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Funny little image. #beaconofhappy, #SWHIPgaming

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Why Do MMORPG Players get bored with their chosen game?

 Ever wondered why you can't seem to find a game and stick to it? Or Maybe you just get tired of playing a game super quickly (relatively). Let's take a look at some possible cause and solutions to your gaming woes.

 After playing games for many years, MMORPGs in particular, I have noticed some odd behavior, from myself as well as some of my close colleagues. We binge play... That's right...binge. I am going to use Steam as an example here, and not the steam that's caused by boiling water. Anyhow, I was looking through the player reviews on Steam the other day for an MMO that isn't even quite a month and a half old yet. I seen multiple posts stating the game was horrible and very few were positive. I then took a closer look at the played time of these bad reviews vs. the play times of the good reviews.

 I was astounded, some of these folks had already sunk well over 300 hours into this game! I thought to myself,  "No wonder these folks think it sucks, they are burned out!" You simply can't do anything for 300 hours in a month and still enjoy it, well, maybe some people can. Let's break this down, 300 hours is over 12 days! Almost half of the month you spent, grinding away at this one poor game! Drop the keyboard, citizen. Now, step away from the keyboard, slowly, hands where I can see them!! I mean come on, snap into reality, anything will not be fun if done that much.

 So, after realizing that the bad reviews were simply due to tedium and not any fault of the actual game, I decided to download it, and I can safely say... The game ain't that bad. Now, I'm not here to tell anyone how much to game or how to game, I'm just pointing out the facts. But now that we have explored that one problem, what can we do to fix it and enjoy games again?

 I would like to use food consumption as an analogy here, mostly because I am hungry as I write this. Let's say I love... I don't know, spaghetti. If I took one month and ate spaghetti for every meal, I bet by the end of that month, spaghetti would be my least favorite food, so instead of gorging on something I love every day, all day, I mix up my food and eat different things. Gaming should probably be the same way, maybe pick two or three MMOs and even single player games that you enjoy. Mix and match them, maybe play this game for an hour, gain a level, then play another game, or alternate games on days. I used to do that with WoW and FFXI and still do it to this day with the games I play. It works wonders, and you are actually excited to play games. No games really suck if played in this way... Okay, that may be a stretch, some games do just suck...

 At any rate, hope you all are having a great 2016 so far. We've got a lot of great titles coming this year, and I can't wait to try them all. Peace out, and remember, game on like you're not already 5 mins late!

The Best Game I played in 2015 Is...

2015 brought in a ton of really great games. We had WildStar going free-2-play, Life is Strange and the new Metal Gear to name a few. I must admit, however, this is not really about the best games that were released in 2015, but rather the best games I played this year. I am going to go from least to best, so away we go.


    The 5 best games I played in 2015 are...

5. Skyforge. Even though I don't personally play this game anymore (there is nothing to do but hard endgame stuff when you get to a higher prestige, so that doesn't work for me,) I still have to admit that this is a really great game. Just a bit too heavily focused on hard group content, and I'm a PUGer.








4.  WildStar, you gotta love this whacky, zany world and lore. Even if it does feel like your character is running on skates (in other words, you slide around a lot! lol)










3. Grim Dawn. It just became feature finished a little while ago (as of December 2015,) but this game offers a really great experience. If you are and ARPG fan, you should definitely pick this one up. There is just a crap-ton of content in this game.










2. The Witcher 3. This game was SO good, it really was such a hard decision to make between this and the #1 game on my list.


















1. Dying Light, is by far the most immersive game I have played this year. The controls feel so fluid and I love running for my life at night. It's been a while since a game actually startled me... ok, fine... it scared the pants right off of me. That first night time sequence... the fear is real!





There you have it, the best games I played in 2015. Happy New Year and hope you all have a game-tastic 2016!

WildStar Reloaded is live!!!

Or should I say: Queue Simulator 2015... I joke! I am actually happy to see a queue in this game. It gives me hope that maybe people may stick around and play this great game, after all: a strong community is everything in an MMO. Ghost servers, no thanks! You can look for my full rundown on this game soon, keep your eyes on Swhipgaming.blogspot.com and make sure to check us out on social media!

Guild Wars 2 goes free2play!

At least for the core game, and with the release of the expansions creeping upon us now is the time, it seems, to hop into Guild Wars 2, if you have wanted to give it a try.

Hey fellow gamers, I just uploaded a short instance run on YouTube, for the Skyforge instance, Kyris. Check it out here or in the site navigation to the left.

Been playing the new MMORPG Skyforge open beta. Is it any good? Check out the complete rundown here!

List of games we hope make a good showing at E3 2015

E3 2015 Titles we hop make a great show in 2015  

(Click through to go to the game's main page)

1. The Division
2. *Mass Effect 4*
3. Fallout 4
4. Rock Band 4
5. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
6. Kingdom Hearts 3
7. *Dark Souls 3*
8. Mad Max

                                         

                                                                 *No official site as of this writing


  There is my list of games that I hope to find out more from E3 2015. I am really excited to see or hear more from The Division and Fallout 4, but there are lots of others that didn't quite fir my list, including, Doom 4 and Guitar Hero Live.

Fetch This...Kill That! Are MMO Quests Too Boring?

swhipgaming.blogspot.com

  Have you ever been playing your favorite MMO, and come to the realization that all the quests/missions are the same?  Maybe the backgrounds where you're killing the enemies or where you're picking up items that you need to return to look quest giver change, but the goals are ultimately the same.  Is there any hope for this style of game or are all in MMOs doomed?...continue reading

A few tips for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

   Tips for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Loot...EVERYTHING!

 When starting out, coin will be in short supply. You can boost your money game by looting everything you come across. You can then sell it to shopkeepers or break it down for use in making your own armors, potions,etc. Now would also be a good time to mention that, in my experience, different shopkeepers will pay you more for things that they tend to sell themselves. Example being a armor smith will pay more for armor pieces than say, the general store. Some shops won't even... continue reading here

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Hello folks, it's time for another "Been Playing". This time I have been playing The Witcher 3, and wow am I absolutely blown away by this game. This is a phenomenal title. A game this good doesn't come around very oft. From the delicious,rich visuals to the nice character progression and yet still to the awesome story of the Witcher 3. This game is sure to please RPG gamers and....continue reading

Why modern MMORPGs are not doing as well as they should be.

Why are modern MMORPGs not doing so well?  

  With a new influx of MMORPGs coming out every few months it seems, it gets one to wondering, why are none of them dominating the market? Is there no innovation in these new titles? Are they too casual? Are they not casual enough? Is the market over saturated? Let's take a look and see if we can answer these questions and a few others.

  Now, this is not just a crack at studios developing games, trust me when I say it's not easy to make a game! That said, none of these titles seem to innovate on the genre; or if they do, they innovate out the things that make the genre fun to begin with! Like this new trend of no healers hitting the market (Thanks Guild Wars 2 for starting that <<end sarcasm>>). With said "innovation" , you alienate part of your community; the ones who like to heal. Innovation does not have to be a game changer, maybe just a new take on content even. In example, Guild wars 2, the dynamic event system is just amazing! That kind of innovation is what the genre needs! Sadly, you won't find many willing to make a change like that, instead they are only willing to make minor changes to game play formula which result in a watered down experience while not being truly innovative.

  Maybe the games are just too casual now. Perhaps they need to add more elements of  hardcore games. All you have to do to find a party is click a button and portal to an instance. It seems like there is no sense of community, nothing to tie players together. That isn't a bad idea, it just seems to make the community a bit...disconnected. Perhaps if they added a rating system where you could rate the party you was just in, or something, it might make people feel less inclined to ninja loot, drop parties, name call and any other number of things that this new wave of players do. Perhaps, the games are not casual enough? With end games that require a large chunk of your time to even begin to be competitive, it's hard for anyone other than folks with more time on their hands than average, to get a true sense of progression or reward.

  Could it possibly be a matter of market flooding? Go to any search engine and type in something like: MMORPGs coming out this year. You will absolutely be overwhelmed by all the new titles coming out. It's hard to stand out when you are vying against so many others. A lot of those are cash grabs or trash games, but how do you know that when you look at a game for the first time? Which brings me to the next point: Jaded gamers. There has been so many MMORPGs that came out, even in the last 5 years, that promised to change the face of the genre forever! They set the bars so high, but only meet their goals by 1/4. This new style of "Hype" could be another reason some games are not doing as well as they should. Gamers have heard it all before and have been disappointed by games they've waited on for years. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying this is the developers fault, most of the fault falls on the media. It only takes one excited game interviewer to spark an entire fire of hype. Not that hype is a bad thing, it may just need to be toned down a bit.

  There are a myriad of reasons why these newer games are plagued the launch month server full-next month ghost server syndrome. Homogenized classes, poor progression, over zealous cash shops(ie Pay to Win), little content to hold people after max level, too much of a time sink. The list could go on and on, but let's stop here. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments.

...

Why Video Game Beta Tests are Awesome and Suck - At The Same Time!

  Game Betas Rule!

•  You get to try out a new game you have really been wanting to get your hands on for a while. 
• You get to help shape and mold the said game into a successful work of art! So in this regard, game betas are super cool, especially if you are playing a game from a company that will listen to it's players.
• You get to be there from the start and witness how the game changes over the remaining development cycle, it is indeed very exciting!

  Game Betas Suck!

• The luster of a new title may wear off since you no longer have to anticipate how awesome a game might be. 
• All the progress you make will be wiped before launch, so any progress you make will be null, and at launch you will have to start all over again and redo the same content again.
• You may not be able to truly experience the true potential of a (multiplayer) game, as your friends may not get invited.

And there you have it. It truly is a trade off and in many cases beta testing isn't for everyone. For example, people who can not just report and overlook a bug and instead expect a finished, polished product or for those types of people, who are just wanting to play the game, but sooner, beware, that's not what a beta test is. But if you are just wanting to help ensure the title will be as smooth and bug free as possible, then beta testing may be right up your alley!

Skyforge Development team answers a few questions about Monetization in their game

The team behind the upcoming title, Skyforge, just released an article about how the plan to monetize their game, it was a short and to the point Q&A style article, you can it out on the Official Skyforge Website.