Strider Hiryu

I finally got around to seeing the movie (don't ask but I'm sure you know how). I want to start this off before I go into spoilers that I did like the movie. It was extremely entertaining and had quite a few awesome moments. However, this is not the Star Wars movie I feel we all deserved for what they threw away just to make it (20-30 years of extended lore was not worth this). I'm going to just call this an AU movie and consider all the original lore as canon because that will make me happy and prevent me from wanting to wish bodily harm on JJ and the heads of Disney.
 

I finally got around to seeing the movie (don't ask but I'm sure you know how). I want to start this off before I go into spoilers that I did like the movie. It was extremely entertaining and had quite a few awesome moments. However, this is not the Star Wars movie I feel we all deserved for what they threw away just to make it (20-30 years of extended lore was not worth this). I'm going to just call this an AU movie and consider all the original lore as canon because that will make me happy and prevent me from wanting to wish bodily harm on JJ and the heads of Disney.
 

BETA thoughts:
 
This open beta is heavily neutered from anything I've seen in videos. You only get access to 2 skills on the medical tree, and the first skill on the other two trees. You can't even look at perks and other abilities because they hit you with scramble vision on the menu.
 
Open Wold PVE
Not much here. You get one main mission for the medical branch and some side missions that are really a quest chain of uneventful investigation leading up to a decent encounter. There are also some random encounters that vary in degree of length. The main mission was relatively short. You moved through 4 different sections fighting off enemies leading up to a boss. Playing it on hard made the end reward better, but the loot drops during the mission seemed marginally better if it was at all. The enemies were a lot tougher and more aggressive however.
 
Walking through the city you can stumble upon random bad guys, but there are actual locations marked called encounters. I think you can frequently get these from a situation board in your base of operation, but I cant refresh these in the beta. Some are as simple as taking down a few guys, others consist of helping a task force secure an area (kind of a horde mode). A few get interesting as they have a timer on them. These start out as unoccupied rooms with scanners you must search for and activate. When that is done you have to make your way across the roof tops to upload the data... of course enemies stand in your way while the timer is running making things a bit intense. These were probably my favorite encounters.
 
Since I'm a completion junkie... I'm probably having more fun with the beta than I should. There are a bunch of collectibles laying around from intel files to survival guides. Now that I've cleaned the map of everything to do gun battle wise, I've been exploring picking these things up, and finding random echos. I even managed to find some blue armor in a subway crate in a dark corner. There is also FASHION! the GW2 in me came out running open world with a friend... we'd be on our way to a side mission only to see an apartment door open. That means looting time! You can go into certain places and loot fridges, kitchen cabinets, closets, dressers, and file cabinets for random items including fashion ware. Hats, Pants, Shirts, Jackets, and Boots are all cosmetic options that have no bearing on stats. There are gun camos too but I haven't found any yet. We spent a few hours just looting for clothes losing sight of our objective. You can also gain items like these from NPCs in need... they come up to you begging for a med pac or random consumable. They'll drop you a cosmetic or a shitty piece of white equipment. Its a gamble.
 
The Dark Zone
Its only the beta, but there wasn't as much douchery going on as I thought there would be. Thats because you're making yourself a huge target going around killing other players. The loot in this game works like Destiny. Only you can see what loot dropped for you. Killing enemies drops loot for everyone, but the quality may vary between players, that doesn't change in the dark zone. The only way other players can tell that you have loot is by a yellow satchel that hangs under your normal backpack. There is no indication on what is in it. Once you kill someone you are marked red on everyone's mini map for an allotted time, and players can also see you through walls. You make yourself a massive target. If you're going to go rogue, the best time to do it is when people are extracting, that way you can hook your loot and secure it before you are killed. This is also why you should never extract with players that aren't in your party. Extractions alert everyone in the area, also marking it on the map. The chopper takes a full minute to get to the site, and then lowers a rope to hook your loot bag on. You have to hold square to do this and it takes a good 3-4 seconds to complete the action. Any number of things could go wrong at this point... The place my group extracted was on top of a parking garage. (There are designated extraction areas, you cant extract anywhere you want) We had a clear vantage point over the entrance to the top floor in case someone decided to come up and try to be hostile... but just watching an entrance doesn't always work as one poor solo player found out. After we extracted our loot successfully, a solo player ran up to perform his own. My buddy wanted to kill him, but I decided against it since he was a lower level than us and probably had nothing of value. He gave us the surrender emote to let us know he just wanted to extract and we started to leave... next thing we know he was downed, so we run back up only to see 4-5 elite NPCs have spawned and were tearing him up. I quickly revived him and we took them all out for some more loot. It was an interesting experience clearly to keep you on your toes from corner camping vantage points while you extract. I definitely would not recommend soloing the DZ. Killing NPCs gets you levels, and technically you could just do that and collect the DZ currency they drop... but if good equipment drops it would be hard to pass up, and dangerous to extract. Oh aslo, your DZ bag can only carry 6 items so you're going to have to extract regularly whether you like it or not.
 
Weapons
Assault Rifles: Not a fan... mag is way too small and runs out quickly. Long reload times that could possibly be helped by later attachments.
 
Shotguns: Once I got the semi-auto, I was tearing it up. Really good for CQC. There are enemies that have baseball bats and golf clubs that will rush you. They do A LOT of damage if they hit you so its imperative to have a good close range option. In the DZ these rushers were ultra aggressive and fast.
 
SMGs: I picked up a Vector and I am loving it. More so than the shotgun, but that's because its a higher level quality than the shotgun I had. The mags last longer than ARs and you get the same range about. I wouldn't be surprised if they got a range nerf TBH. They still would make a good CQC if this happens. While they melt enemies fast, they don't have the stopping power that shotguns have. A shotgun will make someone do a full second of stun.
 
Sniper Rifles: High damage, very slow rate of fire. You can't run this with a shotgun, they both fire too slow, You'll have to roll with an SMG if you want to snipe.... or just snipe with a marksman rifle.
 
Markman Rifle: Screw ARs, this is where its at. They have close to the damage of sniper rifles, but a faster fire rate and bigger mag. reload times are slow like ARs, but 2 body shot kills, one head shot kill more than makes up for it. It also suffers the same drawbacks as snipers as the 3rd person ADS reticle widens massively while moving.
 
LMGs: Haven't had one drop yet.. but i imagine they do some heavy suppression. I suppressed a few enemies with my SMG and its a good tactic for letting someone else flank. Or to bull rush if you're solo. They wont come out of cover when the suppressed indicator is up. Its like a heavy handed stun.
 
Pistol: Pistols are pure crap so far.. but with reason. They are your backup weapon and they have infinite ammo. Really low damage.
 
The attachments alter the stats of your gun to varying degrees. Optics better your zoom, but also add critical damage % gains. Grips do similar things as well, but extended mags suck and are pointless. They only give you 1 extra round for every weapon type except SMGs which give you 2. You're better off with the heavy spring mag that increases fire rate. If you're gonna use extended mag, it would only be worth it on a shotgun for that extra round. Suppressors only decrease your threat level... not really sure what that is yet. Maybe its aggro.
 
Skills
Like I said you only get access to a few skills. Your Base of Operations help you upgrade these skills. Doing missions and collection parts will help you do this in the full game. The first skill on the medic tree is the only one you can upgrade in the beta. Its basically vision pulse from BO3/pulse scan from Battlefront. The upgraded versions add modifiers. The one I went with added critical damage when hitting marked enemies. This was actually a really nice perk tbh. Giving everyone a DPS boost is never a bad thing. The first aid skill is going to be hard not to have for any player. While you can have consumable med packs, you can only carry 3 at a time. First aid lets you heal yourself or drop an AoE on teammates to heal them. I saw that you can upgrade the AoE heal to revive downed teammates without having to be near them which will be very useful for a dedicated healer. The sticky bomb was ok. I really wanted to try the seeker mine, but its locked for the beta which really disappointed me. I didn't bother with the riot shield, it seemed pointless since there is plenty of cover provided during gun fights.
 
Thats all I can say for now. I can't wait for this game to come out... even this small bit of content was very interesting. I also saw a "Dailies" tab in the options/inventory/info panel which has me excited.

The Ion Torpedo also locks onto air vehicles if you have it unlocked. It does massive damage and if they're hurt already will most likely kill them. It's usually what I run in my anti-vehicle star card hand.
 
The DL-44 was already nerfed but apparently it wasn't a big enough nerf. I know they dropped it's damage a bit but the last time I was on the thing still hits like a truck at any range (don't let the description fool you that weapon is fucking powerful at long-range, I don't care what DICE says).
 
Spawn points is the main reason I quit playing the game. Once you learn where troops are likely to spawn it's to fucking easy to spawn kill it's not funny. Plus vehicles always spawn in the same place (between 2-3 spawn points depending on the map) so once you memorize where they spawn it's simple to spawn camp them as well.
 
Since I don't get to play with anyone else who owns the game (seriously hit me up if you get on to play, with the new addition of making friends/party members green it makes it easier to track people you're playing with. Plus the only way I'll get on this damn game now is if I have someone to play with. Soloing it sucks) I don't give two shits about the partner system. Half the time I'm partnered up with either a try-hard who fails and dies half the time, a complete noob who has no idea what they're doing, or a spawn camper who doesn't play objectives. Honestly I'll go back to playing COD if I want that kind of shit.
 
Fighter squadron is a blast once you get used to the air vehicles. Don't get me wrong I get killed more often then not by people spawn camping, ramming me, or getting that luck torpedo/missile hit but it's really fun if you just give it a chance. Learn how to use maneuvers correctly, learn just how fast the vehicle you're in is (remember Tie Fighters/Interceptors can use a speed boost that will allow you to out run missiles/torpedoes and are generally faster then the X-Wing (A-Wing and the Interceptor fly at roughly the same speed)), and remember when firing at an enemy to slow you're craft down because the slower you go the harder your blasters hit. Also pick your opponents well. Be a vulture and pick off severely damaged enemies, don't engage full health targets unless you're confident enough to do so. If none of that works stay on the outskirts of the battle and play the objective (attack transports and what not). Also remember that air vehicle control is like piloting a remote controlled model with the accelerator always on, you can control direction and speed but you cannot break or stop and you will always fly in the direction you're pointed in until you change it. Once you realize that you're honestly not controlling the craft the easier it is to actually get the hang of it (if took me 6 matches in Beta before I finally realized this and since then I'm a force to be reckoned with when I get an air vehicle in Walker Assault/Supremacy (if I'm not being spawn camped) or when I play Fighter Squadron). Thinking you actually have control of the craft is what gets people into trouble because where in BF you have full control over you're vehicle (speed, heading, etc) you don't get all of that here.
 
I'm shelving the game until they fix a lot of the problems you listed. Until then I'll be playing Rainbow Six Siege (I decided to buy it and I'll be picking it up this weekend) and if they're not fixed before The Division comes out I'll be playing that until they do.

That Taxi Driver better not mistake Deadpool for some Dumb Hick From Wisconsin....

Consoles won't die out but they will evolve with the times. VR is the next big thing Sony and Microsoft are adopting and they'll start pushing it once the tech gets cost affordable for the masses (expect the new console line to be fully or mostly VR compatible if the VR for this generation takes off) . The only other way to game is PC (mobile games aren't games imo, they're just money sinks and distractions that can be fun when you're bored but don't want to turn on the PS4/XBone/PC). What it comes down to is people aren't willing to blow the kind of money it takes to be a PC gamer and that will never change. Yes I know making an affordable gaming computer is not that expensive anymore, especially if you're willing to settle for mid to low tier parts and are willing to deal with not so great graphics and minor processing lag. However the need to upgrade components every 2-3 years to stay current with new PC games and tech is just not something most gamers are willing to do. With a console you spend an initial price and the console is good for 5+ years (yea the time between new console releases is getting shorter now so PC gaming might become the norm now) and the games evolve constantly on consoles as developers learn the hardware and what it's capable of.
 
Honestly handhelds will always exist due to them, as I stated in another topic, being aimed at children. Handhelds will never go anywhere even with evolving mobile tech. I don't know many parents who are going to give their 6 year old child a phone just so they can play games (I know I never would and I'm all about kids having access to technology). That same parent would be more then willing to hand over a DS because they're not that expensive and since they're a Nintendo product they're durable as all hell. Handhelds are the new babysitter, much like TV was for our generation so they'll never disappear.
 
They only real thing I see happening in the near future is Nintendo finally stepping out of the console market, a market they built from the ground up, due to their inability to evolve with the times. Don't get me wrong I like their willingness to take risks and bring new innovation into the market (as much as I hate it the Wii-mote was fucking genius and is the only motion tech that actually works as intended) but the last few years have not been kind to them and I see them cutting their losses (something I'd hate to see, I mean Nintendo pretty much created the industry with Atari and the few others that dared to dream). Outside of Nintendo I don't see Microsoft or Sony pulling out of consoles anytime soon, unless both fuck up with the next generation of consoles.

I don't think we'll have to worry about getting any FPS style RPGs on handhelds anytime soon. Why? Well Nintendo knows that they're making the bulk of their money off their handheld systems and while yes there are still adults that buy and play handheld games the market has always been marketed and targeted toward young children. Most children are going to want easy to understand mechanics when they play a game hence the reason why Pokemon is still such a simple game mechanically to this day. Even though the game has changed in many ways and added so much more to do the game at it's core it's still just catching pokemon and battling other trainers. Nintendo will never compromise this and that's why turn-based RPGs will still remain the way they are on the DS at least. Plus when you get down to it the 3DS is no where near as powerful as a Vita or a console and probably never will be (believe me when I tell you the graphics are pretty bad on it and cartoony as hell. The best graphics I've seen on the 3DS are N64 era games). Plus you also have to remember the DS systems are still cartridge based, they have yet to make the jump to optical yet so you're extremely limited to what you can do.
 
Vita is another thing entirely. That handheld is actually made for and marketed at the current generation and our generation. This will be the handheld that will probably see the death of turn-based RPGs because atm the graphics are on par with PS2 generation games and since the younger generation this is marketed at was the start of the ADHD generation you'll see more RPGs like FFXIII on it. Sony, while making good decisions with the PS4, has made nothing but terrible decisions when it comes to the handheld market. Look at the PSP. Not only did that handheld not sell well it wasn't even on the market that long before they pulled it to release the Vita (fuck, every generation of the Gameboy was on the market for at least 3-4 years before the next incarnation came out). While the Vita is doing well (and I would like to get one) Sony is going to need gimmicky games like fps style RPGs to even keep the system viable. 
 
On the graphical thing look how long it's taken handhelds to get to where they are now. We saw massive jumps in what consoles could do in times frames of 5-6 years and we still do (though the current generation and past generation of consoles saw minor leaps due to the lack of time in between releases). Gameboy didn't even get to SNES generation graphics until the Advance which was the third generation for the handheld and 12 years after the original Gameboy released (1989 was the release of the original Gameboy, 2001 was the release of advance). The 3DS is the fifth generation for Nintedo's handheld line and we're still stuck at SNES/N64 style graphics with the ability to utilize 3D tech (which is honestly not all that great, I have the 3D aspect turned off on my 3DS because it hurts my eyes). By the time the DS sees Vita style graphics we'll either all be done gaming or we'll be playing VR games since that seems to be the direction Sony and Microsoft are going.
 
So long story short I don't see FFXIII style RPGs ever becoming a thing for the DS line of handhelds for probably another 5-10 years at the earliest (and even then I'm going to say 15 years because I don't think Nintendo will make the push until it's absolutely necessary) unless Nintendo rolls out another, more powerful handheld in the next few years. Vita on the other hand will if it already hasn't (I don't pay attention to Vita games since I don't own one and most of the games just don't interest me when I actually do). Turn-based RPGs will remain around for awhile yet and when they do die out we can still go on Steam and buy them all up as Steam gets ahold of them.

The DIvision for the most part is a solo based game. Hell you can even go into Dark Zones by yourself if you're feeling brave. They've said more then a few times that the whole story/campaign can be played by yourself and was designed to be that way. Multiplayer is pretty much for Dark Zones only as when you're playing the story you are in your own instance (similar to the system used for Class Story missions in The Old Republic, no one else can enter it unless you are partied with them). Dark Zones however put you into a public server where anyone who is in that DZ can see you and attack you or help you depending on how they want to play it. They've never really said how long the "story" of the game is but since it's being made in the vein of an MMO you're probably looking at 10-15 hours of story with more to come in future expansions/dlc. I'm sure they're discounting it to generate more interest in it or to help those, like you, who are skeptical of the game. If you spend $40 on it you won't be so pissed if it sucks unlike those like me who dropped $90 on the Gold Edition of the game or those who dropped $180+ on the Collector's Edition. Ubisoft is generally really good about releasing quality games and you usually get what you see in trailers and gameplay videos (hell look at Siege, that game is exactly how it was marketed and I have yet to hear any negative things about it besides the usual balance tweaks being needed and what not). Watch Dogs is probably the only real title I've seen them release that wasn't exactly what we were promised.
 
I'm still skeptical about FFXV. While it looks pretty that combat system still bugs me and I honestly don't have the time to invest 60+ hours into another game (I'll probably still be play DA: Inquisition and MGSV when it releases). Based on reviews from reputable sources I may buy it but I will not pre-order it.
 
Since AC7 is taking place in the Strangereal universe I'll definitely be buying it now.

I actually own both a DSi XL and a 3DS XL and I bought them for Pokemon (yes I'm not ashamed to admit that I still play the franchise, it's still fun and a lot of the changes they've made over the years has made the game so much better). I grew up playing handhelds unlike a lot of our generation that had access to the original NES or the SNES growing up so I'm always going to support them because it's nostalgia for me (my first console was the PS1) and honestly some days I'd rather grab my handheld and play then turn on my PS4 or computer. The problem with taking games like Pokemon, Bravely Default, etc. and bringing them to the console is there is no call to do so. They sell extremely well on handhelds and gamers now-a-days are looking for flashy graphics and, as I mentioned above, more action based combat. Sprites and bad 3D modeling isn't going to cut it for a console game (and yes I realize Indie games do this all the time but Indie games aren't asking for $60 to purchase there game either). Most of the Turn-Based RPG generation moved to handhelds when it was apparent that they were going to get all the good RPG's. Honestly I can't even say that anymore because Steam is getting FFVI next week so you could even say the PC Master Race (yea I had to say it) are also getting all the good RPGs. Console based turn-based RPGs are a thing of the past sadly. We'll continue to see games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, the Elder Scrolls series, and FFXIII/XV from now on when it comes to console based RPGs. It pains me to see it and pains me even more to know I contributed to the stagnation of one of my beloved genres of gaming. Thankfully RTS's evolved with the times and actually got better.
 

 
Mr. Happy brings up quite a few good points in that video about this multi-part decision for the game. Was going to post it earlier but never did get a chance to.

Disc space is no longer an issue considering we're now playing games on Blu-Ray Disc and if you honestly think about it if they kept the game the same way it is now and only did a graphical update the game would probably only take up roughly half a BD (character models and assets do not take up a lot of space especially considering almost all developers use the lowest possible poly-counts for their models, all you're seeing is great texture work (yes it pays to have a degree in Game Design sometimes)).
 
The issue Square is having is they don't want to invest the manpower or time into recreating all the art assets, redoing the soundtrack, and sprucing up the old code to make it work on new hardware. Plus, and I do agree with this, it's not worth it if only a handful of 25-40 year olds are going to buy the game for nostalgia. They're redoing the whole game because they want to bring in the current generation of gamers, the ones with the short attention spans who want action based combat and no thinking. The ones who button mash and don't learn how to take an enemy down the right way, using game and boss mechanics to their advantage. Basically they're kicking our generation in the nuts to cater to the younger generation. While I understand where they're coming from I don't agree with it.
 
This is why they feel they need to split the game into parts to make it easier on them to rewrite code for Unreal 4 (which yes they are using that engine for this) and to slowly redo art assets to make them all pretty and shiny for the ADHD generation. You already know they'll cut the Ruby and Emerald fights since they are optional, Ultima will probably be cut down to one fight and you'll just have to craft or find Cloud's ultimate weapon, only a handful of Limit Breaks will be brought over into the game (probably the big ones), summons will be minimal (probably only one Bahamut summon and most likely not the awesome one), Chocobo breeding/racing will probably be taken completely out (bye bye Knights of the Round unless they just give it to you), they materia system will probably be gutted to make it simpler and easier to understand for the current generation of gamers, and say goodbye to your airship freedom from the original. They'll also, even though they pretty much said they wouldn't since they're cutting the game into pieces, summarize a lot of the non-important story events you go through.
 
While yes I'm pessimistic and I've already said I didn't like the original I'm just appalled that this is what developers feel they need to do to old games when they remake them. I can guarantee you if they ever decided to remake FFIX or if Sony decided to remake Legend of Dragoon and they did shit like this to it I would be up in arms about it. Yes, I understand I'm one old gamer who is trying to relive his glory days of RPG gaming but you can't go and gut a classic game like this and give us a shell of what it once was. Hell I could be wrong and you'll get an awesome game remake that tops the charts and brings back massive interest in the genre but, as much as I love them, Mass Effect/Elder Scrolls/Dragon Age/etc. has ruined the RPG genre as a whole and has turned them into nothing more the Action games with RPG elements.

Pfft, I still haven't signed up for Facebook yet and I get pressured by both my family and friends to do it almost every day. Never saw a good enough reason to make me sign up for it and still don't. The only social media I use is Instagram and Twitter and I honestly don't post photos (use it to follow people and models) and I rarely if ever tweet (he twitter is the best way for me to keep up with my favorite bands, actors, and artists). Then again I am the guy who signed up for the anime equivalent (MAL, Eppy and goku are to blame for this) and the gaming equivalent (Player.me). I also have a LinkedIn profile but that's for a completely different purpose then Facebook will ever be used for (and it's a good way for me to tell potential employers to go look at it, much easier then updating a freaking resume everytime you apply for a new job).
 
God I remember back in the day waiting for my copy of Nintendo Power to come so I could devour all the information in it (which is sad because I've never owned a Nintendo console outside of the various Gameboys and now the DS line) and then go to school the next day to discuss it with my friends. Man those were the days and boy do I miss unpaid for and unbiased reviews and previews of games. What I wouldn't give to go back to those days (then again I do like the fact that I don't have to worry about finding a storage place for every magazine because I never threw them away).

We're old, grouchy, and have lives now hence the death of the internet we knew and loved.
 
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Twitch, etc. have become the dominate reason to be online now-a-days. The internet went from being small groups of nerds/geeks gathering to talk about their favorite video games/anime/etc. on little know forums/sites to being a full blown social experience now with everyone tweeting about what they do during the day, posting new selfies/pictures on Instagram, stalking that crush from high school or connecting with an old friend on Facebook, theorycrafting and running numbers on Game Sub-reddits, etc.
 
The old school communities are dying out pretty much for all the reasons you mentioned. I'd love to see those days come back but considering I'm now 30 and have a full-time job that leaves me exhausted at the end of the day I just don't have the time like I did 16 years ago when I was a Freshmen in High School that just got his first computer. Hell I barely have time to play video games, watch anime, or go out drinking anymore. The internet we helped to bring into the mainstream has evolved into what the new generations want and need. Sadly it's either get with the times or reminisce about the old days on forums like AC that refuse to give up what the internet used to be (and sadly there are only a few of us that still do that. DX, Sledge, myself, and Myk are pretty much the only active members on AC anymore).

Knights will probably have a similar look to the changed forms of the 12 Ishgardian Knights in the video (beginning, the rest is just the fight from FFXIV). That's the newest incarnation of Knights of the Round (and it's a raid fight as well). You should go watch the primal video's for what they look like in FFXIV (primals are the summons from the previous games as boss fights in FFXIV). They may look similar or slightly different from that (every game does change what they look like).
 
Meh, I'm not into this real time shit anymore. They've ruined plenty of great franchises with it in the past and I really hate to see it with a classic like this (even if it's not a classic I like). I probably won't get it but if the materia system isn't changed and the AI control on teammates mirrors the Gambit System from FFXII I might change my mind. Honestly they take all the strategy out of the game doing this but if its what will sell the game I guess it's the choice they make. The only other thing is with this not being turn-based anymore there might not be a limit break system anymore (or it'll only be for the character you're controlling). Just some other thoughts that just popped into my head after reading your post and watching the vids.

The best analogy I can think of is gaming magazines.
 
Gamepro, Nintendo Power, EGM, Play, and Official Playstation Magazine... remember those? At one time we flocked to the magazine stand at the grocery store to scan through these because they were our only source of gaming info. What was coming out? When was it coming out? What games out now are actually any good? You could argue that they were the only honest reviews we could get on games compared to what we get now. But nevertheless, the internet and gaming sites put them out of business. You didn't need a subscription anymore to get the same info... these mags actually lived longer than their usefulness with some ending publication just 2-3 years ago. And even though gaming site reviews are bought and paid for these days, reddit and weeding through all the trolls in comment sections can really give you a decent consensus opinion on a game.
 
That's what Social Media has done to forums. I remember when Carmie had me sign up for Facebook way back when.... I was like "Wow, this will never catch on". lol

DICE actually take the time to make sure they're balancing actually works with the current model of their game which is why they do it right. They actually test it in house and then when they're happy with it they launch it in CTE to allow us to test it. If we're not happy with it then they take it back and re-work it until both of us are happy. A lot of companies aren't going to take this approach because not only is it a money sink it's a waste of time to appeal to the community as a whole when they can just cater to the vocal majority. This is why DICE has such a huge and loyal fan base, they're willing to spend that extra time and money to make sure their games meet their community's standards (as well as their own). Hell they created an entire map based off of our input and feedback, I know of very few companies that are even willing to do that. Sadly I wish they'd listen to their Battlefront community and fix the current issues the game is facing (the most prominent one being lack of squads).
 
I'm not even going to touch the Destiny gun nerfs because I'm still royally pissed about them. I honestly don't know what Bungie was thinking. Take the guns that reign supreme in Crucible and nerf the hell out of them, buff guns that suck to make them better, rinse and repeat. They're just shooting themselves in the foot every time they rebalance the game its not even funny. The extremely sad thing about it is their are still people out there who think everything Bungie does with Destiny is the right thing to do (ProfessorBroman being one of their biggest supporters, they guy pretty much has his nose lodged so far up their asses that it's not even funny (I still watch and support him though because he's a pretty funny guys and I get hours of laughter out of watching his stream, even if I don't play Destiny anymore)).
 
Balancing is a problem that's going to plague us until games die out or evolve from what they currently are. I'm still pissed to this day by what Blizzard did to the Paladin Class in vanilla WoW. They took one of the most balanced and awesome classes the game had in beta and shoved the nerf bat up their asses so far the class was unplayable when vanilla WoW released. Hell, as far as I understand it, the class is still pretty much fucked. This was all due to the fact that a bunch of 12 year old whiners (yea stereotyping here) complained to Blizzard that the Paladin was OP and could steamroll any class yet if they'd of just taken the time and rolled a low level Paladin they'd of learned just how easy it was to actually kill one. Yea, I'm still a little but hurt about that one and I quit playing WoW years ago. The community will never be right about nerfs mostly because it takes one person to bring up a semi-valid point for everyone who has a stick up their ass about something to jump on the nerf-train. Those of us who actually crunch the numbers and look at the game from an intelligent viewpoint will never be heard because our nerfs will help fix the game, not make it easier for them to play the game they want to.
 
On a side note I love how we derail topics around here. I can't remember the last time we actually kept a topic on track

While rebalancing can be good, DICE is the only company can seem to do it correctly. Thats possibly because so many variables go into their game mechanics, and the attention to detail put into the core of the game makes it possible.
 
Autorifles are king in just about every FPS... its just the way it is. Its the reason they are what every military uses in combat as their main infantry weapon. Its great at all ranges, and is the ultimate multipurpose weapon system. When this happened in Destiny, Bungie nerfed ARs so hard that practically NO ONE uses them even in PvE because they were so shit compared to HC and shotguns... naturally these took the AR's place in crucible because the maps are generally small and hardly ever wide open.... so shotguns get nerfed, HC gets nerfed, and Pulse Rifles like Red Death, The Messenger, and its successors in Y2 take its place as king.... People are always going to gravitate to what they feel is the most powerful weapon/easiest way to get kills. Nerfing ARs to uselessness is never the answer.
 
Balancing is mishandled by just about everyone these days due to a loud minority of QQers in games that get mad at something that kills them a lot... instead of learning how to counter it, they just want it nerfed now. I see it in Guild Wars, I see it in FPS games, I see it everywhere. My first really bad experience with a nerf that killed the game for me was the FAL nerf in BO2... I've talked about it enough not to go into it again. The work that had to be put into getting that gun to where it was, was no easy feat, and to have that hard work taken away was demoralizing. It wasn't an exploit like the SUPER OP Models from MW2 that were justifiably nerfed... it was just a damn good gun that was crazy deadly in the right hands. The community isn't always right about nerfs, but sadly those that can spend time on a reddit or forum and rally people to their cause can change a game for the worse... and I blame the business model of gaming for that. They want their playerbase to buy DLC, so they are going to be more willing to bend to the loudest voice.

And sadly that story is so full of plot holes and conundrums it isn't even funny. Sadly some of the stories aren't considered canon for the universe (yes, huge Halo nerd here). Origins is up in the air as no one knows if it was true or not (which most of it was proven wrong due to the Halo 4 storyline) due to Cortana's rampancy. Odd One Out is complete fiction (though sadly my favorite episode since it's over the top and completely ridiculous). The others are canon for the most part.
 
I'm starting to think Bungie has given up at even trying to make another good game. Destiny had potential and then they went and canned their head story writer, butchered his pretty awesome story premise, and gave us a hodgepodge piece of shit that was far from complete. Sure they've fixed a lot of the issues Year 1 Destiny had (I've actually considered going back because from what I've seen in streams has me extremely interested in the game again but I have to many other games to play atm so it's not going to happen anytime soon) but the game is still suffering from a poorly written story and shitty game mechanics that only get worse everytime they try to rebalance the game. Bungie was once a force to be reckoned with but I think loosing the Halo franchise took whatever drive they had away from them. Well that and Activision being Activision.

And sadly that story is so full of plot holes and conundrums it isn't even funny. Sadly some of the stories aren't considered canon for the universe (yes, huge Halo nerd here). Origins is up in the air as no one knows if it was true or not (which most of it was proven wrong due to the Halo 4 storyline) due to Cortana's rampancy. Odd One Out is complete fiction (though sadly my favorite episode since it's over the top and completely ridiculous). The others are canon for the most part.
 
I'm starting to think Bungie has given up at even trying to make another good game. Destiny had potential and then they went and canned their head story writer, butchered his pretty awesome story premise, and gave us a hodgepodge piece of shit that was far from complete. Sure they've fixed a lot of the issues Year 1 Destiny had (I've actually considered going back because from what I've seen in streams has me extremely interested in the game again but I have to many other games to play atm so it's not going to happen anytime soon) but the game is still suffering from a poorly written story and shitty game mechanics that only get worse everytime they try to rebalance the game. Bungie was once a force to be reckoned with but I think loosing the Halo franchise took whatever drive they had away from them. Well that and Activision being Activision.

Looks like it's using the original Warcraft as a base and mixing in Thrall's origin story (if that baby orc is Thrall). Can't really tell but I'm definitely going to see it, that trailer was freaking awesome (plus I'm a huge Warcraft lore nut).

So I'm reviving this dead topic since having a conversation in the status area will get hard.
 
My initial impressions of the beta based off of four matches is: Fucking Love It!
 
I've only played the Secure and Find the Bomb/Defuse the bomb (don't remember it's actual name) modes and they just released Terrorist Hunt today (which I'll most likely try out tonight or tomorrow). Game play is pretty intense since you only have one life and knowing the maps and good teamwork (and communication) is key to victory in the two modes I played. Thankfully I got grouped up with a great bunch of guys an we all worked well together securing 2 wins out of the four matches.
 
Secure has you securing a position with a dirty bomb (of sorts) from a group of attackers. This is probably my favorite of the two modes I got to play as its a lot easier to pick up the mechanics of the game from it. Defending is pretty nice as you have unlimited barricades that you can put up (and repeatedly if one gets destroyed) and you can reinforce walls up to once per character (honestly this should be up to three as almost every wall/door/etc is destructible. Defending is also a lot easier to win since you don't have to run through the whole building looking for the bomb site and can pretty much shoot anything that moves as long as the team is near each other. Attacking can be a bitch but is fun as well (I love fucking with the defending team using breach charges. throws them off when two people detonate charges at the same time). I've noticed attacking takes a lot more coordination and communication to win because if everyone does as they want it can turn into a cluster fuck quite quickly.
 
The Bomb Defusing mode sucks. Not only does it split the defending team into two smaller teams (which really fucks with coordination) they place the bombs so close to each other that defusing one bomb can defuse both (something I hope they fix, it doesn't happen all the time but if one bomb is up stairs above another it will defuse both).
 
The one thing that majorly sucks is you have to unlock those operators they show in the gameplay footage and trailers (using renown that you gain for killing people, placing barricades, spotting enemies, etc), they're not usable right away. Your given a recruit with a minor selection of weapons, gadgets, etc when you first start out which is fine if the people your facing have the same options but once you get a group of people with the special operators it's a bitch to kill them if you're on a recruit. I'll be trying out the operators later as I unlocked two before I got off. Another gripe is that there is no hit markers in the game for if you hit an enemy or not. I honestly don't like it but considering this will probably be the next CS:GO for competitive gaming I understand the choice. Still sucks when you can't tell whether you hit the enemy or not.
 
I'll post more about this once I play some Terrorist Hunts and more of the other two modes but besides my few gripes I actually like the game. I might even pick it up in December when it comes out if I'm not hopelessly addicted to Battlefront or BOIII (if I buy it). When I get on again to play I'll stream it so if you guys want to watch me suck it up you can(http://www.twitch.tv/ unhalloweddeceit (without the space of course)).

So I'm reviving this dead topic since having a conversation in the status area will get hard.
 
My initial impressions of the beta based off of four matches is: Fucking Love It!
 
I've only played the Secure and Find the Bomb/Defuse the bomb (don't remember it's actual name) modes and they just released Terrorist Hunt today (which I'll most likely try out tonight or tomorrow). Game play is pretty intense since you only have one life and knowing the maps and good teamwork (and communication) is key to victory in the two modes I played. Thankfully I got grouped up with a great bunch of guys an we all worked well together securing 2 wins out of the four matches.
 
Secure has you securing a position with a dirty bomb (of sorts) from a group of attackers. This is probably my favorite of the two modes I got to play as its a lot easier to pick up the mechanics of the game from it. Defending is pretty nice as you have unlimited barricades that you can put up (and repeatedly if one gets destroyed) and you can reinforce walls up to once per character (honestly this should be up to three as almost every wall/door/etc is destructible. Defending is also a lot easier to win since you don't have to run through the whole building looking for the bomb site and can pretty much shoot anything that moves as long as the team is near each other. Attacking can be a bitch but is fun as well (I love fucking with the defending team using breach charges. throws them off when two people detonate charges at the same time). I've noticed attacking takes a lot more coordination and communication to win because if everyone does as they want it can turn into a cluster fuck quite quickly.
 
The Bomb Defusing mode sucks. Not only does it split the defending team into two smaller teams (which really fucks with coordination) they place the bombs so close to each other that defusing one bomb can defuse both (something I hope they fix, it doesn't happen all the time but if one bomb is up stairs above another it will defuse both).
 
The one thing that majorly sucks is you have to unlock those operators they show in the gameplay footage and trailers (using renown that you gain for killing people, placing barricades, spotting enemies, etc), they're not usable right away. Your given a recruit with a minor selection of weapons, gadgets, etc when you first start out which is fine if the people your facing have the same options but once you get a group of people with the special operators it's a bitch to kill them if you're on a recruit. I'll be trying out the operators later as I unlocked two before I got off. Another gripe is that there is no hit markers in the game for if you hit an enemy or not. I honestly don't like it but considering this will probably be the next CS:GO for competitive gaming I understand the choice. Still sucks when you can't tell whether you hit the enemy or not.
 
I'll post more about this once I play some Terrorist Hunts and more of the other two modes but besides my few gripes I actually like the game. I might even pick it up in December when it comes out if I'm not hopelessly addicted to Battlefront or BOIII (if I buy it). When I get on again to play I'll stream it so if you guys want to watch me suck it up you can(http://www.twitch.tv/ unhalloweddeceit (without the space of course)).

Gah, quit talking the game up DX. I really want to buy it but I'm trying to save money for other things right now (plus I just bought Dishonored) and you're making it really hard to resist.
 
I'll say this I wasn't happy with the suppressors in GZ. That one on the weapon they start you with barely lasts long enough to kill someone. Kinda sucks that carried over into MGS5. Hmmm, maybe I'll pick this up on Black Friday if it's on sale (and if I'm not too addicted to Battlefront).

It's actually more of a reference to MMO raiding in general as most MMO's suffer from the "Do raid 1, get the phat epic lewtz, do raid 2, rinse and repeat" mentality. This is the reason most, if not all, MMO's get boring and repetitive once you hit max level. I run into the same problem in FFXIV every few months as once I gear my Ninja completely I have nothing to do unless I level another job or start gearing my other jobs that are max level (however I don't raid in FF, I'm not the raiding type which is why it's good you can gear your character without doing any of the raids/endgame content). It's the reason why so many people have quit playing WoW. 10 years of doing raids, gearing up, and then waiting for new content to do it all over again gets old real fast.
 
I'm actually quite curious to see how this works out for GW2. It's a complete change of the normal formula so it should be interesting to see how the user base takes to this new approach. If it works this could change MMO's for the better.

It's actually more of a reference to MMO raiding in general as most MMO's suffer from the "Do raid 1, get the phat epic lewtz, do raid 2, rinse and repeat" mentality. This is the reason most, if not all, MMO's get boring and repetitive once you hit max level. I run into the same problem in FFXIV every few months as once I gear my Ninja completely I have nothing to do unless I level another job or start gearing my other jobs that are max level (however I don't raid in FF, I'm not the raiding type which is why it's good you can gear your character without doing any of the raids/endgame content). It's the reason why so many people have quit playing WoW. 10 years of doing raids, gearing up, and then waiting for new content to do it all over again gets old real fast.
 
I'm actually quite curious to see how this works out for GW2. It's a complete change of the normal formula so it should be interesting to see how the user base takes to this new approach. If it works this could change MMO's for the better.

Everyone I killed stayed dead and certain specs required you to be a certain level to play (only 4 or 5 specs were unlocked for new players, don't think Nomad was a popular spec or it wasn't with the people I played with). I saw more of the Android, the asian chick, and the chick I played then anything else. Due to the fast pace of the multiplayer I really don't see rejack being popular because it's faster to just die and respawn (kinda like self-res for locks in Destiny. more useful for certain game types and I'm assuming Team Death Match is not one of them).
 
Yes there is a chick with the bow and she is bad ass (and her accent makes me think shes Russian). In fact there's 3 female character to play as (a chinese chick and I think either another).