Jaggy's Corner - February 7th, 2020

Welcome to another Jaggy's Corner where I write my thoughts about various video gaming topics. Each week I find topics that I either want to rant about or praise. Today... Well, today is going to be interesting... I just have to ask something. What were you guys expecting?

You might be asking whatever do I mean?

Before I go on, this was not a topic I was going to discuss simply because it has already been talked about. I don't feel like there is a lot to add (which I'll get into). Yet, some of my regular followers wanted my thoughts on Warcraft III: Reforged and I gotta ask, why? Because frankly, I don't care all that much...

Let me explain. Blizzard was a company that I held on a pedestal. It was the company responsible for Warcraft I and II, which I played a lot of. Sadly, I missed out on Warcraft III because my life was in chaos, but also because I didn't have a good enough computer to run it. I had also played Diablo I and II for many years. In fact, these games were perfect for my family to play together. Time had passed from Diablo days to the launch of World of Warcraft when I had re-entered the Blizzard sphere. I became heavily invested in the game for 6.5 years and had quit before Mists of Pandaria. Sometime closer to the end of my career in WoW, I decided to learn the Starcraft ways. It was my introduction to Twitch, but over time, my perspective of the company altered. What I want from a video game now hasn't been provided by Blizzard in a long time. My investment in everything Blizzard turned to ash after some experiences during my WoW career, the terrible decisions made in Diablo III with its real-world auction house, and Overwatch's launch. From those three experiences, my apathy had solidified itself. So, this post might put things into perspective when I repeat my question of what were you guys expecting when it came to the launch of Warcraft III: Reforged?

Here's what I'm thinking about. Much of last year brought Activision/Blizzard many controversies like, "You all have phones right?" to revoking a professional Hearthstone players' winnings in a tournament to the #firebobbykotick hashtag. (These events are listed in no particular order.) The company that once was held in such high regard has clearly plummeted for many different reasons. I'm not going to presume that I know what happened, because the reality is that I have no idea.

The whole Warcraft III: Reforged issue and uproar, to be completely honest, makes me chuckle. Not because of what has happened, but because I'm sure that some of the people included in the group speaking out about Reforged, is made up of the same people who swore up and down that they were boycotting Blizzard. You see, sometimes people can see the trainwreck before it happens. I knew that a large chunk of people that touted boycotting the company were not going to follow through. Why? Because gamers tend to have short memories OR they have a lot of faith in a company. But, that said, the complaints surrounding the launch of Reforged are not completely unfounded. There are issues., in fact, there are a bunch of issues.

So here's what happened, in brief:

• Blizzard revealed an announcement trailer for Reforged that does not compare to the graphics quality delivered

• Features from the original Warcraft III have not been added to the game

• A plethora of bugs, game crashes, and assets not loading properly have plagued the launch

• Connecting to custom maps or accessing the campaign mode has had several issues

• Original Warcraft III servers and Reforged servers have been merged together - causing legacy players to update to a buggy and broken game

• Players are angry about a new strict policy that claims creative credit over any custom games created within the Blizzard editor. Presumably, this is to combat the issues that spawned from DOTA becoming a full-fledged game that began as a Blizzard mod.

I get it. People look at this batch of issues like Reforged came out too early and that Blizzard lied to their users. And maybe there is a case for them, but maybe the community decided to go overboard on a subpar launch. In fact, the community is so upset about these issues that players went to Metacritic for the purpose of giving the game a low score. The score was so low that it prompted a couple of Forbes contributors to write about review bombing. (Those two articles here and here.) Yikes.

https://youtu.be/Q2zfx5hQ3CE

Here's the thing: I never played the original Warcraft III and I definitely didn't pick up Reforged. (In fact, since Destiny 2 moved to Steam, I think I've loaded up Battle.net once.) What does that mean? Basically, it means that while I have some general thoughts about the subject and the community, I don't have a ton to say that would add any benefit. Many things have already been said. I don't need to jump on the bandwagon like the other sites. But, that doesn't mean I don't have opinions about it. I have three things to say:

1. I believe that Blizzard did a disservice by not managing the community's expectations. Because, at the end of the day, some of the missing features like the in-game tournaments will likely be added later on. The same can be said for the bug fixes. See, the gaming community loves to say things about games, praising them for fixing their issues in post patches, so why would Reforged be any different? Is it because Blizzard is supposed to be a fabled unicorn that is flawless? Is it because gamers now expect video games to launch in absolutely perfect condition? No. The reality is, those have nothing to do with the issue at hand. I speculate that many people want to pick on Blizzard because of Activision. I suspect that the community will always expect perfection from every video game company, even though the concept is impossible. However, development companies are not flawless and that doesn't mean they shouldn't be held accountable. That also doesn't mean that games deserve to be review bombed. News flash peeps: The game has a full story and everything. It's not a shell of a game, it's a full game - once it works. When the bugs are gone and some of the things added back into it, the game will likely be fine. As for false advertising? That complaint might have merit. However, it's hard to say, and I'm not a lawyer.

2. My second point is that I'm upset with the Blizzard community. Yes, the game has issues, but then, what game doesn't? People made Reforged seem like it was worse than games like No Man's Sky (At launch. They've completely changed things and drastically increased their rating) or Anthem (which they've said will be completely relaunched - hopefully under a different name.) Would I compare Reforged to either game that were colossal failures in my mind? God no. Not even close. Not ever. And I'm not the only one that thinks this way either, since many game reviewers rated Reforged at 60 to 70 out of 100 in many of the reviews. If I were reviewing the game, I would be inclined to give it a similar rating because while it might not be a masterpiece, and certainly has a number of issues, the game has a story, custom maps, an editor, and a conglomerated server system (although, this has issues that need fixing immediately). Yet, even though there are some great things updated, people are upset. In my opinion, I think the most valid complaints have to do with game stability (ie servers not crashing, being able to play the campaign, etc...) - which are big issues that need fixing. However, users going out of their way to drop the game's rating. Personally, I don't think what I've read is enough to warrant that kind of drastic reaction. But again, I haven't played either version so I have no idea if I would be as upset as the current player base.

3. My third opinion is about the issue surrounding a GM who told a player that they 'have to get another computer to play Reforged'. I will say that the user in question received the correct response. I'm not saying that because I'm heartless, I'm saying that because I read the transcript between this user and several different Blizzard employees. In short, the person purchased Warcraft III from an unverified third party, not through Blizzard. Upon reading the transcript it is clear that the GM's collectively tried to solve the issues amicably and were met with threats of legal action with no explanation regarding the technical issues received. Since they couldn't troubleshoot effectively, they instead responded kindly. Frankly, it's not Blizzard's issue if a computer isn't up to minimum specifications. Does Microsoft ask its users if their computers can handle new OS updates? No! Anyways, yeah, it's frustrating that the person can't play the game right now, but threatening legal action from a game purchased over 15 years ago is a ridiculous notion. Furthermore, the fact that Reddit jumped all over the one GM's response without context was downright ignorant. Stop trying to make people look bad by reading out of context.

Now, I know that some of you are going to be upset about my thoughts on the matter, and that's fine. But, I feel as though Blizzard will fix many of the issues (I mean, they can't afford NOT to at this point...) As far as I'm aware, Blizzard has already agreed to refund the game for a short time, so those of you that feel like a disservice has been done, I suggest you get a refund.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, there was a time when I would have been hyped up about Reforged. And I might have been one of those voices angry addressing the issues surrounding the game, but times have changed and so have I. This is not my fight. Besides, there are other game companies and games that have done more egregious things that I am more likely to rant about.

Hopefully, readers of this post will realize that they should be more mindful about their game purchases and claims before going full NA. Know what I mean?

Until next time.

Article by: Susan N.

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Jaggy's Corner! - Saturday February 16th

I find myself disgusted with this weeks events for many reasons, but primarily I'm upset about Activision Blizzard's news and the community's reaction to it.

The TL;DR of the Activision Blizzard announcement is that the company had a record breaking year, solidifying themselves as the giant AAA company to live up to – or tear down as the case may be. The company downsized by 8% meaning that about 800 people lost their jobs. This is what provoked my multitudes of reactions like fear for the friends and casters of Blizzard's esport division losing their positions. I became upset at the fact that some of the new leadership was hired on with several million dollar bonuses. And then I was happy that social media tried to do what they felt was right and just in that game development companies tweeted their available job positions.

Through the mixture of emotion, I became upset once more because the gaming industry – the consumers – are missing the fundamental issue hidden within this news. While I'm not excusing the company for screwing over a lot of industry professionals in favor of more profits, I am going to shed light on a couple realities leading up to this week's layoff.

First, Blizzcon kicked off with a sad announcement that should have put the community on notice that things were changing. Mike Morhaime stepped down as CEO of Blizzard and temporarily became a consultant. He entrusted his beloved franchise to J. Allen Brack who had been working along side Mr. Morhaime for more than ten years. Surely this should have been a red flag that the company was transforming with different goals... Anyways, at Blizzcon they announced the infamous Diablo Immortals announcement which spawned the meme, “You all have phones right?” (On a side note, who the heck hired those guys anyways?) Both of these events were catalysts for the downward spiral that Blizzard found themselves in, although I suspect that things were transitioning long before Blizzcon.

A couple weeks after Blizzcon, it was announced by several gaming sites that the whole leadership of Activision Blizzard drastically changed. This is where Bobby Kotick (CEO of Activision Blizzard) appointed Rob Kostich to be the President of Activision, Dennis Durkin in charge of Emerging Businesses Division in Esports, and Humam Sakhnini to head up the Candy Crush division.

Normally, when there are massive adjustments to the upper management of a company, people should expect a new focus. So, imagine my shock when Game Workers Unite sparked a Twitter campaign and petition with the hashtag #Firebobbykotick like it would reverse the damage. (And by damage, I mean not just for the games and the loss of hundreds of jobs, but for the stock market decline.) It was then that I facepalmed.

Let's think about this for a moment, shall we?

What would firing Bobby Kotick do exactly? Because all of the upper management have received their bonuses and the damage has already been done. Firing Mr. Kotick might hurt him in the short term, but it won't actually change anything. This kind of process has been used over many years of Mr. Kotick being president of Activision. And my opinion is based on a number of different articles like:

• An article from 2008 about Mr. Kotick: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/11/activision-if-we-cant-run-a-game-into-the-ground-we-dont-want-it/
• In 2009 this article released: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2009/09/actiblizzard-ceo-kotick-policy-rewards-profits-removes-fun/
• Then in 2012, Blizzard let go of about 600 employees: https://kotaku.com/blizzard-axes-600-employees-world-of-warcraft-dev-team-5889338

But if there is any doubt that this kind of practice is rather common these days (and not just in the video gaming space, either), watch Jim Sterling's informative video where he goes into detail about the capitalist nature of game companies. Among his examples are companies like EA and Activision...

What I'm saying is, Mr. Kotick isn't the problem, he is merely a bishop on a very troubled chess board and he just happens to be part of a much greater issue. The fact that people have started a petition to fire him is no better than saying that banning Twitch accounts will make the platform better. All one has to do is create another account to dodge an account ban and all that is needed to continue a cycle of greed is another executive that will suck the life out of their consumers.

The news about alleged Activision/Blizzard layoffs next week could mean hundreds of great game makers will be without work. We can't have that.

PLEASE RT this document: a massive list of game dev job opportunities across the world. Help folks find work!https://t.co/UkzvwvyLTi

— Mitch Dyer (@MitchyD) February 9, 2019

Look, I get that the gaming community is angry about the people that lost their jobs, – especially after some Activision Blizzard management received millions of dollars in bonuses - but many of those people have years of experience and knowledge to get better positions. After the news broke, one Twitter user compiled a list of companies that are hiring, because the game developers tweeted about their various job opportunities to help the people affected by the layoffs.

Now, I'm not saying that I like what happened this week, considering my love for many Blizzard titles, but bringing out the pitchforks isn't going to change much right now. My biggest concern with Activision Blizzard is related to cutting back on their QA, IT, community support, and game support teams. All of these positions are important to the end user, and while I don't know how many of these positions are now vacant, I can hope that Activision Blizzard cares about their games and their dedicated gaming community.

If history has anything to say, Activision Blizzard is still a large company that plays by the same rules as other large companies. Sometimes that means changing things up. But you know what? My hope is that the new generation of gamers will change our industry for the better. Sure. Call me an optimist and I'll accept that perhaps I'm living in a pipe dream. I can still hope for the best even though I know that the industry won't be changing for quite some time.

Until next time.

Article by Susan N.

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Jaggy's Corner - Sunday November 4

It’s November peeps and that means a number of things for me like birthday’s coming up, National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo), and BlizzCon.

Sadly I am not in Anaheim, California to see what BlizzCon has to offer but there have been a number of big announcements that I’d like to cover.

Destiny 2

After Mike Morhaime passed the torch to the new president of Blizzard Entertainment, the first big reveal for me was the news that Destiny 2 would be free for anyone who logged into Battle.net before November 18th. It’s important to note that players will only have access to the base game for free with Curse of Osiris and Warmind already included. Forsaken, the newest DLC content will not be included in the Destiny 2 content. Still, if players wanted to give the game a shot without committing to a dollar amount, this is the way to go!

Celebrate the anniversary of Destiny 2's PC launch with a free game download.

Claim your free gift on Blizzard https://t.co/roHUYkBnm4 now through November 18th! pic.twitter.com/oY10tz8vJh

— Destiny The Game (@DestinyTheGame) November 2, 2018

That’s great for new players but fear not! Veteran players will receive an exclusive gift that supposedly includes a new emblem, shader, and two exotic emotes! That said, we don’t have further information on this fact except for the quick mention from Steve Cotton, the developer of Destiny 2: Forsaken, and the BlizzCon official news post. We do know that the content will be available in December so keep your eyes peeled for that!

And just to sweeten the deal, there is also a free trial of the Gambit mode from November 9-11th for existing players. This is a new mode introduced into Destiny 2 which blends both multiplayer and monster slaying elements in a 4 versus 4 match. Players collect currency to summon a boss, hopefully before the other team. This boss will help to take down the opponents so that your team can win. It’s a mode that also allows enemy players to jump into your map. It’s an interesting interpretation of a PVP map and I haven’t played much of it, but it is fun!

Starcraft 2

After all of the amazing additions and changes to Starcraft 2 over the years, Blizzard has an excellent handle on giving all types of players content like the arcade maps, co-op missions, immersive single player campaigns across three expansions, and high level competitive play through the World Championship Series. At BlizzCon, it was announced that there would be a new co-op commander available to purchase. The familiar Protoss leader Zeratul finally enters the ring and I’m excited.

Zeratul is outfitted with all sorts of interesting abilities that players will be able to use and those abilities will revolve around something called Prophetic Vision. With it, he will be able to located Xel’Naga artifact fragments to improve his combative ability in a co-op match. He will be able to call down units, get artifact enhancements, and use a couple of top bar abilities. Each top bar ability will have different customizable options that will suit the player’s style depending on the map for that week.

A full write up of the new co-op commander and detailed descriptions of all the abilities can be found directly on the Starcraft 2 website. Players will also be able to watch a video showcasing the new abilities. You can check that out here.

Warcraft III: Reforged

Perhaps the most exciting news of the day was the announcement of Warcraft III: Reforged. Essentially, Blizzard is bringing back Warcraft III with a ton of new updates. Let me just say that as a person who loved Warcraft II: The Tides of Darkness, I’m super excited to play the legendary game that I never had the chance to play. In fact, I can’t wait to get back to playing as the Horde once again. A player can leave Azeroth, but they can never leave their allegiance. FOR THE HORDE!

*Ahem* Back to what I was saying… The character animations have been updated, the UI has changed for the better, there are tons of player created custom games, and more! Not only have they added a ton of content to the game, but they’ve rebalanced the heroes and units to bring it up to today’s standards of the RTS genre. And one more thing, they’ve even gone as far as adding 4k capability! I mean, what’s not to love?!

Be sure to check out all the information available about Warcraft III: Reforged on the website.

Overwatch

Combined with a new animated short which introduces the relationship between the new hero and McCree, Overwatch has a new hero. Her name is Ashe and she has a western feel, much like McCree but with a different fighting style. You see, Ashe’s family paid little attention to her so she created her family. That family is the Deadlock gang who has a reputation for being tough as nails. Ashe is the leader of this gang. Together they steal various objects for monetary gain, presumably.

In terms of how Ashe plays in Overwatch, she has a number of abilities at her disposal like a semi-automatic rifle that also has the ability to do precise shots, the use of dynamites for AOE damage, a heavy knock back ability, and she can summon a sidekick comically named “B.O.B.” With all of her abilities and knowledge, Ashe will be a force to be reckoned with on the Overwatch battle field.

Another Overwatch related announcement is Blizzard teaming up with Kellogg’s to release the new “Lucio-Oh’s” cereal, and it will be available to buy in December. Not only will players receive the food contained in the box, but they also will receive loot boost codes to use in-game. As we know, players are all about that fat loot!

In tandem with the cereal, right now players can download a full album of Lucio music. But, get it quickly because it is only available until November 20th! The album is titled Synaesthesia Auditiva and the music has a distinct chillstep yet up tempo sound. I actually quite like it, in truth. Anyways, get the music here while you can!

Other Mentions

There were many other interesting things announced at BlizzCon like new content for Heroes of the Storm, HearthStone, and the dreaded Diablo III mobile game. I’m sure the game will be fine but many are not enthused. (All you have to do is watch the videos with the crowd booing its announcement. On a second side note: The fact that the crowd was more excited for a cereal that was originally a joke than a full game baffles me. Although, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because Pandas were not technically part of the World of Warcraft lore until they made an April fool’s joke into a full expansion for the game, so what do I know?)

Anyways, yes, the mobile market has increased drastically over the last couple of years. Yes, virtually everyone has mobile devices. And while it is true that businesses want to expand their player base, taking a beloved franchise into the mobile market was a gamble that Blizzard lost, in my opinion. I would argue that the reason Blizzard lost the gamble is because they came at it from behind. Diablo III was a train wreck at launch and it basically blew itself into shrapnel when the auction house was released. And yes, I know they admitted that the auction house was a mistake, causing them to take it out of the game, the damage had already been done. Later, Blizzard tried to resurrect Diablo III with the launch of Reaper of Souls. This expansion added challenges like rifts and seasonal characters, which brought a ton of players back to the game, but other Blizzard games are infinitely more popular than Diablo III.

Now, Blizzard has done many fantastic things for gaming in terms of optimization, RTS balancing, new content, etc… But, when it comes to the Diablo franchise specifically, the mobile Diablo announcement is a huge disappointment. While I respect that Blizzard is trying to bring the franchise back to life by expanding into a newer space (to them), they shot themselves in the foot by saying that there were no plans to make Diablo: Immortal available for PC version, even in the future. (Not that that is a bad thing because mobile to PC ports haven’t always been great. I’m sure Blizzard would do it properly if it became a PC ported game but still, I’m not onboard.)

Final Thoughts

I’m extremely excited for Zeratul in Starcraft 2, despite the fact that I can’t protoss to save my life. He brings a new dynamic to the current mutation maps that I’m sure many players will test out. I’m also extremely hyped for Warcraft III: Reforged since I never had the chance to play the game during the glory days. I’m even mildly excited for the Overwatch community because Ashe looks badass. She’s a tough cookie and I like her style. And along with the Overwatch announcements, while I’m not a big fan of a cereal, I enjoy the music album.

I think with most of the announcements that I read about or saw in the opening ceremonies on Twitch, I’m pleased with where Blizzard games are going. I can’t wait to see how all of these games flourish with the new content.

Also, I’m sad that Mike Morhaime, after 20+ years with Blizzard Entertainment, has stepped down from CEO of the company and will fulfill an advisory role to Blizzard. During the opening ceremonies, he has passed the torch to his colleague and friend, J. Allen Brack - the executive producer of World of Warcraft and 12+ year veteran of Blizzard. He will valiantly aim to fill the giant shoes left by Mike Morhaime. And while I’m sure Brack will do very well in his new position, many Blizzard fans (myself included) will miss Mike’s ambition and passion.

To Mike Morhaime I say good luck to you in the future. Your continued passion for video games through the years has brought many of us together as a family. Thank you for everything.

Check out the BlizzCon coverage with the virtual ticket which can be purchased here. If not, there is plenty of coverage from community members, so be sure to follow the hashtag #BlizzCon2018 on Twitter!

What’s the most exciting announcement for you? Let us know in the comments below!

Article by Susan N.

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Jaggy's Corner - The Dreamhack Experience

From September 7 - 9th I attended Dreamhack in Montreal, which is a video gaming convention and competition for a number of esports. Prize pools were offered for Rainbow 6, Starcraft 2 (WCS Circuit), Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Shadowverse, Dreamhack Grand Prix (Hearthstone), and DreamHack Fighting Game Championship (Brawlhalla, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Street Fighter V). Each competition had its own prize pool.

This was the third time that I've attended Dreamhack in Montreal and I was impressed with certain things while other things were annoying.

The Venue - Pros and Cons

The location and layout of the venue had a bit of everything. The Olympic Stadium is designed with an extremely high capacity and had plenty of parking to facilitate such a crowd. The space was large enough to carry a ton of exhibitors as well as a full stage setup for at least eight different competitions.

Here are some of the pros and cons I found about the venue, but don't let this be a reflection of my whole experience. DreamHack was a ton of fun and quite chaotic. These points are simply observation so take this with a grain of salt.

Pros

• Had the capacity to support thousands of people
• The main floor was designed rather well
• The acoustics of the stages did not, for the most part, conflict with other stages
• It didn't feel as crowded as other events
• The venue wasn't as loud as other events
• Plentiful parking (unless you get lost because you parked in a garage far from the actual DH entrance. That was rectified the next day...)

Cons

• It was annoying to go up and down stairs just to see individual game stages
• The venue had extremely expensive food.
• The Stadium is not close to other food establishments
• The media room was hard to find
• The lighting in the venue was challenging to take awesome pictures (seriously.. although, next time I plan to have a much better camera)

Day 1

On day one, my friend and I arrived fairly late. This is practically a tradition at this point. Anyways, it wouldn't be DreamHack if there wasn't a little drama right when we arrived. (That will be an article for later. Trust me.)

The Sc2 stage was located close to the entrance. It also happened to be right next to the Rainbow 6 stage, which could have been an issue, but it wasn't. There was a point where our crowd was in competition with their crowd, but that was fine. (We won that battle.)

In fact, this is one of the reasons I liked the layout of the Olympic Stadium. So, props to whomever came up with the idea to face the stages towards the upper seats. As in, most of the stages were not facing the exhibition floor. By setting up the venue in this way, the acoustics of the stages spread out and away from each other, allowing the audience to hear their respective game stage.

Unlike the other Dreamhack events in Montreal, the first day was the time when I ran into most of my friends. Because of the layout and because I was taking a ton of video and pictures, I hardly saw people. This was the only day that I saw the biggest number of my friends. Considering that most of these people I only see once a year, that is a huge deal. Also, part of the reason I didn't get a chance to see them all was because of that same stage layout that I just praised in the above paragraph. True story.

Overall, I watched a whopping two matches of Starcraft and chatted with people. A lot of the reason for that is due to our arrival time which was roughly 5pm. We walked around, took pictures, then escaped for dinner.

Day 2

On day two, I spent more time running around than any other day. Not only did we arrive early, but there were tons of things to see. Rocket League had their BOYC tournament, the Bell Stage hosted the cosplay competition, and there was a ton of Starcraft. This was the day I realized which pro players were in the competition. (Even media people can fangirl sometimes...) Basically, I was over the moon.

I took a tour around the various exhibitors like Corsair, Canada Computers, Monster, and Omen. I encountered a vendor "Fire and Steel" that I've seen at other events during the year. They sell replica weapons from video games and pop culture. Anyways, a complete list of exhibitors can be found on the Dreamhack website so be sure to check them out.

I spent some time in the Indie Zone watching King of the Hat. This is a game where players have to kill their opponents by crushing their hat. It's essentially a fighting game but it looks fun as hell.

Also, Saturday was so busy for me that I ended up seeing only one match of Rocket League, one series of Starcraft, and the cosplay competition. The rest of the time I ended up tracking down people or food. Honestly, it was a noble quest!

Anyways, later that night, several of us ended up at the Meltdown. The owner remembers some of us from previous years, which is always nice. The people who hang out at the Meltdown are all gamers and are like family. Everyone is there to relax, drink, and chat with other esports people. So, if you haven't been to the Meltdown before, check out their website and try the Blue Flame Hellion. That is all. Just do that.

Day 3

Since we had a monstrously early day on Saturday, Sunday ended up being a bit of a lazy day... sort of. Once again I spent time taking more video footage, chatting with exhibitors, and then making it back to Starcraft for the Grand Finals. In fact, my phone was on the verge of death. So when the finals hit game six (which was a 30+ minute game), my battery had died. Thank goodness for the fact that the casters took a five minute break, which was just long enough for me to run back to the media room to partially charge my phone. I ran back out to the stage managing to get the winner and the interview on film.

Final Thoughts and Video

Dreamhack once again impressed me. There were tons of exhibitors, great friends, a distinct lack of sleep, and plenty of interesting things to see. In fact, when my friend and I went searching for dinner on Saturday, we ended up in a little community garden that was on the property of the Olympic Stadium. This small piece of heaven was much quieter and was hosting an open mic night. Truly this is part of Montreal's charm because it isn't for their driving...

Don't forget that DreamHack hosts several events each year and in many different countries. Be sure to follow their Twitter for future events!

Here is a video I put together from the event. Enjoy!

Until next time!

Article by Susan N.

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Jaggy's Corner! - Saturday May 26

This article isn't going to be easy to write and that's for good reason. Many of you may not know this but while writing this I've been crying, allowing mascara to run down my face as it hits the ground for a person I never actually had the chance to meet. It stings my eyes and I have felt very ill while typing this article. It sucks because this is by far the hardest article I'll ever write. Good thing I can touch type because this would have been impossible...

Let me tell you about my experiences as a viewer to the amazing life of John "Totalbiscuit" Bain.

Introduction to TotalBiscuit

Many years ago I got into a little known MMO called World of Warcraft. Hell, if there are people out there that AREN'T familiar with the game, I'd be really surprised. Anyways, I was questing in a zone that had just come out with a group of people that were pugged to complete a 5 man quest. The next day, my account was hacked and I thought one of those four people was the culprit. Out of those people, the one person I talked to after I got my account back ended up becoming a real life friend.

Nev introduced me to BluePlz and that is how I first heard the tales of Kungen. Though, I only had two episodes and I didn't even know what a podcast was at the time. Often I just listened to the story when it began playing in my iTunes list. That's how this whole thing started, though I didn't know anything about the man behind the voice.

A few years later, I became invested in the Starcraft 2 community where I started to watch YouTubers like Husky, Day9, and Lowko. It was then that I discovered professional esports and how I became reintroduced to TB for a second time. He casted a few matches and somehow I ended up with the knowledge of him being part of The Game Station Podcast. It was at this point that I recognized the voice but didn't understand why until much later. You see, TB talked about the WoW Radio days on the TGS podcast and how he used to have the nickname of BluePlz. That's when the lightbulb flickered on. I finally understood why the voice was familiar... This man was Kungen.

The Podcast

Because of the TGS podcast, which eventually became the Co-Optional Podcast, I was introduced to amazing gaming influencers like Angry Joe, Jim Sterling, Danny O'Dwyer, Margaret Krohn, and so many other wonderful people – none of whom I've met IRL.

Through TB's YouTube channel, I learned about other video games because of the "WTF is...?" series. Sometimes I'd yell at the screen about how wrong TB was about a game until one day when he said, "It's alright to have a different opinion of a game." I felt like a rebel for liking certain games he didn't, but that's alright. We're different people.

I came to respect his content and his impact in Starcraft and in gaming. I made it mandatory to watch all of the podcasts, no matter what it took. I needed to know what games were coming out and the big gaming news each week. I had planted my flag.

TB never let me down as a viewer. I understood that everyone has an opinion since everyone has different criteria for gaming. He taught many how to critically think about the gaming industry and its developers. He also taught people that we have to hold everyone accountable for their actions – or sometimes inaction. We must put our money where our mouths are and not pre-order incomplete games that only showcase pre-rendered footage instead of actual game play. As in, he taught the industry to be shepards, not sheep.

I recall seeing a video where Jesse, Dodger, and TB played Just Dance. The dancing prowess of the three of them was not fantastic but it was great fun to watch. I mean, we're talking about a group of people who were truly best friends that, from a viewer perspective, were always together. Having such close friends when you're in the eyes of the gaming world or celebrity world, is very valuable to maintaining ones sanity.

I also remember that TB, Jesse, and Dodger had the unique opportunity to work with Guillermo Del Toro on a hammy fan made promo video for the movie Pacific Rim. At the time, I knew nothing about the movie but after this promo video, I decided to give it a go. I ended up enjoying the movie without knowing much about it. The selling point? The voice of GLaDOS from the portal series. Truly. You can experience that magical video below.

Starcraft 2

Many might know that for a couple of years Totalbiscuit founded his own professional Starcraft 2 team that consisted of Koreans that did not speak English well. He respected his players and gave them every opportunity he could at the time. He wanted Starcraft 2 to continue thriving. TB's dedication to Starcraft rivals that of Artosis, Tasteless, and Day9 in my opinion.

Anyways, the ongoing issue of the team sat under two umbrellas. TB had moved to the United States and therefore was challenged in his ability to meet the players in person. The second umbrella of issue was the massive language barrier. In a comical twist, the Korean language does not have a precise translation for "TotalBiscuit". As a result, the Korean players called him the equivalent to "the sum total of all the cookie." He really was the whole cookie but I digress...

AXIOM, the team he founded, ended up taking a side line later on. It was too much to continue to run the team, despite his best efforts. I believe that was when TB begun having issues with his health. Like everything else, he tackled the disease head on. Not only that, but he wouldn't let it stop him from putting on the ShoutCraft Clan Wars – his own created tournament. He kept that going for as long as he could in order to keep the toughest RTS on the market alive.

John, thank you for everything. We will miss you. pic.twitter.com/wbmuqNAQem

— Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) May 25, 2018

Health

After news of his health had come out, a number of things happened. Sadly, in my haze of tired and emotional outbursts, I can't recall the specific order of things. However, TB would not bow down to anything. He took the high road and made a video where he urged people to go get checked out as soon as they felt like something was wrong. Because of that, he likely saved many lives by being honest with people about colonoscopies. And I say that because there are people who are scared of doctors/hospitals/etc... Sometimes people need reminding even if they know what action should be taken.

Anyways, later that year, I had asked a friend if he could get me an autograph from Kevin "RotterdaM" van der Kooi – another Starcraft 2 caster that I enjoyed watching. Unfortunately, because of issues with his visa to the USA, Rotti didn't make it to the event so I wasn't able to get his autograph.

In between that event and the next, I discovered that TB would be at an event my friend would be attending. The friend felt bad about missing out on the previous autograph and said he'd make it up to me somehow. I asked if it was possible to get TB's autograph, knowing that it might be tough. I didn't want it to be anything epic and if anyone could get that for me, Temp0 would be the one. In my mind, I figured that given my living situation, I was unlikely to make it to an event that TB could attend before he passed. At the time, I didn't know that I'd be right...

Before writing this piece, I plotted out things I wanted to mention. The autograph event is among those moments. And weirdly, late in the evening of May 24th - after the news broke of TB's passing - Temp0 streamed. He made mention of asking TB for an autograph, for me.


Another thing that followed TB's diagnosis was an amazing post done on the Team Liquid website. It was a truly heartfelt post dedicated to TB where the community essentially said that we would be there for him, no matter what happened. Unfortunately, I cannot find this post again and it makes me sad... Anyways, from that point, TB made it a point to keep fighting because he was not going to let some stupid disease take him down. He fought for Starcraft, for gaming ethics and standards, and for honesty and transparency from game developers. He was going to fight cancer in the same way he always had. Because of those things, he was a legend for gamers, pioneering many into their chosen professions like itmejp and hundreds of others. In fact, I've read countless twitter posts about how TB pushed people to become better. I am one of them.

John,
I'm really going to miss you. It feels like you've been part of my life forever.
Thank you for supporting and cheering me on through so much. Thank you for pushing me to trust myself and be a stronger voice and thank you for being an incredible friend always.
Love,
Brooke

— Dodger (@dexbonus) May 24, 2018

His Best Anime Friendo

One of his best friends, Dodger, was helped by TB in a way that only viewers of the podcast and her stream would know. She had entered a relationship with Strippin fairly early on when the podcast became "Co-Optional". The two had large stream/YouTube followings before meeting, and knowing that neither of their successes superseded the others, decided to get involved.

Later, Strippin approached TB to get assistance on a major project. He wanted to propose to Dodger by way of making a video game that recounted special moments in their relationship. The amusing part about this story is that Dodger had put off going to Europe to see Strippin because of gaming commitments! The poor guy had to wait a full week before he was able to see her and get her to play the game which led to his proposal.

Last week Dodger had a baby girl and presumably TB was at least able to see the beautiful life that he helped bring into existence (in the sense that he helped orchestrate the marriage proposal. Don't get that twisted.)

Dodger gave us a couple of happy parent pics with Clarke so we thought we'd send a little update to everyone! Check it out! 😍😍😍https://t.co/4kit6LnRFi @dexbonus & @Strippin pic.twitter.com/gRXwAQ016m

— Dodger Coffee Co (@dodgercoffee) May 17, 2018

The Ending of My Viewer Story

TB was younger than me. That concept is terrifying.

From the year 2014 when he was first diagnosed with cancer, he defied the odds, made a difference in people's lives, and provided a solid foundation for his family to have a good quality of life. While I never met the man, I respected him and loved him for everything he did as a major gaming influencer. He touched the lives of thousands of people, whether directly or not, and he will live on in all of us. Hell, he's one of the main reasons I wanted to get into esports in a professional capacity.

Not everyone liked the man – he even had some extremely public outbursts to indicate such – but regardless, he pushed people to take a stand. He forced people to have an opinion, good or bad. He brought people together. That is what an influencer does; they force people to give a shit about something.

I was linked a post from the subreddit Writing Prompts. One person had an epic response that was very much in the spirit of TB. I'm simply going to link it. Enjoy that.

Baneling, if you ever read this, I want you to know that your father was an amazing person. And your mother is even better for being able to manage the chaos brought to her. So, if I could ever tell you a solid piece of advice, it would be don't believe everything people say about him. One day you will understand that 90% of the content spewed by media sites is utter crap. That said, this article, is straight from the heart. In future, I hope you find a calling that leaves a lasting legacy, regardless of what that might be.

Genna, you are a strong woman and have gone through some of the toughest situations, from running a Starcraft team to managing a family to dealing with internet trolls. Please keep that tough exterior. I know that there are jerks out there that will give you flack by association. Since you are a Bain, I know you will continue to be tough as nails and shouldn't let people bring you down. TB wouldn't want that. You have so many supporters that you can call on. Any time. I look forward to your future and hope that you will carry the torch. But before that, make sure you take all the time you need. I can also only hope that we'll still get an arbitrary awards at the end of the year because the gaming community still needs a champion.

I'll leave you all with this clip if you don't mind some profanity (in a good way). This is from JebroUnity's stream on May 24th, 2018.


I will miss you.

As much as it pains me to say this, until next time TB. (In case you didn't know, TB would always close out his content with that phrase.)

Article by Susan N.

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Jaggy's Corner! - Saturday March 31

All month Blizzard has been running the 20th Anniversary of Starcraft. Some familiar faces are present at a celebration event. People like Day9, Artosis, Whitera, Ret, TLO, and iNcontroL have been recalling Starcraft moments over the coarse of 20 years. This prompted me to talk about Starcraft and the impact it has had on my gaming career.

I wouldn't be a writer for Chalgyr's or Ginx Esports TV if it wasn't for Starcraft. Truly.

Many years ago, my brother and I would play both Warcraft 2 and Starcraft. I remember at the time I was terrible at Starcraft and decent at Warcraft. So, it made sense that I transitioned to World of Warcraft where my brother stuck with Starcraft, then BroodWars, then Starcraft 2. He would occasionally show me videos of Husky Starcraft casting replays of professional players' matches. I had no idea what was happening most of the time.

Then there was one video of Husky Starcrafts' that tipped me over the edge. I think it was not long after the video for Pylo the Pylon's short life span. It was at that point I stumbled onto Twitch TV for the first time. I landed in Demuslim's stream, a well known Terran player, who I appreciated because he was always humble while playing, but he explained what he was doing and why. For a person who had played some Starcraft but had sucked horribly, this was the best stream for me to end up in. The only drawback to his stream was the fact that I have always been a zerg player. Eventually, I had to find a streamer that could help me with specific builds.

What year is this? #SC20 pic.twitter.com/3F6gGWPL3F

— Chris Yap ᴮᵒᵒ (@booradl3y_) March 30, 2018

I found out about Fenner's Fundamentals and LowkoTV at about the same time. Both of these players had YouTube videos that helped new players with the basics of Starcraft builds. I ventured into Lowko's stream first and I became addicted to watching the streams for many hours each day. Six months later one of the mods decided to step down because he was getting back into Dota 2. Lowko asked his chat, "Who wants to be a mod?" I said nothing at the time. The chat blew up. In the end, he gave me mod status because I always chatted with people and was nice.

To make a long story short, that was the first of my many swords on Twitch. As such, I worked hard to learn about the bots, potential spammers, using IRCs, etc... I'm now at 40+ channels and it's still one of the fun things I do because I am always learning new things and meeting people. But nothing prepared me for a chance encounter that would ultimately change my life for the better...

Once in a while I channel hop. I get bored of the same game, so I actively seek out new games and new streamers. Often, I'll pick someone at random who doesn't have a ton of viewers, especially if it's 2am. Anyways, one of those choice encounters was hopping into Scheist's stream. On the first day I was there, he talked about needing a bot for his channel. Me being me asked what he wanted. After some discussion, he modded me. From there, he asked me in private what I wanted to do in life, which was to write for esports. He talked to a woman that ran her own esports website and that led to my getting the position.

Starcraft Memories

I remember a lot of fun things because of Starcraft. I remember clearly Eseipha and I getting Temp0 to say something to ToD in french. He did it flawlessly and we laughed our guts out when ToD said, "Do you know what you just said to me?"

I remember going to IEM in Toronto where everyone in the crowd yelled out "HOI HOI HOI" for a map called Catellena. The whole reason for that was because of BasetradeTV map intros... I'll just let you enjoy the intro if you've never seen it before...



Also at IEM Toronto a bunch of us went to an after party where Poizon and I played pool. Then I got owned by some Smash Bro Melee pros. Later still, a bunch of people played Cards Against Humanity.  It was a great night.

All in all, the Starcraft LAN events have been awesome.

I think the hardest memory of Starcraft for me was the day I wrote an article about the legendary JaeDong's retirement. #Imnotcrying #yourecrying. I have no idea if that article was as impactful as it was to write it. I know the editor could tell how important of a player Jaedong was to Starcraft. You can see that here

I could never truly explain how much I owe to the Starcraft community on its 20th anniversary, but needless to say, it led me to writing. I'm forever grateful for the impact this game and community has had on my life.

Of course, I'm not the only one who has been impacted as a result of this game. There are countless examples like Day9, HuK, LowkoTV, DJWheat, itmejp, and many many others. Here here is a preview video called Starcraft is Life – A 20th Anniversary Celebration



I'm excited to watch this when it launches

If you are a Starcraft fan, what have been some of your best memories? Let us know in the comments.

Until next time.

Article by Susan N.

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The Tanks of Overwatch, Ranked - Gaming Thoughts

Tanking in Overwatch can be both frustrating and exhilarating. One of the most stressful roles, tanking tasks the players with soaking up damage from enemies and keeping the pressure on while damage dealers take them out and support players keep you alive.

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Diablo II - Retro Reflections

When it first came out Diablo 2 was a slight disappointment. The graphics were mediocre, lacking in detail, variety and colors. Moreover, the save system was not practical: if you saved you had to exit the game and when you returned all enemies has respawned, even bosses. Despite these flaws, the more you played the more you discovered the game’s depth. I set as a life goal to finish it with the amazon (I had completed the first Diablo with the amazon too, who was called rogue then) and after many years I did it.

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Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition - PS4 Review

Diablo was a title that fathered an entire genre of gaming with series such as Sacred, Van Helsing, the homage that are Torchlight/Torchlight 2, and continues to evolve to this day even within its own sequels. Diablo III came out years ago for the PC and once again the console portion of the gaming community asked why in this day and age they couldn't get it. To me Diablo was a PC game, with network features, designed to play with a keyboard and a mouse. I’ve played countless hours of Diablo III on my PC with my brother and several friends and it was fun. Shorter near the end of the game, but fun. Then Blizzard did something they hadn’t done since 1998, they made a console port.

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