Added: 01.05.2014 18:14 | 2 views | 0 comments


Over the last week, weve logged into The Elder Scrolls Online on five consecutive days, and everytime, there was mail waiting, offering gold-farming services. Its not an uncommon problem in MMORPGs. In fact, it would be odd to play one without some level of spam plaguing the game, whether it's receiving a private whisper or seeing it being shouted out across public channels. Yet it seems that, despite all the good things The Elder Scrolls Online has managed to accomplish, the game is absolutely littered with this trash. Sadly, in a world that could thrive and flourish with true immersion and benefit from genuine roleplaying experiences, more often than not, youre instantly greeted with BUY ME NOW. 48 HOURS BEFORE GOLD IS DEPOSITED IN YOUR BANK. CHEAP RATES. TELL ME FOR FO And it makes Expansive wonder. How did gold-farming get so big and why is it still such a lucrative business? But perhaps more to the point, why must we put up with this continued harassment,...

Added: 01.05.2014 16:40 | 0 views | 0 comments


Justin and Brian stumble onto a not-suspicious-at-all monkey house, defeat a pirate lord, and discuss why robots are so cool.

Added: 01.05.2014 16:34 | 4 views | 0 comments


Zenimax claims Carmack pinched ideas from id Software.
This isn't directly related to Xbox, but I thought you might like to read about it regardless. ZeniMax Media - parent company of ZeniMax Online, id Software and Bethesda Softworks, creator of the Elder Scrolls series - has accused former id Software programmer John Carmack of handing its intellectual property and technology over to Oculus, developer of the Rift virtual reality headset.

Added: 01.05.2014 16:23 | 9 views | 0 comments



Elder Scrolls Online game director Matt Firor said today that they want to reward players who have stuck with the MMORPG throughout the game's early problems. They're extending everyone's subscription by five days.

Added: 01.05.2014 16:21 | 0 views | 0 comments


Justin and Brian stumble onto a not-suspicious-at-all monkey house, defeat a pirate lord, and discuss why robots are so cool.

Added: 01.05.2014 16:00 | 1 views | 0 comments

"It's just Oblivion with guns."

So claimed the cynics regarding

Emotional expression is key here. The writing should concern itself not with dumping backstory into my brain, but with characters' hopes, dreams, and aspirations. In a world where so many are just scraping by, I don't think the citizens would be much interested in divulging every little detail about their village. I want to see them speak naturally, as real people would, rather than in words more suited to a written form than a spoken one. I want actors to voice a single role so that they might fully inhabit their characters, and for those characters to display a full range of emotions--emotions we can hear in the line delivery and see on the characters' faces.

Gameplay can help reinforce these kinds of interpersonal connections. I would love to be able to stop during my travels and make camp with my companion, pitching a tent and cooking up some grub before catching a few hours of rest. I would love to see possible romance subplots in the style of Mass Effect or Dragon Age, and have that romance affect the interactions I have with others. And should the combat take a more tactical approach, I would want to command my companion (or companions) during each turn, using skills that complement each other. For instance, my companion could ice up a mutant's arm with a freeze gun (a weapon that was scheduled to be included in Black Isle's unreleased Fallout 3, codenamed Van Buren) and I could swing my super sledge and smash it to smithereens.

Of course, my ideal Fallout 4 wishlist continues on for a hundred more pages, but my hopes hinge on the series' very identity. Scrap that Elder Scrolls presentation, bring the game to life with a completely new look and feel, and give the combat and characterizations an overhaul. The Fallout I want is one that asserts its uniqueness, not one that uses a completely different series as a template.

Added: 01.05.2014 16:00 | 0 views | 0 comments

"It's just Oblivion with guns."

So claimed the cynics regarding

Emotional expression is key here. The writing should concern itself not with dumping backstory into my brain, but with characters' hopes, dreams, and aspirations. In a world where so many are just scraping by, I don't think the citizens would be much interested in divulging every little detail about their village. I want to see them speak naturally, as real people would, rather than in words more suited to a written form than a spoken one. I want actors to voice a single role so that they might fully inhabit their characters, and for those characters to display a full range of emotions--emotions we can hear in the line delivery and see on the characters' faces.

Gameplay can help reinforce these kinds of interpersonal connections. I would love to be able to stop during my travels and make camp with my companion, pitching a tent and cooking up some grub before catching a few hours of rest. I would love to see possible romance subplots in the style of Mass Effect or Dragon Age, and have that romance affect the interactions I have with others. And should the combat take a more tactical approach, I would want to command my companion (or companions) during each turn, using skills that complement each other. For instance, my companion could ice up a mutant's arm with a freeze gun (a weapon that was scheduled to be included in Black Isle's unreleased Fallout 3, codenamed Van Buren) and I could swing my super sledge and smash it to smithereens.

Of course, my ideal Fallout 4 wishlist continues on for a hundred more pages, but my hopes hinge on the series' very identity. Scrap that Elder Scrolls presentation, bring the game to life with a completely new look and feel, and give the combat and characterizations an overhaul. The Fallout I want is one that asserts its uniqueness, not one that uses a completely different series as a template.