Being a long-time Douglas Adams fan (as you all should be), I was excited to see a TV adaptation of his novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency appear on Netflix and started watching almost immediately.

It didn’t blow me away out of the gate, though. It was a strange, confusing show that didn’t seem to have much to do with the Dirk Gently story I know. I almost gave up on the show after the first two episodes, but something about it stuck with me, and I decided to give it another shot.

This turned out to be a good call.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is a very, very strange show. Far stranger than I have the ability to adequately communicate through a mere blog post, and almost certainly the strangest television show I’ve ever seen.

It’s also almost entirely unlike the book it’s supposedly based upon. Really the only common threads are Dirk himself (and even he’s changed somewhat compared to the books) and the underlying concept of the holistic detective and the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things.”

So much has been changed that the show is now a totally different genre. While the book was a lighthearted comedy, the show is definitely a drama, and a surprisingly dark and sometimes gory one at that. It’s not without occasional moments of levity, but it’s definitely more serious than silly.

Still, I’ve never been much of a purist. I generally try to judge each incarnation of a story on its own merits, and while the TV Dirk Gently is a radical departure from its source material, it manages to be pretty interesting in its own strange way.

And it is strange. I can’t overstate that. This show is just so weird. I don’t know if I could even attempt to summarize the plot, but it involves a kitten, a shark, time travel, anarchist energy vampires, and an heiress/corgi.

Alison Thornton plays dog very well. She’s very convincing as a corgi.

Early on, I was turned off by the show’s surprisingly gritty tone, by how different it was from the books, and how unrelentingly strange it was. However, over time, it began to grow on me.

There are a few reasons for this. The main cast members are all pretty likable and managed to feel pretty convincing as real people despite the oddness of the situations they find themselves in. Dirk is pretty bizarre, but that’s the point, and he’s entertaining.

Dirk is obviously the main character, but much of the story is told from the perspective of Todd, his hapless “assistant,” played by Elijah Wood of Lord of the Rings fame. Rounding out the core protagonists are Farah, a highly competent but not entirely confident bodyguard, and Amanda, Todd’s punk rocker sister, who suffers from a severe mental illness involving frequent and painful hallucinations.

There’s also a side plot following a strange woman named Bart, a holistic assassin who utilizes a method similar to Dirk’s (IE just wandering around doing random things for no reason) but with a lot more murdering.

What really started to hook me in, though, was the realization that the show does share one important quality with its source material.

As popular as he is, I don’t think Douglas Adams gets enough credit. His books aren’t just fun; they’re brilliant. When you start to analyze his books, you realize there’s an incredible depth and complexity to many of them.

Douglas Adams books always began with numerous bizarre, seemingly unrelated plot threads. It would seem like he was just rambling without purpose. Then, slowly, all the threads would begin to come together, and gradually you would realize that it was all connected, that he had a grand plan behind everything. What began as chaos became a symphony.

The Dirk Gently TV series has that same quality. At first, it seems like nothing but an incomprehensible spray of random, nonsensical events. Over the course of the season, you will begin to see the connections form, to see events align, and eventually every question will be answered, every loose thread tied together into a grand and beautiful whole.

As a writer, it leaves me awestruck. I could never write something like this.

There are still things that bother me about the show. The biggest is that I really dislike the attempt to give something approaching a rational explanation to Dirk’s abilities — the mystery is his whole charm — and the very cliche plots that spring from this explanation.

Still, a show that I initially met with profound skepticism has won me over. I got more into the series with every episode, the season finale was spectacular, and I’m looking forward to season two.

Also, “Two Sane Guys Doing Normal Things” is going down as one of my all-time favourite TV episode titles.

Last night, I got an email from Daybreak Games about Landmark. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I clicked and found my fears confirmed: Landmark will be shutting down next month.

If I’m being honest, this isn’t hugely surprising. Landmark has struggled to find an audience since its inception, and while I didn’t expect the end to come quite this quickly, I thought there was a pretty good chance it wouldn’t survive the year.

But that doesn’t make the news any easier to hear. Landmark has never been a focus of my gaming time the way titles like World of Warcraft or The Secret World have been, but the 72 hours I’ve logged in it (according to Steam) is still more than you get out of most single-player games, and while my play has dropped off over the last few months, I’ve always enjoyed the time I’ve spent with it.

Landmark was a very bare-bones game, but the potential of what you could create was always exciting, the beautiful works of fellow players always inspiring. Gorgeous graphics, lovely music, a warm and welcoming community, and an endless stream of new sights to see made it a great game for relaxation.

I am reminded of some of the most impressive things I’ve seen. One person on my server bought up builds all along one coastline and built themselves an entire kingdom, with castles and towns and outposts. Another constructed a huge hollow tree with an incredibly beautiful and detailed home amongst the branches. I’ve seen screen-accurate replicas of the Enterprise and the Serenity, functioning Stargtes, and even a Tim Horton’s.

I think, also, of my own builds. I think of all the hours I spent perfecting my ambitious second build, and I can’t help but be frustrated that the Vale of Whispers’ life will be cut so short. I try to comfort myself with the knowledge of the players who’ve visited and enjoyed it.

I think the first build is what I’ll miss the most, though. I built Maigraith’s Grove to be a serene place capturing all that I love about the fantasy genre, the natural world, and the interplay between the two. It was a wonderful place for relaxation, a literal happy place, and even as my time in Landmark dropped off, the mere knowledge of the Grove’s existence provided me a certain comfort. I may have grown up to be a city boy, but on some level the forest will always call to me, and my first build was a way to connect with that part of myself.

In a few weeks, they will be gone forever. I have taken many screenshots, and I may take more, but it will never be the same.

The journalist in me is watching my own reaction to the news with a kind of cold fascination. I’ve long lived with the knowledge that MMOs don’t last forever and that sooner or later I would become one of those people mourning a game lost, but this is the first time an MMO that I actually care about has shut down (it’s the third MMO I’ve played to sunset, but I had no real investment in or attachment to Dragon’s Prophet or Trinium Wars).

I am curious to see how I will cope with Landmark’s impending end. Will it motivate me to enjoy the game while I still can, or will the futility of it all drive me away?

My feelings can and likely will evolve over the coming weeks, but right now one emotion is drowning out all the others: Anger.

To be blunt, I think the blame for Landmark’s end rests squarely on the shoulders of the MMO community.

When EverQuest Next was cancelled, the community turned on Daybreak, apparently not understanding that sometimes new concepts simply do not work. I, too, was disappointed by the cancellation of what looked to be a very promising game, but as someone who works in a creative field myself, I understood that it was simply a failed experiment. Unfortunate, but sometimes unavoidable.

The community, however, chose to demonize Daybreak as some sort of ogre. They took EverQuest Next’s cancellation personally. And a lot of that hate spilled over to Landmark, the proverbial lemonade made from EverQuest Next’s remnants.

People hated Landmark because it wasn’t Next. People hated Landmark just because it was made by Daybreak. People hated it because they had misinformed or unrealistic expectations of what it was supposed to be.

Landmark was never given a fair chance by the community. It was written off as a failure before it launched. It was lambasted with unfair and often misinformed reviews. It was attacked at every turn.

That’s not to say that all criticism of the game was unfair, or that it was by any stretch of the imagination a perfect game. It was grindier than it needed to be, its combat was weak, and it suffered from an unacceptable level of bugs and technical hiccups.

And it is true that Daybreak has mismanaged it in some ways. It didn’t seem to get much in the way of marketing, for one thing. But far less deserving games have succeeded where Landmark failed. If Daybreak is the one that steered it into dangerous waters, the community is still the one that sunk it. Again, it was simply never given a fair shot.

I have long been a harsh critic of the state of the gaming community, and I’m sad to say that my cynicism has once again been proven right. We live a world where people cheer for games to fail, where the slightest misstep by developers is met by a level of bile that should be reserved for war criminals.

People are always wondering why MMO developers are so risk-adverse. Why they so rarely try new things, why they tend to be so cagey and uncommunicative. Look in the mirror, because that’s where you’ll find your answer.

I did have a nice if bittersweet time commiserating with the other Landmarkians last night. Lots of people visiting each other’s builds while they still can, lots of support. I got a nice compliment on my build from one person. They’re trying to find a way to keep the community together even after the game shuts down. I haven’t played the game enough to rightly count myself a member of the community, but I wish them well.

As regular readers may know, there was a period of several years in my life where I had to give up video games due to various Real Life issues. There are a number of games I regretted missing out on during this period, but few that stung as much as No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.’s Way. The original had been an instant classic, and I sorely wanted to play the sequel.

Now, fourteen years later, the fan-made Revival Edition has at last given me the opportunity to play through NOLF 2. I went in with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. How could it possibly live up to the impossible standard set by its predecessor?

Aging in reverse:

There are a couple things that gave me a negative impression of No One Lives Forever 2 out of the gate.

By far the biggest is that an RPG-style skill point system has been implemented. I barely tolerate these sorts of things in RPGs; I definitely didn’t want one in No One Lives Forever.

And this particular skill system embodies pretty much all the worst sins of RPG design. In essence, they nerfed the player’s capabilities into the ground and then let you buy your way out of the suck with skill points. Upgrading a skill doesn’t feel like a reward; it just makes you feel less broken.

A lot of the skills are really basic quality of life things, too. I shouldn’t have to spend hard-won skill points just so it doesn’t take an eternity to loot a body.

The only silver lining is that it doesn’t take very long to earn enough skill points to overcome the most irritating disadvantages.

NOLF 2 is also missing a lot of the things that made the original special, such as being able to choose your equipment before a mission. This was one of the biggest contributors to the original’s high replayability. Missions could be a very different experience when you redid them with equipment earned later in the game.

It feels like a cheap way to add difficulty, too. There were lots of situations where I found myself badly wanting a specific tool or gadget, but the game had forbidden me from bringing it.

Dialogue choices are gone, too. The original game didn’t exactly have a lot of these, but they were a great element of flavour, and they added some interesting non-combat gameplay at times.

I’m not really fond of the addition of health power-ups, either. It’s a small thing, but I liked the balance between armour (which could be replenished) and health (which couldn’t) in the original game. Now armour and health are virtually interchangeable.

Having replayed some of The Operative recently, I’m left with the very strange feeling that the first No One Lives Forever was actually a lot more modern in its sensibilities than its sequel. Aside from the graphics and a few minor quirks, The Operative could pass for a game from the current year, whereas NOLF 2 feels like a product of a somewhat outdated school of game design.

Remember what H.A.R.M. stands for:

Something else that disappoints me is that they replaced the voice actress for Cate Archer. The new actress is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s just not the same. It’s especially distracting given that most if not all of the other returning characters have their original voices.

In general the characters this time around don’t feel as fleshed-out as they did in The Operative. Now, NOLF was never the most character-driven game, but it feels like the original put a bit more time into dialogue, backstory, and character development. The villain had a strong motivation, whereas NOLF 2’s villain is given no such depth.

One notable exception to this, though, and one major highlight of the game is a new character named Isako, who is the leader of a clan of ninja assassins. She’s a bit cliche in some ways… but this is No One Lives Forever. That’s the point. And I think she actually has a pretty interesting backstory and character arc.

Found this one on Google. Somehow managed to go the whole game without getting a decent shot of Isako.

I tell you this: If Tumblr had been a thing back in the day, Cate/Isako shipping definitely would have been a thing.

Overall I would rate the story of NOLF 2 as good, not great. It’s a fun ride, but it’s a bit straightforward, and the ending is a bit of an anticlimax. There definitely aren’t as many twists as there were in the original.

This is one area where I’m willing to grant my nostalgia may be a factor, though. I’m definitely a more critical player now than when I played the original.

Super groovy:

But there’s still plenty to like about A Spy in H.A.R.M.’s Way. If I’m harsh with it, it’s mainly because the original was such an incredibly tough act to follow.

A lot of what made the original excellent remains. The core gameplay is still pretty fun. You still have lots of cool gadgets and toys. There are still informative and amusing intelligence items hidden everywhere. There are still hilarious conversations to eavesdrop on. Nothing like creeping through an enemy base only to have the tension shattered when you overhear an anguished voice wail, “Who keeps eating my mango chutney? My mother made that for me!”

And then there were the fruit vendors and their growing fears of a vast and nefarious monkey conspiracy, and many others.

The Operative had some of the best level design in gaming history, and while NOLF 2 doesn’t quite equal it, it does make an admirable effort. One dramatic moment has the player fighting a boss while trapped in a mobile home that is being tossed around in a tornado… though in practice it’s just window dressing, since the tornado doesn’t do much to affect gameplay.

The real highlight of the game is a not so high speed chase in which the player pursues a tiny mime on a unicycle whilst riding a giant Scotsman riding a tiny tricycle.

Yeah, you heard me.

You also once again get to visit a dizzying variety of exotic locations, including India, Japan, Ohio, Antarctica, and a secret base at the bottom of the ocean.

Also, while NOLF 2 introduces a lot of new annoyances, it does scale back on the main problem with the original game: stealth missions. There’s really just one true stealth mission in the game; otherwise it’s mainly left up to the player whether they want to sneak around or do their best Rambo impersonation.

The graphics also hold up very well, considering their age. In particular I was impressed by the quality of the facial animations. They’re not only good for their time but would even equal or surpass many more recent titles. The eyes, especially, are very expressive and realistic.

The soundtrack is still full of delightful retro cheese, too. I’ve still got the theme song stuck in my head as I write this. (“Cause no one lives forever… but evil never dies…”)

Overall, A Spy in H.A.R.M.’s Way is a good game. It’s just not the must-play eternal classic the original was.

Overall rating: 8/10

By the way, while I chose not to factor it into my review score, it is worth noting that I had a lot more technical problems with the Revival Edition of NOLF 2 than I did with the original’s. These range from minor graphical hiccups to frequent crashes and other catastrophic bugs. It wasn’t enough to stop me finishing the game (obviously), but it was undeniably frustrating.

At least I was able to get it to work through Steam and take screenshots this time.

The StarCraft II trilogy has now wrapped up, and Blizzard doesn’t seem to have any immediate plans for more stories in-game. For better or for worse, though, Blizzard doesn’t let any of their franchises lie fallow forever, so sooner or later the StarCraft story is going to start moving forward again.

I have to wonder, though, where does it go from here? Both StarCraft games formed a pretty coherent story arc, all building to the conclusion in Legacy of the Void, and now that arc is finally over. For the first time, we’re in uncharted waters with no clear indication of where to go next.

Still, there are some possibilities. Obviously, there will be spoilers for the StarCraft story to date here.

Rogue elements:

Even if the main factions of each race — the Swarm, the Dominion, and the Daelaam — manage to stay on mostly friendly terms, there’s still the potential for rogue elements from within each race to cause trouble.

I definitely think this is the intended role of the Tal’darim. They’re a readily available bunch of nasty Protoss for the player to beat on, and they serve that role well.

Terran society, as well, offers plenty of opportunity for further conflict. It’s just human nature; we’re a fractious bunch. We’ve already seen that with the Defenders of Man in Covert Ops, and there’s also the potential for renewed conflict with the Kel-Morian Combine or even the Umojan Protectorate, though the latter is a bit of a stretch.

The Zerg are theoretically homogeneous, but there’s still the possibility of feral broods wandering the cosmos, mindlessly consuming all in their path, and there’s Dehaka and the Primals to consider. Their loyalty to the Swarm was always tenuous at best, and they have no code beyond the desire to feed and grow stronger.

This is the safest route. It won’t radically change the feel of the StarCraft universe, and it’s a logical evolution of the current story. It doesn’t lend itself well to the kind of epic story-telling we’re used to from Blizzard, though. The Tal’darim are scary, but they’ll never equal Amon.

Other aliens:

One of the interesting things about StarCraft is that it’s clearly established there are many intelligent races in the galaxy beyond the big three and the Xel’naga, but we just never see them. The only species beyond the majors even mentioned by name is the Kalathi, and we know next to nothing about them.

If Blizzard were to introduce new aliens into the StarCraft universe, it could be in the form of an entirely new playable faction in all areas of the game, or maybe just something that only appears in campaigns and/or other story-telling mediums (like novels).

I think my preference would be the latter. I loved it when Warcraft went from two playable factions to four, and the sheer ballsiness of adding new playable races would be exciting, but at this point the traditional StarCraft triad is so entrenched and iconic I’m not sure it should change.

But if they’re just a story-telling element, it could be interesting. There’s no limit to what Blizzard could come up with, so from that perspective the prospect of new aliens has the most potential of all the ways to continue StarCraft’s story.

Earth:

Then there’s the United Earth Directorate to consider. Their last attempt to conquer the Koprulu Sector ended very badly, but there’s no guarantee they won’t try again.

For my part, though, I rather like that Earth is some distant, unknown thing in the StarCraft universe, and I’m not sure I’d want to jeopardize that.

Actually, I would like to see what Earth is like in the StarCraft universe, but I’d like to see it in some spin-off that’s unrelated to events in the Koprulu Sector. Let the two realms stay separate.

Amon’s legacy:

Legacy of the Void wrapped up the main story very well, but one thing it did leave a bit unanswered is what became of Amon’s armies after his defeat.

Of course, the simple answer is that they were destroyed, and I’m sure that’s true… but were they totally wiped out?

Moebius Corps and the feral Zerg broods were just mindless tools, so I don’t imagine they’re still kicking… but what of the Hybrids? Was every last one of them eliminated?

And what of the Tal’darim? Surely some must have remained loyal to Amon in their hearts, even if they dared not speak out against Alarak openly.

Amon is gone for good, but the horrors he unleashed may not be so easily caged.

Continuing with Amon’s legacy is of course the most predictable route, and it risks simply rehashing Legacy of the Void… but tell me the thought of a lone Hybrid lurking in the dark places of the universe and plotting its vengeance doesn’t give you chills just a little bit.

The WoW route:

Everyone just starts fighting again because reasons.

Not a great option, but it wouldn’t be quite as illogical as the transition between Warcraft III and World of Warcraft was, at least.

* * *

Those are the possibilities that immediately come to mind for me. It’s entirely possible there are some I over-looked. You could also combine elements of the above. Maybe a heretofore unknown alien race conquers Earth, and the survivors are forced to seek refuge with their cousins in the Koprulu Sector. Maybe a surviving Hybrid stumbles upon the Kalathi and uses their hatred of the Protoss to turn them into an army.

Do you have any theories for where StarCraft can go from here?

I have been playing World of Warcraft off and on (more on than off) for over seven years now. That’s a Hell of a long time to play a video game, and in that time, I’ve seen and done almost everything the game has to offer.

Almost.

There are still a few things that, for one reason or another, I’ve never done. I thought it might be interesting to look at those things that I still have never experienced within the world of Azeroth.

Played a Gnome:

Over the years, I have tried every class and every race at least once, and in many cases more than once.

Every class and race, that is, except for Gnomes.

I just don’t like Gnomes. They’re a comedy relief race that isn’t funny. They’d work fine as some background element like the Grummles in Pandaria, but Blizzard’s halfhearted attempts to make them a race worthy of sharing center stage have just created an unhappy medium where they’re still not terribly compelling as heroes but have also lost whatever quirky charm they once had.

Plus, they’re about as deep into the uncanny valley as you can get. Gnomes are so horrifically disproportionate they make Orcs look like beauty queens.

I might have played one if they had their own unique starting zone — completionism and all that — but since they share Dun Morogh with the Dwarves, there’s just no point.

Quested through Bloodmyst Isle or Loch Modan:

As mentioned above, I’m a serious completionist when it comes to story, and as a result, I have played through virtually every zone’s quest content at least once — though a few I haven’t been through since the Cataclysm revamp.

Two zones have slipped through the cracks entirely, though.

The first is Bloodmyst Isle. Despite my disdain for the Draenei, I have played through most of their first zone, but my interest always drops off by the time I get to Bloodmyst Isle. I’ve managed to do the first few quests, but I don’t think I’ve ever even gotten to the halfway point of the zone, let alone finished.

I tend to think of Bloodmyst as the only zone I’ve never done, but in writing this post, it occurs to me I can’t recall having spent much time in Loch Modan, either. I remember riding through there a lot of times, and I’ve probably done a quest or two, but I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and properly played through it.

I don’t really have anything against Loch Modan. It’s a pretty zone, and Dwarves are okay. I guess it got neglected because I like the human and Night Elf leveling zones so much. Shame you can’t do Loch Modan as Horde — it surely must be nicer than the Barrens.

Roleplay:

This entry almost doesn’t qualify for the list, because I have flirted with the periphery of roleplay for a long time. I have fairly strong backstories/personalities for all my characters — the potential to build new stories is a strong contributor to my altoholism — and half my characters are on a roleplay server.

I enjoy watching other people roleplay as I walk by — gives the world some real texture — and I used to attend the regular Thunder Bluff story-circle. Arguably I was RPing then, as I was in-character for the event, but mostly that just entailed walking to my seat, sitting down, and occasionally applauding or offering a brief comment.

I am eternally tempted to give RP a try, but I have no faith left in the WoW community, my experience as an outside observer has been that RP tends to entail a lot of drama, and I don’t think my characters would be accepted by the greater RP community. I’m not interested in playing ordinary people, and I would likely be labelled a Mary Sue and summarily rejected.

Also, most people type much, much more slowly than me, and I am not a patient man. That’s pretty much why I stopped going to story circle.

Pet battles:

Thanks to some bad experiences in childhood, anything resembling Pokemon is anathema to me.

And even if that wasn’t the case, pet battles still wouldn’t much appeal to me. They have no story-relevance, no rewards that I care about, and just nothing at all about them appeals to me. I didn’t even like pets when you couldn’t battle them.

That said, I have a lot of respect for pet battles from a conceptual perspective. They’re a very deep mini-game that offers many, many hours of play for those who enjoy them, but those who don’t care (like me) can ignore them without consequence. All the game’s systems should follow this model.

Rated battlegrounds:

Despite the fact my opinion of WoW PvP runs the spectrum from disinterest to disdain, I have participated in most every kind of PvP the game has to offer at some point.

I even had a brief, disastrous arena career back in early Cataclysm when a guildie roped me into it. You’d think, being a rogue, I’d be good at this sort of thing, but no.

Rated battlegrounds, however, elude me. It’s not the sort of thing you join up with on a whim. It takes a fair bit of planning and organization. And I only pop into PvP once in a blue moon when I’m bored and can’t think of anything better to do.

Faced Jaraxxus:

I had pretty poor luck with Trial of the Crusader back in the day. Every PUG I ever joined for it back in Wrath failed.

Later — I think sometime in Cataclysm — I finally joined a group who managed to finish it, but by the time I joined, they were already on the faction champions, meaning I have never killed the first few bosses. That includes Jaraxxus, Eredar lord of the Burning Legion.

He’s such a famous meme of a boss that I almost feel guilty — like I’m not a true WoW fan — that I’ve never actually encountered him.

At this point I’m sure I could go back and solo him, but it’s just not that interesting of a raid, so I haven’t been strongly motivated to do so.

Feeling burnt out on SW:TOR and having finally cleared out my backlog of single-player titles, I’ve decided to invest some time into Elder Scrolls Online once again. My theoretical goal is to finish the main storyline and the Aldmeri Dominion zones, but before embarking on that, I picked up the Thieves Guild DLC. Being a fan of the game’s justice gameplay, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while.

Sun and larceny:

The Thieves Guild storyline begins when you are approached by a fellow thief in your local Outlaw’s Refuge. She offers you a lucrative job, but when your perfect heist is crashed by a group of fanatical mercenaries, you and your accomplice find yourselves drawn into a web of conspiracy centered around the Thieves Guild and their crime-ridden home city of Abah’s Landing.

One minor design flaw of this scenario is it means you’ll be dumped into an unfamiliar city full of guards with an active bounty and an inventory over-flowing with stolen goods. Not the greatest situation to be in.

Like a lot of things in ESO, I’d rate the Thieves Guild story as firmly in the category of good but not great. I found it pretty dull at first, but it does evolve into a fairly interesting mystery over time.

It has an interesting structure, too. There’s a sort of cadence where every major story quest is followed by a simpler quest to flesh out the stories of the various cast members, and vice versa. It’s like a Bioware game, but with better pacing.

On that note, the greatest strength of Thieves Guild is definitely its characters. Nearly every character is colourful and entertaining. There’s a quest at one point where you have to infiltrate a fancy party, and you get to choose which character you bring as your “date.” I think it says something that I kept wishing I could bring all of them.

Of course, I still chose Quen without hesitation. If you don’t think I’m going to immediately pick the quirky Elf girl, you don’t know me at all. But still.

The DLC includes access to the small but well-made zone of Hew’s Bane. Next to the characters, the new zone is probably the best feature of Thieves Guild. It has a small but satisfying collection of side quests, delves, world bosses, and skyshards to encourage exploration and provide some content beyond the main story.

Normally I’m not a fan of desert zones, but Hew’s Bane has enough foliage, variety of environments, and interesting geography to avoid becoming the endless smear of gray and brown that most desert zones are. It’s actually quite a lovely place, and I greatly enjoyed my time in it.

It also seems to have an unusually dense concentration of crafting nodes, making it a good place for farming.

Similarly, its main settlement, Abah’s Landing, is one of the more impressive cities I’ve seen in a video game, with beautiful architecture and an incredible level of detail.

However, there is one thing about Thieves Guild that did frustrate me. Your ability to get new story quests is gated behind the progression of your Thieves Guild skill line, and the only way to increase its rank is by doing quests for the guild. This essentially makes it a reputation grind by another name, and we all know how I feel about those.

It sneaks up on you, too. For most of the story, you get enough “reputation” simply by playing through the story normally, but then eventually you hit a roadblock where the only way to progress is to start grinding the guild’s daily quests.

And nothing in the game explains this. I only figured it out after some Googling to find out why I had suddenly stopped getting quests.

Now, as grinds go, this one is pretty tame. Even calling it a grind is stretching the definition of the term a little. Still, “stealth dailies” are two words I never wanted to see combined, and it just kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

It’s unnecessary. Even without the extra padding, Thieves Guild is quite a meaty DLC with far more content than I was expecting from it.

Overall, I think I’d still recommend Thieves Guild, but the daily grind aspect does somewhat dampen my enthusiasm for an otherwise excellent DLC.

Readjustments:

Coming back to an MMO after a long time away can often take some getting used to. I’m still learning how Elder Scrolls Online has changed following recent updates, especially One Tamriel.

While One Tamriel has undoubtedly been a net positive, I am starting to find some things that I’m less than thrilled with.

For example, crafting surveys from writs can now apparently send you to any zone in the game. This might be a positive for someone who’s reached endgame and unlocked every wayshrine, but as someone who’s still leveling and had only ever been to the first few Aldmeri zones up until recently, I’m really not enjoying having ride off to the ass end of High Rock to finish my crafting tasks. The point of something like One Tamriel should be to allow the player to make use of the entire game world, not to force them to.

I got a survey for Craglorn the over day. Craglorn! I mean, I know they nerfed it a bit, and level-scaling means I can technically go there now, but even so…

I don’t know if it was part of One Tamriel or not, but somewhere along the line world bosses also got massively buffed and are no longer remotely soloable. Finding groups for them isn’t enormously difficult, but it isn’t entirely trivial, either, and it just doesn’t feel good to see content get more restrictive. Especially when you consider the rewards for killing them don’t seem to have increased alongside the difficulty.

As you may know, I have, shall we say, strong feelings about one of the cosmetic items introduced in The Secret World’s most recent holiday event. This led to the creation of an entire new peace of head canon, which I now share with you.

Fun fact: This is exactly 666 words. The dark gods have clearly smiled on this endeavour.

———————-

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

TRANSMIT – initiate Ljósálfar codex – RECEIVE – initiate the Huldra cadence – SO I DRIFT AWAY AGAIN – initiate Alfheimr anthem – TO WINTER I BELONG – welcome the children of winter – WITNESS – the Alfar.

In the far north, up Lapland way, you will find people fair of hair and bright of eye. There is something about them that both draws and repels the gaze, some quality that is all at once wholesome and repugnant.

All who see them find their hearts filled with a hopeless longing, but something warns against ever acting on these feelings toward the fair folk. Their skin is always cold to the touch.

Once, every few years, a terrible blizzard will blow through the Nordic lands. All the world turns white, and the wind howls like a hungry wolf. Sweetlings of all stripes cower in their homes, clinging to their electrical lights and artificial heat as the primal fear shivers through their veins and they pray to see another dawn.

Unbeknownst to them are the figures who walk unscathed through the storm, barefoot and barely clothed. The howling wind caresses them like a lover. The snow settles upon their skin like the finest jewellery.

Who are the fair ones? The world has passed them by, but we recall the ancient names.

Huldufólk. Tallemaja. Tuath Dé. Alfar.

They are the ancients, who first named the trees and marked the passing of the seasons. They were the bringers and the curers of disease, the hand of plenty and the breath of the grave.

You remember them, sweetling. Deep down you do. Not in words or even in images, but through the longing in your heart, the nostalgia for the place you’ve never been, the reverence for the name unspoken.

They were mighty once, feared and loved in equal measure. They were the raging cry and the soulful voice of the natural world.

But there was one power even they could not master, and it was time. As the centuries progressed, the world changed, and they could not adapt as quickly. Inch by inch, moment by moment, mile by mile, year by year, the world they knew slipped away.

It happened too slowly and yet too quickly. A world of mystery and superstition was supplanted by a world that no longer respected the old ways, and the Alfar faded into obscurity.

Echoes of their influence percolated through the simmering soup of simian consciousness, coalescing into cartoon caricatures and clean cut film stars swooned over by young girls.

The remaining fair ones learned to blend in among the talking apes. With subtle glamours they concealed their true natures and forced themselves to find a place within the distant corners of your society.

In the far north, up Lapland way, you will find people fair of hair and bright of eye. They have learned to swallow the indignities of pop culture. They have learned to live among your crude kind.

Yet they have not entirely forgotten the old ways. Every few months, when the moon is bright and the stars burn like a million tiny candles, they will gather amid trees and upon the tundra. They shed their illusions and dance with the wind. They sing songs in languages never heard by human ears.

And they remember. They remember a time when they were second only to the gods. They remember a time when they did not have to hide. They remember a time when they were feared and adored and coveted and worshipped.

And they remember how the worshippers abandoned them. They remember how the talking apes took it all away.

That is not dead which can eternal lie, sweetling. The Alfar have dwindled, but they are not gone, and they have never forgotten. As the dark days fall and shadows come to embrace all that you have ever known, how will the fair ones react? They are the disease and they are the cure. Will they be your salvation, or your doom?

Still cool, though.

Recently I commissioned the very talented Mel Addams, whom I met on The Secret World’s official forums, to do a sketch of the heroine from my World Spectrum novels, Leha, the Hero of Heart.

I gotta say, it turned out pretty well (click for full size):

I really like the claws.

This is actually the second sketch Mel has done for me; some years ago, they also did a sketch of some characters from one of my unpublished works, and it also turned out brilliantly.

I would definitely encourage everyone to check out Mel’s Tumblr to see more of their work (mostly TSW fan art), and if you have anything you’d like to see drawn, get in touch with them. They’re quite good, their prices are reasonable, and they’re a pretty friendly and pleasant person in general.

I press on in Elder Scrolls Online. It’s taken a long time, but I feel like I’m feeling shedding my status as a newbie and starting to get a complete understanding of the game and what it offers.

Endgame expectations versus reality:

With the help of Thieves Guild and the holiday XP bonus, I’ve now managed to hit level cap in Elder Scrolls Online, despite not yet finishing the Aldmeri zones.

Well, sort of.

I have now been introduced to the Champion Point system, which fuels progression after level fifty, and boy, is it strange.

Once at max level, experience instead counts toward earning Champion Points, with the total number of points serving as a sort of secondary level. The points can then be spent on a wide variety of incremental bonuses. Spending enough points in a specific constellation will unlock further bonuses that are more noticeable.

It’s a very strange system on a variety of levels. For one thing, you don’t start at Champion Point one, but ten. You also earn the first few dozen additional points incredibly fast, since you’re immediately given full Enlightenment, which is similar to the rested experience bonus found in other games but spectacularly more powerful.

It’s also a system whose function is very unclear. It feels like it’s meant to be a horizontal progression system, but most of the bonuses you can unlock are direct increases in power.

Most, but not all. Some unlocks are more utility-based, relating to crafting and the like, but these often have completely unrelated combat-focused prerequisites. It feels like they had two totally separate progression systems they couldn’t decide between, so they just rammed them together in the most inelegant fashion possible.

The Champion Point system is also tied to gear progression, with many tiers of gear and crafting locked beyond your CP level. This caps out at the very arbitrary number of Champion Point 160, so you could argue that is the actual max level for the game.

I find the continued gear treadmill a bit frustrating. I had hoped to finally have some permanence in my gear upon hitting level 50, but I’m still going to replacing pieces regularly for a while to come.

Along that line, my crafting skills still remain far from maxed out despite my ostensibly being max level and the great amount of time and effort I’ve put into staying on level with them. This is exacerbated by the fact the rapid leveling in early Champion Points means you’re going to pretty much entirely skip at least one or two tiers of crafting.

I realize a lot the wonkiness of the Champion Point system is due to it being salvaged from the previous Veteran Ranks system, but I have to imagine they could have hammered it into something more coherent. I shudder to imagine what a mess Veteran Ranks must have been if this is the improved model.

The end result of the Champion Point system is that I’m having pretty much the same leveling experience I had before, except less rewarding because I no longer get skill points from leveling. This is a problem because I still needs lots of points to finish off both my crafting and combat skills.

Of course, there are still lots of skill points to be had from Skyshards and quests, but those are slower and less reliable sources.

The good news is I decided to download an add-on that marks Skyshard locations on your map, and after a few hours of collecting a lot of the easier to reach ones that I’d missed while wandering the world, I’ve caught up quite a bit. I haven’t maxed out everything I want to, but I’ve got most of the important stuff covered, and I can afford to be a bit more patient about acquiring new skill points now.

It also needs to be said that a lot of my skill point starvation can be blamed on my need to be a jack-of-all-trades. I’m spreading myself thin over two types of armour, two weapons, two class lines, three crafting skills, various theft skills, and more. If I was a bit more focused I’d probably be fine.

Similarly, my frustrations over the Champion Point system are as much the result of misinformed expectations on my part as any innate flaws of the system. Leveling in ESO is far from an unpleasant experience, and there’s not really anything wrong with the fact that life after 50 is almost exactly the same as life before 50. It’s just not what I was expecting.

The search for the perfect look:

My biggest complaint about Elder Scrolls Online continues to be its lack of a wardrobe. To that end, I’ve acquired a number of costumes from the cash shop and in-game sources, but nothing is quite clicking.

The problem with costumes is that they’re, well, costumes. They’re very specific outfits, and most of them are pretty clearly non-combat attire. You can try to squint and convince yourself some are decent adventuring clothes, but the fact remains these are basically town clothes. Very nice town clothes, but still.

I don’t understand why the developers are okay with us charging into battle in sundresses and formal suits but won’t let us reskin our armour into different armour.

You can’t really customize them at all, either, beyond dye jobs. I love the top part of the Glenmoril Witch Robes, but I don’t really like the long skirt. If I could only use the top with some pants…

So I don’t really stick with any costume for long, and I’m starting to regret the money I’ve spent on the ones I got from the cash shop.

Instead, I’m leaning more on my growing collection of crafting motifs and trying to make my own gear as much as possible. I like a lot of the Skinchanger pieces, and I’ve recently unlocked the Barbaric style.

The mid-level Argonian chests remain my favourite, but I’ve now out-leveled them. Instead, I’ve turned to the Minotaur motif as a substitute. I had to spend nearly all my gold and probably sink my hopes of home ownership come Homestead’s launch, but I found a player willing to sell me the Minotaur chest motif.

It’s pretty good. I’d prefer if it was maybe a little more realistic, but it does fit my character’s barbarian aesthetic, and you can at least see a little of her tattoos.

One real money purchase I don’t regret, though, is the emotions personality pack. The “cheerful” personality has really added a lot of, uh, personality to my character. She feels more real to me now.

Playing in the sand:

That’s a lot of complaints about ESO, but I’m still playing it, so clearly I’m finding that the good outweighs the bad. So what am I enjoying about it?

I’m actually finding that surprisingly hard to nail down, but I think part of it has to do with the game’s sandbox nature.

I’m not much of a sandbox player, but as I understand it, the main appeals of the genre are the freedom to do what you please, and a greater level of immersion — an emphasis on non-combat activities and other things that make you feel a true citizen of the virtual world.

Ironically, ESO is generally not viewed as a sandbox by the community at large, but it still provides that experience better than the actual sandboxes I’ve played.

Much like Guild Wars 2, this is a game where you can pretty much just walk in any direction and find something cool before too long. It’s a bit slower-paced than GW2, but also less mindless.

Now, mind you, I’m still roughly following a linear storyline — albeit with frequent tangents whenever I see something shiny — but I’m doing so because I want to, not because I have to, and I’ll branch out even more once I finally finish the Aldmeri zones and the main story.

Meanwhile, no other game has given me such pleasure from non-combat activities — except maybe Landmark, I suppose. I spend a great deal of time gathering, crafting, stealing, and just wandering around seeing the sights. It feels like a more complete experience than most other games.

I don’t play MMOs because I crave connection with other players. Whatever desire I did have to adventure alongside my fellow gamers perished upon contact with the average MMO player.

I play MMOs because I love imaginary worlds, and I want to be a permanent resident of them, not merely a tourist. Single-player games don’t offer that. MMOs do. And right now ESO is doing a better job than most of selling me on the idea that I am a citizen of this virtual world, not merely a guy playing a game.

In other news…

Also on the subject of ESO, one of my latest posts at MMO Bro compares its build system with The Secret World’s.

It’s funny how many parallels there are between the two games. Even my faction preferences are mirrored. In both cases, the green faction is by far and away my favourite (Aldmeri Dominion/Dragon), the red faction is a distant second (Ebonheart Pact/Templar), and the blue faction just doesn’t appeal at all (Daggerfall Covenant/Illuminati).

Also at MMO Bro, I risk the Wrath of the Comments Section by sticking up for lockboxes, at least a little.

Trying something a little different today.

I’ve been tinkering with a video recording program (OBS for those keeping score at home), and I’ve decided to experiment with some video content for the blog.

For my first (and possibly only) video post, I decided to do a co-op mission in StarCraft II, playing as Vorazun. I also take the opportunity to ramble about my love for the Protoss and their lore, and discuss how my voice is the auditory equivalent of Martin Shkreli.

This is very much an experiment, so feedback is welcomed. It’s not something I’ve had a huge amount of interest in prior to now, but my father has suggested it a few times, and I was somewhat inspired by the video posts Ashley has been doing over at Robo♥beat.

What I’m saying is: This is all their fault. Send your hate mail to them, not me.

I’m sure at least one of my readers will be happy to see this.

While looking for new stuff to watch, I signed up for the free trial of another Netflix-like streaming service, CraveTV. Their selection isn’t vast, but they do have a few titles I’ve been meaning to check out, most notably the oft-recommended Killjoys.

Time for another series of binge-watch reviews. As usual, I may be a bit looser with spoilers than usual.

“Bangarang” (pilot episode):

My main problem with Killjoys right now is it feels like a story I’ve seen many times before. A group of misfit mercenaries go on rollicking adventures with lots of slick action sequences and sarcastic one-liners.

Specifically, it is the story of a woman calling herself Dutch and her partner, Johnny. They are what the locals call “Killjoys” — essentially bounty hunters — operating in a remote region of space known as the Quad. The pilot focuses on Johnny defying Dutch and risking the wrath of their handlers to rescue his brother, D’avin, who’s had a price put on his head.

Along the way, we get some hints of the characters’ various dark pasts, and the geopolitics surrounding the local oppressive regime, but not enough to really make much of an impression.

It’s not that it’s bad. The only thing that strongly bothered me about the pilot is its loud and obtrusive soundtrack.

It’s just generic. There’s very little to set Killjoys apart from the many and sundry other fictional works in this general vein, at least right now. There’s nothing about the premise, the world, the characters, or even the quality of its execution to set it apart from the pack.

Still, the special effects are good, the action sequences are fun enough, and I can think of worse ways to spend an hour, so I’ll stick with the show for now. Perhaps it will improve.

Overall rating: 6.9/10

“The Sugar Point Run”:

Usually the second episode of a series is pretty weak, but this one’s not bad.

Dutch and the team are sent to perform a prisoner exchange to rescue the daughter of a powerful Company official. To this end, they must venture into a post-apocalyptic former warzone riddled with scavengers, organ harvesters, and other colourful characters.

It pretty much goes without saying things don’t go according to plan.

There’s a lot of twists in this episode, but most of them are the sort of thing you can easily see coming. It does, however, have the effect of keeping the viewer engaged and keeping the story flowing along at a good pace. It’s entertaining.

The real purpose of the episode is to give D’avin a chance to prove his worth and to establish him as a real member of the team. It performs this task adequately, though I can’t say I’m finding him particularly compelling as a character right now.

All in all, “The Sugar Point Run” is a simple but enjoyable episode. My only real complaint is how they keep overlaying the action sequences with such obnoxious, distracting music.

Overall rating: 7/10

“The Harvest”:

The plot of this one is once again fairly simple — a friend of Johnny’s needs his help to track down her husband — but it does serve to help flesh out the cast a little bit.

My favourite part of “The Harvest” is actually a B plot involving D’avin trying to get a rubber stamp for his Killjoy psych evaluation from a doctor of somewhat loose morals named Pawter. It establishes D’avin as a real person with some vulnerability, as well as offering a glimpse of an interesting mystery surrounding his past, and Dr. Pawter seems like an interesting character, too. I hope to see more of her.

Meanwhile, Johnny’s sibling rivalry with D’avin, while predictable, also helps him feel a bit more like a real person, something all of the cast members have struggled with so far.

The mystery surrounding the missing husband turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, but I think fleshing out the characters makes “The Harvest” a worthwhile endeavour.

Boy am I starting to hate the soundtrack on this show, though.

Overall rating: 7.2/10

“Vessel”:

The Killjoys’ latest mission is to protect the unborn heir to a noble house in order to prevent a civil war. To this end, they venture into a toxic badlands to make contact with an enclave of surprisingly well-armed priestesses.

The problem with this episode is there’s no emotional investment. The Killjoys universe is not developed enough yet for me to care about a civil war — and the risk of such never feels terribly immediate — and the story has no relevance to the main characters. In theory I suppose we’re intended to get invested in the priestesses, but I can’t say I particularly cared about them, either.

The end result is a story that’s theoretically functional but which is utterly bland.

Also, no way a woman is going to be up and walking and that composed mere moments after giving birth.

Overall rating: 5/10

“A Glitch in the System”:

Obligatory ghost ship episode inc.

However, while this is a premise I’ve seen done by basically every sci-fi show ever, it’s actually a pretty good episode. The creepy factor is strong, there’s a decent element of mystery, and it gets pretty intense by the end.

We also got some more revelations into D’avin’s history, which is the show’s most compelling story right now.

Conversely, the plot around Dutch’s past is failing to capture my interest right now. I think they revealed too much of it too quickly. My curiosity isn’t peaked; while there’s still clearly more to learn, I nonetheless feel I know all that I need to.

Still, this is probably the strongest episode so far. The music wasn’t even all that annoying.

Overall rating: 7.8/10

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. I now have an alt in Elder Scrolls Online.

Really I’m amazed it took this long. In most games I have alts before the first week is through.

One of the main stumbling blocks in ESO was that the main race I wanted to play other than Bosmer is Khajiit, but those races are both members of the Aldmeri Dominion, so I’d be playing through the exact same content. I could’ve avoided this by ponying up for the Imperial edition, but it didn’t seem worth it.

Now that the world has been opened and faction restrictions relaxed, though, that’s no longer an issue. I’m now the proud owner of a brand new Khajiit who is leveling through the Ebonheart Pact zones, despite still technically being Aldmeri.

I’ve only played through the twin starting zones of Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen so far, but the Pact zones don’t feel like a radically different experience. I do note that they present the conflict with the other factions much more prominently — and boy does the Covenant come off badly. The Dominion, by comparison, focuses most of its storylines on internal struggles and more fantastical matters.

I will say this: As much as it pains my Dominion patriotism to admit it (Ayrenn remains the one true queen of Tamriel!), the Pact probably has the coolest zones, at least from a purely aesthetic perspective. The most beautiful regions of the game are to be found in Skyrim and its environs, and the Dunmeri lands are, if not exactly pretty, then certainly unique and oozing character.

It does impress upon me how much of this game I have yet to explore even after months of (on and off) play, both geographically and culturally. I may finally have a solid understanding of the culture and history of the Aldmeri peoples, and I’m getting a grasp on some of the other races, but I still know precious little about the Dunmer, and next to nothing about the Argonians. Other than that everyone hates them for some reason, anyway.

I have decided I don’t like the Nords. You would think, given that they’re based on real world Nordic cultures, I’d love them, but they’re just the stereotypical pop culture Vikings. At best they’re dull and one-dimensional, at worst they’re borderline offensive to my heritage.

Is this a small taste of how minorities feel about being constantly stereotyped, I wonder?

At least they pronounce their j’s correctly. That’s something.

Moving on to game mechanics, for this character I’m being less of a jack-of-all-trades and focusing his abilities much more clearly. He’s going to be a traditional spell-caster, with destruction staff as his main weapon, and enchanting is the only craft I’m pursuing right now. And I might not even stick with that.

For class, I picked dragonknight. On paper sorcerer would be the best choice for a magical character, but my main is already a sorcerer, and honestly, dragonknight feels like a more natural fit for an offensive caster.

Yes, all of the sorcerer abilities are magical, but most of them are utility oriented. Dragonknight skills are all about unleashing fire and fury on your enemies. I’m especially fond of the lava whip.

That said, I’m not finding that having a different class and weapon is making for a radically different experience. The general mechanics of combat remain mostly the same.

Also, I forgot how much it sucks not to have weapon swapping. Level 15 can’t come soon enough.

My final thought on this alt experiment is how confusingly inconsistent ESO is when it comes to what is and isn’t account-wide. Mounts are account-wide, but mount training isn’t (whhyyyyyy). Achievements aren’t account-wide, but dyes and costumes awarded from achievements are. Mail of all things appears to be account-wide, as is the bank. It’s very strange.

I’m not sure how much I’m ultimately going to play this Khajiit character. The need to start mount training all over again is daunting, and since any character can go anywhere and do anything, I could just as easily explore the Pact lands on my main. Unfortunately swapping to a different class and weapon doesn’t provide a significantly different game experience the way it would in most other games.

But if nothing else, it’s been an interesting diversion.

Contrarily, though, I already feel the urge to try another alt. I have a vague concept for a sword and board Dunmeri templar, who I would of course level through the Covenant zones.

Sometimes I don’t make sense even to myself.

Also, I very nearly wrote this entire post in-character using the Khajiiti speech pattern. Aren’t you glad this one decided against that?

Been a lot of big news from Elder Scrolls Online lately. It’s finally launched its much anticipated housing feature, and announced its first expansion.

Homecoming:

ESO’s housing is a lot worse than I hoped, but a little better than I feared.

The biggest problem is that the houses are massively over-priced, regardless of whether you’re spending real world or in-game currency. Even the smallest homes cost tens of thousands of gold, making housing out of reach of leveling players and pretty much the sole domain of dedicated end-gamers.

This might be justified if housing was a powerful character perk, but instead it’s a purely fluff feature with little to no practical benefits. At best you can put target dummies or crafting stations in your home, but aside from being fairly weak perks, those are all quite difficult/expensive to acquire.

You do get a room in an inn for free once you complete the introductory quest, but it’s so tiny that even calling it a room is bordering on false advertisement. It’s more of a closet.

This is the entire room. And keep in mind my character is a Bosmer; she’s pretty tiny.

Furniture is a bit of a better story. While there are still some insanely expensive pieces (thirty-five thousand gold for a single tree), there are also a lot of more affordable options, so if you ever do manage to get a home, you should be able to decorate it without breaking the bank too much.

The controls to place furnishings aren’t the most intuitive, but you do have a lot of options for how to orient them. Can’t scale their size, though, which is unfortunate.

I do like that you can fully explore every house before deciding to buy it. That’s a nice touch.

For all my complaints, there is one house in particular I’m thinking of getting: Autumn’s Gate in the Rift. It’s still a bit on the small side, but it’s not as claustrophobic as some of the other basic homes, and it also has a small yard, which is a great perk. The Rift is my favourite environment in the game, so I’d love to own a bit of it.

It costs 60,000 gold, which may just barely be within reach for me. I’d also have to play through the Rift’s main story to unlock the option to buy it, but again, I like the zone, so that’s not too onerous a task.

Morrowind thoughts:

I feel obligated to give my opinions on the newly announced Morrowind expansion, but to be honest I don’t have a lot of strong feelings on it.

I imagine it will be a solid expansion, and the new environments look interesting, but it’s mainly a play to nostalgia for a game I never experienced, and I don’t know much about Dunmer lore in general, so it’s not really grabbing me out of the gate. The main character is supposedly a fan favourite, but I’ve never met her. I’d have been more interested in an expansion set in Elsweyr or Summerset (for the lore), or Skyrim (for the environments).

The new warden class looks fun. Actually it fits my concept for my main better than sorcerer does, but progression in this game is far too slow for me to consider rerolling.

I’ve seen some people asking for a paid class change option. In most games I’d consider this a ridiculous idea, but class is a relatively small part of each character in ESO, so it’d actually make sense here. Of course, there are a lot of things that would make good sense that Zenimax is dead-set against, so I wouldn’t bet on it actually happening.

I roll my eyes a bit at the developers’ insistence that this is a “chapter” and not an expansion, but I do like the idea that this game’s expansions will be somewhat standalone affairs. Fits well with the game’s existing structure.

The developers have confirmed there will not be a gear reset with Morrowind’s launch, but their statement also indicated that a gear reset will happen at some point. After spending so much effort to maxing out my current gear, this is not welcome news. A gear reset might just drive me away from the game entirely, to be honest. The current level of effort it takes to get everything maxed out is only justified by the promise of some level of permanence.

Odds are decent I may buy Morrowind some point, but probably not at launch. I’ve got way too much left to do in the game’s existing content.

One other thing…

Altitis strikes again.

As predicted, I now have a Dunmeri templar, my first non-Dominion character. I’ve only just started the character, and it’s very early going, but I’m actually really enjoying it so far.

I managed to luck into a pretty fun and satisfying build right out of the gate. I load the enemy up with debuffs from the one hand and shield skill line and then nuke them down with my Aedric spear skill.

Being super over-powered from my 130+ Champion Points doesn’t hurt, either, I suppose.

Her backstory really came to life for me in character creation, too. I already have a pretty good image of who she is and her history.

It’s entirely possible my interest in this character will wane — again, it’s very early going — but so far, so good.

Moving on to the second half of my binge watch of the first season of Killjoys. Once again, there’s probably gonna be spoilers.

“One Blood”:

A legendary Killjoy has stolen something of incredible value to the Company, and the race is on for the other Killjoys to find him.

Dutch finds herself torn between conflicting loyalties. “The warrant is all,” but this particular Killjoy was a friend and mentor to her, and the other major figure from her past, Khlyen, has an interest in what was stolen.

“One Blood” is a pretty good episode overall. There’s more going on than usual in Killjoys, and there’s a nice intriguing mystery to it.

As far as character development goes, it’s a bit of mixed bag. I’m starting to get a bit more interested in Dutch and her dark past, and seeing the team unifying to help her at the end was a very nice moment, but the fact that they just handed over the terrible superweapon to the Company is kind of hard to swallow. I kept expecting them to “accidentally” destroy it, but apparently Dutch and her team are of much looser morals than I had given them credit for.

Also, yay for seeing Ian Tracey again, even if it’s a small role.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

“Kiss, Kiss, Bye Bye”:

This had the ingredients to be a very good episode, and in some ways it was, but there’s also a lot wrong with it.

The team finally succeeds in tracking down the doctor who scrambled D’avin’s brain (played by sci-fi legend Amanda Tapping, which is awesome) and learning the truth of why he murdered his squad, but the doctor is not without ways to keep her secrets safe.

This is a very intense episode, and I like that about it, but unfortunately most of the drama comes from the incompetence of the protagonists, and that kind of takes the edge out of it all. It’s painfully obvious Dr. Jaeger is up to know good, and yet they just leave her unsupervised for hours at a time. These are supposed to be elite agents?

On that note, also, I find it hard to believe that with all their fancy RAC toys, Dutch still didn’t have a better way to disarm D’avin than to shine a light in his eyes and hit him with a box.

Nor am I entirely pleased that Dutch and D’avin are now apparently an item. Gods save me from the endless tide of forced romantic subplots.

It’s also a little unfortunate that D’avin’s mysterious past has been wrapped up so quickly, as it was easily the most interesting part of the show up until now. I guess that’s one of the problems with Killjoys; it’s not quite an arc-based show, and it’s not purely episodic, either. It’s occupying some uncomfortable middle ground where each individual episode’s plot isn’t quite a satisfying package on its own, but there isn’t really a main plot thread flowing through it all to become invested in.

Johnny puts on a good performance, at least. He’s felt kind of faceless for most of the series to date, but he seems to be settling in as the lovable heart of the team, a Samwise sort of character. I can dig that.

Overall rating: 6.9/10

“Come the Rain”:

Johnny contrives to patch things up between Dutch and D’avin by sending them off a warrant that will force them to spend some time alone, but while they’re away, he finds himself caught in a hostage situation during a deadly acid rain storm.

I really could have done without the ongoing drama with Dutch and D’avin, but Johnny’s story is actually pretty good. The hostage situation itself is pretty by the numbers, but it’s an excuse for some great performances by Johnny and Dr. Pawter.

I gotta say, I enjoy learning more about Pawter. I like her character. Well, “like” maybe isn’t the right word, but she’s fascinating. Like a car wreck — you just can’t look away.

Johnny is also on the fast track to be my favourite character on this show. While this episode further establishes him as the heart of the team and someone who will always put others ahead of himself, he also has the opportunity to be pretty damn badass. A strong showing all around.

Overall rating: 7.8/10

“Enemy Khlyen”:

This is my favourite episode so far, but it’s still not without its hiccups.

Using a reverse-engineered neural link, Dutch is finally able to track down her twisted mentor Khlyen, and what she discovers is shocking: He’s a high-ranking RAC officer.

Breaking into the RAC is nigh-impossible task, but Dutch and the team are determined to finally get some answers, so the mission is on.

Khlyen working for the RAC — or perhaps, more frighteningly, the RAC working for him — is an excellent twist and by far the most interesting development in the show to date, and I’m also intrigued by the second mention of “Red 17,” whatever that is.

It’s also a plenty exciting episode. A pretty standard heist sort of scenario, but well done.

Also, normally I complain about the soundtrack on this show, and on principle I still dislike hearing loud contemporary music blaring in the middle of a far-future sci-fi… but for July Talk, I’ll make an exception. Definitely didn’t expect to hear one of the best Toronto rock bands in Killjoys, but I won’t complain.

However, “Enemy Khlyen” does suffer from a bit of what I like to call a Voyager ending, where all the tension just dissolves for an illogically hasty resolution in the final minutes. Seemed like both Dutch and Khlyen just kind of gave up and stopped trying for no apparent reason at the end.

Overall rating: 8/10 Earns bonus points for July Talk.

“Escape Velocity” (season finale):

To be honest, Killjoys mostly failed to impress me through its first season. It’s been good enough, but never more than that. In my mind, the word “mediocre” is closely associated with the series.

Credit where credit is due, though: This is a pretty damn good season finale.

Events in the Quad have reached a boiling point. The Scarback monks have been framed for a brutal terrorist attack, and the Qreshi nobles plot to end their Westerley problem once and for all. While Dutch and the team want to focus on Khlyen, they can’t help but be drawn into the rapidly escalating political situation.

This is the most intense episode yet, and I was really amazed by how dark things got in the end. I admire a story that can shock us out of our lethargy, and this certainly has (even if said lethargy was induced by the lackluster nature of Killjoys to date).

Once again, we see what a master manipulator Khlyen is, as he once again manages to get Dutch right where he wants her without her suspecting a thing. Johnny continues to surprise with his quick wits and big heart.

However, it’s still not quite perfect. Too much of the drama still hinges on the incompetence of the protagonists. D’avin pretty much walked straight into Khlyen’s arms, and the Qreshi coup couldn’t have happened if Dutch and the team hadn’t handed over the genetic bomb earlier in the season.

Also, these world-shaking events seemed to sort of come out of nowhere. I can’t say there wasn’t foreshadowing, because there has been, but things escalated very, very quickly and with little warning. I was still trying to get a handle on the fundamental geographic, cultural, and political layout of the Quad, and already the whole thing is tearing itself apart.

You know what Killjoys needs more of? Info-dumps. As writers we’re warned to avoid info-dumps, and yes, they can often be tedious and off-putting, but they’re also often necessary. One season in, I still have a lot of very fundamental questions about Killjoys and its setting that are unanswered.

When is this? What, if any, is the Quad’s relationship with the rest of the universe? Where’s Earth in all this? Why was the Quad settled? What is the Company and how did it come to control everything? I could just keep going.

Dark Matter did something similar, but its strong character focus carried the story, and by the time they got into big political events, they’d had plenty of time to flesh things out.

Still, “Escape Velocity” remains a very strong episode. In fact that’s a large part of why these questions are nettling me. The reason I haven’t brought them up before now is that up until “Escape Velocity” I simply didn’t care. Now I do.

Overall rating: 8.5/10

* * *

Thus concludes season one. Unfortunately that’s all Crave has right now, and I’m not impressed enough to buy downloads from Google Play or iTunes, so my reviews end here for now. The season finale was impressive enough that I would like to see more of the show at some point, though, so I’ll try to keep an eye out. I expect they’ll add season two sooner or later.

I’m not sure if it’s because of how dire the news has been lately or what, but lately I’ve been feeling less interested in seeking new sources of entertainment.

Instead, I’ve been revisiting old favourites. It’s sort of like comfort food, something warm and familiar you’re sure you’re going to enjoy.

Firstly, I’ve cancelled my Netflix/CraveTV subscriptions for the time being and dug out my DVDs to rewatch Continuum. I very rarely buy DVDs, as they are quite expensive, so the fact I have the entire series on DVD is a testament to how much I love it.

In a lot of ways Continuum is actually better the second time through. You can really take note of all the subtle bits of foreshadowing, and it’s interesting to see how things changed over the years. I totally forgot how cocky and lighthearted Alec was at the beginning. He’s almost unrecognizable as the character he became in later seasons. I’m also paying more attention to Garza, knowing what I know now.

Meanwhile, despite still having a couple of new and unread books lying around my apartment, I’ve decided to revisit some of my favourite StarCraft novels. Specifically The Dark Templar Trilogy by Christie Golden.

In a strange way I almost wish this wasn’t a StarCraft series, because few if any people who aren’t StarCraft fans are going to end up reading it. And that’s a damn tragedy, because it’s brilliant.

The Dark Templar books aren’t just good StarCraft books. They’re just straight-up excellent sci-fi literature by any standard.

The trilogy tells the story of Jake Ramsey, a human archaeologist who has a chance encounter with a dying Protoss woman. But she is not just any Protoss; she’s a Preserver, with the memories of every Protoss who has ever lived stored within her mind. When she encounters Jake, her mind, with all of its memories, is downloaded into his brain.

The story is then split evenly between Jake’s struggles in the present and the memories of the ancient Protoss that he relives every night when he sleeps.

Now, I’m a huge Protoss nerd, so of course I find this fascinating, but I think even if you’re not as keen on the Firstborn as I am it’s still an excellent story. One of the most powerful scenes in the series — really one of the most powerful scenes I’ve read in anything — has Jake reliving the exact moment when the Protoss invented written language.

It’s an amazing scene because while the characters don’t know they’re laying the earliest groundwork for an empire that will one day span the stars, they do understand that they’ve discovered something profound, something that will change everything. There’s such a beauty and purity to the moment.

And of course the characters of the Dark Templar books are excellent, because this is Christie Golden and she always nails the characters. In retrospect I can really see how R.M. has inspired a lot of characters in my own writing in various little ways.

Honor duels:

In other news, For Honor launches today, and over the weekend I was able to dive into its open beta and see how it shapes up. It’s the subject of my latest article on MMO Bro.

I’ll say this much: It’s a very fascinating game, but I don’t think I’m going to be in a rush to buy it anytime soon.

Also, I keep wanting to spell the name with a U. A pox on American spelling!

I’ve now completed the goal I set for myself when returning to Elder Scrolls Online: Finishing the Aldmeri zones and the main story. I now bring you my (mostly spoiler free) thoughts on the matter.

Under the eagle banner:

The Aldmeri zones, for the most part, maintain ESO’s commitment to a consistent “good not great” level of quality. They’re an enjoyable experience, if not necessarily mind-blowing.

The one exception that really stands above the others is Malabal Tor, a zone focused on the spiritual side of the Bosmer. The story there has a very traditional mythic feel, like you’re playing through an old folktale, and I really enjoyed that.

It’s also above average in terms of environment. Jungle zones are one of my least favourite biomes for games, and I was getting a bit burnt out on them after Grahtwood and Greenshade, but Malabal Tor has a wilder, more fantastical feel to it that helps it stand out. The trees twine around each other in surreal shapes, and the whole place is just far enough to the left of normal to feel enchanting.

This is how I imagine all of Valenwood should look, based on its lore.

It’s funny because I have a reader who swore by Greenshade, viewing it as the one zone that stood above all others in ESO. I almost wonder if they were confused and meant Malabal Tor, though it’s probably just another case of differing tastes. I found Greenshade had interesting moments, but the story as a whole was a little too scattered to really stand above the pack, if you ask me.

Reaper’s March was interesting, too. I didn’t love the main story there — it probably makes sense if you know Elder Scrolls lore better than I do, but I never quite grasped the why and the how of the glow in the dark Khajiit popping out of the ground to murder people — but the side quests were pretty fun. Nice to see the Khajiit get some attention.

After completing their story, I maintain a very high opinion of the Aldmeri Dominion. They’re an interesting faction with fascinating cultures, compelling themes, and solid characters. Razum-dar is still my favourite character in the game so far, and Ayrenn is second.

The quest on Stirk only strengthened my loyalty to the Dominion and its queen. Ayrenn was the only faction leader to come out of it looking anything like an adult.

The Breton king, in particular, has earned my ire. What an insufferable, arrogant, condescending, sexist prick.

I’ve decided to make some extra gold by robbing his castle on the regular.

To Oblivion:

The main quest dealing with Molag Bal and the Planemeld never really managed to win me over.

Normally I’m a sucker for an epic quest to save the world, but this one was just dull and generic in pretty much every way.

The fundamental structure of it drags the story down a lot. There’s so much time between each quest that you’ve already forgotten most of what’s happened so far by the time you start progressing it again.

There’s no emotional investment, either. None of the characters in the main quest are particularly memorable. Tharn is the only one I’ll give any credit to for decent writing, and even there it’s a “love to hate” thing.

The fact they’re all humans is probably part of the problem. I think a strength of Elder Scrolls as a setting is the sheer breadth and diversity of it, but in the main quest all you’re dealing with are the most vanilla human adventurers possible. The one non-human in the story is just a one-note villain with the depth of a mud puddle. The fact he’s an Altmer affects his character not at all.

There are some things about the main story I liked, mainly near the end. The open world Coldharbour zone is surprisingly beautiful and definitely one of the best zones in the game from an aesthetic perspective, and the very last quest offered some cool gameplay.

Still, the main story is ultimately something I did because I needed the skillpoints, not because I was excited to.

Scrolls of lore:

When I first spoke at length about the lore of the Elder Scrolls universe (as experienced through ESO), I described it as “mediocre.” Having gotten farther into the game, that opinion has changed somewhat, but not entirely.

I think I’m going to upgrade my view of Elder Scrolls lore to “inconsistent.” There are some aspects of it I very much like, and some that I don’t.

As mentioned previously, I greatly enjoy the Bosmer, and my opinion of them has only grown with time. I think they’re an incredibly fun and fresh take on the Elf archetype, and I’m really glad I had the foresight to pick Bosmer for my main’s race.

There’s a lot of layers you can appreciate about the Bosmer. They’re one of the more innately fantastical races in the setting, often feeling like they’ve leapt off the pages of mythology. Their savage edge is equal parts terrifying and fascinating. And they’re also surprisingly funny, especially if your sense of humour is as twisted as mine. Their casual bloodthirst never ceases to amuse.

The Khajiit have also managed to maintain their position as my second favourite aspect of the setting. I’m coming to the conclusion they’re not quite as shallow as a culture as I initially took them for, though I still wouldn’t describe them as exceptionally deep in the greater scheme of things. But they’re definitely fun and charming and almost always a good source of entertainment.

In general I think this game’s story-telling is at its best when you’re delving into the cultures of the various races and nations. The meta-plot isn’t great, and individual side quests are hit and miss, but there is a great depth to a lot of the societies of Tamriel.

On the other hand there are a few races I’ve decided I definitely don’t like. Chief on this list are Nords and Orcs, who so far seem to be incredibly shallow and archetypal, and not even interesting archetypes at that.

I can’t say I’m a particular fan of the other human cultures, either. Maybe I might like the Bretons; I don’t know much about them yet. I’d like to shove their king down a flight of stairs, but he might not be representative of his people as a whole.

But of course the humans are going to be boring. Hell, humans aren’t even my favourite race in the real world.

I feel like the Dunmer could be cool, but I still don’t know a lot about them. From what I gather, they used to be Daedra worshipers, but then some of them managed to promote themselves to godhood? That could definitely be interesting.

And Argonians are the biggest question mark. Really all I know is they worship trees, which speaks highly in their favour.

I would like to know what they did to make everyone hate them so much. Even Gnomes in WoW don’t engender this much disdain from the playerbase.

Then there’s the history and mythology of the world itself. That’s still mostly failing to impress, but I’m starting to think the problem is not the content itself, but the presentation.

Much of the lore in ESO is delivered via in-character history books you find while adventuring. These tend to be written in an incredibly dry, scholarly style, and while this is realistic, it sucks a lot of the fun out.

Even the most epic events lose their thrill if you explain them in a sufficiently dull fashion, and I think that’s what’s happening here. I’m beginning to think Tamrielic history actually is quite interesting, but it’s presented in such a hopelessly pedestrian manner that I can’t help but go cross-eyed as I try to read it.

It’s also rather scattered, in the most literal sense possible. When and where you find each book is highly randomized, so you’re learning the history in bits and pieces that often have little or no relation to each other or what’s going on around you. This makes the lore less a coherent narrative and more a jigsaw puzzle where you don’t even know what the final picture is supposed to be.

It’s almost like if TSW’s lore honeycombs were randomized such that you might pick up a piece of lore in Kingsmouth only for it to start telling you about Zeroes Wild. It has no meaning out of context.

Another issue in the presentation is how every culture in Tamriel tends to have its own words for the different deities, supernatural beings, and the like. Again, this is realistic, but it makes the lore incredibly unfriendly for someone who doesn’t already have a strong base of Elder Scrolls knowledge. As a result, I’ve managed to develop a solid understanding of the geopolitics of Tamriel, but remain almost completely baffled when it comes to the greater cosmology of the setting.

Finally, the story can also be inconsistent when it comes to tone. Most of the time I’d say ESO is a pretty tame, sanitized sort of game, but once in a while, with no warning at all, it will go someplace incredibly dark. Examples include the residential school quest in Auridon and that lore book about how vampires in Tamriel are apparently the result of some poor woman being raped to death by a demon lord.

What’s next?

With my main goals for the game complete, I’m not sure where to go now. There’s still an astonishing amount of content I’ve yet to explore in ESO, and I think I would like to see at least some of it.

I think I may take advantage of the game’s sandbox nature and begin simply picking and choosing the zones and quests that specifically appeal to me, rather than playing through everything completionist style. I finally have enough skillpoints and am nearing the all-important 160 CP gear cap, so I can afford to be more laidback.

However, I am also tempted to take a break and move on to other games, if only temporarily. WoW, in particular, is calling to me…

It’s been many long years of waiting, but I’ve finally gotten my hands on the fourth and final book of James Maxey’s wildly original Dragon Apocalypse series, Cinder.

This is a series with a strange history. The first book, Greatshadow, is easily one of the best novels I’ve ever read, but while the following volumes still had many strengths, the truth is it’s pretty much been downhill from there. That sounds harsher than I mean it to, but the fact remains that while I’ve enjoyed each book, I’ve enjoyed each one less than the previous.

Part of this is due to the strange structure of the series. Halfway through, the Dragon Apocalypse changed its main character and its entire writing style. It was a jarring transition I still haven’t fully adjusted to.

It also seems there has been some real world turbulence for the series. I’m not clear on what exactly the story is, but Cinder seemed to take an awfully long time to make it to market, and it’s now under a different publisher than the previous books.

The change in publishers definitely wasn’t an upgrade, either, as the quality of the product has taken a hit. I have never seen a professional novel with anywhere near this many typos.

But whatever the journey, Cinder is finally here now.

It is a book of inconsistent quality. Once again, there’s been a shake-up of perspective. Now the novel’s perspective shifts regularly between the series’ large cast of characters, and while many of these characters are familiar, a lot of attention is spent on a new character, the book’s namesake, Cinder.

Cinder is the daughter of Stagger and Infidel. Conceived in the spirit realm, she has skin as black as midnight and the ability to shift between the physical and abstract realms at will.

Cinder is one of my main problems with the book, because I find her fairly dull in comparison to most of the other characters. This is the same problem I had with Sorrow in the last book, though ironically by now Sorrow has grown on me and I would have liked to have seen her get more attention this time.

It should also be noted that the long gap between Cinder and the previous book left my memory of the series to date rather atrophied, and that also probably hindered my enjoyment of the story. In retrospect I should have reread the rest of the series first, but my impatience got the better of me, and I spent the first few chapters mostly trying to remember who everyone was and what was going on.

However, my biggest problem with Cinder is that it feels very, very rushed. In this fourth and final installment, the Dragon Apocalypse has come at last, the primal dragons of ice and storm uniting to destroy the world of humanity and plunge the world into an eternal blizzard.

Cinder deals with spectacular, earth-shattering events. It has a massive cast of characters whose stories need closure. And it tries to deal with all this in less than 300 pages. There’s just not enough time to give everyone and everything its due.

If ever there was a series that should have been spread out to ten or so books, this was it. The Dragon Apocalypse boasts one of the most brilliantly colourful and wildly inventive settings in all of fantasy, with no shortage of bizarre and awe-inspiring places, creatures, characters, and concepts. Four short books simply isn’t enough to do justice to the world or its story.

Still, I don’t like dumping on this book so much. Partly this is because I have spent some time speaking with James Maxey in the past (briefly, several years ago, over email), and I found him to be very humble and gracious and an all around good guy.

And partly there is still a fair bit to appreciate in Cinder. As mentioned above, the setting of the Dragon Apocalypse still offers no shortage of wonders. I love the concept of the primal dragons, immortal beings whose souls have fused with the fundamental aspects of the natural world, and Cinder more so than any of its predecessors shows off the terrible grandeur of the primal dragons.

There are also still many great characters in the story, even if Cinder herself didn’t blow me away. It was great to see Infidel back in action, even if her role was relatively small, and I’d happily read an entire series devoted to the adventures of the Romer clan. Seriously, Gale is awesome; can we get a book that’s all about her?

And I have to say that I did really like how it ended. Without spoiling anything, I think there’s a beautiful poetry to the final conclusion of Stagger and Infidel’s long, bizarre story.

In the end, it does remain true that every Dragon Apocalypse book is less enjoyable than the previous, but it started from such lofty heights that even after four books, the end result is not bad.

Overall rating: 7/10

I do want to say again that despite whatever flaws the series might have developed after, Greatshadow is one of the best books I’ve ever read and something that is absolutely worth your time. It’s a hilarious, heartfelt, and brilliantly strange story that I can guarantee is not like anything you’ve read before.

Landmark is no more.

Last night, a day that began on a depressing note in Real Life ended with Landmark’s servers closing and a whole lot of melancholy all around.

Unfortunately, I was not able to be there for the very moment when Lumeria went dark for the last time (again, Real Life), but I did make sure to get in a final hour or so of play that afternoon.

I did what I had spent most of my Landmark career doing: I picked a map at random, teleported to it, and wandered around to whatever build looked potentially interesting.

Just in that short time I saw some pretty amazing creations: A surprisingly homey magitech lab, a palace of ice, a charming campground, and an unfinished but nonetheless spectacular castle full of nightmarish architecture and crackling electricity — surely a den of evil.

And that, really, is what was special about Landmark. You could go to any map, walk in any direction, and in no time flat you’d be sure to find something beautiful, fascinating, or awe-inspiring. The traditional wisdom is that if you give players the tools to make their own content, the vast majority of it will be utter crap, but Landmark was stunning refutation of that notion.

If there’s one thing that really haunts me about the game’s closure, it’s the knowledge that there are undoubtedly many fantastic builds I never got to see.

Along the way I was also once again impressed by how beautiful the game world is even in its natural state. In one poetically appropriate moment, I crested a mountain and was greeted by a spectacular view of the sunset over the ocean.

I also took advantage of the cash shop fire sale to try on several new outfits, and I commiserated with the community. I am reminded that of all the online games I’ve spent significant time in, Landmark is the only one where I never had to add anyone to my ignore list.

And the small things stuck out to me: how much fun the parkour movement is, how much I liked the look of my character. I will miss those things.

Of course, I won’t miss the lag, rubber-banding, and randomly being shot into the sky for no reason. So there’s that.

Near the end, a player named Arendhir was plugging their build, an Elven city, so I decided to visit it, and I found it to be one of the most spectacular builds I had the pleasure to encounter. I wish I’d had more time to explore it in detail.

Finally, I returned to my first build, the Grove, and sat beneath my tree-arch, watching the water. There, I logged off for the last time.

As previously noted, this is the first MMO sunset that’s really affected me. I suppose I’m lucky it’s taken this long. In the end, I spent little time in Landmark in the weeks leading up to its closure, and realistically it probably isn’t something I would have sunk a lot more time into even if it had survived.

So I’m not totally heartbroken over it all. Hell, this isn’t even the saddest a video game has made me (which is, itself, a sad thing to admit to).

That said, I can’t escape the feeling something special has been lost. I’m not aware of any other game that allows people to express their creativity in such a vivid way, and I know there are times in the future when I’m going to miss the opportunity to log in and soak in the ambiance.

I may not be heartbroken, but I do still feel a certain melancholy. I will miss this game.

Now, I have only my memories of Landmark. Thankfully, in the digital age memories are easy to preserve. I have hundreds of screenshots of Landmark, and I also took a few videos before the end. They’re really more for my own benefit than anything (my poor video skills are abundantly apparent in them), but I am uploading them to YouTube for those few who may wish to see them, now or in future.

In general I do think it’s important to preserve not just this game, but any closed game. However small, these are parts of our culture, and they shouldn’t be forgotten. In addition to my efforts, there are MJ Guthrie’s videos for Massively OP, and I know there are at least one or two other players looking to preserve the game with image galleries and the like. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any links to share — if you know of anything, please comment with a link.

Thus it ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper. Farewell, Landmark. We hardly knew ye.

As mentioned previously, I’ve had my eye on the Autumn’s Gate house in Elder Scrolls Online, and I’ve now taken the next step by purchasing it and moving in.

I’m far enough into the game that I don’t feel too bad about spending so much gold, but it’s definitely been an underwhelming experience.

Turns out furnishing your home is not as easy as I initially thought. Most in-game vendors only sell miscellaneous items like trees, rocks, random trophies, and the like. Basic housing stuff like beds and chairs are surprisingly hard to find.

Furniture crafting, meanwhile, straight up doesn’t make any sense.

Although each furniture recipe is tied to a specific profession, many of them still require skills in other professions, with no apparent rhyme or reason behind any of it. I have a bed recipe for my woodworking I can’t actually make because I don’t have skills in provisioning. Most of my blacksmithing recipes require skills and materials from enchanting. Let’s not forget the infamous Nickel Pie.

It seems the only way to make significant headway as a furniture crafter is to have maxed out every single tradeskill in the game on a single character, a task so Herculean I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. I nearly went mad just trying to train up three crafts on one character.

The drop rates for furniture materials aren’t exactly great, either, since we’re on the subject.

The best way to furnish your home is probably to just buy the essential items from the cash shops. The good news is that most of the furnishing prices are pretty reasonable (with some notable exceptions). But it’s not exactly great to have the best answer to a game problem be “cash shop.”

I suppose buying what you want off guild traders could also be an option — I haven’t looked into it, so I’m not sure what the prices are like. This does mean enduring the general awfulness of guild traders as a system, though.

It also turns out that the limit on how many furnishings you can have in a house is pretty shockingly low if you’re not a subscriber, so that doesn’t help matters. The interface for placing items is a long way from intuitive, too.

All that said, I’m still reasonably happy with how my house turned out. It’s a bit Spartan, but charming all the same.

With my options so limited, I decided to get creative. I used trees and shrubs to give the illusion that the house itself was alive, grown together from the local flora. Basically I took a Nord home and turned it into a Bosmer home.

Also, I love the yard, even if it’s tiny. The Rift is an absolutely gorgeous zone.

The real problem, in the end, is that after one day I’ve already run out of things to do with my home. There’s no gameplay associated with it, no reason to go there other than to see the sights, no practical benefit to it whatsoever. What few utilities you can add to homes in ESO require massive grind or a significant chunk of cash to unlock.

Times like this further my belief that I just don’t get player housing as a feature. ESO’s housing seems mostly well-received by the community so far. Meanwhile, SW:TOR’s housing is generally held as one of the worst implementations of the concept around, yet I would take SW:TOR’s system over ESO’s any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

One of the things that gives StarCraft II’s co-op missions such enduring appeal is the wildly different playstyles offered by the many commanders. I’ve often compared to the different civilizations and god choices in the “Age of ____” games, but you could also compare them to RPG classes. In some cases, the similarity is very obvious, while others you have to squint a bit more, but most can find an equivalent in the RPG world.

Vorazun: Rogue

Vorazun is part of the inspiration for this post. I’ve been saying for months that she’s like the traditional rogue archetype ported to the RTS genre, focusing on cloaked units, burst damage, and crowd control. Generally playing Vorazun tends to entail a lot of stunlocking the enemy and then bursting them down before they have a chance to fight back. That’s a rogue if I ever saw one.

Artanis: Paladin

Artanis’ army is slow, with little mobility or fancy tricks, but they’re also incredibly tough and durable, making them the ideal frontline bruisers. He also boasts a number of helpful buffs that help add survivability to his ally’s forces.

Sounds like a prot pally to me.

Abathur: Death knight

Like Artanis, Abathur has a strong focus on very slow but very tanky units. In late game, his troops are virtually indestructible. But he also has a strong emphasis on feeding off the destruction of his enemies; his power comes from killing. That sounds like a death knight.

Stukov: Necromancer

Not just because he has zombies, but because his playstyle is about overwhelming the enemy with endless floods of cheap and free units. He’s a summoner through and through.

Karax: Priest

More so than any other commander, Karax tends to focus on supporting his ally. He uses buffs, global abilities, and powerful defenses to turn the tide in his team’s favour, often taking little to no direct role in the battle himself. While that’s not exactly the same as being an RPG healer, the general principle of hanging back and supporting your allies remains intact.

Alarak: Warlock

Alarak’s playstyle can differ a little bit depending on whether you’re going for a Wrathwalker or Ascendant build, but either way you’re going to be using a lot of active abilities (Alarak’s and/or the Ascendants’) and pumping out huge damage numbers.

That seems like a spellcaster to me, and given Alarak has a habit of sacrificing his own units for power, warlock seems like the best fit.

Raynor: Ranger

Raynor’s army tends to focus on mobility and high ranged DPS, which makes him a decent allegory for a ranger archetype. Furthermore, a common trait of ranger classes is that they are considered to be very newbie friendly but have a surprisingly high skill cap at higher levels of play, and that’s also true of Raynor.

Kerrigan: Battle mage

A lot of playing Kerrigan boils down to controlling Kerrigan herself, a hero unit with a variety of powerful abilities. This puts me in mind of a mage, but she’s also pretty hard to kill and tends to like getting into the thick of things, so I suppose that would make her more of a battle mage.

Swann: Warrior

Subtlety was never Swann’s strong suit. He likes to build an army of slow, tanky, powerful units and slog his way to victory with sheer brute force. This makes him a decent allegory for a warrior archetype.

Nova: Druid

This one’s a bit of a stretch, I grant, but she is probably the most versatile commander at the moment, able to adapt to any situation, and she can swap between two different stances with very different abilities, so that’s sort of like shape-shifting.

Zagara: ???

Okay, I’ll admit I can’t draw any clear RPG parallels with Zagara. What class does “hurl a bajillion suicide units at your enemy” translate to?

If you’ve got any suggestions, I’m all ears, but maybe this thought experiment simply has its limits.