite direction to the point of frothing madness, giving themselves online screen names similar to the "Angry Video Game Nerd" and cursing out anyone in a comments section who doesn't agree with them or didn't like the video. Rabid fanboys, if you will. They've lost sight of WHY games were created and only focus on the minor and bothersome details of some of them.

Things must change. Cursing up a storm about a video game, old or new, may get you a few hits on YouTube, but in the long run it is not a job. I'm not saying these established reviewers need to quit, quite the opposite: the rest of us need to quit. They have it covered, they're good at what they do.

Pat the NES Punk is informative, although his acting can be called cheesy, he's not a professional actor.

Angry Joe is opinionated but informative. Its those factors that make people trust what he says.

Spoony makes his frustration of games to be the humor in his reviews.

There are other reviewers that do things well. But you, sitting at home, thinking you're a hot shot, spouting off curse words because Cloud from Final Fantasy isn't in the next Smash Bros game isn't doing a whole lot for yourself or people who think about their reviews, much less helping the world of gaming.

Find a niche: be original or be professional. Do something that sets you apart from the cursing YouTube children or do reviews on par or better than the professional sites. You might get fans either way, whether doing videos or writing.


An Open Talk About Gaming Communities:
When I first started playing PC games back in 2001, I was behind on a lot of things. It wasn't until I installed Shogo: Mobile Armor Division that I was introduced to GameSpy Arcade, a shareware multiplayer game server browsing utility (thanks for clarifying that, Wikipedia). I went to check out what GameSpy was and was hooked. The news and reviews of games that I didn't even know existed were all right there. Fargo and shaithis were the two that made me stick around; their humor and back-and-forth banter was a weekly thing for me.
Later I discovered Gamespot and I loved all the information they had. I joined up and established myself as a gamer there. Not long after I saw an ad for 1up in a gaming magazine. I signed up but didn't take the community seriously. A few months later they announced they had been bought by UGO and I had left. I don't like UGO, they're more concerned with showing soft-core porn of video game heroines than the news I'd rather read about
Over the years several community websites were added to and deleted from my favorites list. Either they weren't the right communities for me or they went out of their way to insult me and not make me feel a part. Destructoid and Giantbomb being two of them. Communities for trolls and foul-mouths, I was even cursed out by one of the staff members on Destructoid for claiming I was Christian.


Opposite Ends of A Spectrum:

Another 360 controller broken.

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Never before have I played a more glitchy, buggy, unenjoyable, slow-paced, wreck of a POS such as this. It somehow manages to make navigating your way around a chore. There's no clear sense of direction and I'm left with a wiki to tell me which way to go. The fighting system is the worst in a game that I have ever come across. 19 times out of 20 my strikes have me missing the enemy completely, even if I'm standing right in front of them. It can't be that hard to swing a sword and hit something.

"Whoa whoa whoa... Morrowind is an AWESOME game. You're crazy!"

-100 difficulty and I still died against a Clanfear. Does that tell you something? I'm level 3 and if leveling up were any more difficult I'd probably have to cancel all plans in one week to get to a level good enough to explore the map.

I understand the imagination behind it and how it could be a great game, but how people ignored all of these problems is a wonder to me. There are just too many.

At one point I looked at a cloth sign hanging on a wall and pressed the A button. "Your crime has been reported." WHAT?! How can the game penalize me for pressing a button at a sign? I'm not trying to steal it, its a sign on a wall. I'm not there to vandalize it or sell it, its a cloth sign on a freaking wall.

All of that fail and on the opposite end of this spectrum resides Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Quite possibly one of the better games I've ever played.

My character isn't treated like an animal, I can easily earn people's trust, the storyline deeply involves my character, the compass tells me where to go, the traveling is fast and easy, the environments make me want to explore, the combat is never too difficult and I can always land a hit, the magic system is open to all professions and races, leveling up is never a chore and feels rewarding, and its just FUN overall.

I spent about 8 hours one day playing Oblivion because its that good. So why is it some people have overlooked Oblivion in favor Morrowind when the sequel is a much better improvement overall?

On the frontlines of Guild Wars 2: The First Few Days (updated)

I've had Guild Wars 2 installed on my computer since the beta but have only been able to fully play since a few days ago. I pre-purchased the collector's edition because I deserve it after two years of waiting and its worth it. The 10-inch Rytlock statue is amazingly detailed and is a great collector's piece. The rest of the collector's edition comes with a book, custom art prints, a frame, a music sampler, and the game disc. I wouldn't really say it's worth $160. Maybe 120 at least. A Making Of DVD would have been better than the book.
But I'm not really here to talk just about the collector's edition, this is about the game itself. Since its fairly new there are a few rough edges this early in the release, of course. But these problems are prevalent and immediate; things that should have been fixed in the several betas leading up to release day. I just have a small list of things that are negligible but are constant, looming problems.

-Random audio cues cause confusion. I don't know whether I just passed an NPC or if its shouting at me from the area I just teleported away from.
-Armor dealers are segregated into levels of 5 and you can only start buying armor from Armorsmiths at level 10, and even then you WILL find something of better use out in the wild than waiting to level up for the appropriate gear.
-You need a newer model computer to run it smoothly with full graphics. I'm sorry to say but it looks  best at mid-level, or at least with the shaders turned off. For some reason the shaders cause an improper light texture on the character model, even when covered by shadows.
-Thankfully, the game was planned out that the random events that happen throughout the world are joinable by all people while the minor enemies respawn quickly. Sometimes too quickly. Several times I've found myself between a couple of bandits with less-than-half health.
-The Down But Not Out is both a blessing and a curse. While you never really die in this game you simply teleport to a waypoint of your choosing at the mere cost of money. There are a few times where you'll simply be outnumbered or overpowered and even then the DBNO can't save you. You simply don't heal yourself well enough.
-The game modifies your level depending on what area you're in. Say you're level 20 and have headed back to the starting area, you'll be scaled down to the same level in order to make it a fair fight. I understand that doing so adds a bit of realism and the only way you can overpower the enemies are by your armor and weapon power, but it negates the skill levels that you may work so hard to earn.

I play a ranger, its my favorite class. But it seems to have been nerfed by the changing of the skills. -You can no longer switch out skills individually. This time the skills in your bar depend on what weapon you are currently carrying. If I'm wielding a short bow then my attacks will be quick with not a lot of power or range. A long bow will yield greater range with slower but stronger attacks. Additionally I can choose to fight with a sword this time around. And my attacks will be tailored to that weapon.
-The ranger class has been reduced to a support role, not a major damage dealer or one that can hold its own in a fight. It seems that the creators were hellbent on forcing the player to have a pet around the whole time. Which leads to the problem of pets being more trouble than they're worth. They cause a greater aggro circle and will sometimes wander off or stay behind to attack whatever enemy that was passed by if approached too closely.
-Ranger targets what it wants to. That's a major problem and there's no excuse for it. It makes me miss the auto-targeting of GW1.

I'm sure many of these issues will be fixed but some of them are design decisions that just turned out for the worse. I'm going to keep playing and if you want to, feel free to join me on the BORLISS PASS server. Look for Marcone Antelius.
Also, for the g1s out there, I created the guild Screwattack (wouldn't let me use two capital letters) with the clan tag GOne (wouldn't let me use numericals), so come find me.
No one joined, possibly because no one cared, so I deleted the guild.

Keep Playing.