Most Impactful Video Games - Part 4 - Gaming Thoughts

It's difficult to think about something in absolutes. 'The most'. 'The best'. 'My favorite'. So we tried to create a list that gave each member of our team to put together a list of video games that had some sort of meaningful impact on us in some way. Some of us probably could have put together lists 10, 20, 50 titles long, but we wanted to challenge ourselves and focus in on the elements that mattered most. 

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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 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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