Category Archives: Rants

Diablo 3: Real money auction house.

  June 17, 2012 - 12:57 pm | Diablo 3, Musings, Rants
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So the European real money auction house got launched yesterday. I was initially quite excited at the prospect of being able to trade items for some extra cash, and then being able to buy others for the same.
Unfortunately the auction house seems quite crippled by a few problems at the moment, one that seriously needs to be addressed before the new auction house van become effective.
The main point is the cost involved. At the moment there is a €1 “transaction fee” on all auctions. Combine this with a 15% fee for paypal transactions and you end up with the most basic items having ridiculous prices. Midlevel or medium-specced items HAVE to be priced at at least €2-5, and good items seem to be flooding the market at €40-50.
Now don’t get me wrong, but €50 for ONE item in a game that cost a fifth of that price is a bit ridiculous.
The mere fact that Blizzard imposed that €1 minimum removes the opportunity for 99c specials, a pricepoint that most people will still happily click buy without blinking. Suddenly you really have to think about whether you really need that item or should just grind the few million gold it would cost in the normal AH.
And for sellers it’s the same problem – how do you sell your stuff at a price that will sell and still make a few cents on it?
Does Blizzard really need that extra source of income? Does it cost that much to host the AH? If there were a smaller transaction fee, perhaps a percentage or a few cents, then the sales would go up. More successful transactions would mean more revenue for them, more revenue for the sellers, and more incentive for the buyers to actually spend time on the AH looking for bargains.
Which begs the question – have any of you actually either bought or successfully sold anything on the real money auction house yet? Do you plan on buying anything? With the already dwindling player-base, can you justify spending small fortunes on virtual items? The current model may work for the very best of items, but surely not for your average yellows or midlevel legendaries…

Lego Universe pulls the plug.

  November 30, 2011 - 11:01 am | Rants
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More than a year ago I posted about beta-testing Lego Universe. The times I managed to play was extremely enjoyable – the idea was fresh, the building and exploring options were stunning, the subscribers refused to bite…

As of today there’s only 2 months left for you to try this gem before they pull the plug on the great Lego server in the sky. I guess this is just another example of how the free-to-play market is dominating and subscription-based MMOs don’t stand a chance anymore. Even WoW now offers a “free forever” option – extremely limited, but it’s there.

Here’s the official post:

Hello Adventurers, 

We are very sad to announce that LEGO Universe will be closing on Janurary 31, 2012. This was a very difficult decision to make, but unfortunately LEGO Universe has not been able to attract the number of members needed to keep the game open. 

We are thankful to have had the opportunity to share this adventure wiith an amazing community of players. We hope you will continue to enjoy LEGO Universe for the last few months. As a thank you, if you are a paying subscriber on December 31, 2011, we will provide you the full game for the final month for free. Click here for the details.

Again, we want to thank the fantastic community of players who made LEGO Universe such a vibrant, fun and creative experience.

(You can discuss this article on the message boards)

Sincerely,

The LEGO Universe Team

Screw the T1 Heavy.

  June 7, 2011 - 10:25 am | Rants, World of Tanks
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I got my KV! Yeah it still has that shitty turret and puny cannon, but at least I’ve got new tracks on her too. I even had enough credits to get the 75% crew training, which does seem to help on that godawful turret rotate speed. My luck with her so far has been terrible too, putting me in mostly unbalanced matches where I’m in the bottom third of the weaker team. It took me something like 9 matches before my first victory last night.

I also gave up on the USA Arti, deciding to rather concentrate more of my efforts toward the USSR tree. So I bought a SU-18, ran a few matches with it and then unlocked the SU-26. Now there’s an interesting beast. It’s the only Artillery unit that can rotate its turret fully. This means that aiming is usually much faster, giving me more shots on target before the other arties have time to turn on their tracks. It also makes it harder to spot while hiding in a bush :D . The firepower is still pretty weak though, and of course the range is poor, so you have to move further out and hit them more times. I’ve also noticed that it seems to be able to hit targets behind rocks and obstacles better than the USA counterparts. The higher trajectory must account for the crappy range.

And for interest’s sake: My number 1 search term for the last 48 hours is “Hetzers gonna Hetz” :D Awesome!

Image courtesy and (c) WorldofTanks.com

Fear the M3 Lee – Not!

  May 14, 2011 - 8:08 pm | MMO, Rants, World of Tanks
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I’ve finally upgraded to the M3 Lee. After the hugely fun M2 Medium, this tank is a total disappointment. What the hell were the Americans thinking? I’ve read up about this tank before buying it and the comments all pointed to the fact that this tank is bad. Well, it’s worse than bad. I’ve never experienced such a terrible driving machine. Even the VW Beetle is a better feat of engineering and beauty.

The ghastly M3 Lee, next to two devastating Russian KVs

The tank is slow, ungodly slow for a medium. It’s also built like a barn, with a high profile and a very low turret. This means that you’re exposed long before you can shoot at whatever is coming over that hill.The 75mm cannon, which was effective in the M2 medium, is suddenly underpowered against the higher classes you now face. Thankfully it is more accurate than the M2, which could be likened to a shotgun shooting into a dark room and trying to hit an apple hidden behind a wall.

Then there’s the worst feature: the turret itself. Instead of the turret being mounted on top like EVERY OTHER tank in the game, it’s mounted on the front left. This means that it’s effectively a tank destroyer… or should I say ineffectively. Its high profile and flat frontal armor makes it much more vulnerable than the sloped, low profiles of the TDs, and the gun does not suit sniping at distance much either. Your only option is to hide behind buildings and wait for the enemy to stick its nose around the corner, and then pray that you get him disabled or dead before he can swing his turret around you. Against a heavy this doesn’t work very well, and you end up having to run like mad to hide behind something before he one-shots you with his huge gun. Against a light this doesn’t work either, as it can simply outmaneuver you, get behind you and shoot at your soft ass while you try to swing that ungainly body around to get a second shot off.

Thus you’re left to hang around in the middle and hope that the enemy gets distracted by your allies, giving you a chance to fire off a shot or two before being exposed. Or finding another medium and somehow getting that first shot off true.

If it wasn’t for the T1 Heavy, I would have given up on this monstrosity after the first battle, but I so do want one. I’m also working through the USSR ranks, aiming for a KV at some stage. The devastating effects of that lumbering monster is something I must experience.

Anyway, only another 12000 experience (Much more if I want the other tanks this thing unlocks) and MANY more credits to go to the T1, guess I better start grinding…